Recently two members of Transition Bro Gwaun attended the Transition Network Conference 2010 report for a copy of their report follow the link.
TBG and Point Carnival Float – Voyage to a greener future
Recently two members of Transition Bro Gwaun attended the Transition Network Conference 2010 report for a copy of their report follow the link.
TBG and Point Carnival Float – Voyage to a greener future
Scientists have discovered that the phytoplankton of the oceans has declined by about 40 per cent over the past century, with much of the loss occurring since the 1950s. They believe the change is linked with rising sea temperatures and global warming.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/the-dead-sea-global-warming-blamed-for-40-per-cent-decline-in-the-oceans-phytoplankton-2038074.html
A possible cut in feed in tariffs!
See:
A coalition of green, countryside and housing groups has warned energy secretary Chris Huhne not to cut subsidies for green electricity and heating as part of the government’s spending review. The 22 groups, including green energy trade body the Renewable Energy Association, the National Farmers Union and the Federation of Master Builders, said in a letter to Huhne that cutting schemes that subsidise household generation of renewable energy would jeopardise job creation, energy security and greenhouse gas targets.
The move was sparked by comments from the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s minister of state, Charles Hendry, who recently said he was “closely reviewing” the £27bn renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme due to start in April next year to encourage the take-up of green heating devices such as heat pumps, and the £8bn feed-in tariff (FIT) launched in April which pays small-scale generators of green electricity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/02/chris-huhne-green-electricity
The UK government’s chief environment scientist has called for more openness in admitting Britain’s apparent cuts in greenhouse gases are an illusion.
Robert Watson says that if emissions “embedded” in imported goods are counted, UK emissions are up, not down.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11172239
CBI to host climate change ‘clash of the titans’ debate
The “clash of the titans” will be between Lord Lawson of Blaby, the former Conservative chancellor and chairman of the sceptical Global Warming Policy Foundation, and Sir David King, a former government chief scientist who once warned that climate change was “more serious even than the threat of terrorism”.
The CBI will host the event at its annual climate change conference in November, and it is likely to inject renewed vigour into a deadlocked debate between two camps that seldom meet face to face and appear to be increasingly entrenched in their positions.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/cbi-climate-change-debate-king
Harrabin’s Notes: Reform ahead
In his regular column, BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin looks at what the findings of an international review will mean for the UN’s climate body, the IPCC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8740049.stm
Why failure of climate summit would herald global catastrophe: 3.5°
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor the Independent
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Coastal megacities like Shanghai, and low-lying regions of countries such as Pakistan (above) are most at risk from rising sea levels Coastal megacities like Shanghai, and low-lying regions of countries such as Pakistan (above) are most at risk from rising sea levels
The world is heading for the next major climate change conference in Cancun later this year on course for global warming of up to 3.5C in the coming century, a series of scientific analyses suggest. The failure of last December’s UN climate summit in Copenhagen means that cuts in carbon emissions pledged by the international community will not be enough to keep the anticipated warming within safe limits.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/why-failure–of-climate-summit-would-herald-global-catastrophe-35-2066127.html
The world’s most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is “undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and “a challenge humanity must confront”, in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby.
Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled “sceptical environmentalist” once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN’s climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/30/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-u-turn
UK biofuels ‘falling short’ on environmental standards
By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News
Petrol pump and car (Getty Images) The majority of biofuels sold in the UK do not meet an environmental standard
The Renewable Fuels Agency says it is disappointed that the vast majority of biofuels sold on UK forecourts do not conform to environmental standards.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11112837
In a special Radio 4 series the BBC’s Environmental Analyst Roger Harrabin questions whether his own reporting – and that of others – has adequately told the whole story about global warming.
Available for listen again on:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tj525
Episode 2 next Monday
From the Guardian today
One of the UK’s most radical environmental policies – requiring all new homes from 2016 to be “zero carbon” – is set to be scaled back amid pressure from the housebuilding industry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/aug/29/new-houses-carbon-emission-targets-reduced
Courtesy of the independent on Sunday. As from today, you can sit at your laptop or your workstation and redesign UK energy policy for the next 40 years.
It’s simple. You do it using the software the British Government is using itself, and you can pick your own range of policies and measures that will keep the lights on, in the face of looming global threats to energy supply, while simultaneously cutting Britain’s emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, by 80 per cent – as the Government has pledged.
See:
http://2050-calculator-tool.decc.gov.uk/
Even the most extreme geoengineering approaches will not stop sea levels from rising due to climate change, a study suggests.
New research proposes that as many as 150 million people could be affected as ocean levels increases by 30cm to 70cm by the end of this century.
This could result in flooding of low-lying coastal areas, including some of the world’s largest cities.
The team published the study in the journal PNAS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11076786
and for those of us drinking our morning coffee:
Coffee threatened by beetles in a warming world
A tiny insect that thrives in warmer temperatures — the coffee berry borer — has been spreading steadily, devastating coffee plants in Africa, Latin America, and around the world
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/27/coffee-threatened-beetles-warming
Am I an activist for caring about my grandchildren’s future? I guess I am
Concerted action to tackle climate change will happen only if the public demands it for the sake of future generations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/aug/26/james-hansen-climate-change
Have a fun day out and support our float at the:
FISHGUARD and GOODWICK CARNIVAL on Saturday 28th August
Nine Challenges of Alternative Energy
Posted by Gail the Actuary on August 19, 2010 – 10:35am
Topic: Alternative energy
Tags: alternative energy, solar pv, wind [list all tags]
This is a guest post by David Fridley, known on The Oil Drum as Sparaxis. See end of post for more information.
The scramble for alternatives is on. High oil prices, growing concerns over energy security, and the threat of climate change have all stimulated investment in the development of alternatives to conventional oil. In this post (which is an excerpted chapter from The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises edited by Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch), I give an overview of some of the issues I see, including nine challenges of alternative energy.
For the full article see: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6854#more
Urine could be used as renewable energy source
The scientists The scientists were given a £130,000 grant to develop the project
A research team at Heriot-Watt University is investigating whether urine could be used as a source of renewable energy.
Interesting see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11023725
Humanity needs a project with the vision and budget of the Apollo space programme if it is going to make the necessary giant leap towards sustainability, says Owen Gaffney. In this week’s Green Room, he says researchers from all scientific disciplines are developing a project that may just fit the bill.
Worth a read, would we find the cash or is it all pie in the sky?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8854653.stm
Many more people will die of heart problems as global warming continues, experts are warning.
Climate extremes of hot and cold will become more common and this will puts strain on people’s hearts, doctors say.
A study in the British Medical Journal found that each 1C temperature drop on a single day in the UK is linked to 200 extra heart attacks.
see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10917611
Global climate change is partly to blame for the abnormally hot and dry weather in Moscow, cloaked in a haze of smoke from wildfires, say researchers.
The UK Met Office said there are likely to be more extreme high temperatures in the future.
Experts from the environmental group WWF Russia have also linked climate change and hot weather to raging wildfires around the Russian capital.
Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia, according to research, with more declines to come.
Yields have fallen by 10-20% over the last 25 years in some locations.
The group of mainly US-based scientists studied records from 227 farms in six important rice-producing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China.
see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10918591
Germany targets switch to 100% renewables for its electricity by 2050
Germany already leads the world on renewable energy and could become first G20 country to kick the fossil-fuel habit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/07/germany-renewable-energy-electricity
Breaking News
CRU climate scientists ‘did not withold data, see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10538198.stm