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Market For REDD+ Carbon Credits Declines 8% In 2012
mongabay.com May 30, 2013 The market for carbon credits generated from projects that reduce deforestation and forest degradation — a climate change mitigation approach known as REDD+ — dipped eight percent in 2012 according to an annual assessment of the global voluntary carbon market. The report, published by Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance and slated to be released next month, found that overall demand for voluntary carbon credits rose four percent in 2012, with buyers offsetting 101 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Buyers paid $523 million for those credits, or 11 percent less than they spent in 2011. The average price per ton of carbon dioxide emitted fell five percent from $6.20 to $5.90. Voluntary carbon credits are used by governments, companies, and individuals to offset their emissions as an act of goodwill or for marketing purposes. By definition, the credits don’t qualify FOR cap-and-trade systems or other regulatory frameworks for limiting carbon emissions. The voluntary market has held up better than Europe’s compliance market for carbon credits, which crashed in 2012 due to oversupply. REDD+ market While the market for REDD+ credits contracted in 2012, the report found that demand for credits certified under leading certification standards — specifically the the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standards — expanded during the year. Overall, REDD+ and avoided conversion projects amounted to 9 percent of the total volume of voluntary carbon credits transacted during 2012. REDD+ aims to create financial incentives to keep forests standing as functional ecosystems rather than having them cleared for timber, fuel, or agriculture. While the concept seems simple, developing and implementing the mechanism has been fraught with difficulties, including lack of secure land rights in tropical countries; concerns over corruption, benefits distribution, and fraud; governance challenges; and worries about perverse social and environmental outcomes. Accordingly, REDD+ has been slow to move forward. Only a handful of projects have been validated and verified under the most stringent standards. CITATION: Ecosystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Maneuvering the Mosaic – State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2013 Read more at http://news.mongabay…BXY0DqDqfgDY.99 Continue reading
United Airlines To Use Biofuel In L.A. Flights By 2014
Published on Wednesday, 05 June 2013 By 2014, United Airlines will be using sustainable aviation biofuel on their flights departing from LAX. United has executed a definitive purchase agreement with AltAir Fuels to buy 15 million gallons of lower-carbon, renewable jet fuel over a three-year period, with the option to purchase more. AltAir expects to begin delivering five million gallons of renewable jet fuel per year to United starting 2014. “This is a great day for United and the aviation biofuels industry. This agreement underscores United’s efforts to be a leader in alternative fuels as well as our efforts to lead commercial aviation as an environmentally responsible company,” said United’s Managing Director for Global Environmental Affairs and Sustainability Jimmy Samartzis. AltAir develops and operates projects for the production of low carbon fuels and chemicals derived from sustainable feedstock. As part of their strategic partnership with United, AltAir will retrofit part of an existing petroleum refinery to become a 30 million gallon advanced biofuel refinery near Los Angeles. “United Airlines has been a strategic partner for several years as we work to establish our biofuel facility,” said AltAir’s Chief Executive Officer Tom Todaro. “We cannot overestimate how important this milestone is for the commercialization of sustainable aviation biofuels, and we at AltAir are proud that United is our first customer.” Using a process technology developed by Honeywell’s UOP, the AltAir facility will convert non-edible natural oils and agricultural waste into renewable jet and diesel fuels. These advanced biofuels will be drop-in replacements for petroleum-based fuel, providing the same performance with at least a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis. The agreement with AltAir is in line with United Airlines’ commitment to sustainable aviation. A signatory to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, United signed a pledge to pursue the advancement of drop-in biofuels that achieve important sustainability criteria, work with leading organizations to achieve biofuel certification standards and take actions to enable commercial use of aviation biofuels. In 2009, United became the first North American carrier to perform a two-engine aircraft flight demonstration using fuel derived from algae and jatropha. They also operated the first flight by a North American commercial airline using synthetic fuel made from natural gas in 2010 and in 2011 operated the first U.S. commercial flight power by advanced biofuels from Huston to Chicago. – EcoSeed Staff Continue reading
Airlines Call for Single Emissions Standard
June 4, 2013 Airlines Call for Single Emissions Standard The International Air Transport Association, which represents 85 percent of the world’s airline traffic, has adopted a resolution calling for a single, industry-wide market-based measure to manage and offset emissions. The IATA yesterday agreed to the Implementation of the Aviation Carbon-Neutral Growth CNG2020 Strategy resolution at its 69th general meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. State-owned Chinese and Indian airlines voted against the resolution. The principles agreed to by the industry group, which apply to emissions growth post-2020, are designed to give governments a foundation for negotiation after United Nations talks failed to resolve a stand-off over carbon emissions between the European Union and a broad swath of other countries, Reuters reports. The European Commission suspended its carbon emissions laws on flights taking off or landing from EU member states after the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to consider a global plan to cut airline emissions. The single market-based measure will be critical in the short term as a gap-filler until technology, operations and infrastructure solutions mature, the IATA says. The group has called for governments to approve a market-based measure designed to deliver real emissions reductions, not revenue generation. Last month, a group of high-level aviation industry representatives from 17 countries began working with the ICAO to develop a plan to curb the aviation sector’s growing greenhouse gas emissions by the ICAO’s General Assembly in September. The group was reportedly considering three options at the time: a mandatory offsetting program, mandatory offsetting that would raise revenue to fund joint measures to address climate change and a global emissions trading scheme along the lines of the European Union’s carbon market. The industry group also has agreed to global targets, including improving fuel efficiency by 1.5 percent annually to 2020, capping net emissions and cutting emissions in half by 2050 compared to a 2005 baseline. Continue reading
