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Swedes Begin Labeling Food Emissions

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:01:40 +0000

Sweden’s new experimental labeling system will begin listing carbon dioxide emissions associated with food production on grocery items and restaurant menus.

Mon, Oct 26 2009 at 12:07 PM EST

Sweden is stepping up its efforts to cut carbon emissions by rolling out an experimental labeling system that will inform consumers about the carbon emissions generated by the production of various types of foods, according to a recent New York Times article.

The new guidelines, created by the Nutrition Department at the Swedish National Food Administration, will equally weigh climate and health statistics against each other.

â€œWe’re the first to do it, and itâ€™s a new way of thinking for us,â€ said Ulf Bohman, head of the Nutrition Department at the administration. â€œWeâ€™re used to thinking about safety and nutrition as one thing and environmental as another.â€

This isnâ€™t the first time Sweden has been on the front lines of the climate change issue. The country is known for both its eco-friendliness and willingness to find new ways to reduce carbon emissions.

For example, Sweden has agreed to stop using fossil fuels for electricityÂ by 2020 and cars that run on gasoline by 2030.

The latest measure came after a 2005 study found that a quarter of the countryâ€™s emissions could be traced back to the simple act of eating.

The government realized that encouraging a diet that leaned toward chicken or vegetables and educating farmers on cutting emissions could make a huge difference, according to the Times.

Some of the proposed new guidelines include choosing carrots over cucumbers and tomatoes (which must be grown in a greenhouse) and substituting beans or chicken for red meat (because raising cattle is very carbon-intensive).

Somewhat surprisingly, even some businesses, farming cooperatives and organic labeling programs are helping to devise ways to identify food choices with smaller environmental impacts.

Max, Swedenâ€™s largest chain of burger restaurants, now includes emissions calculations next to each item on its menu boards.

â€œWe decided to be honest and put it all out there and say weâ€™ll do everything we can to reduce,â€ said Bergfors, president of Max. To arrive at the carbon calculations, Bergfors voluntarily hired a consultant to calculate its carbon footprint.

To help offset some of the emissions created by its burgers, Max eliminated boxes from its childrenâ€™s meals, installed low-energy lights and paid for wind energy.

Not everyone is excited about the new labeling changes, however. Some producers are arguing that the new programs are too complex and threaten profits.

Meanwhile, some consumers just donâ€™t seem to be affected by the new labeling.

â€œI wish I could say that the information has made me change what I eat, but it hasnâ€™t,â€ said Richard Lalander, while eating a Max hamburger.

But despite many consumersâ€™ ingrained taste for red meat and other high-carbon foods, the New York Times reports that since the emissions counts started appearing on the menu, sales of climate-friendly items have risen 20 percent, no small potatoes in the fight to stop climate change.

Canada Governments to Fund Second Carbon Project

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:34:07 +0000

Wed Oct 14, 2009 1:45pm EDT

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The Canadian and Alberta governments said on Wednesday they will spend C$779 million ($756 million) on a carbon capture project planned by TransAlta Corp, their second such funding announcement in less than a week.

TransAlta, the country’s largest investor-owned power generator, plans the carbon capture and storage development at its Keephills 3 coal-fired power plant near Edmonton, Alberta, where it aims to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 1 million tonnes a year.

Under a letter of intent, Ottawa will invest C$343 million and the Alberta government will kick in C$436 million over 15 years.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at a news conference at the plant that the overall cost of the so-called Project Pioneer is estimated at about C$1.4 billion.

Last week, his government and Alberta’s said they would spend C$865 million on a carbon capture and storage project proposed by Royal Dutch Shell Plc for its oil sands upgrading plant in northern Alberta.

Some environmentalists have criticized the strategy, saying public money is being funneled into projects proposed by large polluters with uncertain results when it could be invested in alternative energy sources and conservation.

“Of course, the incentive is that we all have a long-run interest, as governments, as the private sector, in developing technology that we think will be in widespread need in the decades to come,” Harper said.

TransAlta’s plan involves using chilled ammonia capture technology, developed by France’s Alstom SA, to strip out carbon dioxide from the power plant. The gas, which is blamed for global warming, would then be piped to old oil fields to boost production as well as stored in saline aquifers deep underground.

Capital Power Corp is TransAlta’s partner in the 766 megawatt power plant and the carbon capture project.

Canada has set aside C$1 billion for such ventures in a clean energy fund, and Alberta has earmarked C$2 billion for carbon capture and sequestration projects. The two governments aim to cut carbon emissions, while preventing a drop in investment in energy projects.

Ottawa has said it seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2006 levels by 2020.

Alberta has short-listed two other carbon capture projects that have yet to be finalized for funding commitments. They are being proposed by groups including Capital Power and Enbridge Inc as well as Enhance Energy and Northwest Upgrading.

($1=$1.03 Canadian)

Higher Carbon Dioxide May Give Pines Competitive Edge

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:02:40 +0000

Study suggests some woody tree species could out-compete grasses and other non-woody plants

Monday, August 3, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Pine trees grown for 12 years in air one-and-a-half times richer in carbon dioxide than today’s levels produced twice as many seeds of at least as good a quality as those growing under normal conditions, a Duke University-led research team reported Monday, Aug. 3 at a national ecology conference.

Carbon dioxide readings that high are expected everywhere by mid-century. The findings suggest some woody tree species could, in the future, out-compete grasses and other herbaceous plants that scientists had previously found can also produce more seeds under high-CO₂, but of inferior quality.

“Even if both groups were producing twice as many seeds, if the trees are producing high-quality seeds and the herbaceous species aren’t, then competitively you can get a shift,” said Danielle Way, a Duke post-doctoral researcher.

Way presented the results during the Ecological Society of America’s 2009 annual meeting in Albuquerque, N.M. She is also first author of a report on the study scheduled for publication in the research journal Global Change Biology.

Way and her co-researchers collected, counted and analyzed seeds produced at the Duke Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) site in Duke Forest, near the university’s campus. There, growing parcels of loblolly pine trees have been receiving elevated amounts of CO₂ around the clock since 1997 in a Department of Energy-funded project designed to simulate natural growing conditions.

Their analysis found the high-CO₂ loblolly seeds were similar in nutrient content, germination and growth potential to seeds from trees growing under present-day CO₂ concentrations. “If anything, they actually seem to be slightly better seeds rather than more seeds of poorer quality,” Way said.

“The notion here is that if the trees are producing more high-quality seeds at high CO₂ compared to grasses and herbs, then the trees may be at an advantage,” added study participant Robert Jackson. Jackson is Way’s advisor at Duke, where he is a biology professor, as well as professor of global environmental change at the universityâ€™s Nicholas School of the Environment.

The ultimate competitive outcome will depend on how other trees comparatively respond to high-CO_2, said James Clark, another Duke biology professor and Nicholas School professor of the environment who also participated in the study. “We don’t know that yet, because we only have estimates for loblolly pines,” Clark said.

Other study participants included Shannon LaDeau, now at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies at Millbrook, N.Y.; Heather McCarthy, now at the University of California at Irvine; Ram Oren, a Nicholas School ecology professor who directs the FACE experiments; and Adrien Finzi, an associate biology professor at Boston University.

Climate Solutions Through Forests

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:53:38 +0000

Sequestration looked at as pollution solver

February 3, 2005

Using the environment to help address the nation’s pollution problems. That’s the focus of a new report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and researchers at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) and Indiana University.
The “Cost of U.S. Forest-based Carbon Sequestration” investigates the potential for incorporating land-use changes into climate policy. Authored by economists Robert Stavins of the Kennedy School of Government and Kenneth Richards of Indiana University, the report looks at the true “opportunity costs” of utilizing U.S. forest lands for carbon dioxide “sequestration,” in contrast with other productive uses. The report also examines the many factors that drive the economics of storing carbon in forests over long periods of time.

“The Kennedy School has been a leader in research on global climate change policy,” says Stavins. “One area where I’ve focused some of my research has been econometric analysis of the costs of carbon sequestration, that is, the costs of addressing the threat of climate change by inducing changes in land use that remove carbon dioxide – a principal greenhouse gas – from the atmosphere.”

Most analyses of the climate issue have tended to focus on the implications of reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from key industrial and transportation sources. Less attention is paid to the potential for storing (or “sequestering”) carbon in forests and other ecosystems. Both emissions reduction and carbon sequestration are important strategies for addressing climate change.

Among Stavins and Richards’ key conclusions: The estimated cost of sequestering up to 500 million tons of carbon per year – an amount that would offset up to one-third of current annual U.S. carbon emissions – ranges from $30 to $90 per ton. On a per-ton basis, this is comparable to the cost estimated for other options for addressing climate change, including fuel switching and energy efficiency.

A sequestration program on the scale envisioned by the authors would involve large expanses of land and significant up-front investment. As a result, implementation would require careful attention to program design and a phased approach over a number of years. Nevertheless, the report offers new evidence that sequestration can and should play an important role in the United States’ response to climate change.

Contributed by Harvard University Gazette

Group Project Investigates Politics of Carbon Markets

admin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:05:32 +0000

In GOV358: Introduction to Public Policy, taught by Dr. Alessandra Lippucci, groups are required to complete a project regarding a major policy issue. One group presented on carbon markets, titled â€œCarbon Markets for Dummiesâ€. The educational presentation discussed carbon markets from both global and local perspectives and demonstrated the dynamics of the carbon market through an interactive game. Both upper and lower division classes explored this topic through these studentsâ€™ presentation.

The group had three goals:

To explain the complexities of the politics of carbon markets in terms of a knowledge city
To address the challenges facing the implementation of a compliance carbon market in the US
To present our findings in an interesting, fun, and unique way

To achieve their goals, the group employed several analytical tools, including identifying perturbations, contexts, stages in the policy process, resources, rules, inducements, and function systems. It was crucial to understand carbon markets, their revenue potential, and their shortcomings from an interdisciplinary lens.

Based on their analysis, the group concluded that carbon markets, as a win-win solution, are profitable and effectively mitigate global warming. Carbon markets result in economically viable and environmentally-friendly practices that benefit both the CEO and the tree hugger (who oftentimes disagree). Furthermore, revenue generated from carbon markets can be used for publicly-oriented projects, such as conservation projects, parks, social programs, etc.

In terms of a knowledge city, carbon markets are the result of the dynamic interplay between various function systems. Scientific research and new technologies developed at universities are used by companies to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The â€œGoing Greenâ€ movement characterizes todayâ€™s green city and creates a demand for carbon offsets in the carbon market. Austin, for example, is a knowledge city with remarkable potential for entrance into the carbon market by emphasizing sustainable practices and green technologies developed by the economic and science/technology function systems.

The group accomplished their goals and organized their ideas using a power point presentation and other multimedia. They also created a game to explain the cap and trade system in carbon markets and pursued experts who could comment on the field, such as State Representative Juan M. Garcia III.

Carbon markets are true sustainable solutions â€“ they are economically feasible, environmentally friendly, and socially just.