User login

TUV

Trailing Large Hydro 2009: Quarter 2 CDM Update

Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline.

Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline.

For this second quarter update, I've introduced some new analyses (see below), along with those similar to the first quarter blog update. You can also get weekly email updates of CDM hydro projects and see our monthly spreadsheet, always available for your research and gleaning pleasure. Data based on the UNEP Risoe spreadsheet (June 1, 2009). Feel free to contact me about my calculations.

 

CDM Auditors Flunking Additionality

DNV and BV Cert both received an F (http://www.isletsofhope.com/pic/grade%20f.jpg)

DNV and BV Cert both received an F (http://www.isletsofhope.com/pic/grade%20f.jpg)

Misbehaving school children aren't the only ones in need of remedial classes this summer. Auditors (or DOEs) of CDM projects have been given abysmal scores in a new report by WWF and the Öko Institute for Applied Ecology.

Trailing Large Hydro 2009: A Quarterly Update on the CDM

The world through the eyes of the CDM nerd.

The world through the eyes of the CDM nerd.

Dovetailing my last blog on the decline of the CDM, I'm introducing a quarterly hydro CDM blog, which updates any CDM-nerds out there interested in the status of hydropower projects in the CDM. I also send out weekly email updates of CDM hydro projects and produce a monthly spreadsheet for your research and gleaning pleasure.

 

Xiaoxi Dam, China

Xiaoxi Dam, Hunan Province, China (Tina Lea)

Xiaoxi Dam, Hunan Province, China (Tina Lea)

This large dam epitomizes the abuse of carbon offsets and the many flaws in the Kyoto Protocol's offsetting scheme, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In this case, the dam has evicted from their homes poor farmers in Hunan Province, China, while allowing Germany to burn more coal and still meet its Kyoto commitments.

The German power utility RWE, one of the biggest CO2 emitters in Europe, intends to buy CDM credits (or offsets) from the now infamous Xiaoxi Dam on the Zishui River so that it can continue to expand its coal-fired electricity generation. In addition to generating offsets that don't lead to any real emissions reductions (because the dam has been built regardless of whether it receives CDM approval), Xiaoxi is beset with resettlement abuses, and fails to meet the basic standards of the World Commission on Dams as required by European law.

Wasserkraftwerke für „Carbon Credits“

View this page in: English

Originally published in Germany's Focus Online 

Der lukrative Handel mit Klimaschutz-Gutschriften veranlasst China dazu, immer mehr Staudämme zu bauen. Die „Carbon Credits" werden von europäischen Großkonzernen gekauft, um die Verpflichtungen zur Reduzierung der Treibhausgase zu erfüllen. Das hat unter anderem großangelegte Umsiedlungsprogramme der chinesischen Landbevölkerung zur Folge.

Related content:

China Dams Reveal Flaws in Climate-Change Weapon

View this page in: Deutsch

By Joe McDonald and Charles J. Hanley

Originally published in multiple news outlets; reporting by the Associated Press

XIAOXI, China - The hydroelectric dam, a low wall of concrete slicing across an old farming valley, is supposed to help a power company in distant Germany contribute to saving the climate - while putting lucrative "carbon credits" into the pockets of Chinese developers.

German Utility RWE Meets Climate Targets by Supporting Forced Evictions in China

Report shows Germany failing to enforce EU law on hydro carbon credits

A report released today reveals that German power utility, RWE, plans to buy carbon credits from a dam in China that fails to meet World Commission on Dams (WCD) guidelines, a breach of EU law. RWE, one of the biggest CO2 emitters in Europe, is buying the credits to avoid having to reduce emissions from its coal plants in Germany.

Xiaoxi and Xiaogushan CDM Hydropower Projects: Report from a Field Trip

EU legislation known as the Linking Directive states that CDM credits from hydropower projects larger than 20MW can only be used in the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) if the projects comply with the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (WCD).

Comments to TÜV SÜD on Baba Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (Ecuador)

Comments on the proposed CDM project: Baba Multipurpose Hydroelectric Project (MBHP)

International Rivers submission to the project validator TÜV SÜD

September 15, 2008 (resubmitted October 15)

Summary of Comments

MBHP should not be positively validated for the following reasons:

ACD Comments on Changuinola 1 (Chan 75) Large Hydro Project (Panama)

Comments on Chan 75 by the Alliance for Conservation and Development (ACD) and the Center for Biological Diversity

Carbon Management Service

TUV-SUD Group

Germany

Dear members of the Certification Body:

We want to express our highest regards for the members of the certification body and the work do.