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China has seen great economic development over the decades. This has taken place largely to the benefit of their population, but some problems have arisen. China air pollution has become quite a significant concern. They are aware of it of course and some progress has been made in rectifying it. That said, they have a long way to go.

Since 2007, China has been the world’s #1 emitter of greenhouse gases, making air pollution in Asia, including China, a serious global issue. It is at least as serious a problem for the Chinese people. China air quality contributes to the deaths of three quarters of a million people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

China’s economic growth, combined with industrial equipment that could now be replaced with cleaner technology, is largely responsible for the current China air pollution situation. A major example is cement making. China’s construction and infrastructure-building boom have led the to this country becoming the world’s leading maker of cement. Just over half the worldwide output now comes from China. Concrete production is polluting and highly energy intensive and methods currently used in China compound the problems. Many producers use inefficient shaft kilns, which the West started to abandon at the beginning of the 20th Century. Overall, 6% of the nation’s electricity is used in operating cement-making plants, and much of it is wasted. These unscrubbed kilns also emit vast quantities of mercury, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and other substances of interest. Unscrubbed means the facility is operated without the use of additional technology specifically designed to reduce emissions.

Much of the power requirement of these kilns is met by old-fashioned, unscrubbed coal-burning power plants. Almost 70% of China’s electrical demands are met using coal. The overwhelming majority of China’s greenhouse gas emissions come from this type of source and fuel.

These issues came to the fore during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which opened with the city clouded in smog. Although the skies did clear up, to what degree air quality improved is a subject of speculation. The Chinese government closed the only independent agency monitoring air pollution in Beijing, the Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC), for the duration of the games. The data available comes from either independent, but untrained journalists, or the Chinese government and the impartiality of these numbers has been identified as suspicious. Even if the Chinese officials accurately reported China air quality statistics, the standards used for comparison leave something to be desired. While they consider any day with a particulate matter rating below 100 to be a “Blue Sky Day,” the WHO draws their line at 50.

They are making some efforts to reverse their trend towards ever-greater China air pollution. Their reforestation project, “the great wall of green,” will become the world’s single greatest re-planting of forest when completed. However, the country’s progress in other ways has been less promising. In 2000, their government promised that it would reduce the China air pollution by 10 percent by the year 2005. However, China grew to surpass the United States as the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

In a rather “environmentally concerned” approach to cut down on the carbon emission from flights, Lufthansa airlines has announced that they will start commercial biofuel flights daily between Hamburg and Frankfurt in a six-month trial from April 2011. The move to operate an aircraft engine with biofuel over a long stretch of six months, is first of its kind in the world.

Energy security issues, hike in petrol prices and climate change from greenhouse gases emitted by airplanes have been troubling the airline industry for quite some time. Virgin Atlantic Airlines, British Airways and Continental Airline have have already tested on biofuel flights in the last two years. However, environmentalists have been constantly warning that production of biofuels can also have adverse effects on environment.

Utilizing biofuel in flight operations can save around 1,500 tonnes (15,00,000 kg) of Carbon dioxide emissions. However, as the airline industry worldwide is calling for an alternative source of energy, there’s a need to check for the sustainability of biofuels against fossil fuels and their effect on aircraft’s engine over a longer term. Plus, environmental concerns are another big issue related to production of biofuels.

According to a report by UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, biofuel plantations are destroying ecosystem of various regions in the world. Palm oil plantations set up for biofuel production in Indonesia and Malaysia, have led to deforestation resulting in more emission of greenhouse gases as the worst consequence.

In such a situation, a sustainable and environment-friendly way to produce biofuels is the need of the hour.

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Carbon credits are like certificates that represent a reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They are fully fungible financial instruments, and are measured in tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tons CO2e). Carbon sequestration credits or offsets are calculated by the amount of carbon emissions that would have been emitted if a diesel or other traditional polluting electric generator was used to produce the same amount of electricity. Companies and electric utilities in countries can buy these emission reduction carbon credits to replace the emissions from their coal burning electric power plants to meet regulatory requirements. Purchasing carbon credits means making an investment in carbon reduction projects. So, how to buy carbon credits?

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The first step you have to do is to calculate your carbon footprint. This number determines how many carbon credits you need to buy to offset your carbon-producing activity. Then, check with your utility company to see if they have a carbon offsetting program. Think it over and make a decision as to what type of projects you want your carbon credit purchase to support. It could be a tree-planting project to recreate natural forests and to prevent deforestation, a renewable energy project, or an energy conservation project.

After deciding on a project, research on carbon credit providers. Then, purchase your carbon credits from your chosen provider. Usually, you can purchase a carbon credit for between five dollars and fifty dollars for every ton of carbon dioxide you emit into the air. The price varies with each carbon credit provider, and so researching on your provider carefully is a smart step to take.

The benefits of carbon credits are many. Carbon credits reduce poverty, provide off-grid electricity, provide employment for carbon sequestration, and boost economic development in rural communities. Remember, though, that they are not free tickets to pollute.

Learn how to buy carbon credits now!

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Along with positive ideas come those scammers who are out to make a buck. Even though trading in carbon credits is still in its infancy, there are those who are already taking advantage of what may be a very beneficial environmental program. To first understand how to avoid being taken advantage of, it is important to understand exactly what carbon credits are.

Carbon credits are part of national and international attempts to stop the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. One carbon credit is equal to one ton of carbon. Many individuals are now taking an interest in their carbon footprints, trying to lower their usage, as well as trying different ways to offset their usage. Carbon credits are part of an approach to emissions trading. With a certain amount of greenhouse gas allotted to markets, each individual group is given the opportunity to decide how much of a limited amount can be designated to each area. This allows for industries to control the amount of greenhouse gases they are using. This also allows industrial and commercial processes to market in the direction of lower emissions, or utilize approaches that are designed to not emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This helps to finance carbon reduction schemes.

Many companies sell carbon credits. These carbon credits are sold to companies who voluntarily desire to lower their carbon footprint. Carbon credits are purchased from investment funds or carbon development companies. Many of these companies have saved these credits from other individual products and offset themselves and the buyers by selling them. The quality of the credits is based on the validation process, the type of fund, and the development company. The price is also affected by these things. Voluntary units typically have less value than the units sold through the rigorously-validated Clean Development Mechanism.

There are two distinct types of Carbon Credits: Carbon Offset Credits (COCs) and Carbon Reduction Credits (CRCs). Carbon Offset Credits consist of clean forms of energy production, wind, solar, hydro and biofuels. Carbon Reduction Credits consists of the collection and storage of Carbon from the earth’s atmosphere through reforestation, forestation, ocean and soil collection and storage efforts. Both ways are valid and positively recognized, each used in different situations.

Whether or not you decide that the use of carbon credits are for you, it is important to know how to avoid being scammed.

• First and foremost, do your research on the company you are thinking of buying credit from. It is necessary to see if the industrial companies are actually implementing reductions in carbon use and greenhouse emissions or if they are really doing very little.

• They need to have verification. A shortage of verification makes it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits. Reliable third party verification is critical.

• Be careful of companies or individuals that are over-pricing their carbon credits. Why are their credits more expensive? What is their value? Have their prices increased or decreased due to changes in their emissions reductions?

Do the research before purchasing carbon credits. It is important to find if the organization has any history of selling worthless credits which do not yield reductions. There is no point in purchasing carbon credits if they do not benefit you or the environment.

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Carbon management is now a major focus of environmental initiatives. Although carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas, it is the most common and therefore at the centre of attempts to reduce the rate of growth of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and eventually to cause these emissions to fall.
Carbon management is a controversial area, involving politicians, public servants, social and physical scientists, activists, businesses and many others. The controversies include:
– Whether carbon dioxide is a cause or a consequence of global warming or both
– Whether global warming is a fact – depending on the time period analysed
– Whether particular initiatives or mechanisms for carbon reduction (such as carbon trading) work (whether scientifically, technologically or in terms of incentives)
– Whether they have desirable or undesirable other consequences,
This report abstracts from these and other controversies. It focuses on the extent to which emerging economies are involved in innovative and/or leading edge practices in carbon management. So it focuses on questions such as whether a particular initiative works to reduce carbon emissions, whether it has known or suspected adverse consequences in other areas, whether environmental, economic or other; whether the approach to funding it creates problems; whether the initiative may lead to diversion of energy from other initiatives; and whether the initiatives taken together are in some sense enough for the emerging economy in question.

Key features of this report

• A review of the principles of carbon management
• An examination of carbon trading and the working of carbon markets
• Comprehensive and up-to-date data on CO2 emissions for emerging nations, broken out by fuel type
• Insights on the principlal initiatives taken by nation to reduce CO2 emissions
• Examination of the key technology introductions and innovations.
• Implications for the future

Scope of this report

• Achieve a quick and comprehensive understanding of the various options and models available for reducing carbon emissions
• Definitive source work, including the most up to date data on carbon emissions by emerging nation
• An overview of trends and initiatives in reduction of carbon emissions, both worldwide and by emerging nation
• Comparison of initiatives by nation: which countries are making the greatest progress in dealing with carbon emissions; which are struggling

Key Market Issues

• Core Issue: Different paths to managing CO2 emissions require different degrees of participation by industry, consumers and governments. The future of carbon management is still uncertain, due to lack of international consensus on how best to manage efficiency and equity issues, and the lack of consensus about the continuation of global warming.
• Alternative approaches: Various initiatives are used to greater or lesser extent, including:
– Improved carbon management
– The Clean Development Mechanism: an important stimulus for carbon reduction initiatives, but high cost and bureaucratic
– Carbon trading: the cap and trade approach depends for its success on realistic caps
– Taxation, subsidies and regulation
– Innovation
• Approaches vary by location: Most African countries have low carbon emissions. A few – Libya, Algeria, Nigeria and Ghana – have significant oil reserves, and so tend to focus their carbon management on reduction of flaring and other oil and gas-related projects. Access to energy is Africa’s main problem.

Key findings from this report

– The carbon management situation in emerging economies has produced a mixed picture, with two giants – China and India – focused on carbon management, making significant improvements in some area, but with some substantial gaps.
– The carbon market looks like it will continue to grow very rapidly, once the recession is over, leading to greatly increased demand for auditing capability – and a risk that there will be a worldwide shortage the of the skills needed to audit carbon savings.
– The bureaucracy of carbon management is still posing significant problems, even though some progress is being made with reducing validation times for carbon investments.
– In the CDM, there is tension between the “cleanness”, which leads to carbon saving, credits and money for the emerging economies, and “development”, the much wider objective that all emerging economies have adopted.

Key questions answered

– What are the key issues affecting different approaches to carbon reduction?
– How are various emerging economies adapting to the demands of carbon reduction?
– What are the key trends in carbon emissions by emerging economy?
– What are the main obstacles to a co-ordinated worldwide approach to carbon reduction?
– How has the perceived failure of Copenhagen impacted on international policy in this area?

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Air pollution is one of the problems that our world is facing. We talk about air pollution but we do not know where it comes from, what causes air pollution and how it can be toppled down. Air pollution does not only give us detrimental effects in terms of the environment but also affects our health.

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What causes air pollution? How can we put a stop on these factors which causes air pollution? Let us discover together what the causes are.  There are actually many things that cause air pollution. First on the list would be the exhaust of cars, trucks and other combustion engines. They produce smog which is composed of harmful greenhouse gases.  Smog can affect people’s health and the worsening problem of the ozone layer.

Secondly, factories are also major contributors to air pollution. As we always say, together with progress, the problem of air pollution also worsens. The emissions from factories which are mainly caused by burning of fossil fuels and coals cause air pollution. Add to that the use of petroleum which releases particulates which contributes to air pollution.

Chemicals and pesticides can also contribute to air pollution. Take into consideration also the ventilation in rooms, buildings, offices wherein toxic paints, chemicals and sprays not exposed or released can cause air pollution. Anything that is not good to the health like dusts can cause air pollution. Even mills, plants and mining can contribute to air pollution.

Those were just some factors that cause air pollution. A volcanic eruption is perhaps the most common natural cause of air pollution. Methane emission can also be a cause of air pollution, now that you know what the things that cause air pollution are, try to reduce it in your own little way. Do your role and responsibility to the environment.

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We need only read the front page headlines of every major newspaper to understand the deepening oil crisis and the worldwide repercussions of supply and demand as it relates to our traditional energy resources. Is it any wonder that renewable sources of energy are gaining in popularity as an alternative resource? Biofuel is one emerging energy source that may help address the supply-and-demand dilemma versus modern world overdependence on petroleum and petroleum-based applications. Furthermore, biofuel advocates stress that biofuels give off cleaner emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide, two greenhouse gases that are responsible for climactic change and global warming.

The Difference Between Biofuel and Fossil Fuel

The critical difference between biofuel and traditional fossil fuel is the number of years it takes to form. Biofuel is derived from recently dead biological or organic material. Traditional fossil fuel comes from long dead (read: millions of years old) biological organisms. For this reason, biofuel is considered a renewable resource because it can be replenished in a short period of time. Fossil fuel is classified as a non-renewable resource because its reserves are being depleted much faster than it takes to form new reserves.

While biofuel and fossil fuel are carbon-based properties (they both derive from biological matter) biofuel is considered carbon neutral because the energy is derived from plants, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Whereas, fossil fuels released carbon dioxide, which has been stored beneath the earth surface for millions of years, into the air. Carbon dioxide emissions are the number one pollutant.

Biofuel comes from a variety of feedstock sources, of which the more common ones are corn, sugar cane, palm, wheat, algae, and jatropha. From these feedstock sources, two popular fuels are produced for transportation and machineries. They are biodiesel and bioethanol. Broken down further, biodiesel is derived from plant oils; bioethanol is derived from fermented starch or sugar crops.

How Are Biofulels Used?

Biofuels can be used in a pure (denoted as B100) or a blended form (denoted as a percentage). Biofuel is the most common fuel used in Europe because European car manufacturers outfit their cars with diesel engines. For most unmodified diesel engines, advocates say blends of up to 20% (B20) are deemed safe. Higher concentrations require modifications to the diesel engine.

Bioethanol is suggested as a substitute for gasoline in vehicles. However, users have to be careful in choosing the proper blend of ethanol. Generally, a 10% blend of ethanol (E10) may be safe to be used in newer cars. Lower concentrations have been used in some older engines without having adverse effects on vehicle fuel lines, but users should consult their car manufacturers to find out if bioethanol is safe for their engines. In some cases, conversions can void the manufacturer warranty.

Proponents Say

Advocates suggest businesses, especially those in the transportation industry will benefit from using biofuels on two fronts: (1) When biofuel prices are more stable than oil prices, companies are in a better position to plan and budget fuel expenditures for the year. (2) Cleaner vehicular emissions may save transportation companies maintenance costs, while helping them meet new government mandated environmental standards.

Opponents Say

Opponents question how governments establish standards, regulations, and mandates and suggest that the underlying motivation for setting certain standards and enforcing mandates is political.

In other words, opponents contend that politicians are showing preferential treatment to their constituents and lobbyists. The end result is that governments, not the economy, are creating winners and losers. If your company or industry falls on the out of political favor side, you may wind up paying higher taxes or incurring higher costs to meet those politically inspired mandates

Car Manufacturer Status

Car manufactures today are being forced to produce more vehicles that are biofuel ready. In addition to using cheaper fuel, both manufacturers and buyers will be given government incentives (in the form of tax credits) to embrace renewable and alternative energy. Studies also suggest that certain types of biofuel (e.g., biodiesel) can make engines last longer when users maintain their cars by using the right biofuel blend.

The Food vs. Fuel Debate

Biofuel does have an underside and has been the subject of a current debate on food vs. fuel. Since biofuel uses plants that are also used in food supply (corn, maize, wheat, sugar cane, and coconut), this raises the question of whether it is appropriate to use food crops to create alternative fuel instead of filling world food demand. The debate has been further intensified as the world experienced what was deemed as a food crisis in 2007. Critics contend that using agricultural land to produce crops to be used in biofuel production led to this crisis.

These issues must be ironed out by policymakers and regulatory bodies to ensure a workable balance between access to energy and all other necessities.

Proponents and opponents come together around environmental and health benefits of going green. Thus the conversion to more biofuels is probably inevitable. Some are very concerned with how that is executed, since the timing of the changes is not clear. Also total direct and indirect costs and what groups benefit and which groups suffer are major concerns. With Congressional leadership dedicated to accelerating greener energy in a way that benefits their constituents and lobbyists (For example, why do tax deductions for trial attorneys help the general public?), there will definitely be winners and losers.

What the biofuels discussion is pointing to is the urgency to begin planning NOW for this inevitability to help protect industries and consumers from rising costs from energy, regulations and taxes.