India releases draft carbon credit trading scheme

  • Market: Coal, Crude oil, Emissions, Hydrogen
  • 28/03/23

India's power ministry has released a draft carbon credit trading scheme and is seeking views from stakeholders by 14 April, as part of its process to establish a carbon credit market in the country.

The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill was passed in December empowering the central government to establish carbon credit trading markets in India.

The draft scheme proposes a structure for the Indian carbon credit market, for both voluntary trading and compliance, which will be administered by a governing board comprising of secretaries and joint secretaries of the environment, power, renewable energy, steel, coal and oil ministries.

The proposed board will recommend procedures and rules for the market and frame the methodologies for voluntary carbon credit trading, as well as guidelines regarding the sale of carbon credit certificates to overseas buyers, according to the draft.

One of the provisions of the amendment bill empowers the central government to specify a carbon trading scheme in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, an agency under the power ministry. The bureau will help to accredit an agency that will carry out validation or verification activities with respect to the carbon credit trading scheme.

A carbon credit certificate, on the other hand, will be issued by the government to a registered entity or any authorised agency. Each certificate shall represent a reduction or removal of 1t of CO2 equivalent.

Under the draft framework, the ministry also proposes setting up an Indian Carbon Market Governing Board (ICMGB) headed by power and environment secretaries who will be responsible for direct oversight of administrative and regulatory functions.

India plans to cut carbon emissions by 1bn t by 2030 from 2005 levels. The government is also aiming to increase the share of renewable power generation capacity to 500GW by 2030, by when it also hopes to meet 50pc of its energy requirements from renewables.

The Indian Energy Exchange last year set up the International Carbon Exchange to enable market participants to buy and sell voluntary carbon credits at competitive prices through the platform.


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Crane barge arriving at Baltimore bridge tonight

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'Weeks, months' to reopen Baltimore waterway: professor


28/03/24
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28/03/24

'Weeks, months' to reopen Baltimore waterway: professor

Houston, 28 March (Argus) — It could take weeks or even months to clear debris and reopen the waterway under the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, according to a engineering professor at the nearby Johns Hopkins University. As of Wednesday, there was no official timetable for the reopening of the Port of Baltimore after a major highway bridge over the Patapsco River was hit in the early hours of 26 March by a container ship and collapsed, with the debris and ship blocking the waterway. "I'd be shocked if it's weeks, but I don't think it'll take even a year" to clear the waterway, structural engineer and Johns Hopkins professor Benjamin Schafer said Wednesday. He expects the rebuild of the bridge to take significantly longer. "I've lived through quite a few civil infrastructure projects and they're rarely less than 10 years. So I think that's what we're looking at," Schafer said. He noted that it took five years to build the original Francis Scott Key Bridge and seven years to repair the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida, after a similar collapse in 1980. Still, "this is definitely not a national supply chain crisis," John Hopkins operations management professor Tinglong Dai said Wednesday. "The effect will be mostly local, mostly minimal and mostly temporary." The bridge collapse and port closure is also unlikely to trigger a global supply chain crisis, he said. The Port of Baltimore is an important but "niche" port specializing in automobile imports and exports, Dai added. "The supply chain has evolved...I have already seen a lot of rerouting happening." Automakers started adjusting their supply routes away from the top port for US vehicle imports the day of the collapse, including General Motors, Ford and Mercedes-Benz. Baltimore is also a major port for coal exports, which may start to shift to terminals to the south in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Freight rates for ships that carry coal could see increases in global markets Other commodities like asphalt and caustic soda that move through the port will see challenges, while organic agriculture imports may see less problems due to seasonal flows. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Long-term contracts needed to stabilise gas prices: MET


28/03/24
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28/03/24

Long-term contracts needed to stabilise gas prices: MET

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28/03/24

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27/03/24
News
27/03/24

Baltimore bridge collapse to raise retail fuel prices

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