The plunge in European Union carbon permits is putting prices on course for their longest-ever decline and shows no sign of ending as member states wrangle over curbing a glut in the market. “It’s a big challenge to re-design the ETS and make it a system that would reward both energy efficiency and pure emission reductions, but you can’t avoid it. It’s like being on the Titanic and seeing the iceberg in front of you; either you make a U-turn or crash,” said Jan Pravda, director of Prague-based Pravda Capital Trading. --Ewa Krukowska,
Bloomberg, 30 March 2012
The European Court of Justice today ruled that the European Commission exceeded its powers by imposing a ceiling on greenhouse-gas emissions in Poland and Estonia in 2007. The European of First Instance ruled in 2009 that the ceilings should be scrapped. But the Commission appealed against the decision “to protect the integrity of the EU-wide market of allowances.” Six other countries had also challenged the Commission's emissions ceilings – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. --Dave Keating,
European Voice, 29 March 2012
Allegations of a "surge" in "extreme" weather events have been quashed by a surprising source - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Without strong scientific evidence, the use of "extreme" or "strange" weather to manipulate support for contentious political programmes relies on enduring and ancient superstitions. –Andrew Orlowski,
The Register, 29 March 2012
Britain's long-term energy policy lay "in tatters" on Thursday after two of the ''big six'' energy companies pulled out of multi-billion pound plans to develop new nuclear plants. In a "devastating blow" for the Government's energy policy, RWE npower and E. ON announced they would end their joint venture to build nuclear power plants in Britain. --
The Daily Telegraph, 30 March 2012
Exploration of shale-gas resources by companies including Cuadrilla Resources Ltd. should resume after an investigation into hydraulic fracturing, the U.K.’s Environment Agency said. “There are significant environmental risks associated with shale gas as there are with other industrial activities,” Tony Grayling, head of climate change and communities at the agency, told delegates at a conference in Durham, England, yesterday. “We think those risks can be managed.” --
Bloomberg, 29 March 2012
To the dismay of the Greens and their political, business and media allies, there are signs that HMG is slowly turning back towards a new dash for gas, the UK has reserves for centuries to come, and exploiting them now would end the recession almost at a stroke. --Alan Jones,
3000 Quads, 29 March 2012
The nation's fast-growing supply of cheap natural gas is setting off a manufacturing revival that's expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs as companies build or expand plants to take advantage of the low prices. PricewaterhouseCoopers' partner Robert Mc-Cutcheon estimates inexpensive natural gas could help U.S. manufacturers save $11.6 billion a year and create more than 500,000 jobs by 2025. --Paul Davidson,
USA Today, 28 March 2012
