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Lithuania to sell 50 mln tonnes of carbon credit
VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania wants to sell 50 million tonnes of emission rights from its 2008-2012 period quota, the Lithuania environment ministry said on Monday
Countries comfortably below their greenhouse gas targets quotas under the Kyoto Protocol can sell excess emission rights to other countries or companies in the form of credits called Assigned Amount Units (AAUs).
"Lithuania wants to sell 50 million AAUs, and we want to do that as soon as possible," Laura Dzelzyte, spokeswoman for the Environment ministry, told Reuters.
"We have signed protocols of intent with several countries, and we hope to close the deals by year-end," she added.
Lithuania was allocated 221.3 million tonnes of emission rights for the whole period of 2008-2012.
The ministry had earlier estimated Lithuania's emission volumes would increase to 31-37 million tonnes next year from an estimated 24-27 million tonnes in 2009 after the country shuts down its Soviet-era Ignalina nuclear power plant at end of this year.
Its total emission requirements would be 142-161 million tonnes for the 2008-2012 period, allowing it to sell the excess.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis)
