EEX Sets Trading Expansion Priorities

The European Energy Exchange said expanding its carbon-dioxide trading is a priority as the European Union moves toward auctioning permits in the world's biggest such market.

EEX, based in Leipzig, Germany, is continental Europe's largest energy exchange for emission rights, power, natural gas and coal. The platform started handling carbon sales for Germany's Environment Ministry this year and is preparing to take part in a tender to become an operator for the planned EU auctions in 2013, Managing Director Oliver Maibaum said.

"Our top priority is to play a bigger role in the carbon market," Maibaum said today in an interview at the EMART conference in Amsterdam. "The volumes will be bigger after the EU starts auctioning. This already attracts many players and the feedback from our traders is that there's more potential."

The EU, which has given away the majority of allowances since its emission-trading system started in 2005, will require most emitters to buy their permits when its third phase starts in 2013. The bloc will auction about 60 percent of the total in the first year and increase the proportion in following years, according to estimates from the European Commission.

The cap for CO2 discharges for 2013 has been set at 2.04 billion tons, valued at about 31 billion euros at today's price. This limit includes aluminum and chemical makers that join the program in the third phase. An adjustment is also planned for airlines that will become part of the system from 2012.

Maibaum said the EEX was in negotiation for more market makers to boost liquidity from its current four in each gas and power trading and two for carbon. The exchange plans to add time spreads for EU carbon allowances to its current offer of spot and futures.

---

To find out more about investment opportunities in carbon credit trading talk to 360 Invest Group today.

Africa to get Carbon Trading Hub

Kenya is planning to create a carbon credit trading market in order to help drive greenhouse-gas emissions reduction activity within the country and across Africa.

The government is creating a carbon offset trading platform to help kick-start foreign investment in renewable energy and forestry projects under the UN’s CDM mechanism.

Kenya’s largest forest and water areas, the Mau and Aberdares, are believed to have the potential to deliver billions of dollars in avoided deforestation credits for preserving and restoring these natural assets. The Mau forest has been reduced by 40 per cent in recent decades due to logging and land-clearing, and carbon credit trading will help reduce this.

The UN CDM has seen more than 5000 projects developed around the developing world over the last six years, but Africa has largely missed out with less than 150 getting off the ground. Kenyan authorities say the trading platform could make Nairobi a carbon trading hub in such projects for the whole continent.

The government has established a carbon finance unit in the Ministry of Finance and says the country’s public debt could be paid off with carbon revenues in six years, according to the head of the Carbon Financing Unit, Erastus Wahome.

---

For more information about carbon trading, speak to one of our consultants at 360 Invest Group today.

Carbon Offset Investors Have Long-Term Confidence

Investors in the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) now have more confidence in the carbon offset market after 2012 after the number of post-2012 carbon credit deals rose in recent weeks.

On Thursday, UK-based project developer Camco International reported for the first time that it had secured options in CERs due to be issued after 2012 because of more interest from buyers and more market transactions taking place.

"The market has evolved. There is a tangible value for post-2012 credits," Yariv Cohen, Camco's chief carbon officer, told Reuters.

In a project development update, Camco said it has contracts for a risked 28.1 million tonnes and holds contractual rights of up to a further risked 27.6 million tonnes.

This week alone saw three post-2012 deals announced.

A consortium agreed to buy 2 million pre-2012 and post-2012 CERs from a Moroccan wind farm project, while Vitol SA bought 8.5 million CERs from carbon asset manager KYOTOenergy Pte, of which 92 percent are expected to be issued after 2012.

German chemical company Lanxess invested 7 million euros ($9.67 million) in an Indian biomass project to earn post-2012 CERs, Point Carbon reported.

In September, French carbon investor CDC Climat set up a subsidiary to manage 60 million euros of investment in carbon assets, including post-2012 credits.

"Demand been up for a quite a while. People are making sure they are positioned properly for 2012," said Simon Glossop, partner at CF Partners.

---

For more information about carbon investing, speak to one of our consultants at 360 Invest Group today.

International Aviation Companies Agree to Emissions Trading

The European Union claimed victory at an international aviation meeting, saying the participants accepted the EU’s plan to cap emissions by domestic and foreign airlines serving Europe as of 2012.

The European Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive arm, also said the International Civil Aviation Organization reached a “breakthrough” agreement at its meeting that ended yesterday to curb global aircraft discharges of greenhouse gases beginning in 2020.

Such pollution is blamed for global climate change, which the EU is handling in part by adding airlines to its emissions trading system in less than 15 months.

Emissions from international aviation account for 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas discharges and their share is expected to rise in the coming decades as the industry grows, according to the EU.

The EU carbon market, started in 2005, is the world’s largest. It covers about 12,000 installations that produce energy or goods ranging from paper to cement. Emitters must have an allowance for each ton of carbon dioxide they let off. Those producing more than their allowance have to buy more; those that emit less can sell their surplus.

The bloc is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent this decade from 1990s levels and said it’s ready to deepen the target to 30 percent if other countries follow suit.

---

To find out more about investment opportunities in carbon credit trading talk to 360 Invest Group today.

Japanese Carbon Trading Sees Prices Soar

A pioneering domestic carbon trade in Japan has seen emissions reduction credits change hands for 12,000 yen per tonne, or U$S142, Reuters and Point Carbon report.

Tokyo's mandated emissions trading scheme (ETS) launched in April and obligates 1400 large-emitting factories and commercial businesses to cut emissions by 7 per cent overall over the four years to 2014. The scheme only covers 1 per cent of national emissions but is seen as a forerunner to a possible nationwide ETS down the track.

The Tokyo transaction was for a small parcel of credits over 22 tonnes of emissions reductions from an energy efficiency project operated by Daiwa House Industry and Taisei Rotec, Reuters reports.

The sale price is more than seven times the $19 a tonne prevailing price of allowances in the EU ETS and nine times the $16.70 a tonne for CERs, the carbon offsets generated under the UN CDM scheme.

The Tokyo trade took place via an online marketplace owned by Sojitz Corp and Smart Energy.

---

To find out more about investment opportunities in carbon credit trading talk to 360 Invest Group today.

Carbon credit markets in possible merger

360investgroup

Europe's commissioner for climate action on Tuesday confirmed for the first time plans to link the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) with California's carbon market which opens next year.

Connie Hedegaard met with California's governor, Jerry Brown, and Mary Nichols, who chairs the Californian Air Resources Board, in Sacramento to discuss how future co-operation might work to join the world's largest and second largest carbon markets.

contact 360investgroup today for the latest information on carbon credits and how to invest in carbon trading

First Green Climate Fund meeting will take place next mo

UN climate chief urges governments to deliver on Cancun pledges

Christiana Figueres confirms first Green Climate Fund meeting will take place next month.

The UN's top climate change official has issued a timely call for governments to accelerate efforts to deliver on last year's Cancun Accords, ahead of the year's first official round of international climate negotiations in Bangkok next month.

Diplomats are scheduled to recommence negotiations at a meeting in Bangkok scheduled to run from April 3 to 8. The conference is intended to provide an update on progress against the Cancun Accords and agree a work-plan for this year's negotiations, which will culminate in December at the COP 17 summit in Durban, South Africa.

360investgroup

carbon trading

SIPP investments

source of article: Business green

Nairobi opens new carbon credit exchange - 360investgroup

Nairobi opens new carbon credit exchange

Kenya is better placed to emerge as a regional carbon emission trading hub.

The exchange is modelled after the Chicago and Australia carbon exchanges but several aspects of the two have been domesticated.

The exchange has put Kenya on the global map of advance in the trading of carbon credits and will trigger more investments in development of clean, efficient energy and afforestation projects.

360investgroup

carbon trading

In the news this week.....

Korea unveils carbon scheme rules
South Korea has outlined detailed rules for a scheme that will impose emission targets on over 1,500 facilities this year.

Nefco buys post-2012 CERs from Laos hydro project
Nefco has signed a deal to buy 140,000 CDM credits from a project in Laos that aims to generate carbon credits eligible for the EU ETS after 2012.

EU steel production rises 7.5%
Steel production in the 27-nation bloc rose 7.5 per cent in the first two months of 2011 compared with the same period a year ago, industry data showed on Monday.

Hungary should donate AAUs to Japan, opposition says
Hungary’s main opposition party has urged the government to donate 10 million emission rights to quake-stricken Japan to help Tokyo meet its Kyoto target.



360investgroup market leaders in carbon trading

£112bn Green Growth Will Drive UK Recovery

£112bn Green Growth Will Drive UK Recovery 

 

 

The Carbon Trust has released new research saying the environmental and low-carbon market is worth more than £112bn a year in the UK and employs more than 900,000 people. It is forecast to grow by 25 per cent over the next four years, and will drive the UK economy.
Carbon Trust chief executive Tom Delay said: "Green growth is the only show in town; no other sector can drive the recovery.
"The consequences of British business failing to grasp this opportunity are almost too horrific to consider: anaemic growth, a jobless recovery and the risk of a return to the economics of boom and bust. We cannot afford to carry on as we did before.
"Businesses need to look beyond the short-term financial reporting cycle and place some smart, early bets on the future. Otherwise the cost, both to the UK's economy and to the environment, will be too great to ignore."
One UK chief executive Terry Last said: "Focusing on green growth and developing a lower carbon economy is not only essential for delivering on the UK's climate change commitments; it is also critical to unlocking important economic opportunities for us all."
The study found that UK business leaders believe Germany is better prepared than the UK to take advantage of the £3.2 trillion global environmental market. Only 13% cited the UK as the most prepared nation. The potential is there, with 92% of UK business leaders think green growth presents an opportunity for their business.

360investgroup

China, India and Brazil ahead in carbon credits

Similarities and disparities among Bric countries in different spheres of economic activity have been well-documented. But one area where the disparity is most visible is in emission trading whereby countries having commitments under the Kyoto Protocol use market mechanisms to acquire emission units from other countries and use them to meet a part of their targets. This clean development mechanism (CDM) allows emission reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credit by reducing greenhouse gas emissions which are then sold to industrialised countries to meet a part of the targets

carbon trading

Business supports our call for clear carbon reporting

| Sourced From WWF |
Over 180 businesses and other organisations have signed a letter that WWF and The Co-operative sent to the UK secretaries of state for environment, energy and business – asking that they make it compulsory for large companies to reveal all their greenhouse gas emissions.
Mandatory carbon reporting (MCR), as it’s known, is a vital step in working out exactly who’s emitting what, and giving investors clear evidence on which to base financial decisions.
It will provide comprehensive and comparable information on the progress companies are making towards cutting emissions. This will in effect reward the companies taking the lead in the shift a green economy – by highlighting their good performance and letting investors support the businesses that are proving best at managing the risks and opportunities of an emerging low-carbon world.

carbon trading

Carbon scheme a win-win for farmers

Carbon scheme a win-win for farmers, business and the environment

| Sourced From Carbonneutral |

International interest in a carbon credit scheme provides a win-win for farmers and the environment
19 January, 2011 – The Federal Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative, due to be introduced mid 2011, is already attracting interest from large corporations in Australia and overseas.  The scheme encourages establishing forests for biodiversity and other environmental co-benefits rather than monoculture plantations. Buyers are already making enquiries to invest in Australian reforestation projects that will produce carbon credits that are low risk, resilient, and improve marginal farm land

Carbon Credits

Carbon credits may be cash crop

| Sourced From Thestarphoenix |
Saskatchewan farmers could one day be selling carbon credits along with their wheat and canola, a presenter at Crop Production Week said Thursday.
Brian McConkey, a senior adviser of physical science based in Swift Current with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, said in an interview local farmers are getting a handle on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and industry may be interested in buying the reductions.

360investgroup

2010 Among Hottest Years On Record

2010 among hottest years on record

Carbon News and Info

Climate change news

Global warming science

Monday, 17 January 2011

Last year was the 34th year in a row that global temperatures were above the 20th century average, according to new figures from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NASA and the NOAA say 2010 tied with 2005 as the hottest year since meaningful global temperature records first appeared around 1880. Land and ocean temperatures averaged 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) above the average for the last century, the figures show.

“Several exceptional heat waves occurred during 2010, bringing record-high temperatures and affecting tens of millions of people,” the NOAA said. “The massive heat wave brought Russia its warmest summer on record. At least 15,000 deaths in Russia were attributed to the heat.”

The last year that annual average temperature was below average was 1976. Nine of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since the beginning of 2001. Other international studies of global temperature still have 1998 as the hottest year on record, although by a very small margin. All measurements show that average global temperatures in the 2000s were hotter than the 1990s as was each successive decade back to the 1970s.

Bloomberg 13/1/11, Boston Globe 12/1/11

carbon trading

carbon trading

Council cuts its carbon footprint

| Sourced From Yorkshirepost |

Leeds City Council has taken steps to reduce the city’s carbon footprint by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide by 3.64 per cent across the organisation.
The authority has achieved the reduction by a variety of methods including increased recycling, energy-saving improvements in council buildings and greater use of environmentally-friendly fuels in vehicles.
Details were outlined in the council’s annual environment statement at its executive board meeting.
The authority’s achievements include:
A reduction of 42kg per home in the Rothwell area in the amount of rubbish going to landfill thanks to the food waste recycling trial;
Modernising the council fleet to include vehicles such as bio-methane-fuelled refuse trucks has reduced vehicle emissions by 5.65 per cent;
Leeds was ranked the most sustainable city in Yorkshire – and sixth in the UK – in the annual Sustainable Cities Index;
Electricity use in council buildings went down by more than 5 million kWh (kilowatt hours);
Less than 26 per cent of waste from council buildings is being sent to landfill thanks to improvements in recycling.
Councillors also heard about potential challenges to environmental improvements in Leeds, such as uncertainty over Government cash for projects including the proposed trolleybus scheme and flood alleviation projects, the rising cost of energy and the managing of future development and growth in a sustainable way.
Coun Tom Murray, executive member for environmental services, said last night: “The council is the largest employer in Leeds and any reduction in its energy consumption will have an impact on the city’s overall environment.
“Leeds City Council has a significant part to play in the local environment, both in how it conducts its own operations and as an example to other organisations and people across the city,” he added.

carbon trading

Kenya to launch Africa's first carbon exchange

Kenya estimates its Mau forest has the potential to earn millions of dollars

Kenya is to launch a climate exchange platform to facilitate the trading of carbon credits and help tackle climate change.

The market will be the first of its kind in Africa, enabling all African countries to sell their carbon credits.
The exchange is expected to be open for business by the middle of next year.
Carbon dioxide is one of the main gases causing climate change, scientists say, and such exchanges are one way to offset carbon emissions.
Polluting industries in rich countries pay for clean development projects in poor countries.
Some forecasts warn that Africa will be badly affected by climate change, even though most of the greenhouse gases which cause it are produced in the West and Asia.
One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide, or in some markets, carbon dioxide-equivalent gases.
The BBC's Kevin Mwachiro in Nairobi says officials hope the trade in carbon credits will open up investment in the generation of renewable energy and forestry projects.
Kenya's government estimates that its largest forest, the Mau, has the potential to earn the country close to $2bn (£1.2bn) a year over the next 15 years.
But our reporter says that before the country runs to the bank, this value would have to be certified by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

source: BBC News

carbon trading

Reading Borough Council

Reading leads the charge to low carbon heating

| Sourced From Getreading |

Council tax payers in Reading could save money now Reading Borough Council has become the only local authority in Britain to benefit from £100,000 of funding to develop low-carbon heating.
Europe-funded energy programme GeoPower is working with governments, businesses and other organisations across the continent to encourage them to work together in partnership to introduce ground-source heat pumps.
The council has successfully bid to become the only partner in the UK to benefit and is one of 12 across eight countries – the UK, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Sweden, Estonia and Belgium.
The innovative low-carbon method uses constant heat which lies below the surface of the ground and captures, compresses and then distributes heat to buildings.
In the summer the process can be reversed so the heat can be taken from the building and put back into the grounds, achieving considerable carbon energy, energy and financial savings.
The low-carbon method of heating buildings has already been installed at school The Avenue Centre, a building at Prospect School in Tilehurst and some other council buildings in the borough.
RBC sustainability manager Ben Burfoot said: “This project gives us the opportunity to pave the way for using this technology in new and existing buildings in Reading, as well as enabling us to maximise the use of ground-source heat pumps nationally to provide the low-carbon heating systems of the future.”
In bidding for funding, RBC had to show it had some experience in renewable energy and was in a position to deliver its part of the project.
The council has set a target of reducing carbon emissions across the borough by 34 per cent by 2020 based on 1990 levels including halving its own output, and with a further aim of being carbon-free by 2050.
Over the next two years the council will play a leading role in the pioneering project that will eventually help cut carbon emissions across Britain and the continent.
RBC will work closely with the partnership to share technology and experiences of installing and using ground-source heat pumps.
The work will then be pulled together to set a plan for how more ground-source heat pumps could be installed across Europe and benefit from the Government’s new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) set to be announced next year.
RHI is intended to provide long-term support for renewable heat technologies from household solar thermal panels to industrial wood-pellet boilers through an £850m investment plan.
Warren Swaine, lead councillor for environment and sustainability, said: “Winning this bid shows our council is prepared to take a lead in developing a sustainable future, not just for Reading but for the rest of the country.”

Farmers Federation

Farmers Federation welcomes carbon draft

| Sourced From ABC |

The WA Farmers Federation (WAFF) says the release of draft legislation for the Commonwealth’s carbon farming initiative is just the first step in what will be a comprehensive and detailed scheme.
The Government is inviting feedback on the plan, which will allow farmers, land holders and forest growers to trade carbon credits on a national or international market.
WAFF’s senior vice president Dale Park has welcomed the release of the draft legislation.
But he says there is still much work to be done before the initiative can be finalised.
“We have to comment on the legislation by January 21, but we see this as only the very first step in being able to get farmers to be able to participate in the carbon market,” he said.
“We foresee there will be a lot of consultation all the way along the line with this one.”

carbon trading 360investgroup

Congress to Obama: you can’t regulate carbon emissions

Congress to Obama: you can’t regulate carbon emissions. Obama to Congress: watch me.

| Sourced From Scpr |

In the first two years of his term, President Obama fought a number of pitched battles with Congress, from healthcare reform to financial regulation reform. He won more than he lost, but one issue on which he lost spectacularly was his quest to regulate the emissions of greenhouse gasses through a cap-and-trade system.
Republicans were unified in their opposition to what they called a “job-killing cap-and-trade program,” and even many Democrats were skeptical; a bill never even came up for a vote. Now the President has seemingly decided to keep fighting but on a new battle field, as the Obama Environmental Protection Agency on January 2nd officially declared greenhouse gasses “subject to regulation” under the Clean Air Act.
Without comprehensive climate legislation from Congress, the EPA is going it alone, which among other things means that new power plants and refineries will be forced to install technologies to curb their carbon emissions. The strategy is sure to result in lengthy court battles — can President Obama get away with it?
Guests:
Robert Stavins, director, Environment, & Natural Resources Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.

carbon trading