hi mikeleeh, yes carbon credit can be sold and if the application is successful, this will be a new sourse of income for ecowise....hope some funds already notice this gem...still waiting for 80c to come....

New project using waste steam for drying and heating will cut pollution

 

By JANICE HENG

ECOWISE Holdings hopes to obtain carbon credits for emission reductions of 12,800 tonnes a year, by using waste steam for drying and heating. The Sesdaq-listed environmental solutions firm is one of the first to apply for carbon credits with a Singapore-based project.

At a stakeholder' s meeting yesterday - part of the application process - ecoWise said it hopes to have the project running within the next six to 12 months.

The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows companies in developing countries to gain carbon credits through pollution-reducing projects.

The credits, or Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), can then be sold to industrialised countries.

ecoWise's biomass cogeneration plant generates 15,000 kg of steam and one megawatt of electricity an hour. Some of the energy is used to power operations, but much is wasted.

ecoWise's project will use excess steam to dry spent grain waste and provide ISO tank heating services.

These processes usually require diesel dryers and boilers. By using waste steam instead, the emissions that would have resulted from diesel use have been avoided.

The project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12,800 tonnes a year, estimates ecoWise. If obtained, the CERs will raise the project's internal rate of return to 19 per cent from 12 per cent, assuming a CER price of 10 euros a tonne.

Terence Siew, head of the National Environment Agency's climate change unit, said that ecoWise is the first company here to reach this stage of application, although other companies have shown interest.

'This is still a new area, but we believe that once you have a few successes, more and more companies will be interested in coming into CDM,' said Mr Siew.

And further interest may be raised this November when Singapore hosts Carbon Forum Asia 2007, a trade fair organised by the International Emissions Trading Association and Koelnmesse.