WORLD: October 31, 2008
Oct 30 - A growing "carbon army" of environmentalists and bankers have
seized on political support to boost flagging economies to press for more
spending on climate-friendly projects.
In times of downturn, spending on infrastructure can prime demand, provide
work and avert depression, a lesson learned from US President Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s.
Following are four major projects to cut carbon emissions that would need a
large input of funding.
1. OFF-SHORE WIND
Britain said last week it had become the world's biggest operator of
off-shore wind turbines -- an emerging industry which includes only Denmark
and the Netherlands as serious contenders.
Britain's Carbon Trust said this month that the country could obtain a
quarter of its electricity from wind turbines planted in the sea floor by
2020, cutting carbon emissions by 14 percent and creating up to 70,000 jobs.
"It's all about timing, the key thing is what we can deploy by 2020," said
Tom Jennings, strategy manager at the Carbon Trust, a government-backed
group which advises the country and companies on how to cut emissions.
Britain faces a 13 gigawatt power generation shortfall by 2020, the Carbon
Trust says, equivalent to about 5 percent of the country's entire capacity
now, and an EU target to get a fifth of all its energy from renewable
sources by then.
Job creation would in part depend on nurturing non-existent wind turbine
manufacturing capacity in Britain, at present dominated by Denmark and
Germany which could also snap up installation and servicing jobs.
2. SOLAR THERMAL POWER
Solar thermal plants use mirrors to heat water and turn it into steam, which
drives a turbine like a conventional gas or coal-fired power plant.
An advantage over wind is that it is easier to store heat than electricity,
making it easier for solar thermal plants to send power to the grid at any
time.
The first large European solar thermal plant will be commissioned in
southern Spain within weeks. The 50-megawatt Andasol 1 plant cost 300
million euros, which the private sector will re-coup through a 25-year,
state-guaranteed power price.
Similar projects would each create up to 100 permanent jobs and 800 more
during construction, said Henner Gladen, co-founder of the project's
developer Solar Millennium.
Leaders of 43 countries from the European Union and the Mediterranean region
met in July to debate a possible "Mediterranean Solar Plan" to develop solar
power in the deserts of North Africa, and export the electricity to Europe.
3. CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) traps carbon dioxide produced by burning
coal and gas, then stores it underground, for example in depleted oil and
gas fields.
Commercial tests have stalled because of the expense and concerns that the
technology dents power plant efficiency.
Burning coal is the highest carbon-emitting method of generating
electricity, but also one of the cheapest and most readily available, so CCS
technology may be indispensable in the climate fight.
The fix may contribute one fifth of all carbon emissions cuts by 2050, says
the International Energy Agency (IEA).
An EU target to test up to 12 plants by 2015 would create $30 billion in
investment, said the author of an IEA report published last week.
"That would give Europe a head start in a much, much bigger market in the
future," said the IEA's Kamel Bennaceur, who calculated a global CCS market
worth up to $500 billion by 2050, equal to the entire global coal market
now.
4. ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Energy efficiency projects are the best value, because they save money by
cutting energy demand, after a big investment.
Efficiency measures could start now and help save jobs in the construction
sector suffering from collapsing prices.
Researchers McKinsey estimate that an annual $170 billion investment in
efficiency measures such as more efficient heating, cooling and lighting
would slash global energy bills by $900 billion annually by 2020.
The IEA estimates efficiency measures could contribute about two fifths of
all cuts in carbon emissions by 2050.
(Reporting by Gerard Wynn; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
