More signs Australia is leaping onto a burning ship as it starts carbon taxing, just as the largest carbon markets are winding up:
(Reuters) – Bavaria’s stock exchange will abandon its carbon emissions certificate trading operations in the EU-traded CO2 market on June 30 after volumes in Europe “plunged to practically zero” in recent months, it said on Tuesday.
The EU’s emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) limits the carbon dioxide emissions of the 27-nation bloc’s factories and power plants and covers nearly half of EU emissions.
EU prices are down 60% over the last 12 months
“Emissions trading will never find its feet again without radical political action,” said Christine Bortenlaenger, the head of the exchange…
[Source: Reuters]
The Borse management claim they were closing because of the fraud and hacking as well as the market downturn:
Bayerische Borse listed a number of other contributory factors in its decision to quit the carbon market, including current macroeconomic and policy uncertainty and the instances of VAT fraud and hacking attacks on national emissions registries between 2009 and 2011 that tarnished the image of emissions markets.
A Bayerische Borse spokesman Tuesday told Platts that it held less than a 1% share of the European carbon market. [Source: Platts]
The Industry Group IETA hit back at the German Bourse, and tried to salvage something:
The International Emissions Trading Association Wednesday denied that Europe’s carbon trading system is broken, dismissing suggestions by a German exchange operator Tuesday that industry does not support the scheme.
But the fact that they are even talking about whether it is “broken” or not says all you need to know.
Meanwhile — one of the suspended trading schemes (ICE Futures) will remain suspended. 16 months and counting…
Could the Irish bureaucrats have made this more complex? Was that a levy on a tax?
The Irish are closing off a lucrative carbon rort. Irish Energy companies were told they needed to pay for carbon emissions, but were given free carbon credits during the start up phase (they are supposed to start buying them for real soon). The companies were passing on the theoretical cost of the carbon credits to customers, and thus netting a nice profit with customers paying for a credit that the companies got for free. To stop these naughty companies from making a windfall, the Irish government had the bright idea to …remove the EU trading scheme? No. They decided to add a levy onto these companies to make the trading scheme even more complex. The levy raised €75 million for the exchequer last year. But now, the carbon revenue levy has been dumped though the carbon tax on fuels remains.
VALERIE FLYNN, Irish Times.
THE GOVERNMENT has repealed the multimillion euro carbon levy on fossil fuel-based energy generation, which had allowed energy companies to increase wholesale electricity prices.
The levy had raised an estimated €75 million for the exchequer in 2011 and a further €45 million between its implementation in July 2010 and the end of that year.
It was repealed with immediate effect on Friday.
Who paid the €75 million? According to Viridian Power “the levy “added costs in the electricity market”. Yes, the consumer paid. The Greens predictably were unhappy about the levy being stopped:
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he was disappointed at the Supreme Court ruling, because the levy had been in line with the “polluter pays principle”.
And we all know who the evil polluters really are don’t we? Not the conglomerates, but the people who try to stay warm.
That Carbon trading is a very bad idea is at least one thing that skeptics and Jim Hansen can agree on.
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Some entries from the ‘CleanEnergyFuture’ brochure which may need to corrected:
“As it rolls out, Australia’s carbon trading scheme will be about one fifth the size of Europe’s.”
“….governments around the world are already taking action to reduce carbon pollution. By acting now, Australia can look forward to long term prosperity for ourselves and future generations.”
“Australia is joining over 89 countries, representing 80 per cent of global emissions and 90 per cent of the world’s economy, which have already pledged to take action on climate change.”
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The unhappiness of the Greens is predictable because the Greens are not concerned (here) with pollution per se. Their wish is to deindustrialize, de-consume by making the masses unable to take advantage of either industry or consumer goods. Taxes come back to the state, not the industries, and allow more government directed spending on healthcare etc. in theory. In theory because the government can reallocate resources better than the market.
Statism is at the heart of the Green. It is a wonder that the last 90 years of history has not taught them that statism leads to Romania, not Rome. The Greens want a more level playing field perhaps, but one that is also much lower: you can’t consume what you can’t afford.
It is ironic, in a way, for a group that professes its love for the “little” people, that the only ones who will be consuming and buying will be the rich mandarins. There will be a happy industrialized elite and an energy and goods impoverised lower class. And no middle class. Once again the socialists are all equal except for those at the top, who are more equal.
Gasoline at $30/gallon or litre? The Greens sitting at home growing their lettuce in windowsill flower pots will be okay. They don’t drive or buy anything that comes outside their communities, especially the Californian type who can growth things year-round.
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I knew many Governments had a policy to “never negotiate with eco-terrorists”, but I didn’t think that meant “totally surrender at the first Stern word spoken”.
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We are at a very time in history. Able to watch and experience the decline of a civilisation and societal system before our very eyes.
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Doug Proctor – well said. I’m reminded of these words from Orwell’s The Road To Wigan Pier:
The truth is that to many people, calling themselves Socialists, revolution does not mean a movement of the masses with which they hope to associate themselves; it means a set of reforms which ‘we’, the clever ones, are going to impose upon ‘them’, the Lower Orders.
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The thing is … people may not understand the first thing about the science, but most in the electorate have a reasonably keen sense of when they are being bullshitted to. At the moment the BS meters are being repaired because the needles were stuck at the end of the dial. I have mixed feelings about the early demise of the Rainbow Coalition… on the one hand the country needs to catch a break, but on the other hand it has been comedy gold. The Chasers mob couldn’t make this up.
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Cricket noises from the $CAGW$ (TM) cheer squad.
Wonder why.. 🙂
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History will judge these schemes as being yet more examples of how technocrats have no business interfering in the workings of industry.
Of course, this lesson has been learnt through poverty and famine for centuries over and over again.
Unfortunately right now we have a generation who view the communist era through rose tinted glasses, with the help of their mentors and teachers (and in the australian case, more than a few members of parliament) who were on the communist/socialist side of the fence who still cannot face the fact that their ideals are destructive to mankind.
Governments are and always will be an extremely inefficient and wasteful means for wealth distribution. Whilst some of this is necessary, we unfortunately seem to get repeated attempts by technocrats to grow their little empires just that little bit larger time and time again until it actually becomes destructive.
I think Karl Marx was right – capitalism does lead to socialism – the reason is because capitalism is so effective that it breeds new generations of naive ignorant idealists who are easily manipulated by the older socialists who never actually grew up.
Let me be clear here. Trading imaginary packages of a trace gas is only ever going to be a magnet to corruption and rorts. It is a means for centralised control of any one industry or business at the whim of the political agenda or ideals of any political body. In short it is a Command Economy.
If you’re not sure about what I have just written – just ask yourself this question – why on earth would an MP who was a member of the communist party until it was dissolved by moscow be pushing for a “free market solution to climate change”. Do you really think that a dyed in the wool communist believes in anything related to a free market?
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[…] EU Carbon trading crashes: German bourse closes and Irish end carbon rort […]
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For the first three years of operation, the Australian Government can blissfully ignore the International price of those CO2 Credits, because they have set in stone the price. All they need to do is to rake in the rivers of gold.
However, think of what will happen at the introduction of the ETS, and the Credit price is still as low as it is everywhere else in the World.
The Government has set a base price of $15.
If that International price is still as low as it currently is, what emitting entity in its right mind will want to trade credits, either buying or selling them.
If they sell their Credits at the going rate, they lose money, and here you need to realise that a large emitting entity could be liable for anything up to 20 million Credits, so it’s not a matter of buying and selling a few here and a few there. We are talking in ten thousand or more units at a time. They will not sell them if the going price is lower than that $15 base price. If they do sell, then at years end when they have to hand those Credits back in, they now have to make up what they have sold, hence the need to buy Credits. If they buy them at the going price, then the Company has to make up the amount to that $15 when they hand the Credits back in to the Government.
So, it defeats the purpose of emitting entities investing their money in offshore Green schemes (only those ones approved by the UN remember) Why would they buy Credits at the low price, and then have to pay the Government extra on top of that.
So, they will hold onto what they have, and not trade them at all.
Then there’s the penalty factor.
Pretend it’s a long hot summer, or a long cold snap, when vast amounts of extra power are needed. Power plants that are restricted to an ever lowering cap on their emissions will not run their plants for longer, and here that will be those CO2 emitting Natural Gas fired plants. Also with the lowered cap, large scale coal fired plants will reach their target and just shut the plant down. Because of that penalty, they cannot now afford to exceed that cap, and when you are talking on average of 55,000 to 60,000 credits a day, you can see the financial impact of just one day. (can you see now the rivers of gold)
If they do exceed their limit, they have to purchase make up Credits at the going rate, and then make that up to the base price. On top of that, they then have to pay extra for exceeding their cap, whatever that excess was, at the going rate, and made up to the base price and then multiplied by a factor of 1.5. Then, on top of that, their cap for the following year is lowered by whatever amount they exceeded their current cap by.
So, what will happen if that Credit price Internationally stays so low will be that emitting entities will hold onto all their credits, shut down the plant when that credit total is reached, and not fire up until the new year begins.
Either way, there are winners and losers.
The winners are the Government.
The losers are us, the people.
If the Labor Government is still in power, they will be laughing like pigs in mud.
Keep also in mind that in this first year, that Labor Government is giving away free credits to emitting entities, so the full cost will be incrementally phased in over these first three years, so electricity will be rising a bit this year, a bit next year and then a further bit the year after, and then when the ETS comes in that last little bit.
I notice from the advertising blurb that hit my mailbox that the Government reckons that the impact from their modelling shows that the average household will see a $9.90 impact for the CO2 Tax, but that they are giving (some) households compensation of $10.10. Wow, 20 cents a week extra. One and a half cups of coffee a year. I am impressed.
This scheme may be open to rorting, but by far the biggest rorters are the Government themselves.
Tony.
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It’s called boiling the frog.
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What, all the riches that the International Emissions Trading Association boast consists in scraps of paper?
Here’s an amusing verse
But what does all this have to do with skeptical science?
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The battery of the future may deliver the cheap storage of Solar and to power motor vehicles using common bound Sodium and Magnesium metals and salts!
There’s one major drawback to most proposed renewable-energy sources: their variability. The sun doesn’t shine at night, the wind doesn’t always blow, and tides, waves and currents fluctuate. That’s why many researchers have been pursuing ways of storing the power generated by these sources so that it can be used when it’s needed.
1. Offer both a higher energy density through the proper selection of reactant pairs as well as a higher power density by means of a high-conductivity molten salt electrolyte. In a molten state salt acts not dissimilar to a super conductor.
2. Imagine a house roof top generating fitted with 5 Kilowatts of power connected a stainless steel column where energy is stored cheaply harvested from the sun.
3. These types of batteries are used where high energy density and high power density are required.
4. Rechargeable molten-salt batteries are a promising technology for powering electric vehicles.
5. Referenced as Thermal batteries, the electrolyte is solid and inactive at normal ambient temperatures.
6. When the technology reached the United States in 1946 it was immediately applied to replacing the troublesome liquid-based systems that had previously been used to power artillery proximity fuzes.
7. They are the primary power source for many missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder, MIM-104 Patriot, BGM-71 TOW, BGM-109 Tomahawk and others.
8. Sumitomo developed a battery using a salt that is molten at 57 °C (135 °F) far lower than sodium based batteries. The battery offers energy densities as high as 290 Wh/L. The battery employs only nonflammable materials and will not ignite on contact with air, nor is there thermal runaway.
Most battery research, Sadoway says, has been aimed at improving storage for portable or mobile systems such as cellphones, computers and cars. The requirements for such systems, including very low weight and high safety, are very different from the needs of a grid-scale, fixed-location battery system. “What I did was completely ignore the conventional technology used for portable power,” he says. The different set of requirements for stationary systems “opens up a whole new range of possibilities.”
And so the new liquid batteries that Sadoway and his team, including graduate student David Bradwell, are designing use low-cost, abundant materials. The basic principle is to place three layers of liquid inside a container: Two different metal alloys, and one layer of a salt. The three materials are chosen so that they have different densities that allow them to separate naturally into three distinct layers, with the salt in the middle separating the two metal layers —like novelty drinks with different layers.
The energy is stored in the liquid metals that want to react with one another but can do so only by transferring ions — electrically charged atoms of one of the metals — across the electrolyte, which results in the flow of electric current out of the battery. When the battery is being charged, some ions migrate through the insulating salt layer to collect at one of the terminals. Then, when the power is being drained from the battery, those ions migrate back through the salt and collect at the opposite terminal.
The whole device is kept at a high temperature, around 700 degrees Celsius, so that the layers remain molten. In the small devices being tested in the lab, maintaining this temperature requires an outside heater, but Sadoway says that in the full-scale version, the electrical current being pumped into, or out of, the battery will be sufficient to maintain that temperature without any outside heat source.
Portions: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_battery#cite_note-16
Portions: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/liquid-battery.html
___________
Ross J.
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i’m so disillusioned by all our pollies and their plans for an ETS, i am hoping the Adelaide man wins his case against compulsory voting:
12 May: Menzies House: No judgment in Anders Holmdahl’s compulsory voting Supreme Court challenge
The case will now pass to the Full Court in the June sittings, where 3 – 5 judges will hear arguments from Anders and the Australian Electoral Commission.
In the past, other challenges to compulsory voting have been thrown out of court, so the progress of this case represents a victory for pro-freedom advocates…
If the next stage of the defense is unsuccessful, Anders intends to appeal. He says he will take it “all the way” and he says he is “prepared to spend a couple of days in jail if that’s what it takes”…
Under voluntary voting leaders who cannot educate, inform, motivate, inspire and ultimately empower the electorate will be replaced by leaders who can – true democratic leaders. Voluntary voting holds leaders to a higher standard. It also obligates leaders to promote democracy and freedom in order to gain votes. This is the type of education Australia needs.
Through Anders Holmdahl’s defense of freedom, let’s hope that more Australians come to value freedom, and in the end our freedom is finally restored.
http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/2012/05/no-judgment-in-anders-holmdahls-compulsory-voting-supreme-court-challenge.html
how ridiculous:
29 May: Ninemsn: Half a million in NSW not enrolled to vote
NSW residents will receive a postcard outlining the three steps to enrol or update enrolment details.
An advertising campaign, including stencil art on Sydney pavements, will support the campaign.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8474876/half-a-million-in-nsw-not-enrolled-to-vote
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28 May: AirCargoAsiaPac: India considers EU ETS retaliation
India has implied it might ban EU airlines from its air space if Brussels goes ahead with sanctions against Indian airlines in the dispute over the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) carbon tax…
Now Ajit Singh, India’s civil aviation minister has said: “Travelling is always a two-way traffic . if they can impose sanctions so can other countries.”
http://www.impactpub.com.au/aircargo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9550&Itemid=60
as ever, changing the rules as we go along:
28 May: EnergyEfficiencyNews: UK to allow small emitters to opt out of emissions trading
The UK government has confirmed that small emitters and hospitals will be given the option to ‘opt out’ of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) from 2013.
The opt out scheme is part of the government’s drive to reduce the burden of unnecessary regulation as part of its wide-ranging ‘Red Tape Challenge’.
The government says the scheme could cover some 250 organisations, saving them up to £80 million between 2013 and 2020…
Only stationary installations will be eligible, so airlines will not be able to opt out under the scheme.
But organisations that opt out of the EU ETS and then exceed this limit will face fines for every extra tonne of CO2 emitted in line with the EU emission allowance price…
http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/articles/i/5139/?cid=3
fascinating how the MSM rarely touch on ETS concerns!
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the good ol’ free market:
28 May: Bloomberg: Matthew Carr: EU Carbon May Become More Volatile in June: New Energy
European Union carbon permits may become more volatile next month because of the prospect of intervention in the market following a review by regulators, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The review by the European Commission in Brussels will be “the key catalyst to stir up the market as early as June,” Konrad Hanschmidt, a New Energy Finance analyst in London, said today in an e-mailed note…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-28/eu-carbon-may-become-more-volatile-in-june-new-energy.html
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Bleeding obvious Truisms aside..
It was probably better just to stay hiding rather than actually admit there are any problems with the meme..
Aint going to happen is it tiger.?
The meme will live no matter what… 🙂
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What apparently is or was the big picture.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/proposed-un-environmental-constitution-for-the-world-would-establish-an-incredibly-repressive-system-of-global-governance
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Draft International Covenant on Environment and Development – fourth edition 2010
http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/EPLP-031-rev3.pdf
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Off topic I know , but still of interest this reminds Me of that old pun “Excuse Me but I just ran over Your dogma with My Karma ”
except it`s Hysterical Hypothesis with Empirical Evidence
Enjoy !
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Answered the phone a few hours ago. It was a random survey about how well the government is performing. When asked “what is your major concern?” and I answered “the carbon tax” the young man just gave a “yep-another-one” type laugh.
That says it all I reckon.
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[…] EU Carbon trading crashes: German bourse closes and Irish end carbon rort […]
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Carbon trading crashing is all very well.
I want the whole premise of carbon trading to be exposed for what it is: climate fraud of global proportions.
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“Green Party leader Eamon Ryan” – That’s a bit rich. The Greens lost every seat they had in the last election, and for a PR electoral system, that is a real disaster. Bye bye Greenies …
Pointman
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I love you guys! *hugs*
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I’ve noticed a trend. Whenever a post like this one appears, which points out real-world flaws in the process of implementing CAGW policies, the climate fantasists are nowhere to be seen – or at best only manage schoolyard taunts.
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If you dont belive it..think again
..
from http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30961
The quest for World Goverment or ‘New World Order’. Beware
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***and the 7 billion who weren’t surveyed by the IN-credible PwC – what do they want?
30 May: Reuters Point Carbon: Michael Szabo: EU CO2 prices to treble on supply cut: survey
European carbon prices could treble from current levels to average above 19 euros ($23.80) over the next eight years provided European governments cut supply of permits, according to a survey by consultants PwC.
In its annual GHG Market Sentiment Survey, PwC found that 80 percent of respondents were in favor of cutting supply in a bit to boost carbon prices from under 7 euros to a level that encourages firms to invest in clean technology that cut emissions.
Of those, two-thirds preferred EU regulators to cut supply by taking on a deeper 2020 emissions target rather than a one-off permanent withdrawal of allowances from the market…
***Other intervention options proposed by those surveyed included introducing a legally-binding CO2 cut target of 50 percent by 2030 and launching a carbon central bank to monitor prices and regulate supply in the EU ETS.
Assuming supply is cut and Europe’s economy recovers, EU Allowance prices could rise to more than 38 euros by 2030, the survey found, while prices for U.N. carbon credits could average nearly 12 euros each in the 2013-2020 trading period and 22 euros by 2030…
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/30/us-carbon-pwc-survey-idUKBRE84T00720120530
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Alan Jones did an interview with Marc Morano this morning which could be on podcast later. If I heard correctly, Morano is in Oz currently.
It’s hardly surprising that none of the Warmista will debate him. Some of us would recall when the blowhard James Cameron challenged Morano to a debate then did a last minute chicken-out. Cameron gave the excuse that Morano was not his equal in status.
Un-flipping believable!
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Looks like the chumps who sold Welsh copper & bought Origin Energy Ltd got fleeced. Seems kind of facebookish.
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Origin-cancels-US-solar-cells-US2J7?OpenDocument&rf=s
But, even parasites are finding the going tough these days. Maybe the host IS finally dying
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Big-US-law-firm-files-for-bankruptcy-URL7D?OpenDocument
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http://climateconferences.heartland.org/marc-morano-iccc7/
Includes discussion on interview re ABC’s “I Can Change Your Mind”
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.
How much can you believe from the internet.
This is an article from Climate Spectator!
Wind now makes up 31 per cent of SA’s power supply, with solar PV accounting for another 3.5 per cent.????
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POEM FOR jooLIAR……
There were whispers in the Chamber for the word had got around
That Gillard was on tenderhooks for Kevin was covering grounds
The caucus was on high alert —some counting had begun
With Kevin saying nothing and Juliar looking for a gun
No challenge at this moment,but Journos running rife.
With stories of our fate to come and all the Labor strife
Not now nor tomorrow,June seems the likely time
And when it is all over ,will everything be fine??
Not likely, say the experts who seem to have the answers
Cos Labor’s reputation has sunk as low as gangsters
The Lies ,The waste of public funds has seen Labor self destruct
The future points to Liberal to bring us better luck
And so we go on working and praying for some gain
We’re sick of all this bickering and bearing all this pain
And if that isnt bad enough, the weathers got us blue
The challenge stays -,our summers gone and we’re stuck in toxic stew
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[…] http://joannenova.com.au/2012/05/eu-carbon-trading-crashes-german-bourse-closes-and-irish-end-carbon… […]
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[…] for over 14 euros each in 2010, but their price has fallen by 60% in the last year. The stock exchange in Bavaria closed its ETS trading operation on 30 June, due in part to its […]
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[…] for over 14 euros each in 2010, but their price has fallen by 60% in the last year. The stock exchange in Bavaria closed its ETS trading operation on 30 June, due in part to its […]
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