Tag: carbon

BC emissions may be responsible for half or more of the warming in the Arctic The US Environmental Protection Agency concluded in a report to Congress that targeted strategies to reduce black carbon "can be expected to provide climate benefits within the next several decades," based on black carbon's strong warming potential and its short atmospheric lifetime of days to weeks.EPA concluded that black carbon was likely to be causing more warming than any climate pollutant other than CO2, although there was remaining uncertainty about the effects of black carbon on clouds, which still need to be resolved.The EPA report found that "currently available scientific and technical information provides a strong foundation for making mitigation decisions to achieve lasting benefits for public health, the environment, and climate."It highlights that cutting "BC emissions can halt the effects of BC on temperature, snow and ice, and precipitation almost immediately."Reducing BC will also provide significant public health and environmental benefits that "often exceed the costs of control.""Cutting black carbon is a triple win," said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development in Washington, DC. "Cutting black carbon reduces climate change, cleans the air, and saves lives.""And we can make ...

Climate change committee says that continuation of exclusion would be a watering down of carbon goal The government's green credentials will be put to a "key test" on Thursday, as ministers will be urged by their advisers to include greenhouse gas emissions from aviation and shipping in the UK's carbon targets.If airlines and container ships are included, the task of meeting the targets is made much harder. These two large and growing sources of emissions are currently excluded from the goals under a technicality.David Kennedy, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change, challenged ministers to include the sectors in order to ensure the UK is meeting international obligations in spirit as well as in the letter of the law. "This will be a key test for the government," Kennedy said. "If we don't include these sectors, that would in effect be a lowering of the UK's carbon targets."The issue is one of acute political sensitivity, because politicians appear reluctant to jeopardise the rise of low-cost airlines offering cheap flights. Within the Conservative party ranks, it is likely to be particularly controversial given the increasingly open climate scepticism of many Tory MPs.Kennedy said he was aware of the potential ...

Committee on Climate Change's report on carbon emission budgets Today the Chamber of Shipping, the UK shipping sector's trade association, has responded warmly to the Committee on Climate Change's report on carbon emission budgets.The Chamber's Director of Safety & Environment, David Balston, said:"The Chamber of Shipping warmly welcomes the outcome of the work that has been done by the Committee on Climate Change with respect to UK shipping emissions. It provides the most accurate figures that we have seen and we unreservedly support its aims and recommendations. We are also very pleased to note their conclusion that any measure aimed at tackling emissions should be global in nature rather than regional, reflecting the truly international nature of shipping."A regional instrument, such as is being discussed within the EU at present would distort trade, be easily evaded and be extremely difficult to administer. The Chamber of Shipping continues to play a leading role in identifying the most appropriate and convincing strategies to reduce carbon emissions from shipping, recently producing detailed analysis on how both an ETS and Compensation Fund might work."The report can be downloaded from the Committee on Climate Change website by clicking here.Source: UK Chamber of Shipping

Climate change video - action needs to be taken in the UK in order to reduce emissions

Scope of carbon budgets Statutory advice on inclusion of international aviation and shipping There is no longer any reason to exclude international aviation and shipping emissions from carbon budgets according to the Committee on Climate Change. This was the conclusion in the Committee's report "Scope of carbon budgets - Statutory advice on inclusion of international aviation and shipping".Emissions from international aviation and shipping were initially left out of carbon budgets and the 2050 target when the Climate Change Act became Law in 2008, with the decision on inclusion delayed to 2012.In the meantime, the Committee and the Government have acted as though international aviation and shipping emissions are in the 2050 target, based on a certain interpretation of the legislation. The risk is that a new Government would not adopt the same interpretation.In order to mitigate this risk, the Committee recommends that the current approach should be formalised through including international aviation and shipping emissions in carbon budgets and the 2050 target, therefore providing more certainty that it will be continued in future. Moreover, inclusion would provide the most transparent, comprehensive and flexible accounting framework under the Climate Change Act.To implement the new approach the Committee recommends that currently legislated ...

Shipping line says new vessel, reduced speed help curb greenhouse gases Container carrier APL said today it's on course to reduce a key carbon exhaust measure 30% by 2015 from its global shipping operations. The Singapore-based line said an influx of new vessels, running at reduced speed, puts the target within reach.By 2015, APL said its fleet will produce 130 grams of carbon exhaust for every TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of cargo transported one nautical mile. That would be a 30% reduction from emission levels in 2009, when outside auditors first calculated APL's carbon footprint."We're changing the profile of our fleet with larger, more efficient ships that will significantly curb exhaust emissions," said APL President Kenneth Glenn. "It's the most effective way we know to make global trade environmentally sustainable."APL said it will deploy 32 new vessels in the next three years. It said the ships will be significantly more fuel efficient than its existing fleet, resulting in reduced emissions. What's more, the ships will run at less than full speed, further curbing exhaust.The first two of the new vessels - each with 10,000 TEUs of container-carrying capacity - arrived last December. Two more are due in April.APL said it ...

There Will Be Blood - On the Supply Chain Fuel price increases, passed on by the ship owners through surcharges or increased operating costs, have laid waste to transport budgets, at the same time as media, consumers, shareholders and regulators apply pressure on organizations to measure and lower their carbon emissions. This combination has forced companies to look for steps to become more fuel-efficient.There is already plenty of work going on to reduce emissions in the shipping industry, which annually emits more than a billion tons of CO2. The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has put significant time into developing methodologies to improve vessel efficiency. Meanwhile, high-profile companies including Coca-Cola, Nike and Wal-Mart, have joined container lines to create a container-specific index, under the banner of the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG).Creative approaches from supply chain managers can lead to an increase in fuel efficiency and an increase in shipment density. Ships can also be designed more efficiently, with better hull shapes, built-in speed reductions and waste heat recovery systems, while many fuel-saving technologies can be retrofitted: air lubrication systems, hull coatings, propeller 'Boss Cap Fins' can be installed, advanced propeller and thrusters introduced, and there are a multitude of ...

Carbon dioxide makes the oceans more acidic As the republican presidential primary race drags on, the politics of global warming seem ever more divorced from scientific reality. The process of scientific inquiry, meanwhile, offers yet more warnings about what might happen if fractured climate politics stymie long-term action.Emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide doesn't just change the chemistry of the atmosphere; it makes the oceans more acidic. Predicting the impact on ocean ecosystems involves educated speculation, which often involves applying evidence of what has happened before. In the latest edition of the journal Science, a team of researchers reckons that today's human-emitted CO2 is increasing ocean acidity far faster than previous, naturally occurring episodes scientists have studied, which themselves appear to have had very alarming results.Editorials represent the views of The Washington Post as an institution, as determined through debate among members of the editorial board. News reporters and editors never contribute to editorial board discussions, and editorial board members don't have any role in news coverage.Mayor Vincent Gray raises questions about the chief financial officer's calculations.The harrowing history is recorded in mud samples millions of years old, taken from the sea floor near Antarctica: It reveals a mass extinction ...

WWF states Affluent Singapore had the largest carbon footprint per head in the Asia-Pacific in 2010, conservation group WWF said Monday.The environmental advocacy group said Singapore's 2010 per capita gross domestic product of more than $40,000 -- one of the highest in the region -- fuelled exorbitant consumption habits.But the group also fingered the corporate sector and in particular the construction industry for crowning the tiny city-state as the region's top per capita carbon emitter.Precise figures for various nations in the Asia-Pacific will be released together with the WWF's Asia Footprint Report in June.But WWF president Yolanda Kakabadse revealed Monday that Singapore topped the list."Every member of the population in relation to the size of the country is consuming a lot in food, in energy," she said."Singapore... is a society that maybe is one of the best examples of what we should not do."Singapore emitted 43,454 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide from combustion of fossil fuels in 2010, official statistics showed.But Kakabadse said it could atone for its excessive carbon footprint by sharing its energy-efficient technologies with the world."It has a tremendous capacity to contribute with technology. Technology for energy, technology for water management, technology for whatever, even for food production ...

China is firmly opposed to the EU's unilateral legislation on carbon tax China on Thursday called on the European Union (EU) to take seriously the concerns of the international community on its carbon emissions charges, warning the 27-nation bloc not to complicate the matter.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the appeal at a regular press briefing in response to a question regarding the EU Commission's plan to impose carbon emissions tax on sea transportation from June this year. "China, like many other countries, is firmly opposed to the EU's unilateral legislation on carbon tax," Hong said. "The truth is that the unilateral move is unpopular, and is unlikely to meet the EU's expectations."He said the carbon tax issue on air and sea transportation should be solved within a multilateral framework through thorough consultation." should not be separated from the legal framework of the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. Meanwhile, it should not violate the principle of 'common but differentiated responsibilities' and fair spirit," the spokesman said.Hong urged the EU side to commit itself to solving the matter instead of complicating it.On Jan. 1 this year, the EU began charging airlines using EU airports ...