Projected Consumption of Coal may exceed that of Oil in coming years

Although in the eye of the public there are numerous strategies being developed in order to shift away from coal dependency in certain nations, the International Energy Agency states (in their Medium-Term Coal Marker Report – MCMR) that coal consumption will be on the increase  and will meet and possibly surpass that of oil consumption in the coming years. With the projection made within the report, the IEA states that by the year 2017 coal consumption will stand at 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (btoe), versus that of oil which stands at 4.40 btoe.

 It is evident that developed countries will wined off from their coal consumption and diversify and implement policies and practices that will reduce coal consumption. For example USA; that has diversified to shale gas; and other countries; that would implement certain strategies and have their growth of coal consumption even out over the years. China and India still seems to be the biggest consumers with continuous growth. The growth of coal consumption therefore will be seen greater within developing countries that are now able to introduce coal powered energy resources as a cheaper alternative.

An Executive Summary is available for this report, and more can be read about this report here.

Philippine Flood Management Knowledge Sharing Forum

Urban flood management was the topic of discussion as a gathering between Philippines government officials, other local and international stakeholders and I&AP’s took place at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters. The aim of the Philippine Flood Management Knowledge Sharing Forum is to share knowledge about flood management approaches, institutional issues arising from flood management and support the exchange of such knowledge with other stakeholders.

The presentations at the Forum were done by national government and private sector stakeholders that concentrated on climate and flood risks in the Philippines and the measures taken to reduce hazards, exposure and vulnerability towards flooding.

A report conducted by ADB, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the World Bank in 2010 projected that Manila is especially vulnerable to risk of flooding as cost of damages could measure up to US$1.5 billion unless actions are taken. Furthermore, climate change cost implications were also presented.

For the press release of this article please visit their website here.

Source: http://operationnaturechronicles.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/urban-flood-18.jpg

ADB Supports Philippine E-Trike

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be providing the $300 million towards a 5 year implementation project plan that will replace fossil fuel tricycles with 100,000 electric tricycles (E-Trikes). There are about 3.5 million tricycles currently operating in the Philippines that have a high running cost and it is in efficient as the drivers earn less than $10 a day, after purchasing fuel. The E-Trikes will assist in many forms of savings. The primary is the environment with less carbon emissions being produced by the E-Trikes (as the production, manufacturing and the charging of the E-Trikes still consume energy sources from fossil fuels). Secondary, will be the savings for the drivers as they stand a chance of saving up to $5 a day, and carry more passengers on a single trip. This will increase their daily income. Thirdly, it will save the Philippine government $100 million a year as they would no longer require importing fuel.

Other benefits of this implementation project plan will also generate 10,000 jobs across the 5 years plan as the manufacturing of the E-Trikes will take place domestically. The Philippine government has also started on other e-vehicle actions, of which you can read more in this article.

IDB Supports Uruguay Wind Farms

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) supports Uruguay, with a loan totalling US$107.7million, in its efforts to construct wind farms in two locations – namely El Libertador and Palmatir. The wind farm projects are not new methods of attaining alternative energy sources, but in place to increase and further diversify the energy mix that Uruguay already has.

Uruguay’s current energy mix, that supplies 2.578MW power generation capacity, is comprised of 60% hydropower, 33% fossil fuel, and 7% from biomass and wind. As the dry season reduces the ability to produce as much energy from hydropower, they become vulnerable and are forced to increase their fossil fuel energy production from imported resources.

The output of these wind farms will produce 115MW’s of energy and avoid the emissions of 302 000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. For more information about this project and other related IDB, visit their website here.

Image Source: http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/wind-energy-2.jpg

IEA - Reduce Fuel Consumption through Policy and Technology

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released 2 reports that focuses on paths necessary to implement policy and technological transformation in order to reduce fuel consumption by 50% by 2050 (This does have a nice ring to it – “50 by 2050”). As the world’s fossil fuel consumption and dependency is as an alarming rate, EIA found it necessary to promote fuel saving in order to enhance energy security and reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

“With the right policies, countries can use available, cost-effective technologies to greatly improve the fuel economy of road vehicles over the next 10 to 20 years, and at the same time save billions of US dollars in fuel costs.”

For more information about these documents and other publications of the EIA, visit their website here.

Leasons Learnt from SWHP

For when there is a project that insists on the installation of carbon emission and fuel consumption reduction, I think that we could use the experiences and lessons learnt from the South African National Government’s Solar Water Heater Project outlined in this article/blog. From what I picked up, on a general note, there should be at least 3 components to make this large sustainable project work:

1.       Be in it for the outcome and not the gain; as many businesses that go in it for a profit end up being unable to produce the output and then fall out of the race.

2.       All procedures must be in place and clear to all stakeholders; so that knowing what you’re dealing with doesn’t become a constraint.

3.       Keep on track; stay focused and monitor the project so that changes may be amended before a loss is experienced

Benefits of the Commuter to the City

The use of public transport varies due to commuter preference. Therefore, it should not only be essential to understand what the purpose of such a commute is, and what the benefit of such a commute is for the commuter, but also what the benefit of such commute is for the City in which such commuting/traveling tacks place in. A survey done in UK established that commuters that utilise public transport, specifically bus, generate £64bn  of economic output every year. It would be good to understand the commuter dynamics within the City of Cape Town and not only the environmental, but also the economic contributions.

Sustainable Benefits of Public Transport

As public transport becomes an increasing need and feature within the city, we shouldn’t lose track of what the benefits are of safe and reliable public transport and infrastructure. Here, public transport becomes internationally recognised through the G20 meeting held in Mexico and attention is given to its economic, social and environmental contributions.

Safe Cyclist

As we promote the various forms of sustainable transport that, especially with cycling, we shouldn’t just concentrate on getting people on bikes and out of cars but also make people aware of the safety and precautions that they need to take before doing so.


Image Source: https://skitch-img.s3.amazonaws.com/20101229-rmeekgwar6qhum643a1wfyp4i6.jpg