Profile: Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett, who has found herself in the midst of a climate change row after appearing in a TV commercial, paid for by environmental groups, is calling on Australians to back a tax on carbon, urging her fellow citizens to finally do something about climate change. “I think when you put your name to anything –  when you stand up for something that is of national importance as the price on pollution is – then you have to expect people on the other side of the debate to say negative things.”

Note from the editor:

Cate Blanchett’s green credentials are very clear to many and particularly me. She rated a paragraph and a photo or two in my book “The ABC of Carbon” (see below) and I have reported her words and deeds before in abc carbon express. She was voted No 1 as the most influential person in Australia for climate change action and awareness in our first ABC Carbon 5O in 2009, and included again in 2010, when we didn’t put a number to the name. She was a star attraction at the Copenhagen World Business Summit on Climate Change.We are also well aware on the influence Cate has had on the green and sustainable policies for the Sydney Theatre Company, which she and husband Andrew Upton run as joint Artistic Directors. See article below. We are very sure many others in business, the arts, NGOs the community and maybe even politics, value her views and example. Maybe it rubs off on to other film stars and film makers, theatre companies and sponsors. Maybe it is too much to hope for, but wouldn’t it be good if a few business leaders and other well-known identities, with or without the drawing power of Cate, were prepared to put their name and reputation to such an important cause as recognising the reality of climate change and making polluters pay for the damage their doing to the country, the planet and the atmosphere. – Ken Hickson

Add extract from book The ABC of Carbon

Blanchett, Cate. Celebrities are known to associate with causes the world over, but when a star of the calibre of Cate Blanchett puts her name to something, it somehow means more. She believes it. The award-winning Australian actress identified with the WWF’s organised Earth Hour in Sydney in March 2007 and spoke eloquently on the topic of climate change at the launch of ‘Who On Earth Cares’, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s online campaign that brings together Australians who want to combat climate change. But it’s her actions that speak louder than words. Blanchett admits that she has reduced her driving to 20 kilometres less per week, switched to green household power and installed a water-efficient shower head and shower timer. Accompanied by ACF director Don Henry at drought-ravaged Lake Samsonvale, north of Brisbane in August 2007, Blanchett urged Australians to support the campaign. See what Cate and others are doing to reduce their emissions and make a difference. Source: www.whoonearthcares.com

Information from Sydney Theatre Company

Greening the Wharf:

Over the last 12 months we have been making significant changes to The Wharf as well as our habits and behaviour in order to reduce our impact on our environment. 

Sydney Theatre Company’s home, The Wharf at Pier 4/5, is fast becoming a living example of how all buildings – even heritage ones – can be made more sustainable. We now draw energy from the sun, reduce the waste leaving The Wharf to landfill and will soon be collecting precious rainwater from our roof.

In November 2010, our Artistic Directors, Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett turned on the second largest roof-top photovoltaic array of solar power in Australia on our roof. This allows STC to derive the majority of its required energy from renewable sources.

Construction has also begun on our innovative Rainwater Harvesting System which will store water in a huge pipe suspended beneath the pier’s structure. When completed, it will provide 100% of the non-potable water required for use by all arts organisations on Pier 4/5.

The changes to infrastructure are only a small part of our greening transformation. We have been working with staff, creative teams and guest artists to ensure that Sydney Theatre Company and Walsh Bay will, over time, become recognised as a world-leading sustainable creative precinct.

The Greening The Wharf project is supported by the Federal Government’s Green Precincts Fund, NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change’s Public Facilities Program, three private gifts from Cameron and Ilse O’Reilly, Peter Hall and Laura Smith, and David and Claire Paradice, support from our Energy Advisor Ausgrid, as well as donations from STC supporters and a range of other sponsors and partners including KPMG

Renewable Energy

Our rooftop solar array is now generating power from 1,906 advanced Suntech Pluto solar cell technology developed by the University of NSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy.  The solar power system, coupled with the Company’s drive towards energy-efficiency, will provide up to 70% of STC’s electricity needs.

This project has been made possible by an A$2 million donation from the Shi Family Foundation, representing Dr Zhengrong Shi and Mrs. Vivienne Shi. A renowned photovoltaic scientist, Dr Zhengrong Shi is the founder and CEO of Suntech Power, the world’s leading producer of solar panels. He studied at the prestigious School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), with which Suntech maintains a long-term solar research partnership. Other support has been provided by Tropman and Tropman heritage architects.

Reducing Waste at The Wharf

We’ve now installed streamed waste bins at The Wharf. With support from the Packaging Stewardship Forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council we’ve been able to invest in new bins for all public and back-of-house areas.

These bins separate waste into three streams: mixed paper, mixed containers and general waste. The Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) represents the interests of Australia’s major beverage manufacturers and their packaging suppliers and works with organisations across Australia to reduce littering and increase recycling.

Our aim is to reduce levels of waste sent direct to landfill from The Wharf and we hope to recycle up to 8 tonnes of recyclable drink containers each year. We have worked with the PSF and our sponsor, Veolia, to measure our performance. So please ensure when visiting the Wharf that all recyclable items go into the correct waste bin.

You might not realise that the plastic water cups used in the Wharf Restaurant are recyclable and they should be placed in the cup bank or mixed containers bin after use.

The Wharf Restaurant is now also making an effort to separate the small amount of organic waste it produces daily and a percentage of this is being directed for use on the farm of Chef, Aaron Ross.

Reducing Water Consumption at The Wharf

Late in 2009 the STC’s public bathrooms that serve patrons for Wharf 1, Wharf 2 and the Restaurant and Bar received a long-overdue make-over. The good news is that not only did we stylishly renovate the bathrooms and increase the number of toilets for women, but we also upgraded all fittings to the very latest WELS 6 Star rated water saving fittings with the help of our friends at Caroma.

This was the first and largest step in reducing water usage throughout The Wharf in advance of the installation of our rainwater harvesting and reticulation system.

Making STC Productions More Sustainable

In line with international best practice, over the last twelve months we have implemented our Green Design Policy. This challenges designers working on productions at Sydney Theatre Company to consider the environmental impact of their designs and to work to reduce the overall waste a production generates. This is already informing our 2011 productions. The set of ZEBRA! was made predominantly from recycled timber sourced from our own workshop as well as local salvage yards. The grey-water captured from the set of Baal is collected and used to water parks around the city.

Upgrades have also been made to equipment used in the production department, and throughout the company. Just by purchasing greener equipment, we will cut our energy consumption and carbon emissions by around 24%.

Theatre is a conspicuous user of energy through the lighting of productions. Early in the greening process, we identified the need to investigate ways to limit the environmental impact of its theatrical lighting systems.  For months we researched the latest technologies and explored alternative light sources. In addition to upgrading older and less environmentally sound lighting stock, we have also purchased a range of low-energy, fluorescent and LED theatrical fixtures which we encourage our lighting designers to use. These help lighting designers stay within our new wattage caps for each production, representing a 40% decrease from existing capacity.

Education and Advocacy Plan

Now that we have put some of our own changes in place, we feel in a position to share what we have learned with our precinct neighbours, to our creative industry colleagues, to our corporate and government supporters, and to the broader Australian and international community.

On Open Day, we opened our doors to the company and lead a discussion on ‘How the Arts Can Lead on Climate Change’. We regularly present forums and discussions on the subject (including The Wentworth Talks) and we regularly update the Sydney Theatre Company Blog with information not only about the changes happening within our company, but with information on sustainability from around Australia and the world.

We are also working with our Education department to ensure that the messages of Greening the Wharf aren’t lost on our audiences of the future.

Next time you’re at the theatre, make sure you check out our Sydney Theatre Company Green Screens (launching June 2011) which give you a comprehensive and interactive behind-the-scenes look at the various changes taking place at The Wharf. 

We will continue to share our transformation with you on this website. In the coming months you will be able to look through case studies, videos, images and industry advice that will chart the journey of Greening The Wharf to date as well as provide insight into what lies ahead. We hope this will provide a resource to other our creative industry colleagues, to schools and Universities, to our supporters, and to the broader Australian and international community on this unique project.

To view our Greening The Wharf blog click here.

Interested in The Wentworth Talks?

Since 2010, we have been joining with the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists to present The Wentworth Talks, a series of free bi-monthly presentations and panel discussions at The Wharf led by guest speakers addressing a wide range of topics relating to climate change and the environment.

For more information on the next  Wentworth Talk please click here.

Interested in a Greening The Wharf bag?

We have produced a special reusable shopping bag, with proceeds going towards the Greening The Wharf program. Made with 100% recycled materials, the bag is 100% biodegradable and is now available to purchase for $12 by visiting The Wharf Box Office. For each bag sold, $5 will go directly to Greening The Wharf.

Interested in Greening Your Own Home Base

We’re passionate about our Greening the Wharf program because it will significantly reduce the energy and water that STC draws from the city’s supply and decrease the amount of waste that is sent to landfill from The Wharf. By setting an example through Greening the Wharf we want to encourage everyone – individuals and businesses – to think about the practical actions that they can take to act intelligently with regard to water and energy consumption in order to address climate change.

Source: http://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/visit/greening-the-wharf

 Alison Rourke in guardian.co.uk, (30 May 2011):

Cate Blanchett appears in an ad funded by pro-climate action groups, urging fellow Australians to ‘finally’ do something about climate change.

Cate Blanchett has found herself in the midst of a climate change row after appearing in a TV commercial calling on Australians to back a tax on carbon.

The advert, paid for by environmental groups, says it is time to tax big polluters and finishes with the Oscar-winning actor urging her fellow citizens to “finally” do something about climate change.

The conservative opposition leader, Tony Abbott, lambasted the advert. “People who are worth $53m have a right to be heard – but their voice should not be heard ahead of the ordinary working people of this country,” he said.

Blanchett lives in a multimillion- dollar Sydney mansion which, according to local media, has been decked out with the latest solar technology. As artistic director of the Sydney Theatre Company she has also sought to make the theatre greener, installing solar panels that provide up to 70% of its power.

The prime minister backed the advert and Blanchett’s right to appear in it. She told Abbott: “Conservatives like David Cameron have had the foresight to say to their people climate change is real. I believe that; David Cameron believes that. The opposition leader does not.”

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

1 June 2011 AFP & AP

SYDNEY – Hollywood star Cate Blanchett Tuesday defended her decision to front a campaign promoting the Australian government’s carbon tax, saying she backed action on climate change for her children’s sake.

Dubbed “Carbon Cate” by the Sunday Telegraph, the actor was attacked as being a jet-setting, multi-millionaire who was out of touch with ordinary Australians who fear a rise in the cost of living from a price on carbon.

“I’m not really surprised by the reactions from people on the other side of the debate. People are entitled to their opinion,” said Blanchett, who was dismissed in one comment piece as “just another morally vain Hollywood star”.

The Oscar-winning actor, who has three young boys with husband Andrew Upton, said there was a cost to society from carbon pollution, and this was what she was passionate about as a mother.

“That’s where it gets me in the gut,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald. “I can’t look my children in the face if I’m not trying to do something in my small way and to urge other people.

“Yes, I’ve been fortunate in my career but that’s no reason not to stand up for something that I deeply believe in.”

Blanchett’s star role in the new television campaign, which is funded by a coalition of unions and green groups and urges Australians to “Say Yes” to a tax on carbon, has become a national talking point in the climate debate.

Australians are among the world’s worst per capita carbon polluters and Gillard has proposed a tax to be levied on major industrial polluters by July 1, 2012, with plans for a full emissions trading scheme in three to five years.

Source: www.asiaone.com/News/

Herald Sun

1 June 2011

OSCAR-winning actress Cate Blanchett has defended her appearance in a controversial pro-carbon tax advertisement which has sparked political and community debate.

“My personal support of a price on carbon to make the polluters, not the punters, pay is very much based on a comprehensive package of support for lower income earners to make the transition to a low carbon economy possible and not hurt them in their hip pocket,” she told Sky News.

“I think when you put your name to anything when you stand up for something that is of national importance as the price on pollution is, then you have to expect people on the other side of the debate to say negative things and they’re absolutely entitled to their opinion,” she said.

The millionaire Hollywood actress has been accused of being out of touch by promoting the benefits of the tax that she can afford to pay, unlike many hard-up Australians.

The 42-year-old teamed with actor Michael Caton to be the face of a series of television ads branded “Say Yes,” which began screening nationally from Sunday.

The ads – funded by a coalition of green groups and unions – are aimed at convincing the average Australian that a carbon tax is a good idea and urging them to “unite” behind putting a “price on pollution” despite the impact on the cost of living.

As well as defending her appearance in the advertisement today, Blanchett argued it was time for greater political leadership on the issue after Liberal leader Tony Abbott accused the government of listening to film stars over ordinary Aussies.

Blanchett brushed aside Mr Abbott’s critique and said her support for a carbon price was conditional upon a comprehensive support package being provided to lower income earners.

The government’s plans to introduce a fixed price on carbon for a three-to-five-year period starting in July 2012, followed by an emissions trading scheme, have proved controversial.

Source: www.heraldsun.com.au

US$40 billion to cut deforestation & create jobs

India for the first time served as global host of the United Nations’ World Environment Day 5 June, marking the occasion with a week-long series of events and the release of the UN Report “Forests in a Green Economy: A Synthesis”. But as Indonesian government officials and environmentalists alike celebrated the vital role the nation’s forests play in sustaining biodiversity and maintaining a stable global climate, they remain deeply divided about the effectiveness of official preservation measures.

NEW DELHI, India, June 5, 2011 (ENS) –

India for the first time this year served as global host of the United Nations’ World Environment Day June 5, marking the occasion with a week-long series of events across the country – walkathons, treeplanting and a green marketplace, films and art, and a seminar honoring the role of women in environmental protection.

The events all had a forest theme in keeping with this International Year of Forests.

India’s Environment and Forests Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh chaired a one day seminar on “Nature and Livelihood: Women’s Perspective” in New Delhi. He sadi, “Conservation of forests is crucial for sustainable development and green economy of the country,” and added that women are “crucial” for forest conservation.

About 100 women from civil society organizations across the country shared their attempts to protect forests during interactive sessions with eminent environmentalists and grassroots leaders.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and UN Resident Co-ordinator for India Patrice Couer Bizot highlighted the environmental concerns in the global perspective and praised the initiatives of women leaders at grassroots level in India in environmental awareness and forest conservation.

An environment seminar for World Environment day, from left: UN Resident Co-ordinator for India Patrice Couer Bizot, Environment and Forests Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh, Achim Stein, UNEP executive director (Photo courtesy Ministry Environment and Forests India) 

Steiner released the UNEP report, “Forests in a Green Economy: A Synthesis,” at a news conference with Ramesh in New Delhi.

Investing an additional $40 billion in the forestry sector each year could halve deforestation, create millions of new jobs and help tackle the devastating effects of climate change, the report finds.

The number of trees planted could rise by 140 percent by 2050 and as many as 30 million new jobs could be created by that same year.

Steiner said forestry is one of the key sectors capable of helping the world transition to a ‘green economy’ model that is resource-efficient and low in its use of carbon.

“There are already many encouraging signals,” he said. “The annual net forest loss since 1990 has fallen from around eight million to around five million hectares and in some regions such as Asia, the Caribbean and Europe forest area has actually increased over those 20 years.”

Minister Ramesh announced the establishment of the Gaura Devi Award to recognize the initiatives of Gaura Devi, a village woman who started the treehugger, or Chipko, movement in 1974 by gathering several dozen women to hug the trees in her village to protect them from being felled.

The Gaura Devi Award will carry a citation and cash prize of Rs 2 lakhs (US$4,470).

A green market, or Green Haat, in New Delhi attracted more than 50 exhibitors, showcasing the initiatives of forest dwellers, minority forest produce federations, women’s self-help groups, and NGO partners. Ramesh declared that this green marketplace will now be a regular event.

A biodiversity film festival was organized in partnership with the Centre for Media Studies in New Delhi. From June 1-4, the festival screened more than 20 films on biodiversity from eminent national and international film makers.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh flags off the World Environment Day Walkathon in New Delhi, June 5, 2011 (Photo courtesy Ministry Environment and Forests India) 

To create awareness among children, a painting competition took place today at Delhi Zoo.

Ramesh administered a pledge for “saving our environment” and waved a flag to start a Green Walkathon from India Gate, New Delhi with about 1,000 participants from all sections of the society.

In the southern city of Bangalore, another green marathon was flagged off in the morning.

A workshop on Emerging issues in Wildlife Conservation was organized by the Wildlife Institute of India at the northern city of Dehradun.

An exhibition on Mumbai’s environment, in partnership with Bombay Natural History Society, highlighted the environmental issues of metropolitan and coastal cities at Chhatrapati Shivaji and Churchgate Stations this week.

In Dubai, about 150 ghaf trees were planted in Mushrif Park Sunday to mark World Environment Day 2011 by Dubai Municipality, in cooperation with the Environmental Centre for Arab Towns and Panasonic Middle East.

Models presented garments recycled from old clothes during a fashion show for World Environment Day in Seoul, South Korea on June 1.

Elsewhere around the world BirdLife International launched a new section of its website to highlight the organization’s new initiative, BirdLife’s Forests of Hope. The program aims to prevent deforestation or promote restoration of natural forest at up to 20 sites covering at least five million hectares of tropical forest by 2015.

Source: www.ens-newswire.com

Bruce Gale in the Straits Times (3 June 2011):

FORESTS As Life Support is the theme of World Environment Day this Sunday. But as Indonesian government officials and environmentalists alike celebrate the vital role the nation’s forests play in sustaining biodiversity and maintaining a stable global climate, they remain deeply divided about the effectiveness of official preservation measures.

‘The whole thing is ridiculous,’ Greenomics spokesman Elfian Effendi told me when I met him in Jakarta late last month. Mr Elfian was referring to a presidential decree on May 19 implementing a long-delayed moratorium on forest exploitation. The moratorium is part of a US$1 billion (S$1.23 billion) climate change agreement President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed with Norway last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. It is to last two years but could, in theory, be extended. Its implementation will be overseen by a special task force headed by reform-minded technocrat Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.

According to Mr Agus Purnomo, a presidential adviser on climate change, the moratorium applies to all peatlands and primary forests that have not been reserved for any purpose and for which no permits had been issued. In terms of area, this represents 64 million ha of Indonesia’s 130 million ha of total forest cover.

When government intentions first became known last year, the proposed moratorium was hailed by environmentalists as a major step forward. Now that the details have been announced, however, activists such as Mr Elfian see the move as potentially doing more harm than good.

One reason for this is the long list of exemptions designed to mollify the plantation, logging and mining industries. Companies already holding permits to clear forest areas, for example, will be permitted to go ahead. Permit extensions will also be considered, as will new projects focusing on geothermal power, oil and gas exploitation, as well as sugar and rice plantations. Unconfirmed reports say that dozens of new permits have been issued in recent months.

Investors are believed to be eyeing the government’s huge Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate programme in West Papua. This province has the largest area of virgin forests in the country.

Yet another source of concern is the fact that the May 19 presidential decree made no specific mention of the need to conserve natural secondary forest. According to Greenomics, an NGO dealing in environmental issues, Indonesia has about 36 million ha of secondary forest, of which about 60 per cent is still in good condition. Will this area now be open to exploitation without restriction? No one outside the highest level of government really knows. Yet these forests are home to a wide range of protected wildlife, including the Sumatran tiger and the orang utan.

Yet other uncertainties have to do with cartography. Mr Elfian showed me a map of protected forests issued with the presidential decree that was barely half the size of an A4 sheet of paper. Based on outdated satellite data from 2009, it had a scale of 1:19,000,000. As such, the map was far less detailed than the 1:2,000,000 normally used by government departments for national spatial planning. It was also well short of the 1:25,000 scale recently recommended by the Corruption Eradication Commission for companies applying for licences for forest exploitation and conversion.

Imprecision opens up numerous opportunities for graft. Clearly, much work remains to be done to identify exactly which areas are to be protected and which are not.

To support its claimed commitment to sustainable development, the government can point to stepped up efforts at forest replanting. According to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Indonesia plans to plant 1.5 billion trees this year to mark United Nations International Forest Year 2011. The figure, up from 1.3 billion last year, accounts for 50 per cent of the ministry’s budget.

Unfortunately, Indonesian officials are still trying to lay the blame on Biomedical Research Council people other than themselves. Problems implementing this scheme in the outer islands, for example, are explained by reference to the difficulty officials have encouraging public participation in cultures where planting local vegetables and medicinal herbs is rare.

A statement posted on the website of Norway’s environment ministry the day after the presidential decree was issued was nevertheless optimistic. The moratorium, it said, reflected ‘a very serious development choice’ involving efforts to combine strong economic growth with a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

But while the moratorium can be seen as important in establishing sustainable development as a key principle of economic growth, it is also easy to overstate its practical significance. Of the 64 million ha affected by the recently implemented moratorium, around 75 per cent was already protected under Indonesian law.

It remains to be seen whether the moratorium will change things in any fundamental way.

Source: www.wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com

Sustainable Partnership for Germany & Singapore

On a two day visit to Singapore, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022 can make her country a trailblazer in renewable energy and would reap economic benefits from the move. She also cited a tie-up between Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and Germany’s Technical University in Munich to study the future of transportation and electric vehicles as a key example of how both countries work together to drive innovation in sustainable technology.

BBC Report (30 May 2011):

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022 can make her country a trailblazer in renewable energy.

Ms Merkel said Germany would reap economic benefits from the move.

Germany is the biggest industrial power to renounce nuclear energy, in a policy reversal for the governing centre-right coalition.

Mrs Merkel set up a panel to review nuclear power following the crisis at Fukushima in Japan.

The crisis, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami in March, led to mass anti-nuclear protests across Germany.

The anti-nuclear drive boosted Germany’s Green party, which took control of the Christian Democrat stronghold of Baden-Wuerttemberg, in late March.

Analysts say Mrs Merkel may be eyeing a future coalition with the Greens.

Germany’s nuclear power politics

Mrs Merkel said that in its “fundamental” rethink of policy, Germany could set an example for other countries.

“We believe we as a country can be a trailblazer for a new age of renewable energy sources,” the German chancellor was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

“We can be the first major industrialised country that achieves the transition to renewable energy with all the opportunities – for exports, development, technology, jobs – it carries with it.”

She also said that electricity in the future should be “safer and at the same time reliable and affordable”, linking the decision to step back from nuclear power to the crisis in Japan.

“We learned from Fukushima that we have to deal differently with risks,” she said.

Under the German plan the country’s seven oldest reactors – which were taken offline for a safety review immediately after the Japanese crisis – would never be used again.

An eighth plant – the Kruemmel facility in northern Germany, which was already offline and has been plagued by technical problems – would also be shut down for good.

Six others would go offline by 2021 at the latest and the three newest by 2022.

The previous German government – a coalition of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens – decided to shut down Germany’s nuclear power stations by 2021.

However, last September Ms Merkel’s coalition scrapped those plans – announcing it would extend the life of the country’s nuclear reactors by an average of 12 years.

The decision to extend was unpopular in Germany even before the radioactive leaks at the Fukushima plant.

Following Fukushima, Mrs Merkel promptly scrapped her extension plan, and announced a review.

Germany’s nuclear industry has argued that an early shutdown would be hugely damaging to the country’s industrial base.

Before March’s moratorium on the older power plants, Germany relied on nuclear power for 23% of its energy.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Aaron Low  in The Straits Times (3 June 2011):  

GERMANY and Singapore enjoy an ideal relationship, thanks in part to a shared commitment to free trade, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday.

Dr Merkel noted that both countries are pushing for greater free trade on the international stage.

She also cited science and technology as a key area in which the two nations had many opportunities to cooperate.

Dr Merkel was speaking at the 31st Singapore Lecture yesterday, on the second day of her two-day visit to the Republic.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who chaired the lecture, said Dr Merkel’s visit affirmed the strong bilateral ties both countries shared.

‘The level of cooperation is deep and wide-ranging, and includes science and research, environmental technology, and culture. Germany is also a major investor in Singapore,’ he said.

Germany and Singapore are close trading partners, with bilateral trade amounting to some $20.5 billion last year, making Germany Singapore’s largest trading partner in the European Union.

It is this belief in the importance of trade that makes the relationship an ‘ideal’ one, said Dr Merkel.

She told the audience that she was disappointed that after 10 years, the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation free trade talks had not progressed.

‘Singapore and Germany are pinning hopes on an open global economy, free trade and reliable investment conditions,’ she said.

She added that one alternative is bilateral free trade agreements. On this front, Germany is supporting the free trade agreement that Singapore is negotiating with the EU, she said.

Research and development is another area to which both countries are firmly committed, she said.

Germany plans to earmark about 3 per cent of its gross domestic product for research and innovation, while Singapore already spends 3 per cent, Dr Merkel noted.

She cited a tie-up between Nanyang Technological University and Germany’s Technical University in Munich to study the future of transportation and electric vehicles as a key example of how both countries work together to drive innovation in sustainable technology.

During the question and answer session of the forum, Dr Merkel was asked about her country’s decision to phase out nuclear power, even as several regional countries here are moving ahead to build nuclear plants.

Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have all announced plans for nuclear power plants while the Singapore Government is doing a feasibility study.

Dr Merkel said that part of the decision to speed up the phasing out of nuclear power was prompted by the nuclear plant meltdown in Japan.

To make up for nuclear power, which supplies 22 per cent of Germany’s power needs currently, she said the German government plans to double the contribution from renewable energy to 35 per cent and lift energy efficiency by 2020.

For countries looking to start up nuclear power, she had this piece of advice: ‘The most important thing is to have to be absolutely safe. One should not save money and cut corners.’

Source: www.lexisnexis.com

It’s in the Water! Investments & Events Pouring into Singapore

Over the last five years, water projects have been launched that will eventually add S$590 million to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). taking the industry’s share to $1.25 billion – nearly double what it was in 2005. The surge in investments is due to Singapore’s business-friendly environment, as well as more local companies venturing into the water business. Next month – 4-8 July – will be Singapore International Water Week, with a range of events, including “In Honour of Water – Arts & Culture with a Cause”.

For information on Singapore International Water Week go to: www.siww.com.sg

For information on “In Honour of Water: Arts and Culture with a Cause”, go to: www.alon.com.sg

Sustain Ability Showcase Asia (SASA) and ABC Carbon is a strong supporter of “In Honour of Water”

Source: www.abccarbon.com

By Feng Zengkun in The Straits Times (27 May 2011):

Investments are pouring into Singapore’s water industry.

Over the last five years, projects have been launched that will eventually add $590 million to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This will take the industry’s share of GDP to $1.25 billion – nearly double what it was in 2005.

Experts said the surge in investments is due to Singapore’s business-friendly environment, which attracts foreign firms to set up regional headquarters here, as well as more local companies venturing into the water business.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based water companies have made a splash overseas by winning projects worth $8.4 billion.

The figures were announced yesterday at a joint update by the national water agency PUB, the Economic Development Board (EDB) and International Enterprise Singapore.

They come at the half-way mark of a 10-year plan for the Singapore water industry announced in 2006. Then, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong identified environmental and water technologies as a key research area for the country.

The target: $1.7 billion in annual GDP and 11,000 jobs created by 2015. The latest investments have carried the country to more than two-thirds of the way to the finishing line.

Yesterday, the agencies said they are confident of meeting the targets by the deadline.

Ten foreign companies have set up regional headquarters here for water projects since 2006, including engineering giants Black and Veatch, and Siemens Water Technologies.

The firms said they were drawn by the strong government backing in the industry and the ease of doing business here.

Siemens spokesman Yeang Chuan Hui said: ‘The Government has made it clear… it wants to stay at the forefront of this industry.’

In 2006, the National Research Foundation committed $330 million in funding over five years for water projects.

In the same year, the inter-agency Environment and Water Industry Programme Office (EWI) was set up to help firms develop their businesses.

A home-grown company that has benefited from the programme is Mint, which creates sensors for water treatment plants. General manager Adrian Yeo, 33, said the initiative halved the set-up cost of his business.

Under the programme, he was given a place to test his technology in PUB’s plants, and technical support from the agency’s experts. The technology has since been installed in PUB’s Bedok Newater plant. ‘Now I’m hoping to sell the product to overseas investors at the International Water Week in July,’ he said.

The EWI has helped around 100 projects since its inception. Representatives from the programme said these included local companies, and firms from Japan, the United States and Europe.

Singapore-based companies have also burnished the country’s reputation in the industry by winning large projects overseas.

Projects in the Middle East and North Africa made up the bulk of the $8.4 billion in overseas contracts won over the last five years, said Mr Yeoh Keat Chuan, assistant managing director of the EDB.

He added that this was because projects there tend to be larger in scale. ‘But there is growing demand for water projects in regional countries such as Vietnam, China and Australia,’ he said.

Singapore-based companies have made in-roads in all three countries by setting up water treatment or desalination plants.

Over the next few years, the agencies plan to continue Singapore’s focus on research and development.

They are also looking to expand their presence in important markets like China and emerging ones such as India and Indonesia.

One strategy could be to serve as matchmakers between water tech companies and financing companies.

‘Scientific research and support for companies are our strengths,’ said Mr Goh Chee Kiong, director of EDB’s cleantech division.

‘If the agencies continue to band together to help companies from research and development to exporting their products, I think the industry here will grow from strength to strength.’

Source: www.eco-business.com

Garnaut: Australia in the Middle of a Great Struggle

Ross Garnaut’s final report on climate change clearly says: Put a price on the emissions that are heating up the globe, and you create space for ”lots of people with clever ideas of doing things in ways that reduce emissions”. High-emission production becomes more expensive, but low-emission production becomes relatively cheaper. The investment goes into the latter, and it becomes cheaper still. And Australia is expected to generate six times more renewable energy and up to three times more gas-fired power in 2050 under a carbon price than it does today, according to Treasury modelling.

Tim Colebatch in The Age (1 June 2011):

Garnaut report cements carbon tax divide

Professor Ross Garnaut has presented his landmark climate change report, the Opposition claiming it confirms families will suffer under a carbon tax.

Ross Garnaut’s final report on climate change has three great strengths. It skewers myth after myth spread by those who oppose putting a price on Australia’s carbon emissions. It restates his state-of-the-art 2008 blueprint on how the world should share the burden of cutting global emissions in half by 2050.

But perhaps most important of all, he proposes a way to take politics out of Australia’s future decisions on climate change by setting up three independent agencies to advise the government on future targets, on future industry assistance measures and to administer the scheme.

After 18 months of sloganeering and lies that have demeaned Australian politics, this offers us a structure for honest, objective decision-making on what is arguably the most important issue of our time.

Garnaut’s 2008 report to the Rudd government was a landmark of hardheaded analysis with a vision for the future. At the time, it was attacked from both sides: too realistic for the Greens, too tough for polluting industries, the Coalition, and ultimately Labor.

But gradually the Greens saw its strengths, and Julia Gillard asked Garnaut to revisit the issue. The result is less a report than a book, full of anecdotes, in which the renowned economist and China expert spells out why he became convinced that human activity is changing the climate, and how Australia and the world should tackle it.

It does deliver the blueprint Gillard asked him for (although this is spelt out more clearly in a summary paper issued separately). And, as in 2008, his central advice to the government – and even more, to the Coalition – is that putting a price on carbon is essential if you want to reduce emissions as much as possible, as cheaply as possible.

Why? Because markets work. Put a price on the emissions that are heating up the globe, and you create space for ”lots of people with clever ideas of doing things in ways that reduce emissions”. High-emission production becomes more expensive, but low-emission production becomes relatively cheaper. The investment goes into the latter, and it becomes cheaper still.

A prime example of that innovation has been the extraordinary reach of the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of New South Wales. The cost of solar energy has plunged worldwide thanks to three of the school’s graduates who went home to China and set up companies that are now three of the world’s four biggest producers of solar cells.

Garnaut sees Australia as ”in the middle of a great struggle”, not only about whether carbon emissions should be taxed, but over whether good policy is to triumph over scaremongering and vested interests. He wants ”the independent centre” of Australian politics to rise up in support of good policy, and for the principle that Australia should bear its ”fair share” of the burden of reducing global emissions.

His broad proposals are similar to those he put in 2008. Start with a carbon tax of $20 to $30 a tonne, then, after three years, convert it to an emissions trading scheme in which the market would set the carbon price, and permits could be bought wherever they are cheapest, such as by saving forests in Indonesia or Papua New Guinea.

On the crucial issue of getting global action, his surprising conclusion is that international action is essentially on track. While Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010 failed to deliver the binding global agreement we hoped for, they did deliver path-breaking commitments by key countries and a process that ”can be made to work”.

Garnaut devotes two chapters to spelling out why he sees ”concerted unilateral actions” by all countries as a workable path to turning climate change around. His key points are that:

■ China has pledged to reduce its emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 to a bit over half its 2005 levels. To do so, it is closing its dirtiest power stations, vastly expanding its forests, building nuclear, wind and solar power stations, a national network of very fast trains, and so on.

■ US President Barack Obama has pledged to cut US emissions in 2020 to 17 per cent below 2005 levels. He lost his battle to set a carbon price, but is using regulatory powers to block new coal-fired stations, close the dirtiest old ones and require big gains in vehicle fuel efficiency. And next January, California (Cate Blanchett’s other home) will become the 11th US state with emissions trading.

■ Cancun and Copenhagen ended with non-binding pledges from all key emitters, and agreement for ongoing international peer reviews of how each country is meeting its targets.

Garnaut sees the global scene as a glass half-full. The Productivity Commission yesterday gave the government a separate report on the same issue, as yet unreleased. It is more sceptical as to whether the pledges will be delivered – if a Republican wins next year’s US presidential election, for example, all bets are off.

Sadly, the same is true here. While Labor and the Coalition have pledged to cut Australia’s emissions in 2020 to 5 per cent below 2000 levels, officials estimate that on current policies, we will end up 24 per cent above them. Garnaut’s report is a cry from the heart to Labor and the Coalition alike: don’t let this great country turn its back on the great challenge of our time.

Tim Colebatch is The Age’s economics editor.

Source: www.theage.com.au

Renewable energy set to surge

Adam Morton in The Age (6 June 2011):  

Renewable energy production is expected to boom under a carbon price. Photo: Nicolas Walker

AUSTRALIA is expected to generate six times more renewable energy and up to three times more gas-fired power in 2050 under a carbon price than it does today, according to Treasury modelling for the multi-party climate policy committee.

Releasing a snapshot of the long-awaited modelling before a speech on climate policy at the National Press Club tomorrow, Treasurer Wayne Swan said it showed a carbon price would drive innovation and encourage investment in cleaner power. But the figures also suggest greenhouse-gas-intensive coal will remain a significant part of Australia’s power supply for decades. Consultants at Green Energy Markets recently estimated coal provides about 76 per cent of Australia’s electricity, gas 16 per cent and renewable sources 7 per cent.

Although few details were released, it is understood the Treasury projections assume a starting carbon price of $20 to $30 a tonne of carbon dioxide – the range being considered by the multi-party committee.

Assumptions about the pace at which a carbon price would increase, or how rapidly Australia would cut emissions, were not available.

The snapshot said gas-fired power – which in baseload form has about two-thirds fewer emissions than coal – would generate 1½ to three times more output in 40 years than today.

Australian Conservation Foundation executive director Don Henry said the shift to a cleaner economy was expected to involve more gas-fired power but should only be developed if it included technology to capture and store emissions.

He said the proportion of power from burning coal must be dramatically reduced unless carbon capture proved viable.

”It is a little hard to judge, based on what has been released, but we’d be looking for much stronger growth in renewables than appears to be indicated by Treasury figures,” Mr Henry said.

Opposition climate action spokesman Greg Hunt used World Environment Day to call on the government to organise, with Indonesia, a global conference to set targets for saving the world’s rainforests. He called for a global rainforest recovery program before the end of the year.

”The single best thing you can do right now to help reduce emissions on a grand scale and to help protect the world’s biodiversity is a global rainforest recovery program,” Mr Hunt told the Ten Network. ”If you can reduce the emissions by half from the destruction of rainforests by 2020, up to 4 billion tonnes of emissions could be saved.” He said the government should expand a $200 million Howard government policy to protect rainforests, which Labor has continued but not escalated.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said Australia was working with other countries through the UN to develop a global plan to cut emissions from rainforest logging and degradation.

Source:www.theage.com.au

Global Airline Profits & Emissions in the Spotlight

Global airlines are spelling out the cost of a whirlwind of disasters, political unrest and high oil prices, while mounting an all-out offensive against European plans to make them pay extra for carbon emissions. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), whose airlines carry more than 90% of global air traffic, may be forced to cut its benchmark forecast for 2011 industry profits at a major annual gathering in Singapore this week. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia continues its strong commitment to minimising its impact on the environment with its carbon neutral certification which has received Australian Government approval through the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).

By Reuters (5 June 2011):

Global airlines will spell out the cost of a whirlwind of disasters, political unrest and high oil prices on Monday while mounting an all-out offensive against European plans to make them pay extra for carbon emissions.

The International Air Transport Association, whose airlines carry more than 90 percent of global air traffic, may be forced to cut its benchmark forecast for 2011 industry profits at a major annual gathering in Singapore.

It is the latest sign of concern that the economic rebound that pulled many companies out of financial trouble in 2010 may be screeching to a halt. Such fears reflect Japan’s earthquake, recent instability in the Arab world and a rise in oil prices.

IATA most recently predicted an industry-wide profit of $8.6 billion in 2011 after a $16 billion surplus in 2010 — a year in which the economy had seemed to be recovering quickly.

Although drastic cost cuts and a tight lid on capacity appear to have prevented the industry from plunging back into the red, most analysts say the current forecasts are too optimistic.

The industry’s outlook is often seen as a guide to the strength of cyclical performance in developed markets and growth in emerging economies, which rely heavily on air transport.

Airline chiefs arrived at the conference sounding off against European Union plans to curb emissions from aviation, which they say would threaten their recovery and discriminate against carriers located the farthest away from Europe.

The EU plans will require all airlines flying to Europe to be included in an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from January 1.

The system forces polluters to buy permits for each metric ton of carbon dioxide they emit above a certain cap.

The plan is meant to tackle growing emissions from the $500 billion aviation industry, which is responsible for about 2 percent of mankind’s greenhouse gas pollution.

Airlines say it will only increase costs and add to pressures caused by a faltering global economy.

Warning of trade conflict

Governments and airlines have been piling on pressure, some describing the forced inclusion of global airlines as illegal.

“The last thing that we want to see is a trade war,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the International Air Transport Association. The EU had to heed a “growing chorus of countries strongly opposing an illegal extraterritorial scheme.”

European airlines and Airbus have written to the European Commission warning of a “trade conflict with the world’s most powerful economic and political players,” over the plans that are opposed by the United States and China.

The letter, signed by Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders and Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Steve Ridgway on behalf of European airlines, says the measures are perceived as a tax.

U.S. airlines are challenging the move in EU courts.

Industry and diplomatic sources say China has threatened retaliation against European airlines and planemaker Airbus if the EU goes ahead with its plans.

But Europe’s climate chief insisted on Sunday the EU would stand firm against any threats of retaliation.

“When some parties start to threaten specific European companies, I think Europe should be very firm,” Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told Reuters in Brussels.

The EU has offered to exempt airlines of countries that can prove they are taking equivalent steps to cut emissions.

Airlines are meanwhile involved in a growing number of bilateral trade disputes over access rights as Gulf airlines seek markets for planes such as Airbus A380s that they have ordered.

Also from Reuters:

Europe’s climate chief struck a defiant note in an escalating row over moves to make airlines pay for carbon pollution, saying Brussels would not cave in to threats of trade retaliation.

From January 1 next year, the EU will require all airlines flying to Europe to be included in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a system that forces polluters to buy permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit above a certain cap.

China’s aviation authority opposes the measure, saying it will cost Chinese airlines 800 million yuan ($123 million) in the first year and more than triple that by 2020.

Industry and diplomatic sources have said China threatened retaliation against European airlines and French planemaker Airbus if the EU goes ahead with its plans.

“When some parties start to threaten specific European companies, I think Europe should be very firm,” Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told Reuters in an interview.

“Now is not the time to get nervous over legislation that has already been agreed,” she added. “This was agreed by all 27 EU member states, by the European Parliament and by the European Commission.”

The aviation industry is worried the dispute will result in trade conflict and retaliatory measures, both from China and the United States, which has also voiced its opposition.

The U.S. industry group Air Transport Association of America is challenging the move in EU courts.

The row over inclusion of aviation emissions in the EU scheme is likely to flare up at the June 5-7 annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Singapore. The association is the aviation sector’s main trade body.

Hedegaard said it was vital to act on aviation emissions after years of rhetoric from the industry, but little action. “We cannot accept a global sector that says — let’s wait for another 5 or 10 years, because we still can’t reach an agreement.”

Having taken the decision to act, Europe must now apply its laws evenly across all airlines using European airspace, regardless of their origin.

She also noted that the cost of emissions permits translated to around 8 euros ($11.70) per passenger on an international flight, a small amount compared to some airport taxes, such as New York at around $16.

“It’s very important we do not just target European companies with the ETS,” she said. “And why should a Chinese businessman be exempt on a flight from Beijing… if a European student flying from Scotland to Germany to visit their parents is not?” she said.

She also held out the offer of a compromise — a provision in the laws that allows Europe to exempt airlines from countries that are taking “equivalent” steps to curb greenhouse gases from aviation.

“If you have equivalent measures of your own, you can be exempted,” she said. “We can see in the Chinese press that they’re working on that. We’re looking at that to see — is that what we can call an equivalent measure?”

The European Union has told Chinese airlines they can win an exemption from the EU’s carbon market if China takes carbon-cutting steps from aviation, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Sunday.

Source: www.eco-business.com

Virgin Australia’s industry-leading carbon offset program certified to national standard

1 June 2011:

Virgin Australia continues its strong commitment to minimising its impact on the environment with its recent Carbon Neutral certification.

Virgin Australia’s carbon neutral certification has again received Australian Government approval through the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).

The Carbon Neutral initiative is a voluntary certification scheme which allows Australian businesses to measure, reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with business operations or products.  This Government initiative is delivered by Low Carbon Australia which acts as an independent accreditation body.

In 2007 Virgin Australia was the first airline in the world to receive Government endorsement to offer a low carbon scheme by giving its clients the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions of each flight taken.

As part of its corporate sustainability strategy Virgin Australia offers Guests the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions related to each flight they take with all of its airlines, including Virgin Australia, V Australia, Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue.

A Guest can offset the carbon emissions from their flight in two ways, by selecting the carbon offset option that appears during the online booking process or at any time by selecting the carbon offset button on the company’s home page.

“Virgin Australia has led the way in providing the opportunity for its clients to fly carbon neutral by offsetting their own share of flight emissions.” says Meg McDonald, CEO of Low Carbon Australia.

As the flying public’s understanding of climate change as evolved, Virgin has continued to give its clients a simple way to offset individual flights,” she said.

Virgin Australia Group Executive of Corporate Advisory Merren McArthur said: “At Virgin Australia, we take our commitment to minimising the environmental impact of our operations very seriously and we have a comprehensive strategy in place to ensure the sustainable operation of our business”.

“Offering our Guests the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions related to their flights is an important part of this strategy.

“We are very pleased to receive Australian Government approval through the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) as it means our Guests can continue to have confidence that their flights are offset with genuine carbon abatement”, Ms McArthur said.

The offsets used by Virgin Australia are generated from projects that are accredited under the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) and are NCOS CN compliant. Projects currently include a renewable energy (biogas) project in Thailand and a fuel-wood saving project in Cambodia.

The Carbon Neutral Program is administered by Low Carbon Australia on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

The Carbon Neutral Program commenced on 1 July 2010 as a successor scheme to the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly(tm) initiative.

Virgin Australia group of airlines (incorporating Virgin Australia, V Australia, Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue)

Source: www.lowcarbonaustralia.com.au and www.virginaustralia.com/carbonoffset/

Straws in the Wind: Thailand Researches Bio Fuel Options

If Thailand manages to convert agricultural waste into fuel, it will create more options for feeding a growing economy. It would also put the brakes on costly imports and greenhouse gas emissions, and avoid the controversy created by competition between biofuel and food crops.   Well over half of Thailand’s population of 65 million are engaged in farming, and converting from food to fuel is politically loaded. Yet it is imperative for Thailand to find new sources of fuel.  

Nirmal Ghosh in Straits Times and Jakarta Globe  Indonesia (28 May 2011):

Bangkok. In a research laboratory near Bangkok, Dr Vorakan Burapatana toys with a gleaming contraption full of tubes, containers, dials and electrical connections.  

The machine is used for fermenting — it breaks down vegetable matter and converts the sugar content into biofuel.  

A young researcher nearby sorts out jars of rice straw, the dry leftovers from a harvest which would otherwise be burned.  

After the fermenting machine breaks it down, scientists will test small quantities of fuel in engines and vehicles in other buildings in the sprawling PTT Research and Technology Institute belonging to Thailand’s giant state-owned PTT Corp.  

Here and in other research facilities across the country, scientists are also working on ways to convert local species of pond algae into biofuel.  

The efficient conversion of algae to fuel is still a long way off, but creating ethanol from biomass such as rice straw is closer.  

PTT plans to start building its first pilot plant by the end of this year. It will produce about 455,000 liters of ethanol a year.  

PTT is Thailand’s largest company, with interests across the energy field. Its net income for the first quarter of this year was 34.5 billion baht ($1.14 billion).  

The research at its lab is a critical part of efforts to produce ethanol from plants on a large but cost-effective scale.  

If Thailand manages to convert agricultural waste into fuel, it will create more options for feeding a growing economy. It would also put the brakes on costly imports and greenhouse gas emissions, and avoid the controversy created by competition between biofuel and food crops.  

Well over half of Thailand’s population of 65 million are engaged in farming, and converting from food to fuel is politically loaded. Yet it is imperative for Thailand to find new sources of fuel.  

Around 70 percent of Thailand’s electricity is produced from natural gas, mostly imported from Myanmar. But when it comes to transport, the country still has to import oil.  

Thailand imports around 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day, and the volume is edging up steadily, with occasional spikes in world crude prices putting a big dent in Bangkok’s budget. In February for instance, Thailand’s crude oil import bill was US$2.26 billion — up 13.5 percent over that of the same month a year earlier.  

According to a March 2009 World Bank-National Economic and Social Development Board study, the country’s transport sector swallows 73 percent of its petroleum and petroleum products.  

The study noted: “With… only a small amount coming from renewable energy, the security of Thailand’s energy supplies is highly vulnerable to possible future supply constraints or rapid price increases.”  

PTT’s chief financial officer Tevin Vongvanich told The Straits Times: “Going into the future, we need to look at technology that will produce ethanol and biodiesel from the remaining part of the plants — the cellulose, not the food part. 

“That will not compete for the food chain of people. That is something we need to work out.”  

Biofuel is a key part of Thailand’s renewable energy mix for the future. Yet a rush to grow biofuel crops — mostly sugar cane, cassava and palm oil — that will put money in the pockets of farmers can also reduce the amount of land available for food crops.  

In December last year, Thai Chamber of Commerce deputy secretary-general Pornsil Patchrintanakul warned: “Without a clear-cut policy, rice farmland will be replaced by energy crops which will… affect the country’s food security and farmers’ career security.”  

The research at PTT’s lab — and others — will be critical in heading off the clash between food and fuel.  

Stockholm Environment Institute research fellow Maria Osbeck, who has studied biofuels in South-east Asia, said in a phone interview that while transition to renewable energy sources was essential, producing feed stock for biofuels was already driving changes in land use in Thailand. 

Palm oil and sugar cane are rapidly converting land used for food crops, as well as land with high biodiversity. Research into producing biofuels from waste is crucial, to “find alternatives… that don’t require vast amounts of land,” she said.  

Tevin said: “We are in the process of learning. People in the energy industry are quite concerned, because development projects face resistance whatever you want to do.  

“Biofuel involves so many entities in government — from the Ministry of Agriculture to Energy to Commerce. It will take some time to get it right.”  

At PTT’s lab, Vorakan, who has a PhD from Vanderbilt University in the United States, said: “We waste biomass by burning millions of tons of rice straw in open fields.”  

PTT estimates that 10 million tons are burned in Thailand every year. “With the cellulose and ethanol platforms we are developing, we can now convert the sugar in the biomass to other products — not just ethanol but biodegradable plastics too.”  

The government wants to replace 20.3 percent of energy use with renewable or alternative energy by 2022, Krairit Nilkuha, director-general of the Ministry of Energy’s department of alternative energy development and efficiency, said.  

But it has to get local communities to understand and agree to new energy projects. So every month, Krairit visits far-flung provinces and islands to speak to local residents about developing such projects.   “Investors, and the government, have to involve the people,” he said.     

Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com

Australia Moves From Innovation to “a Fateful Sense of Helplessness”

After a recent visit to Australia to discuss international developments on climate change, UK climate economist Michael Grubb says three things stand out in the national debate: the extent to which virulent rhetoric is pushing out reasoned analysis; the belief that doing nothing is an option without serious cost; and the apparent loss of Australia’s confidence in itself.

Has the nation lost its confidence when it comes to carbon policy?

Michael Grubb in The Australian (6 June 2011):

AFTER a recent visit to Australia discussing international developments on climate change, I think three things stand out in the national debate: the extent to which virulent rhetoric is pushing out reasoned analysis; the belief that doing nothing is an option without serious cost; and the apparent loss of Australia’s confidence in itself.

The first is the most immediately damaging to Australia and its industry, the second is plain wrong and restoring the third holds the key. The atmosphere is finite and we are dumping more than 30 billion tonnes of CO2 each year into it. The physics by which this warms the planet’s surface is a scientific fact, not a political football. Global warming is proving robust in both theory and observation; each year traps more energy in the lower atmosphere.

Australia’s recent tragic pattern of extreme weather events has included both temperature extremes and wildfire conditions way above the historic range: does it really make sense to bet a nation’s future on hoping this to be a coincidence? Yet I was consistently told that even mentioning the probable link was considered impolite, somehow distasteful, and risked vicious abuse.

European industry faced up to the basic realities after unprecedented heatwaves in Europe. Business leaders accepted that industry’s best bet is to have a price on carbon rather than a barrage of central government interventions in individual investment and technology choices, that industry would be best served by having a seat at the table of a coherent and long-term strategy for building a low carbon economy, with carbon pricing through the EU’s emissions trading scheme at the core. All participating sectors in the EU ETS have to date profited from it. The price was at first volatile but has in the past two years stabilised as the system has matured. The next phase, out to 2020, has been adopted with the power sector co-operating with the move to end free allowances to this sector after accepting the reality that carbon costs are anyway passed on.

To argue that one of the world’s highest per-capita emitters, Australia, is too small to matter and that free-riding on the actions of others is an acceptable policy approach without consequence is delusional.

Australia’s fossil fuel emissions are close to those of Brazil, a country with some nine times the population. Brazil is leading the world in renewable energy and the state of Sao Paulo, its industrial powerhouse with about 30 million people, has adopted a fixed cap on its CO2 emissions.

South Korea’s stimulus package focuses on green technology and it plans emissions trading. India, with per-capita emissions about one-tenth of those of Australia, is introducing an efficiency-based, target-and-trading scheme across power and heavy industry. China is adopting low-carbon development zones that cover a population comparable with Australia’s and has built pilot trading schemes and a focus on key low-carbon sectors into its five-year plan.

Australian politics seems unable to keep up with the pace of developments in the emerging economies; Europe is building low-carbon collaboration with them. Within a decade, I would guess, the resulting coalition of decarbonising economies will be charging carbon on the imports of carbon-intensive commodities. Australia needs to decide which side it wants to be on.

Which brings me to the third observation. Two decades ago, when I cut my teeth in research, Australia was at the forefront of many developments in clean energy technology. Now there seems a fateful sense of helplessness. An assumption that Australia’s future is as Asia’s quarry, not a strategic partner with common cause in addressing one of the defining challenges of our era. There are so many technology options – in energy efficiency, smart grids, low-carbon steel and cement processes. Australia has contributed some key ideas but the gains will go to those countries and companies that innovate, both in response to a carbon price and with government-backed funding using some of the carbon revenues.

Instead, during my time in Australia the headlines were all about industries demanding to be exempt from the challenge and union demands that not a single job should be lost. If that’s net jobs, fine: there are plenty of opportunities for expanding employment in decarbonising economies. The most exposed sectors do have a case for assistance to help them manage the transition. But it sounds like resisting all change, never a good economic strategy. Opposing carbon pricing while Europe and Asia forge a decarbonising path looks like a Faustian bargain. Of course Australia has cheap coal, but as the recent Grattan Institute report on options for Australian electricity noted, it also has world-class resources in all of the major low-carbon electricity options as well as massive natural gas resources.

That report charted immense potential for innovation and cost reductions. To plan industrial development on coal-based power instead of its unrivalled renewable resources – to bet the economy on high-carbon exports in a world where its major consumers are moving over to a low-carbon road – risks being on a road to ruin.

It is for Australia to make its choice. Just don’t do so with earphones plying false stories and a blindfold to the consequences.

Michael Grubb is senior research associate in Cambridge University’s faculty of economics and chairman of the international research organisation Climate Strategies. He holds a number of senior advisory positions with the British government on climate change and energy policy.

Source www.theaustralian.com.au

Singapore Buildings to Plug Into Electric Car Trial

Singapore’s electric vehicle trial is expected to be plugged in this month (June), after a delay of about a year. But the initial fleet of battery-powered cars may be far smaller than planned because of supply disruptions in Japan. The first fleet of five Mitsubishi i-MiEVs has been delivered to and besides the electric vehicle trial, he said several property developers – including Australia’s Lend Lease and Singapore’s CDL Group – are also in talks with Greenlots to install about 100 chargers in 40 to 50 buildings here.

First cars have arrived, charging stations likely to be up by next month

Christopher Tan in the Straits Times (26 April 11):

THE electric vehicle trial is expected to be plugged in this month (June), after a delay of about a year.

But the initial fleet of battery-powered cars may be far smaller than planned because of supply disruptions in Japan.

The first fleet of five Mitsubishi i-MiEVs has been delivered to Singapore, a spokesman for the Energy Market Authority (EMA) told The Straits Times.

The battery-powered cars are part of a $20 million trial announced by the EMA in 2009 to test the durability and viability of electric vehicles in a tropical city.

The trial is open only to institutions, government bodies and corporations.

Of the five cars, two – owned by the the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) – have been registered for use.

Ms Low Peck Kem, divisional director of MOM’s national human resources division, said the ministry was invited to take part in the electric-vehicle trial. The ministry agreed as the cars would help ‘in our efforts in environmental protection’, she added.

The two i-MiEVs will be used mainly for site inspections, she said. Although they have been registered for a number of weeks now, they will not be put to use until June, when the charging points are up.

Under initial plans announced in 2009, 50 i-MiEVs were expected to be delivered to Singapore this year. But the figure was later halved to 25 for unknown reasons.

The Straits Times understands that only 10 might be available this year – five have arrived.

The EMA spokesman said: ‘Delivery of the next batch has yet to be confirmed in the light of production delays in Japan arising from the recent earthquake.’

Another reason, sources said, was that parties keen to buy the cars are waiting for the charging infrastructure to be up before ordering them.

One company, vehicle rental firm Smart Automobiles, has changed its mind about buying electric cars for its fleet.

‘It has taken too long to happen,’ said Smart managing director Johnny Harjantho. ‘Customers who were keen to rent these cars have lost interest.’

At the moment, buyers have only one choice: the i-MiEV. Other car-makers with electric models have yet to import them, although Renault is expected to do so by the end of the year or early next year.

The lithium-powered i-MiEV hits 100kmh in about nine seconds and has a top speed of 140kmh. Under ideal conditions, it has a range of 160km between charges.

German components maker Bosch, which clinched the deal to set up the charging network, said it is ready to roll out 25 stations by next month.

The stations will charge a vehicle fully within eight hours. There will also be a quick charging station which gives a full charge in 45 minutes. But as of last week, none of the stations had been installed. The company would not say more.

The EMA spokesman, responding to queries from The Straits Times, said preparations were under way for the first batch of six charging stations to be set up by June.

Singapore-based Greenlots, an electric vehicle charging systems company, is supplying Bosch with the tamper- and weather-proof chargers – which are made completely here.

The chargers incorporate smart features, such as controlling power supply to prevent brown-outs in the building where the chargers are installed; and storing usage history.

Mr Oliver Risse, managing director of the three-year-old company, said each charger costs around $4,000 to $5,000.

Besides the electric vehicle trial, he said several property developers – including Australia’s Lend Lease and Singapore’s CDL Group – are also in talks with Greenlots to install about 100 chargers in 40 to 50 buildings here.

One of the biggest road humps to ready adoption of this greener form of mobility is cost, observers said.

Despite being exempt from taxes and the certificate of entitlement scheme, the i-MiEVs assigned for the EMA-led trial cost around $90,000 each – approximately the cost of a Toyota Corolla sedan, a substantially bigger car.

If an individual were to buy one with the existing green vehicle rebate accorded to eco-friendly vehicles such as compressed natural gas and hybrid cars, it would easily cost more than twice that.

Tesla of America, which had hoped to be part of the test-bed, packed up and left Singapore in February after it failed to secure tax exemption for its cars.

Source: www.wildsingaporenews.blogspot.com

Committed to Sustainability Reporting & Demonstrating Change

Global company STMicroelectronics shows how it embeds sustainability into its business practices to create value for all of its stakeholders.  Key commitments and achievements include a record safety performance that puts ST among the worldwide leaders in this field and a commitment to have 100% of its products eco-designed by 2015. In the latest web-based report, Australian office supplies business Corporate Express shows significant progress in key areas such as ethical sourcing, employee engagement, health and safety, diversity, sustainable procurement, environmentally preferable products, sustainable packaging and carbon management.

Company publishes its 2010 Sustainability Report

PR Newswire Geneva, (31 May 2011:

STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, has published its annual Sustainability Report, entitled “Our Culture of Sustainable Excellence in Practice”, the report provides comprehensive details of ST’s Sustainability strategy, policies and performance during 2010.

It illustrates how ST embeds sustainability into its business practices to create value for all of its stakeholders.  Key commitments and achievements include a record safety performance that puts ST among the worldwide leaders in this field and a commitment to have 100% of ST products eco-designed by 2015.

Sustainability remained one of ST’s key priorities in 2010, as in previous years, and was integrated even more thoroughly into the overall company strategy, including a strong focus on responsible products. As a result, ST continued to be included in all of the top five sustainability indices and received awards from its customer Nokia and the European Institute of Purchasing Management for its unswerving commitment to Sustainable Development. Highlights of 2010 included record performance in safety; further extension of the corporate Health Plan, which has now provided over 260,000 medical examinations for ST employees over a four year time span, a reduction of energy consumption per production unit of 30% compared to 2009, and the introduction of a dedicated EnergyLite™ microcontroller platform designed to minimize power consumption in a wide range of applications.

“2010 has been a record year for ST also in terms of Sustainability achievements, focused on our employees, our customers, and all our stakeholders,” said Carlo Bozotti, President and Chief Executive Officer of STMicroelectronics. “This is further proof of our long-standing position that integrating sustainability and responsibility into our business activities is not a cost burden but a recipe for even greater success. We will continue to follow this path with the objective to be recognized as a world leader in innovation for sustainable development through excellence in our people, our products, the environment and the community. In this way, we are helping our customers to help make the world a better place at every level: enriching peoples’ lives, making society work better, and helping to preserve the planet.”

2010 was also an extremely successful year for the ST Foundation’s Digital Unify (DU) program, which aims to bridge the gap between those people who have access to IT technologies and those who have not by providing free computer training and access to the internet. In 2010, the DU program exceeded the symbolic threshold of 100,000 cumulative beneficiaries worldwide.

The report clearly demonstrates the scope and success of ST’s Sustainability strategy, which is designed in line with its Sustainable Excellence culture to implement ST’s determination to balance and respond to stakeholders’ expectations in the short and longer terms to make the Company ‘sustainable’ – successful now and in the future – and enable it to contribute to sustainable development at a global level. Originating as a fusion of TQM (Total Quality Management) culture and ST’s pioneering work since the early 1990s in the field of environmental responsibility, Sustainable Excellence has evolved over the years to embrace every aspect of corporate responsibility and is increasingly deeply integrated into every level of the Company’s activities.

The Sustainability report, which complies with the disclosure guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative and the United Nations Global Compact, is available on ST’s website along with further information about the ST’s sustainability approach and the previous reports covering ST’s long term commitment to sustainable development.

Highlights of the report include:

Company

•ST worked with the renowned organization Business for Social Responsibility to conduct a materiality exercise and refresh its Sustainability strategy based on this most relevant issues identification.  

Social

•ST’s Corporate Human Resources implemented numerous key programs, including People Review (a program to ensure the alignment of resources and business needs), and Development Booster, a new development tool designed to equip highly talented people to evolve in their careers.

•There was an even deeper integration of Labour Rights in ST management systems in 2010. ST decided to go beyond the minimum requirements of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) compliance program via an internal audit program. The first audit was conducted in Shenzhen, China, in 2010.

Health & Safety

•ST achieved its best ever safety results in 2010 with a 19% decrease in recordable cases rate and a 43% decrease in severity rate, making ST one of the worldwide leaders in Health & Safety.

•The corporate Health Plan now covers 82% of ST’s employees, compared to 63% in 2009. ST’s Health Plan has now provided over 260,000 medical examinations for ST employees over a four year time span

Environment

•Building on the previous editions and the experience of over 15 years in which ST has been recognized as a pioneer, the Company finalized its fourth Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Decalogue with ambitious new EHS targets, including the objective of having all new products eco-designed by 2015.

•ST reduced its energy consumption per production unit by 30% compared to 2009, which also represents a 5.6% decrease compared to 2008 (before the crisis).  Sustainable water management and conservation are crucial issues for ST. The Company is implementing continuous improvement programs at every front-end manufacturing site to achieve its water reduction target of 5% per year. ST Agrate (Italy) has developed an innovative system that has reduced its water consumption per production unit by 47% over the past six years.

Product Responsibility

•ST is investing significantly in ultra-low power technologies and design and in 2010 it has launched a dedicated EnergyLite™ platform for microcontroller products.

•Growing needs and challenges of the health sector are increasingly addressed by ST’s innovative and complete solutions, leading edge technology, state-of-the-art products and strong commitment to quality and reliability.

•The ECOPACK® program to devise and implement environmentally friendly chip packaging now covers 92% of ST products.

Supply Chain

•The mining of certain minerals in conflict areas associated with human rights violations has been a major focus for ST’s supply chain and corporate responsibility programs since 2007. ST has continuously and consistently applied its sourcing policy to prevent illegal and unethical sourcing of minerals from conflict areas and their use in ST’s products.

•Commitments to customer service excellence were fulfilled thanks to a risk management approach integrated into ST’s key management activities. For example, in April 2010, ST was able to face the Icelandic volcano crisis and prevent any interruptions in its customers’ operations thanks to its robust Business Continuity Plan in logistics.

Source: www.st.com

From Sydney, CSR Wire (3 June 2011):

To coincide with World Environment Day, Australia’s leading office products company, Corporate Express has released its third sustainability report called Staples Soul.

Within the web-base report are simple steps for organisations to take action in their own workplace for World Environment Day and beyond. By moving to a web-based report, Corporate Express has also included a resource called ‘Take Action’ which provides simple steps to take action in the workplace. Organisations can see tips to be more sustainable, choose from over 1,500 environmentally preferable products from Corporate Express’ Go-Green Guide, access tools to learn more about third party eco labels and environmental certifications and even take a free mini-office ‘green health check’ assessment that includes an action plan of ideas to implement in the workplace.

As a company that has been at the forefront of sustainable practices for over 10 years, Jennifer Levasseur, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager says: “Staples Soul reflects our commitment to corporate social responsibility; it brings together our efforts to give back to our communities, embrace diversity, sustain the environment and practice sound ethics. We recognise the impacts our decisions have on our stakeholders and work with them to determine mutually beneficial solutions.”

Paul Hitchcock, CEO of Corporate Express said: “As well as focusing on maintaining our own environmental leadership, we’re also committed to helping our customers make environmentally preferable choices for their own businesses. Our sustainability report also acts as a one-stop-shop to help businesses start their own sustainability journey”.

In the latest web-based report, Corporate Express shows significant progress in key areas such as ethical sourcing, employee engagement, health and safety, diversity, sustainable procurement, environmentally preferable products, sustainable packaging and carbon management.

The results outlined from the 2010 financial year focus on several key areas:

•Ethics: Working with key offshore suppliers to help them achieve compliance with the Company’s Ethical Sourcing Policy.

•Community: The Company raised $46,000 to help those affected by the devastating floods that affected Queensland in early 2011.

•Environment: Corporate Express’ Environmental Management System achieved certification against the international standard ISO 14001, as well as reduced its total net greenhouse gas emissions by 17%; increased tonnes of plastic/cans/glass recycled by 97%; and increased tonnes of paper/cardboard recycled by 50%.

•Diversity: The Company increased the number of females in senior leadership roles from nine percent in 2008 to 33 per cent in 2010; launched its Reconciliation Action Plan, initiated a Supplier Diversity Program; and received external recognition for these diversity programs.

As well as featuring key achievements for 2010, the new interactive report aims to encourage and facilitate sustainable procurement for Australian businesses. Organisations can customise their own version of the report based on the information relevant for their sustainability strategy.

To view the Sustainability Report or to take action with simple steps in your organisation for World Environment Day – log onto

About Corporate Express

Corporate Express Pty Limited is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of office essentials, with a product offering including office products, IT solutions, business furniture, print management, canteen and catering supplies, promotional marketing, facility supplies and education products. Corporate Express Australia, and its wholly owned subsidiary Corporate Express New Zealand, were acquired by Staples Ltd, in September 2010.

About Staples

Staples is the world’s largest office products company and a trusted source for office solutions. The company provides products, services and expertise in office supplies, copy & print, technology, facilities and breakroom, and furniture. Staples invented the office superstore concept in 1986 and now has annual sales of $25 billion, ranking second in the world in eCommerce sales. With 90,000 associates worldwide, Staples operates in 26 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, making it easy for businesses of all sizes, and consumers. The company is headquartered outside Boston. More information about Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) is available at www.staples.com/media.

Source: www.csrwire.com and www.ce.com.au/soul