Worlds largest solar steam system inaugurated at Shirdi, Maharashtra, India

The worlds largest solar steam system designed to cook huge quantity of food installed at Sri Sai Baba Temple in Shirdi, Maharashtra was today inaugurated by India's New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah.

"The solar steam system has been designed for cooking food for devotees visiting the temple," officials of the ministry said here.

The system was installed at a cost of Rs 1.33 crore, for which the New and Renewable ministry provided a subsidy of Rs 58.40 lakhs.

The solar system, officials said, will help the temple authorities cook food for 20,000 people every day, resulting in a huge annual savings around Rs 20 lakhs and one lakh kg gas.

The solar system at Shirdi generates about 3500 kg of steam every day and it is designed in a way that it can generate steam for cooking even in the absence of electricity.

SOURCE : PTI

Energy Efficiency Could Save U.S. $600 Billion

The United States could save about $600 billion in energy costs by 2020 if it hiked annual efficiency spending about five-fold, business consultants McKinsey and Co said in a report on Wednesday.

Governments, businesses and the general public would have to boost annual spending on existing energy-saving measures, like insulating walls and more efficient appliances, from about $10 billion annually to $50 billion per year. The upfront costs would pay off by saving $1.2 trillion by 2020, according to the report called "Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the U.S. Economy."

The report, which did not look at energy used in transportation, said the savings would cut energy used for heating and to generate power about 23 percent.

It would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.1 gigatons annually -- or the equivalent of taking the entire fleet of U.S. vehicles off the road, the report said.

"The potential to reduce the energy we waste is compelling," said Kenneth Ostrowski, a senior partner at McKinsey. To reach the savings, the country needs coordinated national and regional strategies to overcome barriers and deploy more energy efficiency technologies, he said.

The climate bill passed by the House of Representatives includes measures for energy efficiency that would be included with renewable energy programs. The legislation faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

Some efficiency gains have been made through initiatives such as the Long Island Green Homes initiative, in which the town of Babylon helps finance energy retrofits for homeowners.

But such programs need to be speeded up, said McKinsey principal Jon Creyts, who added it would take 100 years for such programs to reach their full potential.

SOURCE : REUTERS

PSE&G Gets New Jersey Approval To Spend $515 Million On Solar

This will be the largest pole-attached solar project in the world.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc unit PSE&G can spend $515 million of ratepayer money for 80 megawatts of solar power projects, New Jersey utility regulators ruled on Wednesday.

Regulators reduced PSE&G's original proposal of $773 million for 120 megawatts of solar power. The state utility regulating board killed plans for solar panels on government buildings.

Some 40 megawatts of power will be generated by placing small solar units on 200,000 power poles in the PSE&G service territory. PSE&G says this will be the largest pole-attached solar project in the world.

The other 40 MW will come from solar panels on commercial roofs and in "solar gardens" owned by PSE&G as well as third parties.

The projects are to be installed by the end of 2013. By the time they are up and generating, the average PSE&G residential customer will be paying about 10 cents per month for them. Rates will be increased until 2028 to pay for the solar projects, and the average customer will eventually pay 35 cents per month for them.

No estimate was given as to the amount of the defrayed costs.

While New Jersey customers are not paying the full $515 million, that overall cost for development of 80 megawatts of electricity generation is about $6.4 million per megawatt. It costs about $500,000/MW for natural gas power plants, $2 million/MW for coal plants and $4 million/MW for nuclear power plants.

When all units are up and generating, 80 MW can power about 640,000 New Jersey households.

PSE&G is allowed a 10 percent rate of return on the projects.

PSE&G is the regulated gas and electric utility in New Jersey for its parent, which is based in Newark, New Jersey.

PSEG owns and operates more than 16,500 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and, in New Jersey, distributes electricity to 2.1 million customers and natural gas to 1.7 million customers. It also has another 2.9 million customers around the world.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Green Groups Blast EU Agency Over Biotech Maize

MON 810 maize potential effects on human and animal health.

International green groups attacked Europe's leading food safety agency on Wednesday for its views on biotech crops and foods, saying a recent opinion was flawed and had ignored studies highlighting safety concerns.

In a report analyzing last month's opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the safety of a genetically modified maize made by U.S. company Monsanto, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) said there was enough evidence to show that the maize, called MON 810, was hazardous.

EFSA's scientific opinion concluded that MON 810 maize was "as safe as its conventional counterpart with respect to potential effects on human and animal health."

It also said the maize was "unlikely to have any adverse effect on the environment in the context of its intended uses." Those intended uses include seed for cultivation.

Monsanto's insect-resistant MON 810 maize is the only GM crop that may as yet be grown commercially in the European Union. Although its original 10-year approval expired in April 2008, the maize may still be grown during the renewal process.

EFSA's opinion is significant since it provides the basis for EU regulators to begin the process of renewing the license for growing the GM maize, banned in six EU countries on environment and health concerns.

SOURCE : REUTERS

China Says Rich Nation CO2 Cuts Key To Copenhagen

Developed nation need to commit in Copenhagen in December

Rich nations must agree to large, measurable cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions, if the world is to set a framework to tackle global warming at U.N.-led talks in December, a senior Chinese official said on Wednesday.

"The Chinese side believes that in Copenhagen...the key to success is to decide large, quantifiable mid-term emission-cutting targets for the developed nations," the Xinhua article paraphrased Xie saying.

Xie Zhenhua, a deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission who steers climate change policy, told the official Xinhua agency that commitment from industrialized countries was crucial to a deal in Copenhagen in December.

He was speaking after the United States and China signed a deal that promises more cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment without setting firm goals.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it highlighted the importance of climate change in U.S.-Chinese relations, and said the sides discussed in detail how to cut emissions ahead of the Copenhagen conference.

China is very vulnerable to a warming world. Its scientists have warned of more droughts in the north and extra storms and flooding in the south, as well as a potential drop in harvests of over one third by the end of the century.

China is the world's biggest annual emitter of greenhouse gasses but on a per capita basis and over the course of history it is far outpaced by western nations that have smaller populations and have had decades of emissions intensive growth.

It has long insisted that a framework to arrange and fund large-scale technology transfers should be a key part of any climate change deal, because it is the cheapest way to ensure the maximum possible cuts in carbon dioxide.

Officials also say it will help developing nations to curb emissions growth without having to sacrifice the development needed to lift their people out of poverty.

SOURCE : REUTERS

India Seeks Help Building Low-Carbon Emmision Future

Resource and green technology to achieve growth

India's booming economy has huge potential to shift to a low-carbon future but needs a little hand-holding by rich nations to keep it on the right path, a top Indian climate change negotiator said.

Half of India's population do not have access to electricity and relying on fossil fuels such as coal to expand the power grid is unsustainable and unwise .

India needed to follow a different development path than rich nations' heavy reliance on coal, oil and gas.

There is a lot of scope for a developing nation like India to grow in a more efficient way for providing electricity through means other than fossil fuel.

It will be a huge achievement if developed nation hold the hand of developing nation like India providing them with resources and technology to achieve their growth by greener ways.

By Recognizing the huge potential from solar, India's government has made this a centerpiece of its climate change policy and is set to unveil in September a target of generating 20 gigawatts of electricity using solar energy by 2020.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Wikipedia-style website to record every species on Earth

The Encyclopedia of Life – a user-generated database of all living things

The recently-launched EoL (it stands for 'Encyclopedia of Life'), which aims to create not just a list, but an individual web-page, for every single one of the world's plant and animal species, is bound to cause a buzz.

There may only be about 5,000 species of mammals, 8,000 species of reptiles, and 10,000 or so species of birds. But once we get to groups like flowering plants (about 250,000 species, and that's not including hybrids), insects (over 1m species described, with perhaps another 5m new ones waiting to be discovered), let alone micro-organisms such as viruses and bacteria and so on.

EoL is a self-perpetuating encyclopedia, written by and refereed by anyone who wants to contribute. In practice, the contributors are likely to be mainly professional scientists or talented amateur naturalists – in some cases the leading experts on a species or group. Others can add text, images and even video clips to each entry, with the ultimate goal of making information about all the world's organisms freely available.

Accuracy will be ensured (hopefully, at least) by an expert team of curators, who will weed out any inaccuracies and clarify any confusions. Like Wikipedia, there will be no charge for anyone wishing to access the information, so writers must be willing to share their knowledge with anyone else under a 'creative commons licence'. Original sources will also be credited where possible.

This will be a truly Herculean task to prepare this website. The founders of EoL do deserve praise and support for their effort for this creative beginning to restore knowledge of species for your future . Who knows in future this may be the only place where to find picture or information about a species due to this current rate of enviornment degradation..

Check it now >> EoL

Organic food not healthier, says FSA

Report finds organic food provides no significant nutritional benefit compared with conventionally produced food

Organic food is no healthier and provides no significant nutritional benefit compared with conventionally produced food, according to a new, independent study funded by the Food Standards Agency.

The report looked at evidence published over the past 50 years of the different nutrient levels found in crops and livestock from both types of farming and also at the health benefits of eating organic food. The findings, partly published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, contradict previous work that has found organically grown food to be nutritionally superior.

Dr Alan Dangour, who led the review by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Most studies were based on the hypothesis that eating organic food is beneficial to health. Looking at all of the studies published in the last 50 years, we have concluded that there's no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health based on the nutrient content."

He said that while small differences in nutrient content were found between organic and conventionally produced food, they were "unlikely to be of any public health relevance".

Organic food campaigners criticised the study for failing to consider fertiliser and pesticide residues in food. They expressed disappointment at its "limited" nature, saying that without long-term studies it did not provide a clear answer on whether eating organic food has health benefits. A leading food academic went further, saying he found the conclusions "selective in the extreme".

The appendix of the FSA report shows that some nutrients, such as beta-carotene, are as much as 53% higher in organic food, but such differences are not reflected in its conclusions.

The farming of organic food, which is now worth £2bn in the UK alone, is governed by strict regulations that set it apart from conventional farming. Crops are not treated with artificial chemical fertilisers or pesticides, while antibiotics and drugs are not used routinely on livestock.

The EU study co-ordinated by Leifert, which ended in May this year, involved 31 research and university institutes. It found that levels of nutritionally desirable compounds, such as antioxidants and vitamins, were higher in organic crops, while levels of nutritionally undesirable compounds such as toxic chemicals, mycotoxins and metals such as cadmium and nickel, were lower in organic crops.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Global poll finds 73% want higher priority for climate change

Britons among the most enthusiastic about action to stop global warming, while Americans among least willing to put environment first, according to global public opinion poll

A majority of peoples around the world want their governments to put action on climate change at the top of the political agenda, a new global public opinion poll suggests.

Unfortunately for Barack Obama though, who has put energy reform at the top of his White House to-do list,Only 44% of Americans thought climate change should be a major preoccupation for the Obama administration, the survey co-ordinated by the University of Maryland's Programme on International Policy Attitudes said.

Britons were among the most enthusiastic supporters for greater government intervention, with 77% urging officials to do more. Germans, however, think their government has already done enough. Some 83% think their government has already adopted climate change action as a top priority; 27% would like the government to turn its attention elsewhere.

The poll, which sampled the opinions of 18,578 people in 19 countries, found broad popular support for making climate change a top priority extended even to those countries whose governments have yet to commit to global action. In China there was overwhelming support — 94% — for the government to keep climate change on the front burner.

And in India, which is also rapidly emerging as one of the world's leading producers of global warming pollution, 59% of the public wanted their government to make climate change a top priority.That defies the hard line taken by the country's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, earlier this month against putting any cap on its greenhouse gas emissions.

Only four countries — Germany, Britain, China, and Indonesia — considered that their governments were focused on climate change. But, that did not necessarily satisfy the demand for even greater action.

Although the majority of Britons, 58%, credit the government with making climate change a major priority, even greater numbers, 89%, believe there is room for the government to do even more.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Bialowieza Primeval : Last Europe primeval forest in trouble

Europe's last ancient forest, home to its largest herd of bison, faces an uncertain future because of climate change, but residents worry that tougher conservation efforts will damage the local economy.

The 150,000-hectare (380,000-acre) Bialowieza Primeval Forest, which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, is one of the largest unpopulated woodlands remaining in Europe.

It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

On the Polish side of the border, residents oppose plans to extend the protected zone of this unique habitat, which is under threat from rising temperatures and declining rainfall.

Encouraged by international conservation agencies, Warsaw wants to enlarge the area's national park, which occupies less than a fifth of the Polish part of the forest.

It has offered up to 100 million zlotys ($55.1 million) to be shared among the nine communities that would be affected by broader regulations protecting wildlife.

However, the region is among the poorest in Poland and residents of Bialowieza district (population 2,400) are sceptical, fearing it would discourage investment, cause job losses and reduce the community's tax revenues.

"You may think we are fools not willing to take the money," Mayor Albert Litwinowicz told Reuters.

"But it will only go for green investments, while we need roads."

SOURCE : REUTERS

India To Unveil 20GW Solar Target Under Climate Plan

India will unveil its first solar power target as soon as September, pledging to boost output from near zero to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 as it firms up its national plan to fight global warming, draft documents show.

The target, which would help India close the gap on solar front-runners like China, is part of an ambitious $19 billion, 30-year scheme that could increase India's leverage in international talks for a new U.N. climate pact in December, one of several measures meant to help cut emissions.

India, whose economy has grown by 8-9 percent annually in recent years, contributes around 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

If fully implemented, solar power would be equivalent to one-eighth of India's current installed power base, helping the world's fourth-largest emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions limit its heavy reliance on dirty coal and assuaging the nagging power deficit that has crimped its growth.

The "National Solar Mission," yet to be formally adopted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special panel on climate, envisages the creation of a statutory solar authority that would make it mandatory for states to buy some solar power, according to a draft of the plan, which provided detailed proposals for the first time, obtained by Reuters,

"The aspiration is to ensure large-scale deployment of solar generated power for both grid connected as well as distributed and decentralized off-grid provision of commercial energy services," the policy draft said.

Confirming the proposed plan, a top Indian climate official told Reuters that the mission contained "quite stiff" targets that could be announced in September. In June a senior climate official had hoped it could be submitted this month.

It envisions three phases starting with 1-1.5 GW by 2012 along with steps to drive down production costs of solar panels and spur domestic manufacturing. The world now produces about 14 gigawatts (GW) of solar power, about half of it added last year.

Nearly 200 countries meet in Copenhagen in December to try to agree on a broader climate pact to replace the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, whose first phase ends in 2012.

SOURCE : REUTERS

U.S. And China Sign Memorandum On Climate Change

The United States and China, the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, signed an agreement on Tuesday that promises more cooperation on climate change, energy and the environment.

Chinese and U.S. officials signed the memorandum of understanding at the State Department following two days of high-level economic and strategic talks.

The document was not released publicly but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it highlighted the importance of climate change in U.S.-Chinese relations.

"It also provides our countries with direction as we work together to support international climate negotiations and accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy," said Clinton at the signing ceremony.

She said the sides discussed in detail how to cut emissions ahead of a U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December that aims to set new global goals on controlling climate change.

Some in the United States argue Washington should not agree to specific reductions in industrial emissions, which could boost energy prices, until China also agrees.

But others say China already has taken more concrete steps than the United States, which must show, in the run-up to the Copenhagen meeting, it is serious about reducing emissions.

This month, during a visit to China by Chu and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the two countries launched a $15 million joint project to create more energy-efficient buildings and cars and study the development of cleaner-burning coal.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Thinning cloud cover over oceans speeds global warming, study finds

Thinning clouds over the ocean exacerbate global warming by leading to more rapid temperature increases, according to the results of a new study, published today.

The research combined data, collected by observers on ships and satellites, going back over a century.

The effect clouds have on climate has been something of a mystery to atmospheric scientists, with some researchers hoping they would provide a silver lining by acting as a brake on climate change.

One possibility was that higher temperatures would mean more clouds, which in turn would bounce more of the sun's radiation back into space, but this theory has not been reflected in the study's findings.

Instead, researchers found that, as oceans become warmer, low-level clouds dissipate from the skies.

This means more sunlight reaches the ocean surface - a runaway process that leads to more warming and less cloud cover.

"This is somewhat of a vicious cycle, potentially exacerbating global warming," Amy Clement, a professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami, said.

The cloud feedback pattern had been difficult to spot previously because the effect of global warming is heavily obscured by normal weather fluctuations.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Not under our backyard, say Germans, in blow to CO2 plans

German carbon capture plan appears to be a victim of 'numbyism' - not under my backyard

It was meant to be the world's first demonstration of a technology that could help save the planet from global warming – a project intended to capture emissions from a coal-fired power station and bury them safely underground.

But the German carbon capture plan has ended with CO2 being pumped directly into the atmosphere, following local opposition at it being stored underground

The scheme appears a victim of "numbyism" – not under my backyard.

Opposition to the carbon capture plan has contributed to a growing public backlash against renewable energy projects, raising fears that Europe will struggle to meet its low-carbon commitments.

Vattenfall's Schwarze Pumpe project in Spremberg, northern Germany, launched in a blaze of publicity last September, was a beacon of hope, the first scheme to link the three key stages of trapping, transporting and burying the greenhouse gases

The plan had been to transport up to 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the power plant each year and inject it into depleted gas reservoirs at a giant gasfield near the Polish border.

The Swedish company, however, surprised a recent conference when it admitted that the €70m (£60.3m) project was venting the CO2 straight into the atmosphere. "It was supposed to begin injecting by March or April of this year but we don't have a permit. This is a result of the local public having questions about the safety of the project," said Staffan Gortz, head of carbon capture and storage communication at Vattenfall. He said he did not expect to get a permit before next spring: "People are very, very sceptical

Scientists maintain that public safety fears are groundless: the consequences of escaping CO2 would be to the climate, not to public health. Many big environmental groups support CCS, both off and onshore, as a necessary evil in the battle against climate change.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

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Latest protest leaves climate strategy twisting in the wind

From Shetland to the Isle of Wight, feelings run high as plans to transform the UK into a low-carbon economy hit further trouble
Europe's largest onshore windfarm project has been thrown in severe doubt after the RSPB and official government agencies lodged formal objections to the 150-turbine plan, it emerged today.

The setback adds to the problems facing the government's ambition to install 10,000 new turbines across the UK by 2020 as part of its plan to cut the carbon emissions causing climate change.

The proposed 550MW windfarm, sprawling across the centre of Shetland's main island, would add almost 20% to existing onshore wind capacity. But the objectors say the plans could seriously damage breeding sites for endangered birds, including a rare wader, the whimbrel, which was unexpectedly discovered by the windfarm developer's own environmental survey teams. Other species at risk include the red throated diver, golden plover and merlin.

The RSPB heavily criticised the proposal from Viking Energy after initially indicating it could support the scheme. The RSPB also claims now that installation of the turbines could release significant carbon dioxide from the peat bogs affected, undermining the turbines' potential to combat global warming.

The group's fears have been endorsed by the government's official conservation advisers, Scottish Natural Heritage, and SNH has also objected to the "magnitude" of the scheme, claiming it could kill many of these birds through collisions with the 145-metre-high structures.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), which oversees pollution and waste laws in Scotland, has also formally objected, making it inevitable the scheme will now go to a full public inquiry and intensifying pressure on the developers to alter the scale of the project.

In a detailed critique of the proposal, Sepa has asked Viking Energy to significantly rethink its plans to cut out and dump up to 1m cubic metres of peat during construction, and asked ministers to impose tough conditions to protect local water quality and freshwater species .

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk
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A Recipe for Biodiesel, Plucked From Poultry

Those researchers in the department of chemical and materials engineering at the University of Nevada in Reno are at it again. Last year they showed the world that it was possible to make biodiesel fuel from coffee grounds. This time, it’s chicken feathers.

In a paper in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Mano Misra, Susanta K. Mohapatra and colleagues describe how they extracted fat from chicken feather meal and converted it into good-quality biodiesel.

Feather meal, which is commonly used as fertilizer or animal feed, is a byproduct of large-scale poultry production and often includes blood and offal. It can contain up to 11 percent fat.

The researchers extracted the fat by boiling the meal in water and converting it to biodiesel by a process called transesterification.

They say that there is enough feather meal produced in the United States alone to create about 150 million gallons of biodiesel a year. That’s just a drop in the bucket, really, but the researchers note that most current production of biodiesel uses vegetable oil, and as demand for the fuel grows there is likely to be competition for the oil between food uses and fuel uses.

Thus it’s important, the researchers say, to seek alternative sources for biodiesel production — with the goal, as they put it, of “food for hunger, waste for fuel.”

SOURCE : The New York Times

World Biofuel Market To Top One-Quarter Trillion

A recently released biofuels report by the Pike Institute held a positive outlook for biofuels, which will be supplemented by increasingly advanced feedstocks, but will eventually face competition from drop-in fuels like "green gasoline and renewable diesel."

The Pike report also predicts the world biofuel market to surpass $280 billion by 2022, due in no small part to national biofuel consumption mandates. These consumption mandates result in impressive global evolution rates, with the worldwide compound annual growth rate for biodiesel from 2009 to 2022 to be 15 percent, according to Pike Research.

Big oil is also making forays into biofuel, such as BP, which has already pledged over a billion to biofuel projects.

One of the top three biofuel markets, though dwarfed by its EU and US competitors, Brazil already provides more than 50% of the fuel by volume in vehicles with gasoline engines. With Brazil's increasing presence as an oil power, the current administration has worked on increasing renewable energy output alongside growing oil reserves.

The biofuel market is one that presents tremendous opportunity, supported by global efforts towards emissions reduction and an increasing Big Oil presence. The path ahead may be hampered by feedstock availability, production capacity and infrastructure compatibility, but the future remains bright for biofuels, a market valued at $100 billion-plus per year.

SOURCE : REUTERS

US company hopes to make fuel from sunlight, CO2

US start-up Joule Biotechnologies hopes to make commercial amounts of motor fuel by feeding engineered organisms high concentrations of carbon dioxide and sunlight, its top executive said.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company, which launched Monday, hopes to make up to 20,000 gallons per acre of fuel a year by late 2011 or early 2012 at prices competitive with $50 oil. It concentrates sunlight in a solar converter, directing it and carbon dioxide to engineered organisms to make fuel similar to ethanol.

"This is the first solar company that is producing liquid fuel as opposed to electrons," said Joule President and CEO Bill Sims. He said Joule is different from companies that make biofuels from plants because its process does not need a lot of land to grow food and energy crops like corn or switchgrass.

"This is definitely not a biofuels company," Sims added.

Joule, which has less than $50 million in funding, is one of dozens of companies hoping to make motor fuels from sources other than corn.

Making ethanol from that grain has been criticized for needing a lot of water and land and helping to lift food prices.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Vestas dispute: Red and green coalition forms to fight wind plant closure

A unique "red and green" army of trade union and environmental campaigners was on the march in an attempt to save from closure Britain's only major wind turbine manufacturing plant.

Up to 500 people are expected outside the Vestas plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight tomorrow night where 25 workers are engaged in a sit-in, while further demonstrations are being planned simultaneously outside the Department of Energy and Climate Change in London.

Greenpeace said the Vestas dispute promised a historic change from a situation where the labour movement and environment activists have found themselves on different sides of the fence, with one wanting to shut down polluting industries and the other defending jobs.

"Although we have always tried to highlight the employment opportunities that could flow from a low-carbon economy, historically there has been animosity between the two sides. If we can build this new alliance and break down those perceived barriers then there all sorts of exciting opportunities," said John Sauven, UK executive director of Greenpeace.

In April, Vestas announced plans to shut the manufacturing side of the Isle of Wight business with the potential loss of 600 jobs, saying it could produce blades cheaper in America.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

China's three biggest power firms emit more carbon than Britain, says report

China's three biggest power firms produced more greenhouse gas emissions last year than the whole of Britain, according to a Greenpeace report published today.

The group warned that inefficient plants and the country's heavy reliance on coal are hindering efforts to tackle climate change. While China's emissions per capita remain far below those of developed countries, the country as a whole has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest emitter.

Greenpeace said the top 10 companies, which provided almost 60% of China's total electricity last year, burned 20% of China's coal — 590m tonnes — and emitted the equivalent of 1.44 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The efficiency of Chinese power generation compares unfavourably with other countries. In Japan, 418 grams of carbon dioxide are emitted per kilowatt hour and in the US, the equivalent figure is 625 grams. But most of the top 10 firms in China produce 752 grams of CO2.

It urged power firms to phase out all inefficient coal-fired plants under 100 megawatt by 2012, saving 90m tonnes of coal consumption and 220m tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Greenpeace urged the Chinese government to impose energy and environment taxes on coal, encouraging increased efficiency and a move to renewable sources.

It also called for a doubling of the national renewable energy target to 30% by 2020 and for stricter efficiency standards for coal-fired power stations.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

Activists call on Vedanta investors to oppose mine on holy site in India

Local councils and the Church of England will come under fire tomorrow for holding shares in a top London-based company alleged to be pursuing an industrial scheme that would damage a sacred site and increase the threat of climate change.

Bianca Jagger, the human rights campaigner, will use the annual general meeting of Vedanta Resources to urge investors to use their influence and prevent the business from opening a massive open-cast bauxite mine in virgin forests on the mountain of Niyam Raja in eastern India – considered a holy site by the local Dongria Kondh people.

"I will be appealing to investors, which include the [UK] government's own staff pension fund, the Church of England and borough councils such as Middlesbrough to stop Vedanta going ahead with a mine that will damage the cultural and economic rights of the Kondh people as well as the fight against climate change," Jagger said.

Wind power boosted by £1bn in new loans

The UK government will demonstrate its willingness to exert influence over Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group by announcing £1bn of lending to wind farm developers whose schemes have been becalmed by a lack of cash.

The initiative comes as Greenpeace unveils new figures showing that local councils run by the Conservative party block more than three times as many wind farms as they approve. Labour-controlled councils meanwhile approved marginally more projects than they turned down between December 2005 and November 2008, according to the campaign group.

Both issues are important because Vestas, the UK's only major wind turbine maker, is threatening to close its manufacturing plant on the Isle of Wight this week blaming some of its woes on "faceless nimbies" and a lack of a vibrant domestic market.

The £1bn cash arranged by the government is part of the additional £4bn of EIB lending to support UK energy projects announced in the spring budget. The government has been urged by environmentalists and thinktanks to use the state equity stakes in banks – gained when they had to be bailed out last autumn – to push them towards green projects.

Greenpeace claimed last night that its study of publicly available information provided to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that Tory councils approved 44.7 megawatts of onshore wind schemes but blocked 158.2MW. Labour-controlled councils approved 68.3MW and rejected 62.6MW.

"One of the reasons Britain's green industrial revolution is yet to take off is the lack of domestic demand for wind turbines, and a key reason for that has been the attitude of many Conservative councils," said John Sauven, Greenpeace's executive director. "They need to be offered incentives to stop blocking wind developments, while David Cameron could make a difference straight away by making a crystal-clear commitment that a Tory Britain would meet the target to generate 20% of our energy from renewables by 2020."

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

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Kenya to build Africa's biggest windfarm

One of the hottest places in the world is set to become the site of Africa's most ambitious venture in the battle against global warming.

Some 365 giant wind turbines are to be installed in desert around Lake Turkana in northern Kenya - creating the biggest windfarm on the continent.

When complete in 2012, the £533m project will have a capacity of 300MW, a quarter of Kenya's current installed power and one of the highest proportions of wind energy to be fed in a national grid anywhere in the world.

Until now, only north African countries such as Morocco and Egypt have harnessed wind power for commercial purposes.

Kenya is trying to lead the way. Besides the Turkana project, which is being backed by the African Development Bank, private investors have proposed establishing a second windfarm near Naivasha, the well-known tourist town. And in the Ngong hills near Nairobi.

Kenya's electricity is already very green by global standards. Nearly three-quarters of KenGen's installed capacity comes from hydropower, and a further 11% from geothermal plants, which tap into the hot rocks a mile beneath the Rift Valley to release steam to power turbines.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

World will warm faster than predicted in next five years, study warns

The world faces record-breaking temperatures as the sun's activity increases, leading the planet to heat up significantly faster than scientists had predicted for the next five years, according to a study.

The research, to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, was carried out by Judith Lean, of the US Naval Research Laboratory, and David Rind, of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The work is the first to assess the combined impact on global temperature of four factors: human influences such as CO2 and aerosol emissions; heating from the sun; volcanic activity and the El Niño southern oscillation, the phenomenon by which the Pacific Ocean flips between warmer and cooler states every few years.

The analysis shows the relative stability in global temperatures in the last seven years is explained primarily by the decline in incoming sunlight associated with the downward phase of the 11-year solar cycle, together with a lack of strong El Niño events. These trends have masked the warming caused by CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

As solar activity picks up again in the coming years, the research suggests, temperatures will shoot up at 150% of the rate predicted by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Lean and Rind's research also sheds light on the extreme average temperature in 1998. The paper confirms that the temperature spike that year was caused primarily by a very strong El Niño episode.

The study comes within days of announcements from climatologists that the world is entering a new El Niño warm spell. This suggests that temperature rises in the next year could be even more marked than Lean and Rind's paper suggests. A particularly hot autumn and winter could add to the pressure on policy makers to reach a meaningful deal at December's climate-change negotiations in Copenhagen.

SOURCE : guardian.co.uk

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U.S. Top Greenhouse Gas Emitter, Counting Imports

The United States is by far the biggest greenhouse gas emitter ahead of China if consumers in rich nations are given responsibility for energy used to make imported goods, a researcher said on Wednesday.

But adjusting emissions according to the country where consumers of goods live swells emissions by developed nations, said Glen Peters, a researcher at the Center for International Climate and Environment Research in Oslo (CICERO).

"The ranking makes a lot of rich countries look worse and a lot of poor countries look better," he told Reuters.

In the ranking of 73 nations, Americans have the biggest annual "carbon footprint" at the equivalent of 29 tonnes of carbon dioxide per capita, ahead of Australians on 21 tonnes and Canadians on 20 tonnes.

"The U.S. is increasingly shifted toward a more service-based economy, importing more of its products from China," Peters said of the ranking, published online last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.Peters' rankings count emissions within each country, then add on imports and subtrace exports.

Developing nations such as China have sometimes suggested that rich nations should take more responsibility for imported emissions in sharing out the burden of curbs under a new U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Hyundai To Invest $3 Billion In Green Projects By 2013

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's No.5 automaker would invest $3.3 billion in green projects to meet the government's stricter fuel efficiency and emission requirements, joining a recent series of eco-friendly investments by South Korean firms.

Hyundai, which includes the country's two largest car makers -- Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp -- plans to spend 4.1 trillion won ($3.28 billion) to develop environmentally friendly cars and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2013, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Of the total, 2.2 trillion won ($1=1251.3 Won) will go to developing hybrid cars and 1.4 trillion won to improving the fuel efficiency of engines. The remaining will be spent on energy facilities to cut emissions. Hyundai's announcement came after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd earlier this week unveiled a plan to invest 5.4 trillion won in green research and development and facilities.

Over the next five years South Korea will invest 107 trillion won, or 2 percent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP), in environment-related sectors, the government said in early July.

As part of the plans the government said it would require automakers to follow fuel efficiency and green gas emission rules above U.S. standards.

The government also said separately it would raise 2 trillion won for "green industries" from the private sector.

HSBC estimates that of Asian government's stimulus packages in response to the recent credit crunch, spending on green-related investments will account for 20 percent, or $272 billion, more than double the amount earmarked for green projects in the Americas and five times bigger than Europe's.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Climate Change Conference (COP15) : U.N. Seeks $10 Billion Aid As Good Start To Climate Pact

Aid of $10 billion from rich nations would be a "good beginning" to launch a U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, the United Nations' top climate official said on Thursday report Reuters.

Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, also told the BBC World Service in an interview that rich countries needed to pledge deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and the poor had to slow the rise in their emissions.

"If we can get in Copenhagen something like 10 billion euros or dollars on the table that will allow developing countries to begin preparing national plans to limit their emissions and adapt to climate change, then that would be a good beginning," he said.

"But even more importantly, Copenhagen has to agree an architecture, a burden-sharing formula, that will allow us to share out the costs of climate action among countries as the needs increase over time," he added.

Costs of fighting climate change in the longer term could be up to $200 billion a year, according to U.N. projections.

Developing nations say the rich have to show willingness to give cash to launch a new U.N pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012.

Many developing nations are likely to be hardest hit by climate change such as more droughts, disease, floods, heat waves and rising sea levels.

Meet Belcha – Europe's biggest carbon polluter (and it's about to get even bigger)

Poland's huge coal-fired power station Elektrownia Belchatow

The biggest single producer of carbon emissions in the European Union has been named – and it is about to get even bigger. The appropriately titled Elektrownia Belchatow – a massive coal-fired power station – belched out 30,862,792 tonnes of CO2 last year and by 2010 the whole generating facility will have grown by 20% .

The Polish energy giant was named as climate change enemy number one in a report by the London-based Sandbag Climate Campaign and its greenhouse gas output dwarfed the 22m tonnes of annual carbon produced by the Drax power station in North Yorkshire and a host of equally dirty German plants.

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Revealed: the secret evidence of global warming Bush tried to hide

Photos from US spy satellites declassified by the Obama White House provide the first graphic images of how the polar ice sheets are retreating in the summer. The effects on the world's weather, environments and wildlife could be devastating.

Graphic images that reveal the devastating impact of global warming in the Arctic have been released by the US military. The photographs, taken by spy satellites over the past decade, confirm that in recent years vast areas in high latitudes have lost their ice cover in summer months.

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Nuclear power goes solar

Austria — Last night Greenpeace was invited by the Austrian authorities to hang a banner from a nuclear power station, unlikely but true. The Zwentendorf nuclear plant was never operated and has been mothballed since the 70s. Today it is to open as a solar power station: our banner simply stated: “Energy Revolution – Climate Solution.”

The plants operation was fiercely contested and in 1978 a national referendum sealed its fate. Nuclear fuel rods were never inserted into the reactor and the concrete plant on the edge of the Danube River in western Austria never produced electricity. It has stood dormant as a testament to Austrian concerns over nuclear energy. Now, a 1.2 million Euro project has turned the nuclear power plant into the largest solar power station in Austria.

A testament to the fact that the only safe nuclear power comes from the sun.

Nike Fights Deforestation, Won't Use Leather From Amazon-Bred Cattle

Sportswear giant Nike Inc. announced that it will stop using leather from cattle raised in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, saying the move is part of the company's commitment to curbing the region's deforestation.

"We understand how important rainforests are to the health of the planet and the implications deforestation has on climate change and global warming" the statement added.

A statement from Greenpeace praised the company, saying the company's decision was prompted by a recent report from the environmental group showing that leather and meat produced from cattle in the Amazon are major contributors to the region's deforestation.

"We applaud the leadership that Nike is taking on the critical issue of Amazon deforestation," Greenpeace's national campaigns director, Lisa Finaldi, said.

According to Greenpeace, rearing cattle in the Amazon causes 14 % of the deforestation each year around the globe, and tropical logging emits about 17 % of the gases held responsible for climate change.

The Greenpeace report, "Slaughtering the Amazon," which was released in June, "every eight seconds, an acre of Amazon rainforest is destroyed for Brazilian cattle ranching, which is the biggest single driver of deforestation in the world."

Last month, the Greenpeace report prompted Brazil's three largest supermarket chains, Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Pao de Acuar, to announce that they would suspend contracts with suppliers found to be involved in Amazon deforestation, the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets said on its Web site.

Small thing can make big difference : Green Travel

Tips to make green business trip

Teleconference - Before you decide a business trip is absolutely necessary, check first to see if a teleconference could happen in place of meeting in person. It saves you time and expense while having less environmental impact.

Take the Train or Bus - If you can, take a bus or train to your destination.

Fly Nonstop - When a train isn’t an option, fly nonstop. You reduce your emissions by up to 50% with nonstop travel.

Schedule Trips Back to Back - If you have several different cities to travel to, schedule the trips back to back. While this can get tiring, you will save time and resources by not flying home in between.

Take Public Transportation to Get Around - Once your at your destination, take public transportation to get around. In many cities taking the subway or metro can be faster than a cab inching through traffic.

Share Transportation - If you’re traveling with co-workers, schedule your travel at the same time so that you can share taxi rides or rental cars.

US firm to invest $2 bn in India’s renewable power sector

Renewable energy player Astonfield will invest around $2 billion in India over the next five years to generate about 1,000 MW of power, most of it from solar sources, a top official said Friday.

Photo-valtics technology is being used to generate solar energy.

Astonfield Renewable is the Indian unit of the US-based infrastructure major Astonfield Management.

Much of the proposed $2 billion investment will be for building solar-powered projects with a capacity of 500 MW, he said.

China has invested $30 billion dollars in renewable energy.

China’s economy grew 7.9% in the second quarter of 2009.

Analysts said the rebound in China would offer a boost of confidence for the global economy as it struggles out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Renewable energy investments have been launched by the U.S. government this year, as well as by governments in Europe and across Asia.

But China’s stimulus is by far the most sweeping, with massive investment in renewable energy, including wind, hydropower and solar development.

Asian stimulus packages could lead to new waves of demand for renewable projects in China. As a result, global demand across the supply chain could shift from Europe and the U.S. to Asia.

“Upcoming solar-power installations have the potential to surpass the original 2020 target of 1.8 GW by up to 10 times, reaching between 10 GW and 20 GW over the next 10 years,” said said Asia Pacific energy and power systems program manager Irina Sidneva.

Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation : Hydrogen 500

Hydrogen Electric Racing Federation (HERF) is a racing organization for hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle, formed on January 10, 2007.

Various automotive companies such as Audi, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota, Bridgestone-Firestone and Michelin, had shown interest to the racing series

The vision behind this was to create a racing series that serves as a testing ground for future automotive technologies for street applications.

Hydrogen 500

It is HREF's first racing series, was announced by HERF on January 10, 2007. Its inaugural race, The Hydrogen 500, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway or California Speedway is expected to happen soon.

Wiring more efficency and performance : Internal Combustion Engine

The internal combustion engine, a technology that is over 100 years old, will keep powering most automobiles for a while--at least for the foreseeable future which will see more green technology fuel cell or electric care domination.

Engineers are finding ways to wring more efficiency and performance out of combustion engines. Let's run down the list.

Cylinder/Motor Deactivation

Cylinder-deactivation, in which the motor cuts out two or more cylinders when the car is in cruising mode, is one such improvement. And General Motors, Chrysler and Honda Motor are already selling vehicles with cylinder deactivation.

Similarly, start-stop technology--shutting off the engine while the car is idling--can reduce fuel consumption by as much as 10%. This technology, integral to hybrid vehicles.

Direct Injection

Another present-day fuel-saving technology is direct injection, which delivers fuel directly into the combustion chamber of each cylinder, rather than into the intake manifold.

Siemens VDO (now part of Continental AG of Germany) claims that its direct injection system can deliver fuel savings of up to 20%.

Smaller Displacement Motors

Except when charging up a hill or trying to merge onto a freeway ramp, most vehicles need only a fraction of the motor's maximum power. Smaller and lighter engines offer multiple advantages: lower friction losses and weight-savings on the surrounding body structure and suspension.

By utilizing less space under the hood--replacing a six-cylinder with a four-cylinder, making it aerodynamic.

Another way to get a four-cylinder to perform like a six- or even eight-cylinder is with forced induction--pushing more air into the combustion chamber--via a supercharger or turbocharger.

Diesel

In the urgent quest for fuel efficiency is the diesel engine, quite popular in passenger cars in Europe.

Diesels have advantages in fuel economy, extended driving range and durability. The diesel also delivers healthy levels of torque relative to its size and displacement.

The problem: controlling particulate emissions, engine clatter and cost.

Leveraging the Motor

In addition switching to lighter-weight materials, converting to low-power, light-emitting diodes and replacing mechanical systems, such as steering and throttle linkages, with "by-wire" electrical controls can add as much as 3% fuel efficiency.

Report : Caribbean Reefs Face Severe Summer Threat

Coral reefs in a broad swath of the Caribbean face a substantial risk of severe bleaching and die-offs through October, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Wednesday.

Similar conditions may develop in the southern Gulf of Mexico and central Pacific, the agency said.

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Cleaner Fuel for Ships.

Cargo ships have been the big contibuter, but the International Maritime Organization has adopted new policies calling for reducing the sulfur content of marine fuels, from an average of about 3% currently to 0.5% by 2020. That is a big drop in sulfur content, which has the possibility of cutting premature deaths due to ship emissions in half in some cases.

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Hinduism and Envirornment : The forgotten basic...

To Hindus, the concept of environment protection is not a modern phenomenon; they inherited it from their ancestors. During the earliest, formative period of their society, Hindus first perceived God’s presence around them through nature. The natural forces that governed their daily lives were considered as manifestations of an almighty creator they called the Brahman.

Ancient Hindus felt Brahman’s presence in everything around them. Since these divine forces sustained all living creatures and organic things on this earth, to please God, they felt they must live in harmony with His creation including earth, rivers, forests, sun, air, and mountains. This belief spawned many rituals that are still followed by traditional Hindus in India. For example, before the foundation of a building is dug, a priest is invited to perform the Bhoomi Pooja in order to worship and appease mother earth and seek forgiveness for violating her. Certain plants, tries and rivers were considered sacred, and worshipped in festivals. In a traditional Hindu family, to insult or abuse nature is considered a sacrilegious act.

Hindus believed that humans, gods and nature were integral parts of one ‘organic whole’. Even Charvaka, the atheist philosopher of ancient India, who totally rejected Vedas, the Hindu scriptures, considered the principles of Vayu (air) Bhumi (earth), Jala (water), Agni (fire) as important factors in regulating the lives of humans, animals and plants. This Hindu worldview of ancient Vedic times became formalized into the Samkhya system of philosophy that promoted ecology-care in Hindu attitude.

This Hindu prayer called Shanti path recited to conclude every Hindu ceremony, reflect the Hindus’ connectedness with nature: “There is peace in heavenly region; there is peace in the environment; the water is cooling; herbs are healing; the plants are peace-giving; there is harmony in the celestial objects and perfection in knowledge; everything in the universe is peaceful; peace pervades everywhere. May that peace come to me!”

Modern Hindus have forgotten their ancestors’ view on ecology, Lush forests have been denuded, rivers, including the sacred river Ganga (the Ganges), have become polluted with industrial wastes. Delhi has become one of the most polluted cities in the world. Many beautiful birds and animals have become extinct. This devastation is taking place in the name of progress.

Eco Step : Google Turns to Belgium for Data Center Free Cooling

With summer temperatures topping out in the low 70s in Belgium, Google has decided to forego the use of chillers at its data center there.

The data center will benefit from not having to use electricity for chillers, and it also is using an on-site water purification system to pull cooling water from a canal, instead of the local water system, reports DataCenterKnowledge.

Having a data center with no electrical cooling devices might work for Google and other large multinationals, but not for other businesses. Because Google relies on multiple data centers, it would have the option of rerouting traffic if, for some reason, Belgium experienced a heat wave that negatively impacted the center’s operations. Smaller companies with only one data center would not have that option.

Additionally, if there were a fire upwind of Google’s Belgium facility, the data center might have to shut down to prevent smoke particulates from entering the center and fouling the equipment, reports ComputerWorld.

Other major Internet companies are relying free-cooling.

Yahoo has devised a so-called “chicken coop” design for its upstate New York data center, reports Techworld. The building uses a series of louvres to direct warm air up and out of the building, while pulling in cool air from below.

Yahoo’s “Computing Coops” will be prefabricated from metal, measuring about 120 feet by 60 feet. Yahoo plans to use five of the modular structures in the complex. Each of the buildings will have a high-pitched roof to keep heat away from the servers and direct it elsewhere.

Eco Cars: China’s ‘Panda’ car adopts an electric engine

The largest privately owned car maker in China, Geely, is all set to electrify its popular car the Panda, which till now was powered by a 1.3 liter engine that gets 48mpg. To further increase the popularity of the car, the automaker is looking forward to integrate an electric engine in the car, which will include an LC-E Li-ion battery and a 340V charge system.

The car is expected to cost slightly more than the cost of the non-electric variants, which at present is between $5,000 and $10,000. In addition to a change in the engine, the car is also expected to boast a much better exterior, without any change in the car’s “Panda” look.

A artist thoughts towards Greener World

G8 : Target 2050

The Group of Eight industrial powers -- the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia and Japan -- agreed to a target of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.

But efforts to reduce greenhouse gases are a sticking point with developing economies like India and China, where living standards have increased rapidly over the past 20 years.
India's economy is growing at about 8 percent per year, a boom that has lifted a growing slice of its roughly 1 billion people out of poverty, and the nation has objected to calls for strict limits on carbon emissions.

India was among the emerging economies that agreed earlier this month to work toward limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Super Diseases : H1N1 Flu, Bird Flu Whats NEXT ???

Bacteria and viruses have gained their edge over the antibiotics and have evolved in the due course of time. They developed resistant to antibiotics and other impacting factors. They evolved stronger with new capabilities like they can easily move across life forms and are more resistant to climate and geographical locations. We are in fight against an enemy with power and capabilities we are not aware of. After bird flu,Tamil flu and now H1N1 flu what next ??

Against these Super diseases we are running out of antibiotics. We are running out of time.

U.S. trials for H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) vaccine announced : At the University of Maryland School of Medicine

In a race to beat the flu, medical institutes across the United States will begin human trials for a new H1N1 flu vaccine starting in early August, the University of Maryland announced Wednesday.

In the hope of getting the vaccine to those who will need it most by October, the clinical trials will enroll as many as 1,000 adults and children at 10 centers nationwide, said officials at the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The research is a first step toward U.S. health officials' goal of developing a safe and effective vaccine against H1N1, also known as swine flu, which has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.The time frame for developing a vaccine is a tight one.

The announcement of the U.S. trials followed the announcement earlier this week, by an Australian company, CSL Ltd., of the first human trials of a swine flu vaccine.

Earlier this year, concerns about the H1N1 virus grew after it spread quickly around the globe.

"This virus has the potential to cause significant illness with hospitalizations and deaths during the U.S. flu season this fall and winter," said Dr. Karen Kotloff, professor of pediatrics and lead investigator and researcher at Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development. "Vaccines have always been a vital tool for controlling influenza. The results of these studies will help to guide the optimal use of the H1N1 vaccines in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world."

After careful screening, volunteers will be inoculated and then asked to keep a diary on how they feel. After eight days their blood will be checked and after 21 days they will receive another dose, followed again by diary logs and blood tests.

Patients will be monitored two months for safety issues, followed by a four-month and six-month checkup.

"The purpose of these trials is always to make sure they are safe," Kotloff said. "But even after six weeks, if things look good, we're pretty sure the vaccine will work."

The vaccine at this point has been tested only in animals, where it has shown to be effective. Further trials will examine questions such as how the vaccine works in combination with the seasonal flu vaccine and whether including an adjutant, a substance that boosts the immune response to vaccines, can make it work better at lower doses.

Small thing can make big difference : Green Workplace

Top 10 tips to make your Green Workplace

1. Try Not to Push the Print ButtonEveryone love to print articles and to-do-lists as much as the every other guy, but we need to keep yourself off this habit. Everything needed is online. your calendar, your notes, your emails.. everything.
   


2. If You Need to Print, Choose Recycled Paper or Scrap PaperUnless you are printing an official document,always choose Recycled Paper or Scrap Paper



3. Recycle, Recycle, RecycleRecycle every thing you use, Have printer toner cartridges? Save your used ones and trade them in when you go to get a new cartridge.



4. CarpoolOn the days you do go to work, try to hook up with people that live around you and carpool. BONUS: You learn more about the people you work with!



5. Have Actual Utensils & Dishes on HandNo more wasteing than paper plates and plastic utencils. Eliminate all such materials and bring your own dishes to work.



6. Change Out The Office LightingUpdate your lamps and overhead lights with energy-efficient light bulbs and take advantage of natural daylight whenever possible.



7. Rethink your travelMake it a habit to take the train, bus, or subway when feasible. Make it a policy to invest in videoconferencing and other technological solutions that can reduce the amount of employee travel.



8. High-efficiency toilets – The latest toilets are either 1) high-efficiency and use only 1.28 gallons of water per flush or 2) dual flush with 0.6 gallon and 1.6 gallon flush options.



9. Green cleaning service – Ask your janitorial services for using non-hazardous cleaning products who clean one floor at a time together and then turn off the lights before they move to the next area.



10. Get Others in on the ActShare these tips with your colleagues. Arrange an office carpool or group bike commute. Ask everyone to bring in a mug or glass from home and keep some handy for visitors so that you reduce or eliminate use of paper cups.

Fight against poverty can go with low-carbon economy : Clinton

Mumbai : There is "no inherent contradiction between poverty eradication and moving towards a low-carbon economy", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on 18 July 2009 Saturday , signalling her government's approach towards India in the area of combating climate change.

Ms. Clinton said at a news conference that "The United States fully supports India's efforts to move all its people out of poverty,"

"But we acknowledge that we've made mistakes and we, along with other developed countries, are responsible" for global warming. "We are hoping that a great country like India will not make the same mistakes."

Ms. Clinton hoped that India would leapfrog the dirty technologies that are leading to climate change "just as it has leapfrogged from having few phones to now having more than 500 million, mostly cellphones."

The US Secretary of State was speaking just after a meeting with the top leaders of India Inc. She said climate change was a big topic during their discussion.

The move towards a low-carbon economy assumes significance because excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- emitted during industrial activities, mainly power generation -- is the main greenhouse gas leading to climate change.

Developed and developing countries are ranged against each other in global climate negotiations. Developing countries say developed countries must reduce their emissions first, because that is what has led to climate change.

Developed countries point out that China is the world's largest emitter now and India the fourth largest, and whatever they do will have little impact on future climate change unless major emerging economies get off the high-carbon use economic path.

For developed countries they need to look into their backyard as "Actions speak louder than words"....