Daily Carbon Sample: Carbon Market Doubles, UN set a Carbon Goal, Trees the Solution for Carbon Problem

Organica presents a trio of stories on the hot topic (no pun intended) of carbon dioxide from various angles. First up is the story from Environmental Protection online, which discusses how quickly the market-based solution of trading in carbon credits is growing and taking hold. Market forces are way out in front of governments on this one. Bottom line: Carbon trading doubled in 2006 and it is expected to continue to grow fitfully as nations attempt to grapple with their Kyoto protocol obligations. Read the story at http://www.eponline.com/articles/62554/. Next up is a story in the Washington Post titled United Nations has a Tree-mendous Goal, which describes a UN Plan that amounts to “each one plant one” as a way to reduce the worldwide impact of carbon dioxide by the equivalent of Russia’s emissions, merely by planting one tree for each person on the planet. The UN has already planted a billion trees and is encouraged by that success. Read the short blurb at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051302532.html. Finally, and to round out our round-up, Science Daily has posted an article describing why the planting of trees, ala the UNEP model, might just be a critical part of any effort to get a handle on the global carbon emissions problem. However, according to the article, for this to work, the wood so produced must be buried and not allowed to compost or be burned and thereby release the carbon back into the natural cycle, rather the wood must be sequestered in some manner such as burying in a manner to prevent decomposition. An interesting article that actually goes through the trouble of thinking all the way through the problem and well worth reading. Check it out at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080513101652.htm.