Biofuels may be worse for global warming than fossil fuels
February 12, 2008
Posted in Transport
Biofuels may help countries reduce their reliance on imported oil, but two new studies published in the Feb 8 issue of the journal Science have cast doubt on the benefits of biofuels as a solution to combat climate change. In fact, using biofuels may produce more greenhouse gas emissions than using conventional fossil fuels in the short term, says one of the studies.
Peviously it was thought that the emissions produced from using biofuels were counterbalanced by the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere by the growing crops. Burning fossil fuels, on the other hand, just released stored carbon into the atmosphere. Hence, biofuels were considered to be more climate friendly than fossil fuels. Read more
Gulf state to build solar city
February 10, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world’s largest producers or oil, is planning to build what architect Norman Foster describes as the world’s first carbon neutral, zero waste city.
Known as Masdar City, The New York Times describes it as a self-contained, mini-municipality for up to 50,000 people in the desert. It is intended as a hub for academic and corporate research on non-polluting energy technologies.
Famous London-based architects Foster + Partners are involved in the design of the community which will be car free and produce all its own energy from the sun. Its water will come from a solar-powered seawater desalination plant. All waste will be either composted or recycled and food will be grown locally in greenhouses.
Masdar City is part of a planned $15-billion investment in new energy technologies by Abu Dhabi, which is apparently looking to diversify its economy and find a post-petroleum development model.
See the NYT’s Andrew Revkin’s blog for more and a video virtual tour of the proposed new city.
Online energy saving resource
February 6, 2008
Posted in Green tips, Lifestyle
A useful resource for people who want to learn more about their household energy usage and how to choose the most energy efficient appliances is a British website call Sust-it. It provides consumer information on the energy efficiency of a long list of products ranging from washing machines to PCs to air-conditioners to LCD and plasma screens. It ranks products according to their energy efficiency and lists the power they use in watts and the amount of carbon dioxide produced in kg per year. The aim of the site is: “to make us all more energy efficient by providing consumer information on the most energy efficient products on the market”.
Via:: Friends of the Earth
10-point plan to solve the electricity crisis
February 6, 2008
Posted in Green News
A group of NGO’s has put together a 10-point plan aimed at turning the current electricity crisis into an opportunity for South Africa to shift to a more long-term sustainable approach that reduces our reliance on coal and nuclear power.
“We have an opportunity to do things differently. A focus on energy efficiency in the short term, with a longer-term emphasis on renewable energy for generation will take us down the renewable road, meeting the sustainable development aims and address climate change along the way,” Earthlife Africa’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Project, which is spearheading the campaign, said in a press statement.
Read more
Time to learn what’s watts
February 3, 2008
Posted in Green tips, Lifestyle
When Treevolution first read that Eskom and the department of minerals and energy were preparing to send “power police” into the suburbs to gather information about power wasters and to ask residents to report on people who wasted electricity, we thought it was a joke.
But IOL did indeed report that on Friday Eskom had “urged all residents to call their regional offices with information about people who ‘abuse’ electricity in their homes”. It doesn’t actually specify what would constitute power abuse, which is a bit disconcerting. Nor does it say what punishment is likely to be meted out to those caught being wasteful. But one would assume that as long as you’re not running a Laundromat from your back room, or you haven’t got spotlights lighting up every corner of your garden, you’ll be okay. Although you’d better make friends with your neighbours just to be on the safe side.
To help you avoid being snitched by the guy across the street whose yappy dog you’ve been complaining about for years, we’d like to share with you something we found in the City of Cape Town’s Smart Living Handbook on how to conduct an audit of your electrical appliances. As the handbook says: “Knowing how much energy your household uses – and what you’re using it for – will help you to prioritise which areas of energy use you could improve in your home.”
Read more
Africa’s forgotten fruits hold great potential
February 3, 2008
Posted in Food
Africa’s “lost fruit crops”, such as baobab and maroela, are an untapped resource that could be used to combat malnutrition and boost environmental stability, says a new report from the US National Research Council.
The maroela tree, for example, is a “nutritional powerhouse” which produces fruits that are high in vitamin C and nuts high in protein and minerals. Oils extracted from the nuts are used in high-priced skin care products.
The fruit of the baobab contains a pulp that can be dried into a powder high in protein, vitamins and minerals, the report says. “The powder is stirred into warm water or milk to create a healthy drink, and also beaten and dried into thin pancakes.”
The report says that fruit production in Africa is dominated by species introduced from Asia and the Americas, such as bananas, pineapples, and papayas, but with scientific and institutional support, Africa’s native fruits could make a much greater contribution to nutrition and economic development.
Update: Lake Natron flamingoes
February 2, 2008
Posted in Conservation
Communities living around Tanzania’s Lake Natron have publicly opposed a plan to build a soda ash plant in the area. The communities do not believe the proposed factory will provide them with jobs but instead fear they could lose tourism-related employment, which is an important source of income in the area, Birdlife reports.
“It’s our sincere hope that our government will carefully analyse and hear all interested and affected stakeholders views before making a final decision on this issue,” said Lota Melamari, CEO of WCST (Birdlife in Tanzania).
Cement company grilled on carbon emissions
February 2, 2008
Posted in Business
Shareholder activist Theo Botha has taken another company to task on its carbon emissions. This time he grilled cement company PPC on its “vague” environmental targets at its annual general meeting in Sandton on Monday.
According to a report by Rob Rose of the Financial Mail, Botha asked why PPC didn’t disclose its total carbon emissions. The company’s chairman, Martin Shaw, replied: “Maybe we’ll do that, put those details in.”
“If they can’t account for such an important figure, their sustainability report is largely meaningless,” Botha reportedly said.
The cement industry produces 5 percent of the world’s man-made carbon-dioxide emissions, according to a 2002 report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The chemical process of producing clinker is responsible for 50 percent of those emissions – when calcium carbonate is heated it produces lime and carbon dioxide – and burning fossil fuels for energy is responsible for 40 percent.
The WBCSD says that “it requires the equivalent of 60 to 130kg of fuel oil and 110 kWh of electricity to produce one ton of cement (depending on the cement variety and the process used).”
Beetle mania
February 2, 2008
Posted in Green News
An entemologist has named a new species of whirligig beetle from India after rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his wife Barbara. In 2005, the same entemologist named new species of slime-mould beetles after Darth Vader, US president George Bush, US vice-president Dick Cheney and former secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld. Who said scientists don’t have a sense of humour?
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