APX Launches Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) Registry
APX Inc., the leading infrastructure provider for environmental and energy markets, today announced that it has launched a state-of-the-art greenhouse gas transaction registry and related services for the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) Association, ...
read moreAPX Inc., the leading infrastructure provider for environmental and energy markets, today announced that it has launched a state-of-the-art greenhouse gas transaction registry and related services for the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) Association, a leading international standards organization.
The APX VCS Registry adds to the unparalleled coverage that APX provides for the global carbon markets, including the Gold Standard Registry and The Climate Action Reserve, a program of the California Climate Action Registry.
The Registry enables the issuance, transfer, tracking, retirement and custodial services for VCS carbon credits worldwide. It also supports the VCS Association’s mission to ensure quality assurance for the world’s carbon markets through a global program for approval of credible voluntary carbon offsets, or Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs). APX is also the exclusive solution provider for the VCS Association’s centralized project database that will present information on all VCS projects and issued VCUs, list relevant project-related documents, and track the status of issued VCUs.
"The VCS Association is pleased to partner with APX on this critical market resource to enable market participants to supply, find, and buy VCUs,” said David Antonioli, CEO, VCS Association. “From technology deployment to operational services and support, APX has a proven track record in carbon market infrastructure solutions that establish confidence for all market participants.” The Registry has already seen dramatic adoption by market players across geographic regions and industry types, including project developers and originators, brokers and retailers, large corporations, and leading financial services companies.
“Together with other high quality carbon standards, including the Gold Standard Registry and the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) Climate Action Reserve program, APX now provides market infrastructure for nearly two thirds of the voluntary carbon markets,” said Brian Storms, Chairman and CEO of APX Inc. “Our aim is to provide “one view” across a firm’s environmental asset portfolio, and we are pleased to be in a position to provide the unified approach that market participants need.”
“The launch of APX’s VCS Registry is an important milestone for the carbon credit markets in the U.S. and abroad,” said Andrew Ertel, CEO at Evolution Markets. “There is a clear market need for a means to register and transfer voluntary carbon credits in an efficient and transparent manner. APX has proven registry experience in renewable energy credit markets and with other carbon standards, and we look forward utilizing their services for VCS-verified VCUs.”
“MGM required a proven, easy to use, and secure transaction infrastructure to register our VCS projects and ensure a complete audit trail for our clients,” said Marco G. Monroy, President and CEO, MGM International. “APX’s ability to address these needs as well their responsiveness and market leadership were all key factors for our participation in the Registry.” John Mackle, CFO and head of carbon commercialization at MGM added, "We are delighted with the launch of the VCS registry. The transparency it will provide should increase investor, media and regulator’s confidence in carbon offsets.”
The web-based system will create trusted and tradable voluntary offset credits, provide a clear chain of ownership for voluntary offsets that prevents double-counting, and stimulate investments in emissions reductions and low carbon solutions. For more information, please visit www.vcsregistry.com.
minimizeSource: APX -
Tue, 17 Mar 2009
Category: business
Climex’ Austrian Auction more than 8 Times Overbid
The full available volume of 200,000 EUAs was sold in today's Competitive Auction, at a price of €11.65. In the Non-Competitive Auction 5,050 of the available 100,000 EUAs were transacted. Today (16.03.09) a Spot Auction of 300,000 EUAs on behalf ...
read moreThe full available volume of 200,000 EUAs was sold in today's Competitive Auction, at a price of €11.65. In the Non-Competitive Auction 5,050 of the available 100,000 EUAs were transacted.
Today (16.03.09) a Spot Auction of 300,000 EUAs on behalf of the Austrian Government took place on Climex. The Auction was prepared in cooperation with the BMLFUW, responsible for the sale of the EUAs, and the Österreichischen Energiekonsumenten-Verband (ÖEKV), in accordance with the Austrian Allocation Plan and the respective ordinance by the Austrian Government.
The first part of the Auction was a Non-Competitive process with a total volume of 100,000 EUAs followed by a Competitive Auction with a volume of 200,000 EUAs.
The Non Competitive Auction
In the Non-Competitive process a total volume of 5,050 EUAs was sold. The selling price of €11.65 per tonne was fixed in the following competitive part of the auction. The non-Competitive part was open to all entities or individuals holding an account with an Emissions Trading Registry in any of the EU Member States.
Competitive Auction
In the competitive part of the 69 bids were placed with a total volume of 1,671.550 EUAs. Bidders ranged from banks, brokers and industry to energy suppliers. The total volume of 200,000 EUAs offered was sold at a price of € 11.65 per tonne in 8 transactions. Since the volume of 200,000 was overbid at € 11.65 the first entries were the successful onces. Spot Membership with Climex was required for participation in the competitive part of the auction as well as an account with an Emissions Trading Registry of any of the EU Member States.
The main interest was on the Competitive Auction. This was reflected by a large increase in the number of registrations. 11 organisations managed to complete the membership process on time, of which 6 were industries from Austria. This brings the total to 131 Climex Members.
Since not all the EUAs during the Non-Competitive Auction were sold, the remaining volume of 94,050 EUAs will be brought to auction at a later date, which will be set by the BMLFUW.
The Climex Spot Platform was closed during the morning and reopened in the afternoon, to give
Members the opportunity to trade their newly acquired EUAs.
minimizeSource: Climex -
Mon, 16 Mar 2009
Category: emissiontrading
Climex Auctions Primary CDM Wind Project
Climex is starting a completely new and revolutionary auction concept. On 26 March, around 350,000 CERs from a primary CDM Wind Project from China will be auctioned. New is the fact that the price consists of a discount established during the ...
read moreClimex is starting a completely new and revolutionary auction concept. On 26 March, around 350,000 CERs from a primary CDM Wind Project from China will be auctioned. New is the fact that the price consists of a discount established during the auction, which will be deducted from the going rate for Spot trades on the time of delivery. The auction will start with a maximum discount of € 3.
“The project we are auctioning is a very interesting and solid project”, says Sascha Bloemhoff, Commercial Director of Climex. “The only difficulty in the current market is the CER price level, while the seller wanted to continue with the sale of the project and keep up with the planned time lines. Therefore, we have developed a different kind of auction, in which we will be auctioning the discount rather than the price itself. If, for example the auction closes at a discount of € 2.50 and the spot price at time of delivery is € 10, the buyer will pay € 7.50 for the CERs of that vintage.”
The project involves the installation of a grid-connected 49.5MW wind farm in Northwest China. It consists of 66 turbines of 750kW each, and will reduce CO2-emissions by displacing coal by wind power generation. The predicted annual production of 106,220 MWh is expected to lead to an annual emission reduction of 106,188 tCO2e. The project will also reduce other air pollutants from coal-fired power plants, like acidic precipitation and related health- and environmental impacts. Since domestic technology is used, it strengthens the renewable engineering sector in China through creating domestic demand. In addition, the construction and maintenance will create employment opportunities.
The project is currently in the pre-registration phase. The crediting period is expected to start in the third quarter of 2009 (January 2010 the latest). The buyer will be requested to support project development as well as the registration process. The construction of the wind park has already been finished. The wind park will start to operate in April 2009. Regular progress reports will be provided to the buyer.
Members of Climex will automatically receive full details on the auction and the project by Climex. Buyers interested in participating in the auction can contact Climex for more information or register for free membership with the Climex exchange at the website: www.climex.com.
minimizeSource: Climex -
Mon, 16 Mar 2009
Category: business
First bagasse CDM project in Negros gets commissioned
First Farmers Holdings Corp. has commissioned a 21-megawatt (MW) bagasse-based co-generation plant, becoming the first sugar mill in Negros to commercially dispatch power and sell carbon credits. The plant has been gradually supplying power to the ...
read more First Farmers Holdings Corp. has commissioned a 21-megawatt (MW) bagasse-based co-generation plant, becoming the first sugar mill in Negros to commercially dispatch power and sell carbon credits. The plant has been gradually supplying power to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines in the last three weeks.
Of the plant’s 21-MW generation capacity, the sugar mill uses only 3.5 to five MW for its milling operations, and even lower at merely two MW during the off-milling season. First Farmers has a power supply agreement with the Central Negros Electric Cooperative or CENECO for the purchase of an initial five MW, from 2008 to 2010.
The sugar mill has a contract to sell carbon credits from its co-generation plant to Spanish power company Endesa under the Clean Development Mechanism. Under the contract, the sugar mill committed to sell 500,000 tons of certified emission reduction (CER) credits to Endesa.
minimize
Source: Carbonyatra -
Mon, 16 Mar 2009
Category: business
Leaders of UN, US declare 2009 the year of climate change
Sea level rise caused by climate change will displace millions across the world With nations set to conclude negotiations on an ambitious new greenhouse gas emissions agreement this December, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States President ...
read moreSea level rise caused by climate change will displace millions across the world
With nations set to conclude negotiations on an ambitious new greenhouse gas emissions agreement this December, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States President Barack Obama have stressed the need for 2009 to be the year of climate change.
Mr. Ban, who met with the “visionary” American leader earlier this week at the White House in Washington, told journalists in his monthly press conference at UN Headquarters today that they both agree that climate change poses an “existential threat.”
The two men share a commitment that “2009 must be the year of climate change,” he said, stressing the importance a comprehensive successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol — the legally binding emissions reduction regime whose first commitment period ends in 2012 — at December’s UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“With US leadership, in partnership of the United Nations, we can and will reach a climate change deal that all nations can embrace,” the Secretary-General noted.
Reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate — have shown unequivocally that the world is warming, almost certainly due to human activity, with potentially disastrous effects including worsening drought in some regions and heavier rainfall in others.
Mr. Ban said today that he and Mr. Obama were of the same opinion that ‘green’ investments are an essential part of any stimulus package targeting the current global economic turmoil.
“If we are going to spend such tremendous sums of money, let us be smart about it,” he said.
He said that during his two-day visit to Washington, climate change also dominated his discussions with key American officials, including Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Congressman Howard Berman, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Last week, the top UN climate change official said that he sees “enthusiasm” in the current US Government to pass laws to reduce gas emissions and a willingness to work towards a new global climate change pact.
Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said he was “very much encouraged” following his recent meetings with officials in Mr. Obama’s administration and members of Congress.
“There is, I believe, a huge enthusiasm and energy in both the House and the Senate to put cap and trade climate change legislation in place in this country,” he added.
Mr. de Boer also underscored the willingness in the current US administration “to work towards an agreement in Copenhagen, to come with an ambitious domestic policy [and] to engage with international partners” to come to an accord.
minimizeSource: un.org -
Mon, 16 Mar 2009
Category: climatepolicy
EU Emissions Trading: News & Information of the calendar week 11/2009
CO2 Market: Increasing correlation between energy-complex and carbon drives EUAs to a 6 week high of EUR 12.22 - Spot CERs follow EUAs at a 60c discount Traded volume of the last 5 days: As last week, the carbon market responded with a correction of ...
read moreCO2 Market: Increasing correlation between energy-complex and carbon drives EUAs to a 6 week high of EUR 12.22 - Spot CERs follow EUAs at a 60c discount
Traded volume of the last 5 days: As last week, the carbon market responded with a correction of 50c triggered by moderate profit-taking on the rapid price increases of the previous trading days. The Friday March 6 closing price stood at EUR 10.83 for EUA-Dec09 and EUR 10.55 for the spot contract.
This week, significantly higher electricity prices (EEX: Cal10base rose EUR 2.14 to EUR 47.75/MWh in the first two trading days) and solid support for crude (Brent crude between $44 - $45/bbl), combined with a further slowdown in industrial sales activity accounted for an 82c raise on Monday, a weekly high of EUR 12.22 (EUA Dec09) and a closing price of EUR 12.01 (plus 36c) on Tuesday March 10.
Wednesday saw marked lower power and oil prices which accounted for a fall of 32c and a closing price of EUR 11.69 for the EUA Dec09 contract. The losses in EUAs were however very moderate in comparison to the drop of EUR 1.75/MWh in electricity (Cal10base), which can probably be explained mainly due to dry-up in supply of spot EUAs.
Thursday showed a similar picture with a drop of the price of power by EUR 0.75/MWh (Cal10base) acknowledged in the CO2 market in morning trade with an intra-day low of EUR 11.16. For the rest of the day the EUA price was relatively uninfluenced by low power prices, trading at levels just below the closing price of the previous day. Substantial gains in the oil markets in the late afternoon eventually supported carbon to close with a plus of 17c.
The further decreasing spot volume - BlueNext traded only just over 2 million spot EUAs compared to around 14M EUAs per day in February - and rising purchasing activity of utilities on the futures markets gave a closing price of EUR 11.87 for EUA-Dec09 contract.
The BlueNext Spot EUA contract closed at EUR 11.50.
Today, Friday March 13 the EUA spot contract opened a further 30c stronger at around EUR 11.80.
For the next week, we expect continued weak liquidity in the spot market at prices from 10.50 to 12.50 Euros.
Prices EUA-Dec09 and fundamentals:
| Fr
| Mo
| Tue
| We
| Thu
|
EUA Open
| 10.90
| 11.05
| 11.35
| 12.01
| 11,21
|
EUA Close
| 10.83
| 11.65
| 12.01
| 11.69
| 11,87
|
Brent Crude ($)
| 44.83
| 44.29
| 43.86
| 41.97
| 46,02
|
Cal10 Base
| 45,61
| 46.60
| 47.75
| 46.35
| 45.63
|
EUA-Dec09 (ECX):
Close Last Week
| Intraweek Low
| Intraweek High
| Close this week
| Change
|
EUR 10.83
| EUR 11.05
| EUR 12.22
| EUR 11.87
| + 1.04 EUR
|
EUA-Spot (BlueNext):
Close Last Week
| Intraweek-Low
| Intraweek-High
| Close Thursday
| Change
|
EUR 10.55
| EUR 10.95
| EUR 11.76
| EUR 11.50
| + 0,95 EUR
|
CER-Spot (BlueNext):
Close Last Week
| Intraweek Low
| Intraweek High
| Close Thursday
| Change
|
EUR 10.15
| EUR 10.60
| EUR 11.10
| EUR 10.83
| + EUR 0.68
|
Traded volume of the last 5 days: OTC
Brok.
Market | ECX (Mt) | NordPool (kt) | EEX | BlueNext | EXAA | Carbon
Pool EU |
31,8Mt | Exch.
37.1 | EFP
61.2 | Exch.
382 | OTC
150 | CER
20 | Spot
126kt | Dec09
101kt | EUA
14.5Mt | CER
432kt | 0.3kt | Spot
2.1Mt | CER
10kt |
minimizeSource: Climate Corporation -
Sun, 15 Mar 2009
Category: emissiontrading
Dr Pachauri to lead new climate and energy institute at Yale University
, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), will lead Yale University's newly established Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI). Dr Pachauri also chairs the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ...
read more, director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), will lead Yale University's newly established Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI). Dr Pachauri also chairs the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002 and is an active leader in the global climate policy debate and played a major role in laying the groundwork for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Dr Pachauri accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 on behalf of the IPCC, which shared the honor with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. In addition to having taught a semester at Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2000, he received an honorary degree from Yale in 2008. In 2008, the government of India awarded Dr Pachauri the Padma Vibhushan, the nation's second highest civilian honor.
Richard Levin, president of Yale University, made the announcement at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen, where he is speaking along with Dr Pachauri.
"Climate change has now become an important part of government policy worldwide and the Yale Climate and Energy Institute has enormous potential to fill the need for objective analysis of mitigation options," Pachauri said. "As an institution with a global focus and international reach, Yale can also pursue research on impacts of climate change in different parts of the world and develop suitable adaptation measures, particularly in the most vulnerable regions. Institutions like YCEI are needed to find new directions and solutions that will address human-induced climate change and move us toward sustainable development.'
YCEI will provide seed grants, support postgraduate study, sponsor conferences and workshops, and foster interdisciplinary research spanning from basic atmospheric science to public policy. Nearly 100 Yale scientists, engineers, physicians, social scientists and policy experts have joined together to launch the enterprise. Initial projects will focus on a diverse array of topics. Examples include forecasting climate variability and its impacts on water supplies, studying the spread of infectious diseases, searching for microbial-based alternative fuels, and the science and economics of carbon sequestration.
Long term, YCEI will support research and outreach, international collaboration, partnerships with business and industry, and green design efforts that can be implemented and tested within Yale and the surrounding region.
minimizeSource: The Energy and Resources Institute TERI -
Sat, 14 Mar 2009
Category: climateprotection
New greenhouse gas identified
A gas used for fumigation has the potential to contribute significantly to future greenhouse warming, but because its production has not yet reached high levels there is still time to nip this potential contributor in the bud, according to an ...
read moreA gas used for fumigation has the potential to contribute significantly to future greenhouse warming, but because its production has not yet reached high levels there is still time to nip this potential contributor in the bud, according to an international team of researchers.
cientists at MIT, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and other institutions are reporting the results of their study of the gas, sulfuryl fluoride, this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The researchers have measured the levels of the gas in the atmosphere, and determined its emissions and lifetime to help gauge its potential future effects on climate.
Sulfuryl fluoride was introduced as a replacement for methyl bromide, a widely used fumigant that is being phased out under the Montreal Protocol because of its ozone-destroying chemistry. Methyl bromide has been widely used for insect control in grain-storage facilities, and in intensive agriculture in arid lands where drip irrigation is combined with covering of the land with plastic sheets to control evaporation.
"Such fumigants are very important for controlling pests in the agricultural and building sectors," says Ron Prinn, director of MIT's Center for Global Change Science and a co-author on the new paper. But with methyl bromide being phased out, "industry had to find alternatives, so sulfuryl fluoride has evolved to fill the role," he says.
Until the new work, nobody knew accurately how long the gas would last in the atmosphere after it leaked out of buildings or grain silos. "Our analysis has shown that the lifetime is about 36 years, or eight times greater than previously thought, with the ocean being its dominant sink," Prinn says. So it would become "a greenhouse gas of some importance if the quantity of its use grows as people expect." For now, the gas is only present in the atmosphere in very small quantities of about 1.5 parts per trillion, though it is increasing by about 5 percent per year. Its newly reported 36-year lifetime, along with studies of its infrared-absorbing properties by researchers at NOAA, "indicate that, ton for ton, it is about 4,800 times more potent a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide" says Prinn.
Fortunately, though, "we've caught it very early in the game," says Prinn, the TEPCO Professor of Atmospheric Science in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. The detection was made through a NASA-sponsored global research program called the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE). "In AGAGE, we don't just monitor the big greenhouse gases that everybody's heard of," he says. "This program is also designed to sniff out potential greenhouse and ozone-depleting gases before the industry gets very big."
The lead author of the research paper is Jens Mühle of Scripps, and besides Prinn, the co-authors include Jin Huang, a research scientist at MIT's Center for Global Change Science, Ray Weiss of Scripps, who co-directs AGAGE with Prinn, and eight others from Scripps, the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research.
"Unfortunately, it turns out that sulfuryl fluoride is a greenhouse gas with a longer lifetime than previously assumed," says Mühle. "This has to be taken into account before large amounts are emitted into the atmosphere."
Prinn adds that "fumigation is a big industry, and it's absolutely needed to preserve our buildings and food supply." But identifying the greenhouse risks from this particular compound, before many factories have been built to produce it in very large amounts, would give the industry a chance to find other substitutes at a time when that's still a relatively easy change to implement. "Given human inventiveness, there are surely other alternatives out there," says Prinn. He describes this approach as "a new frontier for environmental science -- to try to head off potential dangers as early as possible, rather than wait until it's a mature industry with lots of capital and jobs at stake."
Elizabeth Thomson | Quelle: EurekAlert!
Weitere Informationen: www.mit.edu
minimizeSource: MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology -
Fri, 13 Mar 2009
Category: climateprotection
International Scientific Congress on Climate Change publishs Six Key Messages
Following a successful International Scientific Congress 'Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions' attended by more than 2,500 delegates from nearly 80 countries, preliminary messages from the findings were delivered by the ...
read moreFollowing a successful International Scientific Congress 'Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions' attended by more than 2,500 delegates from nearly 80 countries, preliminary messages from the findings were delivered by the Congress?
The conclusions will be published into a full synthesis report June 2009. The conclusions were handed over to the Danish Prime Minister Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen today. The Danish Government will host the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 and will hand over the conclusions to the decision makers ahead of the Conference.
The six preliminary key messages:
Key Message 1: Climatic Trends
Recent observations confirm that, given high rates of observed emissions, the worst-case IPCC scenario trajectories (or even worse) are being realised. For many key parameters, the climate system is already moving beyond the patterns of natural variability within which our society and economy have developed and thrived. These parameters include global mean surface temperature, sea-level rise, ocean and ice sheet dynamics, ocean acidification, and extreme climatic events. There is a significant risk that many of the trends will accelerate, leading to an increasing risk of abrupt or irreversible climatic shifts.
Key Message 2: Social disruption
The research community is providing much more information to support discussions on ?dangerous climate change?. Recent observations show that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor nations and communities particularly at risk. Temperature rises above 2oC will be very difficult for contemporary societies to cope with, and will increase the level of climate disruption through the rest of the century.
Key Message 3: Long-Term Strategy
Rapid, sustained, and effective mitigation based on coordinated global and regional action is required to avoid ?dangerous climate change? regardless of how it is defined. Weaker targets for 2020 increase the risk of crossing tipping points and make the task of meeting 2050 targets more difficult. Delay in initiating effective mitigation actions increases significantly the long-term social and economic costs of both adaptation and mitigation.
Key Message 4 - Equity Dimensions
Climate change is having, and will have, strongly differential effects on people within and between countries and regions, on this generation and future generations, and on human societies and the natural world. An effective, well-funded adaptation safety net is required for those people least capable of coping with climate change impacts, and a common but differentiated mitigation strategy is needed to protect the poor and most vulnerable.
Key Message 5: Inaction is Inexcusable
There is no excuse for inaction. We already have many tools and approaches ? economic, technological, behavioural, management ? to deal effectively with the climate change challenge. But they must be vigorously and widely implemented to achieve the societal transformation required to decarbonise economies. A wide range of benefits will flow from a concerted effort to alter our energy economy now, including sustainable energy job growth, reductions in the health and economic costs of climate change, and the restoration of ecosystems and revitalisation of ecosystem services.
Key Message 6: Meeting the Challenge
To achieve the societal transformation required to meet the climate change challenge, we must overcome a number of significant constraints and seize critical opportunities. These include reducing inertia in social and economic systems; building on a growing public desire for governments to act on climate change; removing implicit and explicit subsidies; reducing the influence of vested interests that increase emissions and reduce resilience; enabling the shifts from ineffective governance and weak institutions to innovative leadership in government, the private sector and civil society; and engaging society in the transition to norms and practices that foster sustainability.
minimizeSource: THE CLIMATE SECRETARIAT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN -
Fri, 13 Mar 2009
Category: climatepolicy
EcoSecurities CEO to step down
Dublin, Ireland - EcoSecurities Group plc ('EcoSecurities' or the 'Group'), one of the world's leading companies in the business of sourcing, developing and trading carbon credits from greenhouse gas emission reduction projects, today announces its ...
read moreDublin, Ireland - EcoSecurities Group plc ('EcoSecurities' or the 'Group'), one of the world's leading companies in the business of sourcing, developing and trading carbon credits from greenhouse gas emission reduction projects, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2008 and trading statement to 28 February 2009.
Highlights for 2008
- Rise in consolidated revenue to EUR69.5m for 2008, an increase of nearly 10 times over 2007. Revenue recognised in respect of 4,539,000 CERs and 523,000 VERs in the year (284,000 CERs and 170,000 VERs for 2007).
- Net revenue for the year of EUR8.7m (EUR0.7 for 2007) before inventory and purchase contract provisions and including secondary trading income.
- Loss before income tax for the year of EUR18.4m (EUR46.0m for 2007) excluding the effect of inventory and purchase contract provisions and the recognition of mark to market losses on foreign exchange hedges, where the corresponding gain is not yet recognised.
- Issuance from the pre-2012 portfolio was 791,000 CERs net to EcoSecurities during 2008 (288,000 CERs for 2007).
- On a net basis to EcoSecurities, the pre-2012 CER portfolio's 127 registered projects are capable of producing 35 million CERs (72 projects and 13 million CERs at 31 December 2007), representing 34% (10% at 31 December 2007) of the Group's portfolio.
- Of the registered projects, projects capable of producing 26 million CERs for EcoSecurities are already operational (9 million CERs at 31 December 2007).
Current trading and outlook
- The policy of forward sales has resulted in contracted future revenues of EUR461m with an associated Net Trading Margin of EUR201m.
- The weighted average sale price of the forward sales was EUR13.66 per CER and the acquisition price of the pre-2012 CER portfolio was EUR7.85 per CER at 28 February 2009.
Mark Nicholls, Chairman of EcoSecurities, commented: "EcoSecurities' policy of selling forward a portion of its portfolio has significantly reduced risk from volatile carbon market prices because a large part of its revenue is effectively insulated from the current low market price of CERs. Issuances anticipated for 2009 remain in line with expectations."
"EcoSecurities believes that CER prices will recover once the current sell off of 2008 and 2009 EUA allocations under the EU ETS has ceased and the worldwide economic downturn starts to reverse. However, the global carbon market still faces key policy challenges. In the CDM the Copenhagen COP/MOP in December 2009 is scheduled to determine the format of the successor phase to the Kyoto Protocol and, in the US, we await agreement on a national greenhouse gas cap and trade system following the recent inauguration of President Obama. In the near term the functioning of the CDM has progressed with the launch of the Project Developer Forum in which EcoSecurities played a pivotal role. In addition, the CDM EB has set timelines for most processes within the CDM cycle and more recently increased further the number of staff within the UNFCCC secretariat," said Nicholls.
Bruce Usher has expressed the wish to step down as Chief Executive Officer when a suitable successor is appointed. The Board has engaged an international executive search firm and the process of identifying suitable candidates has commenced. "Mr Usher, who is stepping down to pursue personal interests, remains fully committed to the Company and will continue as Chief Executive Officer until his successor is in post," added Nicholls.
Bruce Usher (42) joined EcoSecurities in 2002 as Chief Executive Officer. Mr Usher has extensive experience in creating and building financial services firms. Prior to joining EcoSecurities, he was CEO of Treasury Connect LLC, a financial software firm that provided electronic trading solutions to international banks and institutions. Mr Usher was formerly Chief Operating Officer of the Williams Capital Group, a leading boutique investment bank serving large companies and institutional investors. Prior to that, he spent four years as a Vice President and Trader of Structured Derivative Securities at Lehman Brothers in both New York and Tokyo. Before joining Lehman, he worked for several years trading derivatives at the Chuo Trust & Banking Company in Tokyo. Mr Usher has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Currently Mr Usher holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Columbia University teaching the Finance and Sustainability course.
EcoSecurities said that the company has mitigated the effects of low CER prices to a large extent through its policy of forward sales for its pre-2012 CER portfolio. EcoSecurities' policy for its pre-2012 CER portfolio has been to hedge against price variations and the Group has sold forward a proportion of its anticipated CER issuances from its pre-2012 portfolio. This policy has resulted in sales contracted at 28 February 2009 for delivery over the period from 2009 to 2013 of EUR461m. As a result of EcoSecurities' forward sales contracts, production of CERs from its pre-2012 portfolio over 2009 and 2010 will largely be delivered to forward sale counterparties.
As announced with the interim statement in September 2008, portfolio issuance expectations decreased during the first half of 2008 due to continued regulatory delays. However, despite the effects of the temporary suspension from accreditation of DNV, one of EcoSecurities' principal DOEs, the issuances in the second half of 2008 and the issuances currently anticipated for 2009 remain in line with these revised expectations. On 28 November 2008 the CDM Executive Board temporarily suspended DNV's accreditation for validations and verification of CDM projects. At the time of its suspension DNV was appointed by EcoSecurities as verifier on 15 projects comprising 460,000 CERs, all of which were scheduled for issuance in the first quarter of 2009, and as validator on 34 projects comprising 9 million CERs in the net pre-2012 portfolio. The CDM EB subsequently reinstated DNV's accreditation on 13 February 2009. The impact on EcoSecurities for 2008 was limited but the issuance of some CERs from EcoSecurities' projects may now be delayed from the first quarter of 2009 to the second.
EcoSecurities continues to reduce its administrative expenses and retains a strong level of cash which amounted to EUR38.7m at 31 December 2008 and EUR61.1m at 28 February 2009.
minimizeSource: EcoSecurities -
Thu, 12 Mar 2009
Category: business
Slashing energy use: Carbon reduction commitment to save businesses £1 billion by 2020
Hotels, banks, schools, local authorities and around 5,000 other large organisations could all be slashing their energy bills and carbon emissions as part of a new government initiative aimed at boosting energy efficiency and tackling climate ...
read moreHotels, banks, schools, local authorities and around 5,000 other large organisations could all be slashing their energy bills and carbon emissions as part of a new government initiative aimed at boosting energy efficiency and tackling climate change.
A new guide is published today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change to provide a helping hand to business to prepare for the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which will begin in April 2010. The guide establishes who is covered by the scheme and guides the reader step-by-step through what they need to do to take part in the scheme.
Energy and Climate Change Minister, Joan Ruddock, said: "Cutting back on energy use and becoming more energy efficient makes economic sense for firms at the best of times, but it's even more important now given the difficult business environment."
"By taking measures to improve energy efficiency, businesses can slash their energy costs. The Carbon Reduction Commitment could help business save a total of £1billion by 2020, whilst also helping them play their part in the fight against climate change."
"The Carbon Reduction Commitment is part of a package of measures in the ground breaking Climate Change Act which will help mobilise 5,000 organisations to save over 4 million tons of CO2 a year, equivalent to taking a million cars off the road."
The revenue raised from the scheme will be recycled back to participants on the basis of a league table -- so that those who are making most improvements in energy efficiency will be financially rewarded, and will receive recognition for their achievements.
The Government will further the roll out of the Carbon Reduction Commitment by launching a consultation today on the regulations which will form the basis of the initiative. Participating organisations will have to register with the Environment Agency who will administer the scheme.
The Government is already providing advice and financial incentives to help businesses take practical steps to improve their energy efficiency through the Carbon Trust and Climate Change Agreements.
Home improvement retailer, B&Q;, is one such business that is already taking action to reduce their carbon footprint - Andy Francis B&Q;'s Energy Manager says: "As a responsible business, we wanted to demonstrate real reductions in our energy use and help from the Carbon Trust made this happen. Our new eco-store in Surrey uses a whole host of new technologies - including a green roof, wind turbine and movement sensitive lighting - generating around half the CO2 emissions of similar sized store.
"This new initiative will give financial rewards for greener businesses, so it makes both environmental and financial sense for us to reduce our emissions." Climate Change Agreements are voluntary agreements that lead to real reductions in CO2 emissions across sectors ranging from steel to chemicals, aerospace to brewing. Businesses which meet the targets under these agreements receive an 80% reduction on their Climate Change Levy.
These reductions have already helped to save 16.4 million tonnes of CO2, and estimated energy savings worth £1.5 billion and the Government is today launching a consultation on the next stage of the Climate Change Agreements Scheme.
minimizeSource: Department of Energy and Climate Change -
Thu, 12 Mar 2009
Category: climatepolicy
