HUM KISISE KAM NAHIN

Arvind Kejriwal’s Quest for Change

2011-12-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

Arvind Kejriwal’s Quest for Change

MEET ANNA HAZARE AND ARVIND KEJRIWAL ON SUNDAY 18TH DECEMBER IN CHENNAI AT PACHIAPPA GROUND AT 6 PM SHARP, BE A VOLUNTEER OF INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION, ENROLL TODAY ITSELF

Weather disasters increasing from climate change, says UN

2011-11-18T16:35:00.000-08:00

rom: IGSD
November 18, 2011

Fast mitigation is best adaptation

Washington, DC, November 18, 2011 – A definitive UN science report released today confirms the link between climate change and extreme weather events, including punishing heat waves, droughts, and torrential rains and resulting floods.

The report warns that the U.S. will suffer heat waves, droughts, and more powerful hurricanes like Irene, with vulnerable people and places likely to suffer most from extreme weather, including low-lying island States facing sea level rise and stronger storm surges, and drought-prone countries in Africa.

New York released its own climate study this week, predicting that with expected sea level rise and stronger storms, future hurricanes could flood the tunnels into Manhattan within an hour and put one-third of the city underwater, with climate induced impacts beginning within a decade. The cost of US weather disasters in 2011 is already approaching $50 billion, according to the National Climate Data Center.

It is now certain that human emissions of greenhouse gases and warming aerosols like black carbon are increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather by putting more heat energy into the climate system.

“These climate change impacts have become so clear and so close now that we need fast, aggressive mitigation if we hope to avoid the worst consequences,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.

“Fast mitigation is the best adaptation,” Zaelke added. “Fast mitigation means cutting short-lived climate forcers, including black carbon, ground-level ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used in refrigeration. Cutting these non-CO2 climate forcers can be done quickly and inexpensively using existing technologies and in most cases existing laws and institutions.” This can cut the rate of global warming in half for several decades and the rate of warming in the Arctic by two-thirds, according to a report by the UN Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization.

Vulnerable island States, along with the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, are calling on the Montreal Protocol ozone treaty to reduce HFCs. The parties will be discussing an HFC phase-down next week at their annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Zaelke stated, “States and cities need to start thinking how they will pay for adaptation and for cleaning up after extreme weather events, including following the precedent set by states in their battle with tobacco companies, which included lawsuits to recoup health care costs the states were paying to care for victims of tobacco injuries.” The lawsuits resulted in a historic $350 billion national tobacco settlement.

Addressing climate change also requires cutting emissions of CO2, the principal greenhouse gas, protecting and expanding forests and other “carbon sinks” that remove and store CO2, and developing other CO2 removal strategies to draw down excess CO2 from the atmosphere on a time scale of decades, rather than the millennial time scale of the natural CO2 removal process.

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Contact: Candice Wu: +1.202.338.1300 ; candicewu@igsd.org

Northeast States Teaming Up to Build EV Charging Network

2011-11-02T09:27:00.001-07:00

The West Coast has wasted no time building electric vehicle corridors, but so far the Northeast has lagged behind on electric car infrastructure, especially considering the size of the population there. Luckily, the lagging behind will soon end. A new regional initiative called the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network will bring together 11 states plus Washington, D.C. to build an electric car charging network. The network plans to bring hundreds of chargers online over the next couple of years to encourage adoption of EVs in the region.

The states participating are Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Maine will be represented on a city level instead of statewide. The states will team up with automakers, both large retailers and small shops and charging network companies to work on placing charging stations in the most convenient locations.

Out of the 15,000 EVs currently on the road in the U.S., surprisingly only about 1,000 of them are in the Northeast. These states want to encourage more EV use not just for environmental reasons, but also because it will save them money. The Northeast imports about 25 billion gallons of oil each year, so if all-electric vehicles replaced just 5 percent of conventional ones, the region could save $4.6 billion every year. I'd call that a win-win.

If President Obama's call for one million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015 comes to fruition, based on population, about 200,000 will be hitting Northeastern roads. Good thing those drivers will have a place to charge up.

via Inside Climate News

Huge Sahara Desert Solar Project to Break Ground Next Year

2011-11-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

The massive Dersertec Initiative, which will include several solar power plants constructed in the Sahara Desert, as well as parts of the MIddle East and Europe, is coming together as planned. The first plant, a 500-MW concentrated solar installation, is now set to break ground next year.

This first plant will be located in Morocco and cost about $2.8 billion and will take two to four years to complete. The first phase of the plant will be 7.4 square miles and have a capacity of 150 MW.

The Dersertec Initiative is being funded by a large consortium of European companies and organizations. The huge project is expected to provide 15 to 20 percent of Europe's electricity needs by 2050, while also providing electricity to the Middle East and Northern Africa.

via CleanTechnica

Greener Solar Panels with Bio-Based Backsheets

2011-11-02T09:23:00.001-07:00

Written by Philip Proefrock on 30/10/11 Solar panels can be even greener with the use of the BioSolar backsheet, which recently obtained provisional UL certification which allows for its sale to the general market. This backsheet is made from materials derived from castor beans instead of polyester and Tedlar films. The backsheet of a solar panel is the the structure that carries the other materials. It also serves as an electrical insulator and a weathertight enclosure on the back side of the panel. Not only does the bio-based backsheet replace the need for petroleum products, but the thermal performance of the BioSolar material is better than currently used materials, allowing for faster heat dissipation and lower operating temperatures, which improves solar panel performance. "This new tough bio-based material will be able to offer the durability and environmental characteristics of conventional petroleum-based plastics, such as electromagnetic properties, mechanical strength, dimensional stability, and weatherability required by PV solar applications. " With petroleum prices rising, the use of bio-based materials offers lower cost and greater price stability. Furthermore, production of the new backsheet material does not require new, proprietary equipment for manufacture, so the technology can be readily adopted without businesses incurring additional capital costs related to choosing to use the new material. via: Solar Thermal Magazine

A park for Rs 685 crore, Junglistan outraged

2011-10-17T18:15:00.001-07:00

It's five in the evening and a full house at Ittooppu's tea shop. Office-goers, daily wage labourers, artisans, smalltime traders, all had gathered at the goat's eatery. That's where animals of Junglistan catch up with the latest gossip - all kinds of it: politics, movies, sports.

"Motta Dosa," demanded Duba Duba, the crocodile.

Motta dosa or egg dosa, is a new item that has entered Ittooppu's menu. Result of months of painstaking research by Ittooppu's wife on how to use dosas that go unsold. Chop onions, fry them, add green chillies and eggs, and scramble them with small pieces of dosas that are at least a day old. Motta dosa ready. The new item had been a huge hit -- a chartbuster - prompting Ittooppu to try out many variants of the same. Motta Idli, Motta Vada, Motta Puttu, Motta Banana Fry...

"They are showing Chhayawati's park on TV," cried out Chinnu, the cricket.

'Chhayawati's Rs 685 crore dream'. The text on the television kept in one corner of Ittooppu's shop was too big to miss the crowd.

"Utter waste of money," Parappanangadi Pappan said. The local leader of the Junglistan National Congress was confident of a big bang comeback for his party in Uttar Pradesh.

"Building own statue for posterity, sounds so cheap, doesn't it?" asked Thathamma, the parrot.

"Yuck. She should have got one built by someone else," said Kuyilamma, "Like Mumtaz got herself the Taj from her husband."

"Who will build one for her?"

"People are dying of all kinds of diseases in that state," said Shambhu, the elephant, "And she wastes crores on a park."

"UP has higher infant mortality than the national average, you know," Pappan said looking at Tortoise Kunhiraman, "Sixty-three. Horrible."

"Terrible," Naanappan joined in. "It has a literacy rate of just 69 per cent," added the deer, reading from a newspaper.

"Why are you silent, comrade," Pappan turned to Kunhiraman.

The Tortoise, a former CM of Junglistan, was not responding for a reason. Chhayawati was their ally in the last election, they had even promised her the PM's job if they got the numbers. He didn't take Pappan's bait, this was one debate he was bound to lose.

"Sometimes, I wonder if these census figures are true. Sixty-nine per cent literacy sounds too good to believe," Pappan said, "Female literacy there is 20 per cent less than the male literacy rate."

"And she wastes crores on a park."

"The literacy rate went up nearly 10 points from the last census." All eyes turned to the dissenting voice. Ramu, a buffalo who had come all the way from Uttar Pradesh, looking for a job. "Dalits feel empowered like never before. More of them have televisions, cycles, jobs," he continued, "This is what a famous columnist wrote in The Times of Junglistan, quoting a survey."

"The survey must have been a paid job," Pappan retorted, "We have done more to empower Dalits than anyone in this country. We could even make a Dalit the Prime Minister. See what one of our leaders said in his tweet today."

"What do you call it? Affirmative action?" Kunhiraman said, "We had one as president, the poor guy got a stoop shouldering the burden of gratitude to the Famliy."

"Heard the vacancy is opening soon. The finance minister and the home minister are fighting for it. Is it true," asked Kovalan, a Gandhian monkey.

Pappan didn't reply. His local chief had booked a ticket to the capital just in case. 'Now may be he should get a caste certificate ready. You never know.'

Ittooppu served another round of tea with parippu vada. He relished these debates, they meant good business for him.

"Hundreds are dying and Chhayawati wastes crores on a park." Shambhu said again, shaking his head.

"Hundreds were dying and thousands starving yet Commonwealth Games were held. I didn't see this anger then." Ramu couldn't take it any longer.

"Yes, and what about the 2G scam? Over a lakh crores lost," Chinnu chipped in.

"Let us not talk about 2G," Pappan argued, "The country did not lose a single paisa in those deals. The loss is notional just like spectrum. I have never seen this stuff, spectrum I mean. What does it look like?"

"You know what the former telecom minister said then. 2G is for aam aadmi, so it was sold cheap, and 3G for the connoisseur, so it was auctioned," explained Chinnamma, the mosquito.

"If your govt is so worried about the aam aadmi, why don't you sell rice at 2001 prices," Kudiyan Paramu chipped.

"And onions and dal, petrol and LPG," Kunhiraman was in familiar territory now.

"Subsidising spectrum was a policy decision," Pappan said, "Policy decisions can't be audited or argued in court. I would say not even in a tea shop."

"Why don't you subsidise alcohol?" Kudiyan Paramu asked, "The government can do anything in the name of policy, isn't that so?"

"Is Pappan maashu here?"

The leader met the youngsters who had come looking for him outside, away from the din at Ittooppu's shop.

"Maashe, we are setting up a library and arts club in our area, could you get us some funds from the MP?"

"See this year's funds are already used up," Pappan appeared to be thoughtful. The area the youngsters came from was a Left stronghold, a good opportunity to score some points and win some votes. The practical politician that he was, it didn't take him long to find a solution.

"It will be tough, but I can get the funds arranged. Name the club Rajiv Gandhi Arts and Sports Club or something like that. It will be easier that way."
excerpts from Life as it is from Rajesh Kumar

Anna Hazare sends his message to Congress

2011-10-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

Lesson well-learnt from ‘Hissar’
Posted on October 17, 2011 by annahazaresays
Ralegan Siddhi
17th October, 2011

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Namaskar!

Congress has lost the Loksabha by-elections in Hissar. Congress should stop blaming ‘Team Anna’ and instead take strong steps in creating stricter laws against corruption in the ensuing winter session. It is becoming difficult for the common man to survive because of corruption. The denial for Congress arises out of people’s enduring capacity which has crossed its limit.

If the Congress still has not learnt a lesson from these polls then the condition would worsen further hence Congress should take a cue and pass the Janlokpal Bill in the winter session. Hissar saw Team Anna’s workers campaigning for the anti-corruption cause but next for the Assembly elections it will be ‘me’, Anna Hazare who will personally rally for the cause. I feel it is necessary for the well-being of the society and the nation at large.

Nothing will affect our integrity neither the negative publicity doing rounds about Team Anna and nor the factors trying to create a rift in our team. Team Anna will stand united and strive hard for the effective implementation of ‘Janlokpal Bill”.

Anna's Song!

2011-08-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/If6Ry5puBsw

The Hindu : News / States : Thousands pledge support for Hazare's fast

2011-07-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Hindu : News / States : Thousands pledge support for Hazare's fast

Who will keep India democratic? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

2011-07-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Who will keep India democratic? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

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2011-06-29T10:21:00.001-07:00

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New report released today - RBS coal finance on launch day of RBS-sponsored Climate Week

2011-03-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

New report released today - RBS coal finance on launch day of RBS-sponsored Climate Week

Earthquakes Change the Earth

2011-03-15T17:55:00.001-07:00

The March 11, magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan may have shortened the length of each Earth day and shifted its axis. Using a United States Geological Survey estimate for how the fault responsible for the earthquake slipped, research scientist Richard Gross of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., applied a complex model to perform a preliminary theoretical calculation of how the Japan earthquake-the fifth largest since 1900-affected Earth's rotation. His calculations indicate that by changing the distribution of Earth's mass, the Japanese earthquake should have caused Earth to rotate a bit faster, shortening the length of the day by about 1.8 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second). There are about 86,400 seconds (86 billion microseconds) in a day, so the impact of the earthquake is quite small. The calculations also show the Japan quake should have shifted the position of Earth's figure axis (the axis about which Earth's mass is balanced) by about 6.5 inches, towards 133 degrees east longitude. The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis in space, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph. The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced.

For Business, It's Not Necessary to Delay the Clean Air Act

2011-03-08T17:15:00.001-08:00

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to enforce the Clean Air Act are vital for our health, our children’s health, and the avoidance of the most dangerous and expensive consequences of climate change.

In spite of that urgency, some businesses are arguing for delay. They claim that new regulations will hurt jobs and the economic recovery. Extensive data refutes these claims, but perhaps the most credible counter-arguments are those made by businesses that disagree.

In a March 1 article in Politico Pro, reporter Darren Samuelsohn interviewed business leaders who "didn’t sound so thrilled" about legislation to pre-empt EPA authority:

“The leaders — from American Electric Power, NextEra Energy, Southern Co. and Dominion Resources — said to varying degrees that they support allowing the EPA to proceed on a ‘reasonable’ time frame on greenhouse gas rules for power plants, petroleum refiners and other major stationary sources.”

The business community is not monolithic, of course. And it’s no surprise that companies that are innovative are often rewarded with long-term growth.

Recently, the ArcelorMittal steel mill in East Chicago, Indiana, built on-site energy plants to capture heat and gases. The mill reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by about 916,000 metric tons. That’s about the same amount as 166,000 cars and all of the grid-connected solar panels in the world. At the same time, the mill cut as much as $100 million a year in energy costs — and that allowed ArcelorMittal to allocate more money to jobs and investment.

West Virginia Alloys, a silicon manufacturer, used a similar project to capture waste heat and generate enough electricity on-site to power one-third of its furnaces. The project reduced carbon dioxide emissions by almost 300,000 tons – and at the same time, enabled the plant to increase its workforce by 20 percent.

Companies that fear change typically spend their time and energy fighting change – not on finding the most strategic responses to changing business conditions.

McKinsey and Company and the Department of Energy (DOE) are among those who have collected data showing the plethora of untapped efficiency opportunities being ignored by American industry today. (See some of that data, and helpful case studies, at LessCarbonMoreInnovation.org)

Here are some highlights:

* McKinsey found that the U.S. industrial sector can reduce annual energy consumption 18 percent by 2020 and save more than $442 billion in energy costs billion in major sectors such as refineries, chemicals, cement, iron and steel, pulp and paper, for an upfront investment of barely more than a quarter of that amount.
* If the pulp and paper sector, alone, seized the economically attractive opportunities identified by McKinsey and Company, they could reduce energy use by 26 percent and save an estimated $2.6 billion per year.
* Until recently, U.S. industrial plants didn't know how energy efficient they were (or weren’t) compared to their competitors So the Energy Star for Industry program created a benchmarking tool to allow companies get that information. The results show that many plants have significant room for improvement. For example, the gap between the average plant's performance and the best in class plant's performance is 198 kilowatts per hour more electricity used per assembled vehicle. (That figure takes into account the differences in product, as well as plant capacity, utilization, and location). That’s about as much as what the average U.S. household uses in electricity each week.

* The University of Massachusetts’ Political Economy Research Institute looked at the impact on new EPA pollution control rules on the utility sector. They found that the new rules will drive an estimated 1.46 million jobs, or about 290,000 on average in each of the next five years. Other University of Massachusetts studies found that clean energy and energy efficiency are more labor intensive than spending on conventional fossil fuels.

Given over-capacity and capital on the sidelines, now is actually the perfect time to invest in making the current infrastructure cleaner, more efficient, more globally competitive, and ready for the recovery. Investing will be good for the workforce and for customers, and while shareholders may see a little less profit this year, they will see more in the long-run.

Businesses that insist they have to pollute do not represent all businesses. Lots of American businesses are already taking advantage of the opportunities in clean energy and energy efficiency. If we support them, instead of the businesses that can only handle the status quo, we can create an economic recovery for the long-haul.

Reef Check Launches First Comprehensive Survey of Haiti’s Coral Reefs Initial survey reveals worst overfishing in the world

2011-03-08T17:02:00.001-08:00

Haiti’s coral reefs are the most overfished in the world according to initial survey results by Reef Check, a non-profit organization focused on improving reef health worldwide. The first round of surveys completed on February 7th revealed that almost no food fish of reproductive age remain on Haiti’s reefs. In a classic “fishing down the food chain” scenario, overfishing has also destabilized the entire coral reef ecosystem by removing plant-eating fish – allowing fast-growing algae to overgrow and kill corals. As a result, while the reef structure is intact, living coral typically occupies less than 10% of most reefs surveyed while algae and sponge occupy over 50%. The initial surveys covered the coast around La Gonave – a large offshore island and near St. Marc on the mainland.

The high biodiversity reefs feature a full complement of Caribbean fish and invertebrate species, and the reef structure still provides excellent fish habitat. According to Reef Check Director and coral reef ecologist, Dr. Gregor Hodgson, “Haiti’s reefs are hanging on -- with some large stands of the Elkhorn coral, now on the US Endangered Species List, but we saw almost no food fish of reproductive age. The largest Reef Check indicator fish we observed during the surveys of 120 km of coast was about 6 inches (15 cm) long.” Every 100 m along the reefs, the survey team observed a large fish trap, fishing net, spear or line fisherman. And this is despite the fact that almost all fishing is done from paddle or sailboats.

According to Reef Check, what is needed is the establishment of a network of marine protected areas, educating Haitians about the value of reefs and the benefits of reef conservation, and regular monitoring of reef status. The MacArthur Foundation supported project is the first to attempt a complete survey of Haiti’s 1000 km of coastal reefs. Once the full survey is completed by the end of the year, a report will be provided to the Minister of Environment that will present a plan for creating a network of MPAs that will allow fish and invertebrates to grow to maturity and reproduce.

Healthy coral reefs can provide up to 35 metric tons of fish per square kilometer, whereas overfished reefs such as those in Haiti provide a tiny fraction of this amount. By setting aside areas of coral reef where reef fish can grow and breed without disturbance, more fish and larger fish will produce millions of new young fish every year which would increase the available fish supply for Haitians.

Even before the earthquake, Haitians were short of food with 58% of the population under-nourished and some children reportedly being fed mud cakes seasoned with salt. The 10 million people of Haiti make up 25% of the total population of the Caribbean and are growing rapidly at 2.5% annually. Sadly, one in five Haitians dies before the age of 40. Haiti was already trapped in a cycle of environmental degradation and ranks 148th of 179 countries on the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index prior to the earthquake; 76 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 USD per day. Haiti imports 48 percent of its food. One third of newborn babies are born underweight.

According to Reef Check, most international environmental work has focused on terrestrial issues, neglecting the potential that improved management of coral reefs and associated fisheries could play in improving food supply and nutrition. Haiti is an island country surrounded by coral reefs. Most experts have assumed that Haiti’s reefs were destroyed by sedimentation long ago. “Our rapid assessment indicates that any long-term plan for food security in Haiti should include reef fisheries,” says Hodgson.

Founded in 1996 by marine ecologist Dr. Gregor Hodgson, the Reef Check Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of two ecosystems: tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs. With headquarters in Los Angeles and volunteer teams in more than 90 countries and territories, Reef Check works to create partnerships among community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities and other non-profits to achieve reef conservation. www.reefcheck.org

nvironmental Enforcement: Biomass Plants Fined $835,000 For Clean Air Violations

2011-02-17T17:31:00.001-08:00

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District have settled claims brought against two biomass power plants in California’s Central Valley, the agencies announced yesterday.

The companies have agreed to pay a combined civil penalty of $835,000 to resolve allegations they violated federal Clean Air Act and District rules by emitting nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and carbon monoxide exceeding their permit limits.

The settlements require both facilities to install equipment to improve monitoring and reporting of air pollutants by enhancing automation of control systems for nitrogen oxides emissions. Under the settlements, both companies also agreed to prepare more stringent control plans to minimize emissions of air pollutants.

According to the EPA, the companies have already installed controls it estimates will reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides by up to 180 tons per year and carbon monoxide by up to 365 tons per year.

Ampersand Chowchilla Biomass, LLC and Merced Power, LLC will pay penalties of $343,000 and $492,000, respectively.

Biomass power plants use green waste from farms and other operations that would otherwise be subject to open burning, and construction debris that might have gone to a landfill, to generate power.

The San Joaquin Valley, home to both facilities, boasts five of 10 cites with the worst air quality in the nation according to a recent survey by the American Lung Association, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. According to the EPA, the region exceeds the national health standards for ozone and particulate matter.

The proposed consent decrees were lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and are subject to a 30-day public comment period prior to approval by the court.

Study links rise in rain and snow to human actions

2011-02-17T17:23:00.000-08:00

An increase in heavy precipitation that has afflicted many countries is at least partly a consequence of human influence on the atmosphere, climate scientists reported in a new study.

In the first major paper of its kind, the researchers used elaborate computer programs that simulate the climate to analyze whether the rise in severe rainstorms, heavy snowfalls and similar events could be explained by natural variability in the atmosphere. They found that it could not, and that the increase made sense only when the computers factored in the effects of greenhouse gases released by human activities like the burning of fossil fuels.

As reflected in previous studies, the likelihood of extreme precipitation on any given day rose by about 7 percent over the last half of the 20th century, at least for the land areas of the Northern Hemisphere for which sufficient figures are available to do an analysis.

The principal finding of the new study is "that this 7 percent is well outside the bounds of natural variability," said Francis W. Zwiers, a Canadian climate scientist who took part in the research. The paper is being published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.

The paper covers climate trends from 1951 to 1999 and therefore does not include any analysis of last year's extreme precipitation, including catastrophic floods in Pakistan, China and Australia as well as parts of the United States, including Tennessee, Arkansas and California. However, the paper is likely to bolster a growing sense among climate scientists that events like the 2010 floods will become more common.

Indeed, an increase of weather extremes has been a fundamental prediction of climate science for decades. Basic physics suggests that as the earth warms, precipitation extremes will become more intense, winter and summer, simply because warmer air can carry more water vapor. Weather statistics confirm that this has begun to happen.

Scientists have long been reluctant to attribute any specific weather event to global warming, but a handful of papers that do so are beginning to appear in the scientific literature. One such installment is being published on Thursday in Nature as a companion piece to the broader paper. It finds that severe rains that flooded England and Wales in 2000, the wettest autumn since record-keeping began there in 1766, were made substantially more likely by the greenhouse gases released by human activity.

In that analysis, scientists at the University of Oxford used computer time donated by the public to analyze the climate of Britain in 2000 as it actually existed and to compare that with a hypothetical climate in which the Industrial Revolution never happened and few greenhouse gases were released.

The computers found that the chances of those memorable floods, which sent geese swimming through city streets, were roughly doubled in a climate with the greenhouse gases.

That it took a decade to come to that conclusion illustrates one of the major problems of climate science at the moment. Researchers are barraged with questions about weather extremes like the recent winters in Europe and the United States and the heat waves and droughts of last summer.

Yet, even when adequate weather statistics are available for an affected region, the scientists need years to run computer analyses of any specific event and calculate whether it was made more or less likely by global warming.

In a briefing for reporters, a leading climate scientist for the British government, Peter A. Stott, acknowledged a need for more rapid analysis of weather extremes and said that researchers were working to develop this capability.

The problem is becoming more than theoretical. Billions of dollars have been pledged by rich countries to help poor countries adapt to climate change.

"Because that money is on the table, it's suddenly going to be in everybody's interest to be a victim of climate change," said Myles R. Allen, a University of Oxford researcher whose group ran the British flood study. "We need urgently to develop the science base to be able to distinguish genuine impacts of climate change from unfortunate consequences of bad weather."

The analyses being published on Thursday can be expected to draw fire from climate-change contrarians, who have long scoffed at computer simulations of the climate. They point out that such programs cannot fully capture the complexity of the real world.

Mainstream scientists acknowledge that point to a degree but contend that the programs are becoming more accurate. They also note that the programs are the only tools available to answer questions about how much humans are influencing the climate.

"In the future, it won't be enough for your weather service to predict the weather," Dr. Allen said. "They'll have to explain it as well."
courtsey.ndtv india

Selling Green in a Down Economy: A Prescription for Success

2010-11-15T17:15:00.000-08:00

With all of the statistics and research reports heralding sustainability’s growing importance in business management practices, one could reasonably assume that technology providers are successfully exploiting the connection that exists between being greener and improving a company’s operational and financial performance. However, the more I speak with industry analysts, clients, prospects and other technology executives it’s apparent that selling green in a business-to-business environment hasn’t necessarily evolved into a slam dunk.
Now some attribute the hesitancy expressed on the part of executives as a by-product of a struggling economy. But the inability to generate significant traction highlighting the environmental gains associated with different software applications and services has more to do with message and approach than the willingness of prospective clients to advance their commitments to sustainability.
A few weeks ago, our company president had the opportunity to address a gathering of technology executives on this very subject, talking at length about how to build a more compelling business case for sustainability. By and large, most corporations have the desire to conduct business in a more environmentally friendly manner – that I firmly believe – but as a technology vendor, touting green doesn’t preclude you from demonstrating that a solution or service is capable of generating financial and/or operational gains.
Most technology solutions fall into well-defined categories such as CRM, ERP and BPM. Whether these types of applications help improve internal workflows or manage customer data better, they’ve been designed to address a very traditional business problem. The notion that a software solution can be used to deliver measurable results against an organization’s green initiatives has only recently come to light. Yet because green is perceived to be ‘hot’ we see a lot of companies integrating it into their branding and product messaging, often to the detriment of a solution’s core value proposition. When it comes to building a compelling business case for sustainability, this is perhaps the biggest mistake a company can make.
Given the pervasiveness of this approach in the B2B arena – and what some would fairly label as saturation in the consumer market – there’s a heightened sensitivity to greenwashing. As a result, many executives are learning to view sales pitches through a skeptic’s lens. At the same time, it’s critical to remember that while awareness for the issues surrounding sustainability are becoming more common at the C-level, many of the individuals who bear the responsibility for evaluating and purchasing technology solutions simply haven’t been charged with incorporating environmental metrics into the decision making process.
So long as purchasing decisions continue to place the most emphasis on financial and operational gains, companies need to build the business case from the ground up and address the desire for greater efficiency, lower costs, improved service and market leadership. In reality, green shouldn’t even enter into the conversation until core ROI has been presented and understood. As companies begin to interject green into the conversation, consider – from a business perspective – how sustainability can contribute to (1) revenue growth, (2) shareholder value, (3) cost reduction and (4) innovation. Placing sustainability within the context of these areas places the green conversation in a language that every executive speaks.
Companies build financial models all of the time to prove out cost and process efficiency. In order to move sustainability up the proverbial food chain (faster), we need to begin applying that level of due diligence to creating models that not only illustrate financial savings but measurable environmental benefits as well. Using vague, generalized statements serves only to obscure genuine business and financial gains that can come in the form of reduced carbon emissions or electronic waste.
Granted there are a lot of factors that get thrown into the pot when deciding on one solution over another but I think it’s infinitely more difficult for companies to reject a solution with a demonstrable ability to create a six-, seven- or even eight-figure savings.
Whether we’re in a recession or not, the appetite for green exists. It’s just that executives aren’t likely to buy in just because a product or service can help them go green. We’ve moved into a new era where sustainability is now seen as a more strategic endeavor, and therefore given greater scrutiny, particularly in relation to its contribution to the bottom line. If technology providers want to forge genuine links between their products and sustainability, the value proposition has to be rooted in helping companies advance their financial and operational performance.
Trade Wings’ Chief Executive Officer and Founder Todd Adelman is passionate about driving business model innovation within the Telecom industry. With more than 20 years of supply chain and asset management experience, Todd leads a number of strategic initiatives designed to establish Trade Wings as a trusted authority on the development and implementation of reuse optimization strategies for network assets.

Solar, Wind Power Roll at Dow Jones, Menasha, Spruce and Prudential

2010-11-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Several business headquarters including those at Dow Jones, Menasha and Spruce Environmental Technologies, as well as office building complexes are adding renewable energy to their electricity mix.
As an example, Dow Jones & Company is installing solar panels at its corporate office in South Brunswick, N.J. The installation is part of a project to construct a solar-power system that at 4.1 megawatts will be one of the largest solar installations at a single commercial site in the U.S, according to the company.
The solar installation will consist of more than 13,000 solar panels covering nearly 230,000 square feet of parking space on Dow Jones’s Bernard Kilgore campus. The system is expected to produce the equivalent of 5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is enough energy to power the servers and computers that support the global operations of Dow Jones.
The system, which was announced in April, is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2011.
Also in New Jersey, Prudential Financial has installed solar panels on two buildings at its office complex in Roseland. The company also has installed solar panels in its Scottsdale, Arizona office building. Together, the panels will produce an estimated 2.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually and reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 3.2 million pounds a year.
The 2,678 panels installed in the Roseland buildings will generate approximately 4 percent of the power use in that office campus, with a peak power output of 500 kilowatt hours.
In Wisconsin, the Menasha Corp. plans to install five wind turbines at its headquarters and factory in Neenah, which is touted as the largest wind installation at a business in northeastern Wisconsin, reports JSOnline.
The five 20-kilowatt turbines will be purchased from Renewegy. At 115 tall, the wind turbines are one-fourth the height of new utility-scale turbines that were erected recently in Brown County, according to the article.
The turbines will generate enough power to provide for the basic office needs at the company’s corporate headquarters and its subsidiary, Menasha Packaging, reports JSOnline.
The company’s other sustainability efforts include upgrades for corrugators, high efficiency lighting and heat capture from the corrugators to heat other parts of its building.
Spruce Environmental Technologies recently completed the installation of a solar array to provide electricity for its Ward Hill, Massachusetts, headquarters building. The 78.8-kilowatt (kW) array was installed by Nexamp, and will supply one-third of the building’s electricity needs. It also is expected to offset approximately 137,150 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.
When Spruce is not using the solar energy generated by the system, such as during holidays or weekend, the unused power will be available to the National Grid

Facebook Can’t Satisfy Greenpeace with New Data Center Plans

2010-11-15T17:12:00.000-08:00

Facebook’s decision to build its second data center in North Carolina shows that the company continues to see energy-efficient facilities as the best way to reduce its carbon footprint rather than building it near renewable energy sources, reports Data Center Knowledge.
Facebook has published several case studies of energy-efficiency projects that have reduced the carbon impact of the company’s data centers, according to the article.
At a recent panel session, Facebook’s director of data center engineering, shared tips on how the company has improved energy efficiency and cut costs at its data centers.
Facebook says it is currently building one of the most energy-efficient data centers to date in Prineville, Oregon. However, Greenpeace started a campaign in February to get Facebook to power the data center with renewable energy instead of coal.
Facebook signed a deal to source its energy from PacificCorp, which uses 83 percent coal in its energy mix, according to the Associated Press, reported Reuters, in September. But PacifiCorp said the number is 58 percent with the remainder from natural gas (20 percent), hydro (10 percent) and renewable energy (10 percent).
Greenpeace also said that Facebook plans to double the size of its data center, which translates into twice the energy use and twice the coal.
The new Facebook site in Forest City is served by Duke Energy, which has an energy mix similar to that in Prineville, reports Data Center Knowledge. In 2009, Duke Energy generated 54.7 percent of its power from coal, 27 percent from nuclear power plants, 12 percent from wind and hydro-electric power, and 6.6 percent from natural gas, according to the article. The utility expects its mix of renewables to improve when it adds additional wind power generation.
But Greenpeace is not happy. “Facebook has again chosen a location that will increase demand for dirty energy,” said Greenpeace energy campaigner Gary Cook in a blog post. “Good corporate citizenship involves more than setting up a webpage dedicated to green issues, or becoming members of green clubs, just as energy efficiency is only the first step to managing your environmental footprint.”
The Greenpeace statement is in reference to the recent launch of Facebook’s new “green” page that details what the company is doing in the environmental space, and its recent partnerships with the Alliance to Save Energy and the Digital Energy Solutions Campaign (DESC).
Cook said Facebook missed an opportunity to follow the lead of Yahoo, which has built hydro-powered data centers in Quincy, Washington and Lockport, N.Y., reports Data Center Knowledge.
Facebook says the North Carolina data center will use many of the techniques used to conserve power at its Prineville site. These could include the use of evaporative cooling instead of a chiller system, re-using excess heat expelled by servers to heat office space in the building, and foregoing traditional uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and power distribution units (PDUs) by adding a 12-volt battery to each server power supply, reports Data Center Knowledge.
The Facebook facility may have a lower carbon impact than other data centers reliant on an energy mix featuring coal due to its location near Duke Energy’s Cliffside Steam Station, which is readying a “clean coal” facility featuring lower emissions than traditional coal plants, reports Data Center Knowledge.

How the dirt below our feet can save us from extinction

2010-11-15T17:06:00.001-08:00

The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change

Albert Bates

Reading like a detective story and marked by impressive scholarship, Albert Bates' latest book has placed The Biochar Solution squarely in the center of the global crisis. -Peter Bane Permaculture Activist

Conventional agriculture destroys our soils, pollutes our water and is a major contributor to climate change. What if our agricultural practices could stabilize, or even reverse these trends?

The Biochar Solution explores the dual function of biochar as a carbon-negative energy source and a potent soil-builder. Created by burning biomass in the absence of oxygen, this material has the unique ability to hold carbon back from the atmosphere while simultaneously enhancing soil fertility. Author Albert Bates traces the evolution of this extraordinary substance from the ancient black soils of the Amazon to its reappearance as a modern carbon sequestration strategy.

Combining practical techniques for the production and use of biochar with an overview of the development and future of carbon farming, The Biochar Solution describes how a new agricultural revolution can reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to below zero while increasing world food reserves and creating energy from biomass wastes. Biochar and carbon farming can:

Reduce fossil fuels inputs into our food system
Bring new life to desert landscapes
Filter and purify drinking water
Help build carbon-negative homes, communities and nations.

Biochar is not without dangers if unregulated, and it is not a panacea, but if it fulfills its promise of taking us back from the brink of irreversible climate change, it may well be the most important discovery in human history.

Bates has woven together a highly engaging interdisciplinary answer to climate change ... a lively page-turner that blends clear-headed analysis with nuts-and-bolts advice ... enough danger to wake us up, but enough opportunity to emerge feeling hopeful. - Tracy L. Barnett, The Esperanza Project

India pioneers global plan to green economy It will ensure that countries take into account the services provided by their ecosystems in economic planning

2010-11-14T05:52:00.000-08:00

India will be one of the two countries to pioneer "a global partnership that will fundamentally change the way governments value their ecosystems", World Bank President Robert B Zoellick announced here on Thursday.

"We are here to do something that none has done before," Zoellick declared at a press conference on the sidelines of the October 18-29 UN biodiversity summit. That something is to ensure that countries take into account the services provided by their ecosystems — the value of the water stored underground because a forest allows more water to seep in, for example.

"This is a concept now widely accepted," Zoellick said. "Now we have to take the valuations provided by projects like TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) to Ministries of Finance and government economic agencies around the world."

If this is actually done, it may change the very classification of rich and poor countries. Zoellick said a recent study has shown ecosystems provide services worth US $44 trillion, of which US $29 trillion are in countries now classified as "developing".

"Our new partnership is to mainstream natural resources accounting into economic planning, starting with Colombia, India and then Mexico," Zoellick said. "We can overcome poverty only when we take ecosystem values into account."

Addressing the press conference with Zoellick, India's Environment Ministry Secretary Vijai Sharma said: "This will plug deficiencies in traditional accounting systems. India's national biodiversity action plan has already incorporated some of these concepts.

"In our country, we are moving towards a rights-based system of governance, as shown by the Forest Rights Act. Ninety per cent of our projects under the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme are for rejuvenation of natural resources. Apart from environment, there are the questions of health and safety we must look into. We have to build in all these angles and this partnership will help us do that."

UN Environment Programme Chief Achim Steiner said: "The link between economic policy, natural capital and human wellbeing is being increasingly understood. The idea of this project is to make the invisible, visible, and to ensure that we have accounted for the economy of the poor."

Vast Amber Deposit from India: New Trove of Fossils Suggests Global Distribution of Tropical Forest Ecosystems in the Eocene

2010-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

A vast new amber deposit in India has yielded 100 fossil spiders, bees, and flies that date to the Early Eocene, or 52-50 million years ago. These arthropods are not unique -- as would be expected on an island (which India was at that time) -- but have close evolutionary relationships with fossils from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The amber is also the oldest evidence of a tropical broadleaf rainforest in Asia.Bees, termites, spiders, and flies entombed in a newly-excavated amber deposit are challenging the assumption that India was an isolated island-continent in the Early Eocene, or 52-50 million years ago. Arthropods found in the Cambay deposit from western India are not unique -- as would be expected on an island -- but rather have close evolutionary relationships with fossils from other continents. The amber is also the oldest evidence of a tropical broadleaf rainforest in Asia.

The discovery is published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We know India was isolated, but when and for precisely how long is unclear," says David Grimaldi, curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. "The biological evidence in the amber deposit shows that there was some biotic connection."

"The amber shows, similar to an old photo, what life looked like in India just before the collision with the Asian continent," says Jes Rust, professor of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Universität Bonn in Germany. "The insects trapped in the fossil resin cast a new light on the history of the sub-continent."

est in Asia

Antarctica Melting News

2010-10-29T18:30:00.001-07:00

The change in the ice mass covering Antarctica is a critical factor in global climate events. Scientists at the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences have now found that the year by year mass variations in the western Antarctic are mainly attributable to fluctuations in precipitation, which are controlled significantly by the climate phenomenon El Nino. Gravity data collected from space using NASA's Grace satellite show that Antarctica has been losing more than a hundred cubic kilometers (24 cubic miles) of ice each year since 2002. The latest data reveal that Antarctica is losing ice at an accelerating rate, too. How is it possible for surface melting to decrease, but for the continent to lose mass anyway? The answer boils down to the fact that ice can flow without melting.

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent (including ice and underlying land), encapsulating the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 5.4 million square miles), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America.

Two-thirds of Antarctica is a high, cold desert. Known as East Antarctica, this section has an average altitude of about 1.2 miles, higher than the American Colorado Plateau. There is a continent about the size of Australia underneath all this ice; the ice sheet sitting on top averages at a little over 1.2 miles thick. If all of this ice melted, it would raise global sea level by about 197 feet.

West Antarctica is very different. Instead of a single continent, it is a series of islands covered by ice. Because it's a group of islands, much of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS, in the jargon) is actually sitting on the floor of the Southern Ocean, not on dry land. Parts of it are more than 1 mile below sea level. Pine Island is the largest of these islands and the largest ice stream in West Antarctica is called Pine Island Glacier. The WAIS, if it melted completely, would raise sea level by 16 to 23 feet.

Two areas in Antarctica are of particular interest because of their potential sensitivity to global climate change: the Antarctic Peninsula (which reaches up towards the tip of South America), and the Amundsen Sector of West Antarctica. The peninsula is currently experiencing a warming exceeding the global mean and the disappearance of large ice shelf areas. In the Amundsen Sector there are currently the largest flow rates and mass loss of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Glaciers can both melt and move or flow. Both results lead to a faster overall mass loss. Satellite images of more than 300 glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula have already showed that they were flowing some 12 percent faster in 2003 than they were in 1993. Current data indicates that the "flow rate" is increasing though not in a linear fashion.

In the latest study, the mass balance of both regions is reevaluated from gravity data of the satellite mission GRACE. As a result, the estimates were lower than those of conventional mass balance methods. "With the GRACE time series, it was for the first time possible to observe how the large-scale ice mass varies in the two areas due to fluctuations in rainfall from year to year," said the GFZ scientists Ingo Sasgen.

It has long been known that the Pacific El Niño climate phenomenon and the snowfall in Antarctica are linked. The complementary piece to the warm phase El Nino, the cold phase known as La Nina, also affects the Antarctic climate:

"The cooler La Nina years lead to a strong low pressure area over the Amundsen Sea, which favors heavy rainfall along the Antarctic Peninsula - the ice mass is increasing there. In contrast, the Amundsen area is dominated by dry air from the interior during this time.

El Nino years with their warm phase lead to precisely the opposite pattern: reduced rainfall and mass loss in the Antarctic Peninsula, and an increase in the Amundsen Sector field, respectively" explains Professor Maik Thomas.

The recording of the entire ice mass of the South Pole and its variations is a central task in climate research and still raises many unanswered questions. In principle, the study could show that the continuous gravity data of the GRACE satellite mission contain another important medium-term climate signal.

Innovation: Portable Breast Scanners

2010-10-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

A new portable scanner for detecting early signs of breast cancer has been developed at the University of Manchester by Professor Zhipeng Wu. The device works by radio frequency technology that can show the presence of tumors on an computer screen. The amazing thing is that it can show the image within seconds on the computer screen, rather than a x-ray mammography which takes minutes and can only be done at hospital or specialist care centers. This new technology can revolutionize the early detection for women with breast cancer.

Around the world, breast cancer comprises about ten percent of all cancer incidents for women. Breast cancer can be fatal, but there are different ways of treating it: surgery, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation. Unfortunately, according to statistics from 2004, breast cancer caused 519,000 deaths and accounted for one percent of all deaths worldwide. The key in beating the disease is to detect the cancer in its infant stage before it has a chance to grow.

Professor Wu, professor at the University's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, says that the new portable scanner can offer patients real-time video images that would clearly show the presence of any tumor. The new method would be much quicker and less intrusive. The device could be used at GP offices, reducing wait times and would allow patients to avoid costly and unnecessary mammographies. It can even be used at home.

The patented radio frequency technology uses computer tomography and works with the same technology as a mobile phone. The casing for the device is no larger than a bread basket, making it portable and low-cost.

Mammography, the standard detection for breast cancer, can give results up to 95 percent accuracy for women over 50, but is far less effective for younger women. For those under 50, it provides results that are only up to 60 percent accurate. However, it is at this age when detection is the most important. Thousands of lives could be saved if they are diagnosed and treated at an early stage.

While mammographies use density to detect the cancer, the new radio frequency technique works by detecting the dielectric contrasts between normal and affected breast tissues. The malignant tissue has a higher permittivity and conductivity to radio frequency, and will therefore show up differently (in red) on the scan.

It works instantly, as soon as the breasts are placed in the cup. 30 images can be scanned in real-time, in one second, making the process fast and painless. According to Professor Wu, "The real-time imaging minimizes the chance of missing a breast tumor during scanning. Other systems also need to use a liquid or gel as a matching substance, such as in an ultrasound, to work but with our system you don't need that — it can be done simply in oil, milk, water or even with a bra on."

Professor Wu has submitted his innovation to the IET Innovation Awards under the Electronics category. The winners will be announced this November.