With the Obama administration, U.S. Congress and the world’s governments now united in their opposition to the application of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to international aviation, Airlines for America (A4A), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, appropriately ended its private lawsuit against the EU ETS and urged the administration to accelerate its work to reverse this unilateral tax.

“Our legal action was critical in bringing to light that the EU ETS violates international law and is an exorbitant money grab, which are now key points in the governments’ unified opposition to the scheme,” said A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “There is a clear path for the United States to force the EU to halt the scheme and protect U.S. sovereignty, American consumers, jobs and international law.”

A4A and its members remain steadfastly opposed to the application of this cap-and-trade tax scheme to U.S. airlines and aircraft operators, and are committed to seeing it overturned. A4A has long maintained that world governments, as signatories to the Chicago Convention, are best situated to enforce international laws and obligations and drive to a global solution within the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

ICAO has authority to address violations of the Chicago Convention under Article 84 of that treaty, and also is working to complete the global framework for aviation greenhouse gas emissions provisionally agreed at its 2010 Assembly.

A4A and its member airlines are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation and, with fuel-efficiency improvements saving over 3.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide since 1978, have a strong record of improvement.

A4A maintains that the unilateral and extraterritorial approach taken under the EU ETS not only violates international law, but imposes costly policies that siphon away funds the airlines need to continue to invest in technology, operations and infrastructure improvements that bring real environmental benefit.

Image Courtesy of   Walter G Arce / Shutterstock.com

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American DG Energy, a leading On‑Site Utility, offering clean electricity, heat, hot water and cooling solutions to hospitality, healthcare, housing and athletic facilities, has reached an agreement to supply clean energy to Governor Paterson Towers, a 225 unit, 30 story, residential high-rise, located in Paterson, New Jersey.

Under the terms of the agreement, Governor Paterson will soon receive a significant portion of its energy from a 75 kW combined heat and power (also called CHP or cogeneration) system, which will be owned and operated by American DG Energy. Governor Paterson will receive a discount on the energy produced by the CHP system and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The value of the agreement to the company is $1.9 million over the fifteen-year term.

Working with its partner, Peter Westerhoff, to develop this project, American DG Energy will produce clean energy in the form of electricity, space heat and domestic hot water at Governor Paterson Towers and sell it to the residential property at a price lower than the local energy utility rates. Having opted for the company’s On-Site Utility energy solution, Governor Paterson will pay only for the energy used by the property and will avoid all capital, installation and operating costs.

The energy will be produced with small-scale, combined heat and power equipment, located at the property site but owned and operated by American DG Energy. The company will also handle all service, maintenance and repair; therefore, Governor Paterson will not need to provide manpower to support the equipment.

CHP systems offer considerable environmental benefits when compared with purchased electricity and on-site-generated heat from a boiler. By capturing and utilizing heat that would otherwise be wasted from the production of electricity, CHP systems require less fuel than equivalent separate heat and power systems to produce the same amount of energy. Because less fuel is combusted, greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, as well as air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, are reduced.

The CHP system planned for Governor Paterson Towers will be comprised of a CM-75 Ultra by Tecogen, which is equipped with a proprietary ultra-clean emissions technology and has recently been granted the new air emissions certification from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

This certification eliminates the process of applying for pre-construction operation certification and air permits prior to installation which will save time and money on implementation of this project. In addition, the CHP system is expected to reduce the residential property’s emissions by 252 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of removing the carbon emissions of 42 cars each year.*

* Figures were calculated using the EPA CHP Partnership emissions calculator.

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Holly branches and pine boughs are not the only green signs of the holiday season; mailers and shippers can also count on the Postal Service to help them go green, save green, and be green this time of year.

“The Postal Service is one of the greenest mailing and shipping companies in the world,” said Thomas G. Day, chief sustainability officer. “We offer more than a half-billion eco-friendly mailing and shipping supplies, free package pickup, and holiday cards printed on recycled paper available in 2,000 Post Offices, and the Postal Service is leading the adoption of green practices by engaging our employees, customers, and suppliers.”

The Postal Service offers customers options to help reduce their carbon footprints, just as it consistently seeks ways to reduce its own environmental impact.

“We have a ‘fleet of feet’ delivering mail the greenest way possible, by walking,” Day added. “Nearly 9,000 of our carriers will be delivering holiday mail on foot this season. And we also have nearly 80,000 ‘park and loop’ routes, where carriers will drive vehicles from the Post Office to neighborhoods and then deliver those holiday packages and cards on foot.”

Green Packaging
The Postal Service has established rigorous sustainable green packaging standards for its Priority Mail and Express Mail supplies and a majority of ReadyPost boxes, envelopes, and labels.

By buying packaging made with recycled content, USPS helps sustain green jobs in America, as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. Priority Mail and Express Mail supplies are free to customers and can be delivered at no charge.

Green Postage
Tens of billions of postage products, including stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards are made with post-consumer recycled content, providing an environmentally responsible use for America’s waste paper. Festive holiday stamps can add just the right touch to seasonal greeting cards, and a large assortment of holiday stamps and customized holiday cards are available.

Green Shipping
Customers can save fuel this Yule by ordering free shipping supplies, print shipping labels, and pay for postage, all from the comfort of home or office. The Postal Service will pick up packages free the next business day and send them on their merry way to cheer loved ones wherever they are. Skip the trip, and save time, money, and fuel this holiday season.

Green Delivery
The Postal Service will deliver 16.5 billion cards, letters, and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve by using the largest civilian fleet in the world containg 215,000 vehicles.

Among them are a range of alternative fuel-capable vehicles, including three-wheeled electric vehicles with zero gas emissions that operate at a cost of only 2 cents a mile, as well as vehicles that can operate on compressed natural gas, propane, ethanol, and fuel cell. There also will be 30 large all-electric trucks delivering holiday mail in Manhattan.

Recycling
The Postal Service has made recycling a priority. Secure recycle bins in more than 10,000 Post Office lobbies make it easy for customers to read, respond and recycle their PO Box mail during the holidays and helped customers divert approximately 56,000 tons of paper from landfills last year.

The Postal Service recycled nearly 225,000 tons of paper, plastics and other waste in 2010, which avoided more than 700,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Postal Service has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo, Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement, and Climate Registry Gold Status.

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Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a statute titled the National Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, known as RAN-GRK, or Presidential Decree No.61/2011, on September 20, the Indonesian government announced on September 26.

The plan, which Yudhoyono had announced two years ago, details how major national agencies, such as the Ministry of Forestry, would curb emissions. It calls for a reduction of greenhouse gases by almost 30 percent, approximately 627 million tons of carbon dioxide, by 2020. If rich countries provide aid, financial or otherwise, to the country, the Indonesian government said it could reduce almost one billion tons of emissions.

A major focus in the decree is forestry, but it also focuses on energy, agriculture, and industry. Dipo Alam, the Indonesian cabinet secretary, said the plan was an attempt to follow Bali’s action plan, and echoed the plan to reduce emissions between 26 percent, or up to 41 percent with international aid.

The announcement came one day before Forests Indonesia, held on September 27 in Jakarta and organized by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). At the conference, Yudhoyono pointed out the benefits and disadvantages of forestry as an industry which the country relied on.

“I call upon our business leaders, particularly those in the palm oil, pulp wood, and mining sectors to partner with us by enhancing the environmental sustainability of their operations,” he said.

Indonesia is the third largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the world, behind the United States and China. Indonesia currently accounts for almost 10 percent of the world’s greenhouse emissions, and almost 80 percent of that comes from deforestation in the form of burning and clearing.

Deforestation constitutes about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and Indonesia accounts for more than half of that total. Rainforests contain high amounts of carbon dioxide because of the process of photosynthesis in plants which remains under the cover of trees and other vegetation until it is released  during deforestation.

Peat bogs are drained for palm oil and timber. To access peatlands, which are also rich in carbon dioxide, developers first dig a canal in the swamps to drain them. When peat is released into the air, it oxidizes rapidly, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When the swamps are dry enough, timber is removed, and then other vegetation is burned.

The burning then releases more carbon dioxide into the air. In a 2007 World Bank Group report regarding climate change and Indonesia, it was said that underlying problems were the real reasons why Indonesia was having such serious problems in the forestry sector.

The issues related to institutional practices, government regulations, and economics limited the ways forests in Indonesia could be managed in a sustainable way.

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