A recent study has produced some astonishing and disturbing results. Tuna was ordered from 31 sushi restaurants. Genetic tests were then used to identify the species of fish ordered. Nineteen of the restaurants surveyed incorrectly described or could could not indicate which species of fish they had served. A few establishments actually served endangered bluefin tuna not knowing which tuna type they were selling to their customers.

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Dow Chemical Company revealed a new line of solar shingles they say can be installed into roofs made of conventional asphalt shingles.The solar shingles should be available by mid 2010 in a limited supply and then readily accessible by 2011.

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A World Wildlife Fund report released in late September, 2009 details the discovery over the last year of new species including 100 plants, 28 fish, 18 reptiles, 14 amphibians, 2 mammals and a bird.

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Carolina Solar Energy developed the newest solar energy park in North Carolina. The park is a small one, powering about 60 homes in Person County.

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Bavarian house in Pentling next to Regensburg, will be getting almost 600 square feet of
photovoltaic solar panels.

They were intended to be installed on the roof July 27-31, by local students of a trade school. The panels were donated to the Pope by local workmen.

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India’s ‘National Solar Mission’, plans to have India generating 200,000 MW of solar power by 2050, and 100,000 by 2030 according to an official document.

The plan calls for 20,000 MW by 2020. For the next 11 years there is a three-phase approach: 1-1.5 by 2012, 6-7 GW by 2017 and 20 GW by 2020. Another goal for the 2030 milestone (besides the 100 GW target) is parity with energy production from coal.

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Israel National News reported in early July that reserves of natural gas discovered near Haifa are larger than initially estimated, and could be enough to make the whole country energy self-sufficient for two decades.

CEO of Delek Energy, Yitzchak Tshuva, “Israel today is independent – completely independent with blue and white [Israeli-made] energy.”

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Occidental Petroleum Corporation announced they have made the largest natural gas and oil discovery in California for 35 years.

The current assessment shows there could be between 150 million and 250 million gross barrels of oil equivalent. The discovery was made in Kern County, north of Los Angeles 130 miles. About two thirds of the discovery is believed to be natural gas. Energy analyst Fadel Gheit remarked: “Occidental’s reserves as of the end of last year were about 3 billion barrels. Even if you take the low end of their estimate, it’s a very meaningful find.”

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The Geely Panda, a tiny Chinese gas-powered car with a 1.3 liter engine that gets 48 mpg, is going to have an electric version available sometime this year. The electric Panda will have an LC-E lithium-ion battery, 340V charge system, max. speed of 40 mph, and a range of 50 miles.

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Huw Irranca-Davies, the British Fisheries Minister has joined a list of actors, celebrities and activists demanding the Japanese restaurant Nobu stop serving the endangered bluefin tuna on their menus.

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A new species of Samoan fruit bat or ‘flying fox’ was discovered at the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia by Kristofer M. Helgen, a Research Zoologist and Curator of Mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Helgen, the lead author of the paper published in American Museum Novitates, noticed the bat within one hour of being on the premises of the Academy of Sciences. (There are about 17 million biological specimens housed at the Academy.)

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University of Georgia researchers discovered a two inch long salamander near Toccoa, Georgia. It is reportedly the first discovery of a new four-footed species in the US in fifty years. 

It was in the spring of 2007 that the salamander was first discovered, but the details have not been published until this year, in the Journal of Zoology. The first one to be spotted was a female, and later the researchers returned to the creek area of the first discovery, and found a male.

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The Auriga Leader, a Japanese owned NYK cargo ship capable of carrying 6,400 cars and using over 300 solar panels as part of its power supply was docked in Long Beach yesterday, and just departed. It is the first commerical cargo ship employing solar power technology to reduce diesel emissions. The solar panels can supply up to 15% of the vessel’s electrical power when docked. The ship will probably return to Long Beach in about 30 days, and could be available for visitation. Call the Port of Long Beach to find out specific details about the possibility of seeing the solar panels. The ship is in the service of Toyota, carrying its’ vehicles from Japan.

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At 665 feet long, and about 100 feet deep and wide it has a carrying capacity of 60,000 gross tons.  1.6 million dollars was the cost of the solar technology - to install and make it operational. The Auriga is the first in a generation of new cargo ships which will use solar power to reduce their diesel consumption. Emissions from cargo ships are a globally massive source of air pollutants…” just 15 of the world’s biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world’s 760m cars” according to a recent publication. Shipping pollution has been found by research to contribute to human deaths.

The Long Beach port is one of the busiest in the nation, and is a very large air polluter due to the activities of large ships and approximately 100,000 diesel trucks. The Long Beach and Los Angeles ports may be the number one polluter in the state of California. A special report was produced on the problem by California Connected.

Solar technology used by the Auriga Leader is a small attempt to start reducing emissions from cargo ships. Lessons learned from the Auriga can be utilized for solar technologies on other vessels, which will need to start going green if there is to be any reduction in air pollution and carbon emissions. NYK engineers are considering similar solar power installations for their 800 other ships.

The Port of Long Beach has been making efforts to reduce air pollution and was commended recently with an EPA Green Flag for trying to slow cargo vessels as they motor towards the docks, in order to reduce their emissions.

Image Credit: ships-info.info

A publication from the Botanical Insitute of India reported that over 100 new plant species were discovered in India. One hundred and thirty seven are new to science, and 30 were discovered in India for the first time. “The Indian flora is mainly concentrated in three major centres of diversity namely Himalayas, the Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar islands. The discoveries reflect the potential of the country’s plant heritage which is yet to be explored,”  said BSI director M Sanjappa.

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The frog was named Diasporus ventrimaculatus. Females are black and the males are orange, or grey. 

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Bald eagles in both Michigan and Maine have been removed from the endangered species list.

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Ohio state trooper cruisers are getting small solar panels to assist in the powering of their onboard equipment. 1,150 Ford Crown Victoria cruisers will get 5 watt solar panels to improve battery peformance and reduce fuel consumption.

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The solar panels will help power the radio and other electronics when the cars’ engines are turned off. Currently electronics drain batteries when the cars are not running. The official press release states the solar panels will decrease the chance of an officer being unable to respond to an incident due to her or his car having a dead battery. The panels will be installed in the rear deck area, and their brackets have been made from recycled license plates. Each panel costs $37 and could last five years.

Image Credit: Ohio State Patrol

The US Federal Aviation Administration released a document as a companion to their
online wildlife strike database. The numbers for both the research document and the database could be off by 80%, as the website states only about 20% of wildlife strikes are reported. So the number of bird strikes and animal strikes could be much higher. (The data has been entered only up to Dec. 2008 perhaps due to collection difficulties).

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The worst drought in 26 years is threatening the survival of a rare herd of desert elephants in Mali. A number have already died and more are struggling to survive. Save the Elephants is taking donations to help the elephants before they die.

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