News from the world

mercoledì, novembre 4th, 2009

Barcellona – La seconda giornata e le opinioni in campo e intanto l’Africa boicotta il meeting

Secondo giorno di lavori al summit di Barcellona. Non ci sono dichiarazioni ufficiali e le voci sono molto caute, vista l’atmosfera di sfiducia che si respira nella città spagnola in vista della Conferenza di Copenhagen. La giornata di oggi è ufficialmente dedicata al problema dell’acqua, un bene sempre più prezioso per l’umanità, anch’esso dipendente dalle evoluzioni climatiche che sono in parte già in atto, ma che potrebbero essere irreversibili se, come è ormai noto, la temperatura globale della Terra dovesse superare i due gradi.
Qui di seguito riportiamo quelle che a tutt’oggi sono le posizioni di Paesi, istituzioni e associazioni per rendere più chiaro il quadro complessivo, per la verità assai articolato e molto contrastato.

La posizione dei Paesi in via di sviluppo

Parlando a nome del G 77 (un’organizzazione intergovernativa delle Nazioni Unite, formata da 131 paesi del mondo, principalmente in via di sviluppo) e della Cina, il capo della delegazione sudanese ha dichiarato l’avversione per i paesi sviluppati che vorrebbero metter fine al “Protocollo di Kyoto”. Inoltre ha contestato la loro violazione del principio di “responsabilità comuni ma diverse”, cosa che, per l’esponente del G77, metteranno in pericolo i risultati della Conferenza di Copenaghen.

Continua a leggere (Tratto da Rinnovabili.it)

L’Africa intanto boicotta il meeting

L’avevano già preannunciato in sede Ua (Unione Africana) e ora l’hanno messo in atto. I 50 rappresentanti degli stati africani hanno bloccato il meeting di Barcellona dichiarando di non voler andare avanti con le trattative finchè i Paesi ricchi non prenderanno posizioni concrete nella lotta al taglio delle emissioni di gas serra.
L’atteggiamento degli africani sottolinea quindi ancora una volta la difficoltà dei paesi più poveri nei confronti delle posizioni prese da quelli industrializzati e ribadisce l’accusa per non aver ancora intrapreso politiche efficaci. La polemica è dura: “L’Africa è convinta che alcuni non prendano sul serio i colloqui”, ha denunciato Kabeya Tshikuku della delegazione della Repubblica democratica del Congo.
L’Ipcc ha ribadito che le nazioni industrializzate dovrebbero concretizzare l’impegno di tagliare le emission del 25-40% entro il 2020 se vogliono realmente limitare l’aumento della temperatura a due gradi.
Attualmente hanno sottoscritto l’impegno solamente Giappone e Norvegia mentre in Europa si parla di riduzioni del 30% e nel frattempo il pacchetto sul clima americano è ancora fermo in Senato nonostante Canada Russia e Australia si siano rivelate favorevoli a seguire le indicazioni dell’Ipcc.

Tratto da Rinnovabili.it


martedì, novembre 3rd, 2009

Cina: porteremo al 10% la quota di rinnovabili

Li Junfeng, vice direttore dell’ Ufficio di ricerche energetiche della Commissione statale per lo sviluppo e la riforma cinese in occasione del China Energy and Environment summit ha dichiarato che, entro il prossimo anno, il 10% dell’energia prodotta in Cina sarà da fonte rinnovabile, sfruttando soprattutto sole, vento e acqua.
Attualmente il Gigante asiatico può contare sul 9% da fonti alternative rispetto al totale, come ha spiegato lo stesso vice direttore, rivelando ai giornalisti che la NDRC sta già delineando le linee guida per lo sviluppo delle rinnovabili: l’8% dell’energia proverrà dall’idroelettrico e l’1% dall’eolico con lo sviluppo ulteriore del solare termico come grande contributo alla generazione di energia verde, attualmente posto a copertura di una superficie pari a 150 milioni di metri quadrati.
“Pensiamo che non sarà difficile raggiungere l’obiettivo del 10% entro l’anno prossimo – ha dichiarato Li Junfeng – la Cina non deve preoccuparsi che lo sviluppo di tutti i tipi di energie pulite sia troppo lento, al contrario il Paese deve fare attenzione che ciò non accada troppo velocemente, incluso il nucleare, l’eolico, il solare e le altre risorse energetiche, attualmente in rapida evoluzione”.

Fonte: Rinnovabili


lunedì, novembre 2nd, 2009

A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables

In December leaders from around the world will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree on cutting back greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come. The most effective step to implement that goal would be a massive shift away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources. If leaders can have confidence that such a transformation is possible, they might commit to an historic agreement. We think they can.

A year ago former vice president Al Gore threw down a gauntlet: to repower America with 100 percent carbon-free electricity within 10 years. As the two of us started to evaluate the feasibility of such a change, we took on an even larger challenge: to determine how 100 percent of the world’s energy, for all purposes, could be supplied by wind, water and solar resources, by as early as 2030. Our plan is presented here.

Scientists have been building to this moment for at least a decade, analyzing various pieces of the challenge. Most recently, a 2009 Stanford University study ranked energy systems according to their impacts on global warming, pollution, water supply, land use, wildlife and other concerns. The very best options were wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and hydroelectric power—all of which are driven by wind, water or sunlight (referred to as WWS). Nuclear power, coal with carbon capture, and ethanol were all poorer options, as were oil and natural gas. The study also found that battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles recharged by WWS options would largely eliminate pollution from the transportation sector.

Our plan calls for millions of wind turbines, water machines and solar installations. The numbers are large, but the scale is not an insurmountable hurdle; society has achieved massive transformations before. During World War II, the U.S. retooled automobile factories to produce 300,000 aircraft, and other countries produced 486,000 more. In 1956 the U.S. began building the Interstate Highway System, which after 35 years extended for 47,000 miles, changing commerce and society.

Is it feasible to transform the world’s energy systems? Could it be accomplished in two decades? The answers depend on the technologies chosen, the availability of critical materials, and economic and political factors.

Continue Reading

Source: Scientific American


giovedì, ottobre 29th, 2009

Automobili elettriche? la Reva batte Toyota e GM

L’hanno considerata poco più che un costruttore di golf cart, un assemblatore di macchinine da bambini viziati o vecchietti a cui hanno ritirato la patente, ma ora la Reva, o meglio la REEC -- Reva Electric Car Company -- è diventata la prima casa costruttrice al mondo di auto elettriche . Una bella rivincita per la marca indiana di Bangalore che oggi sforna qualcosa come 30 mila vetture a batteria l’anno e che ha battuto colossali concorrenti come Tata Motors, General Motors e Toyota.

“La tecnologia della Reva -- ha spiegato Karl Slym, presidente e amministratore delegato di GM India -- non è seconda a nessuno e, fra l’altro, è anche facile trasportare le componenti delle loro auto su vetture di altre marche”. Una caratteristica unica nel mondo dell’auto e che la dice lunga sull’esperienza di questa incredibile azienda indiana fondata dal signor Maini e che prende il nome (Reva, appunto) da quello di sua madre… Maini infatti cominciò a costruire e vendere automobili e aerei telecomandati all’età di 10 anni, poi passò a motorizzare go-kart e quindi a costruire piccole auto. Da sempre il suo compagno di gioco preferiti è il tornio e la fresa… Poi, ovvio, arrivò la laurea in ingegneria meccanica presso l’Università del Michigan, dove è stato subito inserito in una squadra che ha costruito macchina solar, e poi si è specializzato in California facendo espereinza presso diverse aziende. Quindi nel 1990 Maini torna a Bangalore e fonda la Reva, affiancando questa azienda a quelle di famiglia che fabbricano già ricambi auto, golf cart e carrelli elevatori.

Fonte: Repubblica

Sito ufficiale della REVA


giovedì, ottobre 29th, 2009

Amazing Pictures, Pollution in China

The 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”

Lu Guang (卢广), freelancer photographer, started as an amateur photographer in 1980. He was a factory worker, later started his own photo studio and advertising agency. August of 1993 he returned to post-graduate studies at the Central Arts and Design Academy in Beijing (now is the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University). During graduate school, he studied, traveled all over the country and carved out a career, became the “dark horse” of the photographer circle in Beijing. Skilled at social documentary photography, his insightful, creative and artistic work often focused on “social phenomena and people living at the bottom of society”, attracted the attentions of the national photography circle and the media. Many of his award winning works focused on social issues like, “gold rush in the west”, “drug girl”, “small coal pit”, “HIV village”, “the Grand Canal”, “development of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway” and so on.

1. “At the junction of Ningxia province and Inner Mongolia province, I saw a tall chimney puffing out golden smoke covering the blue sky, large tracts of the grassland have become industrial waste dumps; unbearable foul smell made people want to cough; Surging industrial sewage flowed into the Yellow River…”

Source:chinahush.com

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martedì, ottobre 27th, 2009

350.ORG CLIMATE CAMPAIGN

More than 4,000 events in 170 countries worldwide came together over the weekend as part of the 350.org climate change campaign, which aims to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million – the amount scientists say must not be exceeded to avoid runaway global warming. The event, which organisers called ‘the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history’, marked 50 days until world leaders meet in Copenhagen to thrash out a new climate change treaty


martedì, ottobre 27th, 2009

Sichuan earthquake survivors ‘poisoned by pollution’

Survivors of the Sichuan earthquake face a new threat in the form of pollution from an aluminium plant that has been hailed by the government as a symbol of reconstruction.

Villagers near the factory in Wenchuan county – the area worst hit by the disaster – have told the Guardian their health and crops have been damaged by airborne “white flake” pollution that falls and then covers the soil.

Though more than a year has passed since the quake killed 68,000 people and destroyed millions of homes on 12 May 2008, many residents still live in tents.

The local government has put a priority on rebuilding the economy, partly through the more than five-fold expansion of the Aba Aluminium production line owned by Bosai Corporation – one of Sichuan’s biggest exporters. This provides much-needed jobs in the disaster area, but they come at a heavy environmental price, according to nearby residents who complain their harvests have collapsed because of contamination.

“The expansion of the aluminium factory has really affected our lives. I used to grow vegetables and walnuts, but the pollution has ruined the plants and trees,” a local woman told the Guardian by telephone. “The powder from the plant floats in the air, and leaves a coating of white sediment on the ground.”

To boost the family income, she said her husband took a job in the factory but he had to leave after less than six months because a rash broke out over his body.

Many local residents work in the factory, which pays more than 1,000 yuan (£90) per month – a reasonable income in rural China. But there may be hazards. “We work in bad conditions. The workshops are thick with dust,” said an employee. “The pollution became very bad after the expansion. I heard it is because the cleaning devices are not functioning properly.”

Continue reading

Source: The Guardian


domenica, ottobre 25th, 2009

India-China climate change deal

Two of the world’s biggest polluters, India and China, have signed an agreement to work together on addressing climate change.

The two countries will co-operate on technology development and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They have also pledged to work together in international climate change negotiations ahead of the Copenhagen climate change talks in December. Both argue that capping their emissions would limit their economic growth.

The two countries say that developed countries must play a bigger role in reductions.

Speaking ahead of the signing ceremony in Delhi, Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that there was virtually no difference between Indian and Chinese negotiating positions on international climate treaties.

He said that he would hold more consultations with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, to see “what India and China should do to ensure a successful outcome at Copenhagen that not only protects the environment but promotes the interests of developing countries”.

The BBC’s Amit Baruah in Delhi says that Mr Ramesh has been forced to clarify his stand in relation to climate change after he was reported as suggesting earlier that he might be prepared to make compromises in order for a deal to be struck at Copenhagen.

“I have never at any stage considered or advocated abandoning the fundamental tenets of the [1997] Kyoto protocol,” Mr Ramesh said in an official statement on Tuesday.

“Internationally legally binding [greenhouse gas] reduction targets are for developed countries and developed countries alone, as globally agreed under the [2007] Bali action plan,” the statement said.

Source: BBC


domenica, ottobre 25th, 2009

Barack Obama in new global warming fight

Barack Obama‘s efforts to forge a new American consensus around the need for action on climate change has run into a brick wall of Republican opposition, with senators threatening a boycott of a proposed law to cut carbon emissions.

The Senate opens a three-day blockbuster of hearings on Tuesday, calling 54 administration officials and environment experts to try to push ahead on a climate change law before a meeting in Copenhagen that is supposed to produce a global action plan on climate change.

With that deadline looming, Obama has made his most forceful appeal to date for Congress to act on climate change. The president said on Friday that Americans had now arrived at a point of convergence on the need to move towards cleaner energy. “I do believe that a consensus is growing,” he said. Those still unpersuaded, he said in a speech at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), were outside the mainstream.

Continue on Guardian



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