Shell Recycling Adverts "Misleading" - Watchdog

Andrew Hough, PlanetArk 8 Nov 07;

LONDON - An advertisement by Royal Dutch Shell Plc promoting its waste recycling record broke British advertising rules, the industry's watchdog ruled on Wednesday.

The oil company's charges that carbon dioxide (CO2) was used to grow flowers and waste sulphur was an ingredient in super-strong concrete were found to be "misleading", the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.

The offending advert included a picture of an oil refinery, with chimneys producing flowers and a headline that read "Don't throw anything away -- there is no away".

"What we can do is find creative ways to recycle," the advertisement said. "We use our waste CO2 to grow flowers, and our waste sulphur to make super-strong concrete."

The Friends of the Earth environmental campaign group complained to the ASA, arguing the claims misrepresented the facts and saying just 0.325 per cent of the company's carbon emissions were used to grow flowers.

Shell disputed this, estimating that 320,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide was due to be supplied to greenhouse growers this year.

"We believe that the ... advertisement (was) a creative and striking way of drawing attention to the problem of waste disposal," a Shell spokeswoman said in a statement.

In its ruling, the ASA upheld two of the three complaints, saying the advertisement breached "truthfulness" and "environmental claims".

The ASA said in the "absence of qualification", it found the claims were "most likely to be misleading".

Shell withdrew the advertisement in June and assured the ASA it would not be used again.

"Companies making false green claims do nothing but make the situation worse as they try to pull the wool over people's eyes," said Hannah Griffiths, of Friends of the Earth.

Read more!

Rising Seas Could Threaten Drinking Water Supplies

Andrea Thompson, LiveScience.com, Yahoo News 7 Nov 07;


As Earth’s rising temperature causes sea levels to rise, coastal communities have more to worry about than disappearing beaches—they could lose up to 50 percent more of their fresh water supplies than previously thought, a new study suggests.

Scientists had previously assumed that as the ocean's salty waters gradually invaded the shore, they would penetrate underground only as far as they did above ground.

But new simulations of the sea level rise predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—23 inches in the next 100 years—show that saltwater can mix with fresh groundwater, turning aquifers into undrinkable zones of brackish water.

"Most people are probably aware of the damage that rising sea levels can do above ground, but not underground, which is where the fresh water is," said study leader Motomu Ibaraki of Ohio State University.

The results of the study were presented on Oct. 30 at the Geological Society of America annual meeting.

Sand texture

Just how far the saltwater will penetrate underground depends on the texture of sand found along a coastline—fine sands are more tightly packed, and so allow less water through than coarser sands.

Coastlines typically have layers of different types of sands, and the simulations run by the hydrologists showed that the more layers present, the more the saltwater and fresh water mix together. This mixing creates convection that stirs the two types of water into a brackish mixture with salt levels that are too high to drink.

Water that has more than 250 milligrams of salt per liter, which brackish water would have, is considered unsafe to drink because it causes dehydration.

According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, about half of the country depends on groundwater supplies for drinking water, and these sources would be endangered as sea levels crept inland.

While desalinating the brackish water would create more freshwater, it's still a very expensive process, Ibaraki said.

"To desalinate, we need energy, so our water problem would become an energy problem in the future," he said.

Areas at risk

The areas of the United States most likely to be flooded as sea levels rise are along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, especially low-lying Florida and Louisiana. (The West Coast is less vulnerable to sea level rise because it has more high ground along its coast.)

Worldwide, vulnerable areas include Southeast Asia, the Middle East and northern Europe.

"Almost 40 percent of the world population lives in coastal areas, less than 60 kilometers from the shoreline," said study team member Jun Mizuno, an Ohio State graduate student. "These regions may face loss of freshwater resources more than we originally thought."

Read more!

Equatorial Guinea bans hunting and eating monkeys

Yahoo News 8 Nov 07;

Hunting, eating or keeping monkeys in Equatorial Guinea are forbidden as the government is taking pains to prevent the primates from becoming extinct, official media reported Wednesday.

This enforcement measure will also "protect families" and guarantee human health, as "monkeys and other primates carry viruses and dangerous" diseases, according to a decree signed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema that was broadcast on national radio and television.

Lawbreakers will be subject to fines between 100,000 and 500,000 FCFA (150 and 750 euros, 220 and 1,000 dollars).

In Equatorial Guinea, like in the rest of Africa, primates are threatened with extinction by hunters because their meat is prized and also used to cure people.

Read more!

IEA World Energy Outlook: World to Stay Hooked on Fossil Fuels

Barbara Lewis, PlanetArk 8 Nov 07
World to Stay Hooked on Fossil Fuels - IEA;

LONDON - The world will stay hooked on fossil fuels up to 2030, although oil's share of global energy demand will fall slightly, while coal use rises, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

In its annual World Energy Outlook, the IEA predicted fossil fuels would account for 84 percent of the overall increase in energy demand between 2005 and 2030 when consumption will reach 17.7 billion tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), up from 11.4 billion toe in 2005.

Oil will remain the single largest source of fuel, but its share in primary global demand will fall from 35 percent to 32 percent.

Continuing the spectacular growth of the past few years, coal sees the biggest increase in demand in absolute terms, jumping by 73 percent between 2005 and 2030 and pushing its share of total energy demand up from 25 percent to 28 percent.

China and India will be responsible for much of this rise.

The share of natural gas, a much less polluting fuel than coal, rises more modestly from 21 to 22 percent and nuclear generation, which does not produce any emissions of carbon dioxide, is expected to shrink from 6 percent of the mix to 5 percent.

Hydro electricity holds steady at 2 percent, biomass and waste declines from 10 percent of the energy mix to 9 percent and other renewables creep up to 2 percent from 1 percent.

Primary energy demand is demand for energy as a raw material to produce heat, refined oil products or electricity.

For electricity generation, coal remains the main source, with its share of total generation rising from 40 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2030.

Oil-fired generation eases from 7 percent of electricity production to 3 percent, while gas generation rises from 20 percent to 23 percent.

Nuclear electricity accounts for 9 percent of power generation by 2030, down from 15 percent in 2005, and hydro-electric power decreases its share from 16 percent to 14 percent.

Biomass and waste should account for 2 percent of power generation by 2030, up from 1 percent in 2005, and the share of wind and other renewables rises to 4 percent of power generation, also from 1 percent, the IEA said.

PlanetArk 8 Nov 07
China, India Growth Force Climate Change Action - IEA
Gerard Wynn

LONDON - The International Energy Agency on Wednesday painted a grim picture of a tough and urgent global challenge to avoid the "alarming" climate change implications of soaring energy demand in China and India.

The report suggested that restricting global climate change within safe limits, as defined by the European Union, may be out of reach, at least at an affordable price.

The IEA's influential World Energy Outlook was published less than a month before nearly 200 countries meet in Bali, Indonesia, to try to launch two-year talks on a new, global deal to fight climate change.

"There has so far been more talk than action in most countries," the IEA said.

"The consequences for China, India, the OECD (industrialised nations) and the rest of the world of unfettered growth in global energy demand are, however, alarming."

The answers to spiralling energy demand and carbon emissions included energy efficiency and a switch to low carbon alternatives to fossil fuels such as renewable energy.

The IEA, energy adviser to 26 industrialised nations, said global carbon emissions would rise by 57 percent by 2030 on current trends, and was consistent with a long-term global temperature increase of 5-6 degrees centigrade, using recent UN estimates.

Even if governments implemented all climate-friendly policies under consideration carbon emissions would still rise by more than a quarter by 2030, implying a 3 degrees temperature hike.

Under such policies renewable energy would supply 17 percent of all energy needs by 2030, but still much less than coal.

Cutting carbon emissions below current levels, and keep climate change within EU-defined safety limits, would require "unprecedented" political action.

"Exceptionally strong and immediate policy action would be essential for this to happen and the associated costs would be very high," the IEA said.

Some fossil fuel power plants would have to be retired early at a cost of US$1 trillion, and electricity prices would be much higher, it said.


CHINA, INDIA

"Staggering" economic growth helping curb poverty in Asia's economic tigers, and especially China and India, was most to blame for the expected surge in carbon emissions.

China alone was responsible for 58 percent of the increase in carbon emissions worldwide from 2000-2006.

Its contribution to global carbon emissions by 2030 would rise to more than a quarter from a fifth now, but per capita would still be less than half the United States'.

The IEA called for a "global response" to find energy solutions to make Asia's economic growth more sustainable.

It confirmed a Reuters report earlier this year that China was on track to overtake the United States as the world's biggest carbon emitter in 2007. It forecast India would overhaul Russia and become the world's number three emitter by 2015. On current trends China would add by 2030 more power plants than are installed now in the United States, driving a bigger jump in the use of coal -- the highest-carbon fossil fuel -- than any other source of energy globally. The threat of diminished global energy security, as fewer countries tightened their grip on the world's oil supplies, could help the climate change fight.

"Many of the policies available to alleviate energy insecurity can also help to mitigate local pollution and climate change, and vice-versa," it said.

(Reporting by Gerard Wynn, Editing by William Hardy),

Yahoo News 7 Nov 07
Global-warming gases set to rise by 57 percent by 2030

Emissions of greenhouse gases will rise by 57 percent by 2030 compared to current levels, which will increase the Earth's surface temperature by at least three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

In its annual report on global energy needs, the Paris-based agency projected greenhouse-gas pollution would rise by 1.8 percent annually by 2030 on the basis of projected energy use and current efforts to mitigate emissions.

The IEA saw little chance of reducing this pollution to a stable, safer level any time soon.

It also poured cold water on a scenario outlined earlier this year by the United Nations' main authority on global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC said that in order to limit the average increase in global temperatures to 2.4 C (4.3 F) -- the most optimistic of any scenario -- the concentration of greenhouse gases would have to stabilise at 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

To achieve this goal, CO2 emissions would have to peak by 2015 at the latest, then fall by between 50 and 85 percent by 2050, the panel.

But the IEA's World Energy Outlook report saw no peak in emissions before 2020.

To achieve the 450ppm target would mean that CO2 from energy sources would have to peak by 2012, which in turn would require a massive drive in energy efficiency and a switch to non-fossil fuels, the report said.

"Emissions savings (would have to) come from improved efficiency in fossil-fuel use in industry, buildings and transport, switching to nuclear power and renewables, and the widespread deployment of CO2 capture and storage in power generation and industry," the IEA said.

"Exceptionally quick and vigorous action by all countries and unprecedented technological advances, entailing, substantial costs, would be needed to make this case a reality."

Under the IEA's most optimistic scenario -- which takes into account measures currently in the planning stage for tackling emissions -- greenhouse-gas pollution would rise by one percent per year, rather than 1.8 percent on present trends.

Emissions would decline steadily beyond 2030, translating into an eventual rise in temperatures of "about" three C (5.4 F), IEA analyst Trevor Morgan said.

In contrast, under the IEA's most pessimistic scenario, warming could reach six C (10.8 F) if China and India continue their strong growth relentlessly, using coal as a principal energy source.

By 2030, the biggest polluters would be China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan, the IEA said.

In a massive report issued this year, the IPCC said that since 1900, the mean global atmospheric temperature had risen by 0.8 C (1.44 F) and levels of CO2, which account for about three-quarters of greenhouse-gas output, are now at their highest in 650,000 years.

This temperature rise has already caused glaciers, snow and ice cover to fall back sharply in alpine regions, reduced the scope of Arctic sea ice and caused Siberian and Canadian permafrost to retreat.

By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 C (1.98 F) and 6.4 C (11.52 F) compared to 1980-99 levels, the IPCC said.

Heatwaves, flooding, drought, tropical storms and surges in sea level are among the events expected to become more frequent, more widespread and/or more intense this century, the scientists said.

BBC New 7 Nov 07
Energy needs 'to grow inexorably'
The global demand for energy is set to grow inexorably through to 2030 if governments do not change their policies, warns a top energy official.

Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said such a rise would threaten energy security and accelerate climate change.

He said energy needs in 2030 could be more than 50% above current levels, with fossil fuels still dominant.

Mr Tanaka was speaking at the launch of the IEA's World Energy Outlook report.

Rapid economic growth in China and India would be the main drivers behind the rise, he said as he unveiled the agency's annual flagship publication.

"The emergence of new major players in global energy markets means that all countries must take vigorous, immediate and collective action to curb runaway energy demand," he warned.

"Rapid economic development will undoubtedly continue to drive up energy demand in China and India, and will contribute to a real improvement in the quality of life for more than two billion people.

"This is a legitimate aspiration that needs to be accommodated and supported by the rest of the world."

Rising emissions

The World Energy Outlook 2007 report warned that much of the increased demand for energy would be met by coal.

As a result, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could rise by 57% - from 27 giga-tonnes in 2005 to 42 giga-tonnes in 2030, it said.

Even in the report's "alternative policy scenario", which takes into account the governments' proposed action to save energy and cut emissions, CO2 levels are set to rise by 25%.

But it offered a glimmer of hope within its "450 Stabilisation" case study.

It described a notional strategy for governments to stabilise CO2 levels in the atmosphere at about 450 parts per million (ppm), which some scientists and policy makers suggest is an acceptable concentration.

"Emissions savings come from improved efficiency in industry, buildings and transport, switching to nuclear power and renewables, and the widespread deployment of carbon capture and storage," the report said.

This approach would see global emissions peak in 2012 then fall sharply below 2005 levels by 2030, it suggested.

But it added: "Exceptionally quick and vigourous policy action by all countries, and unprecedented technological advances, entailing substantial costs, would be needed to make this case a reality."

Mr Tanaka stressed the need for urgency in the battle against climate change: "We need to act now to bring about a radical shift in investment in favour of cleaner, more efficient and more secure energy technologies."

The UK's Energy Secretary, John Hutton, endorsed the IEA's findings and agreed that urgent action by politicians was needed.

"As the IEA states, it is a lack of international political will, not technological innovation, that is preventing us from reducing emissions while securing energy supplies to power our homes and businesses for the years ahead," he told BBC News.

"The UK must continue to lead by example by embracing innovation while also ensuring it takes advantage of existing low carbon technologies.

"We share view that there should be the broadest possible energy mix and will be carefully examining the recommendations of this report as we prepare to introduce our Energy Bill."

Yahoo News 7 Nov 07
Global-warming gases set to rise by 57 percent by 2030

Emissions of greenhouse gases will rise by 57 percent by 2030 compared to current levels, which will increase the Earth's surface temperature by at least three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit), the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

In its annual report on global energy needs, the Paris-based agency projected greenhouse-gas pollution would rise by 1.8 percent annually by 2030 on the basis of projected energy use and current efforts to mitigate emissions.

The IEA saw little chance of reducing this pollution to a stable, safer level any time soon.

It also poured cold water on a scenario outlined earlier this year by the United Nations' main authority on global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC said that in order to limit the average increase in global temperatures to 2.4 C (4.3 F) -- the most optimistic of any scenario -- the concentration of greenhouse gases would have to stabilise at 450 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

To achieve this goal, CO2 emissions would have to peak by 2015 at the latest, then fall by between 50 and 85 percent by 2050, the panel.

But the IEA's World Energy Outlook report saw no peak in emissions before 2020.

To achieve the 450ppm target would mean that CO2 from energy sources would have to peak by 2012, which in turn would require a massive drive in energy efficiency and a switch to non-fossil fuels, the report said.

"Emissions savings (would have to) come from improved efficiency in fossil-fuel use in industry, buildings and transport, switching to nuclear power and renewables, and the widespread deployment of CO2 capture and storage in power generation and industry," the IEA said.

"Exceptionally quick and vigorous action by all countries and unprecedented technological advances, entailing, substantial costs, would be needed to make this case a reality."

Under the IEA's most optimistic scenario -- which takes into account measures currently in the planning stage for tackling emissions -- greenhouse-gas pollution would rise by one percent per year, rather than 1.8 percent on present trends.

Emissions would decline steadily beyond 2030, translating into an eventual rise in temperatures of "about" three C (5.4 F), IEA analyst Trevor Morgan said.

In contrast, under the IEA's most pessimistic scenario, warming could reach six C (10.8 F) if China and India continue their strong growth relentlessly, using coal as a principal energy source.

By 2030, the biggest polluters would be China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan, the IEA said.

In a massive report issued this year, the IPCC said that since 1900, the mean global atmospheric temperature had risen by 0.8 C (1.44 F) and levels of CO2, which account for about three-quarters of greenhouse-gas output, are now at their highest in 650,000 years.

This temperature rise has already caused glaciers, snow and ice cover to fall back sharply in alpine regions, reduced the scope of Arctic sea ice and caused Siberian and Canadian permafrost to retreat.

By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 C (1.98 F) and 6.4 C (11.52 F) compared to 1980-99 levels, the IPCC said.

Heatwaves, flooding, drought, tropical storms and surges in sea level are among the events expected to become more frequent, more widespread and/or more intense this century, the scientists said.

More links
IEA press release with links to the full report

Read more!

Singapore: Governments worldwide urged to intensify research efforts on climate change

Channel NewsAsia 7 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE : Singapore is calling on governments worldwide to pro-actively intensify research efforts to understand climate change better.

The call came from Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran, who was speaking at the Carbon Forum Asia 2007 on Wednesday.

He also urged authorities to drive the development of transformational technologies.

"In the deployment of these technologies, clear market signals are required, be it through carbon taxes, emissions trading or emission standards, so that markets can find a suitable price for carbon," said the Minister of State for Trade & Industry.

"For developing countries, the price of carbon for the credits generated under the Clean Development Mechanism or CDM will continue to spur private sector interest to undertake emission reduction projects," he added.

The minister said that transformational energy technologies and a price for carbon were needed to rationally influence investment decisions. - CNA /ls

Read more!

Climate Change plans 'green buildings' fund

Business Times 8 Nov 07;
It will start meeting investors in Q12008 to raise 'hundreds of millions' of dollars

(SINGAPORE) Climate Change Capital, a London-based fund manager and adviser on global warming, plans to start a fund to invest in properties that use energy more efficiently.

Climate Change, which manages about US$1.6 billion, will start meeting investors in the first quarter of 2008 and aims to raise 'hundreds of millions', said James Cameron, vice- chairman. So-called green buildings cut energy usage and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

'We will build a portfolio of properties, either retrofitted or improved, and buildings built from scratch or those that already meet the high standards that we would like to own a piece of,' Mr Cameron said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. 'It is not yet proven but perhaps we will get more value because it's green.'

Scientists say carbon dioxide is one of the main emissions causing temperatures to rise, which may lead to potentially irreversible climate shifts and rising sea levels that would threaten world economies, ecosystems and human health.

The Kyoto Protocol binds 35 industrialised nations to curb carbon emissions by 5.2 per cent from 1990 levels by 2012. Developing nations including China and India are not required to cut emissions.

The United Nations' climate change body will host its annual meeting in Bali next month to discuss a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. The European Union (EU) introduced 'The Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings' in January 2003, to increase awareness of energy use in buildings and result in a substantial increase in investments in energy efficiency measures, according to Frost & Sullivan, a research company.

European countries wasted at least 20 per cent of their energy due to inefficiency in 2006 and applying more stringent standards to new buildings and renovations will enable the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and realise an energy-saving potential of more than 20 per cent by 2020, Frost & Sullivan said.

'The case is not proven that we will get a premium at all, but what we are sure about is that the changes that are taking place in Europe will stratify the market,' Mr Cameron said. 'There will be winners and losers and there will be value shift in the property sector and we want to be on the right side of that value shift.' - Bloomberg

Read more!

Over-fishing: Fish-head curry a rare dish in 10 years?

Nilanjana Sengupta, Straits Times 8 Nov 07;

Overfishing depleting seas in South-east Asia and could cause diplomatic tensions, says Australian study

FISH-HEAD curry might soon become an 'endangered' dish, a possibility that will dismay Singaporean foodies.

In fact, intense commercial fishing of the seas of South-east Asia could wipe out many of the region's seafood favourites in just 10 years, warns a new study by an Australian think-tank.

A massive - and continuing - surge in both legal and illegal fishing to meet the blistering increase in demand since the 1950s has already depleted the fish populations of the region's seas dramatically, it says.

The report was released yesterday by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy, and written by fisheries expert Meryl Williams.

For instance, the density of fish in the Gulf of Thailand declined by 86 per cent between 1961 and 1991, the report says.

As a result, the amount of fish caught per hour by each trawler there fell 'more than sevenfold' between 1966 and 1994.

Likewise in the Philippines, catches are now as low as 10 per cent of what fishermen used to bring in when there were a lot fewer fishing boats at sea and a great deal more fish.

'Since the number of fishers, vessels, and the intensity of fishing is still increasing, all resources are expected to be exploited and over-exploited in a decade,' the report says.

Dr Malcolm Cook, Programme Director, Asia and the Pacific at the Lowy Institute, told The Straits Times over the telephone: 'This is an emergency problem which is likely to occur sooner than you expect.'

Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines now rank among the top 12 fish-producing nations in the world.

Thus, the report says, the crisis will have an impact not only on eating habits in those countries but also on their economies.

Indeed, it could affect the livelihoods of up to 100 million people in those countries.

These South-east Asian countries have moved from simple stationary fish nets blanketing the coasts to more mechanised and mobile industrial fishing. This includes the use of one or more vessels to trawl the seabed for cod, groupers and lobsters.

As well as feeding people, fish brings in much-needed foreign exchange - a fact that has further driven the growth in fishing.

As a result of that drive for food, profit and foreign exchange, most South-east Asian fisheries are overfished.

Thus competition is hotting up for what is left in the seas from the Gulf of Tonkin near Vietnam and the Philippine archipelago to the Gulf of Thailand and the waters around Indonesia.

This could ignite 'serious sources of bilateral tensions and regional tensions unless urgent action is taken', the 90-page report says.

The declining fish stocks are pushing fishers to illegally raid the seas beyond their maritime borders, creating a source of diplomatic tensions, it says.

Vietnamese vessels, for instance, are frequently caught for illegal fishing in the waters of Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Illegal fishing is a major issue also for Malaysia, a mid-sized fish producer.

Moreover, 'there is an increase in the incursion of illegal boats from non-South-east Asian countries like China and Taiwan into the traditional waters of the region, leading to a reduction in resources', Dr Cook said.

'This in turn is pushing Indonesian trawlers into the waters of neighbouring Australia.'

In the report, Dr Williams recommends that the highest priorities be given to allocating catch limits for the migratory southern blue fin and Pacific and Indian Ocean tuna.

Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are involved in regional tuna fishing and trade.

A high proportion of Singapore's fish imports consists of tuna products from Indonesia, possibly bound for further processing and re-export.

Although fishing matters do not appear to have deeply affected the overall Australian-Indonesian diplomatic relationship, Dr Cook says 'it is only a matter of time'.

PlanetArk 8 Nov 07
Fish Vanishing from Southeast Asian Oceans - Report

SYDNEY - Southeast Asia's oceans are fast running out of fish, putting the livelihoods of up to 100 million people at risk and increasing the need for governments to support the maintenance of fish stocks, an Australian expert said.

Fisheries in the region had expanded dramatically in recent decades and Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines were now in the top 12 fish producing countries in the world, Meryl Williams said in a paper for Australia's Lowy Institute.

"As the fourth largest country in world fish production, Indonesia is a fisheries giant. Yet ... Indonesian marine fisheries resources are close to fully exploited and a significant number in all areas are over-exploited," she said.

Williams, a former director general of the international WorldFish Center, said the number of fishers was still increasing in most Southeast Asian countries despite a trend since the 1980s to close frontiers due to territorial claims and overfishing.

In the Gulf of Thailand, the density of fish had declined by 86 percent from 1961 to 1991, while between 1966 and 1994 the catch per hour in the Gulf by trawlers fell more than sevenfold.

In Vietnam, a new fishing power and a rising source of imports by Australia, the total catch between 1981 and 1999 only doubled despite a tripling of capacity of the fishing fleet -- a sure sign that fishing was reaching capacity, she said.

In the Gulf of Tonkin, where Vietnam shares resources with China, the record was even worse with fish catch per hour in 1997 only a quarter of that in 1985.

"In the Philippines, most marine fisheries were overexploited by the 1980s, with catch rates as low as 10 percent of rates when these areas were lightly fished," she said.

Williams said Southeast Asian fisheries were serviced by a plethora of regional bodies and agreements, but few acted effectively on illegal fishing and shared stock management.

At the same time, illegal fishing was "dynamic, creative, clever and usually one step ahead of authorities".

A Southeast Asian government may issue a single fishing licence only to find it being used by four different boats, she said. In Indonesia, foreign fishing vessels, often Chinese in joint-ventures, operated on the "margins of legality" in a geographically vast archipelago.

Williams said Australia should step up collaboration with Southeast Asian countries to help manage fish stocks. (Reporting by Michael Byrnes; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Read more!

Singapore's first zero-energy building to be ready in 2009

Channel NewsAsia 7 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE : Singapore will construct its first zero-energy building (ZEB) at Braddell Road to promote green technology.

S$10 million will be spent to retrofit an existing facility to incorporate some of the latest energy-efficient inventions. It's being hailed as the Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) flagship R&D project under its Green Building Masterplan.

The building is able to generate as much electricity as it consumes through renewable energy. This works out to a net energy consumption of zero over a typical year.

The BCA said the 3,000-sq metre building is expected to be 60 percent more energy efficient than conventional buildings.

BCA added that most of the zero-energy buildings in the world are built from scratch, but the one to be constructed at the BCA Academy will be the first in the region to be retrofitted from an existing building built in 1994. The number of solar panels to be installed around the facility will also be the largest in Southeast Asia.

The solar cells called photovoltaic cells on the roof and facade of the building will convert light into enough electricity in a day to power 32 five-room flats. This will be used to power artificial lights, office equipment and air-conditioning.

The solar panels which constitute about 15% of the building cost will be funded by the Economic Development Board (EDB).

Because 60 percent of utility bills usually goes into air-conditioning, the BCA is working with the National University of Singapore (NUS) to develop ventilation strategies to lower energy consumption.

A new local invention - a Single Coil Twin Fan ventilation system - will help regulate the flow of fresh and recycled air, according to demand, throughout the building. Fresh air, which requires more energy to chill compared to recycled air, will only be channelled to rooms that are occupied.

Another innovation that will be tried is the Personalised Ventilation system.

Sensors will detect the presence of users and it will direct fresh air to their breathing zones. Recycled air will be used for ambient cooling.

For rooms that are not air-conditioned, solar chimneys will be built to draw warm air from within. The convection of air will pull cooler air from ducts and will improve natural ventilation by 11 times the rate of air replacement.

All in, these technologies will help to cut operating cost.

"There are two main components. One is the savings from energy efficiency gains and we are expecting a savings of $48,000 per annum. As for the energy from the solar panels, at current tariffs, we are talking about $36,000 per year," said Ang Kian Seng, Deputy Director, Research & Innovation Department, BCA

BCA expects to put up the various projects for open tender in the first quarter of next year.

Experts said the cost of constructing a zero-energy building will be 10 percent more than a typical office building. And it could take up to 12 years to recover the additional cost.

Associate Professor Lee Siew Eang from the Department of Building at NUS said: "It's always a risk for the developer to look into the use of very new technology which are energy efficient. We need to have a facility like this where we can test bed such technology.

"Once the risks and problems are resolved and demonstrated to be working over a period of time, developers would be happy and much more likely to undertake such kind of venture."

Construction of the energy-efficient building is expected to be completed in 2009.

Apart from hardware, BCA also wants to ramp up efforts in industry training.

It has already started courses for Green Mark Managers and Professionals and will roll out a new three-year diploma programme in Mechanical Engineering that's geared towards Green Building Technology next July.

Also to be introduced is the National Building Qualification - a new certificate level framework which allows working adults to upgrade their skills. - CNA /ls

Straits Times 8 Nov 07
$10m plan to create S'pore's first zero-energy building
BCA Academy to be retrofitted with solar panels and green innovations
By Jessica Cheam

IT MIGHT not look too inspiring now, but a three-storey building in Braddell Road is about to open a new frontier in the campaign for greener energy.

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy opposite ComfortDelGro will harness the sun's energy in an ambitious bid to create Singapore's first zero-energy building, or ZEB.

A massive array of solar panels covering about 1,300 sq m - almost half a football field and the biggest such installation here - will be integrated on the roof of one of the academy's buildings.

The $10 million retrofitting project, unveiled by the BCA yesterday, will create a highly efficient complex that produces as much energy as it consumes from renewable sources. Over a typical year, its net energy consumption is expected to be zero.

The building, the first of its kind in South-east Asia, will also be a test bed for green technology.

It will be linked to a normal power grid and draw electricity if needed. But it will feed back to the grid the same amount it uses from clean sources like solar energy.

Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamad Maliki Osman said at the academy's graduation ceremony yesterday that the ZEB will 'serve as a showcase of green building technologies' for education, training and research.

BCA's deputy director of research and innovation, Mr Ang Kian Seng, added that the ZEB was a 'milestone' for the academy: 'It shows we're not just talking about it, but we're taking action to take the lead.'

The ZEB, which has a gross floor area of 3,000 sq m, is due for completion in early 2009. It will boast a whole range of features and will be 60 per cent more efficient than a normal commercial building.

It will also test cutting-edge innovations, including an imported United States air-conditioning chiller system that can achieve up to 30 per cent higher efficiency than standard ones of the same capacity.

Technologies developed by the National University of Singapore (NUS), which is jointly creating the ZEB, will also be tested.

One is a personalised ventilation system that delivers fresh air directly to a user; another is a 'solar chimney' that improves a room's ventilation tenfold by using differences in air pressure.

All this plus innovative ideas like vertical greening, where shrubs are planted on a wall's facade to reduce heat gain, will help the building save $84,000 a year.

One special feature is a viewing platform - also with solar panels - where visitors can view the whole solar roof.

'This will help raise awareness; schools can organise educational trips,' said NUS Associate Professor Lee Siew Eang, who is spearheading the project.

The ZEB will also house an 'experimental school' to test new technologies for eco-friendly classrooms, and the BCA Academy's office.

'This ZEB is significant for Singapore, especially in developing our clean energy industry,' said Prof Lee.

'It shows the industry that 'greening' an existing building to make it sustainable is possible - without sacrificing comfort and air quality.'

The ZEB will be co-funded by the Ministry of National Development and the Economic Development Board.

BCA also announced a new engineering diploma programme, with an emphasis on green building technology, to start next July.

Govts worldwide urged to intensify research efforts on climate change
By :
Date : 07 November 2007 2230 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/310230/1/.html

SINGAPORE : Singapore is calling on governments worldwide to pro-actively intensify research efforts to understand climate change better.

The call came from Minister of State for Trade & Industry S Iswaran, who was speaking at the Carbon Forum Asia 2007 on Wednesday.

He also urged authorities to drive the development of transformational technologies.

"In the deployment of these technologies, clear market signals are required, be it through carbon taxes, emissions trading or emission standards, so that markets can find a suitable price for carbon," said the Minister of State for Trade & Industry.

"For developing countries, the price of carbon for the credits generated under the Clean Development Mechanism or CDM will continue to spur private sector interest to undertake emission reduction projects," he added.

The minister said that transformational energy technologies and a price for carbon were needed to rationally influence investment decisions. - CNA /ls

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Singapore contributing S$1m to help tackle haze in Jambi, Indonesia

Channel NewsAsia 7 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE : Singapore is providing S$1 million to an area in Indonesia's Jambi province to help tackle the haze.

The money is earmarked for training officials and providing technical equipment. The assistance is part of a masterplan signed between Singapore and Indonesia focussing on fire prevention.

The haze which hit Singapore last year was said to be the worst in decades, so a plan has been in the pipeline since March to root out the problem.

To fight the haze, the first phase of the masterplan will see two stations set up in Jambi regency later in November.

The stations, costing some S$500,000, will automatically monitor the weather and air quality as well as measure the temperature.

The plan is to have the stations working by the next haze season from July.

Two batches of Jambi officials will also be trained in Singapore in the first quarter of next year.

They will be trained to read and interpret satellite pictures so as to locate possible fire hotspots.

Driving the bilateral masterplan is the National Environment Agency (NEA).

"The difference now is that we are working with a province - the local officials. We have gone down to the ground, talk to the farmers and plantation owners to understand where the gaps and weaknesses are, then we can work on specific action plans," said Lee Yuen Hee, CEO of NEA.

At this stage, the NEA plans a total of six or seven programmes over the next one or two years.

But the Jambi government recognises that local farmers need alternative livelihoods. It is drawing up programmes to develop higher income rubber and palm plantations as opposed to vegetable cultivation. It is also proposing fishing and tourism industries.

Singapore Food Industries has expressed an interest to develop the local fishing industry.

While all parties are happy with the plans to tackle the haze, changing mindsets remains a challenge.

"If we can institute reform in our ways of land clearing in particular, we can make the local farmers more productive," said Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia's State Minister of Environment.

Indonesia wants to use non-burning techniques to burn cleared vegetation. The country claims that it can turn the waste into fertiliser or compost.

Under the masterplan, the Jambi model can also be used for other fire-prone districts in Indonesia. - CNA /ls

Today Online 8 Nov 07
$1m action plan to fight haze
Singapore and Indonesia sign initiative to tackle forest fires
Sheralyn Tay

Singaporeans can keep their fingers crossed for the air to remain clear when haze season starts again in the middle of next year.

This is because concrete measures to fight and prevent forest fires in Sumatra will soon be launched under an action plan to counter the expected annual outbreak of haze.

Under the plan, Singapore will commit $1 million to efforts in fire prevention and training following the signing of a Letter of Intent here yesterday between the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Indonesia's State Ministry of Environment.

The plan — realised about one year since the idea was first raised — will kick off with three projects in Muaro Jambi, a vast 524,600-ha area about eight times the size of Singapore in South Sumatra's Jambi province, said NEA CEO Lee Yuen Hee.

The first project is to set up two fire-danger rating systems backed up by computerised equipment.

This will help Jambi officials assess the likelihood of fires, said Mr Lee.

This project, which will take up about half of Singapore's $1 million budget, will be implemented within the next eight months, in time to tackle the next haze season.

The second will be to train Jambi officials to read and interpret satellite images so that they can identify hot spots and mobilise quickly to tackle fires.

A total of 20 Jambi officials will be trained here in January and March.

The third project will review the ability of villagers and plantation owners to prevent fires. Where necessary, "we will help them enhance their capabilities", said Mr Lee. In time, three or four more programmes will be rolled out.

But both parties agreed that more must be done to help the 400,000 people living in Muaro Jambi.

Recognising that poverty is the "fundamental" problem behind forest fires, Mr Antony Zeldra Abidin, the Vice-Governor of the province, said the government needed to think of alternative steps to lessen the villagers' dependence on the land.

"The farmers do not have alternatives to clear the land without using fires," he said.

Steps to promote other forms of livelihood in areas including agriculture, aquaculture and tourism were also needed.

Muaro Jambi, being rich in archeological ruins and temples, had the potential to grow into a tourist attraction.

Already, Singaporean businesses like Singapore Food Industries are keen to invest in the development of fisheries, said Mr Lee.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim who, with his Indonesian counterpart, witnessed yesterday's signing, described it as "a very good start" towards tackling the problem.

Appreciating Singapore's support and cooperation, Mr Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia's State Minister for Environment, stressed that "environmental concerns cannot be settled by one country only".

Straits Times 8 Nov 07
Tie-up with Indonesians to fight haze
Singapore to commit $1m on fire-risk warning stations and training schemes in Muaro Jambi
By Arti Mulchand

SINGAPORE yesterday signed a Letter of Intent to kick-start joint anti-haze projects with a regency within Indonesia's Jambi province.

These projects, under the Muaro Jambi regency's masterplan, include, for a start:

# Building two fire-danger rating stations in the regency by the middle of next year;

# Training Jambi officers in interpreting satellite data; and

# Reviewing the regency's fire-fighting capabilities.

Muaro Jambi, one of Jambi's nine regencies, is eight times Singapore's size and is home to 400,000 people.

Fires set off to clear land at the start of the farmers' planting season in Jambi, as well as in Riau and South Sumatra provinces, have been the source of the smoky haze that blankets Singapore and South-east Asia during the mid-year dry season. Singapore escaped the haze this year, largely because winds blew the smoky pall elsewhere. Rains also helped.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, pledging that Singapore would follow through on the masterplan, said other provinces could model masterplans along the lines of this one.

Singapore will commit $1 million towards the first programmes under the masterplan: Half the money will go into developing the fire-danger rating stations, which will warn of possible fire risks; and the remaining half will be spent on training and consultancy programmes.

More funds may be sought from the international community as well, said Dr Yaacob.

Mr Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia's State Minister for Environment, referring to last month's wildfires in California, noted that blazes were tough even for the 'strongest nation on earth', the United States, to handle. He noted that while Singapore escaped the haze as a result of Indonesia's halving the number of hot spots, and the weather, this positive situation was 'not stable'.

Jambi's vice-governor Antony Zeidra Abidin said solving the problem also required creating alternative sources of income - in aquaculture and tourism, for example - for the farmers if slash-and-burn cultivation is outlawed.

Remarking that the problem had no quick solutions, Dr Yaacob said a decade or two was a 'realistic' time frame: 'You cannot solve this overnight. You're asking an entire community to change their lifestyle...But I think it's a start.'

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