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Borealis, Infinium in CO2-based polymer deal

  • Market: Emissions, Petrochemicals
  • 20/08/24

Austrian petrochemical company Borealis will manufacture polyolefins at its site in Porvoo, Finland using CO2-based "e-naphtha" produced by US by e-fuels firm Infinium.

Under the agreement, Infinium will ship "commercial" volumes of e-naphtha to Porvoo from its facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. The first shipment departed the US in May.

The e-naphtha is a "sustainable drop-in alternative" to fossil-based naphtha, the firms said. It will be processed in the same way to create polyolefins.

E-naphtha can be produced from CO2 from biogenic sources or from carbon capture at industrial facilities such as oil refineries. The e-naphtha feedstock will be tracked through the polymer production process under an ISCC+ certificate, which Infinium's Corpus Christi facility has received.

"Atmospheric carbon is a strategic element of the Borealis Circular Cascade approach to foster the transition toward greater circularity in plastics and carbon," said Borealis' vice-president of circular economy solutions Mirjam Mayer.

"It allows us to serve the needs of our customers while reducing their carbon footprints."


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19/06/25

Australia’s carbon credit supply remains strong in May

Australia’s carbon credit supply remains strong in May

Sydney, 19 June (Argus) — Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) supply remained strong in May, bringing total issuances over January-May 2025 closer to the combined volume in the first half of 2024, according to data published on 19 June. A total of 2.11mn ACCUs were issued in May, up from 1.99mn in April , register data released by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) show. This takes total supply over January-May 2025 to 7.15mn, close to the 7.66mn issued in the first six months of 2024. The regulator did not publish monthly data before 2025. Vegetation methods, mainly from human-induced regeneration (HIR) and avoided deforestation (AD) projects, accounted for 1.32mn ACCUs in May, or nearly 63pc of the total. This was up from just 29pc in April, but below shares of around 82-90pc in February and March. Waste methods, mostly from landfill gas projects, made up 670,596 units, or approximately 32pc of the total. Savana burning, agriculture and energy efficiency methods accounted for the remaining issuances in May ( see chart ). The high number of issuances in April was because of a "backlog of crediting applications for waste methods" , which was expected to clear in the second quarter, the CER said last week. A total of 3.04mn ACCUs were issued in the first quarter, and 5mn applications were "on hand" as of 31 March 2025, the regulator said. The CER maintained its supply forecast of 19mn-24mn for 2025. Bioenergy company LMS Energy remained the largest recipient of new ACCUs in May at 329,879 units, followed by environmental market investor GreenCollar's subsidiary Terra Carbon at 315,420 units and waste management firm Veolia at 154,015 units. ACCU spot prices have been stable in June but continued to rise slowly on the month. The Argus ACCU generic no avoided deforestation (No AD) spot price assessments averaged A$35.65/t CO2 equivalent ($23.20/t CO2e) so far in June, up from A$35.35/t CO2e in May and the highest so far in 2025. By Juan Weik ACCU issuance by method type (mn) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Poland wraps up CBAM changes with European Parliament


18/06/25
News
18/06/25

Poland wraps up CBAM changes with European Parliament

Brussels, 18 June (Argus) — Poland has concluded negotiations on behalf of EU member states with the European Parliament for a revised carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), ahead of handing over the bloc's six-month rotating presidency to Denmark at the end of June. But Warsaw will not lead discussions on the EU's emissions cut target for 2040 and the bloc's updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the Paris climate agreement. Leading negotiations for EU states with parliament, Poland's deputy climate minister Krzysztof Bolesta said the revised CBAM would exempt 90pc of originally covered EU companies from reporting obligations, while 99pc of emissions embedded in imported products would remain covered. The agreement on CBAM now has to be formally approved by parliament and EU ministers. Once published in the bloc's official journal, the revised CBAM text will exempt importers that do not exceed a new single mass-based threshold of 50 t/yr of imported goods. Bolesta admitted that progress has been held up on concluding the EU's NDC during Warsaw's presidency of EU ministerial meetings. CBAM was also listed by Bolesta as one of the points for flexibility in discussions on the 2040 climate target, alongside carbon credits under Article 6 of the Paris agreement, additional funding and flexibility between climate sub-targets. At a meeting of environment ministers yesterday, Bolesta indicated that most states still favour the European Commission linking its submission of an EU NDC to the UN — which includes a 2035 emissions cut target — with the bloc's planned 2 July proposal for a 2040 EU climate target. The CBAM yesterday contributed to delays in technical negotiations held in Bonn, Germany, for the UN Cop 30 climate conference in Brazil. The Like-Minded Group of Developing Countries, including countries such as Bolivia, China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Vietnam, had urged the need to address concerns "with climate change-related trade-restrictive unilateral measures". Despite "very, very divergent views", EU member states agree that it "is absolutely urgent to come up with an NDC before the end of September", Bolesta said. The Polish presidency of the EU, chairing climate ministers' meetings, has advanced NDC work as much as possible in the absence of the commission's proposal to revise the bloc's climate law. "We really have only a couple of months to come up with something. What lacks in the NDC draft is now the headline target," Bolesta said. Countries have not yet discussed the quality of Article 6 offsets, Bolesta added. "Everyone in the room realises that we need to be very stringent on what kind of offset will be let into the system," he said. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra is "cautiously optimistic" that a landing ground can be found on the 2040 climate target. He called for more assertive climate diplomacy, as a large part of the problem lies outside Europe. For China, Hoekstra noted unfair trade practices and "serious" concerns about plans to build additional coal-fired plants. "It's a mixed bag. And we invite them to step up their ambition," he said. By Dafydd ab Iago Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Banks increased fossil fuel financing in 2024: Report


18/06/25
News
18/06/25

Banks increased fossil fuel financing in 2024: Report

London, 18 June (Argus) — Banks "significantly increased" their fossil fuel financing in 2024, reversing a trend of steadily declining fossil fuel financing since 2021, a report from a group of non-profit organisations found this week. The 65 biggest banks globally committed $869bn in 2024 to "companies conducting business in fossil fuels", the report — Banking on Climate Chaos — found. Those banks committed $429bn last year to companies expanding fossil fuel production and infrastructure. The report assesses lending and underwriting in 2024 from the world's top 65 banks to more than 2,700 fossil fuel companies. Figures are not directly comparable year-on-year, as the previous report, which assessed 2023, covered financing from 60 banks. The 60 biggest banks globally committed $705bn in 2023 to companies with fossil fuel business, last year's report found. Those banks committed $347bn in 2023 to companies with fossil fuel expansion plans. Of the five banks providing the most fossil fuel finance in 2024, four were US banks — JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The 65 banks assessed in this year's report have committed $7.9 trillion in fossil fuel financing since 2016, when the Paris climate agreement took effect, the report found. Finance is at the core of climate negotiations like UN Cop summits. Developed countries are typically called upon at such events to provide more public climate finance to developing nations, but the focus is also shifting to private finance, as overseas development finance looks set to drop . But fossil fuel financing banks are increasingly facing the risk of targeted and more complex climate-related litigation, according to a recent report by the London School of Economics' centre for economic transition expertise (Cetex). Climate litigation is not currently adequately accounted for in financial risk assessment, with case filing and decisions negatively impacting carbon financiers, it said. "While early climate cases primarily targeted governments and big-emitting ‘carbon majors', cases against other firms have proliferated quickly," Cetex said. The report also showed that, based on a review of disclosures from 20 banks supervised by the European Central Bank, many banks across Europe recognise litigation risks as material in the context of climate and environmental factors but tend to not be specific about the risks incurred. By Georgia Gratton and Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Adding credits, CO2 removals to EU ETS ‘fatal’: Study


18/06/25
News
18/06/25

Adding credits, CO2 removals to EU ETS ‘fatal’: Study

London, 18 June (Argus) — Allowing the use of international carbon credits or carbon removals for compliance under the EU emissions trading system (ETS) risks undermining the environmental integrity of the scheme and hindering the bloc's achievement of its climate targets, warned a study by research body the Oeko-Institut published today. Under the three scenarios examined in the study, which was commissioned by non-governmental organisation Carbon Market Watch, the EU ETS's supply-demand balance does not need to be artificially adjusted before 2035. But beyond this date the total number of allowances in circulation could fall below zero, meaning sectors under the scheme would either need to be fully decarbonised by this date or shut down unless flexibility is introduced to the system. Any reforms to increase ETS supply should focus on the system's market stability reserve, the study found, a mechanism which absorbs a percentage of excess supply from circulation each year but can also release permits if supply falls too low. Changes to the scheme's linear reduction factor — the amount by which its supply cap falls annually — would achieve the same thing but risk weakening the system's ambition, and is more likely to be politically challenging, the study said. Some EU member states have expressed interest in allowing the use of international carbon credits issued under Article 6 of the Paris climate agreement for ETS compliance for this purpose, and the European Commission said last week it is taking the option into consideration , although any such use would entail only "very high integrity" credits representing a "very small proportion" of the bloc's climate action. But introducing Article 6 credits to the ETS "poses significant risks to the functioning and environmental integrity of the system", the study found, pointing to the past use of Clean Development Mechanism credits to offset some ETS obligations to which it attributed the "collapse" of the carbon price. Including carbon removals in the scheme would pose a similar risk, the study found, concluding it is "crucial" they remain in a separate framework. The European Commission is expected to publish a report next year examining their potential inclusion. The commission will also assess in 2031 the feasibility of linking the existing ETS to the EU ETS 2 for road transport and buildings, scheduled for launch in 2027, which could increase the liquidity of the two schemes. But such a link "cannot ease tension in the [ETS] market with certainty, and administrative barriers to the merger are high", the study warned. By Victoria Hatherick Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Keyera acquiring Plains' Canada NGL assets for $3.75bn


17/06/25
News
17/06/25

Keyera acquiring Plains' Canada NGL assets for $3.75bn

Houston, 17 June (Argus) — Midstream operator Keyera will acquire Plains All American's Canadian natural gas liquids (NGLs) business for C$5.15bn ($3.75bn). The transaction, which is expected to close by the first quarter of 2026, includes 193,000 b/d of fractionation capacity in western Canada, more than 1,500 miles of pipelines gathering 575,000 b/d of NGLs, 23mn bl in NGL storage capacity, and the 5.7 Bcf/d Empress straddle gas processing plant. The acquisition is expected to deliver C$100mn of annual synergies between the assets in the first year, according to Keyera. Plains said the divestiture will allow the US-based midstream operator to focus on its crude handling assets in both the US and Canada. Plains will keep nearly all of its NGL assets in the US. The acquisition of Plains' assets gives Keyera NGL fractionators and gas processing plants in Fort Saskatchewan, and at the Empress facility in western Canada as well as storage at Sarnia, Ontario. It also links Keyera's existing assets to takeaway agreements for LPG exports out of British Columbia. Keyera chief executive Dean Setoguchi said the acquisition "... brings key infrastructure under Canadian ownership, keeping value and decision-making closer to home." Plain's Canadian business is underpinned by fee-based contracts with an average remaining life of 10 years, Keyera said. Associated NGL production in Canada is expected to grow by 500,000 b/d by 2040, according to Keyera, as natural gas production in western Canada climbs by 6 Bcf/d during the same timeframe. By Amy Strahan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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