Ecuador proposes trail-blazing green energy deal
AUG 09, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024570
The Independent : Ecuador is negotiating a novel green energy deal, whereby it would agree not to drill for the some 846 barrels of crude oil beneath its surface, provided that rich nations invest half the market value of the oil—about $3.6 billion—in renewable energy developments to help the country further cut its carbon emissions. The oil in question lies beneath the Yasuni National Park, one of the most biodiverse rainforests on Earth and home to two of the world’s last remaining uncontacted indigenous tribes. The plan is backed by Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and the oil-producing OPEC countries, and the United Nations Development Programme has agreed to be the independent administrator for the project’s trust fund.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
