[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
China official warns on "too fast" nuclear plans
Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:12pm EDT
By Eadie Chen and Lucy Hornby
QINGDAO, China (Reuters) - China may have to put the brakes on the construction of nuclear power plants to ensure the plants are safe, the country's top energy planning official told reporters on Sunday.
Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, warned of signs of "improper" and "too fast" development of nuclear power in some regions.
China had previously set a goal of 40 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2020, which would entail building about two reactors a year.
Some government officials have suggested aiming for 60 to 70 GW, or 5 percent of total generating capacity. The expanded goal is driven in part by China's $585 billion stimulus plan, put in place late last year to offset a collapse in export markets.
"We'd rather move slower and achieve less than incur potential safety concerns in terms of nuclear energy," Zhang told reporters on the sidelines of the Sino-U.S. Energy Summit.
China will need to more than double the proportion of renewable energy in its total power generation in order to get 15 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020, a target reiterated by President Hu Jintao during this week's G20 meeting.
Of renewable energy sources, hydropower accounts for the biggest share, or 6 percent of China's total primary energy mix. Nuclear makes up about 0.6 percent and other sources such as wind power and solar power account for a trivial proportion, Zhang said.
On Sunday, the company that built the Three Gorges hydropower dam said it planned to move into solar and wind power as part of a diversification drive, Xinhua news agency reported.
Despite the focus on renewables, China is also developing new hydrocarbon energy sources.
U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips on Sunday signed an memorandum of understanding with top Chinese oil firm CNPC to develop shale gas in Sichuan province.
Specific plans still need to be worked out, Yan Cunzhang, a senior CNPC official, told Reuters.
Yan also said substantial progress in joint gas exploration and production by Royal Dutch Shell and CNPC in Sichuan would be seen in the near future.
(Editing by David Holmes)
[Green Business]
EU to propose climate action on planes, ships
Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:58am EDT
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.
EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December.
"We are concerned about the slow international negotiations and are keen to shift gear," said an EU diplomat involved with the proposal. "This is a concrete measure from the EU side in order to contribute to this step-up."
After fine-tuning the proposal, the EU will present it at a meeting in Bangkok where climate negotiators from up to 190 nations will try to revive momentum toward a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.
Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997.
Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and most eastern European states have already indicated support for a cut of 20 percent or more to shipping emissions, compared to 2005 levels, according to a document seen by Reuters.
But seafaring nations including Malta, Cyprus, and Spain favor easier reductions. There is also debate over the base-line year.
CLIMATE FUNDING
"It's good that the EU is moving forward on capping emissions from these two sectors, not least because it creates significant potential for raising funding for developing countries," said Tim Gore, a campaigner at anti-poverty group Oxfam.
The proposal has been put forward by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and is based on a report three weeks ago by the EU's executive, the European Commission.
The Commission calculated the two sectors could generate revenues as high as 25 billion euros ($36.7 billion) a year in 2020, if their emissions were capped at 30 percent below 2005 levels.
Some countries with big airlines or a heavy reliance on air links have put up opposition. France, Finland, Italy, Malta and Austria have suggested airlines get an easier target than 10 percent.
"How these targets should be met should be decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization," said the EU diplomat. "Should they fail, the EU will come back to the issue in 2011."
A system of taxes might meet more political resistance than a cap and trade scheme, which would force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.
Shipping would be best served by a cap and trade scheme, the industry associations of Australia, Britain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden argued in a report last week that did not set targets.
The UK Chamber of Shipping estimated a trading scheme for emissions would cost the seaborne industry up to 6 billion euros a year, depending on the price of carbon.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[Green Business]
China sees emission trading pilot in next econ plan
Sun Sep 27, 2009 2:32am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to include a pilot emissions trading system in its five-year plan for economic development until 2015, the Environment Ministry said on Sunday, but declined to comment on whether it would cover carbon dioxide.
The government is already experimenting with small-scale schemes to tackle acid-rain causing sulphur dioxide and other pollutants using market mechanisms.
It has been coy about the potential for expanding these, or adding greenhouse gases to the list of pollutants that can be controlled and traded, but is apparently keen to at least continue exploring their potential.
A trial system for trading in permits to pollute was listed as one of four main emissions reductions goals in official comments about a blueprint for growth in China from 2011 to 2015, which bureaucrats are still thrashing out.
"Carry out trial work on trading emission and pollution permits, and ecological transformation," the ministry said in the statement handed out at a news conference on tackling the country's environmental problems.
The country's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, declined to clarify how large the trial would be, or whether it would cover greenhouse gases.
China is now the world's top annual emitter, and President Hu Jintao pledged at the United Nations to take on a "carbon intensity" goal that would oblige it to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each dollar of its economic output.
Many carbon traders hope this could pave the way for a market like the one currently used in Europe, and have been rushing to secure a potentially lucrative foothold in China even though it is unclear how easy it will be to make money there.
The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), owned by UK-based Climate Exchange Plc, has signed a deal to set up a Chinese emissions exchange, but has declined to say how much it will invest or when trading might start.
French emissions exchange BlueNext has taken steps toward a carbon trading platform in China, joining with the China-Beijing Environment Exchange to offer clients a database of Chinese carbon-cutting projects and a carbon market standard.
(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison)
[Green Business]
China official warns on "too fast" nuclear plans
Sun Sep 27, 2009 12:12pm EDT
By Eadie Chen and Lucy Hornby
QINGDAO, China (Reuters) - China may have to put the brakes on the construction of nuclear power plants to ensure the plants are safe, the country's top energy planning official told reporters on Sunday.
Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, warned of signs of "improper" and "too fast" development of nuclear power in some regions.
China had previously set a goal of 40 gigawatts of nuclear power capacity by 2020, which would entail building about two reactors a year.
Some government officials have suggested aiming for 60 to 70 GW, or 5 percent of total generating capacity. The expanded goal is driven in part by China's $585 billion stimulus plan, put in place late last year to offset a collapse in export markets.
"We'd rather move slower and achieve less than incur potential safety concerns in terms of nuclear energy," Zhang told reporters on the sidelines of the Sino-U.S. Energy Summit.
China will need to more than double the proportion of renewable energy in its total power generation in order to get 15 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2020, a target reiterated by President Hu Jintao during this week's G20 meeting.
Of renewable energy sources, hydropower accounts for the biggest share, or 6 percent of China's total primary energy mix. Nuclear makes up about 0.6 percent and other sources such as wind power and solar power account for a trivial proportion, Zhang said.
On Sunday, the company that built the Three Gorges hydropower dam said it planned to move into solar and wind power as part of a diversification drive, Xinhua news agency reported.
Despite the focus on renewables, China is also developing new hydrocarbon energy sources.
U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips on Sunday signed an memorandum of understanding with top Chinese oil firm CNPC to develop shale gas in Sichuan province.
Specific plans still need to be worked out, Yan Cunzhang, a senior CNPC official, told Reuters.
Yan also said substantial progress in joint gas exploration and production by Royal Dutch Shell and CNPC in Sichuan would be seen in the near future.
(Editing by David Holmes)
[Green Business]
EU to propose climate action on planes, ships
Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:58am EDT
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.
EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December.
"We are concerned about the slow international negotiations and are keen to shift gear," said an EU diplomat involved with the proposal. "This is a concrete measure from the EU side in order to contribute to this step-up."
After fine-tuning the proposal, the EU will present it at a meeting in Bangkok where climate negotiators from up to 190 nations will try to revive momentum toward a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.
Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997.
Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and most eastern European states have already indicated support for a cut of 20 percent or more to shipping emissions, compared to 2005 levels, according to a document seen by Reuters.
But seafaring nations including Malta, Cyprus, and Spain favor easier reductions. There is also debate over the base-line year.
CLIMATE FUNDING
"It's good that the EU is moving forward on capping emissions from these two sectors, not least because it creates significant potential for raising funding for developing countries," said Tim Gore, a campaigner at anti-poverty group Oxfam.
The proposal has been put forward by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and is based on a report three weeks ago by the EU's executive, the European Commission.
The Commission calculated the two sectors could generate revenues as high as 25 billion euros ($36.7 billion) a year in 2020, if their emissions were capped at 30 percent below 2005 levels.
Some countries with big airlines or a heavy reliance on air links have put up opposition. France, Finland, Italy, Malta and Austria have suggested airlines get an easier target than 10 percent.
"How these targets should be met should be decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization," said the EU diplomat. "Should they fail, the EU will come back to the issue in 2011."
A system of taxes might meet more political resistance than a cap and trade scheme, which would force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.
Shipping would be best served by a cap and trade scheme, the industry associations of Australia, Britain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden argued in a report last week that did not set targets.
The UK Chamber of Shipping estimated a trading scheme for emissions would cost the seaborne industry up to 6 billion euros a year, depending on the price of carbon.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison; editing by Robin Pomeroy)
[Green Business]
China sees emission trading pilot in next econ plan
Sun Sep 27, 2009 2:32am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to include a pilot emissions trading system in its five-year plan for economic development until 2015, the Environment Ministry said on Sunday, but declined to comment on whether it would cover carbon dioxide.
The government is already experimenting with small-scale schemes to tackle acid-rain causing sulphur dioxide and other pollutants using market mechanisms.
It has been coy about the potential for expanding these, or adding greenhouse gases to the list of pollutants that can be controlled and traded, but is apparently keen to at least continue exploring their potential.
A trial system for trading in permits to pollute was listed as one of four main emissions reductions goals in official comments about a blueprint for growth in China from 2011 to 2015, which bureaucrats are still thrashing out.
"Carry out trial work on trading emission and pollution permits, and ecological transformation," the ministry said in the statement handed out at a news conference on tackling the country's environmental problems.
The country's top climate change official, Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, declined to clarify how large the trial would be, or whether it would cover greenhouse gases.
China is now the world's top annual emitter, and President Hu Jintao pledged at the United Nations to take on a "carbon intensity" goal that would oblige it to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced for each dollar of its economic output.
Many carbon traders hope this could pave the way for a market like the one currently used in Europe, and have been rushing to secure a potentially lucrative foothold in China even though it is unclear how easy it will be to make money there.
The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), owned by UK-based Climate Exchange Plc, has signed a deal to set up a Chinese emissions exchange, but has declined to say how much it will invest or when trading might start.
French emissions exchange BlueNext has taken steps toward a carbon trading platform in China, joining with the China-Beijing Environment Exchange to offer clients a database of Chinese carbon-cutting projects and a carbon market standard.
(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison)
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