Isra-Mart srl : Verified 2010 EU ETS CO2 emissions rise by over 3%: EC

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Carbon dioxide emissions regulated by the EU Emissions Trading System increased by just over 3% in 2010 from the previous year, according to aggregated figures released Tuesday by the European Commission.

The EC said the 3% hike meant that verified CO2 emissions in 2010 remained well below pre-economic crisis levels.

The figures show that total CO2 emissions from roughly 12,000 industrial facilities in 2010 stood at 1.932 billion mt, up from 1.873 billion mt in 2009 when emissions crashed by 11.6% amid a severe economic contraction.

The scheme regulates CO2 emissions from power plants, steel and cement making plants and other industrial facilities in Europe.

"The emissions increase in 2010 reflects the economic recovery, but even after the economy coming back to normal, the EU ETS emissions remain well below the cap for the 2008-2012 trading period," said EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard in a statement Tuesday.

"The figures also show that some industrial sectors continue to build up a surplus of allowances to be traded in the third trading period starting in 2013," she said.

"This highlights the flexibility that emissions trading offers to businesses and also confirms that more can be done to reduce emissions in the next phase at a reasonable economic cost," said Hedegaard.

The 3% rise in 2010 was in line with analyst expectations, and confirms a Platts projection on April 15 showing that 2010 emissions would rise by 3.1% from the previous year, based on a plant-by-plant analysis of partial CO2 figures released by the EC on that date.

The EC said the level of compliance was high in 2010, with only 2% of installations failing to surrender allowances to cover their 2010 emissions by an April 30 deadline.

The EU ETS covers the 27 EU member states, plus Norway and Liechtenstein.

Cyprus had not reported its verified emissions to the EC as of Tuesday.

The country's allocation of carbon allowances in 2010 was 5.37 million mt.