Climate change is the most pressing global issue facing us all, with potential for significant community, biodiversity and environmental consequences across the world.
Carbon reductions are made through a range of projects around the world that not only make real reductions in carbon emissions, but also make a difference to people’s lives; why not take a look at some of the projects with our interactive map.
To find out more about ClimateCare and emission reduction projects, visit www.jpmorganclimatecare.com.
To take responsibility for our impact on the climate we are offsetting the carbon emissions from our business through ClimateCare. ClimateCare is an organisation that reduces global greenhouse gas emissions on behalf of companies and individuals.
Biltube Core Boards Limited (BCBL) is an Indian company which manufactures and supplies paper-based core boards for manufacturing paper tubes and paper cones. Prior to the implementation of this project, Biltube’s operations were heavily carbon intensive. Furnace oil was fired in the boiler to create steam in order to dry out the paper sheets, resulting in the creation of significant GHG emissions. In fact, the paper and pulp sector is one of the most energy intensive and highly polluting sectors in India.
This project involves conversion of the boiler at an Indian paper factory to enable a switch from furnace oil to bagasse (the pulp left after crushing sugarcane to extract the juice) to generate steam for drying paper sheets. Approximately 1,500 tonnes of furnace oil are expected to be replaced with renewable bagasse each year.
Being situated in the heart of Kolhapur’s sugarcane industry, a window of opportunity arose for BCBL to switch from using fuel oil for its operations to using renewable power from the waste sugar cane material. In the process of crushing the sugar cane to extract the juices, a significant volume of this waste biomass is produced, known as bagasse. As a waste product, the bagasse is usually left to rot down outside the sugar mill or is burnt in farmer’s fields. Bagasse is assumed to be a carbon-neutral fuel as the CO2 emissions from burning of bagasse are sequestered by the plant species, representing a cyclic process. Approximately 1,500 tonnes of furnace oil are expected to be replaced with renewable bagasse each year.
Many families in the newly formed state of Jharkhand in India depend on agriculture for their livelihood. In order for farmers to grow crops outside the monsoon season, and ensure an income all year round, irrigation is vital.
Many farmers have to rent costly diesel pumps for this irrigation. These are generally hired for short periods, meaning that the fields have to be flooded which wastes water, washes away top soil and is costly.
The project will enable not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation International Development Enterprises (India) (IDE-I) to expand appropriate technology treadle pumps to regions across India.
The treadle pump is a simple device developed by the IDE-I. It uses human power to pump water from wells, streams and lakes up to the fields. This allows farmers on the plains of India to grow crops all year round rather than wait for the monsoon. IDE-I is facilitating this process by organising manufacturers, distributors, agents and field engineers, as well as marketing the pumps to villages. Villagers pay for the pumps, which have a life of over 10 years, cost savings are soon made on diesel while improved crop yields increase household income.
The emission reduction baseline is diesel use. Analysis puts emissions savings at about 477 kg of CO2 per pump per year. The emission reduction calculations have been independently assessed and approved in the validation by TUV Nord.
Additionality will be measured against the small scale CDM guidelines. Treadle pumps are not used widely and there are numerous barriers to overcome in making this market – carbon finance gives the NGO a long term source of income, reducing the need for the donor funding upon which it has relied to date and providing the ability to expand the operations.
Socio-economic: Treadle pumps can be used whenever the farmer needs to irrigate, rather than having to wait to hire a diesel pump from large landowners, often for long periods which means many crops suffer from lack of irrigation in the intervening period. The farmers also have to repeatedly pay expensive hiring fees and diesel costs. Using the treadle, households benefit from an increased income due to the ability to grow more and diverse crops; a study by The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) found an increase in the cultivated acreage of up to 255% in some villages where the treadle pump had been adopted, meaning more crops to take to market, and greater variety in the families’ diet.
According to a report by the Acumen Fund into the impact of treadle pumps on the welfare of children, 100% of households in Uttar Pradesh had changed their diet since installing the treadle pump - by eating green leafy vegetables - and 83% of households were able to add milk to their diet, on account of being able to afford to buy livestock.
Financial savings on diesel pump hire mean farmers improve their physical and human capital by purchasing land, livestock and other assets and by educating their children.
In over 50% of households in Uttar Pradesh, extra income was used to buy learning materials for children (Acumen report, June 2007) which helps ensure the children's future. Treadle pump usage also means less migration for work so that fathers are not working away for long periods - according to Acumen some families were separated for up to 7 months of the year. This migration is no longer necessary, which creates a more stable family environment for children.
Environmental: The manually operated pumps do not produce any GHG emissions. They are also less damaging to the quality of the top soil compared with diesel pumps, as the speed of discharge of water is lower, meaning less of the fertile top soil is washed away. Preservation of top soil means that over time the farmers have to add less fertiliser. The treadle pump well is dug manually, whereas the diesel well is dug mechanically, thereby reducing fossil fuel use and local pollution during installation.
Since coal power dominates the rapidly expanding electricity grid in China, the current emissions for each unit of electricity generated is very high. The cost of developing renewable power plants (running on water-power, for example) is significantly higher than that of coal-fired ones, making the support from carbon finance essential to the ‘greening’ of the country’s energy generation. However, it has never been more critical to help China divert to a low-carbon path as more and more business floods into the country.
In the remote mountain village of Yonghong sits the Mani Hydro Power Station, on the banks of the Yinhe River, Sichuan Province.
Water from the river is diverted steeply downhill via a 400m slope which surfaces at the power plant and is directed through two 7 MW water turbines. Production peaks during the rainy season (April to July), and on average produces 60GWh a year, the equivalent to supplying around 14,000 average homes in the UK with clean, renewable electricity.
Photo: water is directed steeply downhill to maximise the power generated by its flow - Photo courtesy of Climate Bridge
Mr Like Lazu, a local resident employed by the local county, told us how Mani has improved his family’s quality of living;
“Our income has increased. We used to buy our clothes and salt with money from selling crops. All of our revenue came from selling bamboo shoots, potatoes and the corn my family planted. After I started working for Mani last year, I have had a monthly income of RMB 800, which is much higher than our regional average. We did not have a TV set before, but now we have one. Also, we have better clothes.”
The majority of Cambodian people depend on fuel-wood daily for cooking, most commonly using the Lao stove. This traditional stove uses charcoal that is produced from earth mound kilns; a process that is inefficient and is responsible for high emissions of greenhouse gases.
The project involves replacing the traditional Lao stove with an efficiency of 25% with an improved Lao stove having an efficiency of 29%. The programme is run by GERES.
Although the gain in the efficiency may seem small, this gain leads to a cut in the demand for charcoal by 21%. The project therefore reduces greenhouse gases used in both charcoal production and the use of charcoal during cooking.
This project aims to transform the cooking market in Cambodia. It overcomes many barriers to achieve its goal: developing the stove, developing the sales channels, improving sales techniques, marketing the stove and management training. Distribution channels are set up from producers to retailers to users, with training provided for the producers and retailers.
Social: The project is building the country's capacity in technical skills in the manufacture, marketing and sale of the improved cooking stove.
Economic: By reducing the amount of fuel used for cooking, the project enables stove users to spend less on fuel to cook.
Environmental: Some estimated 369,000 tonnes of wood fuel are consumed for charcoal production annually, destroying 45km2 of deciduous forests each year. Only 3% of this re-grows, which translates to an average loss of 197,000 ha annually. The project helps to reduce this loss by reducing the demand for wood fuel.
Taiwan is a highly populated and industrial country separated from the Asian continent by a 160km wide body of water. Power generated from fossil fuel dominates the electricity grid in Taiwan and as such there is a very high amount of greenhouse gas emissions released for each unit of electricity generated.
Taiwan has an abundant wind resource both on and offshore which can be used for clean power generation.
The project involves the development of two wind farms on the west coast of Taiwan. The project comprises 42 turbines within an Industrial Park in Changbin and another 20 turbines are located in Taichung.
The wind turbines are Enercon E70 versions, each having a capacity of 2.3MW. At full capacity, the aggregated output of the project is expected to be of 483,864 MWh/year, which is to be delivered to the state-owned power grid, Taipower. Accordingly, the project will lead to carbon dioxide emission reduction since it will avoid the use of fossil fuel in the electricity generating system.
Social: - Creates local employment in both during the construction and operational phase - Provides clean electricity to the equivalent of 110,000 Taiwanese households annual demand
Economic: - contribute to the development of the wind energy sector in Taiwan - Transfers technology and know-how as the employees are trained by German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon on maintenance, safety and operational issues - Contributes to Taiwan's economic sustainability by reducing the dependency on fossil fuel imports
Environmental: - Reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in Taiwan by replacing fossil fuel based power generation - Contribute to the reduction of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particles resulting from the electricity generation from fossil fuels in Taiwan
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