At least 30% of recyclable items collected had to be incinerated

Channel NewsAsia 26 Dec 07;

SINGAPORE : Despite having recycling programmes in Singapore, many still do not know what to do with their recyclables.

According to one company, more than 30 percent of recyclables collected had to be incinerated, instead of being reused.

Besides paper and cloth, homemaker Banjaw Subramaniam did not realise, until recently, that glass bottles too can be recycled.

"Because earlier, I don't know glass or bottles (are recyclable). That's why I throw them. But now, I keep them," said Mrs Banjaw.

And she's not alone. Many recycling companies said Singaporeans are just not aware that many more items can be recycled.

SembCorp Environmental Management collects 5,000 tonnes of recyclables from more than half of Singapore's homes.

Of this amount, more than 30 percent, which is about 1,800 tonnes, must be disposed of because they cannot be recycled. The main reason is because recyclable items were combined with non-recyclable trash.

For example, a pillow and a bamboo stick have been placed in the recycling bin meant for papers only.

"(The general public) is not very well-educated about what are recyclables and what aren't. And because of that, you sometimes have the tendency to mix them together. So when you mix recyclables with contaminants like organic waste, then it becomes waste that ought to be disposed of at the incineration plant," said CK Lim, Senior VP (Collection), SebWaste Pte Ltd.

Another major industry player, Sulo, said that 15 to 20 percent of the recyclables were disposed of.

Out of the four public waste collectors, only SembCorp Environmental Management and Sulo have sorting plants. However, both plants still need to sort out the collected recyclables manually.

As the recycling rate in Singapore is low, companies said going fully automated is not advisable.

"If we compare it to Europe, they collect nearly 20 times more recyclables. So if we recycle 20 times more, then we can have (a) much bigger plant and automatic recycling, like air knives, and automatic sorting with near infrared technique would be easier to install here in Singapore," said Harald Kloeden, Managing Director of Altvater Jakob.

Materials that are sorted include plastic bottles which are eventually exported to neighbouring countries for recycling.

To increase the recycling rate, upper-most on the wish list of recycling companies is receiving items that are clean. This would prevent pests from breeding at the sorting plants. - CNA /ls

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High tides continue to cause headaches in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post 26 Dec 07;

Almost 100 fish processing companies located in North Jakarta's Muara Baru have been forced to cease operations due to high tides that have inundated the area for several weeks.

The Nizam Zachman fishing port in Muara Baru, which is home to 163 companies, is not accessible to vehicles carrying fish during the day as the road leading up to it is generally flooded.

As of Monday, floodwaters in the area had reached 1.2 meters.

Head of the port Bambang Sutejo said only 66 companies located in the area had been able to continue operating.

"The rest have temporarily closed down," Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Bambang said fishing boats were not affected by the tides and were able to dock at the port at any time of the day.

However, catches could not be transported directly to fish processors and exporting companies until the high tides receded, which usually occurred after 5 p.m.

"If vehicles cannot pass the road until 5 p.m., workers have to wait for hours and work overtime. Companies have to pay more in wages and the health of workers is also at risk," he said.

Bambang said companies operating at the port exported fish products to Europe, Japan and the United States.

He said some 41,000 workers were employed at the port, which also provides fish to more than 500 local retail stores and 100 street vendors.

"We have lost on average 50 percent of our usual daily revenue," Bambang said.

On a normal day, companies at the port collectively make up to Rp 10 billion from 110 tons of fish brought in by fishing boats.

"But now this figure has fallen to around Rp 5 billion per day from 90 tons of fish," Bambang said.

He said even though fish supplies had only dropped by 20 tons, slower distribution had decreased the price of fish.

Suparjo, the general manager of PT Pelindo II Sunda Kelapa, said high tides had also affected business at neighboring Sunda Kelapa port.

"Because of the high tides, many ships have chosen to dock at Tanjung Priok port. We have lost hundreds of millions of rupiah because of this," Suparjo told the Post on Monday.

He said his company tried to prevent flooding by building retainer walls. However, the tides were higher than the 100-centimeter walls, resulting in the area becoming flooded.

At Nizam Zachman port, retainer walls were also built in anticipation of the floods, Bambang said.

However, due to limited funds, the port authority had not been able to complete all of the necessary walls, he said.

"We haven't finished building the walls. As a result, sea water enters and inundates the port. We have to wait for more funding next year to complete the project," he said.

He said plans were also in place to raise the height of the road entering the port by 1.2 meters next year.

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Ban on sand exports to Singapore remains controversial

Fadli, The Jakarta Post 26 Dec 07;

A ban on sea sand exports came into force in 2002 during former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration. It was followed by a ban on land sand this year.

A number of regencies in Riau Islands province, by far the biggest sand supplier to Singapore, were severely affected by the loss of revenue, and unemployment levels rose.

The Ministry of Trade imposed the ban on sand, earth and topsoil exports early this year. Many believed the move was motivated by unsettled border issues between the countries and by a desire to accelerate extradition treaty talks. Many of the country's corruption suspects are reported to be harboring in Singapore.

Based on data derived from the Riau Sand Exporters' Association (Hipepari), the quota for concreting land sand exports from Riau Islands to Singapore amounted to 300,000 tons monthly, sold at about US$6.16 per cubic meter. The price nearly tripled close to the start of the ban.

By comparison the local demand for sand was only 100,000 cubic meters monthly at a price of Rp 90,000 (US$9.54) per cubic meter at the consumer level.

Sand businessmen were reluctant to focus on the local sand business. They made more money selling to Singapore, since the transactions were done in cash and the transportation was arranged by the Singaporean buyers.

Hipepari chairman Ficky Zulfikar Zaljuli said his group's member companies felt they had been used as pawns in Indonesia's foreign diplomatic policy.

"What kind of political diplomacy is this? If the government really wants to regulate land sand exports in order to protect the environment, it should have done it in a more educational manner, and not shut off people's means of making a living," said Zulfikar.

Based on Hipepari data, at least 30 land sand exporters, employing 3,600 workers, were forced to shut down.

"The provincial administration itself is ambiguous in its stance on the ban. Sand businessmen and workers are the hardest hit by the policy. We certainly hope the government will review the policy," said Ficky.

"Thousands of people seek livelihoods from land sand quarrying, especially when it creates jobs in the informal sector. This is a fact that cannot be denied," added Ficky, saying land sand exports to Singapore had been going on since the 1980s.

During President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's visit to Natuna regency in Riau Islands province on Nov. 17 last year, he raised concerns about land sand mining activities in the province.

The President demanded that the provincial administration curb sand quarries, and the administration responded by asking the customs and excise office to stop issuing permits for land sand export.

Sand exports to Singapore virtually came to a stop, albeit temporarily, on Nov. 26, 2006.

The protests of sand companies were eventually heeded and sand supplies to Singapore resumed.

However, they were stopped altogether following the trade ministry's decree.

Director General of Overseas Trade Diah Maulida expressed confusion over the provincial administration's opposition to the move in a meeting with sand companies in Batam in January.

After all, Diah pointed out, the governor had sent a letter to Vice President Jusuf Kalla in November of last year urging the government to halt sand exports.

"We at the Trade Ministry are unclear over the provincial administration's stance because there are two conflicting letters. But we want every party to understand the decision because it comes from a team consisting of several ministries," Diah said at the meeting.

Industry members were puzzled by the government's decision. On one hand the provincial administration was determined to respond to the president's demand, while on the other it wanted to appease the people.

According to Ficky, it would be more better to shut off granite supplies to Singapore if the goal was curtailing the city-state's land reclamation projects, because granite is used more for reclamation. Riau Islands is also the main supplier of granite to Singapore.

Ficky said that if the government reopened land sand exports, sand exporters would take certain steps, such as setting a price of at least US$20 per cubic meter and setting a percentage aside for environmental restoration.

The sand quarrying activities have damaged the environment by creating giant cavities. When it rains, these holes act as ponds and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can carry diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.

Sand companies as well as the government have not been serious about curbing environmental destruction in the province. Each of them have reaped the benefits of sand mining but left the damage for others to deal with.

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Dec 07

Labrador: hope and rebirth...and waiting
The cofferdam is coming down, but the shores are even more trashed on the reddot blog

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Chek Jawa! cheers from Kok Sheng's team of volunteers on the wildfilms blog

What's sharp, fun and brown all over?
find out on the hantu blog

Semakau slug fest
A colourful array on the budak blog

Transect work at Chek Jawa
more amazing encounters on the nature scouters blog

Scouts at Chek Jawa
on the nature scouters blog

Chinese sparrowhawk
sighting on the bird ecology blog

Bats in a temple
on the budak blog

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Where's that giving feeling?

Loon Seng Chee, Today Online 26 Dec 07;

THE economy has been roaring forward for a while, and many people are receiving their richly deserved rewards, the fruits of their labour. It is also that time of the year when we see frenetic shopping, even beyond our normal feverish pace.

We find new means and ways to enjoy that bonus, either on consumer goods, a holiday or a sumptuous meal.

In itself there is nothing wrong at all. People watching the economy will be rubbing their hands in glee. However, when the dust settles, we are left with a pile of gifts, a stack of bills and the inexorable push to earn more, to make up the amount we just spent. And the cycle of accumulation of material goods continues.

But what if we put these priorities aside for a moment and ponder, what if that branded watch, the new hi-fi or the new model of car did not matter so much? Can we live with what we already own? And to move on to the next paradigm shift, does someone need the money more than me?

Not everyone has benefited from the upturn in our financial fortunes. Some have been left behind, or the bonus simply did not materialise for others. While our salaries have gone up, so have our expenses. In the bright light of success, we often forget the shadow cast on our less fortunate brethren in Singapore and elsewhere.

What can we do? One of the greatest acts of kindness is self-sacrifice. No, we need not give up our homes or cars, just put aside that money we were going to splash on some new gadget, and put it to good use. Help a neighbour, a friend or — better yet — a stranger.

I recall seeing women collecting cans from hawker centres or dragging large bundles of cardboard boxes late in the night. We cannot call ourselves developed or cultured when our grandmothers are out on the streets labouring away into the wee hours.

Showing kindness and grace can also come in the form of just being there for someone, or displaying warmth towards people whom we might otherwise ignore.

When was the last time you said "How are you?" and meant it? Have you ever sat down with a person whose brow is furrowed with worry, and really listened to his problems? Sometimes they do not need material help, just a listening ear and a kind word.

Our nation has come a long way in progressing from a rustic backwater colonial port state to a thriving, vibrant economy. The buzzword is competitiveness and progress.

Yet, can't we retain basic decency and human qualities at the same time?

This year, let us extend ourselves, go beyond thronging the malls, open our hearts, minds and wallets to others and show them the true meaning of this festive season.

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Ang Mo Kio MP's push for little green buses pays off

Nazry Bahrawi, Today Online 26 Dec 07;

THESE little green buses are on trial providing a shuttle service from the Yio Chu Kang MRT station and bus interchange to nearby private housing estates. Despite being concerned over profitability, the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit System (SMRT) Corporation launched the route yesterday.

The new service is the result of some prodding by Ms Lee Bee Wah, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC and adviser of Nee Soon South grassroots organisations, who managed to convince the transportation company after months of discussions.

As a result, two green air-conditioned minibuses — which can seat 19 people — would now serve some 1,200 households in Springside, Hong Heng, Thong Soon Gardens and Springleaf estates, stopping at five pick-up points in these areas.

Residents there had in the past complained to Ms Lee about the lack of public transport to a nearby MRT station or bus interchange, especially useful to students and the elderly.

It has been an arduous journey. Ms Lee spent about one year trying to convince SBS Transit and SMRT of the need for such a service, but both were concerned about its feasibility.

While SBS Transit rejected the idea because it was "not viable", SMRT decided to give it a trial run after it conducted a feasibility study, said Ms Lee.

But that was not the only hurdle.

When the proposal was submitted to the Public Transport Council (PTC) in June, it was rejected because the fare proposed ($1.30 per trip) was not appropriate for a premium bus service, usually priced between $2 to $3 per trip.

"So I took another six months to talk to the PTC, Land Transport Authority and the Ministry of Transport. Eventually, I managed to get it approved last month," said Ms Lee, who added that she had even approached Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for help.

Said SMRT's deputy chief executive officer Lee Seng Kee: "We made a projection and based on the population size, we believe that the $1.30 fare is feasible."

When asked what would happen if SMRT does not break even after three months, Mr Lee said: "We are prepared to extend for another four months. At the same time, the committee will talk to residents to use the service. If that doesn't work, we would look at the numbers again."

Mr Wilson Zhuang, chairman of Springleaf Neighbourhood Committee, said the shuttle service would cut down travel to the nearest MRT by about 10 minutes.

Before the service, residents in the areas would take about 20 minutes to travel to Ang Mo Kio MRT station, which is further away, on bus 169, he said.

But another resident, a retiree in his 50s who declined to be named, said while he appreciate the effort by Ms Lee, he believed it would make better sense if the new shuttle service travels to Chong Pang town centre and Khatib MRT.

He said: "There is no market at Yio Chu Kang MRT station. Housewives would be happier if the service goes to Khatib MRT which is not only nearer but also has grocery shopping facilities."

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Making profits from tree farming in Thailand

Esther Fung, Today Online 26 Dec 07;

In Thailand's Prachinburi province, eucalyptus trees are grown on sides of rice fields for paper pulp

PLANTING rice is not exactly a lucrative profession, but rice farmers in Thailand have found another source of income planting trees on their unused farmland for the paper industry.

And for 18 years now, a paper mill — Advance Agro Public Company, more commonly known as Double A — has been harvesting these eucalyptus trees planted along the sides of farmers' rice fields.

"The reason why we went into farmed trees is not out of the goodness of our hearts," said Mr Thirawit Leetavorn, senior executive vice-president of Double A. "It just makes economic sense to do this."

Located in Prachinburi province, 134km from Bangkok, Double A gets its raw material for its paper and pulp production from the eucalyptus trees planted by some 1 million Thai farmers. These trees, which take three to five years to mature, are chopped and sold at the farmers' discretion.

"The most difficult thing was getting the 1 million farmers to cooperate and work with us," said Mr Leetavorn, adding that the company initially faced some problems from farmers, who make up 40 per cent of the country's population.

Mr Leetavorn recalled the farmers' initial reluctance to plant the trees: "They said: 'How am I going to take care of this, do I have to water it all the time? What is it? Three years? Four years? Who's going to cut them down?'

"Fortunately, we have 20 years' experience in doing that, so we understand what needs to be done to get the farmers' cooperation," he said.

Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1995, the company maximises its profit by generating its own electricity from biofuel left after the manufacturing process, and by using water from its own man-made reservoir in its paper mill.

The global pulp and paper industry has been criticised as having a detrimental impact on the environment, not just because of deforestation, but also because the mills consume a lot of energy and cause water pollution through the disposal of poorly- treated chemical waste.

"The public perception is that we should reduce paper consumption to protect the forests, but in fact, it boils down to the production method, not just the quantity of paper you consume," said market researcher Leon Perera from Spire Research and Consulting. "You can produce and consume a lot of paper if it's sustainable, as in Scandinavia."

Sustainability and profits can go hand-in-hand, said Mr Leetavorn, adding that Double A tries to "minimise environmental impact through things like farmed trees and the use of biomass fuel that is self-sustaining for our mill".

Australian consulting firm Access Economics released a global report in June analysing the environmental cost of paper manufacturing. The report concluded that the complexity of measuring the industry's environmental costs resulted in less vigilant standards for protecting the environment.

Other paper mills in the region are also looking into cleaning up their production methods to get accreditation from independent arbitrators like non-profit organisations, such as the Forestry Research Council, said Mr Perera.

He added: "These seals of approval make the product more sellable in Britain and other markets."

"In the longer term, for Double A and other manufacturers, it will come down to who is able to get those accreditation and keep them current," Mr Perera said.

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Mexico planted 250 million trees in 2007: Calderon

Yahoo News 24 Dec 07;

President Felipe Calderon on Sunday said Mexico in 2007 planted nearly 250 million trees, one fourth of the world total the UN Environment Program (UNEP) had set to combat climate change.

"We're reaching the goal we set for ourselves that seemed so difficult to reach, of planting 250 million trees in Mexico," Calderon told reporters as he planted a pine tree in the grounds of his official Los Pinos home in Mexico City.

Calderon, who in February joined the UNEP's tree-planting initiative, said his government invested 540 million dollars in the reforestation program.

"We used public funds to pay forest and jungle dwellers, most of them from indigenous communities and among the poorest people in Mexico," to plant trees, said the president, who has made sustainable development one of his top priorities.

Mexico's prodigious effort, however, was criticized by Greenpeace in Mexico spokeswoman Cecilia Navarro, who told reporters the reforestation program was carried out "helter skelter."

The trees, she said, "are being planted anywhere," not necessarily where they are appropriate and not necessarily near communities tasked with monitoring their growth.

The reforestation program, she added, does not offset rampant deforestation in Mexico, where "each year we lose at least 600,000 hectares (1.48 million acres) of forest," the fifth-fastest deforestation rate in the world.

UNEP in November announced its year-long, worldwide reforestation program was a success, with 1.4 billion trees planted and Ethiopia (700 million), Mexico, Turkey, Kenya, Cuba, Rwanda, South Korea, Tunisia, Morocco and Myanmar the top 10 planters.

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Vietnam plans Mekong mega-dam in Laos: state media

AFP 25 Dec 07;

HANOI (AFP) — Energy-hungry Vietnam is planning to build a two-billion-dollar mega-dam on the Mekong river of Laos and to construct several other large hydropower projects in the neighbouring country.

Vietnam's main energy company expects to wrap up a feasibility study by April for a dam near Luang Prabang, the former Lao royal capital, that would dwarf existing dams in the landlocked country, state media has reported.

Mountainous Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, is seeking to exploit its hydropower potential to become the "battery of Southeast Asia" and sell electricity to its more industrialised neighbours Vietnam and Thailand.

But the plans for new Mekong dams by Vietnamese as well as Chinese and Thai companies have alarmed environmentalists, who say the projects will devastate the major Asian waterway that runs from Tibet to southern Vietnam.

They have warned that the planned mega-dams would displace tens of thousands of people, harm the fragile river ecology and endanger species such as the rare Mekong giant catfish and Irrawaddy dolphin.

Vietnam -- whose economic growth surged to 8.4 percent this year and power demand is rising at twice that rate -- has few rivers left to dam and is looking at the hydropower potential of its communist ally Laos.

Laos now operates fewer than 10 dams but is considering about 70 more projects. The largest now under construction is the French and Thai-built Nam Theun 2, set to go into operation in late 2009.

The World Bank-backed project -- a 1,075 megawatt (MW) dam worth 1.45 billion dollars -- is now the largest Lao infrastructure project, but the planned Mekong mainstream dams would be even bigger.

The Luang Prabang dam, slated for operation in 2014, would have a capacity of 1,410 MW, under a memorandum of understanding Laos signed with the PetroVietnam Power Corporation in mid-October, a Lao government website says.

Only China has so far dammed the river, known in Chinese as the Lancang, while lower-Mekong countries have built hydropower projects on tributaries of the 4,800-kilometre (2,980-mile) long waterway.

China is planning eight Mekong dams totaling over 16,000 MW, of which two have been built and four are under construction, potentially impacting riverside communities in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Vietnamese companies in Laos also plan to start building the 400-million-dollar 290 MW Xekaman I dam next year, set for completion by 2012, state media has reported.

Another dam, the 270-million-dollar, 250 MW Xekaman 3, is now under construction and set to transfer power across the border by 2009, while three more dam projects are now being studied, said the Vietnam News Agency.

The Lao government and the World Bank argue that dams, if they meet high environmental and social standards, can help Laos earn money it needs to help its people, most of whom earn less than two dollars a day.

Hydropower is by "far and away our best (opportunity) for lifting our people out of poverty," Lao government spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy wrote in a Thai newspaper this month.

Carl Middleton of the US-based environmental group International Rivers, said a 'Mekong dam cascade' was first proposed in the 1960s, and again in the 1990s, but scrapped because of feared social and environmental impacts.

"The revival of plans for the lower Mekong mainstream dams marks a worrying trend for hydropower development in the region," he told AFP.

"By changing the river's hydrology, blocking fish migration and affecting the river's ecology, the construction of dams on the lower Mekong mainstream is likely to have repercussions throughout the entire basin.

"Many communities throughout the region are closely dependent upon the Mekong river for fish, fresh water, fertile silt and transportation... and so the health of the Mekong River is essential for their well-being."

RELATED ARTICLES

No major fuss over Hanoi's huge dam project
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World must help protect vital Mekong river: activists
Yahoo News 13 Nov 07;

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Japan Mines `Flammable Ice,' Flirts With Environmental Disaster

Shigeru Sato, Bloomberg 26 Dec 07;

Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Fifty-five million years ago the world's climate was catastrophically changed when volcanoes melted natural gas frozen in the seabed. Now Japan plans to drill for the same icy crystals to end its reliance on imported energy.

Billions of tons of methane hydrate, frozen chunks of chemical-laced water buried in sediment some 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean floor, may help Japan win energy independence from the Middle East and Indonesia. Japanese engineers have found enough "flammable ice" to meet its gas use demands for 14 years. The trick is extracting it without damaging the environment.

Japan is joining the U.S. and Canada in test drilling for methane even as scientists express concerns about any uncontrolled release of the frozen chemical. Some researchers blame the greenhouse gas for triggering a global firestorm that helped wipe out the dinosaurs.

"Methane hydrate was a key cause of the global warming that led to one of the largest extinctions in the earth's history," says Ryo Matsumoto, a University of Tokyo scientist who has studied frozen gas since 1987. "By making the best use of our wisdom, knowledge and technology, we should be able to utilize this wisely as a new energy."

If successful, the gas drilling project could help Japan reduce a liquefied natural gas import bill that last year was 2.66 trillion yen ($23.3 billion). The country's LNG imports totaled 62.2 million metric tons, equivalent to 3.03 trillion cubic feet, according to the Ministry of Finance's trade report.

"We are closely watching the government's methane hydrate project, expecting some day to start receiving gas via pipelines from the continental shelf," says Toshiharu Okui, deputy general manager of gas resources at Tokyo Gas Co., the country's largest distributor of natural gas.

500 Meters Thick

Trapped within sheets of ice up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) thick is an estimated 40 trillion cubic feet of crystalline methane encased in an ocean trench called the Nankai Trough, 30 miles (50 kilometers) off the coast of the main Honshu Island.

"Reserves aren't as much as Saudi Arabia's or Russia's, but they will contribute to us cutting our heavy dependence on imports," says Yoshifumi Hashiba, deputy director of the trade ministry's petroleum and natural gas division.

Exploiting the Nankai Trough depends on developing technical know-how through a test project in Canada's frozen north, says Kenichi Yokoi, team leader of the methane hydrate research project at state-controlled Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., known as Jogmec.

"Test production in Canada's permafrost is the key to provide clues and determine how methane hydrate can be tapped for mass production," says Yokoi. "Conventional drilling technologies won't be applied for methane hydrate exploitation."

Test Drilling Results

The most efficient method has proved "depressurizing," which requires deep bore holes being drilled into the ice sheets. Pressure within the chamber is reduced by a pump, causing gaseous methane to separate from the water and ascend to the well head.

A first round of drilling was completed in April by Jogmec and the Canadian government and a second set of tests are scheduled for early 2008. The two governments won't disclose results due to a confidentiality agreement, Jogmec's Yokoi says.

Commercial exploitation of methane hydrate is economically viable when oil trades above $54 a barrel, Japan's government estimated two years ago. The trade ministry is targeting 2016 to start production, corresponding with the scheduled completion of the 16-year government-led test project.

While governments are attracted to an abundant clean fuel, drilling risks disturbing the seabed and triggering an uncontrolled release, says Matsumoto of the University of Tokyo.

"A mass release of methane into the sea and the atmosphere is a risk for global warming," he says. "Massive landslides at the ocean floor must be avoided when drilling at the Nankai Trough."

Undersea Landslides

Undersea landsides triggered by volcanoes that occurred more than fifty million years ago resulted in the release of methane hydrate, contributing to global warming that lasted tens of thousands of years, says Matsumoto.

Japan's government is promising rigorous environmental controls with gas-leakage detectors and monitoring systems in place before the scheduled test drilling in as early as 2009.

"Energy security and environment protection cannot be apart from each other," says the trade ministry's Hashiba. "We need a comprehensive assessment."

Among other concerns are that the separation of sea water and colder fresh water will cause ocean temperatures in the Nankai Trough to fall, says Hashiba. The area is a habitat for red sea bream, a fish delicacy.

Fishing Bank Threat

"We're worried that drilling work might harm our fishing banks out there and eventually reduce our catches of red sea bream," says Hironori Watanabe at the Katsuura City fishery association.

A bigger worry is evidence that the undersea ice may already be melting. In September, Matsumoto joined a research party in the Sea of Japan to follow up on a 2006 discovery by his university colleagues of methane gas bubbles rising from the ocean floor.

"It's ironically recurring," Matsumoto says. "Extinction of living organisms has repeatedly taken place in the earth's history, and dead bodies were accumulated in soil and under the sea bed, and turned to oil and natural gas."

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