Green Living Lifestyle

In these times of increasing globalization and industrialization, zero emission projects or environment friendly projects are the need of the hour. Some projects are the ones which release very less or no emissions whereas there are a few projects which store the emissions and prevent their release.

The CO2 capture and storage projects (CCS) are increasing in number due to their efficiency. Some of the recently impressive CO2 capture and storage projects are-

• Niederaussem, Germany – This is a pilot type project completed on 18/8/2009. The project boost to be Germany’s first post combustion CCS pilot plant. The aim of this project is to reduce the energy consumption considerably, which is  required to capture CO2. This is a € 20 million project and keeping in mind its long term efficiency the German ministry of economics and technology has provided 40% funding. This pilot plant is capable of capturing around 300 kg of CO2 per hour with as much as 90% efficiency.
• Schwarze, Germany – this is another pilot type project completed on 20/5/2009. The 30MW pilot plant is testing oxy- fuel capture technology working on a coal fired power plant. This is the first CCS pilot plant of the world to make use of this technology. The project cost was around € 50 million this pilot plant is capable of capturing approximately 9 tonnes of CO2 every hour and about 200 tonnes a day.

Hence, the CCS is seen as one of the most effective and the best technology capable of abating around 90% of CO2 emitted by industries, energy sources etc. hence this is one of the very best ‘cleaning’ up process.

Due to the rising threat to the Mother Nature from various sources, mankind has started to work to reduce the emissions. This is done by going green in every possible way- green food, green travel etc. The latest concept is introduction of zero emission houses or buildings.

In almost all nations it’s seen that almost 40% of global warming is caused by buildings. Hence there will be a considerable decrease if zero emission houses are built. China builds more buildings in a year than anyone else. Hence they have taken effective measures to build zero emission buildings, which began in Zhejiang province. It’s estimated that this building will reduce coal use by 448.9 tonnes and carbon emissions by 1081.8 tons over next 25 years.

The Ningbo- zero emission building as it is called is designed such that its electrical needs for cooling are only 7-8 KWhr/M2 a year. The building consists of array of photovoltaic cells, geothermal energy, a double skin of glass – for reduced solar radiation etc.

The Beijing Olympic village is the world’s largest green building complex with 42 residential buildings. The building makes use of following features- roofs are covered with solar panels and vegetation, toilets flush with graywater. There is a water efficient irrigation system and drought resistance native plants.

Looking at the benefits of the zero emission houses Australia too have completed their first zero emission house. This house will use 70% less energy as compared to the traditional house. Similar efforts are underway in USA as well.

Zero emission houses are very useful to negate the effect of global warming caused by other buildings or other sources, and the demand for such type of houses is in tremendous demand.

As the negotiations in the Bella center continued the Copenhagen summit reached its penultimate day. Hence French president Nicolas Sarkozy warned in the conference that quick and effective discussions were required. He added that time was against them, there was less than 24 hours left in the summit and it would be termed as a failure if they continued the same way.

The Copenhagen talks broke the deadlock on day11 and decided to maintain the integrity of Kyoto protocol. This move was termed as victory for developing world.
China agreed to provide details about the actions it will take to reduce emissions and promised to fight global warming

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state arrived in Copenhagen on Thursday and said that US along with other countries will provide $ 100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries on the agenda of full transparency.

Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said on Thursday that china was ready for dialogue and co-operation. This statement came after Hillary Clinton declared that US will be raising $ 100 billion a year for developing countries to fight climate change.

China's Climate Change Ambassador Yu Qingtai said that china came to Copenhagen with hope which is not lost yet and that Copenhagen was too big to fail. According to him China wanted a deal that will capture all progress made in 2 years of UN led negotiations.
On Thursday noon, the delegates at the summit decided to continue climate talks on two agenda, one Kyoto protocol and other, climate change convention.

There was also a warning issued that not to expect more from US when Barrack Obama visits Copenhagen.

A confidential UN draft said that the emission cuts announced in Copenhagen so far were not enough. There is a gap of 4.2 gigatonnes of emissions between required and proposed amounts which means a warming of 3-4 degree Celsius, which is harmful to the environment.

1. “Unexpected stop” in negotiation: UN climate chief

The negotiations in Copenhagen at the UN climate conference were subjected to an “unexpected stop” on Wednesday, according to Yvo de Boer, as delegates needed time to discuss the basis of further discussions. The Danish conference presidency was expected to present a compromise proposal, the failure of which caused the halt.

2. Danish PM to present new compromise proposal

Danish Presidency will present a new compromise proposal on Wednesday afternoon, to build bridges between the interests at the summit, which is said to form the basis for further crucial discussions.

3. Negotiations lack progress as protestors cram outside Bella

Hundreds of protestors wanting to turn the global conference into “public assembly” were fired pepper spray by Danish police outside the UN climate conference on Wednesday, as world leaders were unable to reach agreement after nine days of largely unproductive talks.

4. Africa signals thaw in the UN negotiations

African Union climate negotiator Meles Zenawi has signaled willingness to negotiate and announced his support to the annual funds from rich countries to help the developing countries fight and adapt to climate changes.

5. 3.5 billion US dollars pledged to reverse deforestation

The United States and five other countries including Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Britain have pledged 3.5 billion US dollars for a program to protect rainforests to reduce global greenhouse emissions, with the US portion accounting to one billion dollars.

6. Japan funds 15 billion US Dollars for climate aid

Japan's delegation announced 15 billion US dollars for climate aid for developing countries up to 2012, late Wednesday, on the condition that a successful political accord is achieved at the climate conference in Copenhagen. 11 billion dollars of the fund would be public money.

7. US Congress to pass a climate change bill: John Kerry

US Senator, John Kerry, promised a major climate and energy legislation in 2010, with a successful deal at Copenhagen. The key requirement for US backing, however, was that China and other developing countries meet the US demand for liability on their emission cuts.

8. Kyoto Protocol negotiations stalled: India

Kyoto Protocol, which sets objectives for greenhouse gas emissions from rich countries only, has been stalled for negotiations and is in intensive care if not dead, according to India's environment minister Jairam Ramesh.

The ninth day scheduled of the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) opened up with announcement of U.S and other developed countries to fund $350 million over five years to promote clean and fresh energy technologies in the developing countries. Discussions are still continued to focus on deeper emission cuts by developed nations and financing for poorer countries as a new draft dropped targets for carbon cuts and financing, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Report by BBC explains Germany and Indonesia, clubbed into one group examining under the Kyoto Protocol , further emission cuts by developed nations, while another, group has UK and Ghana, who are looking at long-term financing strategies  to help poorer or developing countries in order to protect themselves against impacts of climate change. Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of UN adds to this that lot of work has to be carried before a final agreement to be signed.

Controversies still continues between China and U.S where China is rejecting U.S. claims that its emission curtails must be subject to international certification, while the U.S. said it would not expand its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission slash, reports BBC News. Ministers on other hand agreed that they have to begin making strides before Obama and about 120 other heads of state and government faces each other for a summit at the end of the week, reports Inquirer.net.

To make some noteworthy progress over the final days of the conference is really important for delegates shows new reports. The Department of Energy (DOE) said Climate Renewable and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (Climate REDI)  is a “quick-start” initiative to complement the much broader technology and finance mechanisms of an international climate agreement.

The drama and tensions continued on day 8 of the summit with representatives from around 130 nations took a stand and walked off from the summit due to indifferences on viability of Kyoto protocol. However the talks resumed after 3 hours.

UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon warned the negotiators to redouble their efforts and not just to leave tough issues on the shoulders of global leaders to resolve the risks. Russia called on for USA, china, India, Brazil as the key nations which can cut down emissions strongly. Russia contributes around 6% of global emissions and is planning a 25% cut

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that Malaysia is ready to cut emissions but said that developed countries should do more. The British climate change secretary Miliband said that the negotiations were going forward very slowly and he has urged the negotiators to leave few issues behind and to get their act together and resolve the climatic issues.

Norway and Mexico launched a joint model known as green fund for financing climatic actions in developing countries. According to the proposal the scale of green fund could start around 10 billion $ per year from 2013 and can increase up to 30 to 4o billion $ by 2020.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono discussed a proposal to save tropical forests and thereby reducing emissions. This was a great move as France fights against deforestation and Indonesia comprises of 10% of world’s forest.

There was also a funding program which will be provided by Australia, Britain, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and USA.to supply developing nations with cleaner energy technology.

The 7th day of the summit was marred by more unauthorized demonstrations more than 200 activists were detained on Sunday. Police said that they found bolt- cutters and gas masks and hence 2 Danes and a Frenchmen were arraigned in court for fighting charges. Sunday was a day off but still more than 40 environment ministers held formal talks.

Demonstrations carried on Saturday left many demonstrators behind the bar. The police detained around 968 youth activists and as of Sunday only a handful were still held.

According to AFP, environment ministers from 48 countries discussed draft deal. The Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen assured the audience that in less than a week global agreement on climate change will be achieved.

Scientist’s worldwide are not at all convinced with the projected targets offered by different countries. The scientists’ said that the speed at which the world is heading towards global warming, the proposed emission cuts are simply not enough.

Environmentalists from all over the world traveled to Copenhagen during the last few days and planned a large scale demonstration demanding a global climate deal. The demonstration carried was a 6 km march to Bella center with as much as 80,000 participants from 67 countries.

The President of the UN climate conference, Connie Hedegaard said on Saturday that the conference had made a significant progress in the first week itself. Progress was made on using forests to soak CO2 and effective supply of alternate energy- wind, solar etc. Industrial countries criticized the climatic draft passed on Friday.

India has rejected the ‘peaking’ year concept but was committed to curbing carbon emissions. Indian environment minister Jairam ramesh said that India was in Copenhagen to play a constructive and a leadership role. India has proposed a voluntary target of reducing emissions by 20 to 25% by 2020 as compared to levels in 2005. India also plans to introduce MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification), which is subject to international finance.

Mexico also plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 million tonnes a year which will begin in 2012 with the country’s own funds itself, informed the Mexican president Felipe Calderon. The country is planning to reduce greenhouse emissions by 30% by 2020.

The G-77 negotiator, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aiping for 130 countries was certainly not impressed by the funds of 7.2 billion euro for 3 years. He was also unhappy with the EU commitment to provide funds for 3 years and termed as short term. The EU estimates that the funding required for the developing countries to be around 100 billion euro annually by 2020.

The 50 African countries are demanding and asking a tough demand. They are demanding a 5% GDP share from rich countries. 5% of USA GDP alone amounts to 722 billion US dollars. Hence demands of African countries is very high and the debate still continues.

Environmentalists from all over the world traveled to Copenhagen during the last few days and planned a large scale demonstration demanding a global climate deal. The demonstration carried was a 6 km march to Bella center with as much as 80,000 participants from 67 countries.

The President of the UN climate conference, Connie Hedegaard said on Saturday that the conference had made a significant progress in the first week itself. Progress was made on using forests to soak CO2 and effective supply of alternate energy- wind, solar etc. Industrial countries criticized the climatic draft passed on Friday.

India has rejected the ‘peaking’ year concept but was committed to curbing carbon emissions. Indian environment minister Jairam ramesh said that India was in Copenhagen to play a constructive and a leadership role. India has proposed a voluntary target of reducing emissions by 20 to 25% by 2020 as compared to levels in 2005. India also plans to introduce MRV (monitoring, reporting and verification), which is subject to international finance.

Mexico also plans to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 million tonnes a year which will begin in 2012 with the country’s own funds itself, informed the Mexican president Felipe Calderon. The country is planning to reduce greenhouse emissions by 30% by 2020.

The G-77 negotiator, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aiping for 130 countries was certainly not impressed by the funds of 7.2 billion euro for 3 years. He was also unhappy with the EU commitment to provide funds for 3 years and termed as short term. The EU estimates that the funding required for the developing countries to be around 100 billion euro annually by 2020.

The 50 African countries are demanding and asking a tough demand. They are demanding a 5% GDP share from rich countries. 5% of USA GDP alone amounts to 722 billion US dollars. Hence demands of African countries is very high and the debate still continues.

As the conference moves into day-5, the rift between the rich and developing countries grew even more with war of words. Day 4 of the conference ended without reaching a consensus on the fund figure which EU leaders wish to contribute to developing countries.

Hence on day 5 the 27 EU leaders agreed to provide 2.4 billion euro a year until 2012. This will enable developing countries to reduce their emissions by 2012. Britain, France and Germany will contribute about 60 % of the amount.

A key working group under UNFCCC (UN framework convention on climate change) came up with a first official draft on climate deal Friday, which forms the new global agreement once the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012. According to this draft, the world should cut at least 50% of greenhouse emission by 2050.

Russia, one of the fastest growing economies of the last decade said that Russia is emitting 34% less emissions than in 1990 Kyoto protocol goal. Alexander Bedritsky, Russian advisor also mentioned that they had no plans to sell carbon credits and hope that they will be allowed to carry them in next agreement.

The war of words between the world’s two biggest greenhouse polluters, china and USA, intensified on day 5 with China’s Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said that he was shocked by  US climate envoy Todd Stern's comments that USA  will not help China with climate aid money.

The G-77 negotiator, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aiping for 130 countries walked out of a meeting with UN representatives in anger replying that things were not going too well.

Preceding with a stride ahead towards carbon-emission journey it’s the fourth day here, of the conference in Copenhagen. Legal binding agreements and profound emission- lessening programs were the hot discussion topics. The division line between the developing nations and developed ones are widening as U.S delivers harsh talks to developing country specifically to China emphasizing on cutting down emissions. The debate is the clear display to us how difficult it is for 190 nations to settle down among each other at the conference.

As the U.S. asks developing countries to “envelop” their national emission reduction, India said it would not accept any internationally binding agreement and its emissions reductions were not up for “review, verification, re-negotiation or dialogue,” reports the Business Standard.

Disagreements among developing countries is being led by the Pacific Island of Tuvalu,  in addition to the gap between wealthy and developing nations, which is proposing a new treaty that would keep the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees C, reports The Age. This can be accepted by most of the nations to curb Global warming.

The Third day of the conference, convening 192 nations; discussing and taking actions on resolving environmental issues in Copenhagen begins with a Danish draft proposal, solely responsible for creating a bigger wedge between developed and developing nations. However Danish draft proposal described as a document “prepared in secret” by a group of individuals known as “the circle of commitment”, In whose response the UNCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer stated that, it was just an informal paper outlined in front of the conference to seek their consultancy, reports Guardian.

Yahoo news reports denunciation of the Danish text done by The G77 group who states that it favored rich countries on the key issues of emissions curbs and financing to combat climate change.  The document actually discloses that leaders want to hold global temperature rises to 2 degrees C, which is a safe level quoted by scientists, and finally provide $10 billion in aid to help poor countries deal with climate change, starting in 2012, reports the Guardian.

Majority of climate-change discussions centered on carbon-emissions reduction overall, which particularly deserves to be centered actually! A Special Feature from the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows verification that by reducing non-CO2 pollutants such as such as black carbon soot, tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), as well as expanding bio-appropriations through biochar production, can delay climate tipping points for unexpected climate change.

The second day conference proceeded with cheerful words from UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer. His talks directed the speakers should utilize the first week to design effective foundation for seeking adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, capacity-building and forests. His expectation includes funding of at least $10 billion a year from now until 2012 to support developing countries. Entry into variances of developed and developing headed after various countries provided various optimistic signs.

‘Legally binding climate change agreement’ was the idea favored by India’s Prime Minister’s Climate Change representative which possesses more weight than politically binding one –from developed countries, reports Business Standard. On the other hand influencing the negotiators being the attempt of  the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released introductory data about global average temperatures at the conference . Times online reports in the context of the data provided that this decade has been the warmest on record and this year will likely be the fifth warmest. Not really a good situation planet is really facing!

A non-advocacy organization of scientists and journalists, Climate Central has officially launched its Website designed to help explain the science behind global warming which will offer commentary and perspective on the proceedings.

The 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNCCC), scheduled to be taken place at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 7 December and 18 December 2009, counting the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 7th Dec i.e. Day one discussion of a conference opened up with a discussion to decide a descendant to Kyoto protocol (a rule which aims to fight against Global warming) which is set to expire in 2013. One can here very much sense here, that launching a new global agreement in order to reduce GHG, the green house gases is the core reason of this two-week conference. Also discussion referred to the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions scientific conference, which took place in March 2009 at the same place, Copenhagen.

Each nation which numbers 192, summons around to keenly look over and accomplish the aim reckoning the reason for the conference and the environmental imbalance off course! Hopes are really high because world’s largest producers of GHG are targeting reduction of the same. Display of good start has already been done by some global companies Nokia, Nike, HP by entering partnership with global environment organization World Wildlife Fund to recommend all the nations to harmonize on a healthy-climatic deal and locate determined emissions decliners.