• • By allocating 42.6 EUAs per TJ of fuel used, BM Fuel covers 75% of emissions when these derive from natural gas (approximately 56 tonnes CO2 eq / TJ).
• • It can be estimated that around three quarters of the emissions attributable to BM Spray
• • Dried Powder are covered by the free allocation
• • Process emissions are 97% covered

However, these coverage levels will fall dramatically in the five-year period 2026-2030, unless emissions decline as rapidly as the emission benchmarks.

On the one hand, FA balances climate ambition with industrial competitiveness and also acts as a transition tool: it gives companies time to adapt, invest in cleaner technologies and improve efficiency, without having to face the costs associated with 100% of emissions. On the other hand, the FA was designed as a tool to drive continuous efficiency improvements: it is based on product benchmarks that reflect the emissions performance of the 10% most efficient plants in a given production sector (best performers).

Over time, the FA decreases as a result of periodic BM revisions (which incorporate the improvements achieved by the best performers) and mechanisms such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which, however, does not currently involve the ceramic sector.

In theory, FA only covers emissions up to the efficiency benchmark: plants with performance below the benchmark must purchase additional allowances, while those close to or above the benchmark are fully covered or even in surplus (FA>emissions).

In practice, this is not always exactly the case.