The week in clean energy and carbon: China shines, EU fades

The week in clean energy and carbon: China shines, EU fades - reneweconomy.com.au : Renew Economy
New investments in clean energy totalled $US56.9 billion in the second quarter of 2012, a 24 per cent rebound from the previous quarter. The figures, published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance last week, were 18 per cent down year-on-year however. And they did little to bolster the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, or NEX, which sank 3.8 per cent last week, taking its losses this year to almost 14 per cent.  The star performer for clean energy investment was China with $US18.3 billion, boosting its Q2 investment 92 per cent over the previous quarter. Michael Leibreich, chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, noted that China has started creating enough demand to start “mopping up” some of the over-capacity it helped instigate. “China has recently quadrupled its domestic goals for solar installations. And it has been by far the biggest market for wind turbines for several years,” he said...

Why the RET is gold medal-winning energy policy

Why the RET is gold medal-winning energy policy - reneweconomy.com.au : Renew Economy
There’s a reason why the Renewable Energy Target is supported by all federal political parties – it works. The Renewable Energy Target, which aims to generate roughly 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020, has been extraordinarily successful in building a strong clean energy industry, reducing Australia’s carbon pollution, encouraging Australians to take action on climate change, and in reducing the cost of electricity.  The achievements of the Renewable Energy Target are impressive. It has already stimulated more than $10.5 billion of private sector investment in large-scale clean energy projects, and will double that investment over the next decade.

Climate Progress

Climate Progress | ThinkProgress
The first new U.S. standard for nitrogen dioxide in at least 35 years was upheld by a federal appeals court, which said the Environmental Protection Agency had the authority to attempt to improve air quality around the nation’s busiest roadways. [Businessweek]  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington today threw out a challenge by the American Petroleum Institute to regulations restricting the peak amount of nitrogen dioxide, or NO2, from tailpipes and smokestacks that can be present in the air during a one-hour period. Levels of the toxic gas are limited to a one-hour standard of 100 parts per billion.

Shell, SSE Project Wins U.K.’s First Seabed CCS Deal

Shell, SSE Project Wins U.K.’s First Seabed CCS Deal - Bloomberg
Britain for the first time granted an option to store carbon dioxide under the seabed, allowing a project owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and SSE Plc (SSE) in Scotland to progress.  The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed on behalf of the monarchy, said in a statement it agreed to lease a storage area in the depleted Goldeneye gas field in the North Sea to Shell and SSE. The two companies are proposing to add a carbon capture and storage facility to an existing power plant at Peterhead north of Aberdeen.  Peterhead is competing for 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of funding in a government competition that aims to spur CCS projects, putting the U.K. on track to cut emissions in half by 2027 and strip carbon out of the electricity generation industry. Alstom SA (ALO) and Drax Group Plc (DRX) are also competing for the funds.

Average Chinese person's carbon footprint now equals European's

Average Chinese person's carbon footprint now equals European's | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The average Chinese person's carbon footprint is now almost on a par with the average European's, figures released on Wednesday reveal.  China became the largest national emitter of CO2 in 2006, though its emissions per person have always been lower than those in developed countries such as Europe.  But today's report, which only covers emissions from energy, by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and the European commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) show that per capita emissions in China increased by 9% in 2011 to reach 7.2 tonnes per person, only a fraction lower than the EU average of 7.5 tonnes.  The figure for the US is still much higher – at 17.3 tonnes – though total Chinese CO2 emissions are now around 80% higher than those of America. This widening gap reflects a 9% increase in total emissions in China in 2011, driven mainly by rising coal use, compared with a 2% decline in the US.

Investors warn against delaying wind energy subsidy cut decision

Investors warn against delaying wind energy subsidy cut decision | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Investors have warned that government delays in deciding the future of onshore wind energy subsidies could jeopardise billions of pounds of investment and damage the prospects for new green jobs in the UK.  A decision on whether onshore wind energy subsidies should be cut by 10%, as the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) has proposed, or by 25%, as the Treasury wants, was expected this week. However, the two departments and senior cabinet members are still at war over the changes and the decision has been deferred – potentially for months, though the government refused to estimate how long the delay would be.  Investors and renewable companies...

Ocean Fertilization Study Finds That Dumping Iron Might Help Remove Atmospheric Carbon Through Algae

Ocean Fertilization Study Finds That Dumping Iron Might Help Remove Atmospheric Carbon Through Algae
Dumping iron in the seas can help transfer carbon from the atmosphere and bury it on the ocean floor for centuries, helping to fight climate change, according to a study released on Wednesday.  The report, by an international team of experts, provided a boost for the disputed use of such ocean fertilisation for combating global warming. But it failed to answer questions over possible damage to marine life.  When dumped into the ocean, the iron can spur growth of tiny plants that carry heat-trapping carbon to the ocean floor when they die, the study said.

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18 Jul 2012 13:20

EU ETS fix faces more legislative hurdles

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) - An EU plan to cut supply of CO2 permits from 2013 could fac…

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18 Jul 2012 11:05

UPDATE 1: EU carbon hits 5-wk low on set-aside fears

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) - European carbon prices crashed by as much as 11 percent on…

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18 Jul 2012 16:43

EU approval to intervene in ETS may take 6 mths: IETA

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) - A legal clarification confirming the EU has the power to in…

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18 Jul 2012 16:24

Sweden to buy 600k CERs from Uruguay wind project

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) – The Swedish government will buy 600,000 U.N.-backed offset…

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18 Jul 2012 14:57

Revenues dip at Indian utility as it hoards CERs

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) - Indian clean power generator Greenko reported a 17-percent…

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18 Jul 2012 12:50

Deutsche Bank cuts carbon price outlook for Q3

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank on Wednesday cut its price outlook for European Union carb…

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17 Jul 2012 19:27

EU plan to fix ETS to contain no numbers, faces delays: source

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Push on for green auctions

Push on for green auctions - National News - National - General - Great Lakes Advocate
As debate rages over the future of a renewable energy target that mainly promotes wind power, a Melbourne think tank is calling for it to be replaced with a new scheme to help transform the electricity industry.  A Grattan Institute report argues that a carbon trading scheme is essential for Australia to meet ambitious long-term targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but will not on its own reduce the cost of clean technologies that can produce enough electricity to replace coal.  It calls for a system - potentially using funding from the new $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation, or something similar - under which the government would guarantee a financial return for companies considering large, risky investments in clean power.

UN-backed carbon offsets hit new low

UPDATE 1-UN-backed carbon offsets hit new low | Reuters
Benchmark carbon credits backed by the United Nations plunged 11 percent to a fresh record low early on Wednesday, taking a cue from a sharp drop in European Union emissions allowances amid uncertainty about an EU supply curb plan.  Traders and analysts attributed the fall in carbon prices to news late on Tuesday that the European Commission will delay providing details about the number of allowances that could be withheld from the oversupplied market until September.

Spotlight on Tokyo: world’s first urban cap and trade program yields promising first-year results

Spotlight on Tokyo: world’s first urban cap and trade program yields promising first-year results – News Watch
The results of the first fiscal year of operation of Tokyo’s cap and trade program are in – and they go far in validating the city’s groundbreaking initiative to introduce a market-based approach to emissions reductions at the urban scale. Reports on 1,159 building facilities show collective emissions reductions of 13 percent over base-year figures; this was due to the active implementation of more than 5,700 measures by building owners to reduce energy use and corresponding emissions.  Cap and trade systems, more formally known as “emissions trading systems”, set a limit on total emissions for a given period of time, and allocate initial allowances to participants who may then buy or sell the allowances as needed.  Launched in April 2010, Tokyo’s mandatory program is backed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Security Ordinance. Importantly, the program targets 1,348 of Tokyo’s largest CO2-emitting buildings in the commercial and industrial sectors. Owners are obligated to cut emissions from between six and eight percent from base-year levels by 2014, in addition to continuing to publish their emissions reports and reduction plans on an annual basis (mandatory emissions reporting began in 2000).  The cap and trade program uses both “carrots” and “sticks” to ensure compliance — and it is working exceedingly well. According to the first-year results, an impressive 64 percent of facilities succeeded in meeting the compliance factor in FY2010, while one quarter of facilities have already reduced emissions by 17 percent or more, which is the expected compliance factor for the second compliance period (FY2015-2019).

EU rescue plan setback drives down carbon prices

EU rescue plan setback drives down carbon prices | Reuters

A delay until September of keenly awaited details of the European Commission's plans to remove emissions permits from Europe's carbon market sent carbon prices sharply lower on Wednesday.  Three separate EU sources said on Tuesday details on how to fix a supply glut in the carbon market would now not come until after the Commission's August recess, prompting falls of up to seven percent in already low carbon prices.  Market participants scrambled to unwind long positions and Deutsche Bank cut its EU carbon price forecast for the third quarter to 6-8 euros from 6-10.