Tag Archives: green
Lamboo Wins Governor’s Export Award
Lamboo, Inc., the leading brand in engineered bamboo for structural, architectural and industrial applications, today announced that it has won the 2013 Illinois Governor’s Export Award in the Emerging/New Export Business category. Springfield, Illinois (PRWEB) August 05, 2013 The award recognizes the rapid growth of Lamboo’s export sales in 2012 by 63 percent over 2011. 27 percent of the company’s total sales are now attributed to exports. “We are immensely proud to receive this award,” said Luke Schuette, founder and president of Lamboo. “The award is testimony to the growing global recognition of Lamboo as a high-performance brand and the growing interest in bamboo as a sustainable raw material for green building and design applications.” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn handed out the award at a ceremony in Chicago. Lamboo was established in 2007 in Springfield, Illinois and has quickly grown into the leading high-performance brand in the bamboo industry through leadership in internationally recognized standards and certifications for engineered bamboo products. The company’s products include structural components, beams, window and door components, panels and veneer. Lamboo is also leading the technology in other premium industrial applications such as business jets, super yachts, and luxury cars due to properties such as ultra-high stability in harsh environments such as high temperatures and humidity swings. Lamboo has developed its processes through proprietary technology and partnership with industry world leaders. “Lamboo’s vision is to combine high-performance technology with sustainability,” said Schuette. “We see great potential for growth as the green building and ecological innovation wave within primary industries continues to spread across the globe.” Lamboo is benefiting from growing interest in green building standards such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Many global companies and government entities now require their buildings to be LEED-certified, and Lamboo provides more LEED points than any other OEM product for structural or industrial integrations currently on the market. “Illinois has historically been a global leader in architecture,” said Schuette. “We are proud to be a part of the next chapter in this rich history of innovative thinking.” For further information, please contact Henrik Rasmussen at 202-403-4240 or henrik(at)lamboo(dot)us. Continue reading
Australian Carbon Price Forecasts
London, August 2013 Thomson Reuters Point Carbon has announced its initial forecasts for emission volumes and price developments in the Australian cap-and-trade scheme: We forecast Australian Carbon Units will trade at AUD8.8/t (EUR6.2/t) on average between 2015- 2020. This represents an eight percent discount to EUAs. We base our price forecast on the assumption that the cap-and-trade program will survive the next federal election and begin in 2014. We expect covered emissions to reach 337 million tonnes by 2020. We expect emissions from the power sector to decrease 2 percent over the period July 2014- July 2020 due to increased renewables in the fuel mix. We expect industrial emissions to rise because of LNG capacity growth as well as increasing emissions intensity in the mining sector. The cap could be as low as 257 Mt in 2014-2015 or as high as 278 Mt. Setting the cap according to Australia’s UNFCCC emission reduction target of 5 percent below 2000 levels is more lenient than using the default cap in the legislation. We believe there is an equal chance for both caps (UNFCCC and Default cap) to be implemented. Australia will be a price taker in the international carbon markets. We assume Australian emitters will use their full Kyoto credit limit to comply and will use EUAs last. Given the small Australian demand for international credits compared to the larger European and Kyoto markets – which are both oversupplied – we believe Australia will not impact international carbon prices and will thus take the price from the European market. Cecile Langevin, Senior Analyst at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, commented: “The price of Australian Carbon Units will not be affected whether the Australian Government sets the cap according to Australia’s current UNFCCC emissions target (5% below 2000 emissions levels by 2020) or uses the default cap to increase the target to 15 percent. In either case there will be demand for EUAs, and ACUs will trade at a slight discount. Such a discount is due to the fact that EUAs are internationally traded on a larger market (EU ETS) and thus benefit from greater liquidity. EUAs are also somewhat less risky than ACUs as the EU ETS market has been in existence for longer than the CPM and can be viewed as more politically stable.” Ends — Continue reading
Carbon Trading At Increased Risk Of Criminal Exploitation: Interpol
Created on August 5, 2013 at 08:39 Carbon trading at increased risk of criminal exploitation: Interpol Tribune Desk Business The Interpol Guide to Carbon Trading Crime examines the areas within the industry which have the potential to be manipulated by criminals The intangible nature of the global carbon trading markets puts them at risk for exploitation by criminal networks, according to a new law enforcement guide produced by Interpol. The Interpol Guide to Carbon Trading Crime examines the areas within the industry which have the potential to be manipulated by criminals, through securities fraud, insider trading, embezzlement, money laundering and cybercrime. It also assesses the current vulnerabilities of the carbon market and provides information to support national authorities in establishing adequate policing measures, according to an Interpol press release. Carbon trading is the world’s fastest growing commodities market, with its current value estimated by the World Bank at around USD 176 billion. Differing from traditional markets in that there are no physical commodities, only “credits” for offsetting the output of carbon dioxide, it is this unquantifiable market combined with the large amounts of money invested and a lack of oversight which make it vulnerable to criminal activity. “It is imperative that the carbon trading markets remain secure from fraud, not just to protect financial investment, but also because the global environment depends upon it,” said Andrew Lauterback, Senior Criminal Enforcement Counsel at the US Environmental Protection Agency and Chair of the Interpol Environmental Crime Committee . “The Interpol Guide to Carbon Trading Crime is an important resource for all organizations and agencies committed to protecting our environment and developing a cohesive global response to this crime,” concluded Lauterback. An initiative of the Interpol Pollution Crime Working Group, the Interpol carbon trading guide was produced with contributions from partners including Environment Canada, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands Government and the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Pollution Crime Working Group will hold its 18th meeting during the Interpol Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Events in Nairobi, Kenya from 4 to 8 November 2013. The guide includes several case studies from around the world where greenhouse gas accounting firms, national authorities operating in under-regulated jurisdictions, and individuals or companies claiming to offset emissions in return for investment have cut corners, falsified information or received bribes. “Crimes that harm our environment have a wider impact on the health and safety of society as a whole, and therefore must be investigated and the perpetrators punished,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble. “Interpol will continue to fight the criminal networks which endanger our precious environmental resources and use their ill-gotten proceeds to fund other criminal activities,” concluded the Interpol chief. With eight carbon credit trading companies operating on the European Union Emission Trading Scheme recently shut down for malpractice, the Interpol guide seeks to generate an international law enforcement response to these crimes. “It is sad to see criminals using fraud and other crimes to make profit out of a commodity that was created to protect the environment. It is not just the financial harm it causes investors, but this criminal activity risks seriously undermining the environmental integrity of the carbon markets globally,” said David Higgins, Manager of Interpol’s Environmental Crime Programme. “Interpol is supporting governments which are in the process of establishing or regulating the carbon markets to put an end to these types of crimes,” he added. Interpol also assists law enforcement agencies in policing the carbon market across borders and jurisdictions, in particular by identifying inconsistent regulations between countries and other legal loopholes which can be exploited by criminals. Continue reading
