The North American Green Purchasing Initiative’s Eco-S.A.T.
The Eco-S.A.T., NAGPI’s environmental purchasing self-assessment tool, consists of best practices guides Part A and B as well as the corresponding checklists A and B. Part A, “Infrastructure” assesses the degree to which your organization has adequate policies and practices in place. Part B, “Procurement Process”, highlights the environmental considerations faced at each step of […]
What is Renewable?
Currently 25 US states, as well as the United States federal government and, in Canada, the province of Quebec, which have either passed or proposed legislation requiring (or setting as a goal) a certain proportion of their electricity production to come from environmentally preferable fuel sources. These pieces of legislation are most commonly referred to […]
Market-Based Mechanisms for Carbon Sequestration, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in North America
This paper examines the different market-based mechanisms that could be used to encourage the sequestration of carbon; increase energy efficiency; and support the development and use of renewable energy sources. Market-based mechanisms in this paper refer to all mechanisms, voluntary or mandatory, that affect demand for or supply of energy and/or carbon sequestration, either through […]
The Current Status of Renewable Energy Certificate Tracking Systems in North America
The need to increase the amount of renewable generation to meet regulatory obligations as well as voluntary purchases of renewable energy by residential and commercial customers has rapidly expanded the marketplace for renewable electricity certificates (RECs). Electronic issuing and tracking systems have been developed in parts of North America, European Union and Australia to support […]
Land Cover in a Managed Forest Ecosystem
Managed forest ecosystems—agroforestry systems in which crops such as coffee and bananas are planted side-by-side with woody perennials—are being touted as a means of safeguarding forests along with the ecological services they provide. Yet we know little about the determinants of land cover in such systems, information needed to design effective forest conservation policies. This paper presents a first-ever spatial regression analysis of land cover in a managed forest ecosystem—a shade coffee region of coastal Mexico.
Mechanisms for Tracking Canadian Mercury Imports and Exports for Use and Disposal
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation’s (CEC) North American Regional Action Plan on Mercury (NARAP) is intended to assist the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States in reducing the exposure of North American ecosystems, fish and wildlife and humans to mercury, through the prevention and reduction of anthropogenic releases of mercury to the North […]
Estimating the Environmental Benefits of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in North America
This paper explores the important methodological issues related to estimating the net air impacts of specific resources in electric systems. In addition, we describe a number of projects undertaken across North America in which the emissions benefits of new resources—both renewable projects and efficiency programs—have been estimated. Finally, we briefly explore different views of the […]
Private Investment in Mexico’s Electricity Sector
This report contains an update on Mexico’s electricity sector, specially on its current and projected installed capacity and generation requirements including capital; the market share of private capitals in the national generating pool and the rate of investment flows into the country’s power industry. Also, international trade patterns in electricity are discussed and the relationship […]
Private Investment in Mexico’s Electricity Sector (Technology and Energy Selection)
This paper is supplementary to a report produced recently for the CEC on private-sector investment in Mexico’s electricity sector. Based on the official information of the Mexican power sector authorities, and in particular the register of permits issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (Comisión Reguladora de Energía – CRE) for electricity production, an overview is […]
Green Procurement in Trade Policy
As interest and consumer demand grows for “green” products, and as producers realize increased market share in food products and consumer goods, public procurement, covering all federal and sub-central purchasing of countries throughout the world, is becoming an increasingly important market force. Just one web service, the Recycling Data Network Information Services, lists a recycled-content […]
Comparative Standards for Intensive Livestock Operations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States
Livestock farming has been transformed in the past twenty years from a business dominated by relatively small producers to one characterized by large, often indoor, facilities raising thousands of animals. This concentration has already occurred in the United States and Canada and has begun to occur in Mexico. This report surveys the current environmental requirements […]
Some Domestic Environmental Effects of U.S. Agricultural Adjustments Under Liberalized Trade
This paper evaluates some of the environmental impacts on the U.S. of a trade liberalization scenario involving the elimination of all agricultural policy distortions (i.e., agricultural subsidies and tariffs) that were in place in the year 2000 in all trading countries (and no changes in environmental policies relative to 2000). This empirical simulation of a […]