Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
“Post 2012″ strikes fear in carbon market players
No pun intended but for the world’s carbon community, times are looking a little black.
The global financial crisis, or GFC as it is being called this week during Australia’s largest ever carbon market gathering, is deeply troubling many participants. But a larger, more worrying issue remains “post 2012″.
This is when the Clean Development Mechanism under the current phase of the U.N. Kyoto Protocol runs out, along with the hundreds of CDM projects already approved and the 3,000 still awaiting approval by a U.N. board.
U.N. talks at the end of next year aim to agree on a broader replacement for Kyoto from 2013 and market players are hoping those talks don’t fail. Already there are fears that some rich nations will use the financial crisis as an excuse to say now is not the time to be negotiating tougher emissions curbs that might hurt industry and cost jobs.
What’s a green winery to do?
When Napa Valley winery Far Niente resolved to embrace solar power, it faced a big hurdle: how to install ground-mounted panels without sacrificing acres of valuable Cabernet vines.
Enter the latest solar innovation — solar panels that can float on the water rather than being mounted on the ground.
First Solar chief thinks solar backpacks are “cool”
Solar power company First Solar may be worth $19.6 billion, but its CEO is still tickled by the latest “green” consumer products.
Take solar backpacks, for instance. The trendy totes boast photovoltaic solar panels that generate power for consumers to recharge their iPods, digital cameras or other electronic devices.
