Monday, Oct 04, 2004
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Bangalore
By Divya Sreedharan
BANGALORE, OCT. 3. Over the next few months, a couple of "green energy projects" near the city could play a part in making the 2008 Olympics an ecologically sustainable one. The concept might sound fantastic but those working on "clean development mechanisms" (CDM) say the plan appears workable after Russia ratified the Kyoto protocol on climate change. Anandi Sharan from Women for Sustainable Development (WSD), a city-based non-governmental organisation that works on CDM and sells certified emission reductions (CER) to companies and countries, says China, the host of the next Games, has asked CO2e, a multinational company, to deal with this matter. CO2e has contacted WSD for buying CER for China. Under Kyoto protocol, countries such as India can sell CER to the developed world to help the latter "balance" the emission of toxic carbon (through burning fossil fuels) or CO{-2} (carbon dioxide). CER are sold per ton of CO{-2}. After Russia ratified the Kyoto protocol, the price of CER has gone up to nearly 10 Euros per ton in Europe. In the case of the 2008 Games, China wants CO2e to ensure that those flying in for the Olympics pay a small amount as extra fee on their air tickets. The money will go to WSD for building biogas plants at Bagepalli and Gudibanda (in Kolar district). These plants will offset the carbon emitted by Beijing-bound planes. Ms. Sharan says a biogas plant on 1 cu m will offset the pollution caused by 1 ton of CO{-2} a year. Last year, Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. (KPCL) got WSD's help in selling CER for its gasifier-based power plants at Bethmangala and Kushalnagar. The Finnish Government is to buy the CER at 3 Euros a ton of CO{-2} but the deal is not fully through. Ms. Sharan says KPCL can earn more by selling CER at its 1,400 MW Bidadi Combined Cycle Power Plant too. "This technology is clean, it only emits 0.6 kg of CO{-2} per unit of electricity. That is much lower than the average for power sold on the national grid." KPCL, she feels, needs to sell its power projects better to Western countries. Globally, carbon trading is big business. Recently, The Guardian newspaper reported that over 1 million tons of carbon got traded last month. And some predicted that annual volumes could grow to 8 million tons or even 10 million tons by end-2004. Now that Russia has ratified the Kyoto protocol, global international regulations for greenhouse gas emissions come into place from 2008. The United States, the world's single largest polluter, has refused to sign the Kyoto protocol.
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