Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
About SEEN
Key Issues Research Global Database Take Action
Energy Climate Human Rights IFI's Corporate $$
Media

 

The World Bank and the G-7:
Still Changing the Earth's Climate for Business
1997-98

Authored by the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (Institute for Policy Studies, USA) and the International Trade Information Service (USA)

Version 1.3, December 1998


 

APPENDICES

A. Index of G-7 Corporations Involved in Recent and Pending World Bank Fossil Fuel Projects
B. Emissions estimates methodology

APPENDIX A: Index of G-7 Corporations Involved in Recent and Pending World Bank Fossil Fuel Projects

(Companies in bold are direct members of the Global Climate Coalition, a lobbying arm of the fossil fuel, auto and chemical industries which is opposed to any action on climate change; companies in italics are indirect members of the GCC, through their membership in associations such as the American Petroleum Institute and Edison Electric Institute, which in turn are direct members of the GCC.)

AES (US): Yancheng, China, coal-fired power plant; Pakistan power sector
Amoco (US): Rajasthan, India, fossil fuel and solar power plant; Azerbaijan oil field; Trinidad gas sector
Ansaldo Energia (Italy): Dhaban, Yemen, diesel-fired power plant; Pakistan energy sector
Apache (US): Cote d'Ivoire power plant
Bechtel (US): Sidi Krir, Egypt, gas-fired power plant
British Gas (UK): Bolivia to Brazil gas pipeline; Trinidad gas sector
British Petroleum (BP) (UK): Azerbaijan oil field
Cegelec (France): Jorf Lasfar, Morocco, coal-fired power plant
Chagnon Int'l (Can): Senegal power project
Chevron (US): Nigeria to Ghana gas pipeline
CMS Energy (US): Jorf Lasfar, Morocco, coal-fired power plant; Nigeria to Ghana gas pipeline
Edison Mission Energy (US): Thailand power plants
El Paso (US): Bolivia to Brazil gas pipeline. Thailand power plants
Electricite de France: Cote d'Ivoire power plant
Elf Aquitaine (France): Chad oil field and pipeline to Cameroon
Enron (US): Rajasthan, India, fossil fuel and solar power plant; Bolivia to Brazil gas pipeline; Trinidad gas
Entergy (US): Pakistan power sector
Exxon (US): Azerbaijan oil field and pipeline to Georgia; Chad oil field and pipeline to Cameroon
Foster Wheeler (US): Yancheng, China, coal-fired power plant
Gaz de France: Cote d'Ivoire power plant
GEC Alsthom (UK/France): Hungary diesel-fired power plant; Vietnam power plant; Turkey power sector
General Electric (US): Hungary diesel-fired power plant; Thailand power plants; Senegal power plant
Hydro Quebec (Can): Senegal power project
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (Japan): Pakistan power sector
Marubeni (Japan): Vietnam power plant
Mitsubishi (Japan): Kipevu, Kenya, diesel-fired power plant; Chad oil development; Thailand power; Turkey power sector
Mitsui (Japan): Thailand power plants; Pakistan power sector
Mobil (US): Indonesia gas pipeline
Montana Power (US): Sidi Krir, Egypt, gas-fired power plant
National Power (UK): Leiyang, (Hunan) China, coal-fired power plant; Zimbabwe power plant; Turkey power sector; Pakistan power sector
New England Power (US), Khulna, Bangladesh, oil and gas-fired power plant
Nuovo Pignone (It): Senegal power project
Parsons Power (US): Senegal power project
Petroci (It): Cote d'Ivoire power plant
Ramco (UK): Azerbaijan oil field
Rio Tinto (UK): Zimbabwe power plant
Rolls Royce (UK): Haryana, India, power sector restructuring
Sargent & Lundy (US): Waigaoqiao, China, coal-fired power plant
Saskatchewan Power (Canada): Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, coal-fired power plant
Saur (France): Chad oil (electricity network); Cote d'Ivoire power plant
Shell (UK/US): Jorf Lasfar, Morocco, coal-fired power plant; Sidi Krir, Egypt, gas-fired power plant; Bolivia to
Brazil gas pipeline; Chad oil field and pipeline to Cameroon; Nigeria to Ghana gas pipeline
SHU Saarberg Umwelttechnik (Germany): Dolna Odra, Poland, coal-fired power plant
Siemens (Germany): Yancheng, China, coal-fired power plant
SPIE-Capag (France): Oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon
Stone & Webster (US): Sidi Krir, Egypt, gas-fired power plant
Tasco Mannesmann (Germ): Thailand power plants
Texaco (US): Trinidad gas sector
Total (France): Thailand power plants
United Meridian (US): Nigeria to Ghana gas pipeline; Cote d'Ivoire power plant
Unocal (US): Azerbaijan oil field; Thailand power plants
Wackenhut (US): Oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon
Westinghouse (US): Rybnik, Poland, coal-fired power plant; Thailand power plants
Willbros (US): Oil pipeline from Chad to Cameroon; Cote d'Ivoire power plant

APPENDIX B: Emissions estimates methodology

Power plant emissions

For each power plant project financed by the World Bank, it is assumed that it will run for 20 years at full capacity from the time of financing.

Environmental Costs of Electricity, a book by the Pace University Center for Environmental and Legal Studies (Oceana Publications, 1990), summarizes rates of CO2 and other emissions from various power plants. Table 2 in Chapter IV of the book, "New Coal Plant Emissions," summarizes studies by PLC Inc. and the Oak Ridge National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Coal

According to these studies, a new coal fired power plant will release between 1.96 (PLC) and 2.09 (DOE) pounds of CO2 per kilowatt hour of operation. For our report, we assume that any given coal-fired power plant will emit 2 pounds of CO2 per kilowatt hour.

A power plant with a one megawatt (1,000 kilowatts) name plate capacity will produce the equivalent of 8,760,000 kilowatt hours annually at full operation -- that is, 8,760 hours multiplied by 1,000. At this rate, such a plant would emit an estimated 17,520,000 pounds, which is the equivalent of 8,760 short tons or 7,947 metric tons of CO2.

Natural Gas

Pace's table 3, "Emissions for Natural Gas-Fired Generation," puts the rate of emissions for these type of plants at 1.14 pounds (PLC) and 0.99 pounds (DOE) of CO2 per kilowatt hour. For this study, we assume that 1 pound of CO2 will be released per kilowatt hour; that is, a plant with 1 megawatt capacity will release 8.76 million pounds per year -- 4,380 short tons / 3,973 metric tons.

Oil

Pace's table 4, "Emissions for Oil-Fired Generation," puts the rate of emissions for oil-fired plants at 1.65 (DOE) to 1.75 (PLC) pounds of CO2 per kilowatt hour. For this study, we assume that 1.7 pounds of CO-2 will be released per kilowatt hour, or the equivalent of 7,446 short tons / 6,754 metric tons of CO2 per year per megawatt.

This table also summarizes the PLC-determined rate of emissions from diesel-fired plants: 2.19 pounds of CO-2 per kilowatt hour, the equivalent of 9,592 short tons / 8,702 metric tons of CO2.

Multiplying these rates' emissions by the assumed 20 years of operation at full capacity, the following conversion rates are used to determine estimated total emissions of World Bank-financed power plants:

Estimated CO2 emissions per megawatt capacity of World Bank-financed power plants over 20 years of full capacity operations:

Coal Natural Gas Oil Diesel CO2 (in metric tons)
159,968 79,484 135,118 174,061

Fossil Fuel Extraction and Distribution

The study takes the admittedly simplified approach that all fossil fuels extracted and/or distributed will be burned in power plants. We also assume that all proved reserves in fossil fuel fields that are touched by Bank programs ultimately will be burned. Other than power plants, potential demand points for fossil fuels include industrial processes, vehicles, household stoves and heaters. Rates of emission are generally comparable across demand or transformation points, although vehicles tend to emit a bit less CO2 than power plants.

Counterbalancing this approach, however, are numerous omissions from our report. This study does not take into account numerous other likely releases of greenhouse gases due to the extraction and distribution of fossil fuels, such as natural gas flaring from oil field production, methane releases from coal mining or gas exploration operations, and pipeline leaks. We do not attempt to estimate releases of perfluoromethanes, hydrofluorocarbons, nitrous oxide, or other very potent greenhouse gases. Nor do we catalog World Bank involvement in numerous other industries -- particularly transportation and cement, aluminum and steel factories -- which are major greenhouse gas emitters. Also, fields touched by Bank financing have considerable "probable" reserves which may be extracted in the future but are not taken into account here.

Therefore, overall, this report might greatly underestimate the greenhouse gas emissions that the Bank's projects ultimately will help to create.

When the Bank finances a pipeline, we have attempted to identify the source fields for the pipelines, and the total proved reserves of these source fields, which form the basis for our estimates. If we do not know the reserves, but do know the anticipated flow rate through a given pipeline project, we assume that this rate will continue for 20 years.

In 1993, the Stockholm Institute - Boston Center produced "Towards a Fossil Free Energy Future: A Technical Analysis for Greenpeace International." In this report, the Stockholm Institute summarizes greenhouse gas emissions from various sources. It lists emission factors of 2.71 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of coal input, 1.85 kg per cubic meter of natural gas, and between 3.06 and 3.14 kilograms per kilogram of oil. We split the difference and assume 3.1 kilograms of CO2 emissions per kilogram of oil input.

Thus, we use emission rates of 3.1 tons of CO2 per ton of oil, 2.71 tons per ton of coal, and 1.85 kilograms per cubic meter of gas.

For oil, a conversion rate of 7.3 barrels per metric ton is used. For natural gas, the conversion rate is 35.314 cubic feet per cubic meter. One metric ton of gas equals about 138 cubic feet or 3.908 cubic meters.

We have tried to prevent double-counting of emissions that may occur when a Bank-financed power plant burns fossil fuels that have been extracted or distributed with Bank involvement. For example, estimated emissions from Bank-financed coal-fired power plants in India that will or might burn coal from mines also financed by the Bank are not included in the grand total of estimated Bank-financed emissions. Similar double-counting prevention procedures are used in pipeline and refinery projects.

Return to top
Return to table of contents

 

HOME | CONTACT SEEN | CONTRIBUTORS | INTERNSHIPS | LINKS | SITE MAP
SEEN is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, DC and the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam