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UNFCCC registers two CDM projects(BNamericas.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)The executive board of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has registered two of Brazil's clean development mechanism (CDM) projects this week, according to information on the UNFCCC website. ENERGY FOR STEEL SECTOR Registered on January 22, the UTE Barreiro renewable electricity generation project is jointly administered by the Brazilian unit of German hot-rolled steel tube maker Vallourec & Mannesmann (V&M) and carbon credit developer and trader EcoSecurities. V&M currently purchases electricity from the Minas Gerais state power company (Cemig) to run its Barreiro integrated steel plant located just outside of Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state. With EcoSecurities, V&M will construct and operate a 12.9MW thermoelectric plant, fired by blast furnace gas and wood tar, to generate part of the electricity required by the Barreiro steel plant. The use of both blast furnace gas and wood tar to generate power will not create greenhouse gas emissions, according to the project design document. The new plant will decrease V&M's annual dependency on Cemig power by nearly a third, and is expected to reduce the emission of 48,565t of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) into the atmosphere this year, or 1,019,881t over the next 21 years. V&M, the world's largest manufacturer of seamless hot-rolled steel tubes, will own the carbon credits generated by the project. NEW METHODS V&M is also developing a new method for another CDM project which it expects to present soon to the UNFCCC for its consideration and approval, V&M's environmental technical advisor, Guilherme Dias Freitas, told BNamericas. The company owns a 106,000ha eucalyptus forest, also in the state of Minas Gerais, which will supply charcoal to power its steel plant. Having this forest alone helps to clean the environment of harmful greenhouse gases, Freitas asserts. "For each tonne of steel produced from charcoal, on average 2.5t of CO2e are absorbed from the atmosphere" thanks to this forest, according to a company statement. "These are very important initiatives because the projects that V&M is developing can be easily replicated across industries," Freitas said. MARCA LANDFILL PROJECT EcoSecurities is also a partner, along with Marca Ltd, in the Marca landfill gas-to-energy project. The UNFCCC executive board approved the Esprito Santo state-based project on January 23. The landfill project earns carbon credits by combusting the methane from landfill gases to generate power for export to the electricity grid. Marca is also flaring all excess landfill gas. Combustion and flaring of methane and landfill gases are expected to reduce the plant's CO2e emissions by 4,859,503t over the next 21 years. These two projects bring the total number of registerred CDM projects in Brazil up to seven. |