y (DEWA), the monopoly power and water utility in the emirate of Dubai, is seeking projects that could yield a lucrative supply of carbon credits for trading on European markets. It said today it had received nine "quite interesting" offers from international, regional and local companies for projects to reduce DEWA's carbon emissions. "The initial evaluation of the offers resulted in DEWA entering into negotiations with some of these companies. This bids offered a variety of potential opportunities for DEWA; it is foreseen to invite some of those other companies for further discussions," , the utility's chief executive. He did not elaborate on the nature of the proposals. In October, DEWA issued an open call for bids on projects eligible for registration with the Kyoto Protocol's , which enables companies pursuing emissions-reduction projects in developing countries to acquire tradable carbon credits. This provides a potential financial offset to the companies' investments and a means for such projects to generate profits. The Dubai utility does not stand alone in its quest for carbon credits. Its Abu Dhabi counterpart, the , as well as the Abu Dhabi government-owned clean energy company , are also looking to the Clean Development Mechanism to make going green pay off. But as my colleague , the credits trail is littered with project-choking red tape. Bert Kleinveld, the director of special projects at DEWA, said the utility's credits were expected to come from reductions in carbon emissions from DEWA's existing operations, as well as its involvement in Dubai's "green building" initiative and future waste-to-energy and solar developments. "We are looking at all projects across DEWA's divisions from customer service, generation, transmission and distribution where we can reduce emission," he recently told . DEWA has not disclosed how much carbon dioxide it spews into the atmosphere from facilities such as power stations and water desalination plants fueled by natural gas or, increasingly, oil. The in 2008 published a study based on 2005 data that found the UAE had the world's biggest per capita carbon footprint. The country's well developed energy, real estate and construction sectors contributed significantly to that finding. A list of companies that submitted proposals to DEWA follows: - the Abu Dhabi government's flagship clean energy company; - a Paris-based bank with a sustainable development agenda; - a trading house specialising in international wholesale energy markets; - an international carbon asset management company; - an Australian financial services group; - one of Germany's biggest utilities; - the energy and commodities trading arm of ; - the carbon-trading unit of ; - an international energy trading company.