Global warming may or may not be a problem. Man may or may not be driving it. Given the uncertainties, a significant amount of global regret may apply if we divert too much of our global wealth to solving what may be a non-existent or trivial problem, especially if that diversion mires billions in poverty. On the other hand, we may also regret not doing anything if man-made global warming does turn out to be a problem. It is therefore prudent to examine what steps we can take that would prove beneficial whether or not anthropogenic global warming turns out to be a problem. These steps can be termed “no regrets” policies.
What makes a No Regrets Global Warming Policy? A global warming policy can be termed “no regrets” as long as it:
Reduces the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, or
Mitigates, prevents or reduces a harm associated with global warming, or
Provides greater capacity for dealing with problems associated with global warming
Without imposing significant cost or diverting economic activity.
Top Five “No Regrets” Policies
1.) Eliminate all subsidies to fuel use.Subsidies to energy R&D cost taxpayers millions of dollars while producing minimal benefits. While these programs may be relatively small given the size of domestic energy markets, they serve little, if any, useful purpose while subsidizing large corporations at taxpayer expense. The potential threat of global warming, whether it is real or not, is simply one more reason to eliminate these subsidy programs. An international agreement aimed at ending energy subsidy with binding targets would be a significant victory for emissions reduction. Unlike Kyoto, which forces an energy starvation diet on its participants, such a treaty would be a move to combat energy obesity.
2.) Repeal the Federal Flood Insurance Program.Much of the concern over global warming’s potential for harm in the US relates to sea level rise and the flooding that will result. However, much of the investment in potentially vulnerable areas is a result of the Federal flood Insurance Program. This program encourages building in vulnerable areas by acting as a moral hazard: people take greater risks because the government has said it will help bear that risk. Reform would reduce the moral hazard connected with building on vulnerable land, transferring the risk from the taxpayer to the private sector, which is likely to take a more realistic view of the issue.
3.) Reform Air Traffic Control Systems.Greater demand for air travel means more flights, which means greater fuel use and increased emissions. Yet, the current government-operated system of air traffic control, based on a 1920s-era system of beacons, may hinder innovations that could reduce fuel use and emissions. As a general rule, the shorter the flight, the less fuel will be consumed. Yet neither airlines nor pilots have the freedom to choose the most direct and economical route. Giving pilots freedom to map their own course is an attractive and desirable change in the eyes of the industry, and the impact on the environment would be tremendous. As well as saving considerable amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, the policy will deliver significant benefits in terms of time and expense to the US economy. By obviating significant reductions in service levels associated with more routine applications of emissions reduction policy, it is to be preferred to that approach.
4.) Facilitate Electricity Competition.By rejecting the model of central regulation and allowing suppliers to meet their customers’ needs more exactly while relying on distributed generation, energy waste and the associated emissions will reduce considerably. This reduction in waste will prove economically beneficial even if emissions themselves do not cause problems.
5.) Reduce Regulatory Barriers to New Nuclear Build.There is no other technology than nuclear that is proven to be capable of providing emissions-free energy at the scale required to make significant reductions in carbon emissions. The problem is that thanks to anti-nuclear activism by environmentalists in the 1970s, it takes a very long time to build a nuclear plant. This pushes development and construction costs up to the level where it is not economically competitive with higher-emitting forms of electricity generation like coal and natural gas. According to the nuclear energy institute, it takes 10 years from concept to operation to build a nuclear plant, and only four of those are construction, the rest is permit application development (2 years) and decision-making by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (4 years).
Monday, July 13, 2009
Green movement puts memory on hot seat
Internet data centre power requirements are increasing as much as 20 per cent a year; already, according to estimates of experts, these facilities in total consume as much electricity as some countries, including Iran, Mexico, Sweden and Turkey. The industry hopes to reverse the trend by revisiting the design of cooling systems, power supplies and server architectures.
In servers, the notoriously voracious microprocessor is passing the power-hog mantle to the DRAM, which offers fast data access but requires a heat-generating refresh every few milliseconds. Thus the greening of the data centre includes a focus on lower-voltage DRAMs, nonvolatile alternatives and the emerging category of storage-class memories.
Whether the green-memory movement thrives or dies on the vine, the DRAM status quo could be uprooted.
The DRAM's power appetite is not its only problem. As the recession wears on, OEMs are keeping a nervous eye on struggling memory suppliers. "It's not pleasant to see our partners suffer so badly," said Tom Lattin, director of strategic commodities for industry-standard servers at Hewlett-Packard Co.
DRAM scaling, meanwhile, could hit a wall as it becomes increasingly difficult to shrink the capacitor within the device. That could fuel the need for such alternatives as ferroelectric, magnetoresistive, phase-change and resistive RAM.
Don't look for the DRAM to disappear, said Bob Merritt, an analyst with research firm Convergent Semiconductors who believes DRAMs will scale to 20 nanometers. "There will be DRAM applications for the next 10 years," Merritt said, but "you will also see applications" that will turn to nonvolatile alternatives (which don't require refresh to maintain the data) for server main memory.
Bill Tschudi, program manager at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said the drive to make data centres more power efficient will include better IT practices, new power distribution schemes, higher processor utilisation rates and "advancements on the memory side."
"Memory power is a significant portion of platform power," noted Dileep Bhandarkar, distinguished engineer with Microsoft Corp.'s Global Foundation Services unit. "As processor performance increases and virtualisation takes off, the memory footprint will increase. There is a need for lower-voltage DRAMs."
DRAM makers have responded with lower-voltage DDR3 synchronous DRAMs, which have found a home in servers from such vendors as HP, IBM, SGI and Sun.
Meanwhile, solid-state drives (SSDs) and I/O accelerators could shake up the memory and storage hierarchy. And server start-ups Schooner Information Technology Inc. and Virident Systems Inc. have released data centre servers that promise to cut hardware costs as well as power consumption. The potential of the technology has prompted IBM to form an alliance with Schooner.
In theory, green servers could replace traditional X86- or RISC-based systems, possibly displacing DRAM in the process. Schooner and Virident use lower-power, nonvolatile, "storage class" memory to handle the search index and other tasks usually relegated to DRAM.
Market watcher Frost & Sullivan estimates that a typical server farm of 5,000 systems with 32 GB of DRAM each could be reduced to 1,250 systems with 128 GB each of nonvolatile memory, resulting in a 75 per cent reduction in energy over four years, a 75 per cent reduction in the cost of physical space and a 45 per cent reduction in capital expenditures.
Troubling trendsSuch reductions would be welcome news for U.S. data centres, which spend Rs.14,696.08 crore ($3 billion) per year on electricity alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA sees U.S. data centre power consumption rising from 6100 crore kilowatt-hours today to 10000 crore kWh in 2011. Meanwhile, Frost & Sullivan projects that the total installed base of data centre servers will rise from 22 lakh units in 2007 to 68 lakh units next year.
The typical server consumed about 50 watts before 2000 but draws some 250 W today, according to "Energy Efficiency for Information Technology," a new book published by Intel Corp. And SGI, formerly Rackable Systems Inc., estimates that for every 100 W to power a server, a further 60 to 70 W are needed to cool it.
Processor power consumption ranges from 45 to 200 W, according to Intel. In a server with eight 1-GB dual in-line memory modules, the DIMMs can contribute 80 W to the power budget, according to Intel. In large servers with up to 64 DIMMs, the result could be "more power consumption by memory than processors," Intel notes.
Intel incorporates "automatic memory throttling" on its processors to reduce heat. DRAM vendors are also reducing heat generation in their latest 50-nm-class parts, exemplified by those from Hynix, Micron Technology and Samsung.
Meanwhile, server vendors have been migrating from DDR2 SDRAMs to 1.5-volt and, more recently, 1.35-V DDR3 SDRAMs. DDR3 doubles performance and provides a 60 per cent improvement in power consumption (for the 1.35-V version) over DDR2, said Jim Elliott, vice president of memory marketing for Samsung Semiconductor Inc.
By next year, DDR3 modules could migrate from conventional to load-reduced DIMMs, which could boost memory capacity fourfold. And by 2011, vendors could unveil DDR4 SDRAMs, reportedly a 1.2-V technology
But those developments won't take all the pressure off DRAMs. Data centre servers' use of virtualisation, which enables multiple operating systems to run on the same computer, reduces hardware costs but slices up the system workload; not all processors run the same tasks at the same time. Server utilisation ranges from 10 to 30 per cent in a data centre, according to the Uptime Institute.
The use of virtualisation, along with complex multi-core processors, heightens the need for more-efficient memory, said Michael Sporer, director of marketing for enterprise memory at Micron Technology Inc.
"Today, the bottleneck is in the disc and the disc sub-system," Sporer said. "The next bottleneck may be in memory performance, rather than capacity."
Server start-ups Schooner and Virident are pushing similar concepts to address the looming performance squeeze.
Virident's GreenCloudIn April, Virident rolled out its GreenCloud line of X86-based data centre servers, said to deliver up to 70 times the performance of traditional systems. The line uses storage-class memory, which bridges the performance gap between DRAM and mass storage. Virident said the architecture boosts processor utilisation and eliminates I/O overhead by providing random word-level access to large data sets.
Virident's systems still use DRAM for some functions, but storage-class memory is more efficient for search-index and related applications, said president and CEO Raj Parekh. Virident's initial systems use Spansion Inc.'s EcoRAM NOR devices, but the start-up also expects to use NAND and phase-change memory from Numonyx Inc.
Over time, Virident's systems will variously support a single memory technology or a mixture of device types, depending on the application. NAND reads small data chunks at high rates, for example, while NOR is ideal for random read searches and phase-change memory offers high write speeds, Parekh said.
Hewlett-Packard, meanwhile, is putting a new twist on a conventional approach with its new ProLiant G6 servers. Based on Intel's Xeon 5500 processors, the G6 deploys thermal sensors and a technology that caps the power drawn by the server.
The servers also use DDR3 memory, which Jimmy Daley, marketing manager for industry-standard servers at HP, called a "major step forward" over DDR2.
HP stopped short of endorsing storage-class memory, but it offers an optional I/O accelerator from Fusion-io Inc. The sub-system, based on a redundant NAND architecture, does not replace the hard drive but sits between the memory and storage system to alleviate system I/O bottlenecks, said David Flynn, chief technology officer for Fusion-io. The accelerator is said to provide more than 10 lakh I/O operations per second in the HP servers.
SGI is keeping an eye on Spansion's EcoRAM and the Fusion-io accelerator, said Geoff Noer, vice president of product management at the server maker. EcoRAM could address "some opportunities," Noer said, but "I don't see it as a mainstream solution."
SGI's new CloudRack C2 is a cabinet design that can pack a number of dense, rack-mount servers in the same unit. C2 supports up to 1,280 processor cores per cabinet. To handle heat, the X86-based offering uses redundant fan arrays and dc power supplies.
The C2 supports DDR3 SDRAMs, and Noer said he is also bullish on solid-state storage. Between 2008 and 2013, according to iSuppli Corp., the use of SSDs could allow data centres to reduce power consumption by a combined 166,643 MWh—slightly more than the total megawatt-hours of electricity generated in the nation of Gambia in 2006.
That's good news. But even as the server supply chain finds ways to rein in power, more data centres will be built, turning up the heat.
That has industry jokesters quipping that perhaps Google should look to erect its next data centre on a rig off the coast of Iceland. Or why not the moon?
In servers, the notoriously voracious microprocessor is passing the power-hog mantle to the DRAM, which offers fast data access but requires a heat-generating refresh every few milliseconds. Thus the greening of the data centre includes a focus on lower-voltage DRAMs, nonvolatile alternatives and the emerging category of storage-class memories.
Whether the green-memory movement thrives or dies on the vine, the DRAM status quo could be uprooted.
The DRAM's power appetite is not its only problem. As the recession wears on, OEMs are keeping a nervous eye on struggling memory suppliers. "It's not pleasant to see our partners suffer so badly," said Tom Lattin, director of strategic commodities for industry-standard servers at Hewlett-Packard Co.
DRAM scaling, meanwhile, could hit a wall as it becomes increasingly difficult to shrink the capacitor within the device. That could fuel the need for such alternatives as ferroelectric, magnetoresistive, phase-change and resistive RAM.
Don't look for the DRAM to disappear, said Bob Merritt, an analyst with research firm Convergent Semiconductors who believes DRAMs will scale to 20 nanometers. "There will be DRAM applications for the next 10 years," Merritt said, but "you will also see applications" that will turn to nonvolatile alternatives (which don't require refresh to maintain the data) for server main memory.
Bill Tschudi, program manager at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said the drive to make data centres more power efficient will include better IT practices, new power distribution schemes, higher processor utilisation rates and "advancements on the memory side."
"Memory power is a significant portion of platform power," noted Dileep Bhandarkar, distinguished engineer with Microsoft Corp.'s Global Foundation Services unit. "As processor performance increases and virtualisation takes off, the memory footprint will increase. There is a need for lower-voltage DRAMs."
DRAM makers have responded with lower-voltage DDR3 synchronous DRAMs, which have found a home in servers from such vendors as HP, IBM, SGI and Sun.
Meanwhile, solid-state drives (SSDs) and I/O accelerators could shake up the memory and storage hierarchy. And server start-ups Schooner Information Technology Inc. and Virident Systems Inc. have released data centre servers that promise to cut hardware costs as well as power consumption. The potential of the technology has prompted IBM to form an alliance with Schooner.
In theory, green servers could replace traditional X86- or RISC-based systems, possibly displacing DRAM in the process. Schooner and Virident use lower-power, nonvolatile, "storage class" memory to handle the search index and other tasks usually relegated to DRAM.
Market watcher Frost & Sullivan estimates that a typical server farm of 5,000 systems with 32 GB of DRAM each could be reduced to 1,250 systems with 128 GB each of nonvolatile memory, resulting in a 75 per cent reduction in energy over four years, a 75 per cent reduction in the cost of physical space and a 45 per cent reduction in capital expenditures.
Troubling trendsSuch reductions would be welcome news for U.S. data centres, which spend Rs.14,696.08 crore ($3 billion) per year on electricity alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA sees U.S. data centre power consumption rising from 6100 crore kilowatt-hours today to 10000 crore kWh in 2011. Meanwhile, Frost & Sullivan projects that the total installed base of data centre servers will rise from 22 lakh units in 2007 to 68 lakh units next year.
The typical server consumed about 50 watts before 2000 but draws some 250 W today, according to "Energy Efficiency for Information Technology," a new book published by Intel Corp. And SGI, formerly Rackable Systems Inc., estimates that for every 100 W to power a server, a further 60 to 70 W are needed to cool it.
Processor power consumption ranges from 45 to 200 W, according to Intel. In a server with eight 1-GB dual in-line memory modules, the DIMMs can contribute 80 W to the power budget, according to Intel. In large servers with up to 64 DIMMs, the result could be "more power consumption by memory than processors," Intel notes.
Intel incorporates "automatic memory throttling" on its processors to reduce heat. DRAM vendors are also reducing heat generation in their latest 50-nm-class parts, exemplified by those from Hynix, Micron Technology and Samsung.
Meanwhile, server vendors have been migrating from DDR2 SDRAMs to 1.5-volt and, more recently, 1.35-V DDR3 SDRAMs. DDR3 doubles performance and provides a 60 per cent improvement in power consumption (for the 1.35-V version) over DDR2, said Jim Elliott, vice president of memory marketing for Samsung Semiconductor Inc.
By next year, DDR3 modules could migrate from conventional to load-reduced DIMMs, which could boost memory capacity fourfold. And by 2011, vendors could unveil DDR4 SDRAMs, reportedly a 1.2-V technology
But those developments won't take all the pressure off DRAMs. Data centre servers' use of virtualisation, which enables multiple operating systems to run on the same computer, reduces hardware costs but slices up the system workload; not all processors run the same tasks at the same time. Server utilisation ranges from 10 to 30 per cent in a data centre, according to the Uptime Institute.
The use of virtualisation, along with complex multi-core processors, heightens the need for more-efficient memory, said Michael Sporer, director of marketing for enterprise memory at Micron Technology Inc.
"Today, the bottleneck is in the disc and the disc sub-system," Sporer said. "The next bottleneck may be in memory performance, rather than capacity."
Server start-ups Schooner and Virident are pushing similar concepts to address the looming performance squeeze.
Virident's GreenCloudIn April, Virident rolled out its GreenCloud line of X86-based data centre servers, said to deliver up to 70 times the performance of traditional systems. The line uses storage-class memory, which bridges the performance gap between DRAM and mass storage. Virident said the architecture boosts processor utilisation and eliminates I/O overhead by providing random word-level access to large data sets.
Virident's systems still use DRAM for some functions, but storage-class memory is more efficient for search-index and related applications, said president and CEO Raj Parekh. Virident's initial systems use Spansion Inc.'s EcoRAM NOR devices, but the start-up also expects to use NAND and phase-change memory from Numonyx Inc.
Over time, Virident's systems will variously support a single memory technology or a mixture of device types, depending on the application. NAND reads small data chunks at high rates, for example, while NOR is ideal for random read searches and phase-change memory offers high write speeds, Parekh said.
Hewlett-Packard, meanwhile, is putting a new twist on a conventional approach with its new ProLiant G6 servers. Based on Intel's Xeon 5500 processors, the G6 deploys thermal sensors and a technology that caps the power drawn by the server.
The servers also use DDR3 memory, which Jimmy Daley, marketing manager for industry-standard servers at HP, called a "major step forward" over DDR2.
HP stopped short of endorsing storage-class memory, but it offers an optional I/O accelerator from Fusion-io Inc. The sub-system, based on a redundant NAND architecture, does not replace the hard drive but sits between the memory and storage system to alleviate system I/O bottlenecks, said David Flynn, chief technology officer for Fusion-io. The accelerator is said to provide more than 10 lakh I/O operations per second in the HP servers.
SGI is keeping an eye on Spansion's EcoRAM and the Fusion-io accelerator, said Geoff Noer, vice president of product management at the server maker. EcoRAM could address "some opportunities," Noer said, but "I don't see it as a mainstream solution."
SGI's new CloudRack C2 is a cabinet design that can pack a number of dense, rack-mount servers in the same unit. C2 supports up to 1,280 processor cores per cabinet. To handle heat, the X86-based offering uses redundant fan arrays and dc power supplies.
The C2 supports DDR3 SDRAMs, and Noer said he is also bullish on solid-state storage. Between 2008 and 2013, according to iSuppli Corp., the use of SSDs could allow data centres to reduce power consumption by a combined 166,643 MWh—slightly more than the total megawatt-hours of electricity generated in the nation of Gambia in 2006.
That's good news. But even as the server supply chain finds ways to rein in power, more data centres will be built, turning up the heat.
That has industry jokesters quipping that perhaps Google should look to erect its next data centre on a rig off the coast of Iceland. Or why not the moon?
Pranab hopes to green economy, NGO unimpressed
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee cut customs duty on a key wind turbine component and on bio-diesel while presenting his 2009-10 budget proposals, hoping the move would please environmentalists.But an international NGO said he had done nothing to change the direction o India towards a greener economy
Mukherjee said he would finance the eight national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, but did not specify a number. The missions are still being finalised, and minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh had said last week they would be ready by the end of 2009. The finance minister reduced customs duty on bio-diesel from 7.5% to 2.5%. He also said: "It is imperative that the contribution of new and renewable energy sources of power is enhanced if we have to successfully combat the phenomena of global warming and climate change. I am reducing the basic customs duty on permanent magnets - a critical component for Wind Operated Electricity Generators - from 7.5% to 5%." Responding to this, Raman Mehta of Climate Action Network South Asia - a coalition of green NGOs - said: "This budget could have taken the opportunity to attract green investments, but has not done that. There is no change in the trajectory of economic planning." Mukherjee pointed out that the government had recently set up the National Ganga River Basin Authority and said the "budgetary allocation under national river and lake conservation plans are being increased from Rs.335 crore ($67 million) in 2008-09 to Rs.562 crore ($112 million) in 2009-10". Mehta said the National Ganga River Basin Authority was the much-reviled 1985 Ganga Action Plan by another name, "which had been planned very badly, so there is nothing great about this". The finance minister also gave a special one-time grant of Rs.100 crore to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, and Rs.15 crore each to Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India. An additional amount of Rs.15 crore was allocated for Geological Survey of India. Extending tax benefits to green NGOs, Mukherjee said: "Under the present provisions of section 2 (15) of the Income Tax Act, 'charitable purpose' includes relief of the poor, education, medical relief, and the 'advancement of any other object of general public utility'... "I propose to provide the same tax treatment to trusts engaged in preserving and improving our environment (including watersheds, forests and wildlife) and preserving our monuments or places or objects of artistic or historic interest, as is available to trusts engaged in providing relief of the poor, education and medical relief.
Mukherjee said he would finance the eight national missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year, but did not specify a number. The missions are still being finalised, and minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh had said last week they would be ready by the end of 2009. The finance minister reduced customs duty on bio-diesel from 7.5% to 2.5%. He also said: "It is imperative that the contribution of new and renewable energy sources of power is enhanced if we have to successfully combat the phenomena of global warming and climate change. I am reducing the basic customs duty on permanent magnets - a critical component for Wind Operated Electricity Generators - from 7.5% to 5%." Responding to this, Raman Mehta of Climate Action Network South Asia - a coalition of green NGOs - said: "This budget could have taken the opportunity to attract green investments, but has not done that. There is no change in the trajectory of economic planning." Mukherjee pointed out that the government had recently set up the National Ganga River Basin Authority and said the "budgetary allocation under national river and lake conservation plans are being increased from Rs.335 crore ($67 million) in 2008-09 to Rs.562 crore ($112 million) in 2009-10". Mehta said the National Ganga River Basin Authority was the much-reviled 1985 Ganga Action Plan by another name, "which had been planned very badly, so there is nothing great about this". The finance minister also gave a special one-time grant of Rs.100 crore to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, and Rs.15 crore each to Botanical Survey of India and Zoological Survey of India. An additional amount of Rs.15 crore was allocated for Geological Survey of India. Extending tax benefits to green NGOs, Mukherjee said: "Under the present provisions of section 2 (15) of the Income Tax Act, 'charitable purpose' includes relief of the poor, education, medical relief, and the 'advancement of any other object of general public utility'... "I propose to provide the same tax treatment to trusts engaged in preserving and improving our environment (including watersheds, forests and wildlife) and preserving our monuments or places or objects of artistic or historic interest, as is available to trusts engaged in providing relief of the poor, education and medical relief.
Big polluters want to help poorer countries adapt
The world's industrialized countries are looking to provide ``significant financial resources'' to the developing world to help them combating global warming and will ask a September meeting of the worlds 20 major economies to take up the issue, US President Barack Obama said.
Poor countries have refused to commit to any reduction targets in their carbon emissions without firm pledges of financing from wealthier countries largely responsible for climate change. The dispute has been a thorn in negotiations for a new climate change treaty and scuttled any major breakthrough on targets from emerging at a Group of Eight summit here this week. Obama told a news conference that finance ministers of the G-20 would take up proposals to finance carbon emissions reductions in the developing world at their September summit in Pittsburgh. "We are looking at providing significant financial assistance to help these countries,'' he said, praising the British and Mexican leaders for having come up with ``creative proposals'' for the G20 to consider. Environmentalists said the move could help break a logjam in negotiations over a new climate control pact that is to be finalized in December in Copenhagen. "There was no real new commitment on finance, that is one of the disappointing outcomes of the G-8, but I take the annoucement by Obama of taking it into the G-20 as a recognition that what they've come up with so far isn't enough," said Kim Carstensen of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. Obama spoke at the end of a meeting of the 17-nation Major Economies Forum, which has become the G-8's main forum for climate change. It includes the G-8, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States, as well as China, which has overtaken the US as the world's biggest polluter, and India, which is close behind. Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea and the European Union also are in that club of the world's major polluters.
Poor countries have refused to commit to any reduction targets in their carbon emissions without firm pledges of financing from wealthier countries largely responsible for climate change. The dispute has been a thorn in negotiations for a new climate change treaty and scuttled any major breakthrough on targets from emerging at a Group of Eight summit here this week. Obama told a news conference that finance ministers of the G-20 would take up proposals to finance carbon emissions reductions in the developing world at their September summit in Pittsburgh. "We are looking at providing significant financial assistance to help these countries,'' he said, praising the British and Mexican leaders for having come up with ``creative proposals'' for the G20 to consider. Environmentalists said the move could help break a logjam in negotiations over a new climate control pact that is to be finalized in December in Copenhagen. "There was no real new commitment on finance, that is one of the disappointing outcomes of the G-8, but I take the annoucement by Obama of taking it into the G-20 as a recognition that what they've come up with so far isn't enough," said Kim Carstensen of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature. Obama spoke at the end of a meeting of the 17-nation Major Economies Forum, which has become the G-8's main forum for climate change. It includes the G-8, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States, as well as China, which has overtaken the US as the world's biggest polluter, and India, which is close behind. Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea and the European Union also are in that club of the world's major polluters.
Researchers develop 'green' industrial lubricant
Researchers have developed an eco-friendly
lubricating grease, based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives. The new formula does not include any of the contaminating components of manufacture traditional industrial Lubricants.
The objective of this research was to develop a product that could be used as a lubricating grease but that was made only from natural materials and was 100 percent biodegradable," said José María Franco, chemical engineer at Huelva University (Spain) and member of the project team. Eco-friendly greases are "oleogels" that use cellulose derivatives from plants and ricin oil (from a bush) as a lubricant base. Franco said these new formulations are "an alternative to traditional lubricating greases, which create pollution that is difficult to combat once discharged into the environment", according to a Huelva University release. Existing lubricants are made from synthetic oils or petroleum derivatives, and thickeners made with metallic soaps or polyurea derivatives (a family of synthetic polymers). These are currently the best performers, but they also imply more problems from an environmental perspective. Millions of tonnes of hydraulic and industrial oils, and others from machinery, are discharged each year into rivers, the sea and fields. Mineral-based oils can contaminate groundwater for more than 100 years, and can prevent the
lubricating grease, based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives. The new formula does not include any of the contaminating components of manufacture traditional industrial Lubricants.
The objective of this research was to develop a product that could be used as a lubricating grease but that was made only from natural materials and was 100 percent biodegradable," said José María Franco, chemical engineer at Huelva University (Spain) and member of the project team. Eco-friendly greases are "oleogels" that use cellulose derivatives from plants and ricin oil (from a bush) as a lubricant base. Franco said these new formulations are "an alternative to traditional lubricating greases, which create pollution that is difficult to combat once discharged into the environment", according to a Huelva University release. Existing lubricants are made from synthetic oils or petroleum derivatives, and thickeners made with metallic soaps or polyurea derivatives (a family of synthetic polymers). These are currently the best performers, but they also imply more problems from an environmental perspective. Millions of tonnes of hydraulic and industrial oils, and others from machinery, are discharged each year into rivers, the sea and fields. Mineral-based oils can contaminate groundwater for more than 100 years, and can prevent the
Variation in monsoon not due to climate change: Ramesh
Climate model studies has shown no significant impact on change in the mean onset of monsoon in the country, government said
"The long-term mean onset date of monsoon in India is 1st June, with a standard deviation of about 8 days," Environment minister Jairam Ramesh informed Rajya Sabha. "However, year to year variations in the onset or the propagation are part of the natural variability and cannot be attributed to climate change," he said. He however, added that "the government is aware of the challenges posed by climate change and has taken steps in this regard," Ramesh said the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which was released on 30th June last year outlines steps that will enable the country to adapt to climate change and enhance the ecological sustainability of India's development path. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune is a dedicated centre for climate change research set up to undertake focused research on the science aspects of climate change, the minister added.
"The long-term mean onset date of monsoon in India is 1st June, with a standard deviation of about 8 days," Environment minister Jairam Ramesh informed Rajya Sabha. "However, year to year variations in the onset or the propagation are part of the natural variability and cannot be attributed to climate change," he said. He however, added that "the government is aware of the challenges posed by climate change and has taken steps in this regard," Ramesh said the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) which was released on 30th June last year outlines steps that will enable the country to adapt to climate change and enhance the ecological sustainability of India's development path. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune is a dedicated centre for climate change research set up to undertake focused research on the science aspects of climate change, the minister added.
Japan widens relief for mercury disaster victims
Japan passed a law Wednesday offering financial compensation to tens of thousands more victims of a mercury poisoning disaster in the 1950s
However, victims criticized the new law, which also splits up the company responsible for Japan's worst-ever industrial pollution case, as politicians continued to haggle over the amount of money victims would receive. The new law, which reduces the number of symptoms required for a patient to qualify for relief, is expected to pay an additional 20,000 victims out of an estimated 30,000 seeking compensation, the environment ministry said. The health disaster emerged in the 1950s in the small fishing town of Minamata on Kyushu island where chemical company Chisso Corp had for years dumped methyl mercury into a bay, poisoning fish and residents. Victims suffered spasms, seizures and loss of sensation and motor control that impaired their ability to walk and speak. Babies were born with nervous system damage and other mental and physical deformities. "The Minamata issue was where Japan's pollution and environment problems started," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said. "We have been saying that it's important to solve the problem." But what was intended to lay to rest more than a half a century of grievances and legal battles only further embittered victims, who claimed that the bill serves to bury the company's responsibility. Chisso, which is headquartered in Tokyo and still operates in Minamata, will be split into two entities under the law -- one to oversee the payouts, and another to keep running the company's business operations. The parent company is scheduled to be liquidated once it completes the lump-sum payment for the compensation, which is expected to be gathered through sales of its subsidiary's shares, according to media reports. Hideo Ikoma, 51, who was born suffering from the effects of mercury, said Tokyo's decision to divide the firm was "unforgivable." "Every day has been a struggle between life and death," he said, pronouncing his words with difficulty. "Lawmakers think they can make the Minamata problem disappear by simply switching on their voting buttons. They have no clue what we endure." Ruling and opposition party lawmakers were meanwhile still debating the amount of compensation, with proposals ranging from 1.5 million to three million yen (15,500 to 31,100 dollars). The health problems in Minamata were first reported by a local hospital in 1956 but, although Chisso was immediately suspected, its management denied responsibility and the plant continued dumping mercury until 1968. The company was not officially blamed for the health problems until 1973. A court in 1988 found the then president of Chisso and then director of Chisso Minamata Factory guilty, but handed them suspended jail sentences. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the Japanese government was partly responsible for not stopping the company from continuing to dump the toxic waste into the water. The recent law is the second government act since 1995, when Chisso was ordered to compensate 11,000 patients who had not previously been officially recognized as victims of the Minamata disaster.
However, victims criticized the new law, which also splits up the company responsible for Japan's worst-ever industrial pollution case, as politicians continued to haggle over the amount of money victims would receive. The new law, which reduces the number of symptoms required for a patient to qualify for relief, is expected to pay an additional 20,000 victims out of an estimated 30,000 seeking compensation, the environment ministry said. The health disaster emerged in the 1950s in the small fishing town of Minamata on Kyushu island where chemical company Chisso Corp had for years dumped methyl mercury into a bay, poisoning fish and residents. Victims suffered spasms, seizures and loss of sensation and motor control that impaired their ability to walk and speak. Babies were born with nervous system damage and other mental and physical deformities. "The Minamata issue was where Japan's pollution and environment problems started," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said. "We have been saying that it's important to solve the problem." But what was intended to lay to rest more than a half a century of grievances and legal battles only further embittered victims, who claimed that the bill serves to bury the company's responsibility. Chisso, which is headquartered in Tokyo and still operates in Minamata, will be split into two entities under the law -- one to oversee the payouts, and another to keep running the company's business operations. The parent company is scheduled to be liquidated once it completes the lump-sum payment for the compensation, which is expected to be gathered through sales of its subsidiary's shares, according to media reports. Hideo Ikoma, 51, who was born suffering from the effects of mercury, said Tokyo's decision to divide the firm was "unforgivable." "Every day has been a struggle between life and death," he said, pronouncing his words with difficulty. "Lawmakers think they can make the Minamata problem disappear by simply switching on their voting buttons. They have no clue what we endure." Ruling and opposition party lawmakers were meanwhile still debating the amount of compensation, with proposals ranging from 1.5 million to three million yen (15,500 to 31,100 dollars). The health problems in Minamata were first reported by a local hospital in 1956 but, although Chisso was immediately suspected, its management denied responsibility and the plant continued dumping mercury until 1968. The company was not officially blamed for the health problems until 1973. A court in 1988 found the then president of Chisso and then director of Chisso Minamata Factory guilty, but handed them suspended jail sentences. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the Japanese government was partly responsible for not stopping the company from continuing to dump the toxic waste into the water. The recent law is the second government act since 1995, when Chisso was ordered to compensate 11,000 patients who had not previously been officially recognized as victims of the Minamata disaster.
No tiger found in Panna Tiger Reserve, MP govt admits
The Madhya Pradesh government admitted in the State Assembly that no tiger
was found in the Panna Tiger Reserve during a survey conducted in
This was stated by the Madhya Pradesh minister of state for forest, Rajendra Shukla in a written reply to a calling attention motion on the issue of dwindling tiger population in the state moved by Choudhary Rakesh Singh and others of the Congress. The minister also said that the State government was examining a report submitted by the Special Investigating Team set up by the Centre which said that illegal hunting was also among the reasons for the falling tiger population in Panna. Shukla said that a committee has been set up to look into the matter and suggest ways and means to ensure that such things do not recur. Its report was expected soon, he added. He said that the process for re-establishing tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve had already begun with the translocation of two tigresses and pointed out that permission for translocating four more tigers/tigresses had been sought from the Centre. The Minister said that the State government agreed with the concern expressed by members and pointed out that all efforts would be made for protection of tigers and other forest animals.
was found in the Panna Tiger Reserve during a survey conducted in
This was stated by the Madhya Pradesh minister of state for forest, Rajendra Shukla in a written reply to a calling attention motion on the issue of dwindling tiger population in the state moved by Choudhary Rakesh Singh and others of the Congress. The minister also said that the State government was examining a report submitted by the Special Investigating Team set up by the Centre which said that illegal hunting was also among the reasons for the falling tiger population in Panna. Shukla said that a committee has been set up to look into the matter and suggest ways and means to ensure that such things do not recur. Its report was expected soon, he added. He said that the process for re-establishing tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve had already begun with the translocation of two tigresses and pointed out that permission for translocating four more tigers/tigresses had been sought from the Centre. The Minister said that the State government agreed with the concern expressed by members and pointed out that all efforts would be made for protection of tigers and other forest animals.
Climate News & Views
gets harder to keep on top of the latest climate news as the number of climate related events continues to climb, and more and more organisations are stepping up to provide service. We're working on making things easier for you. For starters, we've set up an automatic news update system for you here, that will regularly update with the latest information. But, not only do we provide the latest climate information - we review it and provide commentary to help you make sense of what you read. We also make it easy for you to contribute news that you've come across concerning climate change as well. And, unlike most news services, we make it easy to provide direct public commentary on news items as well. And to make it even easier for you, we've categorised some of the key topics, so that you can find news updates directly related to popular topics - like climate related technology and research.
Solar News ~ Carbon Trading ~ Sustainability ~ Geothermal
If you have news that you'd like to share, just look below the "Latest News" section and you'll see a news input form that you can use to send us your news information. Just below that you'll see a list on contributions provided by other visitors, as well as key stories that we've chosen to highlight for you. In order to get more details and comment on any of those items, just click on the title.
Solar News ~ Carbon Trading ~ Sustainability ~ Geothermal
If you have news that you'd like to share, just look below the "Latest News" section and you'll see a news input form that you can use to send us your news information. Just below that you'll see a list on contributions provided by other visitors, as well as key stories that we've chosen to highlight for you. In order to get more details and comment on any of those items, just click on the title.
WHERE HAVE THE CLOUDS GON
POOR monsoon may have triggered off cold vibes between the NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s nodal agriculture ministry and earth sciences and technology minister Prithviraj Chavan’s domain. The developments are being seen as mirroring the covert tensions between the coalition partners in the key state, which is set to go to the polls later this year. While the India Meteorological Department(IMD), which updates the press on the progress of the rains — seminal to India’s economic growth and food security — is part of the latter, it is the former that has to bear the brunt, in consonance with state governments, of the ground-level work to minimise the adverse impact of a poor monsoon on agricultural output. That mismatch, infact, appears to be crux of the problem, with the farm ministry disapproving the latter’s decision to “rush” to update the media on the poor progress of the monsoons in end June. The second stage of monsoon forecasts, infact, confirmed what was becoming increasing apparent countrywide but was as yet to be acknowledged by the government: rainfall for the 2009 south-west monsoon season (June to September was likely to be “below normal” and not “near normal” at 96% of the Long Period Average (89 cms) as forecast in the first stage on April 17. Ironically, the second stage of monsoon forecasts have been made in end June ever since the two stage forecasts began in 2003. From 1988 to 2002, the IMD used the 16-parameter power regression and parametric models developed by noted scientist Vasant Gowariker, who hails from Maharashtra. However, the model failed to forecast the marked failure of the rains in 2002 as a result of which the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate dipped from 5.8% in the previous year to 4%. Agriculture output fell by 8%. Following that, the IMD adopted (in 2003) a two-stage long-range forecast strategy, of eight and 10 parameters, respectively. The first forecast for the SW monsoon was issued in April, using the eight-group parameter power regression and probabilistic models. An updated forecast is issued by the end of June, using the 10-parameter models. Interestingly, however, while the first stage forecast was announced at a jam packed press conference each year, the second stage forecast was issued as a press statement, comparatively quietly, a strategy that worked well for the government especially if there was a negative mismatch between the first stage and the second stage forecasts. What appears to have irked the farm ministry intensely is that this year, the earth sciences ministry announced the bleak second stage forecast — which would impact the country’s GDP negatively — at a jam packed press conference, heightening the “adverse publicity” from the media. The farm minister’s perception, sources hold, was that with that one move, the earth sciences ministry turned strobe lights on Mr Pawar and his ministry at an eminently awkward moment, even while heightening panic over a possible countrywide drought. That came to a head on Thursday when Mr Pawar was finally forced to admit to Rajya Sabha that there was indeed a bad monsoon situation in many parts of the country. But, he stressed, he was still “hopeful,” a deliberate pointer to the ministry’s continued insistence that the IMD’s July and August rainfall forecast would turnaround the bad monsoon story. Indeed, it was the farm minister who, in his very first press conference after he took office this time (and long before the negative second stage monsoon forecast), firmly announced his decision to not allow foodgrain exports until the new rice season began in September and stock-taking had been done. The commendably sober (in retrospect) decision came despite a massive 50 million tonnes in procurement that forced the FCI and state agencies to stock twice their storage capacity. Congress sources, though, dubbed the charge against the earth sciences ministry as “baseless”. “The second stage IMD forecast has been issued in end June since 2003. Unlike other years, a media conference could not be held at the time of the first stage forecast since the Election Commission’s model code of conduct had already gone into operation, so one was held at the second conference.” Another simmering quarrel appears to be the jurisdiction under which the IMD falls. Prior to 2006, the IMD was perceived as an adjunct of the farm ministry, making coordination that much easier at the highly sensitive (both for the country and the ruling government) monsoon forecast time. However, it was in 2006 during the earlier stint of Sharad Pawar as agriculture and food minister that the Congress-led government struck to undermine his powerful standing by reorganising the ministry of ocean development into ministry of earth sciences, the new parent ministry for the IMD. With advocate and flamboyant Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal in the saddle, the annual two stage monsoon forecast exercise was then firmly plucked out of its embrace with the farm ministry and transformed into a highly orchestrated and stylised affair compared to earlier, anchored by no less than the minister himself. IMD officials were consequently instructed to “not to speak out of turn” to the press, a tradition that has come to stay. The manoeuvres by the Congress leadership could not have gone unnoticed by the Maharashtra strongman. He took an arched dig in Parliament earlier this week, even as apprehensions mounted over a poor monsoon impact on the country’s growth, at finance minister Pranab Mukherjee refusal to acquiesce to key pre-Budget by his ministry for the development of the primary sector. Boosting investment exponentially and according sufficient incentives to the private sector to attract investment into the weak sector were some of these. Big ticket investment was imperative to the sector, he told Parliament. Officially, his officials point to some Rs 80,000 crore allocation announced in the Budget for programmes that will impact agriculture, including NREGA, RKVY, PMGSY and the Indira Awaas Yojana, mostly core programmes directly monitored by the Centre. But it clearly rankles that key issues on the anvil, including a 5% interest subvention on short term loans (only a 1% subvention was announced) and a regular mechanism for debt rescheduling, were summarily dismissed. Worst cut of all, the long pending Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme, so crucial as risk protection for farmers at times of failed or poor monsoons also failed to show up in the Budget, of which much was expected. Ironically, one of the demands made by the farm ministry was also something poor monsoons demand loudly: that larger rainfed tracts of cultivated land to come under sprinkler and other micro irrigation. With this in mind, the farm ministry had asked for duty concessions on imports and excise cuts for small agri implements. Little wonder then, that Mr Pawar archedly put the blame on finance minister Pranab Mukherjee this week in Parliament when he was asked about the plight of Vidarbha’s farmers. Determinedly putting the onus on the FM, he replied: “The Finance Minister has announced in the Union Budget that he will set up the task force on protecting such farmers (who have taken loan from private money lenders). Once this task force is set up, I will be able to give a satisfactory reply.”
VEDAS AND ENVIRONMENT
Human beings are never alone as a species in the Universe. They are also inter-connected with the Earth, Sun, Moon and other planets orbiting in their appointed domains. In the ultimate reality, nothing remains unconnected in the cosmos. Aligning one’s consciousness in line with the principles of natural law, he can march towards perfection and maximise his efficiency as well as effectiveness. Maintenance of natural order and pristine ecological balance is the sine qua non for ensuring human well-being.The Vedas specify four types of living beings, namely, andaja (born of eggs), jivaja (born of womb), svedaja (born of moisture) and udbhija (born of earth) and declare that these are impelled by Prajnanam (consciousness) .The Vedas deal exhaustively with the splendors of the cosmos in a wholesome manner. They unravel the mysteries of the vast and unexplored forests.The Vedas present picturesque, spectacular and diversified range of fauna and flora. They urge the human beings to protect, preserve, nurture and nourish the environment and natural habitation in its pristine glorious form.1.1 Environment managementThe Vedas attach great importance to environmental protection and purity. They insist on safeguarding the habitation, proper afforestation and non-pollution.For the welfare of all the humans and other beings, the Vedas seek a sweet and pleasant environment consisting of sweet breeze, sweet flowing rivers, sweet and beneficial herbs, sweet day and night, sweetness of earth particles, sweet fruit bearing trees, sweet and beneficial Sun and sweet bearing cows.1.1.1 HabitationThe Vedas insist that one shall protect the habitation.One should protect the habitation.There should be a fair and spacious habitation.Waters as friends of man give full protection to man's progenies.1.1.2 AfforestationThe Vedas stress the need for protection and development of forests. Human beings have to safeguard the trees. The Vedas assert that the plants and trees are verily the treasures for generations.1.1.2a Vedic quotes on afforestation1. One shall not destroy the trees.2. One shall delight in plants and waters.3. Plants are mothers and deities.4. Trees are homes and mansions.5. Gods delight themselves in plants and waters.6. Let plants be friendly to us.7. Speech is the voice of the trees, the voice that is heard in the drum, the lute and the flute.8. Trees are connected with Visnu.9. Plants and waters are treasures for generations.1.1.3 Non-PollutionThe Vedas give the clarion call for non-pollution of the environment. They condemn in unequivocal terms those who pollute and defile the environment. Waters are invoked to be friendly to humanity.1.1.3a Vedic quotes on Water1. This Universe was only water in the beginning.2. Waters and herbs should have no poison.3. Waters are to be freed from defilement.4. Waters cleanse humanity from the evil of pollution committed by it.5. Waters have satisfying savour of the honey-mixed with splendor.6. Waters bear off all defilements and cleanse people.7. Waters and plants shall be friendly to people.Vedas contain reference to a wide variety of animals and urge humanity to safeguard their well-being. Protection of animal welfare is considered important for proper human welfare. Three-fold divisions of animals are seen in the Vedas in terms of those of the air (vayavya), those of the jungle (aranya) and those of village (gramya).1.2a Vedic quotes on animals1. Let the animals of the earth and heaven, wild beasts of the forest and winged birds protect humanity from calamity.2. So many are animals, bipeds and quadrupeds.3. Prayers are offered for the welfare of animals and men.4. As haya (steed) it carries the gods, as arvan (courser) the asuras, as vajin (racer) the gandharvas and as asva (horse) the men.5. Homage is paid to the serpents on the earth, in the atmosphere in the sky, among the trees and in the wells and waters.6. Happiness is sought for quadrupeds.7. All bipeds and quadrupeds shall be free from disease.8. One shall not find fault with the animals.9. One shall increase the cattle wealth.1.3 Plant lifeThe Vedas call upon the human beings to safeguard and nourish plants and trees. The Vedas mention about plants and trees.1.3a Vedic quotes on Plant lifeThe Vedas hail the trees, the roots, the panicles, the corona, the branches, the leaves, the flowers and the fruits.Let plant and creepers grow upwards.One shall not damage the roots of the plant.Herbs have remedial powers.May fruit-bearing plants ripen.1.4 Panca bhutaThe Vedas specify the cosmic Panca bhutas ( five elements). These are akasah (space), vayuh (air), Agnih (fire), apah ( water) and Prithivi (earth).Earth, air, space, water and fire are the five great elements.The link between the Panca bhutas and men is clearly established by the following Vedic expression.From space, air.From air, fire.From fire, water.From water, earth .From earth, the herbs.From herbs, food.From food, man.1.4.1 SpaceThat which accommodates is space.Vedic quotes on Space1. Akasa is the body of the Brahman.2. This space is honey to all beings and all beings are honey to this space.1.4.2 AirThe Vedas declare that air is sweet and pleasant . It has healing powers.Vedic quotes on Air1. This air is honey to all beings and all beings are honey to this air.2. May wind blow pleasantly for us .3. Wind blows healing balm, blows all disease away.1.4.3 FireThe Vedas eulogise Agni (fire) in the form of an important cosmic force. Fire is considered to be the bestower of wealth. It is only through fire that all the oblations to the deities and forefathers are offered.Vedic quotes on Fire1. This fire is honey to all beings and all beings are honey to this fire.2. Agni is worshipped for increase in wealth and riches.3. Riches, heroes, food, progeny and longevity are sought from Agni.4. Agni is worshipped for bliss.5. Agni slays the foes.6. Agni purifies one and drives ill-fortune far away.7. One shall be victorious through the victory of Agni.8. Agni is the Brahman.1.4.4 WaterThe Vedas declare that all that is seen is water and that they are the nectar conferring happiness to all. With a social objective, they emphasise that the waters are common resources to be used by all. Water is the essence of food.Vedic quotes on water1. This water is honey to all beings and all beings are honey to this water.2. Water is mother.3. The divine water full of sweetness averts the diseases of men.4. Waters are the nectar.5. Waters are propitiated for being friendly.6. Waters are healing.7. Waters are verily bliss-conferring.8. Verily all this is water; All the created beings are waters; The vital breaths are waters; The quadrupeds are waters; Edible crops are waters; Ambrosia is water; The creator is water ; Man is water; Metres are waters; Vedic formulas are waters; Truth is water; All the desires are waters; Three worlds earth, sky and heaven are waters; Plants are waters.9. Water when drunk gets divided into three parts; The grossest ingredient is urine; The middling is blood; the subtlest is Prana.1.4.5 EarthThe Vedas glorify the earth as one’s mother and advise one not to cause injury to the earth. They proclaim that earth is the bestower of happiness, sustainer and supporter of all forms of life.Vedic quotes on Earth1. The Earth is the mother.2. The Earth makes one sharpened and brilliant3. The Earth is adorned with variegated things.4. The Earth is the giver of happiness, the sustainer of life and the supporter of all living beings5. This earth is honey to all beings and all beings are honey to this earth.6. One has to sustain the earth and injure not it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)