Tag Archives: launches
Industry Backs New £25m Sustainable Biofuels Fund
Government launches competition to identify the most viable proposals for a new plant capable of turning waste into fuel By Will Nichols 02 Aug 2013 Industry has welcomed government plans to provide £25m towards a UK plant capable of turning waste into biofuel, but cautioned that the role of first-generation fuels should not be dismissed. Companies are being asked to compete for the money by proposing new ideas for viable demonstration-scale plants that can advance the UK biofuels industry. The Department for Transport said the £25m will be provided over three years, subject to EU State Aid approval, and used “to underpin significant private sector investment in one or more demonstration-scale advanced biofuel plants It added that further details, including eligibility criteria and funding options can be expected in the autumn alongside a range of other potential measures to support sustainable fuels. Advanced biofuels are made from materials such as municipal waste, agricultural residues, or algae that do not require the use of agricultural land, in theory negating the argument that the industrial-scale production of biofuels can hinder food production and drive deforestation. Green groups have said fuels made from crops such as wheat displace agriculture, causing food price volatility and potentially increasing emissions through deforestation, draining of peatlands, and other clearance , effects that could be multiplied by increasing demand for biofuels from the road transport and aviation sectors. As such projects such as BP, AB Sugar, and DuPont’s new biorefinery in Hull, which is set to become the UK’s largest buyer of wheat, have faced criticism from some green campaigners. In contrast, advanced biofuels production is still at a low level, but the EU has introduced sustainability criteria and limited the role crop-based biofuels can play in meeting its green transport targets in a bid to encourage the nascent sector. Transport Minister Norman Baker said the UK has an opportunity to leap to the front of what could be a huge global market. “There are real opportunities for the UK to take a technological lead, driving growth, creating highly skilled jobs and seeing energy, security and environmental benefits,” he said in a statement. “It is clear that in the long term advanced biofuels will be important in areas that we cannot otherwise decarbonise, such as aviation. This announcement will help put the UK in a good position to meet this demand.” The Renewable Energy Association (REA) said the prize could help spur growth and jobs in the new industry. However, Clare Wenner, REA’s head of renewable transport, also urged the government not to write off the existing biofuels industry and ensure a sufficient regulatory framework is in place to support it beyond 2020. In a statement, she said: “Current biofuels, which meet strict sustainability criteria, can make a major contribution to renewable energy and emissions reduction targets in the short term, and enable the investments for R&D into advanced biofuels, with even better environmental performance, over the medium term. The key missing ingredient for both is a clear and supportive policy framework.” Continue reading
Yunnan Launches Carbon Offset Program
Forested mountains in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Earlier this week China held its first ever National Low Carbon Day (全国低碳日). Several of the mainland’s megacities instituted cap and trade programs aimed at limiting pollution levels. Yunnan, although not required to participate by Beijing, launched a carbon sequestration program of its own. In a provincial first, the Yunnan Development and Reform Commission has brokered a deal wherein Yunnan Forestry Investment Company (YFI) sold carbon credits worth 17,800 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) to Guangdong-based Friends of Iron and Steel (FIS). In exchange for the credits, FIS has agreed to pay 1.07 million yuan (US$174,000). With the money it has earned from the sale of its credits YFI is now under contract to plant and maintain forest or bamboo groves that will sequester carbon equal to the amount of credits sold. In order to accomplish this, YFI has been granted a 30-year lease by the provincial government to manage unused land in Xishuangbanna totaling 3,500 hectares — or roughly one-eighth the size of Dianchi Lake. It is hoped the new forest managed by YFI will serve the dual purpose of becoming a carbon sink while also reclaiming land that is too steep or too eroded to support agriculture. Once fully under cultivation, trees and bamboo grown in areas such as these are expected to capture 550,000 tons of CO2 over the course of three decades. These numbers were calculated using metrics set out in a 2005 version of the Kyoto Protocol. Media reports have not discussed to what extent Yunnan industries are limited regarding CO2 output. However, according to Yunnan Info, per capita CO2 emission levels are down 16 percent province-wide since 2010. Whether or not this new system of carbon trading will succeed is difficult to predict. The unit price of 60 yuan per ton of CO2 in Yunnan is 20 percent lower than its equivalent in Europe’s carbon trading program. That system saw its carbon offset program crash earlier this year, largely due to CO2 credit prices deemed too insignificant to alter industry behavior. Continue reading
