A  new project, Jem by Lend Lease, has become the first mixed-use development project in Singapore to achieve the Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum Award rating for its eco-friendly features and for replacing lost landscape by 122%. The Jem shopping mall – due to open next month with 100% retail space occupied – is located adjacent to the Jurong East MRT station. Meanwhile,Mr Mann Young, Head of Sustainability, Asia, Lend Lease gets awarded the Green Advocate of the Year Award. Well deserved. Congratulations, Mann! Read more

New Singapore project first to replace more greenery than is lost

SAA Architects and the Jem project

A new project, Jem, in Singapore has become the first mixed-use development project to achieve the Singapore Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum Award rating for its eco-friendly features and for replacing lost landscape by 122 per cent.

The mall and office tower, located at the Jurong Lake District, is a 19,124 square metres development designed by SAA Architects, one of the leading architectural firms in Southeast Asia with several Green Mark Awards in its belt.

The designers recognised the project’s sheer size and aimed to address its urban impact on the local community by applying a landscape replacement strategy.

It is also a policy promoted by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) with the following objectives: to enhance quality of life through greenery and spaces of relief; to create a distinctive image of the city in the tropics; and, to help bring environmental benefits like air quality improvement and urban island heat mitigation.

In the case of Jem, the greenery lost due to its development, as well as its carbon footprint, was replaced with abundant skyrise greenery and landscape areas within the complex.

The 17-storey project has four zones of greenery. The first is called Active Laneways, or Jem Street, which is situated between levels one to four complete with carefully selected plants that increase native species and promote biodiversity. This area accounts for 20 per cent of the total landscape replacement area.

Next is the Cascading Skypark or Jem Park, which occupies levels five to seven. This portion serves as the ecological and communal core of the building, with children’s play areas, meeting spaces, quiet reflection zones, a café, some educational spots and more landscaping for the community’s enjoyment.

The third zone, Sky Terraces, is located on the office side of the project, providing external shading, minimising heat gain and maximising the views of the surrounding environment. The effect of this zone is to add lushness to the Jurong scenery, thereby increasing the quality of life by making the new development a pleasing place to work and relax.

Sky Sanctuary, the fourth and last zone found at the top of the office tower, completes the landscape replacement by adding to this benefit, giving office workers another peaceful location to escape the corporate grind and a heightened appreciation for the environment.

As for the other eco-friendly features of Jem, the designers at SAA Architects included an efficient air-conditioning system, regenerative lifts and ample use of LED lighting. The project will also reduce water consumption to the volume of approximately 250,000 cubic metres (or around 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools) per year.

Being a Green Mark Platinum Awardee, Jem is expected to minimise energy consumption equivalent to the energy generated by about 2,400 HDB apartments annually.

Source: www.eco-business.com ,  www.lendlease.com and www.jem.sg

Singapore, 14 May 2013 – Lend Lease is honored to win two awards at the annual Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Awards 2013; Mr Mann Young, Head of Sustainability, Asia, Lend Lease will be awarded the Green Advocate of the Year Award while Jem®, a mixed-use development in Jurong Gateway, is one of the recipients of BCA’s coveted first Universal Design (UD) Mark Award for its exemplary UD features.

Mr Mann Young said: “At Lend Lease, the community is at the heart of everything we do. We want to kickstart a revolution in the building industry by focusing on innovative technology and programmes that ultimately produce an inclusive and greener built environment. This is in line with our vision of Creating the Best Places as we create designs that revolve around people to leave a positive legacy for generations to come.”

Congratulating Lend Lease, BCA CEO Dr. John Keung commented: “We are proud to work with partners like Lend Lease, who are renowned for placing sustainability at the top of their priorities. Their projects are an example of how one can optimise project outcomes that are not only sustainable but also take into consideration the commercial and business aspirations of all key stakeholders. This is the way forward, as we embark on our journey together to develop a truly sustainable and inclusive city.”

Mr Mann Young will be conferred the Green Advocate of the Year at this year’s BCA awards ceremony on 16 May 2013 in recognition of his commitment and passion for environmental sustainability. Responsible for driving Lend Lease’s sustainability philosophy of “Every Action Adds Up”, he constantly introduces innovative technology to the building sector hoping to see a positive revolution in the industry. Lend Lease’s Jem®, 313@somerset and Parkway Parade are leading projects amongst his notable project contributions in Singapore, with all three projects awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum status. He also contributed to help Setia City Mall be the first mall in Malaysia to win the BCA Green Mark Gold Award. His other industry advocacy roles in the sustainability arena include the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) Sustainability Committee, a committee member of United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) Property Working Group and the World Green Building Council Regional Manager of the Asia Pacific Green Building Council Network.

Jem® will be among the first recipients of the coveted Universal Design (UD) Mark Award voluntary certification scheme at the ceremony this year, winning the GoldPlus (design) award. The UD Mark accords recognition to developments and projects that pursue a design philosophy that enables everyone – the young, the old and persons with different abilities – to enjoy inclusive living in familiar surroundings with their loved ones. Some of the notable measures adopted by the highly anticipated retail and commercial development include conducting consumer focus group studies to understand their needs and requirements, adopting a guide dog friendly policy in the mall and a comprehensive network of shelters and connecting walkways are all evidence of Jem® catering to the varying needs of diverse user groups in its community. The designed facilities will continue to be maintained with the original purpose in mind as Lend Lease continues to manage the mall. Lend Lease is involved as owner, development manager, constructor and asset and property manager, ensuring the universal design is upkept through the entire property spectrum. (For more information on the UD measures in Jem®, please refer to Annex A)

In addition to these accolades, Lend Lease is honored to be the Project and Construction Manager of the Singapore Pools Building at Middle Road that received the BCA Green Mark GoldPlus award. Working closely with Singapore Pools and CPG Consultants, Lend Lease played an instrumental role in bringing the building and infrastructure up to current standards of energy-saving excellence.

These industry recognitions on both an individual and project-wide level are strong testaments to Lend Lease’s continual strong commitment to sustainability and alignment to BCA’s vision to have the best built environment for Singapore, our distinctive global city.

Singapore has joined the Arctic Council at a time when there was growing international interest in the melting of polar ice and the impact this would have on countries like Singapore, where coastal flooding is a real problem for the island nation. And Singapore doesn’t hesitate to identify with important global issues and opportunities like this. In a Straits Times editorial this week, headed “World gone cold on global warming”, it states conclusively: “The world is by now convinced of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner alternatives”. Read More

World gone cold on global warming

Editorial Desk of The Straits Times (21 May 2013):

People on Earth learnt the other week that the heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the air they breathe had crossed the 400 parts per million (ppm) mark, which could possibly be a life-changing level. Scientists have warned that a tipping point could be reached at the existing rate of gas increase caused by industry, agriculture and applications of technology, like vehicle use and air travel.

Projections are that there will be a doubling, to about 1,000 ppm, towards the end of the century. But well before this level is reached, by around mid-century, extreme weather patterns of drought and heavy rainfall causing floods will begin to disrupt world food production. The heat expansion of ocean waters and the loss of polar ice sheets and glaciers will raise sea levels that will threaten low-lying land masses. Singapore is one such candidate. It also has to worry about its port status if an Arctic cargo route, that will reduce traversal between North Asia and Europe appreciably, is made possible in relatively ice-free summer months.

The world is by now convinced of the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels in favour of cleaner alternatives. Pressure is strongest on the United States, Western Europe and China, but the mix of historical and present-day culpability has proved impossible to reconcile, beginning with the Kyoto Protocol. Governments understand also the risks of deforestation, as has occurred in lumber-rich Brazil and South-east Asia. The lure of profit with little attention being paid to forest regeneration – the much-abused notion of carbon sinks and tradable credits – is another intractable issue.

Successive rounds of United Nations climate talks have reinforced the view that industrially advanced nations and rivals aiming for parity are shifting around the responsibility to reduce carbon emissions so as to preserve their permanent interests. If such thinking persists, the global community must ask itself whether modern human progress and sustainable planetary conditions are compatible. If not, what are the options? Changing patterns of increased aridity and storms, unusual seasonal changes and the thinning of aeons of trapped ice have been acknowledged by governments as warnings. When will they show the will to act?

The last big leap in public concern about climate change came in the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the United States. While no one could show a causal link, the extreme weather and the terror it unleashed was enough to put global warming on the world’s agenda. Now, the political temperature has cooled as the world grapples with more immediate concerns. Hopefully it will not take another Katrina-scale catastrophe to focus minds again on the challenge at hand.

Source: www.asianewsnet.net

SINGAPORE’S ARCTIC COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP

By M. Nirmala, Senior Correspondent, Straits Times, (21 May 2013):

LAST week, news broke that Singapore had gained admission into an exclusive club in the cold North, the Arctic Council.

At first glance, it may seem odd for a tiny Republic on the equator to be joining a council whose members ring around the North Pole and focus on issues facing their territories.

But in fact, the move makes strategic sense for Singapore. It was also the culmination of four years of diplomacy.

Singapore’s plan to join the Arctic Council as a permanent observer started in 2010. Foreign Affairs officials learnt that there was growing international interest in the melting of polar ice and the impact this would have on countries.

The melting ice could cause coastal flooding, a real problem for the island nation.

More importantly, the receding polar ice would also open up a Northern sea route through Arctic waters. This would severely threaten Singapore which is one of the world’s busiest ports.

The new route via the North Pole can cut the time taken by ships from Europe to reach the East by half. It has the potential to divert shipping that has gone via the Suez Canal and the Malacca and Singapore straits.

The green light was given to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officers to try and gain entry into the Arctic Council.

Founded in 1996, the Arctic Council has eight permanent members: the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. It is a policymaking body that produces binding international agreements among Arctic countries on areas such as pollution and marine conservation.

There is growing interest from others to join this council as the Arctic region has rich deposits of oil, gas and other minerals, which will become more accessible as the ice caps melt.

Singapore’s efforts bore fruit last week when the country was admitted as a permanent observer in the council. It joins five other countries as new permanent observers to the council: China, Japan, South Korea, India and Italy. There are 26 other permanent observers, who can watch meeting proceedings and contribute to the council’s working groups.

Former foreign minister George Yeo, in Australia when he read the news of Singapore’s entry into the Arctic Council, told The Straits Times that becoming an observer on the council is of strategic importance to Singapore’s long-term future.

“I’m sure we will play an active role and try to make a positive contribution to global sea transport in all its aspects,” he said.

Singapore’s formal application to join the council was praised by one permanent member as “first class”. Applicants who sought the council’s advice on how to gain admission were advised to consult the Singapore team.

From the word “go”, Singapore officials worked like ubiquitous ants, engaging the permanent members and the Arctic indigenous communities.

It helped that Singapore’s Ambassador to Norway, Mr Ng Ser Miang, had been in the post since 2001.

Veteran diplomat Kemal Siddique was also made Singapore’s Special Envoy for Arctic Affairs. He had served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador in four of the Arctic Council member countries – Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. These countries knew him well.

This led to his invitation by the Norwegian government to remote Svalbard, situated between Norway and the North Pole, last August when the Arctic members visited the islands there.

Mr Siddique met key officials of all eight member countries. He also visited the lands of the indigenous peoples of Alaska, the Nunavut in Canada, the Rovaniemi of Finland, among others.

Back in Singapore, officials began chiselling away at the Republic’s emergent Arctic policy.

At the World Oceans Summit held in Singapore last year, it “articulated an intention to play a role in Arctic governance”, wrote Stewart Watters and Aki Tonami, researchers at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies in Denmark.

They noted that “Singapore’s Arctic diplomacy is driven primarily by an ambition to exploit an emerging market niche in which it sees itself as a technological and expertise leader”.

Singapore, they wrote, has played a role in the International Maritime Organisation that is disproportionate to the size of the country. The Republic is also home to global leaders in offshore and marine engineering.

These areas are relevant to the Arctic Council’s work as Singapore has strong knowledge of international ocean law and ways of developing global shipping.

Diplomatic efforts were supported by Singapore’s expertise in areas relevant to council members.

In 2008, Keppel Singmarine broke new ground when it completed Asia’s first two ice breakers for a subsidiary of Russian Lukoil. These ice breakers carve out shipping passages by breaking through huge blocks of Arctic ice.

Singapore is now developing the next generation of oil rigs and ships, including Arctic life boats for Arctic oil companies. Faster responses to emergencies in the Arctic are needed as the area opens up for more development.

Singapore is doing several Arctic research projects. Oceanic research – on topics like oil explorations in the harsh Arctic climate – is being done at the Centre for Offshore Research and Engineering at the National University of Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Singaporeans too are leaving their prints on the Arctic ice.

Philanthropist Lee Seng Tee has donated funds to the International Arctic Research Centre to establish a “Lecture in Arctic Studies” series. Ms Michelle Goh, a young Singapore biologist, is studying birds in the cold Arctic.

But Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Barth Eide has warned the new observer members of the work that lies ahead: “To the new observers of the Arctic Council, there is no such thing as a free lunch.”

For Singapore, entry into the council is just the beginning. The hard work continues.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

There remains little doubt to the human causes of global warming. A study has shown that less than 2-3% of all peer-reviewed studies attribute climate change to a non-human cause. Unable to argue the science, climate change deniers have brought their claims and argument to the media, giving the general public the impression that the cause of climate change is still in dispute. Such misleading claims are not just hard to kill, but will ultimately prove disruptive to efforts aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. Read more

By Graham Readfearn inThe Guardian (17 May 2013):

Zombie climate sceptic theories survive only in newspapers and on TV

Study finds overwhelming scientific consensus that humans have caused global warming, but media still hasn’t caught up

According to an email obtained by Media Matters, Bill Sammon imposed an order on Fox News journalists to cast doubt on climate change.

Here’s the news from 1991 – a vanishingly small number of peer-reviewed studies in science journals argue that humans aren’t the cause of global warming.

Here’s the news from 2013 – since 1991, less than two per cent of all peer-reviewed studies say climate change is caused by something other than human activities (that’s burning fossil fuels and digging up forests, to you and me).

Both the news from 2013 and the news from 1991 come from new research published this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

The study, widely reported, was led by Australian John Cook, of the University of Queensland’s Global Change Institute and the founder of the Skeptical Science website.

The study looked at 12,000 peer-reviewed papers in science journals since 1991 to find out just how many studies agree that humans cause global warming – known as anthropogenic global warming (AGW).

What’s really striking about the research is the red line on the graph showing the number of papers that claim something is to blame, such as the sun or natural cycles.

The numbers of scientific papers rejecting anthropogenic global warming remains miniscule for 20 years

Like a cardiac monitor warning of a soon-to-be lifeless patient, for more than 20 years the red line hovers around zero showing barely a flicker of life. Cook says they expected to see a rising number of papers which had “no position” and didn’t feel the need to state the obvious “just as geographers find no reason to remind readers that the earth is round”.

In other words, the alternative arguments about the causes of global warming were already dead or dying 20 years ago.

Yet since then, climate science contrarians/deniers/sceptics have continually applied the defibrillator paddles to these failing theories in an attempt to bring them back to life.

Despite what you might have seen on TV hospitable dramas, when the heart goes all asystolic no amount of defibrillator action is going to chase away the reaper.

So after giving up on the peer-reviewed literature, the climate science contrarians – often bolstered by support from the fossil fuel industry and free-market idealogues – took their talking points somewhere else.

That is, out into the public domain, the mainstream media and the blogosphere and far away from the less forgiving operating theatre of peer-reviewed science journals.

To this day, these dead theories hang around like slack-jawed zombies in the graveyards of global media outlets.

Take a recent column published in the Wall Street Journal, for example, which tried to claim that global warming was down to natural cycles and changes in the sun’s output. Carbon dioxide was just food for plants, wrote the authors.

Or how about London Mayor Boris Johnson’s column earlier this year in The Daily Telegraph, where he also claimed climate change was driven by the sun. Johnson often quotes his “old chum” Piers Corbyn, a long-range weather “forecaster” who claims CO2 has no effect on global temperature.

Then there’s The Australian newspaper which earlier this month concocted a story of a fake debate between scientists about a coming ice age.

The newspaper quoted a Russian physicist who is a member of Principia Scientific International – a group of contrarian scientists led by a man who claims CO2 isn’t a greenhouse gas.

A 2011 study of opinion columns appearing in The Australian found that climate change contrarians outnumbered four-to-one those authors calling for firm action to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

In the US, the Union of Concerned Scientists has looked at climate change coverage in the Wall Street Journal and on Fox News over a six-month period.  In the case of Fox, UCS classified 37 out of 40 segments as “misleading” on climate change science. In almost a year of Wall Street Journal articles, just nine out of 48 articles were deemed to accurately reflect the state of the science.

Then there is the near omnipresence of free market conservative think-tanks – funded variously through secretive channels or the largesse of fossil fuel interests – who write books, columns and are asked to be “expert” commentators on climate change.

In Australia, one study has found how the free-market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs had been the source of a range of climate sceptic talking points echoed in mainstream media.

The current issue of the journal American Behavioral Scientist (ABS) is devoted to the phenomenon of climate change scepticism and denial and brings together studies and essays looking at the role of the media in trying to keep alive those climate change theories which have been under permanent cardiac arrest for the last two decades or more.

One self-explanatory study is titled “Leading Voices in the Denier Choir : Conservative Columnists’ Dismissal of Global Warming and Denigration of Climate Science”.

The authors, Professor Riley Dunlap and Shaun Elsasser, both of Oklahoma State University, looked at 203 columns written by more than 80 conservative writers published between 2007 and 2010. The authors conclude:

The overall results reveal a highly dismissive view of climate change and critical stance toward climate science among these influential conservative pundits. They play a crucial role in amplifying the denial machine’s messages to a broad segment of the American public.

Similarly self-explanatory were some of the titles of the columns they investigated. There was “The Global Warmists’ Deceit”, “It’s Got to Suck to Be a Climavangelist”, “Hoax of the Century” and “Four Colossal Holes in the Theory of Man-Made Global Warming.”

Dunlap and Elsassser also tally-up and categorise the arguments used to dismiss the science or dismiss the need to act. And the most common climate science denial argument used? “There is no consensus”.

In an essay in the same issue of ABS, Maxwell Boykoff, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, notes how accurate media coverage alone won’t be the panacea for genuine policy action to cut emissions.  He adds:

But improvements in reporting on claims and claims makers will help. The fossils of climate science and policy decision-making as well as communications may choose to continue along with the status quo. But to more effectively inform and engage – rather than confuse and bewilder – the public, 21st-century journalists and editors, as well as researchers, scientists, policy actors, and other non-nation-state actors, need to acknowledge the disproportionate influence of these outlier voices in mass media and communicate climate change with greater specificity and context.

While some media outlets have given their consumers the impression that climate scientists are split on the causes of climate change, the pulse of actual scientific debate on this issue faded long ago.

At least now, readers can be more certain that when they hear that climate change might not be caused by humans, it’s probably just a zombie theory.

And kids, zombies aren’t real.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

AJ Bush & Sons Manufactures Pty Ltd

Status: in progress Support: $6,184,589 Total project value: $12,369,179

The rendering plant of AJ Bush & Sons located at Bromelton will cover anaerobic ponds to capture biogas, currently emitted to the atmosphere as methane, for use as renewable fuel to power a new biogas boiler to raise process steam. Inefficient coal-fired boilers will be upgraded or replaced with high efficiency boilers to reduce black coal combusted in the steam raising process. Together these measures will improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in the energy intensive rendering process essential to the meat processing industry. The project is expected to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of AJ Bush & Sons’ site-wide steam raising production process by 64 per cent and will reduce their energy costs by 46 per cent.

Program: Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program

Industry: Meat, poultry and small goods manufacturing

For more information: AJ Bush & Sons’ Website, AJ Bush and Sons’ Customer Story

See more at: http://www.cleanenergymap.gov.au/switching-biogas-0#sthash.I2DQI5r3.dpuf

Guess who made it to the Time 100 influential list? Not a lot of memorable, lasting contributors to all that is likely to be good for the world. Not when Australia mining magnate Gina Rinehart is there. Influential, yes, but not for a world of good.  Elon Musk is listed and profiled here because he has his heart in the right place with his Tesla Electric car production. But he is also designing a space vehicle for passengers and cargo. He and Richard Branson seem committed to get us into space travel. While exploring the outer reaches of the atmosphere might help us better appreciate what we’ve got on earth, we must question whether the cost is worth it. Yes, space research has given us some definite benefits – solar power enhancements and energy efficiency gains – but we think more is to be gained now by investing into renewable energy and better managing the resources we have for a low carbon, more sustainable life on earth. This issue has the healthy mix of good news for people and the planet and the usual warnings that we are taking too much time to change our ways. More news from the scientific world, too and word that a new form of literature has been born. Cli Fi. Believe it or not? Readers will have to wait another month or so for our own 100 most influential. Nominations are invited for the 100 Global Sustain Ability Leaders of 2013. And for a piece of my mind – in the nicest possible way – go to ubrainTv.  Sustainable media is the message. – Ken Hickson

It’s a fact. Renewable Energy is cheaper than imported gas and oil. What’s more, renewable energy offers South East Asia clean and secure power at fixed long term prices which are lower than the price for power generation from marginal fossil fuel on an unsubsidised base. This came out in a just-released report by Armstrong Asset Management called “Entering a New Phase of Growth:  Renewable Energy in SE Asia”, which clearly shows the opportunities for investment and the cost advantages of coming clean. Read more

Report released 1 May 2012:

Renewable Energy Is Cheaper than Imported Gas and Oil

By Edward Douglas, Investment Director, Armstrong Asset Management, Singapore

Renewable energy offers South East Asia clean and secure power at fixed long term prices which are lower than the price for power generation from marginal fossil fuel on an unsubsidised base.

As part of its on-going analysis of the potential in South East Asia for renewable energy (RE), Armstrong Asset Management has produced a report “Entering a New Phase of Growth:  Renewable Energy in SE Asia” which shows that there are a rising number of high quality solar PV, wind, hydro and biomass/biogas investment opportunities in all of the key markets with interest from both debt and equity providers to invest in them.

Let me provide an overview of our findings and in particular highlight what we see as the opportunities for investment in the renewable energy sector in S E Asia. Some key points first:

• It is now cheaper to produce renewable energy in some South East Asia countries than bulk grid power from imported natural gas and fuel oil;
• The cost advantage of renewable energy continues to grow in SE Asia as pricing, environmental and security risks associated with imported fossil fuels are more accurately evaluated;
• SE Asia has excellent renewable resources but rely on a high level of fuel oil for power generation due to their sprawling geographies and inadequate grid infrastructure;
• ASEAN-5 (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia) will need to install between 168 and 192 GW of new power generation capacity by 2025 to maintain its projected economic growth rate of 5.8%;
• Governments in all South East Asian markets are significantly expanding their commitment to renewable energy (RE) as a proportion of the energy mix.

According to a recent study from Centre of Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), on Sustainable Energy Futures in South East Asia in December 2012, the ASEAN-5 (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia) will need to install between 168 and 192 GW of new power generation capacity by 2025 to maintain its projected economic growth rate of 5.8%.

As with the rest of the world, where nearly 50% of newly installed electricity capacity in 2011 (208 GW) was RE, it offers clean and secure power at fixed long term prices which are now lower than the price for power generated from marginal fossil fuel supplies on an unsubsidised basis.

From 2000 through 2006, the emerging markets of ASEAN-5 generally adopted a cautious approach to the development of renewable energy due to its perceived high cost.

But the commitment to RE really took hold and became a significant component of national power development plans across the breadth of ASEAN-5 against the background of (i) the rise in oil prices, (ii) the declines in RE costs and (iii) the level of concern surrounding energy security.

Over the past 7 years, the impetus behind RE has continued to build in the Region and the factors necessary to support private investment have been established.

We believe the increase in the quality and quantity of RE project development and construction witnessed over the past 36 months is confirmation that the sector is already in a phase of robust and sustainable growth.

Cost Competitiveness

The first and primary driver of recent growth is cost. In a growing majority of situations, RE is simply cheaper than the alternatives and so utilities, distributors, IPPs and end consumers are demanding more. In the case of solar, wind and hydro, it is a cost that is essentially fixed for 25 – 40 years.

Investors in fossil fuelled power plants on the other hand, must accept significant long term fuel pricing and environmental risks which are increasingly being factored into policy and buyer decisions.

SE Asia has excellent renewable resources which, when combined with reductions in RE system costs, have resulted in RE now being cheaper than bulk grid power from imported natural gas and fuel oil; in many cases, significantly cheaper.

Policy Traction

Even good government policy takes time to implement and invariably evolves before gaining traction and achieving a critical mass. In SE Asia, significant renewable energy policies were first implemented between 2004 and 2006 due to the rising economic, political, environmental and social case for a greater emphasis on its deployment.

The high cost (as a proportion of GDP) and dependence on fossil fuel imports had become a rising headwind to economic growth and a key security concern for all SE Asian governments.

Energy policy rose to the top of the government agenda and policy makers started paying particular attention to the advances being made elsewhere in the world with regards to RE.

As RE costs have come down and the future pricing and security risk of imported fossil fuels better appreciated, policy support in SE Asia has continued to strengthen to the point where government targets and commitment are very much in line with those in Europe and other leading international advocates of greater RE adoption.

Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia have committed to RE targets from 2025 to 2030. The successful installation and operation of projects following early initiatives, the maturing of supply chains and the readiness of private financing sources has allowed governments to commit more aggressively to a competitively priced and credible path of RE growth which would see these targets reached.

Lowering of Non-Economic Barriers to Investment in RE

We also consider how the strengthening regulatory and policy frameworks are helping RE developers and investors in SE Asia to overcome both economic and non-economic barriers and thereby accelerate the growth of RE capacity.

In its 2010 working paper “Deploying Renewables in Southeast Asia – Trends and Potentials” the International Energy Agency (IEA) states:

“Substantial non-economic barriers, such as infrastructure and grid-related problems and regulatory and administrative hurdles, continue to be a major impediment to the deployment of renewables. These barriers can have high economic impacts by increasing the return on investment required by financiers, especially if their impact is primarily in the earlier investment-intensive project cycle phases. Investors are likely to require a high risk premium to accept the possibility of policy changes affecting renewable energy project development.”

Support from policy makers can be broken down into four main categories:

• Tariffs which better reflect the risks and are therefore able to attract capital;

• Implementation of special fast track administrative and regulatory processes for RE;

• Removal or reduction in subsidies extended to traditional energy (fossil fuels) or power generated from them [which strengthens budgets and make funds available to upgrade energy infrastructure;

• Implementation of measures and incentives which align the interests of incumbent utilities and grid operators with RE developers and investors.

Supply Chain Readiness

The quality of development and the subsequent execution risks of green field construction of RE projects are very much tied to the availability of experienced firms and individuals. As early policy initiatives took hold and the fundamental drivers of RE continued to improve, a critical mass was reached in solar, wind and small hydro which allowed supply chains to mature to the point of sustainability.

Experienced and proven project development groups, world leading RE equipment suppliers and a wide range of internationally recognised service providers now have local operations in SE Asia serving the growth in the Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines markets.

Private Capital Availability

The economic attractiveness, policy support and supply chain development has allowed many sources of both equity and debt to get comfortable with the risks associated with the construction and operation of RE power assets. There is now growing interest from a wide range of financing sources to invest in the sector. On the equity side, these include PE Funds, corporates and increasingly family offices.

Growth of New Build Accelerating

There has been significant and sustained growth in the construction and development of solar, wind and hydro projects across SE Asia over the past five years. The quality of the resource and the increasing strength of policy support are driving the deployment of each technology in each market. Policy support means both financial incentives and the removal of technical (non-economic) barriers to entry.

Breadth & Depth of Opportunities

The accumulated investment into RE globally is now paying dividends globally as it translates into a positive feedback loop of volume, experience, costs and investment.

SE Asia is moving into its own phase of positive feedback where the larger and more established the broader Asia market becomes, the higher the quality of projects and management teams, which further lowers the cost of RE, which further drives growth. Asia’s rising prominence as a focus for RE investors is detailed in a number of recent reports and market data releases including:

• Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012 from UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, which cites a 21% growth in investment from US$71 billion in 2010 to US$86 in 2011 making Asia second only to Europe as a region for RE investment;

• Meeting the Energy Challenge in South East Asia: A Paper on Renewable Energy, July 2012 from IPSOS Business Consulting which illustrates a growth of RE in ASEAN from 9.8 GW of installed capacity in 2010 to a projected 53.8 GW by 2030 based on a consolidation of official government data;

• Market research from IHS, the global energy research firm, which projects Asia as the largest solar PV market globally in 2013, compensating for the slow-down in Europe.

For the reasons listed above, the depth and breadth of RE investment opportunities have improved significantly over the past 3 to 4 years. There is a rising number of high quality solar PV, wind, hydro and biomass/biogas investment opportunities in all of our key markets with interest from both debt and equity providers to invest in them.

Although the fast improving economics and compelling low risk characteristics of solar PV have made it a recent focus for many RE investors looking at SE Asia, small hydro and wind remain the lowest cost sources of RE and therefore of high interest to policy makers.

Due to recent rises in feed in tariffs and implementation of supportive regulations, developers are now making good progress in developing the excellent but under-exploited hydro and wind resources of the region. We therefore expect the rate of growth of these technologies to be a major boost to the sector.

We also see increasing opportunities in biogas and biomass power generation where higher tariffs and the maturing of the sector are presenting attractive opportunities for investment.

We have looked in some detail into three key SE Asia Markets – Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia – and produced country reports.

Here are a few highlights on a country by country basis:

Thailand

Thailand now has more than 2800 MW of installed RE energy and has successfully achieved all of its main policy milestones to date on its path to a RE target of 25% of energy use by 2021.

Thailand is expected to announce a significant increase in the Feed in Tariff for biomass based power generation from approximately THB 3.8/kWh to THB 4.5/kWh to further stimulate development of the sector;

Philippines

The Philippines is SE Asia’s most liberalised and highest priced power market where many small to medium scale independent power producers already sell power to cooperatives/distributors and industrial off-takers under PPA’s.

Following the steep drop in the system costs of solar PV and the increasing availability of development funding for run-of-river hydro and wind projects, developers and IPP’s are increasingly looking at small scale RE solutions to meet the power needs of their off-takers.

Indonesia

Indonesia has had a regulatory framework for renewable energy in place since 2006 under which the state utility (PLN) is obliged to purchase electricity generated from generation facilities with a capacity of more than 1MW and up to 10MW;

In 2009 (Ministry of Energy Regulation No. 31) a new tariff was introduced for mini-hydro projects, together with measures to help deal with non-economic barriers (including a standard form PPA). This applies to projects with a capacity of more than 1MW and up to 10MW.

About Armstrong Asset Management

The Armstrong S.E. Asia Clean Energy Fund is a private equity fund that invests in small-scale renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in Southeast Asia. This strategy is driven by the high energy demand and strong market fundamentals in the region. Armstrong Asset Management will seek to provide investors with a gross return in excess of 20% per annum.

The geographic focus of the Armstrong S.E. Asia Clean Energy Fund is principally in three countries: Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The Manager can allocate up to 25% of the funds gross assets outside these primary countries but within South East Asia, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

For the full report on “Entering a New Phase of Growth”, go to http://www.armstrongam.com/market-research

Sustainability is great for business! While some benefits of incorporating sustainable measures in conducting businesses are already well known – better corporate image, reduced overheads, increased bottom-lines – businesses now stand to gain more. Countries such as the United States, Japan and China, have introduced tax codes that encourages sustainable corporate activity, reflected in their tax incentives for energy efficiency, renewable energy and green buildings. Read more

In Environmental Leader (25 April 2013):

US Ranks No. 1 Using Tax Code To Shape Corporate Sustainability

The US ranks No. 1 among 21 countries most actively using the tax code to influence sustainable corporate activity, reflecting the country’s federal tax incentives for energy efficiency, renewable energy and green buildings, according to KPMG’s first Green Tax Index.

Japan, the UK, France, South Korea and China are also among the leading countries using tax as a tool to drive corporate sustainability, according to the index. Key policy areas explored in the index include energy efficiency, water efficiency, carbon emissions, green innovations and green building.

The Green Tax Index gives companies insight into how countries are using taxes to influence corporate sustainability, says John Gimigliano, principal-in-charge of sustainability tax in the Washington National Tax practice of KPMG. He says Japan, for example, ranks No. 1 in promoting tax incentives for green vehicle production, while the US tops the rankings for its renewable energy tax incentives. The result: more electric and alternative fuel cars coming out of Japan and strong growth in the US renewable sector.

The rankings can also help corporate sustainability decision-makers allocate budgets and evaluate global investments around the world, KPMG says. For companies to enhance the return from their green spend, tax and sustainability executives should collaborate before making investment decisions.

The KPMG index identified more than 200 individual tax incentives and penalties of relevance to corporate sustainability. At least 30 of these have been introduced since January 2011.

According to the Green Tax Index, the US tax code provides a range of tax credits, including a production tax credit on renewable energy and tax incentives construction of efficient buildings. The US also uses green penalties less than other Western developed nations apart from Canada. When green tax penalties alone are considered, the US drops to 14th.

Japan is ranked second overall but, in contrast to the US, scores higher on green tax penalties than it does on incentives.

The UK ranks third and has a green tax approach balanced between penalties and incentives. The UK scores most highly in the area of carbon and climate change.

France occupies fourth place in the overall ranking with a green tax policy more heavily weighted toward penalties than incentives.

South Korea ranks fifth, and like the US, has a green tax system weighted toward incentives rather than penalties. South Korea leads the ranking for “green innovation” which suggests that South Korea is especially active in using its tax code to encourage green research and development.

China ranks sixth with a green tax policy balanced between incentives and penalties and focused on resource efficiency (energy, water and materials) and green building.

Nine US-based companies including Molson Coors, Alcoa, Sonoco Products, Herman Miller and UnitedHealth Group have been awarded gold medals for sustainability practices in RobecoSAM and KPMG’s Sustainability Yearbook 2013. This places the US higher than any other country in the rankings.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/

A real life Tony Stark. A claim often used to describe Elon Musk. Since the founding and success of PayPal, he has moved on to establish spacecraft developer SpaceX, and electric car maker Tesla Motors. The cars developed at Tesla are proof that electric vehicles need not be stodgy and boring, providing a gateway for future development of sustainable vehicles. Musk’s interest in sustainable human development also led to the founding of Musk Foundation, dedicated in part to the discovery of renewable and clean energy sources. Read more

View from TED:

Elon Musk is the chief designer for SpaceX, overseeing development of rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets. In 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft won the NASA contract to provide a commercial replacement for the cargo transport function of the space shuttle. In 2012, SpaceX became the first commercial company to dock with the International Space Station and return cargo to Earth with the Dragon.

At Tesla, Musk has overseen product development and design from the beginning, including the all-electric Tesla Roadster, Model S and Model X, and overseeing the rollout of Supercharger stations to keep the cars juiced up. (Some of the charging stations use solar energy systems from SolarCity, of which Musk is the non-executive chair.) Transitioning to a sustainable energy economy, in which electric vehicles play a pivotal role, has been one of his central interests for almost two decades. He co-founded PayPal and served as the company’s chair and CEO.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/elon_musk.html

Bio from biography.com

Elon Musk was born in South Africa and became a multimillionaire in his late twenties when he sold his start-up company, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers. He went on to more early success launching PayPal via a 2000 merger, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in 2002, and Tesla Motors in 2003. Musk made headlines in May 2012 when SpaceX launched a rocket that would send the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station.

“I’m very pro-environment, but let’s figure out how to do it better and not jump through a dozen hoops to achieve what is obvious in the first place.”

– Elon Musk

Early Life

Elon Musk was born and grew up in South Africa, buying his first computer at age 10. He taught himself how to program, and when he was 12 he made his first software sale—of a game he created called Blaster. At age 17, in 1989, he moved to Canada to attend Queen’s College, but he left in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed for a second bachelor’s degree in physics.

After leaving Penn, Elon Musk headed to Stanford University in California to pursue a PhD in energy physics. However, his move was timed perfectly with the Internet boom, and he dropped out of Stanford after just two days to become a part of it, launching his first company, Zip2 Corporation.

An online city guide, Zip2 was soon providing content for the new Web sites of both the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, and in 1999, a division of Compaq Computer bought Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options.

An Earnest Entrepreneur

Also in 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services/payments company. An X.com acquisition the following year led to the creation of PayPal as it is known today, and in October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. Before the sale, Musk owned 11 percent of PayPal stock.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, in 2002 with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008, SpaceX was well-established, and NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future—in a move to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions.

Another Musk venture is Tesla Motors, an automobile company dedicated to producing affordable, mass-market electric cars, which he co-founded in 2003. With a stake in the company taken by Daimler and a strategic partnership with Toyota, Tesla Motors launched its initial public offering in June 2010, raising $226 million.

The boundless potential of space exploration and the preservation of the future of the human race have become the cornerstones of Musk’s abiding interests, and toward these he has founded the Musk Foundation, which is dedicated to space exploration and the discovery of renewable and clean energy sources.

Preparing for Lift-Off

On May 22, 2012, Musk and SpaceX made history when the company launched its Falcon 9 rocket into space with an unmanned capsule. The vehicle was sent to the International Space Station with 1,000 pounds of supplies for the astronauts stationed there, and it is the first time a private company has sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Of the launch, Musk was quoted as saying, “I feel very lucky. . . . For us, it’s like winning the Super Bowl.”

Source: www.biography.com

SolarCity Opens its Largest U.S. Operations Center in Riverside, California

New Facility Will Service Inland Empire, Brings Jobs to the Region

RIVERSIDE, Calif., April 30, 2013—SolarCity® (Nasdaq: SCTY), a leading provider of clean energy, has opened its largest U.S. operations center in Riverside to accommodate growing demand in the Inland Empire. The 35,000-square-foot facility is staffed by 75 employees and currently has 20 additional job openings, and SolarCity expects to hire 50 additional employees in the area this year. SolarCity has grown to become the largest rooftop distributed energy company in California and in the U.S. by making it possible for customers to install solar panels for free and pay less for renewable, solar electricity than they pay for their utility bills.

“We look forward to creating more local jobs as we expand our services for homeowners and businesses,” said Jim Cahill, SolarCity’s regional vice president of operations for Southern California. “Riverside alone has 277 sunny days per year, which is nearly 40 percent more than the national average, so solar power production in the Inland Empire region is excellent.”

SolarCity provides energy services to more than 2,500 customers through its Inland Empire operations center, including Walmart stores in Corona, Temecula, Palm Desert and the Moreno Valley; the Barstow and Murrieta Valley Unified School Districts; the U.S. Bank branch in Rancho Cucamonga; and the First Assembly of God in Lake Elsinore.

Homeowners and businesses in the Inland Empire who are interested in SolarCity’s services can contact the company directly at 1-888-SOL-CITY (1-888-765-2489) for a free, no-obligation solar consultation or visit SolarCity online at www.solarcity.com/request. Candidates interested in available employment opportunities in the Inland Empire can contact SolarCity via its online jobs form at www.solarcity.com/jobs

About SolarCity

SolarCity® (NASDAQ: SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company offers solar power, energy efficiency and electric vehicle services, and makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 14 states and signs a new customer every five minutes. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.

Some records are just better off left unbroken. This must be the sentiment felt by researchers at the US government’s Earth Systems Research laboratory in Hawaii when concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere breached the important 400 parts per million (ppm) mark. In what seem like an unrelenting rise in CO2 levels, we cannot avoid higher temperatures and sea level rise, making water barriers like the Thames Barrage simply not enough to stem the tide or wide-spread flooding. Read more

Global carbon dioxide levels set to pass 400ppm milestone

The concentration of carbon in the atmosphere over the next few days is expected to hit record levels

By John Vidal in The Guardian (29 April 2013):

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached 399.72 parts per million (ppm) and is likely to pass the symbolically important 400ppm level for the first time in the next few days.

Readings at the US government’s Earth Systems Research laboratory in Hawaii, are not expected to reach their 2013 peak until mid May, but were recorded at a daily average of 399.72ppm on 25 April. The weekly average stood at 398.5 on Monday.

Hourly readings above 400ppm have been recorded six times in the last week, and on occasion, at observatories in the high Arctic. But the Mauna Loa station, sited at 3,400m and far away from major pollution sources in the Pacific Ocean, has been monitoring levels for more than 50 years and is considered the gold standard.

“I wish it weren’t true but it looks like the world is going to blow through the 400ppm level without losing a beat. At this pace we’ll hit 450ppm within a few decades,” said Ralph Keeling, a geologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography which operates the Hawaiian observatory.

“Each year, the concentration of CO2 at Mauna Loa rises and falls in a sawtooth fashion, with the next year higher than the year before. The peak of the sawtooth typically comes in May. If CO2 levels don’t top 400ppm in May 2013, they almost certainly will next year,” Keeling said.

CO2 atmospheric levels have been steadily rising for 200 years, registering around 280ppm at the start of the industrial revolution and 316ppm in 1958 when the Mauna Loa observatory started measurements. The increase in the global burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of the increase.

The approaching record level comes as countries resumed deadlocked UN climate talks in Bonn. No global agreement to reduce emissions is expected to be reached until 2015.

“The 400ppm threshold is a sobering milestone, and should serve as a wake up call for all of us to support clean energy technology and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, before it’s too late for our children and grandchildren,” said Tim Lueker, an oceanographer and carbon cycle researcher with Scripps CO2 Group.

The last time CO2 levels were so high was probably in the Pliocene epoch, between 3.2m and 5m years ago, when Earth’s climate was much warmer than today.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

As members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meet again  in Bonn, Germany, to find resolution to sealing a new climate change agreement by 2015, fur is expected to fly. With fights for concessions and compromises, state representatives should take heed of Margaret Thatcher’s speech to the World Climate Conference in 1990, where she called for a greater urgency in tackling climate change.  A call that is more critical now than ever, so at least listen to the voice of Christiana Figueres! Read more

International climate talks resume

By Anne Eckstein  (26 April 2013):

Representatives of the states parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet from 29 April to 3 May in Bonn to relaunch negotiations with a view to sealing, by 2015 at the latest, a new climate change agreement that would take effect in 2020. While the European Commission is not expected to change the bases or key principles of the EU’s approach, it still has to spell out the position it will defend in late November at the 19th global climate conference (COP19) in Warsaw, Poland. “To carry weight, the EU will have to speak with a single voice, especially because two of its member states will chair the proceedings, Poland this year and France in 2015,” said Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard in Dublin.

The decision making process is under way. On 26 March, the European Commission launched a public debate with the release of its consultative communication, ‘Climate action: Designing the 2015 global climate change agreement’. Based on that paper, the 27 held an initial debate, on 23 April, at the informal Environment Council in Dublin (see Europolitics 4632). For the EU, the aim is not only to develop active and creative climate diplomacy, but also and most importantly to build consensus among the states, which is far from a sure thing. Some NGOs are concerned, noting that COP19 will be held in Poland, a country “known for blocking further climate action in the EU,” said Julia Michalak of Climate Action Network (CAN).

In Bonn, discussions will focus on both dimensions of the negotiations. The first concerns the scope and structure of the 2015 agreement, the methods and foundations used to define the future objectives and the principles to be respected in implementing them. The agreement will have to consolidate within a single regime the multiple binding and non-binding arrangements established under the existing UNFCCC. The EU, a few other European countries and Australia have accepted a second binding commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions, but some 60 other countries worldwide have adopted different non-binding types of arrangements to reduce their GhG emissions or limit any increase.

In parallel with the negotiations on the 2015 agreement, discussions are continuing in the framework of the Durban Platform. The goal is, on the one hand, to finds ways to increase the scale of GhG reductions globally ahead of the entry into force of the new agreement in 2020 and, on the other, to agree on ways and means of closing the sizeable gap between emissions reduction commitments to 2020 and the reductions needed to keep global warming from exceeding 2°C.

Source: http://www.europolitics.info/

Cool heads needed in Bonn for five-day talks on climate change

As the 2015 global agreement looms, can a session on its ‘scope, structure and design’ get negotiations back on track?

By Frank McDonald in Irish Times (27 April 2013):

More than two decades have passed since Margaret Thatcher, as British prime minister, delivered a remarkable speech to the second World Climate Conference, in Geneva, warning that global warming was a greater threat to the world than “tyrants and their tanks”.

Speaking in November 1990, long in advance of the first Earth Summit, she said: “Our ability to come together to stop or limit damage to the world’s environment will be perhaps the greatest test of how far we can act as a world community [and] the unprecedented co-operation we shall have to show. We shall need statesmanship of a rare order.”

Thatcher acknowledged the scientific uncertainties but said there was “already a clear case” for taking precautionary action. “Climate change may be less than predicted. But equally it may occur more quickly than the present computer models suggest. Should this happen, it would be doubly disastrous were we to shirk the challenge now.”

There hasn’t been much sign of rare statesmanship in the rounds of negotiations that followed year after year since Berlin in 1995; that’s when the equally formidable Angela Merkel, then Germany’s environment minister, brought down the gavel at the first conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Ironically, it was when more than 120 heads of state or government turned up for the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009 that things really fell apart. The hopes of so many that a meaningful global agreement would be reached were dashed, while the trust between rich and poor countries – always quite fragile – was shattered.

Since then, however, 194 countries have committed themselves to reaching a comprehensive agreement in 2015 under the so-called Durban Platform. That’s why their climate-change negotiators, including all the big players, are travelling to Bonn this weekend for a five-day session on the “scope, structure and design” of such a deal.

The talks have been given added impetus by the bitterly cold weather that gripped much of the northern hemisphere this spring – which some scientists have attributed to the dramatic decline in Arctic summer sea ice – as well as record heatwaves in Australia and the devastating impact of Superstorm Sandy on the US east coast.

The catalogue of weather-related natural disasters also included exceptional flooding in China, Pakistan, the Philippines and Nigeria, and near-record droughts in Russia and the US against the backdrop of confirmation by the World Meteorological Organisation that the first decade of this century was the hottest on record.

Nonetheless, as the Economist noted on March 30th, global average surface temperatures over the past 15 years “have been flat while greenhouse gas emissions have continued to soar” – reaching a new record of 35.6 billion tonnes last year, despite the effects of a deep recession.

“The mismatch between rising greenhouse gas emissions and not-rising temperatures is among the biggest puzzles in climate science just now,” according to the Economist . After all, if the cause-and-effect link between growing emissions and increasing temperatures stood up, the world should be getting measurably hotter year by year.

It “might mean that – for some unexplained reason – there has been a temporary lag between more carbon dioxide and higher temperatures in 2000-2010. Or it might be that the 1990s, when temperatures were rising fast, was the anomalous period. Or . . . that the climate is responding to higher concentrations of CO2 in ways that had not been properly understood before.”

Although this “does not mean global warming is a delusion”, the Economist suggested that if temperatures are likely to rise by “only two degrees Celsius” in response to a doubling of CO2 emissions, “perhaps the world should seek to adjust to (rather than stop) the greenhouse gas splurge” by putting more emphasis on adaptation.

Internationally, a rise of two degrees Celcius in average global surface temperatures has been accepted as the upper limit of what would be tolerable. In some parts of the world, notably Africa and among the more vulnerable small-island states, even a two-degree increase is seen as highly dangerous; they would prefer to contain it at 1.5 degrees.

Whether something as complex as the climate can be tweaked in this way is a moot point that will undoubtedly be addressed by more research. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now working on its Fifth Assessment Report, with publication next year likely to sharpen our focus on the scientific evidence – and the uncertainties.

There is cautious hope that President Obama’s pledge to prioritise climate change during his second term may be a sign that we can expect some of the “rare statesmanship” that Thatcher called for more than 22 years ago – and that this will be reflected in a more conciliatory stance by his usually hard-nosed negotiating team.

According to the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, the discussions in Bonn next week and throughout this year – culminating in a full conference in Warsaw at the end of November – are crucial to preparing the ground for a global agreement in 2015, perhaps based on the architecture of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change.

Source: www.irishtimes.com/

How about certifying the sustainability of smart-phones? If it catches on, consumers will be able to throw in “corporate social responsibility,” “environmental requirements” and “visual ergonomics” as comparison points between iPhones and Androids. All part of “Creating Climate Wealth” maybe. So don’t miss the event this month in Singapore when Sir Richard Branson will be among those advocating and arguing for change in the way we do business for the benefit of our planet and our people. Read More

Sustainability Certification for Smartphones: How Useful Is It?

By David Sims in IMT Green & Clean Journal (25 April 2013):

If TCO Development’s idea for certifying the sustainability of smartphones catches on, consumers will be able to throw in “corporate social responsibility,” “environmental requirements” and “visual ergonomics” as comparison points between iPhones and Samsungs.

The new manufacturing certification criteria set is available in draft format for your perusal and comments during April, and TCO hopes to publish the criteria and start certifying in mid-May.

Smartphones: The logical next step.

TCO is a Stockholm-based third party sustainability certification company currently offering certification for such IT products as displays, notebooks, tablets, desktops, all-in-one PCs, projectors and headsets. Smartphones would be a logical next step.

It’s still kind of a new thing. In June 2012 Lenovo was “the first brand to announce products that meet the new generation TCO Certified, including heightened CSR requirements,” according to TCO officials, who certified the All-in-One PCs ThinkCentre M92z and M72z series with 20 inch and 23 inch displays for having “at least 50 percent post-consumer recycled plastics,” as well as meeting other “environmental, social, and economic responsibility” standards.

Niclas Rydell, product and certification director for TCO Development, said the company is now hoping to provide “smartphone buyers and users with an easier way to choose devices that meet criteria for socially responsible manufacturing, minimal environmental impact and ergonomic design.” Rydell said it will be sustainability certification which follows “guidelines of a third party certification, Type 1 eco label according to ISO14024.”

With worldwide annual sales growth around 50 percent, smartphones represent, as TCO officials say, “the fastest growing of all IT product categories. An estimated one billion smartphones will be sold during 2014.”

High production rate, “alarmingly” low recycling rate.

And according to TCO, such impressive growth has “sustainability challenges that must be addressed,” since while computers and smartphones both have hazardous substances, smartphones get replaced a lot more often — the average U.S. user replaces their device “every 18 months,” TCO officials say, adding that “the recycling rate is alarmingly low,” and a lot of smartphones are made in factories “where working conditions and wages are substandard.”

The company says certification will “focus on driving greater social responsibility into the manufacturing of smartphones as well as reducing their impact on the environment and human health.” To that end they’ll look at the manufacturer’s “commitment to international labour conventions, reduction of hazardous substances… as well as energy efficiency and ergonomic design.”

Interestingly, TCO isn’t certifying for SAR value yet. SAR, specific absorption rate, is how much radiation your head absorbs when on a cell phone. There are SAR ratings, the higher the rating the more radiation you’re absorbing. According to SARValues.com they’re usually expressed in units of watts per kilogram (W/kg) in either 1g or 10g of tissue.

The Criteria From 30,000 Feet

The criteria itself is broken down into five categories — visual ergonomics, workload ergonomics, electrical safety, environmental requirements and corporate social responsibility. Obviously environmental requirements occupy the lion’s share of criteria.

Visual ergonomics means considering possible health effects of the display, certifying for such things as acceptable visual levels “as determined by scientific research,” statistics from tests or “manufacturers’ knowledge and experience.” This would include luminance levels and uniformity, color uniformity, screen color characteristics and other terribly technical terms.

Workload ergonomics include such considerations as “Will I get a rash from nickel or something like that from holding the phone a lot?” and “What about using a headset with this phone?”

Electrical safety certifies for the electrical design of the phone “with respect to its electrical insulation and other arrangements that are intended to prevent accidents resulting from contact with live components,” and how likely the phone is to catch fire.

Environmental requirements are divided into six areas:

Organization. This looks at the production phase, environmental management and Corporate Social Responsibility of the company. A TCO-certified environmental management system will be one where “the company shows concern for the environment and has chosen to work in a systematic way with constant improvement of the environmental performance of the company and its products in focus.”

Climate. Energy consumption slots in here, since according to TCO “energy efficient equipment is an important and effective way to fight climate change.” Whatever your views on anthropogenic global warming, energy efficiency’s a noble goal. “To reduce energy consumption from the smartphone,” TCO officials say, they’ll certify that the external power supply (power adapter) “shall comply with the International Efficiency Marking Protocol for External Power Supplies.”

Hazardous substances. Smartphones contain heavy metals, flame retardants and plastics. TCO will look at things like does this phone contain hexavalent chromium, halogenated substances such as flame retardants, PVC, plastics with chlorine and bromine as part of the polymer and other really scary-sounding stuff such as “phthalates.” Batteries come in for particular scrutiny, as you’d expect, and TCO wants them to be easily exchangeable, among other things and free from lead, cadmium and mercury.

Recycling, product lifetime and CSR.

Product lifetime. They’ll certify for various factors to extend the life of the product, since, well, the longer it lasts the fewer of them get thrown out. Accordingly TCO will require that the brand owner — whose name is on the phone — offer at least a one-year warranty and guarantees the availability of spare parts “for at least three years from the time that production ceases.”

Preparation for recycling. Another big area of concern. TCO likes material coding, since with that “there is a better possibility for plastics to be recycled and used in new IT equipment.” They’re also big on producer take back systems where users can return the phones for recycling, with or without a fee associated with the service.

Packaging. Lots of hazardous substance are used in packaging, and there’s just a ton of it choking landfills around the world. TCO will certify that “non-reusable packaging components weighing more than 5 grams shall be possible to separate into single material types without the use of tools.”

So much for the environmental regulations. When it comes to corporate social responsibility, TCO will certify compliance with all sorts of OECD, ILO conventions, UN conventions, and local health and safety laws.

The certification checklist.

It all sounds wonderful, but frankly, so much of what TCO certifies is the validity of other certifications, that it’s probably possible to find all of the certification they offer elsewhere. We suppose that the value of the TCO certification is that they pull it all together in one place, providing a checklist of certifications — “The ILO certifies them in compliance, check; their manufacturing plant is ISO 14001 or EMAS certified, check; they’ve got a test report from a test laboratory we approve of, check; they’ve provide documented proof of third party audits, check; EICC certifies them, check; they’ve written and signed something saying they’re telling the truth, check…”

Ultimately pretty much everything about a smartphone is already certified by someone else, but if it has a TCO certification, then you can be sure that someone else has said it’s jumped through their hoops.

http://news.thomasnet.com/

EVENTS:

SIR RICHARD BRANSON CONFIRMED FOR

CREATING CLIMATE WEALTH WORKSHOPS, SINGAPORE, MAY 13 2013.

“Climate Change is the biggest wealth creating opportunity of our generation” Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Carbon War Room, will open the inaugural Creating Climate Wealth Workshops Summit on May 13 at the National University, Singapore, and take part in a live Q&A.

Book now: http://ccw2013opening.eventbrite.com/

Creating Climate Wealth (CCW) is a global convening mechanism designed for entrepreneurs, innovators, capital providers, industry leaders and experts. It aims to identify profitable opportunities that climate change offers across diverse industry sectors. Whereas other green conferences and events have typically initiated ‘calls to action’ and white papers, our end goal at Carbon War Room is to elevate theory into practice.

CCW Workshop Summits: Are Carbon War Room’s global flagship events. Each summit is a standalone two-day workshop with specially selected industry tracks (see below) and a unique mix of senior delegates. The inclusive workshop format is designed to ensure learning opportunities are maximised, your voice is heard, and solutions are found.

“CCW brings together key change makers from different industries to discuss current challenges and develop outcomes which can effectively move capital forward.”

Joern Scheller, Director, Credit Solutions Group – Shipping, Deutsche Bank AG

At CCW Singapore, participants identify and analyze the most pressing barriers to green market growth in their industries, and develop solutions for overcoming these barriers. Although CCWs consider complex issues, the resolutions they generate are concrete, actionable and ultimately capable of accelerating, deploying and exploiting clean technology.

Day One:

• Groups will be asked to identify the challenges facing their individual industries

• Ideas for overcoming problems are brainstormed.

Day Two:

• Groups take their most robust ideas and pitch them – Dragon’s Den style – to our exclusive panel of industry experts and innovators.

• Approved ideas are taken forward and developed into actionable solutions published after the event.

Beyond the Event:

• Actionable solutions are taken forward either autonomously by companies or with the Carbon War Room, depending the potential scale of impact of the solution

WORKING TRACKS

Maritime Shipping

Energy Efficiency in the built Environment

Machine to Machine Technologies

Waste

Cement

ABOUT THE CARBON WAR ROOM

Currently, the world has the technology and policy in place to tackle 50% of the climate challenge: The job at hand now is how to shift existing capital to all entrepreneurial solutions that are profitable today. To do this, we must remove the market barriers that are currently stopping the successful scaling of these technologies globally.

Carbon War Room takes a global, sector-based approach. We are dedicated to breaking down industry market barriers, and get money flowing towards low-carbon opportunities. The Carbon War Room divides the climate change challenge into 7 sectors and 17 sub-sectors each containing the potential for massive C02 reductions, which are achievable via profitable business opportunities. Across these sectors, the War Room’s current Operations include: Maritime Shipping Efficiency, Green Capital, Renewable Jet Fuels, Smart Island Economies, and Trucking Efficiency.

ABOUT GLOBAL INITIATIVES

Global Initiatives promotes partnership solutions to global challenges through film, international events and media projects. By sharing knowledge and best practices, and calling on all stakeholders to take action, we address some of the greatest challenges facing the world. Our initiatives are about partnership, inspiration and creating a better future.

Established in Singapore in 2005, Global Initiatives produces international events and television programming in more than 30 countries worldwide. Our producers, writers, designers and directors are based in Singapore, London, Hong Kong and Jakarta.

Source: www.carbonwarroom.com and www.globalinitiatives.com