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Archive for June 2nd, 2011
U.S. firms should reveal more on shale drilling: Chevron
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 2nd, 2011
Reuters: Natural gas drillers are doing too little to inform the public about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a practice essential for tapping the United States' shale gas reserves, a Chevron executive told a federal panel on Wednesday.
Advances in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have led to a boom in shale gas drilling, but the expansion of shale gas development has led to concerns about potential water contamination.
While companies have begun releasing some details about the chemicals...
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Google uses sea water to cool Finland data centre
Posted by Business Green: Jonathan Bardelline on June 2nd, 2011
Business Green: Google's new data centre in Hamina, Finland, will be cooled exclusively with sea water, a side benefit from the location and previous use of the facility.
The data centre is situated in a former paper mill built in the 1950s by the Gulf of Finland.
"Our team was really anxious to utilize the opportunities of it being right near the gulf to come up with an innovative and very efficient cooling system," Joe Kava, Google's senior director of datacenter construction and operations, said in a video...
Putting a price on nature can’t be worse than giving it all away for free
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 2nd, 2011
Guardian: Feeling relaxed? A bird perches atop a blade of grass in a sunlit meadow.
Can you put a price on the smell of the sea and the wind in your hair? How much for a cool drink from a mountain spring on a summer's day? And what would you pay to lie under a tree and drift off to sleep serenaded by birdsong?
The simple answer is that nature and wildlife is priceless. Some would go further and say ascribing cash sums to wind and water, the birds and the bees, destroys the very thing that makes it special:...
Dam at heart of Amazon rain forest approved
Posted by WalesOnline: None Given on June 2nd, 2011
WalesOnline: The massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest won approval from Brazil`s environmental protection agency, clearing the way for construction of a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists, indigenous activists and celebrities including film director James Cameron and rock star Sting.
The dam would be the world`s third largest, behind China`s Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.
The consortium building Belo Monte...
Australia warns climate change threatens Kakadu park
Posted by Reuters: Rob Taylor on June 2nd, 2011
Reuters: Australia warned on Thursday that its World Heritage-listed outback Kakadu wetland, made famous in the "Crocodile Dundee" films, was at severe risk from climate change, as the government faced a growing battle to introduce a carbon tax.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's one-seat majority government is embroiled in an increasingly acrimonious climate policy debate, pitching mining magnates against environment activists including Oscar winning Australian actress Cate Blanchett.
Gillard, struggling...
Australia: Climate change will hurt Kakadu: report
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Jano Gibson on June 2nd, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has added more ammunition to her climate change arsenal after the release of a new report showing climate change could have direct impacts on world heritage listed Kakadu National Park. The Department of Climate Change report says saltwater intrusion from rising sea levels into freshwater areas could hurt iconic animal species. The study modelled the impact of sea level rises on the South Alligator River system for the years 2030 and 2070 and found saltwater intrusion...
U.K. Company Suspends Controversial Drilling Procedure
Posted by New York Times: David Jolly on June 2nd, 2011
New York Times: A British company said Wednesday that it would temporarily halt the use of a controversial gas exploration technology after indications that it might have set off two small earthquakes near a test well in Lancashire, England.
The company, Cuadrilla Resources, which is exploring for gas in shale formations deep underground, said it would postpone hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations at the Preese Hall site near Weeton.
"We take our responsibilities very seriously,' Mark Miller, the...
Brazil approves Amazon dam project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 2nd, 2011
Press Association: The massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon rain forest has won approval from Brazil's environmental protection agency. The move clears the way for construction of a project fiercely opposed by environmentalists, indigenous activists and celebrities including film director James Cameron and rock star Sting. The dam would be the world's third largest, behind China's Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay. The consortium building...
Brazil, After a Long Battle, Approves an Amazon Dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 2nd, 2011
New York Times: Brazil's environmental agency gave final approval on Wednesday for a giant hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon rain forest that has been at the center of a protracted battle between the government and environmentalists over the fate of indigenous people.
Enlarge This Image Evaristo Sa/Agence France-Presse "” Getty Images
Protesters of the Belo Monte dam in BrasÃlia in February.
After three decades of planning, the environmental agency, Ibama, granted a license to...