Carbon Pulse

Seven Chinese provinces will pilot a system that requires governments to take CO2 emissions into account when approving new projects in energy-intensive industries, most of which are on the list to be brought into the national emissions trading scheme.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

The EU’s power sector CO2 emissions rose 11% year-on-year in H1 but remain well below pre-pandemic levels despite a near-full recovery in electricity demand as cleaner forms of generation prevail, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The UK’s current carbon pricing measures are “inconsistent, regressive, unclear, and cannot put the country on the path to reach net zero emissions by 2050”, a think-tank said Wednesday, urging wide-ranging reforms to the system.

An octogenarian Oxford alumnus has been handed a longer prison sentence for not complying with a confiscation order to repay ill-gotten gains from an investment fraud related to the reforestation carbon market.

The EU has committed €118 million to 32 small-scale carbon-cutting projects across 14 nations under its ETS-funded Innovation Fund, the bloc’s executive said on Tuesday as it announced the financing vehicle's first awards.

US biofuel credit (RIN) prices went on the upswing over the past week as traders pointed to a diesel arbitrage and gasoline import data as supporting factors for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) market.

California gasoline usage increased for the second consecutive month in April, as consumer demand continues to skew back towards pre-COVID levels amid fewer state-level restrictions, according to state data released this week.

China is on track to see its installed capacity of non-fossil power generation surpass its coal capacity at the end of 2021 for the first time, a report said, while a separate publication showed the country did not fund any new coal-fired power plants through the Belt and Road Initiative in H1, also a first.

Germany-based utility RWE, historically the EU’s top corporate emitter, reported a 39% jump in its ETS-covered thermal power output for H1 2021 as demand rebounded following coronavirus restrictions.

EUAs drifted slightly despite firmer natural gas prices, as Russian state producer Gazprom declined yet again to book additional gas transit capacity through the Ukrainian network.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Ministers from more than 50 countries will continue talks on key issues, including Article 6 international emissions trade, through to November’s COP26 UN climate summit, UK minister Alok Sharma said on Monday following an inconclusive two-day informal ministerial meeting in London.

A new joint venture is planning to launch a certification system for carbon removals, with the aim of addressing issues regarding transparency and trust that have affected the existing voluntary emissions reduction (VER) market.

Irish-based airline Ryanair revealed it has extensively covered its EU ETS buying requirements for the coming years, even as it raised its forecast for flight traffic in quarterly results on Monday.

Voluntary carbon market prices for nature- and non-nature-based credits rose once again this week, as project developers began shifting back to spot voluntary emissions reduction (VER) deals rather than forward contracts.

Trading house Hartree Partners has struck a deal that could treble the REDD credits generated by established developer Wildlife Works within four years.

Israel this weekend approved a plan to cut its mid-century greenhouse gas emissions by 85% below 2015 levels, but critics decried the strategy for missing key elements and for not going far enough.

Higher natural gas prices are bringing coal-fired units online in the Northeast US RGGI cap-and-trade programme, while preliminary emissions data shows significant increases year-on-year over the second quarter as consumer behaviour returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The role is focused on building commercial partnerships for International Nature Based Solutions (NBS) projects under recognised voluntary carbon standards.