Nopenhagen

Image Credit: Greenpeace via Flickr

The initial reactions from environmental groups confirm that Copenhagen was not Hopenhagen, but more of a Nopehagen where nothing of significance happened. Here are a few reactions.

Yes we should have ?

Greenpeace ad campaigns are always provocative. This one is no different.

If the current health care reform legislation is any indication, climate change legislation and ratification of any international treaty looks even more difficult to pass in the US.

Watching the health care debate and politics made me look back at the Bush years. The Bush white house got whatever it wanted. They had absolute power. Anyone opposing their agenda was quickly branded Un-American.

With the Obama white house, the power appears to have shifted all the way to the Senate. A handful of so called conservative Democrats now control the agenda. It is now very American to oppose what the large majority want!

Hope is the only thing that keeps the treehugger in me alive. So here is to hoping Copenhagen brings about an ambitious legally binding deal to save the climate. And Obama playing a key part in making it happen. Sign the petition if you can.

PS: If the news media has you convinced that the recent email hack uncovered a big scientific cover up, please head over to Real Climate for a sane rebuttal.


Photo:Greenpeace/Åslund

India Climate Exchange

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity of listening to Thomas Cushing, Vice President of Chicago Climate Exchange. He was speaking at an event organized by NAEM.

I always knew CCX was the epicenter of all voluntary carbon trading in the United States. I however didn't fully realize the scale of their current operations. When it started trading back in 2003 with a handful of members, it was at best considered a quirky little thing. 4 Earth Days later, the membership has grown several folds to well over 200. They now have a presence in Europe and Canada as well. February 2007 trading volume (US) was 3.17 million metric tons of CO2. As of Feb 2007, 19.3 million metric tons of CO2 had been traded. At about 3.30$ per metric ton that sure is a lot of money!

This kind of growth for something that is purely voluntary is nothing but spectacular! No wonder Goldman Sachs decided to buy a 10% stake. Mr. Cushing was quick to point out that carbon could become the single largest traded commodity in the world. Larger than crude oil!

If you are wondering as to how carbon trading works, here is a little from their site.

CCX Members with direct emissions commit to reduce GHG emissions 1% per year over the years 2003 through 2006 relative to a 1998 through 2001 average. During 2006 program-wide net emissions must be 4% below baseline. Those members that reduce their emissions below the
required level can sell surplus emission allowances on the exchange or bank them. A member that cannot achieve the reduction target internally can meet its compliance commitment by purchasing emission allowances through CCX’s electronic trading platform from other CCX Members that reduce their emissions beyond the reduction target, or purchase project-based offsets. Eligible offsets can come from methane collection and carbon sequestration projects.

After Europe and Canada, CCX is now looking at starting operations in India. Back in 2006, CCX had announced a partnership with TERI. TERI helped register Indian offset projects. These projects were however traded here in Chicago. Now with the help of TERI, CCX is looking to set up an entire Climate Exchange in India. This would help bring Indian companies into the fold of carbon reductions and open up a domestic market in carbon offsets.

All indications are that US will soon regulate carbon emissions and in most likelihood it will be in the form of Cap & Trade. This shift in US policy to some extent is due to the success of CCX. I believe the formation of India Climate Exchange will help steer Indian policy makers also in the right direction.

I agree with the argument that Global Warming is a mess created by industrialized nations. However, India can no longer afford to stick to that line. While rich nations have to do some serious work, India also needs to do it's part. This op-ed piece in Hindu said it best

If it[India] pursues what is "fair" in a warming world by continuing to argue that industrialised nation are to blame and need to take urgent action, it will be placing the noose around its own neck while the hangman looks on [via Yodha]

So when is India Climate Exchange coming online? Mr. Cushing replied, "As soon as possible. May be later this year. May be early next year".

Oscar Goes Green

Oscar goes green this year.

"This year, the Academy, the Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin and the entire production team endeavored to select supplies and services with a sensitivity toward reducing the threats we face from global warming, species extinction, deforestation, toxic waste, and hazardous chemicals in our water and food. With guidance and assistance from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a non-partisan environmental and advocacy organization, we learned that it was easy (and often cost effective) to make simple changes to reduce Oscar's ecological footprint" via Oscar.com

The Al Gore & Leonardo DiCaprio presidential announcement bit was funny. And Inconvenient Truth wins! And Melissa Etheridge(original song for Inconvenient Truth) wins!

A Giant Vacuum Cleaner

Imagine a giant vacuum cleaner for the atmosphere. Al Gore Friday helped announce a project to spur innovation in combating gases that contribute to global warming.

The British billionaire Richard Branson and Al Gore, the former vice president, aimed for just that on Friday when they announced a $25 million prize to meet possibly the biggest challenge faced by humankind: to reduce the planet’s warming gases that have collected in the atmosphere since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution(via NY Times)

I have always wondered about such a giant vacuum cleaner. Suck the excess amounts of green house gases out of the atmosphere. I now have 25 million reasons to wonder and dream about it some more!

Present day sequestration ideas all run the risk of leakage that could have disastrous results. What we need is permanence.The NY Times article mentions a study by Klaus Lackner, a professor at Columbia University.

Lackner presents a more permanent method of CO2 disposal through neutralization in carbonate form. This could be accomplished by injecting CO2 into alkaline mineral rich layers of the Earth. When exposed to alkaline minerals, CO2 gas reacts with the alkaline mineral to form carbonates or bicarbonates

Lackner goes onto explain how this principle can be applied to power plants. I don't think anybody took him seriously before. That might change pretty soon, thanks to the prize tag!

Anyway, my little idea (possibly stupid) is this ....What if we all had a vacuum cleaner (as in the photograph) that uses Lackner's idea. It would have a filter made up of alkaline minerals. It would be sitting out in the sun (as in the photograph) when it is not being used indoors. It would use solar energy(somehow) to channel air through the filter and off goes the CO2!

CO2 cleaners are only a fix. Ultimately, we all have to start living on renewable energy. There is no other option.

PS: In case you are wondering, the orange in the photograph represents a warming planet :) The snow represents the desired state of cooling. The vacuum cleaner is of course the CO2 cleaner. Weird crazy abstract :)

Unequivocal. Very Likely

"Unequivocal" and "Very Likely" are two terms that have been repeatedly popping up, the last two days. These are terms from IPCC's latest summary report on climate change. Btw..."Very likely" implies a greater than 90% chance.

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level
...

Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations

Here are the projections for future surface temperatures. The worst case scenario (A2) is the one in red. 4 degrees and upwards of temperature increase for almost all of India. Summers are horrible enough now. Imagine the future!


When 2500+ expert scientific reviewers, 800+ contributing authors, 450+ lead authors from 130+ countries over a period of 6 years come out with a report that says we are headed for trouble, the debate is over. It is time to listen and act.

Lights Out

Millions of homes across Europe switched off their lights today for 5 minutes. A campaign organized by French environmental group L'Alliance pour la Planète to raise awareness on global warming. Eiffel Tower and Rome's Colosseum joined in to give the planet a short respite.

It wasn't so dramatic here in the US. Partly because it was daylight, but mainly because the media ignored it. I did my little part and unplugged after work. Sitting in the dark strangely reminded me of my college days. Blackouts were frequent back then. Another excuse for me to chill out. Lazy days of yore :) Getting back to the point...

The lights out campaign was organized to coincide with release of IPCC's 4th report (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) . The report is expected to call for urgent and decisive action. Developing countries like India are going to be the most seriously hit by climate change. Millions of people could become climate refugees. Sunderbans is already feeling the impact.

Makes me wonder.... Will we change in time ? Or are we headed towards permanent lights out ?

CEOs & Treehuggers join forces

It is not everyday that CEOs and Treehuggers join forces. 10 US Companies and 4 environmental groups are jointly calling for immediate action to address climate change.

Alcoa, BP America, Caterpillar, DuPont, General Electric, Lehman Brothers, Duke Energy, FPL Group, PG&E, PNM Resources, Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the World Resources Institute have formed what is being called U.S. Climate Action Partnership. They are recommending a mandatory reduction in CO2 emissions using a cap and trade mechanism. The aim is a 10-30% reduction in CO2 emission in the next 15 years.

Will 2007 finally be the tipping point ?

via GreenBiz.com:: via CSRWire:: via MSNBC

Why Not Nukes?

A few fellow bloggers have asked me in the past what my thoughts were on nuclear energy. In a nutshell, I am just not comfortable with it.

The latest edition of Sierra has a great take on it. The article is by Paul Rauber

To affect global warming, says an influential study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at least 1,000 new reactors would have to be constructed worldwide. Building those reactors would require a stupendous amount of money. Since capital is a limited resource, there would be less to spend on the many far-cheaper ways to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions: conservation, cogeneration (utilizing the heat produced by industrial processes to make electricity), and wind, to name a few. A dollar spent on energy efficiency would save seven times more carbon dioxide than a dollar spent on nuclear power.

In the end, it's not environmentalists wearing "No Nukes" buttons who have prevented any new reactor from being ordered in this country since 1978; it's Wall Street. Even with enormous subsidies from the Department of Energy and a taxpayer-funded shield from liability for major accidents through the Price-Anderson Act, no private utility has committed to building a new plant. Why? Because virtually every other form of power is cheaper and less risky. As Peter Bradford, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told the New York Times: "The abiding lesson that Three Mile Island taught Wall Street was that a group of NRC-licensed reactor operators, as good as any others, could turn a $2 billion asset into a $1 billion cleanup job in about 90 minutes." So the government can continue to subsidize the industry, says Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, but the effect "will be the same as defibrillating a corpse: It will jump, but it will not revive."

Makes me wonder...... Has India really done a thorough risk analysis with its ambitious civil nuclear program? A swarm of American companies are waiting to cash in on the deal. From technology transfer to Uranium mining. If I understand correctly, none of these companies have to worry about day to day nuclear plant operations. It indeed is a risk free way of making money. Will the fair weather crowd stick around if something horrible (God forbid) were to happen?

Green smokestacks ?

Here is another solution that aims to take CO2 out of coal plants.

The exhaust from a coal plant passes through stainless steel rings where it mixes with specially treated water. CO2 gets absorbed and converted into Calcium Carbonate. Heat generated from this reaction is routed back into the plant. Calcium Carbonate has several useful applications.

Tom Kiser, the brains behind it has big plans for his latest invention. He calls it the liquid chimney.

via: CNN Money || via: SeventhGeneration.com
|| via: TreeHugger.com

This technology along with algae based technology I mentioned before could be used to cut down CO2 emissions immediately and arrest climate change. In the long run, we need to retire coal in favor of renewable energy. The environmental footprint of coal mining and burning is just too much and too ugly.

Climate Code

Me (probably like a lot of people) catch a glimpse of The Weather Channel during routine channel surfing. Until recently, I used to just surf through. Not anymore.

Climate Code with Dr Heidi Cullen does make for an informative half hour on alternate energy, climate change and general do good ideas.

The Green Truth: Al Gore on the Oprah show

I have talked about the documentary An Inconvenient Truth before. The documentary has done really well. Yesterday, Al Gore was on the Oprah show talking about the topic.

I haven't seen the show yet, but Oprah's website does have a good summary.

In Europe and elsewhere, the discussion is about stopping Global Warming and developing solutions to reduce the adverse impact. Sadly in the United States, the discussion still tends to get stuck. The so called "Think Tanks" funded by vested interests litter the media waves with sound bites aimed at confusing people. Here is a classic example (from Oprah.com)

Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute—a Washington, D.C., think tank—specializes in environmental policy and questions Gore's global warming claims. Recently, he wrote A Skeptic's Guide to an Inconvenient Truth to rebut Gore's research.

Marlo says An Inconvenient Truth makes it seem like we can reasonably expect the sea level to rise 20 feet in our lifetime or the lifetime of our children. "This is science fiction," he says.

Americans also shouldn't worry about environmental changes in Greenland or Antarctica, he says. "If you look at the actual loss of ice in Greenland and what it translates into, in sea level rise, it's about one inch over a century," he says. "Several studies show that the entire continent of Antarctica is actually gaining ice mass. That's an inconvenient fact that is nowhere mentioned in the film."

Marlo believes that Gore's film is an attempt to "scare us green." "He wants us to be very frightened of global warming," Marlo says. "The warming that we've seen over the last 30 years is constant and modest, and in all likelihood, will give us a modest amount of warming in the next century. And, therefore, it's nothing to be afraid of

And here is Gore's rebuttal (from Oprah.com)

Many of the organizations that have come out with studies questioning the effects of global warming are funded by the worst polluters, including certain oil and coal companies.

"They crank out so-called studies that are designed to make people think, 'Hey, there's no problem. Just let us keep on putting as much pollution up there as we want. Don't make us be responsible,'" he says.

For the true "expert opinion," Gore says people should take a look at a study conducted by the University of California. In this study, researchers conducted a peer review of experts' journal articles on global warming from the past 10 years.

The result? "None of them disagreed with the main consensus," Gore says. "There are some aspects of this issue where there is a continuing debate around the edges, but the central consensus is as strong as it ever gets in science."

In a special issue of Scientific American magazine, Gore says editors concluded that the debate on global warming is over. "It is real," he says. "It is happening now."

One can only hope that the new Congress will stay true to its word and do something real about the issue.

PS:
Former president Carter when asked(on Charlie Rose show) about 2008 presidential hopefuls, thought Al Gore should run and had this to say about him...."If you want to do something about Global Warming you get elected not just make movies".

Run Gore Run

Green smokestacks ?

I have mentioned the use of algae to mitigate CO2 emissions before. GreenFuel Technologies is one such company in this arena. Flue gases from a power plant are funneled into an algae chamber. The algae consumes CO2 and the resulting biomass is used to produce biofuel! Sounds remarkable, but is it practical? It would appear so. The company in its recent press release mentions a successful implementation at Arizona's RedHawk power plant.

PHOENIX, Ariz. and Cambridge Mass. - Arizona Public Service Company
(APS) and GreenFuel Technologies Corporation have announced that they
have successfully recycled the carbon dioxide (CO2) from the stack
gases of a power plant into transportation grade biofuels. The
announcement was made at the Platts Global Energy Awards ceremonies
today in New York. Using GreenFuel's Emissions-to-Biofuels-™ algae
bioreactor system connected to APS's’ 1,040 megawatt Redhawk power
plant in Arlington, Ariz., GreenFuel was able to create a carbon-rich
algal biomass with sufficient quality and concentration of oils and
starch content to be converted into transportation-grade biodiesel
and ethanol.

"“This is the first time ever that algae biomass created on-site by
direct connection to a commercial power plant has been successfully
converted to both these biofuels,” said Isaac Berzin, GreenFuel’s
founder and Chief Technology Officer. “The conversion and
certification of the fuels were conducted by respected, independent
laboratories."

Read the full press release here. The company plans to have the technology widely available in 2007. Even with a 80% percent conversion rate, I find this technology so much more promising and sensible compared to the weird underground CO2 sequestration idea.

Best wishes to the GreenFuel team

An inconvenient truth

According to Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe, "Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." Ironically, he is the chairman of the Senate Environment committee!

I doubt if Senator Inhofe really cares about the environment. But anyone who cares the tinniest bit, should see this movie.

Al Gore talks about the threat of Global Warming in the most engaging and down to earth manner possible. Backed by rigorous scientific data and research, he makes the case for immediate action. He does so with humility and humor.

Director Davis Guggenheim takes Gore's talk/presentation and weaves it intricately with the former Vice President's personal life, his personal motivation and his hard work. The movie gives the whole issue of Global warming a human touch and a moral imperative.

I found the part where Gore talks about his family farm in Tennessee particularly touching. He talks about how they were tobacco farmers even when they knew the harmful effects of cigarettes. His sister dies of smoking and lung cancer. They never cultivated tobacco again.

People are not always willing to change. It takes time, it takes convincing and perhaps it takes a catastrophy. We might have about 10 years to act before catastrophic climate breakdown begins. It is estimated that if a significant part of the Antartic ice sheet breaks and melts away, sea levels could rise upto 20 feet. People like me, whose homes are near the sea, could be left without a home and a hometown

Quote of the day
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his NOT understanding it"~Upton Sinclair (Al Gore on the unholy nexus between Bush administration and the Oil industry)

PS: Roger Ebert of the Sun Times has a great review here.

Kyoto on a personal level

When on vacation, I usually try and take public transportation where possible. On my last trip to Arizona, public transportation was just not available. I had to rent a car. I do regret the fact that I could have rented a hybrid and I didn't. I just didn't know that they were available in Arizona. Fox Rent A Car (no relation to Rupert Murdoch I hope) provides hybrids in certain parts of Arizona and California.

I have been harping quite a bit on Kyoto lately. What use is any of that if I myself don't maintain standards. So I went about trying to determine the carbon footprint of my trip. It turns out the air travel and the car rental together would have resulted in about 2240 pounds of CO2!!!

I hope to buy equivalent carbon credits from Women for Sustainable development or CarbonNeutral.com and wash away my CO2 sins.

Quote of the day
"Without the spice of guilt, sin cannot be fully savored"~Alexander Chase (via worldofquotes.com)

High drama in Montreal

Montreal was the epi center of high drama the last few days. About 10,000 delegates from all over the world participated in the UN Conference on Climate Change. The conference saw a lot of discussions and plenty of objections on procedural details and wordings. Come Friday, the US negotiator Harlan Watson staged a walk out. (Washington Post investigates Watson's close connections to Exxon Mobil) Then came president Bill Clinton and an inspiring speech in support of Kyoto. The US negotiator finally agreed to come back after certain wording were adjusted. For example, The word "mechanisms" was changed to "opportunities".

It is such a shame that a few words would hold up critical decisions on our future. Even though the wording changes were made, US and Australia still continue to maintain their "Don't care about science. We only care about Michael Crichton" attitude. China continues to refuse emission limits. All they have agreed to is the idea of exploring "opportunities".

In the end, the organizers and the delegates seemed to show a sense of relief. A general consensus was reached. Over 40 decisions made. A rule book of sorts created to implement the Kyoto protocol. Details on these decisions can be found at the UNFCC site . It is definitely no easy reading. I am not sure I understand everything (or anything) even after several attempts. One thing to keep an eye on, would be the Clean Development Mechanism. A mechanism that allows investors to bring cleaner energy technologies to developing economies.

Further Reading
Climate Official Harlan Watson's Work Is Questioned [Washington Post]
Last-minute climate deals reached [BBC]
U.S., Under Fire, Eases Its Stance in Climate Talks [NY Times]
Clinton: Bush 'flat wrong' on climate change issues [USA Today]
Climate Talks Agreement [SBS World News Australia]
India should take lead at Montreal conference: Sunita Narain [IndiaTimes]
UNFCCC publication confirms decreases in greenhouse gas emissions from developed countries [UNFCC]

Quote of the day
"I think it's crazy for us to play games with our children's future. We know what's happening to the climate, we have a highly predictable set of consequences if we continue to pour greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we know we have an alternative that will lead us to greater prosperity."~ President Bill Clinton at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Montreal

Happy Thanksgiving!

(via Terrablog )















United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change starts Nov 28th 2005 in Montreal. Let us hope and pray the convention reaches decisions we can all be thankful for.

Thanksgiving 8000 calorie poem
"May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!"~Unknown

Earth to America

It was a pleasant surprise to see some quality programming finally on American cable television. TBS Superstation (a Time Warner company) showed some guts (surprise) and broadcasted the comedy show Earth to America.

As the station puts it "Aiming to prove that laughter is the best medicine--even for what's ailing the planet. Celebrating the earth with the funniest people on it...a comedy event of global proportions!"

Funny minds like Larry David, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Will Ferrell and many more used their funny genius to draw attention to the grave topic of global warming.

Wish I had made a note of all that was said. Funny Funny Funny!. The funniest of them all was Will Ferrell as the President, "Global Warming has been there since Biblical times. Adam and Eve were naked. Weren't they ?"

Join the virtual march to stop global warming at www.stopglobalwarming.org

Correction: Jerry Seinfeld was not part of the show. It was Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld who was present

Guilt, Carbon trading & Sundries. Episode II

My terrapass redemption decals are here. Yippiyaye :) In case you are wondering what this is all about... Episode I is here





Decal of the day

Guilt, Carbon trading & Sundries

"Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man, conscious of guilt"...Titus Maccius Plautus

Guilt is indeed a wretched thing. About 6 years ago, I thought buying a SUV was the cool thing to do. I was a moron then. (I probably am still). So I bought one. Mind you, I did not buy one of those mammoths. I bought a mini SUV, built on a sedan chassis, with just four cylinders and 146 HP. However mini it might be, a SUV is a SUV; fuel wasted is fuel wasted; global warming is global warming

Automobile emissions contribute to 25% of CO2 emissions in the US. A car produces about 9,000 lbs of CO2 every year.

Ever since I have gone green, my SUV has been a constant source of guilt.That is probably why I have fewer comparative miles on it. Compared to the national driving average, I drove the car about 30,000 miles less. On several occasions, I contemplated trading it in for a Toyota Prius. Good intensions aside, Prius is expensive, way over my current economic ability, has a 6 month wait period and thanks to the high demand, the dealers squeeze every dime of premium out of you. If I ever buy a new car, Prius will be the one. Then again... Time, Tide and Guilt waits for no one.

It was is by chance that I surfed an article on Karl Ulrich. He is a professor at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He too was suffering from guilt driving his Ford pickup on weekends between Philadelphia and Vermont. This guilt led him to the idea of Kyoto for cars. A few brain storming sessions later (with his MBA students) , terraPass was born

The basic idea is for car drivers to offset the CO2 emissions of their cars for about $50 - 80 a year. No selling or modifying cars. The money is invested in clean air projects, renewable energy initiatives and finances projects that reduce industrial CO2 emissions. Till date terrapass claims to have saved 12,942,000 lbs of CO2

To me terrapass made and makes perfect sense. So... Sign up, I did. A little rid off guilt, I have. Waiting for my terrapass decals and happy, I am.


Quotes of the day
"Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving" ... Erma Bombeck
"We are almost always guilty of the hate we encounter" ...Vauvenargues
"Without the spice of guilt, sin cannot be fully savored"... Alexander Chase
"Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do" ... Voltaire
"Things in law tend to be black and white. But we all know that some people are a little bit guilty, while other people are guilty as hell" ... Somebody
"Successful guilt is the bane of society"... Publilius Syrus