News

• EU faces tough deadline on climate package

  01 February 2008

  Industry and environmental groups have warned that the European Commission faces an uphill battle to reach agreement on its comprehensive energy and climate proposals – and failure to do so before the European Parliament is dissolved ahead of elections in June 2009 could see the whole deal unravel.

• Commission sets out vision for EU ETS

  01 February 2008

  The European Commission has set out its vision for the evolution of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) beyond 2012, including significant reforms to harmonise its operation across Europe.

• Biofuels must cut GHGs – Commission

  01 February 2008

  Biofuels in the EU will have to provide a minimum 35% greenhouse gas saving over fossil fuels for them to count towards a new target for biofuels use, the European Commission has announced.

• VeraSun buys US BioEnergy as biofuels shake-out advances

  01 December 2007

  In the latest takeover move in the US bioenergy sector, VeraSun Energy is to buy rival ethanol producer US BioEnergy, to form what could be the largest ethanol producer in the US by the end of 2008.

• Australia ratifies Kyoto, sets new targets

  01 December 2007

  Australia's incoming Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has signed the nation's Kyoto Protocol ratification papers, following his decisive 24 November election victory. The new Labor government has also pledged to implement emissions trading by 2010, cut greenhouse gas emissions to 60% below 2000 levels by 2050 and source 20% of the nation's electricity from renewables by 2020.

• Iberdrola poised to hit jackpot with renewables IPO

  01 December 2007

  Iberdrola is set to float its renewables business at the top of its projected price range – to a mixed reaction from investors.

• Carbon credit write-downs hit project developers

  01 December 2007

  Downward revisions to the carbon credit portfolios of London-listed developers Camco and EcoSecurities have driven down their share prices in November. Meanwhile, shares in another developer, AgCert, hit a new low as it faces serious delivery problems for next year.

• New Forests plans Malaysian 'biodiversity bank'

  01 December 2007

  Buyers and sellers of palm oil are to be offered 'biodiversity offset' credits, in an innovative conservation finance scheme to preserve a crucial area of Malaysian rainforest.

• Generation raising private equity fund

  01 December 2007

  Generation Investment Management, the sustainability-orientated asset management company run by Al Gore and former Goldman Sachs executive David Blood, is raising money into a private equity fund. The fund – which will focus on companies offering solutions to the challenge of climate change – is expected to be unveiled early in 2008, and follows the announcement of an alliance between Generation and leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

• ATA slams EU move on aviation emissions

  01 December 2007

  A decision by the European Parliament for tougher targets and a stricter timetable to include aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has drawn an angry response from the sector – while a recent report shows it is substantially unprepared for emissions caps.