The International Institute for Sustainable Development ()
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CLIMATE-L NEWS
ISSUE
11
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Contents
1) POWER FIRMS
BEMOAN COST OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PLAN, The Asahi Shimbun, April 5, 2003
2) EASY CASH BUT
QUIET FIRST YEAR IN UK EMISSIONS TRADE, Planet Ark, April 4, 2003
3) GREEN GROUPS
SHUN CLIMATE STRATEGY WITH GOVERNMENT, Sydney Morning Herald, April 4, 2003
4) GLOBAL WARMING
COULD TRIGGER MORE GLOBAL WARMING VIA THE SEA, Edie weekly summaries,
April 4, 2003
5) CARBON IN THE
BALANCE: FITTING FORESTS INTO CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENTS, Edie weekly
summaries, April 4, 2003
6) NO CHANCE' OF UK
MEETING GREENHOUSE TARGETS, Guardian, April 3, 2003
7) SUING OVER
CLIMATE CHANGE: THE DEBATE OVER GLOBAL WARMING IS GAINING A NEW DIMENSION:
LITIGATION, BBC, April 3, 2003
8) CLIMATE
CHANGE: U.N. Scientists Rebut Emissions Projection Criticisms, UN Wire,
April 2, 2003
9) POWER SECTOR
COULD CUT CO2 EMISSIONS 60 PERCENT, ENS AmeriScan, April 2, 2003
10) MORE U.S.
COMPANIES LAUNCH CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVES, GreenBiz.com, April 2, 2003
11) INTERVIEW -
ENERGY FIRMS BID TO BOOST UK GREEN CERTIFICATE TRADE, Planet Ark, April 2,
2003
12) DROUGHT A TIMELY
REMINDER OF CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENTIST, Stuff, April 1, 2003
13) ENVIRONMENTAL
EFFORT GAINS FORUM SUPPORT, China Daily, April 1, 2003
14) ECGD BOOTS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR, Creditman, April 1, 2003
15) ASIAN
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS DISCUSS CLEAN DEVELOPMENT, Utusan Malaysia Online,
April 1, 2003
16) MORE OIL, LESS
CO2, Bellona, April 1, 2003
17) BRITAIN'S
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FELL LAST YEAR, Planet Ark, March 31, 2003
18) SCIENTISTS AWED
BY CLIMATIC EFFECTS ON CROPS, Independent Online, March 31, 2003
19) COMMISSION
RESEARCH ON 'GREEN' PROCUREMENT POINTS THE WAY FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES,
Cordis, March 31, 2003
20)
EMISSIONS-TRADING GROUP SET TO LAUNCH, Globe and Mail March 31, 2003
21) OFFSHORE WIND IS
KEY TO UK'S KYOTO REQUIREMENTS, SolarAccess.com, March 31, 2003
22) REPORT CITES
GLOBAL WARMING, URGES INDUSTRIAL NATIONS TO ACT NOW, Oakland Tribune, March
30, 2003
23) KYOTO PROTOCOL
IS INEFFECTIVE AND EXPENSIVE, Rosbalt, March 29, 2003
24) EU ENERGY TAXES
WILL HAVE LITTLE IMPACT BUT SHOULD US IMPORTS ALSO BE TAXED? Edie weekly
summaries, March 28, 2003
25) IOWA TO HOST
WORLD'S LARGEST WIND FARM, ENS, March 27, 2003
26) CHINESE AND
GERMAN COOPERATE IN WIND POWER PROJECT, China Peoples Daily, March 27, 2003
27) COUNCIL DECIDES
KYOTO DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH, Vancouver Sun, March 26, 2003
28) U.S. SCIENTISTS
STORE HEAT-TRAPPING CARBON GASES UNDER GROUND, US State Department, March
25, 2003
29) MINISTER
STRESSES THE NEED TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING, Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation,
March 24, 2003
30) CHANGES IN
CLIMATE TO TRIGGER HEALTH PROBLEMS: Peoples Daily, March 24, 2003
31) THINGS HOTTING
UP, SAYS GAS MAN, NZ Herald, March 22, 2003
32) COMMISSION TO
HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MEET THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, Europaworld,
March 21, 2003
33) NO DUTCH MONEY
FOR BUJAGALI DAM, All Africa, The Monitor (Kampala), March 21, 2003
34) 'LIVING WITH
FLOODS', BBC, March 21, 2003
35) RUSSIA SET TO
SIGN KYOTO PROTOCOL, ABC News Online, March 20, 2003
36) GLOBAL
GREENHOUSE AFFECTS AIR PRESSURE, Nature, March 20, 2003
37) WORLD WIND POWER
MKT SEEN GROWING 11 PCT/YR TO '07, Reuters, March 20, 2003
38) REPORT WARNS OF
THE HIGH COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE, Business Day, March 18, 2003
39) PASSENGERS FACE
'GREEN TAX' ON AIRLINE FUEL, Independent, March 15, 2003
40) OIL GIANTS LEAD
PUSH FOR KYOTO, The West Australian, March 14, 2003
41) FINLAND'S
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS SURGE IN 2002, Planet Ark, March 14, 2003
42) CHINESE WIND
FARM MAKES KYOTO PROFITS FROM DUTCH, Planet Ark, March 14, 2003
43) GLOBAL WARMING
IS DEPLETING OUR WATER SUPPLY, Independent Online, March 14, 2003
44) BP CUTS
EMISSIONS BY 14PC IN SHARJAH OPERATIONS, Gulf News, March 14, 2003
45) DUTCH ANNOUNCE
FIRST CO2 TRADING PROJECTS FOR KYOTO, Planet Ark, March 14, 2003
46) SHELL CHIEF
DELIVERS GLOBAL WARMING WARNING TO BUSH IN HIS OWN BACK YARD, The Guardian,
March 12, 2003
47) CONCERNS ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE NOT CONFINED TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER, Daily
News, March 12, 2003
48) NZ PLAYS ROLE IN
RESEARCH TO IMPLEMENT TRADE IN KYOTO CREDITS, Stuff, March 12, 2003
49) PLAN TO STORE
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS UNDERGROUND, ABC News Online, March 11, 2003
50) DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERTS, Daily News, March 10 ,
2003
OPINIONS/STATEMENTS
51) EQUITY KEY TO
CLIMATE ACTION by Kenichi Oshima, The Asahi Shimbun, April 4, 2003
52) 6 CRITICAL AREAS
MITIGATE PACIFIC CLIMATE DISASTERS CONFERENCE WORKS TO BRING SCIENCE, POLICY
TOGETHER by Eileen Shea, Pacific Daily News, April 3, 2003
53) WORLD
METEOROLOGICAL DAY 2003, Address by Joke Waller-Hunter Executive Secretary,
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, March 24, 2003
54) WORLD
METEOROLOGICAL DAY, Message by H. E. Jan Kavan, President of the 57th
Session of the General Assembly, United Nations, March 23, 2003
55) OUR FUTURE
CLIMATE WMO CALLS FOR TIMELY GLOBAL ACTION ON CLIMATE, World Meteorological
Organization, March 23, 2003
56) CLIMATE CHANGE:
IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES by Pete Hodgson, Address to New Zealand Water and
Wastes Association's '2003 Environment Summit', Duxton Hotel, Wellington,
New Zealand Government, March 18, 2003
57) U.S. POLICY ON
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE by Paula J. Dobriansky,
Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Address to the Shell Center for
Sustainability Rice University, Houston, Texas, March 13, 2003
58) CAPTURING
CARBON? Interview with Patricio Bernal, Executive Secretary of UNESCOs IOC,
UNESCO, March 12, 2003
59) REAL LEADERSHIP
NEEDED TO HELP REDUCE ENERGY BILLS by David Suzuki, ENN, March 11, 2003
GENERAL NEWS
1) POWER FIRMS BEMOAN COST OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PLAN
The Asahi Shimbun
April 5, 2003
Internet:
http://www.asahi.com/english/business/K2003040500226.html
A new law
designed to reduce the usage of global-warming fossil fuels took effect
April Fool's Day, but electric power companies fail to see the humor in the
extra costs involved. The Special Measures Law Concerning the Use of New
Energy by Electric Utilities requires that the nation's 10 major electric
firms sell a specific amount of electricity that is generated using
alternative energy sources, such as wind or solar power. The Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry has set annual nationwide targets to increase
the supply of alternative electricity to 12.2 billion kilowatt-hours in
fiscal 2010, or 1.35 percent of the total power supply, from the current
share of 0.3 percent. The goal is to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a
major contributor to the greenhouse effect.
Electricity retailers that are unable to fulfill their quotas, which are set
higher each year, are required to purchase alternative electricity from
other utilities to make up the difference. The law requires the Big 10 to
supply a combined 3.28 billion kWh of such electricity in fiscal 2003. Firms
that fail to meet their annual quotas will be fined up to 1 million yen. The
cost burden involved in reaching the targets is the power companies' main
concern. While traditional thermal power costs 7 yen per kWh, solar power
carries a price tag of between 46 and 66 yen, wind power 9 to 14 yen and
biomass generation, which burns wastes and other organic materials, costs
7-21 yen.
Tokyo
Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the world's largest private electric firm,
estimates the new law will set it back an additional 7 billion to 8 billion
yen in fiscal 2003 and up to 30 billion yen in fiscal 2010. TEPCO plans to
take care of 60-70 percent of its fiscal 2003 quota using biomass energy,
with the remainder to be filled by wind power generation from Hachijojima
island south of Tokyo and surplus from 23,000 solar-powered households. A
TEPCO official said the company hopes the amount of electricity from the
three sources will help it barely satisfy the requirement. But at least
TEPCO can reach the quota on its own. Most, if not all, of the other power
companies will be forced to purchase alternative electricity from others to
meet their legal obligations.
Kansai
Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric Power Co. plan to use biomass energy
to fulfill part of their requirements, but are forced to consider buying
electricity from Hokkaido Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co.,
which own enormous wind-generation plants, as well as independent power
providers using alternative energy sources, to make up the rest. But wind
generation, being at the mercy of weather conditions, is a notoriously
fickle power source. Nevertheless, the industry ministry aims to increase
the nation's total wind power generation capacity to 3 million kW in fiscal
2010 from its current 310,000 kW.
To meet
the targets, improving power transmission facilities is essential. Of
course, it is also expensive, at an estimated 200 billion to 500 billion
yen.
The
question now being asked is who will shoulder the costs: the power
companies, the independent alternative energy providers, the government or
the public? The ministry has yet to make its position clear on the matter,
but a hike in electricity rates is not out of the question. The ministry
plans to review the policy after three years of implementation in fiscal
2006, but power companies argue that unless power generation costs are
drastically lowered through technological innovation, the ministry should
review the quota with an eye to lowering it.
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2)
EASY CASH BUT QUIET FIRST YEAR IN UK EMISSIONS TRADE
Planet Ark
April 4, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20374/story.htm
LONDON -
Britain's emissions trading scheme failed to balloon into a busy market in
its first year although some companies made easy money from cutting
greenhouse gases, dealers said yesterday. "In terms of being a liquid and
efficient market it was far from being a success, but companies set up
trading mechanisms and as a precursor to wider schemes there were lessons to
be learned," said Atle Christiansen of analysts Point Carbon. The voluntary
scheme, started in April last year, enables companies that cut greenhouse
gas emissions above government agreed targets to sell allowances to those
unable to meet the reductions. The emissions are blamed for global warming.
The
British government hoped for a large uptake to help meet its commitments
under the United Nations Kyoto Protocol on climate change, ahead of
mandatory European Union trading from 2005 and possible global trading. It
kickstarted the scheme with 215 million pounds ($336.8 million) for 34
organisations, from Barclays Bank to London's Natural History Museum, that
pledged to cut over four million tonnes of emissions over five years, either
in-house by greater energy efficiency or by trading allowances. "A lot of
people will be kicking themselves for not getting involved - it was a
handout," said TFS emissions broker John Molloy. "It was double money -
getting cash in the auction and then selling allowances at 12 pounds," he
said.
Brokers
said those companies selling early on would have made the most money, as
prices steadily rose from five pounds ($7.83) per tonne of carbon dioxide
equivalent to a high of 12.50 in the first six months, before slumping on
oversupply in the second to around three pounds. Likely candidates are
chemical firms Ineos Fluor and DuPont, oil majors Shell and BP, UK Coal
Mining and First Hydro, who all received the most allowances to sell. Just
10 companies made up 90 percent of the market, brokers say. Over half of
the 34 direct participants have yet to trade. Some in the auction received
money for easily achievable reductions in emissions - in return for about 53
pounds a tonne from the taxpayer.
Others
may have made no extra reductions. Marks and Spencer, for example, agreed
to a 2,060 tonne cut over five years - which brokers said could be done by
turning off a few office lights - in return for 110,000 pounds ($172,300).
British Airways agreed to cut its emissions by 125,000 tonnes or 12 percent,
which could be achieved by cutting flights. Or it could buy allowances on
the market for much less than the 6.67 million pounds ($10.45 million) it
will receive from the government.
CLIMATE CHANGE LEVY
Apart
from the 34 direct participants, almost 6,000 companies were expected to
join trading, since they risk losing a hefty tax rebate on energy use under
the Climate Change Agreement if they miss emissions reduction targets.
Buying from these CCA companies saw prices soar last year, but demand did
not pick up further as expected ahead of the mid-February 2003 deadline for
industry sectors to comply with targets. Total traded volumes were under two
million tonnes. Brokers said that these CCA participants had not been given
enough information about trading and were now being given more time to
comply. "It's been a good first year, with the exception that the CCA
participants were not tuned up to get the benefits," said Molloy.
"Everyone's in a learning curve."
The
Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), in charge of
the scheme, said they were still compiling data from the year and could not
yet comment on whether industry sectors had met their targets through the
scheme. Dealers also said the lack of clarity over how the voluntary UK
scheme would tie in with mandatory EU trading for carbon dioxide held back
trade. 2003 is expected to be a quiet year, though on the plus side the UK
now has valuable experience. "The challenge ahead is the EU trading
directive, with consultation to develop the national allocation plan that
defines who gets what from a finite amount of allowances - the UK trading
scheme has prepared people for it," said trader Garth Edwards of Shell.
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3)
GREEN GROUPS SHUN CLIMATE STRATEGY WITH GOVERNMENT
Sydney Morning Herald
April 4, 2003
Internet:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/03/1048962882718.html
Key green
groups have pulled out of negotiations with the Federal Government on
climate change policy, accusing it of misleading the public and bringing
Australia to a "crisis point" on an urgent environmental issue. In a letter
to the Environment Minister, David Kemp, three weeks ago, 21 environmental
groups said it would be betraying their membership to continue discussions
on the Government's Climate Change Forward Strategy. Members of the
organisations - including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the
Climate Action Network of Australia, Greenpeace and lobby groups in each
state - accused the Government of trying to create the impression it was
consulting with the environmental movement, which firmly opposes the
strategy.
As
recently as Tuesday, Dr Kemp released a statement charting the progress of
the policy, saying "consultation between business, government of all levels,
environmental organisations and the wider community is shaping the climate
change agenda". The executive director of the Conservation Foundation, Don
Henry, said Dr Kemp was "having a lend of the Australian public by
suggesting the environmental groups are consulting with the Federal
Government, when groups are alarmed and dismayed as to where the Federal
Government is at on climate change".He said: "We're not going to be taken
for dopes while you go ahead and continue to mislead the public about your
disgraceful position on climate change."
Dr Kemp
said the environment movement had adopted an all-or-nothing approach to
climate change and wanted to exclude other voices from the debate. The
climate change strategy was not complete, Dr Kemp said, and he regretted
that the groups had "dealt themselves out of the process". "The Government
has set up a democratic, inclusive process which seeks to involve everyone
in the community," he said, adding he would be happy to reopen discussions
with the groups. "The authors seem to think they have all the answers and no
one else needs to be heard."
The co-ordinator
of the Climate Action Network, Danny Kennedy, said groups had not received a
reply from Dr Kemp since the letter was sent in mid-March. "How can they say
we're consulting when we're not even talking?" Mr Kennedy said. While it was
unfortunate that environmental groups would not be part of the policy
process, Mr Kennedy said their concerns had so far been ignored. They would
return to discussions with the Government if it considered a number of
actions, including ratifying the Kyoto protocol, increasing a mandatory
target for renewable energy and ending large-scale land clearing.
back to contents
4)
GLOBAL WARMING COULD TRIGGER MORE GLOBAL WARMING VIA THE SEA
Edie weekly summaries
April 4, 2003
Internet:
http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/6846.cfm
US
scientists have identified a link between methane eruptions from the sea
floor and climate change. Warmer waters could trigger the release of deep
sea methane, which could potentially escape into the atmosphere, adding to
global warming. Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
have discovered historical evidence suggesting methane gas erupted from the
seabed during rapid climate warming. In a study published in the latest
issue of Science, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs and colleagues link the behaviour of the
methane reservoirs to the global carbon cycle, an indicator of global
warming and cooling.
Fossils
from methane-consuming bacteria found in Californian sediments deposited
during the last glacial period, 70,000 to 12,000 years ago, suggest that
large amounts of methane were repeatedly released from the seafloor during
warmer weather.
Methane
hydrate reservoirs under the seabed have been recommended as a potential
source of energy. Current estimates suggest there are about 10,000 billion
tonnes of methane stored beneath the ocean and on continents. Global
warming could increase bottom water temperatures that would then trigger the
release of methane hydrate into shallow waters. If even a small portion of
the stored methane were to escape into the atmosphere, the resulting
greenhouse warming would be catastrophic, warns the team. We have a very
poor understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms that control production,
destruction, and accumulation of methane in sediments underlying the ocean,
says Hinrichs. We need to understand the big picture of what drives methane
and the carbon cycle and the actual impact of methane emissions from
hydrates on climate.
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5)
CARBON IN THE BALANCE: FITTING FORESTS INTO CLIMATE CHANGE AGREEMENTS
Edie weekly summaries
April 4, 2003
Internet:
http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/6845.cfm
A mock
space colony built by a Texas billionaire has joined a global network of
testing sites measuring how much carbon forests can sequester. But while
plant scientists work out how to keep forests from turning into carbon
emitters, politicians and campaign groups wrangle over the details of carbon
sink allowances. How will forests fit into the climate change equation, and
will the world agree to sink its carbon differences?
How much
carbon can a forest sink? At one level, we need to understand whats
happening at the leaf scale, where a change in temperature or carbon dioxide
levels can alter the rate at which leaves take up carbon, Howard Griffiths
of the University of Cambridge told edie. But what happens in trees inside
forests, where there may be an additional canopy effect, asks Griffiths.
A project
run by Joe Berry at Biosphere Two is exploring just that. Smart forest
management appears to be the key to building a stable carbon sink, where
canopy shaping and fertiliser restrictions will keep trees hungry for
carbon, Berry told edie. In the giant greenhouse globe built by American
billionaire Ed Bass, Berry and his colleagues from the Carnegie Institution
are increasing the levels of carbon dioxide to work out just how much carbon
forests are willing to take up, and under what conditions. The good news is
that the world seems to be witnessing an unprecedented fertilisation effect,
where rising levels of carbon and nitrogen pollution where nitrogen is a
co-catalyst for photosynthesis appear to be making trees hungrier than
ever for CO2, says Berry. The average rate of plant fixing of carbon is
going up by 0.5% a year. But will that be maintained when we start to limit
nitrogen pollution?
The bad
news, World Bank expert Robert Watson explained to a meeting of the Society
of Experimental Biology, is that forests seem to switch naturally between
acting as sinks and sources of carbon, varying by two gigatonnes of carbon
emitted or absorbed per year. Without a means of continually monitoring
regional background uptake of carbon, which we dont yet have, how will we
know whether countries are simply capitalising on a natural phenomenon, or
whether our carbon reduction projects are actually working, asks Watson.
Using
forests as carbon sinks is also frowned upon European campaign groups, who
see it as a cop out or a way to cheat the system, says Watson. But if
regulators ensure that legislation prevents scam projects from being used,
such as burning a forest down before growing it again, or using the
devastation of a natural fire to build a forest, then there wont be a
problem. If countries and businesses have to prove that they are putting
money into genuine forest sinks, with a means of excluding natural
influences such as nitrogen fertilisation and El Nino also thought to
affect carbon uptake - from the carbon credit calculations, then those
projects will benefit both the environment and the finances of developing
countries, something that campaign groups appear to be ignoring, says
Watson.
But even
if the worlds vegetation works at maximum absorption, it will still only
takes up a third of anthropogenic carbon, equivalent to two of the six
gigatonnes emitted each year, John Grace of the University of Edinburgh told
edie. Forests dont necessarily offer the highest potential sink for carbon.
Other measures, such as injecting CO2 into rocks, sediments and the sea, may
prove more cost-effective and have more impact in the long term, says
Grace. Nevertheless, some test sites are showing extremely promising
results. Forests grown on arid land in Israel are taking up far more carbon
than expected, around 1.8 tonnes per hectare, close to the world average of
2.3 tonnes per hectare, Dan Yakir of the Weizmann Institute of Science told
edie. CO2 appears to help plants make more efficient use of their limited
water supplies, which is why the arid forests may be taking up so much CO2,
says Yakir.
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6) NO
CHANCE' OF UK MEETING GREENHOUSE TARGETS
Guardian
April 3, 2003
Internet:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/green/story/0,9061,929046,00.html
The
government has "no chance" of meeting its targets for cuts in harmful carbon
dioxide emissions if current policies and market conditions remain in place,
MPs warned today. A report from the Commons all-party science and
technology committee - who have been looking into government efforts to
steer industry away from over-use of fossil fuels and towards renewables
like wind, wave and solar power - said "there is no prospect" of achieving
the target of 10% renewable power generation by 2010. It also casts doubt
on the goal of 20% use of renewables by 2020.
The
report revealed that when the energy minister, Brian Wilson, was asked who
was responsible for meeting the government's renewable targets, "his lame
response was that it was a collective government responsibility along with
Ofgem". The MPs said: "This increases our concern that the government's
energy policy is too fragmented. "Brian Wilson seemed to agree with our
suggestion that reforming a department of energy would help to solve this,
stating that its abolition had been a political statement."
The MPs
went on to say that, while they agreed with many of the sentiments of the
energy white paper, they were also disappointed because it contained few
practical policy proposals that gave any confidence that its targets and
aspirations could be met. "It had ducked a central issue - whether to
provide a future for the nuclear power industry - and failed to give a
lead. "On the specific issue of research, development and demonstration
[RD&D], it makes all the right noises but fails to pledge any further
investment nor provide any further direct incentives to industry to do so.
"RD&D investment in the UK is set to remain at the bottom of the
international league table."
The
report calls for a renewable energy bill with UK-wide responsibility for
coordinating and promoting RD&D in renewable energy and disbursement of
funds for that purpose. It also calls for the replacement of the climate
change levy and the renewables obligation with a unified carbon and
renewable energy tax to be levied on the electricity generators, the yield
from which should be hypothecated to the renewable energy authority.
back to contents
7)
SUING OVER CLIMATE CHANGE: THE DEBATE OVER GLOBAL WARMING IS GAINING A NEW
DIMENSION: LITIGATION
BBC
April 3, 2003
Internet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2910017.stm
The vast
numbers affected by the effects of climate change, such as flooding, drought
and forest fires, mean that potentially people, organisations and even
countries could be seeking compensation for the damage caused. "It's not a
question we could stand up and survive in a court of law at the moment, but
it's the sort of question we should be working towards scientifically,"
Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, UK, told the BBC World
Service's Discovery programme. "Some of it might be down to things you'd
have trouble suing - like the Sun - so you obviously need to work how
particularly human influence has contributed to the overall change in risk,"
the scientist, who has worked with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC), said.
In 2001,
the IPCC's third climate change assessment report stated that it was
"likely" - meaning a better than a two in three chance - that human
activities were forcing the global climate to warm up. Some environmental
lawyers believe this was a hugely significant step in paving the way to
compensation claims against those responsible for climate change. "Civil
courts usually require a 51% proof of certainty, which is an interesting
issue in terms of scientific levels of proof - and legal levels of proof,"
stated Peter Roderick, a lawyer who works with Friends Of The Earth
International. "I think there is no doubt at all now that the third
assessment report has taken forward the legal significance of the science,
and this next decade is going to see quite a lot of climate change cases
around the world." 'Not practical'
Many,
however, remain highly sceptical that, even if cases were brought, much
could be proved. "I would question whether it's desirable, at least at the
moment, to take legal action against parties," said Julian Morris, an
environmental policy specialist with the International Policy Network.
Perhaps
more flooding, but who do you blame? "Who is responsible? You face the
problem of identifying the extent to which humanity has caused change in the
first place. "Even if you actually attributed it to humanity, then you've
got the problem of saying, 'well who was it?'." Dr Morris added that it
would also be difficult to assess who would deserve to benefit from any
legal action. "Who is going to be compensated? Is it going to be the six
billion who are now supposedly at risk from the change in the climate? "Is
it going to be a more concentrated group of people, i.e. those who live on
flood plains? And how do you get compensation to those people practically?
"The difficulties of obtaining compensation for several billion people at
least, who might be worthy of compensation, would be enormous, and quite
possibly would be larger than the benefits of setting up a system to enable
that compensation to take place."
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8)
CLIMATE CHANGE: U.N. SCIENTISTS REBUT EMISSIONS PROJECTION CRITICISMS
UN Wire
April 2, 2003
Internet:
http://www.unwire.org/unwire/util/category_search.asp?objCat=environment
Ten U.N.
scientists writing in the next issue of Energy and Environment rebut
criticisms published in The Economist of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change's method for forecasting the economic development that drives
industrial production and, consequently, emissions of the greenhouse gases
scientists believe are behind global warming. According to IPCC projections
from 2001, average world temperature could rise 2-8 degrees by the end of
the century, largely because of rising emissions of greenhouse gases. Ian
Castles of the Australian National University and David Henderson of
Westminster Business School, in a critique published in The Economist, said
the panel is basing emissions projections on inflated economic growth
forecasts stemming from its use of market exchange rates, rather than
purchasing power parity rates.
Ten U.N.
experts led by Neboja Nakicenovic of the International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis, writing in Energy and Environment, defend the IPCC's use
of market exchange rates, saying the World Bank and other such institutions
use the rates in their forecasts. They add that economic development
forecasts for certain countries are less important than other factors in
determining future emissions. "Mr. Castles and Mr. Henderson have focused on
constructing a 'problem' that does not exist," the U.N. experts write.
"In terms
of climate change, it doesn't matter where the carbon dioxide comes from,"
said one of the U.N. scientists, Hugh Pitcher of the U.S.
government's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "In terms of who has to
do what to deal with emissions, it matters a hell of a lot".
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9)
POWER SECTOR COULD CUT CO2 EMISSIONS 60 PERCENT
ENS AmeriScan
April 2, 2003
Internet:
http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2003/2003-04-02-09.asp
WASHINGTON, DC, April 2, 2003 (ENS) - A new report from WWF finds that the
U.S. power sector can cut carbon dioxide emissions nearly 60 percent by 2020
and reduce its dependency on fossil fuels by using available energy
technologies and supporting innovative polices. The new peer reviewed
analysis, released today by WWF, will provide the basis for a new initiative
by the worldwide environmental organization.
This
initiative, called "PowerSwitch!" challenges electric utilities to make
specific policy and performance commitments that begin the transition to a
CO2 free power sector. "U.S. electricity companies have the power to play a
major role in solving the global warming problem, if they choose to take
responsible steps to meet this risk," said Katherine Silverthorne, director
of WWF's Climate Change Program. "To ensure that power companies take
action while we still have time to avoid dangerous levels of global warming,
WWF is challenging them to commit now to a clean energy future."
The
report, entitled "The Path Towards Carbon Dioxide-Free Power: Switching to
Clean Energy," notes that electricity production is responsible for some 40
percent of U.S. CO2 emissions, which are a key cause of global warming. WWF
contends that its analysis outlines opportunities for the U.S. electricity
sector to cost-effectively cut its CO2 emissions by increasing energy
efficiency and using renewable energy. The measures suggested include the
use of a diversified energy generation portfolio, which could reduce C02
emissions by 59 percent by 2020.
WWF is
also calling for adoption of complementary national policies that support
the transition to clean energy. The organization believes these will
increase cost effectiveness and encourage appropriate decisions in regard to
capital investment. The PowerSwitch! initiative recommends that U.S.
electric utilities support binding limits on national/power sector CO2
emissions and commit to other voluntary efficiency and renewable policies.
There is no reason we can not have needed energy without the pollution that
causes global warming, said Silverthorne. "It is time to harness the
ingenuity and gumption that led America to put a man on the moon, eradicate
polio, and revolutionize information technology to ensure that we surmount
the greatest environmental threat of our time -global warming."
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10)
MORE U.S. COMPANIES LAUNCH CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVES
GreenBiz.com
April 2, 2003
Internet:
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=24336
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 2003 - A growing number of U.S. corporations and
states are taking actions aimed at sharply reducing emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat within the Earth's
atmosphere. A group of the nation's biggest corporations recently launched
a trading program to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases and more
than half the states have adopted voluntary or mandatory programs for
reducing carbon emissions in recent years.
According
to a report by the Energy Information Administration released in February, a
total of 228 U.S. companies have voluntarily undertaken more than 1,700
projects to reduce or sequester greenhouse gases in 2001. The emission
reductions equaled about 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent, which represents more than 4 percent of total U.S. greenhouse
gas emissions. Company emission reductions increased by about 20 percent
compared to 2000 levels.
The
creation last January of the Chicago Climate Exchange -- a program for
reducing and trading greenhouse gas emissions -- marks the first time that
major companies in multiple sectors have made a voluntary commitment to use
market-based steps to cut emissions linked to global warming. The 14
founding members, which include American Electric Power, DuPont Company,
Ford Motor Company, International Paper Company, Motorola and the city of
Chicago, have agreed to reduce average greenhouse-gas levels from 1998 to
2001 by 4 percent over the next four years. Discussions are underway with
more than 50 other potential members.
Exchange
members will receive credit for emissions reductions above 4 percent, and
can sell or trade these credits to other member companies that are having
difficulty meeting this goal. The price of the credits would be set by bids
on the exchange. NASD, a securities industry self-regulatory body, has been
hired to monitor compliance by exchange members. A similar U.S. trading
program, which is mandatory, has contributed to large-scale reductions in
sulfur dioxide, a source of acid rain pollution. Chicago Climate Exchange
Chairman Richard Sandor says that companies that have joined the exchange
"really believe that a proactive approach to climate change advances
everyone's long-term interests. It's simply good business."
A
bipartisan bill being considered by the Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee would require U.S. power plants and industries to set targets for
limiting greenhouse emissions. In addition, U.S. companies operating
internationally may face requirements for emissions cuts under the Kyoto
Protocol, an international accord to reduce global greenhouse emissions
through a system of legally binding limits on industrialized countries. The
Bush administration has opposed any policy that mandates reductions in
emissions, arguing that mandatory targets could harm economic growth.
In
February, the Bush administration announced a program called Climate VISION,
which stands for Voluntary Innovative Sector Initiatives: Opportunities Now.
This partnership unites American businesses and the federal government in a
coordinated effort to promote innovations and technologies to reduce the
projected growth of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Under the
program, participating industries, which include automakers, chemical
companies, mining operations, electric power companies, and oil and gas
companies, have voluntarily set a specific goal for reducing greenhouse gas
intensity or increasing energy efficiency.
For
example, the American Petroleum Institute has pledged to increase the
aggregate energy efficiency of its U.S. refinery operations by 10 percent
from 2002 to 2012. And the Edison Electric Institute and six other power
sector groups, representing 100 percent of U.S. electricity generation, have
pledged to reduce the power sector's carbon impact in this decade by the
equivalent of 3 to 5 percent through increased natural gas and clean coal
technology, increased nuclear generation, and expanded investment in wind
and biomass projects.
Climate
VISION is the cornerstone of President Bush's commitment to reducing the
nation's greenhouse gas intensity -- the ratio of emissions to economic
output -- by 18 percent in the next decade. The U.S. Department of Energy,
which is coordinating the program, says the company initiatives also build
upon progress made by the industrial sector in the past decade. The agency
reports that from 1990 to 2001, while the economy grew by almost 40 percent,
greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector were constant.
Many
industry leaders have praised the administration for focusing on voluntary
efforts rather than mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "By
encouraging voluntary, cost-effective solutions, it will curb emissions
without undermining our energy supply or putting the brakes on economic
growth," said Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute. At
the same time, many U.S. states are taking efforts to mitigate climate
change, according to a recent report by the non-profit Pew Center on Global
Climate Change. Entitled "Greenhouse & Statehouse: The Evolving State
Government Role in Climate Change," the report says states have a variety of
interests in addressing climate change, including the potential for rising
sea levels, the effect of changing climate patterns on agriculture and the
need for stable, renewable energy supplies.
"The
trend is unmistakably towards more states taking an active role in climate
change," said Barry Rabe, a professor of environmental policy at the
University of Michigan and chief author of the Pew report. He said that
while there are obvious limitations to what can be done at the state level,
"all of this could provide potential models for future action at the federal
level." According to the report, 16 states have now enacted legislation
requiring utilities to increase their use of renewable energy sources such
as wind power or biomass in generating a portion of their overall
electricity. Texas, for example, passed an energy restructuring bill
requiring that 3 to 4 percent of its electricity come from renewable energy
sources, especially wind power, by the end of the decade.
California has passed landmark legislation aimed at sharply reducing
automobile and truck emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
by 2006 -- legislation that could be a model for New York, New Jersey and
other Northeast states. New Jersey, mainly due to concern of how sea level
rise might affect this low-lying state on the Atlantic Ocean, has
established a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to 3.5 percent
below 1990 levels by 2005. State initiatives include obtaining signed
pledges from several private companies as well as all of New Jersey's 56
colleges and universities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line
with the state goal. In 1993, Wisconsin began mandatory reporting
requirements for large generators of carbon dioxide, giving state and
reporting firms a clear measure of their emissions. Wisconsin is also
developing a registry that will allow any firms in the state to report
reductions of carbon dioxide, with the intent of allowing them to obtain
credit for reductions in any future federal or state greenhouse gas program.
Despite
these initiatives, Rabe said funding is a primary barrier facing state-led
efforts, and increasing budgetary pressures could imperil future climate
change policies. He said there is also the potential that a "patchwork
quilt" of state regulations and policies could increase compliance costs and
create reporting and monitoring difficulties. "It's encouraging to see so
much state activity," said Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew center.
"But in the long run, state programs are no substitute for a comprehensive
national policy."
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11)
INTERVIEW - ENERGY FIRMS BID TO BOOST UK GREEN CERTIFICATE TRADE
Planet Ark
April 2, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20337/story.htm
LONDON -
Energy companies in Britain are set to launch a standard trading contract
designed to boost the country's flagging market for dealing in green
certificates, the head of the project said yesterday.
A group
of firms including Innogy (RWEG.DE), Centrica (CNA.L), British Energy (BGY.L)
and Powergen (EONG.DE) has drawn up a set of standard trading terms it hopes
will kick-start a market marking its first anniversary yesterday and
potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds. "We hope to have a final
document in a week or so," said Sue Wheeler, business development manager
for renewables at Centrica, and chair of the group working on the contract.
"The idea is that we need this framework in order to set the scene to
develop this market and increase liquidity," she told Reuters.
The
standard contract is for the trading of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs),
which verify the origins of electricity produced from specified renewable
sources such as wind turbines. To comply with the government's Renewables
Obligation power suppliers need to get their hands on enough ROCs - either
by running their own green power plants or by buying certificates in the
open market - to prove at least 4.3 percent of the power they sell this year
(starting April 1, 2003) is from renewable sources.
Companies
failing to get enough ROCs have to pay a punitive "buy-out" charge. The
obligation forms part of the government's drive to boost the use of
renewable energy as a way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, a goal given
high priority in a white paper on future energy policy published in late
February. Ministers want renewable plants to provide 10 percent of the
country's power by 2010. Last year renewables accounted for just 3.0
percent of the country's power and some analysts say the shortage of spare
green power is one factor hindering trade in ROCs.
MANAGING THE RISKS
Wheeler
said the new trading contract would help companies overcome some of the
perceived risks involved in trading ROCs. "One of the features of the
Renewables Obligation is that ROC's can be revoked after they have been
issued," she said. This could happen if, for example, a power station
granted ROCs on the basis that its furnaces burn a certain amount green fuel
such as straw, uses too little straw in its fuel mix. Energy regulator Ofgem
said recently it had revoked some ROCs granted to a waste-to-energy plant.
Under the RMTA the liability for the invalid ROC, which could have been
bought and sold several times since its issue, is passed back to the
original holder of the certificate. "The liability goes back to the
original seller, this gives security to the ROCs trade," said Wheeler.
She said
several ROCs trades were going through each week in a market in which over
20 companies have been involved at various stages. She expected the number
of deals to grow once companies have the new contract to underpin trades.
"(The contract) will help give ROCs a proper price mechanism, this will help
the whole renewables industry," said Wheeler. Banks, which track the ROCs
market as part of their assessment of the risks involved in lending money to
renewable energy projects, were aware of the move to launch a standard
trading contract, she said.
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12)
DROUGHT A TIMELY REMINDER OF CLIMATE CHANGE - SCIENTIST
Stuff
April 1, 2003
Internet:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2370964a11,00.html
Drought-stricken New Zealanders should look
upon the big "dry" as a timely reminder of the coming climate changes, a
senior American climate scientist says. The main way future climate change
is likely to be felt in New Zealand is through changes in rainfall patterns,
with more intense bursts of rain leading to floods, and prolonged dry
periods causing drought, United States National Centre for Atmospheric
Research senior scientist Kevin Trenberth said. Many parts of New Zealand
are experiencing the worst drought in 30 years.
Dr Trenberth said there was a lot of evidence
that climate change was real, including a global mean temperature increase,
glaciers melting and a rise in sea levels. The recent bushfires in Australia
were one example of a climatic event that could be linked to global warming:
higher than average temperatures increased evaporation and caused
particularly dry conditions leading to the fires. Dr Trenberth said the
current El Nino drought on the South Island's east coast and in much of the
central and lower North Island made it clear that drought could gut regional
economies. "Increasing climate variability and longer dry periods with
higher temperatures will likely increase in intensity in the future," Dr
Trenberth said.
Globally, effects of climate change combined
with world population growth would place increasing pressure on natural
resources such as water. "Fresh water scarcity will become one of the
biggest problems in the world," he said. "By 2050, the world population is
predicted to be 9.3 billion, and 7 billion people in 60 countries will not
have an adequate water supply".
Even with big cuts to greenhouse gas
emissions, the world was locked into some degree of climate change due to
past and present emissions already in the atmosphere particularly
long-term sea-level rise. "We can't make climate change go away, but we can
slow it down," he said. The international agreement to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, the Kyoto Protocol, was a step in the right direction. Dr
Trenberth has been in New Zealand for the seventh International Conference
on Southern Hemisphere Meteorological and Oceanography which finished at the
weekend.
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13)
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFORT GAINS FORUM SUPPORT
China Daily
April 1, 2003
Internet:
http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2003-04-01/110204.html
China's
efforts to promote worldwide co-operation in addressing environmental
problems related to climate change have been acclaimed by participants at an
international forum on the issue. China is one of the countries that have
been involved in the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) urban
research projects which aim to fight pollution, WMO Secretary-General Godwin
Obasi said yesterday at the International Symposium on Climate Change. "I
am delighted to see China's leadership role in and commitment to promoting
world co-operation in environmental issues, especially those related to
climate," Obasi said.
The
global warming trend will continue in the next five to 10 decades. It is
linked to the growth of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, according to meteorologists with the China Meteorological
Bureau. As a result of warming, the global average sea level has risen by
as much as 20 centimetres since the beginning of the 20th century, they
said. The Chinese Government always attaches great importance to the issue
of climate change and has been participating actively in international
efforts under the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations,
Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu said yesterday at the opening ceremony for the
three-day symposium. China signed the UN Convention on Climate Change in
1992 and drew the country's Agenda 21 on sustainable development. It
approved the Kyoto Protocol last year and has established the National Co-ordinating
Group on Climate Change and National Climate Committee.
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14)
ECGD BOOTS RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR
Creditman
April 1, 2003
Internet:
http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=1662&id=1&mylocation=News&chksrc=NNow4251
Some £50
million (GBP) of cover for the UK renewable energy sector is being made
available by the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) to help
developing countries limit greenhouse gas emissions from today (1 April).
International Trade Minister Baroness Symons said: "This initiative
strengthens ECGD's commitment to sustainable development by giving
developing countries better access to renewable energy technology sourced
from exporters and investors based in the UK." ECGD and the Department for
Trade and Industry have been working in partnership with exporters,
investors and overseas buyers to identify and support new renewable energy
opportunities as part of a Government-wide drive to encourage the
development of power generation from renewable resources both in the UK and
abroad.
"The
challenge is now on for British companies to put forward viable renewable
energy projects that can be supported by ECGD," added Baroness Symons. ECGD
has already received three applications from UK exporters in advance of
today's announcement. From April 2003, ECGD will:
-
make
available cover for at least £50m of exports each year that meets its
normal project and country underwriting criteria; and, - participate in an
outreach programme, run by DTI's Trade Promoters and the private sector,
to stimulate exports of renewable energy goods to emerging markets to help
overcome the low number of renewable energy applications for ECGD cover.
This
initiative, which was first announced in 2002 by the Prime Minister Tony
Blair, will:
-
encourage
UK entrepreneurs to develop and then export renewable energy goods and
services and to offer them insurance against the risks of non-payment;
-
assist
more overseas countries to meet their power generation requirements in a
sustainable way by providing finance at attractive commercial rates linked
to UK involvement; and, - slow down the onset of, and possibly reduce the
impact of, climate change resulting from greenhouse gas generation.
The
UK Government's commitment to the promotion of sustainable development is
reflected in ECGD's operations. ECGD looks for social and economic
development combined with protection of the environment in all the projects
to which it provides cover. The Government has produced a guide to UK
companies entitled "Exporting Sustainable Energy Products and Services"
which details how to get help with: market and technology information,
financial assistance; marketing support; advice on markets abroad, and
introductions into overseas markets. Copies of this guide are available by
clicking on the Department of Trade and Industry's website
www.dti.gov.uk/renewable.
ECGD, the
Export Credits Guarantee Department, is the UK's export credit agency. A
separate Government Department reporting to the Secretary of State for Trade
and Industry, it has more than 80 years' experience of working closely with
exporters, project sponsors, banks and buyers to help UK exporters of
capital equipment and project-related goods and services. We do this by
providing: - Insurance against non-payment to UK exporters; - Help in
arranging finance packages for buyers of UK goods by guaranteeing bank
loans; and, - Overseas Investment Insurance - a facility that gives UK
investors up to 15 years' insurance against political risks.
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15)
ASIAN ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS DISCUSS CLEAN DEVELOPMENT
Utusan Malaysia Online
April 1, 2003
Internet:
http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/content.asp?y=2003&dt=0402&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Home_News&pg=hn_
04.htm
KUALA
LUMPUR April 1 - Sixty environmental officials and experts from 10 Asian
countries opened a meeting here Tuesday to address issues on sustainable
development goals and national priorities. The three-day Asia Meeting on
Efficient Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Operations served as a platform
for South-South partnerships through information and knowledge-sharing. The
director-general of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Prime Minister's
Department, Datuk Seri Iskandar Dzakurnain Badarudin, said that the
Malaysian government had set up a National Committee on Clean Development
Mechanism to form a suitable framework in line with the CDM operations.
He told
Bernama after opening the meeting that it focussed on two areas - energy and
forestry. The CDM is one of the mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted in
December 1997, which provides for an innovative way for cooperation between
industrialised nations and developing countries to achieve climate
protection. Iskandar said that the Malaysian National Committee would carry
out the planning and implementation in the country once the country's
framework was established and agreed upon. The highlights of the meeting
are the country presentations on their respective experiences with CDM
namely on structure and roles of the designated national authorities
responsible for coordinating the activities.
Many of
the participating countries are aware of the importance to devise effective
strategies and policies to meet their respective countries' needs. The
forum will deliberate on the processses and procedures of evaluating CDM
activities and the sustainable development indicators and criteria for CDM
project proposals that are relevant to local needs and challenges. It also
aimed to direct private sector investments into emission-reduction projects
in developing countries while promoting sustainable development. One of the
assistance that the countries could use to support their CDM operations was
the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF), a public-private partnership aimed at
catalyzing the market for project-based greenhouse gas emission-reductions.
The PCF was launched by the World Bank in 2000. "The World Bank tries to
demonstrate how to create an effective way, inform international
communities, the developers, the countries how they can work easily ..."
said Charles Cormier, senior training specialist in the World Bank Institute
after the opening ceremony.
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16)
MORE OIL, LESS CO2
Bellona
April 1, 2003
Internet:
http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/hydrogen/29199.html
During
the Bellona Hydrogen Workshop in the EU parliament March 20th, Michael
Austell of the INCO2 presented experiences from the US that indicates CO2
storage could give Norway more oil and gas. The workshop was arranged by
Bellona and Member of Parliament Claude Turmes, and focused on the
possibilities of CO2 storage in relation to the production of clean
hydrogen. Bellona had invited expert J. Michael Austrell from INCO2 to
lecture on the CENS project (CO2 for Enhanced oil recovery in the North
Sea). The CENS project is owned by ELSAM, Denmark's largest producer of
electrical power, and Kinder Morgan, a US energy company with vast
experience in CO2 transport. The project is aiming to prepare for a CO2
infrastructure in the North Sea.
In the US
the experience with CO2 injection is extensive, and CO2 has been used in the
oil industry for almost 40 years for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). The
primary goal has never been to store CO2, but to take advantage of its
ability to increase oil production. For this reason CO2 occurring in
natural underground deposits has been primarily used. This is transported to
oilfields where it is injected as a supercritical liquid in order to
pressure up more oil. The largest CO2 pipeline network in the US is almost
1500 km long. The pipeline in the US is in a comparable scale to what is
needed in the North Sea.
CO2
storage started in the US in the seventies because production started to
drop and the oil prices were increasing. This situation is now taking place
in the North Sea in relation to the oil production. The drop in oil
production in the UK started two years ago, and is expected in the Norwegian
sector within two years time.
Austell
said that when pumping oil only 20-25% of the content in the field is
produced in the first round. Then water is injected into the field to get up
an additional 15-20% under secondary production. If CO2 is used as a third
step one can pump up 6-15% of what originally was in the field. Austell says
this means a 10-30% increase in the overall oil production fro a field. This
could lead to more vulnerable areas being spared from oil drilling. Today
it is common to use natural gas to maintain pressure in the wells in the
North Sea. Nearly half of the natural gas pumped up in the Norwegian sector
is pumped back into the wells. A considerable part of this will not be
possible to regain, he claims.
ELSAM is
the owner of modern coal driven power plants in Denmark. These have an
expected lifespan of 25-35 more years, and will continue to pump CO2 into
the atmosphere as long as coal is being burnt. If these emissions are
handled one can trap and deposit 90% of the amount of CO2 created. By
handling the CO2 from two of Denmark's power plants, one captures half of
the emissions required for Denmark to reduce, in order to fulfil their
Kyoto-protocol. It is not only CO2 from combustion that is important to
store. Just as important is the CO2 that naturally is coming up from the
oil- and gas wells. On the Sleipner-field in the North Sea, Statoil deposits
annually ca. one million ton CO2. Simple maths shows that this is equivalent
to 2% of Norway's GHG emissions, and between a fourth and a third of what
Norway must reduce before 2010.
Even if
CO2 leads to increased oil production, it does not add up if a value on
avoiding CO2 2 emissions is not set. Austell mentions the Norwegian CO2 2
tax as one instrument to value the sequestered CO22. The CENS project is of
the opinion that the value of avoiding CO2 2 emissions needs to be 20 - 25$
pr. ton, before CO2 2 for EOR is financially sound. Austell closed his
lecture by saying CO2 2 capture and storage is a tool to use while we wait
for renewable systems to be built, and as long as we burn oil and coal.
Austell estimates this to go on for another 25-35 years from existing
facilities, but he says others are of the opinion that we will use coal long
after this. The hydrogen society will evolve through first decarbonising
fossil fuels that will require the storage of CO2 2 in geologic formations
like oil and gas fields, he says. But once the hydrogen and CO2 2
infrastructures are built, the transition to renewable sources directly
producing hydrogen will be much easier.
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17)
BRITAIN'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FELL LAST YEAR
Planet Ark
March 31, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20306/story.htm
LONDON -
Britain's emissions of greenhouse gases fell by 3.5 percent last year,
keeping the country on track to meet its own pollution targets and those set
out in the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, the government said. The drop
in emissions, the first decrease for two years, was the result of lower
energy consumption, due partly to warmer weather, said the Department of
Trade and Industry (DTI) in a statement. The government's Climate Change
Policy and more efficient use of energy had also played a role, the DTI
said. "These figures are a real boost showing we are on track to break
through our Kyoto targets, and on course to meet our Energy White Paper aim
to cut the UK's carbon emissions by 60 percent from current levels by 2050,"
said energy minister Brian Wilson in the statement.
Britain's
Kyoto target is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 percent from 1990
levels by 2012. Data on last year's emissions levels suggested the
proportion of Britain's electricity generated from renewable energy sources
like wind and solar had risen to three percent from 2.8 percent in 2001, the
DTI said. Britain sees greater use of renewable power as crucial to curbing
carbon dioxide emissions. It wants renewables to produce 10 percent of the
country's power by 2010, a target some analysts consider too ambitious in
the face of problems gaining planning permission and financing for projects
such as windfarms.
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18)
SCIENTISTS AWED BY CLIMATIC EFFECTS ON CROPS
Independent Online
March 31, 2003
Internet:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31&art_id=qw1049096165864B252&set_id=1
Palo Alto
- Climate trends have significantly affected crop yields in the United
States, scientists believe. Researchers found that corn and soya bean
production was boosted by warm, dry years in some areas and cool, wet years
in others.When climate trends were removed from the equation, yield
increases from improved management practices were 20 percent lower than
previously thought.
David
Lobell, one of the scientists at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in
Stanford, California, said: "We found that climate is a surprisingly
important factor in crop yield trends. Most future projections of food
supply are based on recent trends in crop yield growth, ignoring the effects
of climate. But our study shows that recent trends in climate have actually
helped farmers' yields, so in terms of management we may not be doing as
well as we have thought."
The
researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Science, studied
data on temperature, rainfall, sunlight, and crop yields throughout the US
from 1982 to 1998.They found a region in the Midwest where yields increased
during cooler, wetter years, and a smaller region including the Northern
Great Plains where they rose during hotter, drier years.Fellow researcher
Gregory Asner said if global warming increased temperatures in the principal
corn and soya bean areas of the Midwest, the region's crop yields would be
expected to fall. "According to our calculations, we can expect a 17 percent
decline in yield of these crops for a one degree increase in growing-season
temperature," he said. - Sapa-DPA.
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19)
COMMISSION RESEARCH ON 'GREEN' PROCUREMENT POINTS THE WAY FOR LOCAL
AUTHORITIES
Cordis
March 31, 2003
Internet:
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:20001
EU funded
research into the benefits of environmentally friendly procurement by
Europe's local authorities has shown that if every public body switched to
renewable electricity sources, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
alone would be equal to 18 per cent of Europe's total obligation under the
Kyoto protocol. This is just one example of the benefits highlighted by the
RELIEF project, which is setting guidelines for local authorities to adopt a
more environmentally friendly approach to the purchase of electricity,
construction, information technology equipment, food and public transport.
The
project is funded under the energy, environment and sustainable development
section of the Fifth Framework Programme, and involves six local authorities
in Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Switzerland. EU Research
Commissioner Philippe Busquin explains: 'Thanks to this data, public
administrations can begin to make informed choices about their
responsibility to the environment and to citizens' quality of life.'
The
study, which runs until September 2003, not only seeks to highlight the
environmental impacts of eco-friendly buying, but also the financial gains.
The local authorities involved found that aside from the obvious benefits to
the environment, eco-friendly products also proved to be high quality and
cost effective. For example, the bodies concerned noticed significant
savings on their energy bills after switching to renewable sources of
electricity, and organic food in staff canteens proved to be as cheap as
traditional food.
In order
to drive home the benefits of such approaches, the RELIEF research team
transferred the data of from their findings into 'person equivalents'. As a
result, local authorities can see that if they all switched to renewable
electricity, greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by an equivalent of
over seven million Europeans. Equally, the introduction of water saving taps
and flushes across Europe would reduce water consumption equivalent to that
of more than three million people, and providing organic food in all public
canteens would represent a relief on water and soil equivalent to the impact
of a city the size of Berlin, around 3.5 million people.
But the
RELIEF researchers don't believe that the benefits would stop there. Using
the example of energy saving computers, they say that a switch to such
equipment in public bodies would reduce greenhouse gasses equivalent to that
of 100,000 citizens. However, the high level of public procurement of
computers would mean that such a move would push suppliers towards offering
more and more green devices, and could result in a tenfold indirect
reduction of greenhouse emissions. The challenge now for the RELIEF team is
to promote the findings of their work, which they intend to do through
training sessions, information dissemination, networking and joint
procurement programmes across Europe.
The
initiative will also be presented at the EcoProcura conference in
Gothenburg, Sweden, from 8 to 10 September. 'The challenge for the public
authorities now is to integrate the environment into their procurement
policies, and to use their purchasing power to set a benchmark for suppliers
[...] and set an example to private consumers,' said Mr Busquin.
For
further information, please consult the following web address:
http://www.iclei.org/europe/ecoprocura/relief/index.htm
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20)
EMISSIONS-TRADING GROUP SET TO LAUNCH
Globe and Mail
March 31, 2003
Internet:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030331/RCHIC/Environment/Idx
WASHINGTON -- A year and a half ago, Bill Hamlin was shopping around for a
crash course to prepare his company for the Kyoto Protocol. As head of
environmental policy and emissions trading at Manitoba Hydro, he wanted the
provincially owned utility to gain some real world experience -- to get its
hands dirty in the business of buying and selling pollution.
"We were
looking for some practical experience in the pre-Kyoto period, especially in
terms of how trading works and in the actual physical trading of emission
reductions," Mr. Hamlin said. His search led him to a new U.S. pilot project
called the Chicago Climate Exchange.
This
spring, Manitoba Hydro will join a dozen other North American companies --
along with the City of Chicago -- in the startup of the world's first
voluntary, market-based trading scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Ottawa is planning a similar, but government-mandated, system to help
Canadian businesses reach the targets set out in the Kyoto treaty.
"When we
heard about the Chicago Climate Exchange and began talking with them, it was
a good fit right from the beginning," Mr. Hamlin said. "We thought these
folks were serious about solving environmental problems through market
mechanisms."
The
exchange, set to begin operations before the end of June, will allow
participants to share the burden of meeting emission-reduction targets by
buying and selling credits. Participants have already vowed to cut their
emissions of six greenhouse gases by 1 per cent a year from a common
baseline -- an average of their total output between 1998 and 2001 -- in
each of the next four years. Companies can meet the reductions by making
their operations more efficient or by logging on to the on-line exchange and
purchasing greenhouse gas credits from other companies that have credits to
spare. Ford Motor Co., Motorola Inc., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and
American Electric Power Co. Inc. -- the largest power generator and the No.
1 greenhouse gas emitter in the United States -- are among the inaugural
members.
Many more
are waiting in the wings, according to exchange founder Richard Sandor.
"We're in
dialogue with approximately 80 different companies," said Mr. Sandor, an
economist who teaches at Northwestern University in Chicago. "They are
mainly American, but there are some significant Canadian and Mexican
companies and Europeans with a North American presence." Mr. Sandor said the
motives for signing up vary from company to company. Some want to persuade
shareholders and customers that they are environmentally friendly; others
have operated under a similar, but more constrictive, government-regulated
cap-and-trade regime in Britain; and others, like Manitoba Hydro, want to
learn the ins and outs of emissions trading before governments begin to
regulate.
E.I. du
Pont, for example, seeing the Kyoto Protocol on the horizon, decided to dole
out between $10-million (U.S.) and $20-million a pop for pollution abatement
systems in four of its plants, including one in Maitland, Ont., said David
Findlay, vice-president of infrastructure at DuPont Canada Inc. The
factories produce adipic acid -- a key ingredient of the nylon used in
everything from carpets to car airbags. The factories used to churn out the
potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, but the new systems trapped it inside
massive columns and used a chemical reaction to break down the potentially
damaging gas into harmless nitrogen and oxygen. "The primary motivation was
to get more pro-active around environmental issues and to be in the
forefront of the thinking and development of the solutions to these
problems, rather than waiting for legislation to tell us what to do," Mr.
Findlay said.
Then, of
course, there is the looming burden of the Kyoto Protocol. Although the
United States pulled out of the Kyoto treaty in March, 2001, many of the
U.S.-based parties to the Chicago exchange have branches in Kyoto-signatory
countries and want to prepare their entire operations to comply with its
standards. For Canadian firms that fear they won't be able to keep pace with
U.S. competitors that don't face the same standards, the Chicago system
provides some comfort that American companies will bridge the gap on their
own.
But Don
Dewees, an economist at the University of Toronto, warns that the Chicago
group's commitments to reduce emissions are paltry when compared with
Kyoto's stringent requirements.
"Does it
give some comfort [to Canadian companies]? Yes. Does it level the playing
field? No," Mr. Dewees said in an interview. Under Kyoto, Canada has
committed to cutting emissions to 6 per cent below 1990 levels by the period
between 2008 and 2012. With normal economic growth, the actual cuts needed
will be closer to 25 or 30 per cent below 1990 levels, Mr. Dewees said. The
Chicago participants lag far behind with their plans to cut a total of 4 per
cent from an average of their 1998-2001 emission levels by 2006. But the
Chicago group is getting into an increasingly popular game early. With Kyoto
as the driving force behind it, there has been a brisk trade in the credits
since the mid-1990s. Between 1996 and 2002, the nascent global emissions
trading market saw contracts signed to trade 200 million tonnes of emissions
with a total price tag of $300-million to $500-million, according to the
World Bank. As Kyoto's rules come into sharper focus, the World Bank expects
that market to skyrocket. Mr. Dewees said he doubts the Chicago exchange's
voluntary system will work.
"In most
cases, voluntary actions turn out not to be enough. For problems we're
seriously concerned about, ultimately we need to regulate."
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21)
OFFSHORE WIND IS KEY TO UK'S KYOTO REQUIREMENTS
SolarAccess.com
March 31, 2003
Internet:
http://www.solaraccess.com/news/story?storyid=3982
Fleets of
wind turbines located miles off the coastline of Britain will make a crucial
contribution to the nation's energy future said Energy Minister Brian
Wilson. Speaking at British Wind Energy Association's Offshore Wind 2003
conference held recently in London, the Energy Minister pledged strong
support for the offshore wind industry, which would provide the key to
meeting the government's environmental targets.
"The
latest figures will show there was a significant drop in CO2 emissions last
year," Wilson said. "Since 1990 our CO2 emissions have fallen by nine
percent, and this is in spite of rising energy consumption and economic
growth of over 30 percent. These figures confirm that economic growth need
not be at the expense of the environment, and that we are on course to meet
our Kyoto targets on combating global warming."
"However,
there is no room for complacency," Wilson said. "The White Paper has set us
on the target of cutting carbon emissions by 60 percent by the year 2050. We
need a much bigger contribution from Renewable Energy, and there is ample
evidence that the biggest new contributor to our renewables target is going
to be offshore wind." The Minister underlined the Government's backing for
offshore developments, with the announcement of £42 million (US$66 million)
in capital grants for projects around the British Isles:
-
£4
million (US$6 million) to National Wind Power for the Rhyl Flats project,
North Wales;
-
£10
million (US$15.7 million) to Warwick Offshore Wind for the Barrow Offshore
project, Cumbria;
-
£10
million (US$15.7 million) to GREP UK Marine for the Kentish Flats project,
North Kent;
-
£18
million (US$28.3 million) to Offshore Energy Resources and Solway Offshore
for the Robin Rigg project, Solway Firth.
These
projects are among seven sites to have been awarded planning consent from
the 19 identified for offshore development by the Crown Estate. Together the
projects will create more than 500 wind turbines, generating 1,500 MW of
electricity - or 1.5 percent of the UK's energy needs. The Minister used his
speech as an opportunity to outline how the Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) would be allocating the bulk of the £60 million (US$94.5 million) in
additional funds promised for renewables in the Energy White Paper - with
offshore projects receiving £40 million (US$63 million). But Wilson warned
there were "major obstacles" to be addressed if the UK was to grasp the
benefits. One of the most significant of these was transmission, he said,
with Britain needing to be 're-wired' to adapt to the age of renewables.
"Infrastructure is all," Wilson said. "There is no point in generating power
unless we can ensure that it is capable of being carried to the markets
which require it. The regulatory system must help our aspirations for
Renewable Energy and not place obstacles in its way. I have no doubt that
the private sector has the will to invest in renewables generation but they
also have the right to expect that the regulatory framework will deliver the
necessary investment to extend and update the grid, as a great national
obligation."
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22)
REPORT CITES GLOBAL WARMING, URGES INDUSTRIAL NATIONS TO ACT NOW
Oakland Tribune
March 30, 2003
Internet:
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1282713,00.html
To avoid the dangers of global warming, the
world's industrial nations must start producing at least three-fourths of
their energy without releasing carbon dioxide pollution, a team of climate
experts reported Friday in the journal Science. The study is one of the
first to delve into the uncertainties of how much greenhouse gas the earth
can handle before significant warming occurs, and the implications of those
uncertainties for energy policy. Lead author Ken Caldeira, a climate modeler
at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, said the study suggests the United States
and other nations will have to deploy wind turbines, nuclear power plants
and carbon-capturing schemes at least 25 times today's rate.
After rejecting mandatory reductions of
greenhouse-gas emissions under the Kyoto Treaty, the Bush administration has
favored voluntary reductions to levels that will slow but not stop the
accelerating buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But the United
States still is obligated under the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change, signed by President George H.W. Bush, to stabilize
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere "at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system." The debate on balancing
global warming and economic growth has been frustrated not just by
overwhelming reliance on burning fossil fuels but on uncertainty in how much
added carbon dioxide would cause "dangerous interference."
Most of the reason lies in the clouds. Clouds
are a major mechanism for climate change, yet today's computer simulations
of climate can't describe what they are doing in sufficient detail, Caldeira
said. In the end, that means that when scientists double the amount of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, they can't be certain whether the
temperature will rise 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 8 degrees, or somewhere in
between. So Caldeira and fellow climate scientists Atul Jain of the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Martin Hoffert at New York
University looked at the best- and worst-case scenarios. They examined the
mix of polluting and non-polluting energy sources one would need to keep the
climate stable.
For the most conservative scenario, in which
thousands of tons of added carbon dioxide translate into only a little
warming -- about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, more than three-fourths of the
nation's energy will have to come from non-polluting sources to stabilize
the climate within this century. That amount of warming over 150 years
translates into poleward migration of climate bands, with their associated
ecosystems, at a rate of 25 feet a day, Caldeira said, in effect, the
reverse of an Ice Age. If carbon emissions result in greater warming, about
8 degrees, then all of the world's energy will have to come from sources
that do not emit carbon dioxide. "So in the long term, regardless of how
sensitive climate is to CO2, we need to significantly reduce emissions below
today's emission rates," Caldeira said. "We do know enough about climate
today to say we need to make a transition to non-CO2 producing systems."
No such technologies are ready, however, for
large-scale deployment at low cost, the study said. Given that it tends to
take almost 50 years for new energy technologies to be developed and
embraced in the market, the study suggests urgency. "We need to develop
appropriate energy technologies now," the authors wrote. "I think wind has
the potential to play a major role," Caldeira said. "The big problem with
wind is it's intermittent." Nations also will have to look at replacing
coal-burning plants with nuclear plants. Caldeira said that will require
solving problems with waste disposal and increasing the world's stock of
nuclear-weapons materials. In the meantime, scientists are looking at
trapping carbon dioxide from power plants, cars and other sources, then
stashing it in deep geologic caverns or in the ocean. So far, the
environmental impacts and the likelihood of keeping the carbon dioxide
locked away are unclear.
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23)
KYOTO PROTOCOL IS INEFFECTIVE AND EXPENSIVE
Rosbalt
March 29, 2003
Internet:
http://www.rosbaltnews.com/2003/03/29/61985.html
MOSCOW,
March 29. According to the opinion expressed at the 4th international
conference entitled 'Russia's Participation in the Global Market Mechanisms
under the Kyoto Protocol' by Nikolai Ratsiborinsky, an Advisor of the
Foreign Ministry of Russia, Kyoto Protocol is ineffective and expensive.
Mr.
Ratsiborinsky said that the Kyoto Protocol had been created in order to use
market mechanisms 'to force world economy to switch to expensive cleaner
technologies'. 'Overall', he continued, ' this is an ineffective and
expensive mechanism intended to offset our common misfortune.' He added that
despite the fact that this protocol had been ratified by 106 countries,
'there is no global effect'. Over 70 its members are developing countries
incapable of serious commitments and sticking with common as opposed to
individual responsibility, which is nothing. Such giants as the US and
Australia have abandoned the protocol. 'This does not mean', Mr.
Ratsiborinsky said, 'that Russia must also stay away from the Kyoto
Protocol. It means that our country should cooperate with the US, Australia
and developing countries to improve the situation'.
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24)
EU ENERGY TAXES WILL HAVE LITTLE IMPACT BUT SHOULD US IMPORTS ALSO BE
TAXED?
Edie weekly summaries
March 28, 2003
Internet:
http://www.edie.net/gf.cfm?L=left_frame.html&R=http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/6799.cfm
Finance Ministers have finally agreed on an EU
energy taxation directive to curb the use of fossil fuels and encourage
sustainable transport. But a European campaign group warns the directive is
so watered down it will have little effect on energy prices and consumption.
And with the US opting out of the Kyoto Protocol, will the EU have to
consider border taxes to adjust for higher energy costs for its exports
compared with lower ones for US imports?
European Fiscal Commissioner Frits Bolkestein
has declared his delight that the Council has finally reached an agreement
on minimum taxes for energy, which will now be passed through the European
Parliament.
The directive, which will enter into force in
January 2004, will reduce distortions between taxes imposed in different
Member States, and will even out taxation across oil, carbon, natural gas
and electricity. The scheme is designed to allow the EU to slowly raise
energy taxes across the board, but will also permit exemptions and discounts
for energy intensive industries, renewable energy and sustainable transport.
However, the European Environmental Bureau says it is deeply disappointed by
the agreement, which has taken six years to come to fruition. The original
proposal has been drastically watered down with a long lists of rebate and
exemptions, effectively resulting in a directive that does no more than
correct the EU minimum rates agreed in 1992 for inflation, says the EEB.
The campaign group is calling on the European
Parliament to demand that some tax exemptions and some transition periods
are lifted, and that a periodical rate review mechanism is clearly provided
by the directive. Meanwhile, the Global Governance Project has released a
new report, Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Without the United States: The
Strategic Role of Energy Tax Adjustments at the Border. The report explores
the possibility that the EU might have to set border energy taxes for US
imports to compensate for much lower energy prices in the US, or set special
rebates on energy-intensive EU exports to the US to adjust for higher energy
prices in Europe, in particular for countries that are actively implementing
the Kyoto Protocol.
Although the EU will have good justification
for implementing measures such as an energy-added tax, with US energy prices
likely remain a fifth to a third lower than EU ones, the EU is likely to
come up against the World Trade Organisations dispute settlement system
following protests from other WTO members, says the report. But under the
GATT agreement, the EU could argue that border taxes were necessary for
exhaustible resources or for the protection of human health, according to
two of GATTs articles.
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25)
IOWA TO HOST WORLD'S LARGEST WIND FARM
ENS
March 27, 2003
Internet:
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2003/2003-03-27-09.asp
DES
MOINES, Iowa, March 27, 2003 (ENS) - A electricity company partly owned by
billionaire Warren Buffett plans to build the largest wind farm on land
anywhere in the world. A site has yet to be selected for the $323 million
wind project, but it will be somewhere on the windy expanse of northwest or
northcentral Iowa. If approved by state agencies, the 310 megawatt project
would be built by MidAmerican Energy Co. Based in Des Moines, Iowa,
MidAmerican Energy is a unit of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the
majority of which is owned by Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway
Inc.
Information from the Department of Energys National Renewable Energy
Laboratories shows MidAmericans new wind project with its 180 to 200
turbines will be the largest land based wind energy installation in the
world when it is completed in 2006. Although wind is an intermittent
generation source, MidAmerican said 310 megawatts of wind capacity provides
enough electricity on average to power approximately 85,000 homes. The
project is in line with Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's goal of making Iowa
energy independent and a national leader in renewable energy. I have
challenged regulators, business professionals and utility companies in Iowa
to work toward achieving 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2010, which
will require the addition of more than 500 megawatts of renewable energy
facilities, Vilsack said. I am pleased that MidAmerican is taking a
leadership role in that effort.
MidAmerican also announced a plan to freeze its Iowa electric rates through
2010, while developing and constructing two other major generation projects
already in progress. When the wind project is complete, MidAmerican Energy
will own or have under contract in Iowa more than 435 megawatts of wind,
biomass or hydroelectric energy - or 43 percent of Vilsacks goal of 1,000
megawatts of renewables. Iowa currently produces more than 400 megawatts of
renewable energy, and the governor says Iowa is third in the nation, behind
California and Texas, in the production of wind energy. Environmentally
friendly wind energy is available in abundance in northwest and
north-central Iowa, said Floyd Barwig of the Iowa Energy Center in Ames. I
applaud MidAmerican for tapping into this natural resource and for seeking
environmentally sound solutions to our states growing energy needs.
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26)
CHINESE AND GERMAN COOPERATE IN WIND POWER PROJECT
China Peoples Daily
March 27, 2003
Internet:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200303/27/eng20030327_114085.shtml
A group of 50-plus Chinese and German experts,
along with decision makers, gathered in Beijing Wednesday to discuss a
pioneering wind power project in Central China's Hubei province, reported
Thursday's China Daily. A wind power station will be constructed in Qiyue
Mountain areain Lichuan County, 720 kilometers west of provincial capital
Wuhan.The project is in cooperation with the German government under China's
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), said the paper.
The CDM, created as part of the Kyoto Protocol
in 1997, aims tolower the overall cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
released into the atmosphere, and to support sustainable development
initiatives within developing countries. As the most populous developing
nation in the world, China is cooperating with many foreign countries and
international institutions to seek feasible ways of implementing CDM
projects, and the utilization of renewable energy including wind power has
top priority.
The wind power project in Hubei is the first
one of its kind being prepared under the framework of the CDM, sources with
the CDM said. With financial support from the German Ministry of Economic
Cooperation and Development, a three-year study of wind conditionsin Lichuan,
which found the region has great potential for wind power projects, has
resulted in plans for the construction of a medium-sized 20 million watts
wind station. The station is subsequently to be expanded by an additional 50
million watts if warranted, said the paper. About 400 million watts of wind
power capacity have been developed around China. In 2005, it will expand to
1.4 billion watts.
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27)
COUNCIL DECIDES KYOTO DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH
Vancouver Sun
March 26, 2003
Internet:
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/news/story.asp?id=E497DFB9-4C31-406B-B0C3-227460EE9E29
The city
of Vancouver is aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent
over the next decade -- well above the requirement of the Kyoto Protocol on
global climate change. City council voted 10-1 Tuesday to find ways to
reduce emissions in the city to 20 per cent below 1990 levels and set up a
committee to oversee the task. Under the Kyoto Protocol, the federal
government pledged Canada to cut greenhouse gases, blamed for accelerating
climate change, to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.
But Dave
Rudberg, head of the city's engineering department, told council that has
been a challenge. "You would think a six-per-cent reduction would be fairly
simple; however, we haven't done very well since 1990," he said. "In fact,
there's been a 12-per-cent increase." He said the city's vehicle fleet is
the biggest generator of emissions, but his department is looking at ways of
reducing the number of cars and experimenting with electric and "hybrid"
(gas and electric) vehicles -- one of which is being tested by Mayor Larry
Campbell.
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28)
U.S. SCIENTISTS STORE HEAT-TRAPPING CARBON GASES UNDER GROUND
US State Department
March 25, 2003
Internet:
http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/topic/global&f=03032501.ggi&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has begun
the first major field experiment in the United States to test whether
underground geologic formations can be used to store heat-trapping
greenhouse gas emissions, isolating them permanently from the atmosphere.
According to a March 21 press release, over the last year researchers
injected approximately 2,100 tons of carbon dioxide -- a potent greenhouse
gas -- into a depleted oil reservoir of the Strata Production Company near
Hobbs, New Mexico. The quantity of carbon dioxide injected in the New Mexico
project is comparable to a single day of emissions from an average
coal-fired power plant.
The researchers will now monitor the injected
carbon dioxide plume as it "soaks" into the reservoir rock over the next 60
to 90 days. They will continue to monitor any changes in the mineralization
of the rock for the next year. Scientists do not have good field data on how
long the carbon dioxide is likely to remain in the reservoir or what
physical or chemical changes might occur in the reservoir rock. The New
Mexico project complements a larger sequestration field test under way at
the Weyburn oil field in southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada, where DOE is
joining more than 15 government agencies, universities and research
institutions from around the world to monitor the capacity, movement and
fate of carbon dioxide injected into a producing oil reservoir.
Carbon sequestration is a rapidly advancing
area of study that has been singled out by President Bush as one of the most
promising approaches for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere. Information on DOE's Sequestration R&D Program can be found at
the following Web site:
http://www.fossil.energy.gov/coal_power/sequestration/index.shtml
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29)
MINISTER STRESSES THE NEED TO CURB GLOBAL WARMING
Kenyan Broadcasting
Corporation
March 24, 2003
Internet:
http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?id=16053&categoryID=1
Africa has been named as the most vulnerable
continent from the impact of climatic changes brought about by global
warming. The Minister for Environment Dr. Newton Kulunda said there was an
urgent need to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to
reduce the threat posed by global warming.
Speaking during the World Meteorological Day
celebrations in Nairobi, Dr. Kulundu said the increase in atmospheric
concentration of green house gases had led to the threat of climate change.
He lauded the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services for
contributing effectively to socio-economic development in all relevant
sectors including food, security, water resources and mitigation of natural
disasters. He said his ministry was committed in afforestation and
reafforestation of arid and semi arid areas to help curb environmental
degradation. Dr. Kulundu said more than 70% of natural disasters in the
world are related climate and weather.
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30)
CHANGES IN CLIMATE TO TRIGGER HEALTH PROBLEMS
Peoples Daily
March 24, 2003
Internet:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200303/24/eng20030324_113886.shtml
Global
warming could greatly threaten people's health and daily life in the future,
meteorologists said Sunday, which was World Meteorological Day. They noted
that 40 to 50 percent of the world's population might be affected by some
insect-transmitted diseases such as malaria and dengue fever in the future
as the climate turns warmer. Global warming may bring rise to more plant
diseases and insect pests in hot and humid areas, where people's health
would be under great threat, especially in densely-populated areas,
meteorologists said. "Changes in temperature and rainfall might probably
change thoroughly the distribution of infectious diseases and viruses and
enable them to extend to high-latitude areas and influence more people,"
said Zhu Changhan, chief research fellow on climate effects with China's
National Climate Center.
Professor
Ding Yihui, special adviser on climate changes with the China Meteorological
Administration (CMA), shared a similar perspective with Zhu. The discomfort
brought to human beings by climate changes will also encourage the spread of
some diseases, or even lead to death," Ding said. Analysts said people in
developing countries will be subject to greater health threats in time of
warming, considering their lack of medical facilities and medicines.
"Global warming would bring its most negative consequences to the health of
those living in impoverished areas," Ding added. More hot days are waiting
ahead worldwide as the trend of global warming continues, incurring more
heat-related diseases and deaths, according to the CMA.
However,
global warming will reduce cold stress in temperate countries but increase
their heat stress, said Godwin O.P. Obasi, secretary-general of the World
Meteorological Organization. Experts said the warming climate would also
reduce the mortality of people in middle to high latitudes caused by chilly
cold during the winter. "Any changes in climate lay profound effects on the
health, living environment and the daily life of people," said CMA Director
Qin Dahe. "We have no time to lose to protect the global climate," he
said.
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31)
THINGS HOTTING UP, SAYS GAS MAN
NZ Herald
March 22, 2003
Internet:
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6166720%255E421,00.html
AMID all the uncertainties of climate and
global warming, Australia's pre-eminent meteorologist yesterday declared two
certainties. Most of Australia would get hotter, and the greenhouse effect
of a doubling in carbon dioxide concentration would cause global mean
temperatures to rise by 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius. John Zillman, outgoing
director of the Bureau of Meteorology and leader for the past decade of
Australia's delegation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
said the scientific evidence of global warming was consistent and
unarguable, despite the distortions of environmentalists and business.
"We are certain the world as a whole has got
warmer, and we are pretty certain this is largely due to the greenhouse
effect," Dr Zillman told a World Meteorological Day lecture in Melbourne.
"The amount of global warming to be expected by the end of the century, as a
result of greenhouse gas build-up, will significantly depend on the way that
the major greenhouse gas-emitting countries respond individually and
collectively to the threat of climate change." Dr Zillman, director of the
Bureau of Meteorology since 1978, criticised the IPCC for failing to address
the scientific basis for determining at what level greenhouse gas emissions
interfere with climate and become dangerous. The IPCC had avoided such
statements, believing them to be political. He also believes the recent
drought was caused by natural variability of climate, rather than global
warming, and that Australia should now concentrate on more effective
management of its variable climate.
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32)
COMMISSION TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES MEET THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Europaworld
March 21, 2003
Internet:
http://www.europaworld.org/week121/commissiontohelp21303.htm
The
European Commission has adopted a strategy to help developing countries meet
the challenges posed by climate change. In its Communication entitled
"Climate Change in the context of development co-operation", the Commission
proposes an EU action plan aimed at integrating climate change concerns into
EU development co-operation activities. Commenting on the adoption, EU
Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson stated,
"Climate change is as much a development problem as it is an environmental
problem. Its adverse effects will disproportionately affect poorer countries
with economies predominantly based on natural resources.
What's
more, the ability of developing countries to adapt to climate change is
undermined by a lack of financial resources, adequate technology and stable
and effective institutions. The Commission is committed to assisting
developing partners in reconciling their legitimate needs for economic
development with the protection of the environment and sustainable use of
resources. We believe the best way to do this is by addressing climate
change concerns within EU development co-operation activities in complete
coherence with the overarching objective of poverty reduction."
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström added: "The developing countries
are the most vulnerable to climate change and therefore deserve our full
support in addressing this threat. The Kyoto Protocol offers them
opportunities to combine efforts to combat climate change with the objective
of economic development through the Clean Development Mechanism, as well as
additional funding for measures to reduce emissions, adapt to climate change
and build capacity. Our strategy today shows that we are willing to go
further by making climate change an important cross-cutting objective for
our development co-operation policy."
The
Commission is proposing a strategy that assists EU partner countries in
meeting the challenges posed by climate change, in particular by supporting
them in the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the Kyoto Protocol. The Communication argues that climate change
concerns and its potentially disastrous long term implications on, for
example health, sustainable livelihoods and economic development in
developing countries, need to be fully mainstreamed into EU development
co-operation. Climate change concerns must be addressed, and it can and
should be done in a way that is coherent with the overarching objective of
poverty reduction. Beyond development co-operation, addressing climate
change concerns is an integral part of the EU strategy for sustainable
development as expressed before, during and in follow-up to the World Summit
on Sustainable Development.
Four
strategic priorities are identified: (i) Raising the policy profile of
climate change, both among EU development policy makers and practitioners
and in EU partner countries, (ii) Support to EU partner countries for
adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change, (iii) Support to EU
partner countries for mitigation of emissions of greenhouse gases causing
climate change, and (iv) Capacity development in EU partner countries. The
associated action plan translates the strategic recommendations into
concrete actions whilst placing the emphasis on adaptation to climate
change, capacity development and research.
Over 100
countries have by now ratified the Kyoto Protocol, including the European
Community and its Member States as well as many developing countries. The
Kyoto Protocol will enter into force once Russia has ratified. It offers
important opportunities for sustainable development in developing countries
through the so-called Clean Development Mechanism. It allows emission
reductions through investments in developing countries to be credited to the
investor in an industrialised country thereby providing an incentive for
investments in developing countries. In the context of the Kyoto Protocol,
three new funds will be created under the UN's Global Environment Facility
to support climate-related measures in the developing countries, and the EU
and several other developed countries have pledged 450 million per year by
2005 in additional support. Through this Communication, the Commission
invites the European Parliament, Member States, civil society and other
stakeholders to contribute to the formulation and implementation of a
coherent and co-ordinated EU approach to climate change in the context of
development co-operation.
See Also:
EU Climate
Change Strategy Aids Developing Nations, ENS, March 18, 2003
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2003/2003-03-18-01.asp
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33)
NO DUTCH MONEY FOR BUJAGALI DAM
All Africa
The Monitor (Kampala)
March 21, 2003
Internet:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210654.html
The Dutch government has rejected a bid to buy
the carbon credits from the Bujagali project. AES corporation, the
developers of the project could have used the funds to finance its
construction, which has been marred by controversy. The money would have
been paid under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Countries signatory
to the Kyoto protocol are required to pay for carbon credits as a commitment
to reduce global emissions. Last year AES proposed to the Dutch government
to recognise the project as a source of carbon credits under the Clean
Development Mechanism.
A Dutch government institution SENTER, sent
officials here last year to access the project potential.
PricewaterhouseCoopers was also contracted to carry out an independent audit
of the project. SENTER had said it was ready to pay over $6.5m per 1,000
tones of carbon for 10 years starting 2006. Mr Pieter van Geel, State
Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment approved 18
climate projects in developing countries on 13 March. Bujagali was not among
them. Efforts to talk to SENTER officials were futile but CDM officials said
SENTER cited the controversy the projected would have attracted. "The Dutch
have decided not to contract Bujagali as a CDM project. Their explanation
was that the "baseline" was not rigorous enough, but they were also worried
about the controversy that the project would have attracted," Mr Ben Pearson
an official from CDM said in an email.
The approved projects will now be submitted to
the CDM Executive Board of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), for approval and registration, so that transaction of emission
reductions can take place. This final step will take another six to nine
months, SENTER said on their website. The World Bank also signed a $4m
similar deal with the West Nile hydropower project last year.
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34)
'LIVING WITH FLOODS'
BBC
March 21, 2003
Internet:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2869659.stm
Several
governments in the monsoon region of South East Asia have revised their
official flood policies in order to promote the positive aspects of
flooding. Floods are traditionally thought of as the most devastating of
natural disasters, and this has led to policies of total flood prevention
being attempted. But this can be highly costly, and could get ever more so
with the more frequent and widespread flooding that might occur as a result
of global warming. China spent more on flood defences between 1999 and 2003
than it had in 30 years previously. But now they have changed their view,
stating earlier this year that "total flood control is not possible". And
Vietnam's Rural and Agriculture Ministry has gone a step further - the
country's official policy is now one of "living with floods".
FISH
STOCKS
"The
flood is only a disaster when it is too early, or too much, or doesn't come
at all," Pham Thanh Hang, programme officer of the UN Development Programme,
told the Third World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan. She said the flooding of
the Mekong was an essential part of life in rural Vietnam, providing the
water from which the country's staple rice crop was grown. And after the
Tonle Sap lake floods every year, the amount of fish obtained account for
10% of the country's entire GDP. Consequently, the government has been
taking a number of measures to minimise the worst effects of floods, rather
than simply trying to prevent them occurring at all. These have included
schools built on stilts 10 metres into the air, and providing swimming
lessons to children and parents.
URBAN
ACTION
Ms Pham
said that this was already having an effect. The number of children killed
in flooding in 2002 was only just over 100, compared with above 500 in the
2000 floods.
The shift
in South East Asia from "flood management to flood control" has been backed
by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). "Floods are only disastrous when people
and property are in the way," Ian Fox, the principal project specialist at
the ADB, told the forum.
He said
that while urban areas still needed high standards of flood protection, he
argued for only minimum measures in rural areas, in order to "maximise the
benefits of floods".
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35)
RUSSIA SET TO SIGN KYOTO PROTOCOL
ABC News Online
March 20, 2003
Internet:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s811071.htm
Labor's Environment
Spokesman, Kelvin Thompson, says he has met the Russian ambassador in
Canberra to show Labor's support for Russian plans to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol. Mr Thompson says the ambassador has told him the protocol will be
signed at a conference on climate change in Moscow later this year. The
Government has rejected ratifying the protocol because it believes the
agreement is not in Australia's interests. Mr Thompson says Russia holds the
key to the future of the protocol. "When Russia ratifies the protocol it
will come into effect legally because it will meet both the criteria for the
number of countries ratifying, we're already there, and the criterion for
the percentage of greenhouse gasses emissions put out by the various
countries," he said. "So Russia has assumed a pivotal role in this regard
and I'm keen to see Russia ratify the protocol in order that it comes into
force."
Mr Thompson says
Australia's refusal to ratify the agreement on climate change has left it
isolated from the views of the rest of the world. "I believe that this
indicates again that Australia is out of step with attitudes towards the
Kyoto protocol," he said. "It is only the United States and Australia of all
the countries that are failing to support it."
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36)
GLOBAL GREENHOUSE AFFECTS AIR PRESSURE
Nature
March 20, 2003
Internet:
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030317/030317-6.html
Global
warming is redrawing the isobars on weather maps. Researchers have found
that changes in air pressure over the past 50 years bear the fingerprint of
human influence. This is the first report of a human effect on barometers,
rather than thermometers. Most climate scientists agree that greenhouse
gases produced by human activity have warmed the planet over the past
century. Nathan Gillett of the University of Victoria, Canada, and his
colleagues have shown that there is also a greenhouse effect on air
pressure.
Changes
in air pressure could have a big effect on climate. Air pressure controls
the atmosphere's circulation, and therefore influences how moisture moves.
Changes in circulation can alter rainfall, temperature, winds and
storminess. For instance, changes in an air-circulation pattern called the
North Atlantic Oscillation have been implicated in recent increases in
rainfall over Scotland, reduced rain in Spain, and a drop in the number of
cold snaps in France. These trends, and their impact on climate, could be
stronger than we thought. Computer simulations of climate have
underestimated the size of the change in air pressure, the researchers
found.
PRESSURE SITUATION
The
researchers studied records of air pressure at sea level dating back to
1948. They looked at three independent sets of measurements, and found that
these data sets agree. Average air pressure has risen over the past five
decades in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean, southern Europe and North
Africa. In other regions, such as the poles and the North Pacific Ocean, the
pressures have dropped. "These trends will tend to make winters warmer,
wetter and windier in northwest Europe", says Gillett. "Winters in much of
western Canada and the USA will be milder, southern Europe will be drier,
and Labrador and Greenland will have colder winters." These changes, in
themselves, do not prove that emissions of greenhouse gases are to blame.
They could be caused by natural variations in the Earth's climate.
To
investigate whether human activities were the cause, Gillett's team compared
their observations to four computer models of global climate. For each
model, they simulated changes in greenhouse-gas concentrations and the
amounts of dust in the atmosphere formed from sulphur-containing gases. Dust
alters climate by scattering sunlight and influencing cloud formation. The
models' predictions of air-pressure changes matched those from the real
world - as long as human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions were included, the
researchers found. Without these emissions, the two maps did not match.
Models and measurements showed the same pattern of changes, but models
underestimated their size.
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37)
WORLD WIND POWER MKT SEEN GROWING 11 PCT/YR TO '07
Reuters
March 20, 2003
Internet:
http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/03/20/rtr912768.html
COPENHAGEN, March 20 (Reuters) - The global wind power market is expected to
grow by an average of 11.2 percent a year in the coming five years,
independent Danish wind power consultancy BTM said in an annual industry
survey issued on Thursday. Wind power accounts for less then one percent of
global energy supply but the sector is growing fast as countries try to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which many scientists say cause global
warming. Production of wind power is expected to expand 24 percent this year
to 8,965 megawatt (MW).
Looking
beyond 2007, BTM said it expected wind power to account for nearly two
percent of the world's electricity consumption by 2012. "Major drivers are
economics, flexible mechanisms related to the Kyoto Protocol and an increase
in electricity consumption," it said. BTM said a record 7,227 MW of
wind-power capacity was installed worldwide in 2002, taking total capacity
to over 32,000 MW, enough to power 16 million average European homes. Europe
is still the driving force in the industry, accounting for 85.4 percent of
global installed wind power MW in 2002. In the coming five years BTM expects
Europe to decrease its share to 71 percent of the total 83,000 MW capacity
seen available. Forecasts for the United states were more uncertain.
The U.S.
market has slowed due to the uncertain status of the wind energy production
tax credit (PTC), a key federal tax incentive to promote wind power. The
world's five biggest wind turbine makers account for 75.6 percent of the
global market, according to 2002 data. Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems <VEST.CO>
lost nearly two percentage points of the world market to 22.2 percent, while
Germany's privately owned Enercon's share grew to 18.5 percent from 15.2
percent in 2001. Denmark's NEG Micon <NEG.CO>, came in third with 14.3
percent, up from 12.8 percent. Spanish Gamesa <GAM.MC> was the world No. 4
wind turbine marker with a market share of 11.8 percent, up from 9.5 percent
in 2001 while GE Wind, part of General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people),
lost nearly four percentage points to 8.8 percent
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38)
REPORT WARNS OF THE HIGH COST OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Business Day
March 18, 2003
Internet:
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1307737-6094-0,00.html
CAPE TOWN
Climate change looks set to cost the world an estimated $300m a year, says a
report by the World Conservation Union. This figure is equivalent to more
than double SA's total national output last year. The scale of the problem
is such that dealing with it can no longer be left to experts and scientists
alone, the union says. The new report launched at the Third World Water
Forum, being held this week in Kyoto, Japan says "widespread involvement of
society" is needed to cope with the growing uncertainty about future impacts
of climate change. "Climate change already shows its impacts in increased
climate variability. Reducing glaciers, thawing permafrost and changing
rainfall patterns are already resulting in widespread damage, as the recent
floods in Europe have shown. "The annual damage that may be incurred was
recently estimated at $300bn per year," the report says.
According
to union adviser Brett Orlando, uncertainties about the effects of climate
change are great. "Science alone cannot deal with this. To adapt to climate
change, we need coalitions of politicians, scientists, managers and civil
society to assess risks and identify responses," he said. Sapa-AFP.
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39)
PASSENGERS FACE 'GREEN TAX' ON AIRLINE FUEL
Independent
March 15, 2003
Internet:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/transport/story.jsp?story=387242
Britain
took the first step on the road to taxing air travel for its contribution to
global warming yesterday when the Treasury published a document discussing
the idea. Although such a tax, which would mean a big rise in ticket prices
and would hit low-cost airlines severely, is a long way off, the
Government's decision to begin talking about it is significant. The move is
in response to one of the biggest complaints of environmental scientists and
campaigners that governments across the world refrain from taxing aviation
fuel, yet aircraft exhaust emissions are contributing more and more to the
greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from aircraft
are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty governing
efforts to fight climate change.
The
document, Aviation and the Environment: Using Economic Instruments,
published jointly with the Department for Transport, recognises that air
transport has real environmental costs. Greenhouse gases from British
airlines cost the country £1.4bn in 2000, which will rise to £4.8bn by 2030.
UK civil passenger aviation produced 30 million tonnes, or 5 per cent, of
Britain's carbon dioxide in the year 2000. By 2020 this will have gone up to
55 million tonnes, or between 10 and 12 per cent. The document invites
opinions on how economic measures such as taxes, trading permits, auctions
of landing slots and government grants could be used to encourage the
industry to take more account of its environmental impact.
The
Treasury stressed it was purely a "discussion document". A spokesman said:
"We come with a totally open mind. There are no pre-conditions." Norman
Baker, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, said: "This represents
what is potentially a hugely significant change, and could be the first step
to taxing aviation fuel, which is long overdue. Frankly, airliner tickets
are too cheap." The responses will feed into the Air Transport White Paper,
due later this year, which is to set out a "sustainable" aviation policy for
the next 30 years. The Government has made proposals for increasing airport
capacity in the South-east that have attracted criticism from
environmentalists. "The Government should have looked at how to make the air
industry pay for some of the enormous environmental damage it causes before
it began its consultation on building new airports," Paul De Zylva of
Friends of the Earth said. The aviation industry said higher taxes could
harm the economy if they led to higher travel costs and a fall in demand.
The Freedom to Fly Coalition, representing airlines, airports and trade
unions, said £1bn of environment costs were already taxed via air passenger
duty.
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40)
OIL GIANTS LEAD PUSH FOR KYOTO
The West Australian
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.thewest.com.au/20030314/news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto91356.html
CANBERRA. BP AND Shell head a list of eight leading Australian companies
calling on the Federal Government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The two oil
giants outlined their support in an unofficial survey of Business Council of
Australia members released by Greenpeace yesterday. Of the 54 companies who
returned the survey, eight were in favour of ratification and seven -
including WA companies Woodside Petroleum and Western Power - said they did
not support a change in the council's position, which at the time of the
survey was opposed to ratification. The protocol is designed to restrict
industry emissions to counter global warming. The influential business lobby
group adopted a neutral stance towards Kyoto on February 28.
Twelve
companies, including BHP Steel, ANZ and Qantas, said they were still
developing their position and 27 declared themselves neutral. Australia's
Kyoto Protocol target is to restrict emissions to 108 per cent of 1990
levels by 2008. Australia and the United States are the only developed
nations that have not yet committed to ratifying the protocol, which is
expected to come into force later this year with the ratification by Russia.
The Federal Government argues that the exclusion of the US and developing
countries in the protocol means ratification will cost jobs and hurt
industry. However, in their responses to Greenpeace, Shell and BP threw
their weight behind ratification. "Presently, the Kyoto Protocol is the only
global game in town and it is likely to remain so for some time, despite its
recognised deficiencies," Shell's response says. "Starting the process again
would delay action for another decade and leave the world with an even
larger legacy to tackle (and) we are pleased that the protocol looks likely
to enter into force in the near future."
Greenpeace campaigner Gareth Walton said the survey showed only "a small
group of companies with vested interests in fossil fuels and mining" were
opposed. But business council greenhouse task force chairman Meredith
Hellicar said the finding was inaccurate. "There is no single sector that
has a unified view," she said. Leaked correspondence between BCA members
shows some companies, including Esso and Boral, believe that publicly
supporting Kyoto would run the risk of marginalising the BCA's influence
within Government. Western Power spokesman Peter Winner said its view on
Kyoto was more neutrality than opposition.
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41)
FINLAND'S GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS SURGE IN 2002
Planet Ark
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20153/story.htm
HELSINKI
- The level of Finland's greenhouse gas emissions rose to a record high in
2002, partly due to a dry summer and autumn which reduced the use of
hydropower, Statistics Finland (SF) said yesterday. According to preliminary
data from the national statistics bureau, Finland's level of carbon dioxide
emissions grew by three million tonnes in 2002 to 63 million, exceeding the
Kyoto Protocol target by 17 percent or nine million tonnes.
"The
growth in emission was mainly caused by lower production of hydropower and
this being compensated for with electricity production with coal and peat,"
said SF in a statement. The data showed that production of hydropower
slumped 18 percent in 2002, mainly due to low water reserves. Non-renewable
fossil energy remained at more than half of the total energy used, while
renewable energy totalled 23 percent, the data showed. The Kyoto Protocol
has set a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2008-2012 to the 1990
level.
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42)
CHINESE WIND FARM MAKES KYOTO PROFITS FROM DUTCH
Planet Ark
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20156/story.htm
BEIJING -
A wind farm in Inner Mongolia yesterday became the first Chinese renewable
energy project to be selected by the Dutch government to help reduce the
world's air pollution under the 1997 United Nations Kyoto Protocol. By
producing electricity without emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon
dioxide, then selling the credit it gets for keeping the air clean to the
Dutch, the Huitengxile wind farm, northwest of Beijing, will pay for its own
expansion. "At the moment that they prove they've reduced emissions, we'll
begin to pay," the Deputy Manager of Carbon Credits at the Netherlands
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Egbert Liese, told Reuters.
The
Netherlands yesterday approved the first overseas sustainable energy
projects it will fund in order to cut greenhouse gases under the Kyoto
protocol. The Dutch will purchase emission credits through the 18 projects,
which aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 16 megatonnes, the
environment ministry said in a statement. Apart from China, the 18 projects
which focus on sustainable energy and clean techologies, will take place in
Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Jamaica and
Panama. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, countries are allowed to fund
projects such as wind parks, biomass-powered energy plants and solar energy
projects in developing countries and get credits toward up to half their
goal in cutting emissions. The Dutch have undertaken to cut greenhouse gas
emissions by six percent versus the level in 1990, during the period 2008 to
2012, with half the decrease realised outside the Netherlands.
China
gets about 70 percent of its energy from burning coal making it home to some
of the world's most polluted cities. China, as a developing nation, is not
bound by the goals for restraining carbon dioxide emissions laid out in the
Kyoto agreement, but Chinese support is crucial for its survival. It is the
world's second largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions, and the United
States, the greatest emitter of greenhouse gasses, has long cited the fact
that China is not bound by the protocol as one reason why it will not ratify
the deal.
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43)
GLOBAL WARMING IS DEPLETING OUR WATER SUPPLY
Independent Online
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=143&art_id=qw1047624660396B251&set_id=1
Hong Kong
- Finding ways of combating worldwide water shortages caused by global
warming is one of the questions expected to top the agenda at the third
World Water Forum which gets underway on Sunday. Record droughts have
parched crops, decimated flocks and turned once-picturesque landscapes to
desolate brown as scientists warn that climate change will strain already
limited fresh water supplies. "Water supplies are falling while the demand
is dramatically growing at an unsustainable rate," the United Nations said
in a report released to mark the International Year of Freshwater, ahead of
Sunday's conference in Kyoto, Japan.
Global
warming will in the future be responsible for one-fifth of global water
scarcity because of its impacts on rainfall patterns, with more frequent and
longer-lasting droughts baking wider expanses of land, the UN said in its
report. A 2001 report by the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC)
found that the average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by
0.6°C over the course of the 20th century, which has led to a decrease in
snow and glacier cover. And while precipitation has increased by half a
percent per decade over most of the middle and high latitude regions of the
Northern Hemisphere, increases in rainfall in tropical countries are not
evident.
"Over the
20th century there were relatively small increases in global land areas
experiencing severe drought or severe wetness," the IPCC wrote. "In some
regions, such as parts of Asia and Africa, the frequency and intensity of
droughts have been observed to increase in recent decades." Such droughts
have compounded the already dire circumstances for millions, many of whom
live in arid climates and under impoverished conditions that limit their
access to fresh water. A dry rainy season in eastern Ethiopia, for example,
has threatened the lives of more than one million people - many of them
children - as there is no way to irrigate even subsistence crops. Efforts to
rebuild the central Asian nation of Afghanistan after 23 years of war have
also been made more difficult by drought, with the water table in the
capital, Kabul, dwindling at a rate of one metre every year. The UN has set
itself a goal of reducing by one billion the number of people with limited
access to fresh water by 2015, and ways of achieving that target will be
discussed at the Kyoto forum. - Sapa-AFP.
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44)
BP CUTS EMISSIONS BY 14PC IN SHARJAH OPERATIONS
Gulf News
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=80600
Energy
major, BP, slashed greenhouse gas emissions at its Sharjah operations by 14
per cent in 2002.Globally, it has overall reduced such emissions by 10 per
cent, eight years ahead of the schedule it set for itself shortly after the
1998 Kyoto accords. Cost savings totalling $600 million have also been
effected globally, through improvements in efficiency, technology, and
better energy management, the company said.
In
Sharjah, real sustainable reductions in the third and fourth quarters of
2002 were achieved through a 'fuel gas to air' project, stated spokesman
Reda Mohammed."This saw all the fuel gas that was being vented into the
atmosphere at wells, chemical injection pumps and wellhead actuators being
ceased forever," he said. "This eliminated the last remaining significant
sources of methane gas in Sharjah a benefit that will also appear in the
first three quarters of 2003."
Other
initiatives here included the optimisation of a high pressure flare and
reduction of purge gas to an old acid gas flare. Another scheme, named the
compressor seal gas recovery project, has also helped cut methane
emissions. The company's reduction in methane gas emissions has been a
notable 35 per cent since 1998. Significant cuts in the emission levels of
carbon monoxide, sulphur oxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide have also
been achieved. "Our achievements in cutting emissions was not the result of
a single initiative, but hundreds of different improvements carried through
by our employees across operations in over 100 countries," noted Dr Michael
Daly, Mideast president.
For
instance, in Abu Dhabi, Adco has slashed methane emissions by 85 per cent
after changing its corrosion inhibition pumps last year to solar powered
electric motors. They were earlier driven by methane. Explaining the
policies driving the energy major's environment policy, Dr Daly explained:
"At its simplest level, it is akin to the owner of a lorry that belches
black smoke thinking he is saving money by not having it fixed but not
only is this bad for the environment, but also represents faulty economising
due to the wasted fuel, decrease in efficiency, wear and tear on the engine,
and inevitable breakdown costs. "What we have done is to apply this same
principle across all of our operations: refineries, chemical plants, ships,
and even in our offices." Dr Daly also stressed the company's long-term
commitment to continual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, clarifying
this is not a one-off project but an ongoing pledge that it is being adhered
to around the globe.
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45)
DUTCH ANNOUNCE FIRST CO2 TRADING PROJECTS FOR KYOTO
Planet Ark
March 14, 2003
Internet:
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20152/story.htm
AMSTERDAM
- The Netherlands yesterday approved the first overseas sustainable energy
projects it will fund in order to cut greenhouse gases under the Kyoto
protocol. The Dutch will purchase emission credits through the 18 projects,
which aim to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 16 megatonnes, the
environment ministry said in a statement. The 18 projects which focus on
sustainable energy and clean technologies, will take place in Bolivia,
Brazil, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Jamaica and
Panama.
Under the
1997 Kyoto Protocol, countries are allowed to fund projects such as wind
parks, biomass-powered energy plants and solar energy projects in developing
countries and get credits toward up to half their goal in cutting
emissions. The Dutch have undertaken to cut greenhouse gas emissions by six
percent versus the level in 1990, during the period 2008 to 2012, with half
the decrease realised outside the Netherlands. A ministry spokeswoman
declined say what the Netherlands would pay to fund the projects.
See Also:
Netherlands Approves 18 Climate Friendly Projects, ENS, March 13, 2003
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2003/2003-03-13-04.asp
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46)
SHELL CHIEF DELIVERS GLOBAL WARMING WARNING TO BUSH IN HIS OWN BACK YARD
The Guardian
March 12, 2003
Internet:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,912523,00.html
Shell
chairman Sir Philip Watts risks stirring up a controversy in America today
when he calls for global warming sceptics to get off the fence and accept
that action needs to be taken "before it is too late". At a presentation in
Houston, the back yard of ExxonMobil, one of the most vocal antagonists to
the Kyoto climate change treaty, the British oilman will say "we can't wait
to answer all questions [on global warming] beyond reasonable doubt", adding
"there is compelling evidence that climate change is a threat".
Sir
Philip expresses deep concern about the growing gulf between Europe and
America over climate change and other issues - most notably Iraq. His
purpose, he says, is not to create further discord but to argue for both
sides to work together to remove what he describes as "the lingering
animosity". Shell and BP have been keen over the past couple of years to be
seen as progressive on green issues while ExxonMobil has been labelled a
fossil fuel dinosaur by environmentalists. President Bush refused to sign
the Kyoto protocol on global warming and Texas - based ExxonMobil has been a
significant cheerleader for this position - although it, too, has been
researching renewable technologies.
Sir
Philip's speech at the opening of a new Shell Center for Sustainability at
Rice University in Houston shows the group's determination to be seen as a
moderniser. "We know that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities
... largely burning fossil fuels ... bring about long-lasting atmospheric
changes likely to affect climate. And our world does appear to be warming.
"There are huge uncertain ties about the risks and the impact. Further
research is essential. But we can't wait to answer all questions beyond
reasonable doubt. There will always be uncertainty which we need to cope
with."
Shell has
"seen and heard enough" to believe there is a problem related to the burning
of fossil fuels. Because of this "we stand with those who are prepared to
take action to solve that problem ... now ... before it is too late ... and
we believe that businesses, like Shell, can help to bridge differences that
divide the US and Europe on this issue". Shell has been pushing ahead with
its own investments in wind, solar and other renewable fuel sources but
still believes that hydrocarbons will not become scarce at least until 2025
- and probably quite long after that.
And Sir
Philip argues that "sustained expansion of renwable energy" will only start
after developments in energy storage around the same period of 2025. It
will be only by the middle of this century that renewables will take a
serious grip on energy supply, possibly providing a third of the world's
needs by 2050.
Sir
Philip argues there is no quick fix, with many hurdles to overcome before
renewables can offer affordable mass energy. "Flying over for this speech,
I had the distinct impression that the Atlantic is getting wider. Today the
focus of that rift is on Iraq. But differences over environmental issues
have hardened attitudes," Sir Philip argues. "With a $30bn footprint in the
United States and a similar presence in Europe, we have a vested interest in
the best possible relations on both sides of the Atlantic," he adds.
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47)
CONCERNS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE NOT CONFINED TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY -
MINISTER
Daily News
March 12, 2003
Internet:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/03/12/new22.html
My
concerns about climate change are not only confined to science and
technology. I represent an electorate in Central Part of Sri Lanka and I
have shared the frustrations of our people when they lose their harvest due
to unpredictable weather patterns. I have shared even greater miseries of
people, which are indirectly caused by changes in climate such as flash
floods and landslides, which are becoming more and more common in some parts
of my electorate said the Minister of Science and Technology Keheliya
Rambukwella.
He made
these observations when he made the keynote speech during the banquet hosted
in connection with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Expert Consultative meeting on the subject of Climate Change and Sustainable
Developments in the IPCC AR 4. Minister Rambukwella said he is privileged to
address a gathering to discuss a set of recommendations for action in order
to mitigate adverse effects of climate change, Action to be taken for a
better tomorrow, actions to safeguard the people. A commitment every human
being owes to the society and he wishes to place on record that the guidance
and recommendations is being eagerly awaited.
He added
as a layman to this deep and important subject, he wishes to inform that Sri
Lanka too have been in the forefront of problems due to climate change. Long
drought periods, gusty winds, heavy rains, flash floods, coastal erosion,
bleaching of corals are all beginning to plague our country and its people
and in turn their lives. The green mantle that provided a buffer between us
the living organisms and adverse effects of climate changes have gradually
dwindled down leaving us totally exposed and vulnerable to the naked blasts
and ill effect of climate change. Climate change was coming for along time.
Minister Rambukwella also said in the past we did not take it very
seriously. It has now come to a point that we cannot ignore it any longer as
it has now reached alarming and unacceptable limits. It has unfortunately
started affecting us at a time when we are also making serious efforts to
deal with other aspects of our civil society which are also equally
important.
In
addition to the foregoing, the spread of epidemic diseases, vector born
diseases, problems of pests and diseases, drop in crop production,
Bio-diversity, drop in hydro-power production have all reached alarming
proportions and we are beginning to feel very tired and only to realise that
the available capabilities and methodologies are inadequate to cope with the
situations - leave aside mitigation. While some of us understand a few
adverse effects of climate change, there are many others, a large component
of our society who live in rural areas, who have little or no knowledge of
these problems that are global in nature.
They have
not the slightest knowledge that these will soon affect them more than many
others who possess technological capabilities in dealing with such
situations. We believe the agenda you produce for partner countries as a
result of this consultation will embody convening senior scientists in these
Technical and Technological areas to combat identified priority areas for
action. His Ministry will give the necessary leadership to co-ordinate a
National Program and he wished to place on record that he will be personally
interested in providing the necessary Political leadership to such an action
oriented programme.
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48)
NZ PLAYS ROLE IN RESEARCH TO IMPLEMENT TRADE IN KYOTO CREDITS
Stuff
March 12, 2003
Internet:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2323532a7693,00.html
New
Zealand's Energy Federation is co-ordinating World Energy Council (WEC)
research to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the Asia Pacific region. The
first study in the programme involved promoting foreign investment in the
Tararua Windfarm Project in return for carbon credits. Future studies are
likely to allow wealthy nations to earn "credits" for greenhouse gas
reductions by helping poor countries with energy projects that reduce
emissions. Energy Federation chairman Rob Whitney said the government's
allocation of carbon credits to Trustpower's proposed 36 megawatt (MW)
extension of its existing 32MW Tararua wind farm and to a new 40-80MW wind
farm proposed by Meridian was a positive result from this research.
The
research was carried out for the Energy Federation by CRL Energy Ltd, the
former research arm of state coal company Solid Energy, which is itself
being separately funded by the Government to find ways to produce hydrogen
from coal efficiently. Mr Whitney said the New Zealand Government decision
to provide carbon credits to the two wind farms would pave the way for other
greenhouse gas reduction projects around the Pacific. Energy Minister Pete
Hodgson said earlier this week the wind farms would create electricity
without the release of harmful greenhouse gases caused by gas and coal-fired
power stations. It was unlikely the wind farms would be economically viable
if carbon credits were not provided, but they could deliver emissions
reductions of up to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2008-2012.
The two projects will roughly triple New Zealand's current wind generation
capacity of just under 40MW.
Dr
Whitney said that CRL Energy investigated whether the Tararua project could
proceed using a Kyoto Protocol mechanism that allowed for carbon emission
credits to be sold to overseas investors as soon as the New Zealand
Government develops policies to allocate carbon credits. "These wind farms
and any future New Zealand projects ... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
can now become a reality," he said. Promissory notes for Kyoto Protocol
emission units would be allocated to the companies financing the wind farms,
depending on the final amount of generation involved. CRL Energy was already
tackling the next study on behalf of the Energy Federation and WEC a wind
farm in the Northern Philippines and a geothermal plant in the Southern
Philippines.
This
study was looking at using a fast-track clean development mechanism (CDM) to
provide developing countries with credits for reducing emissions in small
scale projects for up to 15MW energy generation. CRL Energy would calculate
and validate the carbon dioxide emission reductions and evaluation of the
proposed fast-track process. The two projects will be discussed with
Philippine government officials later this year. "Both projects are expected
to generate carbon dioxide savings by displacing coal, oil and other
fossil-fuel generations," Dr Whitney said in a statement. If approved, the
certified emission reductions could then be sold to developed countries to
help finance the projects and help the developed country meet its Kyoto
targets, said the leader of the CRL Energy analysts, John Kessels.
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49)
PLAN TO STORE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS UNDERGROUND
ABC News Online
March 11, 2003
Internet:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s803348.htm
Geoscience Australia (GA) says it may be possible to store greenhouse gas
emissions from Australia's power plants and gas fields underground. GA
spokesman Dr John Bradshaw says 65 potential sites have been found across
Australia where carbon dioxide can be safely injected and stored. Dr
Bradshaw says the space is large enough to store 1,600 years of annual gas
emissions giving Australia time to develop new technologies. He says the
gas can be stored in a liquid state. "What we are doing will be injecting it
into similar reservoirs which will be deep saline water-saturated reservoirs
and the Co2 will disolve into the formation water in the reservoirs and/or
mineralogically change within those reservoirs and be trapped permanently,"
Dr Bradshaw said.
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50)
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES VULNERABLE TO CLIMATE CHANGE - EXPERTS
Daily News
March 10, 2003
Internet:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2003/03/10/new15.html
The
three-day International Expert Conference on "Climate Change and Sustainable
Development" of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
concluded in Colombo on Friday with a Public Symposium where the highlights
of the consultation was shared with the public. The experts meeting noted
that poorer developing countries would suffer more from the impacts of
extreme weather events and that developing countries like Sri Lanka was
highly vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. Dr. Rajendra
Pachauri, Chairman IPCC addressing a media briefing before the concluding
sessions said that the meeting was in the process of developing the Fourth
Assessment Report which would encompass within its structure integration of
key linkages between climate change and development (including poverty and
equity issues).
Dr.
Pachauri also said that if steps are not taken to address the main
contributory factor, namely greenhouse gases (GHGs) the global temperature
could increase causing a sea-level rise by about 50 cm by 2100. Though Sri
Lanka has been traditionally a model of sustainable development, there are
factors within, which are extremely vulnerable to the future impacts of
climate change and needs to be addressed. Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, Vice
Chairman of IPCC and Energy Advisor to the Government of Sri Lanka said that
there were five sensitive areas for Sri Lanka which would have an impact due
to Climate Changes,i.e. Crops and Agriculture; Water Resources; Coastal
Zones with potential sea level rise where erosion will be under threat;
Extreme Weather situations with increased possibility of more droughts;
Vulnerability to Malaria and other water-borne diseases.
Professor
Munasinghe also noted that Sri Lanka on its part have already taken steps to
cope with Climate Change impacts to the development sectors such as
agriculture, plantations, forestry, tourism etc. through mitigation and
adaptation. Dr. Martin Parry and Dr. Bert Metz, Co-Chairmen respectively of
Working Groups 2 and 3 of IPCC also addressed the media briefing. The
Expert Meeting was organised for the IPCC by the Munasinghe Institute for
Development (MIND) and the Department of Meteorology.
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OPINIONS/STATEMENTS
51) EQUITY KEY TO CLIMATE ACTION by Kenichi Oshima
The Asahi Shimbun
April 4, 2003
Internet:
http://www.asahi.com/english/international/K2003040400273.html
The
author is an associate professor at Ritsumeikan University and guest
researcher for The Asahi Shimbun Asia Network
``Preventing dangerous climate change is an equity issue.'' That was the
message in a position paper distributed Oct. 31, 2002, the penultimate day
of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes' 8th session
of the Conference of the Parties (COP8) in New Delhi. The paper, headlined
``Preventing Dangerous Climate Change,'' was distributed by the Climate
Action Network (CAN), a group of nongovernment organizations worldwide.
Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continue to increase
around the world. Unless nations start to cut such emissions in the next 20
years, the paper warns, ``The resulting sea level rise over a few centuries
could eliminate whole island countries in the Pacific and Indian oceans and
elsewhere, and overwhelm Bangladesh.''
Developing nations are the main victims of harmful gases, which are released
mostly by advanced industrialized nations. To rectify this injustice, and
ensure the equity upon which CAN is insisting, countries must take action
now. At a minister-level meeting the same day, a German delegate said:
``Germany will reduce greenhouse gases by 40 percent from the 1990 level by
2020. We will also provide 1 billion euros to developing countries over five
years.'' Instead of requiring developing nations to cut harmful emissions
immediately, the delegate proposed talks on long-term measures. But a number
of developing nations refused, saying they weren't even ready to discuss the
issue. Developing countries have reason to distrust advanced nations.
The
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed in 1992,
states that developed nations, which have largely created the causes of
global warming, have a greater responsibility toward the environment. It
called for advanced nations to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2000, and
provide financial and technological aid to developing countries. Despite
these provisions, advanced nations have actually increased emissions by 8.4
percent in the 10 years through 2000, and they have yet to offer sufficient
aid to developing countries. Making matters worse, energy consumption is
expected to grow in developing nations such as China and India, where
economic development has been pronounced. Given the massive amounts already
released by developed nations, the Earth can't take much more. The focus of
international talks in the wake of COP8 is to create a global framework, one
including developing nations, to cut emissions worldwide. The concept of
equity will be key in these discussions.
Each
nation's contribution to global warming needs to be calculated as accurately
as possible. Based on those numbers, each country's responsibility for
reducing greenhouse gases should be allocated equitably. Such efforts to
create an international consensus based on scientific data have been ongoing
since before COP3 in 1997. At the suggestion of Brazil, 13 organizations
worldwide divided the world into four regions: OECD countries, the former
eastern Europe; Africa, South America and the Middle East; and Asia.
According to results announced at COP8, developed nations were to blame for
40 to 50 percent of the world's emissions. Asia, which accounts for 60
percent of the world's population, was responsible for 25 percent of global
emissions. The arguments forwarded and deals struck by developed nations
have been far from equitable.
The Kyoto
Protocol, signed at COP3, calls for emissions reductions between 2008 and
2012 of 8 percent in Europe, 7 percent in the United States, and 6 percent
in Japan, compared with 1990 levels. These numerical targets were determined
by political compromise, and are based on no objective data whatsoever. It
is my belief that nations should assume an equitable share of responsibility
toward the environment. This concept should apply to all environmental
problems, not just global warming. Japan achieved rapid economic growth in
the 20th century by abusing massive amounts of natural resources throughout
Asia and moving factories to other Asian nations. The first step toward
equity would be for Japan to study its role in environmental destruction in
Asia and take measures to fulfill its obligations to the region.
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52) 6
CRITICAL AREAS MITIGATE PACIFIC CLIMATE DISASTERS CONFERENCE WORKS TO BRING
SCIENCE, POLICY TOGETHER by Eileen Shea
Pacific Daily News
April 3, 2003
Internet:
http://www.guampdn.com/news/stories/20030403/lifestyle/42875.html
Eileen Shea is the Climate Projects coordinator of the East-West Center in
Honolulu. Previously, she was the founder and executive director of the
Center for the Application of Research on the Environment, and served as
deputy director of the Climate and Global Change Program of the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Disasters
caused by water and weather have increased dramatically over the past two
decades, leaving no doubt that the Earth's climate is in a state of flux.
In the Pacific region alone, the number of people affected by
weather-related disasters has shot up 65-fold in the past 30 years. And
until recently, not even scientists understood in detail how these phenomena
operated or how to predict them. But now that scientific knowledge
regarding climate variability and its effects is advancing so rapidly,
Pacific island communities have an opportunity to shape the future. To do
so, they must move past being victims and embrace the challenge to be
planners who are preparing for the inevitable consequences of climate
variability and change.
New
knowledge about these phenomena can be put to use only if dynamic
partnerships between science and society can be created. Scientists must
recognize their obligation to develop information that meets the needs of
decision-makers. Public- and private-sector officials must, in turn, make
their decisions in light of this new and increasing knowledge. The
breakthrough in emphasizing planning rather than reaction was highlighted in
two major international conferences that brought together more than 200
scientists, policy-makers, private-industry representatives, academic
researchers and other stakeholders.
The
result is a planning document called "Preparing for a Changing Climate: The
Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the Pacific
Islands." Recognizing that a proactive approach must include specifics on
how to improve Pacific islanders' capacity to adapt to a climate in flux,
the conferees identified six critical areas in which there are opportunities
to build resilience:
-
Provide
access to fresh water. "Water is gold," observed one Pacific island
participant. Measures that address the adequacy and long-term stability of
island water resources are critical.
-
Protect
public health. Even slight changes in climate and the environment can
create welcoming conditions for infectious diseases. Priorities:
improvement of health-care facilities and related education; emphasis on
preventative care; and improvement of water resources and sanitation
facilities to eliminate disease breeding grounds.
-
Ensure
public safety in extreme events and protect community infrastructure.
Moving from reactive disaster-response systems to a comprehensive
emergency management approach that is anticipatory.
-
Promote
wise use of coastal and marine resources. Management approaches should
recognize that ecosystems are dynamic and should be able to respond
rapidly to changes in resource abundance.
-
Sustain
tourism. The tourism industry depends on the health of an island's natural
resources -- coral reefs, forest ecosystems and beaches.
-
Sustain
commercial and subsistence agriculture. The participants encourage Pacific
islanders to diversify crops, protect against invasive and alien species,
establish comprehensive land-use management policies, and develop more
resilient agricultural systems that are less susceptible to damage from
storm, drought, and salt-water contamination.
Perhaps
the most important conclusion reached by the participants was that the
process should continue with the goal of developing practical steps to close
the gap between climate science and decision-making. A climate
risk-management framework would encourage the disaster management community
to tackle disaster mitigation and preparedness from a new angle. Climate
adaptation should be a central component of sustainable community planning
and economic development strategies. Those who acknowledge and anticipate
changing climate conditions can plan to adapt to them, thus reducing the
vulnerability of Pacific island ecosystems, communities, and businesses.
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53)
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY 2003 Address by Joke Waller-Hunter Executive
Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
March 24, 2003
Internet:
http://unfccc.int/press/stat2003/jwh240303.pdf
Joke
Waller-Hunter is the Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
I am
extremely pleased to make a contribution to the celebration of the 2003
World Meteorological Day, an event that each year provides for a moment of
reflection around the world, on the purpose of the work performed every day
by a very large number of professionals, especially in meteorological and
hydrological services. It was the work of these professionals that
contributed to the improvement of the quality of weather forecasts, to the
better understanding of climate, and then provided the basic data that
allowed us to perceive that climate is not only variable, naturally, but
also that it is changing in an unprecedented measure due to human action.
The patient work of scientists in all countries to push forward the
frontiers of predictability of the state of the atmosphere, in addition to
the development of the spacebased observational capability and the
technological progress in high-performance computing, slowly but surely
resulted in the advancement of our capacity to predict the weather and the
short term climate variability. It also laid the foundation for the science
of climate change.
The World
Meteorological Organization and its predecessor, the International
Meteorological Organization, have been a most useful forum for the
international coordination of meteorological and more recently hydrological
activities throughout the world for over a century now. The early
realization that weather in any place depends upon what happens in the
atmosphere elsewhere in the world has helped greatly in shaping a truly
world-wide cooperation, which is the basis for the modern thinking about our
climate. The International Geophysical Year in 1958, together with the dawn
of the space age, have increased our ability to observe the planet as a
whole, and in particular its constantly changing patterns.
It was
not long ago that the countries of the world decided to prepare, through WMO,
climatological atlases of the world, with the patient compilation of 30
years of data and the manual preparation of maps. Those beautiful volumes
somehow conveyed the idea that we finally knew everything about climate that
we ever needed to know. At the same time, the World Meteorological
Organization in its glossary, has long defined climate as being the
statistics of the elements of the atmosphere, without prejudging whether
those statistics were stationary in time or not. The ultimate validation of
the predictions of climate change must necessarily include the demonstration
of our ability to reproduce the recent evolution of climate, including its
natural variability and the anthropogenic change resulting from the emission
of greenhouse gases at rates higher than nature can deal with. The decision
by the Executive Council of the World Meteorological Organization and the
Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program to establish the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988, was a historically
decisive one.
There is
no doubt that the governments of the world continue to take the work of the
IPCC into account while formulating their policy positions regarding climate
change. The careful assessments of the status of scientific knowledge made
by thousands of scientists working under the framework of the IPCC, have
progressively led governments to deal with climate change through a
combination of mitigation measures aimed at limiting the anthropogenic
change of climate, and adaptation measures aimed at reducing the effects of
change. In spite of the on-going debate on how exactly to do this, and most
importantly, what should be done by each country, let us recall that the
United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change(UNFCCC), is a very
much universal international treaty. This can and should be interpreted as a
clear signal of the consensus among the nations of the world that, for the
sake of the future generations, we all have a responsibility for working
even harder towards the achievement of the ultimate objective of the
Convention: to achieve, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the
Convention, stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere
at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame
sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to
ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic
development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
It is
evident that the issue of climate change is not a problem that can be solved
speedily nor immediately. We know that climate will continue to change, and
that efforts will continue to be aimed at mitigating and adapting to it.
Still, action is required as a matter of urgency. We now know that the
effect of todays greenhouse gas emissions will change the climate many
decades into the future, both because of the time lag in the removal of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and because of the long time it takes to
warm the oceans. Conversely, it is also true that current emission
reductions will take a long time to limit the change in the climate. Hence
action is urgent. We have to develop less carbon intensive means of
satisfying our requirements for personal comfort, transportation and
mechanical work. This will imply a change in the existing infrastructure in
industrialized countries and the choice of a sustainable path for developing
countries.
There are
many facets to the sustainability of development. Climate change is one of
them. While we cannot expect that the core development issues will be solved
by climate change policies it is possible to affirm that development
policies that do not take climate change concerns into account will turn out
to be unsustainable. Successfully dealing with climate change and
development hinges on the capacity at the national level to pursue the
integrated management of natural resources in the context of development
planning. The energy sector is especially critical. Policies here must
clearly take into account the requirement for a less carbon intensive energy
matrix. For a very large portion of mankind, the availability of fresh water
is almost a question of survival. The double challenge of managing
increasingly scarce water resources and taking into account the changes in
precipitation due to climate change must become an integral part of
development policies in the future. The 3rd World Water Forum has just been
concluded in the city that gave its name to the protocol under the
convention, Kyoto, a unique opportunity to address inter-linkages.
Much
remains to be done, but progress is being made. It is expected that the
Kyoto Protocol to the Convention will enter into force this year, in view of
the commitment by the Government of the Russian Federation to seek its
ratification by Parliament. When this condition is met, the Clean
Development Mechanism established by the Protocol will become an important
practical exercise in international cooperation aiming at ensuring a more
sustainable path of development. Under the CDM, specific projects in
developing countries are already being designed. They will assist in
promoting sustainable development in these countries. Concurrently, they
will contribute to emission reductions that industrialized countries must
realize in order to meet their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. CDM
projects have begun to attract the attention of the private sector in
industrialized countries. Over time, this project-based experience may
naturally become part of development strategies of developing countries. In
future, the work of meteorological and hydrological observers, in addition
to contributing to better forecasts and therefore to better informed
socio-economic development, will be increasingly relevant to reducing the
uncertainties on the magnitude of climate change and, very importantly, on
the regional aspects of climate change.
Adaptation to climate change will require the forecast of seasonal
variability, and its change. Such forecasts currently have very coarse
resolution and significant uncertainties at the spatial and temporal scales
at which development planning is done. Efforts are urgently required to
improve those space and time scales, pushing the forecasts closer to the
limits of predictability. Maintaining and improving the observational
networks, as well as making sure they evolve to include the variables
directly associated with climate change will be a constant challenge to
governments. But it is a challenge that must be accepted and dealt with. The
on-going effort to consider the adequacy of the Global Climate Observing
System in relation to the requirements of the UNFCCC is receiving increased
attention of governments in meetings of the COP and its subsidiaries. The
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in its
Article 5, engaged in a full participation in the establishment and
operation of the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). The Parties agreed
to
support international and intergovernmental efforts to strengthen
systematic observation. In this regard the Convention stresses importance
of capacity building in the area of systematic observation, and commits
Parties to take into account particular needs and concerns of developing
countries, and cooperate in improving their capacities to participate in the
effort (Article 5).
As a
result, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention and its Subsidiary
Bodies have repeatedly considered the issue of strengthening the global
observing systems relevant to climate change, including the invitation to
the Secretariat of the Global Climate Observing System and the agencies
participating in the Climate Agenda to undertake various activities to this
end. The Fourth Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention,
in 1998, was made aware of the fact that the number and quality of
atmospheric data from systematic observations were declining. As a
consequence, it decided to organize regional workshops, to develop specific
proposals to address deficiencies in the climate observing networks, and to
identify the capacity-building and funding requirements in developing
countries, in order to enable them to collect, exchange and utilize data on
a continuing basis in pursuance of the Convention commitments.
Under the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, all Parties are
required to submit periodically national communications containing a report
of the actions taken to deal with the climate change issue. It is now
required that the Parties include, as a specific item, a report on their
actions in the development of the Global Climate Observing System. There
will be an increasing number of observations, beyond the classical
meteorological and hydrological observations, that must become part of the
observational routine in the future. In coordinating the development of the
future GCOS, I expect that WMO will help design observational systems that
include, for instance, the atmospheric concentration of radiatively active
gases and substances, and the amount of carbon that the atmosphere stores in
the terrestrial biosphere.
It is of
paramount importance that the data not only be collected but also that they
be made part of global data sets. The full use of the data can only be
ensured after they are fully assimilated with the help of global and
regional models of climate change. The rising interest on the part of all
countries to learn more about their vulnerabilities in the face of climate
change, and the design of strategies to adapt to it can only be
satisfactorily fulfilled if there is climatological data for each and every
country properly collected and processed. The tradition of WMO in promoting
the international exchange of observational data must be put to work to face
the new challenges brought about by the emergence of the climate change
issue. We know that increasingly stronger measures are necessary, both in
mitigating and adapting to climate change. Such stronger measures must be
based on the best evidence that can be produced. This will add to the demand
for observational data and for modeling results, in support of future
negotiations
I am
aware of the fact that there is a tradition for the statements made during
the World Meteorological Day to be distributed to meteorologists and
hydrologists around the world, through the national services. I could not
miss this opportunity to commend and to thank the professionals around the
world who are today working on taking observations, transmitting them and
modeling our atmosphere and oceans. They deserve our highest recognition for
the relevance of their work on the issue of climate change and therefore for
our common future.
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54)
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY, Message by H. E. Jan Kavan, President of the 57th
Session of the General Assembly
United Nations
March 23, 2003
Internet:
http://www.un.org/ga/president/57/pages/speeches/statement230303-Climate.htm
Today we
celebrate World Meteorological Day and this year the special theme is: "Our
Future Climate." Weather forecasting has come a long way in recent decades.
It has evolved from guesswork based on human observations to scientific
predictions based on observations in space, on the sea and on land. Advances
in complex mathematical weather prediction techniques, through computerized
collection, processing, and dissemination of meteorological and
oceanographic information, have allowed for better precision in the
immediate and medium term forecasts. The weatherman of today has the tools
to predict the climate in the short run and also the ability to model future
climate scenarios. Meteorological data, collected for centuries, are now the
fundamental base for predictions regarding our future global climate.
The great
importance of monitoring, and managing our climatic conditions is
understandable when we consider that natural disasters claim about 250,000
lives annually and cause between 50 to 100 billion dollars in property
damage with multifarious direct and indirect consequences. Weather forecasts
play an important role in early warning and contribute to disaster
mitigation. The World Weather Research Programme, under the aegis of the
very successful World Meteorological Organization, continues to expand and
deepen its knowledge, thus contributing to the International Strategy for
Disaster Reduction. The dedicated work of generations of meteorologists has
also produced strong scientific evidence linking the increasing number of
certain natural disasters to global climate change.
Although
the different aspects of global climate change are questioned and debated at
all levels throughout the international community, there is, without any
doubt, evidence that the acceleration in climate change patterns is
attributable to human activity. Member States, as well as the international
community, now have to deal more and more with extreme weather patterns.
Sometimes these events are short-lived, extremely violent and very visible
such as floods, extreme winds, heat waves and droughts. But we need to focus
our attention also on long-term consequences including the increase in
temperature, rise in sea levels and melting of glaciers. So how will our
future climate evolve and how will it affect us, if now tens of millions of
persons are affected each year by hydro-meteorological disasters and extreme
climatic changes, with catastrophic effects in environmental, economic and
social terms? And these trends are increasing. It is true that so far one
answer to this concern lies in adaptation and in decreasing vulnerability of
affected societies. But it is also evident that States have to take
definitive steps to reverse the negative trends.
In this
regard I would like to refer to the positive achievement of reversing the
damage to the ozone layer. This demonstrates that the international
community can be successful indeed when working together. International
collaboration to manage the damaging emissions of greenhouse gases on our
planet will be essential in tackling the question of how our future climate
will evolve. We have to seek the active participation of all the 185 Members
of the World Meteorological Organization. There is the need to find
strategies regarding promising ways of reducing carbon dioxide and other
damaging emissions and to develop and adopt renewable energy sources.
Because we all know that this issue cannot be left indefinitely blowing in
the wind.
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55)
OUR FUTURE CLIMATE WMO CALLS FOR TIMELY GLOBAL ACTION ON CLIMATE
World Meteorological
Organization
March 23, 2003
Internet
http://www.wmo.ch/web/Press/Press687.doc
Geneva, 23 March 2003 We are all
stakeholders in our future climate. It is to the benefit of all nations to
work together to better understand our climate in order to adapt to it, and
to prevent and mitigate any adverse impact. Recent occurrences of floods,
tropical cyclones, droughts and other extreme weather- and climate-related
events could well be glimpses of what a change in climate could bring upon
us. The future cost of inaction to protect climate is expected to exceed by
far the cost of timely action. This is stressed in the message of the
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Professor
Godwin O.P. Obasi, to the international community on the occasion of the
World Meteorological Day (23 March 2003).
The measures contemplated in mitigating
climate change so far are inadequate to protect our future climate,
according to Prof Obasi. The international community should commence
action now through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol to adequately curtail the emission of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and other measures to reduce
uncertainties in climate projections. For these purposes, WMO and the
National Meteorological and Hydrological Services will continue to take a
lead role in addressing key scientific and technical issues.
WMO continues to strengthen its programmes in
the pursuit of three major goals. A first objective is to improve
systematic weather and climate observations and to reconstruct past climate
periods. Prof Obasi states that, while advances have been made in
observations from meteorological and environment satellites, essential in
situ observational networks in many developing countries have deteriorated
due to a lack of resources. In addition, more data are needed also from
polar and oceanic areas, for better quantitative assessments of climate
extremes.
A second major objective is to refine climate
modeling in order to reduce the uncertainties inherent in long-term climate
prediction. Climate models must be further developed to better simulate
regional impacts of climate change as well as changes in the frequency and
intensity of extreme weather events. Prof Obasi adds that such progress will
be relevant also to the work undertaken by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) for its Fourth Assessment Report. The Report,
scheduled for 2007, will place emphasis on regional impacts of climate
change and appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The third objective is to ensure that advances
in climate science benefit all people and contribute to sustainable
development. WMO therefore assists countries in the application of climate
data and seasonal forecasts for water management, agriculture and disaster
mitigation. The international framework for the coordination of national
and international efforts to address climate change should be strengthened,
Prof. Obasi stresses, so that research results, observational data and
information and other resources may be used to the greatest overall
advantage. He calls, in particular, for the necessary support to be given
to the activities of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.
The changes in climate observed over the last
decades will continue, presenting urgent and growing challenges to many
aspects of our lives, including health. Addressing those challenges in his
message, Prof Obasi warns that The most immediate threats to humankind
relate to increased variability in the intensity and frequency of storms and
other extreme weather- and climate-related events such as floods and
droughts, heat waves in major urban areas and the impact of sea-level rise
on low-lying coastal regions.
Already, over the last ten years, the number
of disasters of hydrometeorological origin has increased significantly.
Worldwide, recurrent drought and desertification seriously threaten the
livelihood of over 1.7 billion people who depend on the land for most of
their needs. The 1997/1998 El Niño event, the strongest of the last
century, is estimated to have affected 110 million people and cost the
global economy nearly US$ 100 billion. Statistics compiled from insurance
companies for the period 1950-1999 show that the major natural catastrophes
which are mainly weather-, water and climate-related caused estimated
economic losses of nearly US$ one trillion. A leading reinsurance company
estimates global warming impacts could cost US$ 300 billion annually by
2050.
Current projections show little change or a
slight increase in the amplitudes of El Niño events over the next 100
years. But with higher temperatures, the extremes of floods and drought
generally associated with El Niño events could be more severe.
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56)
CLIMATE CHANGE: IMPACTS AND OPPORTUNITIES by Pete Hodgson, Address to New
Zealand Water and Wastes Association's '2003 Environment Summit', Duxton
Hotel, Wellington
New Zealand Government
March 18, 2003
Internet:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0303/S00298.htm
Mark Twain is quoted as saying that everybody
always complains about the weather, but nobody ever does anything about it
If he were still alive he might be pleased by the current international
effort to do something about the weather or more accurately the world's
climate. In December 2002 New Zealand ratified the Kyoto Protocol. We
joined more than 100 countries, representing over two thirds of the worlds
population, in seeking to reduce the rate of global warming. Im here to
talk about why the Government has ratified the Protocol, how New Zealand
will meet its Protocol obligations and the impact the Protocol will have on
this country and the world. But first let me congratulate the New Zealand
Water and Wastes Association for your part in reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
About 6% of New Zealands methane emissions
come from landfills. And since 1990 gross methane emissions from landfills
have increased about 17%. But thanks largely to the efforts of Association
members in diverting organic waste and capturing emissions, New Zealands
net methane emissions from landfills have decreased since 1990 by close to
20%. That is a useful achievement and a profitable one for the waste
management business. The use of landfill gas to generate electricity shows
how innovative waste management makes economic sense.
A report on new renewable energy sources done
for the Ministry of Economic development last year estimated the potential
for new landfill gas generation in the coming decade at 13 megawatts, or 100
gigawatt-hours a year at low cost. That is a small but useful source of
energy for the nation, revenue for waste managers and reduced greenhouse gas
emissions.
New Zealand needs more businesses to wake up
to the opportunities that arise from the transition to a low-emission
economy. By ratifying the Protocol New Zealand is committed to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, on average, over the five years
2008 to 2012 assuming the Protocol comes into force. We have accepted
this commitment because there are compelling environmental and economic
reasons for New Zealand to support international action on climate change.
This country owes its status as a developed nation to a stable, equable
climate that is ideal for pastoral farming. This means climate change is,
profoundly, an issue of economic security for this country.
Do not be fooled by sceptics. Climate change
is already happening. The evidence extends from the bleaching of coral
reefs throughout the Pacific, to the retreat of glaciers in the Southern
Alps, to the crumbling of homes and roads in Alaska as the permafrost melts.
For those who, like myself, like making
decisions on scientific evidence the next speaker, Dr Greg Ayers will
provide you with a feast of scientific information. Climate change is also
a problem worth solving. It is true that New Zealand receives some initial
agricultural benefits from a warmer climate, with possible increases in the
growth rate and range of some crops. There will be opportunities in those
changes, and we would be foolish not to make good use of them when they
occur.
But floods and droughts are expected to become
more frequent and more extreme. Biosecurity will come under increasing
pressure from subtropical pests and diseases. Sea level rises would create
problems with saltwater intrusion into groundwater, as well as threatening
infrastructure through eroding coastlines. Further problems with water
supply and infrastructure would arise from higher rainfall in the west of
the country and drier conditions in the east. New human health risks would
arrive from pests and diseases, such as dengue fever, that presently thrive
in warmer countries. Native species would be also threatened by climatic
changes in what remains of their habitats.
Climate problems can be very, very expensive.
Flooding costs this country an estimated $125 million a year, not counting
the millions spent on flood protection measures and insurance. In 1997,
floods cost our agricultural industry an estimated $1 billion. The worldwide
reinsurance sector, has sounded repeated warnings that the growing numbers
of weather-related disasters are becoming less and less insurable. The
costs of inaction on climate change are essentially inestimable, but there
is good reason to expect they would be huge. And because global warming is a
cumulative process, the costs only magnify with time. Doing nothing is not
the low-cost option. Remember too that we are a major supplier of food to
world markets, many of them sophisticated and increasingly influenced by
perceptions of environmental integrity. A positive response to climate
change will underscore that integrity. But ducking responsibility on climate
change will not go unnoticed. Neither can we duck our responsibilities
towards our Pacific Island neighbours, many of whom are likely to be hit
much harder by the effects of climate change.
If we accept that the question is not whether
to do something about climate change, but what to do about it, then we are
confronted with the Kyoto Protocol. Climate change is a global problem,
which means concerted international action is the only remedy. And the
Protocol is simply the only concerted international action on offer. The
Government has adopted a broad package of policies to enable New Zealand to
meet its Protocol emissions target. There will be a price on emissions from
2008. An emissions charge on fossil fuels will increase their cost relative
to other energy sources. The beauty of pricing emissions to achieve
reductions is that it works. An emissions charge lowers the relative price
of lesser emitting processes and technologies and encourages their greater
use.
Importantly, an emissions charge induces
companies to make emission cuts where they are cheapest. Firms can therefore
decide how they will reduce emissions, or simply pay the emissions charge.
As the emissions charge is to change behaviour rather than to raise revenue
the Government will be recycling charge revenue back to those from who it
was collected. The mechanisms for revenue recycling are still being
determined, but the Government is committed to making recycling happen. In
creating an emissions charge the Government recognises that for some firms
the cost would threaten their competitiveness with producers from countries
with less rigorous climate change policies. Such at risk firms will be
able to enter a Negotiated Greenhouse Agreement with the Government, under
which they will receive an exemption from the charge in exchange for moving
towards worlds best practice in emissions management.
The Government will also be supporting
initiatives to encourage emissions reductions, through what we are calling a
Projects mechanism. We have an open mind on the kinds of initiatives that
will qualify, providing they meet the fundamental criterion that they are
not just business as usual. They might be projects involving individual
firms, groups of firms, or industries. They might involve innovations at the
smokestack end of a business, or in energy supply or other inputs. The
first example of how Projects will work was announced just a couple of weeks
ago. The Government has agreed to provide carbon credits to the electricity
generators Meridian and TrustPower, in recognition of the emission
reductions that will arise from two new wind farms. The companies get
financially valuable credits or more precisely, at this stage, promissory
notes for those credits. The Government gets the comfort that those
windfarms will reduce New Zealand's future need for thermal generation and
the greenhouse gas emissions it causes.
Those two deals came early, because those
companies were quick off the mark. Others will come forward when we launch
an exploratory Projects round some time around the middle of this year. The
projects mechanism is important to New Zealand for more than just climate
change. I hope it will play a key role in determining our energy future. The
extent that new renewable electricity generation is brought on in the years
ahead will determine our ability to deal with the uncertainties due to the
winding down of Maui. The same dual role is played by the National Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Strategy. If we achieve the target of a 20
percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2012, we will have cut by a
third our estimated excess of business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions
over our Kyoto target. We will also have improved our ability to maintain
secure energy supplies by starting to decouple economic growth and growth in
energy demand.
Because responding to climate change means
changing behaviour, the Government is committed to providing relevant
information on emission reduction and helping councils, businesses and
individuals to make use of this information and bring in changes. These
initiatives include partnerships with Local Government New Zealand through a
Communities for Climate Protection programme that will begin in July this
year. Initially this will involve partnerships with 10 leading councils in a
voluntary programme for local government to help measure and reduce
emissions. If you would be interested in joining in this programme then
please contact Local Government New Zealand. I want to close by stressing
again the opportunities that the Kyoto Protocol presents. The Protocol will
change our energy use habits for good, by accelerating the shift away from
finite fossil fuel resources to renewable energy and encouraging more
efficient use of fossil fuels while they remain important.
The countries that ratify the Protocol will be
those where the sustainable energy technologies of the future are most
rapidly developed and adopted. The Kyoto stragglers will risk being
spectators to growth and innovation elsewhere. In the post-Kyoto world
there will be international demand for new technologies, and improvements to
existing ones, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make more efficient
use of energy. Industrial processes, consumer products and agricultural
technologies will be redesigned. There is no reason why New Zealand should
not be a country that originates and profits from such advances.
This is particularly true concerning
agricultural technologies: no other developed nation has a greenhouse gas
profile as heavy in agricultural emissions as we do, which means none has
the same incentive to develop processes and technologies for reducing
agricultural emissions.
I hope that the members of the Water and
Wastes Association will continue to be amongst the innovators in responding
to these opportunities. Your record suggests that you will and that you
will profit from the experience.
Thank you
for your attention.
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57) U.S. POLICY ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
by Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Address
to the Shell Center for Sustainability
Rice University, Houston,
Texas
March 13, 2003
Internet:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0303/S00243.htm
Paula J. Dobriansky is the US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.
This is an extract from her speech, please refer to the full text version
online at:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0303/S00243.htm
Today, I want to
share my thoughts on the Administration s approach to sustainable
development.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Let me
now say a few words about the Administration s energy and climate change
policies. This Administration is focused on climate change and we are
committed to addressing this issue. As in Johannesburg, however, we seek to
produce results, and not just to produce agreements that burden economic
growth while failing to place the emphasis on long-term solutions.
Addressing global climate change will require the combined effort of all
nations over the course of this century, as well as major advances in the
underlying science. We need what I would call a Revolution in Energy Affairs
- that is the development and deployment of newer and cleaner energy
technologies that will help us address climate change. In turn, development
of these technologies depends on continued strong economic growth. Growth is
the solution to climate change, not the cause of it -- because nations with
growing economies are nations that can afford to invest in the research,
development and deployment of modern, cleaner technologies while promoting
energy efficiency.
Recognizing this reality, last February President Bush announced an
ambitious and forward-looking climate and energy plan. The plan has three
basic components: first, to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions;
second, to work with other nations to develop an efficient and effective
global response to this long-term challenge; and last, but not least, to
pursue assertively new technologies and better science that will give us the
means to take prudent and balanced action in the future. Let me begin with
the first component. To slow the growth of our greenhouse gas emissions, the
President has set a national goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas intensity
-- that is greenhouse gas emissions per dollar of GDP -- by 18% over the
next 10 years. Like an absolute emissions target, an intensity reduction of
this magnitude requires real effort. Unlike an absolute emission target, an
intensity target will not inadvertently hurt our economy. Nor will it give
us credit for emissions reductions occasioned by economic hardship.
The
President s goal is a 30% improvement over business-as-usual. This goal
translates into more than 500 million metric tons in cumulative savings of
carbon-equivalent emissions in the United States over the entire decade --
equivalent to taking some 70 million cars off the road. Focusing on
greenhouse gas intensity sets us on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse
gas emissions, and, as the science justifies, to stop and then reverse that
growth. To meet this goal, last month the Administration unveiled the
Climate VISION program. Under Climate VISION 12 major industrial sectors,
along with the membership of the Business Roundtable, have agreed to meet
ambitious commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming
decade. This program, along with other industry based programs, such as the
improved reporting of emissions, demonstrate our near-term commitment to
moving the United States onto a glide path to real reductions in greenhouse
gas emissions, while not harming economic growth. In addition, the President
s new budget includes support for some longer-term commitments. These
include tax credits for the purchase of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, for
residential solar heating systems, for energy produced from landfill gas,
for electricity produced from alternative energy sources, and for combined
heat and power systems.
The
second component of the President s climate change plan is international
cooperation. It is critical to involve developing countries as well as
developed nations in an effective global response to climate change. Over
the last year, the State Department has initiated action-oriented, climate
change dialogues with more than 14 nations and regional entities which
together represent more than 75% of the world s greenhouse gas emissions. In
addition, we are increasingly pursuing multilateral ventures in energy R&D
on a range of technologies that may revolutionize the way we use energy by
the middle of this century. Reaching out to the countries that emit most of
the world s greenhouse gas emissions -- especially developing countries --
is critical. One of the flaws of the Kyoto Protocol is that the developing
countries have no obligations. Consider for example, that by 2020 China and
India alone are projected to have more greenhouse gas emissions than the
United States or Europe. Developing nations already account for a majority
of the world s net greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly they need to be part of
the solution for the future.
Yet, it
would be unfair -- indeed, counterproductive -- to condemn developing
nations to slow economic growth or no growth by insisting that they take on
impractical and unrealistic greenhouse gas targets. Many developing
countries share our views on the need for a different approach, one that
will address climate change in the context of economic growth and
development. The greenhouse gas intensity approach President Bush put
forward gives developing countries a yardstick for progress on climate
change that recognizes their right to economic development -- a goal that,
unlike that of the Kyoto Protocol s, -- takes account of differing levels of
economic growth in differing circumstances.
The third
component, as I said, is advancement in science and technology. Absolutely
key to our diagnosis and treatment of the climate issue is the need for
breakthroughs in new energy technologies as well as better climate science.
Our robust R&D on climate science -- equal to the rest of the world combined
-- helps us understand better the potential degree, magnitude, distribution
and other uncertainties surrounding the phenomenon of climate change. We
have also expanded our investment in developing and deploying cleaner energy
technologies both domestically and internationally. Only by such an
assertive approach can we expect to achieve the ultimate goal of stabilizing
greenhouse gas concentrations. Perhaps the most exciting element in our
climate and sustainable development agenda is a series of recent
Presidential energy policy and technology initiatives announced last month.
These initiatives involve new technologies to first, capture greenhouse gas
emissions, second, to promote hydrogen, and third, to promote nuclear fusion
research in the future. The initiatives offer a continuum of new energy
technologies out to 2050. Altogether these developments have profound
implications for our foreign policy and our long-term economic prosperity.
Just two
weeks ago, Secretary Powell, Energy Secretary Abraham, EPA Administrator
Whitman, myself, and others, met with the President to announce the
Administration s new Carbon Sequestration Initiative. Carbon capture and
storage presents a promising technological approach for removing CO2
produced during the combustion of fossil fuels before it can enter the
atmosphere. This initiative has two elements. The first element is a
multilateral initiative called the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
that is designed to bring together 14 countries to promote research in the
area. The goal will be to develop cost effective technologies to separate,
capture, transport and store carbon dioxide from fossil energy, particularly
coal. A major international kick-off conference is scheduled for late June
in Washington, DC. The second element of the carbon sequestration initiative
is a $1 billion, public-private effort to construct the world s first fossil
fuel, emissions free power plant. The plant, known as Future Gen¸ will be a
living prototype of carbon capture and storage, and it will produce both
electricity and hydrogen. This is a particularly important technology for
many developing countries that will continue to depend on coal for
electricity for decades to come. For them, this will be a critical public
health tool. For the world, it will be a part of the answer for addressing
the challenge of climate change. If the United States and other
industrialized nations do not lead in developing these technologies, no one
else will.
The
President also launched his hydrogen fuel initiative this year. The goal of
this initiative is to accelerate our transition to a hydrogen economy,
working closely with the private sector. In addition to $500 million
currently planned for FreedomCAR , the President s new effort will mean a
total of $1.7 billion over the next 5 years to develop hydrogen powered fuel
cells, hydrogen infrastructure, and advanced automobile technologies. If we
develop this technology successfully, a child born today will have the
choice to buy an emission-free car whose only byproduct is water vapor. It
would be hard to overstate the energy security, public health, and climate
change implications of such a transformation in transportation technology.
Finally,
on nuclear fusion, the President directed us earlier this year to rejoin
negotiations on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
This initiative positions the United States on the cutting edge of efforts
to explore the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.
These new technologies, which I have described -- carbon sequestration over
the coming decade; hydrogen over the coming generation; and nuclear fusion
out to 2040-50, underscore the President s commitment to lead the world on
climate change -- and our view that the sine qua non to stabilizing
greenhouse gas emissions is developing new, clean energy technologies.
Our
activities provide an important path to the long-term goal we share with
Kyoto Protocol countries of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. Our
approach fleshes out a parallel path that does not obstruct or hinder Kyoto.
Indeed, technology breakthroughs ultimately will be the deciding factor as
to whether the objective of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
can be reached. Our leadership in developing these new energy technologies
will go a long way towards promoting a better future for the world. One need
not try too hard to imagine a world where the over 3 billion people in Asia
and Africa have access to cleaner energy -- which promotes economic growth
and development; while minimizing or eliminating the emission of greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere. In this world the poorest people in the most
remote parts of the world, will have, for the first time in some cases, the
power necessary to bring them clean water, to improve the amount of crops
they can grow in their fields; and to generate the electricity that will
heat and cool their homes. In short to bring them the energy that will help
their communities develop and lift their people out of poverty. This is the
promise of the Revolution in Energy Affairs, and will be one of the key
successes of this Administration s energy policy.
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58)
CAPTURING CARBON? Interview with Patricio Bernal, Executive Secretary of
UNESCOs IOC
UNESCO
March 12, 2003
Internet:
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=10326&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Patricio Bernal is the
Executive Secretary of UNESCOs International Oceanographic Commission.
Interview by Maria Hood and Susan Schneegans, first published in UNESCOs
science newsletter, A World of Science vol 1 N°2, January-March 2003. See
also:
www.unesco.org/science
The amount of carbon
dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has been rising steadily since the beginning
of the industrial age. As one of the most important greenhouses gases,
atmospheric CO2 is a major contributor to global warming. Recent initiatives
to slow the rate of warming, such as the Kyoto protocol, focus on reducing
emissions (eg. from factories and automobiles). But what if we could simply
store the excess CO2 for centuries until some other solution is found? New
technologies are making it possible to capture excess carbon from the
atmosphere and store it in geological reservoirs or perhaps even the deep
sea. Could this buy us precious time in which to adopt cleaner energy
sources or would we simply be leaving a time-bomb for future generations?
Scientists are not yet able to say what environmental impact this so-called
carbon sequestration would have. In the meantime, the political and
economic stakes are high and the debate has become a passionate one.
The Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) with the Scientific Committee on
Oceanic Research (SCOR) have set up an Advisory Panel on ocean carbon
dioxide, in order to ensure that decision-makers and the general public have
access to an unbiased picture of worldwide research on ocean carbon
sequestration. A major symposium on The Ocean in a High CO2 World has
recently been scheduled for March 2004 to pool present scientific knowledge
in order to determine whether and at what levels increasing carbon
dioxide will affect the oceans, with their marine life and coral reefs.
In this interview,
Patricio Bernal, Executive Secretary of UNESCOs IOC, sets out some of the
issues.
IS THERE A PROVEN LINK
BETWEEN CLIMATE AND CARBON?
We know from glacier
records that there is a correlation between carbon levels in the atmosphere
and climate. At the start of the last Ice Age some 50,000 years ago for
example, atmospheric CO2 levels were low. Today, the climate is going
through a naturally warm period; this, combined with the burning of fossil
fuels and biomass, as well as land-use changes, over the past two centuries,
has sent atmospheric CO2 concentration in the atmosphere to levels never
seen before.(i) Present carbon levels are now higher than this planet has
experienced for at least the last 20 million years. Human activity is
releasing something like 7 Gigatons of carbon per year into the atmosphere.
And the excess carbon is not going to disappear. Even if all the countries
around the world were to implement the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which calls for
them to bring CO2 emissions down to below 1990 levels by 2012, it would not
solve the problem of the existing excess, although it would limit the future
accumulation of CO2 which in itself would be a major achievement.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
We are heading for an
increase in hurricanes, floods, droughts and other disturbed weather
patterns, together with a rise in sea-level and the melting of glaciers and
permafrost which store two-thirds of the Earths freshwater reserves. The
difficulty for scientists today is to distinguish the effects of the
naturally occurring cyclical disturbances caused by El Niño and La Niña
oscillation, for example, from those caused by global warming.
BUT WHY STORE CARBON
IN THE OCEANS?
Faced with the stark
reality, even the International Panel on Climate Change has admitted that we
may have to consider what it calls carbon management strategies to
complement reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. One option is to store
the excess carbon on land; this is already being done in deep geological
formations, abandoned mines and the like.
But it is the oceans that
have the greatest natural capacity to absorb and store carbon. On an annual
basis, the surface of the ocean absorbs about 30% of the carbon in the
atmosphere, less during El Niño years. But over very long timescales, of
thousands of years, as much as 85% is absorbed by the oceans. The ocean
contains an estimated 40,000 billion tons of carbon, as compared to 750
billion tons in the atmosphere and about 2200 billion tons on land. This
means that, were we to take all the atmospheric CO2 and put it in the deep
ocean, the concentration of CO2 in the ocean would change by less than 2%.
Experiments have shown that, up to a depth of 3000 m, liquid CO2 tends to
rise to the surface because it is less dense than the surrounding seawater.
At 3000 m, on the other hand, it turns into a solid, ice-like substance that
is denser than the surrounding water. One method being considered is that of
injecting liquid CO2 into the sea floor. Another is to store it in
disaffected oil wells.
The trouble is that, even
if theories abound including that CO2 stored at a depth of 3000 m would
not come in contact with the atmosphere for 200 years it is all
conjecture. We simply dont know what the consequences would be over the
long term. The IOCs main concern is making sure that sound, unbiased
scientific findings are available to the general public and policymakers to
address these issues when decisions will have to be made. One of the
principle scientific concerns is what will happen naturally if we do nothing
to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels: the pH of the surface ocean will decrease,
causing the water to become more acidic. This will affect the chemistry of
the surface ocean where most marine organisms live. We dont yet understand
how the ecosystem will respond to this slow, natural invasion of CO2. This
concern has led some scientists to suggest that it may be less damaging to
take CO2 out of the atmosphere and inject it directly into the deep ocean
where only a small fraction of marine organisms live. The problem is that
these organisms living in the deep ocean would be particularly affected
because of the rapid change in their environment and the fact that their
slow metabolisms make it very difficult for them to adjust to changes.
And what would be the
effect on the atmosphere if, some 100 or 200 years from now, an enormous
quantity of accumulated CO2 buried in the deep ocean began to slowly leak
back into the surface ocean and into the atmosphere?
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU
WATCHING?
Iron fertilization
research, for example. In many parts of the ocean, phytoplankton growth is
limited by the lack of an essential micro-nutrient, iron. A number of
private companies are trying to stimulate phytoplankton growth to up to 30
times the natural rate so as to create what might be termed ocean carbon
sinks, much along the same principle as the forests being promoted as carbon
sinks on land. The concept is not a new one. Oceanographer John Martin
became famous in the 1970s by declaring Give me a ton of iron and Ill
produce the next Ice Age.
Iron is found in dust,
which is best carried into the atmosphere in dry, arid conditions. Not
surprisingly, it is the Sahara and Sahel deserts that contain most of this
dust, which prevailing winds blow over the Atlantic to the Caribbean and
north-eastern Latin America. Scientists estimate that fertilizing the entire
Southern Ocean with iron would only reduce atmospheric CO2 levels by about
2030% over a century. More seriously, it would lead to significant
ecological perturbations. When organisms die, their decomposition consumes
oxygen. Creating an unnatural abundance of decomposing organisms would lead
to low oxygen levels that could be devastating to marine life.
IS IT ETHICAL TO
PURSUE RESEARCH IN SUCH A CONTROVERSIAL AREA?
The best argument against
ocean carbon storage would be to prove that it is environmentally unsound.
However, we mustnt be naïve. Carbon trading is a profitable business. The
only thing holding back many potential traders from storing carbon in the
ocean tomorrow is the cost of the technology.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF
GREENPEACES ROLE IN PUTTING A STOP TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN
NORWEGIAN WATERS LAST AUGUST?
It was misguided in my
view. I share Greenpeaces concern that high concentrations of CO2 may harm
deep marine organisms (ii). We dont know today what ultimate effects a slow
invasion of CO2 would have on the ecosystem composition and food-chain. But
in preventing a consortium of research institutions from Norway, the USA,
Canada, Australia and Japan from carrying out an assessment that might have
substantiated Greenpeaces claims, the environmental group was shooting
itself in the foot. We need to get the debate out into the open. After all,
in the final analysis, whether or not the world resorts to ocean carbon
storage will be a societal decision.
The Norwegian government
has called for more international debate on ocean carbon storage. This is
what the Member States of the IOC are trying to promote within the Watching
Brief. We have set up the Brief to provide governments, industry and the
general public with access to the results of unbiased research. Via the
Watching Brief on the web (iii) and as an active observer and participant in
research, the IOC is fulfilling an advisory and advocacy role. The Norwegian
government bowed to pressure from the environmentalists out of concern that
it might be trespassing international marine law. Does this mean that CO2 is
considered a pollutant? According to the Office for the London Convention
(iv), there is no unanimity on the issue of whether fossil fuel-derived CO2
should be regarded as industrial waste. This causes a legal void, since the
various treaties and conventions governing dumping in the oceans only refer
to industrial wastes. The London Dumping Convention bodies should look
into the matter.
IOCs Watching Brief also
documents the legal aspects of ocean carbon storage. There is a plethora of
legal instruments the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the United Nations Law of the Sea, Kyoto, etc. but these
government treaties have no power of enforcement; that poses a real problem.
The Scientific Group of the London Convention recently developed a Waste
Assessment Framework which would require a full environmental impact
assessment before a permit could be delivered for CO2 dumping. This is a
step in the right direction but it is insufficient.
IN THE ABSENCE OF A
COERCIVE LEGAL INSTRUMENT, ISNT THERE A DANGER THAT OCEAN CARBON STORAGE
WILL BE SEEN AS A PERMIT TO POLLUTE?
Yes, there is a very real
danger that it will make us more irresponsible rather than less so. We
should be moving towards cleaner fuels at a much faster rate. Everyone knows
that, within the next few decades, fossil fuels will begin to run out and we
shall be forced to adopt alternative sources of energy. The USA for example
depends on fossil fuels for approximately 85% of its energy needs and these
are growing every year. Despite the urgency, the proposed target of
attributing a 10% market share to renewable energies was still rejected by
governments at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
last September.
Industry has invested
considerably in research on alternative energy sources. At the Johannesburg
Summit, everybody could see a number of BMW hydrogen-powered cars on
display. The problem is that industry receives little government support to
invest in renewable energies and conversion from petrol-driven to clean
cars has a huge cost. Governments should be providing incentives, such as
tax rebates, and investing in the necessary infrastructure. Its not a
technological problem but a political one. Prototype cars driven by liquid
petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, hydrogen (i.e. water vapour) and the
like have been around for decades.
ARE THERE GROUNDS FOR
OPTIMISM?
Over the centuries, we
have engineered an artificial world for ourselves, to the point where more
than 60% of the natural landscape is of our own making. The temptation has
always been to engineer a new world rather than to respect the boundaries of
the existing one. With ocean carbon storage, we must beware of the same
compartmentalized reflexes which have been our undoing in the past. Take the
example of DDT. Paul Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine or
physiology in 1948 for discovering the effectiveness of DDT as an
insecticide, notably against malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Only after DDT had
been put to extensive use was it realized that many species of insects had
developed resistance to it and that it had a high toxicity towards fish and
animals upon which DDT was banned in many countries.
Instead of considering
our planet as a whole made up of interdependent systems, we are always
tempted to look for simple solutions to complex problems. We forget that the
atmosphere, land and oceans are three sides of the same triangle, that what
we do to one will affect the other two. I do believe we are making progress
physics, chemistry and biology are beginning to be integrated into a
single conceptual model to deal with planetary processes - but there is a
long way to go. We must tread carefully with ocean carbon sequestration;
take the time. We need to get our science right. As technology progresses,
the consequences of our acts are becoming harder to correct or even to
anticipate.
(i) In the pre-industrial
world, atmospheric CO2 concentrations oscillated on roughly 100,000 year
cycles between 180 parts per million by volume (ppmv) during glacial periods
and 280 ppmv during interglacial periods. We are now at an unprecedented 370
ppmv.
(ii) See for example:
http://archive.greenpeace.org/politics/co2/co2dump.pdf
(iii)
http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/co2panel/sequestration.htm
(iv) Convention for the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matters, 1972 and
1996 Protocol
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59)
REAL LEADERSHIP NEEDED TO HELP REDUCE ENERGY BILLS by David Suzuki
ENN
March 11, 2003
Internet:
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-03-11/s_3119.asp
With
natural gas prices skyrocketing this winter, people aren't just shuddering
from the cold they're quaking at the thought of coming energy bills.
Indeed, Albertans are already demanding that Premier Klein open the coffers
again and hand out rebates to help consumers through the tough times. But
that's not really an answer, is it? The money goes to the utilities and gas
companies, but nothing changes. It's merely a Band-aid solution that further
entrenches our dependence on fossil fuels. The real answer is for
governments both federal and provincial to show some real leadership and
take steps that will protect citizens in the long term.
Such
steps are long past due. Imagine, for example, how much better off Canadian
consumers would be today if the federal government had previously worked
with provinces to set new, energy-efficient building code guidelines for
homes. Improved standards, called R2000, have existed for years and can save
homeowners 30 to 40 percent on energy bills. Similar standards, called
C2000, are also available for commercial buildings. However, despite of the
advantages of these standards and the benefits they would provide to
Canadians, no province has yet adopted them as the minimum building code for
new construction. R2000 homes cost only slightly more to build and pay for
themselves in a few years through efficiency (and comfort!). But most homes
are built by developers, not homeowners, and developers have little
incentive to make homes more energy efficient. That's why better building
codes are so important.
New
building codes won't help Canadians with existing homes, but a national
building retrofit program would. Most people know that better insulation,
caulking, and weather stripping can greatly reduce energy bills, but many
don't know where to start or can't afford the up-front costs. A program to
help homeowners find and eliminate energy leaks would save Canadians money,
create jobs across the country, and again reduce our dependence on fossil
fuels. Toronto already has a successful program called Green$aver that has
helped thousands of citizens and saved them money. It's the kind of program
that should be instituted nationally. Analysts say that increased demand for
natural gas, largely because of the cold winter, is pushing prices up. But
there's another culprit too: tar sands. Extracting crude oil from the sands
takes plenty of energy, mostly in the form of natural gas. As tar sands
projects expand, demand for natural gas will continue to increase
dramatically, driving prices up at home while most of the extracted crude is
exported to feed the voracious American appetite for oil. Think about that
when you pay your gas bill.
Of
course, some of that oil is used to make gasoline for Canadian vehicles,
especially SUVs, which are permitted to burn more fuel and pollute more.
Because of these loopholes, the average new vehicle today burns more
gasoline than the average new vehicle did back in 1980! It doesn't have to
be this way. If the federal government has the courage to set higher
fuel-efficiency standards, it will cost us less to fill up at the pump and
our air will be cleaner. The federal government recently committed nearly
C$2 billion to help meet the Kyoto Protocol and reduce the greenhouse gas
emissions that are causing climate change. But these funds are largely
unallocated. There is no commitment to improve public transit, create new
building code guidelines, or start a national retrofit program. Each of
these programs would help us meet our Kyoto targets, and they would save
Canadians money.
It
would be a terrible shame if the Kyoto money was spent on spurious
technologies, studies, committees, and more pilot projects designed to
appease big industry groups. Real solutions already exist. At a time when
Canadians are crying for relief from energy prices, let's give them
something to look forward to: genuine, long-term solutions that will help
take the sting out of our energy bills for good.
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