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Japan CO2 Emissions Rise as Nuclear Output Drops, Nikkei Says

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:56:15 +0000

(Bloomberg) — Japan’s carbon dioxide emissions increased 2.7 percent in the year ended March because of shutdowns of nuclear power plants, said the Nikkei English News, citing a study by the trade ministry.

Carbon dioxide derived from burning fossil fuels totaled 1.218 billion tons in the year ended March 30, according to the report. Carbon produced by burning fuels accounts for about 90 percent of Japan’s total emissions of global-warming gases, including methane, the Nikkei said.[...]

Full article >>> – Via : ©bloomberg.com

Increasing ozone will damage crops

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:17:06 +0000

Without global emissions controls, increasing ozone levels associated with fossil fuel combustion will damage agriculture considerably over the coming decades.

If current upward trends in fossil fuel emissions continue, global average ozone levels will rise 50% by 2100. The resulting damage to agriculture could reduce global crop production by at least 10%, according to a study in the November issue of Energy Policy.

Previous studies have evaluated the effects of human-induced climate change and rising CO₂ levels on vegetation and have suggested that the changes will prolong growing seasons at higher latitudes and boost photosynthesis in some plant species. John M. Reilly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and colleagues have now added the concomitant changes in tropospheric (ground-level) ozone to the mix. The team investigated the impacts of all three stressors on crops, pastures, and forests with the MIT Integrated Global Systems Model, which incorporates economic, climate, and agricultural models.[...]

China : poverty reduction, energy security more important than capping emissions

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:00:57 +0000

People in the wealthy post-industrialised world tend to forget that for developing nations access to abundant and cheap energy resources is crucial in the fight against poverty. Westerners often hope these countries can somehow skip the polluting fossil fuel path which turned Europe, the US and Japan into prosperous regions, ‘leapfrog’ into a greener, far more efficient and low carbon future, and fight poverty in the process. But is this is a highly idealistic, very tall order indeed.

The economies of developing countries are energy intensive, and without energy security and affordable fuels, all efforts at social development are in vain. We are already seeing the truly catastrophic socio-economic effects of high oil prices on the poorest countries, some of which are now forced to spend up to six times more on importing oil than on health care and poverty alleviation. Asking such countries to make energy even more expensive by putting a carbon tax on fossil fuels or by capping emissions in order to fight climate change would be unacceptable to many of them. In fact, some energy experts have warned that in the medium term, high energy prices could indeed be more threatening to societies than climate change.

A Chinese top official, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, made this crystal clear by saying Beijing will reject binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions at the UNFCCC’s global meeting in Bali next month, because developing countries must be allowed to use more energy and consequently raise emissions to fight poverty.