1. Asia — United Nations Climate Change Talks: “Kyoto II” climate talks open in Bangkok
“The first formal talks in the long process of drawing up a replacement for the Kyoto climate change pact opened in Thailand on Monday with appeals to a common human purpose to defeat global warming.
‘The world is waiting for a solution that is long-term and economically viable,’ U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said in a video address to the 1,000 delegates from 190 nations gathered in Bangkok.
The week-long meeting stems from a breakthrough agreement in Bali last year to start negotiations to replace Kyoto, which only binds 37 rich nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of five percent from 1990 levels by 2012.” (Source: Reuters)
Europe held a the European Climate Conference as well this week in Rovigo, Italy, “to encourage capacity-building from city to city regarding climate change.”
2. Africa — The Play Pump and the Electric See-Saw
The Play Pump is back in the headlines with an article at TreeHugger, Hybrid Merri-Go-Round Water Pump Saves Lives in Africa. EcoWorldly’s Sam Aola Ooko recently covered the Play Pump from Kenya:
“Hailed by the World Bank as ‘one of the world’s most innovative designs capable of providing self sustainable free clean water to poor communities, as well as being an effective delivery system for social messages’, the PlayPump system is a merry go round that pumps water from a ground source as children spin, and they like working hard at it.”
This Week, Sam followed up on the Play Pump concept with news of another breakthrough invention, “a see-saw that generates electricity when played on by children.” (Sources: TreeHugger via Digg; EcoWorldly Play Pump; EcoWorldly Electric See-Saw)
3. North America — $3 Billion Solar Power Deal Signed By California Utility
“Pacific Gas & Electric today will announce a deal to buy as much as 900 megawatts of electricity. It will be enough to power 540,000 California homes each year, and involve the construction of five solar power plants during the next decade. The company to build the solar-thermal power plants in the Mojave Desert is BrightSource Energy.
Building all five plants in the Mojave will cost $2 billion to $3 billion, Woolard said. The project, which faces regulatory and financing hurdles, could mean 2,000 construction jobs, and employ about 1,000 workers to operate the plants.” (Source: MetaEfficient via ENN; More Reading: LA Times)
4. Europe — New Wind Power Record in Spain: 40.8% of Total Demand!
“Last year we wrote about Spain’s wind power production record, which was 27% at the time. That seemed like a lot, but a week ago, Spain’s wind turbines produced 40.8% of total demand, or 9,862 megawatts of power.
Spain, which along with Germany and Denmark, is among the three biggest producers of wind power in the European Union, is aiming to triple the amount of energy it derives from renewable sources by 2020.
Spain’s wind power industry currently enjoys a 30% annual growth rate.” (Source: TreeHugger via Reddit)
5. Australia — Farmers Invest In Diesel-Producing Trees
“Farmers in Northern Queensland, Australia, are investigating another approach to producing renewable fuel: growing diesel trees. As weird as that sounds, it’s real, and it isn’t a scientific breakthrough. We’ve actually known about the trees for over 300 years.
As Treehugger reported earlier this week, farmers in the more tropical region Queensland purchased about 20,000 Brazilian diesel trees, or Copaifera langsdorfii, with the intention of having a living oil-mine in 15 years. According to Purdue University, a 100 acre plot of trees could produce about 25 barrels of oil per year.” (Source: Gas 2.0)
This week also witnessed the Fourth Annual Biofuels Americas Conference and Expo in Mexico City.
6. South America — Prefab: Residencia RR Sustainable Style in São Paulo
“Just off the Brazilian coast in São Paulo, architect Andrade Morettin has created Residencia RR - a stunning summer abode nestled amidst the dense vegetation and semi-tropical, hot, humid climate of Itamambuca in the state’s north coast. Responding to the local environment, House RR is selectively protected from and open to the elements. Under a primary “shell” the home shelters from intense sun and rains but allows much desired natural cross-ventilation to permeate through living spaces. With prefabricated components and an elevated foundation, the construction sits lightly on its site with a low ecological impact.” (Source: Inhabitat via MindBodyGreen)
7. Asia — Olympic Commission Says Air Quality at Beijing Games Can Cause Athletes Health Damage
“Olympic Commission Says Air Quality at Beijing Games Can Cause Athletes Health Damage. More news from the Olympic drama in Beijing. While Beijing has stated that they plan to take half of its 3.5 million cars off the roads and partially shut down industry in the capital and surrounding provinces for two months for the Olympics (to improve air quality), concerns continue that no shut down will do enough to allow for athletes to safely compete.
In the most recent turn of events, just yesterday, Hein Verbruggen (Chairman of the IOC coordination commission) said that there is a chance that athletes involved in endurance events can suffer health damage if they partook in the events for longer than an hour.” (Source: The LOHASIAN)
8. South America — Patagonia’s Pascua River Threatened By Massive Dam Project
“Few people in the world have ever seen the pristine, 62-kilometer Pascua, which until as recently as 1898 was completely unknown to European settlers. Nor is the river completely anonymous, thanks to a controversial hydroelectric project being planned by Endesa, a Spanish-Italian enterprise, and Colbún, a Chilean energy company owned by the influential Matte family.
Via a joint entity called HidroAysén, the two companies look to build five massive dams in Aysén (Region XI) that would together generate some 2,750 MW of electricity – roughly equivalent to 20 percent of Chile’s current overall generating capacity. Three of those dams are slated for the Pascua. The other two would be built along the Baker River, Chile’s most voluminous, which is located farther north” (Source: Toward Freedom via Care2.)
9. World — Indigenous people should be involved in climate policy
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report published in early 2007 confirmed that global climate change is already happening. The report found that communities who live in marginal lands and whose livelihoods are highly dependent on natural resources are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Many indigenous and traditional peoples who have been pushed to the least fertile and most fragile lands as a consequence of historical, social, political and economic exclusion are among those who are at greatest risk.
On the other hand, people living in marginal lands have long been exposed to many kinds of environmental changes and have developed strategies for coping with these phenomena. They have valuable knowledge about adapting to climate change, but the magnitude of future hazards may exceed their adaptive capacity, especially given their current conditions of marginalization.” (Source, PDF: International Union for Conservation of Nature via ENN)
10. Antarctica — Airborne Study Of Arctic Atmosphere, Air Pollution Launched
“This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic’s lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic.
The recent decline of sea ice is one indication the Arctic is undergoing significant environmental changes related to climate warming. NASA and its partners plan to investigate the atmosphere’s role in this climate-sensitive region with the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaign.” (Source ENN)
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