US power industry braces for court air pollution ruling

PREVIEW: US power industry braces for court air pollution ruling - News - Point Carbon
The U.S. power industry is waiting for a federal appeals court to rule on proposed emissions controls for coal-fired power plants, a decision with implications for energy sectors ranging from natural gas to coal to tradeable pollution permits...

Anca Novacovici: Sustainability -- Finally Mainstream?

Anca Novacovici: Sustainability -- Finally Mainstream?
Sustainability is ubiquitous -- it is on the news, touted on corporate websites, and marketed on the products we find on the shelf. The Harvard Business Review defined it as a business mega-trend in 2010, putting it in the same category as electrification, mass production, information technology and globalization. Even with all of this attention, however, can it be considered mainstream in the business world?  Sustainability, like many new concepts, has followed a typical bell curve. While some might argue that we are now in the early or even late majority part of that curve...

Codexis Demonstrates Enzyme-Based Carbon Capture at National Carbon Capture Center

Codexis Demonstrates Enzyme-Based Carbon Capture at National Carbon Capture Center - MarketWatch
Codexis, Inc. CDXS -1.33% today unveiled results from the pilot-scale demonstration of the company's carbon capture technology conducted at the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) in Wilsonville, Alabama. Codexis developed this patented technology under a license granted by CO2 Solutions, Inc. CA:CST 0.00% . The field test, on flue gas emitted from a Southern Company's power plant, shows that enzymes have promise to facilitate CO2 capture at coal-fired power plants. This is the largest scale that enzyme-based carbon capture technology has been demonstrated to date, with the equivalent daily capture rate of 1,800 average sized trees per day.

Ming Yang Says It’s Not in Talks to Purchase Vestas Wind

Ming Yang Says It’s Not in Talks to Purchase Vestas Wind - Bloomberg
China Ming Yang Wind Power Group Ltd. (MY), the nation’s third-largest wind-turbine maker, denied being in talks to buy Vestas Wind Systems A/S. (VWS)  “This is not happening so far,” Li Ruixiang, deputy director of the Guangdong-based company’s news office, said by phone yesterday.  Caixin reported yesterday that Ming Yang was seeking to acquire Vestas for as much as 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) and the deal could be completed by October. Mikkel Friis-Thomsen, a spokesman for Vestas, said the company didn’t comment on speculation.  “The low market share of China Ming Yang and the question mark about financing of the deal make it a less likely prospect,” said Heinz Steffen, an analyst at Fairesearch GmbH & Co. in Kronberg, Germany. “This could be speculation by interested parties seeking to move the share price.”

Possible corn shortfall effect on ethanol prices unclear

Possible corn shortfall effect on ethanol prices unclear - The Hill's E2-Wire
National corn stockpiles will hit the largest disparity in production projections and actual supply since 1973 as a result of this summer’s drought, according to a Bloomberg report.  Global corn demand has never been higher while output has strained under the heat and lack of rain. That means U.S. corn supplies will hit 1.216 billion bushels on Sept. 1, 2013, about 35 percent less than the Agriculture Department’s (USDA) June 12 estimates, the Bloomberg report said.  USDA could not comment on the report ahead of the figures, including possibly revised predictions, it plans to release Wednesday, a USDA official told The Hill on Monday.  It is unclear what kind of effect those stocks would have on biofuel prices such as ethanol.

Germany Sees ‘Intensive’ EU Carbon Talks in September, October

Germany Sees ‘Intensive’ EU Carbon Talks in September, October - Businessweek

Germany plans talks with other European Union countries about the bloc’s long-term climate goals and expects “intensive” discussions on the EU carbon-cut pathway in autumn, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said.  The EU debate on its post-2020 strategy to lower greenhouse-gas discharges stalled after Poland in March blocked for a second time a political declaration to back a strategy paper by the European Commission on the cheapest carbon- reduction trajectory.

EU Carbon Price Increases Would Intensify Crisis, Poland Says

EU Carbon Price Increases Would Intensify Crisis, Poland Says - Bloomberg
The European Union should avoid measures to prop up carbon market prices because they would lead to higher energy costs and could aggravate the economic crisis in the region, Poland’s environment minister said.  The EU emissions trading system, or the ETS, is delivering on its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost and there’s no need to “manipulate” the market after a slump in industrial output drove carbon prices to a record low, Marcin Korolec said.  “The ETS is not here to set a particular carbon price,” he said in an interview yesterday in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a meeting of environment and climate ministers from the 27-nation bloc. “What Europe needs at this moment is low energy prices and we should be happy that the system works and is flexible enough to adjust to the economic situation.”  The price of EU carbon permits for delivery in December dropped to 5.99 euros ($7.36) in April, the lowest level since the contract started trading in 2005.

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sCER	Dec 2012	3.82	-0.09

 

 

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EU Carbon Price Increases Would Intensify Crisis, Poland Says

EU Carbon Price Increases Would Intensify Crisis, Poland Says - Bloomberg
The European Union should avoid measures to prop up carbon market prices because they would lead to higher energy costs and could aggravate the economic crisis in the region, Poland’s environment minister said.  The EU emissions trading system, or the ETS, is delivering on its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the lowest possible cost and there’s no need to “manipulate” the market after a slump in industrial output drove carbon prices to a record low, Marcin Korolec said.  “The ETS is not here to set a particular carbon price,” he said in an interview yesterday in Nicosia, Cyprus, during a meeting of environment and climate ministers from the 27-nation bloc. “What Europe needs at this moment is low energy prices and we should be happy that the system works and is flexible enough to adjust to the economic situation.”  The price of EU carbon permits for delivery in December dropped to 5.99 euros ($7.36) in April, the lowest level since the contract started trading in 2005.

Rock stars: Geologists testing aquifer rocks as containers to permanently trap carbon dioxide

Rock stars: Geologists testing aquifer rocks as containers to permanently trap carbon dioxide
Two Kansas State University geologists are part of a comprehensive statewide study on using rocks for long-term storage of carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide is a gas that is a byproduct of respiration and burning fossil fuels and heat sources, among other causes. Studies have linked increased carbon dioxide production to climate change.  "Currently, more carbon dioxide is being produced by various sources, both natural and anthropogenic, and is going into the atmosphere," said Saugata Datta, assistant professor of geology who is leading the university's involvement in the project. "This study is not to look at what carbon dioxide does to the atmosphere, but rather how to sequester it and keep it from reaching the atmosphere in the first place."

New financing sources to support strong renewables growth

Environmental Finance | News | New financing sources to support strong renewables growth – IEA
Electricity generation from renewable energy will rise by 40% over the next five years, and non-traditional sources of financing will play an increasing role in renewables investment, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).  Renewable electricity growth is expected to accelerate and reach almost 6,400 terawatt hours (TWh), up from 4,500TWh now, says the IEA’s Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2012.  “That’s strong growth, more rapid than in the past five years,” said executive director Maria van der Hoeven at a webinar launching the report on Thursday.  But in terms of investment in renewables, there has been a slowdown in the first part of this year, said Didier Houssin, IEA’s director of energy markets and security, adding that he expects new sources of financing to emerge as banks and utilities become more constrained in terms of financing projects.

UN suggests carbon tax to help raise $400bn of development finance

Environmental Finance | News | UN suggests carbon tax to help raise $400bn of development finance
The UN has proposed financial mechanisms to raise $400 billion of development finance, including a $25 tax per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries.  Many donor countries have cut back their assistance funding due to the global economic crisis, says the World Economic and Social Survey 2012: In Search of New Development Finance, released on Thursday. This has led to a need for new, innovative ways to raise finance to, for example, combat climate change and support healthcare systems in the developing world.  “Although donors must meet their commitments, it is time to look for other ways to find resources to finance development needs and address growing global challenges, such as combating climate change,” said Rob Vos, New York-based lead author of the report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).  The report says that “the potential for innovative development finance is particularly high in the area of fighting climate change”, and suggests a tax on carbon dioxide emissions in developed countries of $25 per tonne, which would raise about $250 billion per year, it estimates. The funding would...