Technology News - November 24, 2004

Kyoto—Off and running

A Brazilian landfill-gas-to-energy project is the first greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction effort registered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the newly ratified Kyoto Protocol. Announced November 18, the project consists of a system for collecting methane gas at two landfills that feed on-site electricity generation plants. Together, the plants could produce as much as 12 megawatts. The Netherlands CDM facility, under an agreement signed by the Dutch government and the World Bank, will purchase up to 2.5 million tons of CO₂ equivalents—worth nearly €8.5 million—through 2012 from the project’s developer, NovaGerar of Rio de Janeiro. The NovaGerar project is one of five public–private carbon funds and facilities managed by the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Business. The incentive for the project comes from the CDM section of the Kyoto Protocol that allows developed countries to offset their GHG emissions by funding projects in developing nations. For more information, go to www.carbonfinance.org.