Amerikanen rijden minder kilometers

"High gasoline prices not only slowed fuel demand growth and cut sales of gas-guzzling vehicles in 2005, they also prompted Americans to drive less for the first time in 25 years, a consulting group said in a report Thursday.

The drop in driving was small -- the average American drove 13,657 miles per year in 2005, down from 13,711 miles in 2004 -- but it is more evidence that the market works and prices help control consumption, Boston-based Cambridge Energy Research Associates said.

"Price matters," CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin said.""

bron: www.reuters.com

Koloniseren van andere planeten noodzakelijk

"Humans must colonize planets in other solar systems traveling there using "Star Trek"-style propulsion or face extinction, renowned British cosmologist Stephen Hawking said on Thursday.

Referring to complex theories and the speed of light, Hawking, the wheel-chair bound Cambridge University physicist, told BBC radio that theoretical advances could revolutionize the velocity of space travel and make such colonies possible.

"Sooner or later disasters such as an asteroid collision or a nuclear war could wipe us all out," said Professor Hawking, who was crippled by a muscle disease at the age of 21 and who speaks through a computerized voice synthesizer.

"But once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe," said Hawking, who was due to receive the world's oldest award for scientific achievement, the Copley medal, from Britain's Royal Society on Thursday.

Previous winners include Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin.

In order to survive, humanity would have to venture off to other hospitable planets orbiting another star, but conventional chemical fuel rockets that took man to the moon on the Apollo mission would take 50,000 years to travel there, he said."

Misschien is dit wel de oplossing voor het klimaatprobleem. Andere planeten koloniseren....

Bron: www.reuters.com

"Pure" een goed doel tegen CO2

"Britain’s first charity dedicated to combating climate change was launched yesterday with the aim of reducing carbon emissions by a million tonnes a year — the equivalent of a medium-sized power station in Britain.

The charity, Pure, will offset carbon dioxide emissions by buying the regulated carbon credits allocated to industry with funds given by the public. It then cancels the credits by taking them off the market so that the total of emissions that can be traded is reduced.

The scheme is also open to organisations and businesses that can calculate their carbon footprint online and make gifts to reduce it."

Ik weet niet of het nu heel veel anders is dan bijvoorbeeld www.klimaatneutraal.nl maar om het compenseren van je CO2 als een goed doel neer te zetten is wel een andere benadering. Ik zie het zelf niet als een goed doel waar je af en toe wat duiten naar toe strooit maar als een morele plicht of anders gezegd een levenswijze om je co2 te compenseren.

Bron: www.timesonline.co.uk

Mijn auto rijdt op poep

"A Canadian company is creating an alternative green fuel from a new source of energy that was under our noses all along - human sewage.

Scientists at biofuel group Dynamotive say the oil produced from human waste can be used instead of fossil fuels to generate heat and power in diesel engines and boilers. They have successfully carried out the transformation on a pilot scale and are looking at ways to scale up the process to commercial quantities.

Andrew Kingston, president and chief executive officer of Dynamotive, said: "There are no process issues at this point to stop us using human sewage sludge. If we can supply the oil then people will use it."

bron: www.theguardian.co.uk

Xerox papier wist zichzelf uit

"Xerox scientists have invented an "erasable paper" -- a way to make prints whose images last only a day, so that the paper can be used again and again.

The technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use.

The experimental printing technology, a collaboration between the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Inc.), could someday replace printed pages that are used for just a brief time before being discarded. Xerox estimates that as many as two out of every five pages printed in the office are for what it calls "daily" use, like e-mails, Web pages and reference materials that have been printed for a single viewing."

Nu nog "erasable diapers".

Bron: www.greenbiz.com

Niveau Broeikasgas Methaan Stabiliseert

" U.S. study suggests levels of atmospheric methane have been nearly flat for seven years, following a rise that spanned at least two decades.

University of California-Irvine researchers say their finding indicates methane might no longer be as large a global warming threat as previously thought.

Professors F. Sherwood Rowland and Donald Blake, along with researchers Isobel Simpson and Simone Meinardi, believe one reason for the slowdown in methane concentration growth might be leak-preventing repairs made to oil and gas lines and storage facilities. Other reasons may include a slower growth or decrease in methane emissions from coal mining and natural gas production.

"If one really tightens emissions, the amount of methane in the atmosphere 10 years from now could be less than it is today," said Rowland, co-recipient of a 1995 Nobel Prize for discovering that chlorofluorocarbons in products such as aerosol sprays and coolants were damaging the Earth's ozone layer. "We will gain some ground on global warming if methane is not as large a contributor in the future as it has been in the past century."

The methane research appeared in the Nov. 23 online edition of Geophysical Research Letters."

Bron: www.climateark.org

Minder CO2 per biertje?

"De brouwerijen van InBev hebben in 2005 wereldwijd 2,66 miljoen ton CO2 uitgestoten, wat meer is dan de 2,63 miljoen ton in 2003 en de 2,42 miljoen ton in 2004. Per hectoliter (100 liter) geproduceerde drank (bier of soft drinks) was er evenwel een daling van 16,84 kg CO2 in 2003 tot 14,53 kg in 2004 en 14,47 kg in 2005. Dat blijkt uit het jaarverslag 2006 dat de brouwerij zopas uitbracht over haar milieuprestaties."

Bron: energie-klimaat.blogspot.com

Meer rechtszaken door klimaatverandering

" 2007 U.N. report with stronger evidence that humans are causing global warming is likely to spur more lawsuits around the world such as a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, a legal expert said.

Lawsuits from Australia to California are already testing how far courts agree with most scientists’ view that human activities — led by burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and vehicles — are warming the planet.

“We’re going to get more and more of these cases,” Peter Roderick said, director of the Climate Justice Program, which is linked to environmental group Friends of the Earth,"

bron; www.msnbc.com

De energie-toekomst ligt in de woestijn

"Two German scientists, Dr Gerhard Knies and Dr Franz Trieb, calculate that covering just 0.5% of the world's hot deserts with a technology called concentrated solar power (CSP) would provide the world's entire electricity needs, with the technology also providing desalinated water to desert regions as a valuable byproduct, as well as air conditioning for nearby cities.

The desert land is plentiful and cheap but, more importantly, there is roughly three times as much sunlight in hot deserts as in northern Europe. This is why the reports recommend a collaboration between countries of Europe, the Middle East and Africa to construct a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) grid for the sharing of carbon-free energy. Alternating current cables, which now form the main electricity grids in Europe, are not suitable for long distance transport of electricity because too much is lost on the way. Dr Trieb, of the German Air and Space Agency, says the advantage of DC cables is that the loss in transport is only about 3% per 1,000 kilometres, meaning losses between North Africa and Britain of about 10%."



Bron: www.theguardian.co.uk een een voorbeeld van een csp project hier.

Grote bedrijven EU willen ‘stimulans’ milieubeleid

"De leiders van 25 grote ondernemingen hebben maandag een brief gestuurd naar de voorzitter van de Europese Commissie, Jose Manuel Barroso. In de brief roepen ze op om investeringen in milieu te stimuleren in ‘een helder beleidskader dat voor de lange termijn waarde creëert voor emissieverminderingen.’ Onder de schrijvers zijn onder meer bedrijven als Shell en Air-France KLM. Zij willen in gesprek met de Europese Commissie."

Bron: www.volkskrant.nl

Groene Levi's Spijkerbroek

"They're not the first "green jeans" to go on the market, but Levi's says its new eco jeans are the first fully sustainable denims from a major brand.
The trousers, which go on sale tomorrow in 20 Levi's stores across the UK, are made with completely organic materials on a production line that uses sustainable production processes.

The jeans are made with 100% organic cotton denim, have a coconut shell button on the waistband and non-galvanised metal fly buttons. The indigo finish has been produced from potato starch, mimosa flower and Marseille soap. They are produced in a dedicated area of the Levi's factory in Hungary, on machinery that has been specially cleaned to comply with the certification process."

Bron: www.guardian.co.uk

Hoge Raad VS spreekt zich uit over CO2

"The Supreme Court is set to enter the debate on global warming for the first time next week when 12 states and several environmental groups argue that the Bush administration should regulate the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from new motor vehicles.

The states are challenging a 2003 Environmental Protection Agency finding that, under the Clean Air Act, the agency does not have the authority for such regulation.

Government lawyers argue on behalf of the EPA that even if the administration had the authority to regulate, it would decline to do so at this time. They note the administration's policy aimed at global climate change in general does not include setting emissions standards for new cars.

In the briefs the lawyers write, "As ongoing scientific studies provide additional information about the problem and potential solutions, the United States stands ready to take further measures and to work with the rest of the world to address the phenomenon of climate change."

The 12 states believe that the effects of climate change caused by global warming will wreak havoc on coastal properties and increase emergency response costs due to sudden storms and floods."

Bron: www.abcnews.com

EU wil 20% energie besparen in 2020

"De EU-landen streven naar 20 procent energiebesparing in 2020. De besparing kan 100 miljard euro opleveren. Ministers van Energie van de 25 EU-landen hebben dat donderdag in Brussel vastgesteld, op voorstel van de Europese Commissie.

Doel is dat apparaten energiezuiniger worden, gebouwen beter geïsoleerd en elektriciteitscentrales efficiënter. Brussel riep burgers al op om meer spaarlampen te plaatsen. Burgers moeten apparaten niet op standby zetten, maar gewoon uitdoen: dat kan enorm veel stroom en geld schelen, betoogde de Europese Commissie.

Bijkomend voordeel van de besparing is dat de uitstoot van broeikasgas CO2 drastisch afneemt, zo is de gedachte. Tegelijk wordt de EU minder afhankelijk van energieleveranciers als Rusland en Iran."

Bron: www.new-energy.tv

Biodiesel tanken bij Total Belgie

"Belgische automobilisten kunnen sinds donderdag in de tankstations van Total biodiesel tanken. Dat zei algemeen directeur van Total Belgium, Miguel del Marmol, tijdens een persconferentie. Leverancier voor de biodiesel is Oleon, een van de vier producenten die van de overheid toestemming heeft gekregen om uit de landbouw afkomstige diesel te produceren. De eerste leveringen van zuivere biodiesel hebben vorige week plaatsgevonden.

De allereerste biodieseltankbeurt vond vandaag/donderdag plaats in het tankstation naast de autosnelweg in Nijvel, in aanwezigheid van minister van Middenstand en van Landbouw Sabine Laruelle en haar collega van Leefmilieu en Pensioenen, Bruno Tobback.
Total stelt dat het de komende weken stelselmatig in alle Belgische stations de klassieke diesel zal vervangen door biodiesel. Begin 2007 zouden dieselrijders in alle stations van Total meer milieuvriendelijke diesel moeten kunnen tanken."

Bron: http://energie-klimaat.blogspot.com

VK: Belasting voor Asobakken gaat omhoog

""Chelsea tractor" drivers and air travellers face substantial increases in tax as part of Gordon Brown's pre-budget report next month. According to a report in today's Financial Times, the chancellor is preparing to increase the top rate of vehicle excise duty for the most polluting cars, including four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Air travellers also face a rise in air passenger duty, a move which follows the Stern report on climate change, which called for urgent action on global warming.
At the moment, travellers pay duty of £5 for short-haul flights and up to £40 on long-haul journeys."

Bron: www.guardian.co.uk

Formule 1 een beetje groener

"It will take some doing for Formula One to trade in its gas-guzzling, cash-devouring image for something leaner, greener and altogether more planet-friendly.The sport's major players are working on it as a priority, however.

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the auto industry, with the threat of legislative action hanging over manufacturers. It would be wrong to assume that Formula One has only just woken up, however. Champions Renault's Enstone factory in central England is powered by renewable energy and rates as carbon neutral in CO2 emissions, while the FIA plants tens of thousands of trees every year in Mexico to balance the 'carbon footprint' left by the global traveling circus.

The FIA wants a new fuel efficiency engine for 2011 after the introduction in 2009 of a lightweight system harnessing wasted energy from the brakes to provide extra horsepower in short bursts.

By 2010 the body hopes to draw up a regulation for the recovery and re-use of waste heat from the engines. In the longer term there is likely to be a completely new and smaller turbo-charged engine, in line with industry trends, and possible use of bio-fuels."

Bron: www.reuters.com

Gezond Eco-Systeem is zakelijk belang

"A new publication warns that companies must transform business models and operations if they are to avoid major economic losses caused by the current degradation of ecosystems and the vital services they provide.

This research indicates that many companies recognize the risks associated with degrading ecosystems and are trying to adapt accordingly, but most fail to associate healthy ecosystems with their business interests. A collective business response is therefore needed to address the scale of environmental change currently taking place."

Bron: www.greenbiz.com

China's Groene Revolutie

" China is on a major drive to boost renewable energies and cut pollution - for sound financial and political reasons. Oil is too expensive and the government wants alternative energies to reduce China's dependence on it.

Local government officials in Dunhuang in Gansu province said they would build the world's biggest solar plant there, a 100-megawatt project costing £400m that will take five years to build. Dunhuang is sunny, with 3,362 hours of sunshine every year, making it a prime spot for solar energy development.

The world's biggest solar plant is at Arnstein, near Wuerzburg in southern Germany, with a 12-megawatt capacity. Beijing is also examining the potential of ethanol and biodiesel. China produced one billion litres of ethanol last year - a small proportion of global production (which hit 33 billion litres) but one that is growing."

Bron: www.independent.co.uk

Opnieuw: Nog 10 jaar om te veranderen

"The world has less than a decade to take decisive action in the battle to beat global warming or risk irreversible change that will tip the planet towards catastrophe, a leading U.S. climate scientist said on Tuesday. And the United States, the world' biggest polluter but major climate laggard, has a vital role to play in leading that fight, James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told Reuters on a visit to London.

"The biggest problem is that the United States is not taking an active leadership role -- quite the reverse," he said. "We have to be on a fundamentally different path within a decade,...We need to be at 25 percent less CO2 emissions by mid-century," Hansen said. "If we begin now it can be much less painful and have possible economic, health and developmental gains."

Bron: www.reuters.com

Kernfusie centrale in Frankrijk.

"De Europese Unie, India, Japan, Rusland, de Verenigde Staten, China en Zuid-Korea hebben in Parijs een akkoord getekend voor de bouw van de eerste kernfusiereactor.

Het project kost 10 miljard euro en de bouw begint in 2009. Kernfusie wordt gezien als de ideale energiebron voor de toekomst. Het is veilig en de grondstoffen zijn volop aanwezig."

"The aim is to promote the power of fusion, which reproduces the sun's power source, producing no greenhouse gas emissions and only low levels of radioactive waste."

Bron: www.bnr.nl & www.guardian.co.uk
Meer over kernfusie: www.wikipedia.org

Soorten uitgestorven door opwarming aarde

"Plant- en diersoorten beginnen sneller dan voorspeld uit te sterven of te veranderen als gevolg van de opwarming van de aarde. Dat blijkt uit een analyse van ruim achthonderd onderzoeken door een Texaanse biologe.

De analyse is dinsdag gepubliceerd in het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift Annual Review of Evolution and Systematics.

Zeker zeventig soorten kikkers, vooral soorten die in de bergen leven en gedijen bij kou, zijn uitgestorven omdat ze nergens heen konden om de warmere temperaturen te ontvluchten. Verder worden tussen de honderd en tweehonderd andere dieren die voor hun bestaan van koude afhankelijk zijn, zoals keizerspinguïns en ijsberen, ernstig bedreigd."

Bron: www.nu.nl & www.cnn.com

Warme Koffiebeker? Overstroomde Aarde!

"Each mug is covered with a map of the world. When you pour in a hot beverage, the mug shows what happens when the world heats up and the oceans begin to rise... Land mass disappears before your very eyes!"

Deze beker is echt te koop!!! ik bestel er snel een paar voor mijn energieverslindende vrienden.

Kijk hier: www.wackyplanet.com

Europanen geloven in menselijke hand klimaatverandering

"Europeans are overwhelmingly convinced that human activity is contributing to global warming, and a majority would be prepared to accept restrictions on their lifestyle to combat it, according to a poll for the Financial Times.

Research carried out this month by Harris Interactive in Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain found that 86 per cent of people believed humans were contributing to climate change, and 45 per cent thought it would be a threat to them and their families within their lifetimes.

More than two-thirds – 68 per cent – said they would either strongly or somewhat support restrictions on their behaviour and purchases in order to reduce the threat."

Bron: www.ft.com

Rotterdamse electriciteitscentrale slaat mogelijk CO2 op

" consortium of companies that plan to build a 840-megawatt gas-fired power plant at the Dutch port of Rotterdam said on Monday they were considering the introduction of a technology for carbon capture and storage.

ENECOGEN, a joint-venture between Dutch utility Eneco and British power generator International Power Plc, said it was studying the technology, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

Carbon capture and storage involves taking the heat-trapping gases that are a by-product of burning fossil fuels like coal and gas and burying them deep underground.

"If study results are positive, it is possible to add this technology to ENECOGEN at a later stage, first as a pilot and later on a full scale project," the company said in a statement."

Bron: www.reuters.com

De noordpool vecht terug

"The Arctic is warmer the past six years than at any time on record, with more green shrubs, less sea ice and rising temperatures in the frozen earth known as permafrost, scientists reported.

However, there are signs that some parts of the Arctic environment are returning to levels of lower temperatures seen in the mid-20th century, the researchers said."

""This is a region that is fighting back ... and consequently there are some things that show signs of going back to earlier climatological norms, what we saw from 1950 through 1980," said Jacqueline Richter-Menge of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire."

Raar bericht eigenlijk...de Noordpool is nog nooit zo warm geweest maar er zijn indictaoren die erop wijzen dat de Noordpool weer terugkeert naar 'normale' temperaturen.

Bron: www.reuters.com

Groen zijn is een Marketing Must.

"Fifty percent of marketing and PR management believe that an organization's green credentials are important to customers; and 84% predict this importance is likely to grow further over the next two years as the impact of environmental issues continues to bite, according to a new study.

Independent research commissioned by GreenPortfolio, the environmental relations division of Portfolio Communications, found being green cited as a key issue for staff, with 60% of respondents citing the importance of environmental credentials to employees.

Despite these findings, nearly three out of four (72%) companies have no green marketing plans in place and only one in three (33%) have senior management buy-in when it comes to going green, highlighting a pressing need for much more green marketing planning."

Waar blijven de Nederlandse bedrijven?

bron: www.greenbiz.com

Wereld eindigt in 3 generaties denken Canadezen

"INearly three-quarters of British Columbians (Canada) believe life as we know it will end in another two or three generations unless drastic and immediate action is taken to curb global warming, according to the results of an exclusive Vancouver Sun poll.

The poll comes as world leaders meet in Nairobi to discuss climate change and what can -- and should -- be done to stop it.

The poll -- conducted Nov. 10-16 by Ipsos Reid -- also found that most B.C. residents give themselves an above-average grade when it comes to assessing their personal environmental performance, but fewer than 10 per cent of respondents say they are doing all they can to help reduce their environmental impact."

Bron: www.canada.com

Oprah besteedt weer aandacht aan klimaatverandering

"It's been just over a year since Oprah Winfrey had Leonardo DiCaprio and Dr. Michael Oppenheimer on her show to discuss climate change. Apparently, Oprah and co. aren't finished with this important topic, as the "Be On the Show" section of Oprah.com lists two global warming-themed questions (" Are you worried about global warming?" and " Is your family worried about global warming?" ) on the "Upcoming Shows" roster. A reader need only click on the linked questions and fill out the form, and s/he could find her or himself on the way to Chicago as a guest of the Oprah Winfrey Show."

Als Oprah met dit onderwerp aan de haal gaat dan zal de VS wel omgaan.....

Bron: www.treehugger.com

Flets resultaat Klimaattop Nairobi

"Op de Klimaattop in Nairobi in Kenia hebben de 165 deelnemende landen afgesproken in 2008 het overleg over het Kyoto-protocol voort te zetten. Het Kyoto-verdrag over de vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen loopt in 2012 af.

De slotverklaring van de twee weken durende top wordt door staatssecretaris Van Geel gezien als een zwaktebod. De gehoopte principe-overeenkomst over de periode na 2012 kwam er niet.

Bij de vervolgafspraken op Kyoto moeten ook China en India zich verplichten om maatregelen te nemen om de opwarming van de aarde te beperken"

Bron: www.nos.nl & www.msnbc.com

Toeristen attractie: IJSberg voor de kust

"An iceberg has been spotted from the New Zealand shore for the first time in living memory, drawing tourists via helicopter and scientists who are trying to determine where it and several other giant chunks drifting in the country's waters originated from.

Last year, icebergs were seen in New Zealand water for the first time in 56 years, but couldn't be seen from the shore. This year one was visible from Dunedin on South Island on Thursday."

Bron: www.msnbc.com

Plant een miljard bomen

"A campaign to plant a billion trees in a single year was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2006. The Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign is intended to encourage people and organizations everywhere to take small but practical steps to reduce global warming, which many experts believe is the most important environmental challenge of the 21st century."

"The campaign encourages people and organizations around the world to enter pledges on a web site hosted by the UNEP. The campaign is open to everyone—concerned citizens, schools, community groups, nonprofit organizations, farmers, businesses, and local and national governments. A pledge can be anything from a single tree to 10 million trees"

Bron: www.about.com & www.unep.org

KLM wil schonere luchtvaart

"De Nederlandse luchtvaartsector is te milieuvervuilend. De branche moet meer maatregelen nemen om de uitstoot van de schadelijke stoffen te beperken. Als Schiphol en de luchtvaartmaatschappijen een afwachtende houding aannemen, lopen ze "forse economische risico's".

Die waarschuwing uitte Jan-Ernst de Groot, de hoogste staffunctionaris van KLM woensdag op een congres in Noordwijk. "Zonder verbeteringen is de luchtvaart in zijn huidige vorm niet vol te houden", zei De Groot."

Bron: www.nu.nl

JP + VVD = slecht voor het klimaat

Ik wil niet graag een spreekbuis zijn voor Greenpeace, maar met de komende verkiezingen in zicht wil ik iedereen toch even wijzen op wat het afgelopen kabinet gepresteerd heeft op het gebied van het Klimaatprobleem.

De afgelopen drie kabinetten Balkenende hebben:

zonne-energie in de ban gedaan
windenergie op zee onmogelijk gemaakt
álle ondersteuning voor schone energie stop gezet
belastingaftrek die bedrijven hadden voor energiebesparende maatregelen totaal onverwacht afgeschaft

Als je schone energie een heel belangrijke zaak vindt dan heeft Greenpeace een zogenaamde 'schone energie barometer' gemaakt waar je de standpunten van de diverse politieke partijen kan vergelijken.



Bron: www.greenpeace.nl en schone energie barometer

Boycot Page Toiletpapier en Kleenex Zakdoekjes

Kimberly-Clark het bedrijf achter Page, Huggies & Kleenex kapt oerbossen in Canada om papier te maken. Juist het kappen van bossen draagt bij aan het broeikasseffect. Dus mijn billen krijgen geen puppy papier meer (zowiezo heb ik het altijd al raar gevonden om mijn billen af te vegen met van die kleine zachte beestjes). Maar hier het verhaal achter het kappen van de bossen:

"Take Action now to save Canada's Boreal Forest. Many of the products of Kimberly-Clark contain fibre sourced from the ancient forests of Canada. Behind the cuddly and soft image of Kimberly-Clark's products lies a manufacturing behemoth. In 2005 alone, Kimberly-Clark used 3.1 million metric tonnes of virgin fibre to make its products, equivalent to 135,000 truckloads. 28 percent of virgin pulp used for its products in Europe and more than 20 percent globally was sourced from ancient forests in Canada including the threatened Boreal forest.

Such huge quantities of tree fibre aren't just a product of being a huge company; it's also due to the fact that Kimberly-Clark trails behind much of the industry in the use of recycled fibre. Unlike Cascades, North America's fourth largest tissue paper manufacturer, which uses 97 percent recycled material for its tissue products; Kimberly-Clark is well behind the pack with only 29 percent of its pulp coming from recycled sources. Many of Kimberly-Clark's best-known brands do not even contain a single strand of recycled fibre, a sad fact that is often proudly displayed on the packaging with the boast of '100 percent Virgin Fibre'.

Stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, Canada's Boreal forest represents over 25 percent of the world's remaining intact ancient forests. This huge forest is also one of the world's largest storehouses of carbon. Every tree cut from the forest increases the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and helps to fuel climate change."

Bron: www.greenpeace.com

VS verwerpt klimaatplan Annan

"Washington rejected pleas by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and dismissed his charge that there was a "frightening lack of leadership" in combating global warming.

"We think that the United States has been leading in terms of its ground-breaking initiatives," Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, told a news conference during November 6-17 U.N. climate talks.

Annan had urged rich countries at the 189-nation talks in Nairobi to be more "courageous" in cutting greenhouse gases and urged Washington to reconsider opposition to the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol that binds 35 nations to cut emissions by 2012."

Bron: www.reuters.com

Groene Rapportcijfers voor Politiek

"Vier politieke partijen halen een goed rapportcijfer als hun programma’s worden bekeken op natuur-, milieu- en diervriendelijkheid. Twee komen op een voldoende en de zes overige hebben duidelijk een onvoldoende. Op verzoek van het radioprogramma Vroege Vogels hebben acht grote groene organisaties de verkiezingsprogramma’s van de partijen onderzocht en van een cijfer voorzien. Als die worden gemiddeld dan scoort GroenLinks het hoogst met een 7,8 – Lijst Vijf Fortuyn sluit de rij met 2,2.

GroenLinks 7,88
PartijvdDieren 7,80
Christen Unie 7,75
SP 7,31
PvdA 6,68
D66 6,42
CDA 4,57
SGP 4,40
Een NL 3,60
VVD 3,37
Wilders/PvdV 2,90
Lijst Fortuyn 2,25"

Bron: vroegevogels.vara.nl

Nederland gekelderd op ranglijst klimaatbeleid

"Nederland is gekelderd op een internationale ranglijst voor klimaatprestaties, van de vijftiende naar de 29e plaats. Volgens Stichting Natuur en Milieu (SNM) was de lage klassering voor Nederland te verwachten. ,,De huidige regering heeft bijna niets gedaan aan energiebesparing en heeft verschillende subsidies op duurzame energie abrupt stopgezet.''

De index is een initiatief van het Climate Action Network (CAN), een koepel van milieuorganisaties waaronder Natuur en Milieu, en Germanwatch uit Duitsland. Het is de tweede keer dat de lijst uitkomt. De presentatie vond maandag plaats op de klimaattop in Nairobi (Kenia).

Zweden voert de lijst van 56 landen aan, vóór Groot-Brittannië en Denemarken. De Verenigde Staten staan vierde van onder."

Bron: www.new-energy.tv

Wal Mart evalueert groene winkels

De grootste retailer in de wereld evalueert zijn twee groene winkels en leid al tot verbeteringen voor alle Wal-Mart winkels wereldwijd

"Along with offering a full line of products and services, these two stores operate with innovative environmental technologies designed to reduce operational and construction waste, use recycled and renewable materials, and conserve water and electricity.

"When we conceptualized these two experimental stores, we thought about our environmental opportunities which led our thoughts to our current goals: to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain our resources and environment"

Zo besparen op bijvoorbeeld energie door Led's te gebruiken in de publieke koeling. Voor meer resultaten tot nu toe lees het artikel.

Bron: www.greenbiz.com

Massaal uitsterven leven door broeikasseffect.

Onderstaand plaatje komt uit de scientific american. Het schetst een beeld hoe het broeikasseffect ervoor gezorgd heeft dat verscheidene malen het leven op aarde massaal uitstierf. De stijging van het co2 gehalte door mensenhanden zou de balans dusdanig kunnen doen omslaan dat onderstaand rampenscenario mogelijk wordt.

"Large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere, probably from volcanos;

Global warming occurs;

The ocean heats up, which makes it less capable of absorbing oxygen;

As a result, hydrogen sulfide produced by anaerobic bacteria near the ocean floor rises to the surface, killing sea life as well as animals and plants on the surface;

The hydrogen sulfide also rises into the troposphere and degrades the ozone layer, allowing ultraviolet radiation to kill more life."

Bron: www.sciam.com & philomathean.blogs.com

Nog 10 jaar om klimaatverandering te stoppen

"The world has less than a decade to reverse the growth in greenhouse gas emissions if dangerous climate change is to be avoided, according to a report from a thinktank that goes further than the landmark Stern review last week.
Lord Stern's report said that unless greenhouse emissions were tackled the world faced an economic downturn on a par with the great depression.

Yesterday's report from the Institute of Public Policy Research suggests Lord Stern's analysis was too conservative and governments need to move further and faster. To minimise the risk of a 2C rise - seen as the threshold for dangerous climate change - the authors say global carbon dioxide emissions would need to peak between 2010 and 2013."

Nog 10 jaar te gaan....als ik er al aan denk dat Noord-Zuid lijn ongeveer 10 jaar kost om te bouwen dan moeten er nog een hoop gebeuren.

bron: www.guardian.co.uk

HP reduceert broeikasgassen

"HP and World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) have announced a joint initiative to reduce HP's greenhouse gas emissions from its operating facilities worldwide, educate and inspire others to adopt best practices, and use HP technology in conservation efforts around the world. By 2010, HP will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from HP-owned and HP-leased facilities worldwide to 15 percent below their 2006 levels. To achieve this, WWF-US and HP will identify the best technology and practices to reduce energy use. HP will also continue to investigate and purchase cost-effective renewable energy."

En ze hebben nog meer projecten op stapel staan.

Bron: www.greenbiz.com

Maak plannen voor klimaatvluchtelingen

"Nations must make plans to help tens of millions of "sea level refugees" if climate change continues to ravage the world's oceans, German researchers said on Thursday. Waters are rising and warming, increasing the destructive power of storms, they said, and seas are becoming more acidic, threatening to throw entire food chains into chaos.

"In the long run, sea level rises are going to be the most severe impact of global warming on human society," said Professor Stefan Rahmstorf, presenting a report by German scientists at a major United Nations climate change meeting.

Warming could melt ice sheets and raise water levels, and the report said nations should already be considering making a "managed retreat" from the most endangered areas, including low-lying island states, parts of Bangladesh or even the U.S. state of Florida.

A report by international scientists who advise the U.N. has predicted a sea level rise of up to 88 cm between 1990 and 2100. The situation was worsened, the German team said on Thursday, by the increasing frequency of extreme storms whipped up by warming sea surface temperatures -- meaning many would flee coastal areas hit by hurricanes.

Many of the world's biggest cities, from Tokyo to Buenos Aires, are by the coast. Some rich nations might be able to build ever higher dikes, such as in the Netherlands, but poor nations were destined to be swamped.

The low-lying Pacific island nation of Tuvalu has already agreed a deal for New Zealand to take about half its 10,000 people to work in agriculture if it becomes swamped by rising sea levels."

Als Duitser zou ik inderdaad ook maar plannen maken...ik weet wel waar de Nederlanders heen gaan als de Randstad onder water loopt.

Bron: www.reuters.com

Stemmers in USA kiezen duurzaam

De Democraten hebben de verkiezingen gewonnen. De impact op het milieubeleid is groot. Lees dit artikel hierover om de top10 aan veranderingen in het Amerikaans milieubeleid te zien.

Verder waren er ook een aantal regionale voorbeelden:

"Large utility companies will have to increase their renewable energy sources to 15 percent of their supply by 2020 under an initiative approved by Washington voters. Under Initiative 937, utilities with more than 25,000 customers would have to meet 15 percent of their annual load with resources such as wind power, solar energy or sewage gas by 2020."

En het volgende verhaal:

"Voters in a Colorado university town nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains have passed the country’s first municipal carbon tax to fight global warming. Boulder, Colo., will charge residents and businesses the carbon tax based on how much electricity they use. Most electricity in Boulder is generated at plants that use coal, which produces more of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, than natural gas or oil"

Opnieuw bewijs dat ook in de USA de stemming aan het veranderen is.

Bron: Top10 www.about.com, Washington www.msnnbc.com & Colorado www.msnbc.com

Nederlanders somber over klimaat

"Klimaatverandering is een onderwerp dat Nederlanders steeds meer zorgen baart. Bijna de helft (47 procent) - en mensen onder de veertig jaar meer nog dan 40-plussers - gaat er zelfs van uit dat het klimaat de komende tien jaar behoorlijk tot drastisch gaat veranderen.

Een en ander blijkt uit een 'klimaatmonitor' onder bijna duizend Nederlanders door het onderzoeksbureau GfK Panelservices. Een op de vijf (18 procent) maakt zich (erg) veel zorgen wat er te gebeuren staat. Onder CDA-stemmers (9 procent) ligt dit percentage lager."

Bron: www.nu.nl

Balkenende wil energiebox als kerstpakket

"Bedrijven moeten hun personeel dit jaar met kerst geen flesje wijn geven of een doos met lekkernijen, maar een spaarlamp of andere zaken waarmee de energierekening omlaag kan. Die oproep doet premier Balkenende.

"Iedereen moet zuiniger doen met energie", zegt Balkenende. "Dat is hard nodig voor ons milieu en kan de burger ook nog eens flink wat geld besparen. Als je als werkgever toch iets wilt doen voor je personeel, geef dan iets verantwoords.""

Bron: www.nu.nl

Groene steden economisch aantrekkelijk

"Politicians could boost the economic fortunes of cities by encouraging the spread of parks and tackling pollution problems, according to a new book from David Cameron's favourite thinktank. Greener cities attract highly skilled workers, who contribute to stable economic growth and are likely to press for even tougher environmental standards, creating a virtuous circle, according to the economist Matthew E Kahn."

Bron: www.theguardian.co.uk

Huizen uit 1550 besparen meer energie

"The energy-efficient building of the future was constructed 500 years ago, according to a survey published yesterday which suggests the Tudors could have shown New Labour how to save money - and carbon emissions. Homes of the 1500s are still liable to lose less heat than their mock-Tudor counterparts constructed over the past few years, according to tests carried out for the power supplier British Gas."

Bron: www.theguardian.co.uk

Halsema wil klimaatdebat lijsttrekkers

"GroenLinks-leider Femke Halsema heeft haar collega-lijsttrekkers uitgenodigd voor een verkiezingsdebat over de klimaatverandering. Volgens haar is het vreemd dat daarvoor in de tot dusver gevoerde lijsttrekkersdebatten geen aandacht was, terwijl het om ‘de grootste uitdaging gaat waar Nederland voor staat’."

Bron: www.volkskrant.nl

India: 16% windenergie in 2030

"As much as 16 percent of India's electricity needs could be supplied by wind power within the next 25 years, the country's president told a gathering of renewable energy experts Monday.

India produces 6,053 megawatts of wind power, a tiny chunk of the estimated 130,000 megawatts of electricity it needs, but its installed wind power grew by 47 percent in the last fiscal year, the Indian Wind Energy Association says.

"I find that in the moderate scenario 16 percent of (India's) total energy requirement can be contributed by wind energy by 2030," President Abdul Kalam said at the start of an annual conference being held this year in New Delhi."

Bron: www.wsbcd.org

2005 recordjaar voor broeikasgassen

"Greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere reached a high in 2005 and are still increasing, the U.N. weather agency said Friday. The measurements coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization show that the global average concentrations of carbon dioxide, or CO2, and nitrous oxide, or N2O, reached record levels last year and are expected to increase even further this year, said Geir Braathen, a climate specialist at the Geneva-based agency.

The concentration of carbon dioxide rose by about half a percent last year to reach 379.1 parts per million, according to the agency. Nitrous oxide totaled 319.2 parts per billion, which is 0.19 percent higher than in 2004. Levels of methane, another so-called greenhouse gas, remained stable since last year, Braathen said."

Bron: www.msnbc.com

Autoloze dagen in Beijing

"Beijing may expand a campaign to urge people take public transport to work and could introduce totally car-free days ahead of the 2008 Olympics, an official said on Monday. A voluntary effort over the China-Africa summit at the weekend to encourage people not to drive was successful, cutting down on traffic and clearing away pollution, said Du Shaozhong, deputy head of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau."

Bron: www.reuters.com

Meer muggen door klimaatverandering

"A rise in the Earth’s temperature could lead to an increase in the number of insects worldwide, with potentially dire consequences for humans, a new study suggests.

New research shows that insect species living in warmer areas are more likely to undergo rapid population growth because they have higher metabolic rates and reproduce more frequently. The finding has scientists concerned that global warming could give rise to more fast-growing insect populations and that we could see a spike in the number of six-legged critters.

The consequences could be more serious than just a few extra bug bites each summer. “If they’re crop species, we could count on needing to use more pesticides and it could be very costly,” said Melanie Frazier, a doctoral student at the University of Washington and lead author of the study."

Bron: www.livescience.com

Grootste BioMethanol fabriek in Nederland

"A consortium of Dutch and Belgian investors said on Friday it had bought a methanol plant in the Netherlands to transform it into the world's first biomethanol plant, producing 1 billion liters of green petrol per year.

The investors, BioMethanol Chemie Holding, have bought the plant in Delfzijl in the North-east of the Netherlands from Akzo Nobel, DSM and Dynea.

The plant was taken it out of production a few months ago due to competition from oil-producing nations which use their excess natural gas to produce low-cost fossil methanol.

"In the coming nine months we'll make the necessary changes and after that it will produce only biomethanol, which will make it the world's first biomethanol plant of substantial capacity," said Chief Executive of BioMethanol Chemie Paul Hamm.

Production will start at 100 kilotons of biomethanol, 100 million liters, and rise tenfold to 1,000 kilotons soon afterwards, said Hamm.

The European Union demands that by 2010, 5.75 percent of its 50 million-ton petrol consumption should come from biofuels, and Hamm said the Delfzijl plant alone can contribute 2 percentage points of that requirement.

The plant will use a new and very efficient process to make biomethanol from glycerine, a byproduct of biodiesel which is yet another kind of renewable green fuel made from oil-containing plants. The price of glycerol has dropped sharply due to the increasing world production of biodiesel.

Biomethanol can double as a direct in-blend and a replacement for the petrol additive MTB, currently used as a lead replacement, Hamm said.

Biomethanol can also be produced from biomass, and Hamm said the process to make biomethanol is several times more efficient than bioethanol, derived from sugar-containing crops such as corn and biomass.

"It is a better, more cost-effective and certainly more environmentally friendly way to add bio-components compared to the usage of ethanol," Hamm said."

Bron: www.reuters.com

Hoe hoog woon je?

Net de documentaires gezien over het wassende water. Ik vroeg me meteen af hoe hoog ik eigenlijk woon. Daar is een site voor...daar kan je door het intikken van jouw postcode een indicatie krijgen van het maaiveldhoogte in jouw eigen omgeving. Anders gezegd staat je huis in droge voeten gebied of natte voeten gebied. Droge voeten gebied is voor het gemak alles boven de 6+NAP (6 meter boven de zeespiegel).

Ik woon zelf in Amsterdam-west (+0.7 nap), dat worden dus natte voeten met een beetje pech.

Klik hier voor de hoogtemeting.

Docu: Het Verloren Land, Nederland in 2070

"Het Verloren Land van regisseur Jos de Putter is een 'toekomstdocumentaire', deels gesitueerd in Nederland anno 2070. Ons land blijkt dan grotendeels onder water te staan. Via een reeks ontmoetingen met mensen die zich met klimaat- en waterproblematiek op grote en kleine schaal bezig houden wordt gereconstrueerd hoe het zo ver is gekomen. Het Verloren Land beweegt zich daarmee tussen realisme en drama, geschiedenis en toekomst, wetenschap en geloof, vaderlandse filmhistorie en special effects. Met onder andere Pierre Bokma, Geert Mak en fragmenten uit klassieke films van Bert Haanstra en Joris Ivens."

Bron: www.vpro.nl
De uitzending

Yahoo presenteert Groene Auto Sectie

"Yahoo! recently added a "Green Cars" section to their big "Autos" directory of new & used cars, information on finance and other car-related research. They've done some interesting things: a "Green Rating" of 1 - 100 accompanies each car to determine each models' relative environmental friendliness; an overview of most of the technologies & fuels usually stamped with a green label, including hybrid, ethanol, biodiesel & natural gas; and a community where users can query others with green car questions and thoughts"

Bron: www.treehugger.com
De site: http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/

China: 10% diesel wordt Biodiesel

"China aims to use 6.7 million tonnes of ethanol and 11 million tonnes of biodiesel by 2010, meeting 10 percent of its forecast transport fuel demand, a government economist said on Thursday.

The country's emphasis will be to develop ethanol from cassava, sweet potato and corn, and biodiesel from animal and vegetable waste oil, said Wang Zhongying, director for the Centre for Renewable Energy Development at the policy-setting National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). "

Bron: www.planetark.org

Onderzoek naar Censuur Bush Regering

"Two federal agencies are investigating whether the Bush administration tried to block government scientists from speaking freely about global warming and censor their research, a senator said Wednesday.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said he was informed that the inspectors general for the Commerce Department and NASA had begun “coordinated, sweeping investigations of the Bush administration’s censorship and suppression” of federal research into global warming."

Bron: www.msnbc.com

Nederland moet land inleveren als klimaatbuffer

"Nederland moet grote stukken land inleveren om zich te verdedigen tegen de stijging van de zeespiegel door klimaatverandering. Dat staat in een rapport dat vijf natuurbeschermingsorganisaties vandaag aanbieden aan de lijsttrekkers van de politieke partijen. Ze pleiten voor meer investeringen in klimaatbuffers, natuurgebieden die water kunnen opvangen."

Misschien is het gewoon het makkelijkst om meteen naar twente te verhuizen.

Bron: www.volkskrant.nl

Boeren verdienen aan Klimaatverandering

"As concerns grow that industrial emissions are fueling global warming, green spaces .....have taken on an unforeseen value that could pay off for farmers.

Landowners who agree to maintain tracts of woodlands and grasslands are assigned “carbon credits” by the exchange based on plants’ ability through photosynthesis to pull carbon dioxide from the air and sequester it in their tissue."

En blijf maar planten die bomen.

Bron: www.msnbc.com