Comments on: Norway’s Emission Reduction Plan Was to Give Offshore Oil Rigs Clean Electricity http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/business/norway-oil-rigs-clean-energy/669 for environmentalists who don't take themselves too seriously Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:34:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jonny Axelsson http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/business/norway-oil-rigs-clean-energy/669/comment-page-1#comment-13811 Jonny Axelsson Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:18:23 +0000 http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/business/norway-oil-rigs-clean-energy/#comment-13811 I consider this a success story. Carbon emissions come at a cost, but what that cost is has been hard to determine. It certainly isn't for free, which has been the case until relatively recently, neither is it infinite. The current EU carbon market has severe flaws, and it won't be ideal in the future either, but this comes close to a dynamic estimate of what the real cost is ($35 in this story, but the number is likely to be an underestimate). This gives enough information to determine that some initiatives, while symbolically nice, would be better spent on other efforts that would have a greater real effect. A consequence of a carbon tax is that alternative sources of energy will be more competitive, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a great benefit from more efficient and less polluting energy production from fossil fuels. Reducing waste in fuel production, power plants using these fuels (or alternative fuels for that matter), and energy transmission will make a big impact. I consider this a success story. Carbon emissions come at a cost, but what that cost is has been hard to determine. It certainly isn’t for free, which has been the case until relatively recently, neither is it infinite.

The current EU carbon market has severe flaws, and it won’t be ideal in the future either, but this comes close to a dynamic estimate of what the real cost is ($35 in this story, but the number is likely to be an underestimate). This gives enough information to determine that some initiatives, while symbolically nice, would be better spent on other efforts that would have a greater real effect.

A consequence of a carbon tax is that alternative sources of energy will be more competitive, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a great benefit from more efficient and less polluting energy production from fossil fuels. Reducing waste in fuel production, power plants using these fuels (or alternative fuels for that matter), and energy transmission will make a big impact.

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