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.
Pumping CO2 underground best hope for climate
From Reuters on 08 May 2009
Projects to capture industrial emissions and store them in the earth’s crust could cut CO2 pollution by up to 40 percent, according to officials from oil major Shell. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) – gathering CO2 emissions at their source and pumping them underground – faces steep cost hurdles, but may someday be worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year, a Shell executive said. “CCS is probably the largest source of potential carbon reduction for the next 30 years, and a way to deal with 30 to 40 percent of (global) emissions,” said Kimberly Corley, Shell senior advisor for CO2 and environmental affairs. [full article]
Sea ’snake’ generates electricity with every wave
From New Scientist on 07 May 2009
Anaconda, a giant rubber ’snake’ that floats offshore and converts wave energy to electricity, is a step closer to commercialisation. An 8-metre long, 1/25th scale version is currently undergoing tests in a large wave tank in Gosport, UK, and a full-size working version could be a reality in five years. Harnessing the power of waves is an attractive proposition because they are much more energy dense than wind. But wave power remains the poor relation of the renewable energy sector due to the difficulties of cheaply operating machinery in the harsh marine environment. The world’s first commercial wave farm only began operating last year, off the northern coast of Portugal. [full article]
US organic sales grow by a whopping 17.1 percent in 2008
From Natural Choices on 07 May 2009
US sales of organic products, both food and non-food, reached $24.6 billion by the end of 2008, growing an impressive 17.1 percent over 2007 sales despite tough economic times, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which today made available final results from its 2009 Organic Industry Survey. While the overall economy has been losing ground, sales of organic products reflect very strong growth during 2008. “Organic products represent value to consumers, who have shown continued resilience in seeking out these products,” said Christine Bushway, OTA’s Executive Director. [full article]
Some Americans clamor to try wind power at home
From Reuters on 07 May 2009
The idea of wind turbines churning out free electricity alongside every home and office building has appeal, judging by the throngs around “community wind” purveyors at a Chicago wind power convention this week. Darrin Russell of Southwest Windpower was inundated with questions during the Windpower 2009 convention where he explained the economics of the company’s workhorse 2.4 kilowatt Skystream turbine, which plugs into the local electrical grid. “It’s nice watching the (electricity) meter go backward. Sometimes it gets going pretty fast when the wind blows hard” which it does often at the company’s headquarters in Flagstaff, Arizona, he said. [full article]
Trampling biodiversity in the name of biofuels
From Conservation Magazine on 06 May 2009
These days, Jason Clay walks around with an eerie sense of déjà vu. Over the past few years, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) anthropologist has become deeply entangled in the tortuous struggle to ensure that supposedly “green” biofuels – such as ethanol brewed from corn and biodiesel wrung from palm nuts – don’t decimate biodiversity in an attempt to save the planet. It’s been a dizzying and sometimes disorienting experience. For instance, Clay watched as biofuels, once hailed as the savior of the climate, became an environmental sinner almost overnight – blamed for everything from food riots to trashed tropical forests. [full article]
China ready for post-Kyoto deal on climate change
From The Guardian on 06 May 2009
China is ready to abandon its resistance to limits on its carbon emissions and wants to reach an international deal to fight global warming, the Guardian has learned. According to Britain’s climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, who met senior officials in Beijing this week, China is ready to “do business” with developed countries to reach an agreement to replace the Kyoto treaty. Miliband said he was encouraged by the change in tone since late last year in the country that emits more greenhouse gases than any other. “I think they’re up for a deal. I get the strong impression that they want an agreement,” he told the Guardian. [full article]
Government gives green light to ‘green belt destruction’
From The Telegraph on 06 May 2009
The move is contained in the Government’s new South East Plan which will see 32,000 houses built every year between now and 2026. The controversial document includes a recommendation to review green belt land in Oxfordshire and Surrey in order to build 6,000 more homes there. Countryside campaigners fear the move will “open the floodgates” to more building on the green belt and the Tories accused the Government of “concreting over” the South East. However, the Government insisted green belt boundaries should not be “set in stone” when there is so much demand for affordable housing. [full article]
Energy bill to include plan offering cash for gas guzzlers
From LA Times on 06 May 2009
President Obama and key House Democrats agreed Tuesday to include a “cash for clunkers” program in the major energy bill being written in Congress, but they ended a White House meeting without reaching agreement on thornier issues – including how to reduce the economic impact of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The “clunkers” program would offer federal payments to consumers who scrapped older gas-guzzling vehicles and bought new, more environmentally friendly ones to replace them. Similar programs have enjoyed some success in Europe. [full article]
Europe votes to ban seal product trade
From The Guardian on 05 May 2009
Europe moved today to halt the clubbing to death of hundreds of thousands of seals every year, when MEPs voted overwhelmingly to ban trading in seal products, hoping that the collapse of the market will drastically reduce the massacre. The decision to outlaw virtually all trade in seal products was directed mainly at Canada, where the yearly cull kills around 300,000 seals, a practice condemned by many as barbaric. Canada, which exports several million dollars worth of seal products to the EU, is threatening to take Brussels to the World Trade Organisation because of the ban, which still needs to be endorsed by the EU’s 27 national governments. [full article]
Russia to build floating Arctic nuclear stations
From The Observer on 03 May 2009
Russia is planning a fleet of floating and submersible nuclear power stations to exploit Arctic oil and gas reserves, causing widespread alarm among environmentalists. A prototype floating nuclear power station being constructed at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvinsk is due to be completed next year. Agreement to build a further four was reached between the Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and the northern Siberian republic of Yakutiya in February. The 70-megawatt plants, each of which would consist of two reactors on board giant steel platforms, would provide power to Gazprom, the oil firm which is also Russia’s biggest company. [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.
