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Biofuel Crop Mix ‘Not Favourable For Environment’
A report by the European Environment Agency found benefits vary significantly depending on the source of crops Rayhan Uddin guardian.co.uk , Wednesday 3 July 2013 16.46 BST When sourced from agricultural residues or waste, bioenergy is more efficient than fossil fuels both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on ecosystems. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images[/color] The current mix of crops used for energy are “not favourable to the environment”, according to a report published on Wednesday by the European Environment Agency. It said that the environmental benefits of such bioenergy vary significantly depending on the source of crops. When sourced from agricultural residues or waste, bioenergy is more efficient than fossil fuels both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on ecosystems. But growing crops for energy has knock-on environmental impacts such as deforestation, the EEA warned. The report comes as the EU continues to debate a plan cap the percentage of biofuels made from food crops , with a final vote due to occur on 10 July. Proponents say the cap is needed because of environment concerns over the EU’s biofuel policy – which sets a target of 10% of transport fuels coming from biofuel by 2020, but the proposed cap has come under fierce criticism from biodiesel companies and farmers. The industry says the EU is destroying a booming £14bn sector while farmers feel demand is being taken away from them at a time of increasing volatility in global food prices. Hans Bruyninckx, director of the European Environment Agency, said “We see huge potential for bioenergy in the transition of the energy system that will occur over the coming years, but our research shows that this potential must take into consideration resource and climate efficiency. For example, food crops and other first generation pathways are a particularly inefficient use of biomass.” Most of the environmental impacts cited in the EEA report are a result of deforestation, draining of peatlands and other land clearance for biofuels , together known as indirect land use change (ILUC) . The report notes that adverse environmental effects associated with ILUC, such as an increase in carbon emissions or reduction in biodiversity, currently fall outside of the EU bioenergy policy framework, and believes that this needs to be addressed. Friends of the Earth Biofuels campaigner Kenneth Ritcher said: “This report is a stark warning to lawmakers about the urgent need to differentiate between the types of bioenergy, based on their real impact on climate change. If the European parliament is serious about cutting emissions it must support proposals next week to penalise biofuels that increase emissions through deforestation.” Continue reading
Chinese Carbon Pollution: Buy Or Sell?
Chinese carbon pollution: Buy or sell? PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images The Chinese city of Shenzhen is seen in the distance beyond a landfill. http://www.marketpla…1/player/popout by Rob Schmitz Marketplace Morning Report for Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Today, China launches a new pilot carbon market in the southern city of Shenzhen. Carbon cap and trade schemes have had a hard time getting off the ground in other countries. Can China make it succeed? China is requiring 635 companies to purchase carbon permits for trade in the new market. Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, hopes it will succeed though it hasn’t worked well in other countries. “There’s been cheating, there’s been bogus credits created and sold in different European markets,” Zaelke says. Anyone who’s operated in China knows that cheating and bogus-anything is synonymous with doing business there. So, Zaelke has a question for China: “Is China able to learn how to do compliance?” he asks. “Because if you don’t have strict compliance when you’re doing a trading system, it will not work.” If China is able to make its first carbon market thrive, Beijing has promised to launch a national carbon market in 2015. About the author Rob Schmitz is Marketplace’s China correspondent in Shanghai. Continue reading
Airlines Push for Global Measures to Control Carbon Emissions
By CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Geneva International Airport. Airline travel is thought to cause 2 percent to 3 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Last week, airlines called on the aviation authorities to find a way to curb emissions after 2020.Despite the unpopularity of a European aviation carbon emission tax, the world’s airlines are ready to discuss global measures. The announcement , which calls on the International Civil Aviation Organization, the civilian sky’s U.N. regulating body, to adopt an across-the-board, market-based mechanism to offset emissions, was made during the International Air Transport Association’s 69 th annual meeting, in Cape Town. “We can give them a direction we want them to go,” said Tony Tyler, the head of the association, about the recommendations to the governing body in a video statement . The International Civil Aviation Organization hopes to steer governments away from a patchwork of national rules and toward a single, global, market-based mechanism. “Such a patchwork would be an administrative nightmare,” said Paul Steele, the association’s environmental director at a news conference . The industry group represents 240 of the world’s airlines, which operate 84 percent of all civilian flights. The association has called for environmental standards before, but this is the first time it has called for comprehensive binding regulations. Since 2010, the association has been in favor of a 1.5 percent annual increase in fuel efficiency from 2010 to 2020, with carbon neutral growth by 2020. By 2050, the association wants net emissions cut by 50 percent from 2005 levels. As Rendezvous reported last year , Europe and the rest of the world have been in disagreement over whether foreign carriers should take part in the European Emission Trading System when landing at European destinations. A European Union rule, in place since last year, would have taxed carbon emissions on flights terminating or originating in Europe, even for non-European airlines. Last summer, a group of non-European nations met in Washington to condemn such taxation. Then President Barack Obama disappointed environmentalists when he signed a bill into law that actually prohibits United States airlines from paying the tax when landing in Europe, in contravention of international law. Earlier this year, the European Union announced a “stopping of the clock” in its demand for non-European carriers to participate in its emission trading program. At the time, Connie Hedegaard, the E.U. commissioner for climate action, described the move as allowing the rest of world to catch up. The air association’s most recent announcement was welcomed in Brussels. “It is a very strong message that the airline industry seems ready to support a single global market-based measure to keep their emissions in check,” Ms. Hedegaard said in a statement sent to reporters last week. “The E.U. is ready,” she said. Airline travel is thought to cause 2 percent to 3 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. According to a National Geographic report , an average passenger airplane burns four liters, or a little more than a gallon, of jet fuel for each kilometer each a passenger flies. This number is already a 40 percent improvement over jet fuel efficiency in 2000. Though the number of flights may still be climbing (Rendezvous reported last year on the one billionth international arrival in 2012), new planes are becoming increasingly fuel-efficient. “This is a responsible industry. We are the only industry in the world that has set itself clear targets in terms of emission standards,” said Mr. Tyler, according to the video statement. Continue reading
