Japan Adds to Supply of Kyoto CO2 Offsets Faster Than AAUs - Bloomberg

Japan last year added to its stockpile of United Nations emission offsets at a faster pace than Assigned Amount Units, suggesting the nation or its emitters have not started swapping the credits for cheaper AAUs. Japan had 120.1 million metric tons of UN Certified Emission Reduction credits at the end of the year, 17 percent more than a year earlier, according to reports on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The nation more than doubled the number of Emission Reduction Units in its inventory to 5.1 million tons, as its holdings of Assigned Amount Units rose 0.6 percent to 6.123 billion tons. Japanese emitters may ramp up exchanges of CERs for cheaper AAUs this year to free up cash, an executive from Mitsubishi Corp. (8058) said last year. Swapping might push down the price of UN credits and drive European Union carbon allowances lower because EU factories and power stations are the biggest source of demand for the offsets.

Alternative Jet Fuels Put To The Test

The tests, being run through Feb. 3 at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California, are measuring the performance and emissions of two synthetic fuels derived from coal and natural gas using the Fischer-Tropsch process. These fuels have drawn attention because they have the energy necessary for commercial flight. The Fischer-Tropsch process is a chemical reaction in which a synthesis gas -- a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen -- is converted into liquid hydrocarbons of various forms. The process produces synthetic petroleum for use as a lubricant or fuel. The technology has been around for decades, but until now the high cost of building new plants to produce synthetic fuels has stymied interest. The United States does not have any Fischer-Tropsch plants, although synthetic fuel is produced using this process elsewhere in the world.