The BRICSA countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are likely to play key roles in deciding the type of climate agreement that follows Kyoto. How likely are they to favour Cap and Share? Feasta intends to produce studies of the effects that Cap and Share might have on each. The pilot study, of the likely effects on South Africa, has just been completed by Jeremy Wakeford of South African New Economics. It will be used as a model for the remaining four reports. …

Drastic cuts in the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are required to avoid a climate catastrophe. A worldwide agreement to secure such cuts will be impossible to negotiate unless both the pain and the benefits are shared equitably around the world. Moreover, the sharing system must be robust enough to ensure that the cuts agreed actually happen. Cap & Share is both robust and equitable. It has the additional advantage that, until it is adopted globally, it can be used by individual countries to make sure their emissions take a downward path. This 32 page Feasta booklet explains how C&S could …

This 106-page report was commissioned by Comhar, the Irish Sustainable Development Council, from the British consultancy AEA Energy and Environment. It discusses how Cap and Share could be used at a national level to control Ireland’s greenhouse emissions. It is very favourable to Cap and Share and shows that it is superior to a carbon tax. Printed copies are available for €25 postpaid from the Feasta office or can be downloaded here.…

This short paper suggests that Ireland should reduce its road transport emissions using Cap and Share, as a more focussed alternative to a carbon tax. The advantages of using this approach are included below or you can download the entire paper.…

The team working on the Envisioning Ireland’s Energy Futures project for the Irish Environmental Protection Agency has submitted this report. Feasta will hold a one-day seminar to discuss its conclusions when the EPA publishes it in the Autumn. The strongest conclusion is the need to move to a low-carbon economy as rapidly as possible, even if this slows down economic growth. The report also anticipates the development of rural biorefineries and the re-location to the countryside of energy-intensive manufacturing so as to be close to renewable energy sources.

A detailed overview of this paper is included below, or you can …

Energy Networks Linking Innovation in Villages in Europe Now

The ENLIVEN project is a cross sector partnership led by Irish Rural Link. Partners are: Offaly County Council; Feasta, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability; Dundalk Institute of Technology; Methanogen; EOS Architects; Martin Langton, Developer; Pauric Davis and Associates, Engineers; Michael Layden, Community Energy Consultant; Sean Riordan, Developer.

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Executive Summary

Historically, communities developed in places where resources were available. Today however, many rural communities are in decline because the use of fossil fuels has devalued their renewable energy sources, made the growing of many non-food crops irrelevant, and exposed their food products to price competition from places where land is more abundant.

This project is based on the premise that the tide may be about to turn. Restrictions on the use of fossil fuel in response to the threat of climate change and because of oil and gas depletion are about to make energy supplies scarcer and more costly. Handled correctly, this could create the circumstances in which rural communities will again be able to grow by developing their local resources, particularly those of energy.