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Poland vows to build more coal plants, ties up Paris ratification
Poland has vowed to build new coal-fired power plants and tied the ratification of the Paris climate agreement to an EU guarantee that its utilities can continue to get free carbon allowances.
Energy Aspects cuts EUA price forecasts again on looming gas glut
Energy Aspects cut by 10% its forecasts for EU carbon prices through the rest of 2016 as a summer of fuel-switching is set to resume next year when ample LNG supplies reach Europe.
EU Market: Prices lift back above €4 on stronger auction result
EU carbon climbed above €4 on Tuesday after a government auction showed signs of a pick-up in demand to take EUAs further from a three-year low hit in the previous session.
NZ Market: New Zealand carbon edges up to new highs
New Zealand carbon allowances crept up to new five-year highs on Tuesday as supply remained thin and compliance buyers continued to pick up whatever volume they could.
BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
*** CORRECTION – Switzerland will sell 300,000 CHU carbon allowances at an auction on Mar. 14, 2017, not the 270,535 we mistakenly reported on Aug. 31 ***
US companies’ climate doublespeak – 25 of 30 US companies that signed President Barack Obama’s American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge publicly backing his environmental agenda were simultaneously funding scores of climate skeptic lawmakers opposing the plans, according to a Reuters review of political donation records including PepsiCo, Dupont, and Google. Reuters reports that while many companies active in US politics spread their political donations broadly on both sides of the aisle and consider multiple issues when deciding whom to support, the inconsistency may point up a need for better oversight.
And investors too – Climate Home takes a similar line on investors, reporting on non-profit Asset Owners Disclosure Project findings that named and shamed investors including Blackrock, Vanguard, Bank of New York Mellon and JP Morgan as among those ExxonMobil shareholders that voted against an activist shareholder proposal to “stress test” the oil major’s business model against the 2C warming goal. Of the funds that voted against, 45% were signatories to the Principles of Responsible Investment and 25% to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Coal partnership – Indonesia has teamed up with the World Coal Association (WCA) to figure out how it can apply “clean” technologies to coal-fired power generation while still meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement, the latter told reporters Tuesday. With 50 coal plants in operation, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-biggest coal producer, though the WCA said CO2 from those plants could be cut 25% using “clean” technology. (Jakarta Post)
Coal be gone – The provincial government in China’s Shanxi province has paid out $142 million so far this year to six companies to shut down coal capacity, Reuters reported. The province, the biggest coal producer in China, closed 15% of its capacity in H1.
And finally … reinventing fire – China can meet its ambitious, six-fold 2050 economic growth target using the same amount of energy in 2050 as 2010, but with substantially more renewable energy and less coal, said a report released Tuesday by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), and Energy Foundation China. By employing already commercially available technologies, China can peak its coal consumption in 2020 and CO2 emissions in 2025, the report found. The report will be published here.
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