Carbon for sale

Baby steps towards a global carbon market:

Brazil's largest city sold millions of dollars worth of carbon credits at an auction Wednesday in a deal that experts said paves the way for developing countries to make money fighting global warming.

Brazil's Mercantile and Futures Exchange called Sao Paulo's sale of $18.5 million in carbon credits to Dutch-Belgian Fortis Bank the first such sale to be held on a regulated stock market and a significant step toward institutionalizing the carbon market.

[...]

The World Bank says the global carbon market -- where government and industry limits on carbon dioxide emissions are traded like credits -- tripled from $7.9 billion in 2005 to $24.4 billion last year.

The auctioned credits were created for Sao Paulo's government by a project at the Bandeirantes Landfill to generate energy from the methane gas produced by the tons of solid residues it receives per day. The project is run by privately held Biogas Energia Ambiental SA.

"This is important because the city is making a significant contribution to control greenhouse gases," said Stella Goldstein, deputy secretary of the city government.

Fortis has been positioning itself as a broker in the energy market, purchasing credits and selling them to companies that need to meet European pollution standards with offset carbon credits.

In the European Union, emission permits have been trading at around $30.33 a ton, while UN certified credits like the ones sold in Sao Paulo have been trading at around $20.56.

For reference: The average U.S. car--driven 12,000 miles a year--produces about seven tons of carbon dioxide a year. 

Are you willing to cut your drving by 1/7th for $20.56? 

Comments

[robery essery]

Why dont we buy poison's from countries that cant get rid of it, then dump it in the oceans. That would be a good way to make money. Carbon gas's could be blown off in a big storm . That way we can kill all our great grand kids a lot sooner. What is wrong with this plan????