June 26th, 2009
Wishful thinking: Can we make this carbon clock count backwords?
Remember the world debt clock that loomed notoriously over Times Square in New York? Now, city residents will get to see a massive, close-to-70-foot tall carbon carbon counter that is being sponsored by Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division.
Deutsche Bank counts carbon rather publicly
The counter actually ISN’T in Times Square: it has taken up residence outside of Madison Square Garden and Penn Station down near the Macy’s flagship store near 33rd St. The number you’ll see displayed when you scurry by is based on calculations from scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, covering 24 “long-lived” greenhouse gases mentioned in the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols. The number is the quantity of those gases, converted into metric tons. When I received the press release about the counter, that number stood at 3.64 trillion metric tons, and the amount is increasing at a rate of approximately 2 billion metric tons per month. The counter shows real-time fluctuations, based on sensors and measurement instruments run by the National Oceanic and Atomspheric Administration (NOAA) and the NASA Advanced Global Atomspheric Gases Experiment.
You can keep track of the numbers as they change at the Know the Number Web site.
Least you fret about how much damage the counter itself might do to the environment, Deutsche Bank is quick to note that it uses 40,960 low-energy-using LEDs. The company has purchased carbon credits to offset its electricity consumption.
Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist in the New York area with more than 20 years experience covering the high-tech industry. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
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