European carbon allowance prices have tumbled by more than 40% since reaching a record high of €101.25 almost a year ago. Dramatic reductions in the use of coal and gas in power generation as well as declining industrial output amid the macroeconomic downturn have reduced demand for EU Allowances (EUAs) as the region accelerates its […]
Europe’s transition to a zero-carbon future is well underway. Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 20% since 2005, according to World Bank data, and the EU is now targeting net zero emissions by 2050. The largest share of emissions globally is generated by the power sector, and this is where efforts have focused over the […]
Back at the start of the 2000s when Europe’s clean energy policies were first being developed, the theory went that a price on carbon would drive up the cost of generating power with fossil fuels, and this would render renewable electricity more competitive and enable it to grab a foothold in our energy mix. European […]
It’s a perfect storm. Liquefied natural gas prices have plummeted on a combination of demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and fast-growing supply as a wave of new export facilities have added to global capacity. The extent of the price plunge was brought home to the market last week when trader Vitol sold a […]
European carbon allowance (EUA) prices reached in mid-July a 14-year high of €30.80, just 20 cents shy of an all-time record, as buyers flooded into the market and speculators hedged options positions. Prices have fluctuated between €26 and €29 since then, as some short-term traders took profit, but there seems to be a strong undercurrent […]
The steep drop in crude oil prices between March and April came as nations representing the bulk of demand went into lockdown, bringing industrial production to a near-halt and driving road traffic down to levels not seen in decades. Passenger car traffic in the UK dropped like a stone, falling by two-thirds from normal levels […]
Over the last few weeks, two utilities – SSE and RWE – closed their last working coal-fired power stations in the UK, leaving the country with just four coal-based plants supplying electricity to the grid. By the end of 2019, coal’s contribution to the country’s power supply had slipped from 70% in 1990 to less than […]
Two weeks of negotiations in Madrid last December were not enough to reach an agreement on how the world should cooperate on cutting emissions. Representatives of more than 190 countries failed to reach a deal on guidelines for global emissions trading that sets the process back by a full year. The collapse of the talks […]