Isramart news:
O echipă de arhitecţi a transformat vechiul sediu al uneia dintre cele mai mari organizaţii de mediu din Ţările de Jos în prima clădire de pe glob care nu emite dioxid de carbon în atmosferă. Noul sediu al WWF din Olanda îşi generează electricitatea şi îşi asigură apa caldă prin energii regenerabile.
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Sediul organizaţiei World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) din Olanda a devenit prima clădire cu zero emisii de gaze cu efect de seră din lume, potrivit Greenlaunches.
Clădirea este situată în localitatea Zeist din Ţările de Jos. Echipa de arhitecţi a transformat clădirea existentă într-un sediu durabil. Construcţia care asigura până acum sediul organizaţiei a fost descrisă de arhitecţi ca fiind o clădire „rece, austeră şi fără personalitate“.
Acum însă, clădirea îşi generează electricitatea necesară şi nu emite deloc gaze cu efect de seră. Instituţia este ventilată natural, iar panourile solare ce acoperă sediul oferă energia necesară şi asigură apa caldă. În caz de urgenţă, intră în funcţiune un sistem energetic pe bază de biomasă.
Materiale de construcţie durabile
Tavanul clădirii permite circulaţia apei prin tuburi mici de sticlă. Toate materialele folosite în construcţie au fost alese astfel încât să nu aducă în niciun fel prejudicii mediului înconjurător.
Constructorii s-au gândit şi la animale, fapt pentru care acoperişul instituţiei permite păsărilor să-şi construiască adăpost, iar subsolul este primitor pentru lilieci.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
isramart : Un ecran din New York arată gazele cu efect de seră
Isramart news:
Deutsche Bank a pus în funcţiune, în mijlocul Manhattan-ului, un ecran cu o înălţime de şapte etaje şi care încorporează aproape 41000 de LED-uri economice, pe care se poate vedea cantitatea totală de gaze cu efect de seră din atmosfera terestră. Banca susţine că este primul loc din lume unde publicul larg poate vedea o măsurătoare în timp real a acestor gaze şi speră că acest fapt să încurajeze oamenii să caute metode de reducere a emisiilor.New York
În prezent există 3,64 trilioane de tone de CO2 în atmosferă, cel mai înalt nivel din ultimii cel putin 800000 de ani, la care se adaugă 800 t / sec, însă rapoartele ONU privind încălzirea globală apar doar o dată la 5 - 6 ani. „Dacă ai deschide televizorul pe un canal de ştiri economice şi ar fi un indicator care s-ar actualiza o dată la 5 ani, analiştilor le-ar fi foarte greu să găsească ceva de spus despre el”, a spus Kevin Parker, preşedintele echipei de administrare a activelor băncii.
Deutsche Bank a pus în funcţiune, în mijlocul Manhattan-ului, un ecran cu o înălţime de şapte etaje şi care încorporează aproape 41000 de LED-uri economice, pe care se poate vedea cantitatea totală de gaze cu efect de seră din atmosfera terestră. Banca susţine că este primul loc din lume unde publicul larg poate vedea o măsurătoare în timp real a acestor gaze şi speră că acest fapt să încurajeze oamenii să caute metode de reducere a emisiilor.New York
În prezent există 3,64 trilioane de tone de CO2 în atmosferă, cel mai înalt nivel din ultimii cel putin 800000 de ani, la care se adaugă 800 t / sec, însă rapoartele ONU privind încălzirea globală apar doar o dată la 5 - 6 ani. „Dacă ai deschide televizorul pe un canal de ştiri economice şi ar fi un indicator care s-ar actualiza o dată la 5 ani, analiştilor le-ar fi foarte greu să găsească ceva de spus despre el”, a spus Kevin Parker, preşedintele echipei de administrare a activelor băncii.
isramart : Prima asociaţie din ţară care va gestiona emisiile de carbon
Isramart news:
genţia Română a Carbonului (ARC) va promova pentru prima oară în România cercetarea tehnologiilor de stocare a dioxidului de carbon.Instituţia îşi propune să asigure fonduri de implementare a sistemelor de energii alternative, cu sprijinul Guvernului.
emisii de carbon
Oficialii Asociaţiei au lansat, în primă fază, prima platformă comună de colaborare pentru operatorii economici care comercializează permise de carbon şi gaze cu efect de seră, urmând ca, ulterior, activităţile instituţiei să se deruleze la scară mai largă, informează Agerpres.
„Este foarte clar că într-o Europă unită nu este nevoie să ai parte numai de vocea Guvernului, ci şi de cea a industriei, a întreprinderilor, pentru a contribui la reducerea poluării”, a afirmat expertul pe probleme de energie Ionuţ Purica, reprezentant ARC.
Tehnologii orientate către progres
Resursele de CO2 deţinute de România, la ora actuală, sunt de patru miliarde de tone. „Dorim să înţelegem dacă pentru România pachetul legislativ Energie - Mediu reprezintă un pachet de restricţii. Este posibil să avem un răspuns afirmativ dacă judecata porneşte de la tehnologiile existente, dar cu siguranţă va reprezenta un element de progres în măsura în care oamenii şi tehnologiile vor fi orientate către schimbare“, a spus Ion Avram, un alt purtător de opinie al ARC.
La întrebarea dacă sunt suficiente acţiunile impuse de legislaţia comunitară pentru reducerea emisiilor cu efect de seră, răspunsul lui Avram este un „nu“ categoric. „România are capacitatea de a se implica activ în proiecte de reducere voluntară a emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră şi în acelaşi timp în dezvoltarea de proiecte“, a adăugat acesta.
genţia Română a Carbonului (ARC) va promova pentru prima oară în România cercetarea tehnologiilor de stocare a dioxidului de carbon.Instituţia îşi propune să asigure fonduri de implementare a sistemelor de energii alternative, cu sprijinul Guvernului.
emisii de carbon
Oficialii Asociaţiei au lansat, în primă fază, prima platformă comună de colaborare pentru operatorii economici care comercializează permise de carbon şi gaze cu efect de seră, urmând ca, ulterior, activităţile instituţiei să se deruleze la scară mai largă, informează Agerpres.
„Este foarte clar că într-o Europă unită nu este nevoie să ai parte numai de vocea Guvernului, ci şi de cea a industriei, a întreprinderilor, pentru a contribui la reducerea poluării”, a afirmat expertul pe probleme de energie Ionuţ Purica, reprezentant ARC.
Tehnologii orientate către progres
Resursele de CO2 deţinute de România, la ora actuală, sunt de patru miliarde de tone. „Dorim să înţelegem dacă pentru România pachetul legislativ Energie - Mediu reprezintă un pachet de restricţii. Este posibil să avem un răspuns afirmativ dacă judecata porneşte de la tehnologiile existente, dar cu siguranţă va reprezenta un element de progres în măsura în care oamenii şi tehnologiile vor fi orientate către schimbare“, a spus Ion Avram, un alt purtător de opinie al ARC.
La întrebarea dacă sunt suficiente acţiunile impuse de legislaţia comunitară pentru reducerea emisiilor cu efect de seră, răspunsul lui Avram este un „nu“ categoric. „România are capacitatea de a se implica activ în proiecte de reducere voluntară a emisiilor de gaze cu efect de seră şi în acelaşi timp în dezvoltarea de proiecte“, a adăugat acesta.
isramart : Guvernul american propune taxe pe energie pentru a opri încălzirea globală
Isramart news:
Potrivit studiilor conduse de cercetătorii americani, avem o mulţime de semne care să ne indice încălzirea globală din ultima decadă. În toată America se resimt efectele schimbării de climă, motiv pentru care guvernul ar dori să mărească preţul energiei, deşi se află într-o situaţie economică precară.incalzirea globala
Temperatura de pe pământ creşte şi scade în mare parte din cauza ciclurilor oceanice din timpul anului, ca El Nino şi La Nina. În acelaşi timp încălzirea globală indusă de oameni a dus la creşterea severă a temperaturilor sau cel puţin aşa declară specialiştii guvernului american, în timp ce oamenii de ştiinţă nu sunt întru totul de acord cu ei.
Din cauza ciclurilor oceanice, anul 1998 a fost unul foarte cald, însă încălzirea globală l-a făcut şi mai fierbinte. Pe de altă parte, anul 2008 a fost un an rece, dar modificările de climat l-a transformat într-un an şi mai răcoros.
Ridicând costul combustibililor, cei de la Washington speră ca oamenii să folosească o cantitate mai mică de combustibili care ar duce şi la o micşorare a cantităţii de dioxid de carbon din aer, sau cel puţin aşa au calculat pe hârtie specialiştii de la Washington.
În primul rând, CO2 de la oameni este principala cauză a creşterii de temperatură la nivel global. În al doilea rând, încălzirea globală va duce la catastrofe naturale ca topirea gheţarilor de la Polul Nord şi Sud, creşterea nivelului mărilor şi oceanelor, formarea uraganelor etc. Iar de aici ne dăm seama că întreaga specie umană este pusă in pericol. Totuşi, nu toţi oamenii de ştiinţă sunt de acord cu premisele de la care a pornit guvernul american, mulţi dintre ei negând raportul emis de capitala Statelor Unite.
Deşi ni se pare că temperaturile au crescut în ultimii ani, studiile arată că atmosfera s-a răcit continuu din 1995 şi nu invers. Pământul s-a răcit cu 0.74 grade Fahrenheit din 2006. Peste 700 de oamenii de ştiinţă americani şi internaţionali au pus la îndoială contribuţia omului la încălzirea globală. Nu există dovezi clare că eliberarea de CO2 sau alte gaze vor duce la catastrofe naturale. Aşadar, oamenii de ştiinţă americani au semnat o petiţie prin care încearcă să-l convingă pe Preşedintele Obama să nu mărească costurile energiei mai ales pe timp de recesiune economica.
Potrivit studiilor conduse de cercetătorii americani, avem o mulţime de semne care să ne indice încălzirea globală din ultima decadă. În toată America se resimt efectele schimbării de climă, motiv pentru care guvernul ar dori să mărească preţul energiei, deşi se află într-o situaţie economică precară.incalzirea globala
Temperatura de pe pământ creşte şi scade în mare parte din cauza ciclurilor oceanice din timpul anului, ca El Nino şi La Nina. În acelaşi timp încălzirea globală indusă de oameni a dus la creşterea severă a temperaturilor sau cel puţin aşa declară specialiştii guvernului american, în timp ce oamenii de ştiinţă nu sunt întru totul de acord cu ei.
Din cauza ciclurilor oceanice, anul 1998 a fost unul foarte cald, însă încălzirea globală l-a făcut şi mai fierbinte. Pe de altă parte, anul 2008 a fost un an rece, dar modificările de climat l-a transformat într-un an şi mai răcoros.
Ridicând costul combustibililor, cei de la Washington speră ca oamenii să folosească o cantitate mai mică de combustibili care ar duce şi la o micşorare a cantităţii de dioxid de carbon din aer, sau cel puţin aşa au calculat pe hârtie specialiştii de la Washington.
În primul rând, CO2 de la oameni este principala cauză a creşterii de temperatură la nivel global. În al doilea rând, încălzirea globală va duce la catastrofe naturale ca topirea gheţarilor de la Polul Nord şi Sud, creşterea nivelului mărilor şi oceanelor, formarea uraganelor etc. Iar de aici ne dăm seama că întreaga specie umană este pusă in pericol. Totuşi, nu toţi oamenii de ştiinţă sunt de acord cu premisele de la care a pornit guvernul american, mulţi dintre ei negând raportul emis de capitala Statelor Unite.
Deşi ni se pare că temperaturile au crescut în ultimii ani, studiile arată că atmosfera s-a răcit continuu din 1995 şi nu invers. Pământul s-a răcit cu 0.74 grade Fahrenheit din 2006. Peste 700 de oamenii de ştiinţă americani şi internaţionali au pus la îndoială contribuţia omului la încălzirea globală. Nu există dovezi clare că eliberarea de CO2 sau alte gaze vor duce la catastrofe naturale. Aşadar, oamenii de ştiinţă americani au semnat o petiţie prin care încearcă să-l convingă pe Preşedintele Obama să nu mărească costurile energiei mai ales pe timp de recesiune economica.
isramart : Poluarea scade IQ-ul
isramart news:
Mamele care se expun poluanţilor din atmosferă pot naşte copii cu un IQ mai scăzut, arată un studiu susţinut de National Institute of Enviromental Health Sciences. (NIEHS).
creier
Diferenţele între IQ-ul copiilor protejaţi şi IQ-ul copiilor expuşi hidrocarburilor policiclice aromate, din atmosferă, pot merge până la patru puncte. Medicii sfătuiesc mamele să-şi crească micuţii într-un mediu cât mai curat şi să nu îi expună fumului de ţigară.
Sursa: Evenimentul Zilei
Pentru mai multe informatii detaliate despre ecologie si protectia mediului, evenimente ecologice, stiri de mediu, creier, IQ, poluanti, poluare sau voluntariat oriunde in tara aboneaza-te gratuit la newsletterul saptamanal EcoMagazin
ecosapiens logoEsti ecologist, eco-friendly sau fan Captain Planet? Atunci alatura-te si tu celor 3368 de membri care s-au inscris deja in EcoSapiens si hai sa ne cunoastem pe forumul comunitatii. Intrebarile si comentariile tale sunt binevenite.
Mamele care se expun poluanţilor din atmosferă pot naşte copii cu un IQ mai scăzut, arată un studiu susţinut de National Institute of Enviromental Health Sciences. (NIEHS).
creier
Diferenţele între IQ-ul copiilor protejaţi şi IQ-ul copiilor expuşi hidrocarburilor policiclice aromate, din atmosferă, pot merge până la patru puncte. Medicii sfătuiesc mamele să-şi crească micuţii într-un mediu cât mai curat şi să nu îi expună fumului de ţigară.
Sursa: Evenimentul Zilei
Pentru mai multe informatii detaliate despre ecologie si protectia mediului, evenimente ecologice, stiri de mediu, creier, IQ, poluanti, poluare sau voluntariat oriunde in tara aboneaza-te gratuit la newsletterul saptamanal EcoMagazin
ecosapiens logoEsti ecologist, eco-friendly sau fan Captain Planet? Atunci alatura-te si tu celor 3368 de membri care s-au inscris deja in EcoSapiens si hai sa ne cunoastem pe forumul comunitatii. Intrebarile si comentariile tale sunt binevenite.
isramart : CO2 implicated in mass extinction of life
Isramart news:
I WRITE to support and expand on Peter Burgess’ letter (July 3) and his useful cost saving suggestions to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Although historic global temperatures can only be estimated it is clear that temperatures have been higher, and much lower, than they are today.
Global temperatures rise and fall in complex, multiple and not fully understood interacting cycles (sunspots, Earth’s orbit, etc) and there are other driving factors (plate tectonics, Earth’s atmospheric composition and reflectivity, etc).
It is generally accepted that our planet should now be into a mini (approximately 30 year) cycle of global cooling, but that is manifestly not the case.
The main reason for this countering of the natural global temperature cycles is that levels of ‘greenhouse’ gases in the atmosphere, notably CO2, have been rising dramatically since the start of the Industrial Revolution and are now higher than they have been for at least the last 900,000 years.
Amongst other factors, melting ice-caps and glaciers will reduce Earth’s reflectivity and cause further temperature increases – which will release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane (a very potent greenhouse gas) in permafrost and undersea deposits.
Other processes, such as a decreasing ability of oceans to absorb CO2 have already been observed in the Atlantic Ocean. These elements increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing further climate change.
Such vicious circles have occurred in the distant past and CO2 is implicated in four of the five mass extinctions of life on Earth: Ordovician, Late Devonian, Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic.
Palaeontologist Peter Ward has written a book ‘Under a Green Sky’ telling us about global warming, the mass extinctions of the past, and what they can tell us about our future.
As well as Peter Burgess’ suggestions, readers can find more energy (and cost) saving ideas at www.Energysavingtrust.org.uk and, locally, at www.actingtogether.co.uk where residents can find practical steps we can take in the community.
I WRITE to support and expand on Peter Burgess’ letter (July 3) and his useful cost saving suggestions to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Although historic global temperatures can only be estimated it is clear that temperatures have been higher, and much lower, than they are today.
Global temperatures rise and fall in complex, multiple and not fully understood interacting cycles (sunspots, Earth’s orbit, etc) and there are other driving factors (plate tectonics, Earth’s atmospheric composition and reflectivity, etc).
It is generally accepted that our planet should now be into a mini (approximately 30 year) cycle of global cooling, but that is manifestly not the case.
The main reason for this countering of the natural global temperature cycles is that levels of ‘greenhouse’ gases in the atmosphere, notably CO2, have been rising dramatically since the start of the Industrial Revolution and are now higher than they have been for at least the last 900,000 years.
Amongst other factors, melting ice-caps and glaciers will reduce Earth’s reflectivity and cause further temperature increases – which will release additional greenhouse gases by unlocking methane (a very potent greenhouse gas) in permafrost and undersea deposits.
Other processes, such as a decreasing ability of oceans to absorb CO2 have already been observed in the Atlantic Ocean. These elements increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing further climate change.
Such vicious circles have occurred in the distant past and CO2 is implicated in four of the five mass extinctions of life on Earth: Ordovician, Late Devonian, Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic.
Palaeontologist Peter Ward has written a book ‘Under a Green Sky’ telling us about global warming, the mass extinctions of the past, and what they can tell us about our future.
As well as Peter Burgess’ suggestions, readers can find more energy (and cost) saving ideas at www.Energysavingtrust.org.uk and, locally, at www.actingtogether.co.uk where residents can find practical steps we can take in the community.
isramart : Critics see holes in Alberta’s CO2 plan
Isramart news:
CALGARY - The Stelmach government has given tentative approval to three carbon capture projects that will share in$2 billion in public money–but critics say the plan still faces a difficult battle during a period of deficit spending and budget cuts.
Confronted with U. S. and international pressure on reducing the environmental footprint of the oilsands, the province is relying mainly on expensive technology to curtail surging emissions.
The investment in capturing greenhouse gas from industrial sources–and then injecting it into the ground for storage — is meant to be the province’s means of avoiding economic penalties as the world looks to a new global climate change pact in Copenhagen this December.
“We’re taking a look at what we can do to ensure that Alberta’s largest economic sector can move forward into the future in a sustainable sort of way,” said Alberta Energy spokesman Bob McManus.
“We’re working toward ensuring there are government revenues into the future.”
However, critics and environmentalists say the province is putting too many of its eggs in one basket.
“In light of the sharply worsening budget position of the provincial government, we need to look at reviewing the subsequent phases of this strategy and consider down-scaling it–squeezing more value out of those dollars,” said Alberta Liberal energy critic Kevin Taft.
“If it comes down to a choice between carbon capture and storage or hospital beds, I for one am going to choose hospital beds.”
On Tuesday, the government announced it will head into final negotiations this month for three projects –including a new carbon-capture power plant next to the existing Genesee facility west of Edmonton, an Alberta Carbon Trunk Line that will gather CO2 from industrial sources and transport it to central Alberta for injection, and a full capture and storage project for the Scotford Upgrader — a joint venture between Shell Canada, Chevron Canada, and Marathon Oil Sands LP.
Neither Energy Minister Mel Knight nor Environment Minister Rob Renner were available for comment on the three projects Tuesday.
But the news came on the same day thegovernmentannouncedmajorbudget woes in the health-care system.
“This is something industry should be paying for,” said NDP environment critic Rachel Notley, who called it “a gross failure to get the priorities straight.”
The NDP has never supported the public expenditure on carbon capture, Notley said, adding “this is really an exceptionally overpriced public relations stunt to greenwash the oilsands for the sake the of the U. S.”
The first round of commercial scale projects will be expected to achieve annual carbon dioxide reductions by 2015.
In Alberta, the utilities sector accounts for more than 40 per cent of all industrial-sourced greenhouse gas emissions, while the oilsands represent less than a quarter. However, oilsands emissions are expected to rapidly increase with expansions.
In April, it was revealed that most of Alberta’s largest oilsands producers had abandoned their bids for a share of the $2 billion.
Dan Woynillowicz, a senior policy analyst for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said none of the three chosen projects focus on reducing emissions during the oilsands extraction process.
Two of the projects are likely to reduce emissions from upgrading oilsands bitumen near Edmonton, he acknowledged. But more energy-intensive methods of extracting bitumen from the oilsands are increasingly being used around Fort McMurray.
“Are we actually on track to address those emissions in a significant way?” Woynillowicz said.
Although the Pembina Institute considers the carbon capture an important part of a “suite” of strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Woynillowicz said he is concerned the Alberta government is overly focused on one solution.
CALGARY - The Stelmach government has given tentative approval to three carbon capture projects that will share in$2 billion in public money–but critics say the plan still faces a difficult battle during a period of deficit spending and budget cuts.
Confronted with U. S. and international pressure on reducing the environmental footprint of the oilsands, the province is relying mainly on expensive technology to curtail surging emissions.
The investment in capturing greenhouse gas from industrial sources–and then injecting it into the ground for storage — is meant to be the province’s means of avoiding economic penalties as the world looks to a new global climate change pact in Copenhagen this December.
“We’re taking a look at what we can do to ensure that Alberta’s largest economic sector can move forward into the future in a sustainable sort of way,” said Alberta Energy spokesman Bob McManus.
“We’re working toward ensuring there are government revenues into the future.”
However, critics and environmentalists say the province is putting too many of its eggs in one basket.
“In light of the sharply worsening budget position of the provincial government, we need to look at reviewing the subsequent phases of this strategy and consider down-scaling it–squeezing more value out of those dollars,” said Alberta Liberal energy critic Kevin Taft.
“If it comes down to a choice between carbon capture and storage or hospital beds, I for one am going to choose hospital beds.”
On Tuesday, the government announced it will head into final negotiations this month for three projects –including a new carbon-capture power plant next to the existing Genesee facility west of Edmonton, an Alberta Carbon Trunk Line that will gather CO2 from industrial sources and transport it to central Alberta for injection, and a full capture and storage project for the Scotford Upgrader — a joint venture between Shell Canada, Chevron Canada, and Marathon Oil Sands LP.
Neither Energy Minister Mel Knight nor Environment Minister Rob Renner were available for comment on the three projects Tuesday.
But the news came on the same day thegovernmentannouncedmajorbudget woes in the health-care system.
“This is something industry should be paying for,” said NDP environment critic Rachel Notley, who called it “a gross failure to get the priorities straight.”
The NDP has never supported the public expenditure on carbon capture, Notley said, adding “this is really an exceptionally overpriced public relations stunt to greenwash the oilsands for the sake the of the U. S.”
The first round of commercial scale projects will be expected to achieve annual carbon dioxide reductions by 2015.
In Alberta, the utilities sector accounts for more than 40 per cent of all industrial-sourced greenhouse gas emissions, while the oilsands represent less than a quarter. However, oilsands emissions are expected to rapidly increase with expansions.
In April, it was revealed that most of Alberta’s largest oilsands producers had abandoned their bids for a share of the $2 billion.
Dan Woynillowicz, a senior policy analyst for the Pembina Institute, an environmental think-tank, said none of the three chosen projects focus on reducing emissions during the oilsands extraction process.
Two of the projects are likely to reduce emissions from upgrading oilsands bitumen near Edmonton, he acknowledged. But more energy-intensive methods of extracting bitumen from the oilsands are increasingly being used around Fort McMurray.
“Are we actually on track to address those emissions in a significant way?” Woynillowicz said.
Although the Pembina Institute considers the carbon capture an important part of a “suite” of strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Woynillowicz said he is concerned the Alberta government is overly focused on one solution.
isramart : CO2 cuts a $1000 bonanza
Isramart news:
DEBATE over reducing carbon emissions often centres on how much it will cost the economy, but what does it mean for an average household?
A Value Hunter investigation shows cutting carbon emissions is not only good for the planet, it can save a family more than $1000 in one year.
The analysis by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change focused on an average three-person household in western Sydney.
Project spokeswoman Amanda Kane said most of the actions identified were no or low-cost, as highlighted in the black balloon advertising campaign.
The campaign aims to inform consumers about the link between power usage and carbon emissions, but the dollar savings are a bonus.
Simply by changing some behaviour in the home, without financial outlay, a family can save $1010 annually.
Other low-cost moves such as replacing incandescent lights with CFLs saves $120, fitting a low-flow shower head saves $30 a person, draught seals save $20 and using a fan instead of an airconditioner will save $110. Replacing the old fridge with a new one will save $125.
Good insulation can cut heating and cooling costs dramatically and you can almost install it free of charge with the Federal Government $1600 rebate, but always check if the installer is accredited.
The biggest carbon emitters in the home, and therefore the most expensive, come from the hot water system and the heating and cooling appliances. An upfront investment is required to address these points, so government rebates are offered to help make the green choice.
State and federal governments offer hot water system rebates of up to $2500. Ms Kane says switching to solar heating can save $140 a year for the life of the system.
The Federal Government rebate for replacing an electric hot water system with a solar or heat pump version is $1600.
The Victorian Government offers two rebates for solar hot water, depending on whether you live in regional Victoria or Melbourne.
DEBATE over reducing carbon emissions often centres on how much it will cost the economy, but what does it mean for an average household?
A Value Hunter investigation shows cutting carbon emissions is not only good for the planet, it can save a family more than $1000 in one year.
The analysis by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change focused on an average three-person household in western Sydney.
Project spokeswoman Amanda Kane said most of the actions identified were no or low-cost, as highlighted in the black balloon advertising campaign.
The campaign aims to inform consumers about the link between power usage and carbon emissions, but the dollar savings are a bonus.
Simply by changing some behaviour in the home, without financial outlay, a family can save $1010 annually.
Other low-cost moves such as replacing incandescent lights with CFLs saves $120, fitting a low-flow shower head saves $30 a person, draught seals save $20 and using a fan instead of an airconditioner will save $110. Replacing the old fridge with a new one will save $125.
Good insulation can cut heating and cooling costs dramatically and you can almost install it free of charge with the Federal Government $1600 rebate, but always check if the installer is accredited.
The biggest carbon emitters in the home, and therefore the most expensive, come from the hot water system and the heating and cooling appliances. An upfront investment is required to address these points, so government rebates are offered to help make the green choice.
State and federal governments offer hot water system rebates of up to $2500. Ms Kane says switching to solar heating can save $140 a year for the life of the system.
The Federal Government rebate for replacing an electric hot water system with a solar or heat pump version is $1600.
The Victorian Government offers two rebates for solar hot water, depending on whether you live in regional Victoria or Melbourne.
Monday, July 27, 2009
isramart : Legile verzi pe mare lovesc industria petroliera
Isramart news:
Noile reglementari care vor obliga industria maritima sa adopte carburanti mai prietenosi cu mediul ar putea reduce un sfert din cererea europeana de carburanti petrolieri pana in 2015, informeaza Reuters.
Pachetul de masuri se va adauga celorlalte inconveniente ale celui mai poluant si mai putin profitabil produs petrolier: petrolul rezidual ramas dupa rafinarea carburantilor mai profitabili. Incepand cu luna iulie a anului viitor, navele care vor opera in Marea Baltica, Marea Nordului si Canalul Englez vor fi nevoite sa aiba un continut de 1% de sulfuri in combustibili, fata de 1,5% in prezent.
Cererea de combustibili pentru nave reprezinta un sfert din piata europeana a carburantilor petrolieri. Cererea ar putea scadea incepand cu ianuarie 2015, cand vor fi impuse limite si mai severe in ce priveste gradul de poluare al combustibililor.
„Asteptam schimbari in piata carburantilor. In aceasta regiune se consuma 20 de milioane de tone metrice de combustibili petrolieri”, a declarat Colin Birch, vicepresedinte al departamentului de Energie al grupului Purvin and Getz.
Continutul de sulfuri va fi redus la 3,5% in 2012 si va ramane la 0,5% in 2020.
In Europa, cererea de pe piata maritima acopera 40% din piata anuala de carburanti petrolieri de 90 de milioane de tone metrice. Restul este acoperit de sectoarele energetice si de industrie, dar si acestea iau masuri de introducere a unor combustibili mai „verzi”.
Noile reglementari care vor obliga industria maritima sa adopte carburanti mai prietenosi cu mediul ar putea reduce un sfert din cererea europeana de carburanti petrolieri pana in 2015, informeaza Reuters.
Pachetul de masuri se va adauga celorlalte inconveniente ale celui mai poluant si mai putin profitabil produs petrolier: petrolul rezidual ramas dupa rafinarea carburantilor mai profitabili. Incepand cu luna iulie a anului viitor, navele care vor opera in Marea Baltica, Marea Nordului si Canalul Englez vor fi nevoite sa aiba un continut de 1% de sulfuri in combustibili, fata de 1,5% in prezent.
Cererea de combustibili pentru nave reprezinta un sfert din piata europeana a carburantilor petrolieri. Cererea ar putea scadea incepand cu ianuarie 2015, cand vor fi impuse limite si mai severe in ce priveste gradul de poluare al combustibililor.
„Asteptam schimbari in piata carburantilor. In aceasta regiune se consuma 20 de milioane de tone metrice de combustibili petrolieri”, a declarat Colin Birch, vicepresedinte al departamentului de Energie al grupului Purvin and Getz.
Continutul de sulfuri va fi redus la 3,5% in 2012 si va ramane la 0,5% in 2020.
In Europa, cererea de pe piata maritima acopera 40% din piata anuala de carburanti petrolieri de 90 de milioane de tone metrice. Restul este acoperit de sectoarele energetice si de industrie, dar si acestea iau masuri de introducere a unor combustibili mai „verzi”.
isramart : Masurile verzi vor afecta mai mult firmele decat gospodariile britanice
Isramart news:
mpactul masurilor ecologice adoptate de guvernul britanic se va simit mai mult asupra firmelor decat asupra gospodariilor, iar expertii sustin ca aceasta situatie va duce la o crestere a investitiilor in eficientizarea consumului de energie, informeaza Business Green.
Studiul masurilor ecologice ale guvernului arata ca va exista o crestere de circa 8% in facturile la energie ale gospodariilor in urma cresterii investitiilor in tehnologii ecologice si energie regenerabila. Cu toate acestea, impactul politicilor guvernamentale de mediu va echivala cu o crestere de 17% a facturilor, in timp ce sectorul industrial va resimti o crestere de 21%.
Purtatoarea de cuvant a Departamentului pentru Energie si Schimbari Climatice a declarat ca guvernul a introdus un numar de initiative care vor ajuta mediul de afaceri sa creasca eficienta energetica, precum imprumuturile pentru echipament eficient energetic. Ea a adaugat ca gospodariile vor fi ajutate cu un numar mai mare de initiative pentru eficienta energetica si astfel vor resimti o crestere mai mica a facturilor.
Thomas Lingard, director la grupul Green Alliance, a declarat ca aceste majorari ale facturilor sunt un factor in plus de incurajare a investitiilor in masuri de eficienta energetica.
mpactul masurilor ecologice adoptate de guvernul britanic se va simit mai mult asupra firmelor decat asupra gospodariilor, iar expertii sustin ca aceasta situatie va duce la o crestere a investitiilor in eficientizarea consumului de energie, informeaza Business Green.
Studiul masurilor ecologice ale guvernului arata ca va exista o crestere de circa 8% in facturile la energie ale gospodariilor in urma cresterii investitiilor in tehnologii ecologice si energie regenerabila. Cu toate acestea, impactul politicilor guvernamentale de mediu va echivala cu o crestere de 17% a facturilor, in timp ce sectorul industrial va resimti o crestere de 21%.
Purtatoarea de cuvant a Departamentului pentru Energie si Schimbari Climatice a declarat ca guvernul a introdus un numar de initiative care vor ajuta mediul de afaceri sa creasca eficienta energetica, precum imprumuturile pentru echipament eficient energetic. Ea a adaugat ca gospodariile vor fi ajutate cu un numar mai mare de initiative pentru eficienta energetica si astfel vor resimti o crestere mai mica a facturilor.
Thomas Lingard, director la grupul Green Alliance, a declarat ca aceste majorari ale facturilor sunt un factor in plus de incurajare a investitiilor in masuri de eficienta energetica.
isramart : UK Great Western train line electrification to save CO2
Isramart news:
A £1.1 billion scheme has been approved by the UK government to electrify one of Britain’s busiest railway lines.
Stretching from London to Cardiff, the Great Western line is to be electrified between the UK capital and Swansea over the next eight years, in a move that could noticeably cut emissions from public transport.
Currently, less than 40 percent of the UK’s rail network, which is the oldest in the world, is electrified - with most lines still operating diesel-burning trains.
Prime minister Gordon Brown announced the electrification programme at a press conference from Paddington Station in London, adding that lines between Liverpool and Manchester will also be upgraded.
“This is the future. It is green, it is faster and it’s more reliable. This is about making the railways fit for the 21st century,” he said.
“We have set aside money for this. It’s an important priority for us.”
The news comes after the government pledged recently to cut the CO2 emissions from transport by 14 percent by 2020.
A £1.1 billion scheme has been approved by the UK government to electrify one of Britain’s busiest railway lines.
Stretching from London to Cardiff, the Great Western line is to be electrified between the UK capital and Swansea over the next eight years, in a move that could noticeably cut emissions from public transport.
Currently, less than 40 percent of the UK’s rail network, which is the oldest in the world, is electrified - with most lines still operating diesel-burning trains.
Prime minister Gordon Brown announced the electrification programme at a press conference from Paddington Station in London, adding that lines between Liverpool and Manchester will also be upgraded.
“This is the future. It is green, it is faster and it’s more reliable. This is about making the railways fit for the 21st century,” he said.
“We have set aside money for this. It’s an important priority for us.”
The news comes after the government pledged recently to cut the CO2 emissions from transport by 14 percent by 2020.
isramart : Integrated approach needed to reduce CO2 from road transportation
Isramart news:
This was the key message that emerged from the first FISITA World Automotive Summit, held in Falkenstein, Germany from 15 – 16 July 2009 and organised by global automotive engineering association, FISITA.
Senior executives from global vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and energy companies joined with experts from academia, scientific bodies, government and NGOs to discuss the most effective ways to achieve significant CO2 reduction in road transportation, in advance of December’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen.
The discussions focussed on the potential gains to be made in the areas of Fuels and Fuel Economy, Electrification and Traffic Management, each of which were examined through a series of provocative presentations and workshop sessions. The Summit was organised in association with VDI-FVT, the automotive and traffic technologies division of the German Association of Engineers.
In his opening remarks, FISITA President, Christoph Huss, called on engineers to get more directly involved in the debate around future energy, transport and environmental policy,
“As engineers, we have the abilities – and also a special responsibility – to help clarify the technologies and solutions that politicians can draw on when they make decisions about our energy and mobility futures. That is our motivation behind organising this first ever FISITA World Automotive Summit”.
Dr. Lew Fulton of the International Energy Agency gave the first presentation, in which he used World Energy Outlook projections to predict overall CO2 emissions in 2050 and highlighted the importance of reducing CO2 from transport in particular, arguing that greater fuel efficiency is the best way of doing so:
“If we don’t do anything about CO2 in transport, even with very deep reductions and decarbonisations in the other sectors, we can pretty much only level out reduction. About the smartest thing we can do to deal with this problem is to become more fuel efficient. Fuel economy improvement for all transport modes can be made more efficient than it is today in the order of 50%”.
Dr. Fulton was followed by Dr. Lee Schipper, Senior Research Engineer at the Precourt Institute of Energy Efficiency at Stanford University, who stressed the range of the problem of sustainable mobility and highlighted the need to deal with both carbon and traffic safety. He stated:
“Whatever the past for the car was, it will not and cannot be the same in the future. There are very great air pollution problems whose solutions in many cases help solve the fuel and CO2 problem. In the case of the mature countries, we need to fix transport and fuels, but in the case of the countries that are still growing, which is most of the world, the biggest problem is the transport sector. If the transport sector gets fixed, that has an enormous downward impact on both fuel and CO2”.
The agenda then moved on to Electrification, with presentations from Dr. Alan Lloyd, President of the International Council on Clean Transportation and former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency; and Prof. Ouyang Minggao, Director of China’s State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, based within Tsinghua University.
Dr. Lloyd drew upon the experience of California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate in the 1990s, telling participants that,
“Electric drive is capable of addressing urgent climate change, zero-emissions and energy security. Electric drive is feasible, but the challenges should not be under-estimated. Hybridisation has however been a success. A long-term view will be necessary and policies will need to be put in place.”
Prof. Ouyang, a top advisor to the Chinese government on vehicle technology, went on to present China’s ambitious twin-track strategy to a) Optimize existing vehicle powertrains whilst b) developing new energy vehicles and EVs in particular.
Mr. Edgar Thielmann, Head of the Galileo Project from the European Commission and Russ Shields, Chair of Ygomi LLC, then led the presentations on Traffic Management, focussing on how ITS and vehicle communications can help lower CO2.
Mr. Thielmann told the Summit that, in addition to working on the efficiency of vehicles and the carbon intensity of the energy used to power them, there were significant CO2 reductions to be achieved from better transport demand / mode choice, improved traffic flow and changes in driver behaviour.
He cited a recent study by McKinsey which suggested that improving traffic flow and driver behaviour were the most cost-effective solutions to CO2 reduction, promising cuts of -1.5% (2006-30). Eco-drive: individual potential of -17%, mass scale -3%
Most measures are still in the early stages of development, but some estimates predict up to 25% reduction if range of measures are implemented in a long-term concerted programme.
Russell Shields of Ygomi LLC then talked about the role of vehicle communications in CO2 reduction, specifically in electric vehicles,
“Electric vehicles will happen, and will evolve reasonably rapidly during the course of the next decade. We know the issues that are being discussed – driving-range, battery cost, recharging etc. Vehicle communications is one of the key involvements in this area”.
He explained how vehicle communications could be key to customer acceptance of EVs by providing data to help with range determination, remote battery and range monitoring, charging station location, battery swap station location, economical charge management and more. He went on to describe how communications can help drive greater fuel efficiency in all vehicles, by offering the opportunity to base fuel usage / emissions regulations on real-world data rather than laboratory tests.
Detailed workshop sessions followed on each topic, moderated by Jack Jacometti, Vice President Future Fuels & CO2, of Shell International Petroleum; Dr. Klaus Bonhoff, Managing Director of NOW GmbH, and Dr. John Miles of the World Road Association, PIARC.
Summing up a highly successful first World Automotive Summit, FISITA President, Christoph Huss said,
“Our discussions today have convinced me that we need to have an integrated approach which includes the development of vehicle technology, the supply of alternative fuels and a more efficient use of vehicles. In the end, this is the only way we can have CO2 mitigation efforts which are compatible with economic growth.”
“All the stakeholders – automotive industry, fuel providers, energy companies, should identify their individual responsibilities and make their best efforts to carry them out, in a framework of mutual cooperation. Through events like this, FISITA can play a much needed role in bringing the parties together to identify our shared priorities and agree a way forward.”
He stressed the significance of this year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15), and said that FISITA would take this opportunity to send a message on behalf of the engineering profession, about the cooperative approach needed to meet the challenges of CO2 reduction from road transportation, and the support and clear framework required from governments in order for engineers to be successful in meeting this critical challenge.
This was the key message that emerged from the first FISITA World Automotive Summit, held in Falkenstein, Germany from 15 – 16 July 2009 and organised by global automotive engineering association, FISITA.
Senior executives from global vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and energy companies joined with experts from academia, scientific bodies, government and NGOs to discuss the most effective ways to achieve significant CO2 reduction in road transportation, in advance of December’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen.
The discussions focussed on the potential gains to be made in the areas of Fuels and Fuel Economy, Electrification and Traffic Management, each of which were examined through a series of provocative presentations and workshop sessions. The Summit was organised in association with VDI-FVT, the automotive and traffic technologies division of the German Association of Engineers.
In his opening remarks, FISITA President, Christoph Huss, called on engineers to get more directly involved in the debate around future energy, transport and environmental policy,
“As engineers, we have the abilities – and also a special responsibility – to help clarify the technologies and solutions that politicians can draw on when they make decisions about our energy and mobility futures. That is our motivation behind organising this first ever FISITA World Automotive Summit”.
Dr. Lew Fulton of the International Energy Agency gave the first presentation, in which he used World Energy Outlook projections to predict overall CO2 emissions in 2050 and highlighted the importance of reducing CO2 from transport in particular, arguing that greater fuel efficiency is the best way of doing so:
“If we don’t do anything about CO2 in transport, even with very deep reductions and decarbonisations in the other sectors, we can pretty much only level out reduction. About the smartest thing we can do to deal with this problem is to become more fuel efficient. Fuel economy improvement for all transport modes can be made more efficient than it is today in the order of 50%”.
Dr. Fulton was followed by Dr. Lee Schipper, Senior Research Engineer at the Precourt Institute of Energy Efficiency at Stanford University, who stressed the range of the problem of sustainable mobility and highlighted the need to deal with both carbon and traffic safety. He stated:
“Whatever the past for the car was, it will not and cannot be the same in the future. There are very great air pollution problems whose solutions in many cases help solve the fuel and CO2 problem. In the case of the mature countries, we need to fix transport and fuels, but in the case of the countries that are still growing, which is most of the world, the biggest problem is the transport sector. If the transport sector gets fixed, that has an enormous downward impact on both fuel and CO2”.
The agenda then moved on to Electrification, with presentations from Dr. Alan Lloyd, President of the International Council on Clean Transportation and former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency; and Prof. Ouyang Minggao, Director of China’s State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, based within Tsinghua University.
Dr. Lloyd drew upon the experience of California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate in the 1990s, telling participants that,
“Electric drive is capable of addressing urgent climate change, zero-emissions and energy security. Electric drive is feasible, but the challenges should not be under-estimated. Hybridisation has however been a success. A long-term view will be necessary and policies will need to be put in place.”
Prof. Ouyang, a top advisor to the Chinese government on vehicle technology, went on to present China’s ambitious twin-track strategy to a) Optimize existing vehicle powertrains whilst b) developing new energy vehicles and EVs in particular.
Mr. Edgar Thielmann, Head of the Galileo Project from the European Commission and Russ Shields, Chair of Ygomi LLC, then led the presentations on Traffic Management, focussing on how ITS and vehicle communications can help lower CO2.
Mr. Thielmann told the Summit that, in addition to working on the efficiency of vehicles and the carbon intensity of the energy used to power them, there were significant CO2 reductions to be achieved from better transport demand / mode choice, improved traffic flow and changes in driver behaviour.
He cited a recent study by McKinsey which suggested that improving traffic flow and driver behaviour were the most cost-effective solutions to CO2 reduction, promising cuts of -1.5% (2006-30). Eco-drive: individual potential of -17%, mass scale -3%
Most measures are still in the early stages of development, but some estimates predict up to 25% reduction if range of measures are implemented in a long-term concerted programme.
Russell Shields of Ygomi LLC then talked about the role of vehicle communications in CO2 reduction, specifically in electric vehicles,
“Electric vehicles will happen, and will evolve reasonably rapidly during the course of the next decade. We know the issues that are being discussed – driving-range, battery cost, recharging etc. Vehicle communications is one of the key involvements in this area”.
He explained how vehicle communications could be key to customer acceptance of EVs by providing data to help with range determination, remote battery and range monitoring, charging station location, battery swap station location, economical charge management and more. He went on to describe how communications can help drive greater fuel efficiency in all vehicles, by offering the opportunity to base fuel usage / emissions regulations on real-world data rather than laboratory tests.
Detailed workshop sessions followed on each topic, moderated by Jack Jacometti, Vice President Future Fuels & CO2, of Shell International Petroleum; Dr. Klaus Bonhoff, Managing Director of NOW GmbH, and Dr. John Miles of the World Road Association, PIARC.
Summing up a highly successful first World Automotive Summit, FISITA President, Christoph Huss said,
“Our discussions today have convinced me that we need to have an integrated approach which includes the development of vehicle technology, the supply of alternative fuels and a more efficient use of vehicles. In the end, this is the only way we can have CO2 mitigation efforts which are compatible with economic growth.”
“All the stakeholders – automotive industry, fuel providers, energy companies, should identify their individual responsibilities and make their best efforts to carry them out, in a framework of mutual cooperation. Through events like this, FISITA can play a much needed role in bringing the parties together to identify our shared priorities and agree a way forward.”
He stressed the significance of this year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15), and said that FISITA would take this opportunity to send a message on behalf of the engineering profession, about the cooperative approach needed to meet the challenges of CO2 reduction from road transportation, and the support and clear framework required from governments in order for engineers to be successful in meeting this critical challenge.
isramart : Most Europeans taking action to reduce CO2 emissions
Isramart news:
The majority (59 percent) of Europeans have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints, the latest Eurobarometer survey has highlighted.
People living in Sweden (82 percent), the UK (77 percent), Slovenia (77 percent) and Ireland (74 percent) were the most likely to have made lifestyle changes to reduce their own emissions.
Carried out by the European Commission, the study focused on the attitudes of EU consumers to the fight against climate change.
Encouragingly, the results indicated that most people believe the seriousness of climate change has not been exaggerated and that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are having a significant impact on the process.
Interestingly, 75 percent of respondents were keen for alternative fuels to be used to reduce CO2 emissions, up from 70 percent in spring 2008.
The strongest support for alternative fuels was found in Greece (90 percent), Denmark (87 percent), Slovenia (86 percent) and Slovakia (86 percent).
Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) also agreed with the statement that fighting climate change by reducing emissions across the continent could have a beneficial impact on the European economy, a rise of 6 percent since the previous survey.
Sweden will be hoping to continue setting an example on emissions as it heads up the EU presidency for the next six months, during which time a UN summit on climate change is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen.
The majority (59 percent) of Europeans have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints, the latest Eurobarometer survey has highlighted.
People living in Sweden (82 percent), the UK (77 percent), Slovenia (77 percent) and Ireland (74 percent) were the most likely to have made lifestyle changes to reduce their own emissions.
Carried out by the European Commission, the study focused on the attitudes of EU consumers to the fight against climate change.
Encouragingly, the results indicated that most people believe the seriousness of climate change has not been exaggerated and that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are having a significant impact on the process.
Interestingly, 75 percent of respondents were keen for alternative fuels to be used to reduce CO2 emissions, up from 70 percent in spring 2008.
The strongest support for alternative fuels was found in Greece (90 percent), Denmark (87 percent), Slovenia (86 percent) and Slovakia (86 percent).
Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) also agreed with the statement that fighting climate change by reducing emissions across the continent could have a beneficial impact on the European economy, a rise of 6 percent since the previous survey.
Sweden will be hoping to continue setting an example on emissions as it heads up the EU presidency for the next six months, during which time a UN summit on climate change is scheduled to take place in Copenhagen.
isramart : Governors Endorse AIA’s Carbon-Neutral Buildings Goal
Isramart news:
The National Association of Governors this week pledged its support for carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.
The ambitious goal, which applies to new and renovated buildings, is being advocated by the American Institute of Architects and was previously endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties.
“The nation’s governors are committed to maximizing energy conservation and improved energy efficiency,” Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said in a statement. “We can reduce the environmental consequences of greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the operating costs of business and industries nationwide and create thousands of green-collar jobs to compete in a clean-energy economy.”
The NGA announced its support on Monday at its 2009 Annual Meeting in Biloxi, MS. The endorsement also “opens the door” for the AIA to lobby statehouses to adopt a new green construction code due out next year from the International Code Council, said Christine McEntee, CEO of AIA.
The U.S. Department of Energy last year introduced the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative, a billion-dollar program that aims to produce widespread zero-energy commercial buildings by the year 2025. It has launched several public-private alliances with real estate groups this year in the program’s first phase.
The National Association of Governors this week pledged its support for carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.
The ambitious goal, which applies to new and renovated buildings, is being advocated by the American Institute of Architects and was previously endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties.
“The nation’s governors are committed to maximizing energy conservation and improved energy efficiency,” Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said in a statement. “We can reduce the environmental consequences of greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the operating costs of business and industries nationwide and create thousands of green-collar jobs to compete in a clean-energy economy.”
The NGA announced its support on Monday at its 2009 Annual Meeting in Biloxi, MS. The endorsement also “opens the door” for the AIA to lobby statehouses to adopt a new green construction code due out next year from the International Code Council, said Christine McEntee, CEO of AIA.
The U.S. Department of Energy last year introduced the Net-Zero Energy Commercial Building Initiative, a billion-dollar program that aims to produce widespread zero-energy commercial buildings by the year 2025. It has launched several public-private alliances with real estate groups this year in the program’s first phase.
isramart : Time for a price collar on carbon
isramart news:
Senate leaders intend to take up the narrowly passed House climate and energy measure soon, with the hope of having a bill signed into law before December’s international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The goal is to make Americans face the societal costs of carbon emissions and oil use. But might the costs of limiting carbon emissions — especially during a recession — sink this legislation?
As proposed, the House cap-and-trade system would set a quantity target on emissions and allow the market to determine the price of carbon — but with a price floor. Given that a key political vulnerability of the program is its economic effect on American households, sponsors of a Senate cap-and-trade bill could strengthen its prospects by imposing a price ceiling, in effect establishing a price collar.
By preventing the policy from being either unexpectedly lax or unexpectedly stringent, a price collar protects both investors in green technologies and households and preserves strong incentives to abate. The price floor proposed in the House bill would start in 2012 at $10 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent and rise by 5 percent annually. Our research suggests that adding a ceiling starting at $35 per ton and increasing both the floor and the ceiling by 4 percent per year would increase cumulative emissions over the period from 2010 to 2050 by about 6 billion metric tons, or about 4 percent relative to a policy without a price ceiling.
In exchange, adding the ceiling would allow the Senate to jettison the reserve auction, rein in offsets and possibly raise more federal revenue, both by selling allowances if the ceiling is triggered and by setting a higher reserve price for auctioned allowances if the floor price is triggered.
With these changes, the resulting bill would be simpler and more transparent and would provide clear evidence that worst-case economic costs would be limited.
The price ceiling could work like the “safety valve” included in a 2007 bill introduced by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), which would have allowed the government to sell additional emissions allowances if permit prices rose above a preset ceiling. A safety valve limits the worst-case costs of a cap-and-trade policy, so it would improve the bill’s prospects with moderate senators by guaranteeing that compliance costs would not be excessive.
The bill also includes billions of tons of potential offset credits for emissions reductions in U.S. sectors not covered by the cap-and-trade system and for certain reductions in other countries. Offsets allow U.S. emitters to exceed the cap cheaply while obscuring the actual effect on the environment.
Environmental groups may be reluctant to support a price collar, but they should remember that the stakes are very high: A bill that fails in the Senate or promptly collapses after enactment will do nothing at all to control emissions. If a price collar helps build a 60-vote majority in the Senate, the expected effect on emissions is well worthwhile.
Any climate bill will have to include cost containment provisions of some kind in order to have a realistic chance of passing. The House bill, for example, includes an allowance reserve, which operates a bit like a limited safety valve by holding back 1 percent to 3 percent of each year’s allowances for auction during periods of high allowance prices. However, the approach merely moves stringency from one year to another without actually limiting the overall cost.
The bill also includes billions of tons of potential offset credits for emissions reductions in U.S. sectors not covered by the cap-and-trade system and for certain reductions in other countries. Offsets allow U.S. emitters to exceed the cap cheaply while obscuring the actual effect on the environment.
As the cap-and-trade effort heads to the Senate for Round Two, there are mechanisms that could take this over the finish line. Ideally, cost containment should be transparent: It should be clear how it would affect domestic costs and what the consequences would be for U.S. and global emissions. It should also be credible: It must operate in a way that households and firms will perceive as economically and politically sustainable over the long run.
Senate leaders intend to take up the narrowly passed House climate and energy measure soon, with the hope of having a bill signed into law before December’s international climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The goal is to make Americans face the societal costs of carbon emissions and oil use. But might the costs of limiting carbon emissions — especially during a recession — sink this legislation?
As proposed, the House cap-and-trade system would set a quantity target on emissions and allow the market to determine the price of carbon — but with a price floor. Given that a key political vulnerability of the program is its economic effect on American households, sponsors of a Senate cap-and-trade bill could strengthen its prospects by imposing a price ceiling, in effect establishing a price collar.
By preventing the policy from being either unexpectedly lax or unexpectedly stringent, a price collar protects both investors in green technologies and households and preserves strong incentives to abate. The price floor proposed in the House bill would start in 2012 at $10 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent and rise by 5 percent annually. Our research suggests that adding a ceiling starting at $35 per ton and increasing both the floor and the ceiling by 4 percent per year would increase cumulative emissions over the period from 2010 to 2050 by about 6 billion metric tons, or about 4 percent relative to a policy without a price ceiling.
In exchange, adding the ceiling would allow the Senate to jettison the reserve auction, rein in offsets and possibly raise more federal revenue, both by selling allowances if the ceiling is triggered and by setting a higher reserve price for auctioned allowances if the floor price is triggered.
With these changes, the resulting bill would be simpler and more transparent and would provide clear evidence that worst-case economic costs would be limited.
The price ceiling could work like the “safety valve” included in a 2007 bill introduced by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), which would have allowed the government to sell additional emissions allowances if permit prices rose above a preset ceiling. A safety valve limits the worst-case costs of a cap-and-trade policy, so it would improve the bill’s prospects with moderate senators by guaranteeing that compliance costs would not be excessive.
The bill also includes billions of tons of potential offset credits for emissions reductions in U.S. sectors not covered by the cap-and-trade system and for certain reductions in other countries. Offsets allow U.S. emitters to exceed the cap cheaply while obscuring the actual effect on the environment.
Environmental groups may be reluctant to support a price collar, but they should remember that the stakes are very high: A bill that fails in the Senate or promptly collapses after enactment will do nothing at all to control emissions. If a price collar helps build a 60-vote majority in the Senate, the expected effect on emissions is well worthwhile.
Any climate bill will have to include cost containment provisions of some kind in order to have a realistic chance of passing. The House bill, for example, includes an allowance reserve, which operates a bit like a limited safety valve by holding back 1 percent to 3 percent of each year’s allowances for auction during periods of high allowance prices. However, the approach merely moves stringency from one year to another without actually limiting the overall cost.
The bill also includes billions of tons of potential offset credits for emissions reductions in U.S. sectors not covered by the cap-and-trade system and for certain reductions in other countries. Offsets allow U.S. emitters to exceed the cap cheaply while obscuring the actual effect on the environment.
As the cap-and-trade effort heads to the Senate for Round Two, there are mechanisms that could take this over the finish line. Ideally, cost containment should be transparent: It should be clear how it would affect domestic costs and what the consequences would be for U.S. and global emissions. It should also be credible: It must operate in a way that households and firms will perceive as economically and politically sustainable over the long run.
isramart : Carbon Footprint of Nations
isramart news:
In the debate over global warming, many in the United States feel that action to cap carbon emissions in the U.S. won’t do any good if developing countries such as China and India don’t follow suit. What’s worse, the argument goes, is that as energy costs rise in the United States as a result of cap-and-trade, manufacturing in those developing countries becomes even more attractive, leading to a further erosion in the competitiveness of the United States. And it’s clear so far that while the U.S. progresses towards cap-and-trade, China and India have no plans to follow suit (witness India’s unilateral rejection of such a suggestion during Secretary of State Clinton’s visit there this week).
I think there’s a lot of merit to this argument, but I also think there’s a fundamental flaw in the fairness to the argument. Let’s accept for a moment that every conceivable human activity produces carbon dioxide. Collectively, this carbon dioxide is leading to a gradual warming of the earth, which will eventually lead to rising seas, devastation of indigenous species, and other sorts of calamities such as dying polar bears and palm trees along Lake Erie. Let’s further accept that national boundaries are artificial constructs based on geopolitical balances of power, history, aggression and war, and cultures — all constructs that Mother Earth doesn’t give a damn about. Under this scenario, it’s really how much carbon EACH HUMAN BEING emits that matters most, not what each country emits. In other words, in a totally utilitarian world, each human being would emit the same amount of carbon so that the human race collectively can survive.
So how much carbon does each human being emit? One answer can be found in the Carbon Footprint of Nations, a website published by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The site ranks countries by the amount of carbon per capita. Of the 68 countries ranked, the United States comes in first, with 29 tons of CO2 per person. Australia and Canada round out the top 3. China ranks towards the bottom with 3.1 tons of CO2 per person, and India is lower yet at 1.8 tons of CO2 per person.
The ranking is important because it illustrates how much each country has to go in terms of reducing carbon. Yes, China and India need to do their part. Waiting for those countries to act before taking action here at home, however, is a logical error when our emissions per capita are so much higher. This is a case where a #1 ranking isn’t anything to be proud of.
In the debate over global warming, many in the United States feel that action to cap carbon emissions in the U.S. won’t do any good if developing countries such as China and India don’t follow suit. What’s worse, the argument goes, is that as energy costs rise in the United States as a result of cap-and-trade, manufacturing in those developing countries becomes even more attractive, leading to a further erosion in the competitiveness of the United States. And it’s clear so far that while the U.S. progresses towards cap-and-trade, China and India have no plans to follow suit (witness India’s unilateral rejection of such a suggestion during Secretary of State Clinton’s visit there this week).
I think there’s a lot of merit to this argument, but I also think there’s a fundamental flaw in the fairness to the argument. Let’s accept for a moment that every conceivable human activity produces carbon dioxide. Collectively, this carbon dioxide is leading to a gradual warming of the earth, which will eventually lead to rising seas, devastation of indigenous species, and other sorts of calamities such as dying polar bears and palm trees along Lake Erie. Let’s further accept that national boundaries are artificial constructs based on geopolitical balances of power, history, aggression and war, and cultures — all constructs that Mother Earth doesn’t give a damn about. Under this scenario, it’s really how much carbon EACH HUMAN BEING emits that matters most, not what each country emits. In other words, in a totally utilitarian world, each human being would emit the same amount of carbon so that the human race collectively can survive.
So how much carbon does each human being emit? One answer can be found in the Carbon Footprint of Nations, a website published by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The site ranks countries by the amount of carbon per capita. Of the 68 countries ranked, the United States comes in first, with 29 tons of CO2 per person. Australia and Canada round out the top 3. China ranks towards the bottom with 3.1 tons of CO2 per person, and India is lower yet at 1.8 tons of CO2 per person.
The ranking is important because it illustrates how much each country has to go in terms of reducing carbon. Yes, China and India need to do their part. Waiting for those countries to act before taking action here at home, however, is a logical error when our emissions per capita are so much higher. This is a case where a #1 ranking isn’t anything to be proud of.
isramart : Australia goes into REDD
isramart news:
Australia has its first Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project thanks to Sydney based project developer Redd Forests Pty Ltd. Redd Forests has met the international Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) and received approval for its Tasmanian avoided deforestation pilot project “Creating a Safe Deposit Box for Carbon.” This is the first CCBS approved project in Australia.
“We are delighted to see this REDD Forests project in Tasmania breaking new ground by becoming the first project to be validated against the new Second Edition of the Climate Community and Biodiversity , or CCB Standards as well as being the first project to achieve approval in Australia,” said Joanna Durbin, Director of the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance. “This successful CCB Validation demonstrates the high quality of this project that is effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also safeguarding habitat of great importance to Tasmania’s native plants and animals.”
The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Project Design Standards (CCB Standards) evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the early stages of development. The CCB Standards foster the integration of best-practice and multiple-benefit approaches into project design and evolution. The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) – the organisation that has developed the standards, identify land-based climate change mitigation projects that simultaneously generate climate, biodiversity and sustainable-development benefits.
The Redd Forests project, on an 860 hectare private landholding in Tasmania, demonstrates the commercial viability of using the carbon market to reward landowners who, traditionally, have logged their land for income. Instead, landowners can now assign those same logging rights to Redd Forests in return for a percentage of the proceeds of sale of the resulting carbon credits. These credits are generated by Redd Forests “locking up” the land for a period of 25 or more years thus avoiding the release of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from logging and land clearing practices. In return the landowner commits to manage the land and promote the natural regeneration and growth of their native and old growth forests.
“This is a ‘win-win’ in the fight against climate change” says Redd Forests’ Managing Director Stephen Dickey; “the landowner can secure a healthy income for protecting rather than degrading his forest land, the emissions of greenhouse gas are avoided, and buyers of the carbon credits can take comfort that they have protected high conservation value land for a generation at least.”
Redd Forests will now expand their project to other, larger tracts of threatened forest land using the same methodology. “The goal is to protect half a million hectares across Australia within the next 5 years” said Mr. Dickey.
Australia has its first Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) project thanks to Sydney based project developer Redd Forests Pty Ltd. Redd Forests has met the international Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards (CCBS) and received approval for its Tasmanian avoided deforestation pilot project “Creating a Safe Deposit Box for Carbon.” This is the first CCBS approved project in Australia.
“We are delighted to see this REDD Forests project in Tasmania breaking new ground by becoming the first project to be validated against the new Second Edition of the Climate Community and Biodiversity , or CCB Standards as well as being the first project to achieve approval in Australia,” said Joanna Durbin, Director of the Climate Community and Biodiversity Alliance. “This successful CCB Validation demonstrates the high quality of this project that is effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also safeguarding habitat of great importance to Tasmania’s native plants and animals.”
The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Project Design Standards (CCB Standards) evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the early stages of development. The CCB Standards foster the integration of best-practice and multiple-benefit approaches into project design and evolution. The Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) – the organisation that has developed the standards, identify land-based climate change mitigation projects that simultaneously generate climate, biodiversity and sustainable-development benefits.
The Redd Forests project, on an 860 hectare private landholding in Tasmania, demonstrates the commercial viability of using the carbon market to reward landowners who, traditionally, have logged their land for income. Instead, landowners can now assign those same logging rights to Redd Forests in return for a percentage of the proceeds of sale of the resulting carbon credits. These credits are generated by Redd Forests “locking up” the land for a period of 25 or more years thus avoiding the release of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from logging and land clearing practices. In return the landowner commits to manage the land and promote the natural regeneration and growth of their native and old growth forests.
“This is a ‘win-win’ in the fight against climate change” says Redd Forests’ Managing Director Stephen Dickey; “the landowner can secure a healthy income for protecting rather than degrading his forest land, the emissions of greenhouse gas are avoided, and buyers of the carbon credits can take comfort that they have protected high conservation value land for a generation at least.”
Redd Forests will now expand their project to other, larger tracts of threatened forest land using the same methodology. “The goal is to protect half a million hectares across Australia within the next 5 years” said Mr. Dickey.
isramart : Carbon Impact of Web Surfing
isramart news:
Last week CNN produced a couple of interesting stories about green IT. The first is a online story about the environmental impact of the Internet, and the second is a video segment about some of the actions tech companies are taking to reduce their carbon footprints. Some surprising tidbits from the stories:
• Every second someone spends browsing a web site generates 20 mg of CO2.
• In the aggregate, information technology is responsible for about 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is roughly equivalent to the aviation industry.
• The amount of power needed to produce and deliver spam email in the United States annually generates the equivalent in greenhouse gasses of three million cars.
• Within a decade, the Internet will be generating 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses.
• In 2002, data centers emitted 76 million tons of CO2.
So the next time you might feel a pang of guilt about taking that flight from New York to LA, spare a thought for the impact of powering up your laptop and popping in your 3G modem for some wireless web surfing or email. You might be surprised at which activity is worse for the planet.
It’s not all bad news though. Data centers can take a lot of steps to reduce their carbon footprints. If you’re a Google user, Google’s Director of Climate Change and Energy Dan Reicher recently held a liveblog to answer questions from a UK newspaper about Google’s environmental efforts. One Google search emits 0.2 grams of C02. One round-trip car ride to the library (8km) is the equivalent of performing 10,000 Google searches, and one printed and distributed newspaper is the equivalent of 850 Google searches.
Last week CNN produced a couple of interesting stories about green IT. The first is a online story about the environmental impact of the Internet, and the second is a video segment about some of the actions tech companies are taking to reduce their carbon footprints. Some surprising tidbits from the stories:
• Every second someone spends browsing a web site generates 20 mg of CO2.
• In the aggregate, information technology is responsible for about 2% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is roughly equivalent to the aviation industry.
• The amount of power needed to produce and deliver spam email in the United States annually generates the equivalent in greenhouse gasses of three million cars.
• Within a decade, the Internet will be generating 20 percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses.
• In 2002, data centers emitted 76 million tons of CO2.
So the next time you might feel a pang of guilt about taking that flight from New York to LA, spare a thought for the impact of powering up your laptop and popping in your 3G modem for some wireless web surfing or email. You might be surprised at which activity is worse for the planet.
It’s not all bad news though. Data centers can take a lot of steps to reduce their carbon footprints. If you’re a Google user, Google’s Director of Climate Change and Energy Dan Reicher recently held a liveblog to answer questions from a UK newspaper about Google’s environmental efforts. One Google search emits 0.2 grams of C02. One round-trip car ride to the library (8km) is the equivalent of performing 10,000 Google searches, and one printed and distributed newspaper is the equivalent of 850 Google searches.
isramart : Energy consultancy claims edge with carbon management software
Isramart news:
The enterprise carbon accounting software market is populated both by software pure plays and by consulting firms that have developed solutions for clients. And while experts say that much of the carbon accounting solutions that energy and sustainability consultancies have put together for clients have come in the form of customized spreadsheets, it’s incorrect to assume that all consulting firms are limited to customized spreadsheets for their carbon accounting solutions.
This realization became clear to me after interviewing some folks from Pace Global Energy Services, a Fairfax, Va.-based energy advisory and services firm that also offers software solutions for energy and carbon management. Earlier this week, I interviewed Kyle Smith, managing director, and Sean Metivier, product manager for the firm’s “Ecolink” carbon management solution. Far from being a spreadsheet template, Ecolink is a database-driven, Web-based carbon management solution that Pace Global offers under a hosted model. What’s more, say Smith and Metivier, it builds on 15 years experience in offering its energy management software solutions to clients in sectors including industrial.
Ecolink has been on the market for a year and half, but builds on a15-year history Pace Global has with its EnergyZone energy management software, which is usually deployed along side Ecolink. When you combine the number of customer sites using Ecolink and Energy Zone, says Smith, there are about 9,000 sites using the software. One client has Ecolink deployed across 75 sites, but others use it for as few as three sites.
The Web-based Ecolink offers a dashboard with geographic maps with drill-down capability into local carbon details, as well as dials that show carbon emissions, energy, and sustainability project progress. The system also offers reports and analytics, which among other things, allows users to compare carbon trends to production trends such as production output. ”Ecolink is a true enterprise software system with a database and a security-enabled, Web UI,” says Smith.
According to Metivier, Pace Global’s developers used a Microsoft .NET architecture to develop Ecolink, which on Pace’s back end hosting site, runs on a SQL Server database. Though hosted, users own their data, and typically upload baseline data into the system to establish reference trends. Users also can export data to tools such as Excel.
I got the chance to take a quick demo of the software, and it’s indeed an enterprise-class solution, with configurable analytics and reports that can be set up by business users, in addition to the graphical Web-based dashboard. Clearly, it’s way beyond being a customized solution built around a spreadsheet, which according to research from Groom Energy Solutions I recently blogged about, is how about 90 percent of the 3,000 or so carbon accounting software projects around the world so far can be characterized.
One thing I wonder, however, is whether the carbon management/accounting software market will go the way that most other categories of enterprise software have, and end up being dominated by pure-play software vendors, rather than consulting firms or other types of vendors, such as providers of building automation systems. After all, decades ago during the early days of the enterprise resources planning (ERP) market (then called manufacturing resources planning) , the players included IBM, which which saw ERP as a catalyst for its mainframe and mid-range computer business, and Andersen Consulting (the forerunner of Accenture), which dabbled in software offerings during the early days of the ERP market before hitching its wagon as an implementer to the rising software pure plays. The ERP software market steadily went the way of the software pure plays, some of which became quite large, most notably SAP.
But is carbon management software a different sort of market, requiring a level of content expertise that makes it more akin to plant management software, where large industrial automation vendors remain dominant software players as well? Maybe so. According to the guys from Pace Global, energy and emissions expertise is crucial to setting up a carbon management solution correctly, and keeping it integrated with energy management data and trends. “The linch pin is how you provide auditable data to feed the system,” says Smith. “Other vendors–the software pure plays, would say that’s where the client comes in. But 80 percent of the work is defining the data, establishing who is accountable for it, and developing a means to push it through a system in audited and accountable manner.”
The enterprise carbon accounting software market is populated both by software pure plays and by consulting firms that have developed solutions for clients. And while experts say that much of the carbon accounting solutions that energy and sustainability consultancies have put together for clients have come in the form of customized spreadsheets, it’s incorrect to assume that all consulting firms are limited to customized spreadsheets for their carbon accounting solutions.
This realization became clear to me after interviewing some folks from Pace Global Energy Services, a Fairfax, Va.-based energy advisory and services firm that also offers software solutions for energy and carbon management. Earlier this week, I interviewed Kyle Smith, managing director, and Sean Metivier, product manager for the firm’s “Ecolink” carbon management solution. Far from being a spreadsheet template, Ecolink is a database-driven, Web-based carbon management solution that Pace Global offers under a hosted model. What’s more, say Smith and Metivier, it builds on 15 years experience in offering its energy management software solutions to clients in sectors including industrial.
Ecolink has been on the market for a year and half, but builds on a15-year history Pace Global has with its EnergyZone energy management software, which is usually deployed along side Ecolink. When you combine the number of customer sites using Ecolink and Energy Zone, says Smith, there are about 9,000 sites using the software. One client has Ecolink deployed across 75 sites, but others use it for as few as three sites.
The Web-based Ecolink offers a dashboard with geographic maps with drill-down capability into local carbon details, as well as dials that show carbon emissions, energy, and sustainability project progress. The system also offers reports and analytics, which among other things, allows users to compare carbon trends to production trends such as production output. ”Ecolink is a true enterprise software system with a database and a security-enabled, Web UI,” says Smith.
According to Metivier, Pace Global’s developers used a Microsoft .NET architecture to develop Ecolink, which on Pace’s back end hosting site, runs on a SQL Server database. Though hosted, users own their data, and typically upload baseline data into the system to establish reference trends. Users also can export data to tools such as Excel.
I got the chance to take a quick demo of the software, and it’s indeed an enterprise-class solution, with configurable analytics and reports that can be set up by business users, in addition to the graphical Web-based dashboard. Clearly, it’s way beyond being a customized solution built around a spreadsheet, which according to research from Groom Energy Solutions I recently blogged about, is how about 90 percent of the 3,000 or so carbon accounting software projects around the world so far can be characterized.
One thing I wonder, however, is whether the carbon management/accounting software market will go the way that most other categories of enterprise software have, and end up being dominated by pure-play software vendors, rather than consulting firms or other types of vendors, such as providers of building automation systems. After all, decades ago during the early days of the enterprise resources planning (ERP) market (then called manufacturing resources planning) , the players included IBM, which which saw ERP as a catalyst for its mainframe and mid-range computer business, and Andersen Consulting (the forerunner of Accenture), which dabbled in software offerings during the early days of the ERP market before hitching its wagon as an implementer to the rising software pure plays. The ERP software market steadily went the way of the software pure plays, some of which became quite large, most notably SAP.
But is carbon management software a different sort of market, requiring a level of content expertise that makes it more akin to plant management software, where large industrial automation vendors remain dominant software players as well? Maybe so. According to the guys from Pace Global, energy and emissions expertise is crucial to setting up a carbon management solution correctly, and keeping it integrated with energy management data and trends. “The linch pin is how you provide auditable data to feed the system,” says Smith. “Other vendors–the software pure plays, would say that’s where the client comes in. But 80 percent of the work is defining the data, establishing who is accountable for it, and developing a means to push it through a system in audited and accountable manner.”
Thursday, July 23, 2009
isramart : Economisirea apei poate reduce 30% din emisiile gospodariilor
Isramart news:
Britanicii ar putea reduce cu 30% emisiile de dioxid de carbon rezultate din incalzirea apei daca respecta cateva sfaturi simple, cum ar fi folosirea de tevi izolate si de robinete cu debit mic, potrivit expertilor in energie citati de The Guardian.
Expertii sustin ca implementarea catorva masuri de economisire a apei poate aduce unei locuinte o economie de 225 de lire pe an.
Organizatiile Energy Saving Trust (EST) si Environment Agency au examinat nivelul de dioxid de carbon produs de utilizarea apei in gospodariile din Marea Britanie. Concluziile arata ca incalizrea apei continua sa fie o sursa importanta de emisii de dioxid de carbon si ca situatia va persista, in lipsa unor masuri de reducere a cererii si a pierderilor cauzate de boilerele ineficiente.
Peste un sfert din emisiile de dioxid de carbon din Marea Britanie sunt cauzate de folosirea energiei in gospodarii. In incercarea de a reduce emisiile cu 80% pana in 2050, guvernul londonez a anuntat masuri de reducere a amprentei de carbon a locuintelor si intentioneaza ca toate locuintele construite incepand cu 2016 sa aiba zero emisii.
Insa energia folosita pentru incalzirea apei, responsabila pentru 23% din amprenta de carbon a unei locuinte, nu va fi redusa prin propunerile guvernului.
“Daca eforturile pentru a obtine locuinte cu zero emisii merg conform planului, pana in momentul in care obtii o casa cu adevarat eficienta energetic, energia necesara incalzirii spatiului este foarte mic, insa daca nu faci ceva in privinta apei, incalzirea ei va genera 70% din emisiile intregii case”, a declarat Magda Styles, manager in cadrul EST. Ea a adaugat ca masurile simple de reducere a consumului de apa si de crestere a eficientei pot elimina 5% din emisiile associate managementului apei si ar echivala cu retragerea de pe sosele a 600.000 de masini.
Raportul arata ca inlocuirea unui cap de dus cu un debit de 16 litri pe minut cu unul cu sase litri pe minut si folosirea unei toalete cu o capacitate de 4,5 litri in loc de 9 litri reprezinta o economie de 67 metri cubi de apa, 371 kilograme de dioxid de carbon si 225 de lire anual.
Britanicii ar putea reduce cu 30% emisiile de dioxid de carbon rezultate din incalzirea apei daca respecta cateva sfaturi simple, cum ar fi folosirea de tevi izolate si de robinete cu debit mic, potrivit expertilor in energie citati de The Guardian.
Expertii sustin ca implementarea catorva masuri de economisire a apei poate aduce unei locuinte o economie de 225 de lire pe an.
Organizatiile Energy Saving Trust (EST) si Environment Agency au examinat nivelul de dioxid de carbon produs de utilizarea apei in gospodariile din Marea Britanie. Concluziile arata ca incalizrea apei continua sa fie o sursa importanta de emisii de dioxid de carbon si ca situatia va persista, in lipsa unor masuri de reducere a cererii si a pierderilor cauzate de boilerele ineficiente.
Peste un sfert din emisiile de dioxid de carbon din Marea Britanie sunt cauzate de folosirea energiei in gospodarii. In incercarea de a reduce emisiile cu 80% pana in 2050, guvernul londonez a anuntat masuri de reducere a amprentei de carbon a locuintelor si intentioneaza ca toate locuintele construite incepand cu 2016 sa aiba zero emisii.
Insa energia folosita pentru incalzirea apei, responsabila pentru 23% din amprenta de carbon a unei locuinte, nu va fi redusa prin propunerile guvernului.
“Daca eforturile pentru a obtine locuinte cu zero emisii merg conform planului, pana in momentul in care obtii o casa cu adevarat eficienta energetic, energia necesara incalzirii spatiului este foarte mic, insa daca nu faci ceva in privinta apei, incalzirea ei va genera 70% din emisiile intregii case”, a declarat Magda Styles, manager in cadrul EST. Ea a adaugat ca masurile simple de reducere a consumului de apa si de crestere a eficientei pot elimina 5% din emisiile associate managementului apei si ar echivala cu retragerea de pe sosele a 600.000 de masini.
Raportul arata ca inlocuirea unui cap de dus cu un debit de 16 litri pe minut cu unul cu sase litri pe minut si folosirea unei toalete cu o capacitate de 4,5 litri in loc de 9 litri reprezinta o economie de 67 metri cubi de apa, 371 kilograme de dioxid de carbon si 225 de lire anual.
isramart : Taiwanul voteaza anul acesta Actul pentru reducerea emisiilor
Isramart news:
Parlamentarii din Taiwan vor supune la vot, la sfarsitul anului, Actul pentru reducerea gazelor cu efect de sera, un document legislativ menit sa reduca emisiile insulei la un nivel sub cel inregistrat in 2000, potrivit Reuters.
Actul a ajuns in parlament in primavara anului trecut, dar nu a fost votat din cauza opozitiei sectorului industrial. Cu toate acestea, in decembrie documentul a trecut de prima runda de vot. Pachetul legislativ va autoriza si primul sistem de comert cu certificate de carbon al Taiwanului.
Presedintele Ma Ying-jeou a declarat ca doreste ca emisiile anuale de dioxid de carbon ale tarii sa scada sub 214 milioane de tone pana in 2025, si sa ajunga la jumatatea cantitatii pana in 2050. In lipsa unor regulamente industriale mai drastice, presedintele a explicat ca tintele nu vor putea fi atinse.
„Vrem sa fim membri ai comunitatii globale, asa ca speram ca legea va trece. Vom munci mult pentru a atinge aceasta tinta, dar provocarile sunt dure”, a declarat Yang Ching-shi, secretar al administratiei pentru protectia mediului.
In cazul in care actul va fi votat, guvernul va obliga fabricile si vehiculele sa isi modernizeze tehnologiile pentru reducerea emisiilor. Executivul va oferi expertiza, dar nu si banii necesari.
In 2006, Agentia Internationala pentru Energie a plasat insula pe a 16-a pozitie in termeni de emisii pe cap de locuitor, depasind alte state dezvoltate ca Japonia si Coreea de Sud.
Secretarul general al ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a lansat un apel catre toate statele sa opereze reduceri ale emisiilor inainte de summitul pentru clima din decembrie de la Copenhaga. Taiwanul nu paticipa oficial la aceste negocieri din cauza presiunii politice a Chinei, care revendica suveranitatea asupra insulei. Din acest motiv, orice politici pentru combaterea schimbarilor climatice sunt voluntare.
Parlamentarii din Taiwan vor supune la vot, la sfarsitul anului, Actul pentru reducerea gazelor cu efect de sera, un document legislativ menit sa reduca emisiile insulei la un nivel sub cel inregistrat in 2000, potrivit Reuters.
Actul a ajuns in parlament in primavara anului trecut, dar nu a fost votat din cauza opozitiei sectorului industrial. Cu toate acestea, in decembrie documentul a trecut de prima runda de vot. Pachetul legislativ va autoriza si primul sistem de comert cu certificate de carbon al Taiwanului.
Presedintele Ma Ying-jeou a declarat ca doreste ca emisiile anuale de dioxid de carbon ale tarii sa scada sub 214 milioane de tone pana in 2025, si sa ajunga la jumatatea cantitatii pana in 2050. In lipsa unor regulamente industriale mai drastice, presedintele a explicat ca tintele nu vor putea fi atinse.
„Vrem sa fim membri ai comunitatii globale, asa ca speram ca legea va trece. Vom munci mult pentru a atinge aceasta tinta, dar provocarile sunt dure”, a declarat Yang Ching-shi, secretar al administratiei pentru protectia mediului.
In cazul in care actul va fi votat, guvernul va obliga fabricile si vehiculele sa isi modernizeze tehnologiile pentru reducerea emisiilor. Executivul va oferi expertiza, dar nu si banii necesari.
In 2006, Agentia Internationala pentru Energie a plasat insula pe a 16-a pozitie in termeni de emisii pe cap de locuitor, depasind alte state dezvoltate ca Japonia si Coreea de Sud.
Secretarul general al ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a lansat un apel catre toate statele sa opereze reduceri ale emisiilor inainte de summitul pentru clima din decembrie de la Copenhaga. Taiwanul nu paticipa oficial la aceste negocieri din cauza presiunii politice a Chinei, care revendica suveranitatea asupra insulei. Din acest motiv, orice politici pentru combaterea schimbarilor climatice sunt voluntare.
isramart : Romania poate ajunge la nivelul "carbon negativ" pana in 2015
isramart news:
Romania poate sa utilizeze carbunele, doar daca va aplica solutiile necesare pentru a nu distruge mediul inconjurator si ar putea atinge nivelul 'carbon negativ' pana in anul 2015, a declarat Ana Voitinovici, consilier Bellona Europa, o organizatie non-guvernamentala de mediu infiintata in Norvegia, potrivit Agerpres.
"Romania va continua sa foloseasca carbunele, dar poate face acest lucru doar daca va aplica solutiile necesare pentru a nu distruge mediul inconjurator. Se impune astfel ca Romania sa puna in aplicare tehnologia de captare si stocare a carbonului, asa cum se intampla deja in alte tari europene dependente de carbune", a afirmat Voitinovici.
Reprezentantul Bellona Romania este convins ca Romania poate ajunge la nivelul 'carbon negativ' pana in anul 2050, in conditiile in care mai mult de 40 la suta din electricitate provine din arderea de carbune - cel mai poluant dintre toate tipurile de combustibil.
"(...) se impune o schimbare radicala de atitudine, implicand utilizarea tuturor masurilor impotriva schimbarilor climatice. Necesitatea acestei reforme este accentuata de faptul ca Romania va continua sa investeasca in centralele electrice pe carbune, pornind de la premisa ca rezervele de carbune vor fi in continuare exploatate in Romania in urmatorii 100 de ani", a subliniat Ana Voitinovici.
Potrivit studiilor de specialitate releva faptul ca emisiile globale de CO2 trebuie sa fie reduse cu cel putin 85 la suta pana in anul 2050. In acest context, la nivel european s-a impus utilizarea eficienta a surselor de energie, precum si a tehnologiei de captare si stocare a dioxidului de carbon. Autoritatile de la Bucuresti s-au inscris in cursa obtinerii, pana in 2015, a unuia dintre cele 12 proiecte demonstrative de captare si stocare a dioxidului de carbon, cu finantare din partea Comisiei Europene (CE). In ceea ce priveste productia de energie din surse regenerabile in Romania, procentul acestora din totalul energiei este de aproape 18 la suta, provenind din surse hidro si bio.
Bellona Europa este o organizatie internationala non-guvernamentala de mediu, fondata in 1986 la Oslo, Norvegia. La sfarsitul anilor '80, popularitatea Bellona Europa a crescut datorita actiunilor intreprinse impotriva industriilor cu impact negativ asupra mediului, precum deseurile toxice sau contaminarea nucleara. Fundatia detine, in prezent, birouri la Oslo, Bruxelles, Washington, Sankt-Petersburg si Murmansk. Activitatea organizatiei este sustinuta de expertiza celor peste 60 de specialisti in ecologie, inginerie, fizica, economie, jurnalism, stiinte juridice si politice. Bellona Europa isi propune, astfel, sa-si extinda activitatea in mai multe tari.
La finele lunii iunie, Tudor Serban, secretar de stat in cadrul Ministerul Economiei (ME), declara, pentru Agerpres, ca primul proiect din Romania privind captarea dioxidului de carbon produs de termocentrale va fi realizat in 2010, cu sprijinul celei mai mari companii norvegiene din domeniu, iar valoarea totala a acestuia va ajunge la 400-500 milioane euro. 'Momentan nu a fost stabilita termocentrala asupra careia va fi implementat acest proiect', a adaugat Serban. Reprezentantul ME a reamintit ca in 2010, 2011 sau 2012, centralele importante din Romania ar putea fi oprite din cauza emisiilor de noxe, fapt pentru care autoritatile au fost, deja, somate de catre CE.
Romania poate sa utilizeze carbunele, doar daca va aplica solutiile necesare pentru a nu distruge mediul inconjurator si ar putea atinge nivelul 'carbon negativ' pana in anul 2015, a declarat Ana Voitinovici, consilier Bellona Europa, o organizatie non-guvernamentala de mediu infiintata in Norvegia, potrivit Agerpres.
"Romania va continua sa foloseasca carbunele, dar poate face acest lucru doar daca va aplica solutiile necesare pentru a nu distruge mediul inconjurator. Se impune astfel ca Romania sa puna in aplicare tehnologia de captare si stocare a carbonului, asa cum se intampla deja in alte tari europene dependente de carbune", a afirmat Voitinovici.
Reprezentantul Bellona Romania este convins ca Romania poate ajunge la nivelul 'carbon negativ' pana in anul 2050, in conditiile in care mai mult de 40 la suta din electricitate provine din arderea de carbune - cel mai poluant dintre toate tipurile de combustibil.
"(...) se impune o schimbare radicala de atitudine, implicand utilizarea tuturor masurilor impotriva schimbarilor climatice. Necesitatea acestei reforme este accentuata de faptul ca Romania va continua sa investeasca in centralele electrice pe carbune, pornind de la premisa ca rezervele de carbune vor fi in continuare exploatate in Romania in urmatorii 100 de ani", a subliniat Ana Voitinovici.
Potrivit studiilor de specialitate releva faptul ca emisiile globale de CO2 trebuie sa fie reduse cu cel putin 85 la suta pana in anul 2050. In acest context, la nivel european s-a impus utilizarea eficienta a surselor de energie, precum si a tehnologiei de captare si stocare a dioxidului de carbon. Autoritatile de la Bucuresti s-au inscris in cursa obtinerii, pana in 2015, a unuia dintre cele 12 proiecte demonstrative de captare si stocare a dioxidului de carbon, cu finantare din partea Comisiei Europene (CE). In ceea ce priveste productia de energie din surse regenerabile in Romania, procentul acestora din totalul energiei este de aproape 18 la suta, provenind din surse hidro si bio.
Bellona Europa este o organizatie internationala non-guvernamentala de mediu, fondata in 1986 la Oslo, Norvegia. La sfarsitul anilor '80, popularitatea Bellona Europa a crescut datorita actiunilor intreprinse impotriva industriilor cu impact negativ asupra mediului, precum deseurile toxice sau contaminarea nucleara. Fundatia detine, in prezent, birouri la Oslo, Bruxelles, Washington, Sankt-Petersburg si Murmansk. Activitatea organizatiei este sustinuta de expertiza celor peste 60 de specialisti in ecologie, inginerie, fizica, economie, jurnalism, stiinte juridice si politice. Bellona Europa isi propune, astfel, sa-si extinda activitatea in mai multe tari.
La finele lunii iunie, Tudor Serban, secretar de stat in cadrul Ministerul Economiei (ME), declara, pentru Agerpres, ca primul proiect din Romania privind captarea dioxidului de carbon produs de termocentrale va fi realizat in 2010, cu sprijinul celei mai mari companii norvegiene din domeniu, iar valoarea totala a acestuia va ajunge la 400-500 milioane euro. 'Momentan nu a fost stabilita termocentrala asupra careia va fi implementat acest proiect', a adaugat Serban. Reprezentantul ME a reamintit ca in 2010, 2011 sau 2012, centralele importante din Romania ar putea fi oprite din cauza emisiilor de noxe, fapt pentru care autoritatile au fost, deja, somate de catre CE.
isramart : Poluarea cu ozon scade in Europa, dar nu peste tot
isramart news:
La nivel european, limitarea emisiilor a dus la reducerea poluarii cu ozon, unul dintre cele mai nocive tipuri de poluanti, insa in multe state nivelul a ramas acelasi, informeaza un nou raport al Agentiei Europene de Mediu.
Nivelurile ridicate de ozon cauzeaza probleme de sanatate, moarte prematura, productii agricole scazute, coroziunea infrastructurii si a mostenirilor culturale. Din nefericire, eforturile de a reduce poluarea cu ozon au avut succes limitat.
Un raport al EEA, care foloseste informatii din baza de date europeana pentru calitatea aerului, AirBase, arata ca nivelul ozonului s-a diminuat considerabil in Olanda si Marea Britanie, insa in Austria si Elvetia nu au fost observate schimbari.
Variatile anuale de temperatura au un impact important asupra nivelului de ozon. Pentru a stabili efectul emisiilor asupra poluarii cu ozon si evolutia acestor indicatori este nevoie de date pe perioade indelungate de timp, insa pentru tarile din sudul Europei, care sunt cele mai poluate, aceste informatii nu exista.
Raportul arata ca exista inca o serie de necunoscute in ce priveste distributia inter-continentala a ozonului si a emisiilor de izopren ale plantelor. Importanta conditiilor meteorologice in formarea ozonului arata ca schimbarile climatice ar putea contribui la cresterea nivelului de ozon din anumite regiuni ale Europei.
Cu ajutorul calculatorului, a fost estimat nivelul de ozon care ar fi produs in cazul in care ar scadea emisiile sau daca ar ramane constant la nivelul din 1995. In 18 tari europene, nivelul poluarii cu ozon corespunde mai degraba ipotezei potrivit careia emisiile ar urma sa scada.
Ozonul de la nivelul solului a devenit o problema globala de poluare a aerului, iar strategiile locale, regionale si globale ar trebui sa contina atat masuri de limitare a emisiilor cu efect de sera, cat si a nivelului de ozon, concluzioneaza raportul EEA.
La nivel european, limitarea emisiilor a dus la reducerea poluarii cu ozon, unul dintre cele mai nocive tipuri de poluanti, insa in multe state nivelul a ramas acelasi, informeaza un nou raport al Agentiei Europene de Mediu.
Nivelurile ridicate de ozon cauzeaza probleme de sanatate, moarte prematura, productii agricole scazute, coroziunea infrastructurii si a mostenirilor culturale. Din nefericire, eforturile de a reduce poluarea cu ozon au avut succes limitat.
Un raport al EEA, care foloseste informatii din baza de date europeana pentru calitatea aerului, AirBase, arata ca nivelul ozonului s-a diminuat considerabil in Olanda si Marea Britanie, insa in Austria si Elvetia nu au fost observate schimbari.
Variatile anuale de temperatura au un impact important asupra nivelului de ozon. Pentru a stabili efectul emisiilor asupra poluarii cu ozon si evolutia acestor indicatori este nevoie de date pe perioade indelungate de timp, insa pentru tarile din sudul Europei, care sunt cele mai poluate, aceste informatii nu exista.
Raportul arata ca exista inca o serie de necunoscute in ce priveste distributia inter-continentala a ozonului si a emisiilor de izopren ale plantelor. Importanta conditiilor meteorologice in formarea ozonului arata ca schimbarile climatice ar putea contribui la cresterea nivelului de ozon din anumite regiuni ale Europei.
Cu ajutorul calculatorului, a fost estimat nivelul de ozon care ar fi produs in cazul in care ar scadea emisiile sau daca ar ramane constant la nivelul din 1995. In 18 tari europene, nivelul poluarii cu ozon corespunde mai degraba ipotezei potrivit careia emisiile ar urma sa scada.
Ozonul de la nivelul solului a devenit o problema globala de poluare a aerului, iar strategiile locale, regionale si globale ar trebui sa contina atat masuri de limitare a emisiilor cu efect de sera, cat si a nivelului de ozon, concluzioneaza raportul EEA.
isramart : SUA, pe primul loc la poluare daca s-ar lua in considerare importurile
Isramart news:
Statele Unite ar ocupa pozitia intai in topul poluatorilor lumii daca si-ar asuma responsabilitatea pentru emisiile produse in fabricarea bunurilor pe care le importa, sustine un cercetator citat de Reuters.
Astfel, Statele Unite ar intrece cu mult China, in prezent lider in clasamentul emisiilor de gaze. Emisiile de gaze cu efect de sera, inclusiv cele produse de fabricile de masini sau televizoare pentru export, sunt trecute in contul statului in care sunt fabricate. Din acest punct de vedere, China a intrecut Statele Unite. Insa avand in vedere faptul ca o mare parte dintre produsele fabricate in China ajung pe piata americana, tarile dezvoltate precum SUA sunt responsabile pentru o cantitate mai mare de emisii, sustine cercetatorul Glen Peters, de la Centrul de Cercetari Internationale ale Climatului si Mediului din Oslo.
Intr-un top care cuprinde 73 de tari, SUA ocupa locul I, avand cea mai mare amprenta de carbon anual. Astfel, in fiecare an, fiecare american emite, in medie, 29 de tone de dioxid de carbon, in timp ce nivelul emisiilor anuale in Australia este de 21 de tone pe cap de locuitor.
De asemenea, fiecare cetatean chinez este responsabil pentru 3,1 tone de dioxid de carbon pe an, potrivit unui calcul bazat pe date din 2001.
„Statele Unite se indreapta catre o economie bazata mai mult pe servicii, importand mai multe produse din China. O mare parte din emisiile Chinei sunt generate de productia de bunuri pentru export”, a declarat Peters.
Tarile in curs de dezvoltare, precum China, au sugerat de mai multe ori faptul ca statele bogate ar trebui sa isi asume responsabilitatea pentru emisiile cauzate de produsele importate, pentru a imparti povara noului tratat privind schimbarile climatice care va fi adoptat in Decembrie, la Copenhaga.
Statele Unite ar ocupa pozitia intai in topul poluatorilor lumii daca si-ar asuma responsabilitatea pentru emisiile produse in fabricarea bunurilor pe care le importa, sustine un cercetator citat de Reuters.
Astfel, Statele Unite ar intrece cu mult China, in prezent lider in clasamentul emisiilor de gaze. Emisiile de gaze cu efect de sera, inclusiv cele produse de fabricile de masini sau televizoare pentru export, sunt trecute in contul statului in care sunt fabricate. Din acest punct de vedere, China a intrecut Statele Unite. Insa avand in vedere faptul ca o mare parte dintre produsele fabricate in China ajung pe piata americana, tarile dezvoltate precum SUA sunt responsabile pentru o cantitate mai mare de emisii, sustine cercetatorul Glen Peters, de la Centrul de Cercetari Internationale ale Climatului si Mediului din Oslo.
Intr-un top care cuprinde 73 de tari, SUA ocupa locul I, avand cea mai mare amprenta de carbon anual. Astfel, in fiecare an, fiecare american emite, in medie, 29 de tone de dioxid de carbon, in timp ce nivelul emisiilor anuale in Australia este de 21 de tone pe cap de locuitor.
De asemenea, fiecare cetatean chinez este responsabil pentru 3,1 tone de dioxid de carbon pe an, potrivit unui calcul bazat pe date din 2001.
„Statele Unite se indreapta catre o economie bazata mai mult pe servicii, importand mai multe produse din China. O mare parte din emisiile Chinei sunt generate de productia de bunuri pentru export”, a declarat Peters.
Tarile in curs de dezvoltare, precum China, au sugerat de mai multe ori faptul ca statele bogate ar trebui sa isi asume responsabilitatea pentru emisiile cauzate de produsele importate, pentru a imparti povara noului tratat privind schimbarile climatice care va fi adoptat in Decembrie, la Copenhaga.
isramart : Tarile bogate sunt datoare cu 10 miliarde de dolari pe an
isramart news:
Un ajutor in valoare de 10 miliarde de dolari din partea natiunilor bogate ar fi un „inceput bun” pentru semnarea unui tratat pentru clima la Copenhaga in decembrie, a declarat directorul Secretariatului pe Schimbari Climatice al ONU, Yvo de Boer, citat de Reuters.
„Cel mai important e ca la Copenhaga sa se hotarasca asupra unei structuri, o formula de distribuire a datoriei care sa ne permita sa impartim costurile pentru actiunile de mediu intre tari, pe masura ce nevoia creste in timp”, a explicat Yvo de Boer. El a adaugat ca recesiunea financiara nu face decat sa agraveze situatia in cele mai sarace state ale lumii.
Costurile pentru combaterea schimbarilor climatice pe termen lung ar putea ajunge chiar pana la 200 de miliarde pe an, conform estimarilor realizate de ONU. Multe tari in curs de dezvoltare sunt deja afectate de seceta, inundatii si valuri de caldura, iar, in conditiile unui nivel tot mai mare al apelor si al temperaturii globale in crestere, ele s-ar putea agrava.
Potrivit directorului pe schimbari climatice al ONU, tarile dezvoltate trebuie sa opereze reduceri ale emisiilor cuprinse intre 25 si 40 de procente fata de nivelul inregistrat in 2020. Chiar daca un raport ONU al oamenilor de stiinta recomanda aceste procente, pana acum natiunile bogate si-au stabilit tinte cuprinse intre 10 si 14%.
De Boer a mentionat ca arderile de combustibili fosili in fabrici si de catre vehicule trebuie limitate la nivel global pentru ca summitul pentru clima din capitala Danemarcei sa se incheie cu un acord eficient pentru mediu.
Un ajutor in valoare de 10 miliarde de dolari din partea natiunilor bogate ar fi un „inceput bun” pentru semnarea unui tratat pentru clima la Copenhaga in decembrie, a declarat directorul Secretariatului pe Schimbari Climatice al ONU, Yvo de Boer, citat de Reuters.
„Cel mai important e ca la Copenhaga sa se hotarasca asupra unei structuri, o formula de distribuire a datoriei care sa ne permita sa impartim costurile pentru actiunile de mediu intre tari, pe masura ce nevoia creste in timp”, a explicat Yvo de Boer. El a adaugat ca recesiunea financiara nu face decat sa agraveze situatia in cele mai sarace state ale lumii.
Costurile pentru combaterea schimbarilor climatice pe termen lung ar putea ajunge chiar pana la 200 de miliarde pe an, conform estimarilor realizate de ONU. Multe tari in curs de dezvoltare sunt deja afectate de seceta, inundatii si valuri de caldura, iar, in conditiile unui nivel tot mai mare al apelor si al temperaturii globale in crestere, ele s-ar putea agrava.
Potrivit directorului pe schimbari climatice al ONU, tarile dezvoltate trebuie sa opereze reduceri ale emisiilor cuprinse intre 25 si 40 de procente fata de nivelul inregistrat in 2020. Chiar daca un raport ONU al oamenilor de stiinta recomanda aceste procente, pana acum natiunile bogate si-au stabilit tinte cuprinse intre 10 si 14%.
De Boer a mentionat ca arderile de combustibili fosili in fabrici si de catre vehicule trebuie limitate la nivel global pentru ca summitul pentru clima din capitala Danemarcei sa se incheie cu un acord eficient pentru mediu.
isramart : Chicago exchanges head for green war over carbon emissions
isramart news:
Green may be the hue of environmentalism, but it’s still the color of money to the Chicago futures exchanges vying for control of the nascent trading market in carbon emission credits.
CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures exchange, and the Chicago Climate Exchange, led by Richard Sandor, inventor of bond futures, are both angling to dominate a market that could generate $120 billion in carbon-credit trading annually if a so-called cap-and-trade system becomes the law of the land.
“We are talking about what will be the biggest commodity ever traded,” said Mr. Sandor, executive chairman of London-based Climate Exchange PLC, which owns the Chicago exchange. At 6 billion metric tons, the U.S. carbon emissions market is expected to be about three times the size of the European market, where another of Mr. Sandor’s exchanges dominates trading. “Every time a mandated market has come through, it’s provided us enormous opportunities.”
Such a mandate is in climate legislation that passed the U.S. House last month; the bill faces a tough fight in the Senate, but the Obama administration supports so-called cap-and-trade regulations as a way to reduce global warming.
Passage of the legislation would set off a furious race between Mr. Sandor’s Chicago Climate Futures Exchange and CME. The Climate Exchange has an early lead — it handles the lion’s share of carbon credits trading under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory carbon-emissions reduction program. It also dominates across the pond, where Mr. Sandor’s European Climate Exchange has an 87% market share in futures on European emissions permit trading.
And Mr. Sandor brings deep experience: He helped design the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acid-rain reduction program, launched with the 1990 Clean Air Act and credited with driving down emissions of acid-rain producing sulfur dioxide. In 2003, he built the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first U.S. voluntary carbon emissions market.
The ‘offering to beat’
The Climate Exchange is the “offering to beat,” Chicago-based Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy said in a recent note summing up the competitive landscape of cap-and-trade. “We believe that the Climate Exchange’s dominance in the European and U.S. carbon markets will be too much for other challengers to overcome,” he said.
But if any exchange can overtake Mr. Sandor, it’s CME. The Chicago juggernaut, which handled contracts tied to a quadrillion dollars of assets last year, is in talks with regulators over the creation of a Green Exchange owned jointly with market participants including Constellation Energy Group Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. By waiting for legislation to take clearer shape, CME may be able to craft its exchange to match the new regime.
“We are not too late, but we’re not too early,” said Randy Warsager, director of green products at CME, which recently launched several emissions-based contracts, including ones targeted at the European market. Those contracts will be moved to the Green Exchange once it is launched.
Christopher Rodriguez, CME’s managing director of business development, said CME’s advantage is partly sheer size, with its extensive list of clearing members and its global electronic trading system. Also important, he said, will be savings for traders, who will put up only one margin deposit to trade on the Green Exchange and the CME-owned New York Mercantile Exchange, which controls oil and natural gas futures.
Mr. Sandor, 67, points out that CME’s dominance hasn’t helped it establish much of a foothold in existing emissions markets like Europe, and that his clearing and technology agreements with IntercontinentalExchange Inc., Nymex’s biggest rival in energy-futures trading, give him similar reach and efficiencies. Last month, Atlanta-based ICE took a 4.8% stake in Climate Exchange.
“We’ve done pretty well over the last three years of competition with the big boys,” Mr. Sandor said.
Will existing contracts go obsolete?
Still, Climate Exchange PLC has lost money during that time. And despite explosive growth in Europe, volume has tapered this year at its U.S. exchange in part because investors worry that existing contracts will become obsolete under the federally mandated cap-and-trade system.
As the bill currently is written, Climate Exchange contracts won’t qualify for trading under cap-and-trade, said Allison Shapiro, who studies voluntary carbon emissions markets for Washington, D.C.-based Ecosystem Marketplace. Still, she said, if Mr. Sandor successfully petitions the EPA to admit the exchange’s contracts to the federal system, trading “could see huge growth until 2012.” After that, she said, it’s unclear what role, if any, established exchanges will have.
Green may be the hue of environmentalism, but it’s still the color of money to the Chicago futures exchanges vying for control of the nascent trading market in carbon emission credits.
CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures exchange, and the Chicago Climate Exchange, led by Richard Sandor, inventor of bond futures, are both angling to dominate a market that could generate $120 billion in carbon-credit trading annually if a so-called cap-and-trade system becomes the law of the land.
“We are talking about what will be the biggest commodity ever traded,” said Mr. Sandor, executive chairman of London-based Climate Exchange PLC, which owns the Chicago exchange. At 6 billion metric tons, the U.S. carbon emissions market is expected to be about three times the size of the European market, where another of Mr. Sandor’s exchanges dominates trading. “Every time a mandated market has come through, it’s provided us enormous opportunities.”
Such a mandate is in climate legislation that passed the U.S. House last month; the bill faces a tough fight in the Senate, but the Obama administration supports so-called cap-and-trade regulations as a way to reduce global warming.
Passage of the legislation would set off a furious race between Mr. Sandor’s Chicago Climate Futures Exchange and CME. The Climate Exchange has an early lead — it handles the lion’s share of carbon credits trading under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory carbon-emissions reduction program. It also dominates across the pond, where Mr. Sandor’s European Climate Exchange has an 87% market share in futures on European emissions permit trading.
And Mr. Sandor brings deep experience: He helped design the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acid-rain reduction program, launched with the 1990 Clean Air Act and credited with driving down emissions of acid-rain producing sulfur dioxide. In 2003, he built the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first U.S. voluntary carbon emissions market.
The ‘offering to beat’
The Climate Exchange is the “offering to beat,” Chicago-based Raymond James analyst Patrick O’Shaughnessy said in a recent note summing up the competitive landscape of cap-and-trade. “We believe that the Climate Exchange’s dominance in the European and U.S. carbon markets will be too much for other challengers to overcome,” he said.
But if any exchange can overtake Mr. Sandor, it’s CME. The Chicago juggernaut, which handled contracts tied to a quadrillion dollars of assets last year, is in talks with regulators over the creation of a Green Exchange owned jointly with market participants including Constellation Energy Group Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. By waiting for legislation to take clearer shape, CME may be able to craft its exchange to match the new regime.
“We are not too late, but we’re not too early,” said Randy Warsager, director of green products at CME, which recently launched several emissions-based contracts, including ones targeted at the European market. Those contracts will be moved to the Green Exchange once it is launched.
Christopher Rodriguez, CME’s managing director of business development, said CME’s advantage is partly sheer size, with its extensive list of clearing members and its global electronic trading system. Also important, he said, will be savings for traders, who will put up only one margin deposit to trade on the Green Exchange and the CME-owned New York Mercantile Exchange, which controls oil and natural gas futures.
Mr. Sandor, 67, points out that CME’s dominance hasn’t helped it establish much of a foothold in existing emissions markets like Europe, and that his clearing and technology agreements with IntercontinentalExchange Inc., Nymex’s biggest rival in energy-futures trading, give him similar reach and efficiencies. Last month, Atlanta-based ICE took a 4.8% stake in Climate Exchange.
“We’ve done pretty well over the last three years of competition with the big boys,” Mr. Sandor said.
Will existing contracts go obsolete?
Still, Climate Exchange PLC has lost money during that time. And despite explosive growth in Europe, volume has tapered this year at its U.S. exchange in part because investors worry that existing contracts will become obsolete under the federally mandated cap-and-trade system.
As the bill currently is written, Climate Exchange contracts won’t qualify for trading under cap-and-trade, said Allison Shapiro, who studies voluntary carbon emissions markets for Washington, D.C.-based Ecosystem Marketplace. Still, she said, if Mr. Sandor successfully petitions the EPA to admit the exchange’s contracts to the federal system, trading “could see huge growth until 2012.” After that, she said, it’s unclear what role, if any, established exchanges will have.
isramart : Carbon-tax “protectionism” to start global trade war?
isramart news:
With the United States being the last major nation to accept global warming as a genuine threat to our species, it is hardly surprising that its proposed “green” protectionism is drawing the ire of nations all over the world.
While doing virtually nothing to curb its own emissions, the U.S. Congress is eagerly pushing forward on legislation to punish numerous other nations who aren’t “green” enough to satisfy the U.S. Among the most vigorous protesters (so far) are China, India and Canada.
The gist of the proposal is that any and every product which is exported into the U.S. would be subject to import tariffs if the country’s production of those goods exceeded an arbitrary U.S. standard for carbon emissions. It would apply even if there were no equivalent U.S. goods “competing” against those imports.
For example, under the current drafting of rules, Canada’s oil-sands exports to the U.S. would be subjected to large tariffs – because oil sands production is currently one of the “dirtiest” sources of oil production. Of course, in the future, an ever greater percentage of oil production must come from such sources – since we have used up all the cleaner/easier sources of oil.
In the case of the oil-sands, it is possible to produce the oil in a “cleaner” process, but it requires a much more expensive process – adding 20% to 30% on the final price of the crude. Given that recent, low crude prices were forcing oil sands producers to rein-in production, there simply aren’t the large margins necessary to allow cleaner production.
This is irrelevant to the U.S., since the whole idea of this concept is to punish all the other countries in the world with large import tariffs – and use all that money to subsidize the conversion of the U.S. to more green technologies.
In the case of Canada, there are two obvious, potential consequences for such a U.S. ploy. Either Canada could simply choose to start exporting most/all of its oil production to Asia, and leave it up to the U.S. to get its oil from countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, or it could simply curtail oil production.
In the first scenario, this represents a huge step backwards in U.S. “energy security” - as it becomes more reliant on nations with whom the U.S. has been increasingly antagonistic. In the second scenario, the U.S. essentially turns Canada into another “OPEC” nation – which would cut back on oil-production every time prices dipped to a certain level. That option would lead to much higher oil/gas prices in the U.S. over the long-term.
If the U.S.’s policies are unfair to Canada, they are plainly hypocritical when it comes to China and India. It was Corporate America which chose to dismantle most of the U.S. manufacturing sector, and “ship it” to Asia – to exploit the lower wages of Asian workers (while simultaneously driving down wages in the U.S.). Now the U.S. wants to slap heavy tariffs on much of these goods – which are no longer produced in the U.S.
Making this proposal even more punitive, with respect to countries like India and China is the fact that these economies are clearly still in the “developing” stage. Imagine how Americans would have felt if, during the 20th century there had been another nation who was much more advanced than the U.S. Then, based on its technological superiority, it slapped heavy tariffs on all U.S. manufactured goods – because it wasn’t “advanced” enough.
Beyond the hypocrisy and unfairness, such a punitive scheme inevitably would mean much higher prices for an enormous assortment of goods in the U.S. Thus, foreign nations would pay heavily for the U.S. becoming “greener”, Americans would pay heavily for the U.S. becoming “greener”, while (as always), Corporate America would not just get a “free ride”, but would be subsidized by virtually everyone else in the world.
Thus, it’s easy to see why this scheme is so popular with U.S. politicians. They U.S. government gets to serve its corporate masters, while pretending to demonstrate commitment to cleaning up its own “dirty” production (more than 50% of U.S. electricity is still generated from “dirty”, coal-powered facilities).
Ultimately, the U.S. is no longer in a position to dictate economic policy to other nations. Given that it currently “pays” for most of its imports with “IOU”s (i.e. U.S. dollars) which will rapidly lose value over time, other nations in the world are being given a huge incentive to restructure their international trade.
Instead of shipping a large chunk of global production to a country which not only can’t pay for the goods, but ’steals’ most of the production-profits through a crooked tariff, other nations will be strongly encouraged to ship their goods to nations which can pay for those goods – and who won’t attempt to confiscate the trading profits.
There was a time when the U.S. could bully other nations economically whenever it felt like. When the first global trading agreement was concluded, the “GATT” treaty (”General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs”), the U.S. refused to endorse the deal unless it (and it alone) was given a special “grandfather clause” for 25 years which allowed the U.S. to slap punitive tariffs on a wide range of goods which no other nation on Earth was allowed to do.
The U.S. has never been a “champion” of “free trade”, but in fact has historically been shown to be one of the most “protectionist” economies on Earth. As usual, it once again wants special rules, which would only apply to itself.
With the United States being the last major nation to accept global warming as a genuine threat to our species, it is hardly surprising that its proposed “green” protectionism is drawing the ire of nations all over the world.
While doing virtually nothing to curb its own emissions, the U.S. Congress is eagerly pushing forward on legislation to punish numerous other nations who aren’t “green” enough to satisfy the U.S. Among the most vigorous protesters (so far) are China, India and Canada.
The gist of the proposal is that any and every product which is exported into the U.S. would be subject to import tariffs if the country’s production of those goods exceeded an arbitrary U.S. standard for carbon emissions. It would apply even if there were no equivalent U.S. goods “competing” against those imports.
For example, under the current drafting of rules, Canada’s oil-sands exports to the U.S. would be subjected to large tariffs – because oil sands production is currently one of the “dirtiest” sources of oil production. Of course, in the future, an ever greater percentage of oil production must come from such sources – since we have used up all the cleaner/easier sources of oil.
In the case of the oil-sands, it is possible to produce the oil in a “cleaner” process, but it requires a much more expensive process – adding 20% to 30% on the final price of the crude. Given that recent, low crude prices were forcing oil sands producers to rein-in production, there simply aren’t the large margins necessary to allow cleaner production.
This is irrelevant to the U.S., since the whole idea of this concept is to punish all the other countries in the world with large import tariffs – and use all that money to subsidize the conversion of the U.S. to more green technologies.
In the case of Canada, there are two obvious, potential consequences for such a U.S. ploy. Either Canada could simply choose to start exporting most/all of its oil production to Asia, and leave it up to the U.S. to get its oil from countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, or it could simply curtail oil production.
In the first scenario, this represents a huge step backwards in U.S. “energy security” - as it becomes more reliant on nations with whom the U.S. has been increasingly antagonistic. In the second scenario, the U.S. essentially turns Canada into another “OPEC” nation – which would cut back on oil-production every time prices dipped to a certain level. That option would lead to much higher oil/gas prices in the U.S. over the long-term.
If the U.S.’s policies are unfair to Canada, they are plainly hypocritical when it comes to China and India. It was Corporate America which chose to dismantle most of the U.S. manufacturing sector, and “ship it” to Asia – to exploit the lower wages of Asian workers (while simultaneously driving down wages in the U.S.). Now the U.S. wants to slap heavy tariffs on much of these goods – which are no longer produced in the U.S.
Making this proposal even more punitive, with respect to countries like India and China is the fact that these economies are clearly still in the “developing” stage. Imagine how Americans would have felt if, during the 20th century there had been another nation who was much more advanced than the U.S. Then, based on its technological superiority, it slapped heavy tariffs on all U.S. manufactured goods – because it wasn’t “advanced” enough.
Beyond the hypocrisy and unfairness, such a punitive scheme inevitably would mean much higher prices for an enormous assortment of goods in the U.S. Thus, foreign nations would pay heavily for the U.S. becoming “greener”, Americans would pay heavily for the U.S. becoming “greener”, while (as always), Corporate America would not just get a “free ride”, but would be subsidized by virtually everyone else in the world.
Thus, it’s easy to see why this scheme is so popular with U.S. politicians. They U.S. government gets to serve its corporate masters, while pretending to demonstrate commitment to cleaning up its own “dirty” production (more than 50% of U.S. electricity is still generated from “dirty”, coal-powered facilities).
Ultimately, the U.S. is no longer in a position to dictate economic policy to other nations. Given that it currently “pays” for most of its imports with “IOU”s (i.e. U.S. dollars) which will rapidly lose value over time, other nations in the world are being given a huge incentive to restructure their international trade.
Instead of shipping a large chunk of global production to a country which not only can’t pay for the goods, but ’steals’ most of the production-profits through a crooked tariff, other nations will be strongly encouraged to ship their goods to nations which can pay for those goods – and who won’t attempt to confiscate the trading profits.
There was a time when the U.S. could bully other nations economically whenever it felt like. When the first global trading agreement was concluded, the “GATT” treaty (”General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs”), the U.S. refused to endorse the deal unless it (and it alone) was given a special “grandfather clause” for 25 years which allowed the U.S. to slap punitive tariffs on a wide range of goods which no other nation on Earth was allowed to do.
The U.S. has never been a “champion” of “free trade”, but in fact has historically been shown to be one of the most “protectionist” economies on Earth. As usual, it once again wants special rules, which would only apply to itself.
isramart : More household carbon credit sales
isramart news:
The global carbon trading market is projected to reach USD 669 billion by 2013, according to a recent report, so it’s not too surprising to see intermediaries and consumer-focused services jumping into the game. Just last week we covered MyEex, which bills itself as a worldwide personal carbon exchange, and recently we learned of another like-minded contender: Earth Aid.
Much like MyEex, Earth Aid aims to reward consumers for the energy they save at home. Now in beta, the free service begins by establishing a baseline for a consumer’s household from its utility bills over the preceding 12 months—consumers give Earth Aid direct access to their utility accounts, so it can not only see their past usage data but also monitor their current usage over time. (It can’t, however, see any sensitive payment information, it stresses.) Earth Aid then provides the consumer with customised energy-saving tips along with information about rebates, tax incentives and discounts that can help. It monitors that user’s energy usage over one full year, and then compares it with the original baseline; if energy was saved, Earth Aid calculates the corresponding carbon credits and sells them in the voluntary carbon market, sending the user a check for the result. Its own revenue, meanwhile, comes in part from advertising from companies that sell energy-efficient products and in part from commissions for bundling and selling users’ carbon credits.
The carbon market has long focused primarily on businesses and large organizations, so it’s exciting to see the same capabilities being brought to consumers—who, after all, have a big role to play in the fight against global warming too. Based in Washington, D.C., Earth Aid appears to be targeting US consumers with its service. Another one to partner with, emulate or be inspired by!
The global carbon trading market is projected to reach USD 669 billion by 2013, according to a recent report, so it’s not too surprising to see intermediaries and consumer-focused services jumping into the game. Just last week we covered MyEex, which bills itself as a worldwide personal carbon exchange, and recently we learned of another like-minded contender: Earth Aid.
Much like MyEex, Earth Aid aims to reward consumers for the energy they save at home. Now in beta, the free service begins by establishing a baseline for a consumer’s household from its utility bills over the preceding 12 months—consumers give Earth Aid direct access to their utility accounts, so it can not only see their past usage data but also monitor their current usage over time. (It can’t, however, see any sensitive payment information, it stresses.) Earth Aid then provides the consumer with customised energy-saving tips along with information about rebates, tax incentives and discounts that can help. It monitors that user’s energy usage over one full year, and then compares it with the original baseline; if energy was saved, Earth Aid calculates the corresponding carbon credits and sells them in the voluntary carbon market, sending the user a check for the result. Its own revenue, meanwhile, comes in part from advertising from companies that sell energy-efficient products and in part from commissions for bundling and selling users’ carbon credits.
The carbon market has long focused primarily on businesses and large organizations, so it’s exciting to see the same capabilities being brought to consumers—who, after all, have a big role to play in the fight against global warming too. Based in Washington, D.C., Earth Aid appears to be targeting US consumers with its service. Another one to partner with, emulate or be inspired by!
isramart : Securing CDM and energy efficiency
isramart news:
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the region and domestic schemes for energy efficiency were under discussion at a recent forum held by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and CVC Sustainable Investments.
The CDM and domestic schemes for energy efficiency Consultative Forums, held in Melbourne and Sydney in September, updated participants on the international and domestic scheme designs and sought their views on the design of domestic frameworks for energy efficiency incentives. Discussion focussed on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target, the South Australia’s Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme and the New South Wales Energy Efficiency Trading Scheme.
Carbon Bridge Managing Director Bridget McIntosh discussed how the CDM’s project mechanism has stimulated small scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the region.
Ms McIntosh said that CDM in South East Asian developing countries has been successful in stimulating renewable energy take-up and greenhouse gas abatement and that is has helped in these areas because it is able to be used in discrete projects.
She highlighted the effectiveness of CDM as an effective mechanism for encouraging take-up and use of renewable energy in developing nations, particularly in the Asia region. There are almost 4,000 renewable energy and greenhouse gas abatement projects in the pipeline to become CDMs – 75 per cent of which are in the Asia region.
Highlighting the benefits of CDM, Ms McIntosh said that the scheme does not pick winners, allowing market-based choices, innovation in finance and the room for the market to find its own investments.
She said that without CDM, renewable energy in these developing countries would not have been catalysed and would not be as thriving and active as it is today. Ms McIntosh called for a policy framework to support project-based work.
Other speakers at the forum were Demand Manager Managing Director Jeff Bye and Green Energy Trading Director Ric Brazalle. Windcorp and CVC Sustainable Investments Director Mark Fogarty chaired both the Melbourne and Sydney forums.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the region and domestic schemes for energy efficiency were under discussion at a recent forum held by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and CVC Sustainable Investments.
The CDM and domestic schemes for energy efficiency Consultative Forums, held in Melbourne and Sydney in September, updated participants on the international and domestic scheme designs and sought their views on the design of domestic frameworks for energy efficiency incentives. Discussion focussed on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target, the South Australia’s Residential Energy Efficiency Scheme and the New South Wales Energy Efficiency Trading Scheme.
Carbon Bridge Managing Director Bridget McIntosh discussed how the CDM’s project mechanism has stimulated small scale renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the region.
Ms McIntosh said that CDM in South East Asian developing countries has been successful in stimulating renewable energy take-up and greenhouse gas abatement and that is has helped in these areas because it is able to be used in discrete projects.
She highlighted the effectiveness of CDM as an effective mechanism for encouraging take-up and use of renewable energy in developing nations, particularly in the Asia region. There are almost 4,000 renewable energy and greenhouse gas abatement projects in the pipeline to become CDMs – 75 per cent of which are in the Asia region.
Highlighting the benefits of CDM, Ms McIntosh said that the scheme does not pick winners, allowing market-based choices, innovation in finance and the room for the market to find its own investments.
She said that without CDM, renewable energy in these developing countries would not have been catalysed and would not be as thriving and active as it is today. Ms McIntosh called for a policy framework to support project-based work.
Other speakers at the forum were Demand Manager Managing Director Jeff Bye and Green Energy Trading Director Ric Brazalle. Windcorp and CVC Sustainable Investments Director Mark Fogarty chaired both the Melbourne and Sydney forums.
isramart : Reduce CO2 yes … but cap and trade, no
isramart news:
I’m in favor of taking action to reduce CO2 emissions and to protect our environment. But I don’t support the “cap and trade” plan now being debated in the Congress.
“Cap and trade” is an approach that would have the government set caps on carbon emissions from certain sources, and then establishes a market in which allowances for CO2 emissions would be bought and sold on a financial exchange. Supporters call it a “market-based solution.”
I think it is the wrong solution and I don’t support it.
I support capping carbon emissions. But it has to be done the right way with targets and timelines that allow us to accomplish our goals without driving the cost of energy for homeowners and businesses out of sight. The cap and trade plan does not meet that test for me.
I know the Wall Street crowd can’t wait to sink their teeth into a new trillion-dollar trading market in which hedge funds and investment banks would trade and speculate on carbon credits and securities. In no time they’ll create derivatives, swaps and more in that new market. In fact most of the investment banks have already created carbon trading departments. They are ready to go. I’m not.
For those who like the wild price swings in the oil futures market, or the unseemly speculation in mortgage backed securities, or the exotic and risky financial products like credit default swaps that pushed our economy into the ditch, this cap and trade plan will be the answer to their prayers.
Just last year speculators overwhelmed the oil futures market, and every day they were trading 20 to 25 times more oil than was being produced. That speculation drove the price of oil from $60 to $147 a barrel and gasoline to more than $4 a gallon. Then the same speculators forced the price back down and made money in both directions. The American public paid the price for it.
And remember the financiers who wallpapered America with risky derivatives and credit default swaps that they traded in dark markets before the financial collapse last year? We shouldn’t need a second expensive lesson in how manipulation in financial markets can hurt our country.
Don’t’ get me wrong. I like free markets. But given recent history, I have little confidence that the large financial markets are free or fair enough to trust them with a new, large cap and trade carbon securities market.
So, I’m willing to cap carbon to address the threat to our environment. But it has to be done the right way. I will support a plan that establishes workable caps, invests in the technology we need to decarbonize fossil fuels, and sends the majority of the revenue raised to consumers to offset increases in the price of electricity resulting from the caps.
Energy is an important part of our lives. We need to work aggressively on the technology to decarbonize the use of coal so that we can continue to use our most abundant fossil energy resource. But even as we do that, we have to move aggressively to maximize our development of renewable energy. The development of green, renewable energy protects our environment and it also makes us less dependent on foreign oil (seventy percent of our oil comes from other countries).
Here’s what I believe we need to do to protect our environment and make us less dependent on foreign oil:
We should establish caps on carbon that are accompanied by both adequate research and development funding and reasonable timelines for implementation so that we can develop and commercialize technologies that will greatly reduce the CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
I propose we use the majority of the revenue from a plan that caps CO2 to provide refund payments to those who would otherwise experience increased energy costs.
Even as we continue to decarbonize the use of fossil energy, we should move aggressively to maximize the production of renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other sources.
We need to set an ambitious Renewable Electricity Standard along with longer term tax incentives for the production of wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy.
To move all of that new energy, we need to build a transmission system that will allow us to produce renewable energy where we can and move it to the load centers where it is needed.
To fully reap the benefits of cleaner energy and reduced dependence on foreign oil, we need to move toward using electricity to fuel our transportation fleet.
North Dakota and the nation have a lot at stake in this debate. We are a major energy producing state. We have the ability to produce large quantities of oil. We have the greatest wind energy potential of any state in America. We have the ability to produce a large quantity of biofuels. And we have large deposits of coal, which is our country’s most abundant form of energy.
However, it’s clear we are going to have to use energy differently in the future to protect our planet. And to do that I will support a plan that puts achievable caps on CO2 emissions — if it is done the right way.
But I’m not signing up to create a new financial market to trade carbon securities. In my judgment it is exactly the wrong way to address this issue.
I’m in favor of taking action to reduce CO2 emissions and to protect our environment. But I don’t support the “cap and trade” plan now being debated in the Congress.
“Cap and trade” is an approach that would have the government set caps on carbon emissions from certain sources, and then establishes a market in which allowances for CO2 emissions would be bought and sold on a financial exchange. Supporters call it a “market-based solution.”
I think it is the wrong solution and I don’t support it.
I support capping carbon emissions. But it has to be done the right way with targets and timelines that allow us to accomplish our goals without driving the cost of energy for homeowners and businesses out of sight. The cap and trade plan does not meet that test for me.
I know the Wall Street crowd can’t wait to sink their teeth into a new trillion-dollar trading market in which hedge funds and investment banks would trade and speculate on carbon credits and securities. In no time they’ll create derivatives, swaps and more in that new market. In fact most of the investment banks have already created carbon trading departments. They are ready to go. I’m not.
For those who like the wild price swings in the oil futures market, or the unseemly speculation in mortgage backed securities, or the exotic and risky financial products like credit default swaps that pushed our economy into the ditch, this cap and trade plan will be the answer to their prayers.
Just last year speculators overwhelmed the oil futures market, and every day they were trading 20 to 25 times more oil than was being produced. That speculation drove the price of oil from $60 to $147 a barrel and gasoline to more than $4 a gallon. Then the same speculators forced the price back down and made money in both directions. The American public paid the price for it.
And remember the financiers who wallpapered America with risky derivatives and credit default swaps that they traded in dark markets before the financial collapse last year? We shouldn’t need a second expensive lesson in how manipulation in financial markets can hurt our country.
Don’t’ get me wrong. I like free markets. But given recent history, I have little confidence that the large financial markets are free or fair enough to trust them with a new, large cap and trade carbon securities market.
So, I’m willing to cap carbon to address the threat to our environment. But it has to be done the right way. I will support a plan that establishes workable caps, invests in the technology we need to decarbonize fossil fuels, and sends the majority of the revenue raised to consumers to offset increases in the price of electricity resulting from the caps.
Energy is an important part of our lives. We need to work aggressively on the technology to decarbonize the use of coal so that we can continue to use our most abundant fossil energy resource. But even as we do that, we have to move aggressively to maximize our development of renewable energy. The development of green, renewable energy protects our environment and it also makes us less dependent on foreign oil (seventy percent of our oil comes from other countries).
Here’s what I believe we need to do to protect our environment and make us less dependent on foreign oil:
We should establish caps on carbon that are accompanied by both adequate research and development funding and reasonable timelines for implementation so that we can develop and commercialize technologies that will greatly reduce the CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.
I propose we use the majority of the revenue from a plan that caps CO2 to provide refund payments to those who would otherwise experience increased energy costs.
Even as we continue to decarbonize the use of fossil energy, we should move aggressively to maximize the production of renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and other sources.
We need to set an ambitious Renewable Electricity Standard along with longer term tax incentives for the production of wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energy.
To move all of that new energy, we need to build a transmission system that will allow us to produce renewable energy where we can and move it to the load centers where it is needed.
To fully reap the benefits of cleaner energy and reduced dependence on foreign oil, we need to move toward using electricity to fuel our transportation fleet.
North Dakota and the nation have a lot at stake in this debate. We are a major energy producing state. We have the ability to produce large quantities of oil. We have the greatest wind energy potential of any state in America. We have the ability to produce a large quantity of biofuels. And we have large deposits of coal, which is our country’s most abundant form of energy.
However, it’s clear we are going to have to use energy differently in the future to protect our planet. And to do that I will support a plan that puts achievable caps on CO2 emissions — if it is done the right way.
But I’m not signing up to create a new financial market to trade carbon securities. In my judgment it is exactly the wrong way to address this issue.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
isramart : Joburile verzi in SUA, o tinta indepartata
isramart news:
Locurile de munca in sectorul energiei regenerabile reprezinta o oportunitate pentru intreaga economie americana, insa politicile pentru a le implementa si dezvolta pot dura ani intregi, sustin guvernatorii statelor americane, potrivit Reuters.
Planurile cap-and-trade pentru emisii si initiativele in domeniul energiei regenerabile au fost instrumente utile care au incurajat economiile locale sa parcurga drumul de la centrale pe baza de combustibili fosili pana la locurile de munca verzi, au transmis guvernatorii catre membrii Comitetului de Mediu al Senatului.
„Acest lucru nu s-a intamplat accidental. S-a intamplat cu ajutorul unor eforturi sustinute care au inceput in 2004”, a declarat guvernatorul statului Colorado, Bill Ritter, vorbind despre miile de locuri de munca verzi care urmeaza sa fie create in statul sau in domeniul fermelor eoliene si in companiile de baterii alternative.
In 2004, Colorado a devenit unul dintre primele state americane care au solicitat companiilor de utilitati sa foloseasca surse de energie regenerabila.
Legea privind mediul inconjurator care urmeaza sa fie adoptata de Senat va obliga companiile de utilitati sa includa energia regenerabila intr-o proportie de 15% in totalul energiei folosite. Cu toate acestea, desi a trecut de Camera Reprezentantilor, votul Senatului este inca incert.
Rata somajului in SUA a atins 9,5% in iunie, nivelul maximum al ultimilor 26 de ani, mult peste asteptarile pe care le avea administratia cand a sustinut pachetul de stimulare a economiei de 800 de miliarde de dolari.
Locurile de munca in sectorul energiei regenerabile reprezinta o oportunitate pentru intreaga economie americana, insa politicile pentru a le implementa si dezvolta pot dura ani intregi, sustin guvernatorii statelor americane, potrivit Reuters.
Planurile cap-and-trade pentru emisii si initiativele in domeniul energiei regenerabile au fost instrumente utile care au incurajat economiile locale sa parcurga drumul de la centrale pe baza de combustibili fosili pana la locurile de munca verzi, au transmis guvernatorii catre membrii Comitetului de Mediu al Senatului.
„Acest lucru nu s-a intamplat accidental. S-a intamplat cu ajutorul unor eforturi sustinute care au inceput in 2004”, a declarat guvernatorul statului Colorado, Bill Ritter, vorbind despre miile de locuri de munca verzi care urmeaza sa fie create in statul sau in domeniul fermelor eoliene si in companiile de baterii alternative.
In 2004, Colorado a devenit unul dintre primele state americane care au solicitat companiilor de utilitati sa foloseasca surse de energie regenerabila.
Legea privind mediul inconjurator care urmeaza sa fie adoptata de Senat va obliga companiile de utilitati sa includa energia regenerabila intr-o proportie de 15% in totalul energiei folosite. Cu toate acestea, desi a trecut de Camera Reprezentantilor, votul Senatului este inca incert.
Rata somajului in SUA a atins 9,5% in iunie, nivelul maximum al ultimilor 26 de ani, mult peste asteptarile pe care le avea administratia cand a sustinut pachetul de stimulare a economiei de 800 de miliarde de dolari.
isramart : Ministerul Mediului ar putea cofinanţa un proiect de evaluare a calităţii aerului, de 143.348 euro
isramart news:
Ministerul Mediului vrea să cofinanţeze în acest an cu 143.348 euro un program la nivel regional pe termen mediu ce vizează evaluarea şi gestionarea calităţii aerului la graniţa României cu Republica Moldova, potrivit unui proiect de HG publicat pe pagina de internet a ministerului.prut
“Este necesară asigurarea unui management comun de evaluare şi gestionare a calităţii aerului, prin monitorizare, pentru regiunea de graniţă România-Republica Moldova, implicând structuri public-private din cele două ţări, având în vedere amploarea impactului poluării atmosferei asupra sănătăţii umane şi a biodiversităţii, lipsa informaţiilor despre indicii de poluare, în special în zona transfrontieră, lipsa abordării transfrontiere a acestei probleme, lipsa informării publicului privind impactul poluării aerului asupra sănătăţii”, se arată în Nota de fundamentare a proiectului.
Pentru realizarea proiectului, partea de cofinanţare, în valoare totală de 143.348 euro, este formată din 55.150 euro, reprezentând cofinanţarea de 10,08% din costul total eligibil, şi restul de 88.198 euro, ce reprezintă contravaloarea taxei pe valoarea adăugată, aferentă costurilor proiectului.
“Echivalentul în lei al acestei sume se asigură din bugetul aprobat al Ministerului Mediului pe anul 2009″, se precizează în Notă.
Potrivit ministerului Mediului, va fi elaborat, de asemenea, un Ghid de acţiuni comune pentru evaluarea calităţii aerului şi pentru implementarea politicilor naţionale în acest domeniu.
“Este necesară creşterea capacităţii de alarmare a populaţiei în timp real, în cazul unor situaţii de urgenţă, cauzate de dezastre naturale sau artificiale asociate cu apariţia unor poluări accidentale semnificative, prin creşterea gradului de determinare a calităţii aerului în zonele afectate şi adoptarea de măsuri urgente pentru protecţia populaţiei în zona de graniţă”, se mai arată în motivarea proiectului.
Infrastructura de monitorizare şi sistemul de transmitere a datelor vor continua să funcţioneze şi să deservească zona transfrontieră după finalizarea proiectului, acestea fiind întreţinute prin resursele umane formate prin proiect şi resursele financiare ale Agenţiei de Protecţia Mediului din Vaslui, mai anunţă Ministerul Mediului.
Ministerul Mediului vrea să cofinanţeze în acest an cu 143.348 euro un program la nivel regional pe termen mediu ce vizează evaluarea şi gestionarea calităţii aerului la graniţa României cu Republica Moldova, potrivit unui proiect de HG publicat pe pagina de internet a ministerului.prut
“Este necesară asigurarea unui management comun de evaluare şi gestionare a calităţii aerului, prin monitorizare, pentru regiunea de graniţă România-Republica Moldova, implicând structuri public-private din cele două ţări, având în vedere amploarea impactului poluării atmosferei asupra sănătăţii umane şi a biodiversităţii, lipsa informaţiilor despre indicii de poluare, în special în zona transfrontieră, lipsa abordării transfrontiere a acestei probleme, lipsa informării publicului privind impactul poluării aerului asupra sănătăţii”, se arată în Nota de fundamentare a proiectului.
Pentru realizarea proiectului, partea de cofinanţare, în valoare totală de 143.348 euro, este formată din 55.150 euro, reprezentând cofinanţarea de 10,08% din costul total eligibil, şi restul de 88.198 euro, ce reprezintă contravaloarea taxei pe valoarea adăugată, aferentă costurilor proiectului.
“Echivalentul în lei al acestei sume se asigură din bugetul aprobat al Ministerului Mediului pe anul 2009″, se precizează în Notă.
Potrivit ministerului Mediului, va fi elaborat, de asemenea, un Ghid de acţiuni comune pentru evaluarea calităţii aerului şi pentru implementarea politicilor naţionale în acest domeniu.
“Este necesară creşterea capacităţii de alarmare a populaţiei în timp real, în cazul unor situaţii de urgenţă, cauzate de dezastre naturale sau artificiale asociate cu apariţia unor poluări accidentale semnificative, prin creşterea gradului de determinare a calităţii aerului în zonele afectate şi adoptarea de măsuri urgente pentru protecţia populaţiei în zona de graniţă”, se mai arată în motivarea proiectului.
Infrastructura de monitorizare şi sistemul de transmitere a datelor vor continua să funcţioneze şi să deservească zona transfrontieră după finalizarea proiectului, acestea fiind întreţinute prin resursele umane formate prin proiect şi resursele financiare ale Agenţiei de Protecţia Mediului din Vaslui, mai anunţă Ministerul Mediului.
isramart : Încălzirea climei a dus la scăderea cu 50% a greutăţii peştilor din apele europene în ultimii 30 ani
isramart news:
eştii din apele europene au pierdut jumătate din greutate de-a lungul a câteva decenii, ca urmare a schimbărilor climatice, potrivit unui studiu al institutului francez Cemargref, publicat luni în SUA, relatează AFP.pesti
Cercetătorii institutului, specializaţi în gestionarea durabilă a apelor şi teritoriului, care au studiat populaţiile de peşti din râurile europene, precum şi din Marea Nordului şi Marea Baltică, au evidenţiat că diferite specii de peşti au pierdut în medie 50% din greutate în decursul ultimilor 20-30 de ani, iar masa totală a peştilor prezenţi în apele europene s-a micşorat cu 60%.
Cercetătorii ştiau deja că apele mai calde sunt în general locuite de speciile mai mici de peşti şi că încălzirea apelor a avut efect negativ asupra fluxurilor migratoare şi asupra sistemului tradiţional de reproducere a peştilor.
Însă impactul diminuării peştilor este “enorm”, consideră autorul principal al studiului, Martin Daufresne. Peştii mici depun mai puţine icre şi devin uşor pradă, inclusiv acţiunii oamenilor, fapt ce are consecinţe grave asupra lanţului alimentar şi ecosistemului.
Chiar dacă pescuitul excesiv are un impact important asupra diminuării taliei peştilor, “acesta nu este singurul motiv”.
“Studiul nostru stabileşte că temperatura joacă un rol major” asupra greutăţii peştilor, a precizat Daufresne.
Sursa: NewsIn
Pentru mai multe informatii detaliate despre ecologie si protectia mediului, evenimente ecologice, stiri de mediu, apele europene, cemargref, greutatea pestilor, incalzirea globala sau voluntariat oriunde in tara aboneaza-te gratuit la newsletterul saptamanal EcoMagazin
ecosapiens logoEsti ecologist, eco-friendly sau fan Captain Planet? Atunci alatura-te si tu celor 3368 de membri care s-au inscris deja in EcoSapiens si hai sa ne cunoastem pe forumul comunitatii. Intrebarile si comentariile tale sunt binevenite.
eştii din apele europene au pierdut jumătate din greutate de-a lungul a câteva decenii, ca urmare a schimbărilor climatice, potrivit unui studiu al institutului francez Cemargref, publicat luni în SUA, relatează AFP.pesti
Cercetătorii institutului, specializaţi în gestionarea durabilă a apelor şi teritoriului, care au studiat populaţiile de peşti din râurile europene, precum şi din Marea Nordului şi Marea Baltică, au evidenţiat că diferite specii de peşti au pierdut în medie 50% din greutate în decursul ultimilor 20-30 de ani, iar masa totală a peştilor prezenţi în apele europene s-a micşorat cu 60%.
Cercetătorii ştiau deja că apele mai calde sunt în general locuite de speciile mai mici de peşti şi că încălzirea apelor a avut efect negativ asupra fluxurilor migratoare şi asupra sistemului tradiţional de reproducere a peştilor.
Însă impactul diminuării peştilor este “enorm”, consideră autorul principal al studiului, Martin Daufresne. Peştii mici depun mai puţine icre şi devin uşor pradă, inclusiv acţiunii oamenilor, fapt ce are consecinţe grave asupra lanţului alimentar şi ecosistemului.
Chiar dacă pescuitul excesiv are un impact important asupra diminuării taliei peştilor, “acesta nu este singurul motiv”.
“Studiul nostru stabileşte că temperatura joacă un rol major” asupra greutăţii peştilor, a precizat Daufresne.
Sursa: NewsIn
Pentru mai multe informatii detaliate despre ecologie si protectia mediului, evenimente ecologice, stiri de mediu, apele europene, cemargref, greutatea pestilor, incalzirea globala sau voluntariat oriunde in tara aboneaza-te gratuit la newsletterul saptamanal EcoMagazin
ecosapiens logoEsti ecologist, eco-friendly sau fan Captain Planet? Atunci alatura-te si tu celor 3368 de membri care s-au inscris deja in EcoSapiens si hai sa ne cunoastem pe forumul comunitatii. Intrebarile si comentariile tale sunt binevenite.
isramart : Reciclarea carbonului readuce CO2 înapoi la elementele sale de bază – carbon şi oxigen
isramart news:
Reţinerea carbonului a constituit până acum cea mai populară metodă de a face faţă emisiilor de dioxidemisii Co2 de carbon. Acum însă companii ca Green Carbon din British Columbia, Canada, au creat o modalitate de a readuce CO2 înapoi la elementele sale de bază – carbon şi oxigen. Ei o numesc reciclarea carbonului şi este mult mai ieftină decât îngroparea acestuia, aproximativ 70 $ pe tonă.
Atât aspectul economic cât şi cel tehnologic este la fel de interesant. Există şi un avantaj în posibilitatea de a avea în continuare acces la carbon, dar si abilitatea de a-l controla, lucruri pe care nu le poţi face atunci când îngropi carbonul. Aceşti doi factori a luat în considerare Viva Cundliffe, inventatoarea reciclării carbonului. Viva Cundliffe este inginerul protecţiei mediului care a lucrat cinci ani la acest proiect. Cum privesc oamenii aceste idei? Ei bine, o parte a perspectivei este a aceea de a privi carbonul ca un bun.
Procesul reciclării foloseşte căldură si „catalizatori speciali” pentru a scinda CO2 după combustie. Carbonul rezultat are un aspect de cărbune pulverizat. Apoi el este ori reinjectat într-o „cameră, ori transportat sub formă de palet.” O altă conversie a CO2 la care se lucrează este transformarea acestuia în acid formic.
Un prototip a fost deja testat în Kamloops în 2006. Apoi din nou în 2008 şi a treia testare are loc acest an. Cundliffe afirma că rezultatele au fost „aşa cum ne-am aşteptat şi chiar mult mai bine.” Aceste veşti sunt extraordinare şi se pare că sunt multe de aşteptat de la descoperirea lui Cundliffe.
Reţinerea carbonului a constituit până acum cea mai populară metodă de a face faţă emisiilor de dioxidemisii Co2 de carbon. Acum însă companii ca Green Carbon din British Columbia, Canada, au creat o modalitate de a readuce CO2 înapoi la elementele sale de bază – carbon şi oxigen. Ei o numesc reciclarea carbonului şi este mult mai ieftină decât îngroparea acestuia, aproximativ 70 $ pe tonă.
Atât aspectul economic cât şi cel tehnologic este la fel de interesant. Există şi un avantaj în posibilitatea de a avea în continuare acces la carbon, dar si abilitatea de a-l controla, lucruri pe care nu le poţi face atunci când îngropi carbonul. Aceşti doi factori a luat în considerare Viva Cundliffe, inventatoarea reciclării carbonului. Viva Cundliffe este inginerul protecţiei mediului care a lucrat cinci ani la acest proiect. Cum privesc oamenii aceste idei? Ei bine, o parte a perspectivei este a aceea de a privi carbonul ca un bun.
Procesul reciclării foloseşte căldură si „catalizatori speciali” pentru a scinda CO2 după combustie. Carbonul rezultat are un aspect de cărbune pulverizat. Apoi el este ori reinjectat într-o „cameră, ori transportat sub formă de palet.” O altă conversie a CO2 la care se lucrează este transformarea acestuia în acid formic.
Un prototip a fost deja testat în Kamloops în 2006. Apoi din nou în 2008 şi a treia testare are loc acest an. Cundliffe afirma că rezultatele au fost „aşa cum ne-am aşteptat şi chiar mult mai bine.” Aceste veşti sunt extraordinare şi se pare că sunt multe de aşteptat de la descoperirea lui Cundliffe.
isramart : Army Contracts to Study Its ‘Carbon Bootprint’
isramart news:
WASHINGTON — As the federal government prepares to regulate greenhouse gases, the U.S. Army has contracted a firm to evaluate the military’s “carbon bootprint,” a balance sheet of its emissions.
Besides accounting for emissions such as carbon dioxide, the analysis of 11 bases across the country will recommend how the Army can cut those gas levels, creating a blueprint for reductions throughout the nation’s military.
As the country’s largest energy buyer, opportunities for alternative energy and efficiency contracts abound. Some of the largest solar arrays in the country, for example, have been contracted at U.S. military bases.
The study’s recommendations “can deliver important benefits to our forward deployed forces,” said Tad Davis, deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and occupational health for the Army. “By reducing requirements for resupply, we are able to reduce the number of convoys, a primary target for ambushes taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example.”
Enviance, the company contracted to measure emission levels and make the recommendations, has already piloted a project at Fort Carson, Colo., home of 23,000 military personnel. According to the firm, Fort Carson emits about 200,000 to 220,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions a year. Multiply that carbon bootprint by nearly a dozen bases, and those bases have the greenhouse-gas profile equivalent to that of a small coal-fired power plant.
Calculate that across the entire military, and U.S. forces have one of the largest carbon balance sheets in the world, providing business opportunities for a raft of clean-energy companies.
Enviance said its assessment not only tracks emissions, but sequestration of emissions, or long-term storage of greenhouse gases. For example, at the Army’s Fort Benning, Ga., base, forests can help to offset a portion of the facilities’ emissions through their respiration process, turning carbon dioxide into oxygen and sequestering the carbon in their leaves and needles.
The study follows a Bush administration executive order mandating that the federal government strengthen its energy and transportation management.
WASHINGTON — As the federal government prepares to regulate greenhouse gases, the U.S. Army has contracted a firm to evaluate the military’s “carbon bootprint,” a balance sheet of its emissions.
Besides accounting for emissions such as carbon dioxide, the analysis of 11 bases across the country will recommend how the Army can cut those gas levels, creating a blueprint for reductions throughout the nation’s military.
As the country’s largest energy buyer, opportunities for alternative energy and efficiency contracts abound. Some of the largest solar arrays in the country, for example, have been contracted at U.S. military bases.
The study’s recommendations “can deliver important benefits to our forward deployed forces,” said Tad Davis, deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and occupational health for the Army. “By reducing requirements for resupply, we are able to reduce the number of convoys, a primary target for ambushes taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example.”
Enviance, the company contracted to measure emission levels and make the recommendations, has already piloted a project at Fort Carson, Colo., home of 23,000 military personnel. According to the firm, Fort Carson emits about 200,000 to 220,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions a year. Multiply that carbon bootprint by nearly a dozen bases, and those bases have the greenhouse-gas profile equivalent to that of a small coal-fired power plant.
Calculate that across the entire military, and U.S. forces have one of the largest carbon balance sheets in the world, providing business opportunities for a raft of clean-energy companies.
Enviance said its assessment not only tracks emissions, but sequestration of emissions, or long-term storage of greenhouse gases. For example, at the Army’s Fort Benning, Ga., base, forests can help to offset a portion of the facilities’ emissions through their respiration process, turning carbon dioxide into oxygen and sequestering the carbon in their leaves and needles.
The study follows a Bush administration executive order mandating that the federal government strengthen its energy and transportation management.
isramart : Green Party of Pennsylvania says no to Carbon Sequestration
isramart news:
This week, the Green Party of Pennsylvania spoke out against a plan by Governor Rendell to bury waste from power plants in the ground. Known as “carbon sequestration,” the technique is believed to be more environmentally friendly than releasing toxics into the air.
However, the Green Party believes that injecting toxics into the ground is no solution to the problem noting that sequestered toxins can leak into groundwater and cause other disastrous environmental effects. Carbon sequestration will require capturing carbon dioxide, compressing into a liquid, transporting it through pipelines to a sequestration site and injecting it beneath the earth’s surface.
“We should be reducing our carbon emissions not simply moving the by-products around like it’s some sort of shell game,” said Hillary Kane, GPPA Chair.
Recently, Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have initiated an effort to explore the state’s geologic storage potential for carbon capture and storage or sequestration. Act 129 of 2008 requires research on carbon sequestration. Pennsylvania produces one percent of the earth’s greenhouse gases and this is an attempt to reduce the commonwealth’s contribution to global warming.
According to the Rendell administration, capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere will allow coal resources to be used in a more environmentally friendly manner.
But the Green Party, a long-time environmental leader, disagrees. “Carbon capture and storage is no substitute for reducing carbon emissions. Pennsylvania should be reducing its coal fired power production by 50% and increasing its solar and wind energy production to compensate for this reduction,” suggested Wyoming County Green Party chair Jay Sweeney. “Capturing carbon, liquefying it and building a system of pipes to move the liquefied carbon to a sequestration site poses many environmental hazards including leakage into soil and water. The science is unproven and the results could be far more harmful than the benefits.” The Green Party of Pennsylvania, (http://www.gpofpa.org), is an independent political party founded on the four pillars of grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom and nonviolence.
This week, the Green Party of Pennsylvania spoke out against a plan by Governor Rendell to bury waste from power plants in the ground. Known as “carbon sequestration,” the technique is believed to be more environmentally friendly than releasing toxics into the air.
However, the Green Party believes that injecting toxics into the ground is no solution to the problem noting that sequestered toxins can leak into groundwater and cause other disastrous environmental effects. Carbon sequestration will require capturing carbon dioxide, compressing into a liquid, transporting it through pipelines to a sequestration site and injecting it beneath the earth’s surface.
“We should be reducing our carbon emissions not simply moving the by-products around like it’s some sort of shell game,” said Hillary Kane, GPPA Chair.
Recently, Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources have initiated an effort to explore the state’s geologic storage potential for carbon capture and storage or sequestration. Act 129 of 2008 requires research on carbon sequestration. Pennsylvania produces one percent of the earth’s greenhouse gases and this is an attempt to reduce the commonwealth’s contribution to global warming.
According to the Rendell administration, capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and storing it instead of releasing it into the atmosphere will allow coal resources to be used in a more environmentally friendly manner.
But the Green Party, a long-time environmental leader, disagrees. “Carbon capture and storage is no substitute for reducing carbon emissions. Pennsylvania should be reducing its coal fired power production by 50% and increasing its solar and wind energy production to compensate for this reduction,” suggested Wyoming County Green Party chair Jay Sweeney. “Capturing carbon, liquefying it and building a system of pipes to move the liquefied carbon to a sequestration site poses many environmental hazards including leakage into soil and water. The science is unproven and the results could be far more harmful than the benefits.” The Green Party of Pennsylvania, (http://www.gpofpa.org), is an independent political party founded on the four pillars of grassroots democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom and nonviolence.
isramart : UK report backs carbon trading
isramart news:
International carbon trading could slash the cost of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent, according to a report commissioned by the UK government.
A dollar invested in an international emissions market can reduce 40 to 50 per cent more carbon than a similar amount invested only in reductions, in part because cutting emissions in developing countries is often cheaper than in rich nations.
Mark Lazarowicz, the MP responsible for the report said: “The evidence shows that global carbon trading can deliver substantial cuts in greenhouse gases rapidly and cost-effectively.”
International carbon trading could slash the cost of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent, according to a report commissioned by the UK government.
A dollar invested in an international emissions market can reduce 40 to 50 per cent more carbon than a similar amount invested only in reductions, in part because cutting emissions in developing countries is often cheaper than in rich nations.
Mark Lazarowicz, the MP responsible for the report said: “The evidence shows that global carbon trading can deliver substantial cuts in greenhouse gases rapidly and cost-effectively.”
isramart : Carbon trading ‘will help climate change fight’
isramart news:
Carbon trading programmes will be “vital” in the fight against climate change, a new report has suggested.
The study, led by Mark Lazarowicz MP, looked into how cap and trade systems could help reduce carbon emissions and whether they cab fit into a global strategy.
It comes in response to proposals from the prime minister, Gordon Brown, that developed countries should work together and offer $100 billion annually to poorer countries to help them reduce their carbon footprint.
Launching his report, Mr Lazarowicz said that climate change is an “international threat that needs international action”.
“Cap and trade should be combined with targeted regulation, taxation and public finance for comprehensive action,” he said.
“This report proposes action in developed countries at two levels - ambitious national targets and a network of linked cap and trade systems for emitters.”
The UK’s domestic target to fight climate change is to cut down carbon emissions by 80 per cent from 1990 levels in the next four decades.
Carbon trading programmes will be “vital” in the fight against climate change, a new report has suggested.
The study, led by Mark Lazarowicz MP, looked into how cap and trade systems could help reduce carbon emissions and whether they cab fit into a global strategy.
It comes in response to proposals from the prime minister, Gordon Brown, that developed countries should work together and offer $100 billion annually to poorer countries to help them reduce their carbon footprint.
Launching his report, Mr Lazarowicz said that climate change is an “international threat that needs international action”.
“Cap and trade should be combined with targeted regulation, taxation and public finance for comprehensive action,” he said.
“This report proposes action in developed countries at two levels - ambitious national targets and a network of linked cap and trade systems for emitters.”
The UK’s domestic target to fight climate change is to cut down carbon emissions by 80 per cent from 1990 levels in the next four decades.
isramart : Is a carbon trading network the answer?
isramart news:
IT SEEMS a global carbon trading network is the latest weapon in our arsenal to fight climate change, according to The Global Carbon Trading Report.
The report makes clear that, without a global system for carbon trading, the ability of countries to avoid dangerous climate change will be limited and the costs of action increased.
It’s all part of a plan to work together on a global figure of $100bn a year needed by 2020 to help developing countries reduce their emissions, tackle deforestation and adapt to the climate change already being experienced.
The carbon market could provide a significant proportion of that sum.
The report, by the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Carbon Trading, Mark Lazarowicz MP, looks at the role that cap and trade systems can play as part of the global response to preventing dangerous climate change – and the steps needed to expand systems over the next decade.
“Climate change is an international threat that needs international action,” says Lazarowicz. “The evidence shows that global carbon trading can deliver substantial cuts in greenhouse gases rapidly and cost-effectively.”
IT SEEMS a global carbon trading network is the latest weapon in our arsenal to fight climate change, according to The Global Carbon Trading Report.
The report makes clear that, without a global system for carbon trading, the ability of countries to avoid dangerous climate change will be limited and the costs of action increased.
It’s all part of a plan to work together on a global figure of $100bn a year needed by 2020 to help developing countries reduce their emissions, tackle deforestation and adapt to the climate change already being experienced.
The carbon market could provide a significant proportion of that sum.
The report, by the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Carbon Trading, Mark Lazarowicz MP, looks at the role that cap and trade systems can play as part of the global response to preventing dangerous climate change – and the steps needed to expand systems over the next decade.
“Climate change is an international threat that needs international action,” says Lazarowicz. “The evidence shows that global carbon trading can deliver substantial cuts in greenhouse gases rapidly and cost-effectively.”
Monday, July 20, 2009
isramart : India se plange de presiunea SUA pentru reducerea emisiilor
isramart news:
Ministrul indian al mediului, Jairam Ramesh, s-a plans duminica secretarului american de stat Hillary Clinton de presiunile Statelor Unite asupra tarii sale pentru a accepta limitarea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de sera, potrivit Reuters. Cu toate acestea, declaratiile secretarului de stat de dupa discutiile cu indienii au pastrat un ton optimist.
„Pur si simplu nu poate fi cazul de presiuni pe care noi, care avem printre cele mai mici emisii pe cap de locuitor, sa le admitem pentru a ne reduce emisiile. Si, ca si cand aceasta presiune nu ar fi fost suficienta, trebuie sa ne confruntam si cu amenintarea tarifelor pe carbon pentru exporturile noastre catre tari ca a dumneavoastra”, a declarat Ramesh in intalnirea pe care a avut-o cu Hillary Clinton.
Cu toate acestea, secretarul american de stat a explicat, dupa intalnire, ca discutia a fost productiva si a subliniat domeniile in care cele doua tari au un punct de vedere comun. Clinton, aflata in prima vizita oficiala in India dupa preluarea functiei, s-a aratat increzatoare ca diferentele dintre SUA si India in privinta felului in care emisiile trebuie reduse pot fi rezolvate.
Delegatia americana a organizat un eveniment in afara capitalei New Delhi, intr-o cladire eco, pentru a sublinia potentialul tehnologiilor eficiente din punct de vedere energetic. Constructia, finatata de ITC tobacco, se foloseste de lumina naturala, iar sticla in care este invelita permite accesul razelor de soare, dar nu si al caldurii.
Clinton se va intalni astazi cu prim ministrul Manmohan Singh si ministrul de externe S.M. Krishna.
Ministrul indian al mediului, Jairam Ramesh, s-a plans duminica secretarului american de stat Hillary Clinton de presiunile Statelor Unite asupra tarii sale pentru a accepta limitarea emisiilor de gaze cu efect de sera, potrivit Reuters. Cu toate acestea, declaratiile secretarului de stat de dupa discutiile cu indienii au pastrat un ton optimist.
„Pur si simplu nu poate fi cazul de presiuni pe care noi, care avem printre cele mai mici emisii pe cap de locuitor, sa le admitem pentru a ne reduce emisiile. Si, ca si cand aceasta presiune nu ar fi fost suficienta, trebuie sa ne confruntam si cu amenintarea tarifelor pe carbon pentru exporturile noastre catre tari ca a dumneavoastra”, a declarat Ramesh in intalnirea pe care a avut-o cu Hillary Clinton.
Cu toate acestea, secretarul american de stat a explicat, dupa intalnire, ca discutia a fost productiva si a subliniat domeniile in care cele doua tari au un punct de vedere comun. Clinton, aflata in prima vizita oficiala in India dupa preluarea functiei, s-a aratat increzatoare ca diferentele dintre SUA si India in privinta felului in care emisiile trebuie reduse pot fi rezolvate.
Delegatia americana a organizat un eveniment in afara capitalei New Delhi, intr-o cladire eco, pentru a sublinia potentialul tehnologiilor eficiente din punct de vedere energetic. Constructia, finatata de ITC tobacco, se foloseste de lumina naturala, iar sticla in care este invelita permite accesul razelor de soare, dar nu si al caldurii.
Clinton se va intalni astazi cu prim ministrul Manmohan Singh si ministrul de externe S.M. Krishna.
isramart : Marea Britanie: Sistemul cap and trade, esential pentru reducerea emisiilor
isramart news:
Un sistem national de comert cu certificate de carbon (cap and trade) ar trebui sa joace un rol central in eforturile de reducere a emisiilor de gaze cu efect de sera, conform unui raport comisionat de guvernul britanic, citat de Reuters.
„In cazul in care este bine gandit, un sistem global de comert cu emisii ar putea reduce costurile emisiilor cu pana la 70 de procente”, a explicat Mark Lazarowicz, reprezentantul special al primului ministru pentru comertul cu carbon.
Potrivit raportului, unificarea schemei pentru comert aflata in vigoare in tarile Uniunii Europene cu sistemul cap and trade, care este supus votului in Statele Unite, ar trebui sa fie o prioritate globala.
Documentul mai arata ca Mecanismul pentru dezvoltare curata a Natiunilor Unite (CDM) trebuie reformat. In acelasi timp, raportul grupului Sandbag indica faptul ca prea multe credite pentru carbon sunt emise, iar, din acest motiv, ele nu se traduc in reducerea dioxidului de carbon din atmosfera.
Un sistem national de comert cu certificate de carbon (cap and trade) ar trebui sa joace un rol central in eforturile de reducere a emisiilor de gaze cu efect de sera, conform unui raport comisionat de guvernul britanic, citat de Reuters.
„In cazul in care este bine gandit, un sistem global de comert cu emisii ar putea reduce costurile emisiilor cu pana la 70 de procente”, a explicat Mark Lazarowicz, reprezentantul special al primului ministru pentru comertul cu carbon.
Potrivit raportului, unificarea schemei pentru comert aflata in vigoare in tarile Uniunii Europene cu sistemul cap and trade, care este supus votului in Statele Unite, ar trebui sa fie o prioritate globala.
Documentul mai arata ca Mecanismul pentru dezvoltare curata a Natiunilor Unite (CDM) trebuie reformat. In acelasi timp, raportul grupului Sandbag indica faptul ca prea multe credite pentru carbon sunt emise, iar, din acest motiv, ele nu se traduc in reducerea dioxidului de carbon din atmosfera.
isramart : România iroseşte 70 la sută din apa consumată
isramart news:
România este falimentară şi în ceea ce priveşte consumul de apă şi infrastructura acestui domeniu considerat de alte state drept vital în faţa pericolului încălzirii globale. Cifrele arată că în acest moment jumătate din populaţia României nu are acces curent la surse de apă, iar 70% din cantitatea de apă consumată în ţara noastră se iroseşte.apa
În zilele în care liderii celor mai puternice state ale planetei s-au întâlnit pentru a discuta despre viitorul omenirii în contextul schimbărilor climatice, în România, acest domeniu este total neglijat. În vreme ce multe alte state şi-au securizat de ani buni consumul de apă, refolosesc apele uzate, desalinizează apele mărilor şi oceanelor şi chiar produc apă, în România, infrastructura este la nivelul de acum un secol.
Statistici cu privire la dezastrul din ţara noastră există, dar ele nu sunt făcute publice de autorităţile competente, Ministerul Mediului şi Apele Române. A trebuit să ne adresăm cabinetelor comisarilor Stavros Dimas (reprezentantul Greciei în Comisia Europeană, comisar pentru probleme de mediu) şi Danuta Hubner (reprezentantul Poloniei în Comisia Europeană, comisar pentru politici regionale), pentru a afla cât de rău stă România la capitolul “Apă”.
Am aflat astfel că în ţara noastră jumătate din populaţie nu are acces la surse de apă potabilă, fie că este vorba despre robinete sau toalete.
SITUAŢIE DEZASTRUOASĂ ÎN TOATĂ ŢARA
Practic, doar 10% din satele din România au realizate instalaţii de alimentare cu apă, iar un procent însemnat din populaţia urbană se confruntă cu lipsa acestui tip de infrastructură. Este şi cazul Bucureştiului, unde trei cartiere din zona de nord a oraşului se află în această situaţie. Procentul este cu atât mai înfricoşător cu cât cealaltă jumătate din populaţie primeşte apă prin instalaţii învechite, uzate, depăşite sau chiar interzise în ţări civilizate.
Aşa se face că un procent între 70% şi 80% din românii care au apă în casă se alimentează prin ţevi de plumb uzate şi vechi de zeci de ani. Nici chiar normele europene, care interzic funcţionarea localurilor (baruri, restaurante) fără a avea toaletă şi instalaţii de apă curentă, nu a ajutat prea mult mediul rural.
PIERDERI ÎN REŢEA PENTRU ŢĂRILE PROASPĂT ADERATE
Mai mult decât atât, statisticile europenilor arată că 70% din apa folosită în România este irosită, mai puţin de o treime fiind folosită după toate regulile. La nivelul Uniunii Europene, doar 40% din ape sunt folosite într-un mod incorect sau se pierd pe reţea. Procentul se apropia de 95% în 2004, însă extinderea Uniunii cu state precum Polonia, Ungaria, România, Bulgaria sau ţările baltice au înrăutăţit lucrurile.
În acest moment, Bruxellesul are pregătite aproape 6 miliarde de euro pentru proiecte care să remedieze aceste probleme. Responsabilii europeni încurajează statele să facă investiţii cât mai repede, având în vedere că piaţa apei este una dintre cele mai dezvoltate la nivel internaţional şi pentru că apa este un element-cheie în lupta mondială împotriva încălzirii globale, proiect în care Uniunea Europeană şi-a asumat rolul de lider.
ACCESAREA FONDURILOR EUROPENE, GREOAIE ŞI FĂRĂ RANDAMENT
Situaţia din România este cu atât mai gravă cu cât aici nu există nici staţii de epurare. Bucureştiul, în ciuda multor ani de promisiuni, nu are nici până acum o staţie de epurare a apelor uzate. Banii municipalităţii au fost folosiţi pentru borduri şi alte proiecte de infrastructură rutieră care au fost prost efectuate, astfel încât acum sunt în mare parte distruse. La nivel naţional, din doar aproximativ 1.400 de staţii şi sisteme de epurare existente, peste jumătate funcţionează necorespunzător.
Alte date înfricoşătoare: volumul resurselor de apă utilizabile este de 2.660m3/locuitor/an, în comparaţie cu media europeană, care este de 4.000 m3/locuitor/an. Aceasta se datorează în principal contaminării resurselor în trecut, la care se adaugă activităţile economice, fără luarea în considerare a aspectelor de protecţia mediului.
În ceea ce priveşte accesarea fondurilor europene, aproximativ 100 de milioane de euro au fost deja utilizaţi de autorităţile locale din mai multe judeţe, pentru construirea sau reabilitarea reţelei de apă, amenajarea sau refacerea staţiilor de epurare. Responsabilii de la Bucureşti ridică din umeri când sunt întrebaţi de probleme pe care România le are cu apa. Oficial, există proiecte, studii şi lucrări în derulare, se aşteaptă bani de la buget sau proiecte pentru accesarea fondurilor europene, iar problemele… se vor rezolva.
Refolosirea apelor uzate pentru agricultură
În contextul în care omenirea se confruntă cu lipsa apei, în contextul schimbărilor climatice, mai multe state au recurs la o metodă revoluţionară de a-şi securiza agricultura: refolosesc apele uzate.
Lider detaşat în domeniu este Israelul, stat care, deşi beneficiază de precipitaţii reduse şi are un singur rezervor natural (Marea Galileei), deţine o agricultură foarte dezvoltată, care se bazează pe un performant sistem de irigaţii. Apele folosite pentru irigaţii sunt nici mai mult, nici mai puţin decât ape menajere ale oraşelor tratate şi utilizate. Tehnologiile bazate pe bacterii, plante şi alte procedee bio curăţă atât de bine apele uzate, încât acestea pot fi folosite fără probleme pentru irigaţii.
Aproximativ 75% din apele uzate din Israel sunt tratate şi refolosite în agricultură. Aşa se face că Israelul este unul din principalii furnizori de legume şi fructe proaspete pentru lunile decembrie-februarie pentru pieţele UE. Pe locurile următoare în acest clasament se situează state europene precum Spania (care refoloseşte 12% din apele uzate) şi Italia, dar şi Australia, continent care se confruntă cu o secetă severă din cauza încălzirii globale.
Desalinizare, tehnologie răspândită, dar nu şi la noi
Statele civilizate au început să dezvolte acest procedeu începând cu anii ‘60, pe scară largă. Aşa se face că în acest moment, state din Golful Persic de pe coasta nordică a Africii, Israelul, China sau Australia folosesc intensiv apă desalinizată din mările şi oceanele cu care se învecinează. State europene precum Franţa şi Germania au început recent proiecte în domeniu. Tehnologia este atât de avansată, încât apa sărată extrasă ajunge potabilă în mai puţin de o oră. Apele desalinizate sunt folosite însă, în principal, în industrie şi agricultură, şi mai puţin pentru consumul populaţiei.
În România, această soluţie nu este încă aplicată, motivul oficial fiind acela că deocamdată nu este necesar. Toate zonele afectate de ariditate sau chiar deşertificare (Dobrogea, sudul Munteniei sau Oltenia) se învecinează cu surse de apă dulce sau au rezervoare cu apă dulce, a căror apă este mult mai ieftină pentru a fi folosită decât cea desalinizată.
România este falimentară şi în ceea ce priveşte consumul de apă şi infrastructura acestui domeniu considerat de alte state drept vital în faţa pericolului încălzirii globale. Cifrele arată că în acest moment jumătate din populaţia României nu are acces curent la surse de apă, iar 70% din cantitatea de apă consumată în ţara noastră se iroseşte.apa
În zilele în care liderii celor mai puternice state ale planetei s-au întâlnit pentru a discuta despre viitorul omenirii în contextul schimbărilor climatice, în România, acest domeniu este total neglijat. În vreme ce multe alte state şi-au securizat de ani buni consumul de apă, refolosesc apele uzate, desalinizează apele mărilor şi oceanelor şi chiar produc apă, în România, infrastructura este la nivelul de acum un secol.
Statistici cu privire la dezastrul din ţara noastră există, dar ele nu sunt făcute publice de autorităţile competente, Ministerul Mediului şi Apele Române. A trebuit să ne adresăm cabinetelor comisarilor Stavros Dimas (reprezentantul Greciei în Comisia Europeană, comisar pentru probleme de mediu) şi Danuta Hubner (reprezentantul Poloniei în Comisia Europeană, comisar pentru politici regionale), pentru a afla cât de rău stă România la capitolul “Apă”.
Am aflat astfel că în ţara noastră jumătate din populaţie nu are acces la surse de apă potabilă, fie că este vorba despre robinete sau toalete.
SITUAŢIE DEZASTRUOASĂ ÎN TOATĂ ŢARA
Practic, doar 10% din satele din România au realizate instalaţii de alimentare cu apă, iar un procent însemnat din populaţia urbană se confruntă cu lipsa acestui tip de infrastructură. Este şi cazul Bucureştiului, unde trei cartiere din zona de nord a oraşului se află în această situaţie. Procentul este cu atât mai înfricoşător cu cât cealaltă jumătate din populaţie primeşte apă prin instalaţii învechite, uzate, depăşite sau chiar interzise în ţări civilizate.
Aşa se face că un procent între 70% şi 80% din românii care au apă în casă se alimentează prin ţevi de plumb uzate şi vechi de zeci de ani. Nici chiar normele europene, care interzic funcţionarea localurilor (baruri, restaurante) fără a avea toaletă şi instalaţii de apă curentă, nu a ajutat prea mult mediul rural.
PIERDERI ÎN REŢEA PENTRU ŢĂRILE PROASPĂT ADERATE
Mai mult decât atât, statisticile europenilor arată că 70% din apa folosită în România este irosită, mai puţin de o treime fiind folosită după toate regulile. La nivelul Uniunii Europene, doar 40% din ape sunt folosite într-un mod incorect sau se pierd pe reţea. Procentul se apropia de 95% în 2004, însă extinderea Uniunii cu state precum Polonia, Ungaria, România, Bulgaria sau ţările baltice au înrăutăţit lucrurile.
În acest moment, Bruxellesul are pregătite aproape 6 miliarde de euro pentru proiecte care să remedieze aceste probleme. Responsabilii europeni încurajează statele să facă investiţii cât mai repede, având în vedere că piaţa apei este una dintre cele mai dezvoltate la nivel internaţional şi pentru că apa este un element-cheie în lupta mondială împotriva încălzirii globale, proiect în care Uniunea Europeană şi-a asumat rolul de lider.
ACCESAREA FONDURILOR EUROPENE, GREOAIE ŞI FĂRĂ RANDAMENT
Situaţia din România este cu atât mai gravă cu cât aici nu există nici staţii de epurare. Bucureştiul, în ciuda multor ani de promisiuni, nu are nici până acum o staţie de epurare a apelor uzate. Banii municipalităţii au fost folosiţi pentru borduri şi alte proiecte de infrastructură rutieră care au fost prost efectuate, astfel încât acum sunt în mare parte distruse. La nivel naţional, din doar aproximativ 1.400 de staţii şi sisteme de epurare existente, peste jumătate funcţionează necorespunzător.
Alte date înfricoşătoare: volumul resurselor de apă utilizabile este de 2.660m3/locuitor/an, în comparaţie cu media europeană, care este de 4.000 m3/locuitor/an. Aceasta se datorează în principal contaminării resurselor în trecut, la care se adaugă activităţile economice, fără luarea în considerare a aspectelor de protecţia mediului.
În ceea ce priveşte accesarea fondurilor europene, aproximativ 100 de milioane de euro au fost deja utilizaţi de autorităţile locale din mai multe judeţe, pentru construirea sau reabilitarea reţelei de apă, amenajarea sau refacerea staţiilor de epurare. Responsabilii de la Bucureşti ridică din umeri când sunt întrebaţi de probleme pe care România le are cu apa. Oficial, există proiecte, studii şi lucrări în derulare, se aşteaptă bani de la buget sau proiecte pentru accesarea fondurilor europene, iar problemele… se vor rezolva.
Refolosirea apelor uzate pentru agricultură
În contextul în care omenirea se confruntă cu lipsa apei, în contextul schimbărilor climatice, mai multe state au recurs la o metodă revoluţionară de a-şi securiza agricultura: refolosesc apele uzate.
Lider detaşat în domeniu este Israelul, stat care, deşi beneficiază de precipitaţii reduse şi are un singur rezervor natural (Marea Galileei), deţine o agricultură foarte dezvoltată, care se bazează pe un performant sistem de irigaţii. Apele folosite pentru irigaţii sunt nici mai mult, nici mai puţin decât ape menajere ale oraşelor tratate şi utilizate. Tehnologiile bazate pe bacterii, plante şi alte procedee bio curăţă atât de bine apele uzate, încât acestea pot fi folosite fără probleme pentru irigaţii.
Aproximativ 75% din apele uzate din Israel sunt tratate şi refolosite în agricultură. Aşa se face că Israelul este unul din principalii furnizori de legume şi fructe proaspete pentru lunile decembrie-februarie pentru pieţele UE. Pe locurile următoare în acest clasament se situează state europene precum Spania (care refoloseşte 12% din apele uzate) şi Italia, dar şi Australia, continent care se confruntă cu o secetă severă din cauza încălzirii globale.
Desalinizare, tehnologie răspândită, dar nu şi la noi
Statele civilizate au început să dezvolte acest procedeu începând cu anii ‘60, pe scară largă. Aşa se face că în acest moment, state din Golful Persic de pe coasta nordică a Africii, Israelul, China sau Australia folosesc intensiv apă desalinizată din mările şi oceanele cu care se învecinează. State europene precum Franţa şi Germania au început recent proiecte în domeniu. Tehnologia este atât de avansată, încât apa sărată extrasă ajunge potabilă în mai puţin de o oră. Apele desalinizate sunt folosite însă, în principal, în industrie şi agricultură, şi mai puţin pentru consumul populaţiei.
În România, această soluţie nu este încă aplicată, motivul oficial fiind acela că deocamdată nu este necesar. Toate zonele afectate de ariditate sau chiar deşertificare (Dobrogea, sudul Munteniei sau Oltenia) se învecinează cu surse de apă dulce sau au rezervoare cu apă dulce, a căror apă este mult mai ieftină pentru a fi folosită decât cea desalinizată.
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