Group items tagged

"Buried in a little-noticed rule on microwave ovens is a change in the U.S. government's accounting for carbon emissions that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from power plants to the Keystone XL pipeline. The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $US38 ($A40) a metric ton in 2015 from $US23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops. (That figure also compares with the $A23 per tonne carbon tax in Australia.)"

"In its draft form, the fought-over paragraph declared that, to have the best chance of not exceeding the international target for global warming of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, society can burn no more than about 1 trillion tons of carbon, in the form of fossil fuels, and spew the resulting gases into the atmosphere. More than half that carbon budget has been used already. Moreover, the draft made it clear that if countries want to be safe and take account of other gases that are warming the planet, the carbon budget would be even less than a trillion tons. At the rate things are going, we will exceed the budget in 30 years or fewer."

"When we talk about greenhouse gases we usually talk about carbon dioxide. When media reports depict climate change, we invariably see the cooling towers of a coal power station. Which is fair, because carbon dioxide, or CO2, is the big one: nearly 75% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide. Most of those come from the energy sector and the combustion of fossil fuels. But there are other gases involved in the greenhouse story. Methane and nitrous oxide are also contributors to Australia's greenhouse gas account. And both have a much greater impact on the atmosphere in terms of global warming than carbon dioxide."

Really clear and informative discussion about carbon accounting methods -how the two main methods work. Which is most effective - trading scheme or carbon tax?

"The food the world wastes accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except for China and the United States, according to a United Nations report."

Developed by World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in collaboration with businesses worldwide, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides the foundation for more sustainable climate strategies and more efficient, resilient and profitable organizations.

"California's ambitious carbon cutting policies will start to pay off for residents of the state this month, as 'climate credits' of $29-40 are paid into their bank accounts. Customers of some of California's major energy firms will benefit from the payments, which will go to small businesses, schools, hospitals as well as individual customers."