[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
LONDON
Mon Jan 4, 2010 1:36pm EST
EU carbon climbs 5 percent at start of 2010 trade
LONDON (Reuters) - European Union carbon emissions futures climbed five percent at the start of 2010 trade on Monday, after closing 21 percent lower at the end of 2009 versus the previous year.
EU Allowances for December delivery gained 60 cents or 4.79 percent to 13.13 euros ($18.78) a tonne at 1120 GMT, with light volume at 1,500 lots traded.
EUAs rose to a high of 13.19 euros in morning trade -- levels not seen since December 21.
"Crude oil is above $80 a barrel and natural gas is up," an emissions trader said, explaining why EUA prices had risen.
British gas prices jumped on Monday as cold weather raised heating demand and Norwegian supply was slow following a leak. [nLDE6030P6] Gas for Tuesday rose 4 percent to 39.50 pence per therm.
U.S. crude oil rose to $81 a barrel on Monday, the highest in more than two months, on news that Russia has halted oil supplies to Belarus and on cold weather in the United States.
German Calendar 2011 baseload power on the EEX rose 2.35 percent to 52.75 euros per megawatt hour.
However, traders and analysts widely expect EUAs to fall in early 2010 due to industrial selling, adding to losses made in December after a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen failed to agree a legally binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
"We expect an average price in the Jan-March quarter of 12.50 euros with a low of around 10.80," said Jean-Francois Cauvet at Paris-based COER2.
Industrial firms should now have calculated their emissions output for 2009 and will have a better idea now of how many surplus EUAs they can dispose of this year, traders said.
For an updated price forecast poll, click on
If heavy selling materializes, it could weigh on prices.
U.N.-backed certified emissions reductions rose 46 cents or 4.19 percent to 11.44 euros a tonne. The EUA-CER spread was at 1.69 euros.
[Green Business]
Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON
Mon Jan 4, 2010 7:17pm EST
U.S. government seeks agreement on Cape Wind power project
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said on Monday it hopes to reach an agreement by March 1 over the controversial and long-delayed Cape Wind power project that would be located in federal waters off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Approval of the offshore wind farm would be a big boost to the Obama administration's plan to increase U.S. renewable energy production and create advance-technology jobs, while a defeat of the project could undermine White House efforts to develop a clean energy economy.
The Interior Department wants to meet with representatives of the Massachusetts historic preservation office, which is siding with the native American Indian tribes who want to block the project, along with Cape Wind's operators and the National Park Service's historic listing director.
A department spokesman said it was still unclear if representatives of the native tribes that sued to block the project would be invited to next week's meeting. Their status may be affected by the lawsuit, he said.
"I am hopeful that an agreement among the parties can be reached by March 1," U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. "If an agreement among the parties can't be reached, I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion."
The Cape Wind project in 2001 became the country's first major proposed offshore wind farm. Its developers, Cape Wind Associates LLC, aim to construct 130 towers, which will soar 440 feet above the surface of the Nantucket Sound.
The proposed $1 billion wind farm would provide electricity to about 400,000 homes, but would be within view of popular Cape Cod resorts and homes, prompting serious opposition from business leaders and politicians.
The tall turbines would be arranged in a grid pattern in 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound, just offshore of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island.
Salazar had said the department would make a decision on the project by end of last year. But the decision on the wind farm was held up by local native tribes who requested that the area where the project would be located be designated a "traditional cultural property."
The National Park Service determined on Monday that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, requiring the Interior Department to consider any related significant archeological, historic and cultural values when reviewing the permit for Cape Wind.
In its ruling, the Park Service said the area now under water in Nantucket Sound is culturally important to the native tribes who sued because the land was exposed thousands of years of ago and their ancestors walked on it to Martha's Vineyard.
Salazar then said he would meet with the affected parties in the project next week to find "a common-sense agreement on actions that could be taken to minimize and mitigate Cape Wind's potential impacts on historic and cultural resources."
If there is a not a deal by March 1, a department spokesman said Salazar would consult with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent group created by Congress that on which the Interior Department has a seat. Salazar would then make a final decision on the project based on the panel's recommendation.
Cape Wind officials could not be reached for comment.
(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
[Green Business]
PARIS
Mon Jan 4, 2010 12:10pm EST
France tries to thrash out new carbon tax formula
PARIS (Reuters) - France's government is trying to piece together new carbon tax legislation that would cover big polluters without double-charging them, after a previous attempt to tax emissions was scrapped at the last minute.
French ministers have been scrambling to come up with a workable system for compensating companies that are already part of a European Union emissions trading scheme, while closing the many loopholes that led to the failure of the first proposal.
"There should be no complete exemption (from the tax)," Chantal Jouanno, junior minister for ecology, said on French radio on Monday. "However, there could be compensation for sectors already subject to certain charges corresponding to the carbon tax."
Set at 17 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide and promoted by President Nicolas Sarkozy as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change, the tax has been criticized by some as hurting big emitters and by others as giving them an easy ride.
Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Sunday the government would keep in place exemptions for participants in the EU scheme, as it was not the aim of the tax to hurt French competitiveness.
Others suggested making factories and power plants pay the tax, then deducting it from the price of future carbon emissions permits.
Such permits are free for now. Under the EU's emissions trading scheme, however, power plants will pay for all carbon permits from 2013, and factories will pay for some.
"Let's find a way of making it neutral for big businesses," Gilles Carrez, an influential legislator from Sarkozy's UMP party, told La Tribune newspaper on Monday.
"I suggest the tax be deducted from the price of permits once they have to be paid for."
France's constitutional council annulled the original carbon tax two days before it was due to come into force on January 1, arguing that its many exemptions violated the principle of equality among taxpayers.
The loopholes were meant to pacify people whose livelihoods depend on cars or lorries, as well as polluters who feared they would pay the tax on top of paying for permits.
Sarkozy has said he will revisit the tax legislation, and the government is due to present a revised version on January 20. However, he could find it difficult to persuade lawmakers to back the disputed project so close to regional elections in March.
(Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou and Sophie Hardach; editing by Andrew Roche)
[Green Business]
LONDON
Mon Jan 4, 2010 1:36pm EST
EU carbon climbs 5 percent at start of 2010 trade
LONDON (Reuters) - European Union carbon emissions futures climbed five percent at the start of 2010 trade on Monday, after closing 21 percent lower at the end of 2009 versus the previous year.
EU Allowances for December delivery gained 60 cents or 4.79 percent to 13.13 euros ($18.78) a tonne at 1120 GMT, with light volume at 1,500 lots traded.
EUAs rose to a high of 13.19 euros in morning trade -- levels not seen since December 21.
"Crude oil is above $80 a barrel and natural gas is up," an emissions trader said, explaining why EUA prices had risen.
British gas prices jumped on Monday as cold weather raised heating demand and Norwegian supply was slow following a leak. [nLDE6030P6] Gas for Tuesday rose 4 percent to 39.50 pence per therm.
U.S. crude oil rose to $81 a barrel on Monday, the highest in more than two months, on news that Russia has halted oil supplies to Belarus and on cold weather in the United States.
German Calendar 2011 baseload power on the EEX rose 2.35 percent to 52.75 euros per megawatt hour.
However, traders and analysts widely expect EUAs to fall in early 2010 due to industrial selling, adding to losses made in December after a U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen failed to agree a legally binding successor to the Kyoto Protocol.
"We expect an average price in the Jan-March quarter of 12.50 euros with a low of around 10.80," said Jean-Francois Cauvet at Paris-based COER2.
Industrial firms should now have calculated their emissions output for 2009 and will have a better idea now of how many surplus EUAs they can dispose of this year, traders said.
For an updated price forecast poll, click on
If heavy selling materializes, it could weigh on prices.
U.N.-backed certified emissions reductions rose 46 cents or 4.19 percent to 11.44 euros a tonne. The EUA-CER spread was at 1.69 euros.
[Green Business]
Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON
Mon Jan 4, 2010 7:17pm EST
U.S. government seeks agreement on Cape Wind power project
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said on Monday it hopes to reach an agreement by March 1 over the controversial and long-delayed Cape Wind power project that would be located in federal waters off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Approval of the offshore wind farm would be a big boost to the Obama administration's plan to increase U.S. renewable energy production and create advance-technology jobs, while a defeat of the project could undermine White House efforts to develop a clean energy economy.
The Interior Department wants to meet with representatives of the Massachusetts historic preservation office, which is siding with the native American Indian tribes who want to block the project, along with Cape Wind's operators and the National Park Service's historic listing director.
A department spokesman said it was still unclear if representatives of the native tribes that sued to block the project would be invited to next week's meeting. Their status may be affected by the lawsuit, he said.
"I am hopeful that an agreement among the parties can be reached by March 1," U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. "If an agreement among the parties can't be reached, I will be prepared to take the steps necessary to bring the permit process to conclusion."
The Cape Wind project in 2001 became the country's first major proposed offshore wind farm. Its developers, Cape Wind Associates LLC, aim to construct 130 towers, which will soar 440 feet above the surface of the Nantucket Sound.
The proposed $1 billion wind farm would provide electricity to about 400,000 homes, but would be within view of popular Cape Cod resorts and homes, prompting serious opposition from business leaders and politicians.
The tall turbines would be arranged in a grid pattern in 25 square miles of Nantucket Sound, just offshore of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island.
Salazar had said the department would make a decision on the project by end of last year. But the decision on the wind farm was held up by local native tribes who requested that the area where the project would be located be designated a "traditional cultural property."
The National Park Service determined on Monday that Nantucket Sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, requiring the Interior Department to consider any related significant archeological, historic and cultural values when reviewing the permit for Cape Wind.
In its ruling, the Park Service said the area now under water in Nantucket Sound is culturally important to the native tribes who sued because the land was exposed thousands of years of ago and their ancestors walked on it to Martha's Vineyard.
Salazar then said he would meet with the affected parties in the project next week to find "a common-sense agreement on actions that could be taken to minimize and mitigate Cape Wind's potential impacts on historic and cultural resources."
If there is a not a deal by March 1, a department spokesman said Salazar would consult with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent group created by Congress that on which the Interior Department has a seat. Salazar would then make a final decision on the project based on the panel's recommendation.
Cape Wind officials could not be reached for comment.
(Additional reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
[Green Business]
PARIS
Mon Jan 4, 2010 12:10pm EST
France tries to thrash out new carbon tax formula
PARIS (Reuters) - France's government is trying to piece together new carbon tax legislation that would cover big polluters without double-charging them, after a previous attempt to tax emissions was scrapped at the last minute.
French ministers have been scrambling to come up with a workable system for compensating companies that are already part of a European Union emissions trading scheme, while closing the many loopholes that led to the failure of the first proposal.
"There should be no complete exemption (from the tax)," Chantal Jouanno, junior minister for ecology, said on French radio on Monday. "However, there could be compensation for sectors already subject to certain charges corresponding to the carbon tax."
Set at 17 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide and promoted by President Nicolas Sarkozy as a crucial weapon in the fight against climate change, the tax has been criticized by some as hurting big emitters and by others as giving them an easy ride.
Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Sunday the government would keep in place exemptions for participants in the EU scheme, as it was not the aim of the tax to hurt French competitiveness.
Others suggested making factories and power plants pay the tax, then deducting it from the price of future carbon emissions permits.
Such permits are free for now. Under the EU's emissions trading scheme, however, power plants will pay for all carbon permits from 2013, and factories will pay for some.
"Let's find a way of making it neutral for big businesses," Gilles Carrez, an influential legislator from Sarkozy's UMP party, told La Tribune newspaper on Monday.
"I suggest the tax be deducted from the price of permits once they have to be paid for."
France's constitutional council annulled the original carbon tax two days before it was due to come into force on January 1, arguing that its many exemptions violated the principle of equality among taxpayers.
The loopholes were meant to pacify people whose livelihoods depend on cars or lorries, as well as polluters who feared they would pay the tax on top of paying for permits.
Sarkozy has said he will revisit the tax legislation, and the government is due to present a revised version on January 20. However, he could find it difficult to persuade lawmakers to back the disputed project so close to regional elections in March.
(Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou and Sophie Hardach; editing by Andrew Roche)
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