Like coffee and cocoa, bonds to get green certified

Like coffee and cocoa, bonds to get green certified: Scientific American
Investors will soon be able to buy corporate bonds with a 'climate' certification, much as consumers with strong social and environmental convictions now buy coffee and chocolate products with labels such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance.  Carrying such a certification will enable institutional investors and pension funds, which have been looking to make their portfolios green, quickly to identify environment-friendly bonds without having to do the due diligence themselves.  The 'Climate Bond Certified' standard will initially be aimed at corporate bonds linked to low-carbon assets, said Sean Kidney, executive chair of the Climate Bonds Initiative, a non-profit group backing the standard.  In just a few weeks' time, a corporate bank is expected to issue the equivalent of around $500 million in an asset-backed bond that will carry the certification, the first of its kind.

British Climate Rules More Costly Than in U.S., Germany

British Climate Rules More Costly Than in U.S., Germany - Bloomberg
U.K. climate policies add more to the cost of power for energy-intensive companies than measures in Germany, France and the U.S., a study commissioned by the government in London found.  Britain’s efforts to slash greenhouse gases added 14.2 percent to electricity prices in 2011, the biggest increment in 11 nations covered in the report by the consulting company ICF International. Other nations covered include Japan, China, India, Turkey, Denmark, Russia and Italy. The U.K. Department for Business, Innovation & Skills released the findings today.  The figures add to pressure from industry groups such as the EEF manufacturing lobby for the government to rein in its drive to stimulate renewable energy. Britain is seeking to slash carbon emissions 50 percent by 2027.

U.K. Seen Doubling Power Price to Guarantee New Reactor

U.K. Seen Doubling Power Price to Guarantee New Reactor: Energy - Bloomberg
The future of the U.K.’s nuclear industry will be decided on one number: the price the government’s willing to guarantee Electricite de France SA will get for generating atomic power.  EDF and government officials will negotiate the so-called strike price for new nuclear power plants by the end of the year. To ensure the Paris-based utility makes a final decision on a new reactor in southwest England, the U.K. must set a price between 95 pounds ($148) and 105 pounds a megawatt-hour in 2020, double the level power trades at today, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Yorkshire leads race for €1.5bn EU carbon capture funding

Yorkshire leads race for €1.5bn EU carbon capture funding | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Four UK carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects and one marine energy scheme are under consideration for up to €1.5bn of EU funding.  2Co's Don Valley Power project heads the list of eight CCS proposals, followed by the Belchatow project in Poland, and the Green Hydrogen industrial project in Holland, according to a report published by the European Commission yesterday.  However, the Commission said only the first two to three projects were likely to be supported within the available funds, which leaves the remaining UK proposals at risk of missing out in this first tranche of funding, despite passing due diligence in March.  The remaining projects are Progressive Energy's planned Teesside plant, which ranked fourth, the White Rose proposal backed by Boc, Drax, Alstom and National Grid in fifth place, and C.GEN's project in Killingholme, Yorkshire, in sixth. SSE's proposed post-combustion capture system in Peterhead is second on the reserve list, behind the Getica project in Romania.

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Government $1bn deal to controversial Petrobras deep-sea oil drilling

Government $1bn deal to controversial Petrobras deep-sea oil drilling | Business | The Guardian
The government has committed $1bn of taxpayer's funds to support deep-sea drilling in the south Atlantic, despite acknowledging that the controversial project has "significant potential" to damage the environment.  Vince Cable's export credit guarantee department (ECGD) has agreed a $1bn (£637m) line of credit to help Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, drill for oil and gas. This will be in deeper water than the area in the Gulf of Mexico where an explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig led to 11 deaths and US's the worst environmental disaster two years ago.

U.S. Coal Rules May Allow State CO2 Markets

U.S. Coal Rules May Allow State CO2 Markets: Forrister - Businessweek
The U.S. may allow states to regulate emissions from existing coal-fired power plants using carbon markets, according to the president of the International Emissions Trading Association.  The nation’s Environmental Protection Agency is set to let states including New York and California regulate emissions in their own way rather than via a federal power station emission standard, assuming President Barack Obama wins a second term in office, said IETA president Dirk Forrister, a former climate adviser to U.S. President Bill Clinton.  Federal cap-and-trade legislation stalled in the U.S. Senate after narrowly passing the House of Representatives in 2009. Still, California’s trading program is planned for next year and Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont formed the...

Poland gets conditional EU nod for free CO2 permits

UPDATE 2-Poland gets conditional EU nod for free CO2 permits | Reuters
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Failure to address fracking impacts would stifle industry’s growth – BG

Environmental Finance | News | Failure to address fracking impacts would stifle industry’s growth – BG
The direct environmental impacts of fracking are relatively cheap to address – but a failure to do so would “severely limit” the industry’s growth, even in the US, according to the chairman of BG Group.  Moreover, improving environmental performance offers a source of competitive advantage for leading fracking companies, according to Amory Lovins, chief scientist at the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a US-based think-tank...

UK comes top for energy efficiency

Environmental Finance | News | UK comes top for energy efficiency

The UK has been ranked first of 12 major economies in terms of energy efficiency, according to a report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  The Brits were followed closely by Germany, Italy and Japan in the ranking, in which countries were scored on high-level policies – such as fuel economy standards – as well as performance in three sectors: buildings, industry and transportation.  Meanwhile, the US came in ninth, ahead of Brazil, Canada and Russia. France was fifth, followed by a three-way tie between the EU, Australia and China.

Bioenergy projects dominate EU innovation funding

Environmental Finance | News | Bioenergy projects dominate EU innovation funding

Among the five contenders in the lead to receive EU funding for innovative low-carbon energy projects, four are in the bioenergy sector.  The European Commission yesterday announced the candidates in line to receive a share of proceeds from the sale of 300 million carbon credits from the new entrants’ reserve (NER). Money is being raised through the ‘NER 300’ programme in Phase III (2013-20) of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to fund innovative renewable energy and carbon capture and storage projects.  The NER 300 is expected to raise between €1.3 billion and €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion-1.8 billion), and projects could receive a maximum of 15% of the available capital, meaning between €292 million and €337 million.  Swedish bioenergy project Pyrogrot, developed by paper and pulp company Billerud, is the lead candidate, according to the Commission. It is developing a plant to produce 160,000 tonnes a year of bio-oil using forest residues as feedstock.

Renewables loan guarantees under threat

Environmental Finance | News | Renewables loan guarantees under threat
The renewable energy sector could lose another financing mechanism if Congress adopts a proposal that would significantly limit the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) ability to guarantee loans for promising technologies and projects.  In response to the scandal surrounding a DOE loan guarantee made to now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, which has cost US taxpayers $527 million, Republicans in the House of Representatives are floating a discussion draft of a bill called the No More Solyndras Act. The proposal, which has not officially been introduced, would prohibit the department from issuing any loan guarantees for applications submitted after 31 December 2011.