Earthwitness » for a better now.

International Energy Agency fails to light the way to a safe climate future

2009-11-10T17:31:00.001+05:30

The keenly awaited 2009 World Energy Outlook contains some remarkable analysis but does not light the way to a safe carbon future, WWF said.

Emissions cuts canvassed in the outlook, the flagship annual publication of the International Energy Agency (IEA), are too small and too slow to keep the world out of the danger zone of unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change, said Dr Stephan Singer, WWFs Director of Global Energy Policy.

Scientists, the UN and many governments including the G8 group have accordingly endorsed an objective of keeping average global warming less than two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times - an objective WWF maintains would require developed nations cutting their emissions 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

But IEAs low emissions scenario sees OECD fossil fuel CO₂ emissions down just 4.5 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

“The proposed CO₂ emissions reductions by the IEA for the energy sector of the rich nations are dismal,” Dr Singer said. “The reductions seen as low carbon by the IEA are less even than the inadequate reductions so far on the table from developed nations for the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month.”

Also according to the IEA, global energy emissions would be one quarter more in 2030 than in the 1990 reference year.

"World-wide fossil fuel emissions in twenty years must be on a pathway to be reduced to more than 80 per cent below 1990 levels by mid-century to curtail the climate crisis. The IEA's scenarios violate this trajectory," Dr Singer said.

For WWF, with about two thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, the energy sector has to lead the way to a low carbon future.

And although its alternative lower emissions scenario is clearly inadequate, WWF is pleased that the IEA identifies energy conservation as the measure with the best potential to bring it about.

“The IEA also finds most of the emissions savings mechanisms it identifies will be cost effective through the saving of fuel costs and this is a useful rebuff to those urging slow action or no action on climate on the basis of costs,” Dr Singer said.

“It is a pity that the IEA couldn’t stay up to date with the science on the level of emissions the atmosphere can safely digest and use this to point the way to a fully renewable power sector by mid-century.”

“What they are suggesting is not only dangerous, but it is much below what is technically possible.”

Marine reserves can be an effective tool for managing fisheries

2009-11-09T23:57:00.002+05:30

Studies conducted in California and elsewhere provide support for the use of marine reserves as a tool for managing fisheries and protecting marine habitats, according to biologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

A recent study in the Gulf of California, for example, confirmed the validity of a key concept behind marine reserves – the idea that offspring produced in a protected area can replenish the stocks of harvested species outside the reserve."It seems really obvious, but it had never been tested," said Peter Raimondi, professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC and coauthor of a paper describing the findings in the journal PLoS ONE.

"We created a model to predict the dispersal of larvae outside the reserves, and the results were completely consistent with our predictions," he said.

Raimondi is involved in a collaborative project (called PANGAS) in which researchers are working with Mexican fishing communities to study and manage fisheries in the northern Gulf of California. Local fishermen in the area of Puerto Peñasco set up a network of marine reserves as part of a community-based effort to manage their resources. Ecological and social studies conducted before, during, and after the establishment of those reserves enabled the researchers to track the results.

Raimondi emphasised that resource managers have a wide range of tools at their disposal and must take into account both biological and social factors in choosing the best approach. Many species, such as tuna and squid, move around too much to be protected by setting aside certain areas. For species that tend to stay put, marine protected areas can range from no-take reserves to various levels of limited harvesting, and sometimes involve restrictions on who can harvest fish in an area rather than how much can be taken.

The establishment of marine protected areas along the California coast, as called for in the 1999 Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), has been controversial. A network of protected areas was established on the Central Coast in 2006, and a plan for the North-Central Coast was adopted in August 2009. In Southern California, a task force will soon make recommendations to the state Fish and Game Commission, while on the North Coast the planning process is just getting started.

Raimondi and Mark Carr, also a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC, have been actively involved in this initiative. In addition to serving on science advisory teams, they are engaged in an intensive monitoring program to track the effects of the reserves that have already been established.

"We are monitoring those areas at unprecedented levels. It's a comprehensive effort to characterise the populations and the ecosystems so that we can compare the responses to different types of protection," Carr said. "Monitoring studies around the globe systematically show positive responses within protected areas. We want to really identify what aspects of reserve design are important in influencing those benefits."

According to Carr, it will take a few more years of monitoring to see the effects of the Central Coast reserves. In the Channel Islands, however, where reserves were established in 2003 (separately from the MLPA process), surveys have yielded the kinds of results scientists expect to see in protected areas. For example, fish species targeted by fishermen tend to be bigger and more plentiful within the reserves.

This effect is important, because studies have shown that larger, older females are much more important than younger fish in maintaining healthy populations of species such as West Coast rockfish.

"When you have a protected population, you not only get spillover effects when fish swim out of the reserve and get caught, you also have major effects on larval production," Carr said. "The bigger, older fish in the reserve produce a lot of larvae that replenish the fished populations outside."

Carr, who contributed to a report on the first five years of monitoring in the Channel Islands, said that the conclusions are limited by a lack of data collected before the reserves were created. It is possible that some of the observed differences existed before the areas were protected, but such doubts will be erased if current population trends continue, he said.

In Puerto Peñasco, the shellfish harvested by local fishermen grow and reproduce quickly. As a result, the fishermen saw beneficial effects within a year after they had established a network of reserves. Subsequent events, however, underscored the role of social factors in the success of fishery management efforts. A second paper, published in PLoS ONE in July, describes how, after its initial success, the local reserve system collapsed due to poaching by outsiders.

"The whole thing got wiped out due to disruption of the social structure that had supported it," Raimondi said. "Scientifically it was really interesting, but for the people who experienced it on the ground, it was terrible."

Richard Cudney-Bueno, a research associate at UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences and cofounder of the PANGAS project, is the lead author of both papers. "Here was a group of fishermen that had already seen some declines in the shellfish they harvested. This led to the implementation of community-based efforts to manage their resources, including the establishment of marine reserves," he said. "We found that local control of community resources can work, but there has to be broader government support to back up the local efforts."

A native of Mexico City, Cudney-Bueno has been working with Mexican fishing communities and conducting ecological and social research in the Gulf of California since the mid-1990s. He now has a joint position with UCSC, the University of Arizona, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The first reserve in the Puerto Peñasco area was established in 2001 around an island. Cudney-Bueno and other researchers, working with a Mexican nonprofit organisation (Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos), trained the fishermen to monitor shellfish populations in and around the reserve. "The response was really quick, so they could see a classic reserve effect one year later," Cudney-Bueno said. "That led to more areas being closed, and the first paper shows the effects of the network of reserves."

The cooperative was so successful it was recognised by the Mexican government with a Presidential Conservation Award. But word spread quickly along the coast about the thriving shellfish populations in Puerto Peñasco, and other fishermen from outside the community began to move in and poach from the reserves. After poaching began, the system of cooperation that had established and protected the reserves broke down.

Now, the situation is beginning to improve again, Cudney-Bueno said. The Mexican government has created one of a handful of exclusive fishing zones in the Gulf of California, giving the local cooperative the exclusive legal right to harvest shellfish in the Puerto Peñasco area.

"They now have a strong management plan with legal rights and government support, so I think they will be able to get back to where they were before the poaching started," Cudney-Bueno said. "I see it as part of the evolution of a management system. Social change takes time, and it really hasn't been that long. A lot is happening now in Mexico and around the world as local people are increasingly asking for control over their resources. Various fishing communities in Mexico, including lobster and abalone fishermen in Baja California, have moved forward with the establishment of their own marine reserves and government-backed forms of territorial-use rights."

The PANGAS project, which brings together experts from UCSC, the University of Arizona, and several collaborating academic institutions and nonprofit organisations in Mexico, is working with other fishing communities in the Gulf of California to develop management plans for the region's marine resources.

"PANGAS is now working with the Mexican government to build management plans for a series of species in the northern Gulf of California," Raimondi said. "It's interesting to compare that with the MLPA process in California. The approaches are very different, and it has to do with differences in government and social structures."

New transparent insulating film could enable energy-efficient displays

2009-11-09T10:32:00.000+05:30

Johns Hopkins materials scientists have found a new use for a chemical compound that has traditionally been viewed as an electrical conductor, a substance that allows electricity to flow through it. By orienting the compound in a different way, the researchers have turned it into a thin film insulator, which instead blocks the flow of electricity, but can induce large electric currents elsewhere. The material, called solution-deposited beta-alumina, could have important applications in transistor technology and in devices such as electronic books.

The discovery is described in the November issue of the journal Nature Materials and appears in an early online edition.

“This form of sodium beta-alumina has some very useful characteristics,” said Howard E. Katz, a professor of materials science and engineering who supervised the research team. “The material is produced in a liquid state, which means it can easily be deposited onto a surface in a precise pattern for the formation of printed circuits. But when it’s heated, it forms a solid, thin transparent film. In addition, it allows us to operate at low voltages, meaning it requires less power to induce useful current. That means its applications could operate with smaller batteries or be connected to a battery instead of a wall outlet.”

The transparency and thinness of the material (the hardened film is only on the order of 100 atoms thick) make it ideal for use in the increasingly popular e-book readers, which rely on see-through screens and portable power sources, Katz said. He added that possible transportation applications include instrument readouts that can be displayed in the windshield of an aircraft or a ground vehicle.

The emergence of sodium beta-alumina as an insulator was a surprising development, Katz said. The compound, known for decades, has traditionally been used to conduct electricity and for this reason has been considered as a possible battery component.

The material allows charged particles to flow easily parallel to a two-dimensional plane formed within its distinct atomic crystalline arrangement. “But we found that current does not flow nearly as easily perpendicular to the planes, or in unoriented material,” Katz said. “The material acts as an insulator instead of a conductor. Our team was the first to exploit this discovery.”

The Johns Hopkins researchers developed a method of processing sodium beta-alumina in a way that makes use of this insulation behaviour occurring in the form of a thin film. Working with the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer staff, Katz’s team has filed for international patent protection for their discovery.

The lead author of the Nature Materials paper was Bhola N. Pal, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Katz’s laboratory. In addition to Katz, who is chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the university’s Whiting School of Engineering, the co-authors were Bal Mukund Dhar, a current doctoral student in the lab, and Kevin C. See, who recently completed his doctoral studies under Katz.

Funding for the research was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation.

The world cannot wait for US to play catch-up: Oxfam

2009-11-06T23:50:00.003+05:30

Photo: WikimediaRich countries must step out from US shadow and do the right thing for world's poor.

Oxfam has warned that EU countries must cut themselves loose from the US or risk losing a groundbreaking climate deal that has been two years in the making. The aid agency says a fair and safe deal can be struck in Copenhagen this year, but world leaders cannot wait whilst the US plays catch-up.

"At the moment the US shadow is looming large over the climate talks. Rich countries are clearly using the US as an excuse to put their national interests above alleviating the suffering of those millions of people killed, bereaved, hungry or made homeless by climate change," said Antonio Hill, Climate Advisor for Oxfam.

"It is disappointing that a bloc such as the EU, who has previously led the world in the fight against climate change and invested blood, sweat and tears in paving the way for an unprecedented global agreement, has now been hijacked by the domestic policies of the US," he added.

Oxfam’s comments come at the end of the Barcelona climate talks, the last official negotiations before the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December. At the talks, rich countries failed to agree targets for cutting carbon emissions or table firm commitments on climate finance. There was no improvement on the issue of 'aid raiding' and Oxfam’s concerns have grown that money for climate change will be taken from schools or health centres in poor countries.

At one point during the negotiations African nations blocked talks until there was serious discussion on the critical issue of reducing rich country carbon emissions. A move which clearly demonstrated that they would not accept a weak deal that means nothing to people living on the front line of climate change.

"This is a political struggle between rich countries' short term commercial interests and the survival of hundreds of millions of people. From children who swim to school, women forced to give birth knee-deep in flood water, farmers facing crop failure year after year, it’s people that must be prioritised," said Mukta Ziaul Hoque, who coordinates Oxfam’s work in Bangladesh.

"Why would poor nations sign up to a climate deal that is all empty promises and no substance and how are we going to get a global deal without them?" he added.

Despite obvious set-backs, technical negotiations did advance in some areas including: the option of raising new money from controls on emissions from international aviation and shipping to help poor countries cope with climate change; government pledges to reduce deforestation; and better recognition of the need for poor countries to decide what can help their own people adapt to climate change.

"President Obama has recognised time and again that the poorest are being hit hardest by climate change. If ever there was time for audacity and hope, it’s now," said David Waskow, Climate Change Program Director for Oxfam America.

Innovative plan to save rainforest, reduce greenhouse gas emissions

2009-11-06T23:23:00.001+05:30

An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers from the University of Maryland, the World Resources Institute and Save America's Forests.

The Ecuadorian proposal, known as the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, would protect a large area of pristine Amazon rainforest, by leaving untouched nearly one billion barrels of oil that lies beneath the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador. Under the initiative, the government would sell certificates linked to the value of the unreleased carbon to provide alternative revenue to that which would come from exploiting the oil reserves.

"This is a really novel approach that could fund a lot of rainforest protection," said Clinton Jenkins, a research scientist in the University of Maryland's department of biology. "It's also an innovative way of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions."

"There has been a lot of talk about engineering ways to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions by removing carbon from air and burying, or sequestering, it in the ground. This approach sequesters carbon by preventing oil from ever getting out of the ground," said Jenkins.

Writing about the Yasuní-ITT Initiative in a new article in the scientific journal Biotropica, Jenkins, Matt Finer of Save America's Forests and Remi Moncel with the Climate and Energy Program of the World Resources Institute, say that a number of climate researchers, including NASA scientist James Hansen, have suggested that forgoing extraction of oil and gas reserves in remote or sensitive places could be an important piece to a larger global strategy designed to limit carbon emissions and that this Initiative "is the first real offer to do just that."

"Oil and gas concessions now cover vast swaths of the mega-diverse western Amazon," said Finer, lead author of Biotropica review article. "Ecuador´s revolutionary initiative is the first major government-led effort to buck this disturbing trend."

According to estimates of Ecuadorian officials cited in the article, preventing exploitation of the ITT oil fields, will keep 410 million metric tons of CO₂ out of the atmosphere.

The authors note that use of a conservation strategy like that proposed by Ecuador would be particularly beneficial in areas that also offer great ecological value. The Yasuní National Park has such multiple benefits, they say, because it is one of the most biodiverse parts of the Amazon and within the territory of some of the world's last un-contacted indigenous peoples, the Tagaeri and Taromenane.

"Yasuní is an exceptional place in the world, biologically incredible, home to un-contacted peoples, and yet - perhaps tragically - full of oil," said Jenkins. "Society faces a test of what we value more, drilling for more oil, or preserving a cherished national park and the people who call it home."

Sceptics and advocates

The Ecuadorian proposal has been lauded widely for its three-pronged effort to protect biodiversity, respect indigenous peoples' territory, and combat climate change. However, Jenkins, Finer and Moncel note that the Yasuní-ITT Initiative also has ardent sceptics.

For example, how to pay for the effort is in question. Ecuador, a country highly dependent on oil export revenues, seeks USD350 million for each of the next 10 years in alternative revenue. Ecuador's intent is to sell certificates linked to the value of the unreleased carbon. This raises a number of technical questions, however, such as the possibility that the initiative would not result in a net global CO₂ reduction if the certificates were traded in carbon markets.

"The best way to minimise the risk associated with the carbon bonds is to encourage supporters to make direct donations," said Remi Moncel of the World Resources Institute. "While less problematic from the point of view of environmental integrity, it is harder to raise money that way."

Germany appears to be a leading supporter of the Yasuní-ITT Initiative. Recent news reports indicate the German government may donate USD50 to USD70 million annually to the initiative if other countries also agree to provide support for the initiative.

Additional questions tackled in the study include why a national park is on the chopping block in the first place and what mechanisms are needed to prevent future Ecuadorian administrations from drilling the oil fields.

The authors conclude that the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, with its focus on generating alternative revenue, is a potentially precedent-setting advance in avoiding damaging oil and gas development in sensitive areas and an innovative way to address climate change.

"The climate conference of Copenhagen is only weeks away. What Ecuador has proposed is a good example of how each country can come up with home-grown, nationally relevant ideas to promote sustainable development," said Moncel.

Authors Finer and Jenkins recently published a companion study entitled, "Ecuador's Yasuní Biosphere Reserve: a brief modern history and conservation challenges." It is a concise history of the Yasuní region designed to help people better understand this complicated part of the world.

Renault to produce core-range zero-emission vehicle in France

2009-11-06T20:03:00.002+05:30

Zoé Z.E. Concept car. Photo: RenaultRenault has decided to produce its future zero-emission electric city car at the Flins plant in the Paris region. Zoé Z.E. Concept, presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show, is a forerunner of this new vehicle.

Renault has chosen Flins to produce this future electric vehicle (EV) owing to the plant’s expertise and performance. The site was selected because it is specialised in the production of B segment cars (Clio Campus and New Clio).

The Flins choice is also based on Renault’s objective to produce cars as close as possible to the markets in which they will be sold, namely Europe, to optimise logistics flows. The Flins site will thus become a central hub in Renault's EV activity, producing the company's core-range electric model as well as manufacturing and recycling batteries.

Flins will begin production in 2012. The urban, versatile model is expected to account for two-thirds of the Group’s EV sales in Europe. France will be at the centre of Renault's zero-emission strategy.

The Group is currently developing future EVs at the Technocentre in Guyancourt, will produce its first zero-emission city car at Flins, and has signed a letter of intent with Nissan, the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and France’s Strategic Investment Fund (FSI) to set up a French joint venture focused on EV battery advanced research, industrialisation and recycling.

Fully aware of the issues involved in sustainable mobility, Renault has decided to mass market a complete range of affordable zero-emission electric vehicles starting in 2011.

Farmers' markets harvest new business

2009-11-05T22:00:00.000+05:30

In Indiana, farmers' market business is booming

Something fresh is growing in Indiana. The number of farmers' markets in the state has increased at double the rate of other U.S. states; between 1994 and 2004 the number of farmers' markets in Indiana increased by an impressive 222 per cent. Researchers at Purdue have published an insightful study that identifies the reasons behind this unprecedented growth.

Christa Hofmann, Jennifer Dennis, and Maria Marshall from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University published their findings in a recent issue of HortScience. "Although Indiana's farmers' markets have grown at twice the rate of the nation's markets, the factors that influence participation in such markets were unknown. The purpose of our study was to examine factors that influence vendor and customer participation at Indiana's farmers' markets", explained Dennis.

For the 2006 study, an Internet and mail census was sent to market masters (the person identified as being responsible for the daily operation and supervision of a farmers' market) to assess operational procedures and factors that influence both customer and vendor participation in the market.

According to the study, paying fees and the number of customers present at markets were the two variables that had a significant, positive influence on vendor participation. The fees vendors paid to take part in farmers' markets was a factor, but rarely was the fee high enough to discourage participation in the market. In fact, the amount of the fee could be perceived to add to the sophistication of the market because markets that charge more often have more money budgeted for advertising and promotion.

The most important factors to customers included: the presence of WIC (Women Infant & Children Farmers' Market Nutrition Program), the number of products available, cooking demonstrations, and the number of vendors. Notably, the study results showed that when WIC vouchers were accepted at a market the number of customers increased by 20. "For every one additional product type available at the market, the number of customers increased by 20 per week when all other variables are held constant", remarked Dennis.

Among other notable outcomes, the study found that concession stands at farmers' markets increased the number of customers by 110 per week. Music, however, was not an attractive option for consumers; the number of customers decreased by almost 200 per week at markets that offered live music. "These findings could indicate that customers attend the market to shop, not to be entertained", the researchers explained.

The research also produced this pointer for farmer's market managers who want to increase customer traffic – add a cooking demonstration. Markets that offered cooking demos attracted up to 200 more customers per week.

Home-brewed electricity with 'personalised solar energy'

2009-11-05T21:49:00.000+05:30

A rooftop solar panel converts sunlight to electricity. In a new study, an expert describes progress toward an efficient and inexpensive method for storing and distributing solar energy in the home. Photo: WikimediaNew scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalised solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities. That's the topic of a report by an international expert on solar energy scheduled for the November 2 issue of ACS' Inorganic Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal. It describes a long-awaited, inexpensive method for solar energy storage that could help power homes and plug-in cars in the future while helping keep the environment clean.

Daniel Nocera explains that the global energy need will double by mid-century and triple by 2100 due to rising standards of living world population growth. Personalised solar energy - the capture and storage of solar energy at the individual or home level - could meet that demand in a sustainable way, especially in poorer areas of the world.

The report describes development of a practical, inexpensive storage system for achieving personalised solar energy. At its heart is an innovative catalyst that splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen that become fuel for producing electricity in a fuel cell. The new oxygen-evolving catalyst works like photosynthesis, the method plants use to make energy, producing clean energy from sunlight and water. "Because energy use scales with wealth, point-of-use solar energy will put individuals, in the smallest village in the nonlegacy world and in the largest city of the legacy world, on a more level playing field," the report states.

Organic weed control options for highbush blueberry

2009-11-05T21:27:00.000+05:30

Researchers study mulching options for weed control at Blueberry Acres in Nova Scotia. Photo: Derek LynchResearch scientists at Nova Scotia Agricultural College have been working steadily to find effective organic methods to control weeds in cultivated blueberry crops. One resulting study, published in a recent issue of the ASHS journal HortScience, reported on the efficacy of three organic mulches used on highbush blueberry (HBB) produced under organic production practices. The research team determined that the major factor influencing weed suppression by compost mulches (for certain weed species) was likely mulch thickness and bulk density, which provide a barrier to weed growth and prevents light penetration to the soil surface.

Weeds are a widespread problem for the blueberry industry. North American commercial blueberry producers who took part in a recent survey indicated that weed problems were a concern in almost all production areas, particularly in young plantings when bushes are not fully established and most susceptible to competition.

Weed control is even more of a challenge for growers of organic products, including organic highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.). The current study was initiated as an attempt to find feasible, effective organic weed control methods to sustain Nova Scotia's growing blueberry industry.

A two-year field study was conducted in 2005 and 2006 in an established field of 5-year-old northern highbush blueberry at Blueberry Acres, a commercial blueberry operation in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Mulches, applied in-row at a 20-cm depth, included pine needles, manure-sawdust compost, and seafood waste compost.

Dr. Derek Lynch, of the Department of Plant and Animal Science at NSAC, headed the research team. According to Lynch, organic materials such as pine bark, peat, and sawdust are commonly used as a pre-plant soil amendment to increase the organic matter content of mineral soils, but heavy applications of organic mulch can result in high soil salinity and impact plant yield and growth, even resulting in environmental impacts.

"Alternately", noted Lynch, "thickly applied organic mulches may be an effective weed management option. Mulch thickness is an important consideration because the emergence of weed seedlings is inversely related to seed depth, meaning the efficacy of weed control tends to increase with mulch thickness."

The study reported that pine needles (PN) were the most effective mulch in suppressing weed growth, with 55 per cent less and 73 per cent less aboveground weed biomass compared with the control in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Pine needle productivity effects were much more modest, however. One year after application, pine needles lost some efficacy at suppressing weeds but the treatment was still superior to both composts. The researchers recommend continuing to top-dress PN or similar mulches on a yearly basis to maintain mulch thickness.

Lynch summarised, "This approach can be cost-effective depending on local availability of mulch materials. However, precautions should be taken to avoid excess nutrients from heavy application of nutrient-rich mulches and weed-seed contamination of these types of mulch." He added that more research is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of different mulches on productivity and nutrient availability in these systems.

U.K. offshore windfarms given GBP300 million boost

2009-11-04T23:15:00.003+05:30

Thanet Offshore Wind Project. Photo: WikimediaThe European Investment Bank (EIB) (Kirchberg, Luxembourg) is considering offering GBP300 million (USD492 million) to fast-track the connection of U.K. offshore windfarms to the country's national grid. The news comes just a month after energy regulator Ofgem revealed a shortlist of 13 companies that will be allowed to bid for nine contracts to build and operate high-voltage transmission links with offshore windfarms. The combined value of these contracts is GBP1.15 billion (USD1.88 billion).

The GBP300 million EIB windfall will be available for six projects, which collectively will connect about 1.6 gigawatts of offshore generation. "The European Investment Bank welcomes Ofgem's initiative in promoting this essential element of the U.K.'s renewable energy infrastructure," said Simon Brooks, vice president of the European Investment Bank. "Electricity from offshore windfarms will make a key contribution to national power supply and help achieve 2020 emissions targets."

Ofgem Chairman Lord Mogg added, "The EIB's decision to consider these projects for funding of over GBP300 million is an important step forward for delivering competitively priced connections for offshore windfarms. By adopting a competitive process for connections Ofgem E-Serve is endeavouring to keep the cost of connection to generators as low as possible. This brings benefits to consumers, who will ultimately fund the GBP15 billion (USD24.6 billion) required to connect the 33 gigawatts of offshore generation needed to help meet Britain's emission targets.

"Ofgem's recent review of the challenges Britain faces in securing energy supplies and achieving climate-change targets has shown that investment in offshore wind could play a vital role in helping Britain meet its climate change targets and in reducing its dependence on imported gas."

In welcoming the announcement, Minister of Energy Lord Hunt commented, "The EIB's support will be very welcome. Connecting offshore windfarms to the grid quickly and cost-effectively will be crucial to tackling climate change and securing our future energy supplies. This money would help projects currently under construction get their cables in the water and feeding into the grid quickly and cheaply."

How land use changes the US climate

2009-11-04T16:06:00.002+05:30

This map shows observation minus reanalysis (OMR) trends in the continental United States from 1979-2003. The trends are associated with land use and land-use changes. Researchers from Purdue and the universities of Colorado and Maryland conducted a study that showed land use can affect surface temperatures locally and regionally. Units are in degrees Celsius per decade. Image courtesy of Souleymane FallResearchers say regional surface temperatures can be affected by land use, suggesting that local and regional strategies, such as creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas, could be a tool in addressing climate change.

A study by researchers from Purdue University and the universities of Colorado and Maryland concluded that greener land cover contributes to cooler temperatures, and almost any other change leads to warmer temperatures. The study, published on line and set to appear in the Royal Meteorological Society’s International Journal of Climatology later this year, is further evidence that land use should be better incorporated into computer models projecting future climate conditions, said Purdue doctoral student Souleymane Fall, the article’s lead author.

“What we highlight here is that a significant trend, particularly the warming trend in terms of temperatures, can also be partially explained by land-use change,” said Dev Niyogi, a Purdue earth and atmospheric sciences and agronomy professor, and the Indiana state climatologist. He is the study's corresponding author.

Niyogi and Fall say the idea that land use helps drive climate change has been poorly understood compared to factors such as greenhouse gas emissions. But that is changing.
“People realise that land use cover also is an important force and not only at the local but also at the regional scale,” said Fall, whose doctoral research focuses on the impacts of land surface properties on near-surface temperature trends.

The researchers used higher resolution temperature data than previous studies, meaning the data was more detailed, Niyogi said. They also employed dynamic data on land-use changes from 1992-2001, which was derived from satellite imagery.

Niyogi said having an understanding of land use's affects on climate change could have climatic and other benefits. For instance, creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas also could be aesthetically attractive, he said.

What are the findings?

* In general, the greener the land cover, the cooler is surface temperature.

* Conversion to agriculture results in cooling, while conversion from agriculture generally results in warming.

* Deforestation generally results in warming, with the exception of a shift from forest to agriculture. No clear picture emerged from the impact of planting or seeding new forests.

* Urbanisation and conversion to bare soils have the largest warming impacts.

In general, land use conversion often results in more warming than cooling.
The study took an approach called "observation minus reanalysis," or OMR. Through this process, the researchers used temperature data from local ground observations, observation and computer modelling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and statistical methods. They were able to separate the effects of land use or cover from greenhouse warming and isolate the impact from each land use or cover type. The more detailed data provided a clearer picture of the effects of land surface properties on near-surface temperature trends.

“We showed this quantitatively for the first time,” said University of Maryland atmospheric and oceanic science Professor Eugenia Kalnay, who developed the OMR method with Florida State University Professor Ming Cai. She also is a co-author of the study.
While the effects of greenhouses gases like carbon dioxide are clear, Kalnay said, the study does suggest land use needs to be considered carefully as well.

“I think that greenhouse warming is incredibly important, but land use should not be neglected,” she said. “It contributes to warming, especially in urban and desertic areas.”

Another study co-author, Roger Pielke Sr., said the results indicate that "unless these landscape effects are properly considered, the role of greenhouse warming in increasing surface temperatures will be significantly overstated." Pielke is a senior research scientist in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Purdue's Gilbert Rochon and Alexander Gluhovsky also participated in the study. Rochon is associate vice president for collaborative research for Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP) and director of ITaP's Purdue Terrestrial Observatory satellite and remote sensing data program. Gluhovsky is a Purdue professor in earth and atmospheric sciences and statistics.

The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program, NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Sustainably grown garlic

2009-11-04T15:50:00.002+05:30

Colourful new varieties of garlic are becoming popular with consumers. Photo: Gayle M. VolkResearch offers guidelines for farmers, variety for consumers

Consumer interest in new and diverse types of garlic is on the rise. Fuelled by factors including the growth of the "local foods" movement, interest in world cuisines, and widespread reports touting its numerous health benefits, demand for high-quality, locally grown garlic is increasing throughout the U.S.

While most grocery stores in carry the familiar white, "softneck" garlic (which is most often imported), varieties of "hardneck" garlic in colourful hues of purple, magenta, pink, and white are becoming more available at local vegetable stands and through direct-marketing programs. The results of a recent study of 10 garlic cultivars can help farmers identify niche regional markets and offer new, in-demand garlic varieties to consumers.

Hundreds of garlic (Allium sativum L.) cultivars are available from seed companies, retailers, and germplasm collections. Increasingly, growers purchase bulbs from nonlocal sources and are often disappointed by unpredictable yields. Garlic bulbs resulting from seed stock purchased in other regions may not display the characteristics – such as bulb size, shape, and colour – featured in the catalogues.

Gayle M. Volk of the National Centre for Genetic Resources Preservation, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Fort Collins, and David Stern of the Garlic Seed Foundation authored a study designed to determine which garlic traits are stable and which traits vary depending on where the garlic is grown.

According to the study published in a recent issue of HortScience and funded primarily by the Northeast Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education program, prior research has shown that traits such as clove number, clove skin coloration, and topset number are representative of cultivar type across growth locations, whereas "phenotypic" traits such as bulb wrapper colour, bulb size, and bulb elemental composition are specific to sites.

Ten diverse garlic cultivars ('Ajo Rojo', 'Chesnok', 'German White', 'Inchelium', 'Purple Glazer', 'Red Janice', 'Sakura', 'Siberian', 'Silverwhite', and 'Spanish Roja') were grown at 12 locations in the United States and Canada for the study. One cultivar representing each of the 10 garlic types was selected to best capture the genetic diversity available within Allium sativum L.

In 2005, garlic bulbs obtained from producers in Washington were distributed to 10 garlic growers who practiced sustainable production methods with minimal or no chemical inputs. Small-scale garlic farmers were provided with planting stocks from the same original sources and were asked to grow them on their farms for two consecutive years using their best practices.

At each location, 16 cloves per cultivar were planted in each of three replicate plots. Bulbs were harvested when the lower one-third to one-half of the leaves on the plants had dried. Six to eight bulbs of each cultivar grown in each plot were sent to Fort Collins for data collection and analysis.

In Fall 2006, bulbs produced at each farm were replanted and grown for a second season at the same farm (except for a change in the Colorado farm and the addition of a farm in Ontario, Canada). Quality of planting stock, bulb characteristics, bulb wrapper colour, bulb yield, clove characteristics and bulb elemental composition were analysed. Growers also provided feedback for the study using digital documentation, surveys, planting notes, and harvest notes.

Among the significant findings: bulb wrapper colour and bulb size were determined to be "highly dependent" on location and cultivar. "It was not surprising to find that bulb size and circumference were highly site-dependent and correlated. Bulb wrapper colour is also highly site-specific, supporting evidence reported by marketers that bulb colour is more determined by growth environment than cultivar types", Volk stated.

The research offers promise for savvy consumers interested in more locally grown, fresh garlic varieties. "As consumers start to recognise and request garlic types by name, information about which traits define specific cultivars and which traits are highly variable will be valuable for successful marketing of new garlic cultivars", explained Volk.

China records drop in energy consumption

2009-10-30T23:02:00.000+05:30

China's energy consumption per unit gross domestic product (GDP) has dropped more than 13 per cent since the beginning of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" (2006-10), disclosed Xie Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission, in a news conference of the Third Ministerial Conference of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, which was held in Shanghai on October 27, 2009.

"Through our continuous efforts, the objective of reducing the energy consumption per unit GDP by 20 per cent proposed in the 'Eleventh Five-Year Plan' would be achieved at the end of next year," said Xie at the conference.

There are difficulties in achieving the binding indicator in energy conservation and emission reduction, especially in the current financial crisis, as China is in the process of industrialisation and urbanisation.

However, China has made energy conservation and emission reduction top priorities, and deems them critical issues in economic structural adjustment, as well as in shifting the manner in development.

In 2006, the energy consumption per unit GDP in China dropped 1.79 per cent; and the magnitude of drop was further extended to 4.04 per cent and 4.59 per cent in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In the first half of 2009, the value dropped 3.35 per cent. So far, the energy consumption per unit GDP in China has dropped more than 13 per cent accumulatively since 2006.

"It's expected that the energy consumption per unit GDP in China will drop about 5 per cent in 2009, and similar margin can be achieved next year. Therefore, it's possible to achieve the overall objective of 20 per cent by 2010," said Xie. This means that China will achieve its objective of saving 620 million metric tons of standard coal and reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by 1.5 billion tons annually by the end of 2010.

To achieve this objective on energy conservation and emission reduction, the Chinese government has eliminated a large quantity of inefficient production capacity in iron and steel, cement, coke and other industries, including the shutdown of a batch of inefficient small coal-fired units.

In addition, non-fossil energy is also developing swiftly in China, especially in the renewable energy sector. China has ranked at the top of the world both in the installed capacity of hydropower and the utilisation area of solar energy. China recently has proposed to improve the proportion of non-fossil energy in total primary energy consumption to about 15 per cent by 2020.

Princeton University's environment-friendly shuttle system

2009-10-30T14:47:00.001+05:30

One of the new biodiesel-powered buses stops for passengers at the West Garage. Photo: Brian Wilson Princeton University's shuttle system, this fall has launched 10 new buses that run on B20 diesel fuel. The shuttles also are traveling on new routes that include 701 Carnegie Center as well as shopping and dining venues.

The biodiesel fuel powering the buses has demonstrated significant environmental benefits by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, one of the goals of the University's Sustainability Plan. The new buses also feature increased seating capacity from 14 to 30, low floors with full accessibility and a rear access wheelchair ramp with capacity on the vehicle for two wheelchairs.

Each bus has a front rack for two bicycles and light-emitting diode (LED) signage on the front and sides for better visibility at night. There are doors in the front and the back for quicker loading and unloading. Each bus also is equipped with "TigerTracker," a Web-based GPS that enables riders to track the location of buses online by computers and by Web-enabled mobile devices.

All of the TigerTransit buses used on a regular basis now run on biodiesel fuel, including four 14-passenger buses that have been in the fleet since January. Several of the 30-passenger buses used last spring that run on normal diesel fuel will remain in the fleet as spares when additional capacity is needed during peak hours.

Olympic support for sustainable tourism initiative

2009-10-30T12:35:00.000+05:30

Usain Bolt. Photo: Richard Giles/WikimediaOlympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt took a break from the track on Friday to launch the Zeitz Foundation's Long Run Initiative, which aims to create and support ecotourism projects around the world.

The Long Run Initiative's pilot project in Kenya is a 50,000 acre solar and wind-powered conservancy in the Rift Valley region with a negligible carbon footprint.

"Although I am known for running short distances, I want to inspire others to join me in the long run. Anything worth doing is worth striving for and the future of our planet is the ultimate cause," said Bolt, the Zeitz Foundation's Cultural Ambassador.

Speaking at the organisation's press launch in Nairobi, Zeitz Programme Director, Liz Rihoy, said she was hopeful that the project will be a driver of green growth in the region by creating a model for using tourism to promote the protection of natural habitats.

Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister, Moses Wetangula, and World Indoor Hurdles Record Holder, Colin Jackson, were among the dignitaries who showed up in force to support the event.

According to Jochen Zeitz, founder of the Zeitz Foundation, the 2009 film "Home" on the state of the planet, by UNEP Goodwill Ambassador and renowned French filmmaker, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, was the main inspiration for the project. "The stunning depiction of the workings of the planet demonstrates that we can all make a contribution to a sustainable world," he said.

Besides Kenya, the Long Run Initiative will launch Ecotourism projects in Brazil, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Indonesia, New Zealand, Sweden and Namibia. The projects are expected to contribute to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage in these countries.

Ecotourism is of special interest to UNEP for its impact on conservation, sustainability, and biological diversity.

As a development tool, ecotourism advance the basic goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity by strengthening protected area management and increasing the value of ecosystems and wildlife. Ecotourism projects also offer a sustainable approach to conservation by helping generate income, jobs and business opportunities, benefiting businesses and local communities.

Massachusetts grocery store sets new national environmental benchmark

2009-10-30T10:30:00.000+05:30

Star Market at Chestnut Hill in Newton, Mass. is the first grocery store in the nation to receive the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership platinum store award. The advanced refrigeration technology in the new store, which is part of the Shaw’s line of supermarkets, significantly reduces its impact on climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer by cutting the use of refrigerants by 85 per cent compared with the typical supermarket.

“Supermarkets and their customers know that it’s cool to earn the EPA’s GreenChill Store certification, but the only way to describe the first platinum-level GreenChill supermarket in the nation is, ‘wicked cool,’“ said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “This store shows that smart design and advanced technologies help us right now to better protect our climate, the ozone layer, and our health.”

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

GreenChill partners emit about 50 per cent less emission than the industry average, and have pledged to continually lower them as part of the program. EPA estimates that if every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, the U.S. would prevent 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 tons of ozone-depleting substances annually, and save $108 million in refrigerant costs each year. GreenChill has 46 partners, with more than 6,500 retail food stores in 47 states.

New non-toxic adhesive to make biofuels more viable

2009-10-29T20:29:00.001+05:30

An adhesive used in products like laminate countertops may also help cement a place for economically viable biofuels, according to a Kansas State University researcher.

Susan Sun directs K-State's Bio Materials and Technology Laboratory, where she studies bio-based materials. Her research group is studying adhesives made from by-products of soybean, corn, sorghum and biomass fuels.

"There are two important forces driving this research," Sun said. "We're trying to develop these bio-based adhesives to replace environmentally hazardous materials," she said. "Also, we need high-value products to sustain the biofuels economy."

Sun said the adhesives commonly used in construction products like kitchen floors and laminate furniture are formaldehyde-based and isocyanide-based. The isocyanide-based adhesives are toxic, she said. Moreover, the formaldehyde-based adhesives affect air quality and human health because the compound's carbon and nitrogen bonds are reversible in humid conditions, emitting formaldehyde into the air.

On the other hand, Sun said biofuels producers need co-products like adhesives to make sustainable fuels economically viable. For biomass biofuels, the amount of energy that goes into producing them is still greater than the energy that the biofuels can produce.

"Biomass by its nature contains not just sugar necessary for the biofuel, but also lignin, protein and other materials," Sun said. "So after you convert it into biofuel, you still have a lot of leftovers. So you have to develop high-value chemicals and bio-based products out of that biomass to balance the economics."

Lignin, a major by-product of cellulosic biomass, is what holds plants upright, Sun said. Without it, plants would grow flat on the ground. This property makes it a good basis for polymers, she said. Lignins show promise for adhesives, she said, because they're rich in aromatic structures with many functional groups.

Sun also said plant oils have properties that make them suitable for adhesives that are activated by pressure. Pressure-sensitive adhesives are used in everyday products like transparent tape, postage stamps, sticky notes and name tags. Her research group is studying the molecular structures and reaction pathways related to adhesion.

"If you have a name tag and put it on your shirt, when you peel it off, adhesives may be left on your clothes," she said. "That's why you need to design the backbone of the polymer to be strong enough to pull the sticky group back."

She said it's also important to design pressure-sensitive adhesives that can be applied quickly to products in the factory.

"If your adhesives are good but it takes a few hours to cure, the industry won't pick it up," Sun said. "So it's not just a structural challenge, it's also a performance challenge and an economic challenge."

Sun's group also studies proteins with a specific structure that relate to adhesion properties. This information will be important to K-State plant scientists, who engineer plants to produce functional protein polymers.

"They don't necessarily know which plants are good for materials, so that's why they say that I write them the prescription for the plant," Sun said.

In August, findings from this research appeared in the journal Biomacromolecules and were presented at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

One application of bio-based adhesives from Sun's projects was creating a bio-based barrel for cattle feed that has been commercialised. The product uses straw and soy adhesives and no hazardous chemicals, so it is safe to eat.

"With the use of oil drums to hold feed, the farmer has to pay USD6 per container to recondition them for reuse," Sun said. "This one you don't have to collect. The cattle just eat them, so it's an environmental benefit, too."

Sun's other research area is to develop biodegradable plastics. Recently, she and her co-workers collaborated with Ken Klabunde, university distinguished professor of chemistry, to improve the process flowability and strength of a bio-based plastic, such as poly(lactic acid), using magnesium oxidise nanoparticles. The flowability makes it easier for the material to flow into moulds that form products like the utensils available at K-State's Student Union. And that makes the process more efficient for manufacturers, Sun said.

This research appeared in the Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy in June and in the Journal of Applied Polymer Science in October.

"The social impact of our work at the Bio Materials and Technology Laboratory is on environmental quality and biofuel sustainability, which will improve people's life in long term," Sun said.

Metal-air battery: Cost effective and durable

2009-10-29T15:25:00.002+05:30

Image: ReVolt Technology Limited.Tired of changing your cell-phone batteries often? Wish to have longer runtime for your battery? Well, the solution is in the pipe.

The existing battery technologies – the Al-ion, Ni-metal hybrid – have reached their limits. And there is a new one taking shape. Metal-air battery.

The Swiss based ReVolt Technology has come up with the novel idea. The new technology offers longer durability at a lower price as compared to the existing. The battery technology is based on 6 years of fundamental research at SINTEF, Norway.

Any effort to improve upon the fuel cell technology would face barriers from the cost factor. ReVolt Tech claims that the only solution to this quagmire is a combination of battery and fuel cell technology: the metal-air battery.

“Such batteries have a high potential for energy density and low production cost,” states the white paper on the technology issued by the company.

Batteries which use this technology are already in the market. But they have a serious shortcoming. They are just primary non-rechargeable batteries and hence can be used only in such devices as the hearing aid.

To solve these, one needs to cross a few barriers: inability to deliver sufficient power, high degradation rate and loss of power over time, lack of an adequate option for recharging, the unsuitability of non-electrical refilling, space and power consuming peripherals and higher cost.

ReVolt claims to have successfully overcome these obstacles.

Metal-air batteries – with a negative electrode made of from metals such as zinc (Zn), aluminium (Al), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), lithium (Li) and a positive electrode made from a porous structure with catalytic properties for the oxygen reaction – work by converting the oxygen in the atmosphere into hydroxyl ions in the air electrode. These ions migrate to the metal electrode and oxidise the metal contained in the electrode.
The reaction takes place on finely dispersed catalysts with a high surface area for reaction. By careful control of the hydrophobicity and the pore size distribution, a stable three phase zone is established inside the electrode.

The widespread use of Zinc in such batteries is due to the high energy density of zinc and its chemical stability in the electrolyte.

“Development of ReVolt’s portable battery has been achieved by focusing on the areas
of power, battery life, rechargeability and compact size,” claims the white paper. the company has identified certain issues which needs to be resolved before the commercial launch of the batteries.

One major concern that the company is addressing is the tendency of the Zinc battery to stop working after a few recharges. If this along with other issues related to power and size be resolved the new tech battery is ready to head to the market.

ReVolt’s new battery, which offers better power, longer lifetime, rechargeability and compact size is all set to revolutionise mobile power generation. The company expects to commercialise the zinc-air battery by next year. If this happens it would be a big step towards a sustainable energy future – and maybe the time is not far when cars run with Zinc-air batteries.

Atlantic bluefin tuna trade ban supported by fishery’s scientists

2009-10-29T11:43:00.001+05:30

Photo: GreenpeaceAtlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a ban on international trade, according to global scientists of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This official assessment of bluefin’s extreme stock decline has been welcomed by major environment groups WWF and Greenpeace.

The scientists met in Madrid, Spain (21-23 October) to assess current stock status of Atlantic bluefin tuna against the specific criteria necessary to list a species under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

ICCAT’s scientists estimate that the current spawning biomass is less than 15 per cent of what it once was before fishing began – meaning Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a CITES Appendix I listing.

Further, the scientists’ analyses confirmed that a suspension of commercial fishing is the only measure with a substantial chance of ensuring that the stock no longer meets the criteria for CITES Appendix I by 2019.

“What’s needed to save the stocks is a suspension of fishing activity and a suspension of international commercial trade – this is the only possible package that can give this fish a chance to recover,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “We must stop mercilessly exploiting this fragile natural resource until stocks show clear signs of rebound and until sustainable management and control measures are firmly put in place.”

On 14 October the Principality of Monaco submitted a CITES Appendix I listing proposal to temporarily ban international commercial trade and allow the species to recover from years of ineffective fisheries management and control.

“The ICCAT scientists have made formal what we have been saying all along – that Atlantic bluefin tuna is balancing precariously on the edge of collapse, and only drastic measures can now ensure this endangered species gets a fighting chance of recovery,” added Sebastian Losada, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace International. “The extent of the failure by ICCAT members to act responsibly and preserve our marine environment can no longer be ignored. Atlantic bluefin tuna has been subject to decades of massive overfishing and overexploitation and time is running out to save this species”

“Independent of what ICCAT decides to do in November, the science is undeniable that Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a suspension of trade through a CITES Appendix I listing – and if ICCAT stops the fishing too, so much the better for this species,” added Sergi Tudela of WWF.

WWF and Greenpeace urge ICCAT to impose a zero quota at the organisation’s next annual meeting on 6-16 November in Recife, Brazil. Interest will focus on what ICCAT does with the advice of its own scientists; in the past, the advice of ICCAT’s scientists has been largely disregarded.

The verdict from ICCAT’s scientific committee will be submitted to the 48 Contracting Parties when they meet in Recife. The next Conference of the Parties of CITES, meanwhile, is in Doha, Qatar, in March 2010, when WWF and Greenpeace are calling on the 175 CITES member countries to vote in favour of an Atlantic bluefin tuna Appendix I listing.

Green parking helps environment friendly study

2009-10-28T22:02:00.000+05:30

EPA’s New green parking lot allows scientists to study permeable surfaces that may help the environment

Paved parking lots and driveways make our lives easier, but they often create an easy pathway for pollutants to reach underground water sources and alter the natural flow of water back into the ground. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a study that will investigate ways to reduce pollution that can run off paved surfaces and improve how water filters back into the ground.

EPA is testing a variety of different permeable pavement materials and rain gardens in the parking lot at the agency's Edison, N.J. facility, which houses offices and its laboratory. Most major sources of pollution going into our waterways are well-controlled, but pollution runoff from hard surfaces remains a complicated problem.

"Runoff from parking lots and driveways is a significant source of water pollution in the United States and puts undo stress on our water infrastructure, especially in densely-populated urban areas," said EPA Acting Regional Administrator George Pavlou.

"By evaluating different designs and materials, this study will help us develop strategies to lessen the environmental impacts of parking lots across the country and make our communities more sustainable."

This summer, EPA replaced a 43,000-square-foot section of the parking lot at its Edison facility with three different types of permeable pavement and planted several rain gardens with varying vegetation for the study. Over the next decade, EPA will evaluate the effectiveness of each pavement type and the rain gardens in removing pollutants from storm water, and how they help water filter back into the ground. The parking lot will be functional during the study to accurately evaluate how the different types of pavement handle traffic and vehicle-related pollution like leaking oil.

Storm water runoff is generated when precipitation from rain and snow flows over land or impervious surfaces, like parking lots or rooftops, and does not readily flow back into the ground. As the runoff flows over the land or impervious surfaces, it accumulates debris, chemicals, sediment or other pollutants that could adversely affect water quality if the runoff discharged is not properly treated.

This study is part of an effort by EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory to evaluate permeable pavement as it relates to storm water management practices on a national scale. While the installation of permeable pavement systems has become more prevalent, there is a lack of full-scale, outdoor, real-world permeable pavement research projects.

EPA also recognises the potential of rain gardens as a green infrastructure management tool to lessen the effects of peak flows on aquatic resources. While local governments and homeowners are building many of these systems, relatively few studies have quantified the ability of rain gardens to allow the ground to better absorb and filter storm water, which reduces peak flows.

Genetic tuna tracking: New options to save fish and fisheries

2009-10-28T15:45:00.006+05:30

Yellowfin Tuna. Photo: Brian J. Skerry/National Geographic Stock/WWFA new method that uses gene sequencing to accurately distinguish between tuna species has the potential to support fisheries management and possible trade restrictions for endangered tuna species.

The new method, revealed in a paper published in PLoS ONE, the online open-access scientific journal, can make an identification from any kind of processed tuna tissue.

The true tunas – from the genus Thunnus – are among the most economically valuable fish in the world and are also among the most endangered of all commercially exploited fish. They are not to be confused with the tuna most commonly tinned, which comes from related families such as mackerel.

The paper, ‘A Validated Methodology for Genetic Identification of Tuna Species (Genus Thunnus)’, co-authored by Dr Jordi Viñas, a fish genetics specialist at Girona University in Spain and Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries of WWF Mediterranean, proposes for the first time ever a genetic method for the precise identification of all eight recognised species of tuna.

Northern, southern and Pacific bluefin tuna are among the most stressed fish populations in the world, with the Principality of Monaco having lodged an application before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for a trade ban on the Atlantic (Northern) bluefin tuna where several fisheries have collapsed and failed to recover and the Mediterranean bluefin fishery is exhibiting advanced signals of impending collapse in the face of overfishing and decades of poor management.

The other tuna species are yellowfin, blackfin, longtail, bigeye and albacore tuna. Identification of traded forms of the fish, which can be dressed, gilled and gutted, or loin and belly meat, and either fresh or frozen – is a highly complex process, which has hampered conservation efforts and was a potential limitation to the imposition of trade controls.

The analysis of the DNA sequence variability of two unlinked genetic markers, one a hypervariable segment of the mitochondrial genome and the other a nuclear gene, enables full discrimination between all the tuna species.

Particularly relevant findings

“This methodology will allow the identification of tuna species of any kind of tissue or type or presentation – including sushi and sashimi,” said Dr Jordi Viñas of Girona University. “The differentiation between different tunas, even those with highly similar genes, is now possible.”

“Our findings are particularly relevant for the highly overfished, overtraded – and hence endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna, for which there is a growing campaign to impose a temporary ban on international commercial trade,” added co-author Dr Sergi Tudela of WWF. “There will now be no trace of doubt when seeking to identify chilled or frozen tuna flesh at port or point of sale.”

The paper will remain available to download for free from the website of PLoS ONE and will be submitted to the relevant tuna fishing and trade management and control authorities.

Most European palm oil buyers fail sustainability test

2009-10-28T12:09:00.002+05:30

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. Photo: Mark Edwards / WWF - CanonThe majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it, according to a first assessment by WWF.

WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard has scored the performance of 59 of the most prominent retailers and manufacturers in Europe that buy and use palm oil in their products. The Scorecard comes as the world’s largest producers, buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Scorecard reveals that 10 of those 59 companies have scored 20 or more points, and thus are considered by WWF to be showing real progress on their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly monitored their palm oil purchases, and have put in place and started to take action on commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil.

WWF has been asking buyers of palm oil to commit to the RSPO since 2003, and while some of these companies show encouraging signs of stepping up their commitments and actions on sustainable palm oil, the majority of companies are not. 19 of the 59 companies scored between 0 and 3 out of 29 possible points, meaning that they have taken very little or no action to curb their use of non-certified palm oil and are failing to respond to the efforts that palm oil producers have made to achieve certification under the Roundtable

Meanwhile, a range of 28 companies scored between 5 – 20 points. While a few are showing progress many of these have only just begun to take action on responsible palm oil. While some have put policies and systems in place, often they have yet to start buying certified sustainable palm oil.

“WWF welcomes the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the Forests Programme at WWF International.

“Although many companies have a long way to go, the performances of the top companies in the Scorecard signal to the rest of the industry that it is possible to turn commitment into action and transform the market.”

Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard. Credit: WWF

Further actions by these companies will be captured in the next version of the Scorecard, scheduled for 2011.

“However, WWF also acknowledges that even the top scoring companies in the Scorecard need to continue to raise their game if they are to use certified palm oil for 100% of their palm oil supply, which is the stated objective of many of these companies.”

“Because certified palm oil is now available, it is time to hold major palm oil users to account for their policies and actions,” Taylor said.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 195,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 19 per cent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.

The scoring of companies was a two-step process that took six months to complete. In the first step, WWF evaluated the performance of companies based on publicly available data, such as corporate sustainability reports. WWF then sent a preliminary score to each company with a package of information to brief companies about the Scorecard, including details on the project’s objectives and the methodology. The companies were given the opportunity to submit additional information to WWF that might improve their scores.

The Scorecard will be published every two years and eventually will expand to include palm oil buyers in other markets around the world.

Rot resistant wheat could save farmers millions

2009-10-28T12:03:00.002+05:30

White heads caused by Fusarium crown rot of wheat. Photo: CSIROCSIRO researchers have identified wheat and barley lines resistant to Crown Rot – a disease that costs Australian wheat and barley farmers AUD79 million in lost yield every year.

Crown Rot, which is a chronic problem throughout the Australian wheat belt, is caused by the fungus Fusarium. Dr Chunji Liu and his CSIRO Plant Industry team in Brisbane are using sophisticated screening methods to scan over 2400 wheat lines and 1000 barley lines from around the world to find the ones resistant the fungal disease.

“The wheat and barley lines showing resistance to Crown Rot are now being used in pre-breeding programs to incorporate the resistance into adapted varieties for delivery to the wheat breeding companies,” Dr Liu says.

Crown Rot infects many grasses and weeds found in wheat growing regions and minimum till cropping encourages Fusarium which survives in cereal stubbles.

Minimum till cropping minimises soil disturbance and retains plant stubble from previous crops in order to promote soil health and limit erosion.

Developing Crown Rot resistant wheat and barley varieties is an essential strategy in fighting the disease.

“As well as developing Crown Rot resistant varieties, we are also studying how Fusarium invades the plant, how plants resist Fusarium infection and what genes may be involved in defending the plant against Fusarium or reducing its effect on yield,” Dr Liu says.

Another of the most serious wheat diseases in Australia, Head Blight, is also caused by Fusarium.

EPA names top 20 green-powered schools

2009-10-27T13:25:00.001+05:30

For the first time, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership announced the 20 primary and secondary schools nationwide using the most power from renewable energy sources. The top Green Power Partner schools are buying nearly 113 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, equivalent to carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) that would be produced from the electricity use of 11,000 American homes for one year.

“Our green-powered schools are giving kids a brighter future in more ways than one. They’re leading the way in protecting our health and environment, and moving the country into the clean energy economy of the 21st century,” said EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “This is a great lesson on how we reduce harmful pollution in our skies and get America running on clean energy.”

The five schools using the greenest power are:

1. Austin Independent School District (Austin, Texas)

2. Round Rock Independent School District (Round Rock, Texas)

3. Rochester City School District (Rochester, N.Y.)

4. Bullis School (Potomac, Md.)

5. The Dalton School (New York, N.Y.)

Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower. Green power electricity generates less pollution than conventional power and produces no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with more than 1,100 organisations to voluntarily purchase green power to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional electricity use. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 17 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the CO2 emissions from electricity use of nearly 1.7 million American homes annually.

Nestlé commits to using certified sustainable palm oil by 2015

2009-10-27T12:27:00.002+05:30

Nestlé has announced its commitment to using only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) by 2015, when sufficient quantities are expected to be available.

This follows a detailed review of Nestlé’s palm oil supply chain. Under its policy on Environmental Sustainability, Nestlé has pledged to give preference to suppliers who strive to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their operations and use of resources.

The company uses palm kernel oil for some of its confectionery and dairy products. It also buys processed palm oil and processed oil mixes which often come from multiple sources. The company, however, claims that it does not use crude palm oil nor has any direct links to the palm oil plantations and continues to work with suppliers to investigate the traceability of all possible sources of any palm oil used.

Over the last few years, Nestlé has been closely associated with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international non-profit association founded in 2004 to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil. Nestlé has now applied for full corporate membership of the RSPO, strengthening its efforts to find an effective multi-stakeholder solution to combat the environmental threat caused by the planting of palm oil plantations in South East Asia. Indonesia and Malaysia produce almost 90 per cent of global supply of palm oil, and in total, global production is about 42 million tonnes. Nestlé uses 0.7 per cent of the global supply (320,000 tonnes).

Palm oil, used in producing household items such as soap and detergent, and even for animal feeding and energy generation, is also used as a material from which biofuels are produced.