Knowledge is power

The first year of European carbon trading came to a bumpy end in May. But now the market finally has hard data about emissions, the ride should get smoother. Oliver Holtaway reports

Europe's fledgling carbon market hit turbulence last month when, after its first year of trading, participating countries revealed whether they had enough carbon certificates to cover their physical emissions for the 2005 calendar year.

The surprise findings - that most countries had a surplus of certificates and did not need to come to the market to buy any more - sent the price of carbon plunging