News and intelligence on carbon markets, greenhouse gas pricing, and climate policy
Published 02:37 on July 27, 2022 / Last updated at 02:37 on July 27, 2022 / Newsletter / No Comments
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A draft of the highly-anticipated Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) was released Wednesday, seeking to guide the integrity of carbon credits within the voluntary carbon market (VCM) – while also providing a framework of requirements to assess and ‘CCP-approve’ carbon-crediting programmes and credit types.
EU member states have agreed to a 15% gas supply cut as part of emergency regulation to curb energy use over the winter in the face of rising uncertainty over Russian supply.
The EU’s plan to rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels faces “significant” problems and practical challenges, including that it goes against member states’ environmental principles and it risks falling short in its funding aims, the guardians of the bloc’s finances have warned.
The EU’s 2030 renewable power goal could be just hot air unless deployment of wind and solar capacity is doubled by mid-decade, analysts said in report published Wednesday that found the installation of multiple gigawatts is being delayed by bureaucracy.
EUAs posted a modest gain on Tuesday amid active participation from buyers looking to cover short positions after the market appeared to reach a floor ahead of the fortnightly UK auction, while energy prices advanced even as EU nations reached a deal to cut gas demand by 15% over the coming winter.
UK utility Drax maintained on Tuesday that it will close its remaining coal power units in March of next year, having been asked by the UK government to extend their lifetime by six months to ease security of supply issues this winter.
Improving the integrity of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) should open the door for offsets to be widely used in compliance markets, particularly for blue carbon and marine environments, a webinar heard Tuesday.
The voluntary carbon offset ETF from KraneShares will start following a new index for VER futures next week, suggesting the fund may need to alter its existing holdings.
Africa’s largest project originator in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has concluded a forward sales agreement with a European trading group for the first time as part of plans to double its spot sales deals this year to 10 mln credits, it announced Tuesday.
Compliance payments or offset requirements under the Canadian Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) will not take effect until the next decade, as CO2 pricing and other climate policies will continue to apply until then, according to a framework document published Tuesday.
Carbon pricing systems are only slightly more efficient than clean energy standards and subsidies in reducing emissions, and also lead to the overpricing of electricity, a recent working paper suggests.
Members states under UN aviation body ICAO are making progress towards establishing a long-term net zero target for global air travel this fall, although several major emitting nations are still expressing reservations with the idea.
Indian steelmaker Tata will target net zero emissions by 2045, the company announced in the release of its latest financial results on Tuesday, though offered little detail on how it plans to achieve the goal.
(Updates with additional info regarding use of JM’s technology in various markets and ClimeCo’s role in this)
A British specialty chemicals company has teamed up with a US-based offset project developer to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture solutions for heavy industry and to originate carbon credits in the process.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
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Fun funds – There’s a new climate hedge fund in town, and this one has received a $100 mln investment from billionaire Jeff Skoll’s Capricorn Investment Group, Bloomberg reports. The Carbon Evolution Fund will trade EUAs, CCAs, and RGAs, and will be run by Mark Carhart, who is currently in charge of investment vehicle Quant. Carhart previously ran Goldman Sachs biggest hedge fund and co-founded climate capital venture Kepos.
Locking in liquids – Germany’s plans for importing LNG to replace Russian supplies exceed requirements and put the country’s and EU climate targets at risk, argues a report commissioned by Greenpeace. “The currently planned import capacities significantly surpass previous Russian gas deliveries and would lead to a long-term dependence on climate-damaging gas,” Greenpeace said. The environmental NGO said a few floating LNG terminals would be sufficient, and warned that fear of a Russian supply cut must not turn into a gateway for the “next fossil dependence” and instead want Berlin to focus on cutting consumption, installing heat pumps, insulating buildings, as well as industry decarbonisation. (Clean Energy Wire)
Jackdaw flaw – Greenpeace are taking the UK government to court over Shell’s new Jackdaw gas field – one of six new North Sea fossil fuel projects given the green light by the government this year. The campaigners are claiming it is illegally ignoring emissions which will be generated from burning gas extracted the field, worsening the climate crisis. According to Greenpeace, burning gas from the new project will emit more CO2 than Ghana’s total annual emissions. (Independent)
Renewables drive – The Philippines’ department of energy has published its national renewable energy programme (NREP) for the period 2020-40, setting out its goals of 35% renewable energy generation by 2030 and 50% by 2040, according to analysis by law firm Pinsent Masons. According to the NREP, by reaching these goals, the Philippines’ government wants to meet people’s growing electricity needs with cleaner energy resources, to adapt renewable energy more widely, and to use hybrid technologies, to reduce CO2 emissions, and to mitigate climate change. To meet the renewable goals, the country will need to install another 102 GW electricity capacity by 2040, including 27 GW solar, 17 GW wind, 6 GW hydro, 2.5 GW geothermal, and 364 MW biomass. As of Dec. 31, 2021, a total of 901 MW committed renewable power generation projects are expected to be operational from 2022-27. Among these, 54% of projects are solar and 26% are hydro.
Palm oil-based “S”AF – Malaysia will soon produce its own hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) following joint venture cooperation between local companies and Chinese government-owned companies, The Star reports. Malaysia’s prime minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, said the federal government would continue to encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) in a bid to diversify agri-commodity products with high added value. A source for the biofuels will be palm oil, according to the report. “For palm products, companies owned by the Chinese government will collaborate with local Malaysian companies as well as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) to produce HVO and SAF in Malaysia involving FDI worth RM 6 bln,” he said in his speech at the launching of Malaysia International Agricommodity Expo and Summit 2022. “The establishment of the first HVO and SAF factories will be among the main initiatives to drive the country’s palm oil sector towards a high technology and value-added industry,” the Malaysian prime minister said.
Saving the mangroves – Pakistan’s mangrove cover has seen rapid expansion along the Arabian Sea over the past two decades, Anadolu Agency reports. Between 1999-21, the vulnerable mangrove area along Pakistan’s 1,050-kilometre coastline has increased to over 200,000 hectares from 46,000 ha. Acknowledging a “rapid” increase in mangrove cover in the country, Hammad Gilani, a Lahore-based environmentalist, nonetheless observed at a conference that a danger is still lurking. “Deforestation (of mangroves) is not a big problem. But degradation, which includes some justifiable livestock needs, is really an issue,” he argued. Gilani said that despite an increasing mangrove cover, satellite imagery has punctuated the need for national-scale carbon sequestration reporting for a performance-based payment mechanism flowing from developed countries to developing ones. Another expert at the conference said that carbon sequestration reporting could add to the national economy of Pakistan “significantly”.
Capture this – Iwatani Guri Green, a group company of Iwatani Corporation that sells agricultural equipment and materials, and Katsura Seiki Seisakusho, which manufactures and sells supply equipment for LP gas and energy saving combustion equipment, has agreed to promote the use of LPG heaters which also reduce the environmental burdens associated with facility gardening, and at the same time, collect CO2 emitted from the LPG heaters and use it for daytime photosynthesis. The companies have started efforts to commercialise the technology as a “CO2 capture and supply machine,” according to a press release from Iwatani.
After the burn – The US Forest Service plans to spend more than $100 mln this year on reforestation of a backlog of 4.1 mln acres (1.7 mln ha) of decimated forest acreage burned down from destructive fires. Spending is expected to further increase in coming years, to as much as $260 mln/y, under the federal infrastructure bill approved last year which included the government’s strategy to plant a billion trees over the next decade, according to agency officials. Fires have destroyed 5.1 mln acres (2.1 mln ha) in the US so far this year. (MPR News)
Cargo neutral – Air cargo transport firm Senator International Chile promised in a press release Tuesday to offset 100% of its carbon emissions on some of its routes by purchasing VERs. The shipping company is working with fellow transport firm LATAM Cargo’s Let’s Fly Neutral campaign to fund projects like a solar farm in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Low carb steel – Steel produced by electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers in the US has a carbon intensity that is approximately 75% lower than traditional blast furnace steelmakers, according to an independent study of steelmakers worldwide conducted by CRU Group, a global business intelligence firm specialising in metals manufacturing, Green Car Congress reports. Blast furnace steel, which represents about 70% of global steel manufacturing, is produced at large steel plants that use coal to melt raw materials into iron and then process it into steel. EAF steel, which represents approximately 70% of steelmaking in the US, is produced at steel plants that primarily use electricity and recycled ferrous scrap to make steel, resulting in a lower carbon emission and less energy-intensive process. As the electrical power grid in the US continues to decarbonise through the efforts of utilities and individual companies, the carbon intensity of EAF steelmaking will drop to even lower levels. Overall, US crude steel production is 37% less carbon intensive than Europe due to the higher proportion of EAF supply in the US (70%) compared to 46% in the EU.
I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly – Huge numbers of jellyfish have turned up in swarms off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, threatening to clog up the desalination plants used to supplement the country’s water supply and send swimmers back onto dry land. One reason there might be so many jellies? The climate crisis. Warmer waters tend to lead to more jellyfish, notes the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, which could mean some places will see more jellyfish as the oceans heat up. The effect of this warming on jellyfish populations may not be uniform however, Scripps notes. Jellyfish numbers could decline in some places if their food sources start to deteriorate. The climate crisis is also driving down oxygen levels in the ocean — and some jellyfish are tolerant of lower-oxygen environments, which could make them more dominant, Scripps notes. (Independent)
Not us though! – The costs of printing newspapers in the UK has soared this year amid paper shortages and spikes in energy prices, prompting the owner of the Mirror and Express tabloids to trim page counts. The price of paper in Europe has more than doubled since a year ago, with the cost of newsprint reaching an “all-time high,” Reach Plc said Tuesday while releasing its first-half results. Adjusted operating profit declined 32% from the same period last year, and shares subsequently plunged as much as 29%. UK electricity prices are biting on industrial companies across the board. Costs have risen by 200% since the start of the year, while wood supply has tightened with export cuts from Russia and Ukraine because of the war. (Bloomberg)
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