Green Options » GHG

10 Global Cities & Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:36:04 +0000

A new report ranks ten leading world cities on their greenhouse gas emissions. It also examines how and why the emissions differ.

As the report says, over 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. Leading cities of the world, global cities, are the places where greenhouse gas emissions really need to be cut. The greenest city from the study is Barcelona and the worst is Denver.

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Why American PV Makers Do Not Want Cheap Solar

Joe Walsh — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:00:57 +0000

If it were possible to make perfect public policy, we would not be in the middle of our nation’s 111th Congress. Alas, there is no “set it and forget it” formula for governing. Add in complex scientific questions, global-scale economics and technological innovation, and you have the energy and environmental policy challenge: how do we succesfully incentive and subsidize renewable fuels (or penalize emissions and fossil fuels)? Feed-in tariffs pose problems. Cap-and-trade has proven thorny. Green power options still need a lot of fine-tuning.

One universal difficulty is the continuing cost gap between renewable and fossil fuels. Creating an incentive program that works within the prevailing market - even a heavily regulated one - without interfering with normal market operation is very difficult when the price points are so far apart. Internalizing some of the costs of burning fossil fuels would help close that gap, and that is what cap-and-trade is all about: promote and subsidize clean energy and put downward pressure (both economically and through command and control) on dirtier fuels.

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Breaths of Fresh Air: Bush-Era Pollution Waivers Rejected By Courts

Ruedigar Matthes — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:04:14 +0000

Power plants play a huge role in emitting pollutants that make up the ozone. This pollution browns and blackens our horizons. We call it smog. Smog has been linked to premature deaths, thousands of emergency room visits, and tens of thousands of asthma attacks each year. Pollution in the ozone is particularly dangerous to small children and the elderly, who are often warned to stay indoors on days with poor air quality due to pollutants.

Not only are the pollutants spewed out by power plants bad for our health, but they contain greenhouse gases that have been linked with climate change; thus they are killing the world as we know it as well.

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The Most Destructive Project on Earth: Chevron Escapes Tar Oil Accountability

Ruedigar Matthes — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:03:13 +0000

San Ramon, CA - Much will be said at the Chevron Corporation’s shareholder conference this week; the agenda is full. However, there will be little said about Chevron’s involvement in controversial projects concerning tar sand. Despite the requests of shareholders owning $31.4 billion dollars, Chevron will remain quiet, keeping the Alberta tar sand projects off the agenda.

Tar sand, a source of non-conventional oil, consists of bitumen, a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Harvesting tar sand requires huge amounts of energy and water.

In addition to heavy water use, extraction of Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands also involves clear-cutting of the Boreal Forest, formation of toxic “tailings” lakes, habitat destruction of iconic species such as the woodland caribou, and up to five times higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil extraction. All of these factors lead Canada’s Environmental Defence to label tar sand development “the most destructive project on Earth.”

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India one of the least Carbon Intensive Countries in the World: McKinsey Reports

Dr Vandana Prakash — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:43:55 +0000

The India’s stand that the current climate change negotiations under the auspices of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) are being skewed in favor of of the industrialized nations got another shot in the arm this week. Purported pre-release of a McKinsey report projects that India will continue to be one of the LEAST Carbon Intensive countries in the world despite an economic growth rate of 7.5%. This second endorsement follows the recent report by the World Bank saying that India is right in resisting the mandatory emissions reduction.

Picture: A Coal Man in Mysore (India)

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Black Soot! Time for a Fair Discussion

Dr Vandana Prakash — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:07:33 +0000

A recent NY Times articles brings to fore the contribution of Soot, also known as Black Carbon, to the issue of global warming. And how efforts are underway to reign in the global warming by replacing the mud-stoves in villages of India! On the Earth day, a legislation was introduced in US Senate for the EPA to assess the options for reducing the black carbon pollution.

Picture: Traditional Peruvian Wood-burning Mud-Stove

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Obama’s EPA Pick Lisa Jackson Supports California Emission Standards

Jerry James Stone — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:18:58 +0000

President-elect Barack Obama’s EPA choice — Lisa P. Jackson — will lead the agency by the virtues of science and law, rather than political agendas. Uh, finally!

If that alone wasn’t enough to make me want to have her babies, she’s been quoted for calling Bush’s EPA the “Emissions Permissions Agency!” Uh, marry me now! Seriously.

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New York Enforces New Pollution Standard On Power Plants

Jerry James Stone — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:57:58 +0000

New York’s New Cap-And-Trade Program That Begins In March Has Better Emission Standards Than Those Of The EPA.

New York’s Environmental Board adopted stricter air pollution rules that limit how much pollution power plants and factories can release into the air.

Under these regulations, new industrial plants — as well as existing ones — will have to install new pollution regulators. The rules are set to go in effect in March. Not surprisingly, they are stricter than those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Um, duh!

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There is no point in calculating your carbon footprint - you need to understand it!

Dave Harcourt — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:40:27 +0000

Ten credible on line calculators gave Carbon Footprints that ranged from 27 000 to 76 000 pounds of carbon emitted a year for the same input data. An understanding of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with what we do and consume will give us a better chance of reducing our emissions than using such inaccurate calculators.

What’s the problem?

J. Paul Padgett and collegues at Vanderbilt University and the University of Washington analysed the results obtained using 10 carbon footprint calculators from credible organisations including; American Forests, Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), CarbonCounter,The Conservation Fund and the Environmental Impact Agency (EPA). Their results are published in the Environmental Impact Assessment Review 28 (2008). They identified the massive range refered to above, that ammounts to a difference of 180% between the lowest and highest figures and concluded that “Given their prevalence and potential influence, CO2 calculators can provide even greater public benefit by providing greater consistency and clarity.

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The return of the “curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot” to EU supermarkets.

Dave Harcourt — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:02:36 +0000

Consumers in Europe are likely to increasingly see fruit and vegetables with less than perfect appearance (the so called “wonky” produce) on their supermarket shelves from July 2009 as the EU tries to reduce its bureaucracy

Attractive and wholesome fruit and vegetables like these feed the world but have, over the last few decades, lost their place in the “First World’s“ supermarkets to perfectly shaped and coloured specimens. Through the supermarket pushing “quality” and bureaucrats busying themselves, visual standards gained a status that has had negative impacts for the consumer, the farmer and the environment.

The European Union is well known for the banana standard which, after a year of study, stated that a banana should be “5.5 inches long and 1.1 inches wide, and could not be abnormally bent”. This allowed the EU to advantage bananas from the Caribbean (mainly its former colonies) that met the standard to the disadvantage of Latin American producers who were backed by USA based multinationals. Rulings by the World Trade Organisation and the threats of the US lead to a truce with the tariffs being removed progressively.

But now regulations on 26 fruits and vegetables have been repealed while member states can allow the sale of 10 other products which do not meet the standards, so long as appropriate labeling is used.

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Over 900 US Mayors Sign Climate Protection Agreement

Jerry James Stone — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:08:14 +0000

The United States Conference of Mayors has announced that more than 900 mayors have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Oh, and by more than 900, they mean 902.

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EPA Rules Coal Plants Must Limit CO2

Jerry James Stone — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:09:46 +0000

Huh, maybe a clean energy future does lie ahead. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) ruled today that the EPA had no valid reason for refusing to limit from new coal-fired power plants the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.

The board sided with the Sierra Club and found that since Massachusetts v EPA Supreme ruled that Carbon Dioxide is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, new coal-fired power plants must implement Best Available Technology for controlling CO2.

What? The EPA cannot refuse to protect the environment? Awesome!

This decision means that all new and proposed coal plants nationwide must readdress their carbon dioxide emissions.

“Today’s decision opens the way for meaningful action to fight global warming and is a major step in bringing about a clean energy economy,” said Joanne Spalding, Sierra Club Senior Attorney who argued the case. “This is one more sign that we must begin repowering, refueling and rebuilding America.”

The EAB shot down every lame Bush excuse for failing to regulate what is the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States. This should make things easier for when Obama takes over - and am I the only person that wants that to happen…like now?

According to the Sierra Club, coal emits 30% of our nation’s global warming pollutants. And this was an issue, why? “Everyone has a role to play and it’s time that the coal industry did its part and started living up to its clean coal rhetoric,” Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club’s National Coal Campaign, went on to say.

Source: Sierra Club | Image: Jan Tik on Flickr under Creative Commons

The Hidden Giant #2: Transportation

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:38:31 +0000

Well, this may not be a hidden issue, but I think it is a highly under represented issue. Transportation is the leading contiributor to greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the country, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is also the fastest growing contributor, at a time when we are supposed to be making a U-turn in our GHG emissions.

When we talk about addressing global climate change, the talk is often about greening our homes, changing our source of energy, and cleaning up industry.

In my previous post, I briefly discussed the critical issue of food in addressing this problem.

In this post, I am bringing to attention the great relevance of transportation and our transportation patterns and habits in addressing this critical concern for our planet and our future generations.

Automobile travel is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Energy reported that the transportation sector accounts for approximately 33% of GHG emissions in the United States. Approximately 61% of these emissions are from automobiles and light duty trucks. The Department of Energy’s findings put the transportation sector as the largest contributor to GHGs in the country. Unfortunately, it is also the fastest growing contributor according to the DOE’s findings.

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Carbon Offsets: Creating Something Real from Hot Air

Paul Smith — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:42:44 +0000

You’ve probably heard about carbon offsets. They’re everywhere these days, and it seems not a week goes that I don’t hear about a company pledging to go carbon neutral. And yet, it all seems so…full of hot air. What’s real? What do they really do? Which will make the most impact? How are the different purveyors, well, different?

I have a suggestion: Take a look at LiveNeutral.

Why? Well on a basic, financial level, they are a non-profit. And? And that means that offsets purchased through them are tax deductible. More, you say? The resulting lower overhead means better priced offsets as compared to similar for-profit companies offering similar quality offsets.

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