The environment in the news thursday, 22 May 2008
Alberta power exports may be left in cold by carbon-conscious users
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- Growing against the grain
Alberta power exports may be left in cold by carbon-conscious usersBy JUSTINE HUNTER The Globe and Mail Wednesday May 21, 2008 VICTORIA -- Alberta's refusal to take part in a western climate change scheme is facing a back-door assault from carbon market enthusiasts. Today in Salt Lake City, the increasingly powerful alliance of the Western Climate Initiative is gathering to fine-tune a plan that aims to put a price on electricity imports - including energy from Alberta's coal-fired power plants. Alberta has been a holdout in the WCI process but its current and potential trading partners for electricity - B.C. and key western states - are working to ensure that their regional cap-and-trade plan doesn't drive consumers into the arms of dirty-energy producers outside their trading bloc. A draft proposal would put a price on dirty energy even if it is produced outside the WCI. It could drive up the cost of Alberta's coal-fired electricity exports - or drive away customers altogether. And increasingly, that's a big market to miss out on. The partners are seven U.S. states - including the economic powerhouse of California, and three provinces - B.C., Manitoba and Quebec. There are a number of official observers that may end up as full members. That list includes Ontario, Saskatchewan, another six U.S. states and six Mexican states. The WCI is expected to produce a final plan by the summer that aims to cap greenhouse gas emissions while offering a scheme to trade carbon credits. "The WCI is putting in place an economic incentive to limit trading of dirty power," said Ian Bruce of the David Suzuki Foundation, who is in Salt Lake City for the meeting. "The WCI is a very large economy. Companies in Alberta will miss out - that's a risk for Alberta and the other jurisdictions that are refusing to take climate change seriously." The scheme comes at a time when Alberta's electricity industry has pushed to link the province's power grid to the western U.S. to encourage export opportunities. B.C. and Alberta already routinely trade electricity - a relationship that could be jeopardized if B.C. consumers have to pay a premium under the new rules for Alberta's much-dirtier power. Mr. Bruce noted that roughly 60 per cent of Alberta's electricity comes from coal-fired plants - the dirtiest source on the power grid. While B.C. brags about its low carbon footprint in electricity, it glosses over the emissions that are associated with its Alberta imports. Under the proposed rules that will be debated at the WCI meeting today, that would change. All greenhouse gas emissions from electricity would be captured by the cap-and-trade plan, even if it is generated outside the WCI. The goal, a draft report says, is to "maximize coverage and minimize emissions leakage." The B.C. government is backing the electricity initiative, saying Alberta producers shouldn't be able to compete with cleaner producers without a price put on their carbon emissions. "They won't benefit through their inaction," a government official said. Jason Chance, spokesman for Alberta Energy, said it is too early to say how the proposals might affect the province, which has several coal-fired power plants but also a large amount of wind power. "Any kind of policy that would affect Alberta industries' ability to be competitive is something we need to monitor carefully," he said. Peter Hunt, of the Calgary-based power firm Enmax Corp., said the industry is braced for change. "If a jurisdiction such as California or B.C. is setting GHG reduction targets, then it is entirely reasonable to make sure that cheaper, more polluting industries from elsewhere, such as coal-fired generation in Alberta, don't get an unfair advantage," Mr. Hunt said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080521.BCCAP21/TPStory/?query=climate+change Growing against the grainWhen B.C. foodies discovered they couldn't buy wheat produced within 100 miles, they paid farmers to plant it for themBy FIONA MORROW The Globe and Mail Wednesday May 21, 2008 VANCOUVER -- Last summer, Matt Lowe looked at his daily bread and realized there was something wrong. The Nelson resident and West Kootenay Eco Society member had signed up for a city challenge to eat local for the entire month of August. It was going pretty well until Mr. Lowe noticed there was no grain produced within the requisite 100 miles. Grain silos in the area sit unused, relics of a local agronomy supplanted by the push to centralize Canada's grain production in the Prairies. Mr. Lowe decided it was time to bring these crops back to the region. "I thought about it," Mr. Lowe recalls, "and realized that if we could re-establish grain growing in the area, we could dramatically reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Grain is a staple - we eat a lot of it. If we had our own supply it would automatically address issues around climate change, peak oil and food security for us." Though Nelson's mountainous topography is not an obvious place to grow grain, Mr. Lowe was aware that the nearby Creston Valley was historically a very fertile area. About 75 miles (120 kilometres) from Nelson, on the other side of the Selkirk Mountains, the valley is the region's largest growing area. When he called a meeting in December, he discovered he wasn't alone in his concern. Suddenly he had farmers, millers and bakers all champing at the bit to get their hands on a local product - as well as a long line of potential customers. "The biggest surprise was the response from the farmers," he says. "They said, 'Get us a hundred names and we'll grow the crops.' " It was decided the project would take the form of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to insulate the farmers from any income shortfall due to poor yield. The farmers would be paid for the seed up front, and 200 shares in the project would be sold at $100 each. Shareholders would be able to visit the farms and be available to help if needed. If all went well, each shareholder would receive 100 pounds of grain. About half the shares were sold when the project was confirmed last month, and the rest have been selling steadily, with only 25 still available. Nelson residents Gusti Callis and his wife, Lisa, were quick to put their money down, even though neither is a big grain eater. "We see this as the way to deal with rising food prices and how to reduce our carbon footprint," said Mr. Callis. "The more successful this project, the more farmers will want to get involved, and the Kootenays will be in a position to start meeting the food needs of its own people." Deciding what grain to grow was a lengthy process. Four months were spent researching suitable crops and establishing connections with seed suppliers. The three farmers interested in taking part in the pilot project were not certified organic, although they had untainted land and were happy to farm the crops without the use of pesticides or other chemicals. Organic certification, however, is costly, so it was agreed they would grow naturally and not worry about an official stamp. In April, the decision was finally made to go with five different grains: three wheats, spelt and oats. One farmer had already successfully grown hard spring wheat, and a local bakery had been impressed with the taste. An ancient grain called Polish wheat (also known as Kamut) was picked because many people with wheat allergies are able to eat it. The third wheat, Red Fife, was on the radar locally, following a radio interview with Vancouver Island's Sharon Rempel, an expert on heritage wheat. Red Fife, Canada's oldest wheat, originated in Ukraine in 1860; until 1900, it was Canada's only wheat. A landrace grain, it is genetically diverse and adaptable to different growing conditions. Just like grapes grown for wine, the wheat develops a distinctive terroir depending on the nature of the soil and environment in which it is grown. "As soon as we told the farmers about it, they all wanted to grow it," says Mr. Lowe. "We are only planting 15 acres of grain all told this year, and even the farmer not designated for Red Fife has decided to grow some anyway, just out of interest." The seed was planted from late April to early May and harvest is expected in September, with shareholders receiving their 100 pounds in October. Ms. Rempel has seen a huge increase in interest in heritage grains in recent years with similar projects in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. In 2006, more than 200 tons of Red Fife seed were harvested from coast to coast on farms in Canada. Last fall, Ms. Rempel organized Canada's first Bread and Wheat Festival, on Vancouver Island with eight local bakers providing Red Fife bread to more than 900 attendees. People, she says, are no longer prepared simply to accept the food that's on the supermarket shelves. "It's important that people can source an identified grain from a particular producer in order to trust what they are eating" she explains. "We're developing a parallel universe to commercial agribusiness, where communities are reclaiming their food and growing it in a closed loop that cuts out middlemen, corporations and government. And I say, 'Bravo.' " http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080521.LPLANTING21/TPStory/?query=climate+change Landowners get windfalls from natural gas drilling By Paul Davidson USA TODAY Wednesday 21 May 2008
By letting Chesapeake Energy drill wells and pump natural gas from beneath its 50 acres, the church has pocketed tens of thousands of dollars and stands to clear tens of thousands more in royalties each month after drilling begins. The money will help pay for a new $8 million church and performance center, a $12 million mixed-use development nearby and a slate of community programs to help the less fortunate. "It's been an unexpected treasure," says Bowman, a preacher with a gravelly voice and infectious cackle. "I know without a doubt it was divine." In this sprawling city and surrounding area, companies are siphoning natural gas from under homes, churches, schools and golf courses in an urban drilling frenzy that's showering property owners with unexpected windfalls. The initiative takes another leap in a few months when drilling begins in Fort Worth's revitalized downtown. The region, the nation's most active drilling basin, is the epicenter of a natural gas boom rippling across the USA. Companies are boring wells in the unlikeliest of places, transforming large swaths of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, the Rockies, and, most recently, rural Pennsylvania. They're building a vast network of pipelines to transport the gas to population centers, tanks to store the surplus and terminals to house liquefied natural gas (LNG) from overseas. Much of the infrastructure is springing up in the Gulf of Mexico, which hasn't seen such a building flurry in decades, says Russell Braziel, managing director of Bentek Energy. In Texas, "They're drilling like banshees and finding gas like banshees," he says. "This is fabulous for the consumer." The drilling boosted U.S. natural gas production 3% last year, helping reduce residential natural gas prices for heating and other uses 5.4%, the Energy Information Administration says. Natural gas heats about half of U.S. homes and fuels 20% of U.S. power plants. It's also a feedstock for products such as plastics, fertilizer, antifreeze and fabrics. With oil prices soaring and coal losing favor amid concerns about global warming, natural gas has emerged as the fuel of choice in the USA. Natural gas prices have risen sharply in recent years. But the drilling boom, at least for now, is tempering consumers' costs as oil prices march toward $130 a barrel. The benchmark spot price of natural gas is about $11 for 1,000 cubic feet. That's far less expensive than oil, even allowing that it takes about 6,000 cubic feet of gas to match a barrel of oil's energy output, measured in British thermal units (Btu). Driving the U.S. appetite for gas is the power industry. Coal fires 50% of power plants, but it's the largest emitter of global-warming gases. Most utilities are turning to natural gas generators that emit half as much carbon dioxide, are relatively inexpensive to build and can be finished quickly. Natural gas use by the power industry grew 10% last year. The surging demand, along with 2005 hurricanes that shut down production facilities in the Gulf, helped push up prices in recent years. Since 2002, natural gas prices have more than tripled. Here's the good news: The rising prices have enticed companies to unearth new supplies, moderating price hikes. Analyst Robert Ineson of Cambridge Energy Research Associates expects natural gas prices to fall to $8 per 1,000 cubic feet later this year and hover at about $7 through 2012. Several years ago, with recoverable natural gas reserves being depleted in traditional fields such as the Gulf, the industry started scrambling. Companies such as Sempra Energy began planning terminals to accept LNG from overseas. At the same time, as natural gas prices crept past $6 per 1,000 cubic feet, it became economical for companies to develop new drilling methods to extract gas deeply embedded in formations of shale rock. Rigs drill down about 7,000 feet, then make a right angle and bore horizontally up to 5,000 feet, exposing about 10 times as much rock. Workers free trapped gas by pumping in water to form cracks in the shale and sand to hold the fissures open, letting gas flow up. "It's made millions of acres productive," says Chesapeake Energy spokesman Jim Gipson. In Fort Worth, horizontal drilling has allowed rigs to be placed up to a mile from neighborhoods where gas will be tapped. Nearly 1,000 wells have been drilled in the city, the heart of a 5,000-square-mile basin, known as the Barnett Shale, that skirts Dallas. Like mini-Eiffel Towers, the 130-foot-tall latticework rigs can occasionally be spotted around town, emitting an airplane-engine hum punctuated by screeches and periodic clouds of smoke. More common are the 6-foot-high wellheads that remain after drilling is done in about 30 days. Billboards exhort commuters to "Explore the Barnett Shale." "I've never seen a development of this magnitude in an urban area," says Larry Dale, CEO of Dale Resources, a production company that leases property in Fort Worth for Chesapeake. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport sports five rigs after leasing the right to drill on its 18,000 acres for $186 million plus royalties. The city of Fort Worth expects to rake in about $1 billion in the next 20 years for leasing its property. Property owners these days typically get a signing bonus of at least $17,000 per acre and 25% of monthly revenue. "It has, indeed, floated everyone's boat higher," says Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief. Across town, the Barnett Shale — which surrenders 3 billion cubic feet of gas a day, 5% of U.S. consumption — inevitably seeps into conversations. As Pastor Bowman concludes a visit with Maureen and R.V. Castle, who live across the street in a small clapboard house, Maureen exclaims, "I want to see that hole in the ground so I can see that (new) church going up!" Denise and Lloyd Stephens, who leased the mineral rights under their southwest Fort Worth house, plan to invest the $4,200 signing bonus into their direct-sales nutrition business. The $150 or so they expect to earn in monthly royalties will help pay their property taxes. "We were thrilled," Denise says. "This was pennies from heaven. God put shale below us."
The drilling has also rankled some. Two wells were drilled about 600 feet from the backyard of Brenda and Gary Hogan. "Twenty-four hours a day you've got noise and bright lights," as well as a parade of trucks that deliver and pick up water, Brenda says. The rigs are gone now, but when the Hogans look past their backyard to a once-bucolic pasture, they see two round green tanks that separate the gas from water. Noting they earned just a $550 signing leasing bonus and expect about $50 a month in royalties, Gary adds, "It's not worth it." Elsewhere, companies are borrowing Texas drilling techniques to tap an even bigger potential bounty in an Appalachian Mountain rock called the Marcellus Shale. Since 2004, about 35 companies have spent $4 billion drilling in a region encompassing Pennsylvania, western New York, Ohio and West Virginia, at first with little success. In the past six months, Range Resources, the No. 1 player in the area, has hit 10 good wells in Pennsylvania, revitalizing the effort, says Range CEO John Pinkerton. Bonuses to lease land from farmers and others in the largely rural area have risen to $2,500 an acre from $300 in February, says Tom Murphy of the Penn State cooperative extension. Penn State geologists estimate the Marcellus contains at least 100 trillion cubic feet of gas in a 53,000-square-mile area, about four times the Barnett basin's and enough to supply the USA for about five years. The Marcellus is especially valuable because it's in the Northeast, where a pipeline bottleneck has constrained supplies and nudged up natural gas prices. To distribute all the new reserves, the industry is ramping up construction of pipelines to ferry gas to population centers. Last year, a record 14.5 billion cubic feet of pipeline capacity was added in the USA, the EIA says. Much of it transports gas from Texas to a Louisiana hub where it's dispersed to the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest. Kinder Morgan, Sempra Energy and ConocoPhillips are building a $5 billion, 1,679-mile line from the Rocky Mountains basin in Colorado to Clarington, Ohio. It's the largest pipeline project in the continental USA in the past 25 years. The Rockies Express, slated to be fully operating early next year, will largely carry gas to New York and other Northeast markets. The increased flow will likely come at the expense of Western residents. As production ramped up in the Rockies last year without a similar increase in pipeline capacity, natural gas prices in Colorado fell as low as a nickel per 1,000 cubic feet, enough gas to heat an average house for two days. That led to a 20% drop in heating bills for customers of Xcel Energy, says spokesman Mark Stutz. But the opening of new pipelines has pushed local prices higher, and the Rockies Express could mean another 35% surge next winter. Gaps in demand that can't be met by domestic reserves are supposed to be filled by LNG imports. In countries with plentiful supplies, such as Qatar and Angola, natural gas is chilled to minus 260 degrees, turning it into a liquid that's shipped overseas in tankers in 1/600th of the space. Shipments go to terminals in Asia, Europe and the USA that store the liquid in huge stainless-steel tanks, then convert it back to gas that's pumped into pipelines. The USA has long had four terminals, and LNG makes up 3% of U.S. gas supplies. Foreseeing depleted domestic reserves, companies a few years ago planned a flurry of new LNG ports. Four opened recently and three more are slated by the end of 2009. Another 40 or so have been proposed; only a handful are expected to be built. Changed outlook Several years ago, EIA expected LNG to make up 20% of U.S. gas supplies by 2025. But that forecast has been halved, and little LNG is being delivered. Terminals are at 50% capacity and expected to remain there for several years, partly because high building costs have discouraged construction of overseas liquefaction facilities, Ineson says. Also, producers are shipping most LNG to Asia and Europe, where customers are paying up to double U.S. rates. The situation can partly be blamed on the domestic plenty. Abundant U.S. supplies should continue to temper prices and make it tough to attract LNG imports, says analyst Bob Linden of Pace Energy. The low prices are also deterring energy giants from planning enough LNG production plants overseas, Ineson says. That could lead to a crunch, and higher prices, by 2013, when U.S. thirst for natural gas is likely to outpace domestic stock and there won't be enough LNG to bridge the gap. "The surprise is that LNG is not turning out to be as big as we expected," Ineson says. "But domestic supply is turning out to be better." http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-05-20-natural-gas_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Wednesday May 21, 2008 It is the perfect storm for cyclists. Climate change, obesity and traffic congestion are persuading more of us – the people and the politicians – to view cycling as a legitimate mode of transportation rather than just recreation. Yesterday, those conditions converged with the launch of the Toronto Cyclists Union and a $5 million Metrolinx program designed to make biking and public transit more compatible. Rick Conroy, of the new cycling union, said his volunteers want to provide "a strong, unified voice advocating for the rights of all ages and all types of cyclists." The union will lobby city hall for the bike lanes and amenities needed to make cycling from the suburbs to downtown viable. Metrolinx, the region's transportation planning agency, used yesterday's union launch to announce its BikeLinx program, which will put more bus bike racks and storage around the region by the end of next year. About $2.8 million will be spent on 2,300 bus bike racks, the rest on storage facilities that will give riders the assurance that a bike left at the station will still be there when they return. About $2.3 million will be spent in Toronto and the rest shared throughout Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions. It "will make an immediate difference for travellers as they try to make their way across the region," promised Metrolinx chair Rob MacIsaac. BikeLinx money will help the TTC continue its plan of installing bike racks on all its buses by 2010. The TTC is already working with the city to install bike boxes. "We are a bike-friendly city. We are a tremendous place to ride and own a bike," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. He conceded bike paths and lanes haven't come fast enough, in part because a small group of councillors has consistently opposed them. Toronto Cycling Committee chair Adrian Heaps expects a recent decision to put those approvals in front of city council at large rather than community councils will help. About 50 kilometres of dedicated bike lanes will be built this year, with 75 kilometres more expected next year and 90 in 2010, he said. "In Toronto we cannot continue taking baby steps. We have to begin making major leaps," said Gil Penalosa, of Walk and Bike for Life, a non-profit agency in Mississauga. "We need to send a clear message that anyone on a $50 bike is as important as someone in a $50,000 car," said the cycling expert. London, England, has committed $1 billion to bikeways in the next 10 years, he noted. Mexico City plans to build 450 kilometres over the coming decade. http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/428015
The Toronto Star Wednesday May 21, 2008
BOSTON–It's not turning lead into gold, but General Electric Co. is working on a form of modern alchemy, converting garbage into electricity. GE, which aims to make $25 billion in annual sales from green businesses by 2010, is working to adapt its gasification technology, used to burn coal more cleanly, to turn municipal waste into a relatively clean-burning gas. The process takes solid material and heats it to temperatures up to 1,400 Celsius – far hotter than an incinerator – which causes most matter to shift into a gaseous state. That gas is then converted into a synthetic fuel called syngas, largely free of pollutants, that can be burned in an electricity-producing turbine. The materials that do not convert to gas, including some metals and minerals, shift to a liquid state and when they cool turn into slag, a stable rocklike substance. Slag's stability means its contents do not leach out into their surroundings, so it could be safely used in construction material. The challenge is how to take a process that works with a uniform input – coal – and make it run smoothly with the hodgepodge of materials that make their way into a garbage truck. "We're really trying to understand the variability that is in municipal solid waste," said Kelly Fletcher, advanced technology leader in sustainable energy at GE's research center in Niskayuna, New York. "Not to be cute about it, but garbage in, garbage out," Fletcher said in a phone interview. "We have to really understand what it is that our gasification system is going to get, in terms of the feedstock." Environmental groups have long opposed incinerating waste – which releases polluting gases into the atmosphere and creates ash that can be hazardous – but some are open to the idea of gasifying municipal solid waste. "We are open to technologies that would deal with MSW in a way that doesn't have the downsides of incineration and created a useful product," said Dave Hamilton, director of global warming and energy at the Sierra Club, in Washington. "We're interested in looking at it." Many companies around the world, including Waste Management Inc, the largest U.S. trash hauler, already produce energy from garbage by capturing the methane gas emitted by decomposing trash in landfills and burning it. The gasification approach cuts out the landfill – a key concern in crowded urban areas – and prevents the trash from decomposing and producing methane, which has more than 20 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide. "If you can intercept it from turning into methane, then doing something else with it is probably a better route," said Scott Sklar, president of The Stella Group, a Washington-based green energy consulting and design firm. Energy experts said there are no garbage-to-energy gasification plans currently operating in the United States, although privately held Plasco Energy Group late last year opened a site in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, which is capable of processing 100 tonnes of municipal trash a day. Cities in Florida, California, Louisiana and Michigan are contemplating or planning waste gasification facilities. Fletcher estimated that GE is about five to ten years away from making garbage gasification a paying business. http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/428210
ROLAC MEDIA UPDATE May 21 2008
1 - Antigua-Barbuda official calls for more collaboration to reduce disaster impact 2- Guyana - Gold miners chased from French Guiana flee to Suriname 3 – Panamá - Lack of rain has power companies in a bind 4- Peru – Peru ranks second among countries with best investment environment in Latin America 5- Caribbean - COTED meeting in Guyana to focus on rising food prices in the Caribbean 6- Regional - Solidarity in combating the global food crisis 7- Global - Nations meet to tackle damage to global biodiversity II Spanish: 8- Brasil - Potencia agrícola atropella liderazgo ambiental 9- Chile - Se intensificarán lluvias en la zona central y se esperan vientos de hasta 60 Km/h 10- Nicaragua - Inauguran cruzada de reforestación 11- Panamá – Lagos, en nivel crítico 12- Paraguay - Mujeres unidas contra la carestía 13 - Regional - Países andinos piden en Asamblea OMS ayuda para enfrentar los efectos del cambio climático 14 - Global - Biodiversidad: la voz de los indígenas 1- Antigua-Barbuda official calls for more collaboration to reduce disaster impact 05 – 21 – 08 ST JOHN'S, Antigua: Acting Director of Antigua-Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services (NODS), Philmore Mullin, said there needs to be more collaboration between the agencies that govern the construction/development projects in the country. Mullin was at the time speaking to reporters Monday, during the Caribbean Disaster Response Agency (CDERA) pre-board meeting that started on Monday and concludes Wednesday. According to Mullin, NODS is not the only agency that has responsibility for disaster reduction and his office functions as a secretariat as other departments such as the Development Control Authority (DCA), Environment Department and Public Works all have a part to play in risk reduction. He said if a closer working relationship is established, more effort could be spent on lessening impact. "I would like to see a process, for all development, where there is a real stake holder's forum where all of the issues relating to location, design and operational vulnerability are taken into consideration before we even break ground. "If we can do that we will be very far advance in reducing our vulnerability for all of the developments that are coming on stream and then all that will be left for us to do is to prioritize how we are going to use mitigation as a tool for the already built structures", said Mullin. The NODS Director said Antigua/Barbuda is prone to earthquakes and recall a time when there were approximately 31 earthquakes in roughly 29 days. He further stated that these statistics and with the recent earthquake occurrence in China, residents must do all within their reach to ensure that they are prepared for natural disasters. NODS is presently finalizing its National Disaster Management Policy, which is expected to be published shortly.
"Most of the French Guianese miners come to Suriname because of our open borders and because of our weak legislation," said WWF-Suriname Gold Mining Pollution Abatement Officer, Nathalie Emanuels, during a Guyana gold-mining conference being held in this former British colony. Bertrand Goguillon of WWF-French Guiana explained that French Guiana refused to authorize new exploration and exploitation before a new management plan for the gold-sector is put in place at year-end. Existing gold-miners would, however, be allowed to continue their operations. In February, the French president announced in Cayenne that at least 1,000 elite French troops would be deployed to that overseas department to rid the jungle of illegal gold miners, many of them from Brazil. Official statistics show that the amount of illegal gold mined annually is about 10 tons, three tons more than what is officially declared to French Guianese authorities. Goguillon, however, noted that French Guiana officially sells about nine tons of gold to mainland France and Switzerland. "This shows that we need to have a better traceability of gold in the French market," the WFF-Guyana official said. WWF is a Washington DC-based conservation organization, focusing on fostering greater awareness about logging and mining in Guyana's Amazon jungle, as well as helping governments and natural resource exploiters put in place better management plans.
The government estimated that its decision to close offices at 1:30 p.m. this week will be enough to reduce the country's energy usage at peak hours. The afternoon hours are the period of peak usage. The country's consumption dropped from 11,162 megawatts an hour last Tuesday to 9,861 megawatts an hour yesterday, the Secretaría de Energía reported. The low water levels have not only led to concerns about blackouts, but it has put a crunch on the country's electric companies, who have been forced to buy expensive, thermal-based power as hydro supplies have diminished. Recently, 30 percent of the country's power supply was provided by hydro, when the amount is usually 60 percent or more. The Fortuna reservoir normally provides 23 percent of the country's power. Yesterday, it provided just 2 percent. While plenty of rain has been falling in Panama City over the past few days, the reservoirs have not been so lucky. The forecast, however, is for rain to begin replenishing them this week. Energy companies are praying for rain to start falling soon so they can stop relying on expensive electricity bought on the open market. Meanwhile, Panama’s thermal-based power plants are working at near full capacity to meet the country's energy needs. Source: http://www.prensa.com/ 4- Peru – Peru ranks second among countries with best investment environment in Latin America 05 – 20 – 08 LIMA, Peru: In April, Peru ranked second among countries with the best economic environment for investments in Latin America with 7.4 points, compared to 7.5 points registered last January, according to a research by Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil and the IFO Institute for Economic Research at Munich University (Germany). This result was obtained even though businesses in Latin America dropped in April to its worst level since 2003, indicated the Economic Climate Index elaborated by the two institutes. However, business expectation in America Latina did not deteriorate last month as happened with the rest of the world, reported today the Economic Poll. Uruguay maintained its position in April with the best Economic Climate Index in Latin America with 7.6 points, lower than 7.8 points in January; followed by Peru, and Brazil, this last one maintained the 6.6 of January and displaced Costa Rica of the third place that dropped from 7.1 points in January to 6.3 in April. Colombia and Chile followed them with six points each one, Paraguay (5.6 points), Venezuela (4.8points), Bolivia (4.8 points) and Mexico (4.8 points).
Speaking with Caribbean Net News, Guyana’s Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud, who is expected to spearhead the meeting, says the time has come for the region to adopt a comprehensive approach in dealing with increasing food prices. “We would want to look at the initiatives being undertaken around the region; we would want to present to the meeting what we have been doing and certainly look at where we can have synergies, where we can learn from each other and also develop a total regional response especially in the area of food production ,“ Persaud said. Persaud also said that the removal of non tariff barriers for agriculture exports within the region will also come up for discussions. Meanwhile, the agriculture minister said Guyana will be advocating strongly for the removal of impediments in trade within the region, noting that, with this, Guyana can significantly supply the food needs of the region. “The easing off or the removal of these obstacles will allow Guyana and our farmers to benefit from the market available in the region much more actively,” the minister added, noting that Guyana’s agriculture crops have reached the required export standards, since the country is currently exporting to the United States, the UK and other parts of North America. Meanwhile, the interventions by government to cushion the impact of the rising food prices have been praised by various regional and international stakeholders and some CARICOM countries are reported to have since moved to adopt similar mechanisms. Among the initiatives being used by Guyana is an additional 5 percent increase in the salaries of public servants retroactive to January 1 of this year, with a $4,000 tax free grant for public servants earning less than GY$50,000. The administration is also subsidising the flour cost in Guyana after the milling company had announced a 25 percent increase two weeks ago. The ministry of agriculture is also promoting expansion of agriculture drive dubbed “GROW MORE” campaign in which citizens are provided with planting materials and technical support to plant crops and rear more livestock. Source: http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-7959--39-39--.html 6- Regional - Solidarity in combating the global food crisis 05 – 21 – 08 The global food crisis, precipitated by the steep rise in food prices and consequent inaccessibility of food, which has lead to explosions of violence in over 30 countries, some of them in our region, poses a threat to the progress in health, as well as in environmental protection and poverty reduction, achieved within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals. This crisis is occurring at a critical time in Latin America and the Caribbean, when efforts are concentrating on eradicating malnutrition and developing strategies to combat both the causes and the most visible effects of this chronic problem that undermines the populations' potential for current and future development. Food assistance is urgent, as Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has stated. At the same time, however, we must take care to ensure that the response to the emergency does not undo the efforts of governments, civil society, and communities to consolidate their organisational and logistical capabilities, local development strategies based on primary health care, and the intersectoral activities that impact health determinants and promote synergies with the education, water and sanitation, labour, agriculture and production sectors. Structural factors The structural factors responsible for the nutrition and development problem in the region amplify this crisis. Thus, the United Nations agencies in the region have formed the Pan American Alliance for Nutrition and Development to coordinate and integrate activities and guarantee that investments have a greater impact. I call upon our partners in the international community, financial institutions, religious groups, business and civil society organisations, non-government organisations, and international agencies to: Swiftly allocate assistance commensurate with the complexity and magnitude of the problem and facilitate the creation of mechanisms for its timely delivery. Also, in each specific place, tend to the indispensable complementary needs in nutrition, such as safe drinking water, fuel, local infrastructure, basic health services, and education, since only the synergy among them guarantees adequate nutrition. Respect the social and institutional capital that has arduously been constructed over decades, so that the assistance provided during the crisis strengthens, rather then weakens, the countries' own capacity to overcome historical obstacles, and guarantees definitively that the scourge of chronic malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean will be eliminated. It is also necessary for the countries of the region to: Show their solidarity by reconsidering their policies on humanitarian assistance and the export of food staples, especially in countries suffering from greater inflationary pressures, promoting extraordinary cooperation mechanisms among the countries that will contribute to self-production of food and food sovereignty. Improve surveillance, down to the local level, of social and nutritional aspects, with active participation by the health and social services, to ensure the early detection of inequities or acute shortages that can be relieved. Protect populations, especially the most vulnerable, and address their legitimate concerns, guaranteeing attention to the problem and equitably allocating the resources mobilised. All of this will enable us to turn this crisis into an opportunity to speed up progress in improving the health and integrated development of our peoples. Contributor: Dr Mirta Roses Periago is director of the Pan American Health Organization. Source: http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080521/news/news8.html 7- Global - Nations meet to tackle damage to global biodiversity 05 – 12 - 08 FRANKFURT, Germany: A two-week conference aimed at ensuring the survival of diverse species around the world in the face of climate change and pollution opened on Monday with delegates from more than 190 nations. "In my view, climate change and the loss of biodiversity are the most alarming challenges on the global agenda," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said in his opening speech. The ninth conference of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Bonn, has brought together some 4,000 delegates from 191 countries committed to trying to promote fair use of the world's natural resources and protect endangered plants and animals. Officials will review the goals set in 2002 at the UN Earth Summit, which called for slowing the loss of biological diversity by 2010 a target critics say is far out of reach, given a growing human population, rising levels of pollution and climate change. Food costs Organisers also hope the conference will help find ways to ease the rapid rise in food costs, which has sparked violent protests in Haiti and Egypt. There is concern that unrest could take place elsewhere amid profiteering and hoarding. Food prices have been driven to record highs recently by a variety of factors, among them a spike in the cost of petroleum products, including those used in fertilisers and processing. There also has been an increase in the price of grain, which is used to produce biofuels and fed to livestock to satisfy a growing demand for meat in developing countries. The price of rice has more than tripled since January. To counter that, Ahmed Djoghlaf, the executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said the need to maintain and promote diversity was tantamount. "Conservation of biodiversity is not about keeping one species away from another. It is not about building fences around national parks and keeping humans out. It is about interaction between all species and their natural ecosystem,'' he told the meeting. "About two-thirds of the food crops that feed the world rely on pollination by insects or other animals to produce healthy fruits and seeds. Included among these are potato crops,'' he said, singling out a drop in bee populations worldwide as an example of how one link in the chain can affect the other. "Here in Germany, there has been a 25 per cent drop in bee populations across the country. In the eastern United States, there has been a 70 per cent decline in bee stocks,'' Djoghlaf said. Break in the chain "If pollinators disappear, so too will many species of plants. If we take away one link, the chain is broken.'' To further emphasise that threat, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said that long-term drought and extreme weather also were hurting the world's bird species, with one in eight birds at risk of extinctions.
Las ventajas agrícolas brasileñas no se limitan a la gran disponibilidad de tierras, agua y al clima que favorece la fotosíntesis. Este país desarrolló tecnologías y prácticas que aumentaron mucho la productividad de sus cultivos, convirtiéndose en un exportador de competitividad imbatible en una gran cantidad de productos. Se consolidó como mayor exportador mundial de azúcar, café, carnes, etanol, jugo de naranja y soja. Su producción de granos se duplicó en una década y le permite, en particular, tener excedentes de arroz y maíz, del que era importador hace pocos años. Ahora es dependiente de las compras externas de un solo producto de gran consumo, el trigo. Hoy el auge de los biocombustibles y los elevados precios internacionales de los alimentos empujan a Brasil a acelerar la expansión agrícola, para desesperación de los ambientalistas, porque se trata de una marcha sobre los bosques amazónicos y otros ecosistemas como el Cerrado, la sabana de gran biodiversidad que ocupa una extensa área del centro de su territorio. Ese trasfondo condujo a la renuncia a su cargo de ministra a Silva el 13 de este mes. Encabezar, por decisión del presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, el lanzamiento del Plan Amazonia Sustentable, que venia formulando hace años, fue su última acción gubernamental. El desgaste de su figura se había acumulado desde mucho antes, especialmente en cuestiones que tenían al sector de los grandes negocios agropecuarios en el lado opuesto. El primer ejemplo de gran batalla perdida data de 2003, cuando se liberó el cultivo comercial de soja genéticamente modificada en el sur, una medida luego ampliada y seguida para el algodón y el maíz. Con el reconocimiento general de la amenaza del cambio climático, la deforestación amazónica se hizo más dramática para la opinión pública internacional. Es que se trata de una reserva inconmensurable de biodiversidad y regulador de las lluvias en las zonas de mayor producción agrícola en el país. El fuerte crecimiento de la demanda mundial por alimentos y la ola agroenergética estimulan una expansión territorial de la agricultura y la ganadería que se chocan con la resistencia ambientalista. Ello acabó atropellando a Silva, pese al respaldo político de que disponía dentro y fuera del país, como defensora de la Amazonia. El presidente Lula, ministros y dirigentes empresariales argumentan que Brasil no necesita talar ningún árbol para multiplicar su producción de biocombustibles y de alimentos, por disponer de al menos 50 millones de hectáreas de tierras ya deforestadas y adecuadas para la agricultura, lo cual le permite duplicar el área actual cultivada de granos. La ganadería ocupa 172 millones de hectáreas, según datos del censo agropecuario oficial de 2006, buena parte degradada y que podría ser recuperada para sembrar. Un pequeño aumento de productividad en este sector que cría, en promedio, un vacuno por hectárea, puede liberar una inmensa zona cultivable. Pero en la práctica no es así. Brasil sufre una precaria situación en cuanto a tenencia de tierras, con muchos conflictos e ilegalidades que frecuentemente degeneran en violencia e interminables disputas judiciales, aparte de una enorme disparidad de precios de las parcelas. Una hectárea en los estados del sur cuesta decenas o centenares de veces más que en la Amazonia y sus alrededores. Eso empuja la frontera agrícola hacia el oeste y el norte del país, donde también abunda la madera nativa y facilidades para adueñarse ilegalmente de tierras fiscales. El mismo gobierno entregó parcelas a muchos campesinos de la Amazonia, buscando llevar adelante una reforma agraria en áreas baratas, hasta que las denuncias ambientales forzaron un cambio. El desarrollo agrícola en los bordes amazónicos ya hicieron irresistibles las presiones para la construcción o pavimentación de carreteras que cruzan los bosques amazónicos, abriendo fisuras que fomentan la deforestación, haciendo muy difícil controlarla. El gobernador del estado de Mato Grosso, Blairo Maggi, un importante productor de soja, admitió que es inevitable el avance de la agricultura sobre los bosques para ampliar la producción de los alimentos que escasean en el mundo. Mato Grosso, cuya región norte es parte de la Amazonia, registra la mayor área deforestada de Brasil en los últimos años. La tala de bosques amazónicos tiene relación directa con los precios agrícolas. En los años de alza de los valores de estos productos, principalmente de la soja, se acentúa la destrucción de la selva, según muestran las estadísticas de las últimas décadas. Marina Silva dejó el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente enarbolando un balance positivo, con la reducción de 59 por ciento en la deforestación de la Amazonia en los tres últimos años. Pero los datos ya conocidos desde el segundo semestre del año pasado indican que esta práctica volvió a crecer, una tendencia que acompaña el alza de los precios de la soja. Esta es la coyuntura desfavorable que enfrentará el sucesor de Silva, Carlos Minc, quien asumirá el cargo el 27 de este mes. El cuadro tampoco favorece a Brasil a la hora de intentar recuperar, en las negociaciones internacionales de temas ambientales, el liderazgo que ejerció en la década pasada, basado en sus enormes recursos naturales y posiciones innovadoras. Ahora enfrenta denuncias por violación del Protocolo de Cartagena sobre Bioseguridad, debido a la aprobación para cultivar maíz transgénico sin los estudios previos requeridos, y su gran propuesta contra el cambio climático, el etanol, está bloqueada por barreras comerciales, dudas ambientales y una lluvia de críticas por supuestamente agravar la inflación alimentaria. (FIN/2008)
9- Chile - Se intensificarán lluvias en la zona central y se esperan vientos de hasta 60 Km/h 21 – 05 - 08 Los damnificados por el sistema frontal ya suman 2.136 y se concentran en región del Bío Bío, donde hay 121 albergados El sistema frontal que ha provocado precipitaciones y vientos en la zona central, intensificará su actividad en las próximas horas. Se esperan ráfagas de viento de hasta 60 Km/h y 68 milímetros de agua en las próximas 24 horas. La situación tiene en alerta a la Oficina Nacional de Emergencia (Onemi), que tiene desplegado todos sus sistemas de alerta en la zona central para prevenir accidentes. En tanto que funcionarios del Ministerio de Obras Públicas, señalalaron que la capital se encuentra preparada para recibir las lluvias. En la Quinta región costa, las precipitaciones se han intensificado y ya se registran inundaciones en el plano de Viña del Mar. Como también tacos en gran parte de las calles del centro de la ciudad. Rancagua también se encuentra bajo fuertes precipitaciones y vientos. Las autoridades municipales ya se encuentran monitoreando los pasos bajo nivel de la ciudad y los puntos de habitual anegamiento a fin de prevenir con cuadrillas de trabajadores las interrupciones de tránsito. La Onemi detalló en su último informe la situación por región: Región El Maule: 373 damnificados y 15 personas albergadas Región del Biobío: 1.551 damnificados y 106 albergados Región de la Araucanía: 168 damnificados Región de los Ríos: 44 daminificados REGION DEL BIO BIO LA MÁS AFECTADA La Octava región es la más complicada con los efectos del fuerte sistema frontal que ha afectado al territorio nacional. Concentran la mayor cantidad de albergados y registra vías cortadas y zonas con posibles aislamiento. La Gobernación, en conjunto con las autoridades municipales están en terreno visitando los albergues y revisando los poblados rurales en busca de nuevas víctimas de las inundaciones, producto de las lluvias que ya se prolongan por tercer día consecutivo en la zona. Fuente: http://www.tercera.cl Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 457.62 Kb. Share with your friends:
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