Carbon prices to average $26/ton in U.S. initially

The carbon emissions trading system to be set up under the proposed American Power Act (APA) in the United States would exchange allowances at an average price of $26 USD per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) over the period from 2013 to 2020, according to a preliminary analysis of APA by Point Carbon (Copenhagen, Denmark). APA, a discussion draft of which was introduced in the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2010 would create a hybrid system to curtail greenhouse gases in the United States, with the electric power, industrial, and commercial sectors participating in a cap-and-trade program while the transportation sector—chiefly the petroleum industry—would pay a quarterly fee pegged to market prices for allowances, Point Carbon said. The volume of allowances capped would be 2.5 billion tons of CO2e in 2013 when only the power sector is covered, increasing to approximately 4 billion tons in 2016.