[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
Knight Capital Group opens emissions trading desk
Tue Dec 1, 2009 12:23pm EST
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S.-based liquidity provider Knight Capital Group has opened an emissions trading desk, with Daniel G. Braun appointed head of carbon trading, the company said on Tuesday.
The company plans to hire additional emissions traders in London in 2010, a spokeswoman told Reuters.
Knight Capital will focus on trading EU Allowances and U.N.-backed certified emissions reductions futures and options, Braun said.
"I anticipate our client base will include compliance buyers," Braun said.
Prior to joining Knight, Braun was an advisor on carbon credit development and trading and has a background in energy trading. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
[Green Business]
Europeans could save planet for $3 a day: study
Tue Dec 1, 2009 1:03pm EST
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europeans could help cut climate warming emissions to much safer levels for just 2 euros ($3) each per day, but they would also have to cut back on driving and meat eating, a report said Tuesday.
Other long-term changes would include using the train instead of flying for journeys of under 1,000 km, said the report by the Stockholm Environment Institute, commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE).
The study targets a European cut in climate-warming emissions such as carbon dioxide to 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade.
"It's not just about investment, it's also about lifestyle changes," said FOEE campaigner Sonja Meister. "This report shows one pathway that would see air travel in the EU cut by 10 percent by 2020 and travel in private cars by 4 percent."
"Travel by rail would rise by 9 percent, and meat consumption would be reduced by about 60 percent," she added.
The European Union has pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for climate change, to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
It also says it will cut by nearly a third if other rich nations agree to follow suit when they meet for global climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
But many scientists say much deeper cuts are needed from rich nations to keep the climate temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius.
Poorer countries preparing for Copenhagen say industrialized nations caused the climate problem in the first place and should cut emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels.
That could be achieved in Europe for a cost of 2 trillion euros, or around 2 percent of cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) over the next decade, said the report.
"Put another way, this cost would be the equivalent of temporarily holding GDP constant for about one year before resuming normal growth," it added.
The cost equates to about 2 euros per European per day, but that does not take account of the positive impact of job creation and reduced spending on hydrocarbon imports.
True to FOEE's politics, the assessment excludes the use of nuclear energy or carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that would allow European power suppliers to keep on burning coal. It also rules out most carbon offsetting.
Instead, it assumes Europeans will accept higher taxes and make major lifestyle changes -- something politicians have not yet dared demand.
Such lifestyle changes could be continued to 2050, leading to a 90 percent cut in emissions, said the report.
Journeys in private cars would be cut to 43 percent of all journeys by 2050, compared to roughly 75 percent today, while people would switch from air travel to rail for 80 percent of the flights being made today of less than 1,000 km.
Wind power would be scaled up from its current 3.3 percent share of generating capacity to 22 percent in 2020 and 55 percent in 2050.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison)
[Green Business]
Egypt eyes solar power exports, costs too high now
Tue Dec 1, 2009 3:02pm EST
By Maha El Dahan
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt, which plans to start its first solar power unit in 2010, said on Tuesday it wanted to expand solar power production for export but that costs of the technology would need to fall first to make it feasible.
The North African country, a gas and oil producer, aims to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. It already has installed wind capacity of 430 megawatts and is adding 120 megawatts by mid 2010.
Wind farms are expected to meet 12 percent of Egypt's power needs by 2020 but solar power projects have lagged.
"Solar energy is four times as expensive as energy generated from combined cycles so when this figure starts going down to three or two times as much, this is when we will see developing countries go heavily into the business," Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes told Reuters.
"Exports are in our plan, but taking into consideration the development of suitable technology and its spread so that the price goes down," he added.
Egypt, whose population is concentrated on just 10 percent of its land, has ample desert areas to set up solar power units. The most populous Arab country is also situated in the sun belt where sunshine is available all year round for power generation.
Younes told a conference on renewable energy that Egypt could export to Europe via Libya and Tunisia, which are in turn linked with Morocco and Spain.
As a first step, Egypt would install capacity of 140 megawatts from its solar project south of Cairo at Koraymat for domestic consumption by the end of 2010, Younes said.
European governments, which depend significantly on Russia for energy, are looking at renewables to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Some plans envisage importing solar power generated from Africa.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
[Green Business]
Dying to be green? Try "bio-cremation"
Tue Dec 1, 2009 4:49pm EST
By Nicole Mordant
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Worried you haven't been green enough in life? Don't let death come in the way of a more eco-friendly you.
From coffins made of recycled cardboard to saying no to embalming chemicals that seep into the soil, people are increasingly searching for ways to make their final resting place a more environmentally-friendly one.
Now cremation, the choice today of a third of Americans and more than half of Canadians, is getting a green make-over.
A standard cremation spews into the air about 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming -- along with other pollutants like dioxins and mercury vapor if the deceased had silver tooth fillings.
On top of that each cremation guzzles as much energy, in the form of natural gas and electricity, as a 500-mile (800 kilometer) car trip.
Enter alkaline hydrolysis, a chemical body-disposal process its proponents call "bio-cremation" and say uses one-tenth the natural gas of fire-based cremation and one-third the electricity.
C02 emissions are cut by almost 90 percent and no mercury escapes as fillings and other metal objects, such as hip or knee replacements, can be recovered intact and recycled.
"The target audience are those people who buy organic salmon rather than farmed salmon. Those that buy a hybrid rather than a regular car," said Paul Rahill, president of the cremation division of Matthews International Corp.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company that makes caskets and other funeral products is planning the world's first commercial launch of human alkaline hydrolysis in January at a funeral home in St Petersburg, Florida.
The technique is not new but has only been used to dispose of laboratory animals and medical research cadavers at a few institutions.
Its commercial use has been held up partly because of its cost -- the equipment is four times as expensive as that of traditional cremation -- and because state and provincial legislation may need to be changed, especially laws governing what can be disposed of in the water system.
Overcoming peoples' squeamishness when they hear the process described, what Rahill calls the 'ick' factor, is also an obstacle.
The Catholic Church in parts of the United States has objected, saying the practice "is not a respectful way to dispose of human remains".
In alkaline hydrolysis the body is submerged in water in a stainless steel chamber. Heat, pressure and potassium hydroxide, chemicals used to make soap and bleach, are added to dissolve the tissue.
Two hours later all that's left is some bone residue and a syrupy brown liquid that is flushed down the drain. The bones can be crushed and returned to the family as with cremation.
"This is the first new alternative to come into the (cremation) market in over 100 years," said Allen Bessel, president of Transition Science, a Toronto-based company that owns the exclusive rights to the process in Canada. It is targeting a commercial launch next spring.
"It is very quiet, there is no noticeable odor that comes from it and there is no emission. The concerns of area residents would be much less if (an alkaline hydrolysis machine) was being installed than if a crematorium was built," Bessel said.
Although Rahill says the public response has been mostly positive, an attempt to introduce human alkaline hydrolysis in New York state a couple of years ago was opposed by the Catholic Church and others, and the bill was dropped.
[Green Business]
Knight Capital Group opens emissions trading desk
Tue Dec 1, 2009 12:23pm EST
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S.-based liquidity provider Knight Capital Group has opened an emissions trading desk, with Daniel G. Braun appointed head of carbon trading, the company said on Tuesday.
The company plans to hire additional emissions traders in London in 2010, a spokeswoman told Reuters.
Knight Capital will focus on trading EU Allowances and U.N.-backed certified emissions reductions futures and options, Braun said.
"I anticipate our client base will include compliance buyers," Braun said.
Prior to joining Knight, Braun was an advisor on carbon credit development and trading and has a background in energy trading. (Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
[Green Business]
Europeans could save planet for $3 a day: study
Tue Dec 1, 2009 1:03pm EST
By Pete Harrison
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europeans could help cut climate warming emissions to much safer levels for just 2 euros ($3) each per day, but they would also have to cut back on driving and meat eating, a report said Tuesday.
Other long-term changes would include using the train instead of flying for journeys of under 1,000 km, said the report by the Stockholm Environment Institute, commissioned by Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE).
The study targets a European cut in climate-warming emissions such as carbon dioxide to 40 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade.
"It's not just about investment, it's also about lifestyle changes," said FOEE campaigner Sonja Meister. "This report shows one pathway that would see air travel in the EU cut by 10 percent by 2020 and travel in private cars by 4 percent."
"Travel by rail would rise by 9 percent, and meat consumption would be reduced by about 60 percent," she added.
The European Union has pledged to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for climate change, to 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
It also says it will cut by nearly a third if other rich nations agree to follow suit when they meet for global climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
But many scientists say much deeper cuts are needed from rich nations to keep the climate temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius.
Poorer countries preparing for Copenhagen say industrialized nations caused the climate problem in the first place and should cut emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels.
That could be achieved in Europe for a cost of 2 trillion euros, or around 2 percent of cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) over the next decade, said the report.
"Put another way, this cost would be the equivalent of temporarily holding GDP constant for about one year before resuming normal growth," it added.
The cost equates to about 2 euros per European per day, but that does not take account of the positive impact of job creation and reduced spending on hydrocarbon imports.
True to FOEE's politics, the assessment excludes the use of nuclear energy or carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology that would allow European power suppliers to keep on burning coal. It also rules out most carbon offsetting.
Instead, it assumes Europeans will accept higher taxes and make major lifestyle changes -- something politicians have not yet dared demand.
Such lifestyle changes could be continued to 2050, leading to a 90 percent cut in emissions, said the report.
Journeys in private cars would be cut to 43 percent of all journeys by 2050, compared to roughly 75 percent today, while people would switch from air travel to rail for 80 percent of the flights being made today of less than 1,000 km.
Wind power would be scaled up from its current 3.3 percent share of generating capacity to 22 percent in 2020 and 55 percent in 2050.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison)
[Green Business]
Egypt eyes solar power exports, costs too high now
Tue Dec 1, 2009 3:02pm EST
By Maha El Dahan
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt, which plans to start its first solar power unit in 2010, said on Tuesday it wanted to expand solar power production for export but that costs of the technology would need to fall first to make it feasible.
The North African country, a gas and oil producer, aims to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. It already has installed wind capacity of 430 megawatts and is adding 120 megawatts by mid 2010.
Wind farms are expected to meet 12 percent of Egypt's power needs by 2020 but solar power projects have lagged.
"Solar energy is four times as expensive as energy generated from combined cycles so when this figure starts going down to three or two times as much, this is when we will see developing countries go heavily into the business," Electricity and Energy Minister Hassan Younes told Reuters.
"Exports are in our plan, but taking into consideration the development of suitable technology and its spread so that the price goes down," he added.
Egypt, whose population is concentrated on just 10 percent of its land, has ample desert areas to set up solar power units. The most populous Arab country is also situated in the sun belt where sunshine is available all year round for power generation.
Younes told a conference on renewable energy that Egypt could export to Europe via Libya and Tunisia, which are in turn linked with Morocco and Spain.
As a first step, Egypt would install capacity of 140 megawatts from its solar project south of Cairo at Koraymat for domestic consumption by the end of 2010, Younes said.
European governments, which depend significantly on Russia for energy, are looking at renewables to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Some plans envisage importing solar power generated from Africa.
(Editing by James Jukwey)
[Green Business]
Dying to be green? Try "bio-cremation"
Tue Dec 1, 2009 4:49pm EST
By Nicole Mordant
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Worried you haven't been green enough in life? Don't let death come in the way of a more eco-friendly you.
From coffins made of recycled cardboard to saying no to embalming chemicals that seep into the soil, people are increasingly searching for ways to make their final resting place a more environmentally-friendly one.
Now cremation, the choice today of a third of Americans and more than half of Canadians, is getting a green make-over.
A standard cremation spews into the air about 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas blamed for global warming -- along with other pollutants like dioxins and mercury vapor if the deceased had silver tooth fillings.
On top of that each cremation guzzles as much energy, in the form of natural gas and electricity, as a 500-mile (800 kilometer) car trip.
Enter alkaline hydrolysis, a chemical body-disposal process its proponents call "bio-cremation" and say uses one-tenth the natural gas of fire-based cremation and one-third the electricity.
C02 emissions are cut by almost 90 percent and no mercury escapes as fillings and other metal objects, such as hip or knee replacements, can be recovered intact and recycled.
"The target audience are those people who buy organic salmon rather than farmed salmon. Those that buy a hybrid rather than a regular car," said Paul Rahill, president of the cremation division of Matthews International Corp.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company that makes caskets and other funeral products is planning the world's first commercial launch of human alkaline hydrolysis in January at a funeral home in St Petersburg, Florida.
The technique is not new but has only been used to dispose of laboratory animals and medical research cadavers at a few institutions.
Its commercial use has been held up partly because of its cost -- the equipment is four times as expensive as that of traditional cremation -- and because state and provincial legislation may need to be changed, especially laws governing what can be disposed of in the water system.
Overcoming peoples' squeamishness when they hear the process described, what Rahill calls the 'ick' factor, is also an obstacle.
The Catholic Church in parts of the United States has objected, saying the practice "is not a respectful way to dispose of human remains".
In alkaline hydrolysis the body is submerged in water in a stainless steel chamber. Heat, pressure and potassium hydroxide, chemicals used to make soap and bleach, are added to dissolve the tissue.
Two hours later all that's left is some bone residue and a syrupy brown liquid that is flushed down the drain. The bones can be crushed and returned to the family as with cremation.
"This is the first new alternative to come into the (cremation) market in over 100 years," said Allen Bessel, president of Transition Science, a Toronto-based company that owns the exclusive rights to the process in Canada. It is targeting a commercial launch next spring.
"It is very quiet, there is no noticeable odor that comes from it and there is no emission. The concerns of area residents would be much less if (an alkaline hydrolysis machine) was being installed than if a crematorium was built," Bessel said.
Although Rahill says the public response has been mostly positive, an attempt to introduce human alkaline hydrolysis in New York state a couple of years ago was opposed by the Catholic Church and others, and the bill was dropped.
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