RSS Feed
Archive for January 14th, 2012
United States: Geothermal Project to Tap into Volcano for Energy Production
Posted by Yahoo!: Rachel Bogart on January 14th, 2012
Yahoo!: According to USA Today, Seattle-based geothermal energy developer AltaRock Energy is planning on pumping 24 million gallons of water into Newberry Volcano, a dormant volcano near Bend, Ore., this summer. The project looks to tap into a new green energy source with the hopes that the water will return to the surface hot enough to generate energy.
So far, several investors, including $6.3 million from Google and $21.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, have stepped up to the promising energy...
Posted in 
New Texas Rule to Unlock Secrets of Hydraulic Fracturing
Posted by New York Times: KATE GALBRAITH on January 14th, 2012
New York Times: Starting Feb. 1, drilling operators in Texas will have to report many of the chemicals used in the process known as hydraulic fracturing. Environmentalists and landowners are looking forward to learning what acids, hydroxides and other materials have gone into a given well. But a less-publicized part of the new regulation is what some experts are most interested in: the mandatory disclosure of the amount of water needed to “frack” each well. Experts call this an invaluable tool as they evaluate...
Mexico pipeline oil spill may take month to clean
Posted by Reuters: Julie Gordon on January 14th, 2012
Reuters: Two weeks after a pipeline leak in coastal Mexico sent oil gushing into a river, state oil monopoly Pemex has recovered about two-thirds of the spilled crude, but the full clean-up could take another month.
Mexico's environmental protection agency, Profepa, is supervising containment of the 1,500-barrel spill that killed fish, injured wildlife and left greasy slicks in the Coatzacoalcos river.
"Right now it is more about containing the emergency," Profepa official Sergio Herrera told Reuters....
The Greater Toronto Area’s warm winter puts wildlife, nature at risk
Posted by Toronto Star: Mary Ormsby on January 14th, 2012
Toronto Star: Finally, snow. Enough to shovel.
But nature’s first attempt to dump a lasting white calling card on Toronto Friday might be too little, too late for local critters, bugs and plants that have evolved to tolerate frigid, snowy Canadian winters -- not tennis-playing temperatures in December and January, which put their survival at risk.
“We don’t need statistics to tell us something odd is happening,” says Ryan Ness, manager of water resources at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority....
Power plants accounted for 72 percent of greenhouse gases reported in 2010
Posted by Bloomberg: Andrew Childers and Avery Fellow on January 14th, 2012
Bloomberg: Power plants emitted 2.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) in 2010, 72.3 percent of reported emissions nationwide, according to data released by the Environmental Protection Agency Jan. 11. EPA released data for calendar year 2010, the first year industries were required to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the agency. Petroleum refineries emitted 183 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2010, the second-largest category at 5.7 percent of emissions. Chemical...
Access, benefit sharing of genetic resources gain ground in Asean
Posted by Business Mirror: Ana Maria Tolentino and Sahlee Bugna-Barrer on January 14th, 2012
Business Mirror: SERIOUS environmental concerns affect people and governments in the Asean region--climate change, pollution, forest fires and haze, access to clean water, land conversion, and mining, among others. One that is currently gaining greater attention is the issue of access and benefit sharing (ABS) of genetic resources.
In the past, there has been an imbalance in the use of genetic resources. Large companies--such as those in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and mining industries--generally earn millions...
Study: Slow global warming by cutting soot, methane
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2012
Voice of America: An international team of scientists says global warming can be slowed in the short term by focusing less on carbon dioxide and more on the emission of methane and soot. Carbon dioxide emissions produced by burning fossil fuels are the major cause of global warming, so efforts to combat climate change have focused on ways to cut CO2 releases. But according to the new study published this week in the journal Science, a quicker and more effective strategy would be to reduce emissions of other, shorter-lived...
Jobs for the poor? Save the wild for $1 a day
Posted by Discoverty: Tim Wall on January 14th, 2012
Discoverty: Sorry Beatles but researchers at Conservation International might contradict your song "Money."
The best things in life aren't free
But you can protect the birds and bees
Now give the poor money
The best things in life aren't really free. Fresh air, clean water, and bountiful crops all depend on healthy ecosystems. But research published in BioScience pointed out that the communities which steward those environmental resources often do not receive payment for their services.
Communities...
Bulgarians protest, seek moratorium on shale gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2012
Reuters: Thousands of Bulgarians protested throughout the Balkan country on Saturday against exploration for shale gas, worried it would poison underground waters, trigger earthquakes and pose serious public health hazards.
Protesters rallied in more than six major Bulgarian cities calling for a moratorium on shale gas tests through hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and demanding a new law to ban unconventional drilling for gas in the southeastern European country.
"I am opposed because we do...
Be a citizen scientist and stop the spread of invasive species in Britain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2012
Guardian: Experts think there are currently around 2000 plus non-native species in Britain. Some of these will threaten the country's native flora and fauna. The problem of invasive species is now considered by environmental scientists as serious as climate change when it comes to threats against biodiversity.
The Observer Ethical awards have teamed up with the University of Hull to help record data on invasive species, so that scientists can monitor their spread and their effect on their local environment....