Posted on

Kutch Wind Power Project in India

The GoClimate community is now supporting the Kutch Wind Power Project in India. The project is Gold Standard-certified and GoClimates contribution amounts to 20 000 tonnes of avoided CO2e-emissions.

Introduction

India has been experiencing a rapid growth in energy demand, resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. In order to diversify the energy mix and promote sustainable development, heavy investments in renewable energy sources, such as wind power, is needed. One example of this is the Kutch Wind Power Project, which has been making significant contributions to the nation’s clean energy goals and local communities.

Kutch Wind Power Project: An Overview

Located in the Kutch region of Gujarat, the Kutch Wind Power Project consists of 150 wind turbines, each with a capacity of 2 MW. With a total installed capacity of 300 MW, the project generates approximately 700,000 MWh of clean energy annually.

Climate Benefits

The Kutch Wind Power Project’s positive impact on the environment is big. By generating clean, renewable energy, the project helps in reducing India’s reliance on fossil fuels and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that the project prevents the release of over 550,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents per year, which is equivalent to taking more than 117,000 cars off the road annually.

Socioeconomic Benefits

Beyond its environmental benefits, the Kutch Wind Power Project also provides various socioeconomic advantages to the local communities. 73 employment opportunities have been created for local workers, both during the construction and operational phases of the wind farm. Moreover, it has helped enhance the skill sets of the local workforce through technical training and capacity building programs.

The project has also made significant contributions to the development of local infrastructure. It has helped improve the accessibility of remote areas by constructing and maintaining roads. Additionally, the project has facilitated the installation of street lighting, improving safety and security in nearby villages.

Furthermore, the project supports several community development initiatives, such as providing clean drinking water, promoting education, and improving healthcare facilities. By investing in these essential services, the Kutch Wind Power Project contributes to the overall well-being and quality of life for the local population.

Conclusion

The Kutch Wind Power Project stands as a testament to the transition to a sustainable energy future. By harnessing the power of wind, the project not only contributes to climate change mitigation efforts but also fosters socioeconomic development in the region. As India continues to invest in renewable energy, projects like the Kutch Wind Power Project serve as an inspiration for other countries to follow suit in the global pursuit of a greener, more sustainable future.

Posted on

Capturing methane from manure and saving energy – Biogas project in China

We have now offset another 25,000 ton CO2eq in a Gold Standard certified project! Thank you for taking part in this!

This is our project

In the province Shuicheng in China, this project aims to help small-scale pig farmers to build methane digesters. In these digesters, organic matter (including manure and wastes) are decayed an aerobically. According to the preparatory study, there are on average 4.3 pigs in every peasant household. Therefore, and a standard biogas digester with a volume of 8m3 is constructed. This anaerobic digester can fully handle the manure of these pigs, and collects the biogas generated during the treatment process for heat supply. This meets the thermal demands of the households themselves, by using the biogas stove with rated power 2.33kW each unit. 18 934 of these methane digesters were installed, to the benefit of an equal amount of small-scale farmers and their families.

Cooking on new gas stoves

What was the situation before?

Before the project construction, all the swine manure was stored in an uncovered anaerobic mature management system (i.e. deep pit). Large amounts of methane was emitted to the atmosphere during the manure storage, due to the anaerobic condition in the deep pit. Methane is a greenhouse gas that has an impact on the climate change some 25 times worse than CO2! Moreover, according to the preparatory investigation, the householders were using coal for cooking and heating. This was also releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, and caused indoor air pollution from particulate matter (soot), which is harmful to human health.

The outcomes of the project

The project thus results in a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in these two ways: on the one hand, the recovery and utilization of biogas from digested slurry in the biogas digester, which reduces methane emissions that would otherwise have aroused from the deep pit storage. It prevents methane emissions by changing the management practice of manure in order to achieve the controlled anaerobic digestion, equipped with methane recovery system. Moreover, the biogas is used as thermal energy to replace the fossil fuel (coal) currently used to meet the households daily energy needs for cooking and heating. The heat generated from burning biogas effectively replace an equal amount of the heat which would otherwise be generated by a coal stove. The combined annual GHG emission reductions for both components of the project is estimated at 50,113 tCO2e annually.

The proposed project will have positive environmental and economic benefits and contribute to the local sustainable development in the following aspects:

  1. To recover methane and substitute the consumption of fossil energy,
  2. To increase employment for the local people through the construction of methane pools and the follow-up service,
  3. To improve the living and cooking conditions and the health of the local people,
  4. To popularize practical energy technology.

Read more about the project in the Gold Standard Registry

A big thanks to all of you for enabling this development!

Do you want to contribute to this, and other similar projects? Calculate your carbon footprint and start your offsetting today!

Posted on

Supporting a Wind Power Project in the Caribbean

We have now offset another 50,000 ton CO2eq in a Gold Standard certified project! Thank you for taking part in this!

The Caribbean is a region heavily dependent on fossil fuels, while at the same time it’s a particularly promising place for renewable energies with abundant sun and wind conditions. Demand is comparatively low because the islands have small populations, which means that small scale energy solutions have the capacity to cover a large share of the energy needs.

Vader Piet N.V. Wind Park

This is our project

Aruba is one of the islands moving towards reduced dependency on fossil fuels and increased share of renewables. The first initiative for wind energy production on the island is the Wind Park Vader Piet N.V, which we are supporting through the purchase of carbon credits!

This wind park consists of 10 wind turbines that are located on an uninhabited part of the island. With a production capacity of 3 MW each, these turbines supply 12-14% of the total energy needed on the island! Since all energy consumed before the implementation of this project came from fossil fuel, the carbon intensity of the electricity available on the island was very high. Fortunately, Wind Park Vader Piet N.V has instigated a change for the better.

Plans for the future

The national energy producer, WEB Aruba, made a commitment which increased the share of renewables to 18% in 2018, and reduced the fossil fuel consumption by 40%. Moving forward, the goal is to reduce the fossil fuel consumption by a total of 67% and to increase renewables to a total of 40% by 2022. After the first wind park was built, a first solar park has also been installed and another wind park is in the development phase.

  • Construction of the wind park
  • Construction of the wind park

Why not 100% renewable today?

A challenge that Aruba and other small island nations is facing when transitioning to renewables is the grid stability. Wind and solar are intermittent energies, which means that energy is produced during certain times of the day when it’s sunny or windy. However, this doesn’t always correspond with the time that the energy is needed. In some cases, energy use in industries can be rescheduled to match peak energy availability hours, but for household electricity this is much harder.

To manage this, one option is to invest in energy storage such as batteries, and another one is to use a base load energy that can be adjusted to produce energy when demand is high and renewable production is low. In some cases, this can be done with geothermal energy (like our project Dora II in Turkey), more common is hydro power, nuclear energy or fossil fuels. WEB Aruba is working with a commitment to resolve this, taking into consideration that the development has to happen over time in order to maintain grid stability as infrastructure needs to keep up. It is also crucial to keep energy prices affordable to the local population. In Europe and other places, this challenge is cushioned by our interconnected grids, where energy surplus can be sent to a neighboring country, and energy can be purchased from where the production is the greenest in the moment.

Read more about the project in the Gold Standard Registry

Vader Piet N.V. Wind Park is located far away from the residents of the island

A big thanks to all of you for enabling this development!

Do you want to contribute to this, and other similar projects? Calculate your carbon footprint and start your offsetting today!

Posted on

Carbon Offset your Company

To carbon offset a company is to take responsibility for the carbon emissions the company produces – and by doing that being part of stopping climate change.

How do I get started?

There’s two alternatives if you want to get started with your carbon offsetting with us at GoClimate:

  • Standardized calculations: The standard to calculate carbon emissions from a company is to follow the GHG-protocol (GHG is for Green House Gases). This is something all larger companies should do since it gives you a tool to see how large different emissions are and thereby a possibility to decrease emissions more effectively. Since it’s a standard it also makes it possible to compare your emissions with other companies in the same industry. If you want help with this, contact us at [email protected]
  • Simple calculation based on number of employees: The cons with GHG-calculations is that they are rather time consuming and therefore costly. To get more companies to take responsibility for their climate footprint we also offer a simpler way to take responsibility for your emissions. It’s based on the mean emissions for one person (11 tonnes CO2eq in Sweden) x a safety factor to be sure we don’t underestimate the emissions (we use a factor of 2) x the number of employees in your company. You can do the calculation here and contact us for more info: https://www.goclimate.com/business

It’s easy to take responsibility for your emissions and to be a part of the solution of climate change. It also has lots of other advantages for the region where the climate project is supported and for your company.

Interested? Questions? Reach out to us at [email protected]!