Carbon capture and storage will play a big role in Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions goal of a 20% reduction by 2020. However, technical and cost challenges will have to be addressed before Canada can “turn the corner on climate change.”

Source: The Globe and Mail

Alberta’s refusal to take part in a western climate change scheme is facing a back-door assault from carbon market enthusiasts.

Today in Salt Lake City, the increasingly powerful alliance of the Western Climate Initiative is gathering to fine-tune a plan that aims to put a price on electricity imports – including energy from Alberta’s coal-fired power plants.

On a large tract of land in Thailand’s dusty northeast, Suwit Yotongyot hopes to make a fortune on jatropha, a plant with a poisonous nut that might hold the key to the nation’s energy troubles.

The European Commission believes that all major regions need to join forces in the fight against climate change. Officials from the European Union and Latin American met on Tuesday to discuss efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The UK has passed binding legislation to curb CO2 emissions. The government will need to “count the carbon, just as they count the pennies,” says Treasury chief Gordon Brown. The bill called for emissions to be reduced by 60 percent by 2050, and by as much as 32 percent by 2020. Targets were based on 1990 levels. The Green Party said emissions should be reduced by 90 percent by 2050.

Australia Energy Minister Martin Ferguson has stated that the Offshore Petroleum Act will be amended to permit carbon emissions from coal-fired power stations to be stored in the ocean floor around Australia. Exploration will began in 2008.

The boreal forest in northern Canada is being threatened by logging and other development by the forest industry. Greenpeace is warning that these practices will release the stored carbon into the the atmosphere, accelerating global warming.

Reuters

Already struggling with the soaring costs of developing the Alberta oil sands, Canada’s energy industry now also faces the prospect of tighter environmental controls regardless of which party wins the country’s upcoming general election.

The Guardian

Emissions from China’s export industry are everyone’s responsibility – future trade and climate policy must be linked, says Glen Peters. Glen Peters is a senior research fellow at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo, Norway.

San Francisco Chronicle

The Bay Area air quality district became the first in the nation on Wednesday to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year.

The 15-1 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sets the stage for 2,500 companies and agencies – from supermarkets to gas stations to power plants – to pay 4.4 cents for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they expel, beginning July 1.