Carbon Pulse

Canada’s environment ministry on Thursday announced its initial Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) to mobilise the country’s electricity grid to achieve net zero by 2035, including a series of measures that provide exemptions for units with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and can allow for continued, but limited, use of fossil fuels.

The UK government signalled Thursday it will continue to support biomass energy production albeit under stricter sustainability tests, but did not spell out how it would subsidise utility Drax’s BECCS plans.

A standardised way of grading carbon credits can establish transparency and consistency in the market while improving upon the current methods of existing ratings agencies, a US-based alternative asset manager said in a white paper published Thursday.  

Wood-burning cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) plants established by Danish energy firm Orsted will begin to have their emissions captured and stored during 2025, as part of Denmark’s first full-scale CCS agreement, the company outlined during its financial results on Thursday.

Kenya will face a shortfall of more than a $1 billion to meet its climate change and forestry strategic plan over the next five years, the Ministry of Environment has revealed.

German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp reported a 13% year-on-year drop in quarterly global sales amid lower prices, though it said it was targeting the upper range of its full-year forecast after a “robust” quarter in its financial results on Thursday.

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European power consumption slumped 6% compared to historical averages in July despite an uptick in demand from air conditioning across the Southern countries that were struck by extreme heat, according to analysts.

A leading airline has been testing AI technology to reduce airplane contrails when flying at altitude, with positive results, suggesting that the technology can be a cost-effective way to help to reduce the climate impact of aviation and potentially also generate contrail reduction-based carbon credits.

Germany's energy-intensive companies that are part of the domestic fuel emissions trading system will be partially compensated for any risk of carbon leakage caused by higher fuel prices, as the European Commission approved the €6.5 billion scheme on Thursday.

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The international economic and financial architecture and policy priorities must be aligned with the goal of advancing an equitable, global nature economy for nature markets to have an impact on any significant scale, the Taskforce on Nature Markets (TNM) said in its final report, released Thursday.

India is on track to meet its Paris Agreement carbon intensity target ahead of time as reductions are coming faster than previously anticipated, according to media reports.

Czech utility CEZ reported a drop of more than one-fifth year-on-year in its EU coal and gas power output over the first sixth months of the year, in quarterly results published Thursday, joining multiple other Europe-headquartered energy companies in posting much lower generation levels in 2023.

European carbon prices clawed back most of the previous afternoon losses in a quiet Thursday morning session, with the rally triggered by the first auction premium in eight days as traders continued to express bafflement at Wednesday's price action.

The UK energy secretary Grant Shapps announced plans to host an international summit on energy security in spring 2024, stressing the need to diversify from fossil fuels and hit climate goals.

A major carbon project developer in South Korea has been selected by the government to start off three Article 6 projects abroad, as the East Asian country is seeking to acquire international carbon credits and leverage the Article 6 mechanism of the Paris Agreement to realise its climate goals.

A former director of carbon and biodiversity non-profit Greening Australia has been appointed chief operations officer of a new Australian venture which is seeking to rapidly increase the supply of premium, nature-based carbon credits.

A New Zealand forestry group is urging the government to immediately halt its review on the ETS in order to restore stability to the carbon market and provide certainty for forest planning.

Carbon capture and storage could be easily scalable if offered similar cost incentives that have been provided to wind, solar, and EV industries, a gas industry whitepaper has claimed.