"Carbon cowboys" using dodgy tactics - from selling carbon credits twice for the same trees to taking money to plant trees that never find their way into the ground - have been told they may face fines of up to $200,000 if they are caught by the Commerce Commission.
The watchdog yesterday issued its draft guidelines on carbon claims – an attempt to rein in some of the wilder claims made by environmental schemes.
It warned companies offering "carbon neutral" products, offsets for air travel or carbon neutral events who could not prove their claims that it would be "vigorously" chasing complaints from their customers.
Buying credits to help plant trees, build windfarms or capture greenhouse gases from landfills has become steadily more popular in New Zealand.
Businesses and celebrity sports people such as golfer Michael Campbell and rowing's Evers-Swindell twins acting to make themselves carbon neutral.
Little regulation specifically targets carbon offset schemes.
But the commission warned companies they fell squarely within the fair trading laws.
CarboNZero programme business manager Mike Tournier - whose employer, Landcare Research, provides more than 90 per cent of New Zealand's carbon offsets - said the guidelines were needed to rein in "carbon cowboys".
"A lot of players have seen this as an opportunity to make some quick money, they're all diving in there. It has been the Wild West," he said.
Mr Tournier said "chequebook certification" schemes were swapping meaningless credits for money.
"We've had clients come to us who've spent over $25,000 and bought junk credits."
There is no set method for calculating the carbon emitted by a product or activity in New Zealand and no set method for offsetting it.
In August, a Consumer Magazine study found the carbon emissions calculated for the same return flight from Auckland to Brisbane ranged from 331kg of CO2 using Qantas' carbon offset scheme to 958.09kg using Landcare Research's carboNZero.
Mr Tournier said Kyoto Protocol rules said projects that did not directly absorb carbon (as trees do) counted towards reducing emissions if they would not have happened anyway.
A wind farm built as part of a country's normal electricity supply does not count towards carbon offsets, but one that could not have been built without the carbon credits system does.
Carbon offset schemes have been criticised as giving the purchasers a licence to pollute.
Showing posts with label Carbon management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carbon management. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Air Liquide Invests Millions in Recovering Carbon Dioxide
The European market in industrial applications for carbon dioxide, essentially food processing and water treatment, represents 3 million tonnes per year and has been growing steadily by 3% annually. To support this growth, Air Liquide, the European leader in this market, is investing in two new carbon dioxide recovery units, one in Bazancourt, France and one in Rozenburg, the Netherlands, for an overall investment of nearly €20 million.
The Bazancourt unit will recover 120,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and will be commissioned at the end of 2009. This investment will include rail links to the site, reducing road transport. The Rozenburg unit, scheduled for commissioning in the first half of 2010, will recover 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, in particular to respond to demand created by strong growth in the greenhouse cultivation market in the Netherlands.
These investments come in addition to the carbon dioxide liquefaction unit in Geleen in the Netherlands, where a third extension was commissioned in October 2008, representing an additional production capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year. In all, Air Liquide’s total European carbon dioxide production capacity will be increased by more than 250,000 tonnes from 2008 to 2010. Thanks to these new production units, carbon dioxide will be purified and liquefied for reuse instead of being released into the atmosphere.
Guy Salzgeber, Vice-President for European Industrial Operations and a member of the Group’s Executive Committee, commented: “These new investments in Europe, in addition to those at Geleen, will enable us to increase our carbon dioxide recycling capacity by 25%. This will allow us not only to meet the needs of our customers in this market; it will also significantly improve supply-side stability as the Group continues its policy of targeted investments in growth markets.”
The Bazancourt unit will recover 120,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and will be commissioned at the end of 2009. This investment will include rail links to the site, reducing road transport. The Rozenburg unit, scheduled for commissioning in the first half of 2010, will recover 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, in particular to respond to demand created by strong growth in the greenhouse cultivation market in the Netherlands.
These investments come in addition to the carbon dioxide liquefaction unit in Geleen in the Netherlands, where a third extension was commissioned in October 2008, representing an additional production capacity of 80,000 tonnes per year. In all, Air Liquide’s total European carbon dioxide production capacity will be increased by more than 250,000 tonnes from 2008 to 2010. Thanks to these new production units, carbon dioxide will be purified and liquefied for reuse instead of being released into the atmosphere.
Guy Salzgeber, Vice-President for European Industrial Operations and a member of the Group’s Executive Committee, commented: “These new investments in Europe, in addition to those at Geleen, will enable us to increase our carbon dioxide recycling capacity by 25%. This will allow us not only to meet the needs of our customers in this market; it will also significantly improve supply-side stability as the Group continues its policy of targeted investments in growth markets.”
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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