Point Carbon analysts said that UK's plan to introduce a price floor for carbon emissions permits may harm business by introducing a £9.3 ($15) billion burden, but will likely cut emissions from the energy industry by 5.3 percent. The proposed floor will begin at £16 ($26) per metric ton in 2013 and rise to £30 ($49) per metric ton by 2030. However, according to Point Carbon, the price could rise to €54 ($78) per metric ton by 2020, while the rest of EU's Emissions Trading Scheme sees prices closer to €36 ($52). Under the proposed measure, fuel suppliers would be required to pay a "floor tax" regardless of any fluctuations in price set by the Emissions Trading Scheme. Supporters say that the measure will give suppliers certainty about the price of carbon in the future, and will drive investment in low carbon technology. Critics claim that it will raise the price of energy and result in windfalls of billions of pounds to existing nuclear power plants and wind farms. Fuel suppliers may face further taxes in the future if the European Commission's proposed tax on high carbon fuels goes ahead as planned. The proposal would apply to all member states, requiring a minimum of €20 per metric ton of carbon dioxide. "It is about ensuring that the way we tax things is providing the right incentives, and at least not providing the wrong incentives," said Connie Hedegaard, European commissioner for climate change. The measure would have no effect in places where existing taxes are higher than the minimum. Meanwhile, Australian officials said that a planned carbon tax would add only a fraction to the cost of production of steel and aluminum goods, but the country's largest steel manufacturer warned that it would cause the loss of thousands of jobs. For the full story on UK's price floor, see http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2043519/carbon-uk-carbon-floor-price-cut-emissions-cent and http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/us-carbon-floor-idUSTRE73D1JR20110414. For the story on EU's proposed tax, see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/13/fuel-tax-diesel-prices-europe. For Australia's carbon tax, see http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/13/us-australia-carbon-idUSTRE73C0T420110413.