The Washington Post was the first to cover CGD’s release of CARMA 2.0, featuring the new data in the August 27 print edition of the paper. Several mainstream outlets and their blogs chased the Post story digging deeper into the data. CARMA’s data sparked a controversy when it revealed that the Indian-government-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was the third largest producer of CO2 emissions in the world (in the initial CARMA launch). NTPC responded with analysis asserting that the firm is highly efficient. CGD’s Kevin Ummel examined the NTPC assertions in a CARMA blog posting, which was quickly picked up and cited by India’s Business Standard.
Media Coverage
NTPC Claim Fuels Controversy (Business Standard - 9/5/08)
From the article:
The recent claim made by state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) that it was the world’s second most efficient thermal power producer has kicked off a controversy.
Company officials admitted that they had juxtaposed the emission data for 2005-06 with the generation data of 2007-08 to arrive at such a conclusion. During those two financial years, the country’s largest thermal power producer increased its generation capacity by nearly 6 per cent to around 200 billion units per annum, almost all from fossil fuels (gas and coal). “When we use generation and emission figures of the same year, we no more remain at the second position,” said a senior official of the company.
This was in response to a report by Washington-based Centre for Global Development (CGD), which said NTPC was the world’s third-largest polluting power producer. The report drew instant criticism from the NTPC management, which accused CGD of using wrong data and also questioned its methodology.
Taichung Power Plant World’s Worst Polluter: Survey (Tiapei Times - 9/4/08)
From the article:
A survey by Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) showed that the Taichung and Mailiao coal-fired power plants ranked No. 1 and No. 5 worldwide in terms of carbon dioxide emissions by power plants respectively, casting a shadow on the government’s energy-saving and carbon-reduction policies.
India Third Biggest CO2 Emitter in World; NTPC Tops List (The Economic Times - 8/31/08)
From the article:
India is the third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, with state-owned NTPC topping the list of companies belching the deadly gas, according to new data released by a Washington-based think tank which has advocated an "energy revolution" in the country based on solar power.
The Centre for Global Development (CGD) said that India figures at the third position in the list of biggest CO2 emitters through power generation after China and the United States.
Our Coal Emissions Are Worst (Herald Sun - 8/29/08)
From the article:
"The Centre for Global Development, a Washington think-tank, yesterday also revealed Australia is the planet's eighth biggest carbon polluter.
The study of emissions from 50,000 coal-fired power stations put China, the US, India, Russia, Germany, Japan and Britain ahead of Australia in total carbon dioxide output."
Carbon Villains, the Sequel (Newsweek blog - 8/29/08)
From the article:
When I wrote last year about the Center for Global Development’s Carbon Monitoring for Action database last November when it launched, I noted what a wealth of information it offered on sources of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the world, from the worst actors down to whether your own utility is an angel or a villain when it comes to CO2 emissions. With its latest data, CGD shows again what a mess we’re in when it comes to reining in greenhouse emissions.
Global Warming: Soot-covered Gold (Seattle Post Intelligencer - 8/27/08)
From the article:
China is taking the soot-covered gold. A new report says the electric utilities of the Olympics host will emit more greenhouse gases this year than any other country, including the United States. The Center for Global Development calculates that China's power plants, reliant on King Crud coal, will emit about one-third more gases than last year and leapfrog well past U.S. plants. About a quarter of all climate-changing pollution worldwide comes from electrical plants. We're still far and away the leader, unfortunately, in transportation emissions.
China Gets the (Sooty) Gold in Power Emissions (TruthDig - 8/27/08)
From the article:
China’s unceasing economic growth has always worried environmentalists, and a new report by the Center for Global Development may put those concerns on a new level. After increasing power-plant emissions by a third this year, China’s coal-based power sector is poised to be the most polluting in the world ... even worse than that of the United States.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Govt Counters Report of US-based Think Tank (LiveMint - 8/27/08)
From the article:
India has challenged a Washington-based think tank that included NTPC Ltd among the world’s top five polluting power utilities, a ranking that has raised concerns in the government that the country’s electricity projects may find it difficult to raise funds overseas. The Center for Global Development’s (CGD) database, called Carbon Monitoring for Action, ranked India’s largest power generator the third biggest polluter based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels.
PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post Business (Reuters - 8/27/08)
From the article:
The carbon emissions of China's electric power sector will jump by about a third this year and surpass the total emissions of the U.S. electric power industry for the first time, according to a report by the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank.
Power-Sector Emissions of China to Top U.S. (Washington Post - 8/27/08)
From the article:
The carbon emissions of China's electric power sector will jump by about a third this year and surpass the total emissions of the U.S. electric power industry for the first time, according to a report by the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank.
The estimate, gathered from a variety of public data, shows that while China and India are becoming somewhat more efficient in energy use, their rapid pace of economic growth would mean a doubling of their carbon emissions from power plants over the next dozen years.