Climate Snippets is taking a break for a while - but in the meantime the best place to get regular updates with a Kiwi flavor is through the Climate Defence Network's Climate News (done by my wife!)
www.climatedefence.org.nz/
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Climate Snippets - 19 December
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
Key likens climate goals to Rudd's.
New Zealand's new direction on climate-change policy will be as cautious as that revealed by Australia this week, Prime Minister John Key suggested yesterday.Mr Key was commenting in Parliament following the Australian Government's commitment on Monday to cut carbon emissions by as little as 5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020, and at a time when National's priority in Parliament this week is to undo the flagship policy of the previous Labour Government.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee capped off a series of moves to weaken or overturn Labour's climate change measures by issuing instructions to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to stop any ban on incandescent light bulbs. National has a long-term policy of reducing carbon emissions by 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050. But it has no medium-term target of the sort that will be negotiated at Copenhagen. In Parliament yesterday Mr Key confirmed, under questioning from Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, that the National Government would not actually suspend the present emissions-trading scheme as stated in its confidence and supply agreement with Act.
Gas and coal-fired electricity ban repealed.
The new Government has scrapped another Labour climate change measure - passing legislation this week that repeals restrictions on the building of new coal and gas-fired power plants. But Greens co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today labelled the move a retrograde step, which shuts off one of the easiest ways New Zealand could reduce its carbon emissions. The two-page Electricity (Renewable Preference) Repeal Bill passed its third reading by 63 votes to 58. It was opposed by Labour, the Greens, the Maori Party and the Progressives.
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the ETS put a price on pollution, providing adequate incentives for power companies to invest in renewable generation. But Ms Fitzsimons said New Zealand's per capita emissions were about five times the global average and electricity generation and urgent measures were needed to reduce them. Power generation contributed about 10 per cent of the country's emissions and was one of the easiest things to clean up because of the abundance of renewable options. She said officials had told the previous government a target of 90 per cent renewable energy could be reached - up from about 70 per cent at the moment - with "negligible cost".
Biofuel obligations repealed under urgency.
Mandatory biofuel obligations have been repealed after Parliament passed legislation under urgency on Wednesday afternoon. The legislation was passed by a slim majority of 62 to 59 because two of the Government's support partners - the Maori Party and United Future - opposed the move. The Biofuels Act, which came into force in October, required a proportion of petrol and diesel sold to be sourced from biofuel. Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the mandatory obligation would have loaded unspecified costs on consumers and meant the importation of biofuel with no guarantee that it had been sustainably produced. But the Green Party said there was a clause in the legislation that required biofuels to come from sustainable sources and sustainability standards could have been in place by the middle of next year.
Groser defends NZ climate treaty stance.
Climate negotiations minister Tim Groser has defended the Government's call for better treatment of agricultural emissions in the next global climate treaty. Last week he laid out New Zealand's position for the talks, saying he would be negotiating aggressively to achieve better rules governing agriculture, which contributes about half of the country's emissions. He said New Zealand had a small population which raised public transport issues; an already high proportion of renewable electricity generation meaning scope for gains was small and an already efficient agriculture sector. But the Government's stance has come under fire from non-government organisations which say seeking "favourable" treatment for agricultural emissions runs the risk of weakening the whole agreement and establishing New Zealand as an "international climate pariah".
Australia sets new climate target.
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced new measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These include cutting emissions by at least 5% by 2020 and a carbon trading scheme to be implemented by 2010. But the proposals were immediately denounced by critics as inadequate, with the Green Party calling them a "global embarrassment". The new measures announced by Mr Rudd will see:
- Greenhouse gas emissions cut by between between 5% and 15% by 2020, from 2000 levels
- A scheme to be implemented by 2010 requiring industrial polluters to bid for government licences to emit carbon. It will cover 75% of emissions and include 1,000 of the country's biggest firms, but will initially exclude Australia's drought-battered farmers.
Scientists say they now have unambiguous evidence that the warming in the Arctic is accelerating.
Climate change: 2008 is world's 10th hottest year.
No new coal - the calling card of the 'green Banksy' who breached fortress Kingsnorth.
166 MW solar power plant will be China’s largest.
EARTH MEANDERS: Light REDD: The looming tragedy of carbon markets paying to destroy ancient forests.
Global climate deal? Yes we can, Gore says.
Jonathon Porritt: Press the panic button.
Bill McKibben: The most important number on Earth.
Monbiot: At last, a date.
Gareth Hughes: A Green New Deal for Aotearoa.
Best of the Net
Blog: John Key’s uncertainty principle.
Blog: Putting the ETS “on hold”?
Video: Jeanette gives her opinion of Rodney's Climate Change Denial Select Committee.
Video: George Monbiot meets ... Fatih Birol.
Video: Head in the sand on climate change.
New Project backed by Kiwi sport celebrities.
Interactive carbon atlas.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Climate Snippets - 10 December
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
Poznan progress slow but steady, say officials.
A senior diplomat has defended the lack of progress at UN climate talks in Poland, and insisted that real action in finding a successor to the Kyoto protocol is not required until next year. Insiders say the Poznan negotiations are edging towards the low-level achievements expected from the two-week meeting. A formal work-programme has been agreed to take the talks forward in 2009, which the UN hopes will climax with a new worldwide treaty to curb carbon emissions agreed at the meeting in Copenhagen. Debate remains over how to liberate millions of pounds collected from a levy on the sale of carbon credits, which is intended to help poor nations adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Green campaigners criticised the slow progress. Oxfam said a refusal by rich countries to discuss deeper emission cuts was a "wasted opportunity". Greenpeace said delegates had "taken a year to agree what they already agreed at [2007 talks in] Bali".
- Barry Coates: Breaking promises, shifting blame in the climate game.
- Fran O'Sullivan: Groser may find his hands tied.
- Europe pledges strict emissions cut to tempt China and India into climate deal.
- UN official: Relocating island populations no answer.
- Samoa calls on developed countries to take lead on climate change
New Zealand needs to build a broader consensus about how to make progress on climate change issues, Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said today in releasing the terms of reference for the select committee to review the Emissions Trading Scheme and related matters. Dr Smith confirmed that the special select committee was being set up to honour the terms of the confidence and supply agreement between National and ACT. "The new government takes a more modest view of New Zealand's role in the global efforts to tackle climate change. "It is appropriate to have a fresh look at our policy response and the Emissions Trading Scheme given the poor track record on emissions, the changed economic environment, and the rushed way the legislation was passed. "The choice of Peter Dunne in the chair is a quite deliberate step to build a broader consensus across the parliament. Mr Dunne had previously taken steps to take such an initiative but these were rebuffed by the previous government.
Members:
- National - Craig Foss, Nicky Wagner, Paul Hitchison, Hekia Parata (4)
- Labour - David Parker, Moana Mackey, Charles Chauvel (3)
- ACT - Rodney Hide (1)
- Greens - Jeanette Fitzsimons (1)
- United Future - Peter Dunne (1)
- Maori Party - yet to be named (1)
EU leaders agreed yesterday to combat climate change by ordering that a fifth of Europe's energy mix should come from renewable sources within 12 years.
The agreement, hailed as a "landmark" deal and a breakthrough by politicians and the green lobby alike, came before a crucial EU summit opening in Poland tomorrow at which 27 prime ministers and presidents are supposed to finalise an ambitious package to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.
The agreement reached yesterday paves the way for a law obliging all EU countries to meet national targets for renewable energy. Two points had threatened to derail the legislation: the insistence that biofuels comprise 10% of transport fuel by 2020, and an attempt by Italy to loosen the law by ordering a review of progress on renewables in 2014. The review date was retained, but the compulsory target and national quotas also survived.
In Brief
Green Party Address in Reply 2008 – Fitzsimons ‘Saving the banks while the biosphere collapses.’
Ecoflation, a new worry, could hit consumer goods.
Millions of birds could die from oilsands development: report.
Greenpeace: Don't flush our climate down the John.
Protesters break into secure area at UK airport.
Monbiot: A beardful of bunkum.
Best of the Net
Video: Greens show support for Emission Trading Scheme.
Video: Birds and Canada's tar sands: Why America's number 1 source of oil is removing millions of birds.
Video: Monbiot confronts UN.
Action Alert: climate talks falter as Italy and Poland play politics with global climate's future.
Friday, 5 December 2008
Climate Snippets - 6 December - Global Day of Action on Climate Change Special
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
Poznan climate talks begin.
About 10,600 delegates from 186 governments, businesses and environmental groups will meet in Poznan for two weeks of talks. The meeting marks the halfway point of a two-year push to agree a new climate treaty in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012 Much of the debate is about trying to agree on an overall emissions cut by developed nations of 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020, though the final target is not likely to be set until the Copenhagen meeting.
Head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, said meeting the climate change targets at the same time as the world was grappling with recession would be a challenge. Mr de Boer praised President-elect Barack Obama for saying that he would seek to cut United States emissions of greenhouse gases back to 1990 levels by 2020 as part of global action to avert more heatwaves, floods, droughts, more powerful storms and rising seas. US emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants and cars, are about 14 percent above.
In Europe, economic slowdown has exposed doubts about the costs of an EU goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. UN talks host Poland, which gets 93 percent of its electricity from coal, and Italy are leading a drive for concessions in a package meant to be agreed at a December 11-12 summit of EU leaders in Brussels. The talks in Poland will review new ideas for combating global warming, such as handing credits to tropical nations for preserving forests. China is also suggesting that developed nations should give up to 1 percent of their gross national product in aid to help the poor switch from fossil fuels.
NZ Farmer plea at climate talks - Greens say PM risks undermining exports.
Prime Minister John Key has confirmed New Zealand will seek special treatment for its farmers at climate change talks this month, bringing claims from the Greens that the stance could damage agriculture exports. Mr Key said negotiators in Poznan, Poland, would argue aggressively for any targets on greenhouse gas emissions for New Zealand to take account of the significant contribution farming played in the economy. The industry accounts for half of New Zealand's carbon emissions. But Greens co-leader Russel Norman said the stance would undermine international efforts to reduce emissions and could threaten farm exports as other countries focused on high-emitting industries. "If they want credibility in any of these negotiations, they've got to be seen to be taking action domestically," Dr Norman said. "Undermining the ETS undermines that credibility. If we're asking for anything around agriculture, then we need to be seen to be doing stuff domestically. "The problem is that everyone's got a reason for special treatment, and if everyone gets special treatment, then we don't reduce emissions."
Financial crisis no excuse to slow carbon fight: UN climate chief.
The world financial crisis must not become an excuse for backsliding on efforts to curb global carbon emissions, a top UN environmental official warned Thursday. While acknowledging the severity of the financial turmoil, Yvo de Boer, said: "To use the financial crisis as an excuse not to act on climate change would basically amount to setting yourself up for the next financial crisis. For example, within the next five to 10 years we will be replacing about 40 percent of the power-generating capacity worldwide. If, in the light of the financial crisis, a decision is made to go for cheap and dirty technology, as in the past, that technology will still be around in 30 to 50 years," he said. "The challenge for industry is how it can be part of the solution and not part of the problem," he later told reporters.
'World mandate' on climate action.
An opinion poll in 11 countries has produced what organisers term a "global mandate" for action on climate change. About half of the respondents wanted governments to play a major role in curbing emissions, but only a quarter said their leaders were doing enough. In developing countries, a majority of people were prepared to make "lifestyle changes" to reduce climate change. The survey was commissioned by the HSBC Climate Partnership, which includes business and environmental groups. The survey revealed that 43% of people questioned put climate change ahead of the world's financial instability as an issue of current concern, even though the surveys ran in the turbulent months of September and October. However, the numbers saying they would alter their lifestyles to reduce climate change had fallen in the year between the previous survey, in 2007, and this one.
Nielson, Taylor & Clark: Govt should go with emissions trading scheme.
The new Government's decision to put the emissions trading scheme on hold
pending a review came as a bolt from the blue. Stakeholders had been led to expect that there would be some changes to the ETS but the proposal to pass legislation putting it on hold was completely unexpected. The decision has thrown the emerging carbon market into disarray. It has undermined the recent launch of the New Zealand Stock Exchange's carbon trading platform, TZ1. EcoSecurities, one of the largest promoters of emission reduction projects in the world, pulled out from the launch of its New Zealand business. It has brought into doubt the forest sector's investment in large-scale carbon sequestration [storing carbon in forests]. According to one report it led an Asian investor to cancel a 25,000ha afforestation project. There are other indications that investment in new plantings has evaporated.
Dim view of light bulb decision.
The Greens are unhappy with National's decision to overturn the previous government's ban on incandescent light bulbs. Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee has reportedly instructed the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority to prepare the paperwork to reverse the ban. The legislation would have seen incandescent bulbs switched off in October next year. Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says it's par for the course for National which has opposed every energy efficiency proposal she can think of in recent years. She says National has set a climate change target of a 50% reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050 but does not seem to have the slightest idea of how it will get there.
In Brief
Brazil sets plan to cut deforestation by 70 percent over 10 years.
EU agrees to cut car emissions.
Solar cemetery.
Vatican set to go green with huge solar panel roof.
Major Study: Palm oil offers no green solution.
India's humble rickshaw goes solar.
Climate change keeps swans in Siberia.
Jeanette Fitzsimons: NZ red faced over climate change’.
Rod Oram: Can John Key find his compass?
Heinberg: The Food and farming transition.
Monbiot: Whistling in the wind.
Best of the Net
Blog: Don Elder waxed poetic about the prospects for NZ coal this week at Solid Energy’s maiden annual meeting in Auckland.
Blog: Greenpeace climate rescue weblog.
Blog: National rejects expert advice?
Send a Greenpeace e-postcard to Poznan
Don’t be a Rodney – write a letter to key.
UK E.on coal company Google-bombed.
CBC Video: Canada looks to Germany
Video: The Big Ask.
Audio: Norman: Climate science review 'embarrassing'.
Greenpeace has turned it's front webpage into a giant countdown clock leading to Copenhagen to highlight how little time we have left to cut a real deal on climate change.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Climate Snippets - 26 November
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
UK’s new air-departure tax.
Prime Minister John Key's first meeting with Gordon Brown has been overshadowed by Britain's controversial new that the travel industry says threatens the billion-dollar UK tourist market. Mr Key told Mr Brown that the tax was of "significant concern" to New Zealand and said he will continue to pursue the matter with the British government. The tax will increase the further a passenger flies to help offset carbon emissions. Travel to New Zealand attracts the highest of four levels of the tax because of its distance from the UK. The British government also plans to incrementally increase the tax from $113 to $240 by November 2010.
Adoption of climate treaty by 2009 in doubt.
Despite new leadership in the United States promising to cap the country's greenhouse gas emissions, some environmental leaders say it is unlikely that an international climate treaty will pass in the next year. During his campaign, U.S. president-elect Barack Obama supported a global cap-and-trade agreement for regulating his nation's carbon emissions. As a result, many international observers are hoping the United States will agree to binding emissions-reduction targets at the high-profile climate change negotiations scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Such optimism may be unrealistic, however….Read more.
UK 'undermining' climate fight by keeping carbon permit cash.
The UK government was under fire this week for "undermining" the European Union's fight against climate change by auctioning off carbon allowances for the first time and not earmarking the cash for "green" projects. Around four million permits are being distributed today under a new phase of the European Union's (EU) emissions trading scheme (ETS) with expected receipts of up to £60m going to the Treasury for general spending purposes. "The policy of the UK government on this issue undermines the very purpose of the EU ETS... Auctioning undermines this flexible mechanism as it takes money away from those who can do something about climate change, the emitters, and it gives it to those who can't, the politicians," said James Emanuel at emissions trading broker, CantorCO2e. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said ministers should change their mind and use the cash specifically for projects such as improving energy efficiency of homes, investing in low-carbon technologies and helping poorer countries cope with climate change.
Canada wants North America cap-and-trade system
Canada's Conservative government, shifting positions in the wake of Barack Obama's election as U.S. president, said on Wednesday that it would work to develop a North America-wide cap-and-trade system to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The Conservatives, who walked away from the Kyoto protocol on climate change after taking power in 2006, have until now focused on cutting the intensity of emissions rather than imposing outright curbs.
"We will work with the provincial governments and our partners to develop and implement a North America-wide cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases," the government said as it unveiled plans for the new session of Parliament. Obama favors much tougher greenhouse gas reduction targets than those set by the Conservatives, and says he will start a cap-and-trade system. Green groups said the Conservatives' new positioning is largely academic as Canada would likely go along with whatever approach the new U.S. administration takes because the U.S. economy is around 10 times the size of Canada's. "I think we will be forced into a North American-wide cap-and-trade system that will basically be dictated by Washington.... It's the only system that can work. We've got an integrated economy," said Stephen Hazell, executive director of Sierra Club Canada.
In Brief
NZ now a joke in Europe, says carbon trader.
NZ Foresters 'losing millions' in carbon credits.
Protesters 'tried to chuck a big cream pie in my face' – Solid Energy CEO
Colin James: Key's task harder than recession.
APEC leaders urges to address climate change.
Politicians persuaded to save Canada boreal forest.
Video game consoles in the U.S. consume more than $1 billion of electricity a year just when sitting idle.
In its 10th Guide to Green Electronics, Greenpeace deems Nokia the greenest company.
Monbiot: The planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us.
Best of the Net
Real Climate FAQ on climate models.
Video: Coal – it’s like paying someone to be a prick.
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Climate Snippets - 20 November
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
ETS review comes under fire.
Environmental groups have criticised the incoming National government's decision to put the emissions trading scheme (ETS) on hold while it conducts a complete review. The review is part of ACT's support agreement with National. It will be conducted by a special select committee and its draft terms include reviewing the science stating humans are to blame for climate change. ACT campaigned on scrapping the ETS and has questioned whether human-induced climate change actually exists. National campaigned on watering down the existing legislation within nine months and prime minister-elect John Key this week said he was still confident an amended ETS could be passed into law before the end of next year.
Comments:
- National/ACT agreement economic self-sabotage.
- Federated Farmers - Farmers hope new government will listen to concerns over ETS.
- Brian Fallow: Modified emissions trading scheme looking likely.
- Parker critical of delay in emissions scheme.
- Key reviews carbon tax as NZ gets 'dirty' rating.
The National government could raise billions of dollars by putting three state-owned power companies back together and partly privatising the result, according to energy sector sources. John Key's new government is also expected to "soften" the impact of the planned emissions trading scheme, with some in the power industry calling for a delay of a year or more and a cap on carbon prices. Labour's 10-year ban on new gas or coal-fired power stations is likely to be lifted and if National keeps its word, the Resource Management Act will be reformed, which should cut the power sector planning consent process from up to five years to two years, speeding up the construction of new power plants.
Energy agency warns of supply crunch.
The International Energy Agency on Wednesday predicted world energy demand will rise 1.6 percent per year on average between 2006 and 2030 and called for massive investment in energy infrastructure to prevent a supply squeeze. The IEA's base scenario for energy demand has fallen due to the global economic slowdown and higher oil prices, but the agency stressed that a delay in spending on new projects due to the credit crisis could lead to a "supply crunch that could choke economic recovery." The IEA expects demand for oil to rise from 85 million barrels per day currently to 106 million barrels per day in 2030 — 10 million barrels per day less than projected last year. China and India continue to be the main drivers, accounting for more than half of incremental energy demand to 2030, but the Middle East, a longtime supplier, also emerges as a major new demand center.
The agency said that these trends call for energy supply investment of $26.3 trillion to 2030, or more than $1 trillion a year, but it noted that tight credit conditions could delay spending. Over 2008 to 2015, it predicts the price to average $100. The report also highlighted the expected rapid growth of renewable energy resources. It predicts that world renewables-based electricity generation — mostly hydro and wind power — will overtake gas to become the second-largest source of electricity, behind coal, before 2015.
The rate of warming is 'unprecedented'
Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilisation 5 000 years ago, according to studies published on Thursday. Researchers from Cornell University studied the increased introduction of fresh water from glacial melt, oceanic circulation, and the change in geographic range migration of oceanic plant and animal species. "The rate of warming we are seeing (now) is unprecedented in human history," said Greene, whose research appears in the November 2008 issue of the journal Ecology.
Europeans form renewable energy agency.
A consortium of European governments is developing the world's first International Renewable Energy Agency. The agency, known as IRENA, will serve as a global cheerleader for clean energy. It plans to offer technical, financial, and policy advice for governments worldwide, according to a joint announcement from Germany, Spain, and Denmark - the project's leaders.
"IRENA aims to become the main driving force in promoting a swift transition towards the extensive and sustainable use of renewable energy worldwide," said Hermann Scheer, general chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy and a champion for the agency since 1990, in a prepared statement. "There exist international agencies for fossil and nuclear energies, but none for renewables. IRENA will close this gap." Scheer, a Social Democratic member of the German Parliament, led his government to commit to IRENA's creation in 2006 - arguing that it was a necessary balance to the International Atomic Energy Agency created in the 1950s.
At a conference in Madrid last month, IRENA's 51 participating nations agreed that the agency's first projects would be presented in January, at the formal launch of IRENA. In the meantime, details such as the organization's headquarters, leadership, and funding still need to be finalized. The involved nations currently include nearly all of Europe as well as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. In the past year, global renewable energy sources have increased dramatically. More than 250 gigawatts of capacity, excluding large hydropower, exists globally. Clean energy investments surpassed $148 billion in 2007, a 60 percent increase from 2006, according to the U.N. Environment Programme.
In Brief
NZ does badly in greenhouse gas survey.
Paradise almost lost: Maldives seek to buy a new homeland.
Australian Coal Association unveils advertising campaign.
Bicycle production was up 3.2 percent in 2007 to 130 million units, a continuation of the upward trend that has characterized production for most of this decade.
UNFCCC: emissions from industrialised world still high.
Pacific and EU forge climate change agreement.
Coming up: 350 Climate Action Festival in Wellington.
Best of the Net
Greenpeace asks you to film a climate response to John Key on Youtube.
Video: Coalfinger
Video: Obama’s climate message to governors.
Blog: ACT wagging the tail on climate change?
The Emissions Trading Scheme hits the backburner.
Blog: Next year forty 40 families from Carteret Island, dubbed the ‘world’s first climate change refugees’ by the United Nations, will relocate to the nearby Papau New Guinean island Bougainville.
Blog: Ride sharing – Fareshare.
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Climate Snippets - 19 September
Climate change news from Aotearoa and around the World.
To subscribe to regular Climate Snippet emails, contact climatechange@greens.org.nz with subscribe in subject line
Kaukapakapa a test for National.
Hearings starting next week for a proposed new gas-fired power station in National Leader John Key’s electorate of Helensville are a major test for Mr Key and his party on climate change issues, Greens Co-Leader Russel Norman says. “Genesis Energy’s plan to build a 480 megawatt station at Kaukapakapa amounts to empire building by the company because it doesn’t make economic or environmental sense,” Dr Norman says. John Key either needs to change National’s policy so it makes more sense or tell residents he is 100 percent for Think Big at Kaukapakapa.”
Green crude oil world first, says company.
A New Zealand company says it has produced the first samples of green crude oil at a commercially competitive price. The biodiesel, made from wild algae grown on human sewage, was a world first, Marlborough-based company Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation said. Aquaflow launched a $5 million capital raising for further research and development of its wild algae-based fuel in January last year. The company refined the processes it had developed to create a next-generation fuel it calls "green crude", The Marlborough Express reported. Company director Barrie Leay said green crude was a manufactured form of crude oil different from earlier generations of biodiesel. Additional food crops or agricultural land were not needed and the end product was not just a fuel but could be used in products in the same way as crude oil can. "This is an exciting development because we can separate fuels such as diesel and aviation fuels, as well as a range of high-value chemicals, from green-crude," Mr Leay said.
Beat the retreat.
New Zealand’s glaciers lost 2.5 km3 (2.2 billion tonnes) of permanent ice from April 2007 to March 2008, leaving 44.9 km3 of ice in the Southern Alps - the lowest amount since NIWA began regular surveys 32 years ago. The picture (credit: “Mr Ice” Trevor Chinn, click for larger image) shows the Marion Glacier in the Arawata Valley in South Westland which has recently retreated above its proglacial lake. The annual survey uses a fixed wing aircraft to record the height of the snowline at the end of summer (and Trevor gets to take the pix). Jim Salinger, NIWA’s principal scientist, says that the survey shows that the glaciers had lost a lot more ice than they had gained over the preceding winter.
Roll back time to safeguard climate, expert warns.
Professor John Schellnhuber, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, told the Guardian that only a return to pre-industrial levels of CO2 would be enough to guarantee a safe future for the planet. He said that current political targets to slow the growth in emissions and stabilise carbon levels were insufficient, and that ways may have to be found to actively remove CO2 from the air. Schellnhuber said: "We have to start pondering that it might not be enough to stabilise carbon levels. We should not rule out that it might be necessary to bring them down again."
Old growth forests are valuable carbon sinks.
Contrary to 40 years of conventional wisdom, a new analysis published in the journal Nature suggests that old growth forests are usually "carbon sinks" - they continue to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and mitigate climate change for centuries. However, these old growth forests around the world are not protected by international treaties and have been considered of no significance in the national "carbon budgets" as outlined in the Kyoto Protocol. That perspective was largely based on findings of a single study from the late 1960s which had become accepted theory, and scientists now say it needs to be changed.
Kevin Rudd's $100m clean coal plan.
Kevin Rudd has summoned mining and industry chief executives, environmentalists and union leaders to Canberra this week to unveil a $100 million clean coal research institute aimed at making Australia the world hub for the climate-change-fighting technology. The launch is the start of a major diplomatic effort to win international support and funding for the plan, aimed at realising the goal set by the G8 at its recent meeting in Hokkaido of having 20 carbon-sequestering coal-fired power plants up and running by 2020. The Australian understands the Prime Minister will make the project the centrepiece of his efforts next week when he attends the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
NASA Undertakes peak oil impact study.
The burning of fossil fuels - notably coal, oil and gas - has accounted for about 80 percent of the rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide since the pre-industrial era. Now, NASA researchers have identified feasible emission scenarios that could keep carbon dioxide below levels that some scientists have called dangerous for climate. When and how global oil production will peak has been debated, making it difficult to anticipate emissions from the burning of fuel and to precisely estimate its impact on climate. To better understand how emissions might change in the future, Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York considered a wide range of fossil fuel consumption scenarios. The research, published Aug. 5 in the American Geophysical Union's Global Biogeochemical Cycles, shows that the rise in carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels can be kept below harmful levels as long as emissions from coal are phased out globally within the next few decades. "This is the first paper in the scientific literature that explicitly melds the two vital issues of global peak oil production and human-induced climate change," Kharecha said. "We're illustrating the types of action needed to get to target carbon dioxide levels."
In Brief
Poll reveals support for ETS but wide knowledge gap.
The National Party has been forced to reveal they are being funded by the roading lobby as a result of the ‘rolling disclosure’ provisions the Greens insisted were placed in the Electoral Finance Act.
Bunny McDiarmid: Creating a serious climate for change.
Owen Hembry: Farms fenced by climate change law.
Ozone hole bigger this year than last.
New cow diet reduces methane emissions.
Compost could meet 10% of UK transport fuel needs.
Plants are unlikely to soak up more carbon dioxide from the air as the planet warms, research suggests.
Leaked papers show Britain trying to weaken plan for EU carbon cuts.
Correction: In last weeks Snippets I quoted the National Business Review which incorrectly stated the National party supported the Public Transport Management Bill, they didn’t.
Best of the Net
Video: MTV ad attacks 'greenwash' firms.
Video: Airsick: Industrial devolution.
Video: Crazy Hummer ad.
Petition: North shore cycling.
Greenpeace releases guide to greener electronics.
Video: Shane Meadows' ad for Defra to encourage people to switch off electrical appliances.
Video: Ice expert, Dr Richard B Alley, giving a (ahem) creditable rendering of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary, with a message about coal and climate.
Video: We's new ad on U.S. coal and oil lobby.
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