Quebec sold a third of its carbon allowances at $10.75 per metric ton at its first carbon auction held last week.
Of the 2.97 million greenhouse gas emission units for 2013 up for sale, 1 million units were sold. In addition, 1.7 million emission units for 2016 were sold.
The cap-and-trade auction generated more than $29 million in revenue, which minister of sustainable development, environment, wildlife and parks, Yves-François Blanchet, called “in line with expectations.”
Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst William Nelson, however, called the low-demand event a “surprisingly under-subscribed auction” and said “Quebec has done a pretty poor job of signaling the start of their cap-and-trade scheme,” Bloomberg News reports.
California and Quebec are scheduled to link their cap-and-trade programs Jan. 1, 2014 and hold a joint auction later in the year.
California companies paid about $297 million to release carbon emissions at the state’s most recent cap-and-trade auction, according to data published in late November.
The state’s fifth auction on Nov. 19 sold all 16.6 carbon allowances, with firms including Exxon Mobil and Dow Chemical paying $11.48 per allowance to release 1 metric ton of carbon as early as this year.
