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Archive for April, 2010
United Kingdom: Water trading idea should be allowed to run
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Guardian: The cynical view is that Tony Wray, chief executive of Severn Trent, is talking his own book in promoting the idea that water companies should trade their product with each other. His firm straddles the middle of the country. If water were to be diverted from where it is plentiful (the north and the west) to where it is scarce (the south and the east), Severn is ideally positioned to be a winner from trading. Even so, the idea – part of Severn's thinking on how to achieve "optimal ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Water trading idea should be allowed to runSouth Africa: Benefits of Working Together on Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Inter Press Service: The river basin organisation people are gathered in Botswana again: the theme this year is "benefit-sharing", an approach to allocating water that, it is promised, will accomplish nothing less than to make more water. As a region, Southern Africa faces water scarcity which is expected to grow more acute as the effects of climate change manifest. Almost all of the fresh water in the region is found in shared water courses - across Africa, 93 percent of surface water is found in rivers ...
Military leads march to shrink US carbon ‘boot print:’ Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: From solar-powered water purification systems in Afghanistan to a Navy jet fueled in part by biofuel, the US military is taking a lead role in shrinking the US carbon "boot print," an independent report said Tuesday. The US Department of Defense accounts for 80 percent of the US government's total energy consumption energy needs, and most of the energy it uses currently comes from fossil fuels, the report by the Pew Research think tank's Project on National Security, Energy and ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Military leads march to shrink US carbon ‘boot print:’ StudySome fear dams could spoil Montenegro’s green image
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Reuters: With its scenic Adriatic coastline, pristine waters and rugged mountains, Montenegro has presented itself as a green paradise for holidaymakers and investors. Yet plans to award a 30-year concession for the construction of four hydropower plants could risk harming that image as environmentalists mount a campaign warning about the impact on a local lake, birds and greenery. The planned dams in Moraca River with the total capacity of 242 megawatts would reduce the country's ...
‘Toxic stew’ of chemicals causing male fish to carry eggs in testes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Guardian: More than 80% of the male bass fish in Washington's major river are now exhibiting female traits such as egg production because of a "toxic stew" of pollutants, scientists and campaigners reported yesterday. Intersex fish probably result from drugs, such as the contraceptive pill, and other chemicals being flushed into the water and have been found right across the US. The Potomac Conservancy, which focuses on Washington DC's river, called for new research to determine what was ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Toxic stew’ of chemicals causing male fish to carry eggs in testesBrazil awards dam tender despite environmental protests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Brazil on Tuesday speedily awarded the tender for a controversial hydro-electric dam projected to be the world's third-largest, despite fierce opposition from environmentalists. The government pushed ahead with the bidding process to begin construction of the giant Belo Monte dam after beating back a last-minute suspension order with a rushed appeal. The tender was awarded to Norte Energia, a consortium led by a subsidiary of the state electricity company Electrobras, after a ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brazil awards dam tender despite environmental protestsAustralia: Grounded ships: Just one threat to the Great Barrier Reef
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 21st, 2010
Time Magazine: Environmentalists and politicians alike went wild this month when a Chinese shipping vessel plowed at full speed into the delicate corals of Australia's protected Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Damage to the Douglas Shoal, one of the 2,900 reefs in the 133,000-sq.-mi. (350,000 sq km) marine park, covered an area equivalent to five football fields, leaving a vast, empty plain of sand where a healthy coral community had hosted a variety of unique plants and animals. But marine ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Grounded ships: Just one threat to the Great Barrier ReefJapan: Scientists plan algae ‘alchemy’ to turn paddies into oil fields
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Bloomberg: As Japan's rice fields turn fallow and its farming communities decline, a new army of workers is preparing to make the countryside fertile again. This time the crop is motor fuel and the laborers are microscopic algae. At least 75 developers globally are studying algae, which has the potential to generate more energy per hectare than any other crop used for making fuel, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The technology has attracted the U.S. Department of Energy and big oil ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Japan: Scientists plan algae ‘alchemy’ to turn paddies into oil fieldsCalculating Water Use, Direct and Indirect
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
New York Times: Your household water meter only tells part of the story -- what was directly used for washing, cooking and other tasks. But what about the water that was used to grow the food you ate for dinner? Or to manufacture the book you bought or the gasoline your car burned? Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have estimated this kind of direct and indirect water use -- not for households, but for American industries. Their goal was to create a tool for better assessing the impact on ...
Frogspawn study revels climate change dangers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 20th, 2010
Press Association: A study of thousands of records of when UK frogs spawn revealed the amphibians are closely adapted to local conditions - which could put them at risk as the climate changes. More than 50,000 records of frogspawn, including contributions from the public and BBC Springwatch viewers, were used to see how common frogs responded to temperature across different parts of the UK. Frogs spawn earlier in warmer years, which provides a longer period for tadpoles to develop, potentially ...