Energy efficiency adds up to $700 million savings for Australian business

Far from being onerous on business, research by the Energy Efficiency Council demonstrates the potential for business to reap big savings by reducing emissions.

CLAIMS that even small greenhouse gas targets will hurt big industry have been undermined by a government report that found basic efficiency improvements could cut national emissions and save businesses more than $700 million.

An assessment of 199 large energy users found improving efficiency could stop at least 6.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted - a 1.1 per cent cut in the national carbon footprint each year.

The energy savings could run 1.4 million homes for a year and give the companies an extra $736 million.

An industry group, the Energy Efficiency Council, said if the biggest companies improved efficiency by 15 per cent, national emissions would fall by nearly 5 per cent, saving billions in energy costs.

Now imagine if they had a ETS to trade those savings as carbon credits? At $25 a tonne that would put $160 million into their coffers.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Garnaut's post-Copenhagen waiting game - Plan B

Professor Ross Garnaut, Australia's answer to Sir Nicholas Stern, tells Tony Jones where the emerging global emissions trading market finds itself post-Copenhagen - we have entered the "waiting game":

And my proposal is a proposal that was in the original report. I call the situation we're in after Copenhagen, the waiting game.

We're waiting for international agreement to provide a basis for international trade in permits. I suggested then, and I think it's the right case now, in the waiting game, to legislate the ETS and to fix the price over a period.

Given the "Government has great difficulty in the legislation of the ETS", Garnaut has a Plan B. He laid it out in his 2008 report, The Garnaut Climate Change Review.

TONY JONES: Tony Abbott says the Government doesn't have a Plan B, if the Emissions Trading Scheme fails at every hurdle to be passed as legislation.

The Greens say that you actually have a Plan B and that Plan B is for a carbon tax - $20 a tonne - on the thousand top polluters in the country and that they, the Greens, are prepared to support it.

Is that in fact your Plan B?

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: That's the waiting game to which I referred. And which was...

TONY JONES: It wasn't- it wasn't quite clear because you referred to it as Emissions Trading Scheme legislation, but in fact, it seems to be that what the Greens are saying is this wouldn't be an Emissions Trading Scheme but a transition towards one. It would begin with two years of, effectively, a carbon tax.

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: I think they were referring to my waiting game proposal, which puts in place the ETS but has the regulator making permits available at a fixed price.

So you don't have trade in permits, you don't have fluctuations in price, until you've got an international agreement that allows us to set our targets with confidence and allows a confident basis for international trade in permits.

TONY JONES: Are you encouraged that the Greens appear to be prepared to vote in the Senate for that kind of Plan B approach and should the Government take that on board and start negotiating with the cross bench senators on that basis?

PROF ROSS GARNAUT: I'm not going to get in the middle of these complex Senate negotiations, Tony.

I think that the proposals I described as the waiting game are the best way forward in the circumstances after Copenhagen and anyone who supports them, I think, is on the right tram.

I'm glad Garnaut has a Plan B, one that sounds like the Australian economy can start now to absorb the cost, and begin seriously thinking of ways to turn it into profit when we reach the end of the waiting game. The two year deadline for the Emissions Trading Scheme legislation to become an Emissions Trading Scheme gives certainty to business to invest and encouragement to those people, families, and communities who have personally invested in minimising their footprint.

It's worth watching the interview. Is it just me or does Garnaut have a passing resemblance to Ian Plimer?

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

To watch in 2010: Tony Abbott vs Tony Abbott

Happy New Decade to you all... let's hope it is the decade when the world finally takes man-made climate change by the horns, and soothes the savage beast. Science tells us that we don't have much option but to do so.

Anyway, I'm back from brief but restful holidays, so that also means I'm back to watching the big game in town. I am not talking about the cricketing carnage that Pakistan is putting a discombobulated Australian Eleven through, but Tony Abbott's 'cost-free' formulation to gazump global warming, which he promised for February.

Paul Daley pings Abbott's dilemma in today's SMH :

It seems most unlikely at this stage that the Government will win sufficient support for the legislation when it is again presented to Parliament next month.

Between now and then Abbott must formulate a policy to reduce Australia's carbon production that is not based on the emissions trading model he so opposes.

It's no easy task. He must convince voters that the Liberals under a big-C conservative leader such as himself can be genuine advocates for “green” measures to reduce our carbon output. Such green measures, of course, depend largely on heavy regulation – and government regulation is the enemy of both progressive and conservative Liberal-ism.

On human-made climate change – about which Abbott is something of an avowed sceptic – he is proposing what one Liberal colleague describes as “a type of progressive conservatism”. The Government will come out all guns blazing to discredit whatever policy he unveils as an alternative to the carbon reduction scheme come February.

Abbott's climate change policy will, however, be primarily about contrasting himself with both Rudd and the Government.

So we see here how Abbott is his own worst intellectual enemy, a conundrum of confused contradictions:

He belittles the government's proposed emission trading system by wrongfully calling the proposed free-market mechanism a "Great Big New Tax". Yet the only other effective way to conceivably achieve carbon emissions containment is via a Great Big New Tax of the kind proposed by NASA's James Hansen in his letter to the Obamas.

As the article states, Abbot would need to impose onerous legislation on business and the general population in order to achieve his cost-free containment, in contradiction to the stated principles of the party of small government. To draw up his scheme, People Skills has already hinted that he intends to pilfer the green ideas from Malcolm Turnbull, the man he deposed... for his green ideas. The man who once considered joining the priesthood now reduces peer-review science to a "green religion", and reckons his salvation will come from our farmers who are going to bio-sequester carbon in their soils.

I am so confused that I can't decide whether Anthony Abbott is a clod or a sod.

Perhaps the pathology of Abbot's illogic helps us explain how he has now painted himself into his colourful corner as he waits for February's bell: if, as he claims, "climate change is crap", then wtf is he doing coining a policy to combat it?

No explanation there, unless you now see that Abbott's famed grasp merely extends to media grabs; that our pugilistic Mad Monk is the Pontiff of Populism, not sound policy.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Dissecting the brain of an AGW denier #2

This brain belongs to Cory Bernardi:

They said ...

Senator Cory Bernardi, Liberal, South Australia: "This ETS [emissions trading scheme] will also fundamentally change the way our legal system operates. It reverses some important legal concepts such as presumption of innocence, the right to remain silent, the burden of proof and protection from self-incrimination." Altogether after me: Huh?

Peter Fitzgerald

OK, this is the same CPRS bill that has practically caused the once proud Liberal opposition to split in two as they try to process it. Pretty strong magic, huh? Imagine what it can do if enacted? Maybe gradually help us gain control over the rate of co2 we put into the atmosphere? Just a passing thought.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Crime will organise to go green

So suggest sooths spotted by Desmogblog.

Just in time for the rocked Australian biker club scene, desperate as they are to rehabilitate their public image after the Sydney Airport brawl showed them up to be the mongrels they are.

Future Banditos and Notorious meetings to resolve grievances will be so much more in line with public sensibilities: The fat biker wog turns to the skinny biker wog, "You fucked with my cousin's carbon credits." And the other says, "I didn't for shit, hey", and he pulls out an ETS: CHK CHK BOOM.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Personal carbon trading

Was this the future being debated in the British House of Commons by the Environmental Audit Committee, last month?

A House of Commons committee suggested last week that the U.K. Parliament create a personal carbon-trading scheme for all citizens of the United Kingdom. It was the strongest statement yet by any government in favor of an individual cap-and-trade system for buying and selling greenhouse gas emissions.

Personal carbon trading would provide a set "carbon emissions allowance" to each citizen and establish a national carbon budget. Individuals would then be able to trade their carbon credits with one another on a designated carbon market if they chose to purchase additional energy or to partake in activities that would exceed the allowed emissions limit, such as riding a plane.

Seems logical to me, but there will be adjustment pains. Seems logical to Tim Yeo, the committee chairman, when he told the BBC,"It's the single best instrument to encourage every man, woman, and child in the country to make a low-carbon choice every day. The problem with green taxes is they tend to bear most heavily on poor households. This way poor households will be able to make cash rewards for their decisions."

America's $1 trillion carbon market twelve years away

clipped from environment.newscientist.com The new US president will most likely see in the emergence of a colossal carbon trading market, worth $1 trillion a year by 2020, according to a report released on Thursday. Another report, also out this week, estimates the US could be trading $600 billion in pollution credits annually by 2015. Either way, "it will be the largest environmental market of its kind," says Tiffany McCormick Potter, senior analyst for Point Carbon, which produced the 2015 estimate. According to Point Carbon, the European carbon trading scheme totalled $42 billion in 2007. The 2020 estimate comes from New Energy Finance, another financial analysis firm which focuses on environmental markets. Both firms have this week published independent reports on the future of carbon trading in the US.

Emissions reductions — aspirationals miss the binding obvious

Condoleeza Rice sounds as convincing a leader on climate change, as she is on the Palestinian crisis. But at least she knows that others regard her warily:

THE US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has tried to assuage European and green group concerns the US is trying to hijack the United Nations process for developing a new global deal on climate change. "I want to stress that the United States takes climate change very seriously," Dr Rice said at the start of a two-day conference. "Managing the status quo is simply not an adequate response."

Oh goodie... they are now up to speed in Washington. So how to they plan to respond?

But she repeated that the US did not support binding targets on individual countries - a key difference between the US and European position.

Oh — back to the status quo. "Yip, yip, yippy", yapped her lap-dog Downer-Under, issuing discombobulated climate policy like flying fur-ball:

Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, predicted that Australia, like the European Union, Canada and Japan, would ultimately embrace binding targets. This was because it was essential to make the Coalition's proposed carbon trading scheme work, he said. "In our case, the way the binding target will work, we'll set next year an aspirational goal, then to make that work, we have to get the emissions trading scheme into operation and you have to have binding targets under an emissions trading scheme, otherwise you can't create a price for carbon," Mr Downer said.

The South Africans don't sound too convinced by the conviction of the Kyoto Protocol hold-outs.

Critics have questioned whether the US approach of voluntary targets would work. "We appreciate the sentiments expressed by Secretary Rice, but the devil is always in the detail," said South Africa's Environment Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk.

The Europeans are wary of a process that circumvented the United Nations. They were right about Iraq; they are right about climate change. A target is not a target if it is not binding. If it is not binding, if it is an aspirational target, it is a mere wish.
Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Carbon trading junction up ahead

The Australian Federal Elections 2007 will bring us to a crossroad. With the Howard Government committing to a cap and trade approach to developing a carbon market, aimed to be established by 2012, we now have choice at the election. In this article Steve Burrell of the SMH surveys the terrain up ahead.

clipped from www.smh.com.au Welcome to the Carbon Rush of the 21st Century, a potential bonanza that, globally, could make the 19th century gold rushes look small by comparison. But the precise path to the future - and the biggest winners and losers - will depend a lot on who wins the election later this year. While both sides now agree on the broad framework for solving the problem, they differ on crucial aspects, creating a new layer of uncertainty for business at least for the next year or so. Crucially, neither side has specified their short and medium-term targets for reducing CO2 - and won't until after the election. And that means the likely carbon price that will emerge is difficult to estimate even if you could predict the uncertain election outcome. But the price that emerges is central to which of the alternative technologies become economically viable, as well as the broad path of investment in existing generation technologies. Global Warning Climate Change Energy

A Jury Of Your Pyrrhus

G8 climate deal is failure or triumph, depending whom you ask.

clipped from www.grist.org lifted from gr!st Yesterday, the G8 agreed to a climate deal it's been fine-tuning for weeks. It notably did not commit to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's goal of cutting greenhouse-gas emissions 50 percent by 2050, but it did say countries would "consider seriously" adopting such a goal. Thanks, George! The agreement also endorses Bush's plan to bring developing countries to the negotiating table, but confirms that the U.N. is the best place to work out future climate treaties. Many observers were outraged that the U.S. had once again purple-nurpled the world, but others tried to look on the bright side. "While Europe has been itching on the starting blocks for the past decade, Bush has been sulking in the changing room," said one European policy adviser. "At least he is now on the track." Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, chief climate adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, offered this take: "The United States is now on a bandwagon they cannot stop." Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Will Howard be alive to trade carbon?

Yesterday winter officially began in Australia, yet here I am still wearing me favourite t-shirt and blogging away in me favourite grundies. You, dear reader, should consider yourself seriously honoured.

So it is with a certain sense of irony that I witness that our prime global warming denialist, Prime Minister John Howard, release his Report on the Task Group on Emissions Trading into such an under-dressed climate. While his unprecedented acknowledgement of the need for emissions trading is a radical departure from his previous stances, and a welcome one, it is still hard to throw off those nagging doubts sparked by those within own party referring to him as The Lying Rodent.

ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT OF PRIME MINISTER HOWARD’S
TASK GROUP ON EMISSIONS TRADING

by Wadard

1. The PM's terms of reference are biased towards sustaining coal and uranium exports.

“Australia enjoys major competitive advantages through the possession of large reserves of fossil fuels and uranium. In assessing Australia’s further contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, these advantages must be preserved.
Against this background the Task Group will be asked to advise on the nature and design of a workable global emissions trading system in which Australia would be able to participate. The Task Group will advise and report on additional steps that might be taken, in Australia, consistent with the goal of establishing such a system."

2. Some of the submissions by interested parties are confidential, that is, not publicly available for scrutiny.

Why so? Is transparency not important? The list of 'non-confidential' submitting parties is here:

3. The Task Group Committee comprises of senior bureaucrats, mainly economists, and fossil-fuel industry representatives, not scientists or renewable energy experts.

The Bureaucrats:
David Borthwick – Economist and former member of the Office of the Prime Minister; Ken Henry - Secretary to the Treasury in 2005; Michael L’Estrange - secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Mark Patterson - the chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2001).

The Fossil Fuel & Industry Representatives:
Peter Coates - coal miner Xstrata; Tony Concannon - International Power managing director; Chris Lynch - BHP Billiton executive director; John Marlay - Alumina Chief Executive; Margaret Jackson - chairwoman of Qantas; John Stewart - National Australia Bank.

So honestly - do I really need to take this analysis further?

If the godfathers of the local Mafia and the Yakusa, the snakeheads of the Chinese Triads, as well as the financial manager from the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan opium franchise, their Russian Crime Syndicate partners, and the Columbian Cocaine Cartels were all brought together at the taxpayers' expense to form a working group to develop a framework to combat drug trafficking, and they sought submissions from the Banditos, Nomads and Hells Angels motorbike gangs, amongst others, would you read their report with confidence or amusement?

Well, that's how I feel about this task force's report, which you can download here and judge for yourself. Let me know what you think.

I don't like being so cynical, but Howard's track record in the integrity stakes makes Judas look like Jesus. I may be wrong to be so dismissive; it's just that they want to wait to 2012 to kick-off their carbon trading. That's five years away; Given Howard's advanced age I wonder whether he is having a lend of us all?

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Project Andromeda reaches for the stars

Clumsily, I accidentally clicked one of the Google Ad links (I'm not supposed to on my site) but, happily, the action redirected me to The Andromeda Project:

Project Andromeda™ aims to measure, offset and reduce greenhouse gas emissions for large numbers of businesses in Australia at low cost. It is a call to action, an education strategy and a networking opportunity that will help businesses save money, sell more, and make staff proud.

We will provide a detailed explanation of the new rules of business in the climate change era. We aim to help make Australian businesses part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem; to make Australia a great place to do business, and to set an example to the rest of the world. Project Andromeda™ is a transparent, accountable and authentic business offering real value for money, in partnership with the world‘s best professionals.

I discovered that one of those partners is the ANZ Investment Bank - coincidently my bank - they are providing the carbon credits to businesses participating in the scheme. It is seriously gratifying that the business outreach for global warming mitigation has begun in earnest with projects like Andromeda. All I know about Andromeda is that it is the nearest star to Earth. The long road to success only begins when we reach for the stars. Congratulation to participating companies, and to the sponsors and organisers. My liquid dollar is much biased toward you.

Global Warning Climate Change Energy

Carbon dollars help individuals fight climate change

Carbon rationing with penalties for private citizens who exceeded quotas might be needed to tackle climate change, according to the former NSW premier, Bob Carr.

clipped from www.smh.com.au Carbon credit debate gets personal A range of regulations and carbon trading schemes were emerging in Britain and the US, but rationing an individual's carbon use was one of the most interesting ideas, Mr Carr told a business conference in Sydney yesterday. Speaking as chairman of an advisory council for think tank the Climate Institute, Mr Carr said the British Labour Government and the Conservative Party Opposition were taking the idea seriously. "Here is the most exciting concept. That is, the idea that every citizen be given a carbon credit," he told the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. "Every time you buy fuel at the garage or pay a gas or electricity bill or get on a plane, carbon will be deducted from your account.

Global Warning Climate Change

Let them eat my gasses

A few weeks ago the ruling Australian Liberal Party dealt themselves into the upcoming green elections by outsourcing our environmental policy to Indonesia: :::[The Road to Surfdom]

So, Malcolm Turnbull and his boss, The Rodent*, have suddenly come out with this policy to pay $A200m to encourage developing nations in the southern hemisphere with significant rainforest, such as Brazil, Australia and Indonesia, to stop logging them.

An audible gasp went around the country. After ten years of aggressive denial, these people are now really serious about combating climate change, even if they won't protect our own significant rainforests.

Today, at the annual Council of Australian Governments meeting we found out just how serious: :::[SMH]

The rift over how to tackle climate change widened today with Prime Minister John Howard refusing to back a plan by state premiers to set up a national carbon emission trading scheme.

At the end of their annual Council of Australian Governments meeting, Mr Howard told a news conference he would "put jobs and economic opportunity ahead of targets" on greenhouse gas reductions.

The states and territories want emissions trading operational in 2010 and backed up by legislation in 2008. They want Australia's emissions cut by 60 per cent by 2050.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks, who has been leading the state's reform campaign, voiced his disappointment.

The premiers of every single state and territory of the Commonwealth of Australia at last want to work together with the Federal Government to do something about the challenge of the aeon, and Howard says 'no', offering his typical platitudinous, vapid crap as the reason. Poor guy just does not get that the economy is but a sub-system of the environment. Poor guy just does not want a job after November.

UPDATE

John Howard has not lost all the wiles. He dealt himself back into the game at the last moment: :::[SMH]

John Howard softens his trenchant opposition to a greenhouse gas emissions trading and target reduction scheme.

He did the right thing, if the Internet poll by the SMH is anything to go by:

Reader Poll

Climate Change
Who is right about Climate Change?
The states who want a carbon trading scheme and targets - 73% The Prime Minister who won't put targets ahead of jobs and the economy - 16% Neither side - 11% Total Votes: 3451

* Note for non-Aussie readers. One of John Howard's own Liberal Party senators once referred to him as "the Lying Rodent", and, bizarrely enough, it stuck.

Global Warning Climate Change Environment Science CO2 Carbon Sink Earth Australia Kyoto Energy