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Carbon dioxide emissions by companies regulated under the
European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme fell by 11 percent
last year in the wake of the economic downturn, according
to analysts.
Emissions by heavy industry across the 27-nation bloc fell
to 1.886 billion tonnes in 2009 - 233 million lower than the
previous year, Point
Carbon estimated. The drop means there was a surplus
in allocated EU carbon permits of 77 million tonnes, Point
Carbon added.
It said emissions from utilities fell 88 million tonnes to
1.18 billion tonnes - a 7 percent drop - while those from
industrial sectors like cement and steel tumbled by 17 percent,
or 145 million tonnes to 704 million tonnes.
Ten analysts polled last month by Reuters expect,
on average, that firms regulated under the scheme to have
emitted 1.98 billion tonnes of CO2 last
year - or some 100 million below the scheme's cap.
The cap-and-trade scheme, the EU's flagship weapon against
climate change, covers about half of the bloc's total greenhouse
gas emissions. In the scheme's first phase (2005-2007), emissions
rose, but an overallocation of permits - called EU Allowances
- caused carbon prices to drop to near zero.
Emissions then dropped by 3 percent in 2008, but a tighter
cap caused a shortage of permits for the first time, which
pushed EUA prices above €20 per tonne of CO2.
Preliminary 2009 emissions data for the scheme will be published
by the European Commission in early April.
Point Carbon said their estimates include emissions from
Norway - not currently a participant in the scheme - and gave
the data a margin of error of plus or minus 32 million tonnes.
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