Carbon Pulse

Experts expressed mixed views on the European Commission's proposed methodologies to certify different types of carbon removal activities under the EU's Carbon Removals Certification Framework (CRCF), with some observers welcoming bold elements of the proposals and others criticising them on structural or methodological grounds.

The Australian government is expected to ‘imminently’ release a discussion paper on the rework of its landfill gas methodology and likely finalise it by the end of the year, but market participants are still left guessing what will be done with one of the market's biggest-yielding project types.

Gold Standard has approved its first geological storage methodology as it steps into the carbon removal (CDR) sector that is starting to shift from a niche market into the mainstream.

Denmark’s Energy Agency (DEA) has awarded three contracts to companies for new carbon capture and storage projects after completing the funding round for negative CO2 emissions (NECCS).

The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is delayed in updating its carbon intensity (CI) model adjustments for Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program (OCFP), but staff targets rulemaking completion towards the original planned date, a webinar heard Wednesday.

An environmental assets marketplace on Wednesday introduced a new line of carbon removal credits via a recently-introduced biochar trading instrument.

A UK-headquartered asset manager and Sweden-based forestry development firm closed an inaugural $325.3 million fund that targets over 18 mln tonnes of CO2 removal across 80,000 hectares of forest.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced Wednesday recipients selected for $1.5 million in prize money among several ongoing competitions to develop commercial-ready CO2 direct air capture (DAC) technologies.

Opposition to proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulations from environmental justice (EJ) communities, if left unsettled, places significant pressure on how quickly a final rule could take effect, a former ARB LCFS branch chief told a webinar Wednesday.

A US venture capital (VC) firm announced Tuesday the close of a $306 million fund that it said will focus on planetary and human health, with an emphasis on decarbonisation and re-industrialisation.

US Steel’s recently announced carbon capture project at its integrated Indiana steel mills will have an insignificant impact on overall GHG output and ongoing pollution concerns, non-profit groups said Wednesday.

A New York-based developer of nature-based carbon projects announced on Wednesday the sale of its first batch of Improved Forest Management (IFM) offsets for $34 each.

Ongoing carbon permit sales under REPoweEU, combined with increasing renewables penetration and lower demand from the power and industrial sectors, mean EUAs will likely feel increased price pressures for another 18 months, a conference heard Wednesday.

A California-headquartered fossil fuel firm announced its third and largest venture capital fund to date of $500 million, focused on clean energy technologies to improve its core business and drive lower carbon options.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a phase out of fossil fuels at the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Wednesday.

The EU's green claims directive is having a tangible, negative impact on demand for voluntary carbon credits, and scaring corporates away from the market, participants told an event Wednesday.

The European Commission is looking at whether residual emissions in the EU ETS could be offset with carbon removals, as it weighs up different options for either integrating removals into the existing market or creating a new one, a high-level official said on Wednesday.

Commitments made at an international ocean conference in Athens have sparked optimism for the future of marine conservation, though concerns remain over the effective implementation of the laws against illegal activities, conservationists have said.

Regulatory measures on agricultural emissions, from New Zealand to South Africa, could serve as inspiration for policymakers in Brussels as the EU considers if and how to include the sector in its next ETS revision — although some clauses may apply, according to speakers at the IETA European Climate Summit.

The global economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due to climate change, even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut starting from today, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.