EU lays out 2006 emissions data release plan

By Jeff Mason

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission laid out plans on Friday for the rapid release of market-sensitive 2006 carbon emissions data in an attempt to avoid the haphazard process that contributed to a carbon price crash last year.

The release of 2005 emissions data last May led to a steep fall in prices for permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) after it showed that governments had given industry more allowances to emit than needed.

This year the Commission wants to release as much data as possible at the same time rather than having EU member states publish their statistics separately and on different days.

Last year data trickled out from EU governments ahead of the Commission's release, creating confusion in the market.

The Commission has not announced a date for the release of the figures, but an EU source said the data was likely to be published next week.

Installations such as power plants and oil refineries that are involved in the emissions trading scheme are required to submit their emissions data by March 31.

The scheme is the 27-nation European Union's key tool to fight global warming and meet commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. It sets limits on the amount of CO2 that big factories may emit and allows them to trade permits if they overshoot or come in below their caps.

Once 80 percent of the 2006 verified emissions data has been submitted by the factories involved in the scheme to a transaction log, it will be made available to the market, the Commission's environment directorate said on its web site.