NGO Says Natural Gas Provides New Option for Immediate U.S. Carbon Cuts

/PRNewswire/ -- The American Clean Skies Foundation (ACSF), together with the UN Foundation and the Worldwatch Institute, today hosted a major side event in Copenhagen focusing on the ways natural gas -- and, in particular, the discovery of vast reserves of unconventional, or shale gas -- can accelerate the transition to a global low-carbon economy. Natural gas can generate electricity with 50-70 percent less CO(2) than coal per BTU. As is the case in the U.S., many other countries have also recently discovered very large new unconventional reserves of natural gas, primarily in deeply buried shale rock formations.

At the side event, ACSF released a comprehensive new working paper entitled "North America's New Natural Gas Resources and their Potential Impact on Energy and Climate Security." The paper shows why natural gas offers an immediate opportunity for climate action and describes the necessary U.S. legislative policies for pursuing this option. It is authored jointly by ACSF's CEO, Gregory C. Staple, a respected climate policy expert, and Dr. Joel L. Swerdlow, author of the noted National Geographic Society Book titled Nature's Medicine. Copies can be obtained from the Foundation at http://www.cleanskies.org/new-energy/. Event details can be found at www.cleanskies.org/pdf/acsf-agenda-121209.pdf

The Chairman and CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp., Aubrey K. McClendon, who also serves as Chairman of ACSF, and Mr. Staple offered the following statements:

"We are in the midst of a natural gas renaissance in the United States -- a renaissance that gives the U.S. an unprecedented means to demonstrate global economic and environmental leadership because gas is a much lower carbon fuel than coal or oil. The U.S. boom in shale gas production also provides a historic opportunity to unite the business and environmental communities, since it may create hundreds of thousands of new jobs while producing large environmental benefits.

There is no longer any debate about natural gas supply in America: we have an abundance of natural gas. Big shale plays have become a key part of America's effort to gain a much greater degree of energy security, and we hope that in the next decade shale gas will also help Europe and Asia do likewise. What we need now is the political will to make sure that natural gas-based fuel switching is a leading part of our country's CO(2) reduction strategy. The more successful we are at producing shale gas in North America, the more likely it is that the U.S. and the world will have a new roadmap for energy and climate security."

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Copenhagen Climate Conference Should Emphasize Building Sector to Fight Climate Change at Low Cost, Experts Say

/PRNewswire/ -- The Copenhagen climate change talks should focus on the existing building sector to create massive reductions in global emissions and create new jobs, say the authors of a new book on property retrofits around the globe.

"The existing real estate sector is typically overlooked at the climate change table," says Leanne Tobias, founder of Malachite LLC, a leading green real estate consultancy. "That stance neglects the UN's own findings on the best ways to fight global warming." Tobias and Malachite colleague George Vavaroutsos are the principal authors of Retrofitting Office Buildings to be Green and Energy-Efficient, the authoritative new guide to sustainable building renovation around the world.

Tobias and Vavaroutsos cite the UN's own data showing that building upgrades are among the most effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After reviewing over 80 studies on buildings and energy use, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change determined that cost-effective energy efficiency measures in buildings could reduce building emissions by 30% from the 2020 estimated baseline. This would eliminate approximately 3.2 gigatons of CO2 - or a 7 to 10 percent reduction in 2020 estimated total climate emissions.

Fundamental improvements include:

-- Improved building insulation
-- Higher heating and cooling efficiencies
-- Energy-efficient lighting
-- Reduced plug load through energy-efficient appliances


"These strategies rely on proven and easily-applied technologies, whose use would create jobs rapidly," Vavaroutsos says. The book tracks the use of building retrofits around the globe, including China, Australia, the EU, Canada and the U.S. Many projects paid back their costs in less than a year and almost all attained payback in five years or fewer. A sample of U.S. properties paid back their costs in approximately 17 months. "Our research shows that retrofitting buildings results in energy and water conservation, the creation of jobs, and better financial results for owners and investors," says Tobias.

"The Copenhagen Summit should take steps to incorporate property upgrades into the global carbon trading system," say Tobias and Vavaroutsos. To date, few retrofit projects have been undertaken under the Kyoto framework. As of October 2008, only ten projects to reduce building energy use were in the international carbon trading pipeline of over 4,000 projects.

The United Nations' Sustainable Building & Construction Initiative has recommended revising the global carbon trading framework to encourage additional participation by the property sector. Recommended reforms include developing national regulations and standards for building energy efficiency and/or sustainable building; developing common baselines and building benchmarks for carbon trading; and instituting the use of performance indicators, such as energy use per square foot or square meter for ongoing monitoring and verification.

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Mother Nature Network MNN to Report from United Nations' Climate Conference

/PRNewswire/ -- Mother Nature Network MNN http://www.mnn.com/ , one of the nation's fastest-growing Websites devoted to environmental news and information, announced today team coverage of the United Nations' Climate Conference in Copenhagen.

MNN blogger Karl Burkart, a recognized expert on green media and technology, as well as MNN student correspondent Mary Shindler, will be reporting live as ambassadors convene this week in the Danish capital to begin debating ways to protect and preserve the environment.

President Obama will attend and is expected to propose a U.S. emissions target in line with final U.S. energy and climate legislation. But the battle for a more sustainable, eco-friendly future goes beyond the key players and the main issues. Burkart and Shindler plan to dig beneath the politics to provide MNN readers a fresh, behind-the-scenes look at what's been called one of the most important international meetings in history.

"It's been suggested that more than half of Americans say they've never heard of cap and trade," said Burkhart, http://www.mnn.com/users/kburkart/profile, who has helped launch several eco-websites and has lectured worldwide on the subjects of digital media, technology, and the environment. "Mother Nature Network has gone the extra mile to raise awareness of cap and trade and other complex climate change issues, and as is MNN's mantra, we'll take all the academic, sophisticated notions from this conference and boil them down in a voice the average person can understand."

Added Shindler http://www.mnn.com/users/mshindler, a student at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.: "Communicating the urgency of the problem is critical. I want to do all I can to make sure the opinions of young people are heard at this conference. It is our generation and those to come, who will be most affected by climate change, and we should have a voice in what happens. As a reporter on site, I will ask the questions that young people want answers to, and dutifully report them to the MNN audience around the globe."

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Politicians to Drive on Straw-Based Bioethanol at the Climate Change Conference

/PRNewswire/ -- When world political leaders are being transported all over Copenhagen during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December 2009, environmentally friendly fuel will power their vehicles. Members of the Partnership for Biofuels, a co-operation between Danisco's biotech division Genencor, Inbicon, Novozymes and Statoil, have joined forces to deliver 2nd generation bioethanol for 40 of the cars that the Danish Foreign Ministry will provide during the conference. The cars will be supplied by Volvo.

"As host nation, Denmark is working to create a green and climate friendly Conference in December," says Svend Olling, Head of Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "We also plan to showcase to the conference delegates some of the new technologies that could contribute to solving the climate challenge. Second-generation bioethanol -- ethanol made from agricultural waste -- is one example of such a new technology. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is therefore happy that, in co-operation with the Partnership for Biofuels, it has succeeded in reserving some of the first litres of 2nd generation bioethanol produced in Denmark for the transportation of important guests within Copenhagen during the Conference."

Inbicon, the DONG Energy subsidiary that is commercializing its technology for converting straw into bioethanol, will produce the new fuel at its pilot plant in Denmark. With this technology, a car's emission of CO2 is reduced by 85% compared to that from conventional petrol. The fuel blend used at the Climate Change Conference will be E85, which is composed of 85% bioethanol and 15% petrol.

The Partnership's capabilities to produce 2nd generation bioethanol represents considerable potential in the climate debate, as conventional fuel such as petrol can be replaced. Second-generation bioethanol can be produced from residual products from forestry, agriculture and other industries.

Novozymes and Danisco will supply the enzymes for ethanol production and Statoil will provide the distribution facilities.

The development of the 2nd generation bioethanol technology represents an important business potential through the export of technological solutions and knowledge within the development and use of enzymes.

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