An initiative by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) indicates cement production can be “decoupled” from much of its associated carbon dioxide emissions.
The global cement industry is a major contributor to rising levels of greenhouse gases.
The WBCSD’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) represents the collective effort of 18 leading cement companies from around the world,while the WBCSD’s “Getting the Numbers Right” (GNR) system is a sector-wide global information database that provides accurate, verified data on the cement industry’s CO2 emissions and energy performance.
According to a new report — “Cement Industry Energy and CO2 Performance: ‘Getting the Numbers Right’ ” — cement production by companies participating in the GNR initiative increased by 53 per cent from 1990 to 2006, whereas absolute net CO2 emissions increased more slowly, by only 35 per cent, showing evidence of a decoupling of production and related emissions.
To date, the GNR is the system with the widest data coverage in the cement industry, providing aggregated data on more than 800 individual cement facilities worldwide over more than 100 countries. The database currently includes data for the years 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2006.
“GNR shows that an effective measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) system can be developed and managed by an industry,” said Howard Klee, CSI project director. “Furthermore, reliable and up-to-date emissions data is critical for emissions benchmark-setting in a sector like cement.”
He added, “While we have very good data coverage in some countries (notably in Europe, North America and Latin America), the CSI would like to see other cement companies and trade associations participate in the GNR system. We have made a good start with nearly 50 per cent of the data from India, but are still not well represented in China and the CIS countries. The better the information, the better policy-makers and industry will be able to understand future performance potential and design policies that deliver effective mitigation.”
Arup and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) are working to scale up a novel system that uses algae to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and factories.
Such a system could close the carbon cycle, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, using wastes to produce environmentally friendly bio-based products and reducing reliance on fossil fuels and artificial chemicals in crop growth.
If successful, the new system will allow the biomass from algae to be recycled and used to produce a wide variety of products. These could provide an additional source of revenue to offset carbon capping investment, and they include:
Bioethanol, which can be used as a motor fuel;
Biopharmaceuticals;
Methane-rich biogas, which could reduce dependence on fossil fuels; and
Rich compost, a non-chemical soil conditioner for crop production.
The idea first originated during through Arup’s work on carbon capture and research into food technologies for the Dongtan eco-city project in China. It has been further developed with process and systems engineers from the CPI.
“The use of algae in this way could have a vast impact on the environment,” said Peter Head, global head of planning at Arup. “It not only has the potential to reduce the carbon dioxide that power plants emit by 70 to 80 per cent — improving their carbon footprint. The algae could potentially provide an alternative source of fuel in itself, and through its by-products, a new revenue stream to support investment in carbon capture technologies.”
“The roll-out will be a great challenge for the process development and construction industries,” said Graham Hillier, low-carbon energy director at CPI. “We are planning a rapid research and development programme to move the concept from small-scale testing to larger scale demonstration. We are also looking at ways of integrating the processes into existing power supply and waste management systems.”
A new £30 million fund aims to help bus operators and councils go green by helping them purchase low-carbon buses.
“CO2 emissions from buses have increased significantly over the last 10 years,” said Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis. “For the sake of our environment and the air quality in our towns and cities it’s important to encourage the industry to move towards low carbon models.”
As more low-carbon buses are produced and sold, costs will reduce, officials say. This will encourage bus technology and will stimulate the market for low-carbon buses.
“I’m delighted that this is an industry where UK manufacturers are leading the field,” Adonis said. “Therefore these companies and their employees are well placed to benefit from this initiative.
“Over the next two years we expect this fund to support the purchase of several hundred low-carbon buses and, just as importantly, help to stimulate the development of a new green technology industry and help to safeguard up to 900 jobs in bus manufacturing.”
Low-carbon buses use at least 30 per cent less fuel and emit nearly a third less carbon than an equivalent conventional bus. That gives them the potential to significantly reduce the impact of road transport on climate change. They will also meet the most stringent air quality emission standards to help improve air quality.
At present, low-carbon buses make up just 0.2 per cent of buses on the road today. The new Department for Transport fund is intended to put low-carbon buses within the reach of as many operators and local authorities as possible throughout England.
The bill would enable the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change to introduce a financial mechanism to fund up to four commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration plants. The first of these could be feeding cleaner energy into the grid by the middle of the next decade.
The new proposal follows the publication on 17 June of the Government’s consultation document — “A framework for the development of clean coal” — that sets out how the Government proposes to reconcile the need to curb emissions of carbon from future coal-fired power stations with the need to maintain a secure diverse energy mix. The consultation also contains proposals for the detailed design of the financial support mechanism that will be introduced through the energy bill.
“We’re moving fast on CCS,” said Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband. “It’s a critical technology in the fight against climate change and I want the UK to lead the world with it. This bill is about providing the finance needed for the construction of commercial-scale demonstration plants.”
He continued, “Through CCS we can develop a new high-tech industrial sector, we can maintain a diverse energy mix and, once deployed around the world, make a major contribution to the fight against climate change.”
The proposed energy bill was announced today in “Building Britain’s Future,” published by the Prime Minister, which outlines the Government’s priorities and its draft legislative programme. This is now open for consultation before being finalised in the Queen’s Speech in the autumn.
In July, Miliband and Cabinet colleagues will set out a comprehensive strategy on energy and climate change to meet the UK’s carbon budgets, aimed at cutting emissions by more than a third by 2020 and at least 80 per cent by 2050. Central to this will be shifting the UK’s electricity mix to low carbon — based around new nuclear power stations, a massive expansion of renewables and clean-coal technology such as CCS.
Pano Kroko, chairman of the Environmental Parliament, announced the 10×10 campaign after a summit meeting at the London School of Economics considered ways to reduce London’s CO2 emissions by 10 per cent by the end of next year.
“We believe this saving is realistic and will help the city take a giant step towards meeting its goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2025,” said Kroko.
The assembled scientists and environmentalists agreed that only a combination of taxation, public policy and resource management can meet the 10 per cent reduction target.
“Today most of London’s electricity comes from coal-fired power generating plants,” said Kroko. “One in three children in London suffers from some form of asthma and London has the lowest air quality among European capitals. The first step towards CO2 emission reductions can be among the most difficult — in London however it is very achievable.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson has pledged to ultimately achieve 60 per cent CO2 savings, a goal the Environmental Parliament says can be broken down into a series of achievable benchmarks.
“‘We can make significant progress to the long-term plan by breaking the target down and committing to cycles of 10 per cent reductions,” Kroko said. “It simply takes political will and a commitment to the necessary legislation.”
Kroko called for the London Olympics to be the focal point of a green push to achieve a further reduction of 10 per cent by 2012. He also urged encouragement and support for green industry initiatives to reach a total reduction of 30 per cent by 2015.
Higher energy prices coupled with the certainty of CO2 emission taxation would provide economic stimulus that would lead to a greening of the economy, he said.
“With a robust and changing economy and a growing green industry, we can save an additonal 10 per cent every three years and reach the capital’s goal of a 60 per cent reduction by 2025,” Kroko said. “The regeneration of the city’s economy and the creation of green legacy from the 2012 Olympics will see London move into the Gold Medal position of global environmental leadership.”
The move is aimed at helping more businesses survive the recession by cutting both their energy costs and their carbon footprints.
Thousands of small businesses have already slashed their annual energy bills, some by as much as 75 per cent by installing new energy-saving equipment paid for by Government-funded Carbon Trust loans, according to the organisation.
Now the Carbon Trust has extended eligibility for the recently-expanded loan fund. The minimum loan amount has been lowered to just £3,000, putting the loans within reach of micro-businesses; the upper limit has been doubled from £200,000 to £400,000 to meet the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high energy spends, such as manufacturing companies.
The Carbon Trust expects to deliver more than £100 million in loan funding to UK SMEs over the next two years, including almost £84 million in England allocated by the Government as part of Budget 2009.
In most cases, businesses taking a Carbon Trust loan to update their equipment find the savings they make on energy bills exceed the cost of the loan repayments. This means they benefit from brand new equipment, increased efficiency and reduced running costs, all at no expense to themselves. They also help to drive the UK’s move to a low-carbon economy.
“Small and medium businesses are the backbone of the UK economy and key to the move to the low-carbon world,” said Tom Delay, CEO of the Carbon Trust. “We are extending a helping hand to them by offering more than £100 million in interest-free, unsecured loans at a time when bank funding is hard to come by. Our 0 per cent loan offer is as close to free money as a business can get, and is flexible enough to help almost any small or medium business, from the corner fish and chip shop to a factory.”
“Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our planet so it’s vital that everyone plays their part,” said Department of Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Hunt. “Taking action offers a huge opportunity for businesses to save money on their energy bills as well as reducing emissions and driving the move to a low-carbon economy.”
The report, prepared by the Energy Saving Trust with support by Mears Group and Travis Perkins, investigates the real-life costs of achieving a 60-per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 1960s flats. It is aimed at all those involved in both the social and private rented housing sectors who wish to improve the environmental performance of their dwellings.
The costs of reaching a 60-per cent reduction varied widely between the scenarios, and a key finding is that, the better the dwelling baseline performance, the more difficult and costly it is to achieve the 60-per cent reduction. For housing associations and landlords, this factor is crucial, and the report highlights the most cost-effective areas to target in order to maximise the “easy wins.”
Whilst the Code for Sustainable Homes is driving the new build sector forward towards zero-carbon construction by 2016, the existing housing stock has an even bigger role to play in reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Current predictions estimate that, in 2050, the existing (pre-2006) housing stock will still make up two-thirds of the UK’s housing. This stock is typically poorly performing when measured by today’s heightened energy efficiency standards, and hence it is essential that measures are taken to reduce its associated carbon emissions.
The Energy Saving Trust commissioned the new report to investigate cost-effective measures that can help to reduce the carbon emissions from the existing housing stock. The document gives low-, medium- and high-cost dwelling carbon reduction packages, for a wide variety of scenarios.
Such measures can also have a significant effect in reducing the likelihood of dwelling occupants suffering from fuel poverty, and can reduce fuel bills by over 50 per cent.
Across the UK, there are almost 25 million dwellings, of which flats make up almost 5 million — approximately 20 per cent of the total UK housing stock. Therefore, were all such dwellings UK-wide to adopt the energy-efficiency measures recommended in this report, the savings would be highly significant in driving the UK’s housing stock emissions down towards the target 60-per cent reduction.
The project will be officially launched with a special event on 29 June.
The aim of the Innovation in Crops project, or InCrops, is to help develop the East of England’s low-carbon economy by boosting eco-business, creating jobs and working to reduce dependency on fossil resources and thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
InCrops has received funding from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the European Union to develop an enterprise hub linking the region’s top researchers with businesses looking to develop new products for the marketplace. By 2013, the scheme aims to have helped create over 100 new jobs and 50 new businesses, whilst bringing in £3 millino of new public and private sector funding to the region.
The five-year project will use the region’s scientific expertise to support the creation of new plant-based products in industry areas ranging from automotive and construction to healthcare and packaging.
Norfolk-based Lotus Cars is already doing this, by piloting the use of locally-produced hemp in fiberglass panels. By replacing the man-made materials, the amount of embedded carbon in the finished product can be reduced, as well as cutting the carbon needed in transportation.
Creating environmentally friendly and innovative projects is at the heart of the launch — right down to the InCrops event cards, which are made out of recycled junk-mail, laden with wildflower seeds which, if planted, will sprout into poppies, daisies and buttercups.
A design competition for eco-furniture will also be launched at the event in conjunction with the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
“The purpose of the event is to make all these organisations aware of the InCrops mission — to promote alternative and non-food crops for the development of sustainable products and technologies, as well as facilitating low-carbon business growth and adding value to existing supply chains in the East of England,” said John French, managing director of InCrops.
“InCrops will bring together some of the East of England’s world-class researchers, with the entrepreneurs who can turn their innovative ideas into business successes,” said Lord Edward Iveagh, an EEDA board member. “This project will benefit the region’s growers, scientists and businesses and it is an example of how EEDA is leading the development of future growth sectors such as the low-carbon economy.”
Together, the two companies aim to fast-track bringing the second-generation technology to market, and aim to implement a full-scale demonstration plant by 2014.
Both Siemens and TNO possess comprehensive know-how in the field of CO2 capture. Siemens is developing a proprietary second- generation amino-acid process for CO2 capture in the industrial park Frankfurt Hoechst. TNO has been performing its own research activities in this field since the ’90s. Both partners see major potential for full-scale application in eco-friendly solvents based on amino-acid salts.
“CO2 capture and storage technologies will in the future play a decisive role in the utilization of fossil fuels,” said Michael Suess, CEO of the fossil power generation division of Siemens Energy. “They need to be tested for deployment in large plants and brought to market readiness.”
“Further development and early demonstration of this technology will be key to enable clean and cost-effective use of fossil fuels in the coming decades,” said Paul Korting, general director of TNO science and industry. “To meet this challenge, we develop several CCS technologies supporting industry. We foresee that with our extensive know-how concerning amino acid salts and pilot plant capabilities, we will be able to give a boost to Siemens’ efforts to bring a good capture process based on this class of solvents to demonstration.”
“TNO is one of the first parties piloting second-generation capture solvents,” added Lodewijk Nell, business development manager of CO2 capture at TNO. “We have been testing various solvents since April 2008 in our CATO pilot plant at the Rotterdam site of E.ON Benelux. We look forward to bring in our experience with amino acid salts supporting Siemens.”
England and Wales could slash greenhouse gas emissions and create at least 70,000 jobs if councils would help insulate homes and businesses and fit green energy to buildings, according to new research from Friends of the Earth.
The research by Carbon Descent — advisors to councils on climate change — was published to launch a new nationwide campaign calling for local councils take urgent action to cut CO2 emissions.
The campaign, “Get Serious About CO2,” turns the spotlight on the large part that local councils need to play in cutting the UK’s carbon emissions. The campaign calls on councils to commit to cutting carbon dioxide emissions in their local area by at least 40 per cent by 2020, and to produce an action plan detailing how they will make the cuts.
The new research analyses the manpower required to insulate homes and businesses and install green energy on buildings — two of the key ways in which councils could achieve a reduction in their emissions of at least 40 per cent by 2020.
New jobs could be available as loft laggers, architects, plumbers, builders, electricians, plasterers and insulation specialists — with new admin, transit and warehouse positions also created to support the installation of insulation and renewable energy.
Some local councils are already putting in place schemes like those modelled in the research. For example, Kirklees Council in Yorkshire has created 120 jobs through insulating 21,000 homes.
Unless rich countries like the UK cut their emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2020, climate change will make a billion of the poorest people in the world homeless. People in the UK will also be affected by increased flooding, droughts, rising food prices and economic instability.
“Local councils must play a big part in slashing the UK’s carbon emissions to help avoid runaway climate change,” said Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth. “With the economy in such a sorry state at the moment, our towns, cities and villages could really use a boost from new green jobs.”
Atkins added, “Some pioneering councils are already leading the way through comprehensive home insulation programmes and installing green energy like solar panels to buildings. If every council in England and Wales took action too they could create 70,000 new jobs, cut fuel bills and make people’s homes more snug.”
An initiative by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) indicates cement production can be “decoupled” from much of its associated carbon dioxide emissions.
Arup and the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) are working to scale up a novel system that uses 
A new £30 million fund aims to help bus operators and councils go green by helping them 
Officials today proposed a new energy bill for the forthcoming session of Parliament aimed at helping the UK 
More than 100 scientists gathered in London today to demonstrate their support for a campaign seeking
The Carbon Trust is improving access to 
A new report highlights the most cost-effective areas to target in an effort to 
A £4 million project based at the University of East Anglia aims to promote 
Siemens Energy and TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, plan to work together to advance 
England and Wales could slash greenhouse gas emissions and