Another statist flop: No end in sight to EU carbon permit glut

European Union emission permits are poised to drop to a record in the first half as member states in the world’s largest carbon market fail to diminish the biggest- ever glut.

Allowances will fall below the record 5.93 euros ($7.50) a metric ton reached last month, according to eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That implies a decline of at least 8.3 per cent from yesterday’s closing price. The surplus may rise 18 per cent this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The EU’s regulatory arm last year proposed to delay the sale of some permits in a process known as backloading to boost prices and shrink supply. A failure to tackle the glut may discourage utilities from switching to natural gas and other less-polluting energy sources from coal, the 27-nation bloc said in a November report. That may curb investment needed in non- fossil fuel generation, estimated by New Energy Finance at about 400 billion euros, to meet the EU’s 2020 climate targets.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/no-end-in-sight-to-eu-carbon-permit-glut-20130110-2chf6.html#ixzz2HXVYTOET

Another statist flop: No end in sight to EU carbon permit glut

Another statist flop: No end in sight to EU carbon permit glut

Anarcho-Capitalist Categorical Imperatives

AnCaps In Science, Technology & Environment