APEC ministers to promote nuclear energy

APEC ministers to promote nuclear energy | The Japan Times Online
Energy ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will agree at their two-day meeting that opened Sunday in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the importance of using nuclear energy to reduce carbon dioxide emission and to meet the growing demand for energy, a draft of the joint declaration obtained by Kyodo News showed.   "The APEC region recognizes the importance of the safe and secure uses of peaceful nuclear energy, and its potential in diversifying our energy mix, meeting the growing energy demand, and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the region despite the tragic accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station" triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the draft of the "St. Petersburg Declaration" said.  The draft showed that the declaration, to be adopted Monday, will largely reflect the views of countries promoting nuclear power plants, led by Russia and the United States, while urging Japan to share the lessons it has learned from the Fukushima crisis.

Carbon price may not meet its goals

Carbon price may not meet its goals – Features – ABC Environment (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Fifteen years after John Howard's Liberal Coalition government first started talking about emissions trading, Australia finally, divisively, is putting a price on carbon pollution, starting this Sunday.  The promise is twofold: first, that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions.  But will it? Is it possible to price carbon - and for Australia's emissions to continue rising?  Dr Iain MacGill, joint director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets (CEEM), at the University of NSW says it is.  "When you put a price on carbon, that's doesn't necessarily mean emissions go down. If a carbon price is low and you're looking at highly profitable activities that do increase there's certainly plenty of economic sectors in Australia which will say 'Oh well we will pay the price, perhaps I'm even receiving compensation from the government, but I'm expanding operations'".  Australian greenhouse gas emissions hit record levels before the global financial crisis in 2008. They've been rising steadily again since, and currently are tracking again at near record levels.  That's no great surprise.  But what would surprise most Australian's is that greenhouse gas emissions may continue to increase over the next decade - and yet we could still meet our 2020 target to cut emissions by five per cent.

Global Warming Seen Lifting California Sea Level a Foot by 2030

Global Warming Seen Lifting California Sea Level a Foot by 2030 - Bloomberg
Global warming may push sea levels as much as a foot higher in California in the next two decades, threatening airports, freeways, ports and houses, according to a report examining risks along the U.S. West Coast.  Increases are forecast to be greatest south of Cape Mendocino, with levels rising 12 inches (30 centimeters) by 2030 and as much as two feet by 2050, according to a report today by the National Research Council. In Oregon and Washington, increases may be more modest, because land also is rising. A major quake in the active seismic zone would change the forecast.  In addition, climate change may contribute to more frequent severe storms, the researchers concluded.

Coal-Plant Plunge Threatens Billions in Pollution Spend

Coal-Plant Plunge Threatens Billions in Pollution Spend - Bloomberg
The coal-fired power industry in the U.S. is facing the biggest plunge in asset values in a decade, risking billions of dollars in pollution-control spending by utilities such as Exelon Corp. (EXC) and American Electric Power Co. (AEP)  An indication of how much new emissions rules and cheaper natural gas have hammered the value of coal-burning generation will come when Exelon announces the results of the first big sale of U.S. coal-fired power plants in four years.  Exelon, the largest U.S. power company, may have to take a 40 percent discount for three Maryland plants it’s seeking to sell by the end of August. Bidders including NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) have offered $600 million to $700 million for the units, which have a fair value of $1 billion, said Travis Miller, Chicago- based director of utilities research for Morningstar Inc.

Some good news, and next steps to take, from Rio

Some good news, and next steps to take, from Rio | GreenBiz.com
There's no lack of skepticism about the UN Rio +20 Earth Summit, and when it comes to political leadership, no real progress has been made. But that's not the whole story.  Alongside the People's Conference, Rio+20 has been a showcase for the role of the private sector and the importance that building the global green economy has for taking sustainability to global scale. That's not without controversy, but it's also a cause for optimism.  Global business working together with NGOs, advocating to implement Rio's sustainability goals is a sign that we're getting serious about making them succeed. Now governments need to step up to the mark and work with us.  The first Rio Summit 20 years ago was historic. It produced ambitious declarations and treaties on environment and development, biodiversity, forest protection and climate change. At the same time, it did something else that was very far-reaching but perhaps less well known: it established collaborations between the private sector and civil society to gear economic activity towards sustainability...

Emission statement: quantifying carbon emissions

Emission statement: quantifying carbon emissions | In-depth | The Engineer
How do we know how effective our attempts to reduce emissions really are? Many manufacturers are taking steps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) they produce, even if the main motivation is cutting energy bills. In the UK, we are told that the business sector has reduced its carbon footprint by 30 per cent since 1990, although manufacturing decline probably has something to do with this. But figures such as this aren’t determined by the amount of CO2 actually  in the air, but rather are derived from examining energy consumption. And as carbon emissions trading really begins to affect the industrial  cost of energy, an accurate account of how much CO2 a company is really producing will become vitally important to businesses and regulators...

China’s First Wind-Farm Lull Limits Outlook for Sinovel

China’s First Wind-Farm Lull Limits Outlook for Sinovel: Energy - Bloomberg
China, the world’s biggest builder of wind farms, is set for its first year of slower growth in almost a decade as plans founder for expanding offshore, hurting domestic turbine makers such as Sinovel Wind Group Co. (601558)  Developers will install 18.6 gigawatts of windmills, 7 percent less than last year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The state is curbing construction on land so that power-delivery grids can catch up with the explosive growth of wind energy in recent years.

Carbon pricing spurs business on

Carbon pricing spurs business on - National News - National - General - Casey Weekly
Business leaders overwhelmingly believe carbon pricing will survive and those directly affected have started taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a survey of senior executives.  The survey of 136 executives commissioned by multinational GE found nearly three-quarters believed the carbon price scheme would remain despite the Coalition's pledge to repeal it if elected.  But nearly half said they thought the scheme starting on Sunday - requiring big emitters to pay a fixed rate per tonne of carbon dioxide for three years, before evolving into emissions trading under which pollution permits can be bought and sold on the market - would eventually be replaced with an improved model. Of 38 firms directly liable for the carbon price, it found 85 per cent had a carbon-reduction strategy in place. Across all firms, nearly a third, up from 3 per cent early last year, had modelled the impact of different carbon prices on operations.

Gas Futures End 2.6% Higher

Gas Futures End 2.6% Higher - WSJ.com
Natural-gas futures rose more than 2% to their highest level in a month after a tropical storm knocked out more than one-third of natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.  Natural gas for July delivery settled 6.9 cents, or 2.6%, higher at $2.694 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, marking the highest finish for the fuel since May 23.

Latest Carbon News Headlines

Thomson Reuters Point Carbon's OTC price assessments

		Close	+/-
EUA	Dec 2012	8.05	-0.07
sCER	Dec 2012	3.96	-0.14

 

 

Latest Carbon Market News

Markets

25 Jun 2012 15:44

EU CO2 price support plan meets internal opposition

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters Point Carbon) - A European Commission plan to force carbon prices higher by…

Buy/Free trial

Markets

25 Jun 2012 15:51

Funds look to CO2 trade for "tidy" 6 pct returns

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters Point Carbon) - Offering guaranteed annual returns of 6 percent or more, U.…

Buy/Free trial

Markets

25 Jun 2012 18:09

UPDATE 1: EU carbon retreats from four-month high

LONDON, June 25 (Reuters Point Carbon) – European carbon was down 1.5 percent on Monday afternoon in…

Buy/Free trial

Policy

23 Jun 2012 00:03

Rio+20 ending with weak text, emboldened observers

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 22 (Reuters Point Carbon) - Global leaders ended a U.N. development summit on F…

Buy/Free trial

Markets

25 Jun 2012 11:52

Developers target Canadian fridges for carbon credits

SAN FRANCISCO, June 22 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Project developer Blue Source Canada has become the…

Buy/Free trial

Markets

22 Jun 2012 17:20

Barclays slashes CO2 price view, says sell EUAs

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Without market intervention European carbon prices will ave…

Buy/Free trial

Policy

22 Jun 2012 21:48

Rio delays carbon market launch after industry resistance

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 22 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Brazil’s second largest state Rio de Janeiro has de…

Buy/Free trial

EU emissions policy threatens to trigger trade war

EU emissions policy threatens to trigger trade war | Environment | DW.DE | 25.06.2012
Threats of retaliation, outright refusal to cooperate - the EU's carbon trade scheme for airlines has caused more than consternation among international carriers. But European airlines say they, too, are paying a price.  Since the beginning of the year, all flights that take off or land in EU airports have the carbon output of their trip tallied. Airlines that surpass a certain level of allowed emissions will have to pay, starting next April. But European carriers say besides the cash costs they will also suffer as targets of reprisals against the EU legislation.  The EU legislation has put airlines in a bad spot, says Tony Tyler, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that represents carriers in more than 100 countries.

Global agreement on aviation emissions ‘may be possible’

Global agreement on aviation emissions ‘may be possible’ | AirQualityNews
A global agreement for tackling carbon dioxide emissions from civil aviation may be possible with the right political will, according to transport minister Theresa Villiers. Last week (June 19), Mrs Villiers was asked by Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith what recent progress had been made with the International Civil Aviation Organisation on an agreement on a global emissions trading scheme.The ICAO is a specialist agency of the United Nations which was set up in 1944 to promote the safe and orderly development of civil aviation. It is looking at a number of market-based measures to reduce emissions.