Top Stories
Analysis: India plant's carbon status denial
upsets investors.—reliability high.
"A U.N. carbon credit scheme's rejection of a huge Indian coal power
plant deprives the project of revenue running into hundreds of millions
of euros and rings alarm bells for investors developing similar plants.
... In India's western state of Gujarat, Tata Power has completed more
than half of its $4.2-billion 4,000-MW plant that will use more
efficient supercritical boiler technology to cut carbon emissions and
reduce coal consumption. ... Tata had been hoping to earn carbon
credits under a U.N. scheme that rewards investments in cleaner energy.
But late in July, the panel for the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism
rejected Tata's application, saying it had not shown CDM revenues were
critical to the project's return on equity. ... The step could be a
blow for other developers looking to capitalize on India's massive
infrastructure gap, such as Reliance, CLP Power India, Indiabulls Power
and GMR Energy." More on reaction of backers of such projects. See Reuters
article. [The
decision centers on the concept of "additionality". Would the plant
have been built anyway in the absence of the potential carbon credits?
If so there is no "additional" reduction due to the carbon credit
transaction, and the credits are not valid. Apparently the panel
decided that the more-efficient technology paid for itself and would
have been used even in the absence of the issuance of credits.]
Calif. Project Spurs Debate Over a
'Decarbonized' Energy System.—reliability high.
In-depth look at a project in California that might allow it to burn
coal with less CO2 emissions than today's natural gas power plants by
using carbon capture and storage. The project has a market for the CO2
for enhanced oil recovery at a nearby Occidental Petroleum field, the
gasification technology is well proven, and coal companies are eager
for a continuing market for their product. See New
York Times from ClimateWire. See related item below. [Worth reading to
see how all the stakeholders seem to be coming together around the
project. Most of the financing will come from BP and Rio Tinto. The
scheme may be viable in California because of premium prices that can
be allowed for electricity from "low carbon" sources (though a buyer
for the power hasn't been locked in yet). And California has a policy
to decarbonize its energy system. Carbon capture and storage is still
an unproven technology, and one might raise doubts about "sequestering"
CO2 in an oil field perforated by thousands of holes.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
P&G to use Braskem's bioplastic.—reliability
medium.
"P&G said today that it will use sugarcane-based high-density
polyethylene (HDPE) plastic made by Braskem into some of its packaging
on its Pantene Pro-V, Covergirl and Max Factor brands. Pilot products
will be rolled out globally over the next two years with first
commercial products expected on the shelf in 2011." From ICIS
Green Chemicals.
Think Globally, Compromise Locally.—reliability
medium.
"there has been a string of successful compromises between
environmentalists and industry in the last two weeks. The most notable
were in Utah, California and Ohio. One dealt with natural gas drilling.
Another, described by my colleague Erik Eckholm in Thursday’s paper,
involved livestock and poultry farms that confine animals in tiny
spaces. And as my colleague Todd Woody reported this week, a solution
was reached on distribution of inadequate water supplies in
California’s agricultural heartland. ... the developments in Ohio,
California’s Central Valley and Utah show that formerly hostile
industries are coming to terms with the wider acceptance of the
environmentalist ethos. Keith Stimpert, a senior vice president of the
Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, could have been speaking for more than his
own industry when he told Mr. Eckholm, 'We all know change is coming.'"
More details on these cases. See New
York Times green blog.
Executives, Consumers Doubt Most Companies
Really Going Green.—reliability high.
"Fortune 1000 executives and the general public believe just a
fraction of businesses are embracing green practices, a new survey
found. Only 29 percent of Fortune 1000 executives and 16 percent of
consumers feel a majority of companies are committed to adopting more
environmentally friendly business practices, products or services,
according to the 2010 Gibbs & Soell Sense & Sustainability
Study. In comparison, 54 percent of executives believe only some are
walking the green walk, in addition to 48 percent of consumers
participating in the survey." See Greener
World Media. PDF of press release here.
["While more than
two-thirds of executives (69%) indicated their companies have people
responsible for sustainability or 'going green' initiatives, most have
merely added responsibilities for green efforts to the primary duties
of a team of individuals (35%), or a C-suite or another senior level
position (15%). Only about one in 10 say they have a C-suite or other
senior level title/position dedicated solely to sustainability (12%),
while 31% noted there is no one at their organization who is primarily
or partially responsible for green initiatives." A lot of companies
have some catching up to do.]
And
from a similar survey in UK: Short-term profits put corporate
sustainability commitments at risk.—reliability high.
"Sustainability is at risk of dropping off the corporate agenda
post-recession with business ditching it in favour of strategies to
generate short-term profits and enhance their balance sheet, according
to a new report released by O2 today. With spending still under
pressure, Harnessing Change: Preparing for Business in the Next Decade,
reveals that the downturn has left British boardrooms deeply divided on
the issue. Nearly half (46%) of business and public sector leaders plan
to prioritise sustainability over the next two years, but more than a
third (36%) admits they will turn away from it. 1 in 3 argues
that they don't have the expertise to quantify and justify its benefits
resulting in it failing to fly in boardrooms." More highlights of
results. From O2
site.
Government and
Regulation
France launches €1.35bn renewable energy
package.—reliability high.
"The French government has this week launched a major renewable energy
investment programme, promising to provide €1.35bn (£1.1bn) of
financial support to the sector over the next four years. The new
programme ... will provide €450m in subsidies and a further €900m in
low-interest loans to cutting-edge technology projects." See BusinessGreen.
Obama panel urges U.S. backing for clean
coal.—reliability high.
"A task force established by President Obama called Thursday for a
strong government role to promote clean coal, potentially accepting
liability over carbon-storage sites for thousands of years to come. ...
The task force, which included 14 federal agencies and departments as
well as stakeholders, called for government financial and technical
support to meet Obama's goal of creating up to 10 CCS demonstration
projects by 2016. ... Along with the high costs of CCS projects, the
report said a potential hang-up was how to ensure liability for storage
areas -- geological formations where carbon can be kept for hundreds or
even thousands of years." At Grist
from AFP.
Science and
Economics
World 2009 CO2 emissions off 1.3 percent:
institute.—reliability high.
"Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2009 fell 1.3 percent to
31.3 billion tonnes in the first year-on-year decline in this decade,
German renewable energy institute IWR said on Friday. The
Muenster-based institute, which advises German ministries, cited the
global economic crisis and rising investments in renewable energies for
the fall in emissions. ... Global CO2 emissions are still 37 percent
above those in 1990, the basis year for the Kyoto Climate Protocol."
See Reuters.
More at IWR site (in German).
