Carbon Credits Turning 'Junk' as Ban Shuts Door: Energy Markets

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Investors are rushing to sell emission credits before they become almost worthless in 2013, pushing prices to a record low.

A United Nations program that encourages reductions in greenhouse gases awarded almost twice as many credits this year as in 2010 for projects that destroy industrial gases known as hydrofluorocarbon-23 and nitrous oxide, according to UN data compiled by Bloomberg. With Europe set to stop recognizing some credits in little more than a year, investors are "racing to beat" the ban, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.