Fourteen programs show CO2 trade taking off: World Bank

By Mathew Carr and Catherine Airlie
1 June 2012

New carbon programs in at least 14 emerging nations from China to Costa Rica show emissions trading may take off even as U.S. lawmakers focus on non-market-based regulations for climate protection, a World Bank official said.

Seven countries including Mexico and Indonesia are considering emissions-crediting systems, five mull domestic carbon markets while India and South Africa are studying their own plans, Xueman Wang, team leader for the bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness program, said in an interview.

“Brazil and Chile are leaving all options on the table,” she said May 30 at the Carbon Expo in Cologne, Germany.

Carbon trading rose 11 percent to $176 billion last year, the World Bank said in its annual report on May 30. Besides the European Union program, the world’s biggest by traded volume, developed nations and their states have started or plan at least eight greenhouse-gas markets from California to Japan. EU and United Nations carbon prices last month fell to records on robust supply and muted demand.

Developing and emerging nations including China, whose populations make up more than three-quarters of the world’s 7 billion population, are seeking to protect the climate cost- effectively, Wang said.

Emerging countries are choosing industries such as steel and housing, where emission credits can encourage carbon cuts, lowering the cost of climate protection, said Wang.

“These countries know there is very little demand for the time being,” she said. “Some want to fulfill a domestic climate objective. It’s quite an exciting time.”

Their push is being fueled in part by about $80 million under the bank’s readiness program known as PMR, which began in 2010. Japan this month decided to double its contribution to $15 million, Wang said.

Environmental and public health advocates pressed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants during a May 24 hearing on a proposal to limit carbon dioxide from new fossil fuel-fired units. Cap-and-trade legislation stalled in the U.S. Senate after narrowly passing the House of Representatives in 2009.

“The U.S. intransigence has not stopped emerging economies from valuing carbon in their own way,” James Cameron, chairman of Bunge Ltd. (BG)’s Climate Change Capital unit, said in an interview May 30. Cameron helped negotiate the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on behalf small-island states.

The other nations considering crediting are Costa Rica, Columbia, Morocco, Chile, Vietnam and Jordan, Wang said. Vietnam is considering handing out credits for reductions in industries including steel and solid waste and also to power users that boost energy efficiency, she said. The nations are moving ahead even as demand for the credits is unclear, she said.

South Korea, Ukraine, Brazil, Chile and China are considering domestic carbon trading, Wang said. South Korea is not part of the PMR. […]

Fourteen Programs Show CO2 Trade Taking Off: World Bank

Technorati Tags: carbon reduction,carbon market,global warming,climate change,carbon offset,carbon,carbon dioxide

Judge orders Washington state and regional air agencies to regulate climate change pollution from Big Oil

Posted by Elisabeth Keating on December 2, 2011 - 2:58pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : December 2, 2011

Challenge to reduce dangerous greenhouse gas emissions from WA oil refineries advances

Seattle, WA —A federal judge today ruled that the Washington Department of Ecology, Northwest Clean Air Agency, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency have unlawfully failed to regulate climate change pollution from the five oil refineries operating in Washington State. Washington Environmental Council and Sierra Club initiated the lawsuit in March of this year. The lawsuit claimed that state agencies have the duty to regulate climate change pollution from oil refineries because this pollution fits within the definition of “air contaminants” in Washington’s State Implementation Plan, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is enforceable under the federal Clean Air Act.

All five oil refineries in Washington are owned by big oil companies—BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell Oil, Tesoro and U.S. Oil. Collectively, these oil refineries are responsible for six to eight percent of total state-wide greenhouse gas emissions, primarily in the form of nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide. The oil refineries were represented in the lawsuit by the Western States Petroleum Association, which intervened in the litigation.

The conservation groups praised the decision by U.S. District Chief Judge Marsha J. Pechman, who ordered the state agencies to begin the regulatory process to begin controlling climate change pollution from the refineries. “We are heartened by this major step to address the serious air pollution and climate challenges our state faces now and in the near future. Oil refineries are the second-largest stationary source of dangerous climate change pollutants, and it is critical that they do everything they can to preserve the health and well-being of Washington communities.” said Becky Kelley of Washington Environmental Council. “We view this decision as a win for both the environment and the economy,” said Aaron Robins of the Sierra Club. “There are numerous options for reducing climate change pollution from oil refineries that can help protect our environment while making refining operations more efficient and creating new jobs.”

The lawsuit claimed that the state agencies had violated their obligation under Washington’s State Implementation Plan to determine and impose “reasonably available control technologies” on refineries to control climate change pollution. The Court agreed, holding that “Washington’s [State Implementation Plan] requires the Agencies to regulate GHGs.” “The Court affirmed that Washington has the authority and the obligation to address impacts from climate change pollution,” said Janette Brimmer, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Our state can no longer afford to have our regulators sit on their hands and wait for the federal government deal with the issue—it is time for our state regulators to follow the law and implement long-overdue measures to protect our climate ."

Earthjustice and the law firm of Ziontz, Chestnut, Varnell, Berley & Slonim represented the Sierra Club and Washington Environmental Council in the lawsuit. The decision from Judge Pechman is available at: http://wecprotects.org/issues-campaigns/climate-change/judges-order-in-oil-refineries-litigation/at_download/file

Contact:

Janette Brimmer, Earthjustice, (206) 343-7340 ext. 1029

Joshua Osborne-Klein, Ziontz, Chestnut, Varnell, Berley & Slonim, (206) 448-1230

Aaron Robins, Sierra Club Washington State Chapter, (425) 442-6726 Becky Kelley, Washington Environmental Council, (206) 631-2602

Judge Orders State and Regional Air Agencies to Regulate Climate Change Pollution From Big Oil

Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,oil production,carbon reduction,pollution,carbon dioxide

New data shows REDD+ is succeeding

Commentary by Doug Boucher, special to www.mongabay.com  
December 15, 2010

Guest commentary by Doug Boucher, director of the Tropical Forest and Climate Initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists

Amid the whirlwind of climate change news before and after the Cancún climate conference, including a landmark agreement on REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation, and related pro-forest actions), an important story seems to have passed by with little notice. Over the past two months, several new analyses have given clear evidence that deforestation has gone down over the past several years. In fact, the drop is quite impressive, and shows that of all the approaches to avoiding the worst consequences of global warming, reducing tropical deforestation is the one that has contributed by far the most to date.

The first analysis to come out, in October, was the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) for 2010. This compendium of data from all the countries on the planet is released every five years, and provides the broadest look at the state of the world’s forests. The new FRA data showed that tropical deforestation in the first decade of the 2000s was down 18% from the level of the 1990s, dropping from 11.33 million hectares per year in the 1990s to 9.34 million hectares per year in the 2000s. Furthermore, the rate dropped from the first 5 years of the decade to the second five years, principally due to a dramatic decline in Brazilian Amazon deforestation. The FRA 2010 data also showed that the rate of primary forest loss, not just total forest loss, has declined. …

New data shows REDD+ is succeeding

Technorati Tags: deforestation,rainforest,carbon market,carbon reduction,carbon accounting

Modern cargo ships slow to the speed of the sailing clippers

Container ships are taking longer to cross the oceans than the Cutty Sark did as owners adopt 'super-slow steaming' to cut back on fuel consumption

By John Vidal, The Observer
Sunday 25 July 2010

A combination of the recession and growing awareness in the shipping industry about climate change emissions encouraged many ship owners to adopt "slow steaming" to save fuel two years ago. This lowered speeds from the standard 25 knots to 20 knots, but many major companies have now taken this a stage further by adopting "super-slow steaming" at speeds of 12 knots (about 14mph).

Travel times between the US and China, or between Australia and Europe, are now comparable to those of the great age of sail in the 19th century. American clippers reached 14 to 17 knots in the 1850s, with the fastest recording speeds of 22 knots or more.

Maersk, the world's largest shipping line, with more than 600 ships, has adapted its giant marine diesel engines to travel at super-slow speeds without suffering damage. This reduces fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. It is believed that the company has saved more than £65m on fuel since it began its go-slow.

Ship engines are traditionally profligate and polluting. Designed to run at high speeds, they burn the cheapest "bunker" oil and are not subject to the same air quality rules as cars. In the boom before 2007, the Emma Maersk, one of the world's largest container ships, would burn around 300 tonnes of fuel a day, emitting as much as 1,000 tonnes of CO₂ a day – roughly as much as the 30 lowest emitting countries in the world.

Maersk spokesman Bo Cerup-Simonsen said: "The cost benefits are clear. When speed is reduced by 20%, fuel consumption is reduced by 40% per nautical mile. Slow steaming is here to stay. Its introduction has been the most important factor in reducing our CO₂ emissions in recent years, and we have not yet realised the full potential. Our goal is to reducing CO₂ emissions by 25%." …

Modern cargo ships slow to the speed of the sailing clippers

Technorati Tags: pollution,carbon dioxide,energy efficiency,carbon reduction

Economists hail EU emissions trading success

By James Murray, BusinessGreen, Monday 15 February 2010 at 13:24:00

Study challenges conventional view that the ETS has failed, hailing the scheme's profound impact on the European energy sector

The widespread view that the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) has failed to deliver expected reductions in emissions "cannot be sustained on the basis of the evidence", according to a major new study of the first phase of the scheme which hails the cap-and-trade initiative as successful and a "path-breaking" policy experiment.

The study, which has been published in a book titled Pricing Carbon, was undertaken by a group of European and US economists from University College Dublin, the Mission Climate of the Caisse des Dépôts, the International Energy Agency, the University of Paris-Dauphine, the Őko-Institut in Berlin, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It assesses the first phase of the EU ETS, which ran from 2005 to 2007 and was widely regarded as a failure due to an overallocation of emission allowances that resulted in a slump in the price of carbon.

However, the researchers estimated that despite the price of carbon falling to almost zero, the scheme still led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of between two and five per cent against business-as-usual scenarios, resulting in carbon savings of 120 million to 300 million tonnes during the three-year period.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, MIT's Denny Ellerman said the research showed the ETS has been a genuine success. "That's not to say it has not had problems, but it has put in place a system that has reduced emissions and has proven that a multinational cap-and-trade scheme can work," he explained.

The researchers said the ETS had also resulted in a "change of attitude and practice" among participating firms that has had a "profound impact" on the way they now make operational and investment decisions, adding that the scheme had gone from "a quixotic, and for some, dubious initiative" to being "an accepted fact and the centerpiece of European climate policy". …

Economists hail EU emissions trading success

Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,carbon dioxide,carbon market,carbon offset,carbon reduction

China, India, Brazil commit to meet Copenhagen Accord deadline

By Gaurav Singh

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- China, Brazil, South Africa and India will disclose the voluntary steps the countries will take to help reduce global warming by the Jan. 31 deadline set during negotiations in Copenhagen, India’s environment minister said after talks between the four nations in New Delhi yesterday.

The four will communicate their plans to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by the deadline this weekend, Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, said. He added the countries will work to build support for the global climate accord agreed in December.

Negotiators met in the Danish capital for two weeks of talks through Dec. 19 on curbing global warming. Debate stumbled on aid to developing countries, pollution-reduction goals and how to verify country pledges to cut emissions. Bolivia, Sudan and Venezuela were among countries that opposed the accord, which will serve as a framework for talks this year.

“The value of the Copenhagen Accord lies not as a stand- alone document but as an input into the two-track negotiating process under the UNFCCC, which will culminate in Mexico City in December 2010,” Ramesh said. He spoke at a briefing with Xie Zhenhua, China’s top climate negotiator, Brazil’s Environment Minister Carlos Minc and South Africa’s Buyelwa Sonjica.

Rich nations should ensure the early distribution of $10 billion pledged at Copenhagen for this year to address climate change in the least developed nations and island states, according to a joint statement issued after yesterday’s meeting between the so-called BASIC states.  …

Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,Copenhagen,carbon reduction,carbon dioxide,carbon footprint

Live-blogging Al Gore at Microsoft today

 

If the campus wifi permits, I’ll be live-blogging today’s presentation by Al Gore, starting at noon. Got my copy of An Inconvenient Truth for autographing, just in case.

11:29: Off to Building 33!

11:52: At Building 33, after some wifi fear, we seem to be up and running.

12:04: And we’re off.

12:05: Standing O – “I used to be the next President of the US!”

12:06: I am streaming Gore live at http://qik.com/galasyn

12:08: Mentions ocean acidification right out of the gate. Awesome.

12:12: I’m not in a favorable location for my Qik stream. :(

12:15: The new book is 99% about solutions.

12:17: Solar PV drives a new, distributed energy production system, similar to the internet for information.

12:18: Chapter Two is about wind. US wind production is expanding rapidly.

12:20: Geothermal is widely misunderstood. Now dominated by new drilling tech from the oil and gas industry.

12:21: Gore: The geothermal system for his house completely eliminated his nat. gas bill.

12:22: 35,000-year supply of energy in the US from enhanced geothermal.

12:23: Biofuels are controversial, but corn-based ethanol has been a disappointment. Competition with food prices is more perceived than real.

12:25: Nuclear and CCS have a limited benefit. Cost is prohibitive.

12:27: CCS carries a "burden of implausibility."

12:28: Gore used to represent oak Ridge, TN, where everybody is immune to radiation. "Homer sometimes makes mistakes."

12:29: Nuclear plants come in only one size: Extra large.

12:31: Gore sees nuclear weapons proliferation as a big drawback for nuke power.

12:32: We are burning and cutting and destroying so many of the forests, that 20% of CO2 emissions come from deforestation.

12:34: Industrial agriculture serves to decarbonize the soil.

12:35: Shout out to Bill and Melinda Gates, for funding a new global soil survey.

12:37: How many in this room had grandparents with five or six siblings? All hands go up. How many here have that many children? One. "Congratulations, sir."

12:38: Gore favors both a revenue-neutral carbon tax and cap-and-trade.

12:40: We have the capacity for multi-generational planning -- Medieval cathedrals, for example.

12:41: This is not a political issue. It is fundamentally a moral issue.

12:44: Q & A now: "Developing nations are following our bad development example. What can be done?" Gore answer: Developed nations must assist in "leap-frogging" to clean technologies.

12:45: China plants 2.5 times more trees than all the world together.

12:47: Steady stream of nonsense from one cable network in the US.

12:50: US in the only country where there's still doubt about climate science.

12:55: "What advice have you given Pres. Oama on climate change, and is he following it?" Gore laughs.

12:56: Praises Obama's and EPA's efforts so far. The US record on international negotiations has not been as stellar.

1:00: And now I’m trapped behind the book-signing line.

Technorati Tags: activism,global warming,climate change,carbon market,carbon dioxide,carbon reduction,carbon accounting

Europe to greatly exceed Kyoto target — looks like the European Trading System has worked after all

From Climate Progress:

Europe made a major commitment under the Kyoto Protocol that U.S. conservatives have been telling us for years it would never achieve.  In fact, the Europeans are poised to surpass their targets under the terms of the Protocol. It is no longer plausible for those who don’t want a U.S. cap-and-trade system to point to the European Trading System (ETS) as a failure.  Quite the reverse.

A report by the European Environment Agency released today shows that the European Union and all Member States but one [Austria] are on track to meet their Kyoto Protocol commitments to limit and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Whereas the Protocol requires that the EU-15 reduce average emissions during 2008–2012 to 8% below 1990 levels, the latest projections indicate that the EU-15 will go further, reaching a total reduction of more than 13 % below the base year.…

Looking further ahead, almost three quarters of the EU’s unilateral target to cut emissions to 20 % below 1990 levels by 2020 could be achieved domestically (i.e. without purchase of credits outside the EU).

The report highlights the importance of the EU ETS in helping Member States meet their targets.

That is today’s news release from the European Environment Agency.  The full report is here.  The report notes:

Five EU‑15 Member States (France, Germany, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom) have already achieved average GHG emission levels below their Kyoto target….

The EU ETS is expected to result in important reductions of domestic EU emissions. …

Europe to greatly exceed Kyoto target — looks like the European Trading System has worked after all

Technorati Tags: carbon market,carbon reduction,Kyoto Protocol

90 percent of Coal Plant CO2 Captured in 12-Month Test

 

Written by Susan Kraemer
Published on October 9th, 2009

One year ago the French company Alstrom began a year-long US test of capturing CO2 from the water+carbon-dioxide mix created using their chilled-ammonia technology, in the smokestack of the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant in Wisconsin.

This week the year’s results were announced. The years average CO2 capture rate was 90%, according to a joint announcement from the EPRI, We Energies and Alstrom to the Society of Environmental Journalists.

The 12-month test was just completed after running 24 hours a day on a small sectioned-off portion of the smokestack; working on just 5% of the plants total emissions.

But the test is scalable, and the Electric Power Research Institute, the R&D arm of the utility industry, is optimistic that chilled-ammonia technology will work on a larger scale. It is one of several carbon-capture technologies under consideration as we move to a carbon constrained world.

Next, Alstom will work with AEP in Columbus, Ohio to test a scaled-up version of the technology at the Mountaineer power plant in West Virginia.  That test takes the next step as well; not just capturing the carbon dioxide but burying it 8,000 feet beneath the plant site.

Alstom’s chilled ammonia process results in a lower energy cost for capturing CO2 than other techniques under consideration so far. Initial studies currently estimate the average energy penalty at around 20-25% of net boiler output. Alstrom is also working on a technique for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from a gas plant. …

90 percent of Coal Plant CO2 Captured in 12-Month Test

Technorati Tags: carbon reduction,carbon dioxide,carbon capture

Carbon fund assets grow 25 per cent and clear $16bn mark

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen, Friday 25 September 2009 at 13:11:00

Despite economic downturn and concerns over market outlook, interest in carbon investment continues to grow

The economic downturn may have claimed several funds as victims, but most investors in the carbon market have still enjoyed a bumper year as assets held by carbon funds grew.

in the carbon market have still enjoyed a bumper year as assets held by carbon funds grew 25 per cent to $16.11bn (£10bn).

That is according to new research from Environmental Finance Publications, which also found that the number of dedicated carbon funds that specialise in procuring carbon credits to sell at a profit or supply investors with pollution permits rose from 80 to 88 in the 12 months to August.

The growth in the market was despite plunging carbon prices brought about by the economic downturn and the closure or suspension of eight carbon funds.

The performance underlines the continuing attraction of the carbon market to investors, despite reduced demand for carbon credits as a result of reduced industrial output.

...

Carbon fund assets grow 25 per cent and clear $16bn mark

Technorati Tags: carbon market,carbon reduction,carbon offset,green economy

Business chiefs urge 'robust' climate change deal

LONDON (AFP) – The chiefs of more than 500 global companies called on Tuesday for an "ambitious, robust and equitable" climate change deal, in the spotlight in New York ahead of a landmark meeting in Copenhagen.

The business leaders from over 50 countries including Brazil, Britain, China, Japan, Russia and the United States said measures to spur recovery from the global downturn must be environmentally sustainable.

"Economic development will not be sustained in the longer term unless the climate is stabilised," they said in a Copenhagen Communique, organised as part of a project based at Britain's Cambridge University and backed by Prince Charles.

"It is critical that we exit this recession in a way that lays the foundation for low-carbon growth and avoids locking us into a high-carbon future," they added, calling for "an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crises facing the world today". …

Signatories of the Copenhagen Communique include Willie Walsh of British Airways, Richard Branson of Virgin, Nike boss Mark Parker, Shiro Kondo of Japan's Ricoh Company and Naguib Sawiris of Egypt-based Orascom Telecom.

"As a business leader I can only achieve my ambition if my actions are underpinned by the foundation of political intent and robust law. The bolder the political ambition the bolder I can be," said Branson. …

Business chiefs urge 'robust' climate change deal

Technorati Tags: climate change,global warming,Copenhagen,carbon reduction

Investors worth $13 trillion urge strong global climate treaty

NEW YORK, New York, September 16, 2009 (ENS) - The world's largest global investors today issued a joint call for strong action this year from U.S. and international policy makers to control global warming. Signed by 181 investors, who collectively manage more than $13 trillion in assets worldwide, the statement on the "urgent need for global agreement on climate change" was released at the International Investor Forum on Climate Change in New York.

Hosted by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and keynoted by British economist Lord Nicholas Stern, the forum comes in advance of key negotiations in Copenhagen this December to finalize a new international climate change treaty to take effect after the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of 2012.

"Unmitigated climate change poses a threat to the global economy," said Stern. "But building a low carbon economy creates opportunities for investment in new technologies that promise to transform our society in the same way as the introduction of electricity or railways did in the past."

Investors are already starting to invest in a low-carbon world that is "cleaner, quieter, safer and more biodiverse," said Stern, who chairs the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and serves as special advisor to the group chairman of HSBC on economic development and climate change, "but these investments will be much more effective if the right climate policies are in place. Investments will drive the political process." …

"We must chart a new course toward long-term, sustainable business practices," said DiNapoli, who heads the $116.5 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund and its $500 million green strategic investment program. "We cannot drag our feet on the issue of global climate change. I am deeply concerned about the investor risks climate change presents, and the human cost of inaction is unthinkable." …

Investors Worth $13 Trillion Urge Strong Global Climate Treaty

Technorati Tags: green economy,climate change,global warming,carbon reduction

Waxman-Markey clean air, clean water, clean energy jobs bill creates $1.5 trillion in benefits

As award-winning journalist Eric Pooley concluded in a comprehensive study of the media’s mistakes and biases during the Lieberman-Warner climate bill debate, “The press failed to perform the basic service of making climate policy and its economic impact understandable to the reader and allowed opponents of climate action to set the terms of the cost debate. The argument centered on the short-term costs of taking action–i.e., higher electricity and gasoline prices–and sometimes assumed that doing nothing about climate change carried no cost.”  See How the press bungles its coverage of climate economics — “The media’s decision to play the stenographer role helped opponents of climate action stifle progress.” The following repost from guest blogger Daniel J. Weiss, a Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, looks at a new study that aims to help address the flaw in economics coverage. …

Waxman-Markey clean air, clean water, clean energy jobs bill creates $1.5 trillion in benefits

Technorati Tags: climate change,carbon market,carbon reduction

Milestone: 100th coal plant unplugged

Posted by: Bruce Nilles at 11:32AM EST on July 9, 2009

As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state.

This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on global warming. As other countries like China say they will not act until the U.S. does, these 100 stopped plants are a sign from Americans. We are taking action against global warming, and it's time to join us.

This also comes just a week after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city would end coal use by 2020, and was announced the same day as a decision by Basin Electric Power in South Dakota to pull plans for a new coal-fired power plant. The decision marks a significant milestone in the shift to clean energy.

Since the first coal-fired power plant started operation in the U.S. more than 100 years ago our country has been wedded to dirty coal power.  Despite the availability of affordable, cleaner energy alternatives, there were still plans on the drawing board for more than 150 new coal-fired power plants as recently as last year.

We are seeing a movement. That movement has kept well over 400 million tons of harmful global warming pollution out of the air, making significant progress in the fight against global warming. Stopping 100 new coal plants has also kept thousands of tons of asthma causing soot and smog pollution, as well as toxins like mercury out of our air and water.

This milestone also marks a significant shift in the way Americans are looking at our energy choices. Cities, states, businesses and electric utilities are all moving away from the polluting coal power of the past. …

Milestone: 100th Coal Plant Unplugged

Technorati Tags: coal,carbon reduction

Report shows the power of US cities to mitigate climate change and steps they need to take to adapt

(Carbon Disclosure Project)

US cities are starting to plan ways of coping with climate change, says a new report. Flooding of subways and other infrastructure caused by extreme weather and sea level rise, shortages of food, water and energy, and health and economic risks are among concerns of city planners in 18 US cities surveyed, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, West Palm Beach, Portland and Las Vegas. Many are also implementing carbon reduction programs for municipal activities as a prelude to leading citizen CO2 reduction efforts. …

Report shows the power of US cities to mitigate climate change and steps they need to take to adapt

Technorati Tags: climate change,carbon reduction

CBO stunner: Waxman-Markey cuts U.S. GHGs sharply but costs only a postage stamp a day — without counting the efficiency savings

A June 5 Congressional Budget Office analysis found under the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act, greenhouse gas emissions in capped sectors would be cut nearly 12% in 2020. And I’ve argued we would actually achieve even deeper U.S. reductions in 2020 thanks in part to soaring production of unconventional natural gas.  On Friday, CBO released a new analysis showing just how little it would cost American families to start down this path of averting catastrophic global warming — and another new study found that accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy would generate 1.7 million jobs.  Daniel J. Weiss, Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, discusses the latest CBO analysis in a post for CP.

The opponents of ACES, H.R. 2454, keep raising their estimated cost of the clean energy and global warming pollution reduction programs like some out of control auctioneer.  These wild estimates were based on either perversions or distortions of independent government or university studies, or partisan studies with rigged assumptions designed to produce an outlandish estimate.

On June 19, the Congressional Budget Office announced that the average household would spend a miniscule amount to reduce global warming pollution under H.R. 2454.  This independent analysis determined “that the net annual economywide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion—or about $175 per household.”  This is 48 cents per day – about one-third the cost of a tall (really small) Starbucks coffee.

The least well off households — those “in the lowest income quintile — would see an average net benefit of about $40 in 2020.” These households had an income under $20,292 in 2007. …

CBO stunner: Waxman-Markey cuts U.S. GHGs sharply but costs only a postage stamp a day — without counting the efficiency savings

Technorati Tags: global warming,carbon reduction,carbon market,carbon offsets,greenhouse gas

New data confirm UK will double Kyoto emission targets

James Murray, BusinessGreen, Friday 5 June 2009 at 00:15:00

Government hails 23 per cent cut in emissions since 1990 as evidence "there is an alternative" to a high carbon society

The UK will today mark World Environment Day with the release of new data showing the country is on track to deliver emission cuts that are almost double its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

According to a new UN report, UK greenhouse gas emissions are expected to be 23 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010, far exceeding its official target of a 12.5 per cent reduction in emissions.

Climate change minister Joan Ruddock insisted that while there was plenty of work still to be done, the cuts delivered so far provided evidence that economies could continue to grow while delivering rapid cuts in carbon emissions.

"Our latest report to the UN shows what can be achieved when government, communities and business work together to reduce emissions," she said. "Our progress report tells those who claim there is no alternative to a high-carbon society: there is an alternative. We're creating an alternative." …

New data confirms UK will double Kyoto emission targets

Technorati Tags: carbon reduction,Kyoto,climate change

Urban EcoMap in San Francisco

Urban EcoMap Visual Preview from Urban EcoMap on Vimeo.

Cities create 80% of global carbon emissions. As we move from educating people about climate change to taking action to mitigate climate impacts, we need innovation to help spur a shift to climate-friendly social behavior in cities. Urban EcoMap helps address this objective. Begun in fall 2008, this pilot project is a collaborative effort involving Cisco and the City and County of San Francisco.

San Francisco is the first city worldwide to introduce the Urban EcoMap. On Earth Day 2009 (22 April), Mayor Gavin Newsom launched the Urban EcoMap pilot in San Francisco. The web-based tool will be made available to the general public at the Connected Urban Development conference in Seoul, 21st May 2009.

Please view the demonstration of the Urban EcoMap San Francisco in the viewer above. We would like to hear your feedback and comments. In addition, please return here for the latest information as the public go-live day for the web-based Urban EcoMap approaches. …

Technorati Tags: carbon dioxide,carbon footprint,carbon reduction

NEC Creates Online Game to Make Monitoring Power Consumption Fun

 

Image via Pink Tentacle

For some of us, monitoring our power consumption is already a lot of fun, simply because it's a personal challenge. But for most people, it's a chore worse than balancing the check book. That's precisely the reason so many start-ups are working diligently to come up with ways to make monitoring energy use simple, easy, and interesting. NEC, a company always looking for a greener way, has worked with BIGLOBE to come up with an online game that helps spice up tracking your consumption. …

NEC Creates Online Game to Make Monitoring Power Consumption Fun

Technorati Tags: carbon reduction,energy efficiency

EU electricity firms: We’ll be carbon neutral by 2050

Chief executives of European electricity companies this week pledged to make their industry carbon-neutral by 2050.

CEOs from companies in 27 nations — representing more than 70 percent of Europe’s power generation — issued their declaration on the eve of EU discussions focused on the economy, energy and climate.

The declaration states, “We will progressively make use of all available and economically sound low-carbon and carbon-free options when investing in power generation assets, taking into account national energy policies: renewable energies, nuclear power, high-efficiency combined heat & power, and efficient clean fossil technologies including carbon capture & storage (CCS). In addition, we will continue seeking to operate our plants and grids in the most efficient way, while investing to develop innovative low-emitting technologies.”

The statement also called on European policy-makers to help pave the way for carbon-free energy by increasing support for research and development, moving forward on regional integration of electricity markets, simplifying licensing procedures, working with industry to set electrical vehicle standards and providing adequate public information and education.

EU electricity firms: We’ll be carbon neutral by 2050

Technorati Tags: renewable energy,carbon sequestration