Isramart news:
Deutsche Bank today announced the completion of a 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system at its Piscataway, NJ, office. The roof-mounted array will offset a portion of the facility’s electricity consumption and reduce its carbon emissions by 143 metric tons annually, equivalent to 16,232 gallons of gasoline.
The solar installation consists of 1,066 roof-mounted PV modules that will generate approximately 270,000 kWh per year at the 83,000-square-foot Piscataway facility. The solar installation is capable of providing nearly 100 percent of the facility’s demand for power from the grid during peak daylight hours, and it will produce more than 12 percent of the electricity needed to operate the facility annually. An online energy monitoring system will track the facility’s power consumption, solar production and system efficiency. The system was designed and installed by Vanguard Energy Partners, a New Jersey-based leader in the design and installation of large-scale solar electric systems.
The solar installation is part of Deutsche Bank’s global commitment to be carbon neutral by 2012. As part of that program, the Bank has reduced its annual energy consumption by 19 million kWh in the Americas and 54 million kWh globally through a wide range of efficiency measures. Of the remaining global energy consumption, 67 percent comes from renewable sources, with 100 percent of the energy in the US, UK, Italy, Switzerland and Germany coming from renewables. In the US Deutsche Bank also was one of three firms to be named a "Green Power Partner of the Year" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at its 2009 Green Power Leadership Awards, which are cosponsored by the US Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions.
"Deutsche Bank is committed to being a leader in sustainability, and this project is a small part of a comprehensive global program to both reduce our consumption and shift to renewable sources" said Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas.
Deutsche Bank utilized both state and federal programs designed to encourage investment in renewable energy sources, including New Jersey Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC) and US federal renewable energy investment credits, part of the "green stimulus" package passed this year by the US Congress. The incentives were essential to make the investment in this new technology financially viable.
About Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank - NYSE: DB is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With 78,530 employees in 72 countries, Deutsche Bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Isramart :CO2 Pact Leaves Businesses Feeling Up in the Air
Isramart news:
The agreement achieved at the Copenhagen climate summit leaves business leaders around the world close to where they began, facing uncertainty about how environmental policy will affect their costs and decisions about investments.
Companies around the world had hoped the United Nations-sponsored talks would bring clarity on the new rules of the game in a new low-carbon world. They have had to think again.
"It's very frustrating at this stage that we haven't got a more-comprehensive agreement," said Richard Gledhill, head of carbon markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Much of the business elite in rich countries has already resigned itself to tighter restrictions on greenhouse gases. Companies in energy-intensive industries are already mapping out plans to drive down their emissions. Utility executives in the U.S. have been pouring money into lower-carbon technologies.
A legally binding treaty on emission cuts would have created a level playing field for clean energy, allowing it to compete on an equal footing with fossil fuels. No such deal emerged from the summit.
"If we'd had bankable emissions reduction targets for 2020, it would have given a stronger price signal for carbon," said Joan McNaughton, senior vice president, Power and Environment Policies, at Alstom Power SA, an engineering company which is a leader in clean coal. "That would have kick-started a lot of the needed investment in clean technology."
Steen Riisgaard, chief executive of Novozymes, a Danish biotech company, says he has the technology ready for second-generation biofuels. "But the deployment of that technology will not happen as fast as it would have had if there had been binding targets at Copenhagen," he said.
Advocates of cap-and-trade -- which lies at the heart of climate legislation now stuck in the U.S. Senate -- dream of a global network of emissions-trading systems that could one day link up. In their view that would give industry what it needs to make decisions about long-term investments -- a robust and stable price of carbon. But Copenhagen has set back those hopes.
Carbon trading is in its infancy. Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme is the world's largest market. If the U.S., the world's second-largest emitter after China, sets up its own system, that could help boost the global carbon market to $1.9 trillion by 2020, says New Carbon Finance, a London-based research firm.
But regulatory uncertainty in sectors like power generation has driven down the carbon price on Europe market, and it had its biggest fall in six months on Thursday -- nearly 5% -- and stayed at that level Friday. And now it is falling even lower. EU Allowances for December 2010, The benchmark contract fell 70 cents per tonne of CO2 Thursday, settling at 13.66 euros. They stayed at the same level Friday. It was the biggest fall in six months.
"We were hoping that a deal in Copenhagen would open up new opportunities for emissions trading," said Patrick Birley, head of the European Climate Exchange, one of Europe's main carbon marketplaces. That expectation has now faded, he says.
Some analysts think Friday's events could still stimulate carbon trading. Friday's deal "has somewhat of a market-stabilizing element," said Ben Feldman, an executive director in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s environmental markets group. He said it indicates a commitment to the concept of emission reductions.
In recent months, utilities, oil and gas companies in North America have become more active in carbon offsets, even on a voluntary basis. In the third quarter, U.S. carbon-trading volume increased 8% from the second quarter in spite of falling prices, New Carbon Finance says.
"Even with Copenhagen not really coming up with any major, ground-breaking decisions, everyone realizes that some sort of climate action is coming, and they are trying to learn the market," said Anthony D'Agostino, director of emissions markets at Royal Bank of Canada.
In the clean-technology industry, executives said they weren't counting on a deal at Copenhagen. They said companies have been making investments in low-carbon technologies on their own, driven by factors like the rising cost of traditional power and increased subsidies for alternative energy at the state and local level.
"Copenhagen is important to help drive awareness of the issues, but the private sector has not been waiting for governments for solutions," said Dallas Kachan, managing director of the Cleantech Group, a market research firm in San Francisco. "They have been putting money into this for a long time."
With or without a strong Copenhagen agreement, many U.S. states will continue to shift toward lower-carbon fuels, said Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates investor-owned electric, gas and water utilities in the state.
The agreement achieved at the Copenhagen climate summit leaves business leaders around the world close to where they began, facing uncertainty about how environmental policy will affect their costs and decisions about investments.
Companies around the world had hoped the United Nations-sponsored talks would bring clarity on the new rules of the game in a new low-carbon world. They have had to think again.
"It's very frustrating at this stage that we haven't got a more-comprehensive agreement," said Richard Gledhill, head of carbon markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Much of the business elite in rich countries has already resigned itself to tighter restrictions on greenhouse gases. Companies in energy-intensive industries are already mapping out plans to drive down their emissions. Utility executives in the U.S. have been pouring money into lower-carbon technologies.
A legally binding treaty on emission cuts would have created a level playing field for clean energy, allowing it to compete on an equal footing with fossil fuels. No such deal emerged from the summit.
"If we'd had bankable emissions reduction targets for 2020, it would have given a stronger price signal for carbon," said Joan McNaughton, senior vice president, Power and Environment Policies, at Alstom Power SA, an engineering company which is a leader in clean coal. "That would have kick-started a lot of the needed investment in clean technology."
Steen Riisgaard, chief executive of Novozymes, a Danish biotech company, says he has the technology ready for second-generation biofuels. "But the deployment of that technology will not happen as fast as it would have had if there had been binding targets at Copenhagen," he said.
Advocates of cap-and-trade -- which lies at the heart of climate legislation now stuck in the U.S. Senate -- dream of a global network of emissions-trading systems that could one day link up. In their view that would give industry what it needs to make decisions about long-term investments -- a robust and stable price of carbon. But Copenhagen has set back those hopes.
Carbon trading is in its infancy. Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme is the world's largest market. If the U.S., the world's second-largest emitter after China, sets up its own system, that could help boost the global carbon market to $1.9 trillion by 2020, says New Carbon Finance, a London-based research firm.
But regulatory uncertainty in sectors like power generation has driven down the carbon price on Europe market, and it had its biggest fall in six months on Thursday -- nearly 5% -- and stayed at that level Friday. And now it is falling even lower. EU Allowances for December 2010, The benchmark contract fell 70 cents per tonne of CO2 Thursday, settling at 13.66 euros. They stayed at the same level Friday. It was the biggest fall in six months.
"We were hoping that a deal in Copenhagen would open up new opportunities for emissions trading," said Patrick Birley, head of the European Climate Exchange, one of Europe's main carbon marketplaces. That expectation has now faded, he says.
Some analysts think Friday's events could still stimulate carbon trading. Friday's deal "has somewhat of a market-stabilizing element," said Ben Feldman, an executive director in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s environmental markets group. He said it indicates a commitment to the concept of emission reductions.
In recent months, utilities, oil and gas companies in North America have become more active in carbon offsets, even on a voluntary basis. In the third quarter, U.S. carbon-trading volume increased 8% from the second quarter in spite of falling prices, New Carbon Finance says.
"Even with Copenhagen not really coming up with any major, ground-breaking decisions, everyone realizes that some sort of climate action is coming, and they are trying to learn the market," said Anthony D'Agostino, director of emissions markets at Royal Bank of Canada.
In the clean-technology industry, executives said they weren't counting on a deal at Copenhagen. They said companies have been making investments in low-carbon technologies on their own, driven by factors like the rising cost of traditional power and increased subsidies for alternative energy at the state and local level.
"Copenhagen is important to help drive awareness of the issues, but the private sector has not been waiting for governments for solutions," said Dallas Kachan, managing director of the Cleantech Group, a market research firm in San Francisco. "They have been putting money into this for a long time."
With or without a strong Copenhagen agreement, many U.S. states will continue to shift toward lower-carbon fuels, said Michael Peevey, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates investor-owned electric, gas and water utilities in the state.
Isramart : Climate Draft Has No Details On Countries CO2 Emissions Limits Source
Isramart news:
A new draft agreement circulating on the final day of negotiations at the climate talks in Copenhagen doesn't specify any carbon emissions reductions targets, a person familiar with the document told the Wall Street Journal Friday.
The draft says the parties support a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. It said the funding would come from a variety of sources: public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance.
The text also recognizes the scientific view that the increase in global temperature ought not to exceed 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
A new draft agreement circulating on the final day of negotiations at the climate talks in Copenhagen doesn't specify any carbon emissions reductions targets, a person familiar with the document told the Wall Street Journal Friday.
The draft says the parties support a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. It said the funding would come from a variety of sources: public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources of finance.
The text also recognizes the scientific view that the increase in global temperature ought not to exceed 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
Isramart : Pond Biofuels Inc., CO2 Remediation and Renewable Fuel Production Demonstration Plant for GHG Emitti
Isramart news:
On December 3rd 2009, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced approval of the project proposal submitted by Pond Biofuels Inc. under the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate program.
The approved project includes funding in support of its biomass from microalgae demonstration plant at St. Marys, Ontario as well as a feasibility study to assess the suitability of its technology to the cement industry in China.
APP partners Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, and the United States have agreed to work together and with private sector partners to meet goals for energy security, national air pollution reduction, and climate change in ways that promote sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. The Partnership is focused on expanding investment
and trade in cleaner energy technologies, goods and services in key market sectors. The seven partner countries collectively account for more than half of the world's economy, population and energy use, and they produce about 65 percent of the world's coal, 62 percent of the world's cement, 52 percent of world's aluminum, and more than 60 percent of the world's steel.
Directly connected to the raw stack gas of the cement plant located at St. Marys Ontario, Pond Biofuels is utilizing CO2 emissions to grow and harvest high value biomass from microalgae.
"Pond Biofuels is honoured to have our project internationally recognized. It reflects not only upon the abilities of our company, but upon the ongoing support of our industrial partner and investors like the Ontario Centres of Excellence" said Steven Martin, CEO, Pond Biofuels.
About Pond Biofuels Inc.
Pond Biofuels is in the business of utilizing GHG from major industrial emitters to produce high value biomass from microalgae. Through the implementation of a proprietary continuous growth and harvest process, Pond Biofuels has successfully taken a multidisciplinary approach to algae industry challenges of process and scalability.
About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)
The Ontario Centres of Excellence is the pre-eminent research-to-commercialization vehicle in Ontario, OCE facilitates economic growth through support for industrially relevant R&D, the opening of new market opportunities and the commercialization of leading edge discoveries.
On December 3rd 2009, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced approval of the project proposal submitted by Pond Biofuels Inc. under the Asia-Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate program.
The approved project includes funding in support of its biomass from microalgae demonstration plant at St. Marys, Ontario as well as a feasibility study to assess the suitability of its technology to the cement industry in China.
APP partners Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, and the United States have agreed to work together and with private sector partners to meet goals for energy security, national air pollution reduction, and climate change in ways that promote sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. The Partnership is focused on expanding investment
and trade in cleaner energy technologies, goods and services in key market sectors. The seven partner countries collectively account for more than half of the world's economy, population and energy use, and they produce about 65 percent of the world's coal, 62 percent of the world's cement, 52 percent of world's aluminum, and more than 60 percent of the world's steel.
Directly connected to the raw stack gas of the cement plant located at St. Marys Ontario, Pond Biofuels is utilizing CO2 emissions to grow and harvest high value biomass from microalgae.
"Pond Biofuels is honoured to have our project internationally recognized. It reflects not only upon the abilities of our company, but upon the ongoing support of our industrial partner and investors like the Ontario Centres of Excellence" said Steven Martin, CEO, Pond Biofuels.
About Pond Biofuels Inc.
Pond Biofuels is in the business of utilizing GHG from major industrial emitters to produce high value biomass from microalgae. Through the implementation of a proprietary continuous growth and harvest process, Pond Biofuels has successfully taken a multidisciplinary approach to algae industry challenges of process and scalability.
About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)
The Ontario Centres of Excellence is the pre-eminent research-to-commercialization vehicle in Ontario, OCE facilitates economic growth through support for industrially relevant R&D, the opening of new market opportunities and the commercialization of leading edge discoveries.
Isramart : Personal Climate Activism Made Easy with the Volvo Group´s CO2 Calculator
Isramart nesw:
In connection with the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Volvo Group (STO:VOLVA)(STO:VOLVB) unveiled Commute Greener, a service which transforms your mobile phone into a personal CO2 calculator with connections to Social Networks like Facebook. People world-wide have already started using the service and are competing to reduce CO2 emissions. The most frequent CO2 reduction target set by the users is 20%, which is equivalent to changing your commuting behaviour during one working day per week.
After signing up for the service, it is easy for commuters to use their mobile phones, or a web site, to keep track of how much CO2 emissions are reduced, or increased, using different means of transportation, for example car, car pooling or bus. Tests show that individuals can be motivated to cut their CO2 emissions by 30% when using Commute Greener.
“We immediately received positive feedback from the people on the streets of Copenhagen. People appreciate the possibility to use their mobile phones to reduce their personal carbon footprint and contribute to a positive change in commuting behavior,” says Magnus Holmqvist, Commute Greener´s managing director.
The story behind Commute Greener begins in 2008, when an employee at Volvo IT´s Innovation Centre came up with the simple idea of an application for mobile phones that calculates the user’s carbon emissions while travelling.
“It was initially planned as an internal initiative to further enhance our work within environmental care. We wanted to come up with a new and fun way to involve our own people in dealing with climate change. Selling the service outside the Volvo Group was a very distant idea,” Magnus Holmqvist recalls.
After internal tests and an internal launch, this idea is now in the process of becoming reality. Commute Greener is being launched to external companies, cities and to individuals around the world.
“Companies save money, as their employees take the most effective means of transport rather than getting caught in traffic jams. The environment benefits and the burden on the road network is reduced”, says Magnus Holmqvist.
Holmqvist believes it is only natural that the Volvo Group, the world´s second largest producer of heavy-duty trucks, is launching a service like Commute Greener.
“We are part of the problem of carbon emissions, but we are also part of the solution. We have the expertise to create modern transport solutions for the whole of society,” he concludes.
Facts about Commute Greener
• Commute Greener is accessed through a mobile phone or an Internet web site
• A commuter who downloads the application can use the mobile telephone to register the methods of transport that are used for commuting. The application calculates how much carbon dioxide emissions are reduced or increased using different means of transportations, for example bus, car, car pooling, train, boat or bicycle. The application also contains examples of the impact you can make, such as the fact that it takes a tree one month to absorb a kilo of CO2.
• The service provides an online community for exchanging experience and for competitions between colleagues, friends and family members about the possible size of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions
• A GPS function opens the possibility to compare the size of CO2 emissions on different routes and using different means of transport
• At present, individuals can download Commute Greener as an application for the iPhone from the Apple App Store. To download the application to other mobile phones, a city, company or organisation first need to order access for its inhabitants, customers or employees
• So far, Commute Greener has registered users in the US, France, UK, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Sweden and elsewhere around the world.
In connection with the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Volvo Group (STO:VOLVA)(STO:VOLVB) unveiled Commute Greener, a service which transforms your mobile phone into a personal CO2 calculator with connections to Social Networks like Facebook. People world-wide have already started using the service and are competing to reduce CO2 emissions. The most frequent CO2 reduction target set by the users is 20%, which is equivalent to changing your commuting behaviour during one working day per week.
After signing up for the service, it is easy for commuters to use their mobile phones, or a web site, to keep track of how much CO2 emissions are reduced, or increased, using different means of transportation, for example car, car pooling or bus. Tests show that individuals can be motivated to cut their CO2 emissions by 30% when using Commute Greener.
“We immediately received positive feedback from the people on the streets of Copenhagen. People appreciate the possibility to use their mobile phones to reduce their personal carbon footprint and contribute to a positive change in commuting behavior,” says Magnus Holmqvist, Commute Greener´s managing director.
The story behind Commute Greener begins in 2008, when an employee at Volvo IT´s Innovation Centre came up with the simple idea of an application for mobile phones that calculates the user’s carbon emissions while travelling.
“It was initially planned as an internal initiative to further enhance our work within environmental care. We wanted to come up with a new and fun way to involve our own people in dealing with climate change. Selling the service outside the Volvo Group was a very distant idea,” Magnus Holmqvist recalls.
After internal tests and an internal launch, this idea is now in the process of becoming reality. Commute Greener is being launched to external companies, cities and to individuals around the world.
“Companies save money, as their employees take the most effective means of transport rather than getting caught in traffic jams. The environment benefits and the burden on the road network is reduced”, says Magnus Holmqvist.
Holmqvist believes it is only natural that the Volvo Group, the world´s second largest producer of heavy-duty trucks, is launching a service like Commute Greener.
“We are part of the problem of carbon emissions, but we are also part of the solution. We have the expertise to create modern transport solutions for the whole of society,” he concludes.
Facts about Commute Greener
• Commute Greener is accessed through a mobile phone or an Internet web site
• A commuter who downloads the application can use the mobile telephone to register the methods of transport that are used for commuting. The application calculates how much carbon dioxide emissions are reduced or increased using different means of transportations, for example bus, car, car pooling, train, boat or bicycle. The application also contains examples of the impact you can make, such as the fact that it takes a tree one month to absorb a kilo of CO2.
• The service provides an online community for exchanging experience and for competitions between colleagues, friends and family members about the possible size of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions
• A GPS function opens the possibility to compare the size of CO2 emissions on different routes and using different means of transport
• At present, individuals can download Commute Greener as an application for the iPhone from the Apple App Store. To download the application to other mobile phones, a city, company or organisation first need to order access for its inhabitants, customers or employees
• So far, Commute Greener has registered users in the US, France, UK, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Sweden and elsewhere around the world.
Isramart :No deal on CO2 cuts as climate talks enter final day
Isramart news:
Negotiators from 193 countries worked through the night and did reach consensus on financing and temperature. A draft text called for $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor nations cope with climate change and sought to limit warming to two degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
But large gaps remained.
Andreas Carlgren, the environment minister of EU president Sweden, said only the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States could unlock a deal.
"There are deep differences in opinion and views on how we should solve this. We'll try our best, until the last minutes of this conference," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
U.S. President Barack Obama arrived on Friday morning, and would meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines.
"Through the whole process the real problem has been on the one hand the United States, who are not able to deliver sufficiently (and) on the other hand China, and they delivered less. And they have been really blocking again and again in this process, followed by a group of oil states. That's the real difference, the real confrontation behind this," said Carlgren.
At stake is an agreement for coordinated global action to avert climate changes including more floods and droughts.
Two weeks of talks in the Danish capital have battled intense suspicion between rich and poor countries over how to share out emissions cuts. Developing countries say rich nations have a historic responsibility to take the lead.
Negotiators agreed on an initial draft which called for a two degree Celsius cap on global temperatures, compared with pre-industrial levels, and at least $100 billion in aid for poor nations, sources said.
Scientists say a 2 degrees limit is the minimum effort to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change including several metres sea level rise, extinctions and crop failures.
DESPERATE
Any final Copenhagen outcome could also include $30 billion in climate funds for least developed countries over and above a possible $100 billion a year funding by 2020 to help developing nations prepare for climate change and cut carbon emissions.
But the all-night meeting broke up in the morning without a deal on the central element of a climate deal - the timing and degree of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's still not there, it's confusing," said a European delegate.
"The situation is desperate," said a top Indian negotiator emerging from the talks to agree a text that could form the basis of a political statement at the end of the Copenhagen negotiations.
"There is no agreement on even what to call the text - a declaration, a statement or whatever. They (rich nations) want to make it a politically binding document which we oppose."
Another developing nation negotiator told Reuters that rich nations were offering to cut their carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, a proposal that had been rejected by developing nations. Developing nations have always insisted on the need for mid-term targets rather than long-term aspirations.
A further issue is trying to convince China and India, the world's top and fourth-largest carbon emitters, to allow outside scrutiny of pledged steps to curb their emissions.
The aim of the talks is to agree a climate deal which countries will convert into a full legally binding treaty next year, to succeed the Kyoto Protocol whose present round ends in 2012. The United States never ratified Kyoto, and the pact doesn't bind developing nations. (With extra reporting by Alister Doyle, Gerard Wynn, Anna Ringstrom, John Acher, Jeff Mason, Richard Cowan and Emma Graham-Harrison; Writing by Gerard Wynn; Editing by Janet McBride)
Negotiators from 193 countries worked through the night and did reach consensus on financing and temperature. A draft text called for $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor nations cope with climate change and sought to limit warming to two degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.
But large gaps remained.
Andreas Carlgren, the environment minister of EU president Sweden, said only the world's two biggest greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States could unlock a deal.
"There are deep differences in opinion and views on how we should solve this. We'll try our best, until the last minutes of this conference," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
U.S. President Barack Obama arrived on Friday morning, and would meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines.
"Through the whole process the real problem has been on the one hand the United States, who are not able to deliver sufficiently (and) on the other hand China, and they delivered less. And they have been really blocking again and again in this process, followed by a group of oil states. That's the real difference, the real confrontation behind this," said Carlgren.
At stake is an agreement for coordinated global action to avert climate changes including more floods and droughts.
Two weeks of talks in the Danish capital have battled intense suspicion between rich and poor countries over how to share out emissions cuts. Developing countries say rich nations have a historic responsibility to take the lead.
Negotiators agreed on an initial draft which called for a two degree Celsius cap on global temperatures, compared with pre-industrial levels, and at least $100 billion in aid for poor nations, sources said.
Scientists say a 2 degrees limit is the minimum effort to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change including several metres sea level rise, extinctions and crop failures.
DESPERATE
Any final Copenhagen outcome could also include $30 billion in climate funds for least developed countries over and above a possible $100 billion a year funding by 2020 to help developing nations prepare for climate change and cut carbon emissions.
But the all-night meeting broke up in the morning without a deal on the central element of a climate deal - the timing and degree of cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's still not there, it's confusing," said a European delegate.
"The situation is desperate," said a top Indian negotiator emerging from the talks to agree a text that could form the basis of a political statement at the end of the Copenhagen negotiations.
"There is no agreement on even what to call the text - a declaration, a statement or whatever. They (rich nations) want to make it a politically binding document which we oppose."
Another developing nation negotiator told Reuters that rich nations were offering to cut their carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, a proposal that had been rejected by developing nations. Developing nations have always insisted on the need for mid-term targets rather than long-term aspirations.
A further issue is trying to convince China and India, the world's top and fourth-largest carbon emitters, to allow outside scrutiny of pledged steps to curb their emissions.
The aim of the talks is to agree a climate deal which countries will convert into a full legally binding treaty next year, to succeed the Kyoto Protocol whose present round ends in 2012. The United States never ratified Kyoto, and the pact doesn't bind developing nations. (With extra reporting by Alister Doyle, Gerard Wynn, Anna Ringstrom, John Acher, Jeff Mason, Richard Cowan and Emma Graham-Harrison; Writing by Gerard Wynn; Editing by Janet McBride)
Isramart :Exiting councilwoman urges adherence to ‘carbon neutral’ pledge
Isramart news:
Councilwoman Liz Simonson is leaving office with a request that future town officials lead by example, staying on course with efforts to reduce municipal energy use.
In farewell comments at a Town Board meeting last week, Simonson said a 6-month-old plan to make the town “carbon neutral” has gotten off to a slow start.
“There were some immediate recommendations that have never been implemented,” she said. “There are a lot of midterm things that have never been implemented. If we are going to be serious about our carbon-neutral initiative, I think it’s time to go back to that report and peck away at and see what we can do.”
Simonson is completing her third four-year term as town councilwoman. Rather than seek re-election last month, she opted to challenge incumbent Jeff Moran for the town supervisor’s job and was defeated, 1,174-1,033.
Simonson encouraged other board members to regain the momentum that had been lost following an energy inventory of town buildings and vehicles.
“The recommended action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to assess the efficiency of all town-owned buildings and make the necessary energy-efficiency improvements,” Simonson said. “The priorities are going to be the buildings that we use 24/7, meaning the wastewater treatment plant, Town Hall and wherever we site police, dispatch and justice court.”
Simonson said the plan also includes encouraging town employees to practice energy efficiency when using town-owned vehicles and equipment.
“The second (priority) is to convert the use of passenger vehicles to hybrid vehicles as soon as possible and to obviously begin that implementation with vehicles in the police department,” she said.
“I have some contacts with the New York City division that handles this conversion. They have converted to some hybrid vehicle use down in the city,” Simonson said. “I will make sure that, up to the end of the year, that I get ... information to whoever is going to make that decision, but I think it’s a very viable option for the next vehicle purchase in the police department.”
Councilwoman Liz Simonson is leaving office with a request that future town officials lead by example, staying on course with efforts to reduce municipal energy use.
In farewell comments at a Town Board meeting last week, Simonson said a 6-month-old plan to make the town “carbon neutral” has gotten off to a slow start.
“There were some immediate recommendations that have never been implemented,” she said. “There are a lot of midterm things that have never been implemented. If we are going to be serious about our carbon-neutral initiative, I think it’s time to go back to that report and peck away at and see what we can do.”
Simonson is completing her third four-year term as town councilwoman. Rather than seek re-election last month, she opted to challenge incumbent Jeff Moran for the town supervisor’s job and was defeated, 1,174-1,033.
Simonson encouraged other board members to regain the momentum that had been lost following an energy inventory of town buildings and vehicles.
“The recommended action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to assess the efficiency of all town-owned buildings and make the necessary energy-efficiency improvements,” Simonson said. “The priorities are going to be the buildings that we use 24/7, meaning the wastewater treatment plant, Town Hall and wherever we site police, dispatch and justice court.”
Simonson said the plan also includes encouraging town employees to practice energy efficiency when using town-owned vehicles and equipment.
“The second (priority) is to convert the use of passenger vehicles to hybrid vehicles as soon as possible and to obviously begin that implementation with vehicles in the police department,” she said.
“I have some contacts with the New York City division that handles this conversion. They have converted to some hybrid vehicle use down in the city,” Simonson said. “I will make sure that, up to the end of the year, that I get ... information to whoever is going to make that decision, but I think it’s a very viable option for the next vehicle purchase in the police department.”
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