At its launch, Miljøsok's aim was to stabilise the
industry's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at 40 kilograms
per cubic metre (kg/m3) unit of oil produced.  After several
years of apparent progress, emissions rose sharply in 1998;
and projections now suggest emissions will average 60 kg/m3
by 2010.

"We underestimated the costs of reducing these emissions,"
Odd Raustein of Miljøsok told the Stavanger Aftenblad
newspaper.  Technological measures are reckoned to cost
NKr1,000 (euros 124) or more per tonne of CO2, while taxes
on CO2 are currently just over NKr300 per tonne, and are
thought likely to halve if Norway's pioneering quota system
for greenhouse gases is introduced after 2008 (ENDS Daily 17
December 1999).

Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have also
increased after negotiations with the environment ministry
on voluntary curbs foundered last year.  The offshore oil
sector is held responsible for a quarter of Norway's total
CO2 emissions, more than road traffic, as well as 58% of
VOCs.

Miljøsok notes that the industry's efforts to reduce
discharges to water have been more successful; and that even
its relatively poor recent showing on CO2 still puts it well
ahead of the British and Russian oil industries.

Follow-up:  Norwegian Oil Industry Association
http://www.olf.no
 

German renewables "could reach 50% by 2050"
ENDS Daily - 28/01/00
-------------------------
A package of renewable energy support measures that could
enable up to 50% of German energy to be renewable by 2050
has been presented in a study prepared for the German
government.  The government has already pledged to double
the contribution made by renewable energy by 2010 from a
1997 baseline.  The study also proposes how this could be
achieved while respecting the EU single market.

The main tools proposed by a consortium of independent
institutes are already introduced changes to Germany's
renewable electricity support law (ENDS Daily 17 December
1999), plus green marketing to develop the electricity
market.  Subsidies and quotas are suggested for renewably
generated heat.  While none of these measures would be
funded directly by tax payers, the public cost of other
measures to achieve the 2010 target is estimated at euros
307m (DM600m) per year for ten years compared with a cost in
1999 of euros 225m.

There are already some 60 supply companies offering "green"
electricity in Germany but sources are not all made
transparent.  Environment ministry spokesman Thomas Elsner
said:  "There is nothing to say that the power coming out of
the socket when you buy [green electricity] isn't nuclear
power".  He said work was in progress developing criteria
for a label such as the Blue Angel or similar, including
stipulations such as the percentage of power which must be
from renewable sources and the minimum proportion of sales
revenue which must be reinvested in renewable capacity.

Earlier this week, Germany's first green electricity
certificates were presented to NaturEnergie and ASEW, which
supply the green electricity produced by 18 municipalities.
The supply is verified by the not-for-profit Green
Electricity Label company comprising NGOs BUND and NABU
together with the solar industry body Eurosolar.

Meanwhile, a court in Freiburg came down against generating
giant RWE when NaturEnergie accused it of being
anti-competitive by describing itself as the green
electricity supplier with the most customers in Europe.

Follow-up:  German environment ministry (http://www.bmu.de),
tel: +49 30 28550.  German environment agency
http://www.umweltbundesamt.de
 
 
 

Forgotten charts prove sea threat

Robin McKie, Science Editor
Sunday January 30, 2000
Observer

Seas around Britain are rising at an accelerating rate, scientists have
discovered - thanks to a book of measurements made by a Liverpool pirate
over 200 years ago.
The observations, made by Captain William Hutchinson between 1764 and 1793,
reveal that the effects of global warming, due to emission of industrial
gases, may be worse than estimated.

Chunks of Britain's coastline face inundation; storm surges are likely to
increase; low-lying areas of most UK cities risk being swamped; while
beaches, wetlands and marshes face flooding.

'We already knew that sea levels are getting higher thanks to global
warming, but these new figures show that the oceans are not just rising
steadily but are doing so at an accelerating rate,' said Dr Edward Hill,
director of the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Bidston Hill, in the
Wirral. 'Unfortunately, it is probably too late now to reverse this.'

The discovery and subsequent analysis of the records of Captain Hutchinson
have provided a new insight into the watery crisis into which the world is
now plunging.

Hutchinson was born in 1715 and rose from a common sailor to privateer
captain. However, his strict religious views and abhorrence of swearing
suggest he was not the most successful pirate, and it was not until he was
employed as Liverpool's dockmaster that he really established himself as
one of the city's historical heroes.

Among Hutchinson's self-appointed tasks was the measuring of the high-tide
mark at the city's Old Dock twice a day for almost 30 years. In providing
the nation with its first set of systematic tidal measurements, he created
a scientific legacy that provided modern scientists with crucial insight
into oceans.

'In Britain measurements of sea levels were not started systematically
until Victorian times, by which time factories and mines had been pouring
out carbon dioxide, and other pollutants, for decades,' said Dr Philip
Woodworth, who analysed Hutchinson's tide records.'

These gases have slowly built up, causing the globe to heat up and the
oceans to warm, and swell in volume. In addition, polar ice caps may have
begun to melt - both phenomena resulting in recent rises in sea levels,
about a millimetre a year.

But sea level rises are difficult to calculate. A host of different
variables affect their measurement: geological shifts, the orbit of the
Moon and many others. And given that measurements only began relatively
recently, scientists have not been able to gauge whether the increase has
been getting worse in recent years - until Hutchinson's measurements were
analysed.

These reveal that between 1780 and 1840, there was relatively little change
in sea levels. It was only in the middle of the 19th century that the
troubles began. And that means the later changes must be more intense.
Hutchinson's records, in addition to a handful of other European studies,
add a crucial point on the graph of sea level changes, one that shows an
intensifying rise. Last century sea levels rose by 10-25 centimetres. Next
century they will rise by at least 50.

'Captain Hutchinson's data provide us with a point that changes the whole
shape of the graph of sea level rises, from a steady straight line into a
curve that shows recent exponential growth,' added Dr Hill. 'Sea rises are
accelerating, in short.'

The fact that Hutchinson made his observations in Liverpool is also
important, add the Proudman team, for the city is at a key locality in the
UK. To the north, Britain is actually rising; to the south it is sinking.
'Ten thousand years ago, great ice-caps covered north Britain,' said Dr
Trevor Baker. 'It was a bit like putting a brick on a sofa - the land
underneath sank down while the bit beside rose up.

'Now the brick has gone, or to be more precise, it has melted, and slowly
the sofa that is Great Britain is returning to its normal state, causing
Scotland to rise and South-East England to sink.'

An example is provided by Aberdeen, which is rising at a rate of a
millimetre a year, cancelling out the rise of the North Sea. By contrast,
the South-East is suffering a double-whammy. It is sinking two millimetres
a year - into a sea already rising.
 
 

Denmark to curb industrial greenhouses gases
ENDS Daily - 24/01/00
-------------------------
Denmark will lobby for EU-wide legal restrictions on
products and processes giving rise to industrial greenhouse
gases at a workshop organised by the European Commission in
Luxembourg next week.

The push accompanies publication today of what the Danish
environment agency claims to be "the first comprehensive
plan" by an EU country to curb increasing emissions of the
three industrial greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto
protocol.  Contained in a discussion paper aimed at national
stakeholders, the plan reviews all uses involving emissions
of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and examines possible
alternatives.

The paper suggests banning the use of HFCs in domestic
refrigerators and freezers from 2002 - four years earlier
than a "political target"set by environment minister Svend
Auken in 1996.  It says use in supermarket refrigerators,
cooling equipment and in foam blowing could also be phased
out well before the 2006 target, but for certain uses no
dates could be set because there are currently no
substitutes.  The deadline for comments is 31 March, with
officials hoping to prepare a bill for parliament by the
summer.

Action is vital, the agency told ENDS Daily, because the
mandatory phase-out of ozone-depleting HCFCs is already
leading to an increase in HFC consumption. "Conservative
rough calculations which are possible now suggest the
measures we are proposing would peg Danish output of
industrial greenhouse gases round about current levels," the
official added.  "Without them, there would be a huge
increase."

Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden are all preparing
detailed action plans on industrial greenhouse gases, the
Danish official said, but it was unclear how many countries
might support calls for EU restrictions or prefer to take
individual action at a national level.

Danish environment agency http://www.mst.dk The discussion
paper will be posted on the agency's web site in Danish and
English later this week.

See also press release http://www.mst.dk/nyheder/09020000.htm

Also take a look at Climate Network Europe's policy summary on
industrial gases

Belgium plans for a sustainable future
ENDS Daily - 24/01/00
-------------------------
Belgium needs to tackle sustainable development by adopting
a fixed car tax, reforming its energy policy, lowering
greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing numbers of organic
farms, according to a draft report published last week.  The
paper, which forms the basis of a public consultation and
government discussions, will lead to a new four-year plan on
sustainable development in June.

In it, an official committee calls for Belgian energy
consumption to be cut by 7.5% from its 1990 level by 2010
and for renewable energy to be supported, notably by a
fiscal incentive worth 3% of sales costs, with the aim of
boosting the share of renewables in Belgium's energy
consumption to 2% by 2010.

The committee also urges a 60% increase in organic farms
between 2000 and 2004, raising their numbers to 4% of the
agricultural sector, and makes other recommendations
concerning transport, consumption patterns, health,
biodiversity, protection of marine life, and issues of
poverty and social exclusion.

It encourages increased costs for road transport, a 7.5%
reduction in household energy consumption by 2010.  The
federal government is asked to make a 10% reduction in the
energy consumption levels of public buildings from 1999
levels by 2004.  Freight transport by rail and water is
suggested as a viable alternative to road vehicle use.

Produced by the Belgian federal planning bureau, the Belgian
federal government and the inter-departmental commission on
sustainable development, the paper departs from earlier
Belgian strategies on sustainability in its focus on global,
as well as national, development and in its inclusion of
social issues.  The plans will go before a public inquiry on
1 February with conclusions to be presented by the end of
March.

Belgian Federal Planning Bureau report
http://www.plan.be/en/pub/other/detail_other.stm?pub=OPSDRE
P02
Belgian energy secretariat http://belgium.fgov.be/government/217131_18.htm.

Nature loses plot in new winter's tale Anthony Browne, Environment Correspondent
Observer
Sunday January 23, 2000
It's not just your rose-tinted childhood memory. The traditional British winter -
depicted in paintings, Christmas cards and carols - really is becoming a thing of the past.
Gone are fields glinting with frost in the thin winter sun, and icicles dangling
from barns. Gone are the frozen lakes, and warmly wrapped rosy-cheeked
children skating on ponds. Instead, Britain is enjoying daffodils before
Christmas, grass that grows throughout the year, and plants that bloom twice a
year. Birds that used to be silenced by freezing weather now sing through the
winter. Other birds that once migrated to Africa at the first sign of cold are staying
put.
Britain - or at least the southern part of it - is rapidly becoming a frost-free zone,
according to data compiled by the Meteorological Office for The Observer.
Global warming is heating up nights more rapidly than days, making it rare for
temperatures to dip below zero. The figures show that the number of frosty
nights in central England has already fallen by a third in the past 40 years. In
the Sixties, the temperature dropped below zero on average 47 nights a year.
By the Seventies, it did so on only 39 nights a year, and in the Nineties that has
fallen again to 35. On most of those occasions it dipped below zero briefly and
was not cold enough to cause a ground frost. The Met Office predicts the number
of freezing nights will drop by a further 50 per cent in the next 50 years.
One key indicator watched by climatologists is ice formation on the
surface of Lake Windermere. Until the mid-Eighties, it partially froze on average
on 10 days a year. However, no ice has appeared on the lake since 1989.
Another key test of the severity of winter has been the date at which birds such as
the song thrush and blue tit start singing again in the spring. Tim Sparks, at the
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, used to monitor the event across the country as
part of a range of spring tests, but not any more. 'We had to abandon the birdsong
tests, because they now just sing all the way through winter. We can no longer
record it as a spring event. 'We're seeing changes in two decades
that you wouldn't expect to see in a lifetime. It's really quite astonishing.
Nature is really confused.'
As The Observer predicted in November, last year was the hottest since records
began in Britain in 1659. The main reason, however, was not hot days but warm
nights. 'The nights are getting warmer at a more rapid rate than days - no one knows why,
but it may be to do with the degree of cloudiness,' said Geoff Jenkins, climate
change specialist at the Met Office. 'We're absolutely certain the decline in frost is
due to global warming.' The death of frost - and generally warmer
winters - has had a dramatic impact on wildlife and gardens. According to the
National Trust, nature has been more confused this year than any other.
Barry Champion, head gardener at Trelissick gardens in south Cornwall
counted 125 plants in flower on 1 January this year - compared with 80 last year. 'It's
the most advanced year I can remember,' he said. 'I had one plant flower in
December when it's meant to flower in July. Other shrubs are flowering twice a
year, in spring and autumn.' Across the country, snowdrops and
daffodils, traditionally seen as heralding spring, were flowering before Christmas.
At the National Trust gardens in Killerton in south Devon, daffodils appeared on 14
December.
'We're certainly not getting as many frosts, and we don't have to worry about
protecting plants from it in winter now,' said head gardener Andrew Mudge.
'There's virtually no dormant season now. The grass is growing all time, and we have
to cut it throughout winter, which we never
used to.'
In the past few years, the Trust has started to cultivate oranges in more than
half a dozen of its properties. 'The crops are not bad - we're getting a few fruit per
plant,' said the Trust's head of gardens, Mike Calman. 'We're getting more of a
continental climate - like this winter. I mean, where is it?'
The decline of frost, and the milder winter, is increasing the range of plants that can
be grown in Britain, but gardeners as well as environmentalists are quick to point out
it isn't all for the good.
'You don't get something for nothing. You'll get more pests and diseases which
like warmer, moister climates,' said Calman. 'Also, if plants don't go to sleep
in winter, a late frost can be devastating.' Last year, a late frost killed the Trust's
entire crop of apples at Sizergh Castle in Cumbria.
Dr Ute Collier, head of climate change at the Worldwide Fund for Nature, insisted
the warm winters were a mixed blessing. 'Some people might think it's good for
their garden, but we're also getting much stormier winters. The sea level will be
rising, and we'll get more floods,' she said.
'This is only the beginning; we're at the start of the changes.'
For more information on the impacts of climate change, look at the links on the
Climate Network Europe links page

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL REPORT ON GLOBAL TEMPERATURE CHANGE
The report examines the apparent conflict between surface temperature
and upper-air temperature, which has led to the controversy over
whether global warming is actually occurring. The Earth's surface
temperature has risen about 0.4 to 0.8 degrees Celsius - or 0.7 to 1.4
degrees Fahrenheit -- in the last century, the report says. But data
collected by satellites and balloon-borne instruments since 1979
indicate little if any warming of the low- to mid-troposphere - the
atmospheric layer extending up to about 5 miles from the Earth's
surface. Climate models generally predict that temperatures should
increase in the upper air as well as at the surface if increased
concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing the warming. The report
can be found at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9755.html

”In the opinion of the Panel, the warming trend in global mean surface temperature observations in the last 20 years is undoubtedly real and is substantially greater than the average rate of warming during the twentieth century. The disparity between surface and upper air trends in no way invalidates the conclusion that surface temperature has been rising.”
 
 

France unveils  national climate change plan.

20th January

 A new energy tax forms the centrepiece of a national climate
 change strategy adopted by the French government yesterday.
 The plan comprises 100 actions aimed at enabling France to
 stabilise greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels by
 2008-12, addressing transport, industry, construction,
 land-use planning, forestry and other sectors.  The
 government claims to be the first to adopt such a
 wide-ranging climate action programme.

 Yesterday, the government revealed that the tax was
 likely to start next year at euros 23-30 (FFr150-200) per
 tonne of carbon, raising around euros 760m.  The price could
 rise to about euros 76 per tonne by 2010, prime minister
 Lionel Jospin said.

 Following recent experience with a similar UK energy tax
 plan, the French government plans to exempt energy-intensive
 industries, but only in exchange for voluntary commitments
 to reduce emissions.  The strategy also allows for future
 development of market-based mechanisms such as emissions
 trading between businesses.

 Among the plan's many other elements is an objective to
 stabilise greenhouse gas emissions from transport by 2020.
 It also confirms a previous objective of reducing a tax
 differential between petrol and diesel that has long made
 diesel relatively cheap in France compared with other EU
 countries

 State support for renewable energy is to be stepped up,
 while energy efficiency standards for buildings are to be
 tightened.  In addition, efforts are to be made to achieve a
 better balance between different freight transport modes.
 Meanwhile, reinforced cooperation between central and
 regional government is promised during forthcoming
 negotiations on regional plans.

 More is to be done to control methane emissions from
 landfill sites, including a legal requirement to recover the
 methane.  Other measures aim at reducing nitrous oxide (N2O)
 emissions from the chemical industry as well as industrial
 emissions of other gases controlled under the Kyoto
 protocol, such as sulphur hexafluoride and perfluorocarbons.

 The government stresses that full implementation of some
 measures - especially market-based ones - will require
 agreement at EU level.  It also pledges France to ratify the
 Kyoto protocol soon after the next meeting of parties to its
 parent convention due this autumn.  France will host a
 preparatory international conference in September to prepare
 for this critical meeting, the government said.

    WASHINGTON -- DaimlerChrysler AG on Thursday withdrew from the Global
    Climate Coalition, a business group fighting an international global
    warming treaty. Ford Motor Co. had resigned last month.

    The decision is a major blow to the powerful industry lobby for oil,
    auto and mining companies, which has seen two major oil companies
    leave the coalition in recent years as well.

    The group's primary goal has been to oppose the Kyoto Protocol
    intended to stop global warming. The companies believe the protocol
    would have a devastating effect on the American economy without
    solving the global warming problem.

    "We are at a stage in the climate change debate where we prefer to
    either speak for ourselves on this issue, or pursue a dialogue on the
    subject through broader-based business organizations," James
    Holden, president of DaimlerChrysler's U.S. operations, said in a
    letter to the group. The company had no additional comment.

    Coalition executives said the move was expected and that
    DaimlerChrysler would continue to oppose the global warming treaty.
    "We figured Chrysler would have left right after the merger, since the
    political culture in Germany is so different," said Glenn Kelly,
    executive director of the coalition, who confirmed the company's
    decision to leave.

    On Thursday morning, DaimlerChrysler Washington representatives began
    calling Michigan congressional offices to assure them the company
    would continue to oppose the climate treaty. "It's a disappointment
    when those with the most to lose decide to go another way," said Paul
    Welday, chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Joseph Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield
    Hills.

    But environmentalists were ecstatic. "This is great news," said Dan
    Becker, director of global warming and energy programs for the Sierra
    Club. "It's the middle of a stampede to the door that will sound the
    death knell of this very anti-environmental organization."