Australian IPL earns over 60,000 safeguard carbon units

: Emissions, Fertilizers
24/11/18

Australian chemicals and fertilizer producer Incitec Pivot (IPL) has earned 63,529 Safeguard Mechanism Credits (SMCs) with its Moranbah ammonia facility in Queensland for the 2023-24 compliance year that ended in June, which it plans to hold for future surrender requirements from another facility.

The SMC figure was formally disclosed by the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) in the Moranbah facility's safeguard position statement early this month, following IPL's National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) data submission, the company told Argus on 18 November.

This is as Moranbah reported scope 1 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below its baseline, the company said. "The site is therefore eligible to apply for SMCs to be issued in February," it told Argus.

IPL's Phosphate Hill facility, on the other hand, exceeded its baseline by 40,841t of CO2 equivalent (CO2e). But it will apply for a Trade Exposed Baseline Adjustment, which, if successful, will reduce that excess, the company said in its 2024 climate change report released on 18 November.

"It is planned that SMCs earned at Moranbah will be surrendered to settle the Phosphate Hill liability when it becomes due in the 2025 IPL financial year" to 30 September 2025, the company added.

The safeguard mechanism applies to facilities that emit more than 100,000t of CO2e in a fiscal year. Emissions must be reported by 31 October, and facilities must manage any excess emissions by the compliance deadline of 31 March 2025 by surrendering Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) or SMCs — which the CER will start to issue for the first time in early 2025.

IPL's Moranbah surrendered 15,482 ACCUs in the July 2022 to June 2023 fiscal year. It was one of 44 facilities that surrendered carbon credit units out of the total 219 covered under the mechanism that year. Phosphate Hill's reported emissions in 2022-23, at 509,491t of CO2e, were just below its baseline of 512,235t of CO2e.

The shift in the 2023-24 compliance period comes as IPL finished installing tertiary nitrous oxide (N2O) abatement at Moranbah in March this year.

"Since its installation, the unit has been performing well and is abating up to 99pc of N2O process emissions, which are created during nitric acid manufacture," it said in its climate change report.

The abatement unit is expected to have a lifespan of 20 years and will abate around 200,000 t/yr of CO2e, reducing emissions to a level below the facility's baseline in the near term. But as the baseline will decline under the safeguard mechanism, "this benefit will reduce," the company added.

By Juan Weik

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24/12/26

Viewpoint: Unified CO2 market remains in distance

Houston, 26 December (Argus) — Washington state's carbon market enters 2025 on steadier ground than it stood on for much of the past year, but still faces hurdles before it is part of a larger North American market. Washington's cap-and-invest program has weathered a year of highs and lows between advancing its ambitions to link with the Western Climate Initiative and operating through much of the year under threat of repeal in the November state elections. The state Department of Ecology director Laura Watson began the state's quest to link with the WCI last year , as regulators looked to the larger, more liquid market to potentially temper the higher-than-expected prices over the first year of the market in 2023. Washington Carbon Allowances (WCAs) for December 2023 delivery surged as high as $70/t last year, according to Argus assessments. But the state has clinched several wins for its program this year. State lawmakers were able to pass a bill to smooth out several areas of potential incompatibility with the WCI earlier this year, along with California and Quebec agreeing to move forward into formal linkage talks in March . But a repeal effort, initiative 2117, seeking to remove the state's cap-and-invest program dampened prices and forward movement on linkage since January. WCAs for December 2024 delivery fell to the lowest price to date for the program at $30.25/t on 4 March, according to Argus assessments, as uncertainty over the future of the program quieted market participation. State voters backed the cap-and-invest program in November with 62pc against the repeal effort, but months of uncertainty has cost the state time and linkage progress as the WCI awaited the November results. Additionally, while Washington started its own linkage rulemaking in April to align the program with changes planned for the WCI, finishing it requires the joint market first finalize its own changes. The linkage logjam has left market participants feeling that the state's momentum is stalled for the moment, even as perception of the state's eventual joining remains a question of "when" not "if." Ecology says it remains in communication with the WCI members and is evaluating the impact of California's new rulemaking timeline. California has indicated over this year that it does not intend to focus fully on linkage until its current rulemaking is complete. Ecology estimates it will adopt its new rules in fall 2025, with the earliest the state could expect a linkage agreement in late 2025. Washington must still complete further steps required by state law before any linkage agreement can proceed, including an environmental justice assessment and a final evaluation of a potential joint market under criteria set by its Climate Commitment Act, along with public comment. California and Quebec must also conduct their own evaluations to comply with respective state and provincial laws. If this timing works out, Ecology would be part of joint auctions starting in 2026. Compounding the process is the potential threat posed by incoming president-elect Donald Trump, who is likely to try to reverse major environmental regulations and commitments. Trump sought ultimately unsuccessful litigation in his first administration to sever the link between Quebec and California in 2019. The administration pursued the case on the grounds that California's participation violated federal authority to establish trade and other agreements with foreign entities under Article I of the US Constitution, which sets out the role of the federal and state powers in commerce and agreements with foreign powers. Both California and Washington have undergone preparations in recent months to gird themselves for a legal fight with the incoming administration, and that may add further scrutiny to linkage for both states going forward, said Justin Johnson, a market expert with the International Emissions Trading Association. "I think that it will require them to be more vigilant about the process they use and making sure they dot their i's and cross their t's because I think that there will be some folks in the federal administration who would like to see that not happen," Johnson said. By Denise Cathey Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Viewpoint: California dairy fight spills into 2025

24/12/24

Viewpoint: California dairy fight spills into 2025

Houston, 24 December (Argus) — California must begin crafting dairy methane limits next year as pressure grows for regulators to change course. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has committed to begin crafting regulations that could mandate the reduction of dairy methane as it locked in incentives for harvesting gas to fuel vehicles in the state. The combination has frustrated environmental groups and other opponents of a methane capture strategy they accuse of collateral damage. Now, tough new targets pitched to help balance the program's incentives could become the fall-out in a new lawsuit. State regulators have repeatedly said that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is ill-suited to consider mostly off-road emissions from a sector that could pack up and move to another state to escape regulation. California's LCFS requires yearly reductions of transportation fuel carbon intensity. Higher-carbon fuels that exceed the annual limits incur deficits that suppliers must offset with credits generated from the distribution to the state of approved, lower-carbon alternatives. Regulators extended participation in the program to dairy methane in 2017. Dairies may register to use manure digesters to capture methane that suppliers may process into pipeline-quality natural gas. This gas may then be attributed to compressed natural gas vehicles in California, so long as participants can show a path for approved supplies between the dairy and the customer. California only issues credits for methane cuts beyond other existing requirements. Regulators began mandating methane reductions from landfills more than a decade ago and in 2016 set similar requirements for wastewater treatment plants. But while lawmakers set a goal for in-state dairies to reduce methane emissions by 40pc from 2030 levels, regulators could not even consider rulemakings mandating such reductions until 2024. CARB made no move to directly regulate those emissions at their first opportunity, as staff grappled with amendments to the agency's LCFS and cap-and-trade programs. That has meant that dairies continue to receive credit for all of the methane they capture, generating deep, carbon-reducing scores under the LCFS and outsized credit production relative to the fuel they replace. Dairy methane harvesting generated 16pc of all new credits generated in 2023, compared with biodiesel's 6pc. Dairy methane replaced just 38pc of the diesel equivalent gallons that biodiesel did over the same period. The incentive has exasperated environmental and community groups, who see LCFS credits as encouraging larger operations with more consequences for local air and water quality. Dairies warn that costly methane capture systems could not be affordable otherwise. Adding to the expense of operating in California would cause more operations to leave the state. California dairies make up about two thirds of suppliers registered under the program. Dairy supporters successfully delayed proposed legislative requirements in 2023. CARB staff in May 2024 declined a petition seeking a faster approach to dairy regulation . Staff committed to take up a rulemaking considering the best way to address dairy methane reduction in 2025. Before that, final revisions to the LCFS approved in November included guarantees for dairy methane crediting. Projects that break ground by the end of this decade would remain eligible for up to 30 years of LCFS credit generation, compared with just 10 years for projects after 2029. Limits on the scope of book-and-claim participation for out-of-state projects would wait until well into the next decade. Staff said it was necessary to ensure continued investment in methane reduction. The inclusion immediately frustrated critics of the renewable natural gas policy, including board member Diane Tarkvarian, who sought to have the changes struck and was one of two votes ultimately against the LCFS revisions. Environmental groups have now sued , invoking violations that effectively froze the LCFS for years of court review. Regulators and lawmakers working to transition the state to cleaner air and lower-emissions vehicles will have to tread carefully in 2025. By Elliott Blackburn Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Логистика сухих грузов - ЛП Транс: в 2025 г. ожидается рост перевозок

24/12/24

Логистика сухих грузов - ЛП Транс: в 2025 г. ожидается рост перевозок

Moscow, 24 December (Argus) — ЛП Транс повысит перевозки по итогам 2024 г. примерно на 25%, до более 16,5 млн т. Вместе с тем средний оборот подвижного состава у компании вырос примерно на 30%, однако пока увеличения количества вагонов не требуется. О тенденциях на рынке перевозок минеральных удобрений рассказал Argus генеральный директор ЛП Транса Роман Воронцов. — Каковы операционные результаты компании за январь — ноябрь? Удалось ли улучшить показатели по сравнению с прошлым годом? — За 11 месяцев мы перевезли более 15 млн т промышленно-сырьевых грузов, включая как сырье для производства удобрений, так и готовый продукт. Рост к аналогичному периоду прошлого года составил 24%. До конца текущего года мы планируем переступить планку в 16,5 млн т и прибавить 25% к итогу 2023 г., когда было перевезено 13,2 млн т различных грузов. Соответственно растет и число вагоноотправок: до конца года мы намерены осуществить 237—240 тыс. отправок против 191 тыс. в прошлом году — рост также ожидается примерно на четверть. — Были ли в этом году какие-то значимые изменения в направлениях отгрузок или структуре перевозимой продукции? — Главным изменением стала переориентация большинства поставок на внутренний рынок. Ранее нашими основными направлениями были порты Балтики и страны СНГ. Теперь же нам открылись новые направления внутри страны, и по большей части мы ориентируемся на внутренние перевозки. Например, у нас выросли объемы транспортировки сырья для выпуска минеральных удобрений в адрес заводов-производителей, а также перевозки цемента для производителей стройматериалов и строительных компаний. — Какие планы на наступающий год? — В 2025 г. мы будем укреплять позиции в сегменте перевозок промышленно-сырьевых и химических грузов, прогнозируем рост в пределах 5%. Также мы продолжим повышать качество услуг, расширять их ассортимент, наша задача — предлагать клиентам не просто вагоны, а оптимальное решение их логистических задач. Планируем сфокусироваться на большей интеграции наших технологий с технологиями клиентов, будем развивать комплексное обслуживание с гарантией надежности перевозок. Таким образом, считаем наш прогноз роста оправданным. — Каким парком сейчас оперирует компания? — На данный момент в управлении компании находится порядка 20 тыс. вагонов, из которых 1,3 тыс. — цементовозы, а оставшиеся — хопперы для перевозок минеральных удобрений, в том числе большекубовые, а также инновационный парк с увеличенной грузоподъемностью. Годом ранее наш парк был схожим по объему, однако теперь он отличается качественно в лучшую сторону. Мы работаем над совершенствованием и техническим обновлением парка, делаем фокус на вагоны с улучшенными техническими и коммерческими характеристиками. В рамках стратегии Группы Деметра Холдинг в 2023 г. было списано порядка 6,2 тыс. вагонов, это выбытие парка мы компенсировали покупкой новых вагонов. За счет этого мы получили большое конкурентное преимущество в виде молодого подвижного состава с улучшенными характеристиками, который не только более привлекателен для клиентов, но и позволяет оптимизировать нагрузку на железнодорожную инфраструктуру. Средний возраст парка снизился с более чем 15 лет до шести-восьми лет, что является одним из лучших показателей по отрасли. Больших списаний вагонов-хопперов в ближайшее время не планируется, соответственно, парк под нашим управлением считаю в целом достаточным для удовлетворения перспективных потребностей наших клиентов. — Рост оборота подвижного состава на сети РЖД не вынуждает увеличивать парк для обеспечения потребностей клиентов? — Замедление оборачиваемости парка — общая проблема для игроков операторского рынка ввиду загруженности инфраструктуры общего пользования и нехватки тяговых ресурсов. Средний оборот вагона у нас довольно сильно увеличился за прошедший год, на ряде направлений рост превысил 30%. К примеру, при перевозках цемента во внутрироссийском сообщении на расстояния до 700 км средний оборот замедлился до 25—27 суток по сравнению с 17—18 сутками годом ранее. Однако к вопросу увеличения парка мы подходим крайне взвешенно. Новые вагоны должны приобретаться только под заключенные контракты, и с нашими клиентами мы проводим подробные консультации относительно того, какой подвижной состав им был бы интересен. Львиная доля наших грузов — в частности, сырье, апатитовый концентрат — имеет высокую плотность, и для их перевозок требуются вагоны со стандартной кубатурой, но повышенной грузоподъемностью. А некоторые грузы с малым удельным весом, к примеру, удобрения азотной группы, в частности, карбамид, напротив, тяготеют к более вместительному подвижному составу. Помимо этого, мы постоянно работаем над повышением эффективности использования наших вагонов, и наша позиция крупнейшего независимого оператора вагонов-хопперов на рынке промышленно-сырьевых грузов дает нам дополнительные возможности по оптимизации логистики. Поэтому текущего размера парка нам хватает. — А что вы думаете о контейнеризации перевозок удобрений? Видите ли перспективы в этом направлении? — Перевод части грузопотока в контейнеры — это все же вынужденная мера. Как вы знаете, северо-западные порты — это основное направление для экспорта удобрений. Порты Прибалтики для нас уже неактуальны, а российских профильных портовых мощностей пока еще недостаточно, прежде всего складских, поэтому контейнеры, использующиеся, как маленькие склады на колесах, оказались выходом из ситуации. Но временным: в 2025 г. ожидается ввод в эксплуатацию терминала Port Favor в Усть-Луге, и спрос на контейнерную схему должен ослабнуть. Все-таки выполняется много лишней работы: пересыпка удобрений из хоппера в контейнер, а из контейнера — непосредственно в бункер сухогруза. Возможно, какой-то дефицит складских портовых мощностей для удобрений все же будет сохраняться и в будущем, а значит, некоторые объемы также будут перевозиться в контейнерах. Но нам кажется, что такой подвижной состав будет занимать не более 10% грузооборота в сегменте. Сейчас он занимает 15%, еще 68% приходится на хопперы, а оставшиеся 17% перевозятся в полувагонах и крытом парке. — Какими вы видите перспективы международных транспортных коридоров Север — Юг и Запад — Восток в 2024—2025 гг. с точки зрения перевозок удобрений? — По коридору Север — Юг все будет зависеть от готовности инфраструктуры и портовых мощностей. Ведь если инфраструктура не будет готова, то перспективы, соответственно, довольно туманные. На Восточном полигоне, как всем известно, провозных мощностей тоже недостаточно. — В 2025 г. ожидается сокращение перевозок угля на восток, что открывает возможности для экспорта, в том числе — минеральных удобрений. Увеличит ли это среднюю дальность перевозки и, как следствие, оборот парка? — Мы готовы к таким вызовам. Если больше грузов будет отправляться на Дальний Восток, соответственно, сократятся объемы поставок через северо-запад. При смене маршрута увеличение оборота парка ожидается в пределах 50—60%. Мы постоянно отслеживаем рыночные тенденции, и если увидим, что есть такой потенциал, конечно, мы примем все меры для того, чтобы отработать и выполнить заявки клиентов. Роман Воронцов Родился в 1978 г. В 2006 г. окончил Петербургский государственный университет путей сообщения по специальности Организация перевозок и управление на транспорте (железнодорожном). В 1995—2002 гг. — дежурный по станции Балтийская Октябрьской железной дороги. В 2002—2016 гг. — начальник отдела организации перевозок, а затем заместитель генерального директора по внутрироссийским перевозкам компании РВД-Сервис. В 2016—2022 гг. — работал на руководящих должностях в операторских компаниях группы Рустранском. С 1 марта 2022 г. по настоящее время — генеральный директор компании ЛП Транс. ЛП Транс Железнодорожный оператор по перевозке промышленно-сырьевых и минерально-химических насыпных грузов в вагонах-хопперах. Входит в структуру Деметра-Холдинга. В 2023 г. компания перевезла более 13,3 млн т различных грузов. В управлении компании находятся около 20 тыс. вагонов-хопперов, в том числе 18,7 тыс. минераловозов и 1,3 тыс. цементовозов. Константин Мозговой Вы можете присылать комментарии по адресу или запросить дополнительную информацию feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Группа Argus Media . Все права защищены.

South Korea to invest $309bn in green finance by 2030

24/12/24

South Korea to invest $309bn in green finance by 2030

Singapore, 24 December (Argus) — South Korea plans to invest 450 trillion won ($309bn) in green finance by 2030, acting president and prime minister Han Duck-soo said on 23 December. The country is also "actively encouraging private investment by upgrading the Korean Green Taxonomy system", Han added. The taxonomy is technical legislation that classifies the industrial carbon and environmental footprint for investors. It aims to promote green finance and prevent ‘greenwashing', with the aim of achieving a sustainable circular economy. The most important issue for the industrial sector, which accounts for about 36pc of domestic emissions, is to transition to carbon neutrality, Han said. South Korea has an "export-driven economic structure with high external dependence", he said, which means international carbon barriers will significantly affect South Korea. This makes decarbonisation key to maintaining competitiveness, he added. South Korea is also responding to the climate crisis through technological innovation. The country's science ministry last week unveiled plans to invest almost W2.75 trillion to develop technology to respond to climate change in 2025. By Tng Yong Li Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Viewpoint: Low-carbon fuel battles tumble into 2025

24/12/23

Viewpoint: Low-carbon fuel battles tumble into 2025

Houston, 23 December (Argus) — Fights over North America's largest low-carbon fuel mandates will tumble into 2025, long after a contentious year spent updating the program. California's minority Republican lawmakers have seized upon fears that new, tougher targets approved in November to the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) could hike today's pump prices by 15pc. Environmental opponents have sued the California Air Resource's Board (CARB) alleging regulators ignored shortcomings to push through those amendments. And fuel suppliers, meanwhile, continue to grapple with new demands on feedstock selection, certification and other decisions that will begin to tighten by the end of this decade. LCFS programs require yearly reductions in transportation fuel carbon intensity. Higher-carbon fuels including petroleum diesel and gasoline incur deficits for exceeding annual targets. Suppliers must offset these deficits with credits generated from distributing approved, lower-carbon alternatives to the state. California operates the oldest and largest among five operating programs on the continent. The program helped drive a surge in US renewable diesel production capacity that earlier this year cut petroleum's share to less than a quarter of the liquid diesel used in the state. Credit trade representing each metric tonne (t) of carbon reduction drives the incentives for renewable diesel, captured dairy methane or electric vehicle charging capacity used in California transportation. Credits peaked at $219/t in February 2020, equivalent to roughly $267.10/t in today's dollars. But spot credits have languished below $100/t since late 2022. Prices buckled under the growing weight of more than 30mn t of extra credits available for future compliance — enough to satisfy all the deficits generated in 2023 a second time, with another 30pc leftover. CARB staff estimated that the targets board members approved in November would reduce that reserve by more than 8mn t, or less than a third. Fuel producers warned that carbon reduction could stagnate under the smothering imbalance of new credits. Staff dismissed outside estimates of 65¢/USG increases to gasoline prices attributed to the tough new program targets, but declined to offer a competing cost estimate. Spot credit prices would need to more than triple to $250/t next year to hit gasoline prices that hard at the pump, based on Argus analysis. Pump prices make good politics Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has for two years sought and received state tools to scrutinize oil company profits on California fuel sales. Now a California state senate Republican bill would repeal the new targets and other newly adopted changes intended to restore incentives under the program. A state assembly bill would require any CARB new rulemaking or standard to undergo a cost analysis by the state's Legislative Analyst Office, a nonpartisan office that performs such reviews of legislative proposals. These Republican measures face a likely impossible climb through Democratic supermajorities in both chambers. But lawmakers noted the potency of fuel price complaints. A legislative session — framed in defiance of a new federal administration hostile to their climate efforts — opened with leaders acknowledging the need to balance costs. "California has always led the way on climate change and we will continue to lead on climate," speaker Robert Rivas (D) said on 2 December. "But not on the backs of poor and working people. Not with taxes or fees for programs that don't work." Similar battles have already spilled out of the state. British Columbia voters in October narrowly denied conservatives a majority on a platform that included ending the province's aggressive LCFS. National conservatives targeted Canada's carbon taxes in a campaign against Premier Justin Trudeau's wobbling government ahead of elections next year. As regulators update programs to drive ambitious transportation changes, voters will become more aware of where the changes are heading. By Elliott Blackburn Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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