ABC Carbon Express Issue 64 : 27 June to 3 July 2009

Article 1

 
Profile: Christof Rühl

China became the world’s largest emitter of energy-related CO2 in 2008 and Asia Pacific accounted for nearly all of the world’s net emissions growth, according to BP’s chief economist Christof Ruhl in his Statistical Review of World Energy.
The Australian Institute of Energy presented BP chief economist Christof Ruhl in Sydney and Brisbane this past week, providing an in depth insider’s look at the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
ABC Carbon caught up with Christof Ruhl in Brisbane. We found his full presentation on the status of world energy insightful and valuable. We asked him about the importance of renewable energy and BP’s interest in investing in and developing these technologies.

In his overview, he pointed out that during 2008 global energy markets generally followed the same extreme pattern as the world economy. Prices first rose to record highs as economic growth boomed then collapsed as the global economy plunged into recession in the wake of the financial crisis.

However, growth in world gas production has only been exceeded once since the 1970s, renewable energy continued to grow quickly and carbon emissions continued to increase. Data also shows that energy security is best served where markets are allowed to function freely and without interference.

Last year was also remarkable for another reason – less dramatic but, arguably, just as profound in
its implications for the long term. For the first time ever the developing world led by China leapfrogged OECD nations in the consumption of primary energy.

Renewables
Renewables still account for only a small share of total energy consumption, and for the most part, still require government support. But from that small base they continued to grow fast, with global deployment reflecting government support as well as natural endowments.

In contrast to all the other fuels, growth in renewables was led by OECD countries, where policy support is strongest. But like other fuels, 2008 saw rapid growth in the first half followed by a marked deceleration towards the end of the year, and into 2009.
Ethanol is now equivalent to 0.9% of global oil consumption. Production growth accelerated for a fourth consecutive year, rising by 31% in 2008. In volume terms it rose to 0.7 Mboe/d. The US accounted for 62% of global supply growth, Brazil for most of the remainder.
US production rose to 600 Kb/d, as new capacity responded to mandated increases in blending requirements and to high gasoline prices. The credit crisis and falling product prices after mid-year slowed things down and left the US ethanol industry with overbuilt capacity – by year-end about 15% of US ethanol production capacity lay idle.

Wind power generating capacity growth accelerated to 30% in 2008, the fourth consecutive year of accelerating growth. Growth becomes a race between newly emerging big players: China recorded the fastest growth rate among the major markets and the second largest volume increment (6.2 GW, 106% growth), but the US added the most new wind capacity, overtaking Germany, and with 21% has now the largest global share of wind power capacity.

Solar power generating capacity grew even faster than wind. Spain and Germany together accounted for more than 75% of the solar growth, due to strong government support. However with capacity reaching 13.4 GW, solar is still a long way behind wind, which stands at 122.2 GW.

Together, wind, solar and geothermal power supply around 1.5% of global electricity.

Carbon Emissions
Carbon emissions from energy use grew by 1.6% in 2008, which is slower than last year and below the ten-year average for the first time since 2002 – I hasten to add our usual caveat: we apply standard conversion rates to our energy consumption data, so our figures are not comparable to official data.
China became the world’s largest emitter of energy-related CO2 in 2008, and Asia Pacific accounted for nearly all of the world’s net emissions growth. OECD emissions fell by 1.7%, mostly due to reduced oil and coal consumption, including switching from coal to gas for electricity generation in the EU.

Carbon markets grew strongly in 2008: trading volumes increased by 61% and traded value doubled to $126bn, of which $92bn was under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. But the recession is taking its toll: As energy demand and energy prices came down, carbon prices fell to €16/tonne CO2e at year-end, from almost twice as much last July.

The outlook for a global post-Kyoto framework is mixed: the European Parliament adopted a Climate and Energy Package in December; the US Congress is debating one; but plans for an Australian trading scheme were postponed in May this year.
About Christof Ruhl:
As BP’s Group Chief Economist Christof Ruhl is based in London, England, where he analyses global economic developments and energy economics to provide input into BP’s strategy. Mr Rühl has a distinguished track record as an economist in academia as well as in economic development and policy advice.
Prior to joining BP in May 2005, he served as a Senior Economist at the World Bank in Washington (1998-2000), before becoming the World Bank’s Chief Economist in Russia (2001-04) and Brazil (2004-05). From 1996-1998, Mr Rühl worked as Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.
Prior to this (1991-96), Mr Rühl was a Professor of Economics at the University of California in Los Angeles, and earlier held teaching and research positions at German universities.
He also held Visiting Professorships at academic institutions worldwide, including the University of Western Ontario and the University of Chicago. His area of specialization is macroeconomics and energy economics, and he has published widely in these fields.
From BP’s website there’s more information on BP’s investment and renewables or alternative energy, as well as insight into its investment in research into biofuels:
Alternative energy
In 2008 BP invested $1.4 billion in low-carbon energy, bringing the total investment since Alternative Energy was launched in 2005 to $2.9 billion in line with our commitment to invest $8 billion by 2015.
In 2008 we increased our installed wind capacity to more than 1,000MW, increased our solar sales to 162MW, proceeded with plans to build power plants using carbon capture and storage and invested in the production and development of sustainable biofuels including the start-up of ethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil.
Biofuels

Biotechnology is a booming science. It has been responsible for major advances in pharmaceuticals, medicine, genetics and food sources. But until now, bioscience has not been widely applied to energy.
BP is investing $500 million over 10 years establishing the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) hosted by the University of California at Berkeley with its associated strategic partners University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The EBI is the first public-private institution of this scale in the world. Its goal is to perform ground-breaking research aimed at the production of new and cleaner energy, initially focusing on renewable biofuels for road transport.
For the complete the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, go to the BP website, where you’ll also find more information on BP’s sustainable policies and investment in renewable energy.
For more information on the Australian Institute of Energy and its programme of activities, go to the website below.
Source: www.bp.com and www.aie.org.au

Article 2

Build-up for ZeroGen & CCS

Support this week for Australia’s initiative, the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, from the US President Obama and the announcement that Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation will build a low-emission integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plant integrated with ZeroGen’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility in Queensland.
By Christian Kerr in The Australian (24 June 2009):
BARACK Obama has reinforced his backing for Kevin Rudd's proposal for a Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
The Prime Minister and President Obama held telephone discussions on climate change during the week.
"The Prime Minister spoke by telephone with President Obama," a spokesman for Mr Rudd said.

"They discussed the Major Economies Forum and other meetings that they will attend together in Italy in July."

The forum, organised by Mr Obama, will coordinate activities in the lead-up to the December Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change.

The spokesman said the PM and the President discussed the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, an Australian initiative that has the strong support of the United States.

"They canvassed how the Institute should be discussed at the MEF," the spokesman said.

The two leaders also discussed global security challenges, including the nuclear proliferation threat posed by North Korea.

"The President expressed appreciation for Australia's partnership and support, and the leaders agreed to stay closely in touch on this key challenge," he said.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au
It was announced from Tokyo this week on the JCN newswire:
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) have agreed with ZeroGen Pty. Ltd. of Australia (in Queensland) to participate in the project to build a low-emission integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power generation plant integrated with a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility, and jointly received an order to implement a feasibility study (F/S) on the project.
This will be the world's first commercial-scale IGCC power plant with CCS capability, producing 530 megawatts (MW) of electricity and capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The plant is slated to go on-stream in 2015.
The ZeroGen project combines a high-efficiency IGCC plant that will generate power using fuel produced through gasification of coal, which is abundant in Australia, and CCS technology, which captures and sequesters CO2 in deep subsurface brine aquifers.
The power plant will be built in Queensland, with MHI serving as the exclusive manufacturer, supplier and builder of the IGCC facility, including CO2 recovery and storage systems. MC will coordinate the overall project.
ZeroGen, which is wholly owned by Stanwell and the Queensland State Government, will be the project implementation body. In that capacity it will be responsible for the selection of potential sites in Queensland both for the IGCC plant and for a carbon transport and storage area, and will also handle other crucial areas such as infrastructure, coal supply, stakeholder engagement and environmental studies.
Japan, including MHI, has been seeking to introduce IGCC and CCS technologies to the global market while Australia, including ZeroGen, has been looking to make effective use of coal, the country's largest export commodity, and to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The two sides' intentions thus meshed favourably, resulting in the F/S order.
During the course of the discussions that led to the agreement and order, MHI's Sustainable Energy & Environment Strategic Planning Department acted in a liaison role, closely working with the company's Power Systems Headquarters and the Machinery and Steel Structures Headquarters. This department was established in April 2008 to strategically coordinate the company's products, technologies and business operations spanning across MHI's various operational headquarters, in a quest to effectively and integrally approach potential customers for energy and environmental projects utilizing the company's full complement of technological expertise. The Power Systems Headquarters and the Machinery and Steel Structures Headquarters will be responsible for the IGCC plant and CCS facility, respectively.
MC, which possesses considerable coal interests in Australia, has been working to realize continuous utilization of coal resources with reduced environmental burdens as a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI). GCCSI is an organization established by the Australian Federal Government to support commercialization of CCS.
MC proposed that the ZeroGen project be promoted with support from the Government as a project falling under the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Initiative. In addition to supplying the plant together with MHI, MC aims to contribute to the project in many areas, including coal and pipeline supply and emissions trading in the future.
For its fuel, the IGCC power generation system uses gas produced by gasification of fine milled coal in a gasification furnace. Electricity is generated by gas-turbine and steam-turbine combined cycle. IGCC delivers higher power generation efficiency than conventional coal-fired power plants and lower emissions of not only CO2 but also SOx, NOx and soot.
MHI's IGCC system is based on air-blown gasification technology, which the company has further refined to achieve the world's highest transmission end power generation efficiency. MHI has already delivered a 250 MW IGCC demonstration plant to Clean Coal Power R&D Co., Ltd., located in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, a company jointly established by 10 domestic electricity providers. The demonstration plant has already completed more than 2,000 hours of continuous operation and has proved its high reliability and operational availability.
In the ZeroGen project, CO2 will be recovered from gas before combustion by gas turbine. In the coal-gasification process, carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen gases are produced through oxygen reaction of coal, then CO2 is separated and recovered through the shift reaction of CO and steam.
MHI's participation in the ZeroGen project demonstrates that the company' superior technology and abundant experience have been highly evaluated.
ZeroGen' Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Tony Tarr said: "ZeroGen's development of a first-of-a-kind commercial-scale power plant that combines IGCC and CCS will represent a critical milestone in deploying low-emission coal technology in Australia and around the world, addressing global environment issues."
Going forward MHI and MC will engage in the ZeroGen project energetically to ensure the successful deployment of the IGCC-CSS system, working closely with ZeroGen and also with the Queensland Government, the Australian Coal Association and the Federal Government.
Source: www.japancorp.net and www.zerogen.com.au

Article 3

Carbon Trees & Light Years

US Scientists are developing a ‘synthetic tree’ capable of collecting carbon around 1000 times faster than the real thing, but are yet to make it look as good as nature’s own (the prototype is pictured), while an international team of astronomers are looking at whether the oldest and most distant carbon was responsible for lighting up the Universe.
By Hilary Whiteman for CNN:
Scientists in the United States are developing a "synthetic tree" capable of collecting carbon around 1000 times faster than the real thing.
A conceptual design of how the "synthetic tree" might look should they ever reach the stage of production.
As the wind blows though plastic "leaves," the carbon is trapped in a chamber, compressed and stored as liquid carbon dioxide.
The technology is similar to that used to capture carbon from flue stacks at coal-fired power plants, but the difference is that the "synthetic tree" can catch carbon anytime, anywhere.
"Half of your emissions come from small, distributed sources where collection at the site is either impossible or impractical," said Professor Klaus Lackner, Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University.
"We aim for applications like gasoline in cars or jet fuel in airplanes. We are going after CO2 that otherwise is nearly impossible to collect," he told CNN.
While the idea of carbon-catchers may sound far-fetched, an early model has been built and Lackner is in the process of writing a proposal for consideration by the U.S. Department of Energy.
He personally explained the concept in a 45-minute meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu last month at a three-day symposium on climate change in London.
"He was there and I was there and he showed interest," Lackner told CNN. "That's exciting, but I don't particularly want to discuss this in a public forum because I think this gives me a little bit of an opportunity to tailor my proposals to the Department of Energy in a way that makes them more palatable."
Lackner started working on the concept of an ambient carbon catcher in 1998. "I argued back then and I still argue that the reason this can be done, from a theoretical point of view, is that the CO2 in the air is actually surprisingly concentrated, therefore the device you need to collect CO2 is quite small."
The "synthetic tree" looks more like a public convenience block than a hi-tech method of reducing carbon emissions, but Lackner told CNN it is highly efficient for its size when compared, for example, to a modern power-generating wind turbine.
"If you give me one of those big windmills which have those big areas through which the rotor moves -- how much CO2 can I avoid? And if I had an equally sized CO2 collector -- how much CO2 can I collect? It turns out the collector is several hundred times better than the windmill."
Is the "synthetic tree" an interesting alternative, or a scientific flight of fancy that's unlikely to happen? Sound Off below.
Lackner told CNN that initial concerns over the cost of the technology were focused on the "front-end" carbon collector, including the sorbent used to catch the carbon dioxide in the air.
But after years of research, Lackner told CNN he and his colleagues have developed a sorbent that is "close to the ideal," in that it uses a relatively small amount of energy to release the CO2 and is not prohibitively expensive.
"By the time we make liquid CO2 we have spent approximately 50 kilojoules [of electricity] per mole of CO2." Compare that, Lackner said, to the average power plant in the U.S. which produces one mole of CO2 with every 230 kilojoules of electricity.
"In other words, if we simply plugged our device in to the power grid to satisfy its energy needs, for every roughly 1000 kilograms [of carbon dioxide] we collected we would re-emit 200, so 800 we can chalk up as having been successful," he said.
Lackner told CNN the biggest cost was at the "back-end" of the collector, primarily the technology used to release the CO2 from the sorbent.
He said for that reason, on a cost-basis, the "synthetic tree" could not compete with modern coal-fired power plants that are designed to release fewer carbon emissions than their older predecessors. But he said when compared to the cost of retro-fitting an existing coal plant, the "synthetic tree" becomes more viable.
"The bottom line is we have in this way the ability to deal with the problem at a cost which is somewhat higher than on a coal-fired power plant retro-fit, but not much higher."
Besides, he said, the technology is not being developed as an alternative to the carbon capture and storage methods currently being tested for large-scale use on coal-fired power stations. He's targeting carbon that's already in the air.
The concept of the "synethic tree" has caught the imagination of one of the first scientists to warn the world about global warming, Lackner's colleague at Columbia University, Newberry Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Professor Wally Broecker.
"I'm extremely excited about this. I think this is something that the world's going to have to have, unfortunately," Broecker told CNN from Madrid where he received a BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for his work on the issue of climate change.
Broecker told CNN most people still don't recognize the magnitude of the task the world faces in reducing global carbon emissions, and it was likely that one day urgent action would need to be taken, above and beyond the current measures being discussed.
"We're probably not going to stop CO2 rising until it's double what it was near-1800 and maybe even more than that," he said. "I think we will find that the planet is too warm, ice is melting too fast... and we'll want to bring the CO2 back down again. The only way we can do that on a short timescale would be to pull it back out of the atmosphere."
Broecker told CNN the units could stand in the middle of Australia, for example, and their presence wouldn't significantly disrupt the atmospheric distribution.
"Each unit would take out a ton of CO2 a day -- which would be the amount of CO2 produced by 20 average automobiles in the U.S.A. And the cost of each unit would be about the cost of a Toyota. So that would mean if you added a five percent surcharge on automobile purchases that money could go to building units to remove the CO2 those vehicles are going to create."
Source: www.edition.cnn.com

A space report from Swinburne University of Technology:
The oldest carbon isn't in large enough amounts to have been able to light up the Universe, according to the researchers.
An international team of astronomers has discovered the oldest and most distant carbon in the Universe, but there's not enough of it to support standard theories of how the Universe lit up, a member from Swinburne University of Technology has calculated.
In the early Universe a dark pervasive fog of neutral hydrogen gas lurked everywhere. Astronomers think that this fog cleared when the first stars formed and emitted light.
There is a close connection between the amount of light and carbon produced in stars. But adding up all the 13-billion-year-old carbon detected, Dr Emma Ryan-Weber and her collaborators came to the conclusion the amount of carbon, and therefore the number of massive stars, was insufficient to lift the fog.
"So light must come from somewhere else, perhaps an unknown population of quasars, or stars that lock-up more of their carbon, or carbon hidden in unobserved states."
When the Universe began with the Big Bang only hydrogen and helium existed. After the first massive stars exploded as supernovae they sprinkled their products of carbon and other elements-of which you, I, and the Earth are comprised-all over the cosmos.
The researchers know the carbon they have discovered is old because it was detected in the infra-red wavelength rather than in the ultra-violet as on Earth. The Universe has expanded so much since the Big Bang, that the wavelength of the light from carbon atoms has stretched from 155 to 1085 nanometres by the time it reaches the Earth.
Even though astronomers have been observing intergalactic carbon for many years, no-one had tried to detect it in the early Universe, because this involved looking in the near-infra-red. Observations in the near-infra-red are challenging because of the interference of intense 'airglow' lines in the night sky.
The details surrounding the end of the dark Universe, a process know as 're-ionisation', are among the last mysteries of modern cosmology. Astronomers have yet to discover when the starlight from the first galaxies lit up the Universe, ionising the surrounding neutral hydrogen gas. And they don't know how massive these galaxies were, or whether they contained the same types of stars as we see today.
Even measurements suggesting the greatest number of galaxies in the early Universe could only lead to just enough light to lift the fog if the conditions are tweaked in the right way. Emma's survey of intergalactic carbon in the early Universe provides a completely independent measure of the amount of starlight.
"A lot more starlight is needed to lift the fog. It's like going from a visibility of a metre to being able to see a kilometre down the road."
Emma and her collaborators are planning further observations to search for carbon in a different state to see if it can make up the shortfall of starlight.
The observations of early carbon took place in collaboration with Prof. Piero Madau from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Prof. Max Pettini and PhD student Berkeley Zych at Cambridge University in the UK. They used the European Southern Observatory's eight-metre Very Large Telescope in Chile as well as the 10-metre W.M. Keck Telescope in Hawaii. The results have recently been published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Source: www.swinburne.edu.au

Article 4

No Renewable Energy to Waste

The Queensland Renewable Energy Plan could generate A$3.5 billion in new investment, create up to 3500 jobs and emissions over the next 10 years, while Australia’s tiny waste coalmine gas industry is stepping up its campaign to have the Federal government classify it as renewable energy.

Matt Chambers in The Australia 22 June 2009
AUSTRALIA'S tiny waste coalmine gas industry will step up its campaign to have the Rudd government classify it as renewable energy after proposed legislation was delayed.
The industry's two main power producers, the listed Energy Developments and the privately held Envirogen, have joined forces to lobby government to include waste coalmine gas as an eligible fuel under the proposed expanded renewable energy target (RET).
The opposition last week imposed a two-month delay on the legislation as it tries to get the government to remove links with the proposed emissions trading scheme.
Energy Developments and Envirogen see the delay as an advantage, giving them more time to convince legislators.
The two companies produce 215 megawatts of power from methane emitted by eight underground coking coalmines in NSW and Queensland.
The gas, which is released when coal is mined, would otherwise be burned as waste.
Waste gas from landfills is an eligible renewable energy source under the RET scheme, but coal gas is not because it is derived from fossil fuels.
Envirogen and Energy Developments currently run their mine gas power stations under gas abatement schemes in NSW and Queensland. Under the national renewable and emissions trading plans, benefits reaped under the programs would disappear, putting about 100 jobs at risk, Envirogen and Energy Developments say.
Separately, Energy Developments shareholders are still waiting to hear from their independent directors on a $200million-plus bid from a private equity consortium led by Archer Capital. On June 6, Energy Developments said a board committee would review the proposal.
The board is said to be in discussions with Archer, which has acquired a 19.9 per cent stake in Energy Developments.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

A Sky News Report:
The Queensland government will launch a $1 million feasibility study for a large scale solar power plant that could potentially power up to 300,000 homes as part of its renewable energy plan.
Premier Anna Bligh released The Queensland Renewable Energy Plan on Sunday, which she says could generate $3.5 billion in new investment and create up to 3,500 jobs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years.
This coincides with federal government legislation that if passed will require power companies to source up to 20 per cent of their energy from renewable sources.
Ms Bligh says her government's plan includes a number of initiatives such as passing legislation in Queensland allowing farmers on Crown land to enter agreements with energy companies to put, for example, wind farms on part of their property.
A major part of the plan is a $1 million feasibility study for a large scale solar power plant.
'We believe solar energy and small forms of renewable power are well placed in those very remote parts of Queensland,' Ms Bligh said.
'(The feasibility study) will launch Queensland's bid for Commonwealth funding to see large scale solar power generation in Australia.'
The Clinton Foundation, an organisation set-up by former US president Bill Clinton to focus on worldwide issues such as climate change, will undertake the feasibility study.
The plant is expected to generate from 500 to 750 megawatts which could roughly power from 200,000 to 300,000 homes, according to Tony Wood from the Clinton Foundation.
Mr Wood said the study would look into the scale of the plant, the best location in terms of the sun and transmission lines, how much it will cost and whether it needs to be built over several locations or one.
Kellie Caught from WWF says its a good first step toward building the renewable energy industry.
'The state government will have to spend money on a feeding tariff or convince the federal government to cement their renewable energy targets specifically for geothermal and solar thermal,' Ms Caught said.
Source: www.skynews.com.au

Article 5
Go For 50/50 & 100 Billion
Major economies including the United States and China are considering setting a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when they hold a summit in Italy next month, while UK PM Gordon Brown calls for a US$100 billion a year fund to fight climate change in the developing world by 2020.
By Gerard Wynn of Reuters:
LONDON - Developed countries must fund a $US100 billion ($A124 billion) a year fight against climate change in the developing world by 2020, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
Green campaigners praised the first such offer from a world leader and its timing two weeks before a climate summit of the 17 biggest developed and developing economies. India said the offer fell short but was something to build on.
UN-led talks meant to lead to a new treaty to fight climate change when representatives of 190 countries meet in Copenhagen in December have struggled on disagreement over how far rich countries should fund action in developing countries.
"I propose we take a working figure of around $US100 billion per year by 2020," Brown said in his speech at London Zoo, with a backdrop of emus and wallabies in an arid landscape, hinting at droughts scientists say await Europe without climate action.
"If we are to achieve an agreement in Copenhagen, I believe we must move the debate from a stand-off over hypothetical figures," he told foreign diplomats and public figures.
Green groups showed rare, collective enthusiasm after four years of halting global progress to agree a successor to the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.
"The Prime Minister's proposal could give a welcome kickstart to negotiations," Oxfam International's Tim Gore said.
And Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general and president of Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum, said the significance of Brown's statement should not be underestimated.
"The world needs this kind of leadership," he added.
Falling short
The $US100 billion figure fell far short of what many developing countries have called for. For example India has suggested that developed countries should provide one per cent of national wealth, or GDP, and was unimpressed by Friday's offer.
"It's just a drop, but at least somebody has said something at last," Pradipto Ghosh of New Delhi-based The Energy and Resources of Institute (TERI) and a member of the climate panel of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
The one per cent GDP number was an "obviously fantasy figure", a senior British government official told reporters on Friday.
Brown also said a climate fund must not simply divert rich countries' existing commitments to aid overseas development.
Up to a tenth of such existing promises could be used, he proposed, where steps met both development and climate goals, for example boosting drought resistance and food yields.
Campaigners especially supported his suggestion that the $US100 billion fund could be partly raised from international aviation and shipping, for example from taxing or including these sectors in emissions trading markets.
Ships and planes are exempt from carbon cuts under Kyoto. Brown also backed a Norwegian proposal to levy a charge on national emissions rights for rich countries under a new pact.
Britain wants a Copenhagen deal to commit to limit global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius, for exampl by setting a goal for global greenhouse gases to stop rising by 2020.

Source: www.businessspectator.com.au

Major economies including the United States and China are considering setting a goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when they hold a summit in Italy next month, a draft document showed.
The text also says the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF) will seek to double public investments in low-carbon technology by 2015 and boost funding from both public and private sources as well as from carbon markets to fight global warming.
The draft was put forward by the United States and Mexico at talks in Mexico this week, without reaching accord before a MEF summit on July 9. U.S. President Barack Obama launched the MEF to help toward a new U.N. climate pact due in December.
"We support an aspirational global goal of reducing global emissions by 50 percent by 2050, with developed countries reducing emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050," according to the draft text, obtained by Reuters and dated June 22.
Last year, industrialized nations in the Group of Eight agreed at a summit in Japan to a "vision" of halving world greenhouse gases by 2050 to help avert ever more droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels.
Developing countries including China, India and Brazil did not adopt that 2050 goal in Japan, arguing that the rich first have to set tough 2020 cuts for themselves. The MEF summit will be on the sidelines of this year's G8 summit in Italy.
The two-page draft declaration does not set clear goals but says that developed countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, would "undertake robust aggregate and individual mid-term reductions in the 2020 timeframe."
RECESSION
Developing nations such as China and India say that the rich should cut emissions by "at least 40 percent" below 1990 levels by 2020 -- a target developed nations say is out of reach when they are trying to stimulate recession-hit economies.
And the text says developing nations would take actions by 2020 to ensure a "significant deviation from business as usual" to slow rising emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels.
The text also stops short of setting a peak year for global emissions. "The peaking of global and national emissions should take place as soon as possible, recognizing that the timeframe for peaking will be longer in developing countries," it said.
The 17 MEF members account for 80 percent of global emissions so any agreement among them would go a long way to defining a new U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.
The text also says that the nations will set up a global partnership aiming to double public sector investments in research and development of low-carbon technologies by 2015.
The partnership would seek to remove barriers and create incentives to promote technologies "such as energy efficiency; solar energy; smart grids; carbon capture, use and storage; advanced vehicles; and bio-energy."
The text also says that funds to combat climate change "will need to be substantially scaled up to address climate change." It suggests a "fast start" funding, perhaps of $400 million, to help developing nations.
The text also goes some way to acknowledging a goal of the EU and many developing nations to limit global rises in temperatures to no more than 2 Celsius above 1990 levels. That goal has not been adopted by the United States.
The text mentions that leaders are "aware of the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperatures above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2 degrees C."
(Editing by Janet McBride)
Source: www.alertnet.org

The 17 major economies participating in the Major Economies Forum are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Denmark, in its capacity as the President of the December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations have also been invited to participate in this dialogue.

Article 6

Fired Up on Global Warming Solutions

Debate on climate change in Australia is small-minded and a repeat of the Victorian bushfires is possible if global temperatures do not ease, according to climate change expert Tim Flannery, while Ross Garnaut says it will be harder to provide a solution to global warming than dealing with the global financial crisis.

A Sky News Report:
Debate on climate change in Australia is small-minded and a repeat of the Victorian bushfires is possible if global temperatures do not ease, climate change expert Tim Flannery says.
At best, Prof Flannery says, children who aspire to be firefighters may be alive long enough to avoid severe weather conditions that fuelled February's Black Saturday and claimed 173 lives.
Prof Flannery expressed his views on Saturday in a speech on extreme climate events at the International WildFire Management Conference in Sydney.
A paleontologist by trade, he said the white ring-tailed possum has been around for at least five million years but exposure to temperatures above 34 degrees for more than four hours results in its untimely death.
The last of the species are located atop a few mountains in northeast Queensland.
'And to see it now vanishing from its last refuge in a world heritage area tells me that our climate is changing in ways that we haven't seen now probably for millions of years,' Prof Flannery said.
Forty-seven degree temperatures, winds up to 100km/h and 12 years of drought fuelled bushfires that levelled bush communities outside of Melbourne on February 7.
Prof Flannery said climate change and such extreme events can act independently, but Black Saturday was an utter surprise.
'The veracity of those fires and the veracity of the heatwaves killing off that little possum weren't ever really on the radar for me as key near-term events,' he told the conference.
Warmer climate zones are expanding all over the globe, he said, and the southern, cooler zones are retracting even further south.
He said that if carbon emissions were significantly reduced tomorrow, it would be up to 30 years before rising global temperatures would begin to ease.
Prof Flannery hopes COP 15, the United Nations climate change conference later this year in Copenhagen, will set the stage for the next global greenhouse emissions treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Whatever action is taken at the conference bushfires like Black Saturday may be in Australia's future, he told the bushfires conference.
'If we are successful at Copenhagen this year and if we can see the brokering of a globally-effective treaty, then what is true (is) that you might have to fight ever-more severe bushfires for the rest of your careers, it may be that your children may face a different future,' Prof Flannery said.
He recently attended the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen and noted that the climate change debate in Australia takes on a very limited form.
'It's very easy in Australia to be dismayed by the nature of the climate debate and see it become very partisan and very small-minded,' Prof Flannery said.
'If I could just say that globally that isn't the case at all. Very major companies - companies from China, companies from the USA - big polluting companies ... were all represented in this meeting and came together in goodwill.
'With the recognition, of course, that this is going to be hard and this is going to cost, but it's going to have to be fair - but with the recognition that change was inevitable.'
Source: www.skynews.com.au

John Wilkinson reports in Money Management 22 June 2009):

It will be harder to provide a solution to global warming than dealing with the global financial crisis.
University of Melbourne professor of economics Ross Garnaut told an Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees breakfast in Melbourne that global warming needed a global solution.
“We won’t have a solution (to global warming) unless the developed countries make concessions,” he said.
“We can’t make things happen working in isolation, but global agreement in this area is very difficult.”
Garnaut said the danger was some countries would do nothing, allowing developed economies to endure all the pain of cutting emissions.
“To get lower emissions you have to have global agreement by all countries,” he said.
“And that agreement has to be a cut of at least 25 per cent, possibly by 2050.”
While Australia and the US have now come onboard for cutting emissions, there will still be problems in the developing world, Garnaut said.
Some of these countries will resist being told what to do in relation to cutting emissions for fear of harming their local economies.
The professor said China will find its own way of cutting emissions and may not sign up to a global initiative, despite possibly meeting a lot of the points in any formal communiqué.
“China will go its own way on cutting emissions,” Garnaut said.
“It has started detailing how it will reduce emissions by 4 per cent per annum." He said the country was putting a lot of money into developing alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind power, but China still had the world’s biggest coal mining program.
“There is a long way to go before China balances its energy programs,” Garnaut said.
The problems of developing countries meeting their industrial energy demands with green power will require funding, and the developed nations will be expected to help.
“We will have to talk about entitlements to emissions with these countries,” he said.
“If we do hold every country to their entitlements, we will do a lot better getting global agreements.”
Source: www.moneymanagement.com.au

Article 7

Promote Physical Activity – Not Obesity

Walking, cycling and public transport needs more attention and money, according to the Rapid Active & Affordable Transport Alliance (RAATA) in its report on Investing in sustainable transport: Our clean, green transport future, urging the Government to catch up on years of neglect
From the Australian Conservation Foundation (23 June 2009):
A new report by the Rapid Active & Affordable Transport Alliance (RAATA), Investing in sustainable transport: Our clean, green transport future, urges the Federal Government to catch up on years of neglect by investing two thirds of the transport budget in public and active transport measures.

Speaking today at the report launch in Canberra, ACF executive director Don Henry said public and active transport infrastructure has been neglected for too long and some money allocated to roads should be spent on public and active transport infrastructure.

“Climate change and peak oil are key challenges for Australia. Investment in public and active transport infrastructure will help make Australia more sustainable, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help wean us off our addiction to oil,” Mr Henry said.

“If we are to meet these challenges, the Federal Government needs to invest two thirds of the transport budget in public and active transport measures.

“The government also needs to provide the right incentives and policies to make it easy for people to choose public transport by removing the fuel tax adjustment subsidy for private motor vehicle use in the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme as well as a range of other incentives and complementary measures.”

Heart Foundation National CEO Dr Lyn Roberts said we must change the way Australia moves.

“More than 16,000 Australians are estimated to die prematurely each year, mostly from heart disease and stroke, because they are insufficiently physically active. Physical inactivity also costs the community an estimated $13.8 billion a year,” Dr Roberts said.

“We need to make the healthier transport choices – walking, cycling, public transport – the easier choices. And we need to replan our communities to promote physical activity – not obesity.”

Diabetes Australia CEO Matt O’Brien also talked about the benefits of active transport.

“Active community environments that encourage walking, bike riding and incidental exercise can help reduce the number of people who are overweight and obese. People who are overweight or obese are at a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is of grave concern in Australia as the number of new cases of diabetes each year would fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground; that is 275 new cases every day,” said Mr O’Brien.

Chairman of Bus Industry Confederation Scott Grenda said the Government should be congratulated on the first steps towards addressing the public transport shortfall, announced in the recent budget.

“It’s clear Australia requires a national moving people strategy. It’s in the national interest for the Commonwealth to be involved in the provision of public transport to address congestion, climate change and social isolation to name a few,” said Mr Grenda.

“This joint initiative will hopefully be the start of not only the Government addressing these issues, but also the Opposition. This issue requires a bi-partisan approach where political parties all agree on the importance of getting how we move people right.”

RAATA comprises the Australian Conservation Foundation, ACTU, Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO), Bicycle NSW, Bus Industry Confederation, City of Sydney, Diabetes Australia, Environment Victoria, Get Up, Heart Foundation, Conservation Council of South Australia, Conservation Council of Western Australia, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Queensland Conservation, Public Transport Users Association, Rail Tram and Bus Union and International Association of Public Transport (UITP).
Source: www.acfonline.org.au

Article 8

Award Winning Carbon Neutral Paper

Australian Paper’s ENVI range of Carbon Neutral paper has won three 2009 Australian Business Awards categories - Best Eco-Friendly Product, Product Innovation and Marketing Excellence. To date, the Greenhouse FriendlyTM logo has been applied to over 20 million documents printed on ENVI paper.
Australian Paper’s ENVI range of Carbon Neutral paper has been announced as a winner of three 2009 Australian Business Awards categories - Best Eco-Friendly Product, Product Innovation and Marketing Excellence. The Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries.
The 2009 Australian Business Awards have been presented to 67 organisations selected from a field of 928 entrants across various industries and 1,588 entries overall. The successful organisations from this broad field have achieved award winning standards in a diverse range of areas including; enterprise, innovation, quality, value, product excellence, service excellence, retail excellence, e-business, international trade, marketing excellence, human resource management, public service, community contribution and environmental sustainability.
The Best Eco-Friendly Product award recognises environmentally friendly products that demonstrate innovation and commitment to sustainable living while the Product Innovation award recognises products that demonstrate the introduction of a new idea, method, technology, process or application of benefit and/or commercial significance in the marketplace. Australian Paper also received an award for Marketing Excellence recognising outstanding achievements in marketing strategy and execution for the ENVI brand.

“Australian Paper is proud of our commitment to the environment through our operations and the products that we offer to the market. Having ENVI recognised as a winner of the Best Eco-Friendly Product and Product Innovation awards clearly demonstrates that we are leading the way with the development of innovative, environmentally friendly and sustainable paper products for the Australian market” says Mr Jim Henneberry, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Paper.
“ENVI provides business with a genuine and simple means to reducing their scope 3 carbon emissions*,” says Mr Henneberry, “Every user of our ENVI Carbon Neutral paper range can report exactly how many tones of greenhouse gasses have been neutralised providing a valuable solution for organisations, including Government, who are leading the adoption and practice of sustainability initiatives that result in improved, triple bottom line reporting.
“Additionally, businesses can apply the Greenhouse Friendly TM consumer logo on printed materials, including business cards and envelopes. This logo is fast becoming recognised as the environmental tick of approval for carbon neutral products that are green wash free” says Mr Henneberry.
To date, the Greenhouse FriendlyTM logo has been applied to over 20 million documents (printed on ENVI) nationally. Organisations such as Computershare, AGL, Australia Post and Queensland Rail have all realised the environmental, social and economic benefits that ENVI can offer their business and the Australian economy.
A spokesperson for the Australian Business Awards said, “The 2009 Awards attracted a very high standard of entries from the Australian business community in times of great change. This year’s winners displayed exceptional performance and leadership in their respective industries, and are role models for any organisation striving for business and product excellence.”

Australian Paper’s ENVI Carbon Neutral paper range is 100% Australian made using both virgin and recycled fibre and is produced under the highest environmental and manufacturing credentials including ISO14001, ISO9001 and forestry chain of custody certification. All fibre used in the production of the range is sourced from accredited sustainable fibre suppliers and offers a guarantee of no old growth timber. All emissions associated with the growing and harvest of the trees, the manufacturing process and the disposal of the grade, either into landfill or the recycling channel have been measured and offset.
*Scope 3 Carbon Emissions: accounts for all other indirect GHG emissions. These are emissions that occur as a result of the activities of the company – the company’s demand for goods and services – but are from sources not owned or controlled by the company.
About Australian Paper
Australian Paper is the leading producer of fine printing and writing papers, together with packaging and industrial paper grades in Australia. It produces a range of papers suitable for printing, packaging, and office purposes, which reach millions of homes and businesses every day. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australian Paper’s recycled, virgin, bleached and brown packaging papers for corrugated box, paper sack, envelope and bag applications deliver value and increase profitability through supply chain efficiencies, reducing costs and developing new products and services.
Australian Paper is the only producer of fine printing and writing paper in Australia. These ranges of papers reach millions of homes and businesses every day. The paper is 100% carbon neutral and certified by the Federal Government’s Department of Climate Change.
To be certified, all emissions associated with the growing and harvest of the trees, the manufacturing process and the disposal of the grade, either into landfill or the recycling channel have been measured and offset.
Users of Australian Paper ENVI can:
 quantifiably report tonnes of Co2e neutralised through paper usage under their scope 3 emissions,
 use the Greenhouse Friendly logo on printed material, and
 make a genuine “Greenwash Free” contribution to reducing harmful greenhouse gases.
The ENVI range consists of a paper type to suit all printing requirements including: ENVI Recycled Silk, ENVI Gloss, ENVI Silk, ENVI Recycled 50/50, ENVI Recycled Super Smooth, ENVI Recycled Linen, ENVI DM Matt, ENVI Laser, ENVI Catalogue and ENVI Book
Australian Paper is committed to continuously reducing its carbon footprint. Over the last seven years the company has reduced greenhouse emissions by 14% through a range of initiatives such as lower electricity and gas usage and sourcing energy from renewable resources.
Source: www.envi.com.au

About the Awards
Established in 2003, the Australian Business Awards is an independent organisation incorporated in Australia as a proprietary limited company. Specialising in Quality Management, the Australian Business Awards administer and coordinate The Australian Business Awards™ program. As a private sector initiative, the Australian Business Awards is not affiliated with any larger or controlling entity to avoid any potential conflict of interest and does not rely on the financial support of government or other organisations.

The Awards are a national, all-encompassing awards program honouring organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries. Entries are judged on specific criteria underpinned by the program's values of success, innovation and ethics. The judging panel is carefully selected and coordinated by the Australian Business Awards to ensure that the judging process is fair and objective, free of bias or influence.
The mission of the Australian Business Awards is:
• To conduct an annual awards program with regional recognition and global significance;
• To recognise and honour corporate and product excellence;
• To ensure that the judging process is fair and objective, free of bias or influence; and
• To provide a viable world-class initiative that is technologically advanced for consumers and the business community alike
More information about the Australian Business Awards is available at www.businessawards.com.au

Article 9

Battle to Beat Burping Bovine

Canadian scientists are breeding a special type of cow designed to burp less, a significant breakthrough as the bovine breeds are responsible for nearly three-quarters of total methane emissions according to Environment Canada, while British journalist Ben McIntyre says the most fertile area of investigation is in changing cattle diet to render them less burpy.
A Sydney Morning Herald/Reuters report 24 June 2009:
Canadian scientists are breeding a special type of cow designed to burp less, a breakthrough that could reduce a big source of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
Cows are responsible for nearly three-quarters of total methane emissions, according to Environment Canada. Most of the gas comes from bovine burps, which are 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
Stephen Moore, a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, is examining the genes responsible for methane produced from a cow's four stomachs in order to breed more efficient, environmentally friendly cows.
The professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science completed primary tests using traditional techniques to breed efficient animals that produce 25 percent less methane than less efficient animals. But more work needs to be done before the long-term impact is known. Moore's study was published earlier this year in the Journal of Animal Science.
"We are working on producing diagnostic markers for efficient animals. We are looking at the next generation of technologies that will enable us to determine the genetics of an animal through a blood test or testing some hairs that you might pluck from the animal," said Moore.
To shrink cattle's ecological footprint ranchers could also decrease the time cows are left standing in the field by getting animals to market sooner. That means breeding cattle that grow faster. Also, through breeding, cattle could become more efficient in converting feed into muscle and producing less methane and waste, said Moore.
Another method already being used to reduce methane emissions is feeding livestock a diet higher in energy and rich in edible oils, which ferment less than grass or low-quality feed.
Farmers in Alberta that feed their livestock edible oils and shorten the time to market can accrue carbon credits that could amount to between one C$1 and C$10 per head.
New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm, an organic yogurt producer in which Groupe Danone holds a majority stake, reduced emissions from their cows on an average of 12 percent by adding alfalfa, flax or hemp to livestock feed on a small number of its farms.
"If every U.S. dairy farmer reduced emissions by 12 percent it would be equal to about half a million cars being taken off the road," said Nancy Hirshberg, vice president of Stonyfield's Natural Resources department.
Source: www.smh.com.au

Ben McIntyre in TheTimes on London and The Australian:
DANGEROUS things, cows. TS Eliot feared and distrusted them, as revealed in his rediscovered poem: "Of all the beasts that God allows, In England's green and pleasant land, I most of all dislike the cows: Their ways I do not understand."
Henry Ford, the US car magnate, considered cows the crudest and most inefficient machines, and spent much of his life campaigning against them.
And the number of people injured by cows in Britain during the past eight years is 481.
But the real threat from cows comes not from their horns, or that creepy rolling thing they do with their eyes just before they charge, but from their digestive systems: cows are flatulating the world towards oblivion. Daisy and Buttercup may look picturesque, and taste delicious with a little Bearnaise sauce, but each cow is a living factory chimney, spewing out pollution at a staggering rate.
Cows, according to a UN report, release more greenhouse gases than cars, buses, trains, planes and all other forms of human transportation combined. Cattle produce two-thirds of ammonia emissions, which cause acid rain, and are responsible for more than one-third of all methane gas released as a result of human activity. Cattle eructate an estimated 60 million tonnes of methane every year, three-quarters of all livestock emissions, and methane is 23 times more potent than CO2 as a heat-trapping gas.
The global-warming sins of the SUV seem almost mild compared with the malodorous eructations of the average friesian, particularly when one takes into account the deforestation of land, the fuel burned to make fertiliser to grow cattle fodder and the 16,000 litres of water needed to produce 1kg of beef.
And the noxious cow-cloud hanging over the globe is about to get much worse. In developing countries, consumption of red meat has risen by one-third in the past decade and the production of milk and beef is set to double in the next 30 years.
The UN is unequivocal: animal gases pose a big threat to the world's chemical balance, yet agricultural emissions have been largely overlooked in the global-warming debate. Because cows have formed part of our mental landscape for so long, a cow is seen as natural in a way that a Land Rover or a cement works is not.
Industries face enormous pressure to reduce emissions, but large-scale farming does not. Billions are being spent on engineering less polluting cars while little is spent on engineering less polluting cows. The UN finances more than 2000 green projects; only 98 of these are agricultural.
The simplest way to reduce the carbon hoofprint would be to cut global consumption of meat and milk. This is not going to happen: we are simply too wedded to our cheeseburgers and cappuccinos. There has also been talk of a cow tax on polluting cattle, which would certainly provoke a stampede among dairy and beef farmers.
Instead, as in the car industry, a combination of technological innovation, government incentive and public pressure should be used to change how cows are farmed.
Geneticists are working on ways of improving bovine digestion to reduce gas emissions, in a way that would have delighted Ford. In the Netherlands, farms have developed ways to heat manure and trap the methane in it to make electricity for the local grid. In Sweden, food products are labelled so shoppers can compare the emissions for each 500g of meat.
A recent report in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that if one million cows were treated with a single hormone to increase milk production, the environmental effect would be equivalent to taking 400,000 cars off the road.
Meanwhile, scientists are scrambling to produce synthetic meat using cell-culture technology. The Dutch government is sponsoring a $2 million project to try to cultivate pork flesh. Synthetic meat may sound disgusting, but Winston Churchill predicted it in 1936: Fifty years hence, he said, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.
The most fertile area of investigation is in changing cattle diet to render them less burpy. Groupe Danone (the French yoghurt folk) found that cows emit less methane in the spring. (There is a technique for measuring bovine wind. I shall not describe it. It is very French.) Spring grasses are higher in omega-3 fatty acids, which seem to help the cow to digest better. Several experimental cattle farms have begun feeding the animals year-round on foods rich in omega-3. Preliminary results suggest that the cows are healthier, produce more nutritious milk and emit about 18per cent less methane.
Government subsidies for greener cows and public awareness of the emissions involved in meat production will help to transform our relationship with the steak, yet the final hurdle is cultural. Unlike Eliot and Ford, most of us like cows. But the vast global cattle herd needs to be seen as a rapidly expanding part of a delicate global organism: tasty, useful and familiar, but potentially highly damaging. It is time to wake up and smell the methane.
Ben McIntyre is a columnist with British newspaper The Times.
Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

Article 10

Glaciers Shrinking, Gases Increasing

Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12% over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate the worst for 150 years due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, while greenhouse gases from chemicals used in refrigerants and air conditioning are set to be a bigger than expected contributor to global climate change.

Date: 23-Jun-09
Country: SWITZERLAND
Author: Katie Reid
ZURICH - Switzerland's glaciers shrank by 12 percent over the past decade, melting at their fastest rate due to rising temperatures and lighter snowfalls, a study by the Swiss university ETH showed Monday.
"The last decade was the worst decade that we have had in the last 150 years. We lost a lot of water," said Daniel Farinotti, research assistant at the ETH.
"The trend is definitely that glaciers are melting faster now. Since the end of the 1980s, they have lost more and more mass more quickly," he said.
It was still too early to tell how 2009 will develop for glaciers, which are a key source of water for hydro-electric plants as well as an important tourist attraction, Farinotti said. Up to 6,000 tourists visit the Jungfraujoch glacier every day.
"This year depends on the summer. We had a lot of snow in the winter of 2008/09. But the spring was very warm so I doubt that this year will be a positive year for the glaciers," Farinotti said.
Swiss glaciers have lost 9 cubic km of ice since 1999, the warmest period of the past 150 years, with the most dramatic decline coming in 2003 when they shrunk by 3.5 percent in 2003.
Researchers are predicting that the temperatures in the Swiss Alps will rise by 1.8 degrees Celsius in winter and by 2.7 degrees Celsius in the summer by 2050.
Source: www.reuters.com

Tuesday, 23 June 2009 Alister Doyle
Reuters
Climate change
Greenhouse gases from chemicals used in refrigerants and air conditioning are set to be a bigger than expected contributor to climate change, say scientists.
In the worst case scenario, the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) could cause global warming equivalent to the impact of between 28% and 45% of emissions of carbon dioxide in 2050, according to the report by Dutch and US-based scientists.
Currently, HCFs heat-trapping contribution to global warming is less than 1% that of carbon dioxide.
"HFCs present a significant threat to the world's efforts to stabilise climate emissions," says the report's lead author Dr Guus Velders of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
HFCs are used in air conditioning units, including 80% of new cars, in refrigerants and in insulation foams.
HFCs were introduced to replace an older generation of chemicals that were damaging the ozone layer that shields the planet from harmful ultra-violet rays.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says the study, which will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows there are easy ways to fight global warming alongside cuts in carbon emissions.
"There are other low-hanging fruit in the climate challenge," says UNEP head Achim Steiner.
"By some estimates, action to freeze and then reduce this group of gases could buy the world the equivalent of a decade's worth of carbon dioxide emissions," he says.
More than 190 nations plan to agree a on new climate pact in Copenhagen in December to succeed the UN's Kyoto Protocol, which regulates emissions of six greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and HFCs.
"There are simple, market-ready solutions (to HFCs) waiting to be deployed provided adequate incentives are provided," says Kert Davies, US research director for environmental group Greenpeace.
Greenpeace says a number of high-profile companies already sell, or are testing, alternative 'Greenfreeze' technologies.
The European Union plans to phase out HFCs in new air conditioning systems in cars in coming years.
The study says that by 2050, developing nations might be emitting as much as 800 times more HFCs than developed nations.
It suggests the best way of curbing emissions from HFCs is a "global freeze followed by modest annual reductions" involving developed and developing nations.
"HFCs are good for protecting the ozone layer, but they are not climate-friendly," says Dr David W Fahey, a scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was among the authors.
Source: www.abc.net.au

Article 11

More Jobs in the Wind Than Elsewhere

There are more people employed in Europe - 3.4 million in fact - in jobs directly related to renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency- related goods and services, than the 2.8 million employed in polluting industries, says a WWF report, while a new study shows that a global network of 2.5 megawatt wind turbines sited away from urban centres would easily meet global electricity demands, even operating at just a fifth of its full capacity.
Renewable Energy Jobs Boom In Europe
by Energy Matters

A new study by the WWF has revealed that of the 130 million people employed in the European Union altogether, in excess of 3.4 million European jobs are directly related to renewable energy, sustainable transport and energy efficiency related goods and services - far more than the 2.8 million jobs in polluting industries.
Indirect jobs related to the green collar sector are estimated at approximately another 5 million.
Close to 400,000 people are employed specifically in renewable energy activities, such as the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of wind turbines and solar panels.
The leading European countries for wind power are Germany, Spain and Denmark. For solar power jobs, Germany and Spain are the front runners. Germany and Spain have or had generous gross feed in tariff programs that were major contributors to the solar power boom in both countries.
Germany, which experiences far less sunlight than countries such as Australia, is light years ahead in solar power uptake. Germany commands close to half the global installations market and is also a leading producer of solar cells.
Even with the current global financial crisis taking a toll, the report says all European countries are showing significant growth in green collar industries, with particular focus on wind power, solar photovoltaic, bioenergy, public transport and building sectors.
European wind industry employment has the potential to reach 329,000 jobs in 2020 says the report, and 377,000 in 2030. Under fairly conservative assumptions, Europe’s solar panel related workforce is expected to expand strongly 1.4 million.

Download the full report: Low Carbon Jobs for Europe: Current opportunities and future prospects (PDF)
Source: www.energymatters.com.au

Even operating at just a fifth of their full capacity, a global network of 2.5 megawatt wind turbines sited away from urban centres would easily meet global electricity demands, a study suggests.
Currently only a fraction of energy is supplied by wind power, even in the UK which is considered the windiest country in Europe.
In 2007 wind energy overtook hydropower to become Britain's largest renewable generation source. However, it still only contributed 2.2 per cent of the UK's electricity supply.
The Government has set a target of meeting 15 per cent of all the UK's energy demands from renewables by 2020, which means between 35 per cent to 45 per cent of electricity will have to come from green sources. Most of this is expected to be generated by wind farms.
For the new study, a team of international scientists led by Professor Michael McElroy at Harvard University in the US, divided the world into areas of around 3,300 square kilometres.
They then identified regions that would be suitable for wind farms.
The scientists worked out the potential for wind power electricity generation based on wind speed, air density, the spacing of turbines, and the size of turbine blades.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers concluded: "The analysis suggests that a network of land-based 2.5 megawatt turbines operating at as little as 20 per cent of rated capacity, confined to non-forested, ice-free regions would be more than sufficient to account for total current and anticipated future global demand for electricity.
"The potential for the contiguous US could amount to more than 16 times current consumption. Important additional sources of electricity could be obtained by deploying wind farms in near-shore shallow water environments."
Nick Rau, of Friends of the Earth, said: "This is further evidence of the huge role that wind power can play in cutting climate-changing emissions and meeting our energy requirements.
"The report also highlights the UK's huge wind power potential, one of largest in the world, and suggests it could easily supply our electricity needs many times over.
"The Government must reap the economic and environmental rewards from developing green energy by urgently tackling the barriers that prevent wind energy from taking off, and make this country a world leader in developing a clean and prosperous low-carbon economy."
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Article 12

Public Opinion & Global Message of Hope

Politicians in the world's richest nations would face the wrath of public opinion if they failed to tackle climate change, says former UN head Kofi Annan as the issue was gaining the kind of resonance that HIV/AIDS and third world poverty had a decade ago, while a coalition of the world’s leading advertising, marketing and media agencies have come up with a new message – it’s Hopenhagen

Tue Jun 23, 2:09 pm ET
GENEVA (AFP) – Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan said on Tuesday that politicians in the world's richest nations would face the wrath of public opinion if they failed to tackle climate change.
In an interview with AFP, Annan said the issue was gaining the kind of resonance that HIV/AIDS and third world poverty achieved during his decade-long tenure as secretary general until 2006, when international action was driven by popular social movements.
"I think it's already moving into that space and I think it's going to get louder, and it's going to fill greater political space," he told AFP.
Annan pointed to the recent surge of the Green Party in European elections, especially in France, and the way individual US states, such as California, had ultimately put pressure on Washington's federal policy agenda.
"This is happening in many other countries and the politicians will wake up to it," he explained.
Earlier, Annan urged developed economies to lead efforts for "deep, binding and fair" targets to cut emissions of greenhouse gases at a landmark climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
"Those developed economies most responsible for past and present emissions must take the lead," he said at a meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum he set up in 2007.
"Without them accepting responsibility, the rapidly developing economies will understandably resist the changes in their economies which are also needed," he warned the meeting on the human impact of climate change.
Annan told AFP that Copenhagen was "a great opportunity which should not be squandered."
He said: "If it is a test, it's a test of the seriousness of our leaders and their understanding of the issues we are dealing with and they'll be judged by their voters and people as to what action they'll take in Copenhagen.
"And whether they take action in Copenhagen or not, they ought to be on notice that the environment is going to go very high up the agenda, and it will (feature) in the choices people make at the polls," he added.
National climate change negotiators last week wrapped up their latest round of preparatory talks for a global warming pact hinting that there had been no progress on the core issue of how to share the burden of future emissions cuts.
Annan said Tuesday that the "overwhelming destruction that climate change is causing and will continue to cause" on the 50 poorest nations should be at the forefront of attempts to forge a global agreement in Copenhagen.
Yet the least developed countries account for just one percent of greenhouse gases, according to a recent report by the Global Humanitarian Forum.
"The poorer countries are paying the biggest price but we are all affected," he told AFP.
"If we accept that the pollution has cost, then the polluter must pay. Some of the funds we collect must be directed towards helping these countries adapt," Annan said, referring to a key stumbling block in climate change talks.
"We don't have time, we're running out of time, the problem is urgent, the scale is huge," he explained.
"We need to focus and take advantage of the current economic and financial crisis to do things differently, but not to use the crisis as an excuse for inaction."
Source: www.news.yahoo.com

Advertising Hope

The United Nations, together with the International Advertising Association and a coalition of the world’s leading advertising, marketing and media agencies today launched Hopenhagen – a movement that empowers global citizens to engage in the December United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen – at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
Hopenhagen is a global marketing and communications initiative that will inspire and generate mass activation around the world.
“Climate change is one of the epic challenges facing this and future generations. World leaders will come together for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December and every citizen of the world has a stake in the outcome. It is time to seal a deal. We need a global movement that mobilizes real change,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Hopenhagen is about more than hope. “It is about global action for a global climate treaty and a better future for humankind,” Ban added.
Delegates from 192 nations will meet in December in Copenhagen to ratify a new international global climate treaty, which will take effect when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Recognizing the tremendous role that communications will play leading up to and during the Conference, the United Nations engaged the global advertising and media industry through the International Advertising Association (IAA) to develop a comprehensive communications program to drive public awareness and generate action. Hopenhagen will complement the UN’s “Seal the Deal!” campaign, which calls on world leaders to “unite to find a solution to climate change that is fair, balanced, effective and science-based.”
“Climate change is a universal challenge, and we believe the world’s citizens are ready to act – they are just seeking the right platform,” said IAA Executive Director Michael Lee. “The strategy and stunning creative concept for the Hopenhagen idea came from WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather team, digital framework and direction were developed by MDC Partner’s Colle+McVoy, and the global PR and messaging plans spearheaded by Omnicom’s Ketchum. The collaboration that has taken place among the world’s leading agencies to develop this campaign for the United Nations is unprecedented and a testament to the significance the industry places on the need for action to address climate change.”
The creative concept of Hopenhagen stemmed from the idea that the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is an opportunity to protect people and the planet and to power global green growth in order to adjust the fate of the planet. The campaign creative will emphasize the need to shift from “coping” or ignoring our global challenges to “hoping” and ultimately acting to create a new reality.
“We believe in the power of movements to inspire and bring about real change,” said Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather. “Hopenhagen was created to be a campaign of the people. It provides a platform for individuals around the world to participate and have a say in the future of the world.”
Hopenhagen will be modeled as an open source campaign that is powered by the people and created in the voice of global citizens. The creative inputs from the diverse viewpoints of visitors engaging with the site from around the world will be used to generate online and offline content.
The imagery will emphasize the human and economic aspects of climate change, by contrasting the challenges we face against the tremendous solutions that await if the world commits to aggressive plans to tackle climate change. The tone of the movement is optimistic, honest, authentic and hopeful.
The diverse and complementary team of communication agencies that have volunteered time, resources and dedicated team members to develop and execute the Hopenhagen campaign include: Dentsu; Havas, represented by Euro RSCG and MPG; Interpublic Group, represented by McCann Worldgroup, R/GA and Draftfcb; MDC Partners, represented by Colle+McVoy; Omnicom, represented by Ketchum, Interbrand and Tribal DDB; Publicis Groupe, represented by Digitas and Saatchi & Saatchi S; WPP, represented by Ogilvy & Mather. Chairman of the creative council was Bob Isherwood, former Worldwide Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi.
A website, hopenhagen.org, will serve as the campaign hub, where visitors may learn about climate change issues, express their vision for the future of the planet and send a message to the delegates attending the UN Climate Change Conference to work together to finalize a strong, global climate change treaty.
An aggressive consumer launch of Hopenhagen will take place in September 2009 and continue through the UN Climate Change Conference in December and beyond. The coming months will be spent engaging key influencers, advocates and partners that will be instrumental in creating viral awareness of the campaign. The IAA is calling on all businesses, governments, nonprofits and citizens to join together to grow and develop the Hopenhagen movement.
The Hopenhagen movement is intended to be an open source campaign that all nonprofits, governments and citizens of the world can make their own. The campaign has already had early successes with this model, securing an endorsement from the Danish Foreign Ministry
"Denmark and Copenhagen are proud to be hosting this historic climate change meeting, and we are happy to welcome the Hopenhagen campaign as part of our wide ranging communications efforts for the conference," said Under-Secretary for Public-Diplomacy in the Danish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Klavs A. Holm. "Our main objective is that an ambitious agreement will be concluded in Copenhagen, and we want to applaud the Hopenhagen campaign for its emotional and inspirational messages. Hopenhagen is a perfect way to engage the world and make everyone part of the discussion and solution at the December COP15 meeting.”
The first creative elements of the campaign will be seen during the week of June 22 at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, at the John F. Kennedy International, Los Angeles International and London Heathrow airports, and among select international media.
Additional information and campaign creative is available at hopenhagen.org, which will expand and evolve over the course of the campaign. Please contact Jessica Mendelowitz at jessica.mendelowitz@ketchum.com or  646-935-4173  for high and low resolution sample images of the campaign creative.
International Advertising Association
The International Advertising Association (IAA), headquartered in New York, was founded in 1938 to champion responsible marketing. The IAA, with its 56 chapters in 76 countries, is a one-of-a-kind global partnership whose members comprise advertisers, media, advertising and public relations agencies, media companies, and academics. The IAA is a platform for industry issues and is dedicated to protecting and advancing freedom of commercial speech, responsible advertising, consumer choice, and the education of marketing professionals. For more information please visit www.iaaglobal.org

Article 13

Green Eggs & Ham in Your Face

Australia's landmark carbon trade scheme, being watched around the world in the lead up to global climate talks in December, hit a political roadblock when parliament delayed a vote on the plan until August, and the whole debate has become a complete and utter fiasco, thanks to the government's inability to understand that in order to reduce carbon emissions you actually need laws that encourage investment in zero emission activities.

Reuters report: CANBERRA - Australia's landmark carbon trade scheme, being watched around the world in the lead up to global climate talks in December, hit a political roadblock on Thursday when parliament delayed a vote on the plan until August.
The decision by the upper house Senate scuttled government hopes of passing its carbon trade laws in this parliamentary session, prolonging uncertainty for major polluters and the stalled carbon trade market.
It also confuses Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's options for an early election if the Senate continues to frustrate his legislative agenda, and makes it unlikely he will call an early election this year despite his lead in opinion polls.
"It is clear the government wants this bill brought to a vote. We have been frustrated and prevented from doing that as a result of the games we have been seeing in the Senate this week," Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told reporters.
The carbon trade scheme, which will cover around 1,000 of Australia's biggest polluters, is the central plank of Rudd's plan to curb carbon emissions and fight global warming and was a key promise from his November 2007 election victory.
The government wants carbon trading to start in July 2011, forcing business to pay to pollute, and wants the scheme locked in before global talks in Copenhagen, which will consider a post Kyoto protocol framework to curb Greenhouse gas emissions.
The Senate will vote on the package of 11 bills on August 13, but is ultimately expected to reject the plan in its current form, with the government struggling to find the extra seven votes it needs to push the laws through the upper house.
The conservative opposition wants to delay a final decision on the carbon trade scheme until after the Copenhagen talks, and until U.S. actions to fight climate change are known.
ELECTION TIMING
If laws are rejected or delayed twice by the Senate, with an interval of three months between votes, the government can call an early double-dissolution election to clear the political deadlock.
But Thursday's vote clouds Rudd's options. The soonest Rudd could have a legal trigger for an early double-dissolution election would now be late October, but only if legal advice finds Thursday's vote met the legal requirements of a delay.
If a vote to reject the bills August 13 is the first legal requirement for a double-dissolution, the government would have to wait until at least November 19 for its election trigger and Rudd would run out of time for an election in 2009.
Rudd has said he prefers to serve a full three-year term, with elections due in late 2010, but analysts have said he might want an election in early 2010 to avoid a vote later in the year when unemployment is expected to peak.
The carbon vote came after a fiery two weeks in parliament, with the government under prolonged attack over accusations Treasurer Wayne Swan gave preferential treatment to a Rudd friend and car-dealer who sought access to a government programme.
But Rudd has demanded opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull resign because his political attack was based on a Treasury email later found to be fake. A Treasury official has been questioned by police over the forged email.
Dennis Shanahan, political editor of the Australian newspaper, said the government was building a case for an early election to scare the opposition, which would prefer to fight an election on the issue of economic management in late 2010.
"It sounds like a prime minister with his foot on the throat of an opponent and a finger itching for an election trigger," Shanahan wrote on Thursday.
(Editing by Jerry Norton)
Source: www.planetark.org

Olga Galacho in the Herald Sun:

HOW could the Federal Government have tangled itself up in so many knots over climate change policy that even Kevin Rudd is confused about which bits of legislation have been discussed in Parliament and which bits are waiting on the sidelines?
The whole debate on how the nation will lower carbon emissions has become a complete and utter fiasco.
No one is sure whether we will have policies this winter, this year or in fact ever, thanks to the government's inability to understand that in order to reduce carbon emissions you actually need laws that encourage investment in zero emission activities.
Even after thousands of pages of analysis produced by umpteen government, non-government and business organisations across the 19 months that climate change has been a red hot topic, it seems the government is still clueless.
Late yesterday, another spanner was thrown into the works when the Senate commendably passed a motion calling on the government to model the cost of achieving greenhouse emissions cuts of 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
To say Climate Change Minister Penny Wong was blindsided by this latest manoevre is an understatement.
To say her climate change policy has now become a dog's breakfast that appears browner, not greener, with each passing day is another understatement.
How is it possible that the Rudd government, elected on a promise to green the economy, could have abolished the very schemes that would encouraged the uptake of solar panels in the suburbs and in the bush?
How is it possible that 19 months after vowing to mandate a target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020, the government still hasn't listed its legislation for debate?
How is it possible that the biggest electricity users are going to be excused from complying with the proposed renewable energy rules and emissions trading obligations while the rest of the economy bankrolls their excesses?
How is it that Senator Wong doesn't understand that increasing the amount of renewable energy in the mix helps to reduce, not increase, wholesale electricity prices because it removes the need to fire up standby gas plants to cope with peak demands?
When gas generators are switched on during peak periods their owners charge exhorbitant premiums -- and across a full year this drives up the average cost of electricity incredibly.
How is it that wind, solar, tidal and geothermal energy companies have been saying for 19 months that $30 billion worth of their investments and thousands of new green jobs are on ice, waiting for the much-promised renewable energy target, and yet the government continues to obstruct its passage?
Why does the government ignore the fact that in countries where a gross feed-in tariff is in place, large scale renewable energy technology has created profitable industries.
How can Senator Wong not see that by allowing polluters to buy unlimited cheap overseas forest offsets, her carbon pollution reduction scheme will do virtually nothing to reduce emissions in Australia?
Senator Wong has failed to deliver credible, workable, effective climate change legislation despite the enormous resources she has had at her disposal.
She has a great talent for spinning rhetoric, but it is merely long-winded and obscure hot air.
And as a legislator of meaningful emissions policy she has failed, failed, failed.
Mr Rudd should remove her from the climate change portfolio and give this big task to a minister who better understands how to transition the economy to a low carbon future.
Source: www.news.com.au

Article 14

Water Prize Won & Credits for Forests

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, recognising outstanding contributions to solve the world's water problems, has been won by Professor Gatze Lettinga from The Netherlands, while Cambodia has agreed to protect 60 000 hectares of forest and reward local communities from the sale of carbon credits over several decades.

SIWW, Singapore, June 25, 2009 - (ACN Newswire ) - Professor Gatze Lettinga from The Netherlands, the recipient of this year's Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, called upon Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the Istana today. He was accompanied by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize is an international award recognising an individual or organisation for outstanding contributions in the field of water. Such works have to solve the world's water problems through the application of revolutionary technologies or the implementation of innovative policies and programmes that benefit mankind.

Professor Lettinga has been awarded the prestigious prize for his environmentally-sustainable solution for the treatment of used water using anaerobictechnology. His revolutionary treatment concept enables industrial used water to be purified cost-effectively and produces renewable energy, fertilizers and soil conditioners.

He has chosen not to patent this technology so that his water treatment technology can be universally available. As a result, this technology is in use in almost 3,000 reactors, representing about 80 percent of all anaerobic used water treatment systems in the world.

Professor Lettinga is in Singapore to deliver the 2nd Singapore Water Lecture during the Singapore International Water Week. He will also be receiving the Award from President S R Nathan at the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet at the Istana at 8pm tonight.

About PUB

PUB is a statutory board under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. It is the water agency that manages Singapore's water supply, water catchment and sewerage in an integrated way. PUB won the 2007 Stockholm Industry Water Award and wasnamed Water Agency of the Year at the Global Water Awards 2006.

About PUB's tagline: Water for All: Conserve, Value, Enjoy

PUB has ensured a diversified and sustainable supply of water for Singapore with the Four National Taps (local catchment water, imported water, NEWater, desalinated water). To provide water for all, PUB calls on all Singaporeans to play our part to conserve water, keep our water catchments and waterways clean and build a relationship with water so we can enjoy our water resources. We can then have enough water for all uses - for industry, for living, for life.

About Singapore International Water Week

The Singapore International Water Week is the global platform for water solutions. It will bring policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world. Comprising the Water Leaders Summit, Water Convention, Water Expo and Business Forums, it culminates in the presentation of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, a prestigious international award to recognise outstanding contributions in solving global water issues. The second Singapore International Water Week will be held from 22 to 26 June 2009 at Suntec Singapore. The theme is Sustainable Cities Infrastructure and Technologies for Water. For the latest updates and media releases on the Singapore International Water Week, log onto www.siww.com.sg

Source: www.au.biz.yahoo.com
Author: David Fogarty

SINGAPORE - Cambodia has signed agreements for a project that aims to protect 60,000 hectares of forest and reward local communities from the sale of carbon credits over several decades, the developers said in a statement.

The project in northwestern Oddar Meanchey province is expected to yield 8.5 million carbon offsets over 30 years and is the first avoided deforestation project in Cambodia for registration under the respected Voluntary Carbon Standard.

U.S.-based Terra Global Capital said in the statement it had finalized an agreement with the Cambodian Forestry Administration on marketing the carbon credits.

The group has also developed a method to measure and monitor the carbon locked away by the protected forest, which is in an area where the rate of deforestation was 3 percent a year between 2002-2006, the statement said.

It said nine local forestry groups comprising more than 50 villages agreed to protect the forest in return for carbon credit revenue aimed at developing alternative livelihoods.

"The success of the Oddar Meanchey project opens the door to long-term financing for Cambodia's national community forestry program, which could eventually encompass and protect over 2 million hectares of forest," said Mark Poffenberger, head of Community Forestry International, who initiated the project.

The Cambodian project is one of a growing number under a U.N.-backed scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, that aims to reward developing nations for preserving forests in return for tradeable carbon offsets.

REDD is likely to be included in a broader U.N. climate pact to be negotiated in December and could usher in a multi-billion dollar trading scheme in forest credits that rich nations could buy to help meet emissions reduction targets.

(Editing by Sue Thomas)
Source: www.planetark.org

Article 15

A New Sustainable Industrial Revolution?

Around the world, companies are rolling out new and innovative techniques to create a more sustainable sector and a more sustainable planet – like BMW Manufacturing’s US$12 million landfill methane gas to energy program – which is likely to create the biggest change to manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution, writes Leon Gettler.

By Leon Gettler
Around the world, companies are rolling out new and innovative techniques to create a more sustainable sector and a more sustainable planet. Over time, this is likely to create the biggest change to manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution.
In the United States, BMW Manufacturing announced it would invest $12 million ($A14.8 million) to expand its landfill methane gas to energy program. With more than 60 per cent of the plant’s total energy requirements met by burning methane gas, the program will help BMW Manufacturing use the gas siphoned from its landfill via a pipeline to its production plant more efficiently. Up until now, the landfill project has saved the car manufacturer about $US5 million in energy costs annually. The new system, which replaces four turbines with two new ones, will improve efficiency nearly 30 per cent and still generate the same amount of methane. It will deliver $US2 million more of savings while reducing emissions by 92,000 tonnes a year.
In the Czech Republic, Panasonic will open an “eco-ideas factory” which will work with local communities such as governmental institutions and NGOs. The plan is to have a factory which reduces CO2 emissions by more than 10 per cent.

Coinciding with when General Motors filed for bankruptcy, startup lithium-ion battery maker Boston Power announced it would build a manufacturing plant to make the batteries for the next generation of hybrid and electric automobiles. Boston Power said it would develop batteries that would set new benchmarks in energy density, long life, safety, weight, cost and environmental sustainability.
In Brisbane, architectural coatings company Rockcote Enterprises picked up a state government award for developing environmentally friendly paint products. Located on the Sunshine Coast, Rockcote has a facility that is water self-sufficient, uses worm farms and compost systems, and has solar panels and energy-efficient furniture, fixtures and equipment. Rockcote bans harmful chemicals, glues, cleaning fluids and pesticides.
At the other end of the scale, EDS, a Hewlett Packard company, and SAP Australia and New Zealand have announced plans for a new carbon accounting solution to make it easier for Australian companies to comply with new Federal Government emissions guidelines. This might be critical with Australia setting up a carbon trading regime in 2011.
These developments signal new trends and opportunities emerging for manufacturers around the world. It is a lesson for advanced manufacturers: companies are starting to identify niches in the sustainability space. In the new manufacturing economy, the only producers that will thrive will be those working in areas that they have carved out as unique territory. Sustainability offers many potential corners of competitive advantage.
There are other drivers for sustainable manufacturing. These include company reputation, customer demand, industry trends, cost savings, competitive advantages through new products and processes and shareholder demand. Furthermore the increasing focus of governments around the world on sustainability puts sustainable manufacturers in a stronger position to pick up government contracts when tendering for work. Other drivers include international standards and protocols, compliance with regulations, community expectations about the company’s impact on the eco-system, risks and liabilities associated with investments and costs associated with meeting regulations.
Creating a sustainable operation is not easy and presents manufacturers with many challenges.
Customer demands for example can be perplexing. On one hand, consumers want reduced costs and packaging materials. At the same time, however, they want customised sizes and lots. Consumers certainly want greener packaging. But they can also demand single serve containers. Add to that the network complexities, unclear metrics and economic uncertainties.
So how should companies embrace sustainability?
The first step is to target areas of effective manufacturing improvement and waste reduction. This is the low hanging fruit that companies should embrace anyway. This might involve focusing on installing lights and equipment to reduce energy emissions, focusing on lightweight containers and reducing primary and secondary packaging.
A report from Manufacturing Skills Australia last year recommended that companies target lean manufacturing techniques to build sustainable operations. These involve empowering and engaging employees at all levels of the organisation, facilitating new ways of thinking that examine work processes and technologies to ensure efficiency and minimise waste, educating all employees about waste and inefficiencies, communicating this effectively throughout the organisation and linking it to a platform for leadership. These companies should also encourage innovation, learning and improvement. All employees, including managers, should be encouraged to take personal responsibility for engaging sustainable work practices.
Sustainable manufacturing would also include designing new machines, equipment or systems and research in various areas. These would include the use of different types of fuel and energy, materials handling, heating and cooling processes, the storage and pumping of liquids and gases, and environmental controls. The companies would also use computer-aided design (CAD) to assist in design and drawing, developing standards for the installation and management of factory production and machinery. They would need to set up work control systems that would regularly test equipment, to make sure that standards of performance, quality, cost and safety are met.
Sustainable manufacturing is also likely to usher in a whole new range of skills sets. These could be in planning and design; entrepreneurship; project management and procurement; management expertise in such areas as architectural practice, broad acre farming, fleet management, specialist manufacturing and retail; trade skills such as green plumbing, construction of energy efficient buildings, renewable energy, low input gardening; assessing project requirements covering such areas as finance, approvals, costs and outcomes in, for example, water and energy use, as well as marketing and communication.
Industries could also look to the CSIRO for support. The CSIRO is now doing research in such areas as technologies for reducing emissions and energy use in the extractive and process industries, cleaner metal production, sustainable manufacturing systems for light metal products, remediation and prevention technologies for corrosion, electro-biochemical biosensors, engineering and computational techniques for analysing and modelling of infrastructure systems, technologies for industrial waste management and recycling and using plants as “bio-factories” for use in pharmaceuticals or industrial raw materials.
The move to sustainable manufacturing is nothing short of revolutionary. It will require a massive shift in the approach to management and workforce skills. It will introduce new processes for industrial and agricultural production, new research and investment in low-emission technologies, new patterns of consumption, and innovative thinking. This will affect not only manufacturers but many other aspects of business life. The risk for those not embracing it is that they will be left behind.
Source: www.onlineopinion.com.au and www.sustained.com.au

Article 16

Coastal Environment on Show

For 28 years, the Sunshine Coast Environment Council has organised an annual event to focus on local, regional and global imperatives, fostering environmental awareness, participation and motivation. Queensland Minister of Climate Change and Sustainability Kate Jones opens the show on Sunday 28 June.

The Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival 2009 is proudly presented by the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, SEQ Catchments, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
With more than 7000 people from the community, academia and corporate sectors expecting to attend, the Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival is one of the region's premier events.
Information - Community - Music - Education - Food - Discussion - United Action
Sunday 28 June 2009, 9am-4pm
University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs
The Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival 2009 is proudly presented by the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, SEQ Catchments, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
With more than 7000 people from the community, academia and corporate sectors expecting to attend, the Sunshine Coast World Environment Day Festival is one of the region's premier events. This multi-faceted Festival has become, over the past 28 years, a key opportunity to understand the local, regional and global imperatives facing us today and into the future whilst fostering environmental awareness, participation and motivation.
This diverse Festival encompasses a dynamic program to gather the broader community under an interactive ‘umbrella' of sustainability education and action.
Embracing the UN designated theme, ‘Your Planet Needs You - Unite to Combat Climate Change', the 2009 Festival focuses on the difference each individual can make and truly offers something for everyone.
Key elements of the World Environment Day Festival include:
• high calibre speakers program
• Green Biz Expo showcasing how sustainability can be achieved in our daily home and business lives
• Greener, Cleaner and More Sustainable Businesses: An Information Session
• Indigenous and cultural performances and displays
• exciting youth program
• local craft stalls and workshops
• schools program featuring the Sustainable Schools concept
• world-class entertainment
• lively farmers market of bountiful, local produce demonstrating the importance of food security and re-localisation
• wholesome gourmet food and beverages
• exposure to Gen-Y activities and displays at University of the Sunshine Coast Gallery
• roving street theatre
• Natural Resource Management with community group displays and workshops
• 'Transition Town' - practical, interactive demonstration model of activities possible for anyone to conduct a self-sufficient lifestyle
All this promotes a fabulous atmosphere against the backdrop of the exceptional University of the Sunshine Coast campus with models of sustainable architecture.
Speakers forum
An impressive line-up of world class topical speakers and expert presenters will inform, engage and promote discussion on pivotal issues such as climate change, population growth, food security and energy descent. The program also includes key figures of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council such as Mayor Bob Abbot. With the vision to be "Australia's most sustainable region, vibrant, green and diverse", the Sunshine Coast is poised to embrace the actions and paradigm shift to realise this vision.
GreenBiz Expo
The Green Business Expo provides firsthand experience of the technologies behind creating a more sustainable lifestyle. From harnessing renewable energy sources, conserving water, embracing green transport to being guided on building a sustainable house or retrofitting to adapt to a carbon constrained 21st century. Fully developed green businesses, with a proven track record in distributing goods and services that promote environmentally sustainable living, will present alongside the latest innovators.
Greener, Cleaner and More Sustainable Businesses: An Information Session
The information session will focus on:
• Creating awareness amongst businesses within the Sunshine Coast region
• Understanding the benefits associated with sustainable business practices
• How saving energy, waste reduction and other green practices can minimise costs
• Why the implementation of sustainable management enhances competitive advantages and increases organisational profitability.
Youth events and workshops
With inter-generational equity a core principle of sustainability, share the insights and positive actions of the next generation as they face both the challenges and opportunities now and into the future. Linking in with the Queensland Education Sustainable Schools initiative, students will present activities and displays including a recycled fashion parade. Children's entertainment and workshops along with wildlife presentations will provide an educational and interactive flavour to family activities.
Entertainment
Local performers and world music bands take to the stage to create an amazing festival atmosphere throughout the day. The combination of rhythms and sublime melodies will have you dancing or stretched out on picnic blanket to partake in music for the soul. The impressive line-up looks to include Tijuana Cartel, Harii Bandhu, The Express, French Butler Called Smith, Jambezi and more.
Low CO2 carbon
Get moving on the sustainability journey with an inspiring display of motor vehicles, scooters, bicycles and community transport options complemented by on-site expert advice.
Transition Sunshine Coast
As Australia's first Transition region, this in an opportunity to access an info-packed hub of positive solutions to climate change and peak oil. Transition Sunshine Coast offers information, presentations, support and action-based workshops on Transition Towns, climate change, peak oil, energy descent action planning, localisation, permaculture and much more. Transition Towns create solutions to issues such as local food supplies, transport, waste, water, sustainable living, housing, the environment and community governance with the aim of building resilient communities who are better prepared for future climate, energy and economic uncertainty. Be part of this growing local response to these critical global issues and join the challenge to take control of our future and create an exciting vision based on low impact living, localisation, transitioning and rebuilding community!
Community groups
Presentations by Natural Resource Management groups represented by SEQ Catchments, Land care and Catchment Care groups; information sharing and demonstrations by wildlife volunteers, Permaculture enthusiasts, SES, conservation and volunteering groups towards public understanding of the wide variety of on ground activities being undertaken to manage our natural resources for a sustainable future and the protection of the biodiversity of the region.
Market Stalls, food and beverage
An eclectic array of market stalls as the region's gifted craftspeople showcase products with an emphasis on local/recycled materials. Once you have worked up an appetite, follow the tantalising scents to the food and beverage hubs where top chefs, organic farmers and a delicious selection of gourmet goodies guarantee any environmentally conscious ‘gastronome' a guilt-free day of sustenance that can continue at home.
Source: www.scec.org.au

Message from the Editor

As this issue goes to press and goes on the wire (early Saturday morning eastern Australia time), we hear that the momentous US climate change bill is likely to become law by the time you read this. This is quite amazing. The progress that the US has made since President Obama took office. A turnaround on climate change for the most influential nation which a year earlier was definitely lost in the Bush! We note that Europe is pressing ahead on all fronts and Gordon Brown is calling for big bucks to deal with climate change impacts in developing countries. It is quite pathetic what is happening – or not happening - in Australia. A nation that aspires to climate leadership in the Asia Pacific region is falling way behind. It cannot even pass its Renewable Energy legislation, let alone install an emissions trading scheme. Now it’s left to people power to drive for change and get action to deal with climate change at home and at work. It can be done. Wake up Australia! – Ken Hickson