Energy Efficiency and Climate Change News: 29 October 2011 - 4 November 2011
General policy
Industry, business and utilities
Buildings
Transport
Appliances and equipment
Emissions trading/Carbon market
Climate change negotiations
General policy
Backstage battle over energy efficiency directive
Targets proposed in the EU’s draft energy efficiency directive are being contested by member states, with Britain and the Netherlands pushing for some provisions to be deleted entirely.
Belgium agrees on conditional nuclear exit plans
Belgium's political parties have reached a conditional agreement to shut down the country's two remaining nuclear power stations, owned by GDF Suez unit Electrabel, a government spokeswoman said Monday.
http://planetark.org/wen/63755
Australia co2 scheme must be scrapped, opposition says
Australia's main opposition party vowed on Monday to repeal a carbon pricing scheme expected to become law next month as a key plank for polls due by 2013, threatening to prolong uncertainty in energy investments.
http://planetark.org/wen/63754
Australian Senate to vote on carbon scheme Nov. 8
The final Senate vote on Australia’s Clean Energy bill which will introduce a tax on carbon emissions next year and an emissions trading scheme in 2015 will be held next Tuesday, the government announced.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648306
Revised EC handbook for green public procurement
On 25th October 2011 the European Commission has published a fully revised version of Buying Green! – A Handbook on green public procurement. The handbook is designed to help public authorities to buy goods and services with a lower environmental impact and in responding to green tenders.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/buying_handbook_en.htm
Government confirms 50 per cent cut to solar incentives
The British government has confirmed it is planning to slash solar incentives by over 50 per cent, cutting the feed-in tariffs available to domestic and small scale business installations from 43p per kWh to just 21p per kWh.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2121179/government-confirms-cent-cut-solar-incentives
Interpol, U.N. to train police in REDD host countries
Interpol and the U.N.’s main environmental arm are join forces to help rainforest countries prevent land grabs motivated by carbon trading, and take action against illegal logging.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648146
US Democrats block bill to delay clean air rules
Democrats on Thursday blocked the first major bill in the Senate that would have delayed the Environmental Protection Agency's clean air rules.
http://planetark.org/wen/63784
Scottish green energy plan unrealistic, report warns
Alex Salmond's goal of meeting all Scotland's electricity needs with green sources by 2020 has been attacked for the second time in a week for lacking credibility.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/03/scottish-green-energy-plan-unrealistic
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Industry, business and utilities
Solar recession signals end of 'Wild West' gold rush
A clean-energy recession caused by massive over-capacity in the solar panel market could have unexpected benefits for the nascent renewable industry, industry insiders say.
South Korea businesses ask govt to reconsider emissions trade
South Korea's top business lobby group will continue to oppose an emissions trade bill, despite various concessions already made to industry, casting doubt on whether the programme will go ahead in 2015.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1644758
EU crackdown on oil firms will not extend to overseas operations
European plans to crack down on oil companies, with orders to improve safety to prevent a spill like that in the Gulf of Mexico last year, were unveiled on Thursday 26 October.
Drive for 'green' consumption a chimera, NGOs warn
Encouraging consumers to ‘buy green’ by making environmentally-friendly goods cheaper might have drawbacks as the much feared ‘rebound effect’ could offset gains by pushing for ever more consumption, environmentalists argue.
Vestas profit warning triggers shares slump
Wind turbine manufacturer Vestas has warned that its profits will be EUR600m (GBP524m) less than expected this year because of problems building a new factory, which has had a knock on effect delaying other projects.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2121124/vestas-profit-warning-triggers-shares-slump
Major Japanese breweries share logistics to cut co2 emissions
Two major Japanese brewers announced in June 2011 that they planned to started a cooperative work to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of their distribution arms on August 29, 2011. The targets are small-lot delivery in some areas of Tokyo and collection of used containers in surrounding prefectures. Through these efforts, they estimate that their total annual CO2 emissions will decrease by about 196 tons, which is equivalent to approximately eight Tokyo Domes.
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Buildings
Bigger houses, smaller energy bills: it can be done
When Brian Castelli rebuilt his house in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC two years ago, it turned out to be twice the size of the one that used to sit on the same lot. That might seem excessive, but it turns out that with some smart, low-cost efficiencies, his heating and electric bills are smaller than they were with the previous house.
http://planetark.org/wen/63786
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Transport
Airlines ready for next battle against EU carbon law
Twenty-six nations are expected to lodge a formal protest on Wednesday against a European Union law to make airlines pay for carbon emissions -- adding to transatlantic tension on an issue that has triggered a tit-for-tat bill in the Congress.
http://planetark.org/wen/63733
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2121125/airlines-step-battle-eu-carbon-trading
UK advisors want shipping in GHG goal, other sectors face tougher targets
International shipping emissions should be included in the UK’s 2050 emission reduction goal, government advisors said Thursday, a move that would force tougher CO2 targets on power companies and heavy industry.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648900
U.S. auto dealers fight Obama fuel rules
U.S. auto dealers are working to undo the Obama administration’s new fuel efficiency standards that would double efficiency targets to 54 miles per gallon by 2025, set to be officially proposed in the coming weeks.
http://planetark.org/wen/63769
Toyota to introduce power-supply system to its hybrid vehicles
Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. announced on July 19, 2011, the introduction of a power-supply system to its hybrid vehicles (HV) to use in times of disaster, an idea gained from experience in the Great East Japan Earthquake. Expansion of the system is another effort in the company's project to support disaster-hit areas.
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Appliances and equipment
Panasonic releases portable solar light
Panasonic Corp. of Japan announced on August 26, 2011, to release a new compact solar-powered lighting device, BG-BL01G. It is equipped with a paperback-sized solar panel, capable of generating, storing, and supplying energy by itself.
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/031348.html
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Emissions trading/Carbon market
U.N. aviation body weighs in against EU carbon plan
The United Nations body responsible for civil aviation weighed in against the European Union's emissions trading scheme on Wednesday, increasing pressure on the EU to back down in what threatens to become a serious trade dispute.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648917
ICAO council backs anti-ETS declaration
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has intensified political pressure on the EU to abandon plans to extend its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to international aviation. The expansion will come into effect in January 2012.
China picks Shenzhen to host seventh CO2 trading scheme
China's government has selected Shenzhen to host the country's seventh pilot carbon trading scheme from 2013, as the world’s biggest-emitting nation seeks to pressure companies to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1651468
China sees first voluntary forest carbon trade
Government-backed China Green Carbon Foundation has sold 148,000 carbon offsets to 10 firms, including a retailer and a construction company, in what is believed to be the first deal of its kind under China’s new forest-based carbon market.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648957
Ukraine gets cash to ready CO2 market
Ukraine has been awarded USD350,000 to help plan and launch a national carbon market as part of a scheme funded by the world's richest countries, a World Bank official said Tuesday.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648134
Member states approve rules for NER300 sales
Rules enabling the early sale of 3.1 billion Euros (USD4.4 billion) of carbon permits have been approved by the European Union’s member states and parliament, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
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Climate change negotiations
EU aviation plan could threaten U.N. climate talks: BASIC countries
Brazil, China, India and South Africa on Tuesday said an EU plan to bring international aviation into its Emissions Trading Scheme could threaten international efforts to combat climate change.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1648007
Russia sees need for more urgency on climate deal: EU
Russia recognizes that concrete steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions need to be agreed at climate talks in South Africa next month before a globally binding climate deal can emerge by 2015, EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard said on Thursday.
http://planetark.org/wen/63781
Mexico pleads for U.S., China agreement on climate
Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged Washington and Beijing on Thursday to agree to curb the release of climate-warming gases to ensure the success of United Nations climate talks in South Africa later this month.
http://planetark.org/wen/63780
Vulnerable islands urge climate deal before end-2012
A group of island states most vulnerable to global warming have lashed out against rich nations for wanting to delay a new international climate pact until years after the Kyoto Protocol on curbing carbon emissions expires in 2012.
http://planetark.org/wen/63779
BASIC countries reach Kyoto consensus
Ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, also known as the BASIC countries, have reached a consensus on a range of climate change issues - including the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol.
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2011-11/02/content_23791857.htm
Climate cash pledge for rich nations only: EU
Developed nations alone should make good on a pledge to find $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poor countries combat climate change, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said Thursday.
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.1651679
UN: failure to reduce environmental risks will set back human development
Unchecked environmental destruction will halt – or even reverse – the huge improvements seen in the living conditions of the world's poorest people in recent decades, a major new UN report warned on Wednesday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/02/environment-human-un?CMP=EMCENVEML1631
Wild weather worsening due to climate change, IPCC confirms
Freakish weather disasters — from the sudden October snowstorm in the north-east US to the record floods in Thailand — are striking more often. And global warming is likely to spawn more similar weather extremes at a huge cost, says a draft summary of an international climate report obtained by The Associated Press
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/01/climate-change-weather-ipcc?CMP=EMCENVEML1631
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