RGGI Allowance (RGA) future prices swung sharply last week, continuing to climb to a year-to-date (YtD) high before giving back those gains over the last two trading sessions, as traders pointed to speculative activity as a driver of the volatility.

Air ale – Aircapture, a direct air capture (DAC) technology company, and Almanac Beer Co., a California craft brewery, have launched a beer carbonated using CO2 captured from the atmosphere, which they described as a first of its kind in a Monday press release. The companies said the product uses an onsite direct air capture (DAC) system to capture CO2 from ambient air and supply beverage-grade CO2 directly into the brewing process. They said the system produces CO2 at 99.999% purity and was operational in weeks after being installed at the brewery and integrated with existing equipment. They added that onsite generation could reduce reliance on fossil fuel-linked supply chains, while a portion of proceeds will be donated to US carbon removal (CDR) policy group Carbon180.

Clean match – North Carolina utility Duke Energy has agreed to evaluate a tariff mechanism that would allow data centres to procure 24/7 clean energy while limiting cost impacts on other electricity consumers, Canary Media reported last week. The proposal, supported by Google and non-profit groups, would enable large users to pay for clean energy resources to match their power demand. The “clean transition tariff” is included in a broader settlement agreement and remains subject to regulatory approval. Stakeholders said the tariff is not a panacea, though it could help reduce exposure to fuel and climate risks.

The March auction for current vintage allowances under Massachusetts' Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) carbon market cleared at an all-time high for the third sale in a row, according to results published Monday.

RVgOing to get a final rule? - US EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said on Monday the environmental agency will announce the highly-anticipated decision on the amount of renewable fuel to be mixed with the nation’s fuel supply by the end of March. Zeldin, speaking at a policy summit in Washington DC, said the EPA expects to publish the final rule on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), known as the RFS Set 2 regulations, determining how much crop-based biofuel demand the programme will create, which could establish new support for the US agriculture sector. Already, the Trump administration issued rules that incentivise domestic biofuel production. The RFS Set 2 regulations will set the renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2026 and 2027 compliance years, initially proposed in June 2025. To provide certainty to the market, Zeldin pledged that the agency will immediately begin work on RFS Set 3 after the current rule is completed, AgWired reported.

J-REDD consultations continue - The environmental secretariat (Semas) of the Brazilian state of Para continued its ongoing free, informed, and prior consent (FPIC) consultations for the development of its contested jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) programme last week in the municipality of Baiao. During the consultation, government representatives presented information to quilombola communities about REDD+, addressed concerns, and promoted spaces for dialogue, aiming to ensure that the communities' contributions are incorporated into the process. Representatives from the Coordination of Associations of Quilombo Remnant Communities of Para (Malungu), the State Secretariat for Racial Equality and Human Rights, and the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment of Baiao also participated. The consultation in Baiao is part of what Semas said is the largest listening process ever carried out by Para. To date, 17 consultations and one plenary session have already taken place, with the state planning 47 dialogues in total.

Lego building blocks - The Lego Group announced last week plans for a solar park at its factory in Chesterfield, Virginia, that the company said will feature over 30,700 ground-mounted panels with a total capacity of 22 MWp. Construction is expected to begin this summer, and Lego also plans to install 10,080 rooftop solar panels on top of its buildings, producing an additional 6.11 MWp of capacity.  The project will significantly expand the site’s on-site renewable capacity, and marks a significant milestone towards the ambition of sourcing 100% renewable energy for the facility’s annual needs, Lego added.

Methane madness - The US has intensified its criticism of the EU’s methane rules for oil and gas imports, arguing that Europe risks worsening an emerging energy supply crunch linked to Iranian attacks on Qatari infrastructure. According to Bloomberg, US ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder has warned that stricter regulation could drive up energy costs and contribute to a severe energy crisis, urging the bloc to ease requirements if it wants to maintain affordable supply. The situation has been exacerbated by damage to Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG facility, which could take years to repair, tightening global gas markets. Although Europe imports little gas directly from the Middle East, reduced global supply increases competition for LNG, much of which the EU now sources from the US, strengthening Washington’s leverage. US energy firms have already criticised the EU’s methane rules as overly burdensome, particularly given complex supply chains, and warn they could raise costs for exports to Europe. Under the EU framework, importers must comply with methane monitoring and reporting rules from next year, with penalties for exceeding methane intensity thresholds due by 2030. While the European Commission has indicated it will take a pragmatic approach to avoid supply disruptions, it has not yet amended the regulations.

Methane investigation - US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has launched an investigation into alleged discrepancies between reported and observed methane pollution from the Permian Basin, the largest producing oil field in the country, reported Inside Climate News. The move follows a recent report based on MethaneSAT, a short-lived methane-sensing satellite launched by non-profit Environmental Defense Fund and Harvard University, among others, that found methane emissions from oil and gas production facilities in the Permian Basin from May 2024 to June 2025 were four times higher than US EPA estimates.

CORSIA carbon contracts continued to fall last week amid the ongoing war in Iran, sending jet fuel prices to all-time highs, and leaving the airline industry contemplating cutting flights amid supply shortages.

New York battle - Environmental advocates in New York are up-in-arms over Governor Kathy Hochul's (D) proposal to soften the state's GHG targets under its landmark climate law, the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), reported E&E News. Hochul plans to advance an interim 2040 target for emissions reductions, but has not offered specifics about the new goal, the outlet reported sources as saying. Business groups have also reportedly expressed cautious support for Hochul's proposal.

Turbine triumph – The US District Court for the District of Columbia has rejected claims that federal regulators failed to protect coastal views from an East Coast wind project, allowing approvals to stand, E&E News reported on Monday. Judge Amit Mehta upheld the Interior Department’s reviews of the South Fork wind farm, dismissing arguments from Rhode Island preservation groups under the Clean Water Act. He cited recent Supreme Court guidance urging judicial deference to agency decisions, finding the environmental assessment met required standards.

Carbon accounting coalition – North American project developer Anew Climate joined Carbon Measures, a cross-industry coalition advancing a global carbon accounting framework and market-based decarbonisation policies, it announced on Monday. The coalition, whose members include ADNOC, ExxonMobil, and Banco Santander, is seeking to establish standardised product-level emissions accounting and carbon-intensity standards to drive demand for lower-carbon goods. The move highlights growing industry backing for ledger-based accounting systems aimed at aligning policy and investment with verified emissions performance, the companies said.

Open insights – Context Labs has launched a public AI platform that transforms US EPA emissions data into a searchable, auditable intelligence layer, the company said Monday. The company said its OpenEPA platform archives more than a decade of Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) data and enables users to query it through AI with full source traceability. The system allows researchers, policymakers, and market participants to generate structured, citation-ready outputs from historically fragmented datasets. The rollout, announced ahead of CERAWeek, is initially focused on GHG data but is expected to expand to additional EPA reporting streams including water and hazardous waste.

Blowing in the wind – Prior to confirmation of the deal, moderate New York Republicans including Representative Nicole Malliotakis and Rep. Andrew Garbarino criticised the Trump administration's $1 bln payment to TotalEnergies to abandon offshore wind projects off New York and North Carolina, E&E News reported. Lawmakers said the idea would waste taxpayer money and undermine domestic energy supply, with Garbarino questioning why the US would pay a foreign company instead of generating power at home. Democrats including Senator Chuck Schumer and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse also attacked the proposal as a giveaway to fossil fuel interests. TotalEnergies confirmed on Monday it had signed settlement agreements with the US Department of Interior to relinquish its leases and abandon the projects, under which it will recover its investment and instead invest in US gas production and LNG exports. TotalEnergies said its studies have shown that offshore wind developments in the US are costly, unlike in Europe, and may not improve affordability for consumers, so it has decided against allocating capital towards the efforts.

Consultation launch - Social Carbon las launched a public consultation for methodology SCM0003 v2.0 - for advancing high-integrity removals through afforestation and reforestation on Brazilian private lands. Key improvements include introducing dynamic performance benchmarking to bolster additionality, setting a project scale limit of 20,000 ha, and improved eligibility screening. The consultation is open from Monday to Apr. 23. Participate here.

A London-headquartered enhanced rock weathering (ERW) company is piloting satellite data to monitor crop performance in Ontario, Canada, it announced last week.

Measuring - UK-based Carbon Trust and a group of offshore wind developers on Monday released an updated methodology aimed at standardising how the sector measures wind energy’s carbon footprint. The revised guidance sets out a common framework for calculating the full life cycle emissions of offshore wind developments, from raw material extraction to decommissioning. The methodology also aims to help developers identify emissions hotspots, improve data quality, and support more consistent reporting across supply chains, Carbon Trust said.

Panama carbon market workshop - Panama will host a Mar. 25 workshop with support from the UN to close the public consultation on the draft executive decree for its national carbon market system (SNMCP), according to a UNFCCC document. The event, organised by the environment ministry’s carbon market team and the UN Climate Change Secretariat’s regional centre, will cover links to international markets, feedback received, key changes to the decree, and implementation plans, with around 50 stakeholders expected to attend the half-day session. Officials will present proposed amendments, institutional decisions, and next steps ahead of finalisation.

The decade between 2015-25 was the hottest since record-keeping began, the UN weather agency said on Monday, with last year ranking as either the second or third warmest overall.

Government policy has failed to keep pace with the growing complexity emerging in the carbon removal (CDR) market, making it difficult for the sector to attract the private capital needed to scale, according to a new study.

Batteries too - US-based Tesla is preparing to enter India’s industrial energy storage market, expanding beyond its recent electric vehicle launch, Reuters reported, citing a job posting. The move will see it compete with domestic conglomerates Reliance and Adani as India ramps up storage capacity to support its clean energy targets.