Pump up the ethanol – Rising gasoline prices in the US, linked to the war in the Middle East, are giving new momentum to a bipartisan push in Congress to allow permanent year-round sales of E15, which lawmakers described at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Tuesday as a lower-cost fuel option, E&E News reported. Senators from both parties criticised Congress for failing to remove summer restrictions on the higher-ethanol blend despite backing from President Donald Trump and some oil companies, with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) blaming refiners for the collapse of an earlier effort to include the measure in House spending legislation. Supporters, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), said higher fuel prices strengthen the case for quick action, though the path forward remains uncertain as lawmakers search for a Senate vehicle and face complications in the House.

European carbon gave up an early rally to its highest in more than two weeks on Wednesday amid a fall in trading activity and after the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) reports showed a seventh successive drop in speculative net length, while compliance buyers boosted their holdings as coal remains favoured over gas for power generation.

The Anglo-Dutch major has filed a legal challenge against the CO2 storage obligation in the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA), saying the lawsuit is being coordinated with other oil and gas companies as part of a multi-pronged strategy to build a business case for carbon capture and storage (CCS).

When countries put in place macroeconomically damaging climate and nature policies, carbon revenues may not be high enough to calm credit rating agencies, so sovereign nations must either plan alternate sources of revenue or strike deals with investors, Carbon Pulse has heard.

A tale of two problems - Dependence on fossil fuels, not on the US, is Europe’s worry, argued Bruegel in a new report. Since 2022, the bloc has sharply increased energy imports from the US, which now accounts for about one-fifth on average of EU imports of natural gas – particularly LNG. These imports amounted to €70 bln in 2024. Bruegel found the best way for improving EU resilience of supply would be to reduce fossil fuel demand and boosting storage.

Renewable electricity generation cut household power bills in Turkiye by an average of 9.1% in 2025, equivalent to roughly one month worth of annual electricity costs, according to analysis from a global energy think tank.

No special treatment - Calls by France for its overseas territories to be exempted from the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) fees on certain products have been rebuffed by Portugal. The latter said that exempting certain regions would weaken the integrity of the EU's CBAM and has instead suggested that financial subsidies would be a better and less risky way to support the economic needs of those regions. It comes amid broader efforts by France, Italy, and others to secure various exemptions for industries, particularly fertilisers, following CBAM's launch on Jan. 1. Last week the Commission ruled out suspending CBAM for fertilisers. (Contexte)

The cut in global LNG supply due to war in the Middle East has already led to a surge in high-emitting gas flaring in Qatar, while North Africa is losing billions of dollars each year in lost export revenues from the fuel source that analysts say could otherwise be channeled to Europe.

The spread between UK carbon allowances (UKAs) and EU carbon allowances (EUAs) has widened significantly since the beginning of the war in the Middle East, due to differences in power generation methods, and a sense that talks around linking the two markets may well be put on ice, analysts and market sources have said.

Energy and removals - Shropshire Council in England's West Midlands has announced a new partnership to produce high-quality biochar and carbon removal credits. The agreement between Raft Energy and Biodynamic Carbon (BDC) - a JV between Shropshire Council and Carbon Hill, will see biochar activated and added to anerobic digestion systems to help increase energy output and improve the quality of the resulting fertiliser. The first energy, biochar, and carbon capture to be partially owned by a council is already operating near Welshpool and another fully council owned unit will commission this spring in Ludlow. Both units will generate carbon removals in line with international standards such as the European Biochar Certificate (EBC).

Uncertainty over risk, credit quality, and financing is continuing to hold back the reforestation carbon market despite signs that buyers and developers may be more aligned on price than expected, a webinar heard Tuesday.

The European Union’s upcoming regulatory framework for CO2 transport and storage infrastructure – including network access rules – must remain flexible in its early stages or risk killing off the bloc’s emerging carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry, a senior Norwegian official has warned.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is set to release a record volume of emergency oil stocks in response to disruptions in shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, following unanimous agreement among its member countries. 

Gas price cap - The EU is considering a gas price cap in a bid to reduce the fuel's impact on power prices and protect consumers from extreme volatility driven by the war in the Middle East. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has spoken in Strasbourg of the importance of reducing the cost impact when gas sets the electricity price. Other measures include better use of power purchase agreements and contracts for difference, state aid measures, and subsidising gas prices. EU leaders will meet next week and are set to urge for clearer action to lower prices in the near term. Von der Leyen also expressed support for the EU ETS, saying: "Without ETS we would now consume 100 billion cubic meters more gas, again making us more vulnerable, more dependent and weaker ... So we need ETS. But we need to modernise it.” (Bloomberg)

Belgium received the green light from Brussels to fund a €260 million carbon capture storage (CCS) project in Antwerp on Wednesday. 

A Colombia-based international carbon standard on Wednesday published a new REDD+ methodology meant to align project baselines with UNFCCC reporting, including voluntary market (VCM) and Article 6.2 aims.

Welsh green hydrogen - Trafigura subsidiary MorGen has taken an FID for a 20 MW low-carbon hydrogen production plant in Milford Haven, Wales, at the site of a former oil refinery, it announced on Wednesday. The FID became possible after the project qualified for UK government support in its first allocation round, Trafigura said. Construction is expected to begin this year, and commissioning by early 2028. The plant is expected to produce around 2,000 tonnes per year of low-carbon hydrogen, in line with the UK's Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard. It's also expected to result in annual savings of 15,000 tonnes of CO2e.

FuelEU marketplace - Italian climate asset manager and consultancy Kickster Group has kicked off the new FuelEU Maritime Marketplace, a digital compliance hub aimed at helping companies navigate the EU regulation. The subscription-based platform offers centralised listings of opportunities for pooling clean fuel supplies, aggregated across fleets and operators. Other features include an automated compliance calculator, a verification and eligibility workflow, negotiation and agreement tools, and analytics and market data.

BP is facing a court battle from a shareholder group over a decision to omit a climate-related resolution from is annual general meeting in April.

The UK’s progressive tightening of sustainability reporting requirements could drive corporate demand for carbon credits, helping to lower the impact on taxpayers from support for carbon removal projects, according to experts.

The biggest sway - The outcome of climate policy battles in Europe is most likely determined by a substantial middle group of people who respond differently depending on the specific policy rather than being staunchly pro or against, according to a study spanning 13 EU countries conducted by ETH Zurich. Therefore, vocal public opposition shouldn't be confused with a dominant negative opinion as most European are not strong climate policy opponents, but rather react depending on how they perceive the costs and benefits, and who bears them. Climate policy benefits must be made visible and seen as fairly distributed, and there should be credible and concrete support for vulnerable groups. Instruments such as emissions trading or CO2 taxes can be very effective, but it's equally important to consider social and political feasibility in order to achieve the net zero target in Europe, the academics concluded.

The voluntary carbon market is not the solution to global climate change, but it is a valuable instrument that can help mobilise finance, support sustainable development, and contribute to mitigation – when properly understood and managed.

Greener buildings - The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard has officially launched, following testing on more than 200 construction projects and input from over 350 experts. The standard has been designed with pathways for a range of building types and covers operational emissions - generated through building use, as well as embedded emissions - produced from materials, energy, and transport in the upstream supply chain. Verification services for the standard will be available from Q2 2026. Reforms to the design of the UK's Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) are also underway. (edie.net)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed she will raise the temporary suspension of EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) costs for fossil fuel-fired power at a summit of leaders on Mar. 19.

Climate cooperation - South Korea and Ghana have agreed to strengthen cooperation on climate change following summit talks between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama in Seoul on Wednesday. During the meeting, the two countries signed an MoU on climate change cooperation aimed at establishing a legal framework for collaboration under their respective national climate action plans in line with the Paris Agreement. The agreement forms part of broader bilateral efforts to expand ties across sectors such as trade, maritime security, and agriculture during Mahama’s five-day visit to South Korea. (Yonhap News Agency)

Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 would cost the UK economy about as much as a single fossil fuel price spike similar to the one seen in 2022, according to new analysis released on Wednesday by a government advisory body.