Archive for the ‘carbon offsets’ Category

Addressing climate change is going to take more than simply managing what is measured, purchasing carbon offsets, or making sure that your company’s sustainability reports are printed on recycled paper.  It will require a systematic approach that reduces the total amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Sunil Paul’s Gigaton Throwdown project released a report today that outlines how currently-available technology, if scaled appropriately, could each reduce the carbon emissions by a gigaton (1 billion tons) annually.  The report asks: What would it take to aggressively scale up clean energy to have a major impact on job growth, energy independence and climate change over the next 10 years?

To attain gigaton scale, a single technology must reduce annual emissions of carbon dioxide and equivalent greenhouse gases (CO2e) by at least 1 billion metric tons — a gigaton — by 2020. For an electricity generation technology, this is equivalent to an installed capacity of 205 gigawatts of carbon-free energy by 2020.

The notion of gigatons, says Paul, “made a lot of sense because one gigaton per year is enough to make a major difference by 2020. We chose an amount that matters and we chose a time frame that’s relevant to entrepreneurs and investors.”

Of the technologies reviewed, there are seven — building efficiency, concentrated solar power, construction materials, nuclear, biofuels, solar photovoltaics and wind — that are ready to scale up aggressively today. One, geothermal, can scale up fully after an intense period of research, development, and deployment of pilot plants. Combined, these eight technologies can meet over 50 percent of new global energy demand while avoiding over 8 gigatons of CO2e reductions globally.

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Under a crisp sky, the jubilee rose to its climax as the 44th President took his oath. The speech that followed spoke of “gathering clouds and raging storms”. The sheer magnitude of what the new President is faced with is truly staggering. Regardless of citizenship or political inclination, we all know the issues, we all feel their weight, and yet in many ways we’ve all bet the farm on Obama’s confident smile and promises of change.

Resuming tradition, President Obama will make his first foreign trip to Canada, where we can only assume the agenda will focus on Obama’s green stimulus plan.

Obama has pledged to double U.S. wind, solar and geothermal generating capacity over three years, and the plan includes $20 billion in tax cuts for renewable-energy production and an additional $54 billion of spending to modernize the country’s aging electricity grid, and to make homes, vehicles and buildings more energy efficient.

Word on the street is that Prime Minister Harper will take this opportunity to propose a binational deal which would secure a regional source of American fuel through Canadian oil, and help to coordinate Obama’s lofty environmental plans.

Many have noted Haper’s failure to come to terms with the world Obama is proposing. While Harper hopes to peddle our dirty tar sands, Obama has clearly stated the world’s addiction to fossil fuels, and his plan aims to fight climate change while simultaneously stimulating the economy - not through consumption of traditional resources, but through new technologies and innovations.

Are Canadians being left behind?

We are bombarded with news of how European nations are creating jobs and cleaning up their environment. Obama has essentially proposed the green new deal. It’s not difficult to see where the future lies.

So what do we do? We take advantage of this global momentum to promote 40-year-old technology and Canada’s largest contributor to Green House Gas emissions.

Harper can no longer afford to delay Canada’s leadership on environmental issues. As we celebrate the hopes of tomorrow alongside our neighbors, whom can we look to at home to pin our own hopes upon?

Alex Haythorne, at FD Element in Vancouver

Carbon trading has gotten its fare share of skepticism, but it seems that the U.S. market just got a little more.

A report by the Government Accountability Office found that the $100 million voluntary U.S. carbon offsets market offers consumers “limited assurance of credibility.” The government organization based these findings on the information provided by their offset purchases from 33 retail providers.

Offset projects become credible when they are transparent, detailing what the consumer — whether individual or corporate — is buying, when they create measurable reductions in emissions, and, when a system is in place to assure that projects are only counted once.

The report states, “It is difficult for consumers to determine the quality of the offsets they purchased” without an independent third party registry to monitor and track projects to stop the projects from being counted multiple times.

Without an organization giving projects stamps of approval, consumers cannot trust how much their purchases affect the planet. They cannot be sure whether their carbon offset credit card affects their plane tickets, nor can they trust the advertisements of carbon projects. A registry would encourage the offset marketplace and give credence to their green marketing.

As is, the current U.S. market is not completely unmonitored. The Gold Standard Foundation and the Voluntary Carbon Standard set clear standards for the projects they review. Though these organizations are making strides in making U.S. carbon trading more legitimate, without a unified registry, the market will continue to lack credibility.

The field is growing fast. Individuals are looking to green their daily lives by minimizing their carbon footprint. Corporations are including carbon offset programs as part of their green initiatives. Regional marketplaces are forming, with the northeast having its first regional carbon trading auction last week. Some experts foresee the industry growing to $1 billion over the next several years. Such rapid growth begs the question, if the marketplace is only set to get bigger, why not make efforts to encourage stability and accountability now?

Though industry members have long proclaimed similar concerns and have long urged for the creation of a central registry, because the GAO is an investigative arm of Congress, as the Wall Street Journal asserts, its findings could possibly have lasting impacts on Washington.

By Teresa Herrmann, at The Element Agency in New York .

By Warren Carr of EcoNeutral, today’s guest blogger

As the business world wakes up to idea of offsetting, the astute, forward-thinking CEOs and Presidents are keenly aware of the looming prospect of public scrutiny. The concept of offsetting is definitely under fire because it can be seen as the way to buy away environmental sins. It’s not, and never should be, absolution.

It is part of the solution if the corporate offsetting plan is an element of an overall sustainability policy where the company takes on a program to perform their business in a more environmentally-responsible manner, develop a sustainability program, set realistic emission-reduction targets and offset their CO2 footprint from the beginning. Presumably that footprint will decrease as their policies and programs take effect.

Investigating the quality of the offsets is a necessary part of the equation. Tracing where they originate is simply a good business practice. The further they can be traced back the more certain the buyer can be of their authenticity and quality. If the trail goes cold quickly, then it’s time to find a different source.
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Everyone knows Lambeau Field and Yankee Stadium. Who knows TD Waterhouse Center or Citi Field?

Well, it seems the green energy industry is taking a page from the world of professional sports. Today’s New York Times has an article about the naming rights of wind farms. This all seems a little strange, but it boils down to the fact that major companies and corporations increasingly want to tie their image to the sustainability movement.

The crux of the article is that a new wind farm in Panhandle, Texas will be called Wege Wind Energy Farm. Wege is for Peter Wege, the environmentalist son of the founder of Steelcase. Steelcase is a substantial furniture company based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Steelcase has also purchased all of the Renewable Energy Credits for the first five years of output. In addition, they payed an undisclosed sum for the naming rights. One has to think of the reason they would want to do this is the same reason they might want the Yankees playing in their stadium.

 Posted by Robert Anton of The Element Agency.

By Russell Simon of Carbonfund.org, today’s guest blogger 

In light of a spate of bad publicity and increased scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission, our friends at MyGreenElement.com recently asked us to contribute a guest blog answering a simple question: are carbon offsets here to stay?

 The answer is an unequivocal “yes.”

 As it has in the past two years, the voluntary carbon offset market will continue to grow rapidly, particularly as the public becomes more educated about the role offsets have to play in fighting global warming. ICF International’s new Voluntary Carbon Offsets Market Outlook report estimates that the market will be responsible for offsetting 220 million tons of CO2 in 2012, up from 20 million tons offset in 2006.

 Meanwhile, Center for American Progress in its most recent offset report has said that carbon offsets backed by strong independent certification standards should be a part of any cap-and-trade bill passed by the Congress.

 In addition to making offsets an option for industries whose emissions would be capped under such a bill, the law would leave the majority of U.S. industries untouched, including most of the industries that are already leading the way by purchasing offsets voluntarily.

 All this adds up to a pretty clear picture: carbon offsets are here to stay.

Editors note: Russell Simon is the Communications Manager at Carbonfund.org.
The views expressed above are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent The Element Agency. If you are interested in penning guest posts for My Green Element, please email Stefan Deeran via stefan@theelementagency.com.