A day in between

Event 1: China sets emissions target
China has announced a target to cut the greenhouse intensity of its economy by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020, its contribution to the Copenhagen climate treaty negotiations. The target means a lowering of carbon emissions per unit of GDP only – not making absolute cuts to emissions nor cutting emissions by a set amount below business-as-usual levels. The government also announced that Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the conference in person next month.

http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1750

Comment> While China and other developing countries have never been expected to set targets for absolute emission cuts, analysis of China’s carbon footprint suggests that the target is not particularly ambitious. See more comments on the CO2 emissions from China vs USA below (under Event 2).

Event 2: Climate change - Copenhagen in graphics
As the UN summit in Copenhagen approaches, BBC looks at the past, present and possible futures of climate change. This article provides a good summary of the situation we are in - and it contains interesting graphs.


The graph I have included here shows where we need to be in 2030 in terms of gigatonnes of CO2 emissions - to stay below 2C global warming. It shows that even with the current best case scenario for the Copenhagen summit - we'll miss the target by approximately 6 Gt.

One of the other graphs from BBC (not included here) illustrates that in the first years of the new century, China's emissions overtook those of the US.

We should keep in mind, however, that China and India produce a much smaller amount per capita than counterparts in regions such as North America or Western Europe. Countries that industrialised early and grew rich early because of that industrialisation, such as the UK, Germany and the US, have a higher "historical footprint". In some peoples' eyes, this gives them a higher responsibility for curbing the problem (ref my previous comments on "the CO2 Space").


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8359629.stm


Progress report:
Nobody showed up to finish the work yesterday - and it doesn't look like they will do any work here today either. I hope and believe that many new families will convert their houses to a JAHUS-standard in the next few years, but hopefully they get an easier ride than what we have had. The good news, however, is that I now feel quite confident that (with a few small adjustments) - our JAHUS will be as comfortable and energy efficient as we had hoped for.


To verify that the heat exchange inside the ventilation aggregate works as expected, I closed the valve that regulates the amount of heated air from the heatpump that is currently being mixed with the fresh air BEFORE the aggregate. This means that it now gets cold fresh air at 5C as input and it exchanges energy with the outgoing exhaust air which holds ca 20C.


The test shows that the aggregate works nicely (and as expected) when there is no heated air mixed in with the cold outside air. The air that flows out of the aggregate and into the house goes from 5C to 17C and the air leaving the house comes in at 20C and leaves the house at 10C.

I have created a flow chart that illustrates how the system would look like if they move the point of entry for the heated air - to after the aggregate. I still haven't received an answer from the ventilation team regarding this suggestion.