Biomass plant plans in Wisconsin
A proposal by We Energies to generate power by burning waste wood at a Wisconsin paper mill comes at a time when the paper industry and environmentalists have raised concerns about another wood-burning power plant in northern Wisconsin.
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Interview with Michael G. Morris - CEO of American Electric PowerThe picture of the global carbon market is a murky one, stymied on the one hand by the lack of a U.S. climate policy, and bubbling over on the other hand with a highly speculative, and even murkier, voluntary market.
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Rain Forests Lose Out in Senate's New Climate BillMuch of the handwringing by greens over the new climate and energy bill introduced in the Senate on May 12 has focused on the overtly controversial aspects of the legislation: the partial allowances it makes for new offshore oil drilling, for instance, and the ceiling it puts on carbon prices.
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Another tragedy befalls the environment and we can count on those that were once environmentalists to capitalize, figuratively and literally.
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Nature Conservancy faces potential backlash from ties with BPIn the days after the immensity of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico became clear, some Nature Conservancy supporters took to the organization's Web site to vent their anger.
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Opinion: Point Carbon: credits to average US$26/t in early years of US ETSPoint Carbon Research projects that the price for each metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) would average US$26 over the period 2013-2020 under a federal cap-and-trade system as outlined in the American Power Act (APA).
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90 Scientists Urge Congress Not to 'Cook the Books' in CO2 Accounting for Biofuels, Other Bioenergy Sources Concerns Expressed About Treatment of Bioenergy Sources in U.S. House and Senate Climate/Energy Bills; Improper Accounting Could Lead to Large-Scale Destruction of Forests, Undercutting of Other Climate Change Gains.
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The American Power Act: Trees Fare Well in Latest US Climate BillIt’s been a good run for trees in climate-change talks, and that run continues with the latest climate bill introduced two weeks ago in the US Senate (read the full discussion draft here). For proof, just ch
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Domestic Offsets in the American Power Act: Preserving the Integrity?
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NV Energy hopeful waste wood will become an energy sourceBy 2025, a quarter of Nevada’s energy must come from renewable sources
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Biomass confusion in the U.S.
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'Green' pulp mill eyed for provinceA group of investors that includes actor Woody Harrelson is hoping to produce high-quality, eco-friendly paper from wheat and flax straw in southern Manitoba for the likes of Staples and Office Depot.
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Our View: Future of wood-fired plants key energy issueA study that says biomass plants are worse than oil is not the last word on this subject.
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US-South Timberland Transaction updateThe pace of timberland transactions is still pretty slow but they are occurring (about 500,000 acres since my update last fall) and prices do not appear to have dropped below those of late last year. I think the 10% - 15% decline estimate (from the peak) is still pretty solid.
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University Sees Biomass as Future for Energy GenerationBiomass has been in use at the University of Missouri power plant since 2005. The power plant boilers have been cofiring wood waste up to 5 percent with coal in the existing plant boilers, consuming between 5,000 and 6,000 tons of woody biomass this year.
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Detailed Summary of the American Power Act of 2010 Offset Provisions
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Sustainable forest management for privately-owned U.S. forestsSAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CE2 Carbon Capital (CE2), one of the largest investors and owners of U.S.
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ArborGen cleared to field test genetically engineered eucalyptus in US south Eucalyptus trees with a foreign gene that helps them withstand cold weather could become a new source of wood for pulp, paper, and biofuels in the Southern timber belt, said a report in the New York Times.
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Moving Forestry to the Forefront of the Carbon MarketAn estimated 16% of the total global GHG emissions are directly attributed to the destruction of tropical forests.
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Pressure Mounts on USGBC to Open LEED to SFI, Other Credible StandardsWASHINGTON, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a letter steered by Congressmen Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to the U.S. Green Building Council, 79 members of the U.S.
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IRS Brings Son of Black Liquor Back From the DeadThe Internal Revenue Service may have handed U.S. pulp and paper companies a multibillion-dollar gift by ruling that black liquor produced in 2009 is eligible for an even more lucrative tax credit than the one claimed by manufacturers last year.
The June 28 ruling contradicts previous guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency that the molasses-like pulp byproduct could not qualify for Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Credits (CBPC) because it is not a motor-vehicle fuel or fuel additive. The new IRS ruling does not allow the same black liquor to receive both the original black liquor credits ("alternative fuel mixture") and CBPCs, the so-called Son of Black Liquor tax credits.
The exact impact of the ruling is unclear, but in theory it is be worth more than $10 billion to U.S. companies.
Publicly traded U.S. companies received more than $6.5 billion in black liquor tax credits last year by exploiting a loophole in legislation designed to subsidize "green" fuels. Privately held companies probably qualified for at least another $2 billion.
Please continue reading this article here...
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That’s Billion Dollars, With a “B”Most dividend announcements are in the range of pennies to several dollars, so when a company declares a special dividend of USD 5.6 billion, it tends to grab your attention, and that of shareholders.
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Latin America: Climate Change Swing StatesObama's climate change guy Todd Stern has just wrapped up a tour of Latin America. It wasn't vacation: more like a critical lobbying opportunity.
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Climate Collaboration in the Americas DeepensWashington - During a meeting with Chilean media in Santiago this month, the United States' special envoy on climate change, Todd Stern, was peppered with questions about last year's United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen and what the world should expect for the talks in Cancún, Mexico
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US government fails on climate changeNot even intense international pressure, the BP oil spill, worsening floods, or the fact that the last six months have been the warmest on record globally was enough to push US climate legislation through the Senate. In the end the legislation died without a single Republican supporting it and a number of Democrats balking. Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid, said they would continue to push climate legislation in the fall, but analysts say success then is unlikely given up-coming elections in November.
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California legislature looks to ban the bag California is poised to become the nation’s first state to ban single-use plastic and paper bags at supermarkets and convenience stores.
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Seeing the Forest for Its HedgesFOR decades, some university endowments, pension funds and other big investors have put part of their money to work in the woods. They’ve bought large tracts of timberland, viewing them as an asset class separate from stocks, bonds and other forms of real estate.
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US forest strategy boomerangs in BrazilA recent ad campaign aimed at gaining Midwestern senators support for US climate change legislation has backfired in Brazil.
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The 23 Most Cost-Effective Policies for Stopping Climate ChangeThe Center for Climate Strategies has issued a report laying out in detail the cost/benefit analysis underpinning 23 policy options and their expected net cost per ton of greenhouse gases removed.
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ARB Sees REDD in AB32 FutureWith the fall of the US federal climate bill, eyes are shifting west to California's Air Resources Board (ARB) as it nears the November release of its cap-and-trade regulations under AB32.
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Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in California Compliance MarketThe winds of change are blowing across the climate change policy landscape. With legislation stalled in the Senate, attention now shifts to state and regional initiatives.
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Avoiding Planned DeforestationThe American Carbon Registry (ACR), a non-profit enterprise of Winrock International, welcomes feedback from its members, project proponents and other interested parties on the ACR Methodology for REDD – Avoiding Planned Deforestation.
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Sparks fly over study suggesting wildfires cut CO2Call it a hot topic. A study suggesting that intentional forest blazes could significantly cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires in the Western United States has prompted a piquant scholarly quarrel. The exchange highlights the challenge forest managers may face in balancing plans to use fire to restore forest ecosystems with efforts to curb carbon emissions.
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Biomass power plant finds wood to burnThe company that wants to build a controversial wood-burning power plant near Shelton has signed a fuel-supply contract with Mason County’s largest private timberland owner – Green Diamond Resource Co.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but Adage spokesman Tom DePonty said the agreement should provide about 20 percent of the 604,000 tons of wood debris the company needs to power its plant each year.
It is the first fuel-supply contract signed by Adage and a forest landowner for the $250 million project.
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Brazilian debt exchanged for forestry protectionThe US and Brazil have signed an agreement whereby US$21 million (£13.5 million) of Brazilian debt will be put into a fund for the protection of the country’s rainforest and tropical ecosystems.
The US has agreed that instead of paying back its debt, the money will be utilised to protect the Caatinga and Cerrado ecosystems and conserve the rainforest on the Atlantic coast. These three areas in Brazil are currently under threat of serious deforestation but do not receive as much attention or publicity as the Amazon region.
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Why did the climate bill fail?With the climate bill officially dead, there's already a trickle of "who's to blame and what they should have done differently" pieces. I expect it will soon become a flood.
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Failure of Climate Bill - How does it affect Forestry and REDD?I think we would all agree that it is a disappointment that the US Senate didn't take up a climate bill that included a cap and trade system to finally put a price on carbon and begin reducing emissions.
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Appeals court allows logging Oregon old growthGRANTS PASS, Ore. – A federal appeals court Friday cleared the way for logging to resume in an old growth forest reserve at a national forest in Oregon to protect northern spotted owl habitat from being lost to wildfire.
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An interesting letter written by Tom Vilsack, Secretary of AgricultureI want to thank Avoided Deforestation Partners for holding this event and inviting me to join all of the distinguished speakers here today in urging the adoption of REDD plus as part of a gl
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Groups oppose genetically engineered eucalyptus treesEnvironmentalists are challenging the plans of a S.C.-based biotechnology firm to grow genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the South, saying the fast-growing Australian species could spread uncontrollably.
ArborGen LLC won federal permits in May to plant 330 acres of a eucalyptus hybrid in South Carolina and six other states. The test sites include Marlboro County, S.C., about 75 miles southeast of Charlotte.
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Dow Corning’s Midland Manufacturing Site Considering Biomass PlantMIDLAND, Mich. -- Dow Corning’s Midland manufacturing site is considering the installation of a biomass-powered energy facility to provide a renewable, reliable and cost-effective supply of steam and electricity necessary for the site’s operations.
Cirque Energy, LLC, which would build, own and operate the plant for Dow Corning, recently filed for appropriate environmental permits with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which is the first step in the process of installing the facility.
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Financing the Tropical Forest Conservation ActThe Tropical Forest Conservation Act is an incentive program that provides less developed countries with debt relief when they protect their forests. According to USAID, this act includes funding from both the United States federal government and private organizations. The Tropical Forest Conservation Act funds protect forests throughout all regions of the world, including Bangladesh, Belize, Jamaica, and Botswana, as well as others.
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Clinton’s Cap-and-Trade ConU.S., Pakistani and United Nations officials are not letting Pakistan’s flood crisis go to waste. They are exploiting it for an advantage in the high-stakes climate change debate.
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Pressure mounts on USGBC to accept forest certification programsForest certification standards from 12 nations have called on the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to end its discrimination against wood and accept all credible sustainable forest certification standards.
The certification programs pointed out that wood is one of the best environmental choices for construction as long as it is from a responsible source, and that fiber certified to the 26 national forest certification programs recognized by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) meets this demand.
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The US way of rescuing our climate...For individuals and business, air travel is a fact of life. The world is our playground and we are not going to stop exploring new places and opportunities.
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Sustainable forestry is profitable: Maine has 7.5 million acres certifiedIn June loggers from across the Northeast were recognized at the Blaine House, the residence for the standing governor, for their outstanding business and sustainable harvesting practices.
“The Northeast Master Loggers Certification Board certified eleven new Master Logger companies,” said Beth Postlewaite, executive director of the Trust to Conserve Northeast Forestlands (TCNF), as she gave out the awards. “Of the eleven companies certified, six were from Maine. This is a model for the nation.”
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Wood industry, the state has adopted a new machine which forestry development planNovember 3, 2009 was informed that the State Forestry Administration, the State Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, State Administration of Taxation have jointly issued the five departments of the “Forestry Industry Development Plan (2010-2012)”, as a gui
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Fighting Global Warming by Saving British Columbia's Old Growth ForestsSeven western states and four Canadian provinces have joined forces in a plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
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Forest Changes in Alaska Reveal Changing ClimateCAMBRIDGE, Md. -- Evidence is mounting that climate change is transforming Alaska's boreal forest, an expert said yesterday.
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Paper companies eye another serving of black liquor tax benefitsPulp mills may be getting back on the black liquor gravy train.
Paper and pulp makers, including a number of mills in southwest Alabama, collected $8 billion or more last year in federal cash and tax credits by doing what they've done for decades -- burning the carbon-rich leftovers from the pulp-making process to fuel their mills.
The liquid, known as black liquor, was declared eligible for alternative fuel tax credits if mill operators mixed in a little diesel fuel.
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Santa Cruz Mountains redwoods lure cash for trapping carbon
LOMPICO - PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric's) is handing over tens of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Sempervirens Fund to protect a 425-acre stand of redwoods once slated for logging deep in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
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UNIBOARD(R) AND CALIFORNIA CLOSETS(R) ENTER INTO EXCLUSIVE SUPPLY AGREEMENT
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Updated standard provides new guidance for using forests to address climate changeVersion 3.2 of the Climate Action Reserve’s Forest Project Protocol continues to ensure integrity of forest offset projects
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From outer space, a new dilemma for old-growth forests
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Saving our precious old-growth forests
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Senate advances 2011 budget including fast-start climate finance
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The Growing Potential and Rooted Limitations of BiofuelsAs oil and natural gas reserves are being depleted, the world's attention is increasingly turning to plant-based energy sources.
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Strengthening National REDD+ Readiness Through Regional Collaboration
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Clinton's Plan to Help the Poor and the Planet With StovesOn Tuesday, Secretary Clinton announced the U.S. plan to contribute $50 million to help send fuel-efficient stoves to developing countries.
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U.S. announces duties on coated paper imports from China & Indonesia
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Biomass Burning Rules in Massachusetts Could Have National ImpactIn a move that could have wide ramifications for the future of biomass power nationwide, Massachusetts regulators have proposed to strictly regulate the ability of wood-burning incinerators to earn renewable power certificates.
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Press Converence with Todd Stern: The Kyoto Protocol Question is a Very Difficult OneMR. STERN: Hi everybody. Thanks for coming. We've just completed the ninth meeting of the Major Economies Forum here in New York. It was attended by officials from 17 major economies, both developed and developing.
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Biomass project meeting draws a skeptical throng
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U.S. is not happy with BC's underpriced lumber exportsThe United States has requested consultation with Canada under the Softwood Lumber Agreement. At issue is the apparent unfair under-pricing of timber harvested from public lands in the Interior region of British Columbia.
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University of Montana plans to construct biomass boiler to heat, light campusThe University of Montana is literally getting fired up about renewable energy.
UM is making plans to produce its own energy in the future by building a $16 million, wood-fired biomass boiler alongside its existing heating plant on the east side of campus.
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Lumber futures rose to four-month highLumber futures rose the maximum permitted by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday, reaching a four month high, as the U.S. disputes the pricing of wood imported from Canada, the biggest foreign supplier reports Bloomberg.
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Food crisis will drive up the price of ethanolThe U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley believes that we have a food crisis. An especially raging summer in the US, droughts and forest fires in countries including Brazil and Russia and heavy rain in Europe and Canada have hit many grain and oilseed crops this year.
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Weyerhaeuser, First Nations sign forestry agreement Weyerhaeuser Canada president Anne Giardini joined with Forestry Minister Michael Gravelle and Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) Independent Nations Chief Eric Fisher in signing an historic shareholder-managed Sustainable Forest Licence for the Kenora Forest Thursday.
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Timberland Investment Resources Introduces European Hedge Fund
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Forests soak up carbon, but for how long?MISSOULA, Mont. - U.S. forests offset roughly 11 percent of the nation's industrial greenhouse gas emissions, storing "significant amounts" of carbon that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, according to new government data.
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Old Logging Practices Linked to High Erosion RatesClear-cut logging and related road-building in the 1950s and 1960s in southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains disrupted soil stability and led to unprecedented soil erosion made worse during heavy rainstorms, report University of Oregon researchers.
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Officials show locals Burlington biomass siteBURLINGTON - While 25 people from Pownal signed up to take a bus trip to the McNeil Station, a 55-megawatt biomass power plant located at the north end of Burlington, only about a dozen attended.
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Woody biomass prices in the US increasePrices for woody biomass, whether it was sawmill by-products, forest residues or urban wood waste, were higher in the 3Q/10 than the previous quarter in most regions throughout the US reports Wood Resources International LLC.
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Maine announces wood-to-energy conversion grantsThe Maine Department of Conservation says eight wood-to-energy conversion projects are receiving more than $5.55 million in federal stimulus funding.
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GE plants $500 million investment in BrazilAmerican conglomerate, General Electric (GE), has chosen Brazil as the location for its fifth key research and development centre, in a deal that will see the company invest $500 million in the nation.
The decision was made to locate the centre in Brazil as the company emphasizes its push on expanding its global operations - particularly in South America. Ferdinando Becalli-Falco, president of GE International, said Latin America's largest economy presented it with a number of financial benefits.
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The United States Launches REDD+ StrategyThe U.S. Government is proud to announce the release of the United States' strategy to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and increase carbon sequestration by forests in developing countries. This is commonly referred to as REDD+.
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California pilots REDD with Brazil, Mexico statesCalifornia has reached agreement with states in Mexico and Brazil for pilot projects to protect their rainforests in return for carbon credits under the provincial-level, international climate initiative of outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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Interior West Forests on Verge of Becoming Net Carbon EmitterForests in the Interior West could soon flip from carbon sink to carbon source, forest experts say.
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Bark beetle epidemics in ColoradoAbout 20 percent of the land has been treated.
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Scientists call attention to 'forgotten forests'Calling them the forgotten forests, a panel of scientists say cool-weather rainforests like those in Western Oregon store more carbon per acre than tropical rainforests.
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Biomass Plant Permit Hearing Set For La PineLA PINE, OR -- The state Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening to review a permit for a proposed biomass plant planned for the La Pine area. The plant, which Biogreen wants to build on Reed Rd., would generate electricity by burning wood materials from forest management activities. The plant is expected to generate about 24 MW of electricity. The DEQ air quality permit would limit the amount of air pollution the plant would be allowed to produce.
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Biomass power plant at juncture
As a new administration prepares to take office in Madison, with a different attitude toward renewable energy than the Doyle administration, We Energies is pressing forward with plans to build a wood-burning power plant in north-central Wisconsin.
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Who are the important people regarding U.S. REDD program?U.S. government’s plans on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
The four speakers included
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California's Historic Vote on Climate Change and REDDTonight at 7:07 pm, the California Air Resources Board voted to adopt the cap and trade regulations for AB32, California's global warming law. The final vote passed 9 -1.
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California outpaces UN on REDD carbon marketARB, AB32: UN climate talks in Cancún balked at the question of carbon markets for the finance of an agreed global forest protection system, leaving further uncertainty over the role of carbon markets after 2012 and whether forests will be a part of them. But meantime California is forging ahead on a cap and trade scheme that looks set to kick-start international REDD carbon market action.
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Frustration with Ontario’s wood supply competitionWhen the province of Ontario announced a plan in November 2009 to free up 11 million cubic metres of unused wood fibre in the province through a wood supply competition, over 100 value-added wood projects submitted an application.
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California Enacts New Cap and Trade ProgramIt has been difficult for the US federal government to pass sweeping legislation that will spur renewable energy development, but California's new cap and trade program shows that states can lead.
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Forestry Groups Take Aim at New EPA RegulationsA recent study commissioned by the National Alliance of Forestry Owners states that a new Environmental Protection Agency rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions will severely limit woody biomass renewable energy projects if implemented as scheduled in January.
In May, the EPA issued a final rule establishing the “Tailoring Rule” to regulate greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere by defining when permits are required for new and existing industrial facilities. The rule is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2, 2011.
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21 state forests earn top statusCOLUMBUS — Ohio’s 21 state forests are managed well enough to join an elite group of public forest lands that are certified as sustainable, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.
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USA: Biomass Crop Assistance ProgramOn December 15 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released all the documents necessary to kick off the implementation of the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. Biomass conversion facilities can now apply for qualifying status.
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The Californian Carbon Market, Forestry and REDDAs we stated in a previous post California, the world’s 8th largest economy, has approved an extensive cap-and-trade carbon trading scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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Patriot Rail Corp. Completes Acquisition of Weyerhaeuser Company’s RailroadsBOCA RATON, USA, Jan 06, 2011 - Patriot Rail Corp. (“Patriot”), a privately-held short line and regional freight railroad holding company, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the six short line railroads belonging to Weyerhaeuser Company, effective December 30, 2010. This acquisition, the largest for Patriot to date, brings to 13 the number of short line railroads currently owned by Patriot Rail.
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Argus Launches North American Wood Chip Price AssessmentsHOUSTON, USA, Jan 5, 2011 - International energy pricing agency Argus today launched North American wood chip assessments.
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Misreporting on WeyerhaeuserTimberland and timber REIT (real estate investment trust ) investors continue to wade through "erroneous and underreported analysis in financial outlets" writes Forisk blog which is a forest economics research firm. In a recent article Weyerhaeuser , now structured as a REIT, was called the worst performers in S&P. The Forisk blog show the comparative performance of the three publicly traded timber REITs: Plum Creek (PCL), Rayonier (RYN), Potlatch (PCH); and Weyerhaeuser. Read blogg
There are also reports far more positive about Weyerhaeuser
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U.S. considering a levy on each Christmas tree sold, including those imported from CanadaThe U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering placing a levy on each Christmas trees sold in the United States, whether they were grown in the U.S. or whether they were imported.
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Forests Stand Taller after UN Climate Negotiations in CancunThe challenge to delegates at United Nations (UN) climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico was to “Show Cancun Can!”. And for forests, Cancun did!
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California Air Resources Board Grants Forest Clearcutters a Free CO2 PassAB32 - Charged with implementing the provisions of A.B.
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North American log and lumber exports to China up over 150% in 2010China has come to the rescue for many sawmills and timberland owners in the US and Canada the past year.
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Global Insider: Subnational Cooperation on Climate ChangeCalifornia Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an agreement with his counterparts in Acre, Brazil and Chiapas, Mexico, to cooperate on efforts to counter climate change.
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U.S. Arbitration Filing Questions Impact of Beetle Attack, BCLTC Claims
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