Reuters cited Mr Miroslaw Kugiel CEO of Kompania Weglowa as saying that the European Union's largest coal miner Kompania Weglowa will sell carbon dioxide offsets to Japanese utility Chugoku Electric Power.

Mr Miroslaw Kugiel said that Kompania Weglowa will sell 944,000 tonnes of offsets, called Emissions Reduction Units over 3 years for about EUR 8 million. We are also interested in signing more such deals with our Japanese partner."

Under the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation scheme, companies can invest in emissions reductions in economies in transition and receive ERUs to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions.

Kompania Weglowa plans to capture and convert into energy the climate warming methane gas released from its coal mines.

Mr Tomohide Karita MD of Chugoku said that "Producing 65% of our energy from coal forces us to seek opportunities to buy emission permits and Kompania Weglowa is a natural partner for us."

Last week, a Polish deputy environment minister said that Poland's shortfall of emissions permits under the EU's emissions trading scheme may be a lower than expected 50 million tonnes between 2008 and 2012 due to lower energy demand as a result of the economic crisis.

(Sourced from Reuters)