Government defends £400m energy and climate budget underspend

Government defends £400m energy and climate budget underspend | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has defended a £400m budget underspend from last year, after concerns were raised by some green businesses that the government had cut back unnecessarily on climate change spending.  According to a new Treasury report, DECC failed to spend nearly 14 per cent of its 2011/12 budget, representing the largest proportional underspend of any government department.  In total, government departments cut their spending by £6.7bn more than was planned last year, meaning government spending fell by 5.2 per cent in real terms between 2010-11 and 2011-12, instead of the expected 3.5 per cent drop.  The largest under-spender was the NHS, which saved £1.7bn. However, DECC emerged as the department that underspent the largest proportion of its budget.  The news is likely to prompt criticism that DECC's programme of cuts, which saw slashed budgets for bodies such as the Carbon Trust and the Energy Savings Trust...

Cornell Researcher Rebuts Colleagues on Fracking Leaks

Cornell Researcher Rebuts Colleagues on Fracking Leaks - Bloomberg
Replacing coal with natural gas cuts the creation of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, a Cornell University researcher has concluded, rebutting the findings of colleagues at the university.  Lawrence M. Cathles, a professor in the department of earth and atmospheric sciences, released a paper that says even if high rates of natural gas are leaking out after hydraulic fracturing and during transport, gas will still provide a net benefit over time.  “The only thing that really counts is the amount of carbon dioxide you put in the atmosphere,” Cathles said in an interview today. Because gas releases less carbon dioxide than coal or oil when combusted, “the story is quite clear that we would be very well advised to substitute natural gas.”

Wind Industry Worries Over Potential Slowdown in Midwest

Wind Industry Worries Over Potential Slowdown in Midwest - WSJ.com
Acciona Windpower's generator-assembly plant here in the heart of the corn belt is down to its last domestic order as the U.S. wind energy industry faces a sharp slowdown.  Demand for the school bus-size pods it assembles to house the guts of a wind turbine is drying up as a key federal tax credit nears expiration. Acciona is now banking on foreign orders to keep the plant going next year, while hoping the credit will be extended...

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10 Jul 2012 14:25

Electricity lobby warns of delays to EU ETS fix

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters Point Carbon) - Eurelectric on Tuesday warned its members that long-awaited…

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EU ETS

10 Jul 2012 17:14

Bourses seek volume boost from EU CO2 auction deal

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The European Union's upcoming selection of an exchange to host governmen…

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Markets

10 Jul 2012 19:47

California launches carbon permit tracking system

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9 (Reuters Point Carbon) – California launched a new system to track carbon mark…

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10 Jul 2012 18:18

EUAs fall 2 pct amid big drop in gas prices

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters Point Carbon) - EU Allowances traded almost 2 percent lower on Tuesday amid…

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Domestic policy

10 Jul 2012 12:17

Japan aims for $628 bln green energy market to boost economy

TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Japan will aim to create a $628 billion green energy market by 2020 throu…

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EU ETS

09 Jul 2012 11:46

Poland to block ETS changes until 2020: official

LONDON - July 9 (Reuters Point Carbon) - Poland will block discussions on any measure that will lead…

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Domestic policy

10 Jul 2012 00:46

PREVIEW: US power industry braces for court air pollution ruling

WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters Point Carbon) - The U.S. power industry is waiting for a federal appeals…

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Germany Sells 300,000 Spot EU CO2 Permits at 7.87 Euros on EEX

Germany Sells 300,000 Spot EU CO2 Permits at 7.87 Euros on EEX - Bloomberg
Germany sold 300,000 European Union spot carbon permits at 7.87 euros ($9.69) a metric ton in an auction on the European Energy Exchange AG, according to the bourse’s website.  The country is selling as many as 21 million tons of spot and 32 million tons of December futures contracts in weekly sales as part of its allocation of permits in 2012. The EU’s emissions trading system is in its second phase, which runs from 2008 to the end of this year.  EEX has also auctioned Phase 2 permits on behalf of the Netherlands and Lithuania, and is selling Phase 3 allowances for delivery in 2013 for the European Investment Bank.

Republicans Offer Bill to Bar U.S. Backing for Future Solyndras

Republicans Offer Bill to Bar U.S. Backing for Future Solyndras - Bloomberg
House Republicans investigating the collapse of Solyndra LLC proposed legislation that would bar the U.S. Energy Department from issuing any loan guarantees for projects submitted this year or later.  The measure, which will be discussed by two House Energy and Commerce Committee panels at a July 12 hearing, also requires the Treasury Department to review U.S. financing for applications submitted before Dec. 31, 2011, a response to concerns...

British farmers told to grow curry ingredients for sustainability

British farmers told to grow curry ingredients for sustainability | Environment | The Guardian

Growing ingredients for Indian curries such as chickpeas for pakoras as well as a range of exotic herbs and spices would open up new markets for British farmers and reduce dependence on imports, according to government report into how the agricultural sector can operate more sustainably in future. Growing more curry ingredients domestically could also potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from food imports.  By examining the problems facing the UK's food production and countryside through key sectors and foods including curries, breads and dairy products, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is hoping to improve food systems at a time when they are coming under increasing threat. The Green Food Project report says that major changes must be made to agriculture, food processing and retailing, if price rises are to be kept in check and the natural environment preserved.

Oil firm accused over Kalamazoo spill 'handled response like Keystone Cops

Oil firm accused over Kalamazoo spill 'handled response like Keystone Cops' | Environment | guardian.co.uk
A scathing government investigation into a devastating oil spill on Michigan's Kalamazoo River found the pipeline company overlooked danger signs for five years before the accident and handled their response like the "Keystone Cops".  The July 2010 rupture of the Enbridge pipeline caused the most damaging onshore oil spill in US history, poisoning 35 miles of waterway and exposing 320 people to crude oil. Clean-up costs were more than $800m.  The US National Transportation Board said in presenting its report on Wednesday that accident could have been avoided, and accused Enbridge of overlooking warning signs of corrosion, cracks, and thinning metal in the pipeline that first emerged in 2004.  Board members also accused the Calgary-based company of botching their response to the oil spill, allowing more than 1m gallons of crude to gush into the Kalamazoo River.

Bourses seek volume boost from EU CO2 auction deal

Bourses seek volume boost from EU CO2 auction deal | Reuters
The European Union's upcoming selection of an exchange to host government auctions of billions of carbon permits offers the winner a likely boost in trading volume and membership.  Paris-based BlueNext, ICE Futures Europe and Leipzig-based European Energy Exchange have all confirmed they are in the running.  Traders and analysts said any of the three could win though some saw ICE and EEX possibly having an edge because of their lead roles in secondary trading volume or hosting existing carbon auctions...

Rising carbon dioxide in atmosphere also speeds carbon loss from forest soils

Rising carbon dioxide in atmosphere also speeds carbon loss from forest soils: study
The new evidence supports an emerging view that although forests remove a substantial amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, much of the carbon is being stored in living woody biomass rather than as dead organic matter in soils.  Richard P. Phillips, lead author on the paper and an assistant professor of biology in the IU College of Arts and Sciences, said that after nearly two decades of research on forest ecosystem responses to global change, some of the uncertainty has been lifted about how forests are storing carbon in the wake of rising carbon dioxide levels...

EU CO2 Market Has 950 Million Excess Permits, Hedegaard Says

EU CO2 Market Has 950 Million Excess Permits, Hedegaard Says - Bloomberg
The European Union emissions trading system is oversupplied by allowances equivalent to almost 50 percent of the annual pollution limit in the program, according to Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard.  “The difficult macroeconomic circumstances have substantially altered the supply-demand balance in the European carbon market,” she told a conference in Brussels today. “Together with the increasing use of international credits this has been the key driver in the build-up of unused allowances to now more than 950 million.”  The excess drove prices in the world’s biggest cap-and- trade program to a record low in April, triggering calls from companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) for the EU to withhold a number of permits from the market as of next year. The surplus, equivalent to almost half the 2.04 billion-metric-ton average annual allocation in the 2008-2012 trading phase, can be carried over to the next period from 2013 to 2020.

Emissions trading scheme to hit orchardists hard

Emissions trading scheme to hit orchardists hard - Local News - News - General - Donnybrook - Bridgetown Mail
Orchardists could be hit hard by the emissions trading scheme because they cannot pass on increased costs.  Peak horticulture body Growcom policy manager David Putland said farmers could not simply pass the costs of the carbon price on because farm businesses had to accept prices set by the market.  A Growcom report released last week presented the first detailed economic modelling of the carbon price in the horticulture sector and how the carbon price will flow through the supply chain and affect farms' bottom lines.  "While agricultural businesses aren't directly involved in the carbon price mechanism, they will be affected by increases to the costs of important inputs such as electricity, fertiliser, chemicals and packaging," Mr Putland said.  He said the carbon price would increase farm input costs by between $5000 and $42,000 per year in 2012, which equated to between 0.3 and 0.8 per cent of gross farm income.  "By 2020, input costs may have increased by between about $7000 and $56,000, or up to 0.94 per cent of gross income...