Europe's first auction of carbon dioxide permits took place yesterday, with the UK government reaping about £54m (€64m, $81m) from sales of 4m allowances to emit carbon under the European Union's emissions trading scheme.

The permits fetched £13.60 per tonne in an auction that was four times oversubscribed. Electricity producers were expected to be the main buyers, as they had their free allocation of permits cut by 30 per cent in the current phase of the EU scheme, which runs from 2008 to 2012.