CDM Qtr Update

Crunching the Hydro Numbers: 2012 CDM Update

The World Bank-funded Bujagali Dam, which drowned a treasured waterfall and forced hundreds from their lands, was registered by the CDM Board to the tune of 858,000 CERs for the Netherlands or €3.5 million per year for the developer.
The High-Level Panel for the Clean Development Mechanism presented its final recommendations on Sept 10. Despite an oversupply of credits and waning confidence in the CDM, the report presented an optimistic view of the CDM's future, while failing to recommend concrete solutions to address some of its fundamental flaws.

Crunching the Hydro Numbers: 2011 Second Half CDM Update

EU demonstration
EU demonstration knowledge.allianz.com Durban is over, the delegates have all either gone home or are enjoying the sunny South African weather, and serious actions to curb rising emissions have again been shunted down the road. (You can read more about the results at Durban on our colleague Payal Parekh's blog.) However, progress is being made on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – albeit slowly – to address some of its most serious flaws, including how to deal with non-additional, "hot air" projects in the world's largest emissions trading scheme, the European Emis

Crunching the Hydro Numbers: 2011 First Half CDM Update

Status of projects for which International Rivers and partners have submitted Comments
Status of projects for which International Rivers and partners have submitted Comments as of July 1, 2011 For many years, International Rivers and our partners have been submitting comments on the worst hydropower projects in the CDM pipeline, raising issues ranging from environmental problems to human rights abuses to additionality. Our general experience has usually been that rather than seriously assessing public comments, the validators, also known as DOEs, ignore any criticism of the project developers' claims. Recently, however, a number of these projects, for which we had rais

Crunching the Hydro Numbers 2010: Fourth Quarter CDM Update

Fig. 1: Projects at Validation by Quarter
Due to the exuberant craziness that was Rivers for Life 3 , we skipped the Third Quarter CDM update and went straight to the Fourth Quarter. To read about which projects have been "naughty or nice" (well, mostly naughty and all worthy of a large lump of coal this holiday season), see our CDM Comments page. Update: The number of hydro projects that entered the CDM pipeline dropped significantly after the second quarter (See Figs. 1 and 2). The percent of registered projects that were involved in the review process (which includes projects that require corrections) has been growi

Crunching the Hydro Numbers 2010: Second Quarter Update on the CDM

Fig. 1: Projects at Validation by Quarter
Update: The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline increased in the first two quarters of 2010 (See Fig. 1). The percent of registered projects that were involved in the review process (which includes projects that require corrections) has been growing over the years (see Fig. 4): 9.5% in 2005, 9.1% in 2006, 19.3% in 2007, 56.9% in 2008, 70.4% in 2009, 53.7% in 2010 (as of July 1, 2010). 50% of all hydro projects in the CDM pipeline have requested registration since 2004, while 44% of all hydro projects have actually been registered. Figs. 3 and 4 show the fate of projects reque

Crunching the Hydro Numbers 2010: First Quarter Update on the CDM

Fig. 1: Projects at Validation by Quarter
Update: The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline stayed the same between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter or 2010 (See Fig. 1). The percent of hydropower projects entering the CDM pipeline relative to all CDM projects continues to be on a downward trend since 2007 (see Fig. 2). The percent of projects rejected out of the total number of projects requesting registration was 7.4% in 2007, 3.8% in 2008, and 2.0% in 2009 (this does not include withdrawn projects). 2009 saw an increase in rejections due to heightened scrutiny by the CDM Executive Board. Th

Crunching the Hydro Numbers 2009: Fourth Quarter Update on the CDM

Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline
Update: The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline fell 42% from the third quarter (See Fig. 1). The percent of hydropower projects entering the CDM pipeline relative to all CDM projects continues to be on a downward trend since 2007 (see Fig. 2). According to a new Point Carbon survey (sub req'd), one third of registered CDM projects never go on to receive CERs, or certified emissions reductions credits. Most notable are landfill gas and other waste projects. Arne Eik, analyst at Point Carbon, attribute the lack of issuance to: "problems with projec

Crunching the Hydro Numbers 2009: Third Quarter Update on the CDM

Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline
Updates: The number of projects that entered the CDM pipeline increased slightly from the second quarter, although it dropped 14% from the third quarter in 2008 (See Fig. 1). The percent of hydropower projects entering the CDM pipeline relative to all CDM projects has been on a downward trend since 2007 (see Fig. 2).  "An increasing number of registered projects, or even projects that have had their first monitoring report published, never materialise into CER generation." - Point Carbon analysts. The issuance of CERs has also dropped.

Trailing Large Hydro 2009: Quarter 2 CDM Update

Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline.
Fig. 1: Projects entering the CDM pipeline. For this second quarter update, I've introduced some new analyses (see below), along with those similar to the first quarter blog update. You can also get weekly email updates of CDM hydro projects and see our monthly spreadsheet, always available for your research and gleaning pleasure. Data based on the UNEP Risoe spreadsheet (June 1, 2009). Feel free to contact me about my calculations. Updates: Fig. 2: Projects requesting registration by year. The second quarter shows a continuation of the downward trend this year of the number

Trailing Large Hydro 2009: A Quarterly Update on the CDM

The world through the eyes of the CDM nerd.
The world through the eyes of the CDM nerd. Dovetailing my last blog on the decline of the CDM, I'm introducing a quarterly hydro CDM blog, which updates any CDM-nerds out there interested in the status of hydropower projects in the CDM. I also send out weekly email updates of CDM hydro projects and produce a monthly spreadsheet for your research and gleaning pleasure. Updates: Projects Entering the CDM Pipeline This first quarter's update shows a clear decline in the number of CDM projects being submitted for public comment (the first stage of the CDM's for
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