Cement, Energy and Environment

accounted for just by the biological mechanism of nitrogen gas production . For example, about one to three kilogrammes of nitrogen gas is lost per hectare of land per year in the northern Mojave Desert in the US. The biological mechanism would imply release of trace amounts of nitrogen gas by the microbes in the desert soil during nitrogen fixing. Ecologist Jed Sparks and evolutionary biologist Carmody McCalley from Cornell University in USA tried to trace the ways in which nitrogen is disappearing. They covered small patches of soil in the Mojave Desert with sealed containers to measure nitrogen gases that escape desert soils. "At 40 to so·c rapid increases in · gases coming out of the soil was found. Any place that gets hot and dry in all parts of the world might exhibit this pattern," concluded Sparks. The team warned that some climate models predict more summer rainfall for desert areas and the water, when combined with heat, would greatly increase nitrogen losses. The study was published by Science on November 6. Deserts account for 40 per cent of the Earth's surface. Arid and semiarid lands are the most likely areas for new human settlements. The story of the escaped nitrogen takes a worse turn when it combines with the nitrogen pollutants released by human activities. The lower atmosphere replete with the pollutants is a second layer of ozone which does not protect from UV rays. It increases the greenhouse effect warming the planet. Courtesy: Down To Earth, December 1-15, 2009, P38. Clean Development Mechanism (COM) & Carbon Trading CARBON CREDIT MARKET OVERVIEW CER prices traded in the range of Euro 11 .92 - Euro 13.5 in the period Nov. 15 - Dec. 17, 2009. The highest point incidentally corresponds with the start of Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen. The carbon markets rose in expectation of favourable developments at the summit. The prices fell as it became increasingly evident that it would be difficult for the parties to agree on a meaningful legally binding climate change regime. Major developments in the area of Climate Change (i) World's largest reinsurer on climate change: Munich Re has cautioned against the financial consequences of global warming. It is the company's statistics that give rise to this warning. Since 1980, the claims from natural disasters caused by weather have soared by an average of 11 per cent per year. In addition, Munich Re's statistics reveal that the annual number of devastating natural disasters caused by weather has tripled since the early 1980s. (ii) India announces emission reduction targets: Just before the beginning of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, India announced emission reduction targets for the first time. It is the world's fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh stated that the country's emissions factor is to fall by 20-25% by 2020 against 2000 levels. This means that carbon emissions are to be reduced by a fifth to a quarter per unit of GOP. Assuming that the Indian economy will continue to grow substantially until 2020, this means that the country's total emissions will likewise continue to grow for the time being. Previously, both China and India had refused to announce reduction targets without a prior binding commitment of the Annex 1 countries to reduce their emissions significantly. (iii) Copenhagen meet on Climate change: Copenhagen discussions in the month of December'09 received a major setback when 192 countries from across the world failed to reach a legally binding agreement to replace Kyoto Protocol ending on December 31, 2012. Global warming is the biggest threat facing mankind that has the potential to increase global average temperatures by 2-5 degrees or more. Even a 2 degree rise in mean global temperature would lead to severe irreversible adverse consequences to mankind. A rise of 5 degree temperature will pose much severe consequences. The global negotiations are aimed at limiting the average temperature to less than 2 degrees. This will entail countries to reduce their emission of Green House Gases (GHG) to certain targeted levels. Since current technologies for power generation, transport, etc. are emission intensive, any limit on usage of the same will hurt growth of developing economies. Due to this reason fast growing economies are not willing to take legally binding emission reduction targets. Developing countries are demanding developed nations to commit aggressive target for emission reduction due to their high historic emissions and also support developing countries to switch to a low carbon path through technology transfer and financing. Developed nations are not willing to commit aggressive targets and sufficient financing and technology 44