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admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:16:56 +0000

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Cosmic diamonds may be hidden in carbon onions

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:10:27 +0000

| Sourced From Entertainment and showbiz |

A new research has suggested that

UK: Government to Auction 85 Million Carbon Credits Starting This Year

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:20:37 +0000

The British government has revealed that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would auction around 85m carbon credits (each equaling a tonne of CO2) over a 4-year period. This would eventually generate revenue of around

Farmers, Ranchers to Receive $2.6 Million for Carbon Savings

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:46:00 +0000

Around 990 farmers and ranchers in North Dakota will receive a total of $2.6 million this week from a program that financially rewards farmers for using environment friendly practices. The scheme, named National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program, accumulates all the carbon savings in the form of carbon credits sellable at the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).

Other businesses at CCX can purchase these credits to offset their own carbon footprint. The nationwide farmers program has disbursed approximately $8.5 million to North Dakotans since it came there two years back, mentioned Robert Carlson, head of North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU).

Overall, around 2,300 farmers and ranchers coming from 20 states are participating in the scheme, which has witnessed a threefold increase in participants over the previous year. Supervisors check farmers lands on the spot to confirm sequestration is taking place. Livestock owners and cattle farmers too can benefit from the scheme by reducing methane emissions from manure. The current rate of carbon credits at the CCX is around $4 per metric ton at present.

South Africa Considering Carbon Tax; No Time-Frame, Reductions Target Specified

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:39:00 +0000

South African Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk declared his country is considering implementation of carbon tax and other steps to tackle global warming, and the Treasury will prepare a report on these strategies for the cabinet. The government wants to begin with a low tax, gradually increasing it by 2020.

Although Mr. Schalkwyk did not mention any clear, measurable reduction targets, the announcement was welcomed by the SA Climate Action Network and WWF South Africa. Richard Worthington, a representative of Climate Action Network, predicts the South African government may announce exact targets and time-frames in the upcoming Copenhagen meeting in December 2009.

Carbon Trading : A Viable Solution?

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 20:55:44 +0000

Earlier this month Australia unveiled plans to introduce a comprehensive carbon cap-and-trade scheme in 2010 that would cover 75% of its emissions. The plan has however been met with a degree of ambivalence.

Environmentalists such as Greenpeace expect that it "would result in nothing more than paper shuffling" and Brendan Nelson – the leader of the opposition is of the opinion that unless other polluters of the world take serious measures to curb their emissions, carbon trading will have grave consequences for the Australian economy. On the other hand, a recently conducted poll of 1200 people indicates a strong inclination in favor of carbon trading - eight out of ten people voted for carbon trading.

Japan, the world’s fifth largest polluter has also announced that it will begin carbon trading on a trial basis this October – "the first concrete step" towards slashing its carbon emissions, according to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. However, the plan is unlikely to get an across-the-board welcome, what with the country’s emitters viewing the scheme as an impediment to growth.

Despite its critics carbon trading seems to be gaining momentum, with more and more countries resorting to it. What are your views? Do you think carbon trading is a viable solution or should countries concentrate their resources on other means to combat global warming?

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Asian Economies Considering Launch of Carbon Exchanges

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:00:00 +0000

Worldwide growth of carbon trading is attracting several Asian economies to the point that Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and the like are considering establishment of carbon exchanges to facilitate trade of carbon credits in their countries. As Carbon Development Mechanism has gained popularity, Asian firms now appreciate carbon as a soft commodity that has the potential of being traded as carbon credits or in other various forms in carbon exchanges.

However, critics say the idea may not work well unless demand for carbon credits takes a boost in Asia. Liam Salter of WWF Hong Kong asserts carbon exchanges cant rely solely on CDM projects because of the uncertain future of CDM.

For detailed insight into the Asian Carbon Market, read here.

Future development and July 28 headlines

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:42:17 +0000

Hi everybody,

We have a couple announcements we’d like to share with you. But first, we wanted to extend a thank you to all of our readers and the community that have been supporting this effort. Your support means a great deal. Thank you.

Site Update
Our goal is to provide free ongoing daily news about the exciting carbon market and have found a warm response to our service thus far. Because of this success, we are going to update our site over the coming weeks. The major goal of this update will be to allow us to incorporate more features and services for readers as well as incorporate better sponsorship opportunities. In the near future we hope to begin generating revenue so that we can increase the number of articles that we publish each day.

Our site, RSS feed, and email newsletter may experience a hiccup or two during this transition. So please bear with us over the next couple weeks as we go through this process

July 28 headlines
We apologize for missing yesterday’s headlines. Our author who writes the headlines was challenged by city-wide power outages that have continued on through to today. We are doing the best we can to keep our service consistent during this time.

If you have any questions about these items or general thoughts we’d love to hear them.

Thanks!

Chris

Top Executives from GE, United Tech Ask Congress to Set Price for CO2

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:32:00 +0000

Executives from two large US firms have asked a congressional panel to set a price for CO2 emissions so that companies would be motivated to use energy efficiently and the nation would take part in the fight against global warming. George David, Head of United Technologies Corporation, did not stress on any particular approach and said both carbon tax and cap-and-trade would be ok as long as there is a price for CO2. However, John Rice of General Electric recommended cap-and-trade as the most suitable approach to the issue.

New Facebook Application to Promote Energy Conservation

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:09:59 +0000

The student duo of Jin Fan and Kevin Muise at the Simon Fraser University in Canada have developed an application that uses Facebook as a platform to propel users towards a greener existence. Aptly named -GreeNet, the application depends on data from electricity providers to establish energy consumption patterns of users and accordingly creates a virtual garden in the user’s profile. Greener habits result in greener gardens with more trees and flowers.

The idea is get users to compare their energy usage with others and feel inspired to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle. Muise likens the process to actual gardening,"You see other people’s gardens growing beautifully and get the urge to improve your lawn." The GreeNet application got second position in the ‘Interface Design’ category at the recently held Imagine Cup that is sponsored by Microsoft.

Fan and Muise chose Facebook – a popular social networking site for their application as they are looking to target the youth – "who one day will be the decision makers." However for the application to be successful it will need to be linked directly to energy use, which will require the participation of energy service providers in the project.

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Carbon Credit Traders Making Sound Sales on Auction Site Trade Me

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:21:00 +0000

While people may experience a hard time selling carbon credits through exchanges, online auction websites may offer some extra exposure to carbon traders. An auction website Trade Me reports a 71% sell-through rate for carbon credits, which happens to be the highest sell-through rate for any single category on the website.

July 27 Carbon Industry Top Headlines

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:24:00 +0000

Carbon Trading Maturing, Going through Different Phases

Australia: Opposition Says Coalition Leaders Will Have United Stance on Emissions Trading Scheme

American Military on Its Way to Reduce Carbon Footprint

Ireland: Green Party Wants Carbon Tax to be Part of December Budget

Truckers to File Suit against LA Ports over Rules Aimed at Cutting Truck Emissions

State Bank of India Looking for CDM Experts to Acquire Carbon Credits

admin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:47:00 +0000

After repeated calls from Americans and Australians, the environmental awareness situation in India is taking some twists. A recent story by the Hindustan Times says the State Bank of India (SBI) is on the lookout for greening consultants to cut its power usage and to accumulate some carbon credits.

The bank has requested CDM consultants to submit proposals for power saving projects. The consultants are supposed to recommend eco-friendly devices to SBI so that the bank can acquire carbon credits by taking advantage of Kyoto Protocols Carbon Development Mechanism. The bank has set August 5 as the last date for submission of applications.

Australia: ANWU Asks Government to Impose Carbon Tariff, Develop Environment Friendly Industries

admin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:12:56 +0000

As various industries in Australia worry about their fate post emissions trading scheme, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) has asked the government to introduce a special carbon tariff on all imports from firms operating in countries where GHG emissions arent monitored and taken care of.

The union wants to ensure that through the proposed carbon tariff, the prices of merchandise coming from such countries would increase so that Australian manufacturers are not negatively affected by the emissions scheme.

In addition to this, the AMWU wants the government to establish and promote alternate eco-friendly industries that would create jobs for those who may be laid off by emissions-intensive firms unable to compete with the emissions scheme in place.

July 26 Carbon Industry Top Headlines

admin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:55:11 +0000

4Offsets.com Offers Commissions, Offsets to Affiliates Bringing Carbon Offsets Sales

5,000 Democratic National Convention Delegates to Purchase Carbon Offsets

Canada: Environment Minister Says Carbon Tax Scheme is Pay and Pollute Approach

Dairy Industry Plans to Cut Carbon Footprint

Research Says Livestock Manure Can Become Renewable Fuel, Significant Emissions Reductions Possible

Ireland: Minister Hopes ESBs Emissions Reductions Program Would Become Model for Other Public Sector Organizations

admin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:54:37 +0000

The Electricity Supply Board in Ireland has initiated a green program with the objective of reducing its CO2 emissions by 30% in a 4-year period. This would include a number of measures that will help the organization reduce its carbon footprint at all ends. Apart from this, a

Australia: Woodside CEO Aims at Free Carbon Permits for LNG Industry

admin — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:54:03 +0000

Don Voelte, CEO of Woodside plans to insist on free carbon permits for the LNG industry when he meets senior ministers next week. Although the Rudd government has given hints they would give financial assistance to the industry, Mr. Voelte wants to ensure they get free carbon permits instead. He suggests that the government make some favorable adjustment in free permit qualification criterion i.e., lowering the amount of emissions an industry releases per $1 million revenue.

The LNG industry currently generates around 1200 tonnes of CO2 pr $1 of revenue realized, whereas industries generating at least 1500 tonnes per $1 million revenue qualify for free permits under the current scheme.

Shadow Treasurer Malcolm Turnbull, who previously advocated implementation of the emissions scheme by 2012 regardless of other countries policies, now seems to be changing his mind.

Carbon Sense Solutions to Bring Carbon Cutting Technology for Concrete Industry

admin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Robert Nivens Carbon Sense Solutions may very well be on its way to introduce a ground-breaking technology for the concrete industry. The firm, based in Halifax, is testing a process that would take care of the CO2 released while manufacturing pre-cast concrete. Nova Scotia will be host to the testing program set to start this year as the concept seems theoretically feasible.

If successful, this would allow concrete producers to cut their carbon footprint by 20% and would also eliminate the need to store this CO2 underground. Cheryl Ratchford of the Ecology Action Centre is keeping an eye on this testing phase and has some reservations about this although she is satisfied with the positive attitude of the researchers.

Australia: Emissions Scheme Would Promote Gas-Fired Plants and Renewable Energy

admin — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:01:57 +0000

A research done by ACIL Tasman revealed emissions reductions in Australia are expected to decrease the countrys power generating capacity in the east coast by a significant 23% by 2020. The Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA) stated this lost capacity would be compensated by focusing on gas-fired and renewable power facilities. The Australian government has planned to reduce electricity-generated emissions by up to 20%, which would mean reduction of around 6,700-10,400 MW of power.

At present, the nation gets around 85% of its power supply through coal-fired plants, which generate huge amounts of CO2 emissions if compared with gas plants. The research also highlighted that the country will have to put in around $31.7 billion through 2020, a large proportion of which would go to development of renewable energy facilities and gas-fired plants.

ESAA CEO Brad Page says the situation is very promising indeed.

July 25 Carbon Industry Top Headlines

admin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:44:16 +0000

Accenture Launches Suite to Measure Financial Impact of Datacenter Emissions Reductions

Software Firms May Find Lucrative Opportunities in Expanding Carbon Market

Canada: Upcoming Elections to Tell How People View the Proposed Carbon Tax

Retrofitting Houses May Cut CO2 Emissions Sharply

British Council Offsets Emissions Resulting from Kenya Air Travel

Avis Budget Group to go Carbon Neutral

admin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Avis Budget Group – a leading car rental operator that includes Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car, has teamed up with Carbonfund.org - a non-profit carbon offset provider, with a view to provide an array of carbon offset options to its customers that will mitigate the adverse environmental impact of the rental car industry. Its customers will be able to offsets their emissions by making a donation to Carbonfund.org through the Avis or Budget websites that will be used to purchase carbon credits, which in turn will fund clean technology initiatives.

Avis Budget Group has take other noteworthy eco-conscious steps as well. Its fleet, a large majority of which is U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Certified, includes fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles. The company also provides other eco-friendly options such as eToll electronic toll collection and where2 GPS navigation. In addition, it is planning to establish an environment management system (EMS) to make sure that its operations are in keeping with the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001.

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Up to 0.6 B Tons of Yearly Emissions Cuts Possible through Protection of Tropical Rainforests

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:05:57 +0000

If industrialized countries safeguard tropical rainforests from deforestation, they may be able to offset around 50 million tons of CO2 at an approximate rate of $2/ton, reveals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in one of its July 23 publications.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is an effective strategy that has the potential to safeguard the environment and decelerate climate change.

One of the authors of this research claims that REDD is an economically viable and feasible option for the Americans and would result in savings for taxpayers. It has been estimated that at the rate of $2-5 per metric ton of carbon credit, we can cut worldwide deforestation by 10% by 2030, which would cut CO2 emissions by around 0.3-0.6 billion metric tons per year.

Hong Kong Formulates Strategy to Proceed with Carbon Audits of Buildings

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:57:00 +0000

It is the first time the Hong Kong government has published guidelines to carry out carbon audits on buildings, reported the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.

The Environment Secretary Edward Yau stated that people can do the audits to figure out how much GHG emissions are being generated by the buildings. The Secretary further mentioned buildings make up around 89% of Hong Kongs electricity usage and they would have to cut this consumption in order to cut GHG emissions. In addition, Hong Kongs yearly GHG emissions are around 45 million tons, more than 60% of which are produced by electricity usage.

It is expected that at least 100 buildings will proceed with audits this year, whereas 37 organizations are to do the audits in the coming two years. Hence, there is a good chance carbon trading and offsetting schemes would see a boost in this region within the next couple of years, but this would also depend on governments policy about how they want emissions-intensive companies to go carbon neutral.

Western Climate Initiative to Start Carbon Trading in 2012

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:14:37 +0000

The Western Climate Initiative (WCI) – a group of seven states on the West Coast of the United States and four Canadian provinces, intends to introduce a market-based emissions cap-and-trade scheme, as per a draft proposal released on Wednesday. Even though details such as how to appropriate emission allowances etc. are yet to be finalized, the group foresees a 2012 kick-off.

The WCI was initiated in 2007 by U.S. governors led by Arnold Schwarzenegger with the objective of taking concrete steps against climate change. It consists of the US states of Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington, along with the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Several states in the two countries as well as Mexico are observers in the WCI.

The WCI hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by fifteen per cent as compared to 2005 levels by 2020.

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July 24 Carbon Industry Top Headlines

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:13:00 +0000

Post Carbon Institute Makes 10-Point Strategy to Meet Al Gores Renewable Energy Challenge

USA: AWWA Representative Reveals Concerns over Carbon Sequestration

Nikkei Daily Says Japanese Automakers Working on Carbon Fiber to Increase Fuel Economy, Cut CO2 Emissions

IDEAcarbon Will Give Ratings to Indian CDM Projects