A delightful bit of news which bring tears……of laughter to me……….as it confronts the total ineptitude of the EU's grandiose plans to save the planet. The recession aside and its effect on our economy, this really did make me laugh at the total irony of the whole business of carbon trading.

European factories, are cashing in this year on an unexpected benefit from wilting output, selling surplus carbon emissions permits worth about 1 billions Euro’s to raise funds on the carbon market…..what’s that you ask, well it’s where the “warmists” have managed to convince major industry to offset their carbon emissions by selling carbon credits and it works like this……….

The recession in Europe has dragged down industrial output so fast that it has dropped well below the EU’s calculated level of activity, and…wait……for it, therefore CO2 production! This has left many firms with a massive surplus of permits. Particularly flush are the steel and cement makers. Hurrah!!

Thus, in a canny but entirely unpredicted (by the EU) wheeze, these firms are selling off their surplus credits, and making a tidy euro profit into the bargain. Balance sheet repair here we come! In so doing, they are depressing the price of “carbon” and completely defeating the whole object of the EU's scheme! Brilliant!

"This was not designed as a scheme to give corporates cheap short-term funding options in the face of a credit crunch meltdown where banks are not lending," said Mark Lewis, Deutsche Bank carbon analyst. "But that appears to be what's happening."

You don't say…..good to know capitalism is alive and well in the EU Mark….

What was supposed to happen was that the number of credits issues was supposed to be less than actually needed, driving up the price and thus forcing companies to look for alternative technologies and strategies, in order to reduce the burden of paying for "carbon" which would reduce CO2 emissions and therefore save the Polar Bears……...

Carbon prices, could possibly collapse altogether some predict, they have dropped in the region of over 80% from their peak last summer.

Like everything else the EU touches in the real world, this has thus turned out to be disaster. Nothing the EU ever does actually works (bureaucracy aside), and the sooner this is realised, the better, shame the Irish didn’t get it second time round Alas……but, at least the low price should expose carbon trading (if any commentators pick up on it) for the farce it is and allow some companies to keep afloat.

The other joy is that those who have invested in carbon credits have been well and truly burned…..”geddit” couldn’t resist the pun sorry…. J

The credits are one of the worst investments so far in 2009, falling more than almost any other energy commodity or index of global stocks.

Makes you wonder.....is there a God in heaven…?