WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- To fund a portion of the recently announced Asia-Pacific Partnership projects, the U.S. Department of Energy has pledged $450 million and is looking at another $52 million in budget requests.
Critics of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate say that $500 million from the United States is only a fraction of the amount that would have to be spent to meet the targets set in the Kyoto protocol, which Washington is no longer party to.
Ever since the announcement of the Asia-Pacific Partnership in July 2005, proponents of Kyoto said the group would be ineffectual because of its lack of deadlines, regulations and legal binding.
In an attempt to demonstrate they are moving toward producing results, the U.S.-led group announced the initiation of 98 projects Tuesday at a conference in Columbus, Ohio. Member countries account for around 50 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and with no mandatory regulations none of the partners has significantly lowered their emissions.
After their first two meetings in January and April, the group drew up a charter and created a work plan and eight individual task forces to address what they deemed the most serious environmental problems. Partners from each of the six countries -- the United States, China, India, Japan, Australia and South Korea -- contributed to the new plans, said Paula Dobriansky, undersecretary of state for democracy and global affairs.
The projects in clean coal, desulfurization, developing green buildings and appliances all support the goals of the Asia-Pacific Partnership to share emerging clean technology, meet increased energy needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and maintain energy security, she said.
China and India are involved with desulfurizing coal, as it is widely used in those countries, and China is also interested in green construction in developing areas. The United States is leading efforts in the development and commercialization of new technologies in gasification and carbon capture, Dobriansky said.
Other partners are working to clean up aluminum manufacturing and decreasing the chlorofluorocarbons released, said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House council on environmental quality.
"Chlorofluorocarbons are 1,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in greenhouse gases," he said.
The partnership also aims to lower market barriers to access for technologies. Power plant executives are focusing on efficiency in using existing technology and facilities and making them more efficient and clean, Dobriansky said.
Partners and their proponents said that with government funding and requests they are hoping to facilitate accelerated investment from the private sector. American Electric Power is meeting with partners from Japan for data exchange sessions and is also suggesting they might make contributions to Partnership projects, said Michael Morris, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the company.
Details on many of the phase one projects were not available, but a few had plans laid out and already under way. China is purchasing equipment from U.S. company Caterpillar, which it plans to use to capture methane, Connaughton said.
Another of the more prominent projects is the underground storage of carbon dioxide in the United States.
"We believe we have the capacity to store the United States carbon dioxide in the saline aquifers for several hundred years," said Jeffrey Jarrett, assistant secretary of energy for fossil energy.
The $450 million from the Department of Energy will be used to fund seven tests at storage sites over 10 years to quantify the capacity and make sure the containment will be safe and permanent.
The major goal of the partnership is not to create new environmental infrastructures but to expand what's already in place, Dobriansky said.
"The Partnership builds on goals and existing frameworks by offering incentives in unique public/private cooperation," she said.
The U.S. projects are hoping to aid in the cut back working under the Bush administration's plan to cut emissions by 18 percent by 2012, Connaughton said.
China's new regulations also call for desulfurizing and cutting overall air pollution by 10 percent. The Asia-Pacific Partnership will help to facilitate that, he said.
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