杏吧原创

Peter Dale works at , a low-carbon project development company. He has a degree in engineering science from the University of Oxford and an MSc in environmental technology from Imperial College London

What is the carbon economy?聽聽聽

Since the Kyoto protocol came into force in 2005, companies in the developing world can generate greenhouse gas emission reductions and sell them as 鈥渃arbon credits鈥� in the developed world through such mechanisms as the European Union鈥檚 Environmental Trading Scheme (EU ETS), which is similar to schemes in Japan and New Zealand. So companies in the developed world have an annual limit on the level of greenhouse gas emissions they can produce, and if they exceed their cap, they can purchase credits generated by the emission reduction projects or low-carbon technologies in developing countries. Purchasing credits helps channel money to these grass-root projects. This not only reduces emissions in the developing country but also increases technology transfer and creates local employment opportunities.

How is EcoSecurities involved?聽聽聽

EcoSecurities invests in and sets up emission-reduction projects under the Kyoto protocol. We sell on the credits these projects produce to companies in the developed world to help them keep under their emissions cap.

What do you have to do?聽聽聽

Before any project can go ahead, we have to convince the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that low-carbon projects or technology would not be used in these countries if it were not for this scheme. In other words, we need to argue that the companies are relying on the potential revenue from the sale of the carbon credits to fund that green technology, and that they would not be doing it otherwise. We also have to show just how we are going to calculate the greenhouse gas emission reductions.

What happens next?聽聽聽聽聽聽聽

Once the project has been registered with the UNFCCC, we use the low-carbon technology in the developing country, get it running and write detailed monitoring reports which prove that greenhouse gas emissions have been abated. These get independently audited to verify that the emissions are legitimate before we apply to the UNFCCC for a carbon-reduction certificate.

If the UNFCCC is happy with the project, it issues us with a certificate for a number of carbon credits (1 tonne of carbon, or the equivalent, abated equals 1 carbon credit) which can then be sold to companies who need to reduce their net emissions. Some of the money goes back to the project, some to the company that developed the low-carbon technology in the first place, and we get some to reinvest in other low-carbon projects in other developing countries.

What project are you working on at the moment?聽聽聽

A group of projects that reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) 鈥� a particularly potent greenhouse gas 鈥� from fertiliser production plants in China. Until we got involved, all the N₂O emissions from these plants were going into the atmosphere. We worked with a precious metals company in the UK who discovered that if you put a particular catalyst at the heart of the manufacturing process, you can reduce the amount of N₂O emitted. We are now working closely with the plants which use this technology to make sure that the emission reductions are accurately monitored so that they can be sure to get the carbon credits they鈥檝e earned.

Before we got involved, this specific technology wasn鈥檛 used anywhere. Now companies in the western world have seen it used in China and are starting to use it themselves. It feels good that we kick-started this.

What do you do day to day?聽聽聽

I work in the implementation team. We are responsible for getting projects through the UNFCCC verification process 鈥� dealing with third-party auditors, responding to questions from the UNFCCC, making sure the sites are prepared for audits and that the quality of the monitoring data is high. We also liaise with the people who provide the technology and the monitoring equipment to make sure the technology is working as it should.

How long had you worked at EcoSecurities?聽聽聽

I have been here for three-and-a-half years. In the beginning, I spent most of my time registering the projects with the UNFCCC and working out how to calculate the emission reductions. A lot of time is spent reassuring the UNFCCC that the emission reduction calculations are accurate and there is no room for error.

You have an engineering background and a master鈥檚 degree in environmental technology. How have these helped you?

Engineering helps me understand the underlying technology and the mathematics. And when you develop and apply methodologies to calculate the reductions, you use similar thought processes to the ones you used in engineering design. On top of that, I鈥檝e had to learn the financial and legal side of things on the job. My MSc provided the policy and the economics background, and really opened my mind to the kinds of jobs that were out there.

What about your other team members?聽聽聽

The team is pretty wide-ranging. There are lots of people with engineering and science backgrounds, as well as those with legal, economics and finance qualifications. As a team we need all of those skills.

You landed a job straight after your master鈥檚. Is that unusual?

Not really. The carbon market is still a young industry. A lot of it is about learning by doing, so someone fresh out of university can get up to speed pretty quickly.

Are there any personality traits you think are useful for this industry?

Because the Kyoto protocol only runs until the end of 2012 and, as yet, there is no replacement deal, there is a lot of uncertainty about the future of the industry. This means you need to be happy to accept change and see this uncertainty as exciting 鈥� the industry is constantly evolving and you can help shape it.

The downside is that the job is fairly high pressure. You have to take in all the available information and be able to make decisions quickly without necessarily having all the facts to hand at that time. You also need a thick skin and to be adaptable as things often change unexpectedly. Communications skills are important too. We always talk through the issues on each project to find the best solution. Often there is no right answer so it is important for everyone to trust each other and communicate their views clearly.