The Jolt: Carbon markets are ready to takeoff

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Introducing The Jolt, a new series from FORESIGHT Climate & Energy, which will keep you updated on all the essential energy transition stories

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Welcome to today’s episode of The Jolt by FORESIGHT Climate & Energy. In a world underpinned by climate and energy stories, it is sometimes hard to cut through the cacophony of noise and get to the news you need to hear.

This is where The Jolt comes in. Tune in on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for bite-sized updates, expert analysis and a global view.

We kick off with a look at the major global climate and energy news stories.

Here are some of the main climate and energy stories making the news around the world:

• Talks to set up a new loss and damage climate fund ended in an acrimonious deal on Saturday. Developed nations insisted the new fund will be hosted at the World Bank, an idea loathed by developing countries, who managed to get it time-limited to four years. Check out this recent episode of The Jolt for more info on the fund.
• India’s government is considering charging exporters that will be covered by the European Union’s carbon border tax, so that the levies raised can be spent on decarbonisation projects at home. CBAM charges will not be slapped on products that have already been subject to some sort of carbon pricing.
• Denmark has a new Power-to-X facility that uses hydrogen and waste CO2 from a biogas plant to produce synthetic methane. Click here for more details on how the project came about.
• German firm Bosch will invest €100 million in a Portuguese heat pump factory as part of a wider €1 billion pledge to expand its production network. The Portuguese investment is expected to create hundreds of new jobs.
• Malta will spend €1 million every day next year in energy subsidies, according to its prime minister. The planned €350 million investment in 2024 will reportedly shield Maltese families from having to pay an extra €8 per day on utility bills.
• The UK government intends to hold annual fossil fuel exploration auctions, in a bid to safeguard jobs and energy security. Sector experts say that it will struggle to fulfil either of those goals and that new oil and gas is not compatible with global climate goals.
• Suriname wants to attract international investors to help develop its reserves of bauxite, the world’s main source of aluminium. An integral ingredient in many energy transition technologies, like power generators, electricity transmission and batteries, aluminium is set to be in high demand in the coming decades.
• And a new energy startup, Valar Atomics, aims to use nuclear-powered direct-air capture technology to suck CO2 out of the air and to combine it with atomic-forged hydrogen to create synthetic fuels. Check out the details here.

• The EU’s 2050 net-zero target has dictated the rest of its climate and energy policies since it was first proposed in 2018. As the world changes, geopolitics rewrites maps and clean energy technology bucks all expectations, is it time to bring the target date forward?
• Carbon markets are a crucial cog in the energy transition machine, driving down emissions by putting a price on greenhouse gases. There are many examples of them around the world, with several countries seriously considering setting up their own.
• Last week, the European Commission issued its report on the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS), insisting that it is working as expected and that power and industry emissions have been cut by 37.5% since 2005.
• But since reaching a record high of €100 per tonne in February, the price has since gone down and is now below €80. This is because of the fundamentals that drive the price, says carbon analyst Yan Qin from Refinitiv.

“The Chinese regulators see that the China ETS price has gone too fast”

• The average price for the year is still higher than 2022’s and it is expected to recover further once factors like demand and supply are rebalanced. Projections show the price breaching €100 on a permanent basis by 2030 and quadrupling further down the line.
• China is pressing on with its new carbon market as well. Increasing prices have forced regulators to stamp on the brakes slightly, while an upcoming update of what sectors are covered looks set to reflect changes imposed by the EU’s carbon border tax.

Check out our latest deep dives on baseload power and hybrid power projects. 

We want The Jolt to be as listener-driven as possible! Get in touch with us about what you like, what you don’t like and what you’d like to see in future episodes. All feedback is appreciated so don’t be shy.

Email us at thejolt@foresightdk.com

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