In a first-of-its-kind deal, Mexico is set to benefit from an Australian carbon tax that has an Australian energy prepared to distribute 45 energy efficient lightbulbs to Mexican households.
Australian project developer Cool nrg International will likely secure a climate finance agreement with Mexico that will allow the Latin American country to distribute energy efficient lightbulbs to its population, while also creating a trust to promote energy efficient in Mexico.
Cool nrg International plans to roll the bulbs into credits to sell to Australian polluters and Mexico will earn a royalty to help the country reduce emissions.
The carbon tax legislation will affect Mexico’s biggest polluters beginning in July 2012, with plans to transition into a carbon trading program in 2015, which will allow polluters to buy carbon offsets from project overseas.
This project with Cool nrg, which was helped along by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is expected to save 33,000 gigawatt hours of energy, which is about a third of Mexico City’s auto emissions.
The royalty agreement would give Mexico a share of the profits from the credits. For every ton of CO2 saved, a credit will be generated, and Cool nrg and Merrill Lynch will sell those credits to companies in wealthy nations.
