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.
Wales plans for energy self-sufficiency with renewables in 20 years
From The Guardian on 22 May 2009
Wales today laid out radical plans to make it one of the most energy- and resource-efficient countries in the world within a generation. The government development plans, which are legally binding, are far in advance of anything planned for England or Scotland and would see it become energy self-sufficient in using renewable electricity within 20 years and reduce waste to zero by 2050. The proposals would make Wales one of only three countries in the world legally bound to develop “sustainably”. “We intend to reduce by 80-90% our use of carbon-based energy, resulting in a similar reduction in our greenhouse gas generation,” said Jane Davidson, the Welsh environment minister. [full article]
Eco-vandals take on the gas-guzzlers
From The Independent on 22 May 2009
Police are searching for a gang of radical environmental activists after a series of attacks on 4×4 vehicles. The gang, who claim to have targeted up to 80 vehicles across South Manchester, let down tyres and leave notes accusing the owners of adding to global warming and increasing the chances of road deaths. In the last week tyres on 20 vehicles were slashed or deflated in the Ladybarn and Withington of the city. This follows similar attacks on 11 cars last month. Police classify the deliberate acts as criminal damage. A statement from the activists said: “Given the threat of climate change and the Government’s inaction, direct action such as this is, unfortunately, necessary. Large SUVs emit substantially more greenhouse gases.” [full article]
Canada enjoys biofuel boost with first waste-to-biofuel plant
From BusinessGreen on 22 May 2009
Canada-based biofuel and biochemical producer Enerkem said yesterday that it has received approval to build a commercial facility to turn municipal waste into biofuels. The C$70m (£39m) plant will be a joint effort with Toronto-based GreenField Ethanol, Canada’s leading ethanol producer, and is the first of its type in North America. “This unprecedented project is set to change the dynamics of the waste and fuel industries by making waste that would otherwise be landfilled a resource for transportation fuels,” said Vincent Chornet, chief executive of Enerkem. The plant will work by using the waste to create synthetic gas. Then catalysts will be used to convert the gas into a variety of biofuels and chemicals. [full article]
Thousands evacuate in Australia flood emergency
From Reuters on 22 May 2009
Authorities moved to evacuate thousands of people from a second Australian town Friday as floodwaters from days of torrential rain inundated large parts of the country’s east coast. About 5,000 residents in Lismore, in northern New South Wales (NSW) state, were evacuated from their homes as floodwaters, in some places more than 10 meters (32 feet) deep, surged across riverlands stretching along 300 km (185 miles) of coastline. Authorities also urged 9,000 people to evacuate the nearby town of Grafton, with floodwaters up to 8 meters deep expected to hit the town late Friday. State authorities declared disaster zones in six areas, unlocking government help. [full article]
Washington governor orders cutbacks in emissions
From LA Times on 21 May 2009
Chris Gregoire sidestepped her Legislature’s refusal to adopt a cap-and-trade program to limit greenhouse gases, signing an executive order Thursday to achieve similar reductions by ratcheting back coal-fired electricity and automobile emissions. “I wanted cap-and-trade. I didn’t get it,” said Gregoire, a Democrat, whose order directs government agencies to expand public transit and other programs to meet auto emissions goals, and to reach agreement with the state’s only coal-fired power plant to reduce its carbon output at least 50% by 2025. The order also calls for development of an even wider-ranging set of emission reduction strategies to achieve across-the-board greenhouse gas targets by 2020. [full article]
China’s tire demand rolls over Southeast Asian forests
From Scientific American on 21 May 2009
Geographer Jefferson Fox thought he was on to something big when the Chinese military stripped his team’s weather monitoring equipment from a montane rubber plantation in the run-up to last year’s Olympics. How big? In the past 20 years, more than 1.2 million acres (485,000 hectares) of evergreen broadleaf and secondary forests have been cleared throughout Southeast Asia to make way for rubber plantations to fuel China’s growing appetite for automobile tires. Fox – who is based at the East West Center in Honolulu – warns in Science this week that the environmental consequences of these massive land use changes, particularly on water resources, could be devastating. [full article]
Obama opens new front in climate change battle
From The Independent on 20 May 2009
The United States served notice yesterday that it finally intends to take firm action to combat the planet’s climate crisis, announcing unprecedented plans to regulate vehicle emissions from 2012 with exhaust standards that match those sought for years by California and a handful of other states. Unveiling the new plan, surrounded by car executives from the US, Japan and Europe, President Barack Obama left no one in doubt that he means to make good on his campaign promises to drag his country out of years of lethargy and inaction on climate protection. “The status quo is no longer acceptable,” President Obama declared, “We have done little to increase the fuel efficiency of America’s cars and trucks for decades. This is unprecedented change.” [full article]
Government greatly concerned by palm oil production
From The Independent on 19 May 2009
The Government has joined calls for Britain’s best-selling household groceries to use sustainable palm oil. The Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the Government was “greatly concerned” by the impact of palm oil production in South-east Asia, where it causes extensive deforestation and threatens the survival of the orangutan and other rare animals. Producers chop down forests in Sumatra and Borneo to plant high-yielding oil palms whose oil is poured into food, soaps and skin creams. As the Independent disclosed earlier this month palm oil is in, or suspected to be in, 43 of the UK’s 100 best-selling grocery brands, including Cadbury Dairy Milk, Mr Kipling cakes and Dove soap. [full article]
Obama to overhaul car industry with stringent exhaust targets
From The Guardian on 19 May 2009
Barack Obama is to compel US car makers to give up on gas guzzlers and step up production of a more fuel-efficient vehicle fleet. In a ceremony today at the White House, Obama will establish the first national limits on car exhaust and dramatically raise fuel efficiency standards. The new exhaust target will force US manufacturers to produce cars and trucks that are nearly 40% more efficient. Environmentalists said the new standards will do more to reduce global warming pollution than any of the other measures taken by Obama so far, and could lead to the overhaul of the US car industry. Cars and trucks are responsible for about a quarter of America’s greenhouse gas emissions. [full article]
Carbon capture and storage may be key to Climate Bill
From Scientific American on 18 May 2009
With Congress crafting energy and climate legislation, disparate lobbyists are urging lawmakers to think about China and other developing countries as reasons to develop power plants that capture coal’s carbon emissions. If the United States succeeds in building commercially viable coal plants, lobbyists and some independent experts argue, it could export the technology to countries that are building traditional power plants at a rapid clip. “China burns twice as much coal as we do,” said Howard Herzog, principal research engineer at the MIT Energy Initiative. “If there’s not a way for China to clean up its coal emissions, it almost doesn’t matter what anybody else does in the long term.” [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.
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