ENVIRONMENT

Cabinet gives green light to seven 'clean' power plants

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

The cabinet yesterday approved the first batch of seven alternative energy projects which would be eligible for ''carbon credits'' under the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism. Five bio-mass and two bio-gas power plants were approved.

They are the Dan Chang Bio-Energy Cogeneration plant in Suphan Buri, the Phu Khieo Bio-Energy Cogeneration plant in Chaiyaphum, the rice-husk-fuelled AT Biopower plant in Pichit, a rubber wood waste power plant in Yala, a bagasse-fuelled power plant in Khon Kaen, a Korat waste-to-energy project in Khon Kaen, and the Ratchaburi Farms Bio-gas project in Ratchaburi.

The second batch of eight alternative projects, already approved by the national environment committee, will be submitted for cabinet approval within a month.

The clean development mechanism (CDM) is designed to help industrialised countries meet the protocol's greenhouse gas emissions reduction target by investing in clean technology and sustainable development projects, including afforestation, in developing countries.

The Thai government has announced that it will accept only alternative energy projects, but will ban afforestations, known as ''carbon sinks'', for fear that they would trigger land-use conflicts in the country.

The cabinet also set up a panel, chaired by Khunying Suthawan Sathirathai, to draft regulations regarding the implementation of the CDM projects and study the pros and cons of the scheme.

The panel's findings will help the country better deal with the proposed CDM projects.

There are currently more than 400 schemes, mostly developed by Japanese and Danish firms, on the committee's list of potential CDM projects and awaiting the cabinet's approval, according to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning.

Bangkok Post
Wednesday January 31, 2007