[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
LONDON
Tue Jan 5, 2010 12:21pm EST
EU carbon sheds early gains as selling resumes
LONDON (Reuters) - European carbon emissions futures reversed earlier gains on Tuesday, as operators started to sell off excess permits even though a cold weather snap was driving up energy demand, traders said.
EU Allowances for December delivery fell 32 cents or 2.44 percent to 12.77 euros ($18.45) a tonne at 1511 GMT, with heavy volume at 4,776 lots as investors sold into the morning's strength.
Prices hit a session high of 13.22 euros in the first hour of trade, extending the previous session's gains as utilities continued to buy permits to cover increased power generation due to cold European weather.
But buying had subsided by mid-morning and EUAs touched an intra-day low of 12.69 euros by early afternoon.
"Theoretically, cold weather equals more energy demand and more carbon demand. But the market is so long that even though it is cold people are still selling allowances," said Seb Walhain, head of environmental markets at Fortis Netherlands.
Industrial companies with surplus EUAs due to reduced output during the economic downturn are expected to sell those permits heavily in the coming weeks.
EUA prices had been rallying after falling to six-month lows at the end of December after U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen failed to deliver a strong climate deal.
Market confidence is still at a low ebb, traders said.
"We have diversified into energy markets and I have put my best people on soft commodities and oil. At the moment I don't see there is a proper business to be had in carbon except for those who are very 'short'," Walhain said.
This week, Dec-10 EUAs should remain around 13 euros and Dec-10 certified emissions reductions around 11.5 euros, said Emmanuel Fages, analyst at Societe Generale/orbeo.
"Prices are a bit above these levels as we write but this quick rise should lead to some profit-taking," he said in a research note.
Germany auctioned 300,000 EUAs at 12.67 euros a tonne on the European Energy Exchange on Tuesday in the first of 48 German government auctions planned for this year until the end of November.
For the auction calendar, click on: here%20Auction%20Calendar001.pdf
EEX will also auction 570,000 EUA futures every Wednesday on the derivatives market until October.
Spot EUAs on France's BlueNext exchange traded at 12.55 euros a tonne on Tuesday.
British prompt gas prices climbed 6.92 percent to 42.50 pence per therm on Tuesday, but the system was coping well with additional demand from cold weather after a tight system caused prices to reach an 11-month high on Monday.
German Calendar 2011 baseload power on the EEX was down 38 cents or 0.72 percent to 52.40 euros per megawatt hour.
U.S. oil edged up toward $82 a barrel on Tuesday, heading for its ninth straight session of gains as a cold snap in key consumers the United States and Europe boosted demand for heating fuel.
Certified emissions reductions were down 24 cents or 2.10 percent at 11.20 euros a tonne.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
[Green Business]
TAIPEI
Tue Jan 5, 2010 12:57pm EST
Outdone by Dubai, Taiwan tower seeks green award
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Outdone by an tower extending over 800 meters in Dubai, the world's former tallest building, Taipei 101, wants to become the highest green structure by completing a checklist of clean energy standards, a spokesman said on Monday.
Green Business
Taipei 101 will spend T$60 million ($1.9 million) over the next year to meet 100 criteria for an environmental certificate that it would hold over Dubai, spokesman Michael Liu said.
The office-commercial tower that reigned for five years as the world's highest building at 509 meters (1,670 feet) expects the U.S-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design to give it the certificate in 2011.
"We're focused now on becoming a Taiwan landmark, that won't change, and on going green. We'd be the tallest building to get a green certificate," Liu said by telephone.
Taipei 101, he said, would work with its 85 office tenants to cut electricity and water use, while encouraging them to recycle more refuse. Annual utility savings should total T$20 million.
Restaurants would be asked to bring in supplies from as close as possible to reduce transportation.
"We can reduce power, trash and water by more than 10 percent," he said. "We're already pretty green. In principle there's no major problem."
The Taiwan skyscraper, complete with an observation deck popular with tourists, has already met 60 of the checklist items, including double-paned windows to retain cool air.
Green towers are unusual in Asia, a region with the world's busiest construction sector yet one of the poorest records for eco-friendly building.
Burj Dubai, started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 laborers, will now become the world's tallest building. It was set to open on Monday as Dubai seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis.
(Reporting by Ralph Jennings, Editing by Ron Popeski)
[Green Business]
Sunanda Creagh
JAKARTA
Wed Jan 6, 2010 7:12am EST
Indonesia says forest plan can meet emission target
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An ambitious Indonesian plan to plant millions of hectares of forest should allow the country to exceed its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter by 2020, the forestry minister said on Wednesday.
Indonesia was named in a 2007 World Bank study as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States, largely due to its rapid rate of deforestation.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to cut emissions by 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 or by 41 percent by 2020 if given sufficient international support.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the plan to add an extra 21.15 million hectares (52.26 million acres) of forest by 2020 would turn the country from a net carbon emitter to into a net carbon sink.
"If the scenario described proceeds, if the planting proceeds, we can reach more than 26 percent (in emissions cuts)," he told reporters after the presentation. "If we can also eradicate illegal logging, then the 26 percent will be achieved entirely in the forestry and peat sector."
The target appears ambitious since Indonesia currently has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world. Hasan said there were 130 million hectares of forest left in the country but only 48 million hectares were in good condition.
Under the new plan, he said 500,000 hectares of new forest would be planted annually at a cost of 2.5 trillion rupiah ($269 million) per year.
An extra 300,000 hectares of degraded forest would be rehabilitated every year funded by the government and money from Australia, Norway, Korea and the private sector, he added.
"And it all must be verified. That is in our best interest, so that in future, other countries can see it is transparent, open and will want to help," he said.
Indonesia last year set up a legal framework to encourage forest preservation projects operating under a U.N.-backed scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
Under the scheme, polluters can earn tradeable carbon credits by paying developing nations not to chop down trees.
However, powerful illegal logging syndicates have helped accelerate forest destruction in Indonesia and Hasan said that combating such forces required cooperation between district officials as well as law enforcement officials.
Fitrian Ardiansyah, climate change program director for WWF Indonesia, welcomed the forest plan but said it may not address the main source of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions.
"Most emissions in this sector usually come from forests being converted to grow crops, build infrastructure, settlements and set up mining operations; illegal and destructive logging outside and inside legal forest concessions; and forest and land fires to clear space for some agricultural lands," he said.
Ardiansyah said the government should focus on conservation and using remaining primary and high conservation value forests and terrestrial ecosystems in a sustainable way.
(Editing by Ed Davies)
[Green Business]
DUBAI
Wed Jan 6, 2010 8:13am EST
Qatar studying $1 billion solar energy project
DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar is in "serious" talks with investors to build a $1 billion solar power project, an Arabic-language daily said on Wednesday, citing an executive.
"Qatari and foreign entities are in serious talks... and a final agreement that will set the project's road map is expected to be arrived at soon," Shadi Abu Daher, regional manager of the World Trade Center in Doha, told Qatar's Al Arab newspaper.
He said negotiations began late last year.
(Reporting by Tamara Walid; Editing by John Irish and Clarence Fernandez)
[Green Business]
LONDON
Tue Jan 5, 2010 12:21pm EST
EU carbon sheds early gains as selling resumes
LONDON (Reuters) - European carbon emissions futures reversed earlier gains on Tuesday, as operators started to sell off excess permits even though a cold weather snap was driving up energy demand, traders said.
EU Allowances for December delivery fell 32 cents or 2.44 percent to 12.77 euros ($18.45) a tonne at 1511 GMT, with heavy volume at 4,776 lots as investors sold into the morning's strength.
Prices hit a session high of 13.22 euros in the first hour of trade, extending the previous session's gains as utilities continued to buy permits to cover increased power generation due to cold European weather.
But buying had subsided by mid-morning and EUAs touched an intra-day low of 12.69 euros by early afternoon.
"Theoretically, cold weather equals more energy demand and more carbon demand. But the market is so long that even though it is cold people are still selling allowances," said Seb Walhain, head of environmental markets at Fortis Netherlands.
Industrial companies with surplus EUAs due to reduced output during the economic downturn are expected to sell those permits heavily in the coming weeks.
EUA prices had been rallying after falling to six-month lows at the end of December after U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen failed to deliver a strong climate deal.
Market confidence is still at a low ebb, traders said.
"We have diversified into energy markets and I have put my best people on soft commodities and oil. At the moment I don't see there is a proper business to be had in carbon except for those who are very 'short'," Walhain said.
This week, Dec-10 EUAs should remain around 13 euros and Dec-10 certified emissions reductions around 11.5 euros, said Emmanuel Fages, analyst at Societe Generale/orbeo.
"Prices are a bit above these levels as we write but this quick rise should lead to some profit-taking," he said in a research note.
Germany auctioned 300,000 EUAs at 12.67 euros a tonne on the European Energy Exchange on Tuesday in the first of 48 German government auctions planned for this year until the end of November.
For the auction calendar, click on: here%20Auction%20Calendar001.pdf
EEX will also auction 570,000 EUA futures every Wednesday on the derivatives market until October.
Spot EUAs on France's BlueNext exchange traded at 12.55 euros a tonne on Tuesday.
British prompt gas prices climbed 6.92 percent to 42.50 pence per therm on Tuesday, but the system was coping well with additional demand from cold weather after a tight system caused prices to reach an 11-month high on Monday.
German Calendar 2011 baseload power on the EEX was down 38 cents or 0.72 percent to 52.40 euros per megawatt hour.
U.S. oil edged up toward $82 a barrel on Tuesday, heading for its ninth straight session of gains as a cold snap in key consumers the United States and Europe boosted demand for heating fuel.
Certified emissions reductions were down 24 cents or 2.10 percent at 11.20 euros a tonne.
(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
[Green Business]
TAIPEI
Tue Jan 5, 2010 12:57pm EST
Outdone by Dubai, Taiwan tower seeks green award
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Outdone by an tower extending over 800 meters in Dubai, the world's former tallest building, Taipei 101, wants to become the highest green structure by completing a checklist of clean energy standards, a spokesman said on Monday.
Green Business
Taipei 101 will spend T$60 million ($1.9 million) over the next year to meet 100 criteria for an environmental certificate that it would hold over Dubai, spokesman Michael Liu said.
The office-commercial tower that reigned for five years as the world's highest building at 509 meters (1,670 feet) expects the U.S-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design to give it the certificate in 2011.
"We're focused now on becoming a Taiwan landmark, that won't change, and on going green. We'd be the tallest building to get a green certificate," Liu said by telephone.
Taipei 101, he said, would work with its 85 office tenants to cut electricity and water use, while encouraging them to recycle more refuse. Annual utility savings should total T$20 million.
Restaurants would be asked to bring in supplies from as close as possible to reduce transportation.
"We can reduce power, trash and water by more than 10 percent," he said. "We're already pretty green. In principle there's no major problem."
The Taiwan skyscraper, complete with an observation deck popular with tourists, has already met 60 of the checklist items, including double-paned windows to retain cool air.
Green towers are unusual in Asia, a region with the world's busiest construction sector yet one of the poorest records for eco-friendly building.
Burj Dubai, started at the height of the economic boom and built by some 12,000 laborers, will now become the world's tallest building. It was set to open on Monday as Dubai seeks to rekindle optimism after its financial crisis.
(Reporting by Ralph Jennings, Editing by Ron Popeski)
[Green Business]
Sunanda Creagh
JAKARTA
Wed Jan 6, 2010 7:12am EST
Indonesia says forest plan can meet emission target
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An ambitious Indonesian plan to plant millions of hectares of forest should allow the country to exceed its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than a quarter by 2020, the forestry minister said on Wednesday.
Indonesia was named in a 2007 World Bank study as the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States, largely due to its rapid rate of deforestation.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged to cut emissions by 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 or by 41 percent by 2020 if given sufficient international support.
Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said the plan to add an extra 21.15 million hectares (52.26 million acres) of forest by 2020 would turn the country from a net carbon emitter to into a net carbon sink.
"If the scenario described proceeds, if the planting proceeds, we can reach more than 26 percent (in emissions cuts)," he told reporters after the presentation. "If we can also eradicate illegal logging, then the 26 percent will be achieved entirely in the forestry and peat sector."
The target appears ambitious since Indonesia currently has one of the fastest rates of deforestation in the world. Hasan said there were 130 million hectares of forest left in the country but only 48 million hectares were in good condition.
Under the new plan, he said 500,000 hectares of new forest would be planted annually at a cost of 2.5 trillion rupiah ($269 million) per year.
An extra 300,000 hectares of degraded forest would be rehabilitated every year funded by the government and money from Australia, Norway, Korea and the private sector, he added.
"And it all must be verified. That is in our best interest, so that in future, other countries can see it is transparent, open and will want to help," he said.
Indonesia last year set up a legal framework to encourage forest preservation projects operating under a U.N.-backed scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
Under the scheme, polluters can earn tradeable carbon credits by paying developing nations not to chop down trees.
However, powerful illegal logging syndicates have helped accelerate forest destruction in Indonesia and Hasan said that combating such forces required cooperation between district officials as well as law enforcement officials.
Fitrian Ardiansyah, climate change program director for WWF Indonesia, welcomed the forest plan but said it may not address the main source of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions.
"Most emissions in this sector usually come from forests being converted to grow crops, build infrastructure, settlements and set up mining operations; illegal and destructive logging outside and inside legal forest concessions; and forest and land fires to clear space for some agricultural lands," he said.
Ardiansyah said the government should focus on conservation and using remaining primary and high conservation value forests and terrestrial ecosystems in a sustainable way.
(Editing by Ed Davies)
[Green Business]
DUBAI
Wed Jan 6, 2010 8:13am EST
Qatar studying $1 billion solar energy project
DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar is in "serious" talks with investors to build a $1 billion solar power project, an Arabic-language daily said on Wednesday, citing an executive.
"Qatari and foreign entities are in serious talks... and a final agreement that will set the project's road map is expected to be arrived at soon," Shadi Abu Daher, regional manager of the World Trade Center in Doha, told Qatar's Al Arab newspaper.
He said negotiations began late last year.
(Reporting by Tamara Walid; Editing by John Irish and Clarence Fernandez)
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