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April, 2005:

The True Cost of Coal

Source – Greenpeace

HONG KONG — April 28 — Shareholders in the billion dollar China Light and Power (CLP) company were today confronted with the real cost of burning fossil fuels. Greenpeace activists and people from communities suffering the devastating impacts from coal fired power stations across Asia, disrupted CLP’s annual celebration of its dirty energy trade at the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel.”

For every dollar of profit made by CLP last year, it is estimated it cost communities across the region nearly $4 in health and environmental impacts. (1)

Representatives from affected communities in Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand, Philippines and India traveled to the company’s AGM to expose this hypocrisy. As community representatives addressed CLP’s Board and shareholders inside the meeting, Greenpeace activists deployed a huge banner outside the hotel, carrying the message “CLP: climate criminal“.

“We are here to say no to CLP’s dirty coal business on behalf of many affected communities across the region. We demand clean, safe and renewable energy for our communities,” said Charoen Detkhum, a community leader from Thailand where the BLCP coal plant, a project funded by CLP, is being constructed.

CLP Group recorded profits of US$ 1.1 billion in 2004, their highest for a decade, mostly derived from burning coal. Greenpeace demands that CLP invests these profits in clean renewable energy projects like wind power in southern China’s Guangdong province.

“CLP are climate criminals. All across Asia their coal burning addiction is wrecking the climate, destroying the environment and poisoning people. Unless we act to stop climate change now, the consequences for humans and the environment will be devastating,” said Greenpeace China climate campaigner Gloria Chang.

Last week, Greenpeace disrupted construction of the CLP funded Maptaphut coal plant, one of the largest in Thailand.

China Light And Power’s Debt To Asia’s Environment And People

Latest update On 21 April 2005 – Greenpeace

Hong Kong, China – Latest update: On 21 April, Greenpeace disrupted the construction of the internationally-funded BLCP coal power plant in Rayong Province of Thailand and demanded that the project be stopped immediately. Activists from Thailand, Philippines and Germany occupied the main crane of the coal power plant, hanging a banner with the message “Stop Coal!”

China Light and Power’s (CLP) reliance on coal-fired power generation across Asia is estimated to have exacted a cost to the environment of around HK$30 billion in 2004 – three and a half times the group’s 2004 profits.

CLP are not only Hong Kong’s largest power company but also have extensive investments across the Asia-Pacific region. The problem is that most of these investments are in coal plants. CLP continue to ignore the impacts of using this dirty energy source, instead of investing in a clean, sustainable renewable energy source like wind power. If CLP were to switch their investment from dirty to clean energy, this would help to overturn the damage they had caused the environment and the peoples that live in and would help give us all a better future.

If CLP continue to ‘stick their heads in the sand’ by burning coal in the region, carbon dioxide will continue to accumulate in the atmosphere warming our planet even more and causing ever more drastic changes to our climate

According to European Commission research, coal power has negative impacts on human health, global warming, amenity loss, building materials and ecosystems due to pollution released from power stations. The economic losses that this damage causes, or the additional cost of cleaning up the problems, are not paid by the company causing the pollution. These costs are normally referred to as ‘external’ costs. Across Asia, the parent CLP Group’s fossil fuel projects cost society an estimated of 29.8 billion Euros (HK$ 30 billion).

In 2004 CLP made HK$8.6 billion in profit, much of it from coal powered electricity generation. In addition, over the last century, CLP has emitted over 540 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from its plants. This simple equation is proof that CLP’s profits come at the cost of our climate.

CLP is currently developing more coal projects in mainland China and across the Asia-Pacific region. In comparison to their planned fossil fuel expansion, the company’s investment in clean renewable energy alternatives is next to nothing.

CLP is burning our future. People are dying now as a result of coal burning. Catastrophic climate change will put millions of lives at risk. CLP is at the heart of the problem and their current plans will make things much worse.

CLP must end its investment in new coal capacity at once and immediately switch to a program of massive clean renewable energy development. CLP’s profits are costing the public and costing the Earth – the destruction has to stop.

AmCham Energy Audit program

Doing our part to reduce pollution – Clear The Air project plan for

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

AmCham Energy Audit program

Do you want results – now?

Turning the thermostat up one degree will save 3% on your energy bill and reduce the need to generate power from burning coal. Three more simple solutions are 1. Caulk, 2. Weatherstripping and 3. Demand Management.

Let’s start by doing our part to reduce pollution from electricity. Then take our experience and our new found education to our subsidiaries and suppliers in China.

Below are the steps following the best US management techniques to make sure the program is a success in both the short and long term – and is self sustaining.

Define the problem:

Do an energy audit with an internationally approved system like LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (appendix A)

Educate:

Make sure everyone involved is educated, from top management and the building facilities manager down to and including your subcontracted cleaning service.

Address staff psychological needs e.g. “cooler is healthier” – “wearing short sleeved shirts is immodest”.

Implement

Have the project team install the hardware, or just turn on the control systems that already exist. Show how the control systems work, move the office furniture for optimum air flow and work flow.

Measure

Show how the energy bill has changed. Show the changes in indoor air quality. Solicit feedback from the staff.

Report

Display the savings real time in the office if possible. Report the results to top management, put it in the annual report, and send out a press release.

Review

Did you get the result you expected? Start again at Define the Problem

Have a party – this is supposed to be fun !

Where to start:

1. The AmCham offices – an example of a – typical Grade A office space
2. The American Club – where so many AmCham members hold debentures and it is currently planning unaudited renovations – typical leisure facility with multiple retail functions like Food and Beverage.

Don’t overlook the psychological barriers to change

Getting staff buy-in is a fundamental US management principle. They can be your greatest ally or your biggest obstacle. Find out what worries them, solve their problem, address their concerns and you have a better chance at success.

Some common psychological barriers in Hong Kong

• Colder is healthier.
• I want to wear my nice winter clothes.
• I don’t like short sleeved shirts, they make me look skinny.
• I don’t like looking at men’s hairy arms in short sleeved shirts.
• I refuse to sweat.
• I need to set the thermostat to low so it will cool down faster.
• I need to cool off fast when I come indoors.
• I’ll get into trouble if I don’t leave the machine on.
• I don’t want to wait for the computer to boot up.
• Leaving just one machine on does not use that much energy

Ideally, setting your control systems correctly will actually improve the indoor climate and work environment for your employees so they will not notice any change. Instead they will feel better and breathe more easily at work.

All of these are real obstacles that need to be addressed to succeed. The way you do it can make or break your energy saving campaign.

Shave the Peak

At Hongkong Electric as soon as we use over 1,300 megawatts of energy they turn on their oldest, dirtiest coal turbines (see the graph below). The old ones pump out up to ten times the pollution because they have no pollution control equipment at all.

The goal is to “shave the peak” i.e. change habits to use electricity at non peak times – and keep those turbine turned off.

Hong Electric Allowed Pollution by Turbine - 2004

Summary:

Do an Energy Audit to define the problem and find solutions. Use the best practices of a certification system like LEED to direct the project and ensure success. Educate the staff on any operational changes and get their buy-in. Implement the changes, measure the results and report them – to the staff, to top brass here and in the US. Have a beer bust. Give out “green stars”.

Clear The Air will – at no cost – help co-ordinate and advocate the process, and help you keep it on track.

Regards,

Annelise Connell
Charirperson – Clear The Air

Appendix A

Certification schemes

Can we do better, and if so, how?

All certification schemes tell you how well or how badly you are doing against a benchmark that is widely accepted. Some things you may not even know are even possible, let alone crucial. Others you would chalk up to common sense. The certification is to educate you on what is possible, and how well you are achieving it. LEED is the most widely recognized system in the US.

Here is an example of the checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System® is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

What is LEED for Commercial Interiors?

LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) addresses tenant improvement of spaces primarily in office, retail and institutional buildings. It is part of a comprehensive suite of LEED assessment tools under development by the USGBC to promote green design, construction, and operations practices in buildings nationwide. A companion rating system for Core & Shell developments (LEED-CS) is currently under development. Together, LEED-CI and LEED-CS will establish green building criteria for commercial office real estate for use by both developers and tenants.

I am trained as an interior designer and don’t have the training to handle the energy- and HVAC-related credits. What do I do?

Successful LEED projects begin with a fully integrated design team in which all the professional disciplines work together toward the project goals. While each needs to be aware of the other’s contributions and participate in the decision making, none can or will have the knowledge and experience to complete a project unassisted.

Can interior designers become LEED Accredited Professionals?

Yes. Anyone wishing to seek accreditation can sit for the exam.

Source: www.usgbc.org

What kind of things are analyzed?

Do you know that carbon monoxide monitoring to see what your air quality is like is important? Does your space, or your building even conform to the minimum energy performance benchmark? Have you ever heard of “thermal comfort”?

Here are two key categories of the LEED checklist