Jan Andersen

Is Climate Change a Reality for Agriculture in Quang Nam Province

The chapter describes changes in agricultural systems in Quang Nam Province since 1990 in an effort to explore if such changes are reflecting strategies of adaptation to climate change. A two-pronged analytical strategy is followed. This explores (a) patterns of correlation between agricultural production, eco-agricultural landscapes, and climate variations, and (b) records stakeholder perceptions of the causal relations between changes in agricultural practices and climate change. It concludes by discussing the concordance and differences found between the two analyses. An overview of agricultural changes was provided through available statistics and interviews and important climate impacts and adaptations were identified and assessed. An energy flow method was used to describe the agricultural situation. From interviews it was found that many Vietnamese authorities and farmers are convinced that climate change is having an impact on farming, forestry and aquaculture today, and consequently, different kinds of adaptations are being introduced. The study shows that farmers in the agricultural field during the last decade have increased productivity and demonstrated a strong ability to adapt farming systems to the impacts experienced from extreme weather events. Forestry adaptation to extreme weather impacts took a long time while aqua culture adaptation occurred rapidly. With regards to correlations of documented patterns of climate variations and changes of agricultural production systems, however, the findings of the study are inconclusive. Long term planning should include concerns of adaptation to climate change and the use of economic incentives.

Policy recommendations and stakeholder identification in supporting a new category of biomass CHP project in Thailand through CDM

This paper suggests a new category of CDM projects to be developed, which includes several different types of energy supply and demand activities. The CDM project exemplified here has the capacity to assist in a transformation of the energy supply system in Asia, considering Thailand in this paper. The new category of CDM projects is not yet implemented, but here suggested on the basis of thorough analysis of a community of SMEs located in an Industrial Park in Thailand. The paper shortly presents a small scale biomass Combined Heat and Power plant (CHP) with supply of district heating, and outline the benefits obtained in this specific community applying the new energy supply system. To support the implementation of such transformative energy technologies and systems, and thus to disseminate the project idea in Thailand, the paper suggests a whole range of policy recommendations, which could support such type of energy system development within the framework of CDM. A stakeholder identification is also carried out, with the purpose of identifying CDM project ‘carriers’ for supporting the implementation of this type of CDM projects in Thailand. The specific case addressed in this paper illustrates among others that heat demand within Thai SMEs could be reduced by 36 %, and solely be based on biomass waste from the community. Also, important stakeholders to support such energy system development in Thailand are identified.

In which sectors could new illumination technology strategically reduce CO2 emissions

Illumination is responsible for the consumption of 19% of the total electricity consumption worldwide. Efforts to reduce the consumption of this energy fraction are, therefore, increasingly taking the attention of many governments. Denmark, as one of the leader countries in environmental actions, is engaged in several actions to reduce its CO2 emissions. The problem severity demands a capacity to react quickly and efficiently to better reach the international goals. Traditionally, the efforts have concentrated on the residential sector. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on where the effort shall be strategically directed. We look at the international tendencies with specific focus on Europe and chose Denmark as a representative example to illustrate the way in which the policies focus on the residential sector instead of the commercial and services sectors. This paper conclude that the available statistics so far show that in Europe the commercial and service sector is responsible for the highest electricity consumption due to illumination. The same pattern repeats in Denmark. Therefore, this paper argues that in order to achieve even more optimal solutions, a more detailed differentiation of data shall be pursued by the electricity companies. It is suggested that detecting the right sector will give possibilities to better target actions with higher impact potential.