Tag Archives: green
Biofuel Crop Mix ‘Not Favourable For Environment’
A report by the European Environment Agency found benefits vary significantly depending on the source of crops Rayhan Uddin guardian.co.uk , Wednesday 3 July 2013 16.46 BST When sourced from agricultural residues or waste, bioenergy is more efficient than fossil fuels both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on ecosystems. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images[/color] The current mix of crops used for energy are “not favourable to the environment”, according to a report published on Wednesday by the European Environment Agency. It said that the environmental benefits of such bioenergy vary significantly depending on the source of crops. When sourced from agricultural residues or waste, bioenergy is more efficient than fossil fuels both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on ecosystems. But growing crops for energy has knock-on environmental impacts such as deforestation, the EEA warned. The report comes as the EU continues to debate a plan cap the percentage of biofuels made from food crops , with a final vote due to occur on 10 July. Proponents say the cap is needed because of environment concerns over the EU’s biofuel policy – which sets a target of 10% of transport fuels coming from biofuel by 2020, but the proposed cap has come under fierce criticism from biodiesel companies and farmers. The industry says the EU is destroying a booming £14bn sector while farmers feel demand is being taken away from them at a time of increasing volatility in global food prices. Hans Bruyninckx, director of the European Environment Agency, said “We see huge potential for bioenergy in the transition of the energy system that will occur over the coming years, but our research shows that this potential must take into consideration resource and climate efficiency. For example, food crops and other first generation pathways are a particularly inefficient use of biomass.” Most of the environmental impacts cited in the EEA report are a result of deforestation, draining of peatlands and other land clearance for biofuels , together known as indirect land use change (ILUC) . The report notes that adverse environmental effects associated with ILUC, such as an increase in carbon emissions or reduction in biodiversity, currently fall outside of the EU bioenergy policy framework, and believes that this needs to be addressed. Friends of the Earth Biofuels campaigner Kenneth Ritcher said: “This report is a stark warning to lawmakers about the urgent need to differentiate between the types of bioenergy, based on their real impact on climate change. If the European parliament is serious about cutting emissions it must support proposals next week to penalise biofuels that increase emissions through deforestation.” Continue reading
How Might The US Engage At The UNFCCC?
Posted July 3, 2013 President Obama’s recent speech on climate change marks a welcome shift for an Administration that has been largely silent on the issue for some time now and puts into context the climate teasers that were dropped into the Inauguration and State of the Union addresses. As many commentators have now discussed, the speech focused mainly on the steps that the USA will take to deliver on its Copenhagen pledge. Whether theses steps will be sufficient remains to be seen, but they are nevertheless concrete and doable, which are two important prerequisites for success. But the very end of the speech was perhaps the most important turning point for me, in that it marks the first real attempt by the USA to guide the global political process on climate change since, perhaps, the mid 1990s when the Kyoto Protocol was hammered out. Of course the Administration put tremendous effort into the process in the lead-up to Copenhagen and President Obama went to the negotiations along with many other leaders, but at that point in time his Presidency was less than a year old, which in the context of the UNFCCC process is really not very long. There just hadn’t been enough time for the new Administration to really make its mark. On the back of the following three short paragraphs are we now going to see the USA in the driving seat, and what will that mean? With over three years left in the Obama Presidency, there is certainly time to guide the international climate process. And finally, my Administration will redouble our efforts to engage our international partners in reaching a new global agreement to reduce carbon pollution through concrete action. Four years ago, in Copenhagen, every major country agreed, for the first time, to limit carbon pollution by 2020. Two years ago, we decided to forge a new agreement beyond 2020 that would apply to all countries, not just developed countries. What we need is an agreement that’s ambitious — because that’s what the scale of the challenge demands. We need an inclusive agreement -– because every country has to play its part. And we need an agreement that’s flexible — because different nations have different needs. And if we can come together and get this right, we can define a sustainable future for your generation. The current state of the international post 2020 discussion remains lacklustre at best. Although there is some progress on items left over from the Copenhagen era, for example the Green Climate Fund, almost nothing has transpired on what might happen in the period after 2020. Further, a series of national pledges under some sort of international umbrella of ambition is highly unlikely to deliver any real shift in global emissions, more structure is needed. In the mid 1990s the USA did set the agenda and drive the pace with its idea of building a global carbon market, starting with clearly defined ambition in developed countries, supported by carbon pricing instruments (most notably the AAU) and strong compliance. Many countries adopted this approach and the EU embraced it by cascading its own obligations into an internal carbon market, as did New Zealand and eventually Australia. Although such a Kyoto style framework is not on the agenda now, there is still much to learn from its implementation as I have discussed in earlier postings . In particular, a new market mechanism which mimics the role of the AAU for those that wish to link their domestic carbon is one possible option. This could at least lay the foundations for a global carbon market. Difficult though it may be, key architecture questions are on the table today, yet progress in addressing them is at a standstill. This is where American (and European) leadership is required. Simply trying to coax ever greater pledges out of the likes of China and India isn’t a route to success, rather a clear and robust framework needs to emerge that will drive energy investment down a lower emissions pathway and trigger one technology in particular, carbon capture and storage (CCS). Love it or hate it, carbon pricing remains a key deliverable . CCS will eventually be triggered by a carbon price, but in the interim an international agreement needs to ensure that this technology appears on a near commercial scale in a dozen or so countries / regions (e.g. North America, EU, Russia, Oceania, Gulf States, South Africa, China and India). Continue reading
German Property Quiet Boom Attractive To Investors
News Posted On: 04 July 2013 Germany’s status as a safe haven for investors is well documented. But the forces that have generated a housing boom in the Eurozone’s most prosperous economy go beyond interest from investors anxious to squirrel their money away safely. The boom in German property has come as a result of low unemployment, rising construction rates and robust growth in rents, according to UK-based Knight Knox international. Germany was recently voted Europe’s most attractive property market, in a survey held by property consultants CBRE. The result was backed up by statistics indicating that every sector of the German property market is flourishing. The rental sector alone is worth over £890 billion in a country where homeownership is low, at around 53%. German rental rates have grown by 15% over the last five years, while apartment prices have risen by 23% in the same period, according to BulweinGesa, Germany’s leading property indices. But the growth of the German housing market is underpinned, not by foreign investment or speculation, but by genuine economic growth. Germany’s unemployment rate is near to its 2012 record low, representing the deepest cut in the jobless rate since reunification. The 2.943m Germans out of work make up 6.8% of the population, as against unemployment of 7.8% in the UK. There’s more though: part of the German employment boom is in the construction industry, where residential construction rates grew by 2.5% in the third quarter of 2012. Rather than a speculator-led bubble, though, the German property market is participating in a nationwide economic upswing. And that’s being recognised by investors. Germany drew in over a fifth of the overall investment in Europe last year and international investors carried out 40% of 2012’s transaction volume. Investment in German real estate totalled €6.7bn in the first quarter of 2013, a 21% year-on-year increase, according to Savills. Berlin, once a stoutly industrial city and then the home of the Wall separating the two Germanies, is now the home of a rocketing population – up by over 100,000 since 2007 – and increasing rents, which have risen by a third in the same period. Apartment prices have seen a 41% increase, according to online broker Immobilienen Scout. Mitte, a city centre district of Berlin, has been a vital part of the city’s property boom, with apartment prices now nudging £6,700/m2 in the district. Comparable properties in Charlouttenburg-Wilmersdorf run to £4,700/m2, though the two districts are close; German property is governed by German perceptions of desirable neighbourhoods. Germany’s boom has seen prices rise so sharply in Berlin that both Germans and foreigners have begun to look further afield. The German provincial cities are increasingly sites of investment as well as purchase for habitation, showing much lower prices but comparable rental demand. And the German economy, still Europe’s healthiest and the Eurozone’s pricipal creditor, underpins this strong housing growth, indicating bright days ahead for investors in German property. Les Calvert – overseas property reporter Continue reading
