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Category Archives: Coal
The West is Food Insecure- Food rots in Kenya as volcano shows might!
The East African nation flies up to £1.3 million of freshly cut flowers to Europe each day but British, Dutch and Kenyan airlines have all grounded their flights from Nairobi since Thursday.Some 400 tonnes of flowers were due to be destroyed on Sunday, and from then onwards flowers and fresh goods will be destroyed each day that the crisis caused by the volcanic ash cloud continues.
Is there an irony in this?
Kenya can not produce enough food for the stomach but is able to generate 1.3 Million pound flowers per day — food for the Western Souls?
Food security issues are just political talk and about volcanic purses of dough for some!!
via Fresh goods for supermarkets rot in Kenya as volcano grounds flights – Telegraph.
Posted in Climate, Coal, Countries, Opposing Views
Tagged food insecure, Food security, iceland, volcanoe
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..: Ristorante Mystica :.. Iceland volcano panic button
”For an Icelandic volcano this was a relatively small eruption, but there are fears that it could set off the nearby Katla volcano, a far more violent beast capable of inflicting immense damage.
The precedents are not good. In the past 1,000 years, Eyjafjallajökull has erupted three times, in AD920, 1612 and 1821, and each time the Katla volcano blew up soon afterwards. And because Katla lies under a glacier, it sets off colossal floods as the ice rapidly melts. Worse still, Katla can shoot up enormous plumes of ash, gas and acid high into the atmosphere, blocking out the Sun’s energy and creating a deep chill.
The effects on the UK could be severe. In June 1783 the Laki volcano close to Katla erupted for several months with clouds of poisonous gas that killed 9,000 people in Iceland. But the eruption also created a cold fog that spread across much of Europe and North America, in some places causing the coldest summer for 500 years as the Sun’s warmth was blotted out. ”
Posted in Climate, Coal, Countries, Floods, Map, solar
Tagged Agriculture, Biodiversity, Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, iceland, NASA, volcanoes, WB Carbon
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Ecology and Biosphere Sustainability
The human family faces the imminent collapse of the biosphere – the thin layer of life organized into ecosystems, upon an otherwise lifeless planet – that makes Earth habitable. Marshes and rivers and forests and fish are far more than resources – they and all natural ecosystems provide for humanity’s habitat and existence upon Earth. A few centuries of unprecedented explosion in human numbers and surging inequitable consumption are needlessly destroying being for all living things. Environmental movement accommodation and compromise have not brought required policies necessary to avert widespread ecosystem collapse, or to lay the basis for achieving global ecological sustainability.
Ecology and Biosphere Sustainability
The human family faces the imminent collapse of the biosphere – the thin layer of life organized into ecosystems, upon an otherwise lifeless planet – that makes Earth habitable. Marshes and rivers and forests and fish are far more than resources – they and all natural ecosystems provide for humanity’s habitat and existence upon Earth. A few centuries of unprecedented explosion in human numbers and surging inequitable consumption are needlessly destroying being for all living things. Environmental movement accommodation and compromise have not brought required policies necessary to avert widespread ecosystem collapse, or to lay the basis for achieving global ecological sustainability.
Uganda scientists find ways to get ethanol from stems, leaves
Uganda scientists have made a breakthrough in extracting bio-ethanol from non-food parts of plants — cassava stems, cassava leaves, pineapple leaves, elephant grass stems and wood — opening the way for commercial production of ethanol from new source materials.The announcement follows more than a year of research into the potential of non-food parts of plants and cellulosic materials in producing bio-ethanol.Cellulosic ethanol is difficult and expensive to break down into simple sugars required for ethanol production, but is eventually cheaper say the researchers who argue that the initial investment for biofuels is much lower than for fossil fuels.“The research has proved that it is possible to get high quality ethanol for use in sanitary and automobile fuel. This offers an investment opportunity and we are ready to partner with investors in the private sector,” said Dr Yona Baguma a molecular biologist and lead researcher.
via The East African - Uganda scientists find ways to get ethanol from stems, leaves.
Joachim Chissano: Scientists can make Africa rich
Water is essential for life. Safe, abundant water is vital to our ability to prosper and to fulfill our potential. Without it, we face a continual decline in well-being; we face poverty and hunger and increasing levels of conflict.Across Africa, a third of us have no access to clean water, and almost two thirds no access to clean sanitation, causing widespread suffering from malaria, typhoid, dysentery to many other diseases.Apart from this effect upon our health, the loss of productivity from water-related illnesses holds back our progress.The population in many African countries is growing rapidly each year, averaging 2.5 per cent across sub-Saharan Africa, but the lack of safe water and sanitation reduces our economic growth at twice that rate. And a growing population must be properly fed.
Posted in Climate, Coal, Countries, Floods, Politics
Tagged water day, World Water Crisis
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Can charcoal save the world?
The best biochar is made by pyrolysis, according to Kurt Spokas, Ph.D., a USDA-ARS soil scientist and adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota. Pyrolysis takes plants, animal manure or any other kind of organic biomass, traps it in an oxygen-free environment and heats it to around 550°C. At the end, you are left with biochar, and a mixture of hot gases and some liquids. Condense the vapors and collect the liquids and you get liquid fuel and enough combustible gas to fire up the next batch of biomass.
Bolivia summit to seeks global climate deal
Thousands of people, mostly members of social movements and indigenous groups, are expected to attend the People's World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights from April 20-22.Organizers say it is intended to “give a voice to the people” on climate change after the perceived failure of the United Nations-sponsored Copenhagen summit on the same issue.Solon said he expected participants from 94 countries and representatives from 70 governments to attend, without giving further details.
via AFP: Bolivia summit to seek global climate change referendum.
Posted in Climate, Coal, Countries, Map, Opposing Views, Politics, UNFCCC, World Bank Funds, solar
Tagged Bolivia, Climate Change, evo, Morales
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Algae contributing to petroleum deposits from hundreds of millions of years
“Oils from the green algae Botryococcus braunii can be readily detected in petroleum deposits and coal deposits suggesting that B. braunii has been a contributor to developing these deposits and may be the major contributor,” said Dr. Devarenne.”This means that we are already using these oils to produce gasoline from petroleum,” he added.Devarenne said that B. braunii is a prime candidate for biofuel production because some races of the green algae typically “accumulate hydrocarbons from to 30 percent to 40 percent of their dry weight, and are capable of obtaining hydrocarbon contents up to 86 percent of their dry weight.”"As a group, algae may be the only photosynthetic organism capable of producing enough biofuel to meet transportation fuel demands,” he said.
via Algae contributing to petroleum deposits from hundreds of millions of years.
Posted in Climate, Coal, Map, Opposing Views, Politics
Tagged algae, biofuel, biofuels
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UN Climate Process ‘Needs a Good Spanking,’ Yvo de Boer Says – BusinessWeek
“More meetings does not mean success,” de Boer, who steps down from his UN post on July 1, said today at the Carbon Market Insights conference in Amsterdam. “We need to get down to business.”
The Copenhagen summit in December 2009 was a failure even though it was preceded by many meetings, de Boer said. While about 150 nations agreed to submit plans or targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the meeting failed to produce a global treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which lapses in 2012.
“Going back from Copenhagen, I was extremely disappointed,” de Boer said. “My first feeling was it had been an absolute disaster.”
via UN Climate Process ‘Needs a Good Spanking,’ Yvo de Boer Says – BusinessWeek.
Posted in Climate, Coal, Countries, Floods, UNFCCC
Tagged adaptation, Africa, Africa Climate, Agriculture, Biodiversity, biofuel, Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, Copenhagen, IPCC, Soil
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