EU carbon market brings windfall profits for polluting firms

Europe's most polluting electricity generators are set to reap another round of windfall profits from the carbon trading scheme meant to curb their carbon emissions, a report from green group WWF revealed this week.
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Windfall profits are generated when power firms benefit from　electricity prices reflecting the cost of carbon emissions while
receiving the bulk of their carbon emission allowances for free under　National Allocation Plans.
The study, commissioned by WWF from carbon market analysts Point　Carbon, estimates that the windfall to electricity generators in the
UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland over the current five-year-phase　of the EU Emissions Trading System could be between 23 and 71 billion　euros (US$36 – 111 billion).
Coal-fired power stations account for 20% of the EU’s total carbon　dioxide emissions. There are plans to construct 40 major new coal
fired power stations in Europe in the next five years.

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