A review of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration and the Kyoto Protocol’s clean development mechanism and prospects for Southern Africa

Toward an effective implementation of clean development mechanism projects in China

With the already huge and growing amount of greenhouse gas emissions and a great deal of low-cost abatement options available, China is widely expected as the world's number one host country of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects. But, making this potential a reality represents a significant challenge for China, because there has been a general lack of awareness by both the Chinese government and business communities, clear institutional structure, and implementation strategy. This has raised great concern about China's ability to compete internationally for CDM projects and exploit fully its CDM potential. This paper aims to address how CDM projects will be effectively implemented in China by examining the major CDM capacity building projects in China with bilateral and multilateral donors, the treatment of low-cost, non-priority CDM projects, and how a system for application, approval and implementation of CDM projects is set up in China and what roles the main institutional actors are going to play in the system. We conclude that these capacity building assistances, the establishment of streamlined and transparent CDM procedures and sound governance, and the lessons learned and experience gained from the implementation of the CDM project in Inner Mongolia and the two Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF)' projects will help China to take advantage of CDM opportunities. Moreover, in order to further capitalize on its CDM potential, there is a pressing need for the Chinese government to amend its current interim CDM regulations, in particular those controversial provisions on the eligibility to participate in CDM projects in China and the distribution of the revenues derived from CDM project between the project developer and the Chinese government. We believe that taking these ongoing capacity building projects and the recommended actions to clearly define the sustainable development objective of the CDM and disseminate CDM knowledge to local authorities and project developers as sectorally and geographically wide as possible, addressing those controversial CDM provisions with clearer guidance, and gaining experience from real practice will reduce the perceived project risks and lower the barriers to CDM project development in China. This is, in turn, likely to lead a much greater percentage of carbon credits to come from CDM projects in China over the next several years.

Purpose – Since the registration of the first clean development mechanism (CDM) project in 2004, the CDM has seen a dynamic expansion: the CDM pipeline currently comprises 6,725 projects generating 2.73 billion certified emission reductions (CERs) up to 2012. These CERs result in a substantial financial flow from Annex I to Non-Annex I countries. But CDM projects also result in investments in low carbon technologies, a substantial share of which is focused on the energy sector. The total installed capacity of all CDM projects amounts to 288,944 MW. However, the CDM is not widely taken up in Africa. This holds true for Africa's share in the CDM project pipeline (2.62 per cent), for Africa's share in CERs generated up to 2012 (3.58 per cent) and for the normalized CERs per capita, per country. Two hypothesizes are commonly discussed: first, the continent features low per capita emissions and low abatement potentials. Second, African countries may be hampered by weak institutional frameworks. This article reviews both hypotheses and presents new empirical data. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Investigating the greenhouse gas (GHS) abatement potential of 16 energy-related sectors for 11 selected least developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa shows a total theoretical CDM potential of 128.6 million CERs per year. Analyzing investment indicators confirms that most countries are impeded by below average investment conditions. Findings – It is concluded that Africa offers a considerable range of substantial abatement potentials. However, the weak institutional framework is limiting the uptake of the CDM in Africa. This is underpinned by an analysis which shows if a CDM sector has high investment cost, Africa will have a low share in the sector. If the sector has low investment needs per CER, Africa's share in the CDM sector will be bigger. Investment needs and Africa's share in the pipeline feature a negative correlation. Research limitations/implications – Supporting CDM development in Africa should not be constraint to technical assistance. It will be crucial to develop an integrated financing approach, comprising the CDM as a co-financing mechanism, to overcome the institutional challenges. Originality/value – Until today, there are few empirical studies that use concrete criteria and indicators to show why the CDM is underrepresented in Africa. The work presented here contributes to filling this gap.

Carbon dioxide hydrate crystallization thickening & morphology in a micro-confined environment for carbon capture & sequestration processes

Simultaneous Design and Planning of CO2 Transport Pipeline Network for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Sequestration Project

Clean development mechanism projects and portfolio risks

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been internationally implemented as a part of the Kyoto Mechanism to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHG) for mitigating climate change. Although forest is considered as the only carbon sink and its significance has increased, the number of registered Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) CDM projects has recently decreased. Also, the Paris agreement, the new regime of climate change, sets to outline Sustainable Development Mechanisms (SDMs) to substitute CDM including A/R CDM, but the rulebook does not finalize yet. Therefore, it is essential to review the status of registered A/R CDM projects to build a best practice model on forestry sectors before entering the new framework. This study would research A/R CDM projects implemented in India, which is the most active country to be interested in Afforestation and Reforestation. The used materials were 19 Project Design Documents for A/R CDM projects in India, including statistical and spatial data. Those documents were used to identify the status and analyze the environmental and socio-economic factors in the study area. As Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is important during project decision making process, the relationship between current CDM projects and SDGs, the other important framework to be achieved, used for the analysis. The major project areas were in Uttar Pradesh carried out by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) from Indian administration. The climates of A/R CDM projects areas including Uttar Pradesh were mostly warm, dry, and well-drained, and the native plants were highly preferred. Unlike the other project areas, Uttar Pradesh was economically worse, which means that the area was highly related to SDG 2 and 15. This research could contribute to achieving SDGs by matching each goal with the environmental and socio-economic factors. Throughout the matching, host countries could select the suitable factors to achieve SDGs by implementing the A/R CDM projects. This study would suggest the framework which should be considered before implementing A/R CDM or other projects related to forestry sectors. As a result, it could be connected to respond to climate change, forest management, and GHG reduction ultimately.

Assessing possibilities for coal continuance in India under climate constraints

The relationships between CDM project characteristics and CER market prices

PTTEP Siam Limited (PTTEPS), a subsidiary of PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), has pioneered a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project that takes aim at recovering and then using associated gas from the oil wells of Thailand’s Sao Thian-A field. Situated in the S1 Concession area in Sukhothai Province, the Sao Thian-A field has produced approximately 1.5 MMscfd of associated gas and 1,900 BPD of crude oil. Without a CDM project, this associated gas, comprised primarily of methane with lesser amounts of other energy rich hydrocarbons, would have simply been continued to have been flared and more greenhouse gases would have been released into the atmosphere. At its core, the CDM project involved the installation of a gas treatment system to filter out hydrocarbon droplets from the associated gas prior to its internal use and sale to external facility. The CDM Project has indeed helped the whole facility become more economically viable for further investment in similar such additional CDM units. The CDM project was approved by the Designated National Authority of Thailand in December 2010. Key benefits of applying CDM to the overall Project included reduction of GHG emissions, which in turn, increased the global energy efficiency of the oil field; the reduction of non-renewable energy use; and the encouragement of best practice of associated oil management among oil and gas operators in Thailand. In addition to revenue gain from carbon emission reduction trading, this Project has fulfilled score-based criteria for national sustainable development evaluation: natural resources and environment, social, technology transfer and development, and economic growth. This CDM application within a petroleum exploration and production project is Thailand’s first! If this Project receives final approval and is officially registered by the CDM Executive Board, it will no doubt encourage other operators in Thailand to initiate their own participation in this business.

Financial support for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in under-represented host countries was agreed on at the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference. The EU rules include special import quotas for certified emission reductions (CERs) from least developed countries (LDCs). This paper discusses whether these measures can contribute to overcoming barriers to CDM development in LDCs, how programmes of activities (PoAs) are performing and how CDM projects and PoAs contribute to sustainable development (SD) in LDCs. CER supply and demand scenarios for 2013–2020 show that preferential access measures for LDCs would not have an important impact on CDM in these countries if the barriers for project implementation are not overcome. The specific CDM projects and PoAs found in LDCs yield potentially high SD benefits. Through a comparison between the climate regime and the Lomé Convention, a preferential access agreement in agricultural trade, we conclude that not just preferential access is important, but also reduced access costs and the removal of underlying barriers. Increased incentives for added-value products characterize Lomé's success stories. For the climate regime, this could be translated into additional financial incentives for CDM projects with added value. As LDCs host a high share of them, PoAs could constitute an opportunity here.

Certified emission reductions (CERs) from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects have traditionally served as an indirect link between cap and trade systems around the world. However, since 2010, import restrictions have increased. Reasons for import limitations include the supplementarity principle, genuine concerns about the environmental integrity of CERs and social benefits of CDM projects, pressure from domestic emissions mitigation industries, concerns about competition in the industries in which reductions take place, as well as the attempt to pressure advanced developing countries to accept national emissions commitments under a future international climate policy regime. It is shown that import limitations lead to a decrease in CER prices and a race to generate CERs as quickly as possible. Such effects are visible in the CDM market after the EU announced its import limitations. The exclusion of CERs from specific project types will distort the CDM supply curve and increase the CER price unless the marginal abatement costs of the excluded project type are above the CER world market price. Similarly, exclusion of CERs from specific host countries will increase the price. Substantial differences are found in CER access to national carbon markets around the world.Policy relevanceCDM regulators could try to improve access of CERs to cap and trade schemes through improvements to additionality testing, standardizing baseline and monitoring methodologies and stakeholder consultation. However, regulators should be aware that standardization is no panacea, and controversies may resurface if standardized additionality determination (e.g. through benchmarks or positive lists) are applied for a certain period and found to be problematic. However, domestic policy concerns such as an unwillingness to send money abroad to buy credits, an inability to control market prices, and competitiveness impacts cannot be resolved by CDM reforms. If, despite such reforms of the CDM, blatant protectionism continues, a challenge before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) could be launched to stop discrimination of service exports from specific countries.

The potential of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to deliver pro-poor benefits at the community level is examined. Both regular CDM and premium add-on standard projects are evaluated, including the Gold Standard and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) Standard, through the use of seven poverty indicators. Some key characteristics associated with providing pro-poor benefits are also identified. Finally, the market potential of a revised or new premium add-on standard explicitly designed to deliver pro-poor benefits is assessed through the use of a survey. The results indicate that regular CDM projects are only moderately successful at delivering pro-poor benefits. Although the few projects registered that utilize the CCB Standard all performed well in delivering pro-poor benefits, those that used the Gold Standard performed only slightly better than regular CDM projects. Characteristics associated with providing pro-poor benefits include the use of add-on standards, a high level of stakeholder participation, and the development of projects by not-for-profit and government/intergovernmental organizations. The survey of carbon market participants indicated both an interest and desire for Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits with pro-poor benefits attached and shows that the market potential for such a standard to be quite good. Policy relevance This analysis of the CDM goes beyond sustainable development to consider the potential of a project to deliver pro-poor benefits at the local community level. Specific characteristics associated with projects are identified that appear to deliver pro-poor benefits that may benefit future project design. Through this analysis and identifying these characteristics, actions may be taken to incorporate those into CDM project requirements or guidelines to advance the mechanism as a means to contribute to poverty alleviation.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was initially designed as a bilateral instrument involving the participation of the private sector in industrialized and developing countries. Developing countries have, however, early on in the negotiations defended the unilateral approach, i.e. self-financing of CDM projects, allowing them direct access to carbon mitigation revenues from the sale of Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units. Unilateral CDM however contributes to an inequitable distribution of projects because countries do not face equal opportunities for CDM investment. To help explain this observation, the paper considers four different indicators to study the link between the level of financial development and unilateral CDM project registration in a sample of 71 developing countries over the period 2005-2011. Results suggest that a determining factor to facilitate self-financing of CDM projects is access to domestic credit in the economy, which could explain why countries with lower capital cost, like South Korea, tend to register more unilateral CDM projects. These results are consistent with the UNFCCC’s initiative to lauch a CDM Loan Scheme to improve CDM access for countries hosting less than 10 projects. The question however still remains open as to how low income countries will be able to implement new market mechanisms at the sectoral level as these will be even more challenging to verify and monitor compared to the current CDM project-based approach.

Finding a way: The potential for adoption and diffusion of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technologies