IN the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as 137 million people flying from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
People often blame the aviation industry for the rise in carbon emissions.
But deputy under-secretary for environmental conservation at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, Dr Gary Theseira, said the main increase in carbon dioxide emission came from natural causes, volcanic eruptions, decomposition of plant life and forest fires.
Carbon is emitted when fossil fuels are burnt and forests depleted so that there are fewer trees to absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
This is where carbon credit trading fits in. With the emissions trading approach, a value is assigned to a reduction or offset of greenhouse gases.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, each country is given a quota or allowance of gases and this is entered into its registry.
Under its clean development mechanism scheme, for example, when an oil palm plantation company in Malaysia cuts carbon emission by 10 tonnes, it can sell the unused credits to other developed countries. As of last month, 83 Malaysian companies had participated in the programme.
Theseira said: "There is so much potential for companies to do their bit for the environment and if more companies participated in the CDM programme, there would be a difference."
Another method of carbon credit trading is carbon offset, which is done on a voluntary basis by commercial and individual customers.
Although aviation makes up only three per cent of the total global emission of heat-trapping gases, the national airline is taking the issue seriously.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has a fly green programme for its passengers, which raised about RM150,000.
It channelled the proceeds to United Nations-sanctioned programmes to protect rainforests in Malaysia, said Capt Dr Ooi Teong Siew, general manager of corporate safety, security, health and environment. MAS also aims to have more environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient aircraft in the region within the next five months.
"This target is achievable as aircraft manufacturers are constantly improving their engines as well as airframe designs to produce aircraft that emit fewer greenhouse gases than previous models." At the other end of the scale are the high levels of methane released by landfills.
Cypark Resources, a solid waste management company, said 17,000 tonnes of waste were generated in Malaysia daily.
Its group chief executive officer, Daud Ahmad, told the New Straits Times during a recent media visit to a landfill in Pajam, Nilai, that the acceptable amount of methane in the air was about five per cent.
"But the level of methane at this landfill is about 50 per cent, 10 times the recommended amount."
His company's leachate evaporation system uses methane, breaking it down in the process.
Daud said methane was 21 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
That's why each time methane is broken down, the carbon credit "developer" (the operator of the landfill) gets 21 credits, compared with carbon dioxide, which gets one credit.
So proper management of landfills can reduce greenhouses gases in the country.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/13gree/Article/
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