Impurity complex - Switzerland-headquartered technology company ABB has launched an integrated gas analyser package for carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) applications, bundling three of its existing measurement technologies into a single system to monitor CO₂ stream purity from capture through to storage, ESG Post reported. The turnkey unit combines laser, chromatographic and infrared analysers to detect impurities such as hydrogen sulphide, moisture, and oxygen that can corrode pipelines, affect compression, or trigger network rejection and venting penalties. The system targets sectors including cement, power generation, and bioenergy, and links to ABB's digital twin platform for lifecycle management, the company said.

IT offset offering - Germany-based IT services provider Bechtle is now offering customers the chance to offset carbon emissions generated during the production and delivery of purchased hardware via a collaboration with Berlin-headquartered nature-based solutions platform goodcarbon, it announced Thursday. The projects selected for Bechtle CO₂-Conscious IT enable companies to credibly support their beyond value chain mitigation (BVCM) activities in line with the requirements of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), goodcarbon said, and involve activities such as supporting renewable energy projects and protecting or restoring natural ecosystems.

Rotterdam runway – A Zurich-based aviation fuels startup has raised $24 mln to scale its methanol-to-jet technology from demonstration to commercial deployment, Fuel Cells Works reported this week. Metafuels, founded in 2021, will use the Series A proceeds to advance a Swiss demonstration facility and move a commercial-scale e-SAF project at the Port of Rotterdam toward final investment decision. The plant would produce its aerobrew fuel from captured CO2 and green hydrogen via green methanol, marking the first industrial rollout of the pathway. The round was led by UVC Partners with backing from Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures, and Fortescue Ventures.

European carbon prices ended the week with a flourish, climbing 3.4% on the day to give the market its first weekly increase since mid-January, as bulls gained in confidence and tested the upside throughout the day, while natural gas appeared to shrug off growing concerns around possible attacks on Iran, and responded to forecasts for higher temperatures in Europe.

Balance is best - A combination of policy measures, rather than a CO2 price alone, would help decarbonise Germany as fairly and efficiently as possible, according to a report by the state-funded Kopernikus Ariadne project. A range of approaches including carbon pricing for polluters, subsidy programmes, and regulation of polluting products would ensure the burden doesn't fall too heavily on certain households, such as those with less financial stability or in less efficient buildings. The research led by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Institute for Economic Research (ifo) suggested this wider approach would help sustain social acceptance for the transition, which is key to its success.

Balancing act - Rising carbon prices may signal stronger climate policy, but they also expose significant risks, the World Economic Forum wrote in a blog post published Friday. As prices have climbed - especially in Europe’s carbon market - financial investors such as hedge funds are increasingly trading emission permits as speculative assets rather than compliance tools. This “financialisation” could detach prices from real emissions reductions, turning carbon markets into volatile commodity markets similar to oil or food, the WEF said. Unpredictable price swings would weaken the credibility of the carbon signal that companies rely on for long-term investment decisions. Firms might delay clean-technology investments if they suspect prices reflect short-term trading rather than stable policy direction. Sudden spikes could also raise energy and industrial costs, provoking political backlash and pressure on governments to intervene or weaken climate measures. If trust in the market erodes, the effectiveness of carbon pricing as a decarbonisation tool diminishes. The article warns that without stronger oversight and complementary policies, rising carbon prices could undermine - rather than accelerate - the energy transition by creating instability instead of certainty, according to the post.

The European Parliament has appointed Socialists and Democrats (S&D) lawmaker Mohammed Chahim to lead negotiations on reforming the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a source told Carbon Pulse on Friday.

The EU should exclude companies developing new fossil fuel projects from all categories under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), urged more than 100 organisations and experts in an open letter.

Climate-related disasters and high carbon emissions are increasingly pushing up sovereign borrowing costs, with fiscally fragile and developing countries facing the steepest penalties on their debt, according to new research by the European Central Bank (ECB).

Battery swaps - African electric transport company Ampersand Energy has opened its first franchise-operated battery swap station in Rwanda, which it says creates a new model for expanding electric transport energy infrastructure through local partners. Ampersand opened the Miduha swap station with Rwandan EV charging infrastructure company Power Charge, and is working to strike more franchise partnerships that combine its battery technology, swap systems, and operational standards with local expertise. This enables faster and more capital-efficient growth, it said. The Miduha station is expected to facilitate more than 72,000 battery swaps a year, supporting hundreds of commercial e-motorbike riders in Kigali.

A provider of battery swapping services for electric vehicles in Nairobi aims to generate carbon credits to fund the infrastructure behind its international expansion plans, and is seeking approval for Article 6 accreditation in Kenya.

The European Commission convened an expert workshop last week to examine the potential of so-called “mineral carbonation” methods, putting the cement and construction industry at the forefront of EU efforts to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and put climate change into reverse gear.