COP15 Day 2

To make sense of all the information coming out of the COP15 confence in Copenhagen, Flow will be running a series of daily blog entries to keep you up-to-date on the latest news from the largest climate change event in the world. Today is day two of the 12-day conference.

Certainly today’s most talked-about Copenhagen moment was US President Barack Obama’s announcement that greenhouse gases would now be considered a health hazard, giving the Environmental Protection Agency the power to to regulate industrial emissions. Given the difficulties of negotiating domestic GHG regulation (let alone on the global scale that the Copenhagen delegates are tackling), the fact that a single body in one of the world’s largest two emitters has the power to drastically affect industrial policy is a major coup. But while the US is certainly one of the most looked-at participants in the conference, it joins 191 other countries in the conference’s meetings.

Among others, today’s meeting topics include “China and the world: Solving climate change through practical, on-the-ground collaboration,” “Trade liberalisation and its role in technology diffusion: A look at the renewable energy, buildings” and “Developing Country Implementation Strategies and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)”. Every day of the confernece also includes a variety of side events, including an update from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on its renewable energy reports and a four-part series on low carbon scenarios in Denmark, France, Germany and the UK. Renault’s Zero Emission Transportation – Taking a Step Towards the Future in Copenhagen, will be taking place in parallel with the conference today, highlighting zero-emission vehicles.

COP15 Day 3

Going boldly together where few have gone before

Canada and its 29 partners in the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) are being challenged by the Paris-based body to have the political moxy to put carbon taxes in place.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria threw down the gauntlet during a news conference he called to release the Economics of Climate Change Mitigation, an OECD study which is a key element of preparations for the COP15 in Copenhagen in early December.

Among other things, the report urges developed countries to at least double their targets for reducing greenhouse gases and Gurria said it provides the analytical support and economic rationale to help decision-makers at the Copenhagen summit to strike a practicable deal on climate change.

In its report, the OECD says carbon taxes must be part of a broader strategy for Copenhagen. The current average OECD commitment is for a reduction of 8-14 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, well short of the 25-40 per cent cut the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is necessary to keep global average temperatures from rising by more than two degrees Celsius.

Calling on OECD member governments to coordinate support for taxes as well as a cap-and-trade approach which would effectively put a price on carbon, the OECD says complaints about costs of carbon taxation are unjustified.

It concedes that a global carbon market would have a four per cent negative effect on global gross domestic product by 2050, but Gurrie pointed out that over the same period, GDP growth is projected to grow by more than 250 per cent.

Gurria said “action to mitigate climate change must be taken at a cost that countries can afford.” That was possible only with “a cost-effective set of policy instruments, with a focus on carbon pricing” applied as broadly as possible to all emission sources. He admitted the unlikelihood of getting a global carbon market overnight but said some countries may need to take the lead despite understandable concerns about their international competitiveness.

He said these first movers also worry about carbon leakage, the risk that emissions reductions in some countries would offset by increases elsewhere. ”Developed countries need to take the lead in reducing emissions, but the most cost-effective way to tackle carbon leakage would be for the largest emitting emerging economies to join them and, later, all developing countries.”

Laying it on thick

So, you’ve heard about oil sands in a documentary or on the news. You’ve heard, perhaps, in conversation or classroom debates, about its impact on the environment. Perhaps you even know some people who have packed their bags and headed to Alberta to get their own nugget of black gold and share in the wealth. But this Texas, er…Alberta tea doesn’t come up from the ground like a bubbling crude as Jed observed in the famous classic, Beverly Hillbillies.

Instead, it comes in the form of bitumen… gummy, gooey and thicker than molasses in January. To make matters worse, it’s mixed right in with the sand, presenting a grueling challenge for industry. How to separate such an unruly brew from the ground is for another story, but this is a tale about the origins of bitumen’s thick skin and how we toil to tame this intractable taffy of the turf.

Thicker than peanut butter, but not quite as tasty, Athabasca bitumen has a viscosity, or resistance to flow, of more than 500,000 centipoise (cP) at room temperature.

Now, with every story you have some sort of conflict, a rising action, a climax and a conclusion. The conflict here is bitumen’s high viscosity, and the implications it has on this resource’s means of production and impact on the environment.

That’s a heavy story man

A penetrating glimpse inside the molecular structure of bitumen reveals the cause behind its thickness. Are you ready for it? Bitumen is thick because… (insert drum roll)… it is heavy.

You may have heard the term “heavy oil” before, but few people know what this actually means. What makes heavy oil heavy? What makes oil sands heavier than conventional oil or methane?

Essentially, when we say a certain oil is heavy, what we’re really saying is that it is carbon heavy, meaning that type of oil has longer and more complex carbon chains than other types of oil. Light crude oil, such as conventional Alberta crude, contains many small, hydrogen-rich hydrocarbon molecules whereas heavy crude oil contains many large carbon-rich hydrocarbon molecules.

As you can see, the antagonist in this particular story is the carbon molecules.

So, in order to bring bitumen to a viscosity that refiners can actually work with, you have to upgrade the bitumen, which essentially means, getting rid of some of the carbon, resulting in a product that is less thick. In fact, when you consider the extra process bitumen has to go through in order to get rid of all that heavy carbon, you can see where the environmental conflict lies. Additional energy is required to separate bitumen from the sands and upgrade it. As well, heavy crude oil requires more refining to transform it into transportation fuels. And of course, more energy equals more greenhouse gas emissions if the energy being used to power the extraction, upgrading and refining processes is natural gas.

So the rising action in this story has everything to do with the rising demand for cheap energy around the world, the important role of oil sands in meeting that demand and the unrelenting challenge of reducing greenhouse gases. The plot starts to thicken as the bitumen thins because at each stage of carbon removal, the viscosity of the bitumen becomes less and less, making it easier to work with. But the overall energy used becomes more and more. It’s really annoying.

Technology is starting to change all that. Scientists are exploring ways to reduce the energy used in oil sands extraction and upgrading. One approach in the pipes is adding bacteria to bitumen deep underground, converting it into methane, which is easier and less energy intensive to extract. Another in-situ approach of extraction is Toe to Heel Air Injection (THAI) which involves injecting air into the ground, causing combustion. As the bitumen heats it becomes less viscous allowing it to flow towards the well. As it flows it leaves some of the heavy carbon behind in a process called “coking”. Coking usually happens above ground as part of the upgrading process but doing it underground results in a lighter product that can be transported through pipelines, is partially upgraded and results in fewer lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.

Of course, another approach is to use renewable energy to power any or all of these processes. The challenge here is that renewable energy is not as cheap and bountiful. But as society and governments evolve towards increased sustainability, that could soon change.

Although renewables are rapidly being embraced across the globe, it is important to recognize the degree to which we depend on oil, even as we make the transition to greener alternatives. Sure we can heat our homes with solar and earth energy, and derive electricity from nuclear, wind and hydro, but there remains a conundrum surrounding our cars. Solar, nuclear, wind and hydro-powered cars are still a long way off. Sure we have hybrids, but for the most part they still run on gasoline and electric cars have very limited ranges and low speeds. As well, a lot of electricity used to power them is coal or natural gas fired thermal electricity.

Now, every good story must have at least a few literary devices, and the most delicious of them is irony. We labour to make bitumen and the resulting crude products less viscous right from the extraction phase (especially with in-situ extracting techniques) through to the upgrading and then refining phase. The most premium petroleum products are the highly refined and less viscous transportation fuels such as jet fuel and gasoline. Ironically, lubricating oil, which is a highly refined product, needs to be more viscous so as not to ruin the engine. So after all this work to make it less viscous, additives are put in to make sure it retains its viscosity.

Because the oil sands and its continually evolving technologies are a work in progress, this story is too. There are yet so many variables that could affect the outcome, such as the direction of the economy, incentive to invest in research and development and carbon pricing laws. While the U.S. is introducing a tough stance on carbon emissions through its Green Energy and Security Act, Canada is waiting to see what happens before coming up with anything definitive.

But the rest of the world isn’t holding its breath. Already the wheels are in motion to come up with a global carbon pricing scheme in an effort to reduce world greenhouse gas emissions and to ensure an even playing field for renewable energy to compete in the global energy market. It may be safe to predict that the outcome of the upcoming conference of world leaders in Copenhagen this December could serve as a climax for this story.

Most importantly, however, is the conclusion and that rests in the hands of energy consumers as well. Mitigating climate change is a heavy topic and while many remain thick headed towards a potentially warming planet, many more are working towards a positive conclusion for the planet – one where energy, the economy, the environment and its inhabitants live happily ever after.

Ethanol regulations

There are 12 ethanol producers in Canada spanning the country from the Prairie Provinces to Quebec. Doesn’t sound like very many, does it? Maybe not, but these companies are responsible for the production of 1390 million litres a year (MMly) of ethanol. 

From the corn-based ethanol plants in Ontario to the wheat and corn plants in the Prairies, the diversity of raw material reflects the availability of local materials. The smallest of the country’s producers, the Iogen Corporation located in Ottawa produces a mere 2 MMly. The country’s largest producer of ethanol is GreenField, whose four plants in Ontario and Quebec produce a total of 496 MMly. 

Why is this important? 

Recent government regulations are requiring refiners to include at least 5 per cent ethanol in their gasoline by September 2010. This 5-per-cent increase would create a market for approximately two billion litres of ethanol annually, a substantially higher volume than what Canada is currently churning out. 

Building new plants and creating jobs sounds great, but there’s a catch: ethanol can be as ‘dirty’ as gasoline. The biofuel industry has been highly controversial because deforestation and increased land cultivation are causing increased greenhouse gas emissions. 

All Canadian producers use natural gas in their production process, which cause fewer emissions than coal-fired ethanol, which actually creates 34 per cent more emissions per gallon of fuel than gasoline producers over a 30-year period. 

The Canadian government claims that grain-based biofuels can reduce emissions by 40 per cent compared to gasoline. But Natural Resources Canada’s calculations do not include indirect land use emissions. 

Over the longer term, as the one-time impacts of greater land cultivation fade, it is estimated that corn ethanol using natural gas will produce 16 per cent fewer emissions than gasoline. 

So is it worth it? Only time will tell.

Carbon offset market boom

In slow economic times, business is booming in the carbon-offset market. Perhaps it’s because the American Clean Energy and Security Act requires greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced 17% by 2020, and 83% by 2050.

Voluntary carbon-offset programs have traditionally been available to major companies, corporations and businesses. Essentially, they’re allowed to exceed emission targets if they buy credits from an “overperforming” company. Now, Joe Consumer can get in the game as well.

My Emission Exchange is a free carbon-offset marketplace where members tally their carbon footprint and actually sell carbon credits to bidding companies, all of which is pocketed by the member. Calculate your current carbon footprint on their handy Express Calculator.

 
It doesn’t really matter what it is right now; your goal is to reduce it by 10% annually. If you can do that, you earn carbon credits which can be sold at market value. What better way to encourage people to consider the effect their actions has on the environment, than to pay them to correct them? Governments have been slow to realize this, so it took a group of intrepid entrepreneurs to take things into their own hands.

Best of all, the benefits go directly to those doing their best to effect change.

The eco-impact of spam mail

Monty Python was dead wrong: spam is neither lovely, nor wonderful.

 
Spam e-mail is one of the four horsemen of the e-apocalypse. Who hasn’t received unwanted ads for male “enhancement,” college degrees, or sales in stores located in another time zone?

It turns out, spam email isn’t just annoying, but harmful to the environment. McAfee Inc. released the results of a study of the effects of spam, and it ain’t pretty – spam actually contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

As a major antivirus software developer, McAfee knows a thing or two about spam. “The Carbon Footprint of Spam” indicates the energy consumed by creating, sending, and eventually dealing with spam is significant. Annually, it amounts to about 33 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh).

That’s a big and somewhat abstract number, so think of it this way: that’s around as much electricity as 2.4 million homes consume each year. If you prefer your numbers small, McAfee discovered that each individual spam message (indirectly) produces 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide.

That’s not much, you might think – the equivalent of driving your car one metre. But that’s for a single spam message, sent to one inbox. The annual volume of spam, according to the study, is the equivalent of driving around the planet 1,600,000 times.

What does all this mean? Quantifying the real environmental impact of spam may assist or even propel efforts to hold those responsible….well, responsible.

Annoying people isn’t (currently) a crime, but needlessly damaging the environment is.