Each Friday we’ll bring you a round-up of the week’s green news from around the web. Please drop us a line if you know of a story we should include in the next round-up.
Poor countries could be paid to go nuclear
From New Scientist on 05 June 2009
For the first time in eight years, countries are contemplating giving nuclear stations carbon credits in the run-up to the crucial world summit on climate change in Copenhagen in December. Draft text currently under negotiation at climate change talks by 182 countries in Bonn, Germany, includes an option to make nuclear facilities eligible for funding from 2012 under two schemes meant to help poorer countries develop low-carbon technologies: the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation. Nuclear power was excluded from these schemes under the Kyoto protocol in 2001, after opposition from European and developing countries. Now the nuclear industry is hoping to overturn that, and open the door for funding to flow to nuclear stations across the developing world. [full article]
Wind turbines on public sector land could power 1.5m homes
From The Telegraph on 05 June 2009
On World Environment Day (5th June), the Environment Agency are calling on the Government to use the one million hectares of land and tens of thousands of buildings owned by public sector organisations to generate more renewable electricity. At the moment less than 0.1 per cent of the total amount of renewable energy which the UK is capable of producing comes from renewable energy projects on publicly owned property like Ministry of Defence land, schools, hospitals and public parks. However the Environment Agency calculate that it would be possible to generate three gigawatts of power – mostly through installing wind turbines on public sector land but also through hydroelectric plants on rivers and solar panels on buildings like hospitals and schools. [full article]
Melting ice could lead to waves of climate refugees
From Sustainablog on 04 June 2009
As the earth warms, the melting of the earth’s two massive ice sheets - Antarctica and Greenland - could raise sea level enormously. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt, it would raise sea level 7 meters (23 feet). Melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet would raise sea level 5 meters (16 feet). But even just partial melting of these ice sheets will have a dramatic effect on sea level rise. Senior scientists are noting that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections of sea level rise during this century of 18 to 59 centimeters are already obsolete and that a rise of 2 meters during this time is within range. [full article]
Modest carbon price could save Borneo forests
From Reuters on 04 June 2009
Tropical forests in Borneo under threat of conversion to palm oil plantations could be more profitable left standing if carbon credits were priced between $10 and $33 per tonne, a study has found. Forests soak up vast amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide each year and are crucial in the fight to curb climate change. Many governments and scientists want to put a price on the carbon locked away in forests as an incentive to curb deforestation, which contributes nearly a fifth of mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers led by Oscar Venter of the University of Queensland in Australia studied data from 808 concessions in Kalimantan, Indonesia’s part of Borneo island, covering 8 million hectares (20 million acres). [full article]
Fat people causing climate change says Jonathan Porritt
From The Telegraph on 03 June 2009
Echoing the famous slogan “fat is a feminist issue”, Sir Jonathan, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, said “fat is a climate change issue”. He pointed out overweight people eat more protein-rich food such as beef or lamb, which is responsible for producing greenhouse gases because of the toxic methane livestock emits. He also said obese people are more likely to use cars rather than walk or cycle, therefore producing more carbon emissions. The former Green Party politician, who has caused controversy before by suggesting people should not have more than two children to prevent over-population, said the Government should be encouraging people who are above the recommended body mass index to lose weight not only to improve their health but to help the environment. [full article]
Chevron Escapes Tar Oil Accountability
From Planetsave on 02 June 2009
Much will be said at the Chevron Corporation’s shareholder conference this week; the agenda is full. However, there will be little said about Chevron’s involvement in controversial projects concerning tar sand. Despite the requests of shareholders owning $31.4 billion dollars, Chevron will remain quiet, keeping the Alberta tar sand projects off the agenda. Tar sand, a source of non-conventional oil, consists of bitumen, a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Harvesting tar sand requires huge amounts of energy and water. [full article]
Friends of the Earth slams offsetting model
From BusinessGreen on 02 June 2009
The practice of carbon offsetting is “profoundly unjust” and “fundamentally flawed”, according to a critical new report from Friends of the Earth. A Dangerous Distraction, which calls on the UK government to ditch calls for an expansion of UN-backed offsetting schemes, argues there is now ample evidence to show that offsetting is “ineffective and damaging”. The report has been released to coincide with international talks in Bonn this week, where reforms designed to expand the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offsetting scheme to include forestry are expected to be high up the agenda. [full article]
Why do whales beach themselves?
From Scientific American on 01 June 2009
Mass strandings of dolphins, whales, and other marine mammals date back to the time of Aristotle, but some environmental activists have suggested that human impacts of pollution, shipping noise and, in some cases, military sonar have led to a rise in such frequency and severity of such events. And so scientists have been trying to untangle what factors cause these normally adept swimmers and maritime navigators end up in shallow water where they can become beached and die. To find out more about mass strandings we spoke with Darlene Ketten, a neuroethologist and expert on hearing in marine mammals at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. [full article]
MPs attack shipping industry’s inaction on emissions
From The Guardian on 01 June 2009
The international shipping industry has acted irresponsibly in failing to address rapidly growing climate change emissions and the UN body that governs it is “not fit for purpose”, according to an influential group of MPs. Showing clear impatience at continuing lack of progress in cutting emissions, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said: “There can be no excuse for the lack of progress within the International Maritime Organisation since the Kyoto protocol was signed [in 2005]. That the IMO has yet to reach agreement even over the type of emissions control regime to take forward, let alone decide any details, suggests it is not fit for purpose in this vital area. [full article]
Extinct bumblebee to be reintroduced from New Zealand
From The Guardian on 01 June 2009
A bumblebee which died out in the UK, but survived in New Zealand after being shipped there more than 100 years ago, is to be reintroduced here under plans announced today. Small populations of the short-haired bumblebee were established on the South Island of New Zealand after being transported there on the first refrigerated lamb boats in the late 19th century to pollinate crops of red clover. The bees will not suffer from jet lag as they will be in hibernation when they are transported on planes in cool boxes, according to Natural England. The short-haired bumblebee became extinct in this country in 2000, but the populations on the other side of the world have clung on — although conservationists say they are unprotected and under threat. [full article]
Don’t forget to drop us a line if you know of a story we should include in the next round-up of green news.
