Home  5  Books  5  GBEzine  5  News  5  HelpDesk  5  Register  5  GreenBuilding.co.uk
Not signed in (Sign In)

Categories



Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.
Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


powered by Surfing Waves




Vanilla 1.0.3 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome to new Forum Visitors
 Join the forum now and benefit from discussions with thousands of other green building fans and discounts on Green Building Press publications: Apply now.




General: Shadow Price of Carbon

Bottom of Page

1 to 12 of 12

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorbiffvernon
    • CommentTimeDec 23rd 2007 edited
     
    Our Government seems to be developing a core strategy around this paper:
    http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/research/carboncost/pdf/background.pdf The Social Cost Of Carbon And The Shadow Price Of Carbon: What They Are, And How To Use Them In Economic Appraisal In The UK
    Economics Group, Defra December 2007

    It was the front page story in yesterday's http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/22/climatechange.carbonemissionsGrauniad
    and there are summaries from http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2007/071219e.htm] DEFRA

    http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/cc-instruments/index.htm Consultation open till 19th March '08.

    I wonder what the implications for the building industry will be.
    •  
      CommentAuthorted
    • CommentTimeDec 23rd 2007
     
    I get quite worried by this massive emphasis on 'carbon' as if it is now the only evil in the world - and all other downsides can be ignored. As if the fact that the people who write the rules can selectively ignore external factors isn't bad enough.

    Impact on building industry? Well none - as all new builds will be 'zero carbon' from 2012 won't they! :wink:
    • CommentAuthorbiffvernon
    • CommentTimeDec 23rd 2007
     
    Emphasis on carbon? Maybe because it's the element most likely to cause the extinction of the our species. Or do you know of something potentially more destructive, Ted?
  4.  
    To my mind what this means is that thus means is that a ful refurb programme of all pre 1980 stock is affordable. If you follow the footnotes and go to the McKinsey report (see below) the least cost means of addressing climate change is presented. Refering to McKinsey you will note that the area of cost savings is roughtly proportionate to the additional costs (comparing areas on the graph.) On this basis the real cost of addressing carbon emission would appear to be minimal.

    http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/pdf/Cost_Curve_for_Greenhouse_Gas_Reduction.pdf

    Ted has a point fair point the ecological impacts of our current life style also need to be addressed if are not to see other disaters that will threaten not only human kind but every species on the planet. Population growth and consumption are serious ises that few seem to be talking about never the less trying to address. http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report.pdf

    Mark
    •  
      CommentAuthorted
    • CommentTimeDec 23rd 2007
     
    I don't have any problem with carbon being addressed. I'd just prefer that it was treated as part of a holistic approach so that we don't end up causing some drastic 'unforseeable' problems elsewhere - which seems to be something that we humans have developed a special knack for.
    • CommentAuthorStuartB
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
     
    I agree with Ted and Mark. High consumption, throw away goods, packaging and waste are areas we also need to focus on. If we can reduce these then we automatically address a large chunk of the carbon issue. Your average man in the street has a problem understanding the issues around carbon, however if we were to make it socially unacceptable to generate a lot of waste and consume excessively packaged goods then we could make progress this way.

    On a global scale there are relatively few very large manufacturers that if they were to change their production methods, materials and packaging would make a big difference. The governments of the world should be sending out the message that it is unacceptable to package an MP3 player the size of a lighter in thick A4 sized plastic! The amount of excessive packaging that came through my house this Christmas was disgusting.
    • CommentAuthorbiffvernon
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
     
    Yes.

    But is it just the packet or the MP3 player itself that we will have to give up on :(
  8.  
    Posted By: StuartBThe amount of excessive packaging that came through my house this Christmas was disgusting.


    Yes, I agree, I spent a couple of happy hours unpacking this stuff - not :cry:

    I also had a good look at some of the environmental information on the packaging we are recycling. I was surprised to see the following on a bag of potatoes:

    "This bag will fully degrade to carbon dioxide, water, organic material and a small amount of inorganic residue after 4 yeatrs in the domestic waste system. This compares to conventional plastics taking over 100 years to degrade"

    So is this approach good or bad?
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeDec 27th 2007
     
    I'm with you Ted. It's being suggested we should switch to a hydrogen economy (because burning it produces water). That might be ok but hands up all those who knew Hydrogen is an indirect greenhouse gas? We will need to make sure it doesn't leak too much from all those hydrogen filling stations.

    http://www.ghgonline.org/otherhydrogen.htm
    • CommentAuthorbiffvernon
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007
     
    From the second paragraph on that page:
    "Much hydrogen is itself produced in the atmopshere by the oxidation of methane, with total global emisssions estimated to be about 70 million tonnes each year. "
    I'd be interested to see just how that works.
    • CommentAuthorSolar bore
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007
     
    I read the guardian and thought good maybe this will stop my local council from knocking down old buildings, needlessly,

    Will it also have an effect on the planned road expansion of the A550 on Welsh side of the border I hope so.

    and it is a giant step forward that the government has at last been made to realize this aspect of there actions.
    •  
      CommentAuthorfostertom
    • CommentTimeDec 28th 2007
     
    Posted By: biffvernonFrom the second paragraph on that page:
    "Much hydrogen is itself produced in the atmopshere by the oxidation of methane, with total global emisssions estimated to be about 70 million tonnes each year. "
    I'd be interested to see just how that works.
    Perhaps it's by action of sunlight on methane? But then what stops such 'free' hydrogen rapidly oxising to H2O?

1 to 12 of 12

  1.  
Add your comments

    Username Password
  • Format comments as
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
   
The Ecobuilding Buzz
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
Logout    

© Green Building Press