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Monthly Archives: November 2011

Enhancing energy access in South Africa

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

The South African setting for this COP is proving useful to improve understanding the combined importance of development and climate issues being address in an integrated way in the developing world. This has been reinforced in a number of side events I have attended that have highlighted that today in South Africa there are 12.5 million people living without access to electricity, that’s a quarter of the population, half the population live below the poverty line and the average life expectancy is just 50 years.

These sort of figures demonstrate why South Africa is turning to coal to support its electrification and economic development. Two new supercritical coal-fired power plants are currently being built in South Africa at Medupi and Kusile, which together will add more than 9GW of generating capacity to South Africa’s existing 63GW. Coal is a key component of electricity generation in South Africa, it currently supplies about 92% of electricity. Deploying more coal allows South Africa to quickly build its electricity generation capacity using existing South African skills. There are currently around 11,000 people employed at the Medupi construction site.

It’s these sort of figures that make you think about the importance of deploying coal fired power to address energy access challenges. Importantly these plants are using modern, highly efficient technology that emit significantly less CO2 than traditional coal fired power plants. More efficient coal-fired plants are a highly cost effective means of mitigating CO2 emissions, so South Africa is a good demonstration of how both energy access and climate actions can be addressed together.

November 30, 2011 | Categories: WCA, WCA at Durban

Progress for CCS in the CDM?

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Yesterday was the first meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). The meeting covered a broad range of issues, one of which is the inclusion of CCS in the CDM, which has been debated for a number of years. Last year’s COP in Cancun saw in-principle agreement to include CCS in the CDM subject to the development of a set of rules, known as modalities and procedures. As I mentioned in a previous post, those rules are being debated here in Durban. At the opening of SBSTA four countries spoke in support of achieving an outcome on the issues. There’s also a general feeling that the draft rules prepared by the UNFCCC Secretariat deal quite well with all the issues that needed to be addressed, and so could be agreed.

From the political perspective, there is also a block of countries who in the past haven’t supported the inclusion of CCS in CDM, but have been keen to see progress on forestry issues, known as REDD+. In the past, progress on these two issues has been tied together with a consensus being established to support progress on both issues together. Like those countries passionate about CCS in the CDM, there is very strong desire to see more progress on the REDD+ in this two week negotiation period. So it might once again be possible to see progress on both issues here in Durban.

Inclusion of CCS in the CDM would be a big win for the Durban conference given that expectations are so low at the moment. It would provide a means of supporting deployment of a technology in developing countries that is expected to contribute as much as 20% of the global CO2 mitigation effort.

November 29, 2011 | Categories: Climate change, WCA, WCA at Durban

Zuma opens climate talks

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Today saw the official opening of negotiations by South African President Jacob Zuma. A number of distinguished speakers addressed delegates including the Angolan Vice-President, President of Chad and outgoing COP President, Patricia Espinosa. Many emphasised familiar themes about the need for action and a balanced fair and credible outcome. The speeches by the Angolan Vice-President and President of Chad had strong words for the developed world, arguing they are responsible for climate change and must live up to their commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and take stronger action into the future.

South African President Jacob Zuma, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and others at the opening of COP17/CMP7 (Source: UNFCCC)

South African President Jacob Zuma, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and others at the opening of COP17/CMP7 (Source: UNFCCC)

Addressing the low expectations for the conference that clearly shows amongst delegates, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres channelled Nelson Mandela’s famous saying… “it always seems impossible until it is done”. Her opening remarks almost showed a sense of despair as to where the negotiations process is at, as she called on delegates to put aside politics and finish the task from Cancun and complete work on the technology mechanism and the framework for the Green Climate Fund.

President Zuma’s speech set the scene for the extensive work program facing delegates over the next two weeks, running through an extensive list of issues to be dealt with. Importantly though he summed by underscoring that climate and development actions can support each other arguing that “solving climate change cannot be separated from the struggle to eradicate poverty”. That message is already a key theme of the talks here in Durban.

Finally, a more solemn part of the day’s proceedings marked the sudden passing earlier this month of the chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Mama Konate. He had chaired SBSTA during many of the debates on the inclusion of CCS in the CDM and was widely respected amongst delegates and the broader climate change community.

November 28, 2011 | Categories: Climate change, WCA, WCA at Durban

Climate negotiations get underway

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director

Tomorrow marks the start of the next round of international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa. COP17/CMP7 will see negotiators continue their efforts to develop a new legally binding climate treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As we convene in Durban that treaty seems a long way off. During 2011 progress in negotiations has been slow and it seems that the appetite for a climate treaty is waning as governments focus their efforts on the continuing global economic crisis.

Expectations for anything significant coming out of the next two weeks of negotiations are low. As delegates arrive for the negotiations there is talk of an extension to the Kyoto Protocol or establishing a mandate for a comprehensive treaty to be agreed at a later date. But disagreements about the role of the Kyoto Protocol, how a future agreement should deal strike a balance between the role of developed and developing countries and climate financing are very familiar to observers of the negotiations and will be key themes again here in Durban.

On one of those issues, climate financing, it had been hoped earlier this year that the architecture for the Green Climate Fund announced at last year’s negotiations in Cancun could be signed off this year. As the negotiators arrive in Durban there are still obstacle to be overcome become the fund’s rules can be signed off. That could put its future on shaky ground, especially considering there is still a long way to go before targets for contributions to international climate financing are met.

Climate financing will be essential for supporting the deployment of technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Another key issue linked to deploying mitigation technology is the role to be played by carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. CCS will be an essential technology in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, contributing as much as 20% of the effort needed according to the International Energy Agency. Last year in Cancun governments agreed to include it in the Clean Development Mechanism subject to the development of rules to address concerns raised by some countries. Draft rules have now been published and will be debated in the next two weeks and there is some hope that they could be agreed here in Durban.

Development issues will be a key focus of this COP. The South African Government announced early in the year that sustainable development, particularly in Africa would be a key focus for these talks. Key to addressing the world’s development challenges is the fact that 1.3 billion people live without access to electricity around the globe and 2.7 billion don’t have access to clean cooking fuels. Supporting the deployment of modern energy in the context of action on climate change needs to be a key focus here in Durban. The IEA’s recent World Energy Outlook highlighted that half of the on-grid electricity needed to meet its “energy access for all” target will come from coal. There needs to be recognition that all energy sources are needed to meet the global energy challenge, and that this can be done in a climate compatible way. The same IEA projection said that meeting their energy access target would increase global emissions by just 0.8%.

WCA will be keeping a close eye on negotiations here in Durban and talking to governments, civil society organisations and industry partners on the role clean coal technologies will need to play if we are to integrate global climate and development priorities. WCA will be blogging daily to provide insight into the latest happenings here in Durban.

November 27, 2011 | Categories: Coal News, WCA, WCA at Durban

WCA Case Study: Peabody Energy completes Mongolia’s first mine restoration project

Peabody Energy in Mongolia

Peabody Energy in Mongolia

As the world’s largest, private sector coal company, Peabody Energy set a strong and sustainable precedent when, in 2010, it completed the first coal mine restoration project seen in Mongolia, setting best practice standards for environmental protection. One year after seeding, the restored site is a lush pasture, with waist-high forage, more than four times as productive as adjacent native grazing lands.

To find out how Peabody Energy achieved this, download the Peabody Energy Mine Restoration Case Study.

November 24, 2011 | Categories: Case Studies, Coal News, Sustainable Development

November issue of Ecoal

ecoalThe November issue of Ecoal is available to download from the website.

The latest Ecoal examines  Energy Poverty in Southern Africa. Also in this issue:

  • Financing Energy Access
  • Challenging the Water-Energy Relationship
  • CCS Financing
  • New IEA Chief Faces Challenges on Coal
  • Public Attitudes to Coal, CCTs and Energy Costs
  • Ecoal Reader Survey
  • Fact Focus No. 53

Read all the articles in full

November 11, 2011 | Categories: Coal News

Statement on Passing of Carbon Tax Legislation by the Australian Coal Association

Australian_Coal_AssociationToday the Australian Parliament has voted to handicap one of Australia’s largest exports at a time when uncertainty in the global economy once again threatens to reach our shores.

The Australian Coal Association (ACA) will continue to seek to have a number of issues addressed regarding the carbon tax package following the passing of the legislation today. The ACA supports action on climate change. However, the legislation passed today means a package of measures with fatal flaws becomes law.

No other coal exporting country imposes a tax on fugitive emissions from coal mining. In doing so, the carbon tax will make Australia’s coal industry less competitive internationally, without delivering any environmental benefit by way of global emissions reduction. Not only has the coal industry been excluded from transitional assistance as an emissions-intensive, trade-exposed (EITE) industry, despite meeting the government’s own criteria, but the coal industry’s exclusion is enshrined in the legislation. Section 145 of the main bill permanently locks coalmining out of the transitional assistance arrangements, regardless of future market conditions or the outcome of any Productivity Commission Reviews of the effectiveness and scope of the EITE arrangements.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has also been shut out of more than $10 billion in funding, including via the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Treasury modelling of the Clean Energy Future package acknowledges the essential role of CCS in meeting Australia’s emissions reduction targets while underwriting the nation’s energy security and national competitiveness. This exclusion of CCS is completely inconsistent with the national interest. It is inconsistent with the international recognition of the role of CCS by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and by international experts such as Dr Steven Chu, Secretary of the US Department of Energy. CCS should have the same access to a competitive process for this funding as the suite of other low emission technologies.

It is inescapable that Australia’s Clean Energy Future lies in a mix of low emission energy sources which include CCS.

The ACA will seek to promote better understanding of the case for CCS as a critical part of the global response to climate change. Australia has a strategic interest in the technology, not just for reducing emissions from coal and gas in power generation, but also from industrial processes such as steel and cement manufacturing and natural gas processing associated with liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

For further information please contact:

Jai McDermott
General Manager, Government & Media Relations
Australian Coal Association
Mobile: 0400 435 646

http://www.australiancoal.com.au/

November 8, 2011 | Categories: Coal News

Stronger action on CCS needed

Aleksandra Tomczak, European Specialist

Aleksandra Tomczak, European Specialist

Last week it was announced that the Longannet CCS project would not be going ahead. Longannet was the only remaining contender in the UK CCS competition. Shortly after this decision was made public, the UK Parliament Energy and Climate Change Committee published a report which also said that CCS technology is unlikely to be commercially available before 2020.

The UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary reassured that the UK government is still committed to demonstrating CCS and that the £1billion earmarked for CCS will be spent on alternative projects.  However, this does not change the fact that four years after the CCS competition was formally launched, the number of contenders went down from four to nil and the prospects for having four demonstration plants in the UK by 2020. This will make it even more challenging to ensure commerically viable CCS plants are available in the future.

Unfortunately the UK is not the only EU country where CCS is facing hard times. In Germany, the Parliament never adopted the long-awaited CCS law and there is still no legal framework for storing CO2. In Poland, the company in charge of the EU-funded CCS demonstration plant in Belchatow said it would not go ahead with the investment unless more public money is found to build and  operate the plant.

Globally, there are still only eight large scale integrated CCS projects and this number has not changed for the past few years. This is not surprising given that the R&D spending gap for CCS is larger than for any other low-carbon power generation technology. Renewable energy projects around the world benefit from feed-in-tariffs and other forms of generous support that CCS does not get. Yet, according to the IEA’s analysis of the next four decades of decarbonisation, CCS should provide greater CO2 emissions reductions than renewables if we are to tackle global CO2 emissions in the most cost effective manner.

We should have around 100 CCS projects operating by 2020 to meet the international climate objectives. If governments are serious about climate change it is also about the right time to get serious about funding CCS and get those first demonstration plants up and running.

November 1, 2011 | Categories: Climate change, Coal News
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