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TOP STORY
ANALYSIS: Untangling the policy puzzle – Winning ways to combine carbon markets and energy efficiency
Heightened efforts worldwide to drive emission cuts and boost energy savings are risking tangling companies up in costly red tape and ineffective incentives, but unlikely solutions could be found in a decades-old market and a policy on the verge of being abandoned.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs rise again to avert correction and notch 13% weekly gain
EU carbon prices rose on Friday, warding off prospects of a correction in the wake of the previous session’s 6.5-year high above €13.
Spain, Italy free EUA allocations help lift 2018 completion rate above 83%
EU countries have now distributed more than 83% of the 2018 quota of free carbon allowances to industrial emitters, with Spain and Italy making the largest moves in the past two weeks.
More big emitters pick up German EUAs in February’s auctions -report
The number of big emitters buying carbon allowances in Germany’s weekly EUA auctions hit its highest level in more than a year in February – a signal that more compliance players are attempting to buy allowances as prices rise.
Trading firms ALLCOT, AitherCO2 team up to bolster EU ETS offering
Carbon trading firms ALLCOT and AitherCO2 have joined forces to enhance their services for clients in the EU ETS, with a focus on emitters in Eastern Europe.
ASIA PACIFIC
China outlines rules for mandatory REC market
China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) on Friday released draft rules for a mandatory renewable energy certificate (REC) market, handing two sets of targets to provinces that they will distribute to covered power suppliers and large industrial users.
Australian offset issuance, project registration at half speed
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator issued 134,567 carbon credits this week – around half the normal rate last year – with only one new project registered, despite the deadline for participating in the next ERF auction less than four weeks away.
AMERICAS
Utility Duke Energy charts 2C scenario phasing out coal, accelerating renewables
US electricity giant Duke Energy released a climate change report on Thursday that demonstrates how the company might eliminate coal use and drastically scaling up renewables in line with global temperature agreements, a move it attributed to stakeholder input.
US Senators release bipartisan legislation to support CCS development
A group of US Democrat and Republican senators announced a new bill on Thursday to bolster efforts across government levels to research, construct, and develop carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies.
COMMENT
Funding for CO2 reductions – Insights from recent projects by Ontario cap-and-trade participants
In the run-up to the 2nd Annual Ontario Cap and Trade Forum on April 18-19 at the Beanfield Centre in Toronto, Canadian Clean Energy Conferences is producing a series of articles featuring the key topics concerning regulated entities under Ontario’s program.
DATA
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending Mar. 23, 2018
Below is a table of the closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week. All prices are in RMB, and volumes in tonnes of CO2e. Data sourced from local exchanges.
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CARBON FORWARD 2018
SAVE THE DATE: Carbon Forward 2018 – Survive and thrive in the global carbon markets
Don’t miss the 3rd annual Carbon Forward conference and training day. Spend two days with top experts, players, and decision-makers from the global carbon markets as they address today’s most attractive opportunities and pressing challenges. And join us for the EU ETS pre-conference training day organised by carbon market experts Redshaw Advisors, where you will learn how to effectively manage your carbon risk ahead of the looming overhaul of the bloc’s emissions trading scheme.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Leaders again – Germany’s new environment minister, Svenja Schulze, says Germany must regain its leadership position in the international effort to reduce carbon emissions. “Germany quickly has to restore its pioneering role in climate action,” Schulze said during her inaugural speech in parliament, adding that this will require a “big transformation” in all sectors and a combined effort by all ministries, the federal states, and the country’s companies. Schulze said she would work to close the gap to Germany’s 2020 climate target “as much as possible” through additional renewables auctions and other measurers, and that she has already called on all relevant ministries to coordinate their emissions reduction efforts. She said that a climate action law will be adopted by 2019 to ensure that the country’s 2030 climate target is met. Schulze said the commission that will be charged with planning Germany’s coal exit will start its work soon, and determine an end date. “But we all know that a mere date is not enough,” she said, adding affected regions need an economic perspective. (Clean Energy Wire)
Soly moly – Microsoft announced this week that it will undertake what it says is the largest solar power purchase agreement (PPA) for a corporation thus far. The software conglomerate will buy 315 MW of solar energy from the Pleinmont I and Pleinmont II projects in Virginia, and will consist of over 750,000 solar panels coming online in late 2019. The solar project, which is owned and operated by sPower, will help the company progress toward its goal of running its data centres on 60% renewable energy by the beginning of 2020. (Utility Dive)
Will be missed – Nancy McFadden, who served as chief of staff to California Governor Jerry Brown since he took office in 2011, lost her battle with cancer, passing away Thursday evening. McFadden was a key negotiator for Brown and integral in the passing of AB-398, which extended the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2030. Brown called her “the best chief of staff a governor could ever ask for” in a statement released Friday.
And finally… Happy Friday – Mining for lignite – or brown coal – in Greece is a huge industry. Together with Germany and Poland, the country accounts for more than one-third of the world’s coal production. But for residents of villages in the extraction areas of West Macedonia, it has many impacts, from displacement to health problems. Check out Greece’s dirty secret – in pictures. (The Guardian)
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