India Left Behind?

India recently set forth its National Action Plan on Climate Change (summary and link to whole plan here). It orders the various ministries to submit detailed implementation plans in each of eight mission areas by the end of this year. Although the plan contemplates no specific limits on Indian carbon emissions, and that development objectives have priority over limiting global warming, it pledges that India's per-capita greenhouse gas emissions "will at no point exceed that of developed countries even as we pursue our development objectives." Since India's per-capita GHG emissions are about 2 tonnes CO₂equivalent, while the average of the developing world is about 16 tonnes, that seems like a safe bet.

But what if the United States miraculously follows Al Gore's "Generational Challenge to Repower America", and becomes largely carbon-neutral in energy within ten years? That would give Americans per-capita GHG emissions of about 3 tonnes CO₂e (more than 85% of U.S. GHG emissions come from energy use). Even if other developed countries didn't do the same, the average of their per-capita emissions would be around 6-7 tonnes. Could India beat that at its current rate of increase in coal-based power?

And consider that such a crash program would make the United States the leader in a whole range of renewable-energy and energy-efficiency technologies, from solar and wind to electric vehicles and public transport. Plus redirecting spending from importing oil to domestic research and manufacturing would have a profound effect on the economy. Paychecks for Americans instead of for Canadians and Saudis.

When do you think India's per-capita emissions will exceed America's?

RECs, TRCs and Green Tags -- Paying for Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Has Premium Value--How to Capture It?

Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green Tags, Renewable Energy Credits, or Tradable Renewable Certificates (TRCs), are environmental commodities in the United States which represent proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from an approved renewable resource.

Renewable energy is produced by wind farms, solar farms, biomass energy and waste-to-energy facilities, low-impact hydropower, geothermal energy, and the like. These sources are not usually located close to energy consumers who want access to renewable electricity.

So when the electricity they produce is fed into the grid a REC is created for every MWh delivered. A certifying agency gives each REC, and therefore each MWh, a unique identification number. These certificates can be bought and sold. So an energy consumer can purchase them to cover some or all of its electricity consumption, effectively paying a premium (over its existing electric bill) for the generation of that renewable power.

Pay For the Renewableness Separately From the Electricity

In effect, purchases of RECs transfer money from electricity customers who want to prove they are using renewable power to the producers of such power, in a quantifiable and verifiable way. These payments create additional income for the renewable electricity generator, often making the difference between profit and loss, or increasing profit or reducing loss. The energy user is paying a premium for purchased power, but not through its utility. It pays the premium directly to the generator of the electricity.

The cost of RECs is set in the open market, and depends on the supply of and demand for electricity produced from renewable resources. The recent prices of various RECs are shown at this Department of Energy site.

This is a form of component pricing, common for agricultural products, applied to electricity, which wouldn't seem to have many components.

Level the Playing Field

The cost of RECs can be seen as a voluntary "tax" paid by some energy consumers to compensate for the tax breaks, subsidies, and externalities associated with nuclear and fossil-fuel electricity generation, thus making production of renewable energy economically feasible.

Can RECs Make You Carbon Neutral?

Whether companies which purchase certificates to cover all of their electricity use can claim to be "carbon neutral", at least with respect to electric power, is open to dispute. Most renewable energy projects which issue RECs would not qualify under the stricter Kyoto Agreement rules on "additionality". But there is no doubt that these transfer payments stimulate investment in renewable energy and its increased production.

For more information check this overview at 3 Degrees, and this Wikipedia article.


[crossposted to the HaraBara blog]

Waste-to-Energy a Winner for India

Rice Husks to Provide Reliable Village Power

Husk Power Systems, which delivers clean technology to Indian villages, won the Social Innovation Competition at the University of Texas and its $50,000 prize. India Abroad reported that the entrepreneurial team of Manoj Sinha and Charles 'Chip' Ransler, from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, were judged to have the most compelling new idea to change the world.

The prize is awarded by The University of Texas's RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Husk Power Systems has created proprietary technology that cost-effectively converts rice husks into electricity. It has developed and installed 35-100kW "mini power plants" in villages of 200-500 households within the Indian "Rice Belt" and offers electricity as a pay-for-use service. HPS has successfully implemented its service in two villages in Bihar, India and will expand its footprint by 20 villages in 2008, 100 in 2009, and 2500 by 2013. The company plans to offset close to 200 tons of carbon emissions per village, per year in India. The sale of these carbon credits makes the project financially feasible.