A Better Way
An improved clean development mechanism alone will not be enough to encourage developing countries to engage, and pushing those countries to cap their emissions will backfire. A better approach would focus on areas where these countries existing interests align with the goal of cutting carbon. Driven by worries over energy security, for example, China has moved to boost energy efficiency, an effort that by 2020 could cut annual carbon emissions by about 300 million tons a year. Meanwhile, calculations by our research program suggest that India’s push for an expanded civilian nuclear power program could lower carbon emissions by as much as 150 million tons a year. For comparison, the entire E.U. effort to meet the Kyoto targets will reduce releases by only about 200 million tons annually and the 100 hundred largest clean development mechanism projects add up to just 100 million tons per annum. Eventually these countries must invest to lessen carbon output explicitly. Until then, however, much untapped potential exists to pursue other programs that align with their interests while also reducing carbon emissions.
Of course, not all policies automatically help the situation. China is investing in new technologies that produce oil substitutes from coal, an egregiously carbon-intensive way to manufacture liquid fuels. As more countries seek energy security, special efforts are needed to work on technologies that allow them to achieve those goals not at the expense of protecting Earth’s climate.
Even as political pressure for action grows, recent developments in energy markets have in some ways made it more difficult to tame carbon emissions. The rising price of oil has, for instance, encouraged higher energy efficiencies, which cuts carbon output. But higher petroleum prices have also lifted those of natural gas. As gas becomes dear, utilities across the world are opting to build coal-fired, rather than gas-fired, power plants. Until advanced coal-combustion technologies become widely available that allow CO2 to be captured and stored safely underground, the shift to coal is bad news for climate change because coal plants usually emit about twice the CO2 per kilowatt-hour of electricity that gas plants do.
A Four-Step Plan
Given the scale of the climate challenge and the consequences of delay, four steps need to be taken to mobilize a more effective strategy.
First, the U.S. should establish a mandatory tax policy to control the output of greenhouse gases. The politics are likely to favor a cap and trade system, but we favor taxes for several reasons. Taxes give clear, long-term price signals that make it easier for firms to make intelligent investments that will cut carbon emissions, whereas the price volatility of cap-and-trade systems impedes wise planning. Tax systems are also more transparent. Although hardly free from loopholes and other distortions, they offer fewer opportunities for political favoritism and corruption. And because taxes do not rest on property rights, they are easier to adjust when needed.
It is disappointing to see how quickly many U.S. policy makers have settled on the cap-and-trade approach without permitting a proper debate to occur on the use of taxes. If Congress prefers a cap-and-trade system, a smart compromise would be to create a “safety valve” that places a ceiling on prices so that industry has some certainty about the cost of compliance. This price, which essentially transforms the trading scheme into a tax, must be high enough so that it sends a credible signal that emitters must invest in technologies and practices that lower carbon emissions. And under any cap-and-trade system, it is crucial that all the credits be auctioned. Politically, it may be essential to hand out a small fraction of credits to pivotal interest groups. But our planet’s atmosphere is a public resource that must not be given away to users. Whenever this maxim has been ignored, pollution markets become politicized and companies focus their attention on gaming the permit allocation process.
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Add CommentThis type of system will just make undeveloped countries more competitive, now if the credits are only within a country or group it might be OK. In addition positive action to reduce our impact on the environment and to mitigate the effects are required. These credits do nothing in these areas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisQuestion: To mesh a carbon tax with cap-and-trade, should the government not put a MINIMUM price on carbon, not a ceiling, as the article asserts? (Ref. 3rd para. under 'A Four-Step Plan.')
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisE.D.
Ottawa
Canada
Clicking on the links to the Figures brings one to a slide show on endangered birds!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDeleted and replaced with revised version
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Edited by Duane Pendergast at 12/21/2007 10:36 AM
This is an excellent discussion and review of carbon trading concepts and initiatives.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is, however, no discussion of market possibilities to encourage removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Perhaps this is a consequence of the common assumption that it is better to capture emissions at source rather than try to deal with them after release.
The sidebar on "The Carbon Trade" focuses on cap and trade and so-called "offset exchange" in connection with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). I find the use of "offset" in that context somewhat of a misnomer as the carbon emissions discussed may not be offset in the usual sense. In the example discussed, it is implied that emissions from the developed countries will be compensated by reductions in emissions in developing countries. I suspect the reality in practice will be that increasing emissions from the developed countries will support projects in developing countries which will have somewhat lower emissions than might have occurred without CDM. The total net result will be increased carbon dioxide emissions.
There is developing recognition of a concept that would actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it to durable char or charcoal, which could then be used to sequester carbon in soil. Some researchers believe the sequestered carbon will play an additional role by significantly improving soil fertility. Interested readers can find information on this concept by searching for "terra preta" on the WWW.
Perhaps policy makers should relax their dogged focus on reducing CO2 emissions and consider the possibility they may constitute an opportunity to enhance the environment for life on earth.
Duane Pendergast
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Edited by Duane Pendergast at 12/21/2007 10:29 AM
Sorry for double post
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Edited by erichj at 12/22/2007 10:28 AM
I thought this ubiquitous carbon sink might interest you. Here's the current news and links on Terra Preta (TP)soils and closed-loop pyrolysis of Biomass, this integrated virtuous cycle could sequester 100s of Billions of tons of carbon to the soils.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTerra Preta Soils Technology To Master the Carbon Cycle
This technology represents the most comprehensive, low cost, and productive approach to long term stewardship and sustainability.Terra Preta Soils a process for Carbon Negative Bio fuels, massive Carbon sequestration, 1/3 Lower CH4 & N2O soil emissions, and 3X Fertility Too.
UN Climate Change Conference: Biochar present at the Bali Conference
http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/steinerbalinov2107
SCIAM Article May 15 07;
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=5670236C-E7F2-99DF-3E2163B9FB144E40
After many years of reviewing solutions to anthropogenic global warming (AGW) I believe this technology can manage Carbon for the greatest collective benefit at the lowest economic price, on vast scales. It just needs to be seen by ethical globally minded companies.
Could you please consider looking for a champion for this orphaned Terra Preta Carbon Soil Technology.
The main hurtle now is to change the current perspective held by the IPCC that the soil carbon cycle is a wash, to one in which soil can be used as a massive and ubiquitous Carbon sink via Charcoal. Below are the first concrete steps in that direction;
S.1884 The Salazar Harvesting Energy Act of 2007
A Summary of Biochar Provisions in S.1884:
Carbon-Negative Biomass Energy and Soil Quality Initiative
for the 2007 Farm Bill
http://www.biochar-international.org/newinformationevents/newlegislation.html
If you have any other questions please feel free to call me or visit the TP web site I've been drafted to co-administer. http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org/?q=node
It has been immensely gratifying to see all the major players join the mail list , Cornell folks, T. Beer of Kings Ford Charcoal (Clorox), Novozyne the M-Roots guys(fungus), chemical engineers, Dr. Danny Day of EPRIDA , Dr. Antal of U. of H., Virginia Tech folks and probably many others who's back round I don't know have joined.
If pre-Columbian Kayopo Indians could produce these soils up to 6 feet deep over 15% of the Amazon basin using "Slash & CHAR" verses "Slash & Burn", it seems that our energy and agricultural industries could also product them at scale.
Harnessing the work of this vast number of microbes and fungi changes the whole equation of energy return over energy input (EROEI) for food and Bio fuels. I see this as the only sustainable agricultural strategy if we no longer have cheap fossil fuels for fertilizer.
We need this super community of wee beasties to work in concert with us by populating them into their proper Soil horizon Carbon Condos.
Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
(540) 289-9750
shengar@aol.com
who can deny the politics behind the science of climate ,and how some thinktanks with funding support from north influence policies .is the finding of IPCC on glcier melts the tip of the iceberg of the science hoodo act to serve the interests of the developed world. why not the north show the lead in changing life styles and social systems to suit the ethics and economics of sustainable resource use and development.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisno one can deny the economic advantage to the west in carbon trade while continuing to pollute.the advantage to the less developed is inflated and projected while the cost benefit in real terms favours the more developed .the developing world is increasingly being depicted as more responsible for future pollution. the science behind the future scenarios are highly dubious and influenced by vested intersts through funding support and peer pressure.
china and india are being shown as villains through data manipulation and GCM computer dta are being used for this jugglery. the world bodies are being hijacked partly for this ,and pachauri is suitably awarded. the very architects of the carbon trading have finally backed out of the protocol so that their interests are best served both ways,and scuttling that of competitors and potential growth centers.the credits are loaded in favour of the west through science and technology fixes . the world bodies are toeing the line for funds. what is needed is not more of the same but a drastic relook at the western model of growth and development through resource exploitation and depletion ,and focus on economics at the cost of ecology ,in real terms ,while making it appear as if the south is more obsessed with growth than environment through a game of data manipulation and jugglery of all sorts.it is high time that the politics of climate is called off through more transparent science. the developing world needs to be equipped and oriented towards this through support structures and a process of relearning
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