Tag Archives: offset
Builders Welcome Offset Plan For Zero Carbon Homes
Industry welcomes long-awaited government plans on Allowable Solutions for zero carbon homes By Jessica Shankleman 07 Aug 2013 Builders could be allowed to buy carbon offsets from third parties to help meet a government target for all homes to be “zero carbon” by 2016. The Department for Communities and Local Government yesterday unveiled a consultation on so called “allowable solutions” – the offsite measures house builders can use to curb the emissions from new housing stock in England. Under the government’s Zero Carbon Homes plan, house builders will be required to meet strict standards on energy efficiency by 2016 that could also include the use of renewable energy. However, the government has said it will no longer require house builders to meet the entire target “onsite” through the installation of energy efficiency or generation measures, instead allowing them to deliver some of the required emission reductions through offsite renewable energy or carbon offsetting measures. The new consultation provides further details on these proposed “allowable solutions, arguing that the government should set a national plan to determine how carbon emissions can be offset by builders, rather than allowing local authorities to each set their own frameworks. It suggests four offsetting measures that could be used by a developer once they have calculated the level of emissions that will need to be cut. They include carrying out the carbon abatement work locally, such as connecting the property to a heat network; or the “do-it-yourself” option, which could see a builder improving other existing buildings, or building homes to exceed the current energy efficiency standards . The government would also allow builders to contract out carbon abatement measures to a third party, including local councils, or pay into a nationally managed scheme, based on the Green Investment Bank model, which would then invest in carbon abatement measures. The launch of the 10-week consultation has been eagerly anticipated by the industry, after the government launched the initial call for evidence in early 2011. Allowable Solutions will work alongside the Part L building code to help to deliver the zero carbon homes standard from 2016. Last week, the government confirmed it would tighten energy efficiency standards in Part L from 2014 , confirming a six per cent carbon reduction target for new build homes and a nine per cent cut for non-domestic buildings, compared to 2010 levels. A spokesman for DCLG told BusinessGreen the full regultions and impact assessment for changes to Part L are due to be annouced later this week. Yesterday’s consultation was welcomed by the UK Green Building Council, which believes the resulting decisions will be crucial in defining the government’s zero carbon homes ambition. “The proposals for how builders can meet the zero carbon 2016 target seem sensible, and build on the recommendations made by a UK-GBC Task Group back in 2008, and extensive work since carried out by the industry through the Zero Carbon Hub,” said Paul King, chief executive of the UK GBC. “As our report said in 2008, we believe the price of Allowable Solutions should be set to encourage community level solutions first. We also welcome the proposal that Allowable Solutions should also be available for non-domestic buildings – something we’ve consistently called for. “We look forward to considering the proposals in more detail and working with members to formally respond.” David Bownass, sustainability director for consultancy WSP, said the cost per tonne of carbon for allowable solutions would be critical to which option developers choose to implement. “If the cost is set at the PV equivalent level £90 per tonne then the House Builder DIY route will be widely used as this will be significantly cheaper than any of the other routes,” he said. “However, assuming there is agreement that allowable solutions is the right way forward, the question we should be asking is which of the proposed routes to implementation is the optimum method for reducing carbon emissions in the built environment? The decision on cost should then be made accordingly to promote this option.” Continue reading
World Bank Reduces UN Offset Supply Forecast as Price Slumps
By Alessandro Vitelli May 29, 2013 The World Bank revised down its projection for the supply of United Nations carbon offsets in the eight years through 2020 by 30 percent, after a collapse in prices deterred projects that generate the credits. Supply of UN Certified Emission Reductions and Emission Reduction Units will be about 1.9 billion metric tons in the period, the lender said in a report released today, revising down an estimate of 2.7 billion made a year earlier. Demand will be about 1.6 billion tons, creating a surplus of 300 million, the World Bank said, without providing a comparable figure. Front-year CER futures plunged 99 percent from their peak in July 2008 to a record 20 euro cents ($0.26) a ton last month as regulators in the European Union struggled to tackle a glut of emissions permits in the bloc’s market. The December contract rose 2.6 percent to 40 euro cents at 2:32 p.m. on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. “The price of primary CERs is lower than the cost of issuance for many projects,” Alex Kossoy, a senior finance specialist at the World Bank, said today at a press conference in Barcelona. “Without substantial change it’s doubtful many projects will continue to pursue issuance of credits.” Project Slump Carbon offsets allow buyers to acquire emissions-reduction credits more cheaply than it would cost to reduce pollution at home. The EU’s emissions market allowed power stations and factories to use offsets equivalent to about 14 percent of their total greenhouse-gas output in the five years through 2012. The UN credits are created by projects in developing countries, such as Vietnam, or economies in transition, including Russia. The number of offset projects seeking approval by the UN’s regulator, the Clean Development Mechanism Executive Board, slumped to 17 in February 2013, compared with 256 at the same time last year, the report showed. In March, the number was 18 compared with 278 in 2012. “Some analysts forecast an 80 percent year-on-year reduction in the number of projects submitted for validation in 2013 compared with 2012,” the World Bank said. Most of the demand for UN offsets will come from companies participating in the European Union Emissions Trading System and EU member countries looking to meet caps on discharges under the Kyoto Protocol. Several countries that had previously bought offsets as part of their commitment to the first period of the Kyoto Protocol that ended last year, haven’t signed on to a second Kyoto period, curtailing their demand for credits. ‘Political Commitment’ “A high-level political commitment from a large number of developed countries will be needed to encourage new investment” in offset projects, Kossoy said. The report doesn’t calculate the value or size of the global market as it has done in previous years. Instead, it represents a “one-stop shop” for details and analysis of all current and new emissions-trading systems and carbon taxes around the world, according to Kossoy. “Current market conditions invalidate any attempt and interest to undertake the same qualitative and transaction-based analysis,” he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Alessandro Vitelli in London at avitelli1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lars Paulsson at lpaulsson@bloomberg.net Continue reading
