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More ambition needed for energy access
Milton Catelin, Chief Executive, WCA
The United Nations recently released the “zero draft” of the outcome document for the Rio+20 Earth Summit scheduled for June. There is some important material in the draft, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. In the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All the zero draft does include reference to a goal of universal access to modern energy. It also proposes doubling energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy in the mix.
But the draft does have some problems.
The first problem relates to the goal for universal access to modern energy. An important goal, but the wording lacks ambition. It refers to providing “a basic minimum level of modern energy services for both consumption and production uses by 2030”. If that basic level equates to what the IEA proposes in its Energy Access for All scenario then that means “use of a floor fan, a mobile phone, and two compact fluorescent light bulbs for about five hours a day. In urban areas, consumption might also include an efficient refrigerator, a second mobile phone per household and another appliance, such as a small television or a computer.” Critically, the definition also states “some other categories are excluded, such as electricity access to business.” (See the World Energy Outlook 2011).
Access to energy is essential to addressing the problems that cause poverty. After food and shelter, energy is one of the fundamentals of modern society. Without energy, people cannot access the opportunities provided by the modern world. The world needs to be much more ambitious about the level of energy it wants to see made available to those who currently struggle with little or no electricity access.
To meet that ambition we need to be much more realistic. And there comes the second problem with the zero-draft. Rather than focusing on all low carbon energy sources the draft idealistically promotes doubling the share of renewable energy in the mix. Renewable electricity is important in meeting the world’s energy needs but it can’t do the job on its own. To ensure that both energy access and environmental goals are met, all sources of low carbon energy will be needed – which means using fossil fuels, and particularly coal, with advanced generation and carbon capture and storage technologies. According to the IEA more than half of on-grid electricity additions needed to meet their Energy Access for All scenario will come from coal. (Again see the World Energy Outlook 2011).
That means when the world convenes for the Rio+20 conference in June it must look to all sources of low carbon energy to meet more ambitious energy access targets. Otherwise we risk leaving behind the 1.3 billion people who struggle without electricity out of the clean energy revolution.
Coal used in a 3MW wind turbine
Using publicly available figures from Vestas, a large manufacturer of wind turbines, WCA has calculated the amount of coal used in the production of offshore and onshore wind turbines as demonstrated by our new infographic below:
Impressive cuts in CO2 emissions from UK’s largest coal plant
Aleksandra Tomczak, European Specialist
Last week I visited the UK’s largest coal power plant in Drax, Yorkshire. It generates 8.5% of the UK’s electricity demand and is also one of the largest plants in Europe. At the same time, Drax managed to reduce its CO2 footprint by over 15% during the last 10 years thanks to plant efficiency improvements and co-firing biomass.
The efficiency of the plant has been improved by replacing all of the old turbines with new ones, using better materials and with a more optimised design. With these changes the plant is now 40% efficient, up from 36%, which means that GHG emissions from the plant went down by 8% to 12%.
In the early 2000s the management of Drax also decided to co-fire biomass with coal. Today 10% of the fuel burnt in Drax for electricity generation is renewable biomass. As a result the plant’s carbon footprint from fossil fuels was reduced proportionally, by 10%.
Drax has also recently applied for EU funding under the NER300 scheme to build a carbon capture plant and it is planned that CO2 captured from Drax will be stored offshore in depleted gas reservoirs in the North Sea. If CCS is successfully applied to the plant its CO2 emissions will be reduced by 90%, making it a low-carbon source of electricity.
Around 1000 TWh of electricity have been generated from coal in Europe annually since 1990 – showing that even in the EU, coal continues to play an important role in electricity generation. At the same time, CO2 emissions from coal can be reduced and Drax is leading the way forward.
Mixed signals from Durban
Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director
The Durban climate talks closed two days late in the early hours of Sunday morning to great acclaim on the adoption of the Durban Platform. The agreements reached in Durban foresee a second commitment under the Kyoto Protocol and a negotiating framework to achieve a new legal consensus on climate action by 2015, which would be implemented by 2020.
The coming weeks will no doubt see extensive analysis and debate over the outcomes from COP17. 2012 will see discussion commence under the auspices of the Durban Platform where no doubt the last minute compromises made to get the agreement through in the early hours of Sunday morning will complicate negotiations in the months ahead.
The real debate will revolve around the legal nature of the final outcome from the Durban Platform process. The definition of “legal force” will cause difficulties into the future, as will the provision that the result of the Durban Platform process will apply to all countries. The Kyoto Protocol applies to all countries, but then differentiates between developed and developing. Indeed while the Durban decision text lacks reference to the concept of “common but differentiated responsibilities” it is highly implausible to assume that developing countries will now see themselves on an equal standing with developed countries in terms of emission reduction responsibilities. The right of developing countries to grow their economies will still (as it should) be considered paramount and there will no doubt be continued expectation that the historic responsibility for climate change sits with the developed world who will still be expected to contribute the lion’s share of the emission reduction effort.
It seems likely all countries will consider they got what they wanted out of the final decision in Durban, but that does not mean they all agreed. 2012 will see the formalisation of the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol and it will set the ground-work for the agreement due to be reached in 2015. However many of the issues that have been under negotiation for the past few years remain on the table and these will need to be resolved for agreement to be reached in 2015, especially if that agreement is to be a more formal treaty rather than simply a set of legal decisions.
While there is a lot of triumphalism in the immediate aftermath of the conference, only time will tell whether the agreement reached can result in a treaty being agreed.
One a positive note, the decision to establish the framework for the Green Climate Fund is a huge positive, as is the specific reference to carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the governing instrument as having an identified role in the fund. Another plus for CCS from the conference was its inclusion in the Clean Development Mechanism, which was covered in a previous blog. Inclusion of CCS in the CDM and the Green Climate Fund will provide strong support for deploying this essential mitigation technology in the developing world.
COP17 week 2 begins
Benjamin Sporton, WCA Policy Director
We are now at the beginning of the second and final week of negotiations here in Durban. At this point it is difficult to see where we will end up by Friday. That’s not unusual for this stage of the conference however as many delegations are still finalising their positions ahead of the arrival of their Ministers for the beginning of the High-Level Segment tomorrow. There is a noticeable change in the atmosphere here as we get to the point where there myriad of issues talked through last week need to be brought together to get an outcome from Durban.
There are a number of big unresolved issues left to be addressed. Most significant among those is the role of the Kyoto Protocol and whether there will be a second commitment period. Clearly the European Union is interested in seeing a second commitment period agreed but it’s unclear whether their pre-conditions for that are being met and it’s not clear how many other developed countries might be willing to sign on.
There has been good progress on another major issue, the Green Climate Fund. Agreed in Cancun last year, it’s essential that the framework for this Fund is finalised here in Durban so that the money can start following to support climate financing in the developing world – it’s seems like that could happen here. Likewise there has been good progress on issues relating to technology and technology transfer, though it’s not yet clear if an agreement can be reached to move forward with the Climate Technology Centre and Network.
There continues to be a lot of talk about the potential for a road map towards a comprehensive future agreement, possibly to be in place by 2020. It seems that there is some sort of understanding beginning to emerge as to how that future agreement might come about, and this is being helped by the Presidency’s informal discussion process being held alongside the formal negotiations. This process, known as Indaba, has helped negotiators express their ideas in a more free and open way with a view to moving the process forward. It will be important for these discussions to move forward to address the pre-conditions many parties have so there can be an agreement to work towards a more comprehensive future treaty.
On a more specific issue, There has been good progress in the last week on CCS in CDM. Negotiators have been working very hard on this issue with five meetings being held in one day and one meeting lasting until 4.00am on Saturday morning! A text has now been agreed by the SBSTA that deals with most of the issues and concerns that were outlined in last year’s decision in Cancun. In fact there is only one issue left to be addressed, which is how to deal with climate liabilities should there be leakage at a storage site. This issue is being left to Ministers and it is important for a compromise on that to be reached here in Durban. A mechanism for financing this essential mitigation technology in developing countries being agreed in Durban will be a major achievement.
Climate negotiations get underway
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.
WCA Case Study: Peabody Energy completes Mongolia’s first mine restoration project
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 issue of Ecoal
The 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
Statement on Passing of Carbon Tax Legislation by the Australian Coal Association
Today 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/