+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
U.S. Utilities to Double Solar Investment Annually (Update1)
2010-11-30 16:13:56.962 GMT
(Adds NRG investment in eighth paragraph, shares in last.)
By Ben Sills and Christopher Martin
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. utilities may double
investments in solar power generation each year through 2015 as
states demand more renewable energy and equipment prices fall,
consultant GTM Research said.
Installations of so-called utility-scale solar projects
will reach about 3,000 megawatts annually, worth $8 billion, in
five years from 58 megawatts in 2009, GTM analyst Shayle Kahn
forecast in a report. Investments may be as much as 5,000
megawatts, worth $13 billion, should grants be extended or the
financial system recovers more quickly than expected, Kahn said.
Growth in the U.S. may help panel manufacturers offset the
drop that analysts expect in Europe as governments in Germany,
Spain, France and the Czech Republic reduce solar subsidies. The
European Union accounted for most of the global demand for
photovoltaic panels this year as installations in Germany
surged, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
"It is difficult not to be bullish about the U.S. utility
PV market," Kahn wrote in the report. "The market potential is
enormous, the economics have never made more sense, and the
first large projects have been coming on line with increasing
frequency."
Solar-module prices this year are 50 percent lower than in
2008, making utility-size plants economically viable for the
first time, according to the report published by GTM, the market
research unit of Boston-based Greentech Media.
Iberdrola to SunPower
European operators such as Spain's Iberdrola SA and Phoenix
Solar AG of Germany have started developing industrial-size
solar plants in the U.S. to challenge U.S. panel makers First
Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. that dominate the market, Kahn
said. Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar, the biggest developer,
has 2,347 megawatts of new capacity contracted, almost half of
all deals set for construction.
By the end of the forecast period, solar power will begin
to be competitive against fossil fuels in some states, preparing
the ground for further expansion, Kahn added. California will be
the biggest market with more than half of all new capacity,
followed by Arizona and New Jersey.
NRG Energy Inc., a power plant operator with almost 26,000
megawatts of capacity, today said its solar unit plans to invest
$450 million and would "assume all ownership and financing
responsibilities" for a 250-megawatt solar park that SunPower
plans to build in San Luis Obispo, California, starting next
year.
SunPower last month won California regulatory approval to
sell output from the two High Plains Ranch projects to PG&E
Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric Co. utility for 25 years.
SunPower, based in San Jose, California, fell 11 cents, or
0.9 percent, to $11.84 as of 11:05 a.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market
composite trading. Princeton, New Jersey-based NRG slipped 5
cents to $19.50.
For Related News and Information:
Levelized cost of energy: LCOE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Global energy statistics: NRG <GO>
--Editors: Todd White, Randall Hackley.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Ben Sills in Madrid at +34-91-700-9603 or bsills@bloomberg.net
Christopher Martin in New York at +1-212-617-5198 or
cmartin11@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net.
2010/11/30
(BN) Coca-Cola CEO Says More Than One Climate Accord Needed (Update1)
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Coca-Cola CEO Says More Than One Climate Accord Needed (Update1)
2010-11-30 12:14:30.662 GMT
(Adds India minister, Temple professor comments from fifth
paragraph.)
By Kim Chipman
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. Chief Executive
Officer Muhtar Kent said multiple international accords, not a
single treaty, are needed to fight climate change.
"I don't think one treaty can work for the world," Kent,
58, said in an interview in Cancun, Mexico, where delegates from
more than 190 countries are gathered for United Nations-led
talks on setting rules to limit global warming.
The world's largest soft-drink maker is among companies in
the Mexican resort lobbying envoys on the shape of an eventual
accord that may restrict emissions from burning fossil fuels,
channel up to $100 billion to poor nations and protect forests.
A year ago in Copenhagen, delegates failed to draft a
treaty, leaving in limbo the 1997 Kyoto accord that mandated
cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions until the end of 2012. While
envoys aim to replace that agreement with new commitments, UN
officials say a treaty is unlikely to be drafted this year.
Comments by India's environment minister and Kent add
strength to suggestions from climate envoys that working for a
single binding treaty may not be the best way forward for the
negotiations set to end Dec. 10.
"An international agreement is not anywhere on the
horizon," Jairam Ramesh said today in New Delhi. "Action has to
be domestic. That's what the last 15 months has shown."
Rich, Poor Divide
Since the Copenhagen round of talks concluded with a non-
binding agreement, negotiators have been unable to bridge the
divide between richer nations bound by the Kyoto treaty and
poorer countries led by China and India that reject similar
rules for their industrializing economies. Indian and Chinese
leaders say their priorities are economic growth and ending
poverty.
"We've been at it for 18 years on climate change but
that's not unique," said Duncan Hollis, an associate professor
at Temple University's Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia and
editor of the "Oxford Guide to Treaties" to be published next
year. "Breaking this up into smaller pieces and trying to knock
off one piece at a time is certainly worth trying."
Momentum is building instead for extending national and
regional plans to limit greenhouse gases, from domestic carbon
markets to renewable-energy standards, in which utilities are
forced to include a fixed percentage of clean energy in the mix
they sell to consumers.
Indian Viewpoint
The UN talks in their second day today in Mexico are moving
away from a global treaty, Ramesh said. Meetings instead should
focus on "domestic actions," the minister said, adding that
India won't accept limits on growth set by other nations.
While executives from 400 companies including Tesco Plc and
Unilever NV released a statement saying they'd work to end
deforestation and use of refrigerants that harm the atmosphere,
the Coca-Cola executive went further, delving into the politics
of treaty-making.
"There can't be just one framework," Kent said, adding
that "you can't judge India's progress with the same metrics as
U.S. progress."
The UN framework needs to become "more flexible" and
allow countries to have different timelines for moving ahead
with efforts to curb fossil-fuel emissions, Kent said.
Government Incentives
While companies can accomplish much on their own to reduce
emissions and protect the environment, only governments can set
a price on carbon and provide the incentives needed to spur
shifts in energy use, he said.
President Barack Obama failed to win passage in Congress
this year of legislation to cap carbon emissions linked to
global warming. Prospects for action will grow slimmer next year
when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives
and expand their minority in the Senate. Dozens of Republican
lawmakers elected this month have expressed skepticism about
global warming or action to curb it.
For Related News and Information:
Coca-Cola climate change: KO US <Equity> TCNI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable energy stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
Emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--With assistance from Randall Hackley in London and Natalie
Obiko Pearson in New Delhi. Editors: Peter Langan, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
Coca-Cola CEO Says More Than One Climate Accord Needed (Update1)
2010-11-30 12:14:30.662 GMT
(Adds India minister, Temple professor comments from fifth
paragraph.)
By Kim Chipman
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. Chief Executive
Officer Muhtar Kent said multiple international accords, not a
single treaty, are needed to fight climate change.
"I don't think one treaty can work for the world," Kent,
58, said in an interview in Cancun, Mexico, where delegates from
more than 190 countries are gathered for United Nations-led
talks on setting rules to limit global warming.
The world's largest soft-drink maker is among companies in
the Mexican resort lobbying envoys on the shape of an eventual
accord that may restrict emissions from burning fossil fuels,
channel up to $100 billion to poor nations and protect forests.
A year ago in Copenhagen, delegates failed to draft a
treaty, leaving in limbo the 1997 Kyoto accord that mandated
cuts in carbon-dioxide emissions until the end of 2012. While
envoys aim to replace that agreement with new commitments, UN
officials say a treaty is unlikely to be drafted this year.
Comments by India's environment minister and Kent add
strength to suggestions from climate envoys that working for a
single binding treaty may not be the best way forward for the
negotiations set to end Dec. 10.
"An international agreement is not anywhere on the
horizon," Jairam Ramesh said today in New Delhi. "Action has to
be domestic. That's what the last 15 months has shown."
Rich, Poor Divide
Since the Copenhagen round of talks concluded with a non-
binding agreement, negotiators have been unable to bridge the
divide between richer nations bound by the Kyoto treaty and
poorer countries led by China and India that reject similar
rules for their industrializing economies. Indian and Chinese
leaders say their priorities are economic growth and ending
poverty.
"We've been at it for 18 years on climate change but
that's not unique," said Duncan Hollis, an associate professor
at Temple University's Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia and
editor of the "Oxford Guide to Treaties" to be published next
year. "Breaking this up into smaller pieces and trying to knock
off one piece at a time is certainly worth trying."
Momentum is building instead for extending national and
regional plans to limit greenhouse gases, from domestic carbon
markets to renewable-energy standards, in which utilities are
forced to include a fixed percentage of clean energy in the mix
they sell to consumers.
Indian Viewpoint
The UN talks in their second day today in Mexico are moving
away from a global treaty, Ramesh said. Meetings instead should
focus on "domestic actions," the minister said, adding that
India won't accept limits on growth set by other nations.
While executives from 400 companies including Tesco Plc and
Unilever NV released a statement saying they'd work to end
deforestation and use of refrigerants that harm the atmosphere,
the Coca-Cola executive went further, delving into the politics
of treaty-making.
"There can't be just one framework," Kent said, adding
that "you can't judge India's progress with the same metrics as
U.S. progress."
The UN framework needs to become "more flexible" and
allow countries to have different timelines for moving ahead
with efforts to curb fossil-fuel emissions, Kent said.
Government Incentives
While companies can accomplish much on their own to reduce
emissions and protect the environment, only governments can set
a price on carbon and provide the incentives needed to spur
shifts in energy use, he said.
President Barack Obama failed to win passage in Congress
this year of legislation to cap carbon emissions linked to
global warming. Prospects for action will grow slimmer next year
when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives
and expand their minority in the Senate. Dozens of Republican
lawmakers elected this month have expressed skepticism about
global warming or action to curb it.
For Related News and Information:
Coca-Cola climate change: KO US <Equity> TCNI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable energy stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
Emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--With assistance from Randall Hackley in London and Natalie
Obiko Pearson in New Delhi. Editors: Peter Langan, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
(BN) Third-Most Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends, U.S. Spared
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Third-Most Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends, U.S. Spared
2010-11-30 16:50:43.486 GMT
By Brian K. Sullivan and Blake Schmidt
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The third-most active Atlantic
hurricane season officially ends today after causing at least
$1.6 billion in damage and killing hundreds while leaving the
U.S. virtually unscathed.
The season produced 19 named storms, with winds of at least
39 miles (63 kilometers) per hour, tying for third place with
1995 and 1887, and none made landfall on the U.S. as a
hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Only 1933, which produced 21 systems, and 2005 with a record 28,
had more.
"It was an incredibly active year but we missed it in the
U.S.," said Jeff Masters, co-founder of commercial forecaster
Weather Underground Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "We lucked out
with the oil spill and Haiti didn't get totally smacked by a bad
hurricane."
Canada, Mexico, Central America and parts of the Caribbean
suffered major impacts. Newfoundland recorded about $100 million
in damage and one death from Hurricane Igor in September, and
Hurricane Tomas in October and November killed 41 and caused
more than $500 million in damage in Costa Rica and St. Lucia.
Igor breached the highway system in the Canadian province
of Newfoundland and Labrador in 100 places and damaged 200
communities, said Kevin O'Brien, provincial minister of
municipal affairs.
"It was one of the most significant events that we have
had in over 100 years," O'Brien said. "It was a big storm."
Central America
Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala received
multiple storm hits, with Mexico and Guatemala pummeled by
systems from both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Tropical Storm Agatha, off the Pacific, combined with the
eruption of the Pacaya volcano to kill at least 235 people in
Guatemala. The Inter-American Development Bank approved $250
million in financing to help the county recover.
In September, Hurricane Karl, an Atlantic storm, killed 23
and caused an estimated $100 million in insured damages to
Mexico, according to the Insurance Information Institute
Website.
The U.S. did receive some damage from this year's storms.
Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Hermine struck just south of
the U.S.-Mexico border and brought severe flooding to Texas. At
least 13 people died in flooding, according to the Texas
Department of Public Safety.
Close Calls
Hurricane Earl grazed North Carolina's Outer Banks and
Nantucket island in Massachusetts. Tropical Storm Bonnie crossed
southern Florida in July.
Rains triggered by storms off the Atlantic killed at least
70 in Nicaragua and forced 10,000 into shelters, according to
the health ministry.
Evangelina Sanchez, 49, and her four children are among
the 700 people still in a shelter in Managua, Nicaragua, three
months after her home on the shore of Lake Xolotan was flooded.
"The lake came into my house and destroyed it," she said.
"Now we have nothing. The government says it will build me a
house, but who knows."
The U.S. was spared for the most part because weather
patterns established early in the season deflected storms,
keeping many out to sea, said Thomas Downs, a meteorologist with
Weather 2000 Inc. in New York.
Since 1995, 30 percent of all Atlantic hurricanes have hit
the U.S., Masters said. This season, there were 12 hurricanes, a
tie with 1969 for second-most, according to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
Spared Hits
Given the recent trend, the U.S. should have been hit by at
least four, Masters said. This year's storms avoided a direct
path over the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and spared
Haiti a brutal hit on areas still reeling from an earthquake in
January.
Before the season began June 1, Colorado State University
and the U.S. Climate Prediction Center both called for an active
period.
Colorado State called for 18 storms overall, with 10
becoming hurricanes. The climate center originally called for 14
to 23 named storms and later reduced that number to 14 to 20.
"We'll probably never do better; I give all the credit to
Phil Klotzbach, my colleague," said William Gray, co-author of
the Colorado State forecast and the man who started seasonal
hurricane forecasts in the 1980s. "We forecast 18 named storms
and we have 19, we forecast for 90 named storm days and we got
88.25 days, we forecast 10 hurricanes and we have gotten 12, we
undershot there."
This year's season was so active because of record sea
surface temperatures in the Atlantic and a La Nina, or cooling,
in the Pacific. Cooler water in the Pacific lessens wind shear
in the Atlantic that can retard storm development there.
Masters said there is a 25 percent chance La Nina may
linger through next year and a 50 percent chance the Pacific's
warmth will be neutral. Both of which can mean a more active
hurricane season in the Atlantic.
"So you have a 75 percent chance of a pretty darn active
season again next year," Masters said.
For Related News and Information:
Tropical weather affecting the U.S.: STNI USHURRICANES <GO>
Bloomberg weather center: WEAT <GO>
Energy top stories: ETOP <GO>
--With assistance from Alex Morales in London. Editors:
Charlotte Porter, Richard Stubbe
To contact the reporters on this story:
Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at +1-617-210-4631 or
Bsullivan10@bloomberg.net;
Blake Schmidt in Managua at +50-5-2552-7220 or
bschmidt16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets@bloomberg.net
Third-Most Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends, U.S. Spared
2010-11-30 16:50:43.486 GMT
By Brian K. Sullivan and Blake Schmidt
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The third-most active Atlantic
hurricane season officially ends today after causing at least
$1.6 billion in damage and killing hundreds while leaving the
U.S. virtually unscathed.
The season produced 19 named storms, with winds of at least
39 miles (63 kilometers) per hour, tying for third place with
1995 and 1887, and none made landfall on the U.S. as a
hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Only 1933, which produced 21 systems, and 2005 with a record 28,
had more.
"It was an incredibly active year but we missed it in the
U.S.," said Jeff Masters, co-founder of commercial forecaster
Weather Underground Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. "We lucked out
with the oil spill and Haiti didn't get totally smacked by a bad
hurricane."
Canada, Mexico, Central America and parts of the Caribbean
suffered major impacts. Newfoundland recorded about $100 million
in damage and one death from Hurricane Igor in September, and
Hurricane Tomas in October and November killed 41 and caused
more than $500 million in damage in Costa Rica and St. Lucia.
Igor breached the highway system in the Canadian province
of Newfoundland and Labrador in 100 places and damaged 200
communities, said Kevin O'Brien, provincial minister of
municipal affairs.
"It was one of the most significant events that we have
had in over 100 years," O'Brien said. "It was a big storm."
Central America
Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala received
multiple storm hits, with Mexico and Guatemala pummeled by
systems from both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Tropical Storm Agatha, off the Pacific, combined with the
eruption of the Pacaya volcano to kill at least 235 people in
Guatemala. The Inter-American Development Bank approved $250
million in financing to help the county recover.
In September, Hurricane Karl, an Atlantic storm, killed 23
and caused an estimated $100 million in insured damages to
Mexico, according to the Insurance Information Institute
Website.
The U.S. did receive some damage from this year's storms.
Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Hermine struck just south of
the U.S.-Mexico border and brought severe flooding to Texas. At
least 13 people died in flooding, according to the Texas
Department of Public Safety.
Close Calls
Hurricane Earl grazed North Carolina's Outer Banks and
Nantucket island in Massachusetts. Tropical Storm Bonnie crossed
southern Florida in July.
Rains triggered by storms off the Atlantic killed at least
70 in Nicaragua and forced 10,000 into shelters, according to
the health ministry.
Evangelina Sanchez, 49, and her four children are among
the 700 people still in a shelter in Managua, Nicaragua, three
months after her home on the shore of Lake Xolotan was flooded.
"The lake came into my house and destroyed it," she said.
"Now we have nothing. The government says it will build me a
house, but who knows."
The U.S. was spared for the most part because weather
patterns established early in the season deflected storms,
keeping many out to sea, said Thomas Downs, a meteorologist with
Weather 2000 Inc. in New York.
Since 1995, 30 percent of all Atlantic hurricanes have hit
the U.S., Masters said. This season, there were 12 hurricanes, a
tie with 1969 for second-most, according to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
Spared Hits
Given the recent trend, the U.S. should have been hit by at
least four, Masters said. This year's storms avoided a direct
path over the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and spared
Haiti a brutal hit on areas still reeling from an earthquake in
January.
Before the season began June 1, Colorado State University
and the U.S. Climate Prediction Center both called for an active
period.
Colorado State called for 18 storms overall, with 10
becoming hurricanes. The climate center originally called for 14
to 23 named storms and later reduced that number to 14 to 20.
"We'll probably never do better; I give all the credit to
Phil Klotzbach, my colleague," said William Gray, co-author of
the Colorado State forecast and the man who started seasonal
hurricane forecasts in the 1980s. "We forecast 18 named storms
and we have 19, we forecast for 90 named storm days and we got
88.25 days, we forecast 10 hurricanes and we have gotten 12, we
undershot there."
This year's season was so active because of record sea
surface temperatures in the Atlantic and a La Nina, or cooling,
in the Pacific. Cooler water in the Pacific lessens wind shear
in the Atlantic that can retard storm development there.
Masters said there is a 25 percent chance La Nina may
linger through next year and a 50 percent chance the Pacific's
warmth will be neutral. Both of which can mean a more active
hurricane season in the Atlantic.
"So you have a 75 percent chance of a pretty darn active
season again next year," Masters said.
For Related News and Information:
Tropical weather affecting the U.S.: STNI USHURRICANES <GO>
Bloomberg weather center: WEAT <GO>
Energy top stories: ETOP <GO>
--With assistance from Alex Morales in London. Editors:
Charlotte Porter, Richard Stubbe
To contact the reporters on this story:
Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at +1-617-210-4631 or
Bsullivan10@bloomberg.net;
Blake Schmidt in Managua at +50-5-2552-7220 or
bschmidt16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets@bloomberg.net
(BN) Emissions Pledges Insufficient to Curb Global Warming, UN Says
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Emissions Pledges Insufficient to Curb Global Warming, UN Says
2010-11-29 20:10:01.390 GMT
By Alex Morales
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pledges by industrial nations to
curtail greenhouse gas emissions won't be sufficient to limit
global warming, the United Nation's lead diplomat on the issue
said.
"Even if all the national targets and actions now on the
table were enacted in full, they will not lead to the goal of
limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius," Christiana Figueres,
the UN envoy leading global warming talks, said today at a press
conference in Cancun, Mexico.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
Emissions Pledges Insufficient to Curb Global Warming, UN Says
2010-11-29 20:10:01.390 GMT
By Alex Morales
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pledges by industrial nations to
curtail greenhouse gas emissions won't be sufficient to limit
global warming, the United Nation's lead diplomat on the issue
said.
"Even if all the national targets and actions now on the
table were enacted in full, they will not lead to the goal of
limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius," Christiana Figueres,
the UN envoy leading global warming talks, said today at a press
conference in Cancun, Mexico.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
(BN) U.S., EU Expect Limited Progress at Climate Talks, No Treaty
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
U.S., EU Expect Limited Progress at Climate Talks, No Treaty
2010-11-29 22:06:45.111 GMT
By Kim Chipman and Alex Morales
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European Union envoys said
they expect progress on forming a $100 billion fund to fight
global warming and on protecting forests at climate talks in
Cancun, Mexico, though no treaty will be agreed.
"We come here with a sense of realism," said Peter
Wittoeck, climate negotiator for Belgium, which holds the
rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU. "This will have to be
an incremental step."
The comments, at the start of two weeks of meetings
involving more than 190 nations, suggest there's not enough
political backing for an accord to limit an increase in the
temperature of the atmosphere to 2 degrees Celsius, said
Christiana Figueres, the UN's chief envoy leading the talks.
"Even if all the national targets and actions now on the
table were enacted in full, they will not lead to the goal of
limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius," Figueres said today at a
press conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Gains of that scale would exacerbate the harmful effects of
climate change, which already this year has been responsible for
21,000 deaths, twice the level in 2009, according to Oxfam. The
London-based pressure group said global warming is linked to
record temperatures and floods in Pakistan that displaced 20
million people and wildfires in Russia that destroyed 26 percent
of the nation's wheat crop this year.
'Will Not Deliver'
"Cancun will not deliver everything that a global response
to climate change should," said Tim Gore of Oxfam. "It can
deliver outcomes that will benefit poor people."
With the World Meteorological Organization warning that
emissions of the greenhouse gasses blamed for damaging the
atmosphere are at a record, envoys have yet to work out a way to
extend the cuts to carbon dioxide output they agreed in Kyoto,
Japan in 1997.
Talks aimed at a treaty collapsed in Copenhagen a year ago
and produced instead a non-binding package of promises from the
U.S., China, India and other countries. Figueres and Jonathan
Pershing, who leads the U.S. delegation, said progress this year
could be made on reducing emissions by protecting forests that
absorb CO2 and on starting a "green fund" that would help poor
nations adapt to climate change.
"If countries take a determined and pragmatic view we can
make progress on anchoring mitigation pledges," Pershing said
at a press conference after talks began in Cancun. "We can make
progress on creating a green fund. Balanced advances in all of
these would be an important contribution in dealing with the
climate change problem."
Obama's Pledge
Pershing reiterated President Barack Obama's pledge to cut
emissions 17 percent by 2020 and on delivering $1.7 billion in
2010 for the green fund even though elections in November
restricted the administration's influence in Congress. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and
Nancy Sutley, an adviser to the White House, will attend the
talks next week.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, who is chairing
the discussions, said that "the minimum" the talks should
accomplish is a confirmation of the pledges like the one Obama
made at Copenhagen.
Figueres, who took her post earlier this year after
predecessor Yvo de Boer resigned in the wake of the failure at
Copenhagen, urged delegates to compromise in order to reach an
agreement.
'Compromise' is 'Wisdom'
"When the stakes are high and the issues are challenging,
compromise is an act of wisdom that can unite different
positions in creative ways," Figueres, who is the head of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a speech to
delegates today.
Tomorrow, negotiators will discuss a plan that formally
would call on nations to limit global warming to 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.
Such language was included last year in Copenhagen by the U.S.,
China, India and other countries but not adopted by the UN-led
talks.
Delegates gathering for the talks this weekend said
divisions between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest
polluters, helped rule out a new treaty this year.
While China looks like it will incorporate its Copenhagen
pledges into law next year, the situation in the U.S. is
"difficult" at the moment after elections earlier in the month
changed the composition of Congress, said Artur Runge-Metzger,
lead negotiator for the 27-nation European Union.
'Tough Task'
"China is certainly trying to make efforts to put the
pledges they made into Copenhagen into their five-year plan,"
Runge-Metzger said in an interview in Cancun last night. "It's a
tough task for the Obama administration to take this matter
forward because it's heavily politicized."
The efforts to reduce output of carbon dioxide from cars,
power plants and other man-made sources is urgent, Figueres
said, citing a report from the World Meteorological Organization
last week that showed concentrations of greenhouse gases at
record levels.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the panel that oversees
climate science for the UN, said emissions must peak by 2015 and
then start declining if the world hopes to avoid dangerous and
irreversible climate shifts.
"Warming of the climate system is now unequivocal," said
Pachauri, who leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. "Warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or
irreversible" and delaying action "only increase costs
globally."
Deaths in Mexico
Mexican President Felipe Calderon told negotiators in
Cancun today that global warming already is causing natural
disasters in his nation, killing at least 60 people this year
in storms and events linked to turbulent weather alone in his
country and 1,000 in Guatemala.
"Climate change is already a reality for us," Calderon
said. "When we are negotiating we should think of our children.
We should think of the generations to come. In this territory
there can be no rivalries. It is a shared challenge."
Figueres said the delegates had a complicated but not
impossible task ahead of them. She noted rich nations already
had pledged $28 billion of the finance needed to help poor
countries cope with climate change.
"In the past, you have woven tapestries that have turned
into significant achievements," Figueres said. "I urge you to
further advance those issues in Cancun and to continue weaving
them into ever more effective achievements. The task isn't easy,
but it's achievable."
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
For emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, Will Wade
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Morales in Cancun, Mexico, at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net; or
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
U.S., EU Expect Limited Progress at Climate Talks, No Treaty
2010-11-29 22:06:45.111 GMT
By Kim Chipman and Alex Morales
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European Union envoys said
they expect progress on forming a $100 billion fund to fight
global warming and on protecting forests at climate talks in
Cancun, Mexico, though no treaty will be agreed.
"We come here with a sense of realism," said Peter
Wittoeck, climate negotiator for Belgium, which holds the
rotating presidency of the 27-nation EU. "This will have to be
an incremental step."
The comments, at the start of two weeks of meetings
involving more than 190 nations, suggest there's not enough
political backing for an accord to limit an increase in the
temperature of the atmosphere to 2 degrees Celsius, said
Christiana Figueres, the UN's chief envoy leading the talks.
"Even if all the national targets and actions now on the
table were enacted in full, they will not lead to the goal of
limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius," Figueres said today at a
press conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Gains of that scale would exacerbate the harmful effects of
climate change, which already this year has been responsible for
21,000 deaths, twice the level in 2009, according to Oxfam. The
London-based pressure group said global warming is linked to
record temperatures and floods in Pakistan that displaced 20
million people and wildfires in Russia that destroyed 26 percent
of the nation's wheat crop this year.
'Will Not Deliver'
"Cancun will not deliver everything that a global response
to climate change should," said Tim Gore of Oxfam. "It can
deliver outcomes that will benefit poor people."
With the World Meteorological Organization warning that
emissions of the greenhouse gasses blamed for damaging the
atmosphere are at a record, envoys have yet to work out a way to
extend the cuts to carbon dioxide output they agreed in Kyoto,
Japan in 1997.
Talks aimed at a treaty collapsed in Copenhagen a year ago
and produced instead a non-binding package of promises from the
U.S., China, India and other countries. Figueres and Jonathan
Pershing, who leads the U.S. delegation, said progress this year
could be made on reducing emissions by protecting forests that
absorb CO2 and on starting a "green fund" that would help poor
nations adapt to climate change.
"If countries take a determined and pragmatic view we can
make progress on anchoring mitigation pledges," Pershing said
at a press conference after talks began in Cancun. "We can make
progress on creating a green fund. Balanced advances in all of
these would be an important contribution in dealing with the
climate change problem."
Obama's Pledge
Pershing reiterated President Barack Obama's pledge to cut
emissions 17 percent by 2020 and on delivering $1.7 billion in
2010 for the green fund even though elections in November
restricted the administration's influence in Congress. Energy
Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and
Nancy Sutley, an adviser to the White House, will attend the
talks next week.
Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, who is chairing
the discussions, said that "the minimum" the talks should
accomplish is a confirmation of the pledges like the one Obama
made at Copenhagen.
Figueres, who took her post earlier this year after
predecessor Yvo de Boer resigned in the wake of the failure at
Copenhagen, urged delegates to compromise in order to reach an
agreement.
'Compromise' is 'Wisdom'
"When the stakes are high and the issues are challenging,
compromise is an act of wisdom that can unite different
positions in creative ways," Figueres, who is the head of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a speech to
delegates today.
Tomorrow, negotiators will discuss a plan that formally
would call on nations to limit global warming to 2 degrees
Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.
Such language was included last year in Copenhagen by the U.S.,
China, India and other countries but not adopted by the UN-led
talks.
Delegates gathering for the talks this weekend said
divisions between the U.S. and China, the world's two biggest
polluters, helped rule out a new treaty this year.
While China looks like it will incorporate its Copenhagen
pledges into law next year, the situation in the U.S. is
"difficult" at the moment after elections earlier in the month
changed the composition of Congress, said Artur Runge-Metzger,
lead negotiator for the 27-nation European Union.
'Tough Task'
"China is certainly trying to make efforts to put the
pledges they made into Copenhagen into their five-year plan,"
Runge-Metzger said in an interview in Cancun last night. "It's a
tough task for the Obama administration to take this matter
forward because it's heavily politicized."
The efforts to reduce output of carbon dioxide from cars,
power plants and other man-made sources is urgent, Figueres
said, citing a report from the World Meteorological Organization
last week that showed concentrations of greenhouse gases at
record levels.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the panel that oversees
climate science for the UN, said emissions must peak by 2015 and
then start declining if the world hopes to avoid dangerous and
irreversible climate shifts.
"Warming of the climate system is now unequivocal," said
Pachauri, who leads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. "Warming could lead to some impacts that are abrupt or
irreversible" and delaying action "only increase costs
globally."
Deaths in Mexico
Mexican President Felipe Calderon told negotiators in
Cancun today that global warming already is causing natural
disasters in his nation, killing at least 60 people this year
in storms and events linked to turbulent weather alone in his
country and 1,000 in Guatemala.
"Climate change is already a reality for us," Calderon
said. "When we are negotiating we should think of our children.
We should think of the generations to come. In this territory
there can be no rivalries. It is a shared challenge."
Figueres said the delegates had a complicated but not
impossible task ahead of them. She noted rich nations already
had pledged $28 billion of the finance needed to help poor
countries cope with climate change.
"In the past, you have woven tapestries that have turned
into significant achievements," Figueres said. "I urge you to
further advance those issues in Cancun and to continue weaving
them into ever more effective achievements. The task isn't easy,
but it's achievable."
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
For emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, Will Wade
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Morales in Cancun, Mexico, at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net; or
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
(BN) Islands See ‘End of History’ as Goals Slip at UN Climate Talks
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Islands See 'End of History' as Goals Slip at UN Climate Talks
2010-11-30 05:00:01.8 GMT
By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu
risk extinction from rising seas because nations aren't stepping
up commitments to cut greenhouse gases, a bloc of 43 island
countries said as United Nations climate talks began in Mexico.
Dessima Williams, the ambassador of Grenada who heads the
Alliance of Small Island States, said envoys from her
organization are concerned that a negotiating text for the talks
doesn't mention their "red line" goal of keeping temperature
gains since the 18th century below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The
text, prepared by Zimbabwe's Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, will
be debated today.
"We are facing at this moment the end of history for some
of us," said Antonio Lima, an envoy from Cape Verde and vice-
chair of the alliance, noting that Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Cook
Islands, Marshall Islands and Maldives are the most threatened.
"All these countries are struggling to survive. They are going
to drown. I have mountains in my country. I can climb. They
cannot climb."
The comments add to pressure on delegates in the Mexican
resort of Cancun after U.S. and European Union representatives
said they expect no treaty from the talks to curtail global
warming. Instead, speaking as the meeting started yesterday,
they said they were aiming for progress on a $100 billion fund
to fight global warming and on protecting forests.
Fires and Floods
Gains of more than 2 degrees would exacerbate the harmful
effects of climate change, which already this year has been
responsible for 21,000 deaths, twice the level in 2009,
according to Oxfam. The London-based aid charity that focuses on
alleviating poverty said global warming is linked to record
temperatures and floods in Pakistan that displaced 20 million
people and wildfires in Russia that destroyed 26 percent of the
nation's wheat crop this year.
The text due for debate today is half the length of the
official negotiating document, prepared before the talks as a
possible final agreement from Cancun.
A year ago, when the envoys last met in Copenhagen, efforts
to write a new treaty collapsed, resulting in a non-binding
package of promises from the U.S., China, India and other
countries. While 140 nations have since signed up to that
package, the Copenhagen Accord, the document isn't a formally
recognized UN text.
With the World Meteorological Organization warning that
emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for damaging the
atmosphere are at a record, the delegates have yet to work out a
way to extend the cuts to carbon dioxide output they agreed in
Kyoto, Japan in 1997.
Coca-Cola
The discussions will ratchet up next week, with the arrival
of about 25 mainly Latin American heads of state, said Mexican
Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, who is chairing the talks.
Other attendees include U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu,
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Nancy Sutley, an adviser
to the White House, as well as Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive
Officer James Rogers and Coca-Cola Co. CEO Muhtar Kent.
Progress in Cancun should include "anchoring" the
Copenhagen pledges on greenhouse gas reduction and limitation --
made by every major emitter -- into the UN process, U.S.
delegation chief Jonathan Pershing said. He also called for
transparency in the way countries monitor, report and verify
their emissions -- or MRV in UN jargon. He said he's working to
iron out differences with the Chinese delegation. The U.S. and
China are the world's two biggest emitters.
'Transparent' Process
"It's extremely important to have a clear sense of
understanding about what countries are delivering," Pershing
said. "The best way to do that is through a procedure in which
that becomes public and transparent."
Pershing and Peter Wittoeck, a Belgian envoy who speaks for
the 27-nation European Union, both said the new text needs to
say more on the mitigation actions countries will take to limit
their greenhouse gas emissions.
"The text is incomplete," Wittoeck said. "There is a
major gap in terms of the building blocks on mitigation and
MRV."
At the same time, Wittoeck said the approach of narrowing
down options for an accord makes sense because the talks mustn't
get "bogged down" with endless options in brackets, which
signal areas that have yet to be agreed.
Bringing the Copenhagen pledges into the formal texts,
drawing up rules to govern MRV, reform and expansion of the
international carbon markets, and fixing some problems
associated with the existing emissions treaty, the Kyoto
Protocol, are the EU's priorities in Cancun, lead European
Commission negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger said.
New Mechanism
A new mechanism is needed to allow developed countries to
achieve part of their emissions-reduction goals by paying to
slash carbons in sectors of developing country economies, such
as the waste industry, lighting and construction, Runge-Metzger
said. Delegates also need to reform rules on land use and ensure
spare emissions permits held by countries such as Russia and the
Ukraine, which already emit less than their targets for 2012,
aren't rolled on beyond then as current rules allow, he said.
"If we do not address these weaknesses, this would reduce
developed countries' current emissions pledges to virtually
zero," Runge-Metzger said.
The Copenhagen pledges, including a 20 percent reduction
commitment from 1990 through 2020 by the EU and a 17 percent cut
from 2005 through 2020 by the U.S., still fall short of the 2-
degree warming limitation goal laid out in the Copenhagen
Accord, Christiana Figueres, the UN's chief envoy leading the
talks, said yesterday. She's called for a step-by-step approach
in the dialogue, rather than a push for a treaty in Cancun.
"Anchoring the numbers is important, but so is elevating
the numbers," Williams of Grenada said, calling for a treaty to
be wrapped up at next December's summit in South Africa.
Williams said her alliance is calling for an insurance
mechanism to be set up to compensate vulnerable nations for
natural disasters and longer-term effects of warming such as
desertification.
"We don't want to be the sacrificed countries of the 21st
century," Lima of Cape Verde said.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
For emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, John Viljoen, Peter Langan.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Morales in Cancun, Mexico, at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net;
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
Islands See 'End of History' as Goals Slip at UN Climate Talks
2010-11-30 05:00:01.8 GMT
By Alex Morales and Kim Chipman
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu
risk extinction from rising seas because nations aren't stepping
up commitments to cut greenhouse gases, a bloc of 43 island
countries said as United Nations climate talks began in Mexico.
Dessima Williams, the ambassador of Grenada who heads the
Alliance of Small Island States, said envoys from her
organization are concerned that a negotiating text for the talks
doesn't mention their "red line" goal of keeping temperature
gains since the 18th century below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The
text, prepared by Zimbabwe's Margaret Mukahanana-Sangarwe, will
be debated today.
"We are facing at this moment the end of history for some
of us," said Antonio Lima, an envoy from Cape Verde and vice-
chair of the alliance, noting that Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Cook
Islands, Marshall Islands and Maldives are the most threatened.
"All these countries are struggling to survive. They are going
to drown. I have mountains in my country. I can climb. They
cannot climb."
The comments add to pressure on delegates in the Mexican
resort of Cancun after U.S. and European Union representatives
said they expect no treaty from the talks to curtail global
warming. Instead, speaking as the meeting started yesterday,
they said they were aiming for progress on a $100 billion fund
to fight global warming and on protecting forests.
Fires and Floods
Gains of more than 2 degrees would exacerbate the harmful
effects of climate change, which already this year has been
responsible for 21,000 deaths, twice the level in 2009,
according to Oxfam. The London-based aid charity that focuses on
alleviating poverty said global warming is linked to record
temperatures and floods in Pakistan that displaced 20 million
people and wildfires in Russia that destroyed 26 percent of the
nation's wheat crop this year.
The text due for debate today is half the length of the
official negotiating document, prepared before the talks as a
possible final agreement from Cancun.
A year ago, when the envoys last met in Copenhagen, efforts
to write a new treaty collapsed, resulting in a non-binding
package of promises from the U.S., China, India and other
countries. While 140 nations have since signed up to that
package, the Copenhagen Accord, the document isn't a formally
recognized UN text.
With the World Meteorological Organization warning that
emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for damaging the
atmosphere are at a record, the delegates have yet to work out a
way to extend the cuts to carbon dioxide output they agreed in
Kyoto, Japan in 1997.
Coca-Cola
The discussions will ratchet up next week, with the arrival
of about 25 mainly Latin American heads of state, said Mexican
Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa, who is chairing the talks.
Other attendees include U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu,
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Nancy Sutley, an adviser
to the White House, as well as Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive
Officer James Rogers and Coca-Cola Co. CEO Muhtar Kent.
Progress in Cancun should include "anchoring" the
Copenhagen pledges on greenhouse gas reduction and limitation --
made by every major emitter -- into the UN process, U.S.
delegation chief Jonathan Pershing said. He also called for
transparency in the way countries monitor, report and verify
their emissions -- or MRV in UN jargon. He said he's working to
iron out differences with the Chinese delegation. The U.S. and
China are the world's two biggest emitters.
'Transparent' Process
"It's extremely important to have a clear sense of
understanding about what countries are delivering," Pershing
said. "The best way to do that is through a procedure in which
that becomes public and transparent."
Pershing and Peter Wittoeck, a Belgian envoy who speaks for
the 27-nation European Union, both said the new text needs to
say more on the mitigation actions countries will take to limit
their greenhouse gas emissions.
"The text is incomplete," Wittoeck said. "There is a
major gap in terms of the building blocks on mitigation and
MRV."
At the same time, Wittoeck said the approach of narrowing
down options for an accord makes sense because the talks mustn't
get "bogged down" with endless options in brackets, which
signal areas that have yet to be agreed.
Bringing the Copenhagen pledges into the formal texts,
drawing up rules to govern MRV, reform and expansion of the
international carbon markets, and fixing some problems
associated with the existing emissions treaty, the Kyoto
Protocol, are the EU's priorities in Cancun, lead European
Commission negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger said.
New Mechanism
A new mechanism is needed to allow developed countries to
achieve part of their emissions-reduction goals by paying to
slash carbons in sectors of developing country economies, such
as the waste industry, lighting and construction, Runge-Metzger
said. Delegates also need to reform rules on land use and ensure
spare emissions permits held by countries such as Russia and the
Ukraine, which already emit less than their targets for 2012,
aren't rolled on beyond then as current rules allow, he said.
"If we do not address these weaknesses, this would reduce
developed countries' current emissions pledges to virtually
zero," Runge-Metzger said.
The Copenhagen pledges, including a 20 percent reduction
commitment from 1990 through 2020 by the EU and a 17 percent cut
from 2005 through 2020 by the U.S., still fall short of the 2-
degree warming limitation goal laid out in the Copenhagen
Accord, Christiana Figueres, the UN's chief envoy leading the
talks, said yesterday. She's called for a step-by-step approach
in the dialogue, rather than a push for a treaty in Cancun.
"Anchoring the numbers is important, but so is elevating
the numbers," Williams of Grenada said, calling for a treaty to
be wrapped up at next December's summit in South Africa.
Williams said her alliance is calling for an insurance
mechanism to be set up to compensate vulnerable nations for
natural disasters and longer-term effects of warming such as
desertification.
"We don't want to be the sacrificed countries of the 21st
century," Lima of Cape Verde said.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable Energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
For emissions-market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, John Viljoen, Peter Langan.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Alex Morales in Cancun, Mexico, at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net;
Kim Chipman in Cancun, Mexico, at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
(BN) Cap-and-Trade Market Spanning North America Weighed by States
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Cap-and-Trade Market Spanning North America Weighed by States
2010-11-30 05:00:02.1 GMT
By Simon Lomax
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- California, New Mexico and 10 U.S.
Northeastern states may try to create a North American carbon
market on their own now that President Barack Obama has given up
on cap-and-trade legislation that stalled in Congress.
The emissions-trading system would be based on a planned
carbon market in California, the most populous state, and an
existing regional cap-and-trade program for power plants in the
Northeast, according to state environmental officials. Three
Canadian provinces have also shown interest in a cross-border
carbon-trading system, the officials said.
"The key is to have as large and as liquid a market as
possible," John Yap, British Columbia's climate-change
minister, said in a telephone interview. Under cap-and-trade,
the government creates a market for pollution rights by issuing
a limited number of carbon-dioxide permits, which companies can
buy and sell.
The prospects for a North American market got a boost Nov.
2 when voters in California rejected a ballot measure that would
have delayed that state's global-warming laws. Talks that began
last year, as cap-and-trade legislation backed by Obama faltered
in the U.S. Congress, will resume when state environmental
officials meet in Washington this week.
The states and provinces weighing a unified carbon market
represent about one-third of the combined $15.5 trillion U.S.
and Canadian economy, according to government statistics and the
International Monetary Fund.
After Republicans won control of the House and narrowed the
Democrats' Senate majority in the Nov. 2 midterm elections,
Obama said cap-and-trade "was just one way of skinning the
cat" and that he doubts it could pass Congress until 2013 at
the earliest. In Canada, the national government has said it
won't set up its own cap-and-trade program unless the U.S. does.
Close to the Coasts
A carbon market established without the support of the U.S.
and Canadian governments would probably "stick pretty close to
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and not venture too far
inland," Ethan Zindler, a Washington-based analyst with
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview.
Such a cap-and-trade system may cover more than 800 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, making it about one-third
the size of Europe's cap-and-trade program, according to New
Energy Finance estimates.
California plans to start a cap-and-trade program in 2012.
It may be joined by New Mexico and the Canadian provinces of
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, which also have cap-and-
trade laws, according to California officials. Links to the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a trading program covering
10 states in the Northeast, are also being explored, according
to Mary Nichols, chairman of California's Air Resources Board.
Not Being Alone
"Nobody, including us, wants to be alone in implementing a
cap-and-trade program," Nichols said on a conference call after
the defeat of the ballot measure.
The 10 states in the Northeast have been auctioning carbon-
dioxide permits, or allowances, since 2008. The Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative's quarterly auctions have raised $729
million so far. The next auction is scheduled for tomorrow, with
results to be released Dec. 3.
Revenue from the auctions is falling because power plants
are producing less electricity in the weak economy and need
fewer carbon allowances. Auction revenue from the first three
quarters of this year fell 18 percent and some allowances have
gone unsold, according to data from the regional cap-and-trade
program.
Budget Shortfalls
While most of the money from the Northeast auctions is set
aside for renewable-electricity generation and energy-saving
projects, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire have used some
of it to help close budget shortfalls.
The rules of the Northeast's cap-and-trade market are
scheduled for review in 2012 and "some discussions" have been
held about aligning the program with the California-led system,
James Brooks, air-quality director of the Maine Department of
the Environment, said in a telephone interview.
Linking the regional cap-and-trade programs to function as
a single carbon market would require complex negotiations on "a
whole litany of issues," Brooks said. The minimum bid for an
allowance in the Northeast's cap-and-trade program is $1.86,
while California wants to set the price floor for carbon permits
at $10, he said.
State officials must also weigh the support such a North
American carbon market would get from newly elected governors,
he said.
"Many of us will have to go back and check in with the new
administrations," Brooks said.
Republican Governors
In the U.S. Midwest, where six states have been debating
whether to create their own carbon market, this month's election
will probably prevent the region from joining cap-and-trade
systems on the coasts, Mike Robertson, an environmental-policy
consultant with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said in a
telephone interview.
Of the six states in the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Accord -- Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota
and Wisconsin -- Democrats lost the governor's race or control
of the legislature to Republicans in five, according to data
from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many
Republicans in national and state politics have opposed cap-and-
trade, which they say is an energy tax in disguise.
"I don't think the new leaders in the legislatures or in
the governors' offices will be interested in pursuing a regional
cap-and-trade program," said Robertson, who served on an
advisory panel for the proposed Midwest system.
While debating the technical aspects of a North American
carbon market, the state officials meeting this week are also
likely to review the election results and "what they think that
means within their individual states," Doug Scott, director of
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said in a
telephone interview.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
--Editors: Larry Liebert, Steve Geimann
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or LLiebert@bloomberg.net.
Cap-and-Trade Market Spanning North America Weighed by States
2010-11-30 05:00:02.1 GMT
By Simon Lomax
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- California, New Mexico and 10 U.S.
Northeastern states may try to create a North American carbon
market on their own now that President Barack Obama has given up
on cap-and-trade legislation that stalled in Congress.
The emissions-trading system would be based on a planned
carbon market in California, the most populous state, and an
existing regional cap-and-trade program for power plants in the
Northeast, according to state environmental officials. Three
Canadian provinces have also shown interest in a cross-border
carbon-trading system, the officials said.
"The key is to have as large and as liquid a market as
possible," John Yap, British Columbia's climate-change
minister, said in a telephone interview. Under cap-and-trade,
the government creates a market for pollution rights by issuing
a limited number of carbon-dioxide permits, which companies can
buy and sell.
The prospects for a North American market got a boost Nov.
2 when voters in California rejected a ballot measure that would
have delayed that state's global-warming laws. Talks that began
last year, as cap-and-trade legislation backed by Obama faltered
in the U.S. Congress, will resume when state environmental
officials meet in Washington this week.
The states and provinces weighing a unified carbon market
represent about one-third of the combined $15.5 trillion U.S.
and Canadian economy, according to government statistics and the
International Monetary Fund.
After Republicans won control of the House and narrowed the
Democrats' Senate majority in the Nov. 2 midterm elections,
Obama said cap-and-trade "was just one way of skinning the
cat" and that he doubts it could pass Congress until 2013 at
the earliest. In Canada, the national government has said it
won't set up its own cap-and-trade program unless the U.S. does.
Close to the Coasts
A carbon market established without the support of the U.S.
and Canadian governments would probably "stick pretty close to
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and not venture too far
inland," Ethan Zindler, a Washington-based analyst with
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview.
Such a cap-and-trade system may cover more than 800 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, making it about one-third
the size of Europe's cap-and-trade program, according to New
Energy Finance estimates.
California plans to start a cap-and-trade program in 2012.
It may be joined by New Mexico and the Canadian provinces of
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, which also have cap-and-
trade laws, according to California officials. Links to the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a trading program covering
10 states in the Northeast, are also being explored, according
to Mary Nichols, chairman of California's Air Resources Board.
Not Being Alone
"Nobody, including us, wants to be alone in implementing a
cap-and-trade program," Nichols said on a conference call after
the defeat of the ballot measure.
The 10 states in the Northeast have been auctioning carbon-
dioxide permits, or allowances, since 2008. The Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative's quarterly auctions have raised $729
million so far. The next auction is scheduled for tomorrow, with
results to be released Dec. 3.
Revenue from the auctions is falling because power plants
are producing less electricity in the weak economy and need
fewer carbon allowances. Auction revenue from the first three
quarters of this year fell 18 percent and some allowances have
gone unsold, according to data from the regional cap-and-trade
program.
Budget Shortfalls
While most of the money from the Northeast auctions is set
aside for renewable-electricity generation and energy-saving
projects, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire have used some
of it to help close budget shortfalls.
The rules of the Northeast's cap-and-trade market are
scheduled for review in 2012 and "some discussions" have been
held about aligning the program with the California-led system,
James Brooks, air-quality director of the Maine Department of
the Environment, said in a telephone interview.
Linking the regional cap-and-trade programs to function as
a single carbon market would require complex negotiations on "a
whole litany of issues," Brooks said. The minimum bid for an
allowance in the Northeast's cap-and-trade program is $1.86,
while California wants to set the price floor for carbon permits
at $10, he said.
State officials must also weigh the support such a North
American carbon market would get from newly elected governors,
he said.
"Many of us will have to go back and check in with the new
administrations," Brooks said.
Republican Governors
In the U.S. Midwest, where six states have been debating
whether to create their own carbon market, this month's election
will probably prevent the region from joining cap-and-trade
systems on the coasts, Mike Robertson, an environmental-policy
consultant with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, said in a
telephone interview.
Of the six states in the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Accord -- Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota
and Wisconsin -- Democrats lost the governor's race or control
of the legislature to Republicans in five, according to data
from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many
Republicans in national and state politics have opposed cap-and-
trade, which they say is an energy tax in disguise.
"I don't think the new leaders in the legislatures or in
the governors' offices will be interested in pursuing a regional
cap-and-trade program," said Robertson, who served on an
advisory panel for the proposed Midwest system.
While debating the technical aspects of a North American
carbon market, the state officials meeting this week are also
likely to review the election results and "what they think that
means within their individual states," Doug Scott, director of
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said in a
telephone interview.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
--Editors: Larry Liebert, Steve Geimann
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or LLiebert@bloomberg.net.
(BN) Climate Change Increasing Flood Risk in Hong Kong (Update1)
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Climate Change Increasing Flood Risk in Hong Kong (Update1)
2010-11-30 05:31:33.216 GMT
(Updates with details of storms risk in third paragraph.)
By John Duce
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Climate change is increasing the
risk of flooding in Hong Kong and China's Pearl River Delta,
according to a report by the Civic Exchange think tank and
researchers at the University of Leeds.
Sea levels in the region may rise 20 centimeters (7.9
inches) by 2050, forcing more than a million people to move to
higher areas, according to the report.
The Hong Kong Observatory has recorded a higher incidence
of heavy rain storms in the past decade, increasing the risk of
flooding in lowland areas of the delta, the study showed.
The authorities in Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong
province need to formulate a regional strategy to tackle the
problem and more information should be released about which
areas are at risk, Christine Loh, Civic Exchange's chief
executive officer, told a media briefing in Hong Kong today.
For Related News and Information:
Top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
Top stories on China: TOP CHINA <GO>
China Energy Data: ENST CHINA <GO>
--Editors: Alexander Kwiatkowski, John Viljoen
To contact the reporter on this story:
John Duce in Hong Kong at +852-2977-2237 or
Jduce1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Amit Prakash at +65-6212-1167 or aprakash1@bloomberg.net
<Equity>
Climate Change Increasing Flood Risk in Hong Kong (Update1)
2010-11-30 05:31:33.216 GMT
(Updates with details of storms risk in third paragraph.)
By John Duce
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Climate change is increasing the
risk of flooding in Hong Kong and China's Pearl River Delta,
according to a report by the Civic Exchange think tank and
researchers at the University of Leeds.
Sea levels in the region may rise 20 centimeters (7.9
inches) by 2050, forcing more than a million people to move to
higher areas, according to the report.
The Hong Kong Observatory has recorded a higher incidence
of heavy rain storms in the past decade, increasing the risk of
flooding in lowland areas of the delta, the study showed.
The authorities in Hong Kong and neighboring Guangdong
province need to formulate a regional strategy to tackle the
problem and more information should be released about which
areas are at risk, Christine Loh, Civic Exchange's chief
executive officer, told a media briefing in Hong Kong today.
For Related News and Information:
Top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
Top stories on China: TOP CHINA <GO>
China Energy Data: ENST CHINA <GO>
--Editors: Alexander Kwiatkowski, John Viljoen
To contact the reporter on this story:
John Duce in Hong Kong at +852-2977-2237 or
Jduce1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Amit Prakash at +65-6212-1167 or aprakash1@bloomberg.net
<Equity>
(BN) India Plans to Include Environmental Costs in GDP Data (Update1)
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
India Plans to Include Environmental Costs in GDP Data (Update1)
2010-11-30 08:40:56.414 GMT
(Adds comment from environment minister from second
paragraph.)
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- India plans to quantify the cost of
environmental damage to the economy when reporting gross
domestic product figures within five years, an initiative it
will encourage other governments to follow at the climate talks
in Mexico.
"India will report a GDP that takes into account
environmental degradation by 2015," Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh said today at a conference in New Delhi. "We must
provide leadership in this area."
Countries are grappling with ways to price pollution so
that those that produce it can be made to pay for its costs.
More than 30 nations have introduced a price on carbon with an
emissions-trading system, according to Anthony Hobley, a Sydney-
based lawyer and climate change specialist at Norton Rose LLP.
India's economy expanded 8.9 percent in the three months
through September from a year earlier, the Central Statistical
Organisation said today. That was above the 8.2 percent median
estimate of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Ramesh said such figures fail to incorporate the toll on
the economy of rising public health bills and other long-term
costs linked to environmental damage, such as air and
groundwater pollution.
"If we are reporting GDP growth of 8 percent a year,
actual GDP growth that takes into account environmental costs
may be 2.5 percentage points lower," he said. The United
Nations climate talks began yesterday in the Mexican resort of
Cancun and are due to conclude on Dec. 10.
For Related News and Information:
India economic snapshot: ESNP IN <GO>
India inflation: INFINFY <Index> HP <GO>
India economy stories: TNI INDIA ECO BN <GO>
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
--Editors: Baldave Singh, Randall Hackley.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at +91-22-6612-9107 or
npearson7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
India Plans to Include Environmental Costs in GDP Data (Update1)
2010-11-30 08:40:56.414 GMT
(Adds comment from environment minister from second
paragraph.)
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- India plans to quantify the cost of
environmental damage to the economy when reporting gross
domestic product figures within five years, an initiative it
will encourage other governments to follow at the climate talks
in Mexico.
"India will report a GDP that takes into account
environmental degradation by 2015," Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh said today at a conference in New Delhi. "We must
provide leadership in this area."
Countries are grappling with ways to price pollution so
that those that produce it can be made to pay for its costs.
More than 30 nations have introduced a price on carbon with an
emissions-trading system, according to Anthony Hobley, a Sydney-
based lawyer and climate change specialist at Norton Rose LLP.
India's economy expanded 8.9 percent in the three months
through September from a year earlier, the Central Statistical
Organisation said today. That was above the 8.2 percent median
estimate of 30 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
Ramesh said such figures fail to incorporate the toll on
the economy of rising public health bills and other long-term
costs linked to environmental damage, such as air and
groundwater pollution.
"If we are reporting GDP growth of 8 percent a year,
actual GDP growth that takes into account environmental costs
may be 2.5 percentage points lower," he said. The United
Nations climate talks began yesterday in the Mexican resort of
Cancun and are due to conclude on Dec. 10.
For Related News and Information:
India economic snapshot: ESNP IN <GO>
India inflation: INFINFY <Index> HP <GO>
India economy stories: TNI INDIA ECO BN <GO>
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
--Editors: Baldave Singh, Randall Hackley.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at +91-22-6612-9107 or
npearson7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
(BN) China Achieves Emission-Cut Goal for Five-Year Plan, CCTV Says
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
China Achieves Emission-Cut Goal for Five-Year Plan, CCTV Says
2010-11-30 07:52:45.667 GMT
By Bloomberg News
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China has achieved its emission
reduction target for the five-year plan ended this year, the
country's central television reported today, citing Xie Zhenhua,
China's top official overseeing climate-change talks.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bloomberg News at +86-21-6104-3037 or
gturk2@bloomberg.net
China Achieves Emission-Cut Goal for Five-Year Plan, CCTV Says
2010-11-30 07:52:45.667 GMT
By Bloomberg News
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China has achieved its emission
reduction target for the five-year plan ended this year, the
country's central television reported today, citing Xie Zhenhua,
China's top official overseeing climate-change talks.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bloomberg News at +86-21-6104-3037 or
gturk2@bloomberg.net
(BN) EU Carbon Permits Decline After Record UN Distribution Yesterday
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
EU Carbon Permits Decline After Record UN Distribution Yesterday
2010-11-30 08:37:49.62 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon allowances
dropped to their lowest level in 13 days after the United
Nations handed out a record volume of credits yesterday,
boosting supply.
Permits for December dropped as much as 2.2 percent to
14.62 euros ($19.14) a metric ton and were at 14.69 euros a ton
as of 8:37 a.m. in London on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
They fell 0.9 percent yesterday and are up 17 percent in the
year to date.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rob Verdonck at +44-20-3216-4149 or
rverdonck@bloomberg.net
EU Carbon Permits Decline After Record UN Distribution Yesterday
2010-11-30 08:37:49.62 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon allowances
dropped to their lowest level in 13 days after the United
Nations handed out a record volume of credits yesterday,
boosting supply.
Permits for December dropped as much as 2.2 percent to
14.62 euros ($19.14) a metric ton and were at 14.69 euros a ton
as of 8:37 a.m. in London on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
They fell 0.9 percent yesterday and are up 17 percent in the
year to date.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rob Verdonck at +44-20-3216-4149 or
rverdonck@bloomberg.net
(BN) Trading Emissions Starts Portfolio Sale Process After Approach
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Trading Emissions Starts Portfolio Sale Process After Approach
2010-11-30 09:53:18.505 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Trading Emissions Plc, a developer
of emissions-offset and renewable-energy projects, started a
sales process of its private equity portfolio after an
unsolicited approach, according to a statement.
The London-based company has appointed Liberum Capital Ltd.
to manage the formal process, the statement distributed today by
the Regulatory News Service show.
"I expect this process will lead to a sale," Neil Eckert,
Trading Emissions' chairman, said in a telephone interview.
The company valued its portfolio, which includes clean
energy and carbon services, at 116.4 million pounds ($180
million), or 45.23 pence a share, at June 30, 2010, according to
an Oct. 5 statement. Its shares rose 4.6 percent to 92 pence in
London.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Raj Rajendran, Stephen Cunningham
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
Trading Emissions Starts Portfolio Sale Process After Approach
2010-11-30 09:53:18.505 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Trading Emissions Plc, a developer
of emissions-offset and renewable-energy projects, started a
sales process of its private equity portfolio after an
unsolicited approach, according to a statement.
The London-based company has appointed Liberum Capital Ltd.
to manage the formal process, the statement distributed today by
the Regulatory News Service show.
"I expect this process will lead to a sale," Neil Eckert,
Trading Emissions' chairman, said in a telephone interview.
The company valued its portfolio, which includes clean
energy and carbon services, at 116.4 million pounds ($180
million), or 45.23 pence a share, at June 30, 2010, according to
an Oct. 5 statement. Its shares rose 4.6 percent to 92 pence in
London.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Raj Rajendran, Stephen Cunningham
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
2010/11/29
(BN) EU Says It’s ‘Crucial’ for Cancun to Address Surplus AAU Credits
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
EU Says It's 'Crucial' for Cancun to Address Surplus AAU Credits
2010-11-29 15:43:01.742 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- European Union Climate Commissioner
Connie Hedegaard said it's "crucial" that negotiators at this
month's global climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, make progress on
how to deal with surplus emission rights awarded to nations
under the Kyoto Protocol for 2008 to 2012.
Hedegaard told a briefing in Brussels that allowing the
surplus rights, known as AAUs, to be used after 2012 would
"nether" global emission-reduction efforts.
For Related News and Information:
Top Energy Stories:{ETOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Warsaw at +32-2-237-4331 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Anderson at +44-20-7673-2718 or
manderson34@bloomberg.net
EU Says It's 'Crucial' for Cancun to Address Surplus AAU Credits
2010-11-29 15:43:01.742 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- European Union Climate Commissioner
Connie Hedegaard said it's "crucial" that negotiators at this
month's global climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, make progress on
how to deal with surplus emission rights awarded to nations
under the Kyoto Protocol for 2008 to 2012.
Hedegaard told a briefing in Brussels that allowing the
surplus rights, known as AAUs, to be used after 2012 would
"nether" global emission-reduction efforts.
For Related News and Information:
Top Energy Stories:{ETOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Warsaw at +32-2-237-4331 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Anderson at +44-20-7673-2718 or
manderson34@bloomberg.net
why cers up a bit folks? cheers
------------------------------------------------------------
Mathew Carr, emissions markets, energy reporter. London Bloomberg News ph +44 207 073 3531 yahoo ID carr_mathew
(BN) UN Carbon Market Issues Credits to 12 HFC Projects in
now nearly 18 million
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
UN Carbon Market Issues Credits to 12 HFC Projects in Asia
2010-11-29 13:37:23.512 GMT
By Catherine Airlie and Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Regulators of the United Nations
carbon market issued Certified Emission Reductions to 12
hydrofluorocarbon-23 reduction projects in China, India and
South Korea, according to information on its website.
The executive board overseeing the UN's Clean Development
Mechanism gave out at least 16.6 million credits to HFC-23
projects today, boosting supplies to the market and dragging
down the price of credits. UN offsets for delivery in December
lost 3.9 percent to 11.76 euros a metric ton as of 1:15 p.m. on
the ICE Future Europe exchange in London.
The credits can be used by more than 11,000 factories and
power stations in Europe to comply with emissions limits and by
other nations to meet greenhouse gas targets under the Kyoto
Protocol. HFC-23 is a waste gas with almost 12,000 times more
global warming potential than carbon dioxide.
The EU proposed last week a ban from the start of 2013 on
credits linked to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from adipic acid
production. The European Commission, the EU regulator, said that
projects related to those industrial gases may create
"excessive" profits for investors and undermine the market's
integrity.
For Related News and Information:
Top Power Stories: PTOP<GO>
To contact the reporter on this story:
Catherine Airlie at +44-20-7073-3308 or
cairlie@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
UN Carbon Market Issues Credits to 12 HFC Projects in Asia
2010-11-29 13:37:23.512 GMT
By Catherine Airlie and Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Regulators of the United Nations
carbon market issued Certified Emission Reductions to 12
hydrofluorocarbon-23 reduction projects in China, India and
South Korea, according to information on its website.
The executive board overseeing the UN's Clean Development
Mechanism gave out at least 16.6 million credits to HFC-23
projects today, boosting supplies to the market and dragging
down the price of credits. UN offsets for delivery in December
lost 3.9 percent to 11.76 euros a metric ton as of 1:15 p.m. on
the ICE Future Europe exchange in London.
The credits can be used by more than 11,000 factories and
power stations in Europe to comply with emissions limits and by
other nations to meet greenhouse gas targets under the Kyoto
Protocol. HFC-23 is a waste gas with almost 12,000 times more
global warming potential than carbon dioxide.
The EU proposed last week a ban from the start of 2013 on
credits linked to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from adipic acid
production. The European Commission, the EU regulator, said that
projects related to those industrial gases may create
"excessive" profits for investors and undermine the market's
integrity.
For Related News and Information:
Top Power Stories: PTOP<GO>
To contact the reporter on this story:
Catherine Airlie at +44-20-7073-3308 or
cairlie@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
(NYT) States Diverting Money From Climate Initiative
nyt
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
States Diverting Money From Climate Initiative
2010-11-29 09:20:10.801 GMT
By MIREYA NAVARRO
(New York Times) -- In New York, government officials found
$90 million to pay for schools by dipping into money generated by
a multistate greenhouse gas initiative.
In New Hampshire, the state took $3.1 million from a similar
environmental fund. And in New Jersey, the government diverted
its whole share: $65 million.
At least three financially troubled states have discovered
in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade
system, a convenient pool of money that can be drawn on to help
balance state budgets.
In just over two years, the initiative, known as RGGI, has
generated more than $729 million for the 10 states that have
participated. Each state is supposed to use its share of the
money raised to invest in renewable energy and to promote energy
efficiency and consumer benefits, like programs that help
low-income electricity customers pay their utility bills.
But the money is proving too much of a temptation for states
not to use in other ways.
Critics say that diverting money from the fund for general
spending, instead of using it on emissions control and energy
savings, makes the initiative little more than a hidden tax on
electricity.
Already, RGGI opponents in New Jersey have sponsored a bill
to end the state's participation.
"This is nothing but a new form of taxation, and
environmentalists have been used," said Steve Lonegan, New Jersey
state director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group
founded and largely financed by oil industry interests.
Under RGGI, which is pronounced Reggie, 10 Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic states agreed to cap carbon dioxide emissions from
electric power plants and charge the plants for the emissions
they produce. As an incentive for power plants to pollute less,
the states allow the plants that cut their emissions below the
cap to sell or trade their excess carbon allowances through
online auctions four times a year.
The agreement binds the states to spend at least 25 percent
of the money on direct consumer benefits or "strategic" energy
purposes.
The participating states have agreed to devote virtually all
their RGGI money to energy-use reduction. Administrators of the
system say that, even with the diversion of money by state
governments, about 80 percent of the proceeds for carbon credit
auctions still goes to such programs.
Some environmentalists who support the multistate pact agree
that without the investment in programs that cut energy use and
create green jobs, the initiative's potential economic benefit
becomes an expense.
"There's a direct consequence for taking this money," said
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra
Club. "Families are going to pay higher energy bills this winter
if they didn't weatherize their homes."
At the national level, efforts by Democratic leaders and the
Obama administration to include a cap-and-trade scheme as part of
a national energy policy were contested in Congress, with
opponents branding it "cap-and-tax" and Tea Party followers
singling it out as a symbol of what was wrong with Washington.
But the controversy over cap-and-trade has percolated down to the
states, where it became fodder for some candidates in the midterm
elections and sparked anti-RGGI rallies in New York and New
Jersey, organized by Americans for Prosperity.
"We don't need this when the federal government didn't go
forward with a national plan," said Alison Littell McHose, a
Republican assemblywoman in New Jersey who sponsored the bill to
get that state out of the initiative.
Some opponents said they feared that the multistate system
would encourage cap-and-trade to spread. "The other states are
watching this program to see if they can get away with it," Mr.
Lonegan said.
Two agreements similar to RGGI — the Midwestern Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Accord, with six states and one Canadian province,
and the Western Climate Initiative, with seven states and four
Canadian provinces — envision their own cap-and-trade systems.
The regional groups have their own rules and features, but the 23
states in them have discussed linking efforts.
The regional carbon-trading market among the states has been
free of speculation, administrators for the initiative say, and
so far most carbon credits have been purchased by power
suppliers. The main criticism from environmental groups is that
the cap on emissions is too lax — in fact, power suppliers have
easily met their caps, and carbon credits are trading at
bottom-level prices, because plants are taking advantage of cheap
prices for natural gas, which pollutes less than fuel sources
like coal.
But with the renewed opposition, "now we're going to be
fighting to save RGGI," Mr. Tittel of the Sierra Club said,
rather than focusing on strengthening and expanding the program.
Gov. David A. Paterson of New York set the precedent last
year when he took $90 million from the money generated by the
initiative to deal with a projected state budget deficit of
nearly $50 billion through March 2013. New York has so far
collected $265 million from RGGI, the most of any of the
participating states.
Peter Iwanowicz, the governor's environmental adviser and
acting commissioner of the State Department of Environmental
Conservation, called the action "a one-time deal."
"New York was facing historic deficits," he said. "It wasn't
a decision that was made lightly."
In New York, much of the money in the fund has gone to
investments in alternative energy technologies, training for
green jobs, and energy efficiency programs like subsidized energy
audits for homes and other buildings. The energy initiative has
added 72 cents to the monthly electricity bill of New Yorkers,
Mr. Iwanowicz said, but he noted that because of reductions in
energy use and cheaper fuel prices in the last two years,
customers might not have seen a rise.
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie said that the state
would use its $65.2 million in RGGI money to help offset a $10.7
billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2011. Mr. Christie has yet
to add his voice to calls among fellow Republicans to withdraw
from the cap-and-trade regional group. Still, some experts note
that the availability of RGGI money to help states deal with
their economic woes may be the very thing that saves the
initiative and similar accords.
"The states are so broke that it's going to be unbelievably
difficult for them to stop this program," said Leigh Raymond, the
associate director of the Climate Change Research Center at
Purdue University. "They're desperate for money."
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
-0- Nov/29/2010 09:20 GMT
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
States Diverting Money From Climate Initiative
2010-11-29 09:20:10.801 GMT
By MIREYA NAVARRO
(New York Times) -- In New York, government officials found
$90 million to pay for schools by dipping into money generated by
a multistate greenhouse gas initiative.
In New Hampshire, the state took $3.1 million from a similar
environmental fund. And in New Jersey, the government diverted
its whole share: $65 million.
At least three financially troubled states have discovered
in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade
system, a convenient pool of money that can be drawn on to help
balance state budgets.
In just over two years, the initiative, known as RGGI, has
generated more than $729 million for the 10 states that have
participated. Each state is supposed to use its share of the
money raised to invest in renewable energy and to promote energy
efficiency and consumer benefits, like programs that help
low-income electricity customers pay their utility bills.
But the money is proving too much of a temptation for states
not to use in other ways.
Critics say that diverting money from the fund for general
spending, instead of using it on emissions control and energy
savings, makes the initiative little more than a hidden tax on
electricity.
Already, RGGI opponents in New Jersey have sponsored a bill
to end the state's participation.
"This is nothing but a new form of taxation, and
environmentalists have been used," said Steve Lonegan, New Jersey
state director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group
founded and largely financed by oil industry interests.
Under RGGI, which is pronounced Reggie, 10 Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic states agreed to cap carbon dioxide emissions from
electric power plants and charge the plants for the emissions
they produce. As an incentive for power plants to pollute less,
the states allow the plants that cut their emissions below the
cap to sell or trade their excess carbon allowances through
online auctions four times a year.
The agreement binds the states to spend at least 25 percent
of the money on direct consumer benefits or "strategic" energy
purposes.
The participating states have agreed to devote virtually all
their RGGI money to energy-use reduction. Administrators of the
system say that, even with the diversion of money by state
governments, about 80 percent of the proceeds for carbon credit
auctions still goes to such programs.
Some environmentalists who support the multistate pact agree
that without the investment in programs that cut energy use and
create green jobs, the initiative's potential economic benefit
becomes an expense.
"There's a direct consequence for taking this money," said
Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra
Club. "Families are going to pay higher energy bills this winter
if they didn't weatherize their homes."
At the national level, efforts by Democratic leaders and the
Obama administration to include a cap-and-trade scheme as part of
a national energy policy were contested in Congress, with
opponents branding it "cap-and-tax" and Tea Party followers
singling it out as a symbol of what was wrong with Washington.
But the controversy over cap-and-trade has percolated down to the
states, where it became fodder for some candidates in the midterm
elections and sparked anti-RGGI rallies in New York and New
Jersey, organized by Americans for Prosperity.
"We don't need this when the federal government didn't go
forward with a national plan," said Alison Littell McHose, a
Republican assemblywoman in New Jersey who sponsored the bill to
get that state out of the initiative.
Some opponents said they feared that the multistate system
would encourage cap-and-trade to spread. "The other states are
watching this program to see if they can get away with it," Mr.
Lonegan said.
Two agreements similar to RGGI — the Midwestern Greenhouse
Gas Reduction Accord, with six states and one Canadian province,
and the Western Climate Initiative, with seven states and four
Canadian provinces — envision their own cap-and-trade systems.
The regional groups have their own rules and features, but the 23
states in them have discussed linking efforts.
The regional carbon-trading market among the states has been
free of speculation, administrators for the initiative say, and
so far most carbon credits have been purchased by power
suppliers. The main criticism from environmental groups is that
the cap on emissions is too lax — in fact, power suppliers have
easily met their caps, and carbon credits are trading at
bottom-level prices, because plants are taking advantage of cheap
prices for natural gas, which pollutes less than fuel sources
like coal.
But with the renewed opposition, "now we're going to be
fighting to save RGGI," Mr. Tittel of the Sierra Club said,
rather than focusing on strengthening and expanding the program.
Gov. David A. Paterson of New York set the precedent last
year when he took $90 million from the money generated by the
initiative to deal with a projected state budget deficit of
nearly $50 billion through March 2013. New York has so far
collected $265 million from RGGI, the most of any of the
participating states.
Peter Iwanowicz, the governor's environmental adviser and
acting commissioner of the State Department of Environmental
Conservation, called the action "a one-time deal."
"New York was facing historic deficits," he said. "It wasn't
a decision that was made lightly."
In New York, much of the money in the fund has gone to
investments in alternative energy technologies, training for
green jobs, and energy efficiency programs like subsidized energy
audits for homes and other buildings. The energy initiative has
added 72 cents to the monthly electricity bill of New Yorkers,
Mr. Iwanowicz said, but he noted that because of reductions in
energy use and cheaper fuel prices in the last two years,
customers might not have seen a rise.
In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie said that the state
would use its $65.2 million in RGGI money to help offset a $10.7
billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2011. Mr. Christie has yet
to add his voice to calls among fellow Republicans to withdraw
from the cap-and-trade regional group. Still, some experts note
that the availability of RGGI money to help states deal with
their economic woes may be the very thing that saves the
initiative and similar accords.
"The states are so broke that it's going to be unbelievably
difficult for them to stop this program," said Leigh Raymond, the
associate director of the Climate Change Research Center at
Purdue University. "They're desperate for money."
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
-0- Nov/29/2010 09:20 GMT
UN Discount to EU Permits Widens 14% to Record High 3.18
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The discount on United Nations
emission credits compared with European Union allowances for
2010 widened 14 percent to 3.18 euros ($4.22), the most since
the contract began trading in January 2009 on ICE Futures Europe
in London.
For Related News and Information:
Top Power Stories:{PTOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Anderson at +44-20-7673-2718 or
manderson34@bloomberg.net
(BN) UN May Hand Out 18 Million HFC Credits Today, New
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
UN May Hand Out 18 Million HFC Credits Today, New Energy Says
2010-11-29 09:18:02.127 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations emissions
regulator may hand out about 18 million metric tons of
hydrofluorocarbon-23 credits as soon as today, analysts at
Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
"The approved requests are set to come to the market
basically immediately," Marisa Beck, a London-based analyst at
New Energy Finance, said today in an e-mail.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{ETOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Anderson at +44-20-7673-2718 or
manderson34@bloomberg.net
UN May Hand Out 18 Million HFC Credits Today, New Energy Says
2010-11-29 09:18:02.127 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations emissions
regulator may hand out about 18 million metric tons of
hydrofluorocarbon-23 credits as soon as today, analysts at
Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
"The approved requests are set to come to the market
basically immediately," Marisa Beck, a London-based analyst at
New Energy Finance, said today in an e-mail.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{ETOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Mike Anderson at +44-20-7673-2718 or
manderson34@bloomberg.net
(BN) Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23
quoted you here thanks sir and updating...you saw the dec 10 cer eua spread at 3.18!...cheers
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-29 09:11:13.573 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska and Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations emissions offsets
slumped to a four-month low after the board of the world's
second-biggest carbon market approved some issuances to projects
that cut hydrofluorocarbon-23 previously placed under review.
UN Certified Emission Reductions for December 2010 lost as
much as 4 percent to 11.75 euros a metric ton, the lowest level
since July 29, and were at 11.90 euros as of 8:33 a.m. in
London. European Union allowances for December this year fell
1.1 percent to 14.91 euros.
At a meeting ended on Nov. 26 in Cancun, Mexico, the Clean
Development Mechanism executive board allowed issuance of almost
20 million credits to HFC-23 projects, approving requests that
it had previously decided to review. It also said it agreed to
"place on hold and revise" the methodology of awarding credits
for cutting the industrial gas amid allegations of misuse.
It is "highly likely" that the approved credits will be
issued this week, according to Alessandro Vitelli, an analyst in
London at IDEAcarbon. UN offsets may be used by more than 11,000
facilities in the European Union emissions system, the world's
largest cap-and-trade program, as a cheaper way to comply with
their pollution quotas.
"It looks like most of the issuances will go ahead now,"
Vitelli said by phone today.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: John Buckley, Rob Verdonck
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-29 09:11:13.573 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska and Mathew Carr
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations emissions offsets
slumped to a four-month low after the board of the world's
second-biggest carbon market approved some issuances to projects
that cut hydrofluorocarbon-23 previously placed under review.
UN Certified Emission Reductions for December 2010 lost as
much as 4 percent to 11.75 euros a metric ton, the lowest level
since July 29, and were at 11.90 euros as of 8:33 a.m. in
London. European Union allowances for December this year fell
1.1 percent to 14.91 euros.
At a meeting ended on Nov. 26 in Cancun, Mexico, the Clean
Development Mechanism executive board allowed issuance of almost
20 million credits to HFC-23 projects, approving requests that
it had previously decided to review. It also said it agreed to
"place on hold and revise" the methodology of awarding credits
for cutting the industrial gas amid allegations of misuse.
It is "highly likely" that the approved credits will be
issued this week, according to Alessandro Vitelli, an analyst in
London at IDEAcarbon. UN offsets may be used by more than 11,000
facilities in the European Union emissions system, the world's
largest cap-and-trade program, as a cheaper way to comply with
their pollution quotas.
"It looks like most of the issuances will go ahead now,"
Vitelli said by phone today.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: John Buckley, Rob Verdonck
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
?Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23 Projects
More coming obviously. Is the eu ban justified given the evidence found by un methpanel?
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-29 07:56:48.251 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations emissions offsets
fell to a four-month low after the board overseeing the world's
second-biggest carbon market decided to hand out credits to 12
projects cutting a potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbon-23.
UN Certified Emission Reductions for December 2010 lost 4
percent to 11.75 euros as of 7:35 a.m. in London, the lowest
level since July 29. European Union allowances for December fell
1 percent to 14.93 euros.
The UN Clean Development Mechanism executive board said in
a statement dated Nov. 26 that it approved issuances to some
HFC-23 projects that it had previously placed under review. It
also said it decided to "place on hold and revise" the
methodology of awarding credits to HFC-23 projects amid
allegations of misuse.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Stephen Voss, John Buckley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Carbon Drops After UN Board Allows Issuance to HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-29 07:56:48.251 GMT
By Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations emissions offsets
fell to a four-month low after the board overseeing the world's
second-biggest carbon market decided to hand out credits to 12
projects cutting a potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbon-23.
UN Certified Emission Reductions for December 2010 lost 4
percent to 11.75 euros as of 7:35 a.m. in London, the lowest
level since July 29. European Union allowances for December fell
1 percent to 14.93 euros.
The UN Clean Development Mechanism executive board said in
a statement dated Nov. 26 that it approved issuances to some
HFC-23 projects that it had previously placed under review. It
also said it decided to "place on hold and revise" the
methodology of awarding credits to HFC-23 projects amid
allegations of misuse.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: Stephen Voss, John Buckley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
2010/11/28
Fwd: India’s Biggest Private Power Developer to Shun Solar Bidding
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
India's Biggest Private Power Developer to Shun Solar Bidding
2010-11-28 17:00:01.0 GMT
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Tata Power Co., India's largest non-
state electricity developer, is shunning the country's first
major solar auction on concerns that terms set by the government
will make it difficult for projects to be built profitably.
"We haven't bid for the National Solar Mission," Banmali
Agrawala, executive director of strategy and business
development, said in an interview in Mumbai on the plan to
generate 20,000 megawatts of power from the sun by 2022.
The decision by Tata Power, the generating unit of India's
biggest industrial group, not to take part in the first bids
highlights concern that the plan is failing to draw companies
with the skills and resources to jumpstart the program.
That could delay the development of India's solar industry,
which potential investors including the World Bank and atomic
reactor maker Areva SA see as one of the world's most promising.
India gets about 300 sunny days a year in most of the country.
"These are bad signs," said Ashish Sethia, lead analyst
at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New Delhi. "Many large
players have either not bid very aggressively or stayed away
from bidding."
European governments including Spain, Germany and France
are curbing solar subsidies that set off a boom of investment
and spiraling state renewable-energy costs. India is seeking to
avoid such problems in part by awarding capacity to developers
offering the deepest discounts to the rate at which they'll sell
their electricity.
'Piece of Cake?'
That could backfire should developers submit bids
underestimating the cost and complexity of setting up solar
plants, Agrawala said.
Some of the bids may be "a little aggressive," Agrawala
said. "We do hope that the people who are bidding those numbers
understand what it means to set up a solar project. It's not a
piece of cake."
The government set an initial selling price of 17.91 rupees
(39 U.S. cents) a kilowatt-hour for solar photovoltaic projects
and 15.31 rupees for solar thermal projects. Bids have been
submitted offering discounts of as much as 4 rupees to those
rates, he said.
"There is definitely a risk that a number of projects
might either be delayed and some even be shunned completely at
later dates" as developers find themselves unable to execute at
quoted rates, New Energy Finance's Sethia said.
State Alternatives
India's wealth of sunny days provides 5,000 trillion
kilowatt-hours per year of solar energy equivalent, according to
the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In comparison, India's
projected total energy consumption this year is a fraction of
that, 848 billion kilowatt-hours, a ministry report showed.
The country's Solar Mission initiative seeks to draw
investment to the sector by offering incentives including
special tariffs and a power-bundling arrangement designed to
assure projects of a buyer for their electricity. It has also
set restrictions, including limits on solar equipment imports
and a 5-megawatt limit on any one developer.
"To restrict the size to just 5 megawatts per business
group we felt was too small," Agrawala said. "Also, you're not
allowed to import equipment. As an owner, I'd like to discover
what is the least possible price in the global markets."
Tata Power determined it would have trouble raising loans
from banks under the program because it wasn't clear whether the
designated power buyer, a unit of state-run utility NTPC Ltd.,
has the financial backing to ensure developers are paid for what
they generate, Agrawala said.
Mumbai-based Tata Power is setting up a 25-megawatt solar
plant in western Gujarat under a separate state program,
Agrawala said. It expects to sign a power purchase agreement
with Gujarat state this month and commission the plant by the
end of 2011, he said.
"Serious players are still exploring other state-based
mechanisms and the success of the sector will also be dependent
on the success of those schemes," Sethia said.
--Editors: Randall Hackley, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at +91-22-6612-9107 or
npearson7@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
India's Biggest Private Power Developer to Shun Solar Bidding
2010-11-28 17:00:01.0 GMT
By Natalie Obiko Pearson
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Tata Power Co., India's largest non-
state electricity developer, is shunning the country's first
major solar auction on concerns that terms set by the government
will make it difficult for projects to be built profitably.
"We haven't bid for the National Solar Mission," Banmali
Agrawala, executive director of strategy and business
development, said in an interview in Mumbai on the plan to
generate 20,000 megawatts of power from the sun by 2022.
The decision by Tata Power, the generating unit of India's
biggest industrial group, not to take part in the first bids
highlights concern that the plan is failing to draw companies
with the skills and resources to jumpstart the program.
That could delay the development of India's solar industry,
which potential investors including the World Bank and atomic
reactor maker Areva SA see as one of the world's most promising.
India gets about 300 sunny days a year in most of the country.
"These are bad signs," said Ashish Sethia, lead analyst
at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New Delhi. "Many large
players have either not bid very aggressively or stayed away
from bidding."
European governments including Spain, Germany and France
are curbing solar subsidies that set off a boom of investment
and spiraling state renewable-energy costs. India is seeking to
avoid such problems in part by awarding capacity to developers
offering the deepest discounts to the rate at which they'll sell
their electricity.
'Piece of Cake?'
That could backfire should developers submit bids
underestimating the cost and complexity of setting up solar
plants, Agrawala said.
Some of the bids may be "a little aggressive," Agrawala
said. "We do hope that the people who are bidding those numbers
understand what it means to set up a solar project. It's not a
piece of cake."
The government set an initial selling price of 17.91 rupees
(39 U.S. cents) a kilowatt-hour for solar photovoltaic projects
and 15.31 rupees for solar thermal projects. Bids have been
submitted offering discounts of as much as 4 rupees to those
rates, he said.
"There is definitely a risk that a number of projects
might either be delayed and some even be shunned completely at
later dates" as developers find themselves unable to execute at
quoted rates, New Energy Finance's Sethia said.
State Alternatives
India's wealth of sunny days provides 5,000 trillion
kilowatt-hours per year of solar energy equivalent, according to
the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In comparison, India's
projected total energy consumption this year is a fraction of
that, 848 billion kilowatt-hours, a ministry report showed.
The country's Solar Mission initiative seeks to draw
investment to the sector by offering incentives including
special tariffs and a power-bundling arrangement designed to
assure projects of a buyer for their electricity. It has also
set restrictions, including limits on solar equipment imports
and a 5-megawatt limit on any one developer.
"To restrict the size to just 5 megawatts per business
group we felt was too small," Agrawala said. "Also, you're not
allowed to import equipment. As an owner, I'd like to discover
what is the least possible price in the global markets."
Tata Power determined it would have trouble raising loans
from banks under the program because it wasn't clear whether the
designated power buyer, a unit of state-run utility NTPC Ltd.,
has the financial backing to ensure developers are paid for what
they generate, Agrawala said.
Mumbai-based Tata Power is setting up a 25-megawatt solar
plant in western Gujarat under a separate state program,
Agrawala said. It expects to sign a power purchase agreement
with Gujarat state this month and commission the plant by the
end of 2011, he said.
"Serious players are still exploring other state-based
mechanisms and the success of the sector will also be dependent
on the success of those schemes," Sethia said.
--Editors: Randall Hackley, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Natalie Obiko Pearson in Mumbai at +91-22-6612-9107 or
npearson7@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or crussell7@bloomberg.net.
Fwd: + DuPont, Zurich Chase $135 Billion Climate Markets (Update1)
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DuPont, Zurich Chase $135 Billion Climate Markets (Update1)
2010-11-29 01:04:21.766 GMT
(Updates with comment from EU's negotiator at the talks
from 13th paragraph.)
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Kim Chipman
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Seed maker DuPont Co., wind-turbine
manufacturer General Electric Co. and insurer Zurich Financial
Services AG are devising products to help the world adapt to
climate change, a potential $135 billion-a-year market by 2030.
The companies are driven in part by the failure of
international efforts to cut the greenhouse gases that
scientists say contribute to global warming. Discussions last
year in Copenhagen yielded little progress, and officials
leading more than 190 countries in talks that begin today in
Cancun, Mexico, say they don't expect to achieve a binding
agreement on measures to slow the growth of emissions.
Damages from climate-related disasters are mounting.
Insured losses from storms and floods have risen more than
fivefold to $27 billion annually in the past four decades, Swiss
Reinsurance Co. said in a September report. By 2030, the world
may need to spend $135 billion a year on flood protection,
buildings that can withstand hurricanes and drought-resistant
crops, Swiss Re said, citing United Nations data.
"Climate change presents a direct threat to our
business," Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact for
Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee chain,
said in an interview. "We are already hearing some anecdotal
evidence that shifting weather patterns and increased erosion
and pest infestation are starting to impact coffee crops."
Adaptation strategies, such as rewarding farmers for taking
extra steps to prevent erosion on vulnerable land, will help
Starbucks prepare, Hanna said.
Richer, Poorer Nations
Relatively rich nations such as the U.S. are devoting more
attention and resources to adaptation and are negotiating a fund
to help poorer countries cope with the higher sea levels,
droughts, heat waves, more severe storms and erratic weather
predicted by climate scientists.
"Sooner or later all businesses will have to climate-proof
their operations," Christiana Figueres, the UN's climate chief,
said in a September speech in New York. "Adaptation will be
imperative if businesses want to avoid climate-change impacts
that could drive them out of business."
Crops better able to resist drought can help DuPont expand
its $8.2 billion agriculture business, according to Jim Borel,
vice president in charge of seed operations for the Wilmington,
Delaware-based company, the world's second-biggest seed maker
behind Monsanto Co.
Farmers' Productivity
"Real business opportunity comes from using science to
help improve productivity for farmers, and they will have to do
that to deal with climate change over the next few decades,"
Borel said in an interview.
Zurich is offering policies letting businesses and
homeowners replace storm-damaged property with structures better
able to withstand extreme weather, said Lindene Patton, chief
climate-protection officer for the Zurich-based insurer.
"There is more social demand on our customers and other
stakeholders in the sense that when governments are not acting,
people fill gaps with whatever tools are available," Patton
said.
The Cancun climate talks through Dec. 10, led by Figueres,
will seek incremental steps after last year's failure at
meetings in Copenhagen to agree on a new binding international
accord to cut heat-trapping greenhouse-gas pollution.
U.S. vs China
While China looks like it will incorporate its Copenhagen
pledges into domestic law next year, the situation in the U.S.
is "difficult" at the moment after elections earlier in the
month changed the composition of Congress, said Artur Runge-
Metzger, lead negotiator for the 27-nation European Union.
"China is certainly trying to make efforts to put the
pledges they made into Copenhagen into their 5-year plan,"
Runge-Metzger said in an interview in Cancun last night. "It's a
tough task for the Obama administration to take this matter
forward because it's heavily politicized."
Even if nations were to implement ambitious emissions cuts
now, some climate-change effects are unavoidable because of
carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, the Arlington,
Virginia-based Pew Center on Global Climate Change said in an
August report.
Effects Locked In
"There are climate impacts locked into the system because
of the inertia of the atmosphere," said Andrew Voysey,
secretary of ClimateWise, an association of insurers based at
the University of Cambridge in the U.K. that works to reduce the
damage from climate change. "The increased focus on adaptation
is certainly welcome, but we have to be quite conscious of the
limits of what we can adapt out of."
Lack of progress toward global cuts in carbon emissions
means higher adaptation costs in the future, said Joel Smith, a
principal at Boulder, Colorado-based Stratus Consulting Inc. and
a lead author on U.N climate-change reports.
"The less we do to mitigate the more we're going to have
to deal with the consequences," Smith said in an interview.
Nations have been slow to live up to commitments to help
developing nations, said Frances Beinecke, president of the
Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based
environmental group.
"We have put some money on the table," Beinecke said in
an interview. "Not nearly enough. There's going to be more and
more conversations about adaption and the need to take it
seriously."
'People Are Hurting'
Making the argument to spend millions of dollars today to
deal with effects that may not be seen for decades is difficult,
said Ruben Kraiem, a partner with the law firm Covington &
Burling LLP in New York and an adviser to the Coalition for
Rainforest Nations, a New York-based group that works to
preserve tropical forests.
"When people are hurting as many people are, it's
extremely difficult to make that case," Kraiem said. "How much
does it make sense to pay for a more robust piece of
infrastructure today to protect against potential damage in 30
or 40 years?"
President Barack Obama failed to win passage in Congress
this year of legislation to cap carbon emissions linked to
global warming. Prospects for action will grow slimmer next year
when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives
and expand their minority in the Senate. Dozens of Republican
lawmakers elected this month have expressed skepticism about
global warming or action to curb it.
'Inevitable Effects'
Obama's task force on climate-change adaptation is urging
government agencies to prepare for the "inevitable effects" of
global warming.
"We're not looking at climate-change impacts that are far
in the future," Shere Abbott, associate director of environment
for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
said in an interview. "We're already seeing impacts today."
The U.S. Gulf Coast alone may face $350 billion in damages
by 2030 as powerful storms fueled by climate change ravage the
region, according to a study released last month that was
commissioned by Entergy Corp. of New Orleans, an energy company
that operates nuclear-power plants.
Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker
behind Intel Corp., and Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering
company, are among companies that say increased demand for
energy-efficient appliances and other business opportunities may
counter risks to business from climate change such as higher
energy costs, according to a report released last month by the
Carbon Disclosure Project, which is backed by 534 institutional
investors with more than $64 trillion in assets under
management.
GE's Effort
GE of Fairfield, Connecticut, which has pushed for
mandatory carbon limits in the U.S. and worldwide, is working on
a project with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to map water-related
risks for investors. GE, the world's second-biggest wind-turbine
maker behind Vestas Wind Systems A/S, also views the database as
a tool to help the company identify areas worldwide where a
shifting climate is causing water scarcity, said Jeff Fulgham,
sustainability chief for GE Water.
"We want to make sure we are on the ground in those high-
stress areas," Fulgham said in an interview. Revenue from GE's
business recycling water for use in power plants, agriculture
and manufacturing is expected to grow at least 10 percent a year
through at least 2016, he said.
Levi Strauss Cotton
While some businesses seek profit in adapting to climate
change, others are preparing for the liabilities.
Levi Strauss & Co. says it's worried higher temperatures
and sea levels worldwide will cause diminishing supplies and
soaring costs for the cotton used in its jeans.
The apparel-maker is mapping out its operations and supply
chain to see where water scarcity may cause damage now and
later, said Anna Walker, the San Francisco-based company's
senior manager of government affairs and public policy.
Negotiators pledged in Copenhagen to keep the global
temperature rise since industrialization to 2 degrees Celsius
(3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), part of a political pact nations
settled upon after failing to reach a deal on curbing emissions.
Average surface temperatures have risen by about 0.74 degrees
Celsius during the 20th century, according to the UN.
Munich Re, the biggest reinsurer, and Swiss Re, the second-
largest, back the 2-degree cap and say exceeding it would result
in an explosion of risk.
"Adaptation needs more attention," said Andrew Steer, the
World Bank's climate-change chief who became the first to hold
the post in July. "I'm not saying adaptation is better than
mitigation. It's not. But unfortunately it's unlikely we will be
able to prevent temperatures from rising less than 2 degrees."
For Related News and Information:
Top environmental stories: TOP ENV <GO>
Carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
Alternative energy monitor: ALTM <GO>
--With additional assistance from Alex Morales in Cancun.
Editors: Larry Liebert, Todd White
To contact the reporters on this story:
Kim Chipman in Washington at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net;
Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at +1-212-617-1647 or
jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
LLiebert@bloomberg.net.
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DuPont, Zurich Chase $135 Billion Climate Markets (Update1)
2010-11-29 01:04:21.766 GMT
(Updates with comment from EU's negotiator at the talks
from 13th paragraph.)
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Kim Chipman
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Seed maker DuPont Co., wind-turbine
manufacturer General Electric Co. and insurer Zurich Financial
Services AG are devising products to help the world adapt to
climate change, a potential $135 billion-a-year market by 2030.
The companies are driven in part by the failure of
international efforts to cut the greenhouse gases that
scientists say contribute to global warming. Discussions last
year in Copenhagen yielded little progress, and officials
leading more than 190 countries in talks that begin today in
Cancun, Mexico, say they don't expect to achieve a binding
agreement on measures to slow the growth of emissions.
Damages from climate-related disasters are mounting.
Insured losses from storms and floods have risen more than
fivefold to $27 billion annually in the past four decades, Swiss
Reinsurance Co. said in a September report. By 2030, the world
may need to spend $135 billion a year on flood protection,
buildings that can withstand hurricanes and drought-resistant
crops, Swiss Re said, citing United Nations data.
"Climate change presents a direct threat to our
business," Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact for
Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee chain,
said in an interview. "We are already hearing some anecdotal
evidence that shifting weather patterns and increased erosion
and pest infestation are starting to impact coffee crops."
Adaptation strategies, such as rewarding farmers for taking
extra steps to prevent erosion on vulnerable land, will help
Starbucks prepare, Hanna said.
Richer, Poorer Nations
Relatively rich nations such as the U.S. are devoting more
attention and resources to adaptation and are negotiating a fund
to help poorer countries cope with the higher sea levels,
droughts, heat waves, more severe storms and erratic weather
predicted by climate scientists.
"Sooner or later all businesses will have to climate-proof
their operations," Christiana Figueres, the UN's climate chief,
said in a September speech in New York. "Adaptation will be
imperative if businesses want to avoid climate-change impacts
that could drive them out of business."
Crops better able to resist drought can help DuPont expand
its $8.2 billion agriculture business, according to Jim Borel,
vice president in charge of seed operations for the Wilmington,
Delaware-based company, the world's second-biggest seed maker
behind Monsanto Co.
Farmers' Productivity
"Real business opportunity comes from using science to
help improve productivity for farmers, and they will have to do
that to deal with climate change over the next few decades,"
Borel said in an interview.
Zurich is offering policies letting businesses and
homeowners replace storm-damaged property with structures better
able to withstand extreme weather, said Lindene Patton, chief
climate-protection officer for the Zurich-based insurer.
"There is more social demand on our customers and other
stakeholders in the sense that when governments are not acting,
people fill gaps with whatever tools are available," Patton
said.
The Cancun climate talks through Dec. 10, led by Figueres,
will seek incremental steps after last year's failure at
meetings in Copenhagen to agree on a new binding international
accord to cut heat-trapping greenhouse-gas pollution.
U.S. vs China
While China looks like it will incorporate its Copenhagen
pledges into domestic law next year, the situation in the U.S.
is "difficult" at the moment after elections earlier in the
month changed the composition of Congress, said Artur Runge-
Metzger, lead negotiator for the 27-nation European Union.
"China is certainly trying to make efforts to put the
pledges they made into Copenhagen into their 5-year plan,"
Runge-Metzger said in an interview in Cancun last night. "It's a
tough task for the Obama administration to take this matter
forward because it's heavily politicized."
Even if nations were to implement ambitious emissions cuts
now, some climate-change effects are unavoidable because of
carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, the Arlington,
Virginia-based Pew Center on Global Climate Change said in an
August report.
Effects Locked In
"There are climate impacts locked into the system because
of the inertia of the atmosphere," said Andrew Voysey,
secretary of ClimateWise, an association of insurers based at
the University of Cambridge in the U.K. that works to reduce the
damage from climate change. "The increased focus on adaptation
is certainly welcome, but we have to be quite conscious of the
limits of what we can adapt out of."
Lack of progress toward global cuts in carbon emissions
means higher adaptation costs in the future, said Joel Smith, a
principal at Boulder, Colorado-based Stratus Consulting Inc. and
a lead author on U.N climate-change reports.
"The less we do to mitigate the more we're going to have
to deal with the consequences," Smith said in an interview.
Nations have been slow to live up to commitments to help
developing nations, said Frances Beinecke, president of the
Natural Resources Defense Council, a New York-based
environmental group.
"We have put some money on the table," Beinecke said in
an interview. "Not nearly enough. There's going to be more and
more conversations about adaption and the need to take it
seriously."
'People Are Hurting'
Making the argument to spend millions of dollars today to
deal with effects that may not be seen for decades is difficult,
said Ruben Kraiem, a partner with the law firm Covington &
Burling LLP in New York and an adviser to the Coalition for
Rainforest Nations, a New York-based group that works to
preserve tropical forests.
"When people are hurting as many people are, it's
extremely difficult to make that case," Kraiem said. "How much
does it make sense to pay for a more robust piece of
infrastructure today to protect against potential damage in 30
or 40 years?"
President Barack Obama failed to win passage in Congress
this year of legislation to cap carbon emissions linked to
global warming. Prospects for action will grow slimmer next year
when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives
and expand their minority in the Senate. Dozens of Republican
lawmakers elected this month have expressed skepticism about
global warming or action to curb it.
'Inevitable Effects'
Obama's task force on climate-change adaptation is urging
government agencies to prepare for the "inevitable effects" of
global warming.
"We're not looking at climate-change impacts that are far
in the future," Shere Abbott, associate director of environment
for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
said in an interview. "We're already seeing impacts today."
The U.S. Gulf Coast alone may face $350 billion in damages
by 2030 as powerful storms fueled by climate change ravage the
region, according to a study released last month that was
commissioned by Entergy Corp. of New Orleans, an energy company
that operates nuclear-power plants.
Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker
behind Intel Corp., and Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering
company, are among companies that say increased demand for
energy-efficient appliances and other business opportunities may
counter risks to business from climate change such as higher
energy costs, according to a report released last month by the
Carbon Disclosure Project, which is backed by 534 institutional
investors with more than $64 trillion in assets under
management.
GE's Effort
GE of Fairfield, Connecticut, which has pushed for
mandatory carbon limits in the U.S. and worldwide, is working on
a project with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to map water-related
risks for investors. GE, the world's second-biggest wind-turbine
maker behind Vestas Wind Systems A/S, also views the database as
a tool to help the company identify areas worldwide where a
shifting climate is causing water scarcity, said Jeff Fulgham,
sustainability chief for GE Water.
"We want to make sure we are on the ground in those high-
stress areas," Fulgham said in an interview. Revenue from GE's
business recycling water for use in power plants, agriculture
and manufacturing is expected to grow at least 10 percent a year
through at least 2016, he said.
Levi Strauss Cotton
While some businesses seek profit in adapting to climate
change, others are preparing for the liabilities.
Levi Strauss & Co. says it's worried higher temperatures
and sea levels worldwide will cause diminishing supplies and
soaring costs for the cotton used in its jeans.
The apparel-maker is mapping out its operations and supply
chain to see where water scarcity may cause damage now and
later, said Anna Walker, the San Francisco-based company's
senior manager of government affairs and public policy.
Negotiators pledged in Copenhagen to keep the global
temperature rise since industrialization to 2 degrees Celsius
(3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), part of a political pact nations
settled upon after failing to reach a deal on curbing emissions.
Average surface temperatures have risen by about 0.74 degrees
Celsius during the 20th century, according to the UN.
Munich Re, the biggest reinsurer, and Swiss Re, the second-
largest, back the 2-degree cap and say exceeding it would result
in an explosion of risk.
"Adaptation needs more attention," said Andrew Steer, the
World Bank's climate-change chief who became the first to hold
the post in July. "I'm not saying adaptation is better than
mitigation. It's not. But unfortunately it's unlikely we will be
able to prevent temperatures from rising less than 2 degrees."
For Related News and Information:
Top environmental stories: TOP ENV <GO>
Carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
Alternative energy monitor: ALTM <GO>
--With additional assistance from Alex Morales in Cancun.
Editors: Larry Liebert, Todd White
To contact the reporters on this story:
Kim Chipman in Washington at +1-202-624-1927 or
kchipman@bloomberg.net;
Jim Efstathiou Jr. in New York at +1-212-617-1647 or
jefstathiou@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
LLiebert@bloomberg.net.
Fwd: Gillard Wants To Decide On Carbon Tax Next Year, Review Reports
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Gillard Wants To Decide On Carbon Tax Next Year, Review Reports
2010-11-28 20:08:28.723 GMT
By Rebecca Keenan
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's Prime Minister Julia
Gillard wants to decide on a carbon tax next year, the
Australian Financial Review reported, citing a speech expected
to be delivered today. A price on carbon, health reforms, the
introduction of a national broadband network and lifting
workforce participation are the major reforms she wants to
deliver in 2011, the newspaper said.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Rebecca Keenan in Melbourne at +61-3-9228-8721 or
rkeenan5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tim Smith at +61-2-9777-8678 or
tsmith58@bloomberg.net
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Gillard Wants To Decide On Carbon Tax Next Year, Review Reports
2010-11-28 20:08:28.723 GMT
By Rebecca Keenan
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's Prime Minister Julia
Gillard wants to decide on a carbon tax next year, the
Australian Financial Review reported, citing a speech expected
to be delivered today. A price on carbon, health reforms, the
introduction of a national broadband network and lifting
workforce participation are the major reforms she wants to
deliver in 2011, the newspaper said.
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Rebecca Keenan in Melbourne at +61-3-9228-8721 or
rkeenan5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tim Smith at +61-2-9777-8678 or
tsmith58@bloomberg.net
2010/11/26
(BN) Un Emissions Board Hands Out Credits for 12 HFC-23
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Un Emissions Board Hands Out Credits for 12 HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-27 03:28:12.690 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The regulatory board overseeing the
world's second-biggest carbon market decided to hand out
tradable emission credits to 12 projects destroying
hydrofluorocarbon-23, a potent greenhouse gas.
The Clean Development Mechanism executive board approved 17
issuances to the projects that it had previously placed under
review, according to an e-mailed statement today.
About half of all United Nations-overseen credits supplied
since 2005 come from HFC-23-cutting factories, including in
China and India. The gas is a waste product of refrigerant
making. The credits can currently be used for compliance
in the European Union, which this week proposed to ban their use
starting 2013.
The regulator of the United Nations emissions market
deferred a decision on a request, the first of its kind, by
Ineos Group Holdings Ltd. to renew a crediting period at an
HFC-23-cutting factory in Ulsan, South Korea.
Link to Company News:{2523946Z LN <Equity> CN <GO>}
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Regan at +852-2977-6620 or
jregan19@bloomberg.net
Un Emissions Board Hands Out Credits for 12 HFC-23 Projects
2010-11-27 03:28:12.690 GMT
By Mathew Carr
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The regulatory board overseeing the
world's second-biggest carbon market decided to hand out
tradable emission credits to 12 projects destroying
hydrofluorocarbon-23, a potent greenhouse gas.
The Clean Development Mechanism executive board approved 17
issuances to the projects that it had previously placed under
review, according to an e-mailed statement today.
About half of all United Nations-overseen credits supplied
since 2005 come from HFC-23-cutting factories, including in
China and India. The gas is a waste product of refrigerant
making. The credits can currently be used for compliance
in the European Union, which this week proposed to ban their use
starting 2013.
The regulator of the United Nations emissions market
deferred a decision on a request, the first of its kind, by
Ineos Group Holdings Ltd. to renew a crediting period at an
HFC-23-cutting factory in Ulsan, South Korea.
Link to Company News:{2523946Z LN <Equity> CN <GO>}
For Related News and Information:
Top Stories:{TOP<GO>}
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
James Regan at +852-2977-6620 or
jregan19@bloomberg.net
Updtd/ World May Post Warmest Year, U.K. Met Office Says
---
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
World May Post Warmest Year, U.K. Met Office Says (Update1)
2010-11-26 14:42:57.762 GMT
(Adds NASA's rolling average record in final paragraph.)
By Alex Morales
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- World temperatures in 2010 may be
the warmest on record, the U.K. Met Office said, as it plans to
calibrate a decade of data to account for newer sensors.
The average temperature for the year through October shows
2010 will be one of the two warmest years in a series that goes
back to 1850, said Vicky Pope, head of climate science at the
Met Office. Scientists at the agency are preparing to revise
data since 2000 to adjust for a new method that masked some of
the rising temperature trend, she said.
Nine climate indicators, from temperatures in the lower
atmosphere and humidity to rising sea levels, declining sea ice
and shrinking glaciers all point toward a warming climate,
according to a report today from the agency, which compiles one
of the three main time series of global temperatures.
"There's a very clear warming trend but it's not as rapid
as it was before," Pope told reporters yesterday in London.
Where the average temperature rose at about 0.16 degrees per
decade since the 1970s, the rate through the 2000s has been from
0.05 to 0.13 degrees, she said.
The decadal rate for the 2000s may be 0.03 degrees higher
once adjustments have been made to compensate for an increase in
the use of buoys to take sea temperature measurements, Pope
said. The buoys measure sea temperatures as being slightly lower
than ships, which were used more in the past, according to
Matthew Palmer, an ocean scientist at the Met Office.
U.S. Data
"We've effectively underestimated the rate of warming over
the past decade," Palmer said. A new series will be published
at an as yet unspecified date, according to the Met Office.
The global average temperature for the year through the end
of October was 0.52 degrees Celsius (0.94 degrees Fahrenheit)
warmer than the 1961 through 1990 average of 14 degrees, the
same as 1998, the hottest year in the Met Office series.
"It's currently the second-warmest year on record," Pope
said, noting that 1998 had a "strong" El Nino phenomenon, a
cyclical warming of the Pacific Ocean that typically raises the
global average temperature. This year began with an El Nino and
has switched to the reverse phase, called La Nina, she said.
While the Met Office didn't provide a figure, the 0.03-
degree revision in the decadal rate would add a tenth of that,
0.003 degrees, to this year's data relative to 1998, which
predates the period being revised.
The Met Office compiles the data along with the University
of East Anglia in eastern England, which last year had thousands
of e-mails stolen from its servers and posted on the Internet,
causing skeptics to charge that the data were manipulated. Three
investigations have since cleared the school.
WMO, NOAA, NASA
The World Meteorological Organization is due to announce a
first estimate of 2010 temperatures on Dec. 2 during two weeks
of United Nations climate changes talks in Cancun, Mexico.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration publish
two other widely used global average temperature series. They
have 2005 as the warmest year due to differences in the way they
account for temperatures in parts of the world where there are
no monitoring stations.
This year may eclipse 2005 as the warmest in the 131-year
NASA series, the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies
said on Sept. 30. The 12-month rolling average global
temperature posted a record in the year through April, James
Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist, said in June.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
--Editors: Randall Hackley, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or landberg@bloomberg.net.
Sent From Bloomberg Mobile MSG
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
World May Post Warmest Year, U.K. Met Office Says (Update1)
2010-11-26 14:42:57.762 GMT
(Adds NASA's rolling average record in final paragraph.)
By Alex Morales
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- World temperatures in 2010 may be
the warmest on record, the U.K. Met Office said, as it plans to
calibrate a decade of data to account for newer sensors.
The average temperature for the year through October shows
2010 will be one of the two warmest years in a series that goes
back to 1850, said Vicky Pope, head of climate science at the
Met Office. Scientists at the agency are preparing to revise
data since 2000 to adjust for a new method that masked some of
the rising temperature trend, she said.
Nine climate indicators, from temperatures in the lower
atmosphere and humidity to rising sea levels, declining sea ice
and shrinking glaciers all point toward a warming climate,
according to a report today from the agency, which compiles one
of the three main time series of global temperatures.
"There's a very clear warming trend but it's not as rapid
as it was before," Pope told reporters yesterday in London.
Where the average temperature rose at about 0.16 degrees per
decade since the 1970s, the rate through the 2000s has been from
0.05 to 0.13 degrees, she said.
The decadal rate for the 2000s may be 0.03 degrees higher
once adjustments have been made to compensate for an increase in
the use of buoys to take sea temperature measurements, Pope
said. The buoys measure sea temperatures as being slightly lower
than ships, which were used more in the past, according to
Matthew Palmer, an ocean scientist at the Met Office.
U.S. Data
"We've effectively underestimated the rate of warming over
the past decade," Palmer said. A new series will be published
at an as yet unspecified date, according to the Met Office.
The global average temperature for the year through the end
of October was 0.52 degrees Celsius (0.94 degrees Fahrenheit)
warmer than the 1961 through 1990 average of 14 degrees, the
same as 1998, the hottest year in the Met Office series.
"It's currently the second-warmest year on record," Pope
said, noting that 1998 had a "strong" El Nino phenomenon, a
cyclical warming of the Pacific Ocean that typically raises the
global average temperature. This year began with an El Nino and
has switched to the reverse phase, called La Nina, she said.
While the Met Office didn't provide a figure, the 0.03-
degree revision in the decadal rate would add a tenth of that,
0.003 degrees, to this year's data relative to 1998, which
predates the period being revised.
The Met Office compiles the data along with the University
of East Anglia in eastern England, which last year had thousands
of e-mails stolen from its servers and posted on the Internet,
causing skeptics to charge that the data were manipulated. Three
investigations have since cleared the school.
WMO, NOAA, NASA
The World Meteorological Organization is due to announce a
first estimate of 2010 temperatures on Dec. 2 during two weeks
of United Nations climate changes talks in Cancun, Mexico.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration publish
two other widely used global average temperature series. They
have 2005 as the warmest year due to differences in the way they
account for temperatures in parts of the world where there are
no monitoring stations.
This year may eclipse 2005 as the warmest in the 131-year
NASA series, the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies
said on Sept. 30. The 12-month rolling average global
temperature posted a record in the year through April, James
Hansen, NASA's top climate scientist, said in June.
For Related News and Information:
Climate-change news: NI CLIMATE <GO>
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Most-read environmental news: MNI ENV <GO>
Renewable energy Stories: NI ALTNRG <GO>
--Editors: Randall Hackley, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Alex Morales in London at +44-20-7330-7718 or
amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or landberg@bloomberg.net.
(BN) EU Carbon Pares Losses as Virus Threatens Trading Registries
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
EU Carbon Pares Losses as Virus Threatens Trading Registries
2010-11-26 17:54:13.298 GMT
By Mathew Carr and Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon permits pared
losses as Germany and other regulators said trading registries
that track ownership of the allowances may have been attacked by
a computer virus named Nimkey.
EU permits for spot delivery declined 5 cents, or 0.3
percent, to 15.05 euros ($19.91) a metric ton on the BlueNext
exchange in Paris. They earlier dropped to 14.90 euros a ton,
the lowest level since Nov. 23. They rose 0.8 percent in the
week and 22 percent so far this year.
Germany's registry said it blocked transactions until Dec.
3, after reports that access data were stolen from users of
other European emissions trading registries with the help of
Nimkey, a so-called Trojan virus, according to the website of
DEHSt, the registry in Berlin. The EU carbon market is the
world's biggest.
Any blockage of the nation's registry during Dec. 1 would
probably cause "serious difficulties" for traders seeking
delivery on that day, said Louis Redshaw, head of environmental
markets for Barclays Capital in London.
The majority of over-the-counter forward contracts are for
delivery that day, he said today by phone. "The danger is other
registries may also block transactions during this time,"
further restricting delivery options, he said. Germany's
blockage may not prevent all deals, Julie Steinen, a spokeswoman
for DEHSt, said in an interview.
Unable to Send
"The suspension of transactions in the German registry
means that users can receive emissions certificates from
accounts at other foreign registries, but they won't be able to
send certificates from their accounts until the moment the
suspension ends," Steinen said.
The Belgian registry said on its website it was temporarily
unavailable and access to accounts will remain blocked "until
further information is received on the possible impact" of the
virus. The Dutch registry also suspended access. Other national
registries in the EU cap-and-trade, including Denmark, Poland,
Portugal and the U.K., urged operators to remain cautious and
review their security measures.
"We ask you to make sure that your computer is not
affected before a future log in to the registry," DEHSt said on
its website.
Transactions will be blocked until 6 p.m. local time on
Dec. 3, DEHSt said. The registry is offline since yesterday and
won't be online before 8 a.m. on Nov. 29, it said.
For Related News and Information:
Top renewable energy, power stories: GREEN <GO>, PTOP <GO>
Bloomberg glossary of emissions terminology: IDOC 2059757 <GO>
Emissions menu, prices: EMIS <GO>, EMIT <GO>
--Editors: Rob Verdonck, Stephen Cunningham
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
Ewa Krukowska in Warsaw at +32-2-237-4331 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
EU Carbon Pares Losses as Virus Threatens Trading Registries
2010-11-26 17:54:13.298 GMT
By Mathew Carr and Ewa Krukowska
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon permits pared
losses as Germany and other regulators said trading registries
that track ownership of the allowances may have been attacked by
a computer virus named Nimkey.
EU permits for spot delivery declined 5 cents, or 0.3
percent, to 15.05 euros ($19.91) a metric ton on the BlueNext
exchange in Paris. They earlier dropped to 14.90 euros a ton,
the lowest level since Nov. 23. They rose 0.8 percent in the
week and 22 percent so far this year.
Germany's registry said it blocked transactions until Dec.
3, after reports that access data were stolen from users of
other European emissions trading registries with the help of
Nimkey, a so-called Trojan virus, according to the website of
DEHSt, the registry in Berlin. The EU carbon market is the
world's biggest.
Any blockage of the nation's registry during Dec. 1 would
probably cause "serious difficulties" for traders seeking
delivery on that day, said Louis Redshaw, head of environmental
markets for Barclays Capital in London.
The majority of over-the-counter forward contracts are for
delivery that day, he said today by phone. "The danger is other
registries may also block transactions during this time,"
further restricting delivery options, he said. Germany's
blockage may not prevent all deals, Julie Steinen, a spokeswoman
for DEHSt, said in an interview.
Unable to Send
"The suspension of transactions in the German registry
means that users can receive emissions certificates from
accounts at other foreign registries, but they won't be able to
send certificates from their accounts until the moment the
suspension ends," Steinen said.
The Belgian registry said on its website it was temporarily
unavailable and access to accounts will remain blocked "until
further information is received on the possible impact" of the
virus. The Dutch registry also suspended access. Other national
registries in the EU cap-and-trade, including Denmark, Poland,
Portugal and the U.K., urged operators to remain cautious and
review their security measures.
"We ask you to make sure that your computer is not
affected before a future log in to the registry," DEHSt said on
its website.
Transactions will be blocked until 6 p.m. local time on
Dec. 3, DEHSt said. The registry is offline since yesterday and
won't be online before 8 a.m. on Nov. 29, it said.
For Related News and Information:
Top renewable energy, power stories: GREEN <GO>, PTOP <GO>
Bloomberg glossary of emissions terminology: IDOC 2059757 <GO>
Emissions menu, prices: EMIS <GO>, EMIT <GO>
--Editors: Rob Verdonck, Stephen Cunningham
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathew Carr in London at +44-20-7073-3531 or
m.carr@bloomberg.net;
Ewa Krukowska in Warsaw at +32-2-237-4331 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
update/CO2 Exchanges Ready Contracts as EU Weighs Offset Ban
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
CO2 Exchanges Ready Contracts as EU Weighs Offset Ban (Update1)
2010-11-26 14:08:36.180 GMT
(Adds EU caps in seventh paragraph, ICE futures in eighth.)
By Ewa Krukowska and Mathew Carr
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union proposed a ban
from the start of 2013 on tradable credits linked to certain
industrial gases, prompting exchanges to begin creating new
futures contracts to reflect a change in emissions regulation.
The regulatory arm of the 27-nation EU is taking aim
against projects that may create "excessive" profits for
investors and undermine the market's integrity. The EU said
yesterday it wants to prohibit United Nations credits related to
hydrofluorocarbon-23 and some nitrous oxide credits. The news
widened the price gap between UN Certified Emission Reductions
and EU allowances for 2012 to the most since May 20, 2009.
"We expect to launch new contracts early next year for
CERs eligible for the EU in the post-2012 period," said Henrik
Hasselknippe, a managing director at The Green Exchange, a group
including Chicago-based CME Group Inc. "The discussion among
regulators will continue for several months. We are not going to
sit back and wait for that to conclude."
More than 11,000 facilities in the EU system, the world's
largest cap-and-trade program, are allowed to use UN credits as
a cheaper way to comply with pollution quotas. Regulators around
the world are clamping down on HFC-23, whose warming potential
is 11,700 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Officials at
the UN carbon market called for a revision of its procedures.
Clean Development Mechanism
The commission proposed banning the use in the EU system of
UN credits linked to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from adipic acid
production from the Clean Development Mechanism, the world's
second-biggest CO2 market, and the Joint Implementation program.
The ICE Futures Europe exchange, the biggest platform for
trading emission rights, said it has the right to determine the
type of offset credits that can be used to settle CERs futures
contracts. It will make a further statement on the EU proposal
by Dec. 11, ICE said in an e-mailed statement dated yesterday.
While the UN CDM issues CERs to pollution-cutting projects
in developing nations, the Joint Implementation program
generates tradable Emission Reduction Units. Installations in
the EU program can now swap as many as 1.6 billion UN credits
with EU permits on a one-for-one basis. The EU average annual
emissions cap for that period is 2.04 billion tons of carbon
dioxide, valued at about 31 billion euros ($41 billion) at
today's prices. One permit represents one ton of CO2.
CERs for delivery in 2012 dropped 0.5 percent to 11.40
euros on ICE today, taking their loss to 2.6 percent in the past
two days. Given the uncertainty about the UN market after 2012,
exchanges don't offer benchmark futures for 2013 or later. ICE
Futures's CER contract for delivery in March 2013 dropped 5.5
percent at yesterday's close to 10.56 euros, a record low.
"As for futures traded on exchanges, it's really up to
exchanges to decide how they are going to deal with it, although
you have to expect some kind of a discount," Guy Turner,
director for carbon markets at Bloomberg New Energy Finance,
told a panel at the EMART conference in Amsterdam. "ICE may be
reluctant to add technology-specific contracts because it would
reduce liquidity," he said today by e-mail.
'Material' Impact
The impact of the proposed EU regulation on the price of
offsets traded on the over-the-counter market will be
"material" because investors will be able to differentiate
credits related to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from credits from
other types of projects, according to Turner. The effect on EU
carbon allowances will be "very slight," he said.
EU allowances for 2012 fell 0.8 percent to 15.70 euros
today. The spread between the EU permits and UN offsets for that
year, traded as a separate contract, widened to 4.36 euros,
constituting the biggest discount on UN credits in 18 months.
The EU regulator's operational objective is to restrict the
use of credits linked to HFC-23 and adipic acid projects from
being used within the bloc's emissions-trading system "as soon
as legally possible," the commission said.
Financial Losses
As some project developers, financial intermediaries and
compliance buyers have signed some contracts for the delivery of
credits by March 2013, curbs imposed as of January 2013 would
require "adjustments by market participants which could entail
some financial losses," according to the commission.
"Due to commercial interests of individual market
participants it was not possible to collect factual information
on the importance of these delivery contracts," it said. "But
in particular to the extent that they were agreed after the date
of adoption of the revised EU ETS, these contracts may contain
provisions in the event use restrictions are introduced."
The future of the UN carbon market and other proposals to
cut greenhouse gases will be on the agenda when envoys worldwide
meet Nov. 29 in Cancun, Mexico, for climate talks. They will
discuss a climate-protection framework for when limits in the
1997 Kyoto Protocol expire at the end of 2012.
Continuing to pay "high rents" for HFC-23 and N2O
abatement under the CDM would not be in line with the EU
negotiating position for Cancun that advanced developing
countries should contribute to global emission-reduction
efforts, the commission said.
Short Payback Time
"The payback time of the capital and operational costs of
HFC-23 and adipic acid plant N2O destruction is less than a
year, even with a yearly weighted average cost of capital of 30
percent, while projects can earn revenues up to 21 years in the
future," the commission said. "Within the first year they even
generate sufficient profits to also compensate all operating
costs for the remainder of the lifetime of the project. This
results in extremely high returns on investment."
While HFC-23 projects represent less than 1 percent of all
registered UN offset projects, their credits account for 69
percent of about 465 million offsets issued so far. The 19
projects cutting the gas under the CDM program are located
mainly in China and India, according to UN data.
CDM projects cutting nitrous oxide in adipic acid plants
are present in Brazil, China and South Korea. In Europe, three
adipic acid plants participate in the Joint Implementation
program: one in France and two in Germany, according to the
commission.
In 2009, EU emitters used 82 million CERs or ERUs for
compliance in the bloc's cap-and-trade, according to the
commission data. Operators from Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain,
UK and France used the highest number of HFC23 and nitrous oxide
CERs, the commission said.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: John Buckley, Randall Hackley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
CO2 Exchanges Ready Contracts as EU Weighs Offset Ban (Update1)
2010-11-26 14:08:36.180 GMT
(Adds EU caps in seventh paragraph, ICE futures in eighth.)
By Ewa Krukowska and Mathew Carr
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union proposed a ban
from the start of 2013 on tradable credits linked to certain
industrial gases, prompting exchanges to begin creating new
futures contracts to reflect a change in emissions regulation.
The regulatory arm of the 27-nation EU is taking aim
against projects that may create "excessive" profits for
investors and undermine the market's integrity. The EU said
yesterday it wants to prohibit United Nations credits related to
hydrofluorocarbon-23 and some nitrous oxide credits. The news
widened the price gap between UN Certified Emission Reductions
and EU allowances for 2012 to the most since May 20, 2009.
"We expect to launch new contracts early next year for
CERs eligible for the EU in the post-2012 period," said Henrik
Hasselknippe, a managing director at The Green Exchange, a group
including Chicago-based CME Group Inc. "The discussion among
regulators will continue for several months. We are not going to
sit back and wait for that to conclude."
More than 11,000 facilities in the EU system, the world's
largest cap-and-trade program, are allowed to use UN credits as
a cheaper way to comply with pollution quotas. Regulators around
the world are clamping down on HFC-23, whose warming potential
is 11,700 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Officials at
the UN carbon market called for a revision of its procedures.
Clean Development Mechanism
The commission proposed banning the use in the EU system of
UN credits linked to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from adipic acid
production from the Clean Development Mechanism, the world's
second-biggest CO2 market, and the Joint Implementation program.
The ICE Futures Europe exchange, the biggest platform for
trading emission rights, said it has the right to determine the
type of offset credits that can be used to settle CERs futures
contracts. It will make a further statement on the EU proposal
by Dec. 11, ICE said in an e-mailed statement dated yesterday.
While the UN CDM issues CERs to pollution-cutting projects
in developing nations, the Joint Implementation program
generates tradable Emission Reduction Units. Installations in
the EU program can now swap as many as 1.6 billion UN credits
with EU permits on a one-for-one basis. The EU average annual
emissions cap for that period is 2.04 billion tons of carbon
dioxide, valued at about 31 billion euros ($41 billion) at
today's prices. One permit represents one ton of CO2.
CERs for delivery in 2012 dropped 0.5 percent to 11.40
euros on ICE today, taking their loss to 2.6 percent in the past
two days. Given the uncertainty about the UN market after 2012,
exchanges don't offer benchmark futures for 2013 or later. ICE
Futures's CER contract for delivery in March 2013 dropped 5.5
percent at yesterday's close to 10.56 euros, a record low.
"As for futures traded on exchanges, it's really up to
exchanges to decide how they are going to deal with it, although
you have to expect some kind of a discount," Guy Turner,
director for carbon markets at Bloomberg New Energy Finance,
told a panel at the EMART conference in Amsterdam. "ICE may be
reluctant to add technology-specific contracts because it would
reduce liquidity," he said today by e-mail.
'Material' Impact
The impact of the proposed EU regulation on the price of
offsets traded on the over-the-counter market will be
"material" because investors will be able to differentiate
credits related to HFC-23 and nitrous oxide from credits from
other types of projects, according to Turner. The effect on EU
carbon allowances will be "very slight," he said.
EU allowances for 2012 fell 0.8 percent to 15.70 euros
today. The spread between the EU permits and UN offsets for that
year, traded as a separate contract, widened to 4.36 euros,
constituting the biggest discount on UN credits in 18 months.
The EU regulator's operational objective is to restrict the
use of credits linked to HFC-23 and adipic acid projects from
being used within the bloc's emissions-trading system "as soon
as legally possible," the commission said.
Financial Losses
As some project developers, financial intermediaries and
compliance buyers have signed some contracts for the delivery of
credits by March 2013, curbs imposed as of January 2013 would
require "adjustments by market participants which could entail
some financial losses," according to the commission.
"Due to commercial interests of individual market
participants it was not possible to collect factual information
on the importance of these delivery contracts," it said. "But
in particular to the extent that they were agreed after the date
of adoption of the revised EU ETS, these contracts may contain
provisions in the event use restrictions are introduced."
The future of the UN carbon market and other proposals to
cut greenhouse gases will be on the agenda when envoys worldwide
meet Nov. 29 in Cancun, Mexico, for climate talks. They will
discuss a climate-protection framework for when limits in the
1997 Kyoto Protocol expire at the end of 2012.
Continuing to pay "high rents" for HFC-23 and N2O
abatement under the CDM would not be in line with the EU
negotiating position for Cancun that advanced developing
countries should contribute to global emission-reduction
efforts, the commission said.
Short Payback Time
"The payback time of the capital and operational costs of
HFC-23 and adipic acid plant N2O destruction is less than a
year, even with a yearly weighted average cost of capital of 30
percent, while projects can earn revenues up to 21 years in the
future," the commission said. "Within the first year they even
generate sufficient profits to also compensate all operating
costs for the remainder of the lifetime of the project. This
results in extremely high returns on investment."
While HFC-23 projects represent less than 1 percent of all
registered UN offset projects, their credits account for 69
percent of about 465 million offsets issued so far. The 19
projects cutting the gas under the CDM program are located
mainly in China and India, according to UN data.
CDM projects cutting nitrous oxide in adipic acid plants
are present in Brazil, China and South Korea. In Europe, three
adipic acid plants participate in the Joint Implementation
program: one in France and two in Germany, according to the
commission.
In 2009, EU emitters used 82 million CERs or ERUs for
compliance in the bloc's cap-and-trade, according to the
commission data. Operators from Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain,
UK and France used the highest number of HFC23 and nitrous oxide
CERs, the commission said.
For Related News and Information:
Emission market news: NI ENVMARKET <GO>
Today's top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
European power-markets home page: EPWR <GO>
--Editors: John Buckley, Randall Hackley
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ewa Krukowska in Brussels at +32-474-620-243 or
ekrukowska@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Stephen Voss at +44-20-7073-3520 or sev@bloomberg.net
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