Archive for year: 2015

Swedish Parliament Speaker Urban Ahlin is slated to begin his five-day visit to Vietnam on Saturday on the occasion of Sweden’s participation in the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) that opens in Hanoi the same day, the Swedish Embassy said on Thursday in a press release.

The speaker of the Swedish Parliament Urban Ahlin

Speaker Ahlin is travelling with a delegation of six parliamentarians from four different political parties, the press release said, adding that they together represent Sweden in two very important committees, the steering Committee on the WTO and the Committee on Middle East Questions.

During his visit, Ahlin will meet with high-ranking  Vietnamese officials to discuss and promote Sweden’s cooperation with Vietnam in such areas as parliamentary exchange, economics and trade and higher education.

The Swedish Speaker will hold talks with Vietnam’s  National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and will later pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

He will also have separate meetings with Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang.

Health and transport have been identified as two potential sectors of intensified business opportunities and technology transfer between Sweden and Vietnam.

During his visit, Speaker Ahlin is also scheduled to participate in a field visit to ABB’s transformer factory in Bac Ninh province and join a campaign to raise public awareness about traffic safety.

Ahlin said he is delighted to visit Vietnam for the first time to attend the IPU-132 and to witness the prosperous development of what is considered to be a unique and special bilateral relationship between the two nations, the press release said.

Sweden was the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam already in 1969.

“My visit serves to strengthen ties between our countries and our peoples and provide opportunities for mutual understanding of good parliamentary practices and contributing to the enhancement of trade flows, investment and technology transfers between Sweden and Vietnam,” the press release quoted Ahlin as saying prior to the visit.

The IPU, which is to run from March 28 to April 1, will comprise of a series of meetings and discussion sessions covering the above subjects, among other important issues, under the common theme of “Sustainable Development Goals: Turning Words Into Actions”.

Source: tuoitrenews.vn

Bioenergy has increased in popularity as a desirable form of energy over the past decade. Europe has been the leader in this innovation, driven predominantly through the use of wood waste from the United States.

However, sustainability and the high carbon footprint associated with the transportation of the material often long distances between source and energy plants, and the industry in general have been controversial.

Yet there are instances in which bioenergy can be a truly sustainable source of power, in a context where alternatives are simply not feasible.

The island nation of Indonesia is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. Their deforestation footprint is significant, grouping them together with China and the United States as one of the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases.

With more than 17,000 islands and a rapidly growing economy, energy security for the more developed islands, and electrification of the less developed islands has become a priority for the government under new President Widodo.

Under Widodo’s proposed energy reform, a government mandate of moving the country towards renewable forms of power, and in the context of an island nation, there are three main requirements which determine the suitability of any particular form of renewable energy: it must be distributed; it must be local; and it must be available on demand. Bioenergy meets all these requirements.

Indonesian entity Clean Power Indonesia (CPI) has signed an exclusive agreement to bring General Electric’s biogasification technology to the island of Bali. With an ever growing tourism industry, the island’s need for energy is on the rise.

But for bioenergy to be both renewable and environmentally positive, a secure and stable feedstock is required, and this feedstock must be produced to the benefit, rather than the detriment of the environment. The solution? Commercially grown and sustainably harvested bamboo.

US based EcoPlanet Bamboo Group has co-invested with CPI in the development of GE’s plant, and committed to convert degraded land in proximity to the bioenergy facilities into a permanent source of feedstock. Non invasive tropical clumping bamboo reaches maturity within seven years, and thereafter a portion of each plant can be harvested annually, providing a continuous supply of biomass without the need to replant, and maintaining a continuous canopy cover and ecosystem.

Grown on degraded land, and with minimal transportation requirements, this closed loop production system will provide a carbon neutral form of power to an island well known for its positive attitude towards green living.

And the added benefit? The restoration of degraded land into bamboo forests has been shown to regenerate water tables, securing more regular rainfall patterns and increasing the occurrence of streams, rivers and other water bodies.

EcoPlanet Bamboo Group has already proven the concept of sustainability with regards to the commercial production of bamboo feedstock. The company’s plantations in Central America are triple certified with Forest Stewardship Council for their sustainable management, Verified Carbon Standard for their climate change benefits, and gold level Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards for their quantified positive impact on both the environment and surrounding populations.

If the model is successful, its potential to be replicated across the Indonesian archipelago and provide an alternative to the use of diesel generators is immense.

Source: http://www.clickgreen.com/

The World Bank’s IFC is providing $2 billion for sustainable energy project globally

To underline the dramatic increases in power consumption among developing countries, Vietnam posted a four-fold increase in just a decade to 2008 according to World Bank data and now faces significant power shortage issues. Construction is among the most energy-intensive industries, accounting for 36 per cent of the nation’s total annual energy consumption. Therefore, the sector’s improved energy efficiency is vital to helping energy saving in Vietnam. International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping the country tap this huge potential by developing energy efficient, green buildings. To achieve this, it is supporting the Ministry of Construction to enhance the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Code for Buildings, which has been revised to become more technically and economically feasible to implement. The Code is expected to save 15 per cent of energy consumption on every floor square metre.

“Financing energy efficiency and green buildings is not only vital for a sustainable future, but also a smart business approach,” said IFC’s Asia head of Climate Finance William Trant Beloe.

“This is a sustainable development trend and banks that develop this financial product will have an opportunity to access a new market with less risk, while promoting themselves as banks with high levels of social responsibility with green financing programs,” he told a “Energy Efficient Buildings and Green Buildings Financing” workshop, co-organised by IFC and the Vietnam Banking Association in Hanoi, on December 9, 2014.

IFC’s Sustainable Energy Financing (SEF) programme has provided $2 billion in funding for sustainable energy projects globally through financial institutions In Vietnam, Techcombank and Vietinbank have committed $63 million for energy efficiency projects. These projects together have saved 259,512 megawatt hours and avoided GHG emissions by 130,377 tonnes of CO2 annually. It is expected to have other banks to join the programme.

IFC has also developed the EDGE Resources Efficiency Building Certification system, a tool to enable developers to save energy, water and resources in construction materials production, thus reducing GHG emissions. This tool is designed for emerging markets to develop different technical solutions for higher energy efficiency with respective estimated investment costs and savings for developers to choose the appropriate “green” levels for their projects.

Trant Beloe said IFC provides long-term credit lines to local banks that banks use to lend green building developers. IFC supports the design of appropriate financial products for each of its partner banks and technical assistance to partner banks to develop sustainable energy financing products encompassing energy efficiency, cleaner production in industries and energy efficient green buildings. This advisory programme includes capacity building for banks in sustainable energy financing and supports partner banks to participate in developing a sustainable energy finance market in Vietnam including green building finance. With EDGE, bank staff can also perform loan valuations for green homes more efficiently and have a better definition of green buildings as an “asset class”.

IFC is also active in training bank staff in energy efficient or green building financing as well as heightening developers and home buyer awareness of green financing options, providing an e-tool for green buildings and organizing workshops and forums to highlight energy efficiency opportunities to consolidate and fully tap the green building market’s rich potential in Vietnam.

Source vir.com.vn