GHG and Carbon Management

Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater are joined by Mr. Philip Gass, International Institute for Sustainable Development. Philip reflects on Carbon Policy in Canada after COP21 in Paris. This conversation was recorded in Seoul, Korea.

Michael Gillenwater is just back from COP-21 in Paris. Don Bain followed the agreement from afar. Listen in on their discussion of first impressions. Look for more detailed analysis in future episodes.

Read the agreement for yourself at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf. Check out the excellent coverage of the event and development of the agreement at http://parisagreement.org/.

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A tax on greenhouse gas emissions, a.k.a. carbon tax, is one policy mechanism for addressing climate change. The Canadian Province of British Columbia implemented a carbon tax in 2008 and reports of experience with it are now in papers and the press. Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater discuss the tax and some of the lessons learned. Michael points out some of the implementation challenges.

Details of the tax are available at http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/tbs/tp/climate/carbon_tax.htm. Press articles include http://grist.org/climate-energy/what-we-can-learn-from-british-columbias-carbon-tax/ and http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/07/british-columbias-carbon-tax.

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Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater respond to posted comments and emails from you. We are very grateful to our listeners for taking the time to contact us. We want to hear from you. Please email [email protected]

Get ready! The Greenhouse Gas Accounting Standards Council, GHG-ASC, is coming.

Don and Michael go over the features of an exciting new organization dedicated to recognizing leading GHG accounting practice in companies. Recorded 1 April 2015, a formal announcement will come after details are finalized and key positions filled. Email [email protected] for questions or more information.

Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater discuss a personal carbon dilemma – should I fly or should I drive? A recent trip prompted Don to try 5 different on-line carbon calculators for air travel when trying to compare the carbon intensity of airline travel versus travel by auto. The carbon calculators gave surprisingly different results for the same air travel data.

Michael gives an overview of Radiative Forcing in the context of emissions from air travel.

Want a more scientific look into carbon calculators for air travel? We highly recommend Carbon Offsetting & Air Travel, Part 1: CO2-Emissions Calculations, by Anja Kollmuss & Jessica Lane.

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Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater visit Washington, D.C. in January 2015. The conversation takes place at the same time the new GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, http://www.ghgprotocol.org/scope_2_guidance, is being announced a few miles away. Our hosts reflect on their respective efforts to raise concerns about some features of the new guidance. See https://scope2openletter.wordpress.com/ for a full explanation.

This podcast is the first ever with Michael and Don in the same room at the same time. The location was the beautiful campus of Gallaudet University, http://www.gallaudet.edu, a bilingual (English and American Sign Language) and inspirational university dedicated to preparing its graduates for, among other things, a “rapidly changing world.”

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You can now find us on Stitcher at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/greenhouse-gas-management-institute-2/greenhouse-gas-management-institute-podcast?refid=stpr .

While http://ghginstitute.org/podcasts is home for this podcast, we host the audio on https://soundcloud.com/ghgmipodcast and list the podcast at iTunes.

Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater have a conversation about the joint U.S. – China announcement on climate change. Michael gives historical perspective to help understand the agreement. Don goes into the scale of the Chinese commitment, and gives context by imaging how many wind (160,000+ turbines) and solar systems (42+ million rooftop) will be required. Think of the industrial stimulus!

The United States intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its emissions by 26%-28% below its 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28%. China intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030 and to make best efforts to peak early and intends to increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 20% by 2030.

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Don Bain and Michael Gillenwater venture into a discussion on Climate Change Adaptation. This follows Don’s observations from the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index annual meeting, November 5, 2014, in Washington, D.C. See http://ndgain.org and http://index.gain.org/.

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Listeners have suggested a shorter format for the podcast and we listen! This episode is our first attempt to keep to a budget of 30 minutes or so. Some topics will take longer, but we will aim most conversations to this shorter format.

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Don reports observations from a public comment meeting hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the subject of the proposed Clean Power Rule. Michael and Don discuss the boom in hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, and some of the implications as we think about climate change.

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(Photo: drilling rig in the Eagle Ford Shale, Texas, 2013 by Don Bain)