Top Stories
Tide of anger may turn an ecological tragedy
into a political nightmare.—reliability high.
"Fifty days in, the backlash from the BP oil spill is being felt on
both sides of the Atlantic. As the special relationship comes under
strain, Obama invests an unprecedented amount of presidential time on a
visit to the Gulf, while Cameron faces rightwing flak. ... Both
President Barack Obama and Britain's prime minister, David Cameron, are
finding to their cost that a crisis for a globalised company like BP
carries collateral damage. The urgent question for both men now is of
who will be damaged more by the collision of politics and big business
that is testing the UK's special relationship with the US to its
limit." Story in The
Guardian. [Politicians
can't do anything about the spill but try to throw BP's money at it,
and make statements. Now Cameron is being drawn into the sticky mess as
well. First Afghanistan and now this.]
Obama wants BP escrow account.—reliability
high.
"President Barack Obama will press BP executives this week to set up
an escrow account to pay damage claims by individuals and businesses
hurt by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster." More on current
government moves, U.S.-UK issues, in Reuters
story. [Political
grandstanding. There is really no question BP has the resources to
cover claims, but the President has to be seen to be doing something.]
Twilight of the Coal Era?—reliability
medium.
"gas is beginning to replace coal, according to Randy H. Zwirn,
president of the Siemens Power Generation Group. On Monday, Siemens is
announcing that it has won contracts to supply five new high-efficiency
gas plants to Progress Energy at two sites in North Carolina that have
old coal-fired generators. ... Per kilowatt-hour generated, the new
gas-fired generators will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent
and nitrogen oxides by 95 percent from levels produced by their
coal-fired predecessors. Nearly 100 percent of sulfur dioxides will be
eliminated, and all of the mercury, Siemens said." Why switching to gas
is more attractive than upgrading old coal plants in the U.S. See New
York Times Green blog.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
ADM receives $99 million in federal aid for
second carbon capture project.—reliability high.
"The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that ADM is slated
to receive up to $99 million from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act in an effort to demonstrate large-scale carbon capture
and storage from industrial sources. ADM originally was selected in
October 2009 for research and development grants for the project, which
will total $163.9 million. ADM plans to spend $43.6 million on the
project. ... The new project will capture and sequester 1 million tons
of CO2 per year from ADM's existing ethanol plant in Decatur." From
Decatur Herald-Review.
[Carbon dioxide is
a byproduct of the fermentation process used
to produce bioethanol. There is only so much demand for dry ice or CO2
for carbonated beverages, so much of it is just released into the
atmosphere at the plants.]
PE investors begin funding India carbon
credit projects.—reliability high.
"Private equity investors have begun funding clean development
mechanism projects, a strategy which will enable them to earn profits
from the project as well as by selling certified emission receipts
(CERs) or carbon credits. ... 'Apart from a share of profit from the
project, the fund also gains by selling carbon credits. Carbon credits
are becoming popular among industries having higher emission levels,'
said Chaitania Kalia, partner, Ernst & Young. ... PEs invest
anywhere between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 5 crore in medium-to-large-sized
projects." From Economic
Times.
Waste Management's Far Out Trash-to-Energy
Plans.—reliability high.
"Waste Management Chief Executive David Steiner thinks that the 110
million tons of waste his company handles every year can do more than
fill landfills and generate electricity. He's placing a series of bets
on far-off technologies that he hopes can turn garbage into more
valuable commodities like ethanol, diesel, gasoline, natural gas or
chemicals. 'We don't want to play just in the picking up and
delivering,' says Steiner. 'We want to own conversion, too. We want to
own the technology.'" Mentions several investments. Story in Forbes.
Products That Are Earth-and-Profit Friendly.—reliability
high.
"Around the globe, a growing number of manufacturers are including
more recyclable or biodegradable components into products. Companies
making changes run the gamut — there are furniture makers, carpet
manufacturers, clothing retailers and makers of shampoos and household
cleaners. And with big-box retailers like Wal-Mart joining in, industry
analysts say the sustainable philosophy is no longer viewed as the
province of high-end sellers like Nike or Herman Miller, the furniture
maker. In 2008 alone, American consumers doubled their spending on
sustainable products and services to an estimated $500 billion ...."
Examples from various companies, and comments on difficulty of greening
products. See The
New York Times.
Government and
Regulation
Governments approve plan for biodiversity
panel.—reliability high.
"Governments today approved plans for a new international scientific
panel dedicated to addressing biodiversity loss and modelled on the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The proposals ... will now
lead to the formation of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform
on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The independent panel
is expected to provide international policy makers with detailed
research on the social and economic impact of biodiversity loss and
environmental degradation." From BusinessGreen.
Science and
Economics
New study: burning trees for power worse for
climate than burning coal.—reliability medium.
"A study commissioned by [the Massachusetts] Department of Energy
Resources and released today reaches the conclusion that burning trees
to make electricity is worse for the climate than burning coal at least
through 2050. In fact, the study by the Manomet Center for Conservation
Science finds that between the release of carbon when trees are burned
and the slow reabsorption as the trees regrow, that this source of
biopower would increase emissions by 3% compared to coal power over 40
years." See NRDC
blogs. Access study here.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
