Fight against climate change, get sacked?

Via Greenbang:

The Independent features a fascinating story this week about the first person awarded Employment Equality rights for his “philosophical belief” in climate change.

Tim Nicholson was sacked last summer from his job as an environmental policy officer at Grainger plc. During an employment tribunal in London this week, a judge ruled Nicholson had the right to claim protection from discrimination based on his conviction that climate change is society’s greatest environmental threat.

Nicholson says he tried to get Grainger management to better reflect the firm’s stated environmental policies in its actual practices. At the employment tribunal, he presented a list of examples in which the company did not live up to its expressed goals.

They included instances in which senior staff declined to provide him with data to enable him to calculate Grainger’s carbon footprint, and an unwillingness on the part of executives to respond to his call for less corporate air travel.

A full hearing on the matter is set for 4 June.

Fight against climate change, get sacked?

Technorati Tags: climate change

Robotic fish to patrol oceans for pollution (video)

Photo via Reuters/Jonas Borg/UPPA/Photoshot

An extraordinarily realistic, extraordinarily expensive robotic fish has been created to patrol the open sea and sniff out pollution. They're a lot like the robofish we talked about last year, only these things look very real. Check out the video of one swimming:

Robotic Fish to Patrol Oceans for Pollution (Video)

Technorati Tags: ocean,pollution

Home-heating mirrors

Via EcoGeek:

Photovoltaics are wonderful, but there are some far cheaper ways to harness the power of the sun to do good work for us. Capturing the sun's heat with solar water heaters, for example, is a far cheaper way to reduce your electricity bills than trying to turn that power into electricity.

Well, a new company called Practical Solar wants to take that up another step, and simply use mirrors to focus sunlight on your home, to keep it warm in the winter. Of course, this only works for people who get direct sun in their yards, and who live in sunny but cold places, but that's not an insignificant number of people.

Two of these Practical Solar-controlled mirrors focused on a room (preferably through a window) would have the same effect, roughly, as a space heater. Use ten of them, and you could burn your house down! (Note to Practical solar...please password protect the control system to protect against vengeful neighbors.)

The devices also provide natural lighting at almost all times of the day, so one could save power that way as well. Of course, having a little sun in your yard shining white-hot light into your eyes might detract from the view out of your window, but it's better than a high heating bill!

Via GreenTechMedia

Home-Heating Mirrors

Technorati Tags: solar power,solar thermal

Oil producers on oil, renewables and sustainable development

 

A crash in oil prices has confirmed the dominance of fossil fuels, Opec ministers and other energy producers said today at a seminar, but they also stated their commitment to fighting the pollution they generate.

"Fighting climate change cannot realistically mean fighting oil. Fighting climate change means fighting emissions," Yvo de Boer, head of the United Nations climate change secretariat, told the conference.

"Low oil prices are the enemies to research into alternative sources," Reuters quoted Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni telling the conference. "What affects oil prices affects other energy sources. Oil must be at the centre of any concept of sustainable development."

Iran, for instance, was "supportive of any (environmental) measures, including carbon capture and storage", the country's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said.

"Opec members have an important role to play in researching clean sources of energy... It would put opec at the cutting edge of the transition to lower emissions technology," de Boer told reuters.

read more

Oil producers on oil, renewables and sustainable development

Technorati Tags: oil production,renewable energy

NASA CFC what if study

a sunburn in 5 minutes!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/03/19/national/w140913D86.DTL&tsp=1


NASA: Environmental disaster avoided on ozone loss

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Here's rare good news about an environmental crisis: We dodged disaster with the ozone layer. A NASA study about ozone-munching chemicals from aerosol sprays and refrigeration used a computer model to play a game of what-if. What if the world 22 years ago didn't agree to cut back on chlorofluorocarbons which cause a seasonal ozone hole to form near the South Pole?

NASA atmospheric scientist Paul Newman said the answer is a "bizarre world."

By 2065, two-thirds of the protective ozone layer would have vanished and "the ozone hole covers the Earth." And the CFCs, which are long-lived potent greenhouse gases, would have pushed the world's temperature up an extra 4 degrees.

In mid-latitudes like Washington, DNA-damaging ultraviolet radiation would have increased more than sixfold. Just 5 minutes in the summer sunshine would have caused a sunburn, instead of 15. Typical midsummer UV levels, now around 10 or 11, would have soared to 30. Summer thunderstorms in the Northern Hemisphere would have been much stronger.

"It is a real horrible place," Newman told The Associated Press.

But that dreadful scenario was "a world avoided," according to the paper published this week in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

After scientists raised warnings in the early 1970s — later earning a Nobel Prize — 193 nations agreed in the1987 treaty called the Montreal Protocol to cut CFC emissions. CFCs had been used in air conditioning, aerosol sprays, foam packaging and other products.

Newman, the co-chair of the protocol's scientific panel, said the study provides hope that the world can do the same thing on another looming but even harder to solve environmental problem: Global warming.

"There's a huge lesson to be learned here," said Paul Wapner, director of Global Environmental Politics at American University. "In significant cases, human beings can get together and arrive at international or global principles and avoid ecological catastrophe."

___

On the Net:

NASA's ozone study: www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/world_avoided.html

The United Nations' ozone page: ozone.unep.org/

EU electricity firms: We’ll be carbon neutral by 2050

Chief executives of European electricity companies this week pledged to make their industry carbon-neutral by 2050.

CEOs from companies in 27 nations — representing more than 70 percent of Europe’s power generation — issued their declaration on the eve of EU discussions focused on the economy, energy and climate.

The declaration states, “We will progressively make use of all available and economically sound low-carbon and carbon-free options when investing in power generation assets, taking into account national energy policies: renewable energies, nuclear power, high-efficiency combined heat & power, and efficient clean fossil technologies including carbon capture & storage (CCS). In addition, we will continue seeking to operate our plants and grids in the most efficient way, while investing to develop innovative low-emitting technologies.”

The statement also called on European policy-makers to help pave the way for carbon-free energy by increasing support for research and development, moving forward on regional integration of electricity markets, simplifying licensing procedures, working with industry to set electrical vehicle standards and providing adequate public information and education.

EU electricity firms: We’ll be carbon neutral by 2050

Technorati Tags: renewable energy,carbon sequestration

Exposure to insecticide may play role in obesity epidemic among some women

(Michigan State University) Prenatal exposure to an insecticide commonly used up until the 1970s may play a role in the obesity epidemic in women, according to a new study involving several Michigan State University researchers.

More than 250 mothers who live along and eat fish from Lake Michigan were studied for their exposure to DDE – a breakdown of DDT. The study, published as an editor's choice in this month's edition of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, analyzed DDE levels of the women's offspring.

Compared to the group with the lowest levels, those with intermediate levels gained an average of 13 pounds excess weight, and those with higher levels gained more than 20 pounds of excess weight.

"Prenatal exposure to toxins is increasingly being looked at as a potential cause for the rise in obesity seen worldwide," said Janet Osuch, a professor of surgery and epidemiology at MSU's College of Human Medicine, who was one of the lead authors of the study. "What we have found for the first time is exposure to certain toxins by eating fish from polluted waters may contribute to the obesity epidemic in women."

Though DDT was banned in 1973 after three decades of widespread use, the chemical and its byproducts remain toxic in marine life and fatty fish. The study was funded by a $300,000 grant from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Osuch said the study's findings can have a huge impact on how researchers treat – and seek to prevent – obesity. The research team has been awarded a $1 million grant from the same federal agency, the ATSDR, to assess the impact of pollutants and toxins on a wide variety of disorders by determining the importance of second- and third-generation health effects.

"This line of research can transform how we think about the causes of obesity and potentially help us create prenatal tests to show which offspring are at higher risks," she said. …

Exposure to insecticide may play role in obesity epidemic among some women

Technorati Tags: pollution

US insurers forced to disclose risks from climate change

James Murray, BusinessGreen

Companies with annual premiums over $500m will have to complete risk survey

The US National Association of Insurance Commissioners has this week adopted new mandatory rules requiring US insurers to disclose to regulators the risks they face as a result of climate change. …

US insurers forced to disclose risks from climate change

Technorati Tags: climate change

Protecting watersheds secures freshwater and saves billions of dollars

 

The World Water Forum brings together 25,000 experts this week in Istanbul, Turkey to discuss the water challenges facing a growing world. According to a compilation of case studies by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is sponsoring the event, one of the simplest and least expensive ways to have ample water for a growing human population is to protect watersheds. Not only do protected watersheds provide clean and easy-access water for many of the world's largest cities, their protection also saves billions of dollars.

“Many of the world’s big cities have understood that protecting their catchment areas makes economic sense. Rather than chopping down the forests or draining their marshlands, they are keeping them healthy and saving billions of dollars by not having to pay for costly infrastructure to store water, clean it or bring it from elsewhere,” says Mark Smith, head of IUCN’s Water Programme.

The IUCN points to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, which sources its water from 60 rivers that originate in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park. The free water is worth an estimated $1.5 billion dollars.

The capital of Venezuela, Caracas, also relies on rivers in national parks. Guatopo and Macarao National Parks provide the city's 5 million residents with a constant supply of freshwater.

Improving degraded river systems can also have huge impacts on the availability of freshwater. Better water management in South Africa's world famous Kruger National Park has improved the availability of water both for humans and animal.

“Kruger’s main five rivers have suffered from pollution and unsustainable water use upstream which led to some of them drying up completely. After implementing a large river-related programme with the agriculture, forestry and mining industries, we have seen an improvement in flows. Previously disappeared species have re-colonised, and fewer unnatural fish kills have occurred,” says Harry Biggs, Programme Integrator at South African National Parks and leader of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas Freshwater Task Force.  …

Protecting watersheds secures freshwater and saves billions of dollars

Technorati Tags: freshwater depletion

Portugal's Pelamis wave power project dead in the water

TreeHugger has touted how cool the Pelamis wave power device on a number of occasions, as well its implementation in the €9 million Aguçadoura project in Portugal. Well, that 2.5 MW adventure has come to an end. Citing technical and financial setbacks, what would have been the world's current largest commercial wave power project has been taken offline indefinitely. …

Portugal's Pelamis Wave Power Project Dead In the Water

Technorati Tags: wave power,alternative energy,renewable energy

Florida proposes nation's first freshwater turtle harvest ban

More on the near-extinction of US freshwater turtles here.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, March 13, 2009 (ENS) - Florida state wildlife staffers today proposed a draft rule would ban the commercial take or sale of wild freshwater turtles.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff will present the draft rule at the commission meeting in Tallahassee on April 15. The draft rule is a first for any state.

"Staff is proposing a draft rule that represents the most comprehensive set of protections and conservation measures for freshwater turtles in the United States," said Tim Breault, the FWC's director of Habitat and Species Conservation.

"Few places in North America have the rich diversity of turtles that we have here in Florida, and this proposed rule ensures their long-term survival," he said.

The draft rule would prohibit taking turtles from the wild that are listed on Florida's imperiled species list, as well as species that look similar to the imperiled species, which include common snapping turtles and cooters. In addition, the collection of eggs would be prohibited. …

Florida Proposes Nation's First Freshwater Turtle Harvest Ban

Technorati Tags: overfishing

Give up seafood, save the planet?

by MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT

Eating fish has always been touted as an excellent dietary source of protein, with Health Canada's food guide recommending everyone eat two servings a week. The recent craze over the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish has only added to the allure.

But is eating fish the best choice for health and the planet?

Although negative views about fish consumption are almost never expressed, a group of medical and fisheries experts is making an argument against eating the seafood in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

In an analysis being released Tuesday, they say that the purported benefits of fish for such things as cardiovascular health have been overstated, while the growing demand among health aficionados for the food is destroying global fish stocks.

“The public view is that fish are good for you. There is plenty of it and let's go for it,” said David Jenkins, a nutrition professor at the University of Toronto and lead author of the journal article. “I don't think either of those views should be as strongly held as they are.”

The pitch against fish consumption because it is environmentally tainted had one unusual author, for a medical journal. The well known Canadian nature writer Farley Mowat reviewed the analysis and decided to lend his imprimatur to the call against seafood.

“I'm just desperately worried about what's happening to the life in the ocean, as everybody should be who thinks about it at all,” Mr. Mowat said in an interview.

While Mr. Mowat personally loves to eat fish, he takes the problem seriously and seldom has it on his dinner plate now.

“The fish population is declining so rapidly that I try not to lean on it any harder than I have to,” he said. …

Give up seafood, save the planet?

Technorati Tags: ocean overexploitation,overfishing

Obama administration may revive carbon-capture project

By RENEE SCHOOF, McClatchy Newspapers

As a candidate, President Barack Obama promised that his Department of Energy would work on a way for the United States to continue to get power from coal without dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The work is already under way, and has been boosted with $3.4 billion in the stimulus plan. The DOE is expected to announce soon whether it will use $1 billion of that money to revive FutureGen, a planned coal-fired power plant in rural Illinois that would be the first in the world to capture its carbon dioxide emissions and bury them deep underground.

Universities and businesses have been testing carbon capture and storage in other places, including Southern Co.'s project at a plant in Mississippi and research in oil and gas wells in Texas, but FutureGen would be the first commercial-scale demonstration.

Experts say that demonstrations such as FutureGen are needed to answer questions about what the best technology would be and how to lower the technology's cost so that it wouldn't result in much higher electricity bills.

The stakes are high, and so are the costs.

If the United States and international partners can find a cost-effective way to remove carbon from coal, the coal industry would be guaranteed a future even if the world takes steps later to prevent severe global warming. Finding the right technology, however, and proving that it can be widely used won't happen quickly or cheaply. …

Obama administration may revive carbon-capture project

Technorati Tags: carbon sequestration,coal

Photovoltaics market hit 5.95 gigawatts in 2008

Global photovoltaic installations reached a total capacity of 5.95 gigawatts in 2008, according to a new report from the California-based energy consultancy Solarbuzz.

That marked an increase of 110 percent over the previous year, the report states.

Europe accounted for most of the world’s photovoltaic market — 82 percent — with Spain’s rapid growth rate of 285 percent pushing previous leader Germany into second place, Solarbuzz says. The US took the third-place spot in photovoltaic installations last year, followed by Korea, Italy and Japan. …

Photovoltaics market hit 5.95 gigawatts in ‘08

Technorati Tags: photovoltaic,solar power

Turk police detain 17 protesters at water forum

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police fired teargas to disperse a group of about 100 protesters gathered at the start of a global water forum in Istanbul on Monday and detained 17, state-run news agency Anatolian reported.

Government ministers from 120 countries, scientists and campaigners are meeting in Istanbul this week to discuss how to avert a global water crisis and ease tensions between states fighting over water resources.

Nearly half of the world's people will be living in areas of acute water shortage by 2030, the United Nations has warned.

Protesters accused the forum of being a platform for water privatization, and shouted "water for life, not for profit," Reuters television showed.

Four heads of state are expected to attend the World Water Forum. …

Turk police detain 17 protesters at water forum

Technorati Tags: freshwater depletion,activism

Solar water heating is best use of solar power, Indian scientists assert

 

A quick search on TreeHugger shows that 'solar power' most often occurs in connection with producing electricity and only secondarily in connection with solar water heaters. That's unfortunate, according to scientists at the Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Agricultural University in India, because using the sun's power to heat water is a far more efficient ...

Solar Water Heating is Best Use of Solar Power, Indian Scientists Assert

Technorati Tags: solar power,India,solar thermal

Scientist's hunger strike halts work on Himalayan dam

The near-death of one of India’s most distinguished scientists has halted work on a major hydroelectric dam in the Himalayas. Professor AD Agarwal, 77, former dean of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi at Kanpur, has been on hunger strike for 38 days in protest against a project that would dam the waters of a Ganges tributary.

"The water ... is not ordinary water to a Hindu. It is a matter of the life and death of Hindu faith," Agarwal said, before beginning his fast in January.

This is his second fast in the past year, which he called off last week only after the Indian government agreed that it would look into electricity generation that would not impede the flow of the holy Ganges. The river must run free in order to maintain its sacred status.

However, this dam project is only one of the hundreds planned to for the Himalayan foothill regions of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. The power needs of these nations are rising, but according to a recent report by the NGO International Rivers, many are being carried out with little environmental assessment. …

Scientist's Hunger Strike Halts Work on Himalayan Dam

Technorati Tags: freshwater depletion,deglaciation,climate change