Next100 - A Dialogue on the Next Century of Energy

Mar 22 2008

A breakfast special: carbon neutral

NEW YORK - Is "carbon neutral" on your breakfast table? It was on mine this morning at a classic greasy diner on 45th Street here.Two lengthy pieces on the topic on the same day in the New York Times reinforces for me that "carbon footprints" and "carbon sequestration" and "the war against carbon" have become part of the daily conversation, and there's a lot more to come.

Today's stories focus on little Norway, a giant oil producer, and British business mogul and environmentalist Richard Branson. They share the same goal - generating net zero emissions of carbon with help from investments in energy efficiency, renewable power, and environmental projects like reforestation. Norway last year vowed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 but now has sliced that target to 2030. Branson aims to widen his carbon-reduction efforts by making his private Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands carbon-neutral. He recently hosted Google's Larry Page, ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, and other climate-concerned business and financial leaders at a global warming confab on the island.

Norway has a tough road ahead because its oil, natural gas, and mineral refining industries are big greenhouse gas emitters. Environmental groups and politicians say its carbon goal "relies too heavily on sleight-of-hand accounting and huge donations to environmental projects abroad, rather than meaningful reductions" at home, the Times says. The overseas work gives Norway credits for its emissions back home. "Any further cuts in emissions - the essential thing scientists agree is needed to stem the momentum of global warning - are likely to be painful," the story adds.

My company PG&E and many others have launched programs to reduce carbon emissions. In February, we announced the largest investments in verifiable greenhouse gas emission reductions. With these purchases, PG&E's ClimateSmart program will purchase 214,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from two of California's most pristine forests.

It's pretty clear, however, that a lot of uncertainties loom for nations, industries, institutions, environmental groups and others striving to organize environmental cooperation and make progress on carbon cuts. Branson calls the effort a "war against carbon," the Times notes. And I expect to be reading a lot more carbon coverage with my lox and onions egg scramble.

Posted by: Leonard Anderson | Comments (0) Permalink