Carbon | News & Views

UK spends more on carbon labelled goods

The total annual retail value of consumer goods sold in the UK bearing the Carbon Reduction Label has reached £2 billion, and could double in the next two years, according to a report by the Centre for Retail Research.

The announcement comes as new research shows that 9 out of 10 homes in the UK bought a carbon labelled product last year.

The milestone figure was reached after Tesco confirmed it has added the Carbon Reduction Label to its own brand dried egg and dried Finest pasta. It means that the average UK household spends £77 on carbon labelled products per year.

If sales of business (B2B) products were added, the total sales value of goods bearing the label would rise to approximately £3 billion. CEMEX UK, Marshalls plc and Continental Clothing all feature the label on their B2B products.

The Carbon Reduction Label also continues to grow internationally. Last summer, Aldi put the label on the bottles of its own-brand olive oil in stores across Australia. And last month, the New Zealand Wine Company became the first wine maker to measure and commit to reduce the carbon footprint of a bottle of wine, putting the Carbon Reduction Label on their Mobius Marlborough sauvignon blanc.

Euan Murray, director of footprinting at the Carbon Trust said:

“It’s great to see carbon labelling growing both in the UK and internationally through our partnership in Australia with Planet Ark. With the emergence of a carbon conscious consumer we are confident that more and more international brands will commit to carbon labelling as it will help deliver the triple benefits of reducing cost by reducing energy spend, boosting their company’s reputation and helping to ensure customer loyalty.”

>>> Please read the full article here

Marketing campaign carbon calculator launched

A new tool has been launched by Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and Envido that will allow businesses to calculate the carbon footprint of advertising campaigns.

CarbonTrack, which has been developed in association with the Carbon Trust, has provided a benchmark for the UK advertising industry, estimating it produces two million tonnes of CO2 each year.

This figure is equivalent to the carbon footprint of heating 364,000 homes for 12 months.

The system is capable of taking into account emissions produced from “TV to radio, outdoor, magazines, newspapers, digital display and search”.

Ifti Akbar, co-managing director of Envido, energy, carbon and sustainability consultants, said the development reflects the fact carbon accounting is becoming “more sophisticated and widespread”.

“Companies utilising CarbonTrack will be ahead of the UK legislation curve and actively contributing to reducing the emissions of their industry,” he added.

Over 100 different suppliers have so far provided CarbonTrack with data, however, the system will not allow direct comparisons between different media enterprises.

The Guardian News and Media Group was recently awarded the Carbon Trust Standard for cutting its emissions by 28 percent in three years.

>>> Please read the full article here

Open shop doors ‘waste 10 tonnes of carbon emissions’

British retailers could save up to ten tonnes of carbon each year if they were to shut their doors, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge suggested shops are wasting a significant amount of energy generating heat, which then escapes through open doors.

It was estimated that shops could slash their energy bills by up to 50 percent if they were to close their doors during the winter months.

The ten tonnes of carbon is equivalent to that produced by three flights between London and Hong Kong.

Commenting on the findings, Jeannie Dawkins, director of the Close the Doors Campaign, which commissioned the research, said: “It’s time for retailers to acknowledge the massive contribution they are making to energy waste and carbon emissions if they heat the street.”

The findings are based on the emissions of the independent Cambridge Toy shop and the branch of Ryman stationary shop in the city.

Foreign secretary William Hague and Professor Sir David King, a former government chief scientific adviser and director of Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford, have both pledged support for the Close the Doors campaign.

>>> Please read the full article here

Nuclear opposition ‘has added to carbon emissions’

One billion extra tonnes of carbon has been emitted because of opposition to nuclear power generation, experts have claimed.  Speaking to producers of a Channel 4 documentary, campaigners claimed that environmental advocates are in danger of repeating the mistakes of the past by continuing to oppose nuclear power, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Campaigner Mark Lynas said that nuclear opposition has already added to the levels of carbon in the atmosphere, because the objection to the technology in the 1970s and 80s led to the construction of highly-polluting coal power plants.  ”In hindsight that was obviously a mistake, but it is one that today’s environmental lobby groups seem determined to repeat,” he is quoted by the news provider as saying.  But, Ben Stewart from Greenpeace, said a real debate on the issue is needed.

“With the threat of climate change we look at all options but in our opinion [nuclear power and GM] do not stack up,” he is quoted as saying.  A KPMG report released earlier this year suggested that investment in nuclear power is needed if the UK is to meet its carbon reduction targets.

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Forestry Commission tests carbon sequestration standard

Testing is due to begin on a new quality assurance scheme for tree planting programmes intended for carbon sequestration.

The Forestry Commission claimed that with demand for such projects increasing, there needs to be a standard by which to measure their effectiveness and ensure real benefits are being achieved.

A six-month pilot phase is designed to test the Woodland Carbon Code before it is officially launched in early 2011.

To comply with the code, organisations must show that projects are sustainably managed to national standards, use standard measures for the volume of carbon that will be sequestered, meet transparent criteria and be independently verified.

Tim Rollinson, director general of the Forestry Commission, said that the Woodland Carbon Code will “encourage more investment in tree planting in the UK”.

“There are now many commercial schemes that encourage individuals and businesses to contribute to tree planting to help compensate for their carbon footprint. But before investing in projects, people want to know that schemes will actually deliver what they claim,” he added.

The announcement comes just days after research reported in Science magazine found that the ability of the world’s plants to absorb carbon dioxide has declined in the last decade.

>>> Please read the full article here

Top 10 August Eco Pictures

Below we have listed the Eco Pic of The Day August Top 10 Eco Pic’s.

Click the link to see the picture;

1 - NO KINDA SURPRISE – PLASTIC POLLUTION

2 - PLASTIC MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

3 - PLASTIC BEACH RUBBISH IN LE TOUQUET

4 - THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

5 - PLASTIC FOOD CHAIN

6 - PLASTIC BOTTLES IN SAINT MALO

7 - FRENCH SUPERMARKET MINI RECYCLING CENTER

8 - HEATHROW TERMINAL 1 RECYCLING BINS

9 - RUBBISH TIDE AT LE MONT SAINT MICHEL

10 - PORSCHE 918 SPYDER HYBRID SUPERCAR

Emissions Equality – The need to improve air quality

VOLVO ANNOUNCES THREE-POINT PLAN TO HELP THE CAR INDUSTRY IMPROVE UK AIR QUALITY.

Volvo Car UK has launched a three-point plan aimed at providing all motorists with a broader range of emissions information when they buy their next car – irrespective of marque – to help combat the UK’s rising problem of poor air quality.

With the UK facing a fine of up to £300m for its poor air quality and the Environmental Audit Committee predicting 50,000 premature deaths* through air pollution, Volvo believes it’s time to educate drivers of a car’s complete emissions picture rather than just CO2 in isolation.

Automotive emissions other than CO2 (NOx, Hydrocarbons and Particulates**) are the key contributors to poor air quality, particularly in urban areas, and are one of the main reasons why the UK suffers from one of the highest recordable asthma rates in the world***.

Volvo is proposing:

1. Volvo Car UK will encourage the Department for Transport and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to mandate a second environmental label covering non-CO2 emissions for all new and used cars up to five years of age. This would sit alongside the current CO2 label on all cars displayed.

The CO2 and other emissions information shouldn’t be combined in one single label as drivers still need to understand CO2 emissions for tax purposes. All of this information is readily available on the VCA website but needs presenting in an easier to understand format such as www.CleanGreenCars.co.uk and be made more accessible to all drivers.

Volvo believes there is room for a new environmental label similar to the one in the United States of America, run by the US Environmental Protection Agency which scores the environmental impact of vehicles, including both air quality and CO2 emissions.

2. Volvo Car UK is launching a phone/PC App in the next few weeks to make all air pollution and CO2 emission information readily available to drivers for when they visit a showroom to choose their next car.

3. Volvo Car UK will create an Emissions Equality Automotive Air Pollution Think Tank to move the subject of emissions and air quality further up the agenda of the automotive industry over the coming 12-24 months.

The Think Tank already has a number of high-profile members covering all sides of the debate, including Environmental Protection UK’s Policy Officer Ed Dearnley, environmentalist andTV naturalist Chris Packham, Professor of Environmental Health from Kings College London Frank Kelly, the automotive environmental commentator Jay Nagley from www.CleanGreenCars.co.uk and Volvo’s own environmental consultant Don Potts.

To support the campaign they have developed a great animation which helps explain the issues in an easily to understand way. You can watch this great eco video here.

Further discussion and debate will also be directed to facebook and twitter, where conversation will be tagged #EmissionsEquality.

Additional Information;
*Source: Environmental Audit Committee
**The Vehicle Certification Agency’s description of non CO2 emissions is as follows:
CO – Carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.
HC – Hydrocarbons contribute to ozone formation. Some kinds of HCs can also be carcinogens and are also indirect greenhouse gases.
NOx – Oxides of nitrogen react in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which can have adverse effects on health, particularly among people with respiratory illness.
***http://www.asthma.org.uk/news_media/media_resources/for_journalists.html

New UK Government Signs-up to 10:10

10:10’s Duncan Clark reports on the government’s committment to cut 10% of its emissions over the next 12 months. To find out more <click here>

It’s been an amazing few days: on Wednesday, the 10:10 team were thrilled when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition announced a commitment to reduce the entire carbon footprint of central government by 10% in a year. The pledge confirmed that both parties’ earlier manifesto pledges to do 10:10 had made it through the thorny negotiation process.

Then, yesterday evening, just as 10:10 were hosting one of their fortnightly 10:10 seminars, the phone rang. It was 10 Downing Street, inviting us down to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) this morning to meet prime minister David Cameron, along with the new secretary for energy and climate change, Chris Huhne.

The government’s 10% announcement – equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road – is a monumental victory for 10:10 and testament to how far the campaign has come in the eight short months since its launch.

Best of all, when the 10:10 team interviewed him, Chris Huhne agreed to come to 10:10 HQ to give a seminar and discuss their plans – which include everything from a fridge scrappage scheme to turning off the lights overnight in some of the country’s biggest landmark buildings, as well as the biggest ever day of climate change action on 10/10/10.

Should we be looking beyond electricity in green car design?

Over the last few years, car manufacturers have been working away to create a viable alternative to a petrol-fuelled vehicle. The solution seemed to be the electric car.

Peugeot has recently announced that its electric car, the i0n, is due to go on sale in the UK by the end of the year. Nissan has created the concept car the Leaf, while Renault has been working on the futuristic Twizy concept car, which will soon be entering the virtual world of The Sims.

But behind the scenes researchers in Israel have been working on making hydrogen a viable competitor as an alternative to petrol.

Previous problems identified with hydrogen have been its flammable nature and the difficulty in storing the gas within a vehicle, as it requires large, heavy tanks.

The Israeli scientists believe that they have overcome one of these problems by creating much smaller and lightweight storage containers.

The gas would be stored in a series of very small glass tubes. Almost 400 of these tubes would then be bundled together to create an “array”, which is about the size of a drinking straw. Finally, 11,000 of these arrays would be place in the vehicle.

This would take up half the space and weigh half as much as other storage methods, yet still power the vehicle for 240 miles.

So does this mean that manufacturers will all start scrambling to create hydrogen powered cars? The answer is probably not.

Electric cars still have the upper hand when it comes to refuelling, as there is already a national grid established, meaning large amounts will not have to be laid out to create a charging infrastructure.

In addition, car makers will be looking at their profits and will be unwilling to dispose of all the equipment they invested in to produce electric cars before seeing a return.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also often used in electric vehicles to charge batteries and extend the distance they can travel without having to stop. The new research will mean that the two could be able to operate better hand in hand.

Car manufacturers will continue to look at the bottom line, and green enthusiasts will continue to look at the carbon footprint various fuels, but should they also be keeping one eye on hydrogen technology in the coming years?

>>> Please read the full article here

Is it a surprise that the Copenhagen Accord may not work?

When representatives of 192 countries converged in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, it was thought to be a seminal step forward in the world’s fight against climate change.

Out of this conference emerged the Copenhagen Accord and the agreement that a two degree limit would be the benchmark by which the international community would measure global warming.

However, no firm agreement was made about how this would be achieved.
Just six months later, researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research have said that the pledges made in Copenhagen may not be enough to keep global warming within the agreed limits.

Published in the journal Nature, the research suggests that current emission levels could see the earth heat up by more than three degrees by 2100. It estimates that there is a 50 percent chance of this happening.

Currently the UK is pledging to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, although this may change depending on the result of the upcoming election.

The researchers said that even if all nations reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by half by 2050, there is still a 50 percent chance that global temperatures will rise by two degrees C.

In fact it was found that it’s possible that global carbon emissions could increase by 20 percent by 2020.

According to the Times, the report concluded that the nations which signed up at Copenhagen were simply putting off difficult decisions.

The United Nations has also pointed out recently that it is very unlikely that the targets set out in the Copenhagen Accord will be met.
And is it really a surprise that such vague pledges may not bring about the changes needed?

In brief, those who signed the accord agreed that action must be taken on climate change and agreed to the provision of certain levels of funding, both long term and short term.

Developing countries will be required to report their efforts every two years, although no similar clause was included which applies to developed nations.

Perhaps, most significantly no sanctions were identified for those who fail to meet their targets.

So, in light of this new research, is it time for the world to accept that the Copenhagen Accord was just a vague idea and we’re still waiting for the real action to tackle climate change to begin?

>>> Please read the full article here