Canada’s carbon registry should be operational by 28 May 2008, according to government officials. In early April 2008, Canada failed a UN review of compliance obligations under the Kyoto Protocol because it did not yet have an operational registry. Greece, another country to fail the review, has been barred from participating in the international trading […]

Solar, wind and other sources of renewable energy could double or even quadruple their presence in the United States in the next 10 years, an executive in General Electric’s energy finance unit has said. GE Energy Financial Services Managing Director of the renewable energy group Kevin Walsh said renewables could make up between 5% and […]

A proposal to implement a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system in the US will create demand for 800 million to 1 billion carbon credits, according to JP Morgan. A bill introduced by Independent Senator Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner, which comes up for debate on the full senate floor in June 2008, aims to reduce […]

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said that he sees a US plan to cap rising greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 as only a “first offer”, adding that all three presidential candidates had promised a tougher stance. De Boer also said that as the fight against climate change gets more urgent, the world will have […]

A summary of economic modelling shows emissions trading is an effective approach to reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions in the long term, according to NZ Climate Change Minister David Parker. The report summarises general equilibrium modelling undertaken by Infometrics for the government’s Emissions Trading Group and the Climate Change Leadership Forum convened in October […]

New Zealand’s emerging emissions trading scheme needs to be changed to protect natural resources, a government-commissioned report has said. While emphasising that the cap-and-trade scheme for greenhouse gas emissions will bring positive effects on NZ’s environment, it could have a negative impact on biodiversity and areas for renewable energy generation, warned researchers at Cawthron. The […]

Company reporting on energy use will be easier under a new streamlined system, the Federal Government has announced. Regulations governing the Federal Government’s Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) program will be amended from 1 July 2008 to enable participating companies to streamline energy use reporting with requirements under the new National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System. […]

Silicon Valley start-up company SUNRGI, says it has developed a “concentrated photovoltaic” system that uses lenses to magnify sunlight 2000 times, reducing the size of solar arrays and producing more energy in a smaller space. Other concentrated photovoltaic makers magnify sunlight about 500 times. SUNRGI says it can multiply that by four because it has […]

 Speaking notes for The Hon Greg Hunt MP Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water Address to the Climate Action Network Australia Conference Developing a Solar Continent 28 April 2008 Sydney   INTRODUCTION: THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE – BIG HISTORY Climate change is real, it is important, it is fundamental. Climate change presents us […]

Payments to Australian households to encourage the installation of solar panels look set to become a reality, as the Federal Opposition unveiled plans for a national feed-in tariff scheme. Feed-in tariffs pay households above the retail rate for electricity generated by solar panels. The Queensland and South Australian state governments have already approved their own […]