The world’s population could live a prosperous, European-style lifestyle by 2050 at the same time as avoiding dangerous climate change, according to a new Global Calculator developed by the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). DECCs online tool shows how global prosperity can increase, even as emissions fall by 60 per cent from current… Read the full article >
ESOS – Up and Running in 2015
The Environment Agency’s ESOS Compliance Portal is now live as you can see from the timeline below; ESOS requires all large UK enterprises to have an organisational energy audit every four years. In December, the Environment Agency launched its compliance portal through which all submissions must be made in time for the January 2016 start… Read the full article >
Happy Christmas from all at CO2balance
Whatever and wherever you’re celebrating this year, our warmest wishes and friendly greetings this Christmas from us all at CO2balance. Thank you for all your support throughout the year. We hope you get a restful and enjoyable break and we look forward to hearing from you all in the New Year. Best wishes, All at… Read the full article >
United States and China reach landmark carbon emissions deal
The big news this morning is that the US and China have unveiled a “secretly negotiated deal” to reduce their greenhouse gas output, with China agreeing to cap emissions for the first time and the US committing to deep reductions by 2025. China, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, has agreed to… Read the full article >
African Energy Outlook 2014: Bittersweet outlook for Africa’s energy future
Nearly one billion people will have access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2040, but projected population growth means that 300 million people will remain in the dark, a new report finds. The Africa Energy Outlook, published last week by the International Energy Agency (IEA), highlights challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa as it strives for economic and… Read the full article >
Climate Change and Equity: Understanding Common but Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR)
“In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities”. [Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration at the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992] A majority of us will be familiar with the Conference of the Parties (COP) international climate change talks that take place every year (i.e. Copenhagen,… Read the full article >
Sierra Leone Boreholes
CO2balance are proud to announce their first ever carbon project in Sierra Leone has been listed today on the Gold Standard Registry. The Gold Standard Micro-Scale Borehole Project in Sierra Leone involves the rehabilitation and maintenance of hand-pumped boreholes owned by communities in Bombali District, in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The CO2balance borehole project will create a network of… Read the full article >
The Carbon Bubble: A barrier to curbing fossil fuel use
Here is some analysis (though not an exhaustive list) of the “carbon bubble” and of why it is so difficult to curb fossil fuel use in our 21st century world economy. For reference, 81% or 12,150 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) of world primary energy demand was met by fossil fuels in 2013, with… Read the full article >
The Carbon Abatement Potential of Carbon Offset Projects
In the case of climate change the question often arises of how to maximize carbon emissions reduction in a cost-efficient way. If a future benevolent global community did decide to tackle the climate change problem, it would seem sensible to pursue whats known as the “low hanging fruit” first in order to achieve the “biggest… Read the full article >
A brief Introductory note
Ethan here introducing myself to you all. A little over two weeks ago I joined this fantastic team at CO2balance and already feel right at home. I originate from Ireland and am fresh from a masters programme in Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh. It is extremely fulfilling to join an organisation that seeks… Read the full article >