China Limits Cars and Closes Factories in Smog Red Alert

20.12.2016

The number of cars on roads was limited and factories were temporarily shut in some northern Chinese cities on Monday to reduce pollution during a national smog red alert.

More than 700 companies stopped production in Beijing and traffic police were restricting drivers by monitoring numberplates, state media reported. In choking conditions, dozens of cities closed schools and took other emergency measures after the alert was issued for much of northern China.

Authorities in Hebei province ordered coal and cement plants to shut down or cut output. Elsewhere, hospitals prepared teams of doctors to handle an expected surge in cases of pollution-related illnesses.

China’s long-standing air pollution is blamed on its reliance on coal and emissions from older cars.

“If you track back to the first day of this episode, you see that the smog [in Beijing] is moving slowly from the south to the urban area and then to the north,” said Dong Liansai, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace in Beijing. Dong said emissions from factories in nearby provinces were the main cause of the smog choking the capital.

The smog had earlier grounded flights in some cities and caused roads to be closed. On Sunday, news websites said the number of children being taken to Beijing hospitals with breathing trouble had soared.

Source: theguardian.com

European Commission Approves Drax Biomass Subsidy

20.12.2016

The share price of Britain’s biggest power station operator has jumped to a five-month high after the European commission approved subsidies for its conversion to burn wood pellets instead of coal.

Drax was awarded a renewable energy subsidy contract by the government in 2014 to switch the third unit of its coal power station in North Yorkshire over to biomass. That prompted a state-aid investigation by the commission, which was concerned the estimates of the plant’s performance were too generous and Drax would be overcompensated.

On Monday the investigation cleared the subsidy, which sees a guaranteed price paid for electricity generated by the plant. The commission said its analysis found the support would “not result in overcompensation” and would not unduly distort the wood market that will supply the plant with 2.4m tonnes of pellets a year.

The approval comes at the end of a year that has seen coal power drop to a record low in the UK – down two thirds on 2015 – as environmental policies have shuttered several major coal plants. Ministers have said the country’s last coal power station will close in 2025 to meet climate targets.

Dorothy Thompson, CEO at Drax Group, said: “We are pleased the European commission has completed its review of the contract and approved it in line with our expectations. We now look forward to fully converting the unit to run on sustainable biomass.”

But the company is still looking for financial support to convert the fourth of its six units to biomass, which the government has previously said is ineligible for subsidies. “With the right conditions, we can do even more,” said Thompson.

“This announcement is hugely welcome, if a long time coming,” said local Conservative MEP, Amjad Bashir, who added that the power station would play an important role in climate targets.

But green groups questioned the climate change credibility of burning wood pellets which are largely sourced from US forests.

“Big environmental question marks continue to loom over biomass and whether it is in fact renewable on this scale. Biomass has been classified indiscriminately as a ‘zero carbon’ energy source but this stems from flaws in the way the EU and US account for carbon,” said Susan Shaw, a lawyer at the NGO ClientEarth.

Drax Group shares rose to a high of 356.2p on Monday, just below their highest level this year, in July. Company shares soared earlier this month after the company’s bid to buy four gas power stations in a diversification away from its reliance on coal.

Source: theguardian.com

IEA Welcomes Italy’s Plan to Revisit Energy Strategy and Further Decarbonize Economy

20.12.2016

In its latest country review of energy policies, the International Energy Agency praised Italy’s comprehensive long-term energy strategy and the acceleration of its efforts to comply with 2020 goals on renewable energy, climate change and energy efficiency.

The IEA’s new report, Energy Policies of IEA Countries: Italy 2016 Review, said that the country’s 2013 National Energy Strategy (NES) sent a strong signal about the government’s medium- and long-term objectives for the energy sector. The NES established clear goals: reduce energy costs, meet environmental targets, strengthen security of energy supply and foster sustainable economic growth.

Still, the review found that monitoring implementation and maintaining momentum would present a challenge for the government. To that effect, the IEA welcomed the Italian government’s recent decision to present a consultation document for an updated 2030-2050 energy strategy, which would take into account the EU 2030 energy package and the impact of the Paris Agreement.

Decarbonizing the economy is one of the four main goals of the NES, and the country aims to exceed its 2020 European Union environmental and decarburization objectives and take a lead role in implementing the EU Roadmap 2050.

The transport sector is the leading source of carbon emissions and Italy has adopted a number of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the sector: there are almost one million natural gas-fired vehicles in Italy and the country has built a substantial refueling network. Italy is also looking at projects to establish LNG as a fuel for goods transport and for use in shipping. However, limited progress has been made in developing integrated urban transport systems and diesel use is increasingly supported by a favourable tax regime.

NES has made energy efficiency a national priority, and Italy has continued to make progress in implementing such policies. The country has undertaken and published a number of comprehensive evaluations of the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency policies, including the energy efficiency certificate scheme (white certificates). The IEA report recommends that Italy, in co-operation with the banking sector, develop new programmes for financing long-term investment in energy efficiency.

The IEA also praised Italy for maintaining impressive growth in the renewable energy sector and for its success in integrating large volumes of variable renewable generation. Containing costs must be a priority, according to the IEA, and policies need to focus on bringing deployment costs towards international benchmarks. The IEA also said that measures introduced in 2014 to reduce the costs of renewables support mechanisms have created uncertainty, and similar to other European countries, have had negative implications on investor confidence.

The IEA report also highlighted developments in market liberalization and energy infrastructure development. Electricity transmission improvements between north and south, as well as market coupling, have resulted in price convergence throughout the country and wholesale electricity prices that are converging with other European markets. Conversely, electricity retail prices remain among the highest in Europe and are having an impact on the relative competitiveness of Italian industry. The IEA report also noted that development in the natural gas sector has been slow, and greater improvement is needed if Italy is to realize its ambition of becoming a southern European gas hub.

Source: iea.org

EPA Announces 2016 Annual Environmental Enforcement Results

20.12.2016

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) yesterday announced its 2016 annual enforcement and compliance results, highlighted by a series of high-impact cases that are delivering environmental and public health benefits to communities across the country. During EPA’s 2016 fiscal year—which spanned October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016—EPA enforcement actions secured $13.7 billion in investments by companies for projects to control pollution. EPA also secured enforceable commitments that ensure the proper treatment, storage and disposal of an estimated 62 billion pounds of hazardous waste, the majority coming through a settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer for their eight facilities across Florida and Louisiana.

Two recent landmark settlements—one with BP and one with Volkswagen—are among the most comprehensive and impactful environmental cases in U.S. history. On April 4, 2016, the court entered an agreement with BP for a $20.8 billion settlement to resolve Clean Water Act violations stemming from the Deepwater Horizon blowout and resulting oil spill, with more than $20 billion going to restore impacted communities and the environment. In a case that was lodged in fiscal year 2015 but not entered by the court until October 25, 2016, Volkswagen agreed to spend up to $14.7 billion on projects to reduce air pollution, remedy environmental damage and buy back 2.0 liter diesel vehicles to settle allegations of using illegal software to cheat emissions tests and deceive customers.

“EPA’s enforcement work continues to hold violators accountable and deliver investments to reduce pollution in our communities,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The American public depends on EPA to enforce the law, protect our communities from pollution and help ensure a level playing field for responsible companies.”

Source: epa.gov

Siemens Celebrates Topping Out Ceremony at New Wind Turbine Factory in Cuxhaven, Germany

20.12.2016

A brisk, late November morning in Northern Germany provided backdrop to a ceremony held to mark completion of the structural supports of the factory slated to secure Siemens Wind Power’s position as purveyor of next generation wind turbine technologies.

Behind the ceremony, a host of developments from Siemens are coming together to enable the company to cut costs and improve efficiency of its wind power business, which already leads in offshore wind turbine construction.

Scheduled for completion by mid-2017, the Cuxhaven, Germany, wind turbine factory will provide Siemens with a manufacturing hub for its latest and forthcoming generations of large direct drive offshore wind turbine nacelles.

In the nearest timeframe, factory operations will revolve around the direct drive, 7-MW capacity D7 platform. The production facility will undertake serial production of generators, hubs and nacelle back-ends, and final assembly of these components to form complete D7 nacelles.

In time, even larger capacity machines will eventually flow from the factory’s production lines. Siemens’ Carsten-Sünnke Berendsen, who is heading the Cuxhaven project, told Renewable Energy World: “The Cuxhaven plant is our central manufacturing base for all large direct drive nacelles of our offshore wind turbines. The [8-MW] SWT-8.0-154 is an enhanced version of our models SWT-6.0-154 and SWT-7.0-154 and so its nacelle will definitely be assembled in the new factory.”

Source: renewableenergyworld.com

ISWA World Congress 2017: Call for Speakers

20.12.2016

Next year ISWA heads to Baltimore, Maryland, USA, for the 2017 World Congress from 25^th to 27^th September. The overall theme of the congress “No Time to Waste” will cover a number of issues which are important right now: closing dumpsites, climate change, circular economy, resource management and smart technologies.

This theme illustrates the urgency with which the waste and resource management sector must respond to the global and local issues it is facing every day. ISWA’s President, Antonis Mavropoulos, stated in a recent blog post that we are facing a “global health emergency.”

So we call on you to submit your abstracts now – the deadline for both submissions is 15 January 2017.

Source: iswa.org

It’s Official: Solar Is Becoming World’s Cheapest Form of New Electricity

20.12.2016

For the first time, solar power is becoming the cheapest form of electricity production in the world, according to new statistics from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released Thursday.

While unsubsidized solar has occasionally done better than coal and gas in individual projects, 2016 marked the first time that the renewable energy source has out-performed fossil fuels on a large scale—and new solar projects are also turning out to be cheaper than new wind power projects, BNEF reports in its new analysis, Climatescope.

The cost of solar in 58 developing nations dropped to about a third of 2010 levels, with China in particular adding a record number of solar projects. And as the Independent notes, solar “has proved a godsend for remote islands such as Ta’u, part of America Samoa, in the South Pacific.”

In fact, Ta’u has been able to abandon the use of fossil fuels altogether and power itself almost entirely on renewable energy.

“Solar investment has gone from nothing—literally nothing—like five years ago to quite a lot,” said Ethan Zindler, head of BNEF’s U.S. policy analysis.

BNEF chairman Michael Liebreich also told investors this week that “[r]enewables are robustly entering the era of undercutting” fossil fuel prices.

Unsurprisingly, developing countries are at the forefront of this advancement, having invested in clean energy economies to stave off the catastrophic effects of climate change at a greater rate than wealthy nations.

“[F]or populations still relying on expensive kerosene generators, or who have no electricity at all, and for those living in the dangerous smog of thickly populated cities,” Bloomberg reports, “the shift to renewables and increasingly to solar can’t come soon enough.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Harworth Seals Deal for New 5MW Solar Farm in Yorkshire

20.12.2016

UK developer Harworth is expanding its clean energy portfolio with the announcement yesterday that a deal to build a new 5MW solar farm in North Yorkshire has been signed off.

Kellingley Solar Farm, which will span 28 acres of land near the former Kellingley Colliery in North Yorkshire, received planning permission in July 2015 and signed a 31-year lease with Harworth Group last month.

Constructio will begin in January, and the farm is expected to start generating power in March next year, producing enough clean energy to power more than 20,000 homes, Harworth said.

The project is one of the last solar farms to be accredited under the Renewables Obligation subsidy scheme, which closed for schemes of 5MW and below on March 31 this year.

“This is an excellent deal for Harworth and low-carbon energy developments form an important part of increasing our recurring income base,” Hannah Moxon, senior estates manager in Harworth’s natural resources team, said in a statement. “Although the basis for renewables subsidies has now changed, we remain convinced that solar and wind farms are an important part of the UK energy mix and we believe the government’s proposed Industrial Strategy should reintroduce incentives to bring further developments forward.”

Speaking to BusinessGreen, Harworth’s group partnerships and communications manager Iain Thomson said he hoped Secretary of State Greg Clark would consider introducing a scheme similar to the Renewables Obligation to support further large-scale clean energy development.

Harworth specialises in regenerating brownfield sites for housing and commercial developments. It has developed 23 low-carbon energy schemes on its land across the country, including solar and wind farms as well as coal mine methane extraction operations.

Source: businessgreen.com

Lucid Motors Unveils Tesla-Killer Electric Car that Can Drive 400 Miles on a Single Charge

19.12.2016

Automakers are starting to catch up to Tesla by launching longer-range electric vehicles – and Lucid Motors is one of the most promising start-ups to throw their hat into the ring. The company’s new Air EV will have a longer driving range than every other electric car on the market – and it features two motors that generate a combined output of over 1,000 horsepower.

The Air EV is a luxury sedan designed to compete not only with the Tesla Model S, but other larger luxury sedans like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series. The Air means business with its standard 100 kWh battery – the largest battery pack in the industry – and it can be upgraded to an even larger 130 kWH battery that provides 400 miles of all-electric driving range.

With that much power the Air only needs 2.5 seconds to reach 60 mph. Since the Air will compete with the world’s best luxury sedans, it’s no surprise that it will arrive with a price tag over $100,000 – although Lucid Motors says that a cheaper model is planned.

Lucid Motors is now taking orders for the Air, which can be reserved by placing a large $25,500 deposit. That significant deposit is for the first batch of cars, which will have a price tag of around $160,000. The much cheaper $65,000 model can be reserved for much more reasonable $2,500. Lucid Motors’ first electric cars will go into production in Arizona in 2018.

Source: inhabitat.com

OPEC Secretary General Attends Meetings, Workshop at Columbia University

19.12.2016

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, and an accompanying delegation, took part in a series of activities at the Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) in New York on 15 December, the fourth day of his visit to the United States.

The Secretary General met with Director and founder of the Centre, Professor Jason Bordoff, along with deputies and professors of the Center. HE Mohammad Barkindo delivered a speech in the morning highlighting the Organization’s outlook on both medium- and long-term viewpoints of the energy market. The speech was followed by a presentation on the OPEC World Oil Outlook 2016. A question and answer session during a panel discussion included HE Mohammad Barkindo, along with Adrian Lajous, former CEO of Pemex and Antoine Halff, director of global oil markets. It was moderated by Professor Bordoff and attended by energy professors at the university, along with energy consultants and students.

During his speech the Secretary General commented on the rich history of the Columbia University, where some of America’s top leaders and prominent figures have their place among the alumni. He commented that the size, scope and complexity of the global oil market make it unique among physical commodities and that the “true scale of the industry underscores the importance of sustainable market stability.”

The Secretary General briefed the audience on the cycles the oil industry has seen, adding that the current cycle is the worst to date, with the OPEC Reference Basket falling by 80 per cent between June 2014 and January 2016. The Secretary General expressed the need for the oil market to rebalance in order to reduce price volatility and support future investment, adding that the recent decisions by OPEC and non-OPEC countries on output adjustments will bring the rebalancing process forward much more quickly.

He spoke about the extensive consultations which took place with OPEC and non-OPEC countries that led up to the historic Algiers Accord at the 170th Extraordinary Meeting of the OPEC Conference, held on 28th September in Algiers, Algeria.

The Algiers Accord, in turn, led to the ‘Vienna Agreement’ decided upon at the 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference on 30 November in Vienna, at which OPEC Member Countries decided to cut their oil output by 1.2 million barrels a day (mb/d), effective from 1st January 2017. This was followed by a meeting held in Vienna on 10 December, at which OPEC Ministers met with ministers and officials from non-OPEC countries, which resulted in 11 non-OPEC countries agreeing to reduce their respective oil production by almost 600,000 barrels a day.

In the afternoon the Secretary General participated in a CGEP workshop on the interaction between financial and physical markets, attended by leading bankers and investors and in the evening he took part in a dinner between major financial market stakeholders. HE Mr. Mohammad Barkindo will hold a similar group meeting with selected key participants in financial markets on 16th December to complement discussions on this important topic.

The week-long visit has included meetings with the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the United States Energy Information Administration, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, major stakeholders in financial markets, and IHS/Markit.

Source: opec.org

No, Coal Isn’t Coming Back: the Reasons in 5 Charts

19.12.2016

The coal industry is on the decline, but the reason for that decline has become a subject of political debate. Supporters of fossil fuels blame the energy policies of the outgoing Obama Administration, claiming the emphasis on renewable energy and lowering carbon emissions puts coal at a disadvantage.

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to “bring back coal” as part of what is expected to be an overall emphasis on promoting fossil fuels. But the current dire state of the coal industry is largely not be a matter of policies or regulation.

Instead, a number of different market forces have eroded coal’s competitiveness in the energy market. The Brookings Institution laid out those market forces in a concise report, built around five charts. One of the major forces working against coal is cheap and abundant natural gas, accessed through the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing—also known as “fracking.”

The utility industry has steadily shifted from coal to natural gas for electricity generation because of the latter’s lower cost. In 2000, coal accounted to 51.7 percent of U.S. electricity-generation capacity, while natural gas’ share was just 15.8 percent. But in 2015, coal was down to 33.2 percent, while natural gas had risen to 32.7 percent.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that natural gas will surpass coal’s share of the generating mix in 2016, the first time this has occurred. At the same time, the cost of renewable-energy sources like wind and solar have decreased, to the point where they are cost-competitive with fossil fuels in some situations.

The cost to build a utility-scale photovoltaic solar farm has dropped 80 percent since 2009, while wind farm costs have dropped 60 percent, according to the Brookings Institution. The economic competitiveness of natural gas and renewable energy is more meaningful at this particular moment, because flat electricity demand is driving utilities to seek the cheapest possible options for power generation, Brookings analysts say.

As domestic coal consumption decreases, exports are also weak, falling for the third consecutive year in 2015. U.S. coal exports are largely dependent on China and India, but China’s recent economic slowdown has dampened coal demand in that country. Both China and India are also expected to keep imports to a minimum for security and fiscal reasons, relying on local sources for the majority of their needs.

Finally, the productivity and profitability of the U.S. coal industry has rapidly declined over the past decade, after peaking in 2000, according to Brookings analysts. This is largely due to the exploitation of the cheapest and easiest-to-mine coal sources, requiring coal companies to turn to more difficult and costly mining operations. Overall productivity has rebounded somewhat in the past three years, but this may only be the result of the closing of less-efficient mines, and a one-time boost from the implement of certain new technologies.

A decrease in coal use for electricity generation is good news for drivers of electric cars, because these cars get cleaner alongside the sources of electricity used to charge them. But it also leaves open the question of how to stimulate the economies and preserve jobs in coal-producing states, the answer to which may well be transitioning to different industries altogether.

greencarreports.com

EIB and LEG Sign Credit Facility to Finance Energy Modernisation in Housing Portfolio

19.12.2016

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and LEG Immobilien AG have concluded a loan agreement for EUR 100 million. The loan from the EU bank, which is made possible by guarantees from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), is to be used for the pro rata financing of energy-efficient modernisation measures in the property company’s housing portfolio. The EFSI is a mainstay of the Investment Plan for Europe (IPE), in which the EIB and the European Commission are strategic partners and under which financing provided by the EU bank strengthens the competitiveness of the European economy.

The loan agreement was signed in Düsseldorf on 16 December 2016 by Thomas Hegel, CEO of LEG Immobilien AG, by CFO Eckhard Schultz and by Dr Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank. The structure of the unsecured financing offers LEG maximum flexibility at very favourable conditions. The credit facility can be drawn down in several tranches and has a term of up to 13 years. In November 2016, LEG had announced an investment programme of around EUR 200 million.

EIB President Hoyer emphasises: “The European Investment Bank takes on a leading role in climate protection. For this reason, I expressly welcome the collaboration with LEG. The funds we are providing with the assistance of the Investment Plan for Europe will be invested directly in the energy renovation of LEG residential buildings with several thousand apartments in North Rhine-Westphalia. Energy consumption in Germany can only be significantly reduced if we substantially increase energy efficiency in the building sector. This is a key factor for sustainable climate protection and a successful energy transition.”

“We are delighted that in the EIB we have found a renowned and reliable partner that is committed to achieving similar goals to our own. For example, the EIB aims to get involved in implementing sound investments that significantly improve the standard of living and quality of life for people in Europe. At LEG, we want to significantly increase liveability and well-being for our tenants with sustainable investments in our buildings,” says Eckhard Schultz.

The European Commission Vice President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, Jyrki Katainen, comments: “I am delighted that the EFSI is supporting improvements to residential units that will benefit many thousands of people. The agreement reached today shows the investment campaign’s potential to promote investments that facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy and a real improvement in people’s everyday quality of life.”

The funds from the EU bank, which are secured with guarantees from the EFSI, will be included pro rata in the modernisation programme additionally launched by LEG. Based on an in-depth analysis of the LEG portfolio, potential for additional investments totalling around EUR 200 million has been identified for the next three years. With this extensive modernisation programme, LEG is continuing its growth-oriented business strategy.

Starting from mid-2017, investments will primarily be made in energy renovation of the building envelopes. Other planned measures include balcony installations, bathroom modernisation, loft extensions and additions, and conversion measures to make apartments suitable for senior citizens.

The regional focus of the modernisation programme is on attractive growth markets such as Dortmund and Münster and the Düsseldorf metropolitan area.

Source: eib.org

Beijing Smog: Pollution Red Alert Declared in China Capital and 21 Other Cities

19.12.2016

Beijing authorities have declared a five-day pollution “red alert”, shutting schools, ordering thousands of vehicles off the roads and telling residents to stay indoors, after the Chinese capital was enveloped by a shroud of toxic smog that is expected to linger until Wednesday.

The warning – the first since Beijing’s inaugural red alert in December last year – was officially implemented at 4.20pm on Friday as a nicotine-tinged haze rolled into the city.

“Smog invades Beijing,” tweeted Xinhua, China’s official news agency, alongside a timelapse video capturing the arrival of what city officials have controversially decided to classify as a “meteorological disaster”.

A second Xinhua tweet showed the skies blackening over the course of Friday as toxic air swept into the northern city of 21 million citizens.

China’s ministry of environmental protection reported that 21 other cities across north and central China had also declared pollution red alerts, including Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan and Zhengzhou.

A red alert is the highest level of a four-tier warning system introduced as part of China’s high-profile war on pollution.

Xinhua said nurseries and primary schools across Beijing had been told to close until Wednesday when the smog is expected to lift.

Road works were suspended; older and “dirty” high-emissions vehicles were forbidden from taking to the roads; and heavily polluting industries such as steel plants were ordered to halt or slow their operations.

City officials were also reported to have “penalised” 388 people for igniting outdoor barbecues and fires.

But Dong Liansai, a Beijing-based climate and energy campaigner for environmental group Greenpeace, said coal-fired power stations, not barbecues, were to blame for the unusually severe bout of pollution.

“Coal is the No 1 source,” said Dong, warning that the smog contained tiny airborne particulates known as PM2.5 which were linked to numerous “adverse health effects” including lung cancer, asthma and heart disease.

Dong said the declaration of the red alert was a positive step that would help temporarily reduce emissions and pollution levels.

“But this is only a short-term measure. If you want to solve the problem of air pollution then you really need to have a long-term policy,” the campaigner added. “And given that coal is the No 1 source we really recommend a nationwide cap on coal consumption … that would help accelerate the transition away from coal.”

Dong said the smog was “a reminder, after a period of improvement over the last few years, that there is still a lot to do in the future”.

Speaking to the New York Times this week, Beijing-based environmentalist Ma Jun said China had made “huge progress” in tracking the sources of air pollution over the past decade and had also become much more transparent in releasing information about the blight.

However, the risk to human health remained severe, with studies suggesting air pollution was causing between 300,000 and 1 million premature deaths a year.

“There isn’t much research on the relation between air pollution and lung cancer in China, and even less with accessible research results,” Ma said. “It’s sensitive. The government does not want to cause panic among the public.”

Dong, the Greenpeace campaigner, urged residents of areas affected by the latest red alert to limit their exposure to the smog by staying indoors with air purifiers turned on if possible. “Try to minimise your outdoor activities and, if you really need to go out, wear a proper mask to protect yourself,” he said.

Source: theguardian.com

UN Biodiversity Conference Results in Significant Commitments for Action on Biodiversity

19.12.2016

Governments agreed on actions that will accelerate implementation of global biodiversity targets, and enhance the linkage of the biodiversity agenda with other global agendas including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and others.

Governments from 167 countries agreed on a variety of measures that will intensify the implementation of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, including mainstreaming, capacity-development and mobilization of financial resources as well as actions on specific themes including protected areas, ecosystem restoration, sustainable wildlife management and others.

Governments followed through on the commitments in the Cancun Declaration made by ministers at the high-level segment of the meeting that took place on 2 and 3 December 2016. Parties agreed to advance mainstreaming biodiversity, the main theme of the meeting proposed by the Government of Mexico and use an integrated approach that would promote not only cross-sectoral linkages, but also linkages between efforts to implement national biodiversity strategies and action plans and Sustainable Development Goal strategies and plans.

“Governments demonstrated their commitment to achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and showed that the biodiversity agenda is central and essential to the global sustainable development and climate change agendas,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary to the Convention on Biological Diversity. He also said: “With the integration of three meetings addressing the Convention and its two Protocols, the world community also realized the importance of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing in effectively contributing to the Targets and sustainable development”

“We received impressive commitments from governments, including excellent ones from the government of Mexico, in support of many of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets which gives us the momentum we need to achieve our goals by 2020.”

“The agenda of mainstreaming biodiversity provided Mexico with the momentum to conclude agreements which had eluded us for decades, such as the alignment of agricultural subsidies to preserve forests, or the protection of a vast proportion of our seas,” said Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico.

“For the next two years, Mexico will work with countries to translate the principles of the Cancun Declaration into legislation, policies and actions to meet the commitments we made.”

“We applaud and support the global community’s commitment made during this COP to integrate biodiversity considerations into the activities of other critical sectors of our economies: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and tourism; and value it’s natural capital for sustainable development, as expressed in the Cancun Declaration” said Naoko Ishii, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment Facility.

“The GEF, as the financial mechanism of the convention, is proud to have been confirmed in its critical role to support countries to meet their commitments under the Convention and its Protocols. We also feel encouraged by the strong support of many donor and recipient countries to maintain consistency with our current biodiversity programming strategy with integrated approaches in response to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, while seeking out new innovative and creating financing opportunities” she said.”

Capacity-building

The Parties agreed on an action plan (2017-2020) that will enhance and support capacity-building for the implementation of the Convention and its Protocols based on the needs of Parties with a focus on strengthening the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets. For the Protocols, emphasis will be on supporting the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and promoting the universal ratification of the Nagoya Protocol and the development of measures to ensure that it is fully operational, consistent with national legislation (Aichi Target 16).

The Parties also welcomed the Biobridge Initiative established at COP 12 by the Government of the Republic of Korea to contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Pollinators

The ‘Thematic Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production’ by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was discussed. The COP encouraged Parties, other Governments, relevant United Nations and other organizations, as well as multilateral environment agreements, and stakeholders to use the assessment, as appropriate, in particular the responses outlined in the document to help guide efforts to improve conservation and management of pollinators, address drivers of pollinator declines, and work towards sustainable food production systems and agriculture.

Source: unep.org

New Global Database Will Help Scientists Track Role of Lakes in Earth’s Ecology

19.12.2016

The total shoreline of the world’s lakes is more than four times longer than the global ocean coastline. And if all the water in those lakes were spread over the Earth’s landmass, it would form a layer some four feet (1.3 metres) deep.

Those are just two of the big-picture findings to emerge from the most complete global database of lakes to date, compiled by geographers at McGill University. Their research, published in Nature Communications, promises to help scientists better understand the important role of lakes in the Earth’s complex environmental systems from the hydrological cycle and weather patterns, to the transport, distribution or storage of pollutants and nutrients through the landscape.

“Lakes are changing, in a changing world,” says senior author Bernhard Lehner, an associate professor in McGill’s Department of Geography. “Some are disappearing as there is less water to keep them filled, others are created or growing in regions where there is more rainfall. So we need a good inventory of the current status of lakes to understand and monitor their changes and the effects that this may have for our global environment.”

Filling data gaps

While there are plenty of measurements for lakes in some regions of the world, significant gaps have remained in the global data. In principle, the surface area or shoreline length of a lake can be directly measured on maps or satellite images, for example, but it’s much more difficult and time-consuming to estimate the amount of water stored beneath a lake’s surface.

An intuitive theory has long held that lakes in hilly or mountainous regions should tend to be deeper than those in flat landscapes. But until recently, it wasn’t easily possible to determine a clear relationship between the degree of hilliness and the depth of a lake.

Taking advantage of the latest improvements in satellite data providing precise measurements of land surface elevation, the McGill researchers related the slopes found around lakes with thousands of existing lake-depth records. (Lakes in hilly surroundings did tend to be deeper). They then used computer models to extend those calculations to all unmeasured lakes on Earth. Based on this, they calculated the volume of water stored in more than 1.4 million lakes that are larger than 10 hectares, or roughly 14 soccer fields. The grand total: more than 180,000 cubic kilometres.

Beneath the surface

The researchers also estimated how long water typically “resides” in each of the lakes the amount of time from the moment it enters a lake until it flows out. On average for all lakes, the residence time worked out to about five years. But there are many with much shorter times; and, at the other extreme, more than 3,000 lakes have residence times estimated at 100 years or more.

There are more than seven million kilometres of total lake shorelines on Earth, the researchers estimate. That’s about 10 times the distance to the moon and back. “When you think of all the processes that take place at the interface of lakes and their landscapes, from providing habitat for aquatic or amphibian species to contributions to greenhouse-gas emissions, it underscores the importance of lakes in the Earth’s ecosystems,” notes Mathis Messager, the study’s first author, who worked on the project as an undergraduate student in Lehner’s lab.

Source: sciencedaily.com

Major Global Groundwater Resources Could Be Depleted by 2050s

19.12.2016

In the decades to come, a new study indicates that humans might seriously deplete groundwater resources throughout much of the world, including parts of India, southern Europe, and the US. And when that happens, nearly 1.8 billion people will go thirsty due to excess pumping for industry and agriculture.

According to the study, aquifers in the US will be the first to go, with California’s Central Valley, Tulare Basin, and southern San Joaquin Valley depleted as early as the 2030s Those in the Upper Ganges Basin of India would be the next to go between 2040 and 2060, along with those in areas of Spain and Italy. And between the 2050s and 2070s, scientists say aquifers that supply groundwater to parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico could run dry.

The new research was presented by Inge de Graaf, a hydrologist from the Colorado School of Mines, at the 2016 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.

This isn’t the first time researchers have raised concerns about groundwater depletion – other studies have used satellite data to show that some of our largest aquifers are already nearly empty. However, this method was unable to track aquifers on a smaller, more regional scale.

The new study paints a more complex picture, using data on aquifer structure, water withdrawals, and interactions between groundwater and surrounding water to simulate groundwater depletion. It should be no surprise that the data indicates heavily irrigated regions in dry climates are the most at risk.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know exactly how much water is in these aquifers, which makes it hard to tell how long we have before they dry up. Hopefully we’ll develop the technology necessary in the coming years, so that people living in these areas don’t develop sudden, nasty surprises like the drying up of wells or rivers.

Source: inhabitat.com

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