OPIS Blog

October 3, 2024
Carbon

Navigating Carbon Removals, Biodiversity, and Compliance Markets: Insights from Climate Week NYC 2024

Climate and carbon market experts, as well as OPIS thought leaders, hopped across events and soaked in knowledge at Climate...

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September 17, 2024
Carbon

Navigating the Green Seas: The Future of Maritime Transport Under EU ETS

The maritime industry, often considered the backbone of global trade, is now navigating uncharted waters as it faces mounting pressure...

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September 9, 2024
Carbon

Voluntary Carbon Market Faces Messy Integration with Article 6 of Paris Agreement

In an ideal world, both the voluntary carbon market and the signatories of the Paris Agreement would pull together toward...

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June 27, 2024
Carbon

Deciphering Oversupply: Asia Pacific Emissions Markets and Policy Perspectives

Carbon costs in Asia Pacific countries have remained subdued due to the generous allocation of free allowances, ultimately limiting the...

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April 12, 2024
Carbon

Analysis: Higher Chances of UK-EU Carbon Markets Linkage Under Labour Government

The benchmark European Union carbon emissions allowance has traded at a premium to its British counterpart for over a year,...

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April 11, 2024
Carbon

High Costs, Geopolitical Risks Impede Blue Carbon Removal Projects

Demand for voluntary blue carbon credits from companies seeking to fulfill net zero pledges has surged in recent years, but...

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March 15, 2024
Carbon, Renewables

Voluntary Carbon Markets Stakeholders Play Hot Potato With Market Risk

With the integrity of carbon offsetting under fire, buyers are looking to lock down the forward delivery of high-quality credits...

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March 6, 2024
Carbon

In Opaque REDD+ Markets, Identical Credits Can Fetch Diverse Prices

Buyers and sellers of voluntary carbon credits have, in recent months, begun to value offsets issued from the same projects...

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January 31, 2024
Carbon

Nature-based Carbon Removal Credits: Slow Growth Expected Despite Record Demand

Nature-based carbon removals projects can create valuable credits that command price premiums over avoidance and reduction credits. But they are...

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January 3, 2024
Carbon

North American Carbon Markets Start 2024 on Bullish Note

Many of the fundamentals that drove North American compliance carbon market prices to record highs in 2023 — including formal...

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December 28, 2023
Carbon

UK May Change Law to End Free Carbon Allowances Loophole

The British government is considering introducing legislation to close a loophole in its Emissions Trading System, which has resulted in...

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December 14, 2023
Carbon

Report From COP28 – How Climate Change Is Transforming Business

Hear observations from the scene at COP28 on how climate change and the energy transition are transforming companies. McCloskey analyst...

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November 3, 2023
Carbon

NGOs Push For Free EUAs to Cover Scrap in Steel and Clinker-less Cement Production

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are pushing for operators in the European Union who use scrap metal in steel production and clinker...

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October 3, 2023
Carbon

CBAM 101: The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism Explained

Starting Oct. 1, 2023, importers of downstream products including iron, steel, aluminum, electricity, fertilizers, cement and hydrogen into the European...

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September 29, 2023
Carbon

CapCO2 Solutions CEO Extols Virtues of Green Methanol

Carbon capture and sequestration technology has been heralded by some as a savior for the US ethanol industry, but CapCO2...

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September 13, 2023
Carbon

Six Idle EU Cement Plants Received $95 Million in Surplus Free EUAs

Six European Union-based plants operated by five cement industry giants — Holcim Group, CEMEX, Buzzi Unicem, Votorantim Cimentos and Cementos...

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July 28, 2023
Carbon

CreditNature Interview: Nature Markets Require Pioneer Buyers to Grow

Nature markets are still in their infancy, but the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed by almost 200 nations at COP15...

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July 12, 2023
Carbon

UK Carbon Market Amply Supplied Despite Reform Cutting Allowances

The British government announced amendments to its emissions trading system (UK ETS) on July 3, 2023, that would cut the...

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June 22, 2023
Carbon

Three Idle UK, French Plants Allocated $127 Million in Free Carbon Permits

Three European facilities operated by Saudi Arabian chemical giant SABIC, U.K. conglomerate INEOS and French oil major TotalEnergies received a...

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June 14, 2023
Carbon, Rack Market

Cap and Trade Costs at the Rack: The Basics for Fuel Buyers

“Cap and trade” is a regulation designed to reduce greenhouse gases by setting a firm limit – or cap – on...

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June 1, 2023
Carbon

REDD+ Project Hedges Against Drought and Weakening Carbon Markets

Despite criticisms of REDD+ projects and a decline in related carbon credit prices this year, offsets issued by the Kasigau...

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May 18, 2023
Carbon

Washington Cap-and-Invest: After Splashy Debut, What’s Next? 

Washington’s highly anticipated Cap-and-Invest Program is well underway and building momentum as the state’s carbon emitters gain clarity on market...

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May 2, 2023
Carbon, Renewables

Unprecedented Focus on Biodiversity Spurring Nature Credit Markets

Celebrations, tens of thousands of church bells ringing across the land and a riot of color will mark King Charles...

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April 27, 2023
Carbon, Spot Market

Charting Growth in Carbon Markets Across the Asia Pacific

Carbon markets are increasingly being seen by countries in the Asia Pacific as a tool to reach decarbonization goals, and...

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April 24, 2023
Carbon

With Proceeds from Carbon Offset Credit Sales, Marungu Votes for Shade

Residents of Marungu voted on April 20 that the money allotted to them from the sale of carbon offset credits...

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November 21, 2022
California, Carbon

California’s LCFS: Just How Much Stronger Will the New Targets Be?

Prices for credits under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) have been a sad story in 2022.

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September 26, 2022
Carbon

$2 Billion Global Voluntary Market Leaves Europe in its Wake

The global voluntary carbon market (VCM) is soaring after hitting a transaction value of nearly $2 billion in 2021, while...

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August 31, 2022
Carbon

European Energy Crunch Support Carbon Prices Despite Economic Woes

A black sea of troubles is menacing Europe’s economies, as the continent stares down the barrel of a harsh winter...

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June 30, 2022
Carbon

OPIS Launches Nature-Based Carbon Removals Assessments

Global climate project proponents are riding a wave of demand for nature-based solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere as...

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April 21, 2022
Carbon

‘Huge Momentum’ is Underway for Blue Carbon

Part two of a two-part series on blue carbon. Read part one: Blue Carbon Pioneer Says Mangrove Tree Is the...

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April 20, 2022
Carbon

Blue Carbon Pioneer Says Mangrove Tree Is the ‘Best Climate Machine’

Part one of a two-part series on blue carbon. Read part two: ‘Huge Momentum’ is Underway for Blue Carbon  Arne...

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April 14, 2022
Carbon

OPIS Carbon Neutral Fuels Index Reveals Suppliers’ Cost to Offset Emissions

From extraction to distribution, the pressure is on for the oil and gas industry to cut carbon emissions, and corporate...

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February 10, 2022
Carbon

Price Transparency and Voluntary Carbon Market Growth

Carbon offsets are quickly becoming a key strategy for companies and nations to meet their climate change initiatives. The voluntary...

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October 1, 2021
Carbon, Spot Market

ANALYSIS: U.K.’s Much-Awaited Hydrogen Strategy May Unlock GBP4 Billion Investment

The U.K. government aims to attract private investment of 4 billion British pounds sterling ($5.51 billion) in blue and green...

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September 23, 2021
Bunker fuel, Carbon, IMO 2020, Shipping, Spot Market

Shippers Eye Methanol Fuel as Means to Decarbonize Global Fleet

In 2013, the Vancouver, Canada-based Waterfront Shipping Company introduced seven of the world’s first ocean-going vessels built with Germany’s MAN...

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August 26, 2021
Carbon

REDD+, CORSIA and California Carbon Offsets — Understanding the Differences

The commitment to carbon neutrality continues to grow as corporations and jurisdictions chart a course for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions....

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August 12, 2021
Carbon

All Eyes on Article 6 and CDM Ahead of UN Climate Summit

As the United Nations prepares to host the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, in November, one question...

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July 29, 2021
Carbon

OPIS Provides Carbon Offsets Price Transparency During VCM Evolution

In a world demanding climate action, the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has become an oasis for an ever-growing roster of...

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July 12, 2021
Carbon, Spot Market

INSIGHT: German Refineries Kick Off Complex Green Hydrogen Switch

In July, Royal Dutch Shell’s Rhineland complex will become the first refinery to operate an electrolyzer plant in Germany, ushering...

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July 7, 2021
Bunker fuel, Carbon, IMO 2020, Shipping, Spot Market

Zero-Carbon Fuels Set to Transform the Future of Shipping

In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that internationally regulates shipping, adopted an...

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April 21, 2021
Carbon

How the Voluntary Carbon Market is Expected to Help Save the Earth

In a quest to reach the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, world leaders are making...

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April 16, 2021
Carbon

EU Gears Up for Carbon Border Adjustment Fight

The European Union is squaring up for a major battle in 2021, proposing a carbon border adjustment mechanism that risks...

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May 4, 2020
Carbon, Renewables

Carbon Credit Costs for California Gasoline & Diesel: A Heads Up for U.S. Suppliers

It’s no secret that California is routinely the most expensive place to buy gasoline in the continental U.S.

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June 17, 2019
Carbon, Renewables, RINs

Could the RFS Move Toward a Low Carbon Program Like LCFS?

The idea of revising the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to operate more like the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) appears to...

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May 20, 2019
Carbon, Gas & Diesel, Rack Market, Retail Market, Spot Market

The California Gasoline Price Rally: What Happened, What’s Next

March and April 2019 were challenging months for California gasoline prices, with retail prices cresting $4/gal.  OPIS’ Lisa Street and...

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February 19, 2019
Carbon, Ethanol, Renewables

2019 Ethanol Price and Carbon Credit Market Preview

It was a tumultuous year in the renewable fuel and carbon credit markets. 

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December 3, 2018
Carbon, Spot Market

Carbon Credits: Paying the Pollution Price

Did you know there was a carbon market, setting the price for a chunk of polluted air?

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February 12, 2018
Carbon, Spot Market

Cap and Trade History For Fuel Markets

Leaders across the globe are racing to enact a greenhouse-gas reduction scheme that dates back to when the price of...

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