$40 Million Raised in First US Carbon Credit Auction Fueling Investments in Solar Energy

The United States just had it's first cap-and-trade greenhouse-gas auction which raised nearly $40 Million dollars. This money in turn will be used to fund reduction or avoidance of CO2 in end-use energy efficiency in the building sector using solar (among other technologies).

Auctions like this one have been scheduled to occur quarterly and are being fed by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which requires all fossil fuel-burning power plants in a 10-state Northeaster US region to buy credits to offset the carbon they emit. This first auction is part of a series that is being used to model a national program which is still under development. Participating states include: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Programs like this foster innovation in solar technology as solar panels in new and existing buildings would provide energy, long term cost savings, reduced greenhouse gases, as well as carbon credit which is earned in the auction. This additional source of fiat value created by the carbon credit system trickles back down to R&D being done as solar technologies expand into building technologies.

The value demonstrated in this first cap-and-trade auction was $3.07 per alloted ton of emissions. This market driven price is up from the minimum set price of $1.86. Most of the bidders in this premier auction were power generating companies who burn coal or natural gas to generate electricity.