Estonian farmers are to become the first to cough up for their cattle's belching and flatulence. The country's government has announced plans to charge a greenhouse gas tax for the methane and carbon dioxide produced by cows. Each cow produces around 350 litres of methane and 1,500 litres of CO2 per day and cattle are responsible for around 25% of Estonia's methane emissions. Sam Bond

If anyone had doubts about the importance of the voluntary carbon market they would certainly have been overcome by the announcement last month by Merrill Lynch of a new carbon offset service to assist businesses to reduce emissions through voluntary offsets. In partnership with ICF International, Merrill Lynch's new Green and Gold initiative is the latest in a series of moves by major financial institutions to position themselves in a market valued by Abyd Karmail, Merrill Lynch's managing director and global head of carbon emissions at over of $70 billion.

A major environmental initiative has been announced to make Croke Park a carbon-free stadium. The Dublin-based stadium currently emits 4,500 tonnes of CO2 a year The new joint project between the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) and the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), entitled Cul Green, aims to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of Ireland's most popular sporting venue over the next six years. Croke Park has an annual output of 4,500 tonnes of carbon emissions and Cul Green aims to cut this by more than two-thirds.

Department stores across Japan will begin sales of shopping bags that contribute to reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, beginning July 7, an industry body said Thursday. The polyester bags will sold under a "carbon offsetting' system in which department stores will provide funds for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the Japan Department Store Association said. The bags will sell for 600 yen, 50 yen of which will be used to purchase carbon offsets.

Turn greenhouse gases to stone? Transform them into a treacle-like liquid deep under the seabed? The ideas may sound like far-fetched schemes from an alchemist's notebook but scientists are pursuing them as many countries prepare to bury captured greenhouse gases in coming years as part of the fight against global warming. Analysts say the search for a suitable technology could become a $150 billion-plus market. But a big worry is that gases may leak from badly chosen underground sites, perhaps jolted open by an earthquake.

Canada will be investigated on suspicion of violating rules for registering greenhouse gases that are the mainstay of a UN-led fight against global warming, official documents show. Canada played down the news, saying it was taking quick steps to ensure it complied by the rules. Ottawa could be suspended from rights to trade carbon dioxide if found to be in breach of the rules by the enforcement branch of the UN's Kyoto Protocol. Greece was suspended last month, the first state to face such a sanction.

During super dense crush load condition, 570 passengers travel in a coach and that generates 10 cubic metre per hour (m3/hr) of CO2- Report of Nidhi Jamwal Mumbai's suburban railway network may earn some brownie points in its efforts to overhaul the system to make it energy-efficient and travel-friendly. New braking and duct systems have been introduced in some coaches. But grey areas remain.

Soot produced by burning coal, diesel, wood and dung causes significantly more damage to the environment than previously thought, according to research published recently. So-called

COLOGNE: The global carbon market more than doubled in 2007 from 2006 to $64 billion, the World Bank said in a study issued on Wednesday. The centerpiece, the European Union emissions trading program doubled in value to $50 billion from a year earlier, the study said. The Kyoto offset market, which consists of emissions reductions achieved outside the industrialized world, also more than doubled last year to $13.4 billion. "It would be a shame for the world to lose this momentum now," said Karan Capoor, the main author of the study.