Here’s more clear evidence that the Carbon Trading industry is doomed. Not only has carbon trading been halted in the USA due to lack of a market and ludicrously low prices of a nickel per ton, now it has been learned that in Denmark, more than 7 billion dollars has been lost due to the faulty system. Next step, Nigerian email system.
From Lawrence Solomon at the Financial Post:
Scam artists from around the world, capitalizing on lax regulations at the Danish emissions trading registry, have made off with an estimated $7-billion over the last two years, according to Europol.
Denmark’s Office of the Auditor General is now investigating the fraud, which occurred after the Danish registry dropped requirements that carbon traders be documented. While allowing a free-for-all served the carbon market on the short term, by appearing to inflate the interest in carbon as a commodity, it ultimately backfired when much of the trading proved to be phony.
…
This story, greatly underreported, came to me via a Norwegian reader, Geir Hasnes, who has translated one of the few press reports to have appeared. His translation appears here.
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WUWT is happy to help get the word out, as are many of our readers with blogs.
Underreported because it was other people’s money?
Do I have this about right?: Someone posts a link on-line offering to sell or list folks who send money for carbon credits. So, having sent money to a person who takes the money and disappears – I, then, can feel good about driving my car (or making a product if I am a business). Isn’t this about what was supposed to happen? Send money, feel good!
Where’s the problem?
And the walls came tumbling down.
Is there any other area where you can loose 7 billion and be promoted to the 100 billion league? Children in a candy store.
New, improved, carbon trading scheme – with full validation & verification:
1. I (trading as CarbonSafe Inc) have several bags of coal and approx 1 tonne of hardwood logs.
2. To offset your carbon simply send money and I personally guarantee not to burn any of my stock.
3. In return I will send you a digitally-signed photo of me not burning your piece of coal / wood.
4. For an extra amount you can also name your lump of green credit (e.g. Susan) – Susan will then write to you each week telling you that she’s still alive and will send photo’s of herself with polar bears, in the Maldives, partying with the Goreacle and all his little minions whilst they dance on an image of common-sense and burn an effigy of a world-traitor (choices include Watts, Monckton & Dr Evil).
Anthony that has already been done. See this excerpt and link to an Email that Matt Briggs got:
http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=3117
I guess the free market is not perfect after all and regulations can be a good thing!
She is typical of the idiots running the EU. The European Court of Auditors continue to qualify the EU accounts because they don’t know where billions of Euros have gone.
“Greetings,
I, am a representative of the Kingdom of Goresi, Nigeria, our great King, Algoresi,has fallen afoul of some political enemies, and needs to quickly hide his money off shore!
We were in need of help from Americans who support his cause. Just E-mail
your bank account numbers,”
I do think the Profit has fallen on hard times…
Years ago we Brits would say, they will tax the air you breath next.
Why Carbon trading and offsetting hasn’t sounded more alarm bells with the media is clear, for example, take the BBC a public funded body (who aren’t allowed to advertise on their channels), But when “Carbon trading” was invented they started to advertise vigorously about “climate change” with images of polar bears falling from the sky, smashing into cars with the message being Co2 is Bad, global warming is melting the Ice & polar bears are dying.
Later it was found out; the BBC had invested millions of their employee’s pension funds in “carbon trading”. The way it appeared to me was, the BBC was using it’s influence to persuade the British public that carbon Tax & carbon trading had to be implemented immediately or the planet was doomed (do it now without thinking or without debate).
Another example is the multi-millionaire hot air balloonist who owns a fleet of passenger air craft & a large media group, who has invested heavily in carbon trading and is very vocal in climate change Issues, and who is very insistent on how carbon capture is very important to save the earth from CAGW.
Although we can respect Richard Bransons genius in business it is clear to see that there’s overwhelming evidence that he stood to make millions on a carbon trading scheme on the back of increased energy costs to the public with doom to fail and useless “carbon capture programs” that are uncountable to, but backed and funded by the public.
If Richard Branson and many others are serious about ‘greener’ Renewable Energy he should consider putting his money where his mouth is and back one of the many researchers, inventors & small business who are crying out for investment to develop and implement their Ideas & should stop trying build a business of the backs of the Tax-Payer, Take advantage of the free markets to invest and make profits.
Their are too many examples to mention of business men and organisations who stood to make a killing by promoting doom of our climate/environment.
RIP “Carbon trading and offsetting”.
How could something that trades an imaginary commodity be a scam?
But what other influences has this scam had? How many pension funds ‘invested’ in this? how much government money was used to set it up?, etc, etc.
What is really annoying – is that all of us will probably be affected in some way or other and the perps will get off scot-free.
“Ms Hedegaard Ms Hedegaard, KWUWT tv here, would you care to comment on the Danish carbon trading scam?”
CH- ” We will not be held accountable for the bad behaviour of others”
KWUWT ” $7 billion has been lost, do you take any responsibility?”
CH- “No it hasn’t been lost, there are people who know exactly where that money is. If you know where it is, it isn’t lost, EU directive 2003/S3C7A1M1”
WUWT- “Apparently a registered trader used a London car park as his address, any comment?”
CH- “It has been well established that there is nothing wrong with locating at a car park, there is no UHI effect and those who promote this myth are criminals who should be dealt with severely”
KWUWT- “Just one last question Ms Hedegaard, how are things going at Cancun”
CH- ” Oh very very well thankyou, we are reaching a consensus, it’s very exciting”
KWUWT- “Consensus?”
CH- “Oh yes, I’m wearing my gold bikini, Rajendra will wear his red budgie smugglers.” (look it up)
fred from the UK says:
December 7, 2010 at 8:39 am
Well it’s at least 16 years. They have been audited but the books are BS & no accountants will sign them off.
A company would have been forced into liquidation.
DaveE.
On a Ton basis, the 16.6 lbs bag of BBQ briquettes is worth $1459.71/Ton. At least with the briquettes I can get cook and get about 13,440 BTU/lb or 29.6352 mmBTU/Ton. With the cold winter coming, I guess I will choose the charcoal.
The 7 billion scam continues. An article yesterday in the Danish Ekstrabladet reveals that the Danish registry continues to add shadow banks (fictional banks) which are necessary for quick scam transactions.
All articles on the scam are to be found in Danish here:
http://ekstrabladet.dk/tema/klimafup/
Anthony, if you wish, I can translate the articles or the most interesting parts into English.
[Note: Please post comments directed to Anthony in Tips & Notes. ~dbs, mod.]
I hope it is doomed but they are working on implementing this from the states level hoping that it’ll grow into a national program. So far, it looks like they are winning:
http://www.wri.org/map/us-regional-cap-and-trade-programs
The carbon trading market is a $20 trillion dollar/year global market,
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ar0X_FWXo1ag&refer=energy
…I don’t see it going away especially when major banks have got carbon derivates (similar to subprime derivates) planned for it:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/06/could-cap-and-trade-cause-another-market-meltdown
And has anybody noticed that people who worked in major banks tend to get into environmental organizations?
Check out http://www.wri.org/about/board/ there’s probably 7 or so people listed that have worked in major banks and one a former member of the Federal Reserve. It also lists one member of SocialistInternational as well as somebody who worked on the Brundtland Commission, chaired by Gro Brundtland, a former VP at Socialist International.
http://www.socialistinternational.org/viewArticle.cfm?ArticleID=126&Search=brundtland
And a few days ago, I read that the Nature Conservancy is being run by a former Goldman Sachs Executive:
“One group that’s already changing its tune is the Nature Conservancy. It’s now run by a former Goldman Sachs executive, Mark Tercek, who says the Conservancy’s message is going to show that protecting the climate isn’t just about saving polar bears — it’s local.”
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/05/131780926/climate-groups-retool-argument-for-global-warming
Me thinks there’s something deeper here than mitigating global warming…
Haven’t seen the adverts for offsets when I book a flight lately.
Is the travel CO2 offset business dying as well?
Here in central PA, seen outside the local hardware store a few days ago, several pallets loaded with 40 pound plastic sacks of “low sulfur” anthracite coal. I seem to recall the price was somewhere around 8 to 9 dollars per bag.
That’s a lot more carbon for the money than those charcoal briquettes. Much better way to invest in sequestered carbon!
kramer says:
December 7, 2010 at 11:16 am
“And a few days ago, I read that the Nature Conservancy is being run by a former Goldman Sachs Executive:
“One group that’s already changing its tune is the Nature Conservancy. It’s now run by a former Goldman Sachs executive, Mark Tercek, who says the Conservancy’s message is going to show that protecting the climate isn’t just about saving polar bears — it’s local.”
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/05/131780926/climate-groups-retool-argument-for-global-warming
Me thinks there’s something deeper here than mitigating global warming…”
It gets better. Before this GS operative, another one was in charge… Hank Paulson, who managed to scare the stunned government into giving his bankster buddies hundreds of billions of dollars for the so-called TARP program. That had to be done immediately to save the world from ‘financial catastrophe’ if you recall… but then they used it for something else.
Paulson’s decision not to save Lehman Brothers was, by the way, the spark that started the fire that Hank the Fireman needed to put out. Convenient.
The Nature Conservancy is really just a huge real estate business funded by gullible idealists. Which is too bad since the basic concept makes sense.
The problem appears when the government makes it mandatory to be robbed like this every time you need an airline ticket. The Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg (Labour party) has recently announced that this will be mandatory from 1. Jan 2012 in Norway and EU.
Klimakvoter blir obligatorisk på flyreiser
(Climate Quotas become mandatory on flights from 1. jan 2012)
http://www.aftenbladet.no/innenriks/1288688/Klimakvoter_blir_obligatorisk_paa_flyreiser.html
Google translation into “English” here.
– Basically, it’s great with the purchase of voluntary carbon offsets, and I want the people to continue with it. But experience shows that the volume of sales is limited, “said Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Ap).
– Climate change fight is too important to leave it to voluntary efforts alone. Therefore, we need such legal fees like carbon offsets for air travel, ” continued Stoltenberg .
There is the problem for you.
David L says:
December 7, 2010 at 8:15 am
The going rate for a chord is more like $150.
David,
Are you referring to a ‘full cord’ of cut/split firewood… or a ‘face cord’? A full cord of firewood (US) measures 4 feet X 4 feet X 8 feet, stacked tight, and is typically comprised of 3 ‘face cords’. A ‘face cord’ of tight stacked firewood measures 16 inches (cut length) X 4 feet X 8 feet.
In general, firewood is priced based roughly on the BTU content of the wood (hardwoods have higher BTU content than soft woods), if it is cut to desired length and split, and how dry or ‘seasoned’ it is.
Where I live, a full cord of green cut cottonwood isn’t worth $100, but a full cord of cut, split, and seasoned apple wood or oak will fetch more than $400.
Yes – I get a lot of exercise and heat my home with environmentally friendly, renewable biofuels (aka ‘my wood pile’). I’m sooooooooo ‘green’! };>)
No I don’t drive a Prius. They really can’t haul much firewood… and their not very good for going ‘off road’ into the woodlots.
vboring says:
December 7, 2010 at 8:22 am
‘For the financial industry, stealing $7B is like taking all the pennies from the take-a-penny-give-a-penny tray.’
Quite. It’s just one year’s bonus for some of the bankers. Pah! Trifling small change for these gods of lucre.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/cable-puts-thumb-screws-on-the-tightfisted-banks-2108685.html
‘Bonus payments worth more than £7bn are expected to be paid out to the UK’s bankers this year.’
John F. Hultquist says:
December 7, 2010 at 9:10 am
Do I have this about right?: Someone posts a link on-line offering to sell or list folks who send money for carbon credits. So, having sent money to a person who takes the money and disappears – I, then, can feel good about driving my car (or making a product if I am a business). Isn’t this about what was supposed to happen? Send money, feel good!
Where’s the problem?
In the realm of folklore from several hundred years ago, there were people who were called “Sin-eaters” who would for the price of food and drink take away the sins of a dead person. Today we have “Carbon-eaters” who for the price of a few dollars will take away those nasty carbon emissions.