The International Energy Agency, which advises industrialised countries on energy policy, says deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is critical to reducing carbon emissions, but so far there is no full-scale commercial plant in operation in the world.

“We plan to call a tender to supply carbon capture technology in a few weeks, and our plan is to award the contract before the summer of 2014,” Kai Lima, Statoil’s vice president for CO2 management, told Reuters. (Reuters)

The company, which runs Belchatow, the EU’s biggest emitting power plant, pumped out 15.8 million tonnes of CO2 in Q1, compared to 16.5 million tonnes from its 10 mostly coal-burning installations in the first three months of 2012, PGE said in an earnings statement. (Reuters Point Carbon)

The ruling Liberals headed into Tuesday’s election trailing the New Democratic Party (NDP) by 20 points, but took observers by surprise by holding onto power.

NDP leader Adrian Dix, who was widely expected to become the province’s new premier, campaigned on a promise to expand the C$30 ($29.45) carbon tax to cover emissions in natural gas production. (Reuters Point Carbon)

The money for the one-time loan will come out of the state’s greenhouse gas reduction account and be deposited into the state’s general fund while a plan for how to use the funds to drive down the state’s greenhouse gas emissions is developed, the California Department of Finance said in a letter to the state legislature on Tuesday. (Reuters Point Carbon)

EU politicians last month backed a 2025 target to cut greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles to a range of 68 to 78 grams per kilometer (g/km) as an average for new EU cars.

“This is all about political wish-lists and has nothing to do with technical analysis or feasibility,” BMW Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer said at the group’s annual shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday.

“At some point, politicians will go a step too far,” the CEO said. “Europe is currently not in a strong enough position to isolate itself from global competition in this way.” (Reuters)

From this year, some new ships being built will have to adhere to minimum energy efficiency levels and improve them 10 percent every five years, measures that will have a small bearing on the sector’s output of climate-changing gases.

But at an annual meeting of the International Maritime’s Organization environment panel in London on Monday, the United States proposed all ships should measure and eventually limit the amount of joules of energy used for each hour they are in service.

If eventually adopted, the sector could escape being regulated under the EU’s carbon market.

“From the U.S. position it’s very clear market-based-mechanisms have had a difficult time at the IMO and weren’t progressing quickly… This is the best way to make progress on this issue for the foreseeable future,” said Kim Carnahan, a negotiator at the U.S. Office of Global Climate Change. (Reuters Point Carbon)

South Korea has pledged to cut its emissions of heat-trapping gases 30 percent below business as usual levels by 2020 and will in 2015 launch a carbon market forcing big energy users and producers to surrender a government issued allowance for each tonne of CO2 they emit. (Reuters Point Carbon)

Volumes were healthy this week, with 669,000 benchmark CCAs trading hands on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) since last Thursday’s close, a 10 percent drop in liquidity from the prior week. (Reuters Point Carbon)

Although neither FIFA, the international soccer body, nor the International Olympic Committee require the host country to offset emissions, some previous host countries, such as Germany in 2006 and companies taking part in the events, chose to purchase carbon credits.

The consortium led by CR Almeida in Brazil is building a $700-million light rail vehicle (LRV) line of 22 km linking the airport to downtown Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso state and one of the World Cup host cities.

The companies building the LRV released last week a GHG inventory and will place a seal of “carbon free” on the vehicles.

COMPENSATION BY LAW

Similar deals could gain a boost in Brazil if a draft bill being evaluated by the Congress is approved.

The bill requires all greenhouse gas emissions stemming from planning, promotion campaigns and the sports events themselves for both the World Cup and the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to be offset. (Reuters Point Carbon)

The sale will reduce the company’s exposure to carbon credit prices under the U.N. scheme and allow it to expand in new carbon markets being developed elsewhere.

“This (sale) will allow us to focus on our clean energy businesses, particularly in the U.S and Africa where markets are growing,” CEO Scott McGregor said by phone.

The joint venture had a portfolio of 14.3 million post-2012 Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) at the end of June 2012, according to the company’s latest financial results.

Camco is developing agricultural projects in the United States, which generate offset credits that can be used for compliance under California’s cap-and-trade program.

It also operates several renewable energy schemes in Africa. The Clean Energy Regulator has so far issued around 420,000 ACCUs, most of which have been handed out to projects that cut emissions by capturing methane at landfill sites and using it to generate electricity. (Reuters Point Carbon)