World Energy’s president and COO Phil Adams will be speaking this week at the Wall Street Green Trading Summit, the seminal New York City environmental financial market event covering carbon emissions trading and finance, renewable energy markets, cleantech VC, green hedge funds and energy efficiency financial markets.

Phil’s session is titled “REC Market Issues That Need to Be Resolved: Finding Value through the Transaction Process,” and takes place on Wednesday April 2nd at 3:00 p.m. ET. Stop by if you are attending, and if you are not, you can register here!

The Guardian discuses JPMorgan’s acquisition of carbon offset firm ClimateCare, marking the first time an investment bank has outright purchased a developer of emissions-cutting projects. Other investment banks such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch have all entered the market by purchasing only stakes in developers.

The Associated Press takes a look at a Maryland bill that proposes an initiative to use funds generated from the state’s involvement in RGGI for electricity rate relief instead of promoting energy efficiency. This bill would repeal the Maryland Renewable Energy Fund with the Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Program, but opponents to the bill believe that investing in energy efficiency programs will save more money long-term.

According to Reuters, U.S. officials will meet this week to interpret Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act, which bars large federal fuel buyers from using fuel made from coal if it contains more carbon than fuel made from crude oil. This act has hindered federal agencies, such as the Air Force, from embracing less expensive nonpetroleum fuel sources.

The World Green Exchange has been selected to provide the Auction Implementation Services for RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative). RGGI chose the World Green Exchange to trade the first phase offset transactions for the ten states who, in lieu of a federal standard, are implementing self-imposed standards to lower carbon emissions. The proven forward and reverse auctions have already yielded results including the first North American online auction for carbon emission compliance.

Central to RGGI’s mission is the implementation of a multi-state cap-and-trade program with a market-based emissions trading system. Through this cap and trade initiative, the states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont, will use the World Green Exchange to offset carbon emissions.

In a statement issued by RGGI, Inc., Pete Grannis, Chair, RGGI, Inc. and Commissioner of the New York Sate Department of Environmental Conservation said, “Absent federal leadership, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states of RGGI are taking action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce their impact on the environment Our CO2 auction will be the first in the nation and it is one that should be replicated at the federal level.”

We’d love to hear your thoughts on RGGI and its implications on the US carbon market!

Today we announced the launch of the World Green Exchange, a marketplace to buy or sell green power, RECs, VERs and carbon offsets. The full press release can be found here, but here are some of the news highlights:

Since 2003, World Energy has transacted nearly 1 billion kilowatt hours of green power over its award winning World Energy Exchange. Seeing the need for an auction platform for environmental commodities, World Energy has adapted its World Energy Exchange auction technology and proven process to create the World Green Exchange, which, in the past months, has successfully completed several pioneering transactions in the renewable energy, green credit and carbon markets space:

• Green power – A reverse auction for renewable energy yielded a 17 percent greening of the State of Connecticut’s overall energy portfolio, causing the EPA to cite the state government as one of the greenest in the country.
• Renewable Energy Certificates – For a Midwest utility, World Energy sourced RECs at an 8% discount to the utility’s price target.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificates - MMA Renewable Ventures ran a forward auction for 1500 solar renewable energy certificates, earning a premium over prevailing bid-ask prices.
• Voluntary Emission Reductions-Atmosclear, an organization committed to providing offsets to help consumers and businesses reduce their contribution to global warming, was able to sell 75,000 metric tonnes of VERs at a 20% premium in a forward auction
• Carbon emission compliance-Verdant Energy, a leading Canadian power supplier, auctioned off 80,000 metric tonnes of carbon offsets under the recently established Alberta Offset System-the first compliance-based auction of carbon offsets in North America. The forward auction yielded a price significantly higher than prices quoted to Verdant before the auction.

Point Carbon discusses the announcement with a focus on the increased results yielded with an online auctions process as opposed to bilaterally-brokered transactions, bid-ask exchanges or paper RFPs. The article also looks to the recent Alberta auction as one of the World Green Exchange’s recent successes.

We’d love to hear your thoughts regarding the exchange.

Reuters looks at the $10 billion pledge from U.S. institutional investors to go, over the next two years, toward technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to have companies disclose risks associated with climate change.

The Houston Chronicle looks at the new energy bill that House Democrats are planning on introducing. The bill will extend tax credits for renewable and clean energy programs in order to encourage wind and solar power as well as the development of plug-in hybrid vehicles. To offset these credits the bill also proposes changing the manufacturer’s deduction for oil companies and repealing tax deductions outright for the major integrated oil companies.

Another Reuters article discusses Bank of America’s creation of an environmental banking group, which is set to finance ways to conserve and reduce global warming. The announcement comes at the same time as the company’s CEO, Kenneth Lewis, called on Congress to create a carbon cap-and-trade program.

With New Hampshire still debating on if and how to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the Nashua Telegraph takes a further look at RGGI and the regulations the initiative will put into place. The first RGGI auction is scheduled for June 2 with New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine participating, but New Hampshire is still debating based partly on the probable increase in electric rates. However, that increase may be offset by rebates and/or conservation.

World Energy President and Chief Operating Officer Phil Adams is speaking on the keynote panel at today’s Voluntary Carbon Markets conference in New York City, which is the premiere US event focused solely on the market. The panel kicks off the conference’s focus on the past, present and future of the US voluntary market.

The Wall Street Journal discusses how top US investment banks, including Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are anticipating government caps on greenhouse-gas emissions and are setting environmental standards for companies trying to acquire financing for coal-fired power plants. In a move to reduce debt risk, the banks will require these companies to prove their viability under the possible regulations before receiving financing.

This article from The Times discusses how the European Union might limit the ability to trade Certified Emission Reduction credits after 2012 if a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol, which will create a wider market for carbon, is not agreed upon. This could potentially harm a United Nations plan that promotes carbon-reducing power projects in poor countries.

Reuters looks at a new report from a Canadian government-commissioned panel which suggests the Canadian governments should spend C$2 billion to encourage the implementation of technologies to capture and store carbon. The panel estimates that the aid could help get three to five capture and storage projects operational by 2015. There is concern, however, that carbon capture will replace initiatives that reduce greenhouse gases.

Some quick hit pieces of news today:

Climate Plans by New York, Florida Prod U.S. on Global Accord

President George W. Bush is pressing allies in Europe for a global warming agreement based on voluntary targets for pollution reduction. State officials in the U.S. have already left him behind. Twenty-two U.S. states with about 145 million people are exploring mandatory carbon-dioxide caps and emission-credit markets similar to one in the European Union. The proposals are pressuring Congress to pass legislation that would supersede the state and regional programs with a single national plan.

U.S. Senator supports measure to establish federal oversight for new US carbon emissions trading market

U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) has announced her support for a measure sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to establish federal oversight for new carbon emissions trading markets.

The measure also has the support of public utilities in California and across the country, as well as a number of consumer groups. The legislation, introduced on December 6, 2007, is designed to prevent future Enron-like fraud and manipulation in greenhouse gas emissions credit markets – billion-dollar markets that are expected to develop once Congress approves comprehensive climate change legislation that includes a cap-and-trade system for the trading of emissions credits.

Climate-Control Talks to Address Barriers to Green-Technology Profit

Diplomats from some of the world’s biggest economies will gather in Hawaii today for a new round of talks aimed at hashing out an international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which sets caps on greenhouse-gas emissions but expires in 2012. The meeting isn’t expected to produce any major breakthrough. But it comes as the U.S. and other industrialized countries are pushing developing nations to scrap tariffs and other trade barriers they now impose on clean-energy technology — a push backed by Western companies such as General Electric Co., which see sales of those goods in the developing world as a hot business.

Reuters discusses last night’s announcement during the State of the Union on the United States pledging to spend $2 billion over the next three years to fund clean energy tech in order to fight climate change. A large focus of this commitment is on battery power and renewable energies.

Also in Reuters, is an article discussing the Alberta carbon market. Alberta’s premier warned officials that the province cannot reduce GHGs too quickly, or it will have a large impact on the economy. However, environmentalists say that Canada cannot reduce national emissions levels without reductions in Alberta.

The Burlington Free Press talks about how several states, Vermont included, have asked the Federal Trade commission to develop guidelines for business that sell credits. The states are worried about fraud due to the “intangible nature of carbon offsets.” The other states include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.

Lastly and also from Reuters, the Russian government is accepting applications from companies who want to sell credits, for a profit, to Western countries. Previously, legal doubts had stalled the Russian market.

The Wall Street Journal looks at the rise in activity in the carbon market – with 2.7 billion metric tons traded last year, equaling $69.1 billion. With this increase in trading, most major investment banks have created carbon desks. Kind of a carbon market 101 as it doesn’t delve too deeply into either the US or foreign market.

This article is from Reuters and announced that 58 companies, cities and orgs have volunteered to begin reporting emissions to the Climate Registry in June - including Shell, Xcel Energy, Alcoa, Duke Energy, PG&E and the USPS.

Two additional blog posts to consider, both from RenewableEnergyAccess.com. First the story of former NH Governor pleading with the US to devote money to renewable and second a housing project featuring shared renewable energy.

Hong Kong Exchange Plans Emissions Trading Center

From Forbes:

Sitting right at the doorstep of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, China, top officials at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange do not need any more evidence to support their optimism about the market potential of a new initiative for a trading center for emissions-related products. All they need to do is look out the windows of their harborfront office, to a hazy horizon regularly clouded by pollution and smog.