Asia

Sustainable bamboo management and carbon credits

Under the French Global Environment Facility (French GEF) “Rural Carbon” project, AFD organized an international seminar on carbon credits and sustainable bamboo management in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) on 26 and 27 April 2012, in partnership with the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21), the implementing agency for international cooperation projects under the supervision of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

Experts from France, China, India, Vietnam and Cambodia

This meeting, which on the opening day was chaired by Mr. Khong Sam Nuon, Secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of the Environment, gathered a number of experts from several countries (China, Cambodia, France, India and Vietnam). Representatives from several international institutions, notably FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and INBAR (International Network for Bamboo and Rattan) also attended, along with NGOs such as WWF and GRET, representatives from the academic world and specialized consultants (NEXUS and Carbonium).

Can China’s experience be reproduced?

These technical discussions also focused on China’s experience in promoting the reduction of CO2 emissions at its bamboo plantations, as well as methodologies developed to promote carbon credits under pilot projects supported by AFD and the French GEF in partnership with ACCA21.

Indeed, an initiative to promote carbon credits in China’s rural areas has been developed under the French GEF pilot project entitled “Rural Carbon”, which was approved in July 2010.

This project has established expert centers in Yunnan Province (Yunnan Clean Development Mechanism Service Center), which implement a new accounting methodology for carbon credits generated by bamboo plantations.

This methodology has been developed with technical assistance from the NGO TNC (The Nature Conservancy) and has led to the first carbon credit transaction for bamboo plantations in China. This transaction was conducted in March 2011 and was awarded the first Panda label, a Chinese standard on the voluntary carbon credit market developed by the China Beijing Environment Exchange and the French environmental exchange, Bluenext.

This exemplary and groundbreaking Chinese initiative aroused a great deal of interest from participants from the other countries which were present due to its potential to eventually be reproduced in other Asian countries, or in Africa. 

Photos of the field visit in Cambodia on 27 April 2012

Improving energy performance and reducing polluting emissions

An energy management center, the first of its kind in China, has been set up to optimize the energy performance of the network based on the needs of the final consumers.

Substantial energy savings have already been made (10-15%) making the investment profitable in just one heating season. Three other urban heating projects are currently being implemented in Taiyuan (provincial capital of Shanxi), Tianjin and Jinan (provincial capital of Shandong).
 

Photo of a skid for the heating network financed by AFD in Jinzhong. A skid is a compact and innovative heat exchanger unit. It is unmanned during the winter heating period as it is automatically regulated by a remote control center.

The aim of these operations is to replace inefficient small boilers or old networks with new energy-efficient collective networks, which both improves heating performance and reduces polluting emissions. The adoption of innovative technologies will also reduce energy and water consumption, as well as the floor space taken up in facilities.

Substantial energy losses

In the Northern part of China, 40% of energy consumed in the building and service sector corresponds to heating (2005, World Energy Outlook). This is partly due to the inefficiency of heating methods (low power individual boilers and substantial losses on the dilapidated networks).

The Government is therefore actively promoting collective and centralized urban heating, as well as the use of cogeneration power plants, as a heat source. Coal accounts for 70% of China’s primary balance and is the country’s main source of urban heating production, particularly in Shanxi Province, a major coal producing region.  

Purpose and objectives of urban heating projects in China

1. Decouple urban growth from greenhouse gas emissions in Shanxi Province and contribute to the Franco-Chinese bilateral climate and sustainable urban development agreements.
2. Promote reflection on the sectoral reform in order to foster technological innovations and effective network management.

Content of projects

In Jinzhong:

• Decommissioning of 677 small boilers and 8 district boilers.
• Construction of the first phase of a heating network equipped with heat exchanger units (substations) and supplied by a newly-built cogeneration power plant. The project aims to serve an area of 10 million m².

In Taiyuan:

• Decommissioning of 254 small boilers.
• Construction of three levels of urban heating networks: a primary network (10 km from the power plant to a pressure isolation plant), a secondary network (44 km between this isolation plant and 75 substations) and part of the tertiary network (from these substations to users). This network will be supplied by a cogeneration power plant and will serve an area of 11 million m². The heating network is expected to operate at 50% of its capacity in 2012 and to be completed in 2013.

In Jinan:

• Replacement of steam networks (energy losses in the region of 30%) by water networks (losses in the region of 5%);
• Water pipe insulation with direct burial;
• Installation of an automated control center combined with an energy management center.

In Tianjin:

• Replacement of inefficient boilers by a large boiler plant with a yield of roughly 85%;
• Construction of compact and automated heat exchanger units, including the most efficient equipment available;
• Water pipe insulation with direct burial;
• Installation of an automated control center combined with an energy management center.

Technical assistance

In addition to the AFD loan earmarked to purchase equipment, the technical assistance provided under the projects has supported the creation of an energy management center in Jinzhong, which regulates the supply of heat on the basis of effective final consumer demand and optimizes energy and water consumption thanks to intelligent network management. In Taiyuan, the technical assistance has helped improve the project design in order to increase energy efficiency on the network. 

Main expected impacts

The replacement of small boilers in Shanxi Province (in Taiyuan and Jinzhong) is expected to annually avoid 400,000 teq CO² of emissions for each project during the lifespan of the networks, i.e. 25 to 30 years, and to substantially reduce polluting emissions (3,440 tons of SO² and 6,150 tons of soot).

These projects therefore have a positive impact on public health and make living conditions more comfortable for the local community. Their pioneering nature has raised the awareness of other sector stakeholders, such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, who made a field visit to observe the performance of the solutions adopted in order to replicate them in China.

In Jinan and Tianjin, the main impacts of the program stem from the energy efficiency gains due to the construction of efficient heating networks and the replacement of old obsolete boilers, leading to substantial fuel savings. The reduction of CO² emissions is estimated at 135,000 tons a year. In addition, the construction of a large boiler plant, equipped with pollution control systems for gaseous discharges, should lead to a reduction of 1,170 tons of SO² emissions and 3,600 tons of soot.  

"Loan provided by AFD". Signing ceremony for the loan allocated by AFD for the urban heating project in Jinzhong

Through this project, AFD has enabled a Sino-French partnership to come into being, involving the French companies Schneider Electric and Salmson.

Nevertheless, the issue of evaluating public policies is neither a new idea, nor a novel practice. It becomes increasingly essential, however, to determine whether the evaluation task is properly conducted. We need to discuss whether the way evaluations are undertaken produces an accumulation of knowledge that is accessible to decision makers, or whether the context in which development policies are implemented severely reduces the usefulness of past experiences for designing future projects.
Can we learn from our own and others’ experiences in the field of development? If so, how can evaluation contribute and how is it that we seem unable to translate these experiences into practice? If not, what are the factors hampering the learning process?

Conference Center Pierre Mendès-France Ministère de l’Economie, des Finances et de l’Industrie , Paris 

The inaugural ceremony for the Mekong hydro-geological stations took place in the presence of the French Ambassador to Vietnam, the Director-General of the Mekong River Commission, the AFD Director in Hanoi, and representatives from the Vietnamese Ministries for the Environment and Transport and the Can Tho local authorities.

Why has the Mekong Commission set up the Mekong-HYCOS hydrological system?

The project’s overarching goal is to promote sustainable development in the Lower Mekong basin, under an international cooperation agreement signed in 1995 between the four Mekong countries (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam), which established the Mekong River Commission (MRC).

The specific target is to establish a reliable hydrological observation system for the region (virtually real time data collection and distribution) to be shared by all four member countries to monitor water resources in the Mekong Basin.

 
View of the Mekong at Can Tho (photo AFD - J.C. Pires)

The outcome will be:

• a functional and reliable system for real-time collection and transmission of hydro-meteorological data (rainfall, water levels) that will improve hydrological monitoring and forecasting along the Mekong River and its main tributaries
• improved data processing and archiving systems in each country
• shared databases and communication networks at regional level
• supply and distribution of hydrological information to users
• strengthened capacities for sustainable use of the water system in the long term.

The project therefore contributes to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and in particular to Target 1 of Goal 7 to ensure environmental sustainability: “to integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental”.

A sophisticated network for collecting and analysing data on water
Under the project, the Mekong Commission and its member countries selected 32 hydro-meteorological stations along the main tributaries of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers and in the Mekong delta.

 
A HYCOS hydro-meteorological station  (photo AFD - M. Parent)

The stations have been upgraded with:

• automated devices for measuring water levels and rainfall  
• a data storage platform
• a telemetry system for transmitting as much of the data collected as possible by satellite or other suitable means.

 
An unprecedented collaborative effort to share information between the four countries  

Each of the four national hydrogeological services as well as the Mekong River Commission’s regional centre in Phnom Penh have been equipped with computer terminals to receive, process and archive the data transmitted by the measurement stations. All the receiving terminals have simultaneous access to all of the raw data.

This is the first time that the member countries (Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia) have agreed to share data to such an extent.  Real-time quality control of the raw data, acquired in virtually real time, ensures that they can be reliably used for flood forecasting by the Mekong River Commission and by the relevant national agencies: each country will be able to incorporate the data from upstream countries directly into their own forecasting system.
 
Transferring the know-how

A great many training activities were organised for the hydrological agencies in each country. These mainly followed the paired in-service training model, which is the most appropriate and effective system for the type of equipment installed.
Training was organised whenever an international expert was present in the region, at national level with local experts during each site visit and when the receiving stations (terminals) were being set up. Conventional training sessions and workshops were also organised to supplement the continuing training programme.

In Vietnam, the project financed 12 hydro-meteorological measurement stations and provided support on a diminishing scale to operations and maintenance.

Financing and implementation agencies

This 3M € Mekong-HYCOS project for the region is financed by the AFD (2 M€) and the French Global Environment facility (1 M€). It is implemented by the  Mekong River Commission and the technical ministries in each of the four member countries, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is supported by scientific and technical expertise from the Institute for Development Research IRD) and the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), and has received the scientific endorsement of the World Meteorological Organisation.

Entering the final project phase

The final project phase, now about to begin, will maintain the training effort for the stakeholders, introduce a regional policy for maintenance and processing of hydrological data and build up a stock of spare parts.

The postponement of project completion to the end of 2012 will enable the MRC to organise an event on the hydrology of the Mekong Basin, which will illustrate the project’s results (film, brochures, reports from users, etc.) and draw the attention of policy-makers to the issue of sustainable water supplies in the sub-region.

This 3 M€ project is financed by the AFD (2 M€) and the FGEF (1 M€).

To find out more on this regional project, go to the  Mekong River Commission website

All of the renewable energy produced is used by the company’s production system, reducing its CO2 emissions by 534 000 tonnes a year. The project, costing a total of 41.3 million dollars, saves the company 5.3 million dollars a year in energy bills and brings in 2.7 million dollars from carbon credit sales (CDM).

It is using a 100 million dollar line of credit (non-concessional) provided to an Indonesian public bank in 2010. This line of credit is supporting energy management investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy and fuel-switching from oil to gas and coal, and is intended for public and private companies.

The line of credit is supporting the emergence of low-carbon projects, which are an essential component in Indonesia’s efforts to reach its ambitious targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions (the government has committed to emission reductions of 26 to 41% by 2020).

On the 2nd February, in Delhi, the AFD signed its first direct sovereign loan to the Indian government, amounting to 71.1 million euros. The financing agreement was co-signed by India’s Minister of Finance and the French Ambassador François Richier. The project agreement was signed with the Government of  Rajasthan.

The reorganisation of the city of Jodhpur’s water supply network is an emblematic project for the State of Rajasthan, two thirds of which lies in the Thar desert. Serious water scarcities are being worsened by the dilapidated state of its hydraulic installations. The programme is expected to implement several components, including a complete overhaul of the water production and distribution system, energy efficiency measures, extended water supply coverage and management measures.

The project will significantly improve the living conditions of Jodhpur’s inhabitants, who only have water supplies for a few hours a day at present.  It will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by introducing large-scale energy efficiency measures, mainly for electro-mechanical equipment.

From left to right : Mr Prabodh Saxena (Joint Secretary, DEA) ; Mr François Richier (Ambassador of France) ; Mr Yves Guicquéro (Deputy Director, Department Asia, AFD)