Forcing German industry and energy companies to buy permits for their greenhouse gas emissions from 2013 at auction will drive up energy prices and burden power customers, energy users’ group VIK said on Tuesday.

VIK put the possible cost to German industry of auctioning permits to emit carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, at well over 100 billion euros ($155.8 billion) in the years between 2012 and 2020.

“There will not be one more tonne of CO2 emissions saved through such an auction,” it said in a statement. “But power prices would be rising further for consumers.”

The EU wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent in 2020 from 1990 levels to help arrest global warming. As part of that goal, it decided in January it wants energy companies to get fewer CO2 emissions permits than in the past from 2013 and to buy them all instead of receiving most of them for free as in 2005-2007.

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Posted: 04|29|08 at 3:43 pm. Filed under: Auction News.