Archive for September 15th, 2010

United Kingdom: Three of the best eco kettles

Guardian: Fans of "eco kettles" were scalded earlier this week by remarks from Richard Gillies, the director of Marks & Spencer's "Plan A" green initiative. Gillies told a sustainability summit hosted by Prince Charles that he had ceased using his because it "costs more, it's bug-ugly and it's difficult to use". Embarrassingly, he was talking about a product that was sold at – but has unsurprisingly since been withdrawn from – his own company's stores. Eco kettles work on the principle that ...

Getting real about a warmer, wetter Minnesota

Minneapolis Star Tribune: It might be hard to imagine a Minnesota where the big fishing day is the bass opener. Or where the pine forest has given way to maple woods. Or where summer heat -- not blizzards -- is the dominant weather threat. But public planners are already beginning to sketch out a future like that. Thursday they'll gather for a two-day conference at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to swap ideas not on how to slow or reverse climate change, but how to live with it. The Clean Water and ...

Killing frost touches Canada, but wider frost delayed

Reuters: Killing frosts hit crops in northwestern Alberta on Tuesday, but a widespread frost across the Canadian Prairies looks to arrive a day later than expected, a Canadian Wheat Board analyst said on Wednesday. The frost may have left little damage in the Peace region because wheat and canola crops there are mature enough to withstand it, said Mark Cutts, a crop specialist for the Alberta government. Frost is of particular concern to Western Canadian farmers this year because many ...

Papua New Guinea to power far north Queensland

Brisbane Times: A massive proposed hydro-electric power project in Papua New Guinea could deliver reliable renewable power supplies to north Queensland in the future, the state government says. Premier Anna Bligh today threw her support behind the multi-billion-dollar project, which could supply green energy directly to Townsville and significantly boost the nation's clean energy supplies. Ms Bligh said she would today sign a memorandum of understanding with the PNG government and Origin ...

Small-scale solutions key to water security

SciDev.Net: Electric pumps have been the most influential technology in water for agriculture in the last 20 years Small-scale water solutions are a key to increasing agricultural productivity in the face of climate change, says water expert David Molden. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a dire warning that climate change could halve crop yields in some African countries by 2020. The prediction has since become controversial, with even an IPCC ...

Malawi ‘pays heavy cost for environmental damage’

AFP: Impoverished Malawi loses 191 million dollars (147 million euros) a year to environmental damage including soil erosion, deforestation and over-fishing, a UN-backed study said on Wednesday. "This cost is equivalent to 5.3 percent of GDP each year," said Ronald Mangani of the University of Malawi, who led the research financed by the UN Development Programme. "Malawi would be richer by 191 million dollars each year," he added. "Malawi pays a high price for unsustainable ...

Farming revolution ‘route to water security’

SciDev.Net: Investing in agricultural infrastructure, from roads to fertilisers, will cut water wastage on a scale greater than any other intervention and is the best way to solve the world's water problems, a leading specialist has said. Colin Chartres, director general of the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka, was talking to SciDev.Net to highlight the launch of a book he has co-written with colleague Samyuktha Varma. The book describes a 'six−point plan' for saving ...

Allen: Blown-out Gulf Well To Be Sealed By Sunday

AP: The U.S. government's point person on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill says the well that blew out is expected to be permanently sealed and declared dead by Sunday, nearly five months after a rig explosion set off the disaster. National Incident Commander Thad Allen told reporters gathered at a seafood distributor in Kenner, La., on Wednesday that a relief well is expected to intersect with the blown out well within 24 hours. He said mud and cement will then be pumped in, which is ...

Origin Energy resurrects plan for PNG hydro

Age: Origin Energy says it will sign an agreement with the governments of Papua New Guinea and Queensland to potentially support development of a large hydro-electricity project. The 50:50 joint venture between Origin and PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd could ultimately see the hydro plant built at PNG's Purari River, the nation's third largest waterway. Under the plan, electricity from the project would be used to power villages in PNG and would be transmitted to Australia ...

Water security and climate change: how science can help

SciDev.Net: Policymakers need better information about the regional impact of climate change on water supplies, and on ways of adapting to it. For centuries, food production -- and thus social development -- has depended heavily on access to the water needed to grow crops or rear livestock. Having enough water is only part of the issue, however: it must also be available when and where it is most needed. In the past few decades, the balance between water supplies and human need has come ...