Focus on fuel but don't forget the carbon...

I find it to be no surprise that the European Union is carrying out an investigation in to possible price fixing on oil and biofuel benchmarks. Many have long held suspicions about how the price at the pump only ever seems to go in one direction yet news reports often detail drops in the per barrel price of oil and supposed gluts in the marketplace causing consternation for traders and oil producers alike.

Focusing on the data brings home the real issues and areas for concerns however...

The chart below, culled from data from DECC, illustrates the pricing trend for diesel and petrol at the pump in the UK (before duty is added) for the last 10 years. 

It’s pretty clear which direction it has been going since 2003 and every road user in the UK would likely agree. What is most disappointing is how this compares to the value of carbon as illustrated below, taken from the ICE EUA futures pricing up to December 2012. The primary tool to combat climate change left valueless and facing major crisis after crisis.

Yet providing a backdrop to this whole sorry affair are the latest atmospheric carbon findings from UC San Diego via their clear and powerful Keeling Curve project....

Lost amongst all of this gnashing of teeth and worry about insider trading and grubby profiteering is the fact that global carbon emissions continue to go in one direction and these numbers should be the only ones we are concerned about.