CO2 Market – 26.01.2021

EUA Price

The price of the EUA certificate on the ICE ECX London stock exchange closed Friday, 22.01.2021, at 34,63 € / tCO2, and opened this morning (26.01.2021) the EUA trade sessions at 32,95 € / tCO2.

This compliance period is particularly difficult for many companies and most of the EU analysts expect a trading range of 31-36 eur/EUA for the next 4 months of trading.

Net-zero, carbon-neutral, carbon-negative – confused by all the carbon jargon?

You might have heard a lot of talk about “going net-zero” in the media lately. China recently announced it intends to achieve the goal by 2060. The European Union, the United Kingdom and New Zealand will go net-zero by 2050. In Australia, all states and territories have a net-zero strategy and the federal government is under pressure to make a national commitment.

You might also have heard references to “zero emissions”, “low emissions” and going “carbon-neutral” So let’s get clear on what all these terms mean in practice. To understand the term “net-zero emissions”, we must also understand what it is not. It should not be confused with the following related, but separate, concepts:

Zero emissions

This refers to a process where no CO₂ is released at all. In fact, in our current global mining and manufacturing system, no technology produces zero emissions.

Technologies such as solar panels and wind energy are often said to be zero-emissions but technically, they’re not. They have what are known as “embedded emissions” – those created in manufacturing the technology. However wind and solar produce no ongoing emissions after installation, unlike fossil fuel energy.

Low emissions

Generating greenhouse gases at a lower rate than business as usual. Examples include switching from coal-fired to gas-fired power to generate the same amount of electricity, but with fewer emissions.

Carbon-negative

This means removing CO₂ from the atmosphere, or sequestering more CO₂ than is emitted. This might include a bioenergy process with carbon capture and storage.

So, what are net zero emissions for countries or companies?

Net zero emissions

At the global or country level, we will achieve net-zero emissions when any remaining human-caused GHG emissions are balanced out by removing GHGs from the atmosphere in a process known as carbon removal.

When we are speaking about net zero emissions of companies, emissions are still being generated byt they are offset by the same amount elsewhere. The term „carbon-neutral” is sometimes used instead of net-zero, and they broadly mean the same thing.

The move towards net-zero is crucial to avoid a climate catastrophe. And the time to move is not tomorrow or “by 2050”. It is now, as most of scientist affirms it.

Source: ICE ECX & Energy in Demand, London