March 3, 2008 (The Edge Daily) – Carbon Capital Corp Sdn Bhd will launch RM150 million worth of biogas and biomass projects in Sarawak next month as part of its long-term strategy for growth.
“We will be launching four biogas projects and one 10 megawatt biomass power plant there, utilising empty fruit bunches (from oil palm).
“These are all projects which we will be investing in and developing 100%,” Carbon Capital group managing director William Kho said.
February 11, 2008 (Yomiuri Shimbun) – The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry plans to expand the nation’s environment-focused business sector to about 83 trillion yen in 2015, from 59 trillion yen in 2005, sources said. In June, the ministry plans to draw up policies to achieve this target that will include proposals for popularizing environmentally friendly technologies and businesses, according to the sources.
The ministry will promote the plan to participants at the Group of Eight summit meeting, which is to focus on environmental issues, to be held in Toyakocho, Hokkaido in July.
The ministry believes the domestic market for businesses involved in tackling global warming could grow by 54 percent to 49 trillion yen by 2015 from the 2005 level.
February 11, 2008 (Bangkok Post) – To cope with high oil prices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Thailand must pursue four options: development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage. However, renewable energy has certain limitations, and options for each country are different depending on availability of natural resources, technologies and manpower. This is why the Thai government has mainly concentrated on renewable energy based on domestic raw materials and wastes.
Financial incentives together with the provision of information to investors and consumers have proved to work wonders, for instance in the promotion of biofuels. The consumption of gasohol (E10) more than doubled in 2007. With the introduction of E20 in 2008, daily demand for ethanol should reach two million litres by 2011 when new cars capable of using E85 should be on sale.
From: Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive
To: All Shell employees
Date: 22 January 2008 Subject: Shell Energy Scenarios
Dear Colleagues
In this letter, I’d like to share reflections about how we see the energy future, and our preferred route to meeting the world’s energy needs. Industry, governments and energy users – that is, all of us – will face the twin challenge of more energy and less CO2.
This letter is based on a text I’ve written for publication in several newspapers in the coming weeks. You can use it in your communications externally. There will be more information about energy scenarios inthe months ahead.
By the year 2100, the world’s energy system will be radically different from today’s. Renewable energy like solar, wind, hydroelectricity and biofuels will make up a large share of the energy mix, and nuclear energy too will have a place.
Mankind will have found ways of dealing with air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. New technologies will have reduced the amount of energy needed to power buildings and vehicles.
January 9, 2008 (BBC) – The Chinese government says it is banning shops from handing out free plastic bags from June this year, in a bid to curb pollution. Production of ultra-thin plastic bags will also be banned, the State Council said in a statement.
Instead, people will be encouraged to use baskets or reusable cloth bags for their shopping, the council said.
October 21, 2007 (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) – Dubai Multi Commodities Centre and EcoSecurities announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Zero Waste Technology to jointly develop municipal waste treatment centers using anaerobic digestion projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Continue reading
September 24, 2007 (Malaysia Star) DATUK Vinod B. Sekhar is headed for a bigger stage after having just recently addressed an audience of nearly 400 global chief executives at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore. There, he promoted Green Rubber Global as the world’s first commercially viable waste-free way to recycle the over one billion discarded tyres.
In the middle of this week, he will attend the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting in New York. The working sessions of the meeting, which is held from Sept 26 to 28, will focus on education, energy and climate change, global health and poverty alleviation.
This time around, Vinod may spring another surprise by announcing a proposal for grand-scale farming of jatropha plant based on the smallholders concept.
The jatropha seeds can be crushed to create a cost-effective substitute to petroleum diesel.
His proposal may be timely as oil prices are racing to hit new highs and The Petra Group’s entry into the biodiesel sector is to further commercialise the jatropha seeds.
Asia Cleantech 