I am a bit reluctant to call this plant a “first”, but I can get just as excited about the third, 10th or 100th plant in a progressive series of improved plants that should number 1000 reactors or more.

The plant, designated as HTR-PM, will be a 200 MWe pebble bed reactor heated steam plant with two reactors, each with a single steam generator (boiler) feeding a single turbine. The plant will be built in Rongchen City on a site large enough to host series of perhaps 10-12 similar plants. In that area of China, there are hundreds of older coal fired power plants generating 50-300 MWe each.

The HTR-PM is a carefully watched project that uses technology old enough to be new again. The concept was introduced in the late 1940s by Farrington Daniels who suggested the idea of combining uranium with graphite, which is a high temperature substance that also moderates neutrons, into small, discrete units that could be piled into a simple, shielded container.

This concept, known as the Daniels’ Pile, was a bit before its time. The material science available in the late 1940s could not provide the tight, vapor-proof coatings needed to ensure that all fission by-products remained sealed in the pebbles in all core conditions. That problem was addressed and overcome by the German project known as the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor (AVR) run in Julich from 1959-1988.

The AVR started operating in 1961, provided power to the grid in 1967 and was shut down after many years of testing and fuel developmental improvements in 1988.

The first commercial high temperature reactors

The AVR did not operate in isolation; during the same time there was a high temperature gas cooled reactor, built by Gulf General Atomics (now just General Atomics) and operated in the US at Fort St. Vrain. That HTGR was based on fuel in a different form, but it used fuel particles surrounded by layers of graphite and silicon carbide to provide the capability of operating at a significantly higher temperature and thermal efficiency than the conventional light water reactors.

I had the opportunity to visit General Atomics in 1994, before they decommissioned the fuel manufacturing facility that produced the Ft. St. Vrain fuel, and they gave me the pebble that you see here as a keep sake. It has been on my desk ever since.

The German group operating the AVR also built a commercial unit - Thorium High Temperature Reactor (THTR) - using fuel pebbles where some pebbles contained uranium-235 and others contained thorium-232. This fuel combination intrigued the designers because thorium is about 3-4 times as abundant as uranium, but it needs to be exposed to neutrons in a reactor before it can be used as fuel.

Unfortunately, though they were both commercial reactors, neither the Ft. St. Vrain HTGR nor the THTR operated for very long and neither led to any immediate successors. Good ideas, however, often incubate in the minds of problem solvers that see all of the potential and determine ways to solve the problems for another try.

China’s New High Temperature Reactors (HTR)

In 2000, the AVR rose up like a Phoenix in a new location at Tsinghua University with a new name - HTR-10. The Chinese had recognized the potential of the design and purchased essentially all of the makings including technical drawings, machinery, and consulting engineering services from the German owners. In January 2003, the HTR-10 began critical operations and testing. I have a number of friends and colleagues who have visited the facility and have been impressed. You can have a similar experience by watching a video produced by the Australian Broadcasting System titled Nuclear China.

There are many things about pebble bed reactors that fascinate me, but one of them is the fact that they can be configured to be able to withstand a complete loss of cooling without causing any core damage. As long as each reactor unit produces less than 400 MW of thermal energy, operators can turn off the cooling circulators and walk away knowing that the plant will heat up a bit, shut itself down, and never exceed a temperature at which any fuel damage will occur. Now that is a hot idea whose time has come!

The HTR-PM is capable of providing very high quality steam, identical to the steam produced in the most efficient coal fired power plants. In fact, Jim Holm has suggested that we could short cut the lengthy nuclear plant construction process by replacing boilers in existing steam plants with high temperature pebble beds.

It is one hell of a way to help solve the world’s most pressing energy challenge - how do we replace the low cost heat that coal provides to enable our modern economy without creating emissions that may overheat our planet?

Photo credits HTR-10 Schematic and simulated pebble fuel element from Rod Adams archives under creative commons.

Related Posts

75% of Greens OK with Nuclear Power
e2 energy: “Coal & Nuclear: Problem or Solution?”
Power Plant Efficiency Hasn’t Improved Since 1957
EIA Predicts 50% Increase in World Energy Consumption by 2030

China is already outpacing its own wind energy goals.

Officially, China’s latest renewable energy plan sets a goal of 10 GW by 2010. That’s double the previous target. However, according to industry analysts at China Strategies LLC, China’s current pace of wind development will bring 10 GW by the end of this year, two years ahead of schedule. According to China Strategies, 20 GW is possible in China by 2010. What’s more, they foresee a total of 100 GW by 2020, an increase in wind energy of 1667%. And, they add, this may be a conservative estimate.

These figures should make critics of China’s energy policies think twice. On the one hand, China still relies heavily on polluting coal to power its factories and make the inexpensive goods that many people have come to expect. On the other hand, China is making significant strides to adopt renewable energy technologies.

The China Economic Review quotes Richard Spencer of the World Bank, who worked on one $13 million wind project as saying, “China is working very hard to reduce its dependence on coal, and it looks to nuclear, hydro and wind, particularly, to replace coal. Wind is very important.”

How will China make the switch to clean energy? One answer was the 2005 Renewable Energy Law, which required utilities to buy renewable energy. Such legislation is an important part of the answer. Similar legislation in California has encouraged major investment in wind and solar. But an underlying question remains: can China continue its recent rate of growth in the renewable energy field?

If so, the Middle Kingdom is poised to increase its percentage of wind energy from less than one percent to about 20% by 2020 says Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council, in the China Economic Review. For those keeping track of the economic competition between the US and China, that would set China dramatically ahead of the US goal of 5-6% by 2020.

Further reading:

China’s Wind Power Industry: Blowing Past Expectations

Wind energy: Out of thin air

Chinese Cleaning up with Wind Power

China Goes Big on Wind

China Poised to Become Clean-Energy Leader?

U.N. report: Clean energy booming globally

Photo Credit

George Lu via Flickr

We have heard about China’s air quality and pollution woes recently in the media , especially as the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games approaches. A new report released last week adds yet another dimension to China’s environmental concerns.

According to a report entitled Beijing’s Water Crisis: 1949—2008 Olympics, published by Probe International, China’s policy of transferring water from draught-ridden neighborhoods to the nation’s capital in order to meet water needs for the upcoming Olympics is harming China’s environment and local farming economies.

Moreover, the abuse of water supplies contradicts the games’ “green” theme and supposed commitment to sustainability.

Beijing’s planning committee has promoted the concept of a “Green Olympics” by touting its support for planting trees, capturing rainwater to water indoor plants, banning plastic shopping bags and promoting the Olympic Village’s green buildings.

Still, to provide drinkable tap water in the Olympic Village, Beijing has been pumping water from four recently built reservoirs in the nearby rural province of Hebein, an already water-deprived area where water takings has meant less water for its citizens and farmers. Some farmers there have had to altogether halt the cultivation of certain crops. Those water transfers are likened to “quenching thirst by drinking poison,” as stated in a press release, because they have created more problems than done good.

Government officials claim that the transfers are necessary due to the combination of below-average rainfall, contamination in Beijing’s waterways and the rapid rate of development and population growth in the city. Officials even predict that more water will have to be diverted from other sources, such as the Yangtze River, by 2010 to support the needs of the growing city’s 17 million inhabitants.

Rather than continue to take water from nearby provinces and farming communities, the Probe International report recommends “better governance of water resources and the water industry, including restrictions on urban development and water-guzzling industries, enforcement of anti-pollution laws, tradable water rights, and UK-style regulation of water utilities.”

Probe International is a Canadian public interest research group that monitors the economic and environmental effects of foreign aid and export credit and has also published oral histories on Beijing’s water and the Three Gorges dam.

Photo: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Several days ago, I read a story about how Peru’s butterfly exports had increased 43% from January-April of this year. These are the butterflies that are pinned into glass frames for sale as gifts and souvenirs. I wondered if all of these butterflies included those that are exported illegally and those that are endangered. Questions of this kind were on my mind as just several days earlier my family had passed by a street vendor who sold animals illegally.

One of the animals was a baby monkey, caged and frightened. We live in the highlands region of Peru, so the monkey was far from its former home in the rainforest. My wife, who in the past worked as a biologist throughout Peru, told me that she thought this was an endangered monkey. As we walked home, I wished I had brought my camera. This I thought, is a story that needs to be pursued.

Yesterday, I went with my family once again to see the animals sold by the street vendor. This time I took my camera, hoping to take a photo of the monkey. Unfortunately, the monkey had been sold. My wife had told me that it was probably a Brown capuchin monkey (Cebus apella). Despite not finding the monkey, the photos I did get were probably even better.

Just as we arrived, a man in a car pulled up and inquired about one of the larger birds that was being sold. He ended up buying the bird, probably a Scarlet-fronted parakeet (Aratinga wagleri), for 33 nuevo soles (approximately $11 American). Watching the vendor get the bird out of the cage was painful. The stressed bird pecked at the man’s hand as much as he could. Once the vendor succeeded in grabbing the bird, he put it in a brown paper bag with a piece of corn. I told my wife, “At least he gave it something to eat.” She then told me, “Those type of birds don’t eat corn though, they eat fruit.”

What I Discovered in My Research about Peru’s Illegal Wildlife Trade

After spending several hours searching on the internet for information about Peru and South America’s illegal wildlife trade, my wife and I were surprised that so little information was easily available in english or spanish. For this reason, I hope to write a follow-up article in the future with more information about this important subject. Here are the more interesting tidbits of information we found.

Did you know that the United States is second only to China as the biggest market in the illegal wildlife trade? The European Union has also significantly increased its role in the black market for wildlife, buying animals from Peru like the vicuña, a relative of the llama, that produces high-quality wool and is subsequently threatened by illegal trade.

Traffic, an international organization that monitors the illegal wildlife trade, estimates that in the 1990s the trade resulted in approximately 160 billion dollars of profit. That number has undoubtedly increased. Komodo Dragons, like the one featured in the Matthew Broderick movie The Freshman, according to one source fetch around $50,000. A toucan from Bolivia that might be bought for $10 there, can be worth $1500 in the United States. Once again, estimates vary, but the general consensus is that the illegal wildlife trade ranks at least second or third in its volume and profitability only to the international drug and gun trades. It’s possible that these trades are even interlinked, being facilitated by the same groups of people.

Why Illegal Wildlife Trading in Peru and Elsewhere Might Be Unstoppable

Several articles about Miami Airport’s wildlife inspectors are quite revealing as to why law enforcement can only go so far as to stopping the illegal animal trade. The constantly changing tactics of wildlife smugglers and the sheer volume of animals coming through places like Miami make it challenging to stop the industry. As of 1995, there were only five inspectors working full-time at the Miami Airport– and this is where the greatest amount of animal trafficking (legal and illegal) occurs worldwide. One of these inspectors estimates that only 10-20% of the illegal animals are found. Some smugglers, for instance, sew birds into their clothing or use other items to hide the animals. Last year, a man from Peru was able to hide his pet monkey in his ponytail for some time while on a plane. It was eventually discovered.

One recent scientific article claims that it is partly because of the lack of desire on the part of local Bolivian law enforcement officials that so many parrots from Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil are being smuggled. This negligence and desire to be uninvolved clearly shows that there are limitations as to stopping the illegal wildlife trade via law enforcement. What perhaps would be a more effective means to stop the trade would be to stop the demand for animals. Ceasing to make people uninterested in animals though, might be an even more impossible task. What is possible though, is greater awareness and education.

Why Education about Animals and Their Needs is So Important

Much of the illegal wildlife trade in South America and elsewhere occurs for the same reason that it does in the United States. People like animals, and want pets.

One paper about the illegal trading of sloths in Colombia helps to explain how locals are often also part of the trade. According to the source, children will often take sloths from deforested areas in Colombia and sell them to traffickers. People also hunt and kill mother sloths, taking the young to sell them (this is how many different species of animals are captured and sold throughout the world). The sloths can be seriously mistreated, and are often sold to Colombian national tourists traveling between the coast and the country’s inland areas, who are on vacation. These people don’t know what the needs of sloths are, even though they are willing to love the animals. Subsequently, the sloths often die.

This example, of course, depicts what commonly happens to many animals that become part of the illegal wildlife trade. It’s also hard to know which animals are endangered and which are not. I eventually discovered that my wife was not entirely correct about the parakeet and the monkey we saw being sold: they are not endangered. But while it turns out that these particular animals are more common than others, it is not an excuse for what is still an illegal activity. It underscores just how important education is about the illegal wildlife trade and the needs of pet animals. If you are confused by what I mean and are American, think about capturing a wild deer and then selling it. Can you imagine how hard it might be for you or someone with little education about deer to take care of one?

One last thing to ponder is that according to a segment in the book Fast Food Nation, “studies suggest that until the age of six, roughly eighty percent of children’s dreams are about animals.” This comment was made in the context of explaining how fast food chains use animals in their marketing to appeal to children’s innate interests.

Whether or not it’s comes from our experiences with stuffed animals or real animals, most of us grow a fondness for animals since the time that we are children. Pets are therefore most likely to always be part of human cultures. Without some means for us to determine how we can boycott businesses that sell animals and pets that are part of the illegal wildlife trade, we are probably at a loss to stop it. But perhaps, if we promote more awareness, we can help stop the demand for animals that are taken illegally from their natural habitats.

I hope to learn more about Peru’s illegal wildlife trade in the upcoming months, and I will report back with new information once it is available. Hopefully I will find something to be more optimistic about.

Photo Credits: © Levi T. Novey

As new figures condemning China as the world’s biggest producer of CO2 were reported in the Western world last week, many observers shook their heads and pointed their fingers towards the East as an excuse to avoid personal responsibility for climate change, before moving on to the next news item on their Chinese manufactured computers and plasma tv screens.

China may be the dirty nation of the world today, but what went widely unreported is the fact that of all nations, and despite a reluctance to commit to too much during climate negotiations, China is taking the kind of direct action that Western democracies in all their self righteousness have so far failed to do.

China is well aware of the danger that global warming presents. In 2006, a 415 page report produced by the Chinese government warned of significant shortages in agricultural production, and an increase in floods, typhoons and the prevalence of some diseases. The Himalayan glaciers which feed China’s major rivers, supporting 1.3 billion people, are retreating. Some estimates forecast their total loss, with disastrous consequences, within 50 years.

Reducing its contribution to climate change makes sense for China not only for ecological reasons. The communist state also has major concerns over energy security. Whilst 70% of China’s electricity is provided by domestic coal, it is almost completely reliant on imports for oil used in transportation - “Save energy, cut emissions” has become one of the communist parties favourite slogans along with an investment program of $10 billion aimed at doubling it’s renewable energy output by 2020.

Furthermore, China is particularly sensitive to its international reputation, being keen not be cast as a global warming villain. The Olympic games, to be hosted in China this Summer, will be fully carbon neutral, with aggressive measures being taken to improve Beijing’s toxic air quality.

Finally, China offers numerous potential benefits to Western firms in it’s bid to become greener. Still having many relatively inefficient manufacturing processes, the introduction of global carbon trading schemes will ensure an abundant supply of cheap carbon credits for Western firms through the low hanging fruit offered by clean manufacturing upgrade programs. In fact, this process has already started with $5.4 billion being invested by rich world polluters in 2007 to outsource the clean-up of their emissions to China.

The important point in this discussion is that change is the operative word in climate change. The solution we must seek involves changing our practices to avoid changing our climate. China may be the global warming bogeyman today, but it is demonstrating a willingness to change that few other nations can match. Whilst we procrastinate over the smallest changes and debate scientific minutiae, China is taking the positive actions that the Western world are not.

With thanks to The Economist. Chart data from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.

Image credit: “Helga’s Lobster Stew” at Flickr under a Creative Commons license

We feel that protecting your child, while also supporting America’s economy, are of utmost importance.We know that toys made in America are constructed with safe materials and built by fair labor practices.

One of our family’s favorite toys from Down to Earth Toys is the Lunastix Enchanted Juggling Sticks. If you have ever been to an outdoor concert, you have probably seen someone playing with Lunastix. The kid size version of the juggling sticks is fun for children to play with and master, and they are great for hand-eye coordination. Children’s (and parents’) dexterity, balance, focus, and perseverance improve as they learn to do tricks with the sticks. Let me tell you, it is not as easy as it appears.

The Lunastix Enchanted Juggling Sticks sold by Down to Earth toys are made in Salt Lake City, Utah. Juggling sticks originated over 400 years ago in Asia (remember these ones are made in the USA), and their American name of Lunastix is derived from the Zen lunatics in Jack Kerouac’s Dharma Bums. I haven’t read this book since high school, but the Lunastix have peaked my interest to reread this beatnik classic.

Image: Down to Earth Toys

Related posts on Eco Toys:

• Unique Eco-Friendly Dolls and Dress Up Crown for Natural Play

• The Eco-friendly Haba Blossom Stroller Chain Nurtures Infant Development

• Green, Eco Toys: Sustainable Bamboo Blocks

• European Toys: Old Fashioned Block Play Develops Intellect

Many dams in Southwest China sustained significant damage after the recent massive earthquake.

The Min River and its tributaries have 30 dams upstream from Dujiangyan and 16 incurred significant damage from the recent earthquake. The Zipingpu dam is an example where a dam failure could have disastrous consequences.

Zipingpu dam threatens millions

The Zipingpu reservoir can hold a staggering 1.1 billion cubic meters of water, but the dam wall was cracked after the earthquake. Dujiangyan, with a population of 600,000 would be devastated by a dam failure first. Within a couple hours, water would then hit the provincial capital, Chengdu.

“Dujiangyan would be hit first,” says Environmental sciences professor Ai Nanshan. “You can imagine water levels as high as two-story buildings within 10 minutes. Everything would be gone. There would be no time to rescue anyone.”

Hydroelectric Dams and Chinese Demand for Electricity

There is an increasing demand in China for electricity, meanwhile concern about global warming soars. Although hydroelectric power seems like a good solution, the quantity, locations, and scale of such dams may not be ideal.

In addition to millions of people being displaced from the construction of dams, they also inhibited rescue efforts following the earthquake. Soldiers could have used boats, but dams eliminated this option.

“Here’s the contradiction: The country needs power for development,” says Professor Ai, chairman of the Chengdu Urban Rivers Association. “You open a map of China and you see that almost all of its rivers have been dammed. There are almost no rivers that flow naturally.

Related Links on Hydroelectric Power:

Renewable Energy: When The World Is Not Enough
Tidal Energy from NYC’s East River

China’s insatiable hunger for the utensil world’s learning curve has become so voracious that special taxes have been passed in order to save their forests from the dinner plate. Without greater efforts to stem the clickity-clack of a chopstick doomsday we may soon find gangs of pandas rampaging through Chinese villages looking to devour their eating utensils.

How can you do your part to help save panda bears from a life of crime? Well, perhaps we ought to take a few tips from a former lowly civil servant, Shuhei Ogawara. He’s taken 7,382 chopsticks and constructed them into a potentially sea-worthy canoe! Collecting them from the Koriyama City Hall cafeteria every day for two years he’s mixed chopsticks, resin, and a little genius and come up with yet another west-shaming brilliant invention!

There’s plenty of room aboard this love boat

Wonderfully-fantabulous, isn’t it? Though, I do know what you’re thinking: “But Angelo, we are but fork-eaters and do not chop with sticks!”. Tsk tsk! It’s time you took a gander at the seven billion Chinese food restaurants jammed into every strip mall in the U.S.A. I advise you to eat as much Chinese food as possible; not just because it’s my favorite food, mind you. I really don’t need competition at the buffet line; it’s hard enough to get to the fresh pot stickers first. I am, however, willing to sacrifice some yummies for the sake of the forests of the world.

Those of you cheap-skates and poor-skates can, of course, dumpster dive in order to score the necessary chops. I would suggest asking politely, actually, I am sure they won’t mind having someone dispose of their waste materials for free. I know many of you live for adventure, but I don’t want to have caused a movement that will seriously irritate the makers of my favorite dishes.

Should any of you try out this idea I’d like to see some pictures, years from now, of chopstick canoes, boats, pontoons, yachts, maybe even a couple ocean liners and submarines. I’d wait a little bit before I accept any offers to take a ride, though. Perhaps I’ll ride a pontoon without much testing, those things are easy to escape from.

Photos curtesy of: pinktentacle.com, criticalmiami.com

Image courtesy of Lucille and Tom Chi

Using only water-filled beer bottles and connecting hoses, Ma’s mother now has hot water on demand, and so do more than 20 other families in the village whom Ma has helped build their own system.

He wants to build a public bathroom for the village using the same process, but he needs enough money to buy the beers. He probably has plenty of volunteers to empty them.

Image and source.

By 2010, China will unveil a modern city powered by 100% renewable resources, capable of growing all of its own food using organic farming methods and recycling all of its waste.

The future city, Dongtan, is growing out of an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River Delta. The unique Ecocity being built on the island is also a creative way to protect the island’s ecologically sensitive wetland environment from China’s fast-paced development.

What will life in China’s first ecocity look like?

A glance at the website of Arup, the company engineering the project, shows all of the fixings imaginable for a modern “EcoTopia.” The company, which also designed Beijing’s “Bird’s Nest” green Olympic Stadium, is putting in place all of the following features:

• Urban design
• Sustainable energy management
• Cultural  planning
• Waste management
• Economic and business planning
• Social development
• Sustainable building design
• Landscape design
• Ecology

Arup’s website puts its wishes for Dongtan succinctly enough:

“The development at Dongtan will represent the turning point in China’s frenetic urban growth, incorporating all of the economic, social and environmental principles that combine to reduce the impact on the natural environment and provide a model for future development across China and East Asia.”

Further reading:

Dongtan Ecocity | Arup

Will The Dongtan Development in China Be The World’s First Eco-City? | TreeHugger

Photo source: Ecocity World Summit 2008

Asia

Working the land the natural way: Organic farming in China

It’s been almost four years since the project was launched, and of the nine households who have tried organic farming, only four are still at it. The others decided it just wasn’t worth it. Organic farming requires much more labor, the yield can be half or less of that of conventional farming, and besides, hardly anyone in Chengdu is eating organic. Our stock broker-turned-farmer estimates their customer base to be only 0.01% of Chengdu’s population.

Anlong farmer Gao Shengjian believes there’s a link between the use of pesticides and fertilizers on farms and the growing incidences of various diseases among the rural population.

Source: Crossroads China. Vote for this article in social media: StumbleUpon.

China down to 12 days worth of coal

China only has enough coal for 12 days of consumption, three days less than a month ago, state media reported Wednesday, sounding the alarm bells over the nation’s most important source of energy.

In certain parts of China, such as densely populated Hebei province in the north, reserves are down to less than a week, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the China Electricity Regulatory Commission.

In the period since early March, coal reserves have slumped by 12 per cent to 46.7 million tonnes, according to the commission.

Source: News.com.au. Vote for this article in social media: Digg.

Chinese execute Tibetans

Note: The above video contains long-distance video footage of people being killed. Please watch at your own discretion. Vote for this article in social media: Digg, Care2. Get involved: Students for a Free Tibet.

Europe

Europeans using cars less

Europe generally has far better public transportation than the United States, with workers in countries like Britain, Be

For China, having one of the leaders of Asia’s environmental movement refuse to carry the Beijing Olympic torch must sting. After all, China is jumping through hoops to carry out the Beijing Olympics as the Green Olympics. They are decreasing pollution by planting trees, recycling wastewater, paying car owners not to drive, and more. In addition, the games themselves will be carbon neutral.

But try as it might to impress the world, China has a tragic tendency to get it all wrong. For example, China’s attempts to “clean up” Beijing for the Olympic tourists has led the country to crack down on gays and kill half a million stray cats. Somebody needs to yell, “China, you’re going the wrong way!”

Mr. Choi explained his refusal of the Olympic torch.

“Green Korea does not only focus on environmental issues,” he said, “but also the ‘Realization of Non-violence and Peace’ as one of 4 principles. We oppose all kinds of violence and discrimination and support the peaceful co-existence of human and nature, man and woman, and among all living creatures.”

Clearly, killing Tibetans and Buddhist monks would go against these principles.

“I respect the spirit of Olympics,” said Mr. Choi, “to pursue world peace through sports games as a world citizen but the decision was unavoidable and it has been determined that the Tibetan crisis counters the spirit of Olympic.”

He added, “It is assured that the honor to be a torchbearer would not be neglected if the spirit for peace is known to world citizens through the decision. Nevertheless, the spirit of ancient Olympics should be respected which pursues peace and equity.”

Further reading:

The Olympics: Green or Bad?

Tangled Up In Green: Faster, Higher, Stronger, Greener

Refusing the Torch Relay for Tibet’s Peace

Beijing 2008, Green Olympics: Progress v Challenge

Beijing 2008, Environment

Photo credit: tomnono

Window washers dressed as Spiderman have caught the attention of guests at the Shanghai Sheraton. The hotel thought dressing window washers as a movie star would be less traumatic for guests, and it’s worked. Now guests want their pictures taken with Spiderman.

Source: Ananova

Asia

Two “Extinct” Species Discovered

First there was Swinshoe’s softshell turtle, and then the Javan Elephant. Is this more commonplace than we might believe?

Frankly, no. Despite the occasional hubbub over an animal science has lost track of– say, the Coelacanth– we’ve witnessed something extraordinary. Swinshoe’s turtle was previously believed to be extinct in the wild, with only three remaining in captivity, and therefore every one of these 300-pound turtles is a critical find.

Continue reading: Environmental Graffiti. Hot in media: Stumble Upon.

Building Ban for Beijing Olympics

All building sites in Beijing will be shut three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, as the city tries to clear its skies of pollution.

Digging, pouring of concrete and outdoor spray-painting will also be banned under plans announced by the Environmental Protection Bureau.

The move follows mounting concern that athletes may suffer from Beijing’s noxious atmosphere.

Continue reading: BBC. Hot in media: Care2 News Network.

China ‘Now Top Carbon Polluter’

China has already overtaken the US as the world’s “biggest polluter”, a report to be published next month says.

The research suggests the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007.

The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management.

Continue reading: BBC. Hot in media: Digg.

South America

Amazon Tribe Enlists Google in Battle with Illegal Loggers

You may know it as Google, but in bamboo-and-thatch roundhouses deep in the Amazon rainforest the iconic brand goes by another name. The Surui people, one of the most remote on Earth, call it ragogmakan – “messenger” – and they’re banking on the search engine to save them and their ancestral lands from extinction.

The tribe – whose first contact with the modern world was less than 40 years ago – are replacing their bows and arrows with hi-tech gadgets in their battle for survival. They have already begun using satnav on their traditional trails through the trees. And Google Earth has just agreed to provide high-resolution satellite images of their forest home.

Continue Reading: The Independent. Hot in media: Digg.

GOING, GOING, GONE? New Satellite Images Reveal a Shrinking Amazon Rainforest

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon may be on the rise, according to high-resolution images released by an agency of the Brazilian government. The images suggest an end to a widely hailed three-year decline in the rate of deforestation and have spurred a public controversy among high-level Brazilian officials, writes Tim Hirsch, author of “The Incredible Shrinking Amazon Rainforest” in the May/June 2008 issue of World Watch magazine.

Deforestation accounts for approximately one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for significant species loss worldwide. Recent anti-deforestation measures under the administration of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have led to a marked drop in the rate of forest loss over the past three years.

Continue reading: ENN. Take action: Petition to save the Amazon.

Africa

Dockers Refuse to Unload China Arms Shipment for Zimbabwe

South African dockers are refusing to unload a Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms destined for Zimbabwe.

The arms, including three million rounds of ammunition suitable for AK47s and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, were ordered by the Zimbabwean military at the time of the March 29 election – which Britain and other Western powers have accused Robert Mugabe of trying to rig.

Continue reading: Times Online. Hot in media: Digg.

Middle East

Bahrain World Trade Center Activates Wind Turbines

You may remember that about a year ago we brought you news of the Bahrain World Trade Center, which was designed to have three giant turbines provide power to the building. Well, this past Tuesday, the project was finally completed, with the final testing and installation of the enormous wind turbines which power the building. This week, Bahrain WTC has, for the first time, activated all three 29m-diameter turbines at the same time!

Continue Reading: Inhabitat. Hot in media: Digg.

North America

Canada Leads Way with Ban on Baby Bottles Containing Bisphenol A

The government announced Friday that Canada will be the first country to ban plastic baby bottles with bisphenol A after concluding the chemical is toxic.

Health Minister Tony Clement unveiled the “precautionary and prudent” move while trying to calm fears with a limited ban of the widely used chemical, also found in hard plastic sports bottles and tin cans of food and infant formula. Most Canadians “need not be concerned” about the health effects of bisphenol A, but Clement said “this is not the case for newborns and infants.”

Continue reading: The Gazette.

Europe

Biofuel Rule Will Do More Harm Than Good, Oxfam Says

U.K. fuels for cars and trucks must contain biofuels starting today, a move that may do more harm than good to the environment and drive food prices higher, charities including Oxfam and Greenpeace said.

Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, suppliers must ensure that 2.5 percent of fuel sold at U.K. pumps consists of biofuels, which are made from crops and grasses. The requirement will rise to 5 percent by 2010. The Department for Transport says the plan will cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 2.5 million metric tons a year.

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Global

Millions Of Pounds Of Trash Found On Ocean Beaches

Ocean Conservancy released its annual report on trash in the ocean with new data from the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup the most comprehensive snapshot of the harmful impacts of marine debris. The mission of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup is to engage people to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways, to identify the sources of debris and to change the behaviors that cause pollution.

This year, more than 378,000 volunteers participated in cleanups around every major body of water around the globe. Volunteers record the trash found on land and underwater allowing Ocean Conservancy a global snapshot of the problem.

Continue reading: Science Daily. Hot in media: Care2 News Network.