A Response to Climate Change

Carbon Emissions from Aircraft and Ships

Whilst aviation and shipping along with other mobile and non-domestic sources were excluded from the emissions-reduction targets agreed under the Kyoto convention of 1997, there has been growing pressure to include these two sectors in any successor to the protocol. Their contribution to total global emissions is around 5%, is growing and should be easier to regulate than the much larger road sector (of which more in a later posting).

The Visualisation of Carbon Dioxide Emissions

A number of organisations and individuals are using interactive maps and web casts to visualise the emissions of carbon dioxide to great effect. The ones presented here show the results from two US endeavours: Purdue University's Vulcan Project and NatCarb.org.

The Cost of Abating Greenhouse Gases

The consultants McKinsey & Co have produced a number of reports that analyse the life cycle cost effectiveness and capital investment required for a wide range of technologies and practices capable of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

US Power Plant Emissions and CO2 Pipelines

Here are a couple of maps showing the location of power plants in the United States, the amount of carbon dioxide they emit and details of a network of pipelines that is currently used to transport carbon dioxide (in a liquefied state) to oil fields to enhance the recovery of crude.  

EU Directive for the Geological Storage of CO2

The outlines of a future legal framework for a new European Union (EU) directive on carbon storage are presented in the following paper by the German consultancy Eggers Malmendier. The paper points out that as the law currently stands in Europe, carbon dioxide cannot be stored in saline aquifers or depleted oil and gas reservoirs. For now, the only permissible option is to seek permission to dispose / utilise the gas as part of an enhanced oil or hydrocarbon gas recovery (EOR/EGR) project.