LONDON (Reuters) – The premium of December 3013 over 2011 EU carbon permits is likely to rise as European nuclear policy shifts in the wake of Japan’s crisis, even after having already risen 46 percent this year.

EU Allowances (EUAs) are carbon permits traded under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which caps the emissions of the 27-nation bloc’s heavy industry and power sector.

LONDON, April 11 (Reuters) – With oil prices at two and a
half year highs, UK-based investment manager Ecofin expects to
benefit from investing in cheaper, more efficient natural gas
and in renewable energy over the next two years.

Crude oil prices have risen 75 percent since the second
quarter of 2010, but natural gas prices have been largely flat,
partly due to prolific U.S. shale gas production, a market many
expect to remain over-supplied for years.

LONDON (Reuters) – Analysts expect final data from the European Commission to show emissions from firms covered by the bloc’s carbon trading scheme in 2010 are likely to have risen by 3 to 3.6 percent.

Last Friday, the EU Commission released preliminary emissions data showing emissions rose 3.5 percent as firms experienced a pickup in industrial activity.

LONDON (Reuters) – Fossil fuel subsidies worth $312 billion should be realigned to ensure the growth of renewable energy and curb the world’s reliance on carbon-intensive fuels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report.

Demand for fossil fuels is outstripping the deployment of cleaner technologies. Renewable energy has seen growth rates of 30 to 40 percent over recent years but coal has met 47 percent of global new electricity demand over the past decade, the IEA said in its “Clean Energy Progress Report” on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Carbon emissions rose 3.5 percent last year across the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) for the first time since 2008, as power demand and industrial output rose, EU Commission data showed.

Preliminary like-for-like EU data showed emissions across the scheme rose 3.45 percent, with the power sector’s emissions up 2.4 percent and all other sectors up 6.4 percent.

LONDON (Reuters) – The price of European carbon permits have risen around 10 percent this month after political unrest in the Middle East, Japan’s earthquake and Germany’s decision to shut down old nuclear capacity.

EUAs for delivery in December 2010 peaked at 17.75 euros a tonne on March 16 — their highest level since November 2008 — triggered by a nuclear crisis in Japan and a German government move to shut a third of its nuclear capacity.

LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Asset management firm Foresight
Group expects Britain’s installed solar capacity to rise sharply
this year despite a government proposal to reduce support
tariffs for large-scale solar projects.

Britain proposed on Friday cutting financial support for new
solar plants with a capacity over 50 kilowatts (KW) from Aug. 1
because it wants to focus instead on supporting smaller
household and community-level projects. [ID:nLDE72H125]

LONDON (Reuters) – Global warming will intensify if leading carbon emitter China drops the world’s most ambitious nuclear power building program and Germany shuts down its nuclear plants amid panic over Japan’s atomic energy crisis.

Wednesday’s decision by the world’s biggest coal burner and largest climate-warming carbon emitter to suspend approvals for new nuclear plants follows a decision by Europe’s biggest carbon emitter Germany to shut seven nuclear plants.

LONDON (Reuters) – Global warming will intensify if leading carbon emitter China drops the world’s most ambitious nuclear power building programme and Germany shuts down its nuclear plants amid panic over Japan’s atomic energy crisis.

Wednesday’s decision by the world’s biggest coal burner and largest climate-warming carbon emitter to suspend approvals for new nuclear plants follows a decision by Europe’s biggest carbon emitter Germany to shut seven nuclear plants.

LONDON (Reuters) – Airlines’ entry to the European Union’s carbon market next year will add at least 1 billion euros to their costs, make some operators less competitive and ultimately lead to higher air fares and carbon prices.

From January 1 next year, around 4,000 aircraft operators will be included in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Most flights that land and depart from EU airports will be covered, regardless of the operator’s nationality.