Category Archives: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Bjorn Lomborg

We constantly hear that because climate change is real we should “follow the science” and end fossil fuel use. We hear it both from politicians who favour swift carbon cuts and from natural scientists themselves, as when the editor-in-chief of Nature insists “The science is clear — fossil fuels must go.” The assertion is convenient for politicians because it allows them to avoid responsibility for the many costs and downsides of climate policy, painting these as inevitable results of diligently following the scientific evidence. But it is false. It confounds climate science with climate policy. …The story told by activist politicians and climate campaigners suggests there is nothing but benefit to ending fossil fuels — and a hellscape if nothing is done. But the reality is that life has improved dramatically in recent centuries largely because of the immense increase in available energy that has come mostly from fossil fuels.

The market for carbon offsets shrank dramatically last year, falling from $1.9bn in 2022 to $723m in 2023, a new report has found. The drop came after a series of scientific and media reports found many offsetting schemes do nothing to mitigate the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. The research by Ecosystem Marketplace, found the market had shrunk 61%. It attributed the contraction to a flurry of studies and media reports that concluded millions of offsets were “worthless”, with some projects linked to human rights concerns. Each carbon credit is meant to represent the reduction or removal of one tonne of CO₂ emissions removals or reductions. …Offsets generated by schemes protecting rainforests, the most popular type, lost 62% of their value between 2022 and 2023. These schemes were the focus of a joint investigation by the Guardian, which found more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets from a large sample of projects from Verra are worthless.

MEXICO CITY — The number of heat-related howler monkeys deaths in Mexico has risen to 157, the government said, with a tragically small number of the primates treated or recovering. Meanwhile, an animal park in northern Mexico confirmed it has received reports that at least a hundred parrots, bats and other animals have died, apparently of dehydration. A heat dome — an area of strong high pressure centered over the southern Gulf of Mexico and northern Central America — has blocked clouds from forming and caused extensive sunshine and hot temperatures all across Mexico. Last week, environmentalists had reported that 138 of the midsize primates, known for their roaring vocal calls, had been found dead in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco since May 16. Almost two-thirds of the country are expected to see highs of 45 degrees Celsius on Monday. …But with heat, fires, and deforestation hitting the trees where the howler monkeys live, it was unclear whether even releasing them could ensure their survival.

Two major carbon offset projects in the Brazilian Amazon, whose credits have been sold to companies like GOL Airlines, Nestlé, Toshiba and PwC, may have been used to launder timber from illegally deforested areas. The conclusion comes from an analysis by the Center for Climate Crime Analysis (CCCA), a Netherlands-based nonprofit founded by prosecutors and investigators that investigates emitters of climate-warming greenhouse gases. Brazilian authorities had already launched timber laundering probes in the areas covered by CCCA’s analysis, which resulted in the suspension of logging authorizations. The owner of a company responsible for one of these projects has a prior conviction for timber laundering. CCCA made the analysis at Mongabay’s request after an anonymous source highlighted the participation of people convicted of timber laundering in the projects.

The broiling summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in more than 2,000 years, a new study found. When the temperatures spiked last year, numerous weather agencies said it was the hottest month, summer and year on record. But those records only go back to 1850 at best because it’s based on thermometers. Now scientists can go back to the modern western calendar’s year one …but have found no hotter northern summer than last year’s. The study uses a well-established method and record of more than 10,000 tree rings to calculate summertime temperatures for each year since the year 1. Looking at the temperature records, especially the last 150 years, lead author Jan Esper noticed that while they are generally increasing, they tend to do so with slow rises and then giant steps, like what happened last year. He said those steps are often associated with a natural El Nino…

Leading Japanese companies, NYK Line, NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers, Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and British renewable energy business, Drax Group, have signed a new memorandum of understanding to develop both the world’s first biomass-fuelled ship (bioship) and the technology that could power it. Biomass is playing a growing role in Japan’s transition from fossil fuel power generation to low carbon and renewable electricity, and the country’s demand for biomass pellets, sourced primarily from North America and composed of sawmill and forestry residues, is increasing. Drax produces biomass pellets in both the US South and Canada. The company has a longstanding relationship with NBP which transports its pellets to Japan. …The installation of a biomass fuel plant could see a 22% reduction in well-to-wake carbon emissions in bioships when compared to using fossil fuels.

LONDON – Staff at an influential corporate climate action group whose board announced a plan to allow companies to offset greenhouse gas emissions from their supply chain with carbon credits has now found such offsets are largely ineffective, a confidential preliminary draft shows. At stake is the growth of the still nascent market for voluntary carbon offsets. …The Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi), a U.N.-backed nonprofit that audits the emission reduction plans of companies, triggered a revolt among staff last month by declaring its intention to allow use of carbon credits prior to concluding its research. Since then, the SBTi’s board of trustees said that any decisions would be “informed by the evidence”. …Many of the SBTi’s financial backers are pushing for adoption. They argue offsets are needed to spur more investment in clean energy and meet a global pledge to reduce emissions to zero on a net basis by 2050.

Growing alarm over climate change has pushed world leaders in recent years to see Earth’s forests as a critical resource in the fight against global warming. But the newfound attention might not always be a good thing. The focus on forests and their value as carbon sinks could be contributing to an increase in global inequalities and create too much reliance on market-based solutions, such as carbon offsets. The warning was included in a new report from the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, a nonprofit network of forest scientists. Published Monday, the report provides a scientific review of recent trends in global forest governance….But focusing entirely on their carbon value could risk neglecting the other benefits that forests provide, such as their cultural importance to Indigenous communities. …In addition, forest carbon markets can shut local communities out of forest management discussions in their home regions.

Increasingly, businesses are writing off their carbon emissions by funding the conservation of forests. A new report finds that while such schemes have made “limited” progress in curbing deforestation, they have largely failed to alleviate poverty in forest communities. “We are too late on in the game to use win-win narratives,” said Daniela Kleinschmit of Freiburg University, a lead author of the report. Published by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations and presented this week at a U.N. meeting on forest loss, the report looked at both carbon offset programs and programs that certify goods as not contributing to deforestation. It found that such schemes frequently operate at the expense of forest dwellers. Forest communities often see no income from offset schemes and are sometimes forcibly evicted from their lands in the name of protecting forests, the report said.

STOCKHOLM — Stockholm Exergi today announced that it has signed a contract with Microsoft covering 3.33 million tonnes of permanent carbon removals from bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at Värtan, Stockholm. The agreement represents the world’s largest permanent removals deal to date. The deliveries of the carbon removal certificates to Microsoft are planned to start in 2028 and continue for a period of ten years. “The agreement with Microsoft is a huge step forward for our BECCS project, Stockholm Exergi as a company and the climate. It is the strongest possible recognition of the significance, quality and sustainability of our project and takes us an important step closer to a final investment decision in Q4 2024. I believe the agreement will inspire corporations with ambitious climate objectives, and we target to announce more deals with other pioneering companies over the coming months,” says Anders Egelrud, CEO of Stockholm Exergi.

The future of one of the world’s largest carbon offsets projects is in doubt, after the Indonesian government revoked its license for violating local regulations. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry’s action covers more than 36,000 hectares on the island of Borneo. The area is part of a project that has issued more than 30 million credits since 2013, according to data from non-profit CarbonPlan. The government cited the license-holder, PT Rimba Raya Conservation, for three offenses: The company transferred its license to a third-party without ministry approval, operated beyond its sanctioned area, and failed to make required payments to the state, according to a statement from the ministry in March. Given the project’s scale, the government’s action creates potential consequences for carbon exchanges, traders, and companies that have bought Rimba Raya credits to offset emissions. It also highlights the risks that can be obscured by multiple participants, and the threat of emerging and rapidly changing government regulations.