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The Carbon Manna(sm) System invented by David Palella is profiled in The Wall Street Journal in this article below coinciding with the COP 17 Copenhagen "Climate Change Conference" taking place in Durban, South Africa, 28 Nov - 09 Dec 2011:
"Power out of Africa"
The Wall Street Journal -- 06 Dec 2011
By Ms. Andrea CHIPMAN -- Reporter / Journalist
The Wall Street Journal
email: andreachipman1@btinternet.com
...
"Incentives -- The pinnacle of sustainable development is a system that rewards changes of behavior on an individual level and at the same time allows families to raise themselves out of poverty.
"This is easier said than done, particularly in Africa where few individuals have bank accounts and most people still eke out a subsistence living far from the reach of established financial institutions.
"San Diego businessman David Palella, however, thinks he has found a way to overcome these difficulties. His not-for-profit organization, Carbon Manna Unlimited, has developed a system of direct micro-payments to rural people who offset their carbon production through the use of high-efficiency stoves.
"The project aims to establish cell-phone based carbon micro-credit systems, using a simple message service (SMS) to allow families to monetize the carbon offsets they produce. Its key advantage is that it's based on existing infrastructure. While few rural Africans have landlines, mobile telephone ownership is rapidly increasing, and companies such as Kenyan telecom provider, Safaricom, have already introduced systems that allow subscribers to transfer money via cell-phones.
"Africa has the most advanced cell-phone-based payment systems using simple text," Mr. Palella says. "You can establish a sustainable carbon reduction project almost anywhere in Africa and share the money through these systems."
"Mr. Palella acknowledges that most voluntary emissions reduction (VER) trading systems require those that benefit from them to go through a series of time-consuming steps, as well as wade through the necessary paperwork. This can be difficult to prepare and costly, especially when it is contracted out to carbon project consultants. Still, he notes that the voluntary emissions reduction market in Europe is worth over $50 billion a year, and that Carbon Manna(sm) is a sustainable, open-source, micro-profit-sharing system in which the paperwork can be standardized and streamlined.
"Realizing a first demonstration project has been tricky for Mr. Palella. A Kenyan offshoot strayed from the guidelines of the original concept, he says, while an Ethiopian project is looking to build its system on the structure of an existing charity for poor farmers.
"However, some industry experts say the expiration of the Kyoto Treaty in 2012, by disbanding the separate United Nations emissions trading framework, could potentially create more impetus for innovative approaches such as Mr. Palella's Carbon Manna(sm)."
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204346104576638553875004940.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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See also:
web site: http://www.carbonmanna.org
blog: http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
conference site: http://www.cop17-cmp7durban.com/
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Globally & warmly yours,
David A. Palella
Founder [ Emeritus, Retired ]
CARBON MANNA(sm) UNLIMITED
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email: dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
web site: http://www.carbonmanna.org
blog: http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1794312/
The "Micro" Revolutions Institute(SM) Established by Carbon Manna(SM)
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/04/prweb3908584.htm
Carbon Manna(SM) announces The Micro Sustainability Prizes(SM)
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3459274.htm
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