The index stood at 2.39 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of oil in 1990.
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For instance, it uses half as much energy again per tonne of steel produced as does Japan.
Close to 20 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide would be about right to ensure the environment gains.
That in other areas might vary one way or the other, to higher or lower costs per tonne not emitted.
However, to be fair, it is difficult to predict right now whether increased shipments will offset the impact of lower revenue per tonne realization.
The biggest polluters will be paying the fixed price per tonne of CO2 until 2015, when a market-based trading scheme is expected to be introduced.
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The EU's gradual cut in its import tariff on bananas from Latin America, from 176 per tonne, to 114 in 2017 will make Latin American bananas more competitive.
Failure to comply at that stage will land the airlines with penalties of 100 euros per tonne of CO2 emitted, and a ban from EU airspace if they refuse to pay.
The European Commission is reforming its system of sugar subsidies and quotas and from next year, the price will start to fall and by 2008, the price will be 422 euro per tonne.
But you say that even a moderate carbon tax would not make nuclear power competitive, noting that the price of permits in Europe's emissions-trading scheme implies a social cost of carbon dioxide of euro20 per tonne.
Anything which costs more than this per tonne CO2 not emitted reduces the total resources available to us to do other things: vaccinate the poor, clothe the naked, roll as Scrooge McDuck in vaults of gold coins.
Although the process to produce ethanol from switchgrass was more complex than using food crops such as wheat or corn, the so-called "second generation" biofuel could produce much higher energy yields per tonne because it utilised the whole plant rather than just the seeds.
There is the further issue of the quality of coal, since the majority of the world reserve is of lower thermal quality than the top-grade anthracitic coal, and will yield less energy per tonne either burned directly or in the form of syngas in ICGC plants.
Using this system, crop yields go up dramatically, from one tonne to four tonnes of maize per hectare in a good year, and from zero to a tonne in a drought.
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