Conservation | News & Views

Warming ‘destabilises aquatic ecosystems’

Future warming could have “profound implications” for the stability of freshwater ecosystems, a study warns.

Researchers said warmer water affected the distribution and size of plankton – tiny organisms that form the basis of food chains in aquatic systems.

The team warmed plankton-containing vessels by 4C (7F) – the temperature by which some of the world’s rivers and lakes could warm over the next century.

The findings appear in the journal Global Change Biology.

“Our study provides almost the first direct experimental evidence that – in the short-term – if a [freshwater] ecosystem warms up, it has profound implications for the size structure of plankton communities,” said lead author Gabriel Yvon-Durocher from Queen Mary, University of London.

“Essentially, what we observed within the phytoplankton (microscopic plants) community was that it switched from a system that was dominated by larger autotrophs (plants that photosynthesise) to a system that was dominated by smaller autotrophs with a lower standing biomass.”

Dr Yvon-Durocher added that a greater abundance, but lower overall biomass, of smaller phytoplankton had “very important implications for the stability of plankton food webs”.

“This meant that the distribution of biomass between plants and animals changed from a… situation where you had a large amount of plants and a smaller amount of animal consumers to an ‘inverted pyramid’ where you have a smaller quantity of plant biomass and a larger amount of animal biomass,” he told BBC News.

“Systems that tend to have larger consumer biomass relative to the resource biomass tend to be less stable over time.”

>>> Please read the full article here

Brits ‘not focussing on smarter driving techniques’

Drivers are focussing on buying more economical cars rather than learning more fuel-efficient driving techniques.

Nigel Underdown, Energy Saving Trust’s head of transport advice, explained that many motorists are yet to understand “how big an impact their driving style has on the final outcome”.

“Smarter driving relies primarily on better anticipation – reading the road and traffic conditions to avoid harsh acceleration and harsh braking,” he explained.

Maintaining a steady speed and changing to a higher gear at low revs was also said to be important. Mr Underdown explained that on average adopting this style could help drivers improve by as much as 15 per cent.

The Energy Saving Trust is currently holding its national energy saving week, with each day focussing on a different aspect of conserving power.

Tuesday October 26th will educate members of the public about insulation, followed by a day dedicated to generating energy and one dealing with energy saving products, before attention turns to energy-efficient transport on Friday October 29th.

>>> Please read the full article here

Show world leaders how you see climate change

Amateur filmmakers from around the globe are encouraged to participate in the “1 minute to save the world” competition which closes in two months. The winning entry will be screened at COP16 in Mexico.

The international film competition is open to all ages and is free to enter; budding filmmakers must submit a short film (roughly one minute in length) about climate change. The films will be judged by professionals in the film and environmental industries, including Ben Kott of Google Europe Environmental Operations. The deadline for entries is December 17; entries from filmmakers under 18 in the Best Youth Film category must be submitted by November 12.

As well as winning a variety of electronic and cash prizes, the winning movie in the Best Youth Film category will be screened in front of world leaders at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, which runs November 29 – December 10 (http://www.cc2010.mx/en/).

Last year’s winning entry was titled My Paper Boat and was made by Arun Bose from India; the short film depicts a young boy searching an arid desert for somewhere to play with his paper boat.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also launched its second video competition to promote awareness of climate change. This year’s competition is called My View H20 and requires entrants to make a short film about water; the competition is open to all of ADB’s 67 member countries and closes to entrants on January 31, 2011.

For more details about how to enter 1 minute to save the world see: http://www.1minutetosavetheworld.com/awards/

Watch last year’s 1 minute to save the world winning entry at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gasMl5DdhkA

For more information about My View H2O see: http://www.adb.org/MyView/2010/

>>> Please read the full article here

UK’s largest smart grid project unveiled

Homes and businesses in the north-east and Yorkshire are to benefit from the largest smart grid project ever to take place in the UK.

Some 14,000 homes are due to take part in the £54 million project, which will aim to assess the impact of electric cars, solar panels and other low carbon technologies on the electricity grid.   All homes taking part in the study will install smart meters, while 1,500 will use air or ground source heat pumps, 800 will install solar PV panels and 150 will drive electric cars.

The findings will then be applied to the whole of the UK using data from 160,000 smart meters. Solutions will then be trialled to see how the capabilities of the grid can be improved.  Durham, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield are among the major cities participating in the project, which is being supported by CE Electric, British Gas, Durham Energy Institute and EA Technology.

Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas, said: “It is vital that Britain makes the transition to a low carbon economy – and no single company has all the answers.”  Figures released from Ofgem recently, in relation to the Feed-in Tariffs, revealed that solar panels account for 97 percent of installations under the scheme

>>> Please read the full article here

World Green Building Week outlines the social benefits

Ahead of World Green Building Week the World Green Building Council stresses the social and environmental benefits of green architecture.

On the first day of Green Building Week, which runs September 20-26, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) will be releasing a special report entitled “Tackling Global Climate Change- Meeting Local Priorities.”

The report focuses on how green buildings provide not just environmental benefits but also how they help meet social and economic priorities in different countries. The report will be free to download from the WorldGBC website from September 20.

According to researchers at Michigan State University, one of the social benefits of green buildings is that they improve worker productivity – employees working in an environmentally friendly environment take less sick days.

Throughout World Green Building Week, a series of galas, festivals, lectures and business meetings will be taking place around the world in order to raise the profile of environmentally friendly architecture.

On October 10, Global Work Party Day aims to stress the importance of cutting carbon emissions and encourages people to undertake activities such as fixing bicycles, or installing solar panels.

>>> Please read the full article here

UK is ‘laughing stock of Europe’ for climate initiatives

The UK is the “laughing stock of Europe” in terms of eco-incentives and climate initiatives, according one microgeneration expert.

Commenting on the government’s recent announcement about the Green Deal, Andrew Moore, founder of British Eco, said that the initiative must form “part of the bigger picture”. Some 26 million households are expected to benefit from the Green Deal, which allows people to make energy-efficient improvements to their properties without the upfront cost, over the next 20 years.

The programme is intended to reduce both carbon emissions and energy bills, and, according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, it will also help to support 250,000 UK jobs. Mr Moore said: “On climate issues, we are the laughing stock of Europe really, and we need to get going with it.”

However, he added that the Renewable Heat Incentive, which would reward homeowners for generating green thermal energy from technology such as solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps, could “revolutionise the market”.

>>> Please read the full article here

Should we be looking beyond electricity in green car design?

Over the last few years, car manufacturers have been working away to create a viable alternative to a petrol-fuelled vehicle. The solution seemed to be the electric car.

Peugeot has recently announced that its electric car, the i0n, is due to go on sale in the UK by the end of the year. Nissan has created the concept car the Leaf, while Renault has been working on the futuristic Twizy concept car, which will soon be entering the virtual world of The Sims.

But behind the scenes researchers in Israel have been working on making hydrogen a viable competitor as an alternative to petrol.

Previous problems identified with hydrogen have been its flammable nature and the difficulty in storing the gas within a vehicle, as it requires large, heavy tanks.

The Israeli scientists believe that they have overcome one of these problems by creating much smaller and lightweight storage containers.

The gas would be stored in a series of very small glass tubes. Almost 400 of these tubes would then be bundled together to create an “array”, which is about the size of a drinking straw. Finally, 11,000 of these arrays would be place in the vehicle.

This would take up half the space and weigh half as much as other storage methods, yet still power the vehicle for 240 miles.

So does this mean that manufacturers will all start scrambling to create hydrogen powered cars? The answer is probably not.

Electric cars still have the upper hand when it comes to refuelling, as there is already a national grid established, meaning large amounts will not have to be laid out to create a charging infrastructure.

In addition, car makers will be looking at their profits and will be unwilling to dispose of all the equipment they invested in to produce electric cars before seeing a return.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also often used in electric vehicles to charge batteries and extend the distance they can travel without having to stop. The new research will mean that the two could be able to operate better hand in hand.

Car manufacturers will continue to look at the bottom line, and green enthusiasts will continue to look at the carbon footprint various fuels, but should they also be keeping one eye on hydrogen technology in the coming years?

>>> Please read the full article here

Japanese whale meat ‘being sold in US and Korea’

Scientists say they have found clear proof that meat from whales captured under Japan’s whaling programme is being sold in US and Korean eateries.

The researchers say they used genetic fingerprinting to identify meat taken from a Los Angeles restaurant as coming from a sei whale sold in Japan.

They say the discovery proves that an illegal trade in protected species still exists.

Whale meat was also allegedly found at an unnamed Seoul sushi restaurant.

Commercial whaling has been frozen by an international moratorium since 1986.

But a controversial exemption allows Japan to kill several hundred whales each year for what is termed scientific research.

The meat from these whales is then sold to the public in shops and restaurants in that country.

Criminal proceedings

A team of scientists, film-makers and environmental advocates say they collected samples of whale meat being sold in sushi restaurants in both the US and South Korea late last year.

A genetic analysis of meat found in Los Angeles showed that it was identical to meat from a sei whale being sold in Japan in 2007. This species is said by environmentalists to be in danger of extinction.

Criminal proceedings have started against the Los Angeles restaurant caught selling the whale meat.

It has now closed but its chef and owners face heavy penalties.

Writing in the Royal Society journal, Biology Letters, the researchers involved say that trading in this meat is banned between countries that have signed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The researchers also visited an unnamed restaurant in the South Korean capital Seoul where they say they purchased 13 whale products on two occasions in June and September 2009.

Four came from an Antarctic minke whale, four from a sei whale, three from a North Pacific minke, one from a fin whale and one was from a Risso’s dolphin, the researchers say.

The DNA profile of the fin whale meat genetically matched meat that had been bought in Japanese markets in 2007, they report.

They argue that Japan should be required to make public a register of the DNA of all the whales it catches so that illegally traded meat can be tracked.

>>> Please read the full article here

UK water use ‘worsening global crisis’

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

The amount of water used to produce food and goods imported by developed countries is worsening water shortages in the developing world, a report says.

The report, focusing on the UK, says two-thirds of the water used to make UK imports is used outside its borders.

The Engineering the Future alliance of professional engineering bodies says this is unsustainable, given population growth and climate change.

It says countries such as the UK must help poorer nations curb water use.

“We must take account of how our water footprint is impacting on the rest of the world,” said Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University and a member of the report’s steering committee.

If the water crisis becomes critical, it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development
Professor Peter Guthrie

“If we are to prevent the ‘perfect storm’, urgent action is necessary.”

The term perfect storm was used last year by the UK government’s chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, to describe future shortages of energy, food and water.

Forecasts suggest that when the world’s population soars beyond 8bn in 20 years time, the global demand for food and energy will jump by 50%, with the need for fresh water rising by 30%.

But developing countries are already using significant proportions of their water to grow food and produce goods for consumption in the West, the report says.

“The burgeoning demand from developed countries is putting severe pressure on areas that are already short of water,” said Professor Peter Guthrie, head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, who chaired the steering group.

“If the water crisis becomes critical, it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development because of the impact it would have on our access to vital resources.”

Key to the report is the concept of “embedded water” – the water used to grow food and make things.

Embedded in a pint of beer, for example, is about 130 pints (74 litres) of water – the total amount needed to grow the ingredients and run all the processes that make the pint of beer.

A cup of coffee embeds about 140 litres (246 pints) of water, a cotton T-shirt about 2,000 litres, and a kilogram of steak 15,000 litres.

Using this methodology, UK consumers see only about 3% of the water usage they are responsible for.

The average UK consumer uses about 150 litres per day, the size of a large bath.

Ten times as much is embedded in the British-made goods bought by the average UK consumer; but that represents only about one-third of the total water embedded in all the average consumer’s food and goods, with the remainder coming from imports.

The UK is not unique in this – the same pattern is seen in most developed countries.

The engineering institutions say it means nations such as the UK have a duty to help curb water use in the developing world, where about one billion people already do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water.

UK-funded aid projects should have water conservation as a central tenet, the report recommends, while companies should examine their supply chains and reduce the water used in them.

This could lead to difficult questions being asked, such as whether it is right for the UK to import beans and flowers from water-stressed countries such as Kenya.

While growing crops such as these uses water, selling them brings foreign exchange into poor nations.

In the West, the report suggests, concerns over water could eventually lead to goods carrying a label denoting their embedded water content, in the same way as electrical goods now sport information about their energy consumption.

The Engineering the Future alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

>>> Please read the full article here

Japanese whale meat ‘being sold in US and Korea’

Scientists say they have found clear proof that meat from whales captured under Japan’s whaling programme is being sold in US and Korean eateries.

The researchers say they used genetic fingerprinting to identify meat taken from a Los Angeles restaurant as coming from a sei whale sold in Japan.

They say the discovery proves that an illegal trade in protected species still exists.

Whale meat was also allegedly found at an unnamed Seoul sushi restaurant.

Commercial whaling has been frozen by an international moratorium since 1986.

But a controversial exemption allows Japan to kill several hundred whales each year for what is termed scientific research.

The meat from these whales is then sold to the public in shops and restaurants in that country.

Criminal proceedings

A team of scientists, film-makers and environmental advocates say they collected samples of whale meat being sold in sushi restaurants in both the US and South Korea late last year.

Criminal proceedings have started against the Los Angeles restaurant caught selling the whale meat.

It has now closed but its chef and owners face heavy penalties.

The researchers also visited an unnamed restaurant in the South Korean capital Seoul where they say they purchased 13 whale products on two occasions in June and September 2009.

Four came from an Antarctic minke whale, four from a sei whale, three from a North Pacific minke, one from a fin whale and one was from a Risso’s dolphin, the researchers say.

The DNA profile of the fin whale meat genetically matched meat that had been bought in Japanese markets in 2007, they report.

They argue that Japan should be required to make public a register of the DNA of all the whales it catches so that illegally traded meat can be tracked.

>>> Please read the full article here