A friend asked me whether any countries had met their targets under the Kyoto Protoccol. Kyoto sets out an agenda for Annex 1 countries for reducing GHG emissions by 5.2 % from 1990 levels. (By the way, Portland, Oregon will have reduced its GHG emissions to 10 % below its 1990 levels by 2010 in spite of an 18% percent growth in its population.) According to Wikipedia, the answer to my friend's question is yes. Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom have all reduced their GHG emissions by at least 14 % without including land use, land use change, and forestry in the calculations. France has met its obligations as well if land use is included.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol#Change_in_greenhouse_gas_emission_since_1990
Implicit in my friend's question was "Could Canada have reduced its GHG emissions if it had tried?" Denmark and Germany are relatively cold countries and Germany is a large country. So the answer is yes - if Canada had made any effort at all, we could have achieved reductions. Germany has cut its emissions by 17 % partly because it has actively supported green industries and clean energy. ( Please see my earlier post on Germany and clean energy at "Sunshine and Power. )
Showing posts with label Germamy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germamy. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunshine and Power
The BBC News states that “the cost of installing and owing solar panels will fall even faster than expected. ….solar panels would be cost-competitive with energy form the grid for half the homes in Europe by 2020 –without a subsidy.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8386460.stm
Arise Technolgy, a company dedicated to becoming a leader in high-performance, cost-effective solar technology, was offered $ 80 million in financing by the German government in 2008 to locate a factory in Germany. Part of this money was in the form of a grant to Arise. Where are the Canadian government's incentives to alternative energy companies? Why wouldn't Canada want a company like Arise creating jobs here? Why wouldn't we be investing in clean power instead of protecting the interests of big oil?
The federal government seems to want Canada's economy to stay a samll, open staples economy.. and that baffles me.
The good news on a personal level is that solar panels function longer than predicted and will be cheaper to install - thanks to the German government.
Arise Technolgy, a company dedicated to becoming a leader in high-performance, cost-effective solar technology, was offered $ 80 million in financing by the German government in 2008 to locate a factory in Germany. Part of this money was in the form of a grant to Arise. Where are the Canadian government's incentives to alternative energy companies? Why wouldn't Canada want a company like Arise creating jobs here? Why wouldn't we be investing in clean power instead of protecting the interests of big oil?
The federal government seems to want Canada's economy to stay a samll, open staples economy.. and that baffles me.
The good news on a personal level is that solar panels function longer than predicted and will be cheaper to install - thanks to the German government.
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