A study of the land demands put in place by eco-friendly power sources has warned of a potential negative impact on the energy saving benefits of biofuels.
Biofuels can move energy generation away from unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly fossil fuel production.
However, the feedstock crops used in their production must be grown somewhere - with the report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) suggesting that this could lead to deforestation or other undesirable shifts in land use.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Obama in Indonesia: Will visit mosque--will not visit boyhood home--"proficient enough" in Javanese. Briefing.
MR. GIBBS: So we are going to hear in just a second from Ben Rhodes and Jeff Bader, who is our senior director for -- NSC senior director for East Asia. And you may have to move up a little bit because Jeff is normally a soft-spoken man.
Before we get into Ben going through the schedule, I want to bring us up to date on one scheduling thing, which, not surprisingly, is going to affect everybody, and that is the modeling for the volcanic ash is likely going to necessitate that we leave Indonesia several hours earlier than the schedule had it laid out tomorrow.
Before we get into Ben going through the schedule, I want to bring us up to date on one scheduling thing, which, not surprisingly, is going to affect everybody, and that is the modeling for the volcanic ash is likely going to necessitate that we leave Indonesia several hours earlier than the schedule had it laid out tomorrow.
New Green Drivers of Growth
FRANKFURT – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has just released the final report of his High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing (AGF). As the two private-sector members of the AGF, we are proud of our work. The report lays out the available options for mobilizing $100 billion annually for climate-change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, and establishes the conditions that would make it possible to achieve this goal by 2020.
One essential condition is setting a robust carbon price of $25 per ton of CO2 in order to unleash the large private-sector investments that are necessary to finance the transition to a low-carbon economy. We are concerned, however, that the political will for carbon pricing is lacking.
One essential condition is setting a robust carbon price of $25 per ton of CO2 in order to unleash the large private-sector investments that are necessary to finance the transition to a low-carbon economy. We are concerned, however, that the political will for carbon pricing is lacking.
Shoppers unaware wood products may be illegally sourced
Half of British shoppers have no idea that the paper and wood products they are buying could come from illegal sources, according to new research from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Shoppers unaware wood products may be illegally sourced
The UK is the fourth largest importer of illegally harvested or traded timber and wood products in the world. The amount of illegal timber coming into the country is enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall 32 times, says the charity, and it's used in everything from garden furniture to laminate flooring.
Shoppers unaware wood products may be illegally sourced
The UK is the fourth largest importer of illegally harvested or traded timber and wood products in the world. The amount of illegal timber coming into the country is enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall 32 times, says the charity, and it's used in everything from garden furniture to laminate flooring.
Key to energy savings: Ancient building methods
Are people who move because of climate change and/or extreme weather events migrants or refugees? Do older methods of farming and home-building hold key answers to the environmental challenges of the 21st century?
These were among the questions addressed by international delegates meeting this week for the 4th Global Forum on Migration and Development in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
As part of the forum, representatives of non-governmental organizations spent two days strategizing solutions to the myriad problems confronting the world''s more than 200 million international migrants.
These were among the questions addressed by international delegates meeting this week for the 4th Global Forum on Migration and Development in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
As part of the forum, representatives of non-governmental organizations spent two days strategizing solutions to the myriad problems confronting the world''s more than 200 million international migrants.
Obama's Indonesia homecoming: He talks about his youth there, Muslim outreach. Transcript
President Obama is visiting Indonesia for the first time since he was a boy, when he lived there for several years with his mother and Indonesian step-father and half sister Maya Soetoro-Ng. In the world's largest Muslim country, Obama will be delivering another major speech aimed at the Muslim world, a follow up to his June, 2009 address in Cairo.
At a press conference in Jakarta with Indonesian President Yudhoyono (Wednesday in Indonesia, Tuesday in the U.S.) Obama was asked how he assess his "outreach to the Muslim world at this point in your presidency, particularly in light of some of the controversies back home? And if you could, give us some of your thoughts on what it's like to return here as President of the United States.
At a press conference in Jakarta with Indonesian President Yudhoyono (Wednesday in Indonesia, Tuesday in the U.S.) Obama was asked how he assess his "outreach to the Muslim world at this point in your presidency, particularly in light of some of the controversies back home? And if you could, give us some of your thoughts on what it's like to return here as President of the United States.
Biofuels: Is Palm Oil a Blessing or a Curse
People sometimes ask which biofuels are competitive head to head with crude oil. By competitive, I mean those that can actually compete favorably with oil prices on a level playing field (i.e., they don’t require big subsidies or mandates in order to compete). There are two that always come to mind: Ethanol from sugarcane (although less competitive currently due to high sugar prices) and fuel from palm oil (oil derived from the fruits of the African Oil Palm). In fact, in the first book chapter I wrote in 2007 (Renewable Diesel in Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy Systems: Benefits and Risks) I highlighted palm oil as a crop with great promise, but also great environmental risk:
President Obama Goes to Indonesia, U.S. Taxpayers Foot Anti-Development Funding
As President Obama continues his 10-day Asian tour this week, Frontiers of Freedom President George Landrith issued the following statement today, imploring the president to rethink the "assistance" he intends to offer Indonesia in the form of aid money from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC):
"Scared from last week's elections, President Obama has quickly skipped away from the capital this week to attend two Asian economic summits in South Korea and Japan. But on his way there, he will make a stop in Indonesia, where he is expected to announce that the MCC will pledge some of the $700 million it has already allotted to Indonesia to purportedly help
"Scared from last week's elections, President Obama has quickly skipped away from the capital this week to attend two Asian economic summits in South Korea and Japan. But on his way there, he will make a stop in Indonesia, where he is expected to announce that the MCC will pledge some of the $700 million it has already allotted to Indonesia to purportedly help
Monday, November 8, 2010
Norway’s Indonesian anti-deforestation aid ‘useless’
Counterproductive
A new report produced by the Indonesian government’s own climate committee shows preserving the rainforest is neither cost nor climate-effective, according to Klassekampen.
Indonesian timber companies earn huge amounts both on cutting down rainforest trees and replacing them with the plantations. The country is now the world’s third-largest emitter of climate gases.
A new report produced by the Indonesian government’s own climate committee shows preserving the rainforest is neither cost nor climate-effective, according to Klassekampen.
Indonesian timber companies earn huge amounts both on cutting down rainforest trees and replacing them with the plantations. The country is now the world’s third-largest emitter of climate gases.
MNR minister attends event highlighting Dundas County deforestation
FINCH - Spurred by concern over increasing deforestation in the area, South Nation Conservation has launched a new program to help private landowners preserve and manage their woodlots.
Fueling the new "Woodlot Advisory Service" is a $100,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation officially received at SNC headquarters in the presence of visiting Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey last Friday.
Also on hand for the occasion were representatives from primary partners in the endeavour: the Raisin River Conservation Authority, and two area associations of private woodlot owners - the SD&G Certified Forest Owners and its French-language counterpart, Boisés Est.
Fueling the new "Woodlot Advisory Service" is a $100,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation officially received at SNC headquarters in the presence of visiting Natural Resources Minister Linda Jeffrey last Friday.
Also on hand for the occasion were representatives from primary partners in the endeavour: the Raisin River Conservation Authority, and two area associations of private woodlot owners - the SD&G Certified Forest Owners and its French-language counterpart, Boisés Est.
The importance of forests in combating climate change is crucial as trees are absorbing carbon dioxide being emitted by human activities. What is more
When forests are damaged or cleared the burned or decaying wood releases stored carbon as CO2. Worldwide deforestation and forest degradation (e.g. through agricultural expansion) causes 20% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than the entire global transportation sector and second only to the energy sector.
The deputy chair of the Parliament's delegation to the UN climate change conference in Cancún is German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz (EPP). He told us that "the European energy sector emits about 4.1 billion tons of CO2 per year, while deforestation, illegal logging, burning off of the rain forests in Brazil, Indonesia and other countries cause about 6 billion tons of CO2 annually. It doesn't mean that we don't have to do anything, on the contrary. It makes clear our common
The deputy chair of the Parliament's delegation to the UN climate change conference in Cancún is German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz (EPP). He told us that "the European energy sector emits about 4.1 billion tons of CO2 per year, while deforestation, illegal logging, burning off of the rain forests in Brazil, Indonesia and other countries cause about 6 billion tons of CO2 annually. It doesn't mean that we don't have to do anything, on the contrary. It makes clear our common
Another Way to Die
The sand divers of preval go to work every day in the brown water of the Artibonite River, deep in the rural heart of Haiti’s cholera hot zone. Strong men wearing shorts dive deep under the rushing water, scooping up sand by hand or with small buckets. They dump their gray bounty—the best in all of Haiti for use in making cement—in long wooden boats, held in place in the current by poles. Piles of sand line the shore, and somehow each man knows which one he owns. They also know now that the water might be contaminated. It is “very likely that during the course of their work, these divers could ingest enough water to put them at risk for cholera,” says Eric Mintz, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control. When the men are asked why they don’t stop, the answer is simple:
The Dichotomy of Haiti: Hell Meets, well, Heaven
The images from Haiti before the earthquake were dismal. 'Poorest in the Western Hemisphere,' we heard again and again. Post-quake reporting has seemed to focus on Dante's Inferno. Haiti had been a God-forsaken land due to the greed first of its colonizers and then its own leaders for centuries. Land of Destruction and Corruption. Now, it is even worse - cholera and hurricanes.
Despite that, there is an intrinsic beauty in both her land and people that inspires me. I have come to love Haiti so much I now intend to retire there. In the interim, I move there in three weeks.
The People. The people of Haiti are predominantly West African and remind me of the Ewe people I have met in Togo, Benin, and Ghana. Haitians have been knocked down so often for so long - hundreds of years - and yet each time they get up, dust themselves off and move forward. I have friends in New York for whom cancellation of a therapy session is a crisis. Let them move
Communities Sensitised on Forest Protection
Nov 08, 2010 (The Daily Observer/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
The Regional Forestry Office in Kerewan, North Bank Region (NBR), recently held series of sensitization meetings with village alkalolus of Memmeh of Jokadu, Chilla, Jurunku, Saami, Sika, Lamin, Albreda, Pakau Saloum and Pakau Bah and Kasewa of Upper Nuimi Districts on the need to protect the forest from destruction.
Speaking in Upper Nuimi and Jokadu sites, the Regional Forestry Officer for North Bank, Saikou Kaddy Sonko, said that his department is concerned about the temporal ban on the use of chainsaw and green felling and appealed for concerted efforts to protect and preserve the virgin forests. He also appealed to the communities to allocate more lands for the concept of community forestry, as a means of contributing to the reduction of illegal logging..
Sonko solicited the support of district chiefs, alkalolu, Village Development Committees and security forces to support his department in its drive to ensure that the ban on illegal logging is
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Protecting Europe's economic interests
Only the brightest and the best will represent the EU as top diplomats, Catherine Ashton has promised. On paper, the Union’s foreign policy chief should have no difficulty honouring this pledge: you can be sure that the recruits to her external action service did a lot more at college than keep a bar-stool warm.
With few exceptions, though, the same recruits leave their intellectual curiosity in the car park each morning. For being a diplomat requires that one swallows assumptions that are demonstrably false and then regurgitate them ad infinitum.
Trade issues inevitably absorb a great deal of any envoy’s time. To an outsider unschooled in jargon, they can seem bewildering, yet for an EU diplomat there is really just one rule to follow: denounce protectionism at
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