Environmental Leader

Trading of carbon permits under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative rose 42 percent in the most recent trading session.

More than 40.612 million allowances were auctioned March 10, up from 28.591 million allowances sold Dec. 2.

This, the seventh such auction, brought a price of $2.07 for permits and $1.86 for futures. That compares to $2.05 for permits and $1.86 for futures in December, which was about 6 percent lower than the September auction, which netted $2.19 per ton.

In the June 2009 auction, the average price was $3.23 per allowance.

Each permit represents a metric ton of emissions.

To date, the auction has generated $582.38 million in proceeds. Ten states – Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont – participate in the auction.

The slight gain in prices brought relief to carbon traders, reports Reuters.

In other emissions trading news, carbon exchange operator the Climate Exchange has showed its first pretax profit, reports Reuters.

Climate Exchange made $3.3 million in 2009, whereas in 2008 it posted a loss of more than $3 million.