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TOP STORY

Manitoba releases draft framework for regulating large emitters under carbon tax

The Manitoba government published a discussion paper on Monday laying out how an output-based pricing system (OBPS) would give heavy emitters more flexibility under the Canadian province’s upcoming CO2 tax.

AMERICAS

Massachusetts GHG, energy goals bolstered with signing of international hydroelectric contract

Massachusetts utilities inked a deal with a cross-border hydroelectric project last week, helping the state close in on its emissions reduction and clean energy targets and successfully circumventing delays in the state’s original selection.

California LCFS credits surpass $190 on eve of data release

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) prices rose to yet another new record on Monday as the week-long upward march closed in on the programme’s quarterly data release.

ASIA PACIFIC

NZ Market: NZUs see third day of minor corrections as bull run over for now

New Zealand carbon allowances saw a third consecutive session of minor losses on Monday, putting an end to the recent bull run that saw spot allowances set a remarkable eleven records in just over a month.

EMEA

EU Market: EUAs hold above €17 as summer auction cuts near

EU carbon prices held above €17 for a seventh straight day in quiet trade on Monday, continuing to consolidate at higher levels ahead of the annual reduction of summer EUA supply.

ICYM

Short Ontario emitters won’t face non-compliance penalties in cap-and-trade repeal -official

Ontario entities that were not holding enough allowances to cover their emissions prior to Premier Doug Ford revoking the province’s cap-and-trade regulation earlier this month will be deemed in compliance as the government winds down the programme, the environment ministry confirmed on Friday.

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CARBON FORWARD 2018

SAVE THE DATE: Carbon Forward 2018 – Survive and thrive in the global carbon markets

Don’t miss the 3rd annual Carbon Forward conference and training day – Oct. 16-18, 2018 in London.

Spend two days with top experts, players, and decision-makers from the global carbon markets as they address today’s most attractive opportunities and pressing challenges. And join us for the EU ETS pre-conference training day organised by carbon market experts Redshaw Advisors, where you will learn how to effectively manage your carbon risk ahead of the looming overhaul of the bloc’s emissions trading scheme.

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Job listings this week:

• Executive Director, Nexus for Development – Phnom Penh
• Senior Director, Nature-Based Climate Mitigation, Conservation International – Arlington, VA
• Senior Climate Change Specialist Consultant, Inter-American Development Bank – Washington DC
• Climate Change Finance Consultant , Inter-American Development Bank – Washington DC
• Team Leader, Climate Policy and Energy Transformation, Climate Analytics – Berlin
• Senior Climate Change Policy Analyst, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality – Portland
• Senior Key Account Manager – Nordics, South Pole Group – Stockholm
• West Regulatory Affairs Specialist, DTE Energy – San Francisco
• Climate Advocacy Specialist, UNDP – New York City
• Associate Commodities Broker, Karbone – New York City
• Intern, Project Officer, Climate Strategies – London

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Renewables review – The UK has made significant progress in cutting back on coal consumption and expanding wind energy, but has tailed off in promoting solar energy, according to the latest Digest of UK Energy Statistics. Coal supplied only 5% of the country’s energy in 2017, a fourfold decrease from just five years earlier, and offshore and onshore wind energy combined for a 34% gain year-on-year and a 175% and 139% rise respectively since 2012. On the other hand, solar generation slowed to an 11% gain last year compared to a 38% increase in 2016, while biomass expansion also stalled as the Drax power station – formerly the largest coal-fired plant in the UK – finished converting half its units to burn wood pellets. (Carbon Brief)

Rollback rationale – A draft version of the proposed US fuel economy standard rollback obtained by The New York Times on Friday confirms many rumoured details of the plan developed by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that is slated for release this week. The proposal would freeze the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and light-duty trucks for model years 2021-2026 at 37 miles per gallon (6.36 litres per 100 kilometres) and 241 grams of CO2 per mile – a sharp drop from levels set under the Obama administration. As a result, the agencies said that the freeze would raise global temperatures by 3/1000ths of a degree Celsius in 2100 compared to the current rules, and increase the atmospheric CO2 concentration for that year by 8/10,000ths of a percent – an amount “too small to measure in practice”. The draft text also promised to save American auto companies and car buyers “half a trillion dollars” by overturning the Obama-era standards and additionally disputed California’s authority to set its own separate standards through a Clean Air Act wavier (See Carbon Pulse’s articles on the possible effects of the rollback here and here.) (Politico)

Food (insecurity) for thought – A blanket carbon tax used to restrict global warming to 2C could put an additional 45 million people at risk of hunger by 2050 if unaccompanied by other complementary policies. New research published in Nature Climate Change shows that implementing a carbon tax on agriculture and other forms of land use would affect food security by raising the cost of food production and agriculture expansion while also incentivising biofuel development, further driving up land rates by competing with food crops for space. However, the researchers stress that their study is not meant to downplay the importance of climate mitigation, but rather to construct more resilient and productive agricultural production systems alongside climate measures and provide safety nets to vulnerable populations. (Carbon Brief)

2020 decision – Florida-based electric services company NextEra Energy announced on Friday that it will close Iowa’s lone nuclear power plant in late 2020, five years earlier than anticipated. The largest power user of the Duane Arnold Energy Center, Alliant Energy, agreed to pay NextEra $110 million to shorten its power purchase agreement, and will also replace a portion of the shuttered nuclear capacity with wind energy. The planned early closure, still subject to approval by the Iowa Utilities Board, comes amidst a nationwide trend where falling costs for natural gas and renewables have created economic challenges for nuclear facilities to stay competitive. (Des Moines Register)

And finally… Global inferno ­­– Record temperatures and massive wildfires continued across the globe this weekend, with at least 80 casualties in Japan due to scorching temperatures and another 82 succumbing to fires in Greece. Another fire roared across Northern California that claimed the lives of six people and was only 17% contained by Sunday evening. Meanwhile, a preliminary analysis released by World Weather Attribution scientists last week said that the record temperatures seen throughout Europe were twice as likely to occur due to climate change, while other experts attributed the phenomenon to a stalled jetstream that allowed the weather to linger on. “This is really frightening if this is the new normal,” energy analyst Thina Margrethe Saltvedt told the New York Times from Sweden, where fires sparked north of the Arctic Circle earlier this month. (Climate Nexus)

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