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Investors question EU trading
01 December 2007The European Commission is due in January to unveil proposals for 'burden-sharing' arrangements to meet its EU-wide renewable energy target. But the prospect that this may involve renewable energy trading is being met with caution by investors, as Kirsty Hamilton reports
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All at sea?
01 December 2007The UK has the potential to become a world leader in the nascent wave and tidal power sectors – if the right support framework is put in place, says James Vaccaro
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Putting billions to work for wetlands
01 December 2007A proposed new regulatory framework could turn wetland banking in the US into a multi-billion-dollar market. But might a gold rush undermine its environmental effectiveness? Alice Kenny reports
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Morgan Stanley sees $1 trillion clean energy market
01 November 2007The worldwide market for clean energy could reach $500 million by 2020 and $1 trillion by 2030, estimates investment bank Morgan Stanley.
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Committee jousting delays action on US energy bill
01 November 2007A procedural dispute is delaying action on energy bills that have been passed by the US Senate and House of Representatives, and which must be reconciled between the two chambers.
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Commission delays climate, renewables plans
01 November 2007A European Commission blueprint of how the EU will reach its targets of sourcing 20% of energy from renewables by 2020, and reducing greenhouse gases by at least 20%, has been delayed until January. Suggestions that the plans could include trading to meet national renewables targets have generated controversy.
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Landmark US?climate bill clears first hurdle
01 November 2007Proponents of a mandatory carbon 'cap-and-trade' scheme in the US have hailed as "a turning point" a subcommittee vote on the Climate Security Act (S.2191). The bill, introduced last month by Independent-Democrat Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner, aims to reduce US greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 63% below 2005 levels by 2050.
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AEP coal settlement seen as 'good business'
01 November 2007American Electric Power (AEP) has agreed to spend billions of dollars to settle what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has described as "the single largest environmental enforcement settlement in history". But observers say that AEP – the largest coal-burner in the US – has acted shrewdly in settling the case.
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Exchanges target financials in carbon push
01 November 2007Competition in the exchange-traded carbon market is set to hot up, with two major exchange alliances announcing plans to launch suites of contracts, and target financial institutions. The initiatives – by derivatives giant Eurex in partnership with the European Energy Exchange (EEX), and NYSE Euronext in a tie-up with Powernext carbon – promise to broaden access to the carbon markets dramatically, the exchanges believe.
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Insurance climate initiatives jump, but from low base
01 November 2007The number of climate-change related products or services offered by the insurance sector has doubled in just 14 months, according to the latest report* on the sector from Ceres.