A small but important announcement was made late last year as world leaders debated the way forward on climate legislation at COP 21 – the Fairtrade Climate Standard was released. This new venture – in partnership with the Gold Standard Foundation – aims to further utilise carbon offset projects to increase skills, knowledge and financial… Read the full article >
Environment Agency reviews ESOS Compliance Deadline
Its been a busy few months for co2balance as we close off our ESOS Energy Audit reports in time for the 5th December ESOS compliance deadline. This date marks the cut off for when participating organisations must declare that a Lead Assessor has calculated their total energy consumption and overseen an audit identifying cost effective energy savings for their operations. Organisations that… Read the full article >
Stove Maintenance in Kenya
I have recently returned from a visit to Kenya, where I spent some time with our team visiting some freshly repaired cookstoves in our project close to the Aberdares National Park. Our CZK stoves are renowned for being robust, however, if stove owners come across issues, they can communicate with our project officers who will… Read the full article >
Countdown to ESOS Compliance
With a deadline set at 5th December 2015, we are due to enter the final 6 month countdown until compliance with the 1st phase for ESOS (Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme) must be demonstrated by qualifying organisations. ESOS is the UK Government’s response to an EU Directive that requires so-called Large Undertakings to undergo energy audits… Read the full article >
The Carbon In Infrastructure
On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending a business breakfast organised by Low Carbon South West to discuss the importance of carbon in infrastructure projects. It was held in a location befitting a discussion on infrastructure, that being the Engine Shed of Brunel’s masterpiece Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station – standing as it does as… Read the full article >
CO2balance Microprogrammes
The costs of developing a standard 60,000 tonne small scale project are considerable. Auditor fees, plus the time project developers need to understand and negotiate the complex rules set by the Gold Standard used to mean that only projects promising to deliver close to 60,000 tonnes throughout their lifetime were economically viable. Any low volume… Read the full article >
Earth Overshoot Day
August 19 was Earth Overshoot Day 2014, marking the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s ‘budget’ for the year. Starting from today and for the rest of this year, we will be drawing down on ecological resources that the Earth cannot replenish – in essence we will be operating in the ecological red. Current estimates suggest that we need approximately… Read the full article >
CO2balance in Eritrea
As a result of its pioneering global micro Programme of Activities (mPoA), co2balance are assisting partners develop projects in countries that have yet to see much benefit from carbon finance initiatives. This brings us neatly around to the latest project addition to our mPOA Improved Kitchen Regimes – Dissemination of Improved Stoves in Zoba Anseba, Eritrea alongside our partner… Read the full article >
Progress in our Kenyan CDM Programme of Activities (PoA)
The last meeting of the CDM Executive Board was an important one for co2balance; despite monitoring our PoA within the strict requirements of the methodology, we found we would be unable to claim carbon credits because we had followed updated (and improved) guidance related to choosing sample sizes. Nearly 1 year ago, we began challenging this technical obscurity in which… Read the full article >
Successful CDM Site Visit
Jambo! I had the pleasure of joining Moses, Virginia and our team of Community Project Officers to lead the 2nd monitoring period site visit for our CDM Programme of Activities (PoA) in Kenya. We have two Component Project Activities (CPAs) under our PoA, one in Eldoret East and one in Mathira District; we had to show… Read the full article >
Fairtrade Carbon Credits
On Tuesday co2balance joined a roundtable hosted by the UK Fairtrade Foundation to discuss the opportunities and challenges of making and selling fairtrade carbon offset projects. The Fairtrade Foundation have signed an MOU with the Gold Standard Foundation to allow these proposed projects to use existing Gold Standard carbon certification with an additional fairtrade bolt… Read the full article >
Solar in Africa
Im sure all of us have heard the urban myth that simply by harnessing a small part of the Sahara desert Africa has the potential to supply the whole world’s electricity demand.. it is in fact true. The concept of using deserts as a kind of global solar power plant was first proposed by Dr Gerhard Knies, a particle physicist who began… Read the full article >
First Gold Standard Borehole Rehabilitation Project Registered!
After many months hard work, our borehole rehabilitation project in Kole District, Northern Uganda has achieved Gold Standard Registered status. This means that we can fund new sources of water in this project using carbon finance – which contrasts with other carbon finance projects that can only fund water treatment technology. This is the… Read the full article >
Mangrove Conservation Project
Whilst visiting our improved cookstove projects near Mombasa on the Coast in Kenya, I took some time out to go and see the good work that Mbuta Mazingira have been doing following a start up fund supplied by Toshiba TEC, in association with co2balance. Mbuta Mazingira trained in 2010 to protect, rear and plant seedlings… Read the full article >
Successful roll out of stoves in Likoni
Over the past couple of months our field staff in Likoni, Kenya, have been on the ground distributing our new energy efficient improved cook stoves. These stoves are much more efficient and resource-friendly than traditional stoves or three-stone-fires. The project received a number of positive responses from several women’s groups in Likoni. The adoption and… Read the full article >