Be the Change

China To Invest $15 Billion Over 10 years For Green Autos: Newspaper Reported

2010-08-08T19:49:00.002+05:30

China is the world's fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

The Chinese government will invest more than 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) to subsidize its fledgling environmentally friendly car industry over the next 10 years, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

According to a draft plan worked out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 60 billion yuan will be invested in the development of energy-saving technologies, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The government also wants to foster three to five major makers of energy-efficient cars and two to three parts makers that can supply them, it added.

Beijing unveiled plans in June to offer nationwide subsidies of 3,000 yuan for purchases of cars with 1.6 liter engines or smaller and that consume 20 percent less fuel than current standards.

The programme is estimated to cover more than 4 million such vehicles by 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said.

China will also hand out subsidies to buyers of electric cars and plug-in hybrid models in five select cities, including Shanghai.

The move is aimed at raising consumer's interest in cars that use less energy and create less pollution than traditional models.According to analysts this will unlikely jump-start the fledgling industry in the short term due to high battery costs as well as inadequate charging and maintenance networks in the country.

Source : REUTERS

Why Swine Flu Spread In People

2010-08-08T19:00:00.004+05:30

Influenza A (H1N1) virus is a subtype of influenza A virus and was the most common cause of human influenza (flu).

Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu, or pig flu) is an infection by any one of several types of swine influenza virus. Swine influenza virus (SIV) is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, the known SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3.

Swine influenza virus is common throughout pig populations worldwide. Transmission of the virus from pigs to humans is not common and does not always lead to human influenza, often resulting only in the production of antibodies in the blood. If transmission does cause human influenza, it is called zoonotic swine flu. People with regular exposure to pigs are at increased risk of swine flu infection. The meat of an infected animal poses no risk of infection when properly cooked.

The H1N1 swine flu virus was first identified in people in April 2009 but genetic research later suggested it had in fact been circulating for at least a decade and probably longer in pigs.

The H1N1 swine flu virus underwent a mutation and used a new trick to spread efficiently in people.Typically, a flu virus needs two amino acids -- lysine and asparagines -- on specific sites on its structure before it can jump from animals to people and multiply efficiently in human cells.

But the H1N1 remained a puzzle for scientists because they could not find the amino acids in those two locations.

In an experiment with mice, by scientists discovered the lysine amino acid was residing instead in a completely different position, but it allowed the virus to be just as effective in adapting to human cells.

This is definitely a breakthrough, to help predict the possibility of future flu pandemics.

Source : REUTERS

Oregon Fungus Spreading South Towards California

2010-04-28T19:22:00.005+05:30

A virulent, airborne fungus that infects both humans and animals is spreading toward California.

A new extra virulent strain of airborne fungus which infects humans and animals alike has been found in Oregon -- and it is spreading south toward California.

The fungus, called Cryptococcus gattii, had been seen over the last decade causing outbreaks on Vancouver Island, Canada, and then spreading to mainland British Columbia and the United States.

The new Oregon strain, however, appears to be a sign that the fungus is evolving and adapting to local environments. That, in turn, suggests it's likely to spread to similar environments in northern California, Idaho and even parts of Nevada.

Most people infected with the fungus never develop symptoms. For those who do, the signs can appear two to several months after exposure and include a cough lasting weeks, sharp chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, fever, nighttime sweats and weight loss.

Animals with the fungus infection have runny noses, breathing problems, nervous system problems and raised bumps under the skin.

Although the fungus is known to spread through the air, the researchers so far have been unable to track it down in nature, that is, outside of the bodies of the cats, dogs, humans and even some unlucky alpacas who have become infected.

Because so many kinds of animals are getting infected, researchers suggest that not only physicians but veterinarians should be well informed of the symptoms so they can diagnose the disease earlier and help in isolating samples and tracking the disease.

If a physician does suspects a fungus, however, they are more likely to think of C. gattii's sibling species C. neoformans, which infects a million people each year. Unlike the new Oregon fungus, however, C. neoformans attacks mostly HIV-infected people with suppressed immune systems and causes more than 620,000 deaths annually.

Courtesy : Discovery News

UK Government Initiative To Pay 25 Percent Of Electric Car Price

2010-03-01T02:16:00.003+05:30

The British government is to give up to 5,000 pounds ($7,668) to anyone who buys an "ultra-low carbon" car from next year and will build recharging hubs, the Department of Transport said on Thursday.

The Plug-in Car Grant of 25 percent toward the purchase price, capped at 5,000 pounds, will be available across Britain for both private and business fleet buyers from January 2011, by which time a range of eligible vehicles should be on sale.

Only battery electric, plug-in hybrids with emissions of less than 75 g/km, or hydrogen fuel cell cars will be eligible for part of the 230 million pound total fund.

The electric vehicles must have a range of at least 70 miles, or 113 km, while hybrids must be able to run for at least 10 miles without using fuel, and all vehicles must be able to go faster than 60 miles per hour.

The government also plans to spend 30 million pounds on a network of electric vehicle hubs, called Plugged-In Places, in car parks, supermarkets and selected streets.

The program is a key part of British efforts to cut emissions of climate-warming carbon from transport, which accounts for about a fifth of the country's total emissions.

Source : REUTERS

Seafood-Guide Lists Seafood To Avoid To Protect the Ecosystems

2010-03-01T02:10:00.003+05:30

WWF release a new guide to sustainable fish stocks in the Asia Pacific aims to help, to inform diners in Singapore enjoy their meals without harming one of the world's major marine ecosystems.

Singapore is one of the biggest seafood consumers in the Asia Pacific region, with an average 100,000 metric tons consumed each year, according to environmental group WWF, which launched the Singapore Seafood Guide on Thursday.

The guide is the WWF's second in the region -- a guide for Hong Kong seafood lovers was launched a few years ago.

The guide uses a simple traffic light system: green means recommended eating choice; yellow stands for only eat occasionally and red means avoid eating.

Singapore is a hub for seafood and almost all of it is imported, the WWF said, much of it from the unique, and fragile, marine ecosystem next door known as The Coral Triangle.

"The Coral Triangle is under increasing threat because fish are being taken out faster than they can be replenished," said Geoffrey Muldoon of the WWF's Coral Triangle Programme.

"In the past most people have been unaware of where the fish on their plates comes from or whether the species they are eating are heavily overfished or caught in ways that are damaging to marine environment. Much of the seafood you see in Singapore may be from areas that have been overfished for years."

The Singapore Seafood Guide is available as a free download from the WWF Singapore website (www.wwf.sg) and will also be distributed free of charge throughout the country.

The Coral Triangle, dubbed the nursery of the seas, is the most diverse marine region on the planet, and home to more than 3,000 species of reef fish and commercially valuable species such as tuna, in addition to 500 species of reef-building coral.

It covers around 6 million sq km (2.3 million sq mile) of ocean across six countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and East Timor -- and directly sustains the lives of more than 120 million people, the WWF said.

Source : REUTERS

Check out Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

2010-02-14T02:31:00.001+05:30

Title: Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=666992057601026373431

US bids to break Copenhagen deadlock with support for $100bn climate fund, lower than What needed to fight the Crisis

2009-12-18T02:17:00.002+05:30

The US moved to assert its leadership and save the UN climate talks in Copenhagen from collapse today, saying it was ready to support a $100bn (£62bn) fund to shield poor countries from the ravages of climate change.

But speaking at the conference, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, warned developing countries that the finances would only flow if their leaders signed up to a strong global warming deal at the summit.

"The US is prepared to work with other countries to jointly mobilise $100bn a year by 2020," Clinton told a press conference on a day that began with reports that the summit's Danish hosts had given up hope of reaching a deal.

However, she warned: "In the absence of an operational agreement that meets the requirement that I outlined there will not be the final commitment that I outlined - at least from the United States."

The $100bn figure was formally put on the table at the conference last night by the Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who is head of the African group of nations. It is much lower than many developing nations say is necessary to help them adapt to climate change and develop green technologies.

Zenawi acknowledged that his proposal would disappoint some in Africa. But he said: "My proposal dramatically scales back our expectation of the level of funding in return for more reliable funding and a seat at the table in the management of such fund."

Clinton also made it clear that America would not budge on its demand for greater accountability from rapidly emerging economies like China and Brazil that they are living up to whatever pledges they make to cut emissions.

Even as 115 world leaders began arriving to put their personal imprint on a deal, the summit hosts were admitting they had failed to broker an agreement.In the chaotic end game to the negotiations could mean that world leaders only have time to hastily paper over a face-saving agreement.

Source : www.guardian.co.uk

Sidelines of Copenhagen Summit : India Announces Incentives for Wind Power Generation

2009-12-18T02:13:00.002+05:30

India's ministry of new and renewable energy Thursday announced the implementation of incentives for grid-connected wind power projects providing cleaner power.

Wind electricity producers will now receive a generation-based incentive of 0.50 rupees ($0.01) per unit of electricity fed into the grid. The government will spend about 3.8 billion rupees on subsidies as of the new scheme.

"Providing 0.50 rupees per unit is huge if you compare it with existing wind power generation costs," Debashish Majumdar, chairman and managing director, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event. "The average price of wind power in India is currently about 3 rupees per unit."

Installed wind power in India stands at 10,500 megawatts, of the country's total of 15.59 gigawatts.

India's federal government is promoting the renewable sector through a mix of fiscal and financial incentives as it aims to exploit its renewable energy potential by attracting investments in the sector and reduce carbon emissions.

The latest tariff incentive comes three months after the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, which regulates power tariffs in the country, announced tariff norms for companies investing in renewable energy projects, stating they will get a 19% pretax return on investments for the first 10 years of generation and 23% thereafter.

The tariff on power produced by wind energy will vary between 3.76 rupees and 5.64 rupees per kilowatt hour, depending on the wind velocity at the site, CERC had said.

Copenhagen Summit Carbon Footprint Biggest Ever: Report

2009-12-18T01:58:00.003+05:30

The Copenhagen climate talks will generate more carbon emissions than any previous climate conference, equivalent to the annual output of over half a million Ethiopians, figures commissioned by hosts Denmark show.

Delegates, journalists, activists and observers from almost 200 countries have gathered at the Dec 7-18 summit and their travel and work will create 46,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of it from their flights.

This would fill nearly 10,000 Olympic swimming pools, and is the same amount produced each year by 2,300 Americans or 660,000 Ethiopians -- the vast difference is due to the huge gap in consumption patterns in the two countries -- according to U.S. government statistics about per person emissions in 2006.

Despite efforts by the Danish government to reduce the conference's carbon footprint, around 5,700 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be created by the summit and a further 40,500 tonnes created by attendees' flights to Copenhagen.

The figure for the flights was calculated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), while the domestic carbon footprint from the summit was calculated by accountants Deloitte.

Deloitte included in their calculations emissions caused by accommodation, local transport, electricity and heating of the conference center, paper, security, transport of goods and services as well as energy used by computers, kitchens, photocopiers and printers inside the conference center.

Accommodation accounted for 23 percent of the summit's greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen, while transport caused 7 percent. Seventy percent came from activities inside the conference center, said Deloitte Consultant.

"We have been forced to put up some temporary buildings in order to provide the delegation rooms because the number of participants is so much larger than expected," said the Consultant.

The temporary buildings housing delegation offices are not well insulated and are warmed by oil heaters, so this area is the most energy-wasteful, said the Consultant.

The researchers assumed that 60 percent of conference participants would catch public transport to and from the conference but according to the Consultant that was probably optimistic.

Source : REUTERS

Developed Rich Nations Must Assume Responsibility For Environmental Duties: Pope Benedict XVI

2009-12-18T01:49:00.002+05:30

Industrialized nations must recognize their responsibility for the environmental crisis, shed their consumerism and embrace more sober lifestyles, Pope Benedict said on Tuesday.

The pope's call for more environmental commitments came in his message for the Roman Catholic Church's annual World Day of Peace, to be marked on Jan 1 and whose theme is "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation."

The message is traditionally sent to heads of state, government and international organizations and its importance this year is more significant because its release coincided with the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen.

In the message he said "It is important to acknowledge that among the causes of the present ecological crisis is the historical responsibility of the industrialized countries,".

While saying that developing countries "are not exempt from their own responsibilities with regard to creation," and had a duty to gradually adopt effective environmental measures, the bulk of his criticism was aimed at rich nations.

Speaking of the need for all nations to address the issue of energy resources, he said:

"This means that technologically advanced societies must be prepared to encourage more sober lifestyles, while reducing their energy consumption and improving its efficiency."

He called on all people to "move beyond a purely consumerist mentality" so that they could "rethink the path which we are traveling together" and adapt "a lifestyle marked by sobriety and solidarity" between the haves and the have nots.

Environmental issues deserved the attention of the world community because the were human rights issues that could influence the right to life, food, health and development.

"Sad to say, it is all too evident that large numbers of people in different countries and areas of our planet are experiencing increased hardship because of the negligence or refusal of many others to exercise responsible stewardship over the environment," he said.

Source : REUTERS

Failing To Curb Use Of Pesticides That Have Been Accumulating In Arctic Food Chain and in Polar Bears-study

2009-12-18T01:44:00.003+05:30

The U.S. government violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to curb use of pesticides that have been accumulating in the Arctic food chain and in the fat of polar bears, a species listed as threatened, environmentalists charged in a lawsuit on Thursday.

While the biggest threat to polar bears comes from the rapidly warming Arctic climate and the disappearance of sea ice, the pesticide onslaught creates more woes for an already stressed population, said a Center for Biological Diversity staff attorney in Anchorage.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The lawsuit is probably the first to target the impact of pollutants emitted far away on an Endangered Species Act-listed population, Noblin said.

Persistent organic pollutants commonly contained in pesticides are known to be carried by atmospheric and ocean currents thousands of miles (km) northward to the Arctic.

The lawsuit targets 14 types of pesticides it says scientists have found in alarming quantities in lakes, snowpack and fish and animals' bodies in the far north.

They include Atrazine, an herbicide from Syngenta AG commonly used by corn growers, and Endosulfan, also used in agricultural operations and produced by Bayer Cropscience Ltd, a unit of Bayer AG.

None of the pesticides listed in the lawsuit is used in Alaska.There have been other legal actions that resulted in local pesticide limits for the benefit of endangered or threatened species.

The problem of pollutants transported into the Arctic has been an issue of international concern.

Under the 2004 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, nearly 200 nations have agreed to reduce or eliminate the use of 12 chemical compounds, including dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PHBs, and DDT.

The U.S. government signed the convention but the Senate has yet to ratify the treaty.

Source : REUTERS

Copenhagen Updates: China Urges U.S. To Increase Copenhagen Offer

2009-12-11T10:13:00.001+05:30

China urged President Barack Obama to increase a U.S. offer to cut carbon emissions but its top climate envoy indicated willingness on Wednesday to compromise at a U.N. conference in Copenhagen.

Xie Zhenhua said that China wanted to play a constructive role at the December 7-18 climate talks, where a successful outcome largely depends on agreement between the United States and China which together emit 40 percent of global greenhouse gases.

"I do hope that President Obama can bring a concrete contribution to Copenhagen," Xie told Reuters.

When asked whether that meant something additional to what Obama has already proposed, a 3 percent cut on 1990 levels by 2020, Xie said: "Yes."

Xie also said that China could accept a target to halve global emissions by 2050 if developed nations stepped up their emissions cutting targets by 2020 and agreed to financial help for the developing world to fight climate change.

Xie said that he preferred a final, legally binding agreement at the meeting in Copenhagen, but if that were not possible a deadline to wrap up a full treaty by June "would be very good."

Source : REUTERS

First Fuel Cell Boat Cruises Amsterdam's Canals

2009-12-11T09:58:00.003+05:30

The "Nemo H2",a canal boat powered by fuel cells emitting only water vapour and gliding silently through Amsterdam's centuries-old canals. The boat can carry about 87 people, is the first of its kind designed specifically to run on a fuel cell engine, in which hydrogen and oxygen are mixed to create electricity and water, without producing air-polluting gases.

"That's important in a city like Amsterdam with over 125 canal trips per day," said project manager Alexander Overdiep.

A boat trip around Amsterdam's concentric semi-circles of canals is a popular tourist pastime in the Dutch capital.

From spring, visitors will have the option of a 'CO2 Zero Canal Cruise', for an extra 50 (euro) cents.

The new boat cost more than double to build than a canal boat running on a diesel engine, and needs to visit a hydrogen dispensing station for a refill once a day, while normal boats only need a fuel top-up once a week.

But developers of the 3 million euro project, which was partly government funded, said costs would decline as more boats followed this test phase, and if more advanced hydrogen distribution infrastructure emerged.

Source : REUTERS

Updates on U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen - 2009 Set To Be Fifth Warmest Year On Record

2009-12-10T11:13:00.003+05:30

This year is likely to be the fifth warmest on record and the first decade of this century the hottest since records began, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the sidelines of a U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, WMO head Michel Jarraud pointed to extreme hotspots this year -- Australia had its third warmest year since record dating began in 1850, "with three exceptional heatwaves."

"I could go on. There was the worst drought in five decades which affected millions of people in China, a poor monsoon season in India causing severe droughts, massive food shortages associated with a big drought in Kenya," he told reporters.

Jarraud also highlighted extreme floods, including one which broke a 90-year record in Burkina Faso. 2009 marked the third lowest summer Arctic sea ice on record, after the two previous years, he added.

Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice at Britain's MetOffice Hadley Center, which supplied some of the WMO data, agreed that 2009 is likely to be the fifth warmest year.

"Essentially what's happened is we've gone into an El Nino," she added, referring to a natural weather pattern which drives abnormal warming in the eastern Pacific Ocean and can unleash wider havoc in global weather. The hottest year record, 1998, coincided with a powerful El Nino, and a new El Nino developed this year.

Source : REUTERS

Scientists Say Paper Battery Could Be In The Works

2009-12-10T11:02:00.004+05:30

Ordinary paper could one day be used as a lightweight battery to power the devices that are now enabling the printed word to be eclipsed by e-mail, e-books and online news.

Scientists at Stanford University in California reported on Monday they have successfully turned paper coated with ink made of silver and carbon nanomaterials into a "paper battery" that holds promise for new types of lightweight, high-performance energy storage.

The same feature that helps ink adhere to paper allows it to hold onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes and silver nanowire films. Earlier research found that silicon nanowires could be used to make batteries 10 times as powerful as lithium-ion batteries now used to power devices such as laplop computers.

"Taking advantage of the mature paper technology, low cost, light and high-performance energy-storage are realized by using conductive paper as current collectors and electrodes," the scientists said in research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This type of battery could be useful in powering electric or hybrid vehicles, would make electronics lighter weight and longer lasting, and might even lead someday to paper electronics, the scientists said. Battery weight and life have been an obstacle to commercial viability of electric-powered cars and trucks.

Source : REUTERS

Australian Winemakers Can Now Flag Green Credentials

2009-12-10T10:48:00.005+05:30

Australian winemakers who care about the environment as much as their vintages can now seek formal recognition for their green credentials under a voluntary certification scheme.

The EntWine Australia scheme, launched this week, requires companies to have their practices certified, independently audited and to report annually in relation to their carbon footprint and other indicators.

The Wine Federation of Australia (WFA) developed the scheme in consultation with the industry and it is currently working with the international alcoholic beverage trade association, Federation Internationale des Vins et Spiritueux (FIVS), to ensure it is recognized internationally.

Australia is one of the world's biggest wine producers, as well as the world's biggest greenhouse-gas polluter per capita. It is also prone to water shortages, droughts and devastating bush fires.

Earlier this year, winemaker Foster's started selling two Wolf Blass brand wines in recyclable PET bottles to reduce its carbon footprint.

Foster's also supported pilot studies for the EntWine certification, as did Orlando Wines, McWilliam's Wines, De Bortoli, Sitella Wines, Voyager Estate, Winemakers of Rutherglen and the Langhorne Creek Grapegrowers' Association, WFA said.

Source : REUTERS

Coke To Move To Climate Friendlier Greener Vending Machines

2009-12-10T10:31:00.004+05:30

Coca-Cola Co said on Thursday that it will eliminate a major greenhouse gas in its new vending machines and coolers, raising the bar for climate friendly refrigeration in the food and beverage industry.

Coke's Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said that the company, which sells everything from soda and juice drinks to water, will replace hydrofluorocarbon, also known as HFC, in its new vending machines and coolers by 2015.

While Coke's 10 million vending machines, coolers and other refrigeration equipment around the world keep its drinks chilled, they also are the biggest contributor to the company's carbon footprint.

Together the refrigeration systems emit 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year -- about 40 percent of the company's total.

Greenhouse gases from hydrofluorocarbons are partly blamed for global climate change and are expected to make up 28 to 45 percent of carbon emissions by 2050.

That has prompted the food and beverage industry to find other ways to cool products and cut their environmental impact. Earlier this year Pepsico Inc launched a pilot program for greener vending machines with carbon-dioxide cooling.

Coke executives said that carbon dioxide is the company's preferred replacement, followed by hydrocarbon refrigeration, which uses a synthetic fluid.

To ramp up the transition to greener machines, Coke and its bottling partners will buy 150,000 units of HFC-free equipment in 2010, doubling the company's current pace for buying the systems.

Coke has invested $50 million in research for climate friendly replacements. The company expects the move to greener equipment to cut its emissions by nearly 53 million metric tons -- the equivalent of taking 11 million cars off the road for a year -- over the 10-year life-span of the equipments.

Source : REUTERS

Cloud Computing Goes Green In Finland

2009-12-04T11:22:00.001+05:30

With the thought to make the greenest data center on the planet, a city power firm Helsingin Energia of Helsinki preparing the data center in the chill of a massive cave beneath an orthodox Christian cathedral.

Excess heat from hundreds of computer servers to be located in the bedrock beneath Uspenski Cathedral, one of Helsinki's most popular tourist sites, will be captured and channelled into the district heating network, a system of water-heated pipes used to warm homes in the Finnish capital.

Finland and other north European countries are using their water-powered networks as a conduit for renewable energy sources: capturing waste to heat the water that is pumped through the system.

Due online in January, the new data center for local information technology services firm Academica is one way of addressing environmental concerns around the rise of the internet as a central repository for the world's data and processing -- known as "cloud computing."

Companies seeking large-scale, long-term cuts in information technology spending are concentrating on data centers, which account for up to 30 percent of many corporations' energy bills.

Data centers such as those run by Google already use around 1 percent of the world's energy, and their demand for power is rising fast with the trend to outsource computing.

One major problem is that in a typical data center only 40-45 percent of energy use is for the actual computing -- the rest is used mostly for cooling down the servers.

Data centers' emissions of carbon dioxide have been running at around one third of those of airlines, but are growing 10 percent a year and now approach levels of entire countries such as Argentina or the Netherlands.

The center's location in the bowels of the cathedral has an added bonus: security. It is taking over a former bomb shelter carved into the rock by the fire brigade in World War Two as a refuge for city officials from Russian air raids.

Source : REUTERS

Climate Change Worries Sends Nepal Cabinet To Everest Base

2009-11-05T11:16:00.002+05:30

Nepal's cabinet plans to meet at the base camp of Mount Everest this month to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of next month's U.N. negotiations on climate change, a minister said on Monday.

The base camp is located about 5,300 meters (17,400 feet) up the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) mountain and is the point from where climbers to the Everest summit begin their ascent.

"The cabinet meeting is meant to draw the attention to the adverse impact of climate change to the Himalayas including Sagarmatha," Forest Minister Deepak Bohara told Reuters, using the Nepali name of the mountain.

Recently, Maldives held the world's first underwater cabinet meeting last month, in a symbolic cry for help over rising sea levels that threaten the Indian Ocean archipelago's existence.

Bohara said Nepal would also send some of its renowned Everest climbers to Copenhagen next month to highlight the problems of glacier melting, erratic rains and unprecedented forest fires.

Negotiations for a new global accord to fight global warming are scheduled to conclude at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital in December.

Experts say mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest, is vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only 0.025 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, among the world's lowest.

Thousands of glaciers in the Himalayas that are the source of water for 10 major Asian rivers, whose basins are home to a sixth of humanity, could go dry in the next five decades because of the global warming, they say.

Source : Reuters

Ford Van Drive Closer To Its Goal To Go All-Electric In 2010

2009-11-05T11:14:00.001+05:30

Ford is driving closer to its goal of producing an all-electric car with the announcement of an electric van for North America for 2010. The Ford Transit Connect BEV will incorporate a drivetrain from Azure Dynamics and lithium ion batteries from Johnson Controls-Saft.

The van will get 80 miles before needing to be charged and will be sold into fleets, according to Ford Manager of corporate news Jennifer Moore.

Source : Reuters

Shrimp's Eye Points Way To Better Super High-Quality DVDs

2009-11-05T11:11:00.003+05:30

The amazing eyes of a giant shrimp living on Australia's Great Barrier Reef could hold the key to developing a new type of super high-quality DVD player, British scientists said on Sunday.

Mantis shrimps, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.

They can see in 12 primary colors, four times as many as humans, and can also detect different kinds of light polarization -- the direction of oscillation in light waves.

Now a team at the University of Bristol have shown how the shrimps do it, using remarkable light-sensitive cells that rotate the plane of polarization in light as it travels through the eye.

Manmade devices do a similar thing in DVD and CD players but they only work well for one color, while the shrimp's eye operates almost perfectly across the whole visible spectrum from near ultra-violet to infra-red.

Transferring the same multi-color ability into a DVD player would result in a machine capable of handling far more information than a conventional one.

"The mechanism we have found in this eye is unknown to human synthetic devices. It works much, much better than any attempts that we've made to construct a device," researcher Nicholas Roberts told Reuters.

He believes the "beautifully simple" eye system, comprising cell membranes rolled into tubes, could be mimicked in the lab using liquid crystals.

Details of the mantis shrimp research were published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Just why the mantis shrimp needs such a rarefied level of vision is unclear, although researchers suspect it is to do with food and sex.

Source : Reuters

Energy-Efficient One size Charger That Fits All New Mobile Phone Solution

2009-11-05T11:05:00.001+05:30

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations' telecom arm, had given its stamp of approval "to an energy-efficient one-charger-fits-all new mobile phone solution.

"Every mobile phone user will benefit from the new Universal Charging Solution (UCS), which enables the same charger to be used for all future handsets, regardless of make and model," the ITU said in a statement.

"Some manufacturers are already incorporating the UCS in their devices," an ITU spokesman said.

The association hopes a universal charger will help reduce waste by cutting down on the number of chargers produced and then thrown away with the purchase of a new handset.

There are already more than 4 billion mobile phone subscriptions around the world.

In June, top mobile phone suppliers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other industry majors agreed to back an EU-wide harmonization of phone chargers, which means phones compatible with standard charging devices are available in Europe from next year.

The EU estimates unwanted phone accessories account for thousands of tons of waste in Europe each year.

Source : Reuters

Google Working On 'Smart' Plug-In Hybrid Charging

2009-10-13T17:22:00.002+05:30

Google Inc is in the early stages of looking at ways to write software that would fully integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles to the power grid, minimize strain on the grid and help utilities manage vehicle charging load.

"We are doing some preliminary work," said Dan Reicher, Google's director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. "We have begun some work on smart charging of electric vehicles and how you would integrate large number of electric vehicles into the grid successfully."

"We have done a little bit of work on the software side looking at how you would write a computer code to manage this sort of charging infrastructure," he said in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference.

Google, known for its Internet search engine, in 2007 announced a program to test Toyota Prius and Ford Escape gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles that were converted to rechargeable plug-in hybrids that run mostly on electricity.

One of the experimental technologies that was being tested by the Web search giant allowed parked plug-ins to transfer stored energy back to the electric grid, opening a potential back-up source of power for the system in peak hours.

Reicher said Google has been testing its fleet of plug-in hybrids "pretty intensely" for the last couple of years.

"One of the great things about plug-ins is this great opportunity for the first time to finally have a storage technology," he said

Reicher said the company is trying to figure out how to manage the impact of having millions of future electric vehicle owners plugging in their vehicles at the same time.

Apart from plug-in hybrids, Google also is working on other green technologies such as developing its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more, and looking at gas turbines that would run on solar power rather than natural gas.

The often-quirky company also said in late 2007 that it would invest in companies and do research of its own to produce affordable renewable energy -- at a price less than burning coal -- within a few years, casting the move as a philanthropic effort to address climate change.

Source : REUTERS

European Union, United States Eye Green Goods Tax Pact In Climate Fight

2009-10-13T17:19:00.001+05:30

The European Union and the United States are holding talks on forging a pact with OECD countries and China to eliminate duties on green goods as part of incentives to Beijing in a potential global climate deal.

EU diplomats told Reuters that under a plan being discussed by Brussels and Washington, the 30 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and China would agree a global pact to phase out import tariffs on goods such as wind turbines, renewables and green technologies.

But any deal is unlikely to include environmentally friendly hybrid cars, the diplomats said.

"The talks are entering an advanced stage. Brussels and Washington hope this could be one of the incentives needed to get China on board in the lead up to the Copenhagen climate change talks," one EU diplomat told Reuters.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office said the United States and the EU had been pushing within the Doha round of world trade talks since November 2007 for a deal to cut tariffs on environmental goods "and continue to work closely in pushing for concrete progress."

"We remain eager to move ahead with negotiations to eliminate tariff barriers on climate-friendly technologies and spur momentum on a larger WTO Doha package on environmental goods and services," said USTR spokeswoman Carol Guthrie.

U.S. businesses such as United Technologies Corp and General Electric Co, that are frustrated with the slow pace of the Doha round, have urged the Obama administration to consider alternative paths to reach a deal to boost trade in environmental goods and services.

China is on course to become the world's largest producer of wind turbines in the world this year and is a major manufacturer of solar products.

Source : REUTERS

Carbon Fund Assets Up 25 Percent To $16 Billion In 2009

2009-09-28T13:34:00.001+05:30

Carbon fund assets have grown by a quarter to $16.1 billion since last year, despite several funds having failed due to the economic downturn, research by Environmental Finance Publications showed on Thursday.

The growth of carbon fund assets has slowed compared to the previous year, when they swelled by 65 percent to $13 billion.

Carbon funds either buy carbon credits to sell for profit to investors, or supply them to emitters which are subject to mandatory caps on their emissions.

Since last August, 16 new carbon funds have appeared on the market, but eight were subsequently put on hold or closed down.

Most of the new funds listed this year are still in the fundraising stage and face an uphill struggle as they try to raise cash, the research found.

Given that the economic downturn has reduced industrial output, companies facing carbon cut targets have less need to buy credits to cover reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

Added to that, the future of the global carbon market after 2012 remains unclear and hopes are diminishing that U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December can provide much clarity.

Source : REUTERS

China, South Korea Lead In Green Stimulus Investment

2009-09-28T13:32:00.001+05:30

South Korea and China lead the world's 20 largest economies in the percentage of economic stimulus money they invest in environmental projects, the U.N. Environment Program reported on Thursday.

Other members of the Group of 20 leading economic powers, including the United States, trail behind in percentage of green investment from stimulus money, the agency found.

Almost exactly a year after the global financial crisis began, the U.N. agency found that about 15 percent of the estimated $3.1 trillion in global stimulus funds are "green" in nature.

But only 3 percent of stimulus funds committed to environmental projects were actually disbursed by the middle of this year, and the total in committed funds is still below 1 percent of global gross domestic product, the amount economists recommend to reduce dependence on carbon and fuel the transition to a greener world economy, the agency said.

The level of funding for renewable energy is not enough to cut carbon emissions and limit average global warming to 3.6 degrees F (2 degrees C), the increase above which some of the most severe effects of climate change are predicted.

The U.N. agency's executive director, Achim Steiner, called on the G20 leaders to have stimulus packages that double their green investments in sustainable energy to $500 billion a year to keep the global temperature rise below this threshold.

The report also noted that global stimulus commitments include some $250 billion in what the agency called "perverse subsidies" for fossil fuels and agriculture that can actually add to climate change are operating in the G20 economies.

In order of the percentage of stimulus money committed to environmental projects, South Korea was first with 79 percent; China had 34 percent; Australia 21 percent; France 18 percent; United Kingdom 17 percent; Germany 13 percent; United States 12 percent; South Africa 11 percent; Mexico 10 percent; Canada 8 percent; Spain 6 percent; Japan 6 percent; Italy 1 percent.

Source : REUTERS

EU To Propose Climate Action On Planes, Ships

2009-09-28T13:26:00.003+05:30

Aviation and shipping should cut their respective carbon dioxide emissions to 10 and 20 percent below 2005 levels over the next decade, the European Union is likely to propose at global climate talks this week.

EU diplomats said the cuts might be linked to a tax on fuel to generate billions of dollars of revenues to help poor countries cope with climate change -- a key contribution to finding a global climate deal by December.

After fine-tuning the proposal, the EU will present it at a meeting in Bangkok where climate negotiators from up to 190 nations will try to revive momentum toward a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.

Aviation and shipping are not covered by Kyoto, the global climate change treaty agreed in 1997.

Britain, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and most eastern European states have already indicated support for a cut of 20 percent or more to shipping emissions, compared to 2005 levels, according to a document seen by Reuters.

But seafaring nations including Malta, Cyprus, and Spain favor easier reductions. There is also debate over the base-line year.

The proposal has been put forward by Sweden, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, and is based on a report three weeks ago by the EU's executive, the European Commission.

The Commission calculated the two sectors could generate revenues as high as 25 billion euros ($36.7 billion) a year in 2020, if their emissions were capped at 30 percent below 2005 levels.

Some countries with big airlines or a heavy reliance on air links have put up opposition. France, Finland, Italy, Malta and Austria have suggested airlines get an easier target than 10 percent.

"How these targets should be met should be decided by the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization," said the EU diplomat. "Should they fail, the EU will come back to the issue in 2011."

A system of taxes might meet more political resistance than a cap and trade scheme, which would force polluters to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide.

Shipping would be best served by a cap and trade scheme, the industry associations of Australia, Britain, Belgium, Norway and Sweden argued in a report last week that did not set targets.

The UK Chamber of Shipping estimated a trading scheme for emissions would cost the seaborne industry up to 6 billion euros a year, depending on the price of carbon.

Source : REUTERS

Climate Change Threatens Rare Species In Mekong: WWF

2009-09-28T13:15:00.003+05:30

Climate Change Threatens Rare Species In Mekong: An Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as the Mekong dolphin, swims in the river at Kampi village in Kratie province, 230 km (143 miles) northeast of Cambodia.

Climate change is threatening 163 rare species discovered only last year in the Greater Mekong region, conservation group WWF said Friday.

Events such as frequent droughts and floods plus a rise in sea levels spell danger for species in what WWF called in a report "one of the world's last biological frontiers," a region spanning Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province.

"Forecasts for the Greater Mekong region show that climate change will dramatically alter ecosystems," Geoffrey Blate, WWF's regional climate change coordinator, told Reuters.

"Species most at risk are those with the least physiological tolerance to changes in temperature and precipitation, and those species with narrow or very restricted habitats."

Among the rare new species identified as vulnerable in the "Close Encounters" report are a bird that would rather walk than fly, a frog with fangs and a leopard-striped gecko with orange eyes.

Their habitats and the food they need for survival are often already restricted and climate change is expected to worsen the situation, according to the WWF.

It said many would not be able to adapt to climate change, "potentially resulting in massive extinctions."

With a diverse geography and climate zones, the Mekong is home to over 320 million people and numerous rare species, including the deer-like saola and the world's largest huntsman spider with a leg span of 30 cm (12 inches).

Source : REUTERS

UK Organic Food Needs To Be Cheaper in comparison with non-organic products to Return to Strong Growth : Trade Board

2009-09-28T13:09:00.001+05:30

Organic food in Britain is often too expensive in comparison with non-organic products and the price gap must narrow if the struggling sector is to return to strong growth, the Organic Trade Board said.

Organic bread costs nearly a third more than non-organic, while the differential for Gala apples was 69 percent.

"More than a 60 percent premium is a big decision for any shopper," Finn Cottle, trade director for the organic sector umbrella body, told a conference on Tuesday.

After years of double-digit growth the organic sector, which also includes products like make-up and clothes, hit a barrier last year when the economic downturn kicked in.

Sales are now down about 10 percent, which coupled with tighter credit and some retailers pushing cheaper brands, has put pressure on organic producers, many of which are small, family-run firms.

"I think the price differential should be about 20 percent," Cottle said. "We (organic producers) should be looking for a consumer price that is comparable with (non-organic) premium brands. Some (price differences) are quite shocking."

In contrast with Gala apples, a bottle of organic gin costs only about 4 percent more than its non-organic counterpart while cheddar cheese sells for only 1 percent more.

Cottle said the sector must reconnect with shoppers who moved away from the organic sector to save money.

"We know many people are in favor of organic, we just have to make sure they buy our products," she said.

The trade body has a target to push organic sales to 3 billion pounds ($4.9 billion) by 2015, against the 100 million pounds it was worth in 1994.

Ed Crammer, of market analysts TNS, which looks at supermarket sales, said that while many people bought organic, a far smaller number could be properly termed "organic buyers."

"10 percent of people buying organic represent 57 percent of total spend...while 14 percent of those buying organic accounted for just 1 percent -- basically this latter group buy organic almost by mistake."

The organic sector needed to target the 90 percent of people who occasionally buy organic, he added.

Source : REUTERS

U.S. To Track Greenhouse Gases For First Time

2009-09-28T13:02:00.002+05:30

The U.S. government will begin requiring big companies to monitor and report greenhouse gas emissions, officials said on Tuesday, a move that could make it easier for federal regulators to cut emissions if Congress does not pass a climate change bill.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said its new reporting system will help it understand where greenhouse gas emissions originate and ultimately help reduce emissions.

"This is a major step forward in our effort to address the greenhouse gases polluting our skies," said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. "The American public, and industry itself, will finally gain critically important knowledge and with this information we can determine how best to reduce those emissions."

The EPA said its reporting system will cover 85 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spewed by roughly 10,000 facilities. An oil refinery, power plant or other facility would have to report its polluting data if its carbon dioxide emissions totaled at least 25,000 tons a year.

A 25,000 ton annual carbon dioxide threshold is comparable to the emissions from 131 rail cars of coal consumed, 58,000 barrels of oil consumed, or the emissions from the annual energy use of about 2,200 homes.

"The public has both a need and a right to know about the country's biggest emitters," said Mark MacLeod, director of special projects at Environmental Defense Fund. "The transparency provided today will inform smart policy that targets the biggest sources of heat-trapping emissions."

The global warming pollutants covered under the EPA's reporting system include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons.

The new reporting system takes effect in January 2010 and large emitters are required to file their annual emissions data in 2011. Vehicle and engine manufacturers outside of the light-duty sector will begin phasing in their emissions reporting with the 2011 car model year, the agency said.

The EPA has said it would prefer Congress to cut U.S. emissions, but the agency has taken action that will allow it do to so if necessary.

Democratic U.S. Senators plan to propose a bill this month to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, a bill that is expected to face stiff opposition. The House of Representatives has already passed a climate change bill.

President Barack Obama, citing in part the EPA's action, told the United Nations that "the United States has done more to promote clean energy and reduce carbon pollution in the last eight months than at any other time in our history."

Source : REUTERS

Antarctic Coastal Ice Thinning Surprises Experts

2009-09-28T12:50:00.001+05:30

Scientists are surprised at how extensively coastal ice in Antarctica and Greenland is thinning, according to a study Wednesday that could help predict rising sea levels linked to climate change.

Analysis of millions of NASA satellite laser images showed the biggest loss of ice was caused by glaciers speeding up when they flowed into the sea, according to scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Bristol University.

"We were surprised to see such a strong pattern of thinning glaciers across such large areas of coastline -- it's widespread and in some cases thinning extends hundreds of kilometers inland," said Hamish Pritchard of BAS who led the study.

"We think that warm ocean currents reaching the coast and melting the glacier front is the most likely cause of faster glacier flow," he said in a statement.

"This kind of ice loss is so poorly understood that it remains the most unpredictable part of future sea level rise," he added. BAS said the study gave the "most comprehensive picture" of the thinning glaciers so far.

Rising seas caused by a thaw of vast stores of ice on Antarctica and Greenland could threaten Pacific islands, coasts from China to the United States and cities from London to Buenos Aires.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier this month global warming, blamed mainly on burning fossil fuels, could raise sea levels by 50 cm to 2 meters (20 inches to 6 ft 6 in) this century -- higher than most experts have predicted.

Among findings, Wednesday's study said 81 of 111 fast-moving glaciers in Greenland were thinning at twice the rate of slow-flowing ice at the same altitude.

"Dynamic thinning of Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheet margins is more sensitive, pervasive, enduring and important than previously realized," they wrote. "Dynamic thinning" means loss of ice due to a faster flow.

They said it was too early to determine whether the thinning was a sign that sea level rise would accelerate from a current rate of about 3 mm (0.12 inches) a year.

"Working that out is the next task," David Vaughan, a BAS glaciologist among the authors, told Reuters. Thinning in some areas could be caused by changes in snowfall, for instance, not the slide of ice toward the ocean, he said.

Source : REUTERS

Storing CO2 In Soil Should Be On U.N. Agenda for Climate talks in Copenhagen in December: Al Gore

2009-09-28T12:46:00.002+05:30

Developing emissions markets to encourage farmers in poor countries to store more carbon dioxide in soil should be a key topic on the U.N. climate talks agenda, global warming activist Al Gore said.

"I think that soil carbon conservation and recarbonizing of soil must be the next stage in this negotiating process," former U.S. Vice President Gore told reporters on the sidelines of a climate conference at the United Nations.

Agriculturists can store more carbon in soil through techniques such as no-till farming that leaves crop residue on the ground instead of plowing it up and releasing the carbon into the atmosphere, or through crop rotations.

Gore said that if a clear signal on carbon storage in soil emerged from the 190-nation U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December, it would serve as a "very important measure" to help get developing nations to participate in helping to slow climate change.

Rich and poor countries aim to hammer out a new global deal at the Copenhagen meeting on how to slow global warming and deal with its consequences, but talks have stalled on how to share the burden.

In sub-Saharan Africa, soil carbon has been so depleted that it harms food production and is expected to worsen as a consequence of global warming, Gore said.

Soils can hold carbon for thousands of years when dead leaves, crop residue and other vegetation combine chemically with existing soil particles instead of rotting fully. More carbon is held in this way than in trees and other vegetation.

But agricultural techniques such as heavy plowing, the use of too much fertilizer, and the discarding of the practice of rotating crops have led to the depletion of soils and the carbon in them in many countries.

Gore said polluters and investors in rich countries could potentially help invest in projects promoting new and improved agricultural methods that retain carbon, such as no-till farming, in developing countries through carbon credits.

Similar offsets resulting from storing carbon in forests and soils are already available in voluntary carbon markets, including ones for domestic projects on the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Opponents of such programs say the science is still young on measuring how much carbon is stored in this way. As a result, the price for soil sequestration offsets has traditionally trailed the price of other offsets projects such as solar energy farms.

Others say measurements are improving and that the offsets are a huge potential market that could reward farmers and make the soil yield more and better food.

Gore said improving the soil in many poor countries through such offsets could help fight against hunger and malnutrition.

Source : REUTERS

Arctic Ice Melts To Third-Smallest Area On Record

2009-09-21T19:10:00.003+05:30

Arctic Ice Melts To Third-Smallest Area On Record Photo: NASA
The summer retreat of sea ice over the Arctic is shown in this combination of images from animation stills modeled from July 1, 2009 and September 7, 2009 from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, released to Reuters September 17, 2009.
Photo: NASA

The Arctic's sea ice pack thawed to its third-lowest summer level on record, up slightly from the seasonal melt of the past two years but continuing an overall decline symptomatic of climate change, U.S. scientists said on Thursday.

The range of ocean remaining frozen over the northern polar region reached its minimum extent for 2009 on September 12, when it covered 1.97 million square miles (5.1 million square km), and now appears to be growing again as the Arctic starts its annual cool-down, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported.

That level falls 20 percent below the 30-year average minimum ice cover for the Arctic summer since satellites began measuring it in 1979, and 24 percent less than the 1979-2000 average, the Colorado-based government agency said.

This summer's minimum represents a loss about about two-thirds of the sea ice measured at the height of Arctic winter in March. By comparison, the Arctic ice shelf typically shrank by a little more than half each summer during the 1980s and 1990s, ice scientist Walt Meier said.

The lowest point on record was reached in September 2007, and the 2009 minimum ranks as the third smallest behind last year's level. But scientists said they do not consider the slight upward fluctuation again this summer to be a recovery.

The difference was attributed to relatively cooler temperatures this summer compared with the two previous years. Winds also tended to disperse the ice pack over a larger region, scientists said.

"The long-term decline in summer extent is expected to continue in future years," the report said.

The U.S. government findings were in line with measurements reported separately by the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Norway, which reported this summer's minimum ice extent at just under 5 million square km (1.93 million square miles).

Scientists regard the Arctic and its sea ice as among the most sensitive barometers of global warming because even small temperature changes make a huge difference.

"If you go from a degree below freezing to 2 degrees above freezing, that's a completely different environment in the polar region," Meier said. "You're going from ice skating to swimming. Whereas if you're on a tropical beach and it's 3 degrees warmer, you probably wouldn't even notice it."

World leaders will meet at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday to discuss a climate treaty due to be agreed on in December.

Source : REUTERS

Environmental Groups "Team Earth" To Use Web To Save Rainforest

2009-09-21T18:49:00.003+05:30

Environmental activists are taking to the Internet in a new bid to help save the world's rainforests with the help of major corporations including Starbucks Corp and Dell Inc.

Campaigners plan to announce on Monday the formation of "Team Earth," a social network that includes businesses, nongovernmental organizations, students and politicians with the hope of battling tropical deforestation.

Team Earth will launch in November, but its organizers wanted to spread the word this week, as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

"This is a moment when leaders around the world need to take action. We cannot afford for our representatives ... not to take action, so we're mobilizing the public," said Peter Seligmann, chief executive of Conservation International, which is spearheading the effort.

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said he joined forces with Conservation International over shared concerns over "divergent efforts of many separate parties -- NGOs, corporations, politicians and individuals -- trying to do something in which perhaps the sum of the parts could be greater if there was collective action."

Schultz said it makes business sense for companies to take serious action against social and environmental issues because it is important to employees and customers.

"In order to make a sustainable enduring business that's profitable, you're also going to have to create a balance between profitability and a social conscience," Schultz said in an interview.

Some of Starbucks' existing environmental targets include having all of its new company-operated stores meeting green building standards starting in 2010 and having all of its cups recyclable by 2012.

Actor Harrison Ford, a Conservation International board member best known as the star of the "Indiana Jones" films, is supporting the effort, and told Reuters that large-scale cooperation was best.

"Our individual efforts have been fruitful but history shows that real change is not accomplished through individual efforts but through movements," Ford said, noting that governments and corporations must also be involved.

Team Earth will use social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, along with its own site, to gather support for its causes, which also include climate change, water conservation and health.

Source : REUTERS

Solar Activity On the Surface of Sun Can Also Hit Earth With Wild Winds

2009-09-21T18:28:00.003+05:30

The Sun can lash the Earth with powerful winds that can disrupt communications, aviation and power lines even when it is in the quiet phase of its 11-year solar cycle, U.S. scientists say.

Observers have traditionally used the number of sunspots on the surface of the Sun to measure its activity. The number of sunspots reaches a peak at what is called the solar maximum, then declines to reach a minimum during a cycle.

At the peak, intense solar flares and geomagnetic storms eject vast amounts of energy into space, crashing into the Earth's protective magnetic fields, knocking out satellites, disrupting communications and causing colorful aurorae.

But scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States and the University of Michigan found that the Earth was bombarded with intense solar winds last year despite an unusually quiet phase for the Sun.

"The Sun continues to surprise us," said Sarah Gibson of the center's High Altitude Observatory and lead author of the study. "The solar wind can hit Earth like a fire hose even when there are virtually no sunspots."

Scientists previously thought the streams of energy largely disappeared as the solar cycle approached the minimum.

Gibson and the team, which also included scientists from NOAA and NASA, compared measurements from the current solar minimum interval, taken in 2008, with measurements of the last solar minimum in 1996.

Although the current solar minimum has fewer sunspots than any minimum in 75 years, the Sun's effect on Earth's outer radiation belt was more than three times greater last year than in 1996.

The research, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research, found that the prevalence of high-speed streams during the solar minimum in 2008 appeared to be related to the current structure of the Sun.

As the number of sunspots fell over the past few years, large holes lingered in the surface of the Sun near its equator. The high-speed streams that blow out of those holes engulfed Earth during 55 percent of the study period in 2008, compared to 31 percent of the study period in 1996.

A single stream of charged particles can last for as long as 7 to 10 days, the study says.

"The new observations from last year are changing our understanding of how solar quiet intervals affect the Earth and how and why this might change from cycle to cycle," said co-author Janet Kozyra of the University of Michigan.

Source : REUTERS

Nepal's Sherpa Community Sending Piece Of Rock From Mount Everest as "Memento" For Obama To Show Climate Change Impact

2009-09-21T18:06:00.003+05:30

Nepal's sherpa community is sending a piece of rock from Mount Everest to U.S. President Barack Obama to underscore the impact of global warming on the Himalayas.

Environmental group WWF said Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had promised to carry the "memento" and give it to Obama when world leaders meet in New York next week as "a symbol of the melting Himalayas in the wake of climate change."

Heads of state will attend a U.N. General Assembly meeting as well as hold talks on climate change in New York.

The rock was collected from the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) Mount Everest by Apa Sherpa, who climbed the mountain for a record 19th time in May.

Sherpas, mainly living in Nepal's Solukhumbhu district, home to the world's tallest peak, are known for their climbing skills.

A WWF-Nepal statement said more than 200,000 youth had also signed a petition to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanding action on global warming ahead of crucial climate talks in Copenhagen.

Negotiations on an accord to replace the Kyoto Protocol are scheduled to conclude at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital in December.

Experts say mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount Everest, is vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only 0.025 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, among the world's lowest.

Average global temperatures are rising faster in the Himalayas compared to most other parts of the world, according to the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Source : REUTERS

Iraq Approved a Project To Make Bio fuels Out Of Rotting Dates

2009-09-14T23:19:00.003+05:30

Iraq's prime minister has approved a project by a United Arab Emirates-based company to make biofuel from dates that would otherwise be wasted because they have started to perish, Iraqi officials said on Sunday.

Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves but its crumbling farm sector, which has suffered from decades of sanctions, isolation and war, is the country's leading employer.

A long drought has conspired with entrenched problems like high soil salinity, poor irrigation practices and a lack of proper seeds and fertilizer to hold back domestic farming and make Iraq heavily dependent on grain imports. Iraqi officials are keen to do anything to boost agricultural productivity.

Iraq, whose date palm plantations dot the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in an otherwise parched landscape, used to be a leading date exporter. It exports a tiny amount at present, officials say.

Faroun Ahmed Hussein, head of the national date palm board, said the Emirati company would produce bioethanol from dates that farmers cannot export because they are starting to rot. It would be used domestically at first, then possibly later exported.

He declined to name the company, estimate the cost of the project or say how much bioethanol it was expected to produce.

He said Iraq produces 350,000 tonnes of dates annually, a sharp fall from 900,000 tonnes produced before the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein but still more than the 150,000 tonnes it currently consumes. Some are fed to animals, he said.

Biofuels are seen by some policymakers as a key element in the fight against climate change, because plants suck up carbon from the atmosphere, and in the quest for alternatives to non-renewable fossil fuels.

Source : REUTERS

Small Hydro Power-plant To Help Boost Rural Africa Development

2009-09-14T23:16:00.002+05:30

Mini hydro plants could be the answer to a lack of power in rural Africa, especially as larger power projects are put on hold due to limited cash and abundant red tape, industry officials say.

Analysts say the continent could generate as much as 330,000 megawatts (MW) from its hydro reserves, yet only some 7 percent of that potential has been exploited so far.

So far only one in four Africans is linked to the grid, but power needs on the continent are estimated to triple by 2035.

Small hydro plants, involving small dams, pumps or water mills, can light villages with minimal environmental impact.

A 7 MW plant in the South African town of Bethlehem is expected to supply power to 15 percent of the roughly 70,000 people, at a total cost of 100 million rand ($13.24 million).

Mini plants satisfy people's basic needs, like the 0.75 kilowatt turbine in Kenya's Kerugoya village which gives access to power without forcing people to walk miles to the next town.

African governments say the extension of electricity lines to more people is a priority. Kenya is in the process of adding 200,000 new electricity consumers every year until 2012.

Civic group Practical Action is building 15 mini hydro plants in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique to light homes, schools and clinics and to irrigate fields.

Kenya, the world's largest exporter of black tea, also plans to build 10 mini hydro plants supplying a total of 23 MW to irrigate tea plantations.

Mini hydro projects will also help retain professionals such as teachers and health workers in rural areas.

Source : REUTERS

India Eyes Policy Changes To Cut Renewables Energy Costs

2009-09-13T12:29:00.001+05:30

India, which hopes to attract $16 billion in renewable energy investments by 2012, will soon announce new policies to cut the cost of investment in the green sector, the chief of India's renewables agency said on Thursday.

Proposals include financial incentive models linked to units of green power generated and tax cuts based on accelerated depreciation benefits. India currently has an investment-linked incentive policy.

"Issues such as accelerated depreciation are being now discussed and we should be able to announce the plans soon," Debashish Majumdar, chairman and managing director of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, said at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

India has already attracted about $5 billion worth of investment in renewables over the past two years -- leading to 4,000 megawatts of green power, mostly from wind -- but the high initial investment cost of green power has deterred many investors.

India hopes to attract about $21 billion worth of investments in renewable energy in the 2007-2012 plan period.

Majumdar, whose agency makes loans to renewables projects, said it hoped to meet that target but the global financial downturn had slowed investment during the past year-and-a-half.

This could hurt India's target of generating 25,000 MW of power from renewable energy over the next four years, more than double the current generation level of 12,000 MW.

"We have about 40 projects in the pipeline worth about $500 million," Majumdar said in New Delhi.

This is below the usual pace of investment, typically between 50 to 60 projects every quarter. The new projects are mostly for wind, hydro and bio-mass power.

Just three percent of India's total power mix now comes from renewables, and developing the sector is at the core of a national plan on climate change that does not commit to any emission targets.

In spite of its pledge to adopt clean technology, pollution-spewing coal remains the backbone of India's power sector -- making up about 60 percent of generation -- with the government planning to add about 70,000 MW in the next 4 years.

One of the thrusts of the national climate plan is developing solar power and India plans to generate 20 gigawatts of solar power by 2020.

Wind could generate a "considerable share" of India's power, the Global Wind Energy Council said in a new study released on Wednesday.

Source : REUTERS

Wind Power Could Meet China's Electricity Demands By 2030 : Study

2009-09-13T12:03:00.003+05:30

Wind power could meet China's electricity demands through 2030 and cut carbon dioxide emissions in China by 30 percent, U.S. and Chinese researchers said on Thursday.

China already is the world's chief emitter of carbon dioxide, a leading so-called greenhouse gas implicated by scientists in global climate change.

China currently generates 792.5 gigawatts of electricity per year, mostly through coal-fired power plants, and that output is expected to grow by 10 percent per year, a team from Harvard University in Massachusetts and Tsinghua University in Beijing reported in the journal Science.

About 80 percent of China's electricity comes from coal.

Wind energy accounts for just 0.4 percent of China's total current electricity supply, but the country is quickly adding capacity, trailing only the United States, Germany and Spain in existing wind farms, the scientists said.

To study the potential of wind energy in China, the team used data from NASA as well as global meteorological data collected from surface observations, aircraft, balloons, ships, buoys and satellites worldwide.

They found that a network of wind turbines operating at as little as 20 percent of their rated capacity could provide more than seven times China's current electricity consumption.

To meet its growing energy demand with coal-fired plants, China could potentially increase the country's carbon dioxide output to 3.5 gigatons a year, the scientists said.

The team calculates that the switch to wind power would cost China around $900 billion dollars at current prices over the same 20-year period.

"This would require a major investment of resources and could be accomplished only on the basis of a carefully designed long-range plan for the Chinese power sector," the team wrote.

Source : REUTERS

U.S. Ethanol Producer Green Plains Sees Stronger Ethanol Sector

2009-09-13T12:00:00.003+05:30

The shakeout in the U.S. ethanol industry in the past year has helped draw stronger players to the business and made producers better able to cope with soft margins, Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc's chief executive said on Thursday.

Since November of last year, several of the nation's biggest producers of the corn-based gasoline substitute have filed for bankruptcy protection as ethanol margins turned negative.

Those margins have recovered to about 10-20 cents a gallon in recent months as corn prices have fallen and because of government mandates for rising usage.

Most producers in the industry that makes about 700,000 barrels per day, or more than 7 percent of the nation's gasoline demand, should be able to survive on margins between about 15-30 cents per gallon, Green Plains' CEO Todd Becker said at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

Green Plains, the fourth largest U.S. ethanol producer by volume, has benefited from the shakeout: the company purchased two plants in Nebraska built by now-defunct VeraSun Energy, which fell into bankruptcy last year.

That acquisition from lender AgStar Financial Services, which had bought six of VeraSun's plants, lifted Green Plains' capacity to 480 million gallons per year.

Green Plains, which earns about 20 percent of its revenues -- that totaled $285 million in the second quarter -- from its agriculture business, is also staying on the lookout for other available plants.

"If the right plant comes up in the right locality -- we're very picky -- we'll add it," he said.

The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard mandates the mixing of 12 billion gallons of traditional ethanol made from grains like corn into the nation's gasoline supply in 2010, up from about 10.5 billion this year. The mandated target will hit a maximum of 15 billion gallons in 2015.

That growing share of the market has attracted large energy companies, including Valero Energy, the nation's largest oil refiner, which bought seven of VeraSun's plants in a bankruptcy auction.

That has helped the industry mature, Becker said, and was a healthy development for the renewable fuel.

Oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and BP Plc are also investing in next generation biofuels, joining agricultural giants like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland who are major ethanol producers.

Source : REUTERS

European Union Executive Moves To Protect Bluefin Tuna

2009-09-12T21:51:00.001+05:30

The European Union's executive has provisionally backed a ban on fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna, which has been pushed close to extinction by industrial fishing boats.

Prized by sushi lovers and chronically overfished for years, bluefin tuna commands sky-high prices in Asia, particularly in Japan where a single fish can fetch up to $100,000.

The European Commission said it would support the EU co-sponsoring a proposal by Monaco to list the species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) next March.

But the EU will not fully commit until its 27 member countries have been consulted on September 21 or before new scientific data emerges in November.

"The European Commission shares many of the concerns expressed by Monaco about the state of stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna," said a Commission spokeswoman. Opposition could come from big tuna fishing nations such as Malta and Italy.

"We welcome that the Commission accepts, at last, the gravity of the bluefin tuna's plight," said Ral Romeva, who represents the European Parliament on the issue. "We can only regret that it still refuses to commit to take the firm steps that are needed to save this fish," he added.

Last year, the European Commission accused France and Italy of breaching their quotas on bluefin tuna fishing.

"Bluefin tuna has become endangered because of disgraceful fisheries management in the EU," said Greenpeace campaigner Saskia Richartz.

The main problem is caused by industrial vessels that use a purse seine net, which floats the top of a long wall of netting on the surface while its bottom is weighted under the water.

Europe has a two-month season for the six EU states -- Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain -- that fish in Mediterranean and east Atlantic waters with purse seiners.

Commission experts say the EU's fishing capacity is so large, and bluefin trawling activity so concentrated in one month, the EU quota can be exhausted in two days of fishing.

Source : REUTERS

Birth Control Could Head Off Climate Crunch

2009-09-12T21:36:00.003+05:30

Birth control and new technologies -- not lifestyle change alone -- may be needed to head off a combined climate, food and energy crunch later this century, said the head of Britain's science academy Martin Rees.

The world's population is expected to rise by one third to more than 9 billion people by 2050, and may keep growing, fuelling concern about food and energy shortages and a more difficult task to curb greenhouse gases heating the planet.

But analysts and environment and development groups rarely mention population control, which smacks of totalitarianism, in U.N.-led climate talks meant to agree in December a broader, more ambitious pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

"There should not be any stigma in providing women with ways of getting out of ignorance, poverty and getting access to contraceptives," said Rees, president of the Royal Society, at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit.

"I think population issues need to be higher up the agenda because population beyond 2050 is very uncertain. There should not be any stigma against stronger efforts to give women in Africa more empowerment."

There will be more than 1 billion extra people in Africa than now by 2050 said Rees, who added the continent by then would have three times the population of Europe -- which had triple Africa's population in 1950.

Rees gave two priorities for policymakers now to maintain food, energy and low-carbon air supplies later this century:

"Substituting as quickly as possible fossil fuels and doing all we can to ensure the global population doesn't continue rising after 2050," he told Reuters in London.

"There are going to be pressures on the environment, not just climate change but food and water."

The Chinese government estimates its population was 300-400 million smaller in 2008 as a result of a one-child policy introduced in 1979. Its population now is about 1.3 billion.

Source : REUTERS

Looking Breakthrough Ideas in Green Technology, Google Plans New Mirror For Cheaper Solar Power

2009-09-12T20:52:00.005+05:30

Google Inc is disappointed with the lack of breakthrough investment ideas in the green technology sector but the company is working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.

"We've been looking at very unusual materials for the mirrors both for the reflective surface as well as the substrate that the mirror is mounted on," the company's green energy czar Bill Weihl told Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Google, known for its Internet search engine, in late 2007 said it would invest in companies and do research of its own to produce affordable renewable energy within a few years.

The company's engineers have been focused on solar thermal technology, in which the sun's energy is used to heat up a substance that produces steam to turn a turbine. Mirrors focus the sun's rays on the heated substance.

Google hopes to have a viable technology to show internally in a couple of months, Weihl said. It will need to do accelerated testing to show the impact of decades of wear on the new mirrors in desert conditions.

Another technology that Google is working on is gas turbines that would run on solar power rather than natural gas, an idea that has the potential of further cutting the cost of electricity, Weihl said.

"In two to three years we could be demonstrating a significant scale pilot system that would generate a lot of power and would be clearly mass manufacturable at a cost that would give us a levelized cost of electricity that would be in the 5 cents or sub 5 cents a kilowatt hour range," Weihl said.

Google is invested in two solar thermal companies, eSolar and BrightSolar but is not working with these companies in developing the cheaper mirrors or turbines.

In wide-ranging remarks, Weihl also said the United States needs to raise government-backed research significantly, particularly in the very initial stages to encourage breakthrough ideas in the sector.

The company has pushed ahead in addressing climate change issues as a philanthropic effort through its Google.org arm.

Source : REUTERS

India To Set Industry Efficiency Targets By December, 2010

2009-09-12T20:52:00.002+05:30

India hopes to set up by December next year energy efficiency targets for more than 700 industrial units, which account for 40 percent of India's fossil fuel use, the country's head of energy efficiency said on Monday.

Ajay Mathur, director-general of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, said India's energy efficiency market was worth about $15 billion which could generate energy saving of up to two percent of the country's total energy use now.

The scheme is among a number of emissions reduction measures India has announced that could bolster the nation's position ahead of a U.N. gathering in Copenhagen in December aimed at trying to win agreement on a broader pact to fight climate change.

Source : REUTERS

Threatened by Risisng Sea Levels, Maldives To Introduce Green Tax On Tourists

2009-09-12T20:46:00.004+05:30

The Maldives archipelago, threatened by rising sea levels blamed on climate change, said on Monday it would introduce a new environment tax on all tourists who use its resorts and provide its economic lifeline.

Famed mostly for high-end luxury resorts and white-sand atolls, the Maldives has made a name for itself as an advocate for mitigating climate change because rising sea levels are forecast to submerge most of its islands by 2100.

The Maldives' $850 million economy gets more than a quarter of its gross domestic product from tourists, but has not yet taxed them to help it fight climate change.

President Mohammed Nasheed, who in March outlined plans to make the Maldives the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade, said an environment tax was soon to be levied on all tourists.

"We have introduced a green tax. It's in the pipeline. It's a matter of parliament approving it and I hope parliament will approve it -- $3 per each tourist a day," Nasheed told reporters in Male, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Based on an annual average of 700,000 tourists who spend an average of three days on the islands, that translates to about $6.3 million annually.

In March, Nasheed launched a $1.1 billion initiative to convert the islands solely to renewable energy from fossil fuels, and buy and destroy EU carbon credits to offset emissions from tourists flying to visit its resorts.

The government has acknowledged it needs outside investment to fund those plans, and Nasheed's trip to U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen in December.

Last month, his office said he would not attend the talks because of a budget crisis that forced the country to seek a $60 million International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

Nasheed said he still had no plans to attend "unless someone very generously helps us. I hope someone will assist us."

He said the Maldives had little leverage in the outcome of the Copenhagen talks, which are to create a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, but a huge stake.

"There is no point in Maldives entering the agreement. It is a small country. It is India, China, Brazil, the United States that have to join in," he said. "No one is going to come out as a winner without an agreement."

Source : REUTERS

Confusing Forest-Carbon Regulation Scaring Investors from Indonesia

2009-09-12T20:31:00.003+05:30

Confusing and conflicting regulations are scaring away investors from Indonesia's fledgling forest carbon credit scheme aimed at curbing deforestation, lawyers said on Monday.

A U.N.-backed scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) could potentially unlock billions of dollars in annual carbon credit sales for developing nations that protect their forests from illegal logging and other threats.

Indonesia in May became the first country to issue a legal framework for REDD, anticipating the scheme's inclusion in a broader U.N. climate pact during a major gathering in Copenhagen this year.

However, project developers will struggle for up to five years to attract necessary volumes of private investment to sustain REDD projects without public funding, said Martijn Wilder, a partner at Baker & McKenzie.

"We are probably three, four or five years away in terms of having a really significant liquid private sector market so the issue is how do we fund it at the moment," he told a forum of REDD project developers and policy-makers in Jakarta on Monday.

"There is direct funding from governments such as Norway or through the World Bank, but the key issue is how much do we rely on public sector financing or on private sector financing," said Wilder, head of Baker & McKenzie's global climate change and emissions trading practice.

Deforestation is responsible for nearly 20 percent of mankind's greenhouse gas emissions.

The United Nations, World Bank and numerous governments back REDD projects in developing nations that halt forest loss and pay local communities compensation as well as help them develop alternative livelihoods.

In return, rich nations and companies can buy REDD carbon offsets to meet their emissions obligations at home. A U.N.-backed market, though, will only come into force from 2013 if there's a global climate pact and the infant sector is presently supported by the voluntary carbon offset market and donor funding.

Source : REUTERS

Concerns On Climate change funding, stall talks at G20

2009-09-12T20:01:00.004+05:30

Differences between rich and developing countries prevented G20 finance ministers from agreeing measures on Saturday to curb global warming, casting more doubt on U.N. efforts to agree a new climate treaty.

Industrialized nations sought progress on climate change financing at a meeting of G20 finance ministers but met resistance from emerging nations including China and India, who fear the proposals could stifle their economic growth, two G20 sources said.

Ministers said in their concluding statement that they would work toward a successful outcome at a United Nations meeting in Copenhagen in December which aims to draft a new climate change treaty to succeed the Kyoto agreement.

G20 sources said China and India had been among those objecting to detailed talks on climate change.

In a statement on Friday, the finance ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China said the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, which overseas the drafting of the new treaty, should be the main forum for negotiations on climate change.

However, developing nations are suspicious rich countries are trying to avoid paying the full amount needed to cut C02 emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change, and seeking to push some of the financial burden on to them.

"Many developing countries are concerned that the global issue of climate change will constrain their ability to industrialize without creating additional costs," said Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Friday.

Developing nations are especially skeptical of proposals for private sector funding of the fight against climate change. They are keen for developed countries' governments to stump up the cash needed.

Source : REUTERS

Anti-nuclear rally enlivens German General Election campaign

2009-09-12T19:57:00.003+05:30

A convey of 350 farm tractors rumbled through Berlin on Saturday,5th September to launch a mass anti-nuclear rally, designed to influence Germany's general election in three weeks' time.

About 50,000 opponents of nuclear power took part in the protest, which kicked off with an 8-km (5-mile)-long convey of tractors that passed in front of Chancellor Angela Merkel's offices and through the government quarter to the city's historic Brandenburg Gate.

Determined to make nuclear power a focus of the election campaign, the protesters criticised Merkel and her conservative party, which wants to scrap a 2001 law to shut down Germany's 17 remaining nuclear power plants by the mid-2020s.

The future of nuclear power is one of the few key issues that divide Merkel's Christian Democrats from the Social Democrats (SPD) of her challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The parties have shared power for the past four years in an awkward 'grand coalition' that both want to end.

But so far nuclear power has only been a fringe issue in the run-up to the September 27 election, in which Merkel's conservatives and their preferred partners, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), have been pushing to extend the life of the plants.

A wide majority of Germans oppose nuclear power, according to opinion polls. But Merkel and the FDP still hold a slim lead over other possible coalition alliances ahead of the election. The SPD and Greens oppose any change to the nuclear exit law.

Crowds of well-wishers waved at the long convoy of tractors, some of which pulled wagons filled with demonstrators or fake barrels of radioactive waste.

Source : REUTERS

Study Propose to Invest More in Wetlands to fight Climate Change

2009-09-10T00:51:00.003+05:30

Governments can help combat climate change by investing more in natural areas, including forests and mangroves, a European study said on Wednesday.

The paper pointed out that nations have natural assets worth trillions of dollars which could help fight global warming and save investment in industrial schemes for carbon capture.

"Natural systems represent one of the biggest untapped allies against the greatest challenge of this generation," said The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study, part of a global project, to be published next year.

Launched by Germany and the European Commission, the report is examining the economics of biodiversity loss.

An investment of $45 billion in protected areas could save nature-based services worth $4.5-$5.2 trillion a year, more than the value of the car, steel and information technology sectors, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told reporters.

Scientists say preserving nature is crucial in fighting climate change but warn extinctions are speeding up due to human activity. Extinction rates are at 1,000 times their natural pace and three species vanish every hour, research shows.

The study highlighted the role of forests in naturally mitigating CO2 emissions as they absorb an estimated 15 percent of global greenhouse emissions every year.

Agreeing on funding to save forests must be a priority for governments at December's global talks in Copenhagen to try to agree on a successor to the Kyoto protocol on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, said the authors of the report.

The report highlighted the dangers facing coral reefs which have risen due to a build up of greenhouse gases. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations are already irreversibly damaging coral reefs and their extinction would jeopardize the livelihoods of millions of people, said the study.

Coral reefs, which protect coastlines from the effects of global warming and are essential for some kinds of fish, are worth up to $170 billion a year, said the study.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme said billions of dollars of government investment in power station carbon capture schemes may not be the full answer.

Source : REUTERS

Five-Yearly Reef Outlook Report Raised Concerns On the Declining Health of the Great Barrier Reef

2009-09-10T00:36:00.002+05:30

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living organism, is under grave threat from climate warming and coastal development, and its prospects of survival are "poor," a major new report found on Wednesday.

While the World Heritage-protected site, which sprawls for more than 345,000 square km (133,000 sq miles) off Australia's east coast, is in a better position than most other reefs globally, the risk of its destruction was mounting.

"Even with the recent management initiatives to improve resilience, the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is poor and catastrophic damage to the ecosystem may not be averted," a government reef management body said in the report.

The five-yearly reef outlook report, aimed at benchmarking the health of the reef, found climate change, declining water quality from coastal runoff, development and illegal fishing were the biggest dangers to the reef.

The study echoed findings by scientists belonging to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the Great Barrier Reef could be "functionally extinct" within decades, with deadly coral bleaching likely to be an annual occurrence by 2030.

The reef was one of the most diverse and remarkable ecosystems in the world, and populations of almost all marine species were still large, the government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said in the report.

But some ecologically important species, such as dugongs, marine turtles, seabirds, black teatfish and some sharks had declined significantly, while coral diseases and pest outbreaks like crown-of-thorns starfish appeared to be increasing and becoming more serious.

A separate report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, also released on Wednesday, found ocean temperatures on northern parts of the reef had been a degree above average through winter, pointing to a bad year for coral bleaching.

"We know that a failure to act on dangerous climate change puts at risk significant places like the Great Barrier Reef and this report confirms the scale of the challenge ahead," Australia's Environment Minister Peter Garrett said.

Bleaching occurs when the tiny plant-like coral organisms die, often because of higher temperatures, and leave behind only a white limestone reef skeleton.

Garrett and Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh unveiled a plan to improve water quality on the reef. It followed a report last year which found agricultural run-off was killing the reef, with some sections already irreversibly damaged.

The plan aimed to halve the runoff of harmful nutrients and pesticides by 2013 and ensure 80 percent of agricultural enterprises and 50 percent of grazing operations were taking steps to reduce runoff.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the report added urgency to a debate in Australia's parliament on laws to curb carbon emissions, rejected last month by the upper house Senate and due for a second vote in mid-November.

Source : REUTERS

EU Granted No Delay For Car Makers On Ban of Climate-Damaging Chemicals in Air Conditioners

2009-09-05T12:31:00.004+05:30

Car makers will not be granted a delay to an agreed 2011 European ban on climate-damaging chemicals in the air conditioners of new car models, European Parliament officials said on Tuesday.

Automakers say they will need to invest an extra 40-200 euros ($57-287) per vehicle to meet the refrigerant standards, which would be difficult to pass on to consumers in the current tough economic climate.

The car sector's campaign has aroused strong opposition from environmentalists and suppliers of greener engineering systems.

The European Union decided in 2006 that from 2011 it would ban the use of fluorinated chemicals, such as the industry standard known as R134a, which have a powerful climate-warming effect when released into the atmosphere.

The EU closed a legal loophole in April after learning that car makers were planning to use it to avoid the ban for new car models until 2017.

But car industry lobby group ACEA said auto manufacturers still needed two to three extra years.

European Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told a meeting in the European Parliament on Tuesday that a delay would not be granted, according to two officials present at the meeting.

"The rule is in force -- it has to be applied," both officials quoted him as saying in a response to a question by British liberal lawmaker Chris Davies.

"The message could not be more clear," Davies later said in a statement. "The European Commission has raised the stakes and told them -- don't mess with us."

"Car makers...have had billions of euros in support from national governments, and it is time that they took a lead in helping reach Europe's ambitions of reducing the release of global warming gases," Davies added.

The emerging market for greener refrigerants pits industry giant Honeywell International with its HFO-1234yf coolant against rival carbon dioxide-based cooling systems such as that of Austria's Obrist Engineering, Germany's Ixetic and U.S.-based Visteon.

Some of them say car makers, such as General Motors and Mercedes, had already placed orders for green air-conditioning systems and were on track to meet the ban, but later retracted the orders for unknown reasons.

Source : REUTERS

Senate Urged To Let States To Let Them Impose Stricter Limits On Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2009-09-05T12:27:00.007+05:30

Five states have asked U.S. Senate leaders to let them impose stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions than what would be permitted under the climate legislation working its way though Congress, saying both levels of regulation are necessary to fight global warming.

The climate bill the House of Representatives narrowly passed in June would preempt statewide caps on greenhouse gases, while cutting total U.S. emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

Senate leaders will reveal their version of the bill later this month and hope to vote on it later in the year.

The group of attorneys general, which includes Edmund Brown of California, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Anne Milgram of New Jersey, opposed limits on their ability to regulate the emissions, which they formed in the absence of federal climate regulations during the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush.

"States should continue to be able to adopt caps that are more stringent than federal requirements in order to ensure that the ambitious targets set by the act, and required to avoid disruptive climate change, are met," the attorneys general wrote in a letter obtained by Reuters.

They had sent the letter on Monday to Senate leaders including Democrats Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer, and Republicans Mitch McConnell and James Inhofe.

The House version of the bill would preempt state caps on greenhouse gas emissions from 2012 to 2017.

That would effectively halt the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a group of 10 states in the East, from carrying out their cap-and-trade market that launched in January. Those states cap carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The group has raised nearly $370 million for clean energy and efficiency funds by selling emission permits in quarterly auctions.

It would also preempt the Western Climate initiative that would covers six greenhouse gases across 11 U.S. states and Canadian provinces from launching in 2012.

The targets of both regional plans are weaker than those in the climate bill. But leaders in the states have said they would like the option to ratchet up their plans once a federal system kicked in.

The states also called on the Senate to strengthen the bill by pushing the reduction target up to 20 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels in order to better fight climate change.

The other attorneys general that wrote the letter were Terry Goddard of Arizona and Joseph Biden III of Delaware.

Source : REUTERS

Better Climate Information Seen Aiding U.N. Pact

2009-09-04T20:06:00.001+05:30

A push to improve climate information for everyone from farmers to investors in solar power will help a planned U.N. treaty to combat global warming, the head of the U.N.'s meteorological agency said on Tuesday.

Michel Jarraud told Reuters that a 150-nation World Climate Conference in Geneva this week, seeking to boost collection and sharing of climate information, would assist the world to cope with droughts, wildfires, sandstorms, floods or rising seas.

Agreement in Geneva would help set the stage for a planned new U.N. climate treaty, due to be agreed in December in Copenhagen.

"It will support whatever decisions are going to be made in Copenhagen," said Jarraud, who is Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Investors, for instance, want to know about future climate to decide where to site a dam, wind farm or solar panels, he said.

Cyprus, for instance, had suffered four consecutive years of summer drought -- forcing water imports by tanker because it had built dams and reservoirs sufficient to store winter rainfall only for three years.

"The dams were based on the best rainfall statistics from the past. With climate change the probabilities are changing," he said.

A planned "Global Framework for Climate Services" to be agreed in Geneva at the August 31-September 4 talks would also include investments in monitoring levels of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels.

The framework, mainly to help developing nations, would bolster monitoring of the climate -- places such as the Congo basin need far more weather stations. Jarraud declined to estimate how much the framework would cost.

He said that it would require cultural changes to get people to act on climate information -- often viewed with skepticism by planners even though forecasts have become far more reliable.

About 70,000 people more than normal died in a 2003 heatwave in Europe, partly because of inadequate preparations. Even so, meteorologists had predicted a likely heatwave months in advance, he said.

Farmers in Africa, for instance, in some cases have to ditch traditional knowledge about signs from nature that help decide when to sow or harvest crops. Climate change, perhaps affecting the timing of monsoon rains, was making such knowledge less valuable.

"Cultural changes are tricky, they take time. It was very solid traditional knowledge but now we can do better than traditional knowledge. But it will take time," he said.

Source : REUTERS

India Says Greenhouse Gas Pollution To Jump

2009-09-04T12:35:00.002+05:30

India said it expects its greenhouse gas emissions to jump to between 4 billion tons and 7.3 billion tons in 2031, a report said on Wednesday.

Per capita emissions are estimated to rise to 2.1 tons by 2020 and 3.5 tons by 2030.

The report is the nation's most sweeping emissions summary, highlighting India's growing role as a key player in U.N.-led climate negotiations aimed at winning agreement of all nations to curb the growth in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

"The results should set at rest any apprehensions that India's GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions are poised for runaway increase over the next two decades," the government report said. One environmentalist said that the figures had to be put in global context.

In a 2004 report to the United Nations, the last time India published detailed emissions data, the government said total greenhouse gas emissions were 1.228 billion metric tons, or about 1.3 tons per person, in 1994.

A government report in August said India contributes around five percent to global carbon dioxide emissions, but was still only about a quarter of the emissions of China and the United States.

Source : REUTERS

France Sees Initial Carbon Tax At 14 Euros Per Tonne

2009-09-04T12:34:00.002+05:30

France plans to set a proposed carbon tax at 14 euros ($19.9) per tonne of carbon dioxide starting from next year, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in an interview to be published by Figaro magazine.

A special advisory panel, headed by former Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, had recommended billing 32 euros for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted in 2010 and lifting the levy gradually to 100 euros per tonne by 2030.

"We have decided to apply the tax in a progressive manner. Starting with the price per tonne on the market, that is to say 14 euros," Fillon said in the article set to appear in the magazine's Saturday edition.

The proposed tax has sparked heavy criticism from intensive users of fuel such as farmers and fishermen who will see the cost of a liter of petrol rise as a result.

The impact of a new carbon tax would be offset for companies through provisions to reduce the tax burden related to investment and the government was studying ways to soften the blow for the country's poorest households.

"It is out of the question that we will apply this uniformly to those French people that have choices and those who don't," said Prime Minister Francois Fillon.

Source : REUTERS

Facts, Impacts, Savings From Cutting UK Energy Usage

2009-09-04T12:31:00.001+05:30

Over 40 percent of Britain's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main greenhouse gas causing climate change, come from the energy we use at home and in traveling.

The average British home emits around five and a half tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, twice the amount of a car.

Homes could save 1.5 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 300 pounds a year, by insulating, improving their heating system and being energy efficient. Businesses could save over 2.5 billion pounds a year through carbon reduction measures, such as replacing oil boilers or installing new lighting.

HOUSEHOLDS

Leaving appliances and gadgets on standby wastes as much electricity as the annual output of two 700 megawatt power stations.

We waste over 600,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, equal to 170 million pounds, by leaving lights on unnecessarily.

Over 700,000 tonnes a year of CO2 is wasted by people overfilling their kettles. If people boiled only the water needed each time, we could save enough electricity in a year to run Britain's street lighting for nearly 7 months.

Britain could save 180 mega liters of water a day - enough to supply nearly 500,000 homes, by turning taps off while brushing teeth.

If we stopped wasting food which could have been eaten, we could save 18 million tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of taking one in five cars off our roads.

If everyone reduced their thermostat by one degree centigrade we could save 5.5 million tonnes of CO2, the same reduction as taking 1.8 million cars off the road.

Installing cavity wall insulation could cut CO2 by nearly 4 million tonnes. That's enough to fill Wembley stadium 500 times.

Drying clothes outside in the summer, rather than using tumble driers, would save as much CO2 as taking 240,000 cars off the roads.

Upgrading fridges and freezers to energy saving recommended products could save over 700 million pounds of electricity every year. This could power UK street lighting for three years.

BUSINESSES

Air conditioning can increase a building' energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 100 percent.

Switching off lights in corridors and rooms not being used could cut lighting costs by 15 percent.

A seven-day timer on shared equipment such as printers, vending machines and water coolers could save up to 70 percent on energy costs.

A single computer and monitor left on for 24 hours a day could cost over 50 pounds a year. Switching it off out of hours could reduce this to 15 pounds.

Upgrading IT can bring substantial CO2 reductions.

Maintaining boilers regularly could save firms 10 percent on annual heating costs.

Source : REUTERS

United Nation Chief Calls For Urgent Action On Climate Change

2009-09-03T20:21:00.002+05:30

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on world leaders on Monday to take urgent action to combat climate change for the sake of "the future of humanity."

Ban, on a tour of Svalbard, the remote Norwegian-controlled Arctic archipelago, said the region might have no ice within 30 years if present climate trends persisted.

He is trying to drum up support for a comprehensive accord to limit emissions of greenhouse gases at a U.N. summit in Copenhagen in December. The accord will be a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.

"I would like to draw the attention (of) the world, for urgent action to be taken at Copenhagen ... We do not have much time to lose," Ban told reporters aboard a Norwegian coastguard vessel.

Ban said he wants leaders "to agree a global deal that is comprehensive, equitable and balanced for the future of humanity and the future of planet Earth."

The Copenhagen talks aim to agree tough limits on emissions, to keep climate change at a manageable level, and a mechanism by which technology to reduce emissions is efficiently transferred from rich to developing states.

Ban said that Arctic ice was disappearing faster than glaciers in other parts of the world, quickly removing the reflective white shield that prevents the earth's north and south polar regions from absorbing more of the sun's energy.

If Arctic sea ice disappears, the darker water underneath will absorb more solar energy, accelerating climate change, "The polar ice caps are the world's refrigerator, helping to keep us cool because they reflect so much heat," Lars Haltbrekker, head of environmental group Friends of the Earth Norway, told Reuters.

"Some scientists believe that we are already at a tipping point, that the concentration of man-made (heat trapping) gases already in the atmosphere will melt the Arctic sea ice during the summer by 2050," he said.

The area covered by Arctic sea ice fell to its lowest recorded level in summer 2007, increased slightly last year, and will probably be the third lowest on record this year, scientists say.

Source : REUTERS

Vancouver Cruise Ships To Plug In To Cut Pollution

2009-09-03T20:14:00.001+05:30

Cruise ships docking in Vancouver, a popular hub for tourists bound for Alaska, can now plug into the city's electricity grid - cutting their engines and their diesel air emissions.

Port Metro Vancouver, Canada's biggest port, on Monday unveiled a shore power facility for cruise ships while in harbor, a first in Canada and only the third of its kind in the world.

Cruise ships can now plug into the electrical grid of the provincial utility, BC Hydro, which says that its mostly hydroelectric-generated power is 90 percent nonpolluting.

Long-term exposure to diesel engine exhaust likely causes lung cancer in humans and can trigger other lung and respiratory ailments, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have outfitted several of their fleet with onboard shore power equipment. Four Princess ships and one Holland America ship will use shore power in Vancouver during the 2009 Alaska season, which runs from May to September.

Source : REUTERS

Hoarding Energy-Guzzling Bulbs Ahead Of EU Ban

2009-09-03T20:12:00.001+05:30

Germans, who sometimes see themselves as guardians of the environment, are hoarding energy-guzzling incandescent light bulbs ahead of a looming European Union-wide ban, the GfK market research agency said.

The Nuremberg-based GfK reported sales of incandescent bulbs had soared about 35 percent in the first half of the year ahead of a ban that starts Tuesday -- even though it was proposed by German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel in 2007.

Some German retailers said they have seen sales of 100-watt incandescent bulbs soar 600 percent since the end of July.

The EU is planning to phase out use of the incandescent bulbs as part of its push to save energy, cut greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. From Tuesday the light bulbs above 75 watts can no longer be produced or imported in the EU.

The ban will be expanded each year and by 2012 production and importing of all incandescent bulbs will be prohibited.

The EU Commission projects the ban on the energy-inefficient bulbs will save about 40 terawatt hours of energy in the EU per year -- enough to meet the energy demands of a small country.

The idea to ban incandescent bulbs came from Gabriel in 2007 when Germany held the EU's rotating presidency. The German said the switch to energy saving bulbs could save about 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Source : REUTERS

As Toyota's Hybrid Cars Prius Gobble Rare Metals, Shortage Looms

2009-09-03T20:08:00.003+05:30

The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of gadgets and consumer goods.

That makes Toyota's market-leading gasoline-electric hybrid car and other similar vehicles vulnerable to a supply crunch predicted by experts as China, the world's dominant rare earths producer, limits exports while global demand swells.

Worldwide demand for rare earths, covering 15 entries on the periodic table of elements, is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 tonnes annually in several years unless major new production sources are developed. One promising U.S. source is a rare earths mine slated to reopen in California by 2012.

Among the rare earths that would be most affected in a shortage is neodymium, the key component of an alloy used to make the high-power, lightweight magnets for electric motors of hybrid cars, such as the Prius, Honda Insight and Ford Focus, as well as in generators for wind turbines.

Close cousins terbium and dysprosium are added in smaller amounts to the alloy to preserve neodymium's magnetic properties at high temperatures. Yet another rare earth metal, lanthanum, is a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries.

Production of both hybrids cars and wind turbines is expected to climb sharply amid the clamor for cleaner transportation and energy alternatives that reduce dependence on fossil fuels blamed for global climate change.

Toyota has 70 percent of the U.S. market for vehicles powered by a combination of an internal-combustion engine and electric motor. The Prius is its No. 1 hybrid seller.

Jack Lifton, an independent commodities consultant and strategic metals expert, calls the Prius "the biggest user of rare earths of any object in the world."

Each electric Prius motor requires 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of neodymium, and each battery uses 10 to 15 kg (22-33 lb) of lanthanum. That number will nearly double under Toyota's plans to boost the car's fuel economy, he said.

Toyota plans to sell 100,000 Prius cars in the United States alone for 2009, and 180,000 next year. The company forecasts sales of 1 million units per year starting in 2010.

As China's industries begin to consume most of its own rare earth production, Toyota and other companies are seeking to secure reliable reserves for themselves.

Reuters reported last year that Japanese firms are showing strong interest in a Canadian rare earth site under development at Thor Lake in the Northwest Territories.

A Toyota spokeswoman in Los Angeles said the automaker would not comment on its resource development plans. But media accounts and industry blogs have reported recently that Toyota has looked at rare earth possibilities in Canada and Vietnam.

Source : REUTERS

Decline in Wheat Prices,Demand for Bioethanol- Lead to more of the grain being turned into motor fuel

2009-09-03T20:03:00.001+05:30

A sharp decline in wheat prices driven by a supply glut is set to lead to more of the grain being turned into motor fuel in the European Union.

Demand for bioethanol, a renewable substitute for petrol normally made from either grains or sugar crops, is increasing in the EU. It is seen as a way to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases believed to contribute to climate change.

Wheat is now in pole position to help meet the demand with the price of alternative feedstock sugar rising to the highest levels in nearly three decades earlier this month and sugar-derived bioethanol imports from Brazil on the wane.

"Those plants that are flexible in the processing could switch to wheat and get a very cheap feedstock," said Rob Vierhout, secretary general of the European Bioethanol Fuel Association (eBio) in Brussels.

Wheat futures have fallen sharply to contract lows in Paris during the last few weeks, depressed by larger-than-expected harvests in both France and Germany.

Wheat was the most important feedstock for bioethanol production in the EU in 2007, the most recent year for which a breakdown is available, with a 39 percent share. Grains (including barley, maize and rye) accounted for two-thirds, according to eBio statistics. That total should rise significantly.

Ensus should bring on-line later this year the largest biorefinery in Europe in north-east England which will use about 1.1 million tonnes of wheat to produce about 400 to 450 million liters of bioethanol.

In 2010, Vivergo is due to bring on-line a similar size plant in eastern England which is also expected to use wheat as its main feedstock.

Ensus is owned by two U.S. private equity funds, the Carlyle Group and Riverstone, while Vivergo is a joint venture owned by British Sugar, BP and DuPont.

EU biofuel demand is driven mainly driven by political targets rather than the price of oil.

The European Union had directed that 10 percent of transport fuel must come from renewable resources by 2020 and several member states have set interim targets.

Brazilian shipments to the EU are falling partly due to strong domestic demand which cut the amount available for export. There has also been a switch in

Brazil toward using more sugarcane to produce sugar, rather then bioethanol, sparked by a sharp jump in prices for the sweetener.

Brazilian ethanol exports to European countries from January through June this year totaled 557,000 liters, down from 726,000 liters in the same period lastyear.

For the EU's bioethanol industry to continue to thrive it will not, however, only have to compete on price. It must also prove it can contribute to the fight to stem climate change.

Brazilian bioethanol has been shown to substantially reduce emissions of greenhouse gases as compared to mineral oil and has set a standard the European industry must seek to match.

Source : REUTERS

Watermelon Juice - Next Source of Renewable Energy

2009-09-03T20:01:00.002+05:30

A new study finds that the juice from these watermelons could easily be used to create the biofuel ethanol and other helpful products.

According to a new study to be published in the journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, 20% of the watermelon crop doesn't go to market every year due to imperfections, bad spots, or weird shapes. These watermelons are left in the field and then ploughed right back into the ground.

According to the authors of the study (Benny Bruton and Vincent Russo from the USDA-ARS, South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory, and Wayne Fish), these watermelons could be used to produce the biofuel ethanol.

The watermelon juice can be fermented and used directly or it can be used as a "diluent, supplemental feedstock, and nitrogen supplement" with other biofuel crops. If it is used as a supplement to other crops, it could first be used in neutraceutical production and serve an economic and health purpose in that capacity as well.

Watermelons could be used to produce the neutraceuticals lycopene (found to be important to prostrate health) and L-arginine (an amino acid that is critical for the production of nitric oxide). After being used to produce these, the waste juice can be used for ethanol production.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of watermelons are lost every year. They are grown and then left in the ground because of superficial imperfections. The authors of this new study show that they could be very useful as a renewable energy source.

"The results of this investigation indicate that watermelon juice as a source of readily fermentable sugars represents a heretofore untapped feedstock for ethanol biofuel production. The 8.4 t/ha of unmarketable watermelons left in the field at harvest would produce about 220 L/ha of ethanol for on-farm use or as an additional revenue stream for the grower."

Fuel your next car with watermelon juice.

Source : REUTERS

Fake trees, algae tubes and white roofs are some of the geo-engineering ideas among UK engineers' climate solutions

2009-08-28T16:28:00.003+05:30

Report from Institute of Mechanical Engineers calls for £10m to develop geo-engineering ideas that would be 'an integral part' of the solution to global warming

In research examining the role that geo-engineering could play in tackling climate change, a 12-month study by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IME) also found that painting city roofs white could also prove to be a simple but effective way to curb excessive global warming.

Geo-engineering is a set of technologies that could prevent or slow global warming - it includes everything from sending mirrors into space to reflect away sunlight to dumping iron into the oceans to encourage the growth of algae, thereby removing atmospheric CO2. For their study, the IME searched for ideas that were most practical and could have impacts on CO2 or global energy use levels as soon as possible.

Setting out their recommendations in a report published today, the IME called on the British government to put up £10m aimed at turning the three most promising ideas into reality. They advocate this being part of a £100m global fund for geo-engineering research.

Top of their list of practical solutions that would be low-carbon to build and require only existing technologies were artificial trees. These units, invented by Columbia University scientist Klaus Lackner, would be the size of a standard shipping container and could remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere. "100,000 trees would take up an area of around 600 hectares, which is less than 10% of the surface area of the Firth of Forth, and that would be able to absorb the CO2 emissions of the UK's non-power sector annually," said Fox.

Currently the UK produces 556 megatonnes of CO2 per year and the 100,000 trees could absorb around 60% of that amount. The engineers calculated that forests of artificial trees powered by renewable energy and located near depleted oil or gas fields, where the trapped CO2 could be buried, would be thousands of times more efficient than planting trees over the same area.

Making each artificial tree would require energy and materials but this would only account for 5% of the CO2 that the device could capture in its lifetime. On a global scale, between 5-10m artificial trees could absorb the CO2 emitted from all sources other than power stations.

Another geo-engineering solution highlighted by the engineers was attaching tubes filled with algae to the sides of buildings. "Algae is a naturally-occurring eco-friendly biomass that tends to have a high level of CO2 use in photosynthesis," said Tom Bowman of IME. The algae that grows can be collected and turned into charcoal, which can be buried so that the CO2 it has captured is locked away from the atmosphere.

Painting roofs white was recommended by the engineers to counteract the urban heat island effect, where major cities can be up to 4C hotter than their suburbs. This means more use of air conditioning or other cooling methods and it also speeds up the formation of smog. The IME said that reflective roofs can reduce the energy use of a building by up to 60%.

Global carbon emissions remained a major concern for us despite two decades of attempts at mitigation,lets see how geo-engineering can be an integral part of of the solution to global warming.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Northrop Grumman Corp To Clean Up Califonia Water At Superfund Site

2009-08-28T16:27:00.002+05:30

Northrop Grumman Corp on Thursday reached a settlement with U.S. environmental regulators that requires the aerospace giant to spend about $21 million to clean up groundwater pollution dating from World War II manufacturing through the 1980s.

Northrop operated three of 62 "source properties" that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found had discharged contaminants into groundwater at a Superfund site in the San Gabriel Valley, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

The EPA announced the settlment on Thursday in a statement.

The Northrop sites were not the largest source of pollution, said Dustin Minor, EPA's acting branch chief in EPA's Office of Regional Counsel. "They just really stepped up to the plate and worked with the other parties," which will help pay for the clean-up, he said.

A Northrop spokesman had no immediate comment on the settlement, which requires it to build a groundwater cleanup system that will pump out the contaminated water and remove "volatile organic compounds" from degreasers and metal cleaners used in area factories, EPA said.

The treated water will be used for drinking, water reclamation projects or discharged to surface water, EPA said.

The project is aimed at stopping the spread of a pollution plume that stretches six miles in length by one to two miles in width in underground aquifers that provide most drinking water to the valley's one million or so residents, Minor said.

The Superfund site is one of four areas of contaminated groundwater listed by EPA in the San Gabriel Valley in 1984.

The EPA plans to operate the groundwater cleanup system for about a decade while it formulates a plan to remove the contaminants from the aquifers, Minor said.

Northrop has already spent more than $10 million on remediation efforts under a 2002 EPA order, and total cleanup costs in the area so far have topped $70 million, the agency said.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Ban On Scrap Polysilicon To Boost China Solar Sector

2009-08-28T16:25:00.002+05:30

A Chinese ban on imports of a waste material used for solar wafers may be bad news for foreign competitors but it is a big boost to China's solar sector.

Scrap polysilicon, which can be reused to make solar wafers, is low-grade silicon that fails to meet the grade for chips found in most electronics.

Beginning this month, China stopped accepting scrap polysilicon to comply with environmental regulations.
The ban threatens the income of Chinese scrap polysilicon traders and limits the market for companies that sell to them, such as top contract chipmaker TSMC. It is particularly harsh for small and new domestic solar players who rely on the cheap material to make wafers and panels.

For China's polysilicon companies, including GCL-Poly Energy Holdings and LDK Solar, the ban is an opportunity to expand business. For foreign rivals South Korean OCI Co Ltd, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc or Japan's Tokuyama Corp the ban is a potential threat.

China produces over 60 percent of the world's solar panels, and is among the heaviest users of pure polysilicon and the scrap variety. Scrap polysilicon accounts for up to 30 percent of silicon fed into some of the solar wafers and panels in China.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Australia's northwestern coast Oil Slick Amid Wildlife Fears

2009-08-28T16:23:00.002+05:30

Aircraft sprayed chemicals to break up a large oil slick off Australia's northwestern coast on Sunday as environmentalists expressed fears for rare wildlife from oil gushing into the sea from an uncapped well.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the slick from the West Atlas offshore drilling rig had lengthened overnight from an estimated 8 nautical miles (15 km) on Saturday.

The first sortie of chemical dispersant sprayed on Sunday from a C-130 Hercules aircraft appeared to have started to break up the slick, a spokeswoman said. However, the clean-up cannot be completed until the well is capped, which experts say may take days.

Rig operator PTTEP Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL PTTE.BK, has flown in a team of experts to try and determine how to cap the well, which first began to leak oil and gas on Friday.

An air exclusion zone had been set up and ships have been advised to stay more than 20 nautical miles away from the rig, which is currently considered too dangerous to board.

Environmental group WWF called on Sunday for changes to preparations for such disasters, pointing out it took three days for the first dispersant to be sprayed, although the region is considered a critical area for biodiversity.

"From a global scale this is one of the most important places on the planet for ocean wildlife," Gilly Llewelyn, WWF Australia's director of conservation, told Reuters.

Among the animals affected were three endangered species of turtles, plus sea snakes, she said. Even a pygmy blue whale has been monitored there in what seemed to be an "oceanic highway" linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Many of those animals breathe air and periodically need to surface, and could surface in the middle of the slick, she said.

SOURCE : REUTERS

European Union Imports More cheap Argentine Biodiesel: Biopetrol

2009-08-28T16:21:00.002+05:30

Growing imports of cheap Argentine biodiesel into Europe are replacing U.S. imports hit by European Union anti-dumping duties in March, Swiss-German biodiesel producer Biopetrol said on Thursday.

"Increasing amounts of indirectly-subsidized biodiesel have been coming to Europe from Argentina since the second quarter," Biopetrol said in a statement in a statement on its first half 2009 results.

"The EU and the German government are once again called upon to act quickly to give European biodiesel producers the same protection against subsidized imports as in the case of B99 (biodiesel) from the U.S."

In March, the EU said it would impose punitive duties on imports of biodiesel from the U.S. while an investigation is held into allegations the U.S. green fuel is sold cheaply in Europe with the help of subsidies.

"Biodiesel prices continued to be under heavy pressure, because large inventories of highly subsidized American B99 that had been established in Europe were still being sold on the market," Biopetrol said.

The company, which in April underwent major financial restructuring, on Thursday posted a dramatic fall in first half 2009 turnover of about 50 percent to 69.7 million euros from 139.8 million euros in the first half of 2008.

Losses before interest and tax (Ebit) rose to 13.7 million euros from a loss of 3.1 million euros in the same time in 2008.

Increased taxes on biodiesel imposed by the German government had brought a "collapse" in petrol station sales of the green fuel in the first half, Biopetrol said.

This could not even be remotely compensated for by Germany increasing maximum-permitted blending of biodiesel in conventional diesel from five percent biofuel content to seven percent, it said.

Germany's biofuels industry association said on Monday the country's biodiesel industry is only working at 20 percent of capacity largely because of high taxes.

But Biopetrol said it was "well positioned for the future" after its financial restructuring in April.

SOURCE : REUTERS

U.S. Grants $300 Million For Alternative Fuel Vehicles

2009-08-28T01:28:00.001+05:30

The U.S. Energy Department will award nearly $300 million to a clean cities program to help communities buy alternative-fuel vehicles, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Wednesday.

The funding from the U.S. government's economic stimulus package is designed to encourage states and cities to reduce dependence on oil by helping pay for more than 9,000 alternative-fuel and energy-efficient vehicles, the Energy Department said.

It will also establish 542 fueling and recharging stations for the vehicles, the department said.

One project will complete a 700-mile regional liquid natural gas (LNG) fueling corridor connecting infrastructure in Southern California and LNG fuel stations being developed in Utah. The corridor will be along one of the nation's busiest trucking routes.

Overall, the department estimated the funding will help the clean cities program save about 38 million gallons of petroleum annually.

Chu said the vehicles will mostly be American made, providing a boost to the lagging U.S. auto and manufacturing industries.

"By changing how we drive, we are actually driving economic recovery," he said.

Ethanol groups have called for greater use of so-called "flex fuel" vehicles that can use special fuel blends of up to 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

President Barack Obama has said he would like to see more electric vehicles in the United States by 2015.

Source : REUTERS

Canadian Solar To Build 500 MW Project In China

2009-08-28T01:26:00.002+05:30

Chinese solar-cell maker Canadian Solar Inc said on Wednesday it obtained development rights for a 500 megawatt (MW) solar power plant system in China.

As the world's top greenhouse gas polluter, China is trying to catch up in a global race to find alternatives to fossil fuels, and many believe it will become a major market for solar power.

Since China announced its subsidy plan, domestic solar power companies including LDK Solar Co Ltd, Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd, and ReneSola Ltd have announced plans to develop big solar power plants in China.

Canadian Solar said it signed a letter of intent with the administration committee of the Baotou National Rare Earth Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (CPT).

The plant will be located in CPT, which is in Inner Mongolia, and the project will be divided into three phases, Canadian Solar said.

A total of 100 MW of the photovoltaic system will be installed in the first phase, which will run from September 2009 to December 2011. About 200 MW each will be installed in the second and third phases, the company said.

The project is subject to a feasibility study and government approvals, the company said.

Source : REUTERS

Mitsubishi Heavy To Make lithium-Ion Batteries

2009-08-28T01:24:00.003+05:30

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Japan's biggest heavy-machinery maker, on Wednesday said it plans to start mass-production of industrial-use lithium-ion batteries in late 2012.

Demand for heavy-duty, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which can be used in buses and wind power generators, is growing fast amid environmental concerns.

Mitsubishi Heavy said the company is also interested in a scheme planned by Better Place, a California-based company building a global network of charging stations for the electric car industry.

Mitsubishi Heavy, which is also expanding capacity in its nuclear power business, said it would spend 10 billion yen ($100 million) to build a test plant for the production of lithium-ion batteries for use in products like fork-lift trucks, wind power generation and solar panel systems in 2010.

The plant, to be located in the company's Nagasaki shipyard in southern Japan, will have an annual output capacity of 400,000 medium-sized cells.

The company said it aims to start operating a mass production plant in late 2012 with an annual output capacity of 1.2 million cells.

Mitsubishi Heavy expects global demand for heavy-machinery use lithium-ion batteries to more than double to around $30 billion by 2015.

Source : REUTERS

Fluor To Design Solar Thermal Plant

2009-08-28T01:22:00.001+05:30

U.S. engineering company Fluor Corp said on Tuesday it was awarded a contract to design a 46 megawatt solar thermal plant for eSolar Inc.

The plant will serve as a reference that will be used to provide a design package to power plant developers worldwide, the companies said in a joint statement.

Fluor said it would immediately begin studies on optimizing performance, construction and cost for eSolar's solar thermal technology.

eSolar's power plants use mirrors to reflect the sun's heat onto a tower where water is heated. Steam from the heated water powers a turbine to create electricity in much the same way conventional power plants do.

The Pasadena, California, company builds its power plants in prefabricated modules, allowing for the addition of more modules later.

eSolar opened its first 5 MW plant in Lancaster, California, earlier this month. The privately held company in February struck a deal with power plant owner NRG Energy Inc to develop 500 MW of solar thermal power plants.

Fluor, which is based in Irving, Texas, set up a renewable energy business line in May.

Source : REUTERS

SPX, India's Thermax In JV For Pollution Control

2009-08-28T01:21:00.000+05:30

Diversified U.S. manufacturer SPX Corp and Indian engineering firm Thermax Ltd will jointly make air pollution control systems in India, in a venture that could bring in annual revenues of up to $100 million in five to 10 years.

Shares of Thermax extended gains to as much as 3.1 percent on the announcement, before paring its gains to close up 1.2 percent in a Mumbai market that rose 0.5 percent.

The joint venture will provide air pollution control systems for power plants above 300 megawatts and energy efficiency equipment, Thermax said in a statement.

Thermax will hold 51 percent and SPX the rest in the venture, which will have an initial investment of 250 million rupees ($5 million), M. S. Unnikrishnan, managing director of Thermax, said at a media conference.

The firm will offer air pollution control equipment, which costs about $15-20 million, and has the potential to achieve annual revenue of $50-100 million in five to 10 years, said Drew Ladau, SPX's president of thermal equipment and services.

The venture has lined up supply-chain partners, but may initially need to source some products from SPX's overseas facilities, Unnikrishnan said.

Pune-based Thermax makes boilers, offers water and waste solutions and installs captive power projects. SPX, headquartered at Charlotte, North Carolina, offers specialized engineering solutions.

Thermax already has a technology-licensing agreement with SPX's German unit, Balcke-Durr, for air pollution control equipment called electrostatic precipitators for up to 300 megawatts.

Source : REUTERS

LDK To Develop Solar Projects In China

2009-08-28T01:19:00.002+05:30

Solar company LDK Solar Co Ltd said on Tuesday it is partnering with the Chinese city of Yancheng to build up to 500 megawatts of photovoltaic solar power projects over the next five years, sending its shares up 6.2 percent in extended trading.

The news comes a month after China launched a long-awaited plan to offer subsidies for large solar power projects. As the world's top greenhouse gas polluter, China is trying to catch up in a global race to find alternatives to fossil fuels.

Since China announced the incentive, domestic solar power producers including Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and ReneSola Ltd have announced plans to build big solar power plants in China.

"We believe that an increasing number of PV application projects will originate in China in the future and we will continue to work to position LDK Solar favorably within China's rapidly developing PV market," LDK Chief Executive Xiaofeng Peng said in a statement.

Yancheng City is north of Shanghai in China's Jiangsu province. China said in June it would accelerate development in coastal areas of Jiangsu province, which would include Yancheng.

Source : REUTERS

WWF Paper Conservation Ad : Deforestation of Amazon

2009-08-26T23:49:00.003+05:30

German Wind Power Moves Further Out To Sea.

2009-08-26T20:21:00.002+05:30

A pioneering German wind power plant's new high-tech equipment, to capture higher winds further offshore and for longer periods, is exciting the industry.

The Alpha Ventus wind park started this month and operates 45 km off the German-Dutch coast. Existing European wind parks operate only 20 km offshore at the most.

Alpha Ventus was forced by German environmental laws to build in deeper waters further out to protect tidelands.

The 250 million euros ($357.7 million) test field, also known as Borkum West, lies near the German-Dutch border with steel foundations 30 meters deep.

On August 11, three of the 12 Alpha Ventus turbines of five megawatts each began test runs and the rest are expected to start by the end of 2009.

Not just the big utilities that clubbed together for Alpha Ventus -- E.ON, Vattenfall Europe and smaller rival EWE -- are betting on its success.

German Repower and French Areva jointly supply the turbines for Alpha Ventus.

But Germany's Siemens and Denmark's Vestas, which installed half of all the world's existing turbines, also hope to benefit.

Some analysts believe higher-technology offshore wind has a big potential future within the next decade.

"In the long-term, by 2015, it could have a recognizable impact on the wind industry," Katharina Cholewa, analyst at WestLB, said.

The International Energy Agency believes that offshore wind power will grow more than 100-fold by 2030.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Experts Identify Fungus-Resistant Gene In Rice

2009-08-26T20:19:00.000+05:30

Researchers in Japan have identified a gene that allows rice plants to fight off a fungal disease called blast, which may open the way for farmers to cultivate hardier plants.

Using genetic sequencing, they were also able to separate the gene, Pi21, from a nearby gene that is associated with a "poor flavor," they wrote in a paper published in Science.

Currently, varieties of rice plants that are resistant to blast are also non-sticky and hard, which many Japanese people consider to be of a poor quality.

To test their findings, the team inserted the gene into a superior species of rice and the result was a fungal resistant rice that retained a superior flavor.

"The (blast) resistant rice was good ... the rice was sticky and taste was good," said the leader of the team Shuichi Fukuoka at the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences' Genomics Research Center in a phone interview.

Fukuoka said their finding would be useful in mountainous rice-cultivating areas in Japan where blast can cause serious damage.

The team would also be looking for other disease resistant genes, which it hopes to combine with Pi21.

"We are looking for other disease resistant genes and we want to combine them ... which will make stronger and more durable (rice plants)," Fukuoka said.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Ravaging Of Athens "Lungs" Revealed By Fires

2009-08-26T20:18:00.002+05:30

Among the acres of forests in the outskirts of Athens reduced to cinders by a three-day inferno, expensive villas with pools have appeared.

"Every time there is a fire we discover new communities we never knew existed," Greenpeace Greece director Nikos Haralambides told Reuters. "We have a state that just keeps legalizing unauthorized development."

A public prosecutor has ordered an investigation into whether arson was behind the fire that destroyed about 150 houses and thousands of acres of woods and farmland.

Although Mediterranean forests often burn in dry, hot weather, Greeks who have watched their capital expand dramatically into nearby valleys and mountains are convinced greedy developers are behind many of the fires.

"It's time to put an end to this sick and dangerous phenomenon," said the conservative Kathimerini daily in its main editorial. "Construction must no longer be allowed in the capital's much-afflicted lungs."

Athens was a village clinging to the foot of the Acropolis when it was declared the capital of the new-born modern Greek state in 1834, and it has now thrown its tentacles across the surrounding mountains of Parnitha, Hymettus and Pendeli.

Rural workers have flocked to the city looking for employment in recent decades and the demand for housing has overtaken urban planning. Many buildings were put up first and legalized later by governments eager to secure votes.

"The pressure to build homes inside the forest is enormous, especially in the outskirts of the city," Haralambides said.

A recent city plan for Athens plans to turn about 62,000 acres of what was mostly farm and forest land into urban areas.

With construction a main driver of Greece's slowing economy, measures to boost activity would bring political gains to the conservative government which trails the socialist opposition as it faces an election by March.

Environment and City Planning Minister George Souflias, under fire for building a holiday home near Athens without a valid license, has vowed all the burned Attica forests will be replanted.

"The application of the law ensures that where there was forest there will continue to be forest," he said.

Ecologists say that as the forests recede, life in the Greek metropolis of nearly 5 million people will become more oppressive with rising pollution, summer heat and winter floods.

"It is a huge environmental disaster," forestry expert Nikos Chlykas told Reuters. "The political cost of not taking measures is now bigger than the cost of not legalizing illegal construction."

SOURCE : REUTERS

Due to Recession U.S. Power Bills Down, But Not For Long

2009-08-26T20:16:00.000+05:30

Many Americans have been getting a break on their electricity bills during the recession, but they should not expect the relief to last long as power demand recovers and climate regulations loom.

Utilities in major markets like New York, Chicago and Texas lowered rates as the recession cut industrial and residential consumption and wholesale power costs during the first half of 2009 fell to the lowest levels in seven years.

An expected economic recovery in 2010 and federal green energy regulations could push costs up again quickly, analysts and power companies said.

New York power company Consolidated Edison Inc cut August power bills for residential customers by more than 30 percent from the same month last year as the company passed along savings from a slump in the wholesale market.

In Chicago, Commonwealth Edison, a unit of Exelon Corp, was also on track to cut summer bills by more than 9 percent due to the lower wholesale costs.

Lower bills are largely the result of a nosedive in the cost of natural gas, used to produce a fifth of the country's power. Prices for other fuels like coal also fell due to the economically driven decline in demand.

But fuel-savings have been slower to reach some parts of the country due to regulatory delays, and rising costs for infrastructure and transmission that could offset the lower fuel costs.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has predicted that U.S. power use should grow by 0.8 percent next year, ending two consecutive years of decline.

U.S. utilities also are investing billions of dollars to prepare for tough new federal clean energy regulations. The rules are expected to include proposed curbs on greenhouse gas emissions under debate in Congress.

Over the next few years, U.S. utilities plan to spend some $85 billion a year to meet growing demand, replace aging equipment and prepare for new environmental, renewable and efficiency mandates, EEI said.

Some of those costs are already padding bills. In California, for example, retail prices have crept higher this year as the state's giant utilities -- Edison International's Southern California Edison (SCE) and PG&E Corp's Pacific Gas & Electric -- invest tens of billions of dollars to meet demand and green energy programs.

The EIA predicted U.S. average retail power bills will rise by 4.2 percent in 2009 and 2.6 percent in 2010. The slower rate of increase in 2010 was attributed to this year's slump in wholesale costs.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Government of France plans to included Carbon Tax In 2010 Budget

2009-08-26T20:12:00.004+05:30

France's proposed carbon tax is expected to be included in the 2010 budget but will probably be set below the 32 euros per metric ton level recommended by a special advisory panel, Budget Minister Eric Woerth said on Tuesday.

The panel, headed by former Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, has recommended billing 32 euros ($46) for every metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted in 2010 and lifting the levy progressively to 100 euros per metric ton by 2030.

That would add between 7 and 8 cents to the cost of a liter of petrol. The tax, heavily criticized by intensive fuel users such as farmers and fishermen, will affect all sectors that are not part of existing emissions trading programs.

There had been some uncertainty over whether the tax would be ready in time for next year's budget but Woerth confirmed it would be, although probably at a level lower than the recommendation.

"It will be in the 2010 budget because the carbon tax is an intelligent tax," he told i-tele television.

"Michel Rocard has named a figure, I have indicated that I think this figure of 32 euros per ton of carbon emitted is too high. I think the figure will be lower but it's up to the president and the prime minister to decide," he said.

Details of the carbon tax will be established after a debate when parliament resumes, with a host of details still unclear.

As well as the level itself, there is major uncertainty over compensation for poorer households or those who need to drive to work because they live in remote areas.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Sberbank To Lend RusHydro $626 Million For Dam Repairs

2009-08-26T20:11:00.000+05:30

Russia's largest lender, state-run Sberbank, will lend power major RusHydro 20 billion rubles ($626.2 million) to help it repair a power station crippled in an accident last week.

Sberbank's chief, German Gref, told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the loan would be granted at low rates, with the first 10 billion-ruble credit line to be opened before the end of the year, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

A surge of water destroyed a turbine room at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam in eastern Siberia on August 17. RusHydro said on Tuesday 71 workers had been killed and four more were still missing.

RusHydro has said it will take three years to repair the dam and analysts have estimated repair costs at around 40 billion rubles.

The chief executive of aluminum producer RUSAL, one of the station's main customers, said last week repairs on the dam could take between four and five years.

RusHydro shares were down 1.7 percent down at 0836 GMT, slightly underperforming the broader MICEX index.

SOURCE : REUTERS

PedalPower : Charge Your Cell Phone while you Ride Your Bike

2009-08-26T20:08:00.002+05:30

A recent study concluded that it's dangerous to text while driving.

What about texting while bicycling?

That's also not advised, but a device from a company called PedalPower+ will charge your Blackberry while you ride. It also will charge your iPod.

The device, similar to the old school dynamo systems used to power headlamps via the back wheel of a bike, also stores generated power in a battery and will charge with solar panels even when you're not riding, according to a report from the Austrailian Broadcasting Corp.

Gizmag, a technology blog, explains that developers spent three years working on PedalPower+, to work out the kinks of safely regulating current to electronic devices via a spinning bike tire.

As a result, the patented technology will charge a mobile phone from flat to finished in about two hours, the company says.

How much? Right now, the devices are only available Down Under. But the company says it's setting up distributors in the United States and Europe.

SOURCE : CleanTechnica

U.S. sets awards to evaluate CO2 storage technology

2009-08-25T20:07:00.000+05:30

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it has awarded $27.6 million of funding to evaluate the potential risks of storing carbon dioxide underground, which is seen as a way to control global warming.

The total value of the 19 projects selected is about $35.8 million over four years, with $27.6 million of DOE funding, according to the DOE.

Coal-fired power plants provide about half of the electricity in United States but account for about 80 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from domestic power generation, making them top targets for environmentalists.

Coal companies, governments and environmental activists are hoping for breakthrough technologies that will help trap, transport and bury underground carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

The funding includes $1.6 million for Columbia University, nearly $2 million for Schlumberger Ltd's Carbon Services, $2 million for Woodlands, Texas-based Fusion Petroleum Technologies and $2 million for Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Planetary Emissions Management Inc.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Lead poisoning haunts Chinese smelter communities after hundreds of children tested for high levels of lead

2009-08-25T20:03:00.003+05:30

Chinese provinces have begun shutting lead smelters for environmental checks, after hundreds of children tested for high levels of lead in two separate cases this month.

At least three lead smelters in Henan province and two in Shaanxi province, with a combined capacity of about 6 percent of China's annual production, were ordered to temporarily halt operations in recent days, officials said.

The closures came after parents protested at a lead and zinc smelter operated by Dongling Group in Changqing, Shaanxi Province, and at a manganese smelter in Hunan this month.

China's pollution and lax product safety standards have long been a source of tension and unrest, particularly when residents of pollution hotspots -- dubbed "cancer villages" because of high disease rates -- feel they are being ignored.

Lead poisoning is endemic among villages near Chinese smelters, interviews conducted this weekend showed.

In Shaanxi's Fengxian, where smoke billows from a Dongling Group zinc smelter, two wan and listless toddlers tested with high levels of lead in their blood earlier this year. Villagers requested but did not get testing for 30 other children.

Lead poisoning due to air and water pollution from poorly regulated smelters and mines haunts the valleys of the ore-rich Qinling range, in a poor and remote part of China.

The problem dogs heavy metals bases in Hunan, Henan, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces. Closing polluting plants has pushed the industry to poorer areas where any investment is welcome.

The shift to poorer regions echoes the migration of the lead smelting industry to China over the last decade, as stricter environmental laws forced smelters in richer countries to close.

China's output of refined lead rose nearly 20 percent in 2008 to 3.26 million metric tons. Output feeds the Chinese battery industry, the world's largest, which then exports worldwide.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Africa wants $67 billion a year to fight climate change : reports REUTERS

2009-08-25T20:01:00.000+05:30

African leaders will ask rich nations for $67 billion per year to mitigate the impact of global warming on the world's poorest continent, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Monday.

Ten leaders are holding talks at African Union (AU) headquarters in the Ethiopian capital to try to agree a common stance ahead of a U.N. summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December.

Experts say Africa contributes little to the pollution blamed for warming, but is likely to be hit hardest by the droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising sea levels forecast if climate change is not checked.

The draft resolution, which must still be approved by the 10 leaders, called for rich countries to pay $67 billion annually to counter the impact of global warming in Africa.

It said there had been serious limitations on Africa's ability to negotiate in the past because of a lack of a coherent stance on global warming by African governments.

"The negotiating team need to be backed with the political weight at the highest level in the continent to ensure that the African voice on climate change negotiations is taken with the seriousness it deserves," the document said.

A study commissioned by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum that was released in May said poor nations bear more than nine-tenths of the human and economic burden of climate change.

The 50 poorest countries, however, contribute less than 1 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that scientists say are threatening the planet, the report said.

Africa is the region most at risk from warming and is home to 15 of the 20 most vulnerable countries, it said. Other areas also facing the highest level of threat include South Asia and small island developing states.

Developing nations accuse the rich of failing to take the lead in setting deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and say they are trying to get the poor to shoulder more of the burden of emission curbs without providing aid and technology.

A new climate treaty is due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December. But a senior U.N. official has warned the discussions risk failure if they are accelerated.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, said only "selective progress" had been made toward trimming a 200-page draft treaty text in Bonn earlier this month, one of a series of talks meant to end with a U.N. deal in Denmark.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Desertec, Europe's Saharan power plan : Official hopeful Sahara could one day deliver 15 percent of Europe's electricity

2009-08-25T19:58:00.002+05:30

A 400 billion euro ($774 billion) plan to power Europe with Sahara sunlight is gaining momentum, even as critics see high risks in a large corporate project using young technology in north African countries with weak rule of law.

Desertec, as the initiative is called, would be the world's most ambitious solar power project. Fields of mirrors in the desert would gather solar rays to boil water, turning turbines to electrify a new carbon-free network linking Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Its supporters, a dozen finance and industrial firms mostly from Germany, say it will keep Europe at the forefront of the fight against climate change and help North African and European economies to grow within greenhouse gas emission limits.

Others warn of numerous pitfalls, including Maghreb politics, Saharan sandstorms and the risk to desert populations if their water is diverted to clean dust off solar mirrors.

They say the concentrated solar power (CSP) technology behind Desertec involves greater costs and risks than the fast-growing patchwork of smaller-scale photovoltaic cell installations that generate most of Europe's solar energy today.

Desertec's founders are lured by the fact that more energy falls on the world's deserts in six hours than the world consumes in a year.

Proposed by the Club of Rome, an international group of experts that suggests solutions to global problems, Desertec became an industrial project last month when reinsurer Munich Re hosted its launch at its headquarters in the Bavarian capital.

Desertec officials say the Sahara could one day deliver 15 percent of Europe's electricity, but expect the plan to advance in small stages with completion not before 2050.

Desertec would need 20 or more efficient, direct-current cables each costing up to $1 billion to transmit electricity north beneath the Mediterranean.

CSP installations placed in the Sahara generate around 30 percent more power per area than in southern Spain, according to Morocco's renewable energy agency CDER.

"Desertec can help reduce emissions in Europe and foster economic and social development in northern Africa, so everyone loves this project," said Santiago Siage, head of Desertec consortium member Abengoa Solar.

Abengoa is developing installations combining CSP with combined-cycle gas power generation in Morocco and Algeria.

Southern countries that import most of their energy like Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan would also benefit from Desertec.

Morocco buys in 96 percent of its energy and subsidizes fuel to make it more affordable for the poor, a massive drain on state resources that could be used to fight poverty and bring services to isolated rural areas.

The Moroccan government says Desertec could solve Morocco's energy dependency and leave plenty of power for Europe.

SOURCE : REUTERS

EU wind power seen steady in 2009 despite crisis

2009-08-24T19:46:00.002+05:30

Europe looks set to build slightly more wind capacity this year than in 2008, despite weakening electricity demand due to the economic crisis, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said on Friday.

About 8,600 megawatts of new wind energy capacity will be installed in the European Union's 27 nations in 2009, 1 percent higher than the 8,484 megawatts installed last year, EWEA estimated.

"Although the outlook for 2009 is encouraging, the real test of the wind energy sector's ability to withstand the financial crisis will be 2010," said Christian Kjaer, EWEA chief executive.

EWEA expects the financial crisis to have a deeper impact in 2010 due to poor liquidity in the loan markets.

New wind installations will take the EU's cumulative capacity to 73,535 megawatts this year, up from 64,935 megawatts last year.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Climate change opens Arctic route for German ships

2009-08-24T19:45:00.000+05:30

Two German ships set off on Friday on the first journey across Russia's Arctic-facing northern shore without the help of icebreakers after climate change helped opened the passage, the company said.

Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH, said the "Beluga Fraternity" and "Beluga Foresight" left the Russian port of Vladivostok on the historic and cost-saving journey with cargo picked up in South Korea bound for Holland.

The melting of Arctic ice as a result of climate change has made it possible to send Beluga's multi-purpose heavy lift ships along the legendary Northeast Passage, Stolberg said.

Beluga got Russian authorities' clearance to send the first non-Russian commercial vessels through the route on Friday.

The Northern Sea Route trims 4,000 nautical miles off the usual 11,000-mile journey via the Suez Canal -- yielding considerable savings in fuel costs and CO2 emissions, he said.

"Russian submarines and icebreakers have used the Northern Route in the past but it wasn't open for regular commercial shipping before now because there are many areas with thick ice," Stolberg told Reuters in an email interview.

"It was only last summer that satellite pictures revealed that the ice is melting and a small corridor opened which could enable commercial shipping through the Northeast Passage -- if all the circumstances were right and the requirements were met."

Stolberg said Beluga was eager to send ships through the northern route last summer during a six- to eight-week "window" in August and September when temperatures in the region rise to 20 degrees Celsius or more to open a corridor in the ice.

But they were unable to get the approvals needed from Russian authorities before the window closed in September.

"The permission process wasn't finished when we needed it so we used the additional year for more intense planning," he said.

Stolberg's company has already drawn attention for coming up with innovative answers to climate change. It has been using a giant towing kite system on some of its vessels to harness wind energy -- to cut fuel costs and CO2 emissions.

"Global warming is obviously a development with negative effects. However the melting ice in the Northeast Passage and the possibility to transit through it has positive effects, too. Shipping companies can cut bunker consumption and reduce CO2 as well as other emissions."

SOURCE : REUTERS

Honda to unveil electric car in U.S. by 2015: Report

2009-08-24T19:42:00.003+05:30

Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to develop an electric car to debut in the U.S. market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emission vehicles, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the company, Japan's No. 2 automaker, said it was developing an electric car but had not decided when to launch it.

The company could also not comment on the Nikkei business daily's report, without sources, that a prototype of the car would be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October.

The vehicle is expected to be around the size of a minicar, the Nikkei said.

Other automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG have also announced plans to launch electric cars in the next few years.

But they say it could take decades for the vehicles to spread due to their high cost, limited driving range and long charging times with the current battery technology.

Nissan Motor Co, Japan's third biggest automaker, unveiled its electric car "Leaf" earlier this month with plans to begin selling it in the United States, Japan and Europe toward the end of 2010.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Chevron building solar-steam plant

2009-08-24T19:40:00.001+05:30

Chevron Corp is building a solar plant here to create the steam that boosts production at an aging California oilfield, in a pioneering project the company aims to replicate elsewhere if it works.

Chevron outlined the previously undisclosed plan at a city council meeting in Coalinga, a city halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco that started as a coal outpost, boomed with oil gushers, and is now a potential solar energy hub.

The second-largest U.S. oil company said the solar thermal plant, which will collect reflected sunlight from thousands of mirrors at a 323-foot (98-meter) tower where the water boils, will replace some steam production now powered by natural gas.

Steam is injected into wells to heat up heavier oil and thus lower its viscosity to make it easier to extract.

Solar thermal company BrightSource Energy is partnering with Chevron on the project, which will employ BrightSource's technology. A spokesman for Oakland, California-based BrightSource would not comment on the terms of that deal.

Just this week, German solar thermal company Solar Millennium AG and plant builder MAN Ferrostaal AG announced that they have joined forces to capture a chunk of the growing U.S. solar thermal power market.

The Coalinga plant will cover 100 acres of Chevron-owned land with more than 7,000 mirrors. Hoyos said Chevron would consider deploying the solar thermal system, which will be the first of its kind to produce steam for oil production, at larger fields if it is successful.

But based on the latest figures, the Coalinga field has had more than 90 percent of its oil extracted since its discovery in 1890, leaving plenty of work for steam injection.

SOURCE : REUTERS

ReneSola Wins $706 Million China Solar Power Plant Deal

2009-08-21T20:04:00.003+05:30

Chinese solar wafer manufacturer ReneSola won exclusive rights to develop a $706 million, 150-megawatt solar power plant in northern China, sending its share price sharply higher.

The project, awarded by the Taiyangshan Development Zone near the city of Wuzhong, is subject to a feasibility study and government approval. The company expects to begin work on the four-year project in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 2010.

Winning the contract to develop the plant, whose 150 MW capacity equates to some of the larger wind farms operating in Europe and the United States, fits the company's strategy of branching out from its core business of solar wafer production.

A study by some of China's top climate change advisers published this week recommended setting firm targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions and ensure they peak by around 2030.

The company said last month it had signed a letter of intent with the Yancheng city government in Jiangsu Province to develop a 500-megawatt solar power generation project.

ReneSola has also winning contracts under China's Golden Sun project which offers subsidies for solar production, and that a hoped-for feed-in tariff would likely lead to a dramatic rise in demand for panels from private households.

Shares in ReneSola were up 19 percent at 176.5 pence by 1528 GMT, having earlier jumped to 182.5 pence. Thursday's rise means the stock has gained 5.5 percent so far this year, underperforming a 35 percent jump for the FTSE index of 100 leading shares listed on the AIM junior market.

Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "Buy" on Thursday and added it to its conviction list, pointing to ReneSola's cost structure and exposure to emerging economies.

SOURCE : REUTERS

DuPont To Invest $120 Million In Solar Projects

2009-08-21T20:01:00.001+05:30

Chemical maker DuPont said on Thursday that it would invest $120 million to boost production of a popular solar cell product.

The move is part of a broader push by the chemical industry to supply solar cell producers with technologies to make the renewable energy source more efficient.

DuPont hopes sales of all its solar products will exceed $1 billion by 2012, it said on Thursday.

The project will help DuPont produce more Tedlar, a product used in the backing of solar cells. The company says Tedlar can stand up to moisture, ultraviolet rays and inclement weather.

The Wilmington, Delaware-based company will spend about $100 million to boost production capacity at existing plants in Louisville, Kentucky, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, starting in 2010.

About $20 million will be used to build a production plant at a site to be determined, a company spokesperson said.

When combined, the projects are expected to boost Tedlar production by 50 percent.

Earlier this year DuPont completed a similar expansion project that more than doubled Tedlar production.

DuPont shares were up 4 cents at $31.93 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded between $16.05 and $48.22 in the past 52 weeks

SOURCE : REUTERS

Mekong Delta May Be Inundated By Rising Sea

2009-08-21T19:59:00.001+05:30

More than a third of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, where nearly half of the country's rice is grown, will be submerged if sea levels rise by 1 meter (39 inches), an environment ministry scenario predicted.

A sea level increase of that magnitude would also inundate a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's biggest city and home to more than 6 million people, according to the extreme scenario, outlined in the newspaper Tuoi Tre on Thursday.

Environmental scientists have long listed Vietnam, with its lengthy coastline and vast swathes of low-lying ground, as one of the most vulnerable countries on earth to climate change.

Vietnam is the world's second-biggest rice exporter after Thailand. This year it could ship a record volume of 7 million tonnes.

The inundation scenario was part of a report based on greenhouse gas and sulfur dioxide emission projections that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment forwarded this week to a deputy prime minister for approval as the basis for planning to reduce the effects of climate change, another newspaper said.

It laid out three scenarios outlining the possible impact of climate change on Vietnam, and would use the middle scenario as the base line for planning, Thanh Nien Daily said.

According to that scenario, sea levels could rise by 30 cm (12 inches) compared with the 1980-1999 period by the middle of this century and reach 75 cm (30 inches) by 2100, a brief report on the ministry's website said.

A 75 cm rise in sea levels would swamp 20 percent of the Mekong Delta and 10 percent of Ho Chi Minh City, it said.

Temperature increases would also potentially damage agriculture and forestry, in the coffee-growing Central Highlands, for example, the newspaper said, quoting Tran Thuc, director of the ministry's Institute for Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment.

Vietnam is the world's largest exporter of robusta beans.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Mercury-Tainted Fish Found Widely In U.S. Streams

2009-08-21T19:56:00.003+05:30

Scientists have detected mercury contamination in every one of hundreds of fish sampled from 291 freshwater streams, according to a U.S. government study released on Wednesday.

More than a quarter of those fish contained concentrations of mercury exceeding levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the protection of people who eat average amounts of fish, the U.S. Geological Survey report said.

More than two-thirds exceeded the EPA-set level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. The USGS is part of the Interior Department.

The neurotoxin enters the environment chiefly as an air pollutant spewed into the atmosphere by industrial emissions, then falls back to the surface in precipitation and particulate matter carried over long distances.

The main source of atmospheric mercury, according to the EPA, is coal-fired power plants.

Conducted from 1998 through 2005, the USGS study is the first comprehensive survey of mercury contamination in the water, sediments and fish of rivers and creeks throughout the United States.

Most previous studies have focused on lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. Mercury contamination in ocean species such as tuna has also received widespread attention.

Some of the highest levels of mercury in the latest study were found in the coastal "blackwater" streams of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana -- relatively undeveloped areas marked by abundant pine forests and wooded wetlands.

As with many pollutants, mercury concentrates as it moves up the food chain, from algae, to insects to small fish and larger predators. The main source of mercury poisoning in humans is from eating fish and shellfish.

The EPA said this year that it intends to issue new rules under the Clean Air Act to control air emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Gene Experts See High-Yield Rice In Flood Zones

2009-08-20T18:20:00.003+05:30

Researchers in Japan have identified two genes that make rice plants grow longer stems and survive floods, and hope this will enable farmers to grow high-yielding rice species in flood-prone areas.

The long-stemmed deepwater rice varieties grown at present in areas of frequent flooding have very low yields.

"In southeast Asia, there are floods in the rainy season and deepwater rice is planted in these regions. But they have yields that are only one third or one quarter that of high-yielding rice. This is a big problem," said Motoyuki Ashikari at Nagoya University's Bioscience and Biotechnology Center.

"If we combine the deepwater genes with high-yielding rice, we can have the best combination," he said in a phone interview.

In their experiment, Ashikari's team analyzed the genes of a deepwater rice variety and found two genes that were unique to the plant.

"The genes Snorkel 1 and Snorkel 2 are only in the deepwater variety but not in the non-deepwater variety," he said.

They discovered that rice plants begin producing a lot of the plant hormone ethylene when grown in deep water.

"As water levels rise, accumulation of the plant hormone ethylene triggers expression of the Snorkel genes, which in turn switches on rapid stem growth," they wrote.

They later tested their findings by inserting the two genes into a non-deepwater variety of rice and found that it grew longer stems, enabling it to survive in deep water.

"It's hoped that the findings will help researchers to breed rice that can be grown in lowland areas that are frequently flooded during the rainy season," they wrote in a statement.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Switzerland expands border into Italy as glaciers melt

2009-08-20T18:18:00.001+05:30

Switzerland has expanded its border at Italy's expense because of melting glaciers in the high Alps. The Swiss government today approved shifting the border up to 150 metres into Italian territory in some areas. The changes were made after the Swiss Federal Office of Topography found that the watershed, which determined the border in 1942, had moved because of melting glaciers and snow fields. Topographer Daniel Gutknecht says Switzerland has become "a little bit" larger but added "we won't be correcting the atlas". The Italian embassy in Bern said the change had been approved by Rome.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Australia passes 20% renewables bill

2009-08-20T18:16:00.001+05:30

Legislation matches European targets for clean energy

Australia's parliament today passed a law demanding that 20% of the country's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020, matching European targets.

The law would quadruple the renewable energy target set by the previous government in 2001 and provide enough clean electricity to power the households of all 21 million Australians.

The target matches one set by the European Union, which leads the world in green power technology.

But some officials warned that more aggressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are needed as well.

The bill was passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on Thursday after the government reached a deal with the main opposition party to increase government assistance to industries that are heavy users of electricity and create safeguards for existing investment in the coal mining industry.

Currently, 8% of Australia's electricity comes from renewable sources, including hydroelectric generators built late last century, according to the private Clean Energy Council.

Critics argue the target will make electricity more expensive in coal-rich Australia without curbing the amount of climate-warming greenhouse gases that the nation emits, as overall electricity consumption rises.

Climate change minister, Penny Wong, told the Senate on Wednesday that even with one-fifth of Australia's electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020, the nation's carbon gas emissions are projected to be 20% higher than 2000 levels.

"The only way we're going to be able to turn around the growth in our carbon pollution ... is to put a firm legislated limit on the amount of carbon that we produce and make those who create the pollution pay for it," Wong said.

Last week the Senate rejected a government-proposed bill that would have taxed industries' carbon emissions starting in 2011 and slashed the country's emissions by up to 25% below 2000 levels by 2020.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Mexico Hit By Lowest Rainfall In 68 Years

2009-08-20T18:14:00.002+05:30

Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital.

Below-average rainfall since last year has left about 80 of Mexico's 175 largest reservoirs less than half full, said Felipe Arreguin, a senior official at the Conagua commission, which manages the country's water supply.

More than 1,000 cattle have been lost due to lack of rainfall, and up to 20 million tons of crops managed by 3.5 million small farmers are at risk of being lost, agriculture groups say.

The arid northwest region of Mexico has been hardest hit, along with the central part of the country surrounding Mexico City where 20 million people live.

Mexico typically has a rainy season from around June to October, topping up lakes and reservoirs that supply much of the country's water during the rest of the year.

The El Nino weather phenomenon, a warming of the seas in the Pacific Ocean, has induced a dry spell in South America and is likely partly to blame for Mexico's lack of rain, experts say.

Authorities have reduced the flow from the Cutzamala series of dams and rivers more than 60 miles long that supplies a quarter of Mexico City's water to ensure enough is available until next year's rainy season.

Trucks are delivering water to some parts of the capital where cuts have made the flow of water intermittent.

In Mexican states like San Luis, Aguascalientes and Colima, some farmers have been unable to successfully plant their crops because of a lack of rain, while others watched their corn and beans plants wilt. Authorities are handing out cash to small farmers in hard-hit areas.

Four-fifths of Mexico's water resources are used to irrigate crops and the government is encouraging farmers to adopt more efficient methods over the long term.

In neighboring Guatemala, the government is distributing emergency food to 56,000 families whose crops have been damaged.

Mexico's sugar crop was harvested before the drought set in, and coffee farms are mostly in unaffected areas.

Already-taxed underground water accounts for most of the supply to Mexico City, an urban sprawl built over a drained lake bead, and will likely face more stress.

Mexico has had slightly less rainfall over the past decade but there is insufficient data to say how much global warming can be blamed, Arreguin said.

Mexico City officials are urging residents to conserve water by installing efficient shower faucets and to use buckets instead of hoses to wash their cars.

SOURCE : REUTERS

First Solar, SoCal Edison Set New Solar Projects

2009-08-20T18:11:00.001+05:30

First Solar Inc and utility Southern California Edison said on Tuesday that they would build two photovoltaic solar power projects with a capacity of 550 megawatts.

The projects in the California counties of Riverside and San Bernardino would provide enough power to supply 170,000 homes when completed in 2015, the companies said.

The announcement is the latest move by U.S. utilities to increase their production of electricity from renewable energy sources to meet stricter state environmental rules and as the United States moves closer to regulating greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels.

The projects are also a sign that financing for new solar installations might be starting to recover after a year when many major banks abandoned the industry because of the meltdown in the credit markets.

First Solar is the one of the world's largest producers of photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight into electricity. Its production costs are the lowest in the industry, although its thin-film cadmium telluride cells are not as efficient in capturing the sun's rays as the more traditional silicon-based cells.

First Solar will engineer, procure and construct the projects -- a 250-megawatt installation to be called Desert Sunlight near Desert Center, California, and a 300-megawatt project to be called Stateline in northeastern San Bernardino County.

Southern California Edison, owned by Edison International, delivered about 65 percent of solar energy produced in the United States last year.

Pending approval by state regulators, construction will begin on Desert Sunlight in 2012 and on Stateline in 2013.

First Solar shares climbed 1.2 percent to $136.07 on Nasdaq, while Edison International shares slipped 0.3 percent to 31.61 on the New York Stock Exchange.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Germany Launches CO2 Scrubbing At RWE Plant

2009-08-20T18:08:00.003+05:30

The launch of the pilot plant to test the process at RWE's Niederaussem brown coal plant signifies another step toward coal generators' aims to capture climate-harming CO2 emissions, and in another step burying them safely underground.

The EU wants all new coal-to-power plants after 2020 to be equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies.

Germany is Europe's top greenhouse gas emitter.

The 9 million euros ($12.72 million) pilot unit was 40 percent funded by the Berlin ministry, said RWE and its partners chemicals group BASF and Linde.

If it works successfully, the process will be transferred to existing coal and gas fired power plants after 2020.

BASF supplies solvents and Linde the process engineering.

RWE Chief Executive Juergen Grossmann said that a national CCS law, which had been postponed in June, needed to become a top priority after national elections in September.

He said that apart from power generators, the CCS technology was also needed by refineries, chemical plants, steel mills and cement factories.

RWE is seeking one billion euros from a partner or public funds to help finance a coal plant using CCS of commercial size at Huerth, which could be up and running from 2014.

The government coalition moved back the CCS legislation, which would also have created a basis for the exploration of CO2 storage facilities, because of political controversy.

Green campaigners say CCS diverts interest and funding away from alternative energies. Anti-coal lobbies are trying to stop planned coal plant projects even if they are made CCS-ready.

SOURCE : REUTERS