Print this pageRenewable Energy, Climate Change, and Business Opportunities
Ed McBean1, Rick Mosher2, and Stephen Ball3
1 Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, and University of Guelph, Waterloo, ON
2 Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Waterloo, ON
3 Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, Calgary, AB
In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) was showcased in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The subsequent Kyoto Protocol focussed the UNFCC by setting legally-binding and mandatory targets and timetables for greenhouse gas emissions of the signatory industrialized nations. With Russia's recent ratification, the Kyoto Protocol will enter into force on February 16, 2005. This process will reduce global emissions of greenhouse-gases. It will also provide economic opportunities for entities in the private sector that are able to grasp the framework of the Protocol and exploit technologies associated with renewable energy.
In this presentation, the concepts of the UNFCC and Kyoto Protocol will be explored, with an emphasis on economic opportunities and issues involved with addressing environmental problems through market-based mechanisms. The Clean Development Mechanism will be discussed in the context of carbon credit trading and the role of investors, insurers, regulatory agencies and the oil and energy sector.
An example of existing projects designed to meet the emissions requirements of developed countries by implementing reduction initiatives in developing countries is provided by the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF). Implemented by the World Bank in 1999, the PCF outlines the role of renewable energy in the framework of climate change. PCF-sponsored initiatives have included wind, biomass, small hydro and landfill gas projects in a number of developing countries, displacing conventional energy technologies typically associated with greenhouse gas emissions. To fully exploit such opportunities, the underlying mechanisms and processes of the climate change protocols must be understood, along with the applicability and utility of renewable energy in its many forms.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005