Sharp Rise in Methane Levels Threatens World Climate Targets

21.02.2019

cows-801045_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Dramatic rises in atmospheric methane are threatening to derail plans to hold global temperature rises to 2C, scientists have warned.

In a paper published this month by the American Geophysical Union, researchers say sharp rises in levels of methane – which is a powerful greenhouse gas – have strengthened over the past four years. Urgent action is now required to halt further increases in methane in the atmosphere, to avoid triggering enhanced global warming and temperature rises well beyond 2C.

“What we are now witnessing is extremely worrying,” said one of the paper’s lead authors, Professor Euan Nisbet of Royal Holloway, University of London. “It is particularly alarming because we are still not sure why atmospheric methane levels are rising across the planet.”

Methane is produced by cattle, and also comes from decaying vegetation, fires, coal mines and natural gas plants. It is many times more potent as a cause of atmospheric warming than carbon dioxide (CO2). However, it breaks down much more quickly than CO2 and is found at much lower levels in the atmosphere.

During much of the 20th century, levels of methane, mostly from fossil fuel sources, increased in the atmosphere but, by the beginning of the 21st century, it had stabilised, said Nisbet. “Then, to our surprise, levels starting rising in 2007. That increase began to accelerate after 2014 and fast growth has continued.”

Studies suggest these increases are more likely to be mainly biological in origin. However, the exact cause remains unclear. Some researchers believe the spread of intense farming in Africa may be involved, in particular in tropical regions where conditions are becoming warmer and wetter because of climate change. Rising numbers of cattle – as well as wetter and warmer swamps – are producing more and more methane, it is argued.

This idea is now being studied in detail by a consortium led by Nisbet, whose work is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. This month the consortium completed a series of flights over Uganda and Zambia to collect samples of the air above these countries.

“We have only just started analysing our data but have already found evidence that a great plume of methane now rises above the wetland swamps of Lake Bangweul in Zambia,” added Nisbet.

However, other scientists warn that there could be a more sinister factor at work. Natural chemicals in the atmosphere – which help to break down methane – may be changing because of temperature rises, causing it to lose its ability to deal with the gas.

Our world could therefore be losing its power to cleanse pollutants because it is heating up, a climate feedback in which warming allows more greenhouse gases to linger in the atmosphere and so trigger even more warming.

In 2016, in Paris, nations agreed to cooperate to hold global temperature rises to 2C above preindustrial levels and, if possible, to keep that rise to under 1.5C. It was recognised that achieving this goal – mainly by curbing emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels – would always be difficult to achieve. Accelerating increases in a different greenhouse gas, methane, means that this task is going to be much, much harder.

This point was backed by Martin Manning of Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. “Methane is the gas … that keeps us to a 2C rise in global temperatures. And even more significantly, we do not really know why.”

If nothing can be done about this, he added, then even more cuts will have to be made in CO2 emissions. Continued increases in methane levels will only make this situation worse, he said.

This point was backed by Nisbet. “It was assumed, at the time of the Paris agreement, that reducing the amount of methane in the atmosphere would be relatively easy and that the hard work would involve cutting CO2 emissions.

“However, that does not look so simple any more. We don’t know exactly what is happening.

“Perhaps emissions are growing or perhaps the problem is due to the fact that our atmosphere is losing its ability to break down methane.

“Either way we are facing a very worrying problem. That is why it is so important that we unravel what is going on – as soon as possible.”

Source: Guardian

Shift Towards Clean Energy in Southeastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities

20.02.2019

Foto_Unplash_Aswin_Sreenivas — Foto: Unsplash

Various means such as petroleum products, biomass, sun, wind, water, nuclear fission, lead us to the production of electricity as the ultimate goal. Each of the methods of obtaining energy has its advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of operating costs, environmental impact, opportunities for continuous energy supply, safety, durability, and price. Numerous studies have shown that coal is the most dangerous for our atmosphere, followed closely by other fossil fuels – oil and natural gas.

If we continue the relentless exploitation and burning dirty energy, we will bring into question the survival of our planet and descendants. Alternatives to fossil fuels exist and are increasingly competitive in the global energy market. Does Southeast Europe keep up with the world in this field?

The German research institute Agora Energiewende gave an overview of the status of renewable energy sources (RES) in this region.

The European Union strives to achieve a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent compared to 1990 levels by 2030. It is estimated that by that time, 55 per cent of the kilowatts will be of green origin in Europe’s electricity distribution network, where sun and wind will have a particular contribution to the low-carbon future. Southeast Europe, however, has no precise plans for the gradual elimination of coal from its energy mix, and it does not look up to its neighbours from the west of the Old Continent in this field. Moreover, the countries from this region, and especially in the Western Balkans, are looking for investors for new thermal coal and lignite power plants.

For the successful implementation of decarbonisation in the energy sector, which implies the reduction of CO₂ emissions from combustion of fossil fuels, it is necessary to invest in photovoltaic cells and wind turbines continuously, but also in the development of renewable energy as well as in energy efficiency in general. Equally important prerequisites are the integrated electricity market, the regulation of the secure supply system, the closure of coal power plants and the elimination of risks.

In order to gain the confidence of investors and encourage them to direct their money into clean energy resources, stable and reliable political frameworks in the energy sector are necessary. In the current market conditions, green investments in Southeast Europe are twice as expensive than the same in Germany or France, so these countries should work to remove obstacles that generate higher project costs.

An essential role in the “greening” of energy also plays the cooperation that goes beyond national borders. Merging of energy systems at the regional level does not require huge financial resources and is an effective way to strengthen the security of the electricity supply chain. The regional market should consequently ensure the “flexibility” and network resistance.

Power plants in Southeast Europe are worn out, and as much as 95 per cent of capacities will require replacement by 2050. It is an opportunity for sustainable energy resources to take the place of thermal power plants in the energy mix. However, according to project plans, which are mainly financed by China, fossil fuels will be replaced – by fossil fuels.

Another challenge for the energy transition in this part of Europe is the energy (in)efficiency of buildings. Residential and public buildings consume more than 40 per cent of electricity, which means that there is a vast potential for improvement.

Transition to RES creates a less centralised energy system. Administrative apparatus should encourage consumers to produce clean energy for their consumption.

The final step of a successful energy transition is a comprehensive plan that refers to energy security, competitiveness, and mitigation of global warming.

Whether sun’s rays will illuminate more solar panels or coal mines in Southeast Europe in 2050, is currently unknown. However, it is clear which option is better for human health and the environment.

This article was published in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CLEAN ENERGY, December 2018 – February 2019.

Prepared by: Jelena Kozbasic

Reduced Deforestation in Indonesia Triggers Carbon Payment from Norway

20.02.2019

travel-2328347_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Indonesia can now receive payments from Norway after the Southeast Asian country reduced emissions from deforestation. It will be the first payment for reducing around 4.8 million tons of carbon emissions under the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative between the two countries that started in 2010.

It is divided into phases, where the first and second phases are about getting countries to stop deforestation through changes in national legislation and frameworks.

The third phase starts when nations manage to reduce deforestation and that is when Norway starts paying out money based on reduced emissions.

In 2010, Norway pledged to support the nation with up to $1 billion (£0.78bn) depending on results – so far, around 13% of the pledge has been spent to support the efforts of the government to address deforestation.

The Indonesian Government has introduced new measures, including a ban on destroying primary forests and peatlands, over the last few years.

Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Environment and Forests Minister of Indonesia said the government has managed to undertake a series of “corrective measures” in the forest and land use sector.

She added: “The bold measures have resulted in significant reduction of deforestation, forest degradation, as well as GHG emissions. I’m also pleased that Indonesia and Norway have agreed on the rules for results-based payments. With these developments, we are ready to step into the third phase of the partnership, in which emission reductions on the field is rewarded by Norway.”

Ola Elvestuen, Norway’s Climate and Environment Minister said: “Indonesia has embarked on bold regulatory reforms and it is showing results. It may be too early to see a clear trend but if deforestation continues to drop, we stand ready to increase our annual payments to reward Indonesia’s results and support its efforts.”

Additional Information

Results are estimated for reduced deforestation and forest degradation at the national level starting from the forest year 2016/17.

They are measured against a 10-year historical average emissions level. For the period 2006/16, that was estimated at approximately 237 million tons CO2 per year from deforestation and around 42 million tons for forest degradation.

Emission reductions from peat degradation and peat fires will be included in the results protocol in the near future, as estimates improve.

Indonesia will set aside 20% of the results to account for uncertainty and another 15% to reflect its own ambition in reducing emissions. The remaining 65% of the results can be rewarded by Norway or other financiers.

Norway will guarantee payment for a portion of the available tons. Norway will not use emission reductions from Indonesia to offset its climate commitments.

Source: Energy Live News

Yes, Electric Vehicles Work In Winter – Better Than Gas Cars!

20.02.2019

snow-1281636_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Electric vehicles (EV) and gas cars are not very efficient in cold weather. But while we’ve grown to blindly accept the limitations of traditional cars, EVs are still misrepresented, especially when it comes to cold weather. It’s time we nip that myth.

I remember trying to start my Alfa Romeo in Luxembourg on an early cold winter day. It didn’t want to start and I resorted to going back into the apartment where I was staying. The funny thing is an EV would have started. Yet, plenty of consumer and automotive groups still misrepresent EVs.

Many EVs are now coming onto the market with active thermal management. In other words, they have battery packs that keep the cells at a normal operating temperature. And that is not new either. The much-maligned CODA, which suffered a very unfair reputation, not only had over 100 miles of range 8 years ago but also had a very advanced thermal management system that made it possible to use the car in sub-zero and extremely hot conditions without any noticeable degradation. And yes, that was before Tesla’s sub-zero package.

The truth of the matter is that EVs warm up faster than regular cars. EV heat pumps do the same thing AC units do, except the other way around. They not only heat up an EV quicker than a gas car, but they can also preheat it without idling a gasoline engine. And the best part — you can do it while plugged in and not drain your battery, as you sit comfortably inside a building.

EVs are also slightly easier to drive in winter snow. Although, this depends greatly on the types of tires you have. Here are the pros and cons: Green, efficient tires are more pressurized than regular tires and offer less rolling resistance. The flip side is that some of them are not as sticky and won’t handle as well. However, you could spring for a good quality tire like a Michelin or Pirelli, or wait for the same quality a few years down the road from BF Goodrich, a Michelin company. In any case, tires matter, so make sure you have what you need for the conditions you’re in.

This is a hard concept for most gasoline car owners to grasp because an internal combustion engine (ICE) takes a while to warm up and then is only about a third as efficient. On average, only ⅓ of the gasoline or diesel you put in the car moves the wheels. The rest is lost in heat and friction. In winter, you burn more of that fuel to warm the car and drive in cold temperatures. The same is true for EVs, but they are still dramatically more efficient than gas/diesel cars overall.

So, why do consumer groups still talk about matters that are quickly becoming moot with EVs? The latest Hyundai Kona EV and Kia e-Niro we tested certainly show that a $37,900 (don’t quote me on it just yet!) vehicle can give you more than 225 miles of range, plug in easily whether it’s hot or cold outside, and be ready to go and keep you warm without the inefficiencies tied to ICE vehicle designs.

I can’t help but think I’ missing countless other benefits EVs have over the gasoline and diesel cars. Maybe you can weigh in.

Author: Nicolas Zart

Source: Clean Technica

Climate Strike: Schoolchildren Protest over Climate Change

19.02.2019

protest-455717_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Pupils from around the UK went “on strike” on Friday as part of a global campaign for action on climate change.

Students around the country walked out of schools to call on the government to declare a climate emergency and take active steps to tackle the problem.

Organisers Youth Strike 4 Climate said protests took place in more than 60 towns and cities, with an estimated 15,000 taking part. They carried placards, some reading: “There is no planet B.” The action was part of a much wider global movement, known as Schools 4 Climate Action.

It began with 15-year-old Swede Greta Thunberg skipping class to sit outside government buildings in September, accusing her country of not following the Paris Climate Agreement. Since then, tens of thousands of children across Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia have been inspired to hold their own demonstrations.

The biggest protests were held in London, Brighton, Oxford and Exeter, the UK Student Climate Network said.

The group, which helped coordinate the protests, has four key demands:

The government should declare a “climate emergency”
It should also inform the public about the seriousness of the situation
The national curriculum should be reformed to include “the ecological crisis”
The age of voting should be lowered to 16 so younger people can be involved in decision-making around environmental issues.

Greta tweeted about the UK protests, writing: “British PM says that the children on school strike are ‘wasting lesson time’. That may well be the case. But then again, political leaders have wasted 30 yrs of inaction. And that is slightly worse.”

A Downing Street spokeswoman said that, while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.

The National Association of Head Teachers said it did not condone children missing school to take part in the action and that “nothing is more important than a child’s education”. It said “individual school leaders can decide how best to respond” to any protests involving its students.

However, energy minister Claire Perry said she was “incredibly proud” of young people’s passion and concern. She told the BBC: “I suspect if this was happening 40 years ago, I would be out there too.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said schoolchildren were “right to feel let down by the generation before them”, while Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said it was the “most hopeful thing that’s happened in years”.

She addressed campaigners in Brighton, saying they should be allowed to miss school because of “exceptional circumstances”. She said: “The time for talking is over, and time for action is now.”

In London, 15-year-old Christina said the issue was too big to ignore. “A lot of us are very good, obedient students but when it comes to climate change, it’s really important,” she said. “The youth of our time tend to get pushed to one side. We often stay quiet but when it comes to climate change we are going to have to pay for the older generation’s mistakes.”

Scarlet, 15, from Suffolk, is part of the UK Student Climate Network. She said: “We want the UK government to declare a climate emergency and make moves to achieve climate justice, prioritising this above all else. “We’re demanding the government listen to us and we will continue to make a noise until they do so. It can’t be about behaviour change any more; it has to be about system change.”

Teenagers brandishing brightly-coloured posters packed Parliament Square chanting “save our planet”.

Many were keen to point out it is their generation who will be left to pick up the pieces of our civilisation’s waste and pollution.

They don’t feel the government is listening to scientists’ warnings on climate change. Without a vote, protests like this one are their only option, they say. Some climbed onto statues but were quickly ordered down by police.

The organisers had planned a revision session to show the protestors take their education seriously but instead, shortly after noon, some of the teenagers, sat down on a crossing, blocking traffic.

Again they moved on quickly, but took an unplanned walk up Whitehall. Most of the protesters left the square and marched to Downing Street.

The protest is good-humoured, but the organisers’ plans have been abandoned.

By about 13:30 only a noisy hardcore of a few hundred demonstrators remained, determined to cause maximum disruption to traffic outside the Palace of Westminster.

Small groups staged sit-down protests across junctions, surrounding buses, shouting “engines off” at drivers and climbing traffic lights. As police dispersed one group another would form. I saw one young man arrested for obstruction – but he said he was not a school student.

Hundreds of young protesters chanted for climate justice in Cambridge. One of them was 10-year-old Zachary, who attended with his mother. He said: “People just have to change their ways as we don’t want the world as it is right now. We just want to make people aware of it. We were talking about it in our class, so we just came along.”

A protest was held in Belfast, where students walked out of schools to attend a demonstration at the City Hall.

In Wales, hundreds of primary and secondary school pupils descended on the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay.

Meanwhile in the Scottish Highlands, pupils staged hour-long walkouts outside their school gates.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed youngsters taking part, saying it was a “cause for optimism in an often dark world”.

Scotland Yard said two arrests were made in London. A 19-year-old man was arrested for obstructing a highway while a 17-year-old was arrested for a public order offence.

Another nationwide protest has been planned for 15 March.

Source: BBC

Compensation for Conservation: Water Markets Are Economists’ Answer to Scarcity

19.02.2019

drop-of-water-571956_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

As cites grow and put more pressure on water sources, scarcity is an increasingly important issue. More than two thirds of the world’s population experience a water shortage every year. Just because water continues to reach your tap does not mean your area isn’t experiencing a shortage. Instead, it could mean your town is forced to tap sources, such as rivers, faster than they can renew. Economists have introduced one solution, water markets, which assign a value to usage under the premise that when something has a dollar value, people are more likely to conserve it.

What are water markets?

When preserving nature for nature’s sake is not enough to get a company’s attention, sometimes the best strategy is through its bottom line.

Water markets function similarly to the stock market or carbon trading markets, where water usage rights and quantities can be traded among voluntary stakeholders within a watershed. There are different types of trades and markets that vary based on local legislation, infrastructure and government regulation. Ultimately, one water user sells a portion of its predetermined water allotment to another user, meaning it reduces the quantity of water it uses (in exchange for compensation), while the buyer utilizes the agreed upon amount of water.

Why would the seller engage in a water market?

A farmer, for example, might sell a portion of their water access and use the funding to purchase more efficient irrigation or use it as compensation for reducing their yield.

Why would the buyer engage in a water market?

A metropolitan area, for example, might purchase water from farmers upstream and use it for urban residents. This enables more efficient use of the water available, without forcing the government to tap into reserves or build expensive infrastructure to reach far away sources. Environmental organizations might also purchase water and then not use it, simply to ensure that an optimum amount of water cycles through the watershed to support healthy ecosystems.

Why do we need water markets?

Most people consider water a human right and a shared resource; however, this means that people do not necessarily have tangible incentive to conserve.

Agriculture is the largest water user, with more than 90 percent of all water going to irrigated farms. But nearly 75 percent of all irrigated farms are vulnerable to scarcity, and almost 20 percent of all irrigated crops are produced with nonrenewable groundwater. This means that a fifth of everything we eat taps the earth’s water supply beyond what the water cycle can naturally replenish.

This rate is alarmingly unsustainable. As The Nature Conservancy reported, “Nature is the silent and unseen victim of water scarcity.” But with the rise in severe weather, including flooding and drought, those who are paying attention could argue that nature is not so silent. Not to mention the 844 million people living without adequate access to clean water who are also victims in plain sight.

Have water markets been successful?

Australia’s Murray-Darling river has one of the most widely cited examples of a successful water market. Established in response to a seven-year drought, the market provides farmers with an alternate revenue stream that helps them stay in business even during times of water crises. Currently, 40 percent of all water used within the extensive basin in southeastern Australia is traded water.

Another example comes from San Diego, California, where the water authority pays farmers to reduce water and reroute it to urban areas. This traded water covers one third of the city’s water needs.

Reducing water use on large farms — without destroying local economies and food supplies — inevitably has to be a major part of the solution. Unlike carbon trading, which many argue promotes “pay to pollute,” water markets offer “compensation for conservation.”

According to The Nature Conservancy, water markets “offer a powerful mechanism for alleviating water scarcity, restoring ecosystems and driving sustainable water management.” Markets, however, are intended to be one solution within a more comprehensive conservation strategy. Other components include enforcing meaningful reductions in water usage — forcing businesses to innovate more efficient operations, appliances and products.

The concepts of trading and monetizing water access are complex, abstract and focus on major players. More research is continually needed to ensure that market approaches do not only benefit the loudest and highest bidders, but to ensure the equity of markets for small and nontraditional users.

Source: Inhabitat

Russian Military Responding to Polar Bear Invasion in Arctic Town

18.02.2019

polar-bear-3775941_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The Russian military is taking measures to protect the residents of a remote Arctic settlement from a mass of polar bears, German press agency DPA reported.

The move comes after regional authorities declared a state of emergency over the weekend after sightings of more than 50 bears in the town of Belushya Guba since December.

The military’s official newspaper, Krasnaya Zvezda (or “Red Star”), reported Friday that the Defense Ministry has teamed up with the local administration and environmental experts to protect the village inhabitants from “the aggressive behavior of polar bears.”

One of the actions to prevent future invasions include converting an open dump into a waste incineration site within the next two years so it will no longer attract hungry bears, the report stated.

Video footage and photos posted to social media show the animals eating garbage from a trash dump, appearing near school grounds and entering buildings and residential homes.

“It is impossible to run away from a polar bear!” Belushya Guba administrators said in a statement quoted by DPA. “Due to a deficit of food, polar bears can turn their attention to any potential source of food, including a human.”

Polar bears are considered an endangered species in Russia, so killing them is prohibited. But officials said that if non-lethal means cannot drive away the marauders, they might have no choice but to cull them, the BBC reported.

A polar bear uses sea ice as a platform to catch its favored prey, ringed and bearded seals. But the rapidly warming Arctic has broken up sea ice and has forced bears to spend more time on land to search of food, like in the Russian settlement, experts have theorized.

A group of scientists from the national natural resources agency have recently been sent to the area to help disperse the animals, according to the Associated Press. They are equipped with the tools and training to properly sedate and relocate the bear.

“That’s just an option; at the moment it is being considered, but there’s no 100-percent guarantee it will be applied,” Alexander Gornikh, regional head of the natural resources agency, told the AP.

Fortunately, the military said in Krasnaya Zvezda’s report that there is hope that the bears will go away on their own, as ice cover has formed amid falling temperatures.

Source: Eco Watch

EU invests €116m in climate and environmental projects

18.02.2019

money-2724241_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The European Commission has announced an investment worth €116 million (£102m) to support 12 large-scale environmental and climate projects.

They are being funded under the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Change, which has a budget of €3.4 billion (£3bn) between 2014 and 2020.

Projects include the replacement of polluting household heating systems, development of sustainable public transport and infrastructure for cycling and electric vehicles (EVs), flood risk management and nature conservation as well as carbon sequestration.

They will be implemented in 10 member states – Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia.

Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy said: “The Commission proposed to build on the positive experience with climate mainstreaming and further strengthen climate action in the next EU long term budget.

“This increase in ambition will strengthen climate action in key areas, such as agriculture and rural development and external action and increase dedicated funding for climate action under the LIFE programme.”

Source: Energy Live News

Costa Rica Is One of the World’s Happiest Countries – Here’s What It Does Differently

17.02.2019

atanas-malamov-1054097-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Atanas Malamov)

Costa Rica is getting something right. The Central American country of stunning beaches, rainforests, and biodiversity, is also known for its stable democracy and educated population.

Its president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, said at Davos 2019: “Seventy years ago, Costa Rica did away with the army. This allows for many things. Eight percent of our GDP is invested in education because we don’t have to spend on the army. So our strength is human talent, human wellbeing.”

By comparison, World Bank data shows the US spent less than 5% of its GDP on education, while the world average is just 4.8%.

President Alvarado said not spending on the armed forces also allowed his country to protect the environment. Costa Rica generates more than 99% of its electricity from renewable sources, with the vast majority from hydroelectric dams.

While this is a major achievement, electricity only represents a small proportion of the country’s energy usage, as many homes use gas for heating, and fuel for their cars.

Air quality in Costa Rica, as in many countries around the world, is a concern, and some parts of the capital San Jose breach World Health Organization limits for air pollution.

The Costa Rican government has used taxes collected on the sale of fossil fuels to pay for the protection of forests.

President Alvarado said: “We saw in the eighties that the forest coverage was reduced to 20% due to animal farming and timber. We’ve managed to recover all this and we’re back to forest coverage of 50%. By this we are combating climate change.”

Forests are of crucial importance to the country’s biodiversity, which hosts more than five per cent of the world’s species, despite a landmass that covers just 0.03% of the planet.

President Alvarado said these efforts have helped boost Costa Rica’s economy. “Many people say that to protect the environment goes against the economy. Whereas it’s the complete contrary. Our tourism has grown precisely because of this.”

As a result, Costa Rica is the happiest and most sustainable country on Earth, according to the Happy Planet Index (HPI).

This index, which has been published four times since 2006, takes the wellbeing and longevity of a population; measures how equally both are distributed; then sets the result against each country’s ecological footprint. And Costa Rica has topped the poll three times out of four.

It is not just the HPI. A recent Gallup poll found Costa Rica to be one of the happiest countries in the world. It also has some of the oldest people, with life expectancy of 78.5 years, longer than in the US.

Professor Mariano Rojas, a Costa Rican economist at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, attributes Costa Ricans’ high wellbeing to a culture of forming solid social networks of friends, families and neighbourhoods.

The reason Costa Rica tops the HPI time and again, however, is that it delivers all this while using a quarter of the resources typically used in the Western world.

There are, of course, flaws in the HPI’s calculations, not least that it fails to account for the murder rate in the countries that it ranks.

In Costa Rica, that rate hit 12.1 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017, more than double the world average of 5.3.

President Alvarado said the murder rate was very high across Latin America. “The main thing insecurity is connected to is inequality. Latin America is one of the most unequal regions in the world.”

He said murders in Costa Rica take place in “very specific areas where what is required is a policy of opportunities.

“This has been done successfully in a number of countries, by creation of leisure options, prevention of drugs, new opportunities for the youth, for women, the creation of new jobs; and that is very hopeful.”

Costa Rica recently pushed through a programme of tax reforms, which President Alvarado said has freed up the money to spend on social programmes.

“If you bring in these reforms and sort out your problems of liquidity, it means we didn’t have to cut any of our social programmes. It also meant that there was stable funding of public services. And there is a stability, which is what we need to relaunch our economy.”

Source: World Economic Forum

World Produced 44m Tonnes of E-Waste in 2017

16.02.2019

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More than 44 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) was produced globally in 2017, with a majority being sent to landfill.

That’s more than six kilograms for every person on the planet and equivalent to all the commercial aircraft every built, according to a new report.

It reveals the annual value of global e-waste is more than $62.5 billion (£48.5bn) – more than the GDP of most countries.

The report from the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the UN E-Waste Coalition adds less than 20% of e-waste is “formally recycled”, with 80% either ending up in landfill or being “informally recycled” – much of it by hand in developing countries, exposing workers to hazardous substances such as mercury and lead.

E-waste in landfill contaminates soil and groundwater, putting food supply systems and water sources at risk.

In addition to health and pollution impacts, improper management of e-waste is also said to result in a “significant” loss of scarce and valuable raw materials, such as gold, platinum, cobalt and rare earth elements.

The report suggests as much as 7% of the world’s gold may currently be contained in e-waste, “with 100 times more gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore”.

It was previously revealed tens of thousands of tonnes of e-waste are shipped in used vehicles from European ports to Nigeria – up to 100,000 people are said to work in the informal e-waste sector in the country.

The new report calls for an overhaul of the current electronics system, emphasising the need for a circular economy in which resources are not extracted, used and discarded but valued and reused in ways that minimise environmental impacts.

Solutions include durable product design, buy-back and return systems for used electronics and ‘urban mining’ to extract metals and minerals from e-waste.

Source: Energy Live News

Could Moon Mining Mission Be the Key to Sustainable Rocket Fuel?

15.02.2019

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A mission to mine on the moon could be the key to creating sustainable rocket fuel.

That’s the verdict from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the ArianeGroup, which have signed a one-year contract to prepare for a space-based mission with the aim of mining regolith ore.

They say it is possible to extract water and oxygen from the ore, enabling a self-sustaining human settlement on the Moon to be built.

The organisations also note oxygen-rich regolith can be used to produce the rocket fuel needed for more distant exploratory missions.

German start-up PTScientists will provide the lunar lander and small Belgian business Space Applications Services will provide the ground control facilities, the communications and the associated service operations.

André-Hubert Roussel, CEO of ArianeGroup, said: “The use of space resources could be a key to sustainable lunar exploration and this study is part of ESA’s comprehensive plan to make Europe a partner in global exploration in the next decade.”

Source: Energy Live News

Climate Change Seen as Top Threat in Global Survey

15.02.2019

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Climate change is seen as the biggest international threat facing many nations, according to a 26-country survey released by the Pew Research Center on Sunday.

Thirteen of the countries surveyed listed global warming as their top security concern. Other major concerns were the Islamic State or ISIS, listed as the top threat by eight countries, cyberattacks, picked by four including the U.S. and Russia’s power and influence, which was chosen as the top threat by Poland.

“Overall we’ve seen that general climate concerns and specifically global climate change had been at the top of the list or near the top of the list along with terrorism in the five years in which we’ve been doing these questions,” Pew Research Center Associate Director Jacob Poushter told U.S. News & World Report.

However, the number of respondents worried about climate change has risen substantially over the past five years. In 2013, a median of 56 percent of respondents across all 23 countries surveyed that year rated it as a top concern. That number rose to 63 percent in 2017 and 67 percent in 2018. Overall, climate change is seen as the top threat by a median of respondents across all 26 countries surveyed in 2018, closely followed by ISIS.

The biggest change in opinion over the past five years was the rise in respondents who listed U.S. power and influence as a major threat. A quarter of 22 nations saw the U.S. as a threat in 2013, but that number rose to 38 percent after President Donald Trump was elected in 2017 and climbed to 45 percent in 2018, two years into his presidency. In 17 countries surveyed, those who have little confidence in the current U.S. president are more likely to list U.S. influence as a threat. The survey did not assess whether Trump’s hostility to climate science and decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement contributed to respondents’ view of the the U.S. as a global threat.

While climate change is a top concern across many nations, the survey did agree with many other recent polls in recording a partisan divide on the issue within individual countries. In the U.S. and Europe, those on the ideological left are more likely to see climate change as a threat than ISIS, while on the right, this is flipped. For example, Republicans in the U.S. are 56 percent less likely to list climate change as a threat than Democrats. Those who support Germany’s right wing Alternative for Germany and the UKIP in Great Britain are 28 percent and 22 percent less likely to see climate change as a threat, respectively, compared to those who don’t.

On a country-by-country basis, climate change was seen as a major threat by 90 percent of respondents in Greece, 83 percent in France and 80 percent in Mexico. However, ISIS actually beat climate change as France’s top threat, with 87 percent of respondents listing it. All three Latin American countries surveyed listed climate change as their top concern, whereas six out of 10 European countries surveyed picked it as the number one threat.

The survey was conducted between May 14 and Aug. 12, 2018 and had 27,612 respondents.

Source: Eco Watch

Drax Becomes ‘World’s First’ Bioenergy Plant to Capture Carbon from Wood-Burning

14.02.2019

fire-3792951_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The giant Drax power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire, has become the first in Europe to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from wood-burning.

Drax burns seven million tonnes of wood chips each year to drive generators to make electricity. The firm has now begun a pilot project to capture one tonne a day of CO2 from its wood combustion. The technology effectively turns climate change into reverse on a tiny scale, but it’s controversial.

When a forest grows, the trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to make their wood. If you burn that wood, the process doesn’t emit any extra CO2 into the atmosphere – because the trees removed it from the air in the first place. It’s called carbon neutral. If you go one step further by capturing the CO2 from wood burning, you’re actually reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere overall. In an ideal world you’d go one step further by creating useful products from the waste CO2.

This technology is known as Bio Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).

Many scientists believe it will be needed because they don’t trust politicians to curb the CO2 emissions that are over-heating the planet. They say that unless carbon emissions start falling dramatically, we will overshoot the recommended safety limit of a 1.5C rise in global temperature.

There are two main reasons for controversy. First is the impact on the plants and animals living on the huge amount of land needed to grow the trees and plants needed to generate power on a wide scale. Second is the amount of additional energy needed to capture and store the carbon.

Let’s just take the example of Drax.

The power station generates 6% of the UK’s electricity whilst burning seven million tonnes of wood a year – that’s more wood than is harvested in the whole of Britain. The majority of the supply comes from the US, where forests are expanding as small-scale farmers allow unprofitable land to go back to nature.

Drax says most of its fuel is residue from forest industries – that’s offcuts and unsuitable trees for timber. A previous BBC investigation found that some of the wood almost certainly also comes from species-rich swamp forests in the southern US.

This is where the numbers get a bit mind-boggling. One estimate suggests that a staggering amount of land would be required to make BECCS feasible under the Paris climate agreement — perhaps as much as three times the area of India.

Harvard University professor David Keith warned: “We must be cautious of technologies that aim to remediate the carbon problem while greatly expanding our impact on the land.”

That impact will depend on many variables, such as whether the wood is so-called “waste”; whether it comes from plantation forests or natural forests; how its removal from the forest reduces the amount of material that will lock up carbon in the soil; how it’s transported – and more.

Drax is trialling a new system devised at Leeds university. Most existing carbon capture technologies use a chemical in the amine group.

It is drizzled down through a flue gas chimney, where it absorbs the CO2. A further process separates the CO2 from the amine, which can be re-used.

The Drax experiment is working with a tech spin-off called C-Capture. It uses an organic solvent which it says is less toxic than amine and uses less energy.

It’s one of several products on the market as chemists strive to find new ways of taking CO2 out of the air.

Andy Koss, CEO of Drax Power, admits that its carbon capture pilot is tiny – but says it’s an important step towards getting the whole plant capturing its CO2 – and finding a market to use it.

“This is a really important technology,” he told us. “We are definitely going to need it if we want to keep within the 1.5C temperature limit proposed by scientists. “

Almuth Ernsting from the pressure group Biofuelwatch takes the opposite view. “Burning biomass is absolutely the wrong option for so many reasons,” she said. “Forests are vital for the health of the climate so we need to keep them not burn them. The Drax experiment is so ridiculously tiny it’s hard to believe it’s not ‘greenwash’.”

Source: BBC

Australia Rejects New Coal Mine on Environmental Grounds

14.02.2019

coal-1626368_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

An Australian court has rejected plans for a new coal mine on environmental grounds.

In a landmark ruling for the coal-dependent nation, Chief Justice Brian Preston said the proposed facility in New South Wales would worse climate change and would be in “the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Environmentalists hope the New South Wales Land and Environment Court’s decision regarding the open-cut Gloucester Resources mine would set a legal precedent going forwards – Australia is currently one of the world’s largest producers of the fossil fuel and the world’s largest exporter.

Justice Preston said: “It matters not that this aggregate of the Project’s greenhouse gas emissions may represent a small fraction of the global total. Not every natural resource needs to be exploited.”

Gloucester Resources have previously said the project would create 170 jobs and would be in place for two decades.

The number of active coal mines operating in the US more than halved between 2008 and 2017.

Source: Energy Live News

Education and Conscientious Behaviour Are Necessary for the Change

13.02.2019

September was an important month for Serbia when it comes to the kind of impression we make on the world about our ecological awareness. The annual meeting of the Aarhus Centres was held on September 19 and 20, at Lake IssykKul in Kyrgyzstan. We talked to Una Mijovic, a delegate from Aarhus Centre in Novi Sad, who was invited by the OSCE Secretariat to represent Serbia at this year’s meeting. Una explained to us why Aarhus centres are important and in what way they help citizens to actively participate in decision-making at all levels of authority regarding the quality of the environment they live in.

EP: Explain to us what it is based on, starting from the very idea of Aarhus?

Una Mijovic: The Aarhus Convention or the Convention on the Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 28 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark. Its goal is to protect the right of individuals, present and future generations to live in an environment that is adequate for their health and well-being. The Republic of Serbia ratified it in 2009, thus taking the obligation to apply and implement its provisions into the legislation. The significance of the Aarhus Convention is derived from the need of every individual and the entire society to live in the healthy environment, either in a city or in a rural environment, to ensure better and healthier life for present and future generations. The quality of the environment significantly affects our health, and the implementation of the Aarhus Convention allows citizens to participate in decision-making actively and to achieve legal and judicial protection in case of the failure of its implementation. This year is the anniversary for the Aarhus Convention since it was adopted 20 years ago.

EP: There are so-called “three pillars” of the Aarhus Convention. What do they represent?

Una Mijovic: Yes, the Aarhus Convention is based on three pillars: access to information, public participation in decision-making and legal protection. The three listed pillars are envisaged as instruments for citizens to exercise their right to live in a healthy environment. The availability of information implies that the citizens have the right to receive accurate, complete and up-to-date information about the environment from relevant institutions and all levels of authority. The participation of the public in decision-making obliges decision-makers to involve the public in the process. This pillar also gives the public the right to be included in the decision-making. The legal protection represents the possibility and the right of the public to demand, before the courts, the compliance of the Convention and the implementation of the right from the first two pillars, in cases when their implementation was initially ceased.

EP: How do Aarhus Centres operate in Serbia?

Una Mijovic: Aarhus centres are civil society organizations whose goal is to establish cooperation between the citizens and relevant levels of authority, local municipalities, and even beyond that, the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. Their goal is to help all participants in making decisions on issues relevant to environment, and in strengthening their capacities in the implementation of environmental regulations. Aarhus centres should also ensure that the decision-making process in the environmental sector is democratic. There are five Aarhus centres in Serbia, based in Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Sad, Subotica and Belgrade. Together they form the Network of Aarhus Centres in Serbia. Aarhus Centres have been established under the auspices of the OSCE Mission in Serbia. Centres carry out their activities and projects and achieve their goals by mutual cooperation, communication and coordination.

EP: What are the pending issues in the Aarhus centres?

Una Mijovic: Topical themes that Aarhus centres in Serbia are dealing with are waste management, circular or green economy, recycling, water quality, climate change as well as meeting the conditions for opening the Chapter 27 in pre-accession negotiations. Aarhus Centre in Novi Sad has developed the Study on the progress towards the circular (sustainable) economy in Vojvodina. The Study identifies the challenges that are met on the way of implementing the circular economy in the construction and agriculture. It also identifies the drivers and blockers of eco-initiatives in Vojvodina and examples of good-practices in these areas. This Study is one big venture and the only one of this kind in Serbia.

EP: You have recently returned from the annual gathering of the Aarhus Centres in Kyrgyzstan. What was discussed at the Convention?

Una Mijovic: This year’s annual meeting of Aarhus Centres from several countries was held in Kyrgyzstan under the auspices of the OSCE in September. Representatives of 15 Aarhus Centres, relevant Ministries from different countries and international organisations attended this meeting. At the meeting, they shared the information on the activities of Aarhus Centres, experiences and projects that Aarhus Centres have been dealing with. Topics such as toxic waste management, with a special emphasis on the Centres involved in solving uranium problems in the countries of Central Asia, then strengthening the risk management capacities, reducing the risk of natural disasters and climate change at the local level, as well as the approach to water management and the promotion of green (sustainable) economy and resource efficiency at the local level were in the focus.

EP: What made the strongest impression on you at the Convention? Were new goals set up there and how would that affect Serbia?

Una Mijovic: The annual meeting showed the diversity of environmental problems and issues that countries in different parts of the world face while implementing the Aarhus Convention. The focus was on the conversation on how to achieve the goals the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By sharing ideas and experiences, we have come to the conclusions how we can implement our goals and influence the creation of a healthier and sustainable environment in a better way.

Prepered by: Milan Zlatanovic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CIRCULAR ECONOMY, September-November 2018.

Enough Plastic Produced Each Day to Make 22 Trillion Water Bottles

13.02.2019

jonathan-chng-1057613-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Jonathan Chng)

Enough plastic is produced each day to make almost 22 trillion water bottles.

That’s according to the National Geographic Society and Sky Ocean Ventures, which say more than 90% of this volume will never be recycled – to address this troubling issue, the two organisations have teamed up to launch the Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge.

The programme aims to source ideas from around the world about how to solve the problem of plastic waste.

It is split into three sections, with each one eligible for prizes totalling up to $500,000 (£387,000).

The first challenge is a call to design better packaging, such as creating a biodegradable coffee cup or chocolate bar wrapper.

The second challenge aims to find new, creative zero-waste business models, while the third looks to find a way to effectively demonstrate the scale of the plastics pollution problem.

Innovators can submit their ideas until the 11th of June, which is when a team of judges selected by National Geographic and Sky Ocean Ventures will pick the best ideas, to be announced in December.

Fred Michel, Head of Sky Ocean Ventures, said: “The key point is to help these innovators. We want to help them grow, develop their product, do great innovation and then go to market and get these ideas adopted by consumers.”

Source: Energy Live News

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