2008

December 12, 2008

Poznan Follies: The Real Opportunity Cost

As thousands of people prepare to head home after meeting in Poznan, Poland for COP 15 climate meetings, Kevin Ummel and I look at the opportunity cost of travel to the conference. Read "Poznan Redux: The True Climate Cost" to find out how many megawatts of renewable energy sources could have been developed -- and CO2 averted -- if everyone had stayed home.

DOE's Steve Chu, Solar Thermal, and the Sahara Desert

Solar power got a boost this week with reports that Nobel laureate Steve Chu will soon head the Department of Energy. So we're sending him our latest working paper on the economics of solar thermal power in North Africa. Download the article from Robin Kraft's post "Implementing Steve Chu's Solar Vision: Priority #1 for the New Secretary of Energy".

My thanks to Robin Kraft for his help in preparing this letter.

Best wishes,

David Wheeler
Senior Fellow
Center for Global Development

News

Peru aims for zero deforestation (BBC News)

Obama climate goals not enough: China, India (Reuters)

Mexico aims to cut emissions, boost carbon trades (Forbes)

Rich, poor in dispute over rainforest cash (Reuters)

HSBC to curb palm oil lending, review oil sands (Reuters)

BofA Curbs Coal Financing with New Policy (GreenBiz.com)

Finance Giants Adopt 'Climate Principles (ClimateBiz.com)

Desert Oases Make Solar Power Plays (GreenTech Media)

Power Plant News:

Inside CARMA


Botswana

Botswana's lead government meteorlogist recently said that the country's 2.44 tons of emissions per capita are greater than those in the rest of Africa and in Latin America. Botswana's emissions from the power sector alone are expected to exceed 12 tons per capita within a decade, despite the country's abundant solar resources.