CP Daily: Wednesday June 22, 2016

Published 23:53 on June 22, 2016  /  Last updated at 23:53 on June 22, 2016  / /  Newsletters

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

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US statewide carbon trading may blunt emission cuts under CPP -EIA

If all US states implement mass-based carbon trading systems to meet their Clean Power Plan targets, surplus allowance supply from RGGI and California would reduce the total CO2 cuts achieved under the plan by 2%, according to the Energy Information Administration.

EC seeks to allow limited land offsets for farming nations

The European Commission is likely to allow a limited amount of land-use (LULUCF) emissions cuts to be used by some nations to offset emissions to 2030, a move that could ease costs for big agricultural nations such as Ireland, France and Denmark.

Shanghai govt offers emitters free publicity for cancelling CO2 permits

The Shanghai Development and Reform Commission (DRC) on Wednesday offered ETS participants free media coverage in exchange for voluntarily cancelling CO2 allowances.

EU Market: Prices bounce back from fresh 2-mth low to end up 2.9%

European carbon prices climbed late on Wednesday after hitting a fresh two-month low, lifted by a stronger energy complex and short-covering around a technical level breached Tuesday.

California, Quebec issue 475k offsets to mark end of slowdown

California and Quebec on Wednesday issued more than 475,000 offsets eligible for use in their cap-and-trade systems, bringing the recent issuance lull to an end.

BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Indonesia turns back on coal – Indonesia used to aim for getting 64% of its energy mix from coal-fired generation in 2024, but in its latest p10-year electricity plan that number has come down to 50%, replaced instead by lower-emitting fuels such as natural gas, the Jakarta Globe reports.  Indonesia has trimmed 7000 MW of new coal-plant capacity and 23 million tonnes of coal consumption a year from its latest power development plan ending in 2025. According to CoalWire, while Indonesia still hopes to double coal consumption to 148 million tonnes over the next decade, the latest change may be the first of many cuts to coal’s role, as the advantages of renewables become undeniable.

And the Philippines might too – The appointment by Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte of anti-coal activist Gina Lopez as head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has the proponents of coal power plants in a panic. “There goes the coal plants too,” tweeted Manny V. Pangilinan, the CEO of the pro-coal utility Meralco on hearing the news. The Philippines has over 7000 MW of coal plants announced or permitted and another 4000 MW-plus under construction. With many of the proposed plants yet to progress far, there are high hopes a dramatic shift in the country’s energy direction is unfolding. (H/T CoalWire)

To whom it may concern – In an open letter to members of the European Parliament’s Development Committee, a coalition of 60 campaign networks and organisations from 23 countries have called for lawmakers to adopt a more ambitious stance on reforming the EU ETS, “to reflect the importance of taking into account the perspective of most vulnerable countries to climate change.”  The organisations, including Carbon Market Watch and Oxfam, want the EU to revise existing proposals to align them with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C goal, to make the EU ETS a source of international climate finance, and to reverse the assumption that burning biomass is carbon neutral. “As most biomass production lacks any kind of sustainability criteria and as land-use accounting is incomplete, this assumption is wrong. The absence of sustainability criteria threatens forests and forest dependent people globally. The zero rating of carbon emissions from biomass needs to be fixed,” they wrote.

French CO2 price floor to level UK power imports – French plans to set a minimum carbon price for the electricity sector are likely to lead to higher power prices in the country and cut power exports to Britain, analysts said.  According to Reuters, the measure, which is due to start next January, is likely to reduce the wide gap in electricity prices between the two countries, making power exports less attractive.  “Our model results indicate that UK power imports from France will be cut by a third per year after the French floor is implemented,” said Thomson Reuters carbon analyst Yan Qin.

Diablo’s cost – PG&E’s plan to shut California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, by 2025 would cost $15 billion if all its output is replaced with solar-generated electricity at current prices, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts.

Australians want climate actionTwo polls released this week confirmed the recent trend that a growing number of Australians want to their government to take stronger action on climate change, including among those who vote for the conservative Coalition. (Sydney Morning Herald)

And finally… Oh no, Trader Joe – US grocery chain Trader Joe’s has agreed to reduce its stores’ GHG emissions and pay a $500,000 penalty to settle claims from the federal government that it violated the Clean Air Act.  The EPA alleged that the company did not promptly repair HFC leaks from its stores’ refrigerators, the Guardian reports.

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