Whales not having a whale of a time
June 23, 2008
Posted in Conservation
Despite 20 years of “moratorium” on whale hunting, the populations of these animals aren’t showing significant signs of recovery, say scientists in an AFP report.
This fact will be contested by whaling nations such as Japan, Norway and Iceland at the International Whaling Commission in Chile this week. But scientists say that it would need decades of uninterrupted growth for whale populations to return to their original numbers – even those species who appear to be thriving may not be out of danger, they say.
Besides commercial hunting, whales have to contend with other dangers posed by sharing the oceans with people: they are struck by their vessels, become entangled in fishing nets, are poisoned by pollution, their habitats are destroyed and bombarded with noise. Add to this the effects of climate change, one of which is the potential acidification of the oceans which could sharply reduce the number of krill on which whales feed, and these giant mammals are in for a hard time.
We humans really need to be less greedy and learn to share the planet with other species instead of looking at everything as potential resources that are only of value if we have a use for them.
Via :: Terra Daily
Courses offered on solar electric systems
June 23, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Want to learn more about solar electricity? Solar Con is offering training courses on how to market, design and install solar electric systems, using a solar trainer teaching kit imported from Germany.
The course costs R2400. A 50 percent deposit is required with registration.
It will be held at the Lapp Building, 51 Brunton Circle, Founders View, Modderfontein, Johannesburg. Read more
Many feet make lights work
June 17, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Engineers in Britain have come up with a way to generate electricity from the footsteps of people walking across floors. Under-floor generators that are powered by “heel strikes” may soon be installed in supermarkets and railway stations, according to an article in the UK’s Sunday Times.
The new underfloor generators work like this: a footstep would compress a pad under the floor, driving fluid through mini-turbines that would generate electricity that would be stored in batteries. Engineers at British firm Scott Wilson have modelled the effects of this technology at London’s Victoria tube station, where 34,000 travellers are said pass through every rush hour, and have calculated that they could generate enough electricity to power 6,500 lightbulbs. The firm is in negotiations to install the devices at the station, the Sunday Times reports. Read more
Rich countries urged to donate to climate change fund
June 16, 2008
Posted in Business
Japan, the US and Britain have been encouraging the rich countries at a recent G8 meeting in Japan to contribute money to two climate investment funds that the World Bank will administer. The Financial Times reports that the three countries have already pledged $5-billion of the $10-billion initial investment they are trying to raise. Read more
Ancient date seed germinates
June 13, 2008
Posted in Conservation
Scientists in Israel have grown a date palm from a seed thought to be about 2,000 years old – the oldest seed ever to germinate, reports ScienceNow Daily News. The seeds were found 40 years ago by scientists excavating at Masada in the Judean desert. Using carbon dating on two of the seeds they found one was 2,110 years old and the other 1,995. In those days the Dead Sea region was famous for its dates, the report says. But the region’s vast date forests disappeared hundreds of years ago. A third seed, which the scientists decided to plant, germinated. The little date plant has been named Methuselah.
Africa’s environment then and now
June 13, 2008
Posted in Conservation
The satellite pictures on the left show the loss of fynbos in the Western Cape to agricultural and urban expansion between 1978 and 2006. The satellite images are among more than 300 taken all across Africa published in the Atlas of Our Changing Environment, compiled by the UN Environment Programme. The atlas was launched at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) which met this week in Joburg. The photographs span some 35 years and serve as “before” and “after” shots, showing how Africa’s environment has changed over the years.
The 400-page atlas can be downloaded in pdf fomat There’s also an interactive version where you can explore world maps. Apparently about 120 sites from the atlas can be seen on Google Earth. Read more
Community starts its own hydro electricity scheme
June 9, 2008
Posted in Renewable energy
Britain’s first community-owned hydro power project is under construction and the whole process has been lovingly documented for the past three months on a blog. A giant 70kW reverse Archimedean screw with a diameter of 2.4 metres will be installed on the Goyt River in New Mills, Derbyshire to generate about 260,000kWh or electricity a year – about enough to power 70 houses, the blog says. Read more
2010 launch set for GM’s all-electric car – and SA’s making one too
June 4, 2008
Posted in Transport
General Motors has announced that it’s all-electric car, the Chevy Volt, will be launched in 2010 and will be in showrooms (in the US, presumably) by the end of that year, Reuters reports.
The Volt will be powered entirely by an electric motor and have a lithium-ion battery pack that can be charged through an ordinary plug point. The car will be designed to travel for about 60km on its battery pack – which is apparently enough for the average daily commute in America. For longer trips, the Volt has a “range-extending power source” which “kicks in to recharge the lithium-ion battery pack as required”, says the Chevrolet.com website. This will last for around 1,000km, the site says. The car should also be able to reach a top speed of at least 100km.
Reuters says Toyota is also racing to market its own plug-in hybrid by 2010 using the same technology.
The full-charge cycle should take about three hours at 220V, gm-volt.com reports. It’s all very nice in theory, considering how the petrol price is rocketing, but the big question is whether South Africa’s power monopoloy Eskom would be able to cope with the demands electric cars would put on the grid – even if they were charged at night.
Peet du Plooy of the WWF was interviewed by summit TV earlier this year when the WWF’s report “Plugged in, the end of the oil age” was released. He said that electric vehicles cost a tenth of the price to run over time and an added advantage is that electricity is generated locally, whereas South Africa imports its oil. He also said that if you compared turning coal into electricity with turning coal into liquid fuel (as Sasol does), the electric car would go three times further with the same amount of fuel.
He also said, that in South Africa, Optimal Energy of Cape Town, which had received government funding from the Innovation Fund, was looking to go into production with an electric vehicle in 2010.
The deputy science and technology minister, Derek Hanekom, was reported in Saturday’s The Weekender as saying that the first prototype of the South African-designed car would be unveiled by early next year.
The reports says that the batteries will be imported from China and that the six-seater passenger vehicle would have a range of between 100km and 400km. And, here’s a bonus, “the roof would have solar panels to help charge the battery when it is parked in the sun”. Now, there’s a good idea for sunny South Africa.
How a locally made vehicle would compete with vehicles made by well-known car manufacturers’ on the market, is another matter.
Olive oil and other Mediterranean health secrets
June 3, 2008
Posted in Food
Like Italian food? Well, eat up, because it’s good for you. The traditional Mediterranean diet helps protect against the onset of Type II diabetes, according to a study published recently in the British Medical Journal. The diet is rich in olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, veggies and fish, and low in meat dairy products and alcohol. The abundant use of virgin oil for cooking, frying, spreading on bread, and dressing salads, is a key element of the diet, the report says.
Via :: Science Daily
Joburg hosts summit on climate change
June 3, 2008
Posted in Green News
Environmental management must become a central part of the planning and execution of public projects in order to deal with the implications of climate change, the City of Johannesburg MMC for environmental management Prema Naidoo, told delegates at a first-of-its-kind local government conference on climate change in Johannesburg yesterday. [Engineering News]
Midrand, Johannesurg’s high-tech commercial hub, is built on a wetland which makes it susceptible to the effects of uncontrolled climate change, Prema said. Developers also did not take the flood line into consideration when building the suburb, he added. Damage from severe weather events, such as floods, could cost the city dearly in revenue and potentially lives. [All Africa.com]
The two-day summit, whose theme is “All hands on deck: towards a low carbon economy,” is described as an opportunity for most of the country’s 283 municipalities for the first time to thrash out policy and strategy solutions on climate change. Read more
