South West CDC launches carbon offset checklist to address climate change

Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: To help residents better understand climate change, the South West CDC has launched a new carbon offset checklist.

The list spells out direct savings on electricity bills from simple lifestyle adjustments.

Many residents are weighing in to help save the environment.

For instance, Joan Chua from Bukit Batok had contributed over 240 kilogrammes (247.7kg) of paper for recycling last year. They included telephone directories, junk mails and unwanted papers from her workplace.

"The only difficult part is carrying it back from our workplaces. As we both do not drive, we actually have to carry it bit by bit. We actually have friends who are very supportive, they actually save things for us," she said.

And a record load of recyclables was collected during the mass recycling exercise last weekend. The recyclables added up to 56 tonnes of paper, 39 tonnes of clothing and 30,000 bottles and cans, almost 30 per cent more than what was collected previously.

Apart from recycling, residents are also encouraged to cut down on energy consumption with the help of a carbon offset checklist.

The South West CDC will also reach out to businesses in the area to adopt green measures. - CNA/ac

For a greener living space
CDC rolls out checklist to educate residents on saving the environment
Leong Wee Keat, Today Online 21 Jan 08

SET your air-conditioner two degrees warmer at 25°C — save $30 a year. Switch off mains, lights, fans and other electrical appliances when not in use — save $66 a year. Reduce your carbon footprint — priceless.

Saving the environment by focusing on the savings on electricity bills is how the South West Community Development Council (CDC) and the National Environment Agency is going about making climate change issues relevant for the average person.

The two agencies yesterday launched a carbon offset checklist, which consists of simple actions that residents in the district can do daily at home, the office and in the community. Residents could potentially save more than $500 a year, according to the CDC.

South West District mayor Amy Khor is confident the checklist would be popular with residents.

"With electricity prices rising, these are tangible benefits ... and simple things to do … not some abstract idea on climate change the man-in-the-street may not appreciate," said Dr Khor, who is also the senior parliamentary secretary for environment and water resources.

Another initiative to reduce utility bills is the Change-A-Bulb programme. About 17,200 energy efficient light bulbs were given last year to residents, including 6,000 needy families. Another 140 blocks in the district joined the programme yesterday.

Besides reducing carbon emissions, the light bulbs last 10 times longer than normal bulbs, and residents would save $66 a year on their bills, based on a daily six-hour usage of four bulbs.

The CDC, which hopes to create an eco-community in its district, has seen increased participation in schemes such as its annual "Trash for Groceries" mass recycling exercise.

This one-day drive, into its third year, collected the highest amount of recyclables yet — 56 tonnes of newspaper, 39 tonnes of clothing, 20,000 pieces of plastics and 10,000 metal cans — from around 2,000 residents last week.

Hong Kah North resident Koh Jian Ming, 25, carted away a trolley of instant noodles, rice and tissue paper after his family had recycled 201kg of old newspapers, 18kg of old clothing, 20 plastic bottles and an old vacuum cleaner.

The student said: "This programme is good as it benefits residents and the environment."

Save-save situation

• Avoid using standby mode for electrical appliances; save up to 10 per cent on utility bills

• Wash clothing at full load, choose a cold water cycle; save $150 in electrical bills a year

• Choose a 3-tick inverter aircon rather than a 1-tick non-inverter aircon; save about $290 a year

• Use an electric fan, not an aircon, for 8 hours a day; save $630 a year.

Read more!

Marine Parade Town Council helps residents reduce energy use

Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: Figures from the Department of Statistics show that in just one decade, domestic electricity consumption jumped 43 per cent while the population grew by only 18 per cent.

Marine Parade Town Council is therefore on a drive to help residents reduce energy use.

Switching to an energy efficient light bulb can save as much as S$15 per bulb every year as it uses 80 per cent less energy. It is also friendlier to the environment.

Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong helped spread the word to residents in Mountbatten on Sunday, hoping they can be more aware of how their actions affect climate change.

But more importantly, he wanted to let the residents know how they can play a part in reducing energy usage.

The key lessons are kept simple and easy.

MP for Marine Parade GRC Lim Biow Chuan said, "Once they set in, (habits) are actually quite difficult to change. I'm sure (for) many of us, when we leave our offices, we don't turn our computers off. (Our) computers are on standby mode and that consumes electricity as well."

By turning off appliances completely, as much as 10 per cent of electricity consumption can be saved.

Setting the air conditioner to a higher temperature may save about S$60 a year. Using a fan to cool off instead can mean spending S$360 less annually.

By switching to public transport, households can even save as much as S$2,500 every year.

While touring the Mountbatten Town Carnival, Mr Goh also officially opened the PAP Community Foundation kindergarten at Old Airport Road, which was built at a cost of S$230,000 and caters to some 150 children. - CNA/ac

Switch off, save $100
Heartlanders get tips on how going green can translate into cost savings
Jane Ng, Straits Times 21 Jan 08;

A FAMILY can save $100 a year just by switching off their appliances rather than leaving them on standby.

This and other green messages are going out to the heartland, as part of a campaign launched yesterday to show people how they can do their part to combat climate change.

The aim is to promote energy conservation in households and at the same time show residents how that can translate into savings on utility bills, said Mr Lim Biow Chuan, an MP for Marine Parade GRC.

'We want to keep the message simple, so it is easily remembered by all residents - that reducing energy usage will help them save on utilities cost.

'The message must translate into action for energy to be saved. We hope it will ultimately become part and parcel of their lives,' he said.

He urged residents to take public transport instead of driving, or use fans instead of air-conditioners.

The campaign was launched by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong in conjunction with the celebrations of the Mountbatten Town Carnival 2008.

Residents joined in the festivities, which included a multi-generation lookalike contest and a cooking competition.

The opening ceremony of a new PAP Community Foundation kindergarten at Block 51, Old Airport Road was also held after the launch.

Over at South West Community Development Council, an event was launched designed to show residents how to cut down on their carbon emissions. It included tips like setting air-conditioners at 25degC and switching to energy-efficient light bulbs.

The event was attended by Dr Amy Khor, mayor of South West District, and guest of honour Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources.

Said Dr Khor: 'As individuals, we can slow down the devastating repercussions (of climate change) by taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and making a conscious effort to lead more sustainable lifestyles.'

At the event, residents saw first hand how energy can be saved.

Teachers Joan Chua, 51, and Kang Poh Sim, 50, who live in Bukit Batok, were commended for recycling 247.7kg of paper over six months last year. They said they kept their junk mail, old telephone directories and unwanted paper for recycling.

'Recycling comes easily to us, as we were brought up not to waste food and things,' said Ms Chua, who has recycled for more than 10 years.

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NEA steps up checks to control chikungunya virus

Channel NewsAsia 20 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) said it will step up efforts to keep the chikungunya fever situation in control although there has been no new case in the past three days.

The news that eight people in the Clive Street area came down with chikungunya fever surfaced on Thursday. Since then, the authorities have tightened checks, deploying 50 officers to comb the area for mosquito breeding sites every day, compared to 13 officers usually.

Chikungunya fever is an acute viral disease, similar to dengue fever. It is also transmitted via infected aedes mosquitoes.

Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Dr Yaacob Ibrahim said, "So far, no new cases have surfaced. It doesn't mean there are none, but we will continue to monitor this very very closely until we are satisfied. The GPs (general practitioners) and us are working very well. The minute they detected something, blood samples were sent immediately for analysis. So it (showed) that what we have put (on) the ground is working very very well."

Dr Yaacob said data so far showed that chikungunya is not fatal and has not taken root in Singapore.

But he warned against complacency. "You must keep your place clean, free of stagnant water."

Besides conducting checks on the ground, the NEA will also hold discussions with multiple agencies such as the Land Transport Authority and the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday to explore ways to control the spread of the virus.

Dr Yaacob also revealed that new measures to control the number of dengue cases will be announced during this year's Budget Debate. - CNA/ac

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jan 08

Sentosa revisted
a high tide look on the urban forest blog

Barred Eagle Owl
fabulous photos and sighting on the bird ecology blog

Discovery at NTU Yunnan Garden
when was the last time you looked at a glorious sky on the discovery blog

Walking catfish video clip
on the johora singaporensis blog

Read more!

$40,000-a-table reunion meal of endangered wildlife

$40,000-a-table reunion meal at Guangzhou hotel
Straits Times 20 Jan 08;

# Charcoal-grilled deep-sea whelk
# Braised superior shark's fin
# Supreme abalone
# Panfried Napoleon wrasse steak with truffles
# Panfried Kobe beef
# Lobster served with caviar and scallops
# Double-boiled superior bird's nest soup with wild bamboo piths
# Japanese musk melon

GUANGZHOU - AT LEAST eight people in southern China's Guangzhou city will enjoy a reunion dinner priced at 198,000 yuan (S$40,000) per table - deemed by industry sources as the most expensive reunion dinner in all of China.

So far, only one table has been reserved by an unnamed company for the dinner at the city's Shangri-La hotel, according to Sina news website.

Star-rated hotels in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, are known to whip up feasts fit for kings during the Chinese New Year.

Reservations for these upscale get-together meals at high-end hotels have already closed, three weeks before Chinese New Year which starts on Feb 7 this year.

At the Shangri-La hotel, reunion dinners costing below 8,000 yuan have been snapped up; places for for the 198,000-yuan eight-course Imperial Feast are still available though.

The hefty price-tag is the equivalent of a year's salary for a white-collar executive in Guangzhou. Still, it is a far cry from what is dubbed the world's most expensive dinner, concocted by world-renowned chefs at US$25,000 (S$36,000) a head.

The 10-course culinary decadence, organised in November last year by the Lebua luxury hotel in Bangkok, attracted food lovers from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

Six three-star Michelin chefs were roped in to put together creations such as 'tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belon oysters' and 'mousseline of pattes rouges crayfish with morel mushroom infusion', all paired with a rare and robust vintage wine.

Feast fit for a king

Food

# Charcoal-grilled deep-sea whelk
# Braised superior shark's fin
# Supreme abalone
# Panfried Napoleon wrasse steak with truffles
# Panfried Kobe beef
# Lobster served with caviar and scallops
# Double-boiled superior bird's nest soup with wild bamboo piths
# Japanese musk melon

Drinks

# Each of the seven courses is paired with fine wines from the top vineyards of France: Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Petrus, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Cheval Blanc.

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Tidy Singapore city? It's all down to cleaners

Jamie Ee & Samantha Eng, Straits Times 20 Jan 08;

SINGAPORE is clean but not because of the habits of its people.

In the wee hours of two mornings, The Sunday Times trawled five precincts and saw them at their ugliest before the cleaners got started.

A used sanitary pad had been pitched out of the window of an HDB flat in Circuit Road. So, too, had a soiled baby diaper at a neighbouring block.

The stench from puddles of vomit and urine clouded lift lobbies and staircases, while cigarette butts, used tissue paper, cotton buds - and even tufts of hair - were strewn across the void decks.

The area directly beneath kitchen windows was the dirtiest. Plastic bags, apple cores, orange peel, broken eggshells: All these and more had been chucked out of the windows at night.

The cleaning brigade clears up the mess in time for the harsh light of day.

Cleaner Heriati Mohd Isa, who sweeps two blocks in Hougang Avenue 8, is especially annoyed but thinks nothing can be done.

'I don't understand. They have dustbins at home. Why must they throw things out of their window?' said the exasperated 55-year-old as she swept the void deck.

Despite the ongoing keep-clean efforts of town councils, cleaners told The Sunday Times that housing estates are anything but.

They are resigned to it.

Madam Heriati said: 'Singaporeans are too pampered. They know they can always rely on the cleaners.'

Toss that cigarette butt? You're being watched
Mavis Toh, Straits Times 20 Jan 08;

NEA has 470 officers to enforce anti-litter laws; over 20,000 litterbugs nabbed last year

THREE men stand in a corner of Orchard Road, absorbed in conversation. Their lips move in sync, but there is no eye contact between them.

Instead, they furtively scan the crowd, picking out those who let things slip out of their hands.

Once an unsuspecting target tosses a cigarette butt, tissue paper or a disposable cup on the ground and walks away, these National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement officers move in.

The first name to enter their books is a teenager's. The young man, with dyed hair and dressed in jeans and a polo T-shirt, is the only one among his group of five friends to flick his cigarette stub carelessly on the ground.

'I didn't do it,' he protests when the NEA officers confront him. He is given a $200 fine.

Feigning ignorance is a common tactic of litterbugs, said NEA inspection manager Michael Chew.

Otherwise, they ask to be let off with a warning, giving excuses like they dropped it 'by accident' or they were 'planning to pick it up before leaving', said Mr Chew, who routinely carries out such spot checks.

Of the over 20,000 litterbugs nabbed last year, 385 were repeat offenders who paid higher fines and were made to pick up rubbish under the Corrective Work Order scheme.

Five other litterbugs caught in the 21/2-hour operation in Orchard Road were also done in by cigarette butts.

Among them was Mr Nagappa Balakrishnan, 20, who was fined $350 for littering and spitting at Wheelock Place.

The cleaner, who earns $700 a month, clearly felt the pain. He said: 'This is such a big fine, I won't throw things again.'

Although most caught red- handed were cooperative, the officers had to call the police when a couple in their 20s refused to show the officers their identification cards. They finally complied after 15 minutes, before the police arrived, and were each handed a $200 fine.

Only a select few - the elderly and tourists - were let off with a warning.

To curb the littering problem, the NEA sends out officers daily on enforcement assignments which last between four and 12 hours.

The agency has a pool of 470 officers for such undercover duties, including 50 from security companies Aetos and Certis Cisco.

Mr Chew said they can usually nab up to 20 litterbugs over three hours.

'Singaporeans need to take ownership of their own litter,' said Mr Chew. 'There are so many bins around, so please throw (your litter) into them.'

But for those who were caught and fined, none was asked to pick up what he let slip.

And none offered to.

Read more!

Rare coral reefs plundered for fish tanks

David Brown, The Times 18 Jan 08;

An illegal trade in live coral is being investigated by Customs officers after a steep rise in protected species being smuggled into Britain to decorate aquariums.

Hundreds of rare corals covered by international conservation laws have been intercepted at airports en route to aquarium shops. Demand is being driven by the fashion for “reef aquariums” and owners eager to have the rarest and most colourful specimens, even if they are endangered species.

Details of the largest live coral consignment discovered in Britain have been revealed by Customs officers. The 350 corals and clams were discovered at Manchester airport in September but the seizure was kept secret while investigations were carried out.

The corals had been stolen from Indonesia’s protected reefs and taken to Malaysia before being flown to Britain. Customs discovered that the consignment was destined for a wholesaler and then for shops in Manchester, Cheshire, the West Midlands, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Scotland.

The haul included specimens from the six species of coral protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, such as Catalaphyllia jardinei, Trachyphyllia geoffroyi and species in the genus Plerogyra.

Charles Mackay, head of the Revenue & Customs specialist cities team, said: “This was quite clearly a blatant attempt to smuggle banned and unlicensed corals into the UK to profit from the high prices they would fetch.” Customs officers have estimated that the haul would have fetched £50,000. The corals have been given to London Zoo.

A Revenue & Customs spokesman said that live coral was one of the top five animal items searched for at airports and ports. It was often hidden among legitimate imports or in the false bottoms of boxes.

“The seizures can be quite large because there is a commercial scale to these imports,” the spokesman said. “There has been an increase in seizures over recent years.” Rachel Jones, deputy team leader at London Zoo’s aquarium, said that there had been a noticeable increase in imports of live coral over the past two years, with particular demand for the dramatically coloured large polyped stony corals.

“People who keep corals are very serious hobbyists and most are entirely above board,” she said. “But some don’t really care where the corals have come from as long as they look good in their aquarium — for them it is just about collecting the latest cool animal in the latest cool colour.”

For each live specimen that reaches an aquarium, dozens more die during collecting and shipping.

Global warming is by far the greatest threat to reefs — experts say that many could be wiped out by changes to sea level and temperatures — but Ms Jones said that smuggling endangered species meant that “already stressed ecosystems are being put under further stress”.

Imports of protected coral need permits from the exporting country and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Last year Britain issued 2,200 such permits. Indonesia accounts for up to 90 per cent of imports.

When Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer, a Liberal Democrat, raised the issue of live coral imports in the House of Lords, the Government said that it did not know how many coral owners or suppliers there were.

“Customs are to be congratulated for their work but the Government needs to ensure these key issues are addressed,” Lady Miller said. The aquatic trade needed a certification scheme for live coral, she said. “Some of the purchasing public do not know that they are buying something that is illegal and damages biodiversity and another part of the world. I am sure they would be horrified if they knew.”

Keith Davenport, chief executive of the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association, said that the industry was careful to keep up with additions to the list of endangered species. “People on the fringes of the trade undermine the good name of an industry where the vast majority are acting entirely legitimately,” he said.

Customs officers seized 159 live corals and 14 sea horses at Heathrow in September and the previous month intercepted a courier package at East Midlands airport containing six live protected corals.

Read more!

France calls for rethink of EU fishing quotas

Pierre Savary, Reuters 19 Jan 08;

BOULOUGNE-SUR-MER, France (Reuters) - France will use its presidency of the European Union later this year to call for a rethink the trade bloc's system of fishing quotas, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday.

The annual quotas are designed to prevent stocks of species like cod collapsing due to overfishing, but trawlermen complain the controls and high fuel costs lead to increasing hardship.

"France will hold the presidency of the European Union from July 1 to December 31 and this is an opportunity to put quotas behind us," Sarkozy told 200-300 fishermen in northern France.

"We need a much more flexible solution than quotas, regardless of the species and location involved," he said.

"It is not scientists versus fishermen. Fishing is global and fishermen are the first to defend their resource."

In November, Sarkozy clashed with fishermen in a heated dockside exchange at a fishing port in western France, but turned jeers to applause with an offer of emergency aid.

France last week finalized a package of 310 million euros in aid to help the industry deal with high fuel prices.

Fishermen however blocked the cross-Channel ferry ports of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer for several hours on Tuesday.

The EU's fishing catch quotas were last set on December 19.

The bloc's 27 nations agreed to water down the European fisheries chief's proposals for the preservation of species whose stocks are floundering at precariously low levels.

Cod quotas for 2008 were set 18 percent lower than 2007 in most trawling areas, apart from the North Sea where scientists had indicated a slight improvement in fish numbers.

The EU's executive Commission had wanted a cut of 25 percent in most cod quotas for 2008.

Sarkozy said on Saturday he wanted "a very detailed and strong discussion with the Commission on the question of quotas," starting as early as the end of this month.

Scientists have said for years cod is so seriously overfished in European Union waters that there is a risk of extinction due to stock collapse. In October, they called for the EU to set the 2008 catch at less than half of 2006 levels.

In December, the EU's financial watchdog issued a report saying the bloc had no real idea of how many fish its national fleets catch each year and was also failing to clamp down hard on vessels that exceeded national quotas.

(Writing by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Concern over decline in dolphins in the UK due to trawling

BBC News 19 Jan 08;

More pressure is being put on the European Commission (EC) to take action to reduce the number of dolphin deaths off Devon and Cornwall's coastline.

MEP Neil Parish has presented evidence that dolphin numbers in the Bay of Biscay - a key migratory route to the South West - have declined.

The information has come from wildlife trusts, marine groups and the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme.

Mr Parish believes a ban on pair trawlers could reduce dolphin deaths.

UK ban

Pair trawling is when nets are slung between two fishing vessels.

The practice was banned in 2004 for British trawlers within 12 miles (19km) of the UK coast, but other European boats can continue because they are outside the rules.

EC Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas has had a meeting with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, Mr Parish will talk to the local fisheries regional advisory council and will take a boat trip along dolphin migration routes in the summer.

Read more!

Ocean fish farms

NC researchers looking to raise ocean fish in farms
Associated Press McDowellnews.com 18 Jan 08;

"I see marine aquaculture developing much like the swine or poultry industry. Seafood is the last wild product left."

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. - North Carolina scientists hoping to relieve pressure on the dwindling supply of ocean fish and boost the coast's economy are looking into ways to raise ocean fish in tanks.

But it could be tricky. Just as salt water aquariums are more difficult to maintain than freshwater tanks, raising ocean fish is more complicated, scientists said. Ocean fish eggs are smaller and more fragile than those from freshwater fish, and difficult to cultivate.

Scientists are taking on the challenge at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and North Carolina State University.

In Wrightsville Beach, they've converted a former water desalinization plant into laboratory. Southern flounder and black sea bass _ two of the most commercially promising species _ swim in heated and cooled tanks of sea water. Their experimental diet includes plankton, soy meal pellets or other alternative protein sources.

So far, it's having some success. At the local Bridge Tender restaurant, chef John Howell recently featured the sea bass as a special, stuffed with crab and topped with salsa.

"We sold out of them in two nights," Howell said. "It was sweet."

If successful on a larger scale, such farms could meet the increasing demand for fish among health-conscious consumers and create a new agriculture industry along the North Carolina coast, researchers said.

"We're at a stage where we've answered a lot of research questions," said Daniel Baden, director of the Center for Marine Science at UNC-Wilmington. "We're starting to bridge academics with industrial interactions."

Underwater agriculture, or aquaculture, is the fastest growing source of food production, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. About 70 percent of the fish consumed in the U.S. is imported, largely from fish farms in other countries to supplement wild harvests.

The NOAA, at the forefront of efforts to make the U.S. more self-sufficient in seafood, has helped fund the aquaculture research at N.C. State and UNC-Wilmington. The agency also supports efforts at universities in Texas, Georgia and New Hampshire.

"What is going on in North Carolina is an important component of this overall puzzle," said Michael Rubino, manager of NOAA's aquaculture program. "They've come very fast in a very short time. We have the technology, but are trying to prove it on the commercial scale. I wouldn't say it's quite at the commercial success stage."

Ted Davis is trying to push the research in that direction, but it won't be cheap.

A principal in Aquaplantations, a Wilmington company formed to develop farms, Davis estimates that a farm with a re-circulating water system capable of producing 100,000 pounds of fish would cost $700,000.

Working with university researchers, Davis provided some tanks and equipment to the aquaculture center to said sea bass and plans to build a farm on an eight-acre site. Some fish have been sold, Davis said, and he expects to have more marketable fish in about 18 months.

"I would like to be a part of launching an industry for the state," he said. "I see marine aquaculture developing much like the swine or poultry industry. Seafood is the last wild product left.

"You don't go out and kill a turkey or pig. It's grown. In order for us to have seafood, there is going to have to be an agriculture system."

Original story in the News&Observer

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India struggles to contain bird flu as farmers resist cull

Channel NewsAsia 19 Jan 08;

MARGRAM, India : Authorities analysed on Saturday samples from dead chickens amid fears a bird flu outbreak may have spread in eastern India as locals resisted a massive cull.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called the outbreak of avian flu among poultry in the densely populated eastern state of West Bengal the worst the country has faced - partly because it is more widespread.

West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called the situation "very serious," while officials reported villagers were throwing chicken carcasses into rivers and ponds, increasing the risk of the virus spreading.

Bird flu has been confirmed in three districts of West Bengal where 85,000 poultry have died from the disease, the federal government said in a statement.

Fresh bird deaths were reported from another three districts and laboratory officials were analysing some of the dead poultry, the statement said.

The outbreak is the third in India, home to 1.1 billion people, since 2006.

"More serious risk factors are associated with this current outbreak than (the two) previously encountered, including that the affected areas are more widespread and because of proximity to extended border areas," the WHO said.

West Bengal borders Bangladesh, which is also fighting a bird flu outbreak.

More than 36,000 chickens had been slaughtered so far in the three affected districts in Marxist-ruled West Bengal, where poverty is rampant.

State officials said chickens were still on sale in the affected areas despite a ban, and New Delhi has called in paramilitary troops to prevent birds being smuggled out.

Attempts to fight the outbreak have been frustrated by a lack of cooperation from local people angered by what they said was inadequate compensation for the dead birds.

"In some areas, villagers are feasting on dead chickens and are reluctant to disclose if there are any chickens or ducks in their backyards," said West Bengal health services director Sanchita Baksi.

Also, chicken were still being sold in the badly hit Margram village, 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the state capital Kolkata, and locals were unwilling to show their poultry to culling teams.

"The chickens are the only source of income for us," poultry owner Moti Bibi told AFP.

Locals said the government offers of compensation were not enough and would take too long to arrive.

Some 30 million rupees (US$770,000) had been set aside to compensate poultry owners.

"We'll be caught in a debt trap," said Bibi who had borrowed money for his chicken farm in Margam.

The state government aims to slaughter 400,000 birds in a five-to-10 kilometre (three-to-six mile) radius of the affected areas and has said the process could take at least another six days.

Humans typically catch the disease by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus may mutate into a form easily transmissible between people.

Wild migratory birds have been blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003. - AFP/ch

Bird flu spreads to new districts in India's east
Bappa Majumdar, Yahoo News 20 Jan 08;

Bird flu spread to two new districts in an eastern Indian state, officials confirmed on Saturday, as veterinary staff struggled to cull thousands of birds in the face of resistance from farmers.

The H5N1 virus was found in dead birds in Burdwan and Nadia, taking to five the number of infected districts in West Bengal state.

The virus was also spreading to new areas within already infected districts.

India, which is witnessing its fourth bird flu outbreak in poultry since 2006, has not reported any human infection.

Officials said they were immediately extending culling operations to the newly affected areas. West Bengal began culling more than 400,000 chickens and ducks in three districts this week.

So far, only about 50,000 birds had been culled.

"This news is indeed distressing and we are looking to intensify culling in both districts from tomorrow," Anisur Rahaman, West Bengal's animal resources minister, said.

But containment efforts continued to be hampered because farmers insisted that their chickens and ducks were healthy and refused to hand them over for culling.

Scant respect for hygiene among poor and illiterate villagers was also a stumbling block, said veterinary volunteers who collected dead birds dumped in village wells and ponds by villagers ignorant about the risks from the H5N1 virus.

Rahaman asked health workers to intensify an awareness drive.

Health workers were watching for people with flu symptoms in the affected areas.

The virus has killed more than 45,000 chickens and birds in West Bengal in the past two weeks.

Bird flu has begun taking a toll on India's poultry business with Oman banning the import of all Indian poultry products. Domestic sales have also been affected.

(Writing by Krittivas Mukherjee)

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Warning on rising Mediterranean Sea levels

BBC News 19 Jan 08;

The level of the Mediterranean Sea is rising rapidly and could increase by up to half a metre in the next 50 years, scientists in Spain have warned.

A study by the Spanish Oceanographic Institute says levels have been rising since the 1970s with the rate of increase growing in recent years.

It says even a small rise could have serious consequences in coastal areas.

The study noted that the findings were consistent with other investigations into the effects of climate change.

The study, entitled Climate Change in the Spanish Mediterranean, said the sea had risen "between 2.5mm and 10mm (0.1 and 0.4in) per year since the 1990s".

If the trend continued it would have "very serious consequences" in low-lying coastal areas even in the case of a small rise, and "catastrophic consequences" if a half-metre increase occurred, the study warned.

Global climate change

Scientists noted that sea temperatures had also risen significantly by 0.12 to 0.5C since the 1970s.

Sea level rise is a key effect of global climate change. There are two major contributory effects: the melting of ice, and expansion of sea water as the oceans warm.

Last month, a study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the world's sea levels could rise twice as much this century as UN climate scientists had previously predicted.

The Nobel Prize-winning IPCC predicted a maximum sea level rise of 81cm (32in) this century.

Read more!

Greenhouse gases at new peak in sign of Asia growth

Alister Doyle, Reuters 19 Jan 08;

TROLL STATION, Antarctica (Reuters) - Atmospheric levels of the main greenhouse gas have set another new peak in a sign of the industrial rise of Asian economies led by China, a senior scientist said on Saturday.

"The levels already in January are higher than last year," said Kim Holmen, research director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, during a visit to the Troll scientific research station in Antarctica by Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Holmen said measurements at a Norwegian station high in the Arctic showed levels of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, were around 394 parts per million, up about 1.5 parts per million from the previous records early in 2008.

The levels have risen by about a third since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, in tandem with more use of fossil fuels in power plants and factories, and defying recent international efforts to cut back.

The carbon levels usually peak just before the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere, where most of the world's industries, land masses and plants are found. Levels then dip because plants soak up carbon dioxide as they grow.

Holmen said that the 2008 levels might still rise fractionally higher in coming weeks.

He said growing economies in Asia such as China and India were a reason for the rise in emissions, in line with a linked fall of industrial efficiency in the past two years or so -- more carbon is being emitted per dollar of economic output in a reverse of a long improving trend.

INEFFICIENT

"The affluent world wants to buy cheap stuff and we buy it...from the inefficient old-fashioned technology that we have got rid of," he said. He added that there were also signs the oceans had become less efficient at soaking up carbon dioxide.

The U.N. Climate Panel, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore, says that world emissions of greenhouse gases will have to peak by 2015 to avert the worst effects of global warming ranging from more droughts and floods to rising sea levels.

It says that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are higher than for the past 650,000 years and says that it is more than 90 percent probable that humans are to blame for a related global warming.

Separately, Norwegian researchers said there were new signs that polluting mercury was being blown to the Antarctic even though the icy continent is far from most industrial centers. Mercury has long been a pollutant in the Arctic.

"A preliminary analysis indicates a mercury level approximately 40 percent lower than in the Arctic," Chris Lunder of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research told Stoltenberg during his trip.

"This is a rather high number considering the fact that only a quarter of the emissions occur in the southern hemisphere," he said.

China releases 28 percent of global emissions while South Africa, the nearest nation to Troll, which is about 250 km inland in Antarctica, accounts for 10 percent, he said.

"The latter might be a direct and major contributor to the mercury pollution in Antarctica," he added.

(Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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Nuclear revival rekindles waste concerns

Angela Charlton, Associated Press Yahoo News 19 Jan 08;

Thousands of canisters of highly radioactive waste from the world's most nuclear-energized nation lie, silent and deadly, beneath this jutting tip of Normandy. Above ground, cows graze and Atlantic waves crash into heather-covered hills.

The spent fuel, vitrified into blocks of black glass that will remain dangerous for thousands of years, is in "interim storage." Like nearly all the world's nuclear waste, it is still waiting for the long-term disposal solution that has eluded scientists and governments in the six decades since the atomic era began.

Industry officials hope renewed worldwide interest in nuclear energy will break a long, awkward silence surrounding nuclear waste. They want to revive momentum for scientific and political breakthroughs on waste that stalled after the accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, which raised worldwide fears about radioactivity's risks to human and planetary health.

So far, though, recent talk of a nuclear renaissance has focused on the "front end," or reactor construction. Engineers are designing the next generation of reactors to be safer than today's — and they're being billed as a solution to global warming. Nuclear reactors do not emit carbon dioxide, blamed for heating the planet.

Few people have been talking about the "back end," industry-speak for the hundreds of thousands of tons of waste that nuclear plants produce each year, and the lucrative, secretive business of storing it away.

Waste "is the main problem with this so-called nuclear rebirth," said Mycle Schneider, an independent expert who co-authored a recent study for the European Parliament casting doubt on a global nuclear resurgence. He says government efforts to revive nuclear energy will stall without a "miracle" solution to waste disposal.

Workers at this waste treatment and storage site on France's Cherbourg peninsula, run by industry giant Areva, don't see a problem.

Though much of the technology here dates from the 1970s and 1980s, they point to a strong safety record and the 26,000 environmental tests conducted every year as evidence that the public has nothing to fear from their activity.

The tests routinely find crabs, cows and humans living nearby to be healthy. One longtime plant employee gestured toward her pregnant abdomen, holding her third child, as proof that there's nothing to worry about. Plant officials say strict security measures, tightened since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, rule out terrorism risks.

Greenpeace questions state-run Areva's safety figures, and accuses the government of playing down accidents and soil and water contamination. A group called Meres en Colere, or Angry Mothers, was formed in the region after a 1997 study showed higher than usual local rates of child leukemia, a malady linked to radiation exposure.

Now the "pros" are on a new mission to dispel a generation of scares and suspicion, saying nuclear power is less dangerous to humans and the Earth than burning oil or coal. The "antis" say nuclear energy can never offer 100 percent protection from its radioactive ingredients.

The splitting of uranium atoms in a nuclear reactor creates the exceptional heat that drives turbines to provide electricity. The process also creates radioactive isotopes such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 that take about 30 years to lose half their radioactivity. Higher-level leftovers includes plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,000 years.

Direct exposure to such highly radioactive material, even for a short period, can be fatal. Indirect exposure, through seepage into groundwater, can lead to life-threatening illness for those living nearby and environmental damage.

For now, the best scientific solution for getting rid of the most lethal waste is to shove it deep underground.

Yet no country has built a deep geological repository. Governments meet protests each time one is proposed. The Yucca Mountain waste site in Nevada was commissioned in 1982 and is still awaiting a license.

Another option is recycling. Countries such as France, Russia and Japan reprocess much nuclear waste into new fuel. That dramatically reduces the volume: Forty years' worth of France's highly radioactive waste is stored under just three floor surfaces, each about the size of a basketball court, at Beaumont-Hague.

Recycling, though, produces plutonium that could be used in nuclear weapons — so the United States bans it, fearing proliferation.

And not all waste can be reprocessed. The deadliest bits — such as fuel rod casings and other reactor parts as well as concentrated fuel residue containing plutonium and highly enriched uranium — must be sealed and stored away.

That's what lurks 10 feet underground at this Normandy plant: More than 7,000 cylindrical steel canisters, each about the height of a parking meter, stacked and sealed upright in holes beneath the slick floor. Some contain compacted radioactive metal, the others hold spent fuel that has been vitrified into glass.

Among other ideas once floated for disposing of nuclear waste have been shooting it into space (deemed too risky because of the volatile rocket fuel) or injecting it in the ocean floor (stalled because testing its feasibility is too costly), or shipping all the world's waste to a collective nuclear dump.

The last idea proved too diplomatically delicate. But Greenpeace and Norwegian environmental group Bellona say European nations have for years been illegally shipping radioactive waste to Russia and leaving it there.

Current research in industry leader France — which relies on nuclear energy for more than 70 percent of its electricity, more than any other country — is focusing on new chemical processes that would shrink nuclear waste and cool it faster.

It will be at least 2040, though, before these might be put to use, scientists estimate. Schneider says scientists are "creating work for themselves" by researching methods that may never be commercially feasible or do much to solve the long-term waste quandary.

The World Nuclear Association, an industry group, disagrees, citing increasing interest in waste research by governments. The managers at the Normandy plant say long-held taboos about the industry are fading.

"We have the best scientific solution for treating waste," deputy director Eric Blanc said, referring to the plant's vitrification process and network of cooling pools. "Others are coming all the time to study it."

Visitors to the plant must wear special uniforms and trek through a maze of security and radioactivity checkpoints.

The plant used to have Webcams and "open house" days for people from nearby communities, but both practices were stopped after Sept. 11. Now the Defense Ministry regularly monitors the plant, and vets all visitors.

Meanwhile, new reactor clients are lining up.

China signed a staggering $11.7 billion deal last month for two nuclear reactors from Areva. Areva later said the deal included a feasibility study for a waste treatment and recycling facility in China that would cost another $22 billion.

Areva already makes $2.2 billion in revenues a year on treating and recycling waste. The plant at Beaumont-Hague takes in 22,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel a year, from France, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Australia. The foreign fuel by law must be returned to its owners once it has been reprocessed into a more stable form that — through lack of alternatives — is buried or held in storage.

The French fuel stays in Normandy indefinitely, while bulkier, lower-level nuclear waste is piling up in dumps worldwide.

Nuclear scientists' dream is a wasteless reactor, and some sketches for the next crop of reactors, the Generation IV, include those that recycle 100 percent of their refuse.

Both nuclear fans and foes agree, however, that it will take a few more human generations for that dream to come true.

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Japan follows Europe by tapping offshore wind for power

Risa Maeda, Reuters 19 Jan 08;

KORIYAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Overlooking a mountain lake a few hours drive from Tokyo, dozens of tall wind turbines spin in the breeze creating carbon-free power for the world's fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

A sudden change in breeze spins the turbines in a different direction, an apt symbol of Japan's efforts to shift away from fossil fuels for renewable energy such as wind power to help cut its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

Wind farms such as the Nunobiki Plateau Wind Farm on a hill north of Tokyo, which generates enough electricity to power some 35,000 homes a year, have failed to make a dent in Japan's obligations to cut carbon gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

But Japan is now looking towards the sea, following in the footsteps of Europe which is the world's leader in wind energy, by planning a network of offshore wind farms to tap into the gales of the Pacific Ocean.

"It's worthwhile entering the sector now as offshore technology is at the cutting-edge," said Mitsutoshi Yamashita, a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official in charge of promoting wind power.

"Once we obtain the technology needed, the kilowatts are limitless," he added.

Japan hopes that wind power will provide around 0.2 percent of the country's primary energy supply by March 2011. That figure might rise dramatically if major electric companies follow through with plans to build offshore wind farms near coastal power stations.

HARNESSING SEA BREEZES

The northern Japanese town of Hokkaido, which is the first offshore wind-for-power system outside of Europe, has since 2003 been harnessing the sea breeze with two 600-kilowatt turbines located inside a breakwater less than one km off the coast. That's enough to power an average of 1,000 homes per year.

"Maintenance is tough," said Shinya Ono, a town official, explaining the waves were sometimes too high to reach the turbines by boat.

He said that offshore wind energy was double in power to that harnessed on land, but the power it generated was unpredictable when compared with conventional thermal electricity generation.

Nevertheless, sea breezes are seen as more reliable than solar power and wind turbines require less space and lower investment than nuclear and solar plants.

"There's a good wind year and a bad wind year, and when added up so far, it just breaks even," Ono said, adding the central government had subsidized construction costs, including turbines the town purchased from Denmark's Vestas.

In Europe it costs about 50 to 100 percent more to build offshore wind farms to those based on land. In Japan, it could cost even more as the island nation is surrounded by deeper seas.

Japan is set to study the feasibility of offshore wind energy this year. One option might be to follow the example of Scotland, which installed offshore turbines in deep water in 2006.

As part of the study, the government is expected to install an offshore wind turbine to determine best engineering practices for the widespread use of the technology. The domestic industry is expected to make a push towards offshore wind turbines by 2012.

Toru Nakao, an engineering consultant at E&E Solutions Inc., a unit of a Japanese nonferrous smelter Dowa Holdings Co, envisages that Japan might exploit locations several miles off its coastline in the not too distant future.

"It's challenging for us to catch up," he said.

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Japan, the world's third largest consumer of oil, is facing increasing pressure to raise its supply of energy from non-polluting sources and reduce its dependence on oil, coal and natural gas, almost all of which are imported from abroad.

Its greenhouse gas emissions in the year to March, 2007 were still 13 percent above the average level it must meet each year over the next five years under Kyoto. Japan's per capital emissions are among the lowest in the developed world, making it all the more difficult to make further cuts.

Fossil fuels produce two-thirds of Japan's electricity needs with other sources such as nuclear and hydropower making up most of the difference. Renewable energy sources contribution to Japan's electricity needs are almost negligible.

By law, electric power companies must more than double their use of renewable energy sources -- wind, solar, small-sized hydro plants, terrestrial heat and biomass -- to 1.35 percent of Japan's total electricity supply by March 2011.

The 1.35 percent target is modest when compared with a 3.3 percent share for wind power in Europe already. Some analysts say this target may need to rise if Japan is to meet its Kyoto goals.

Another option would be to increase nuclear power, which already generates a quarter of Japan's needs. However a string of safety scandals has eroded public confidence in nuclear power and construction of new plants would take many years.

A FLOATING WIND FARM?

Helped by government subsidies since the late 1990s, there are more than 1,300 land-based wind turbines in Japan run by regional governments and companies such as Eurus Energy Holdings Co, Electric Power Development Co and Japan Wind Development Co.

Their wind farms are mainly scattered across rugged areas in the far north or south of the island chain, far from major users.

Summer typhoons, violent lightning in winter, and a country split between two power systems and regional power grids add to the challenges of harnessing wind power.

Yet despite the difficulties, Yoshinori Ueda, a strategic planning manager at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd's power systems headquarters, said wind power will have to play an increasing part in Japanese power production.

Mitsubishi, Japan's No.1 wind power turbine maker, is trying to catch up with European rivals with plans to develop sea-based wind turbines in waters near existing power plants, Ueda said.

Separately, Tokyo Electric Power Co, Japan's biggest electric power company, is together with the University of Tokyo looking into the possibility of a large-scale floating wind farm.

To adhere to government regulations, Tokyo Electric buys electricity from wind farms. But some analysts say big power companies may soon initiate their own wind farms at offshore locations near major industrial ports, where a grid network with existing power plants is available.

Back on land, environmental concerns have slowed down efforts to expand capacity.

A plan to set up 16 huge turbines on the slope near the top of Mount Neko, 160 km north west of Tokyo, has been stuck in the planning stages since 2004.

It faces a barrage of complaints from critics worried that construction will taint water supplies, cause debris flows like the one which caused a fatal disaster at a downstream village in 1981 and threaten native eagles, butterflies and the Japanese serow, a species of goat-antelope.

"Wind is a gift. It's free of charge. So people tend to assume it's an easy business," said Teruyoshi Kimura, 59, former engineer who owns an inn at the foot of Mount Neko.

($1=107.10 Yen)

(Editing by Megan Goldin)

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Global carbon trade rose 80 pct last year: group

Reuters 18 Jan 08;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trade in the world greenhouse gas credits market rose 80 percent last year as emissions rules became a concern for more companies, a carbon analysis group said on Friday.

Global carbon credit trade rose to $60 billion in 2007, from $33 billion the previous year, according Point Carbon, an Oslo-based group of greenhouse gas analysts and consultants.

Total traded volume in the global market reached 2.7 billion tons of greenhouse emissions reductions in 2007, a 64 percent jump in the same period.

The U.N.'s climate panel last year squarely blamed human actions for global warming.

Carbon trade allows companies that have cut emissions under a set limit to sell credits representing the reductions to slower-moving players. It is seen as a major way to spur clean technologies that are hoped to slow and then decrease global emissions.

The United States, the world's largest greenhouse gas polluter, has not yet regulated the gases scientists blame for warming the planet. But 10 states on the East Coast plan to start trading carbon dioxide emissions credits from power plants next year, while states in the West and Midwest also plan to trade in regional markets.

Banks, hedge funds and exchanges in the United States, including the New York Mercantile Exchange, last year became increasingly involved in voluntary trading and preparation for possible national carbon regulations.

"This indicates a growing confidence that GHG emission trading will soon take off in the U.S., whether it is at the state or federal level," Point Carbon said in a statement.

Nearly two-thirds of the global trading volume last year occurred on the European Union's emissions trading scheme, with 1.6 billion tons of greenhouse emissions changing hands worth $41 billion. The EU ETS, which kicked off in 2005, covers more than 10,000 power stations and other stationary sources of greenhouse gas pollution.

The other major market was the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism, under which 947 million tons of greenhouse emissions were traded, worth $17.5 billion, despite complaints that red tape has delayed projects.

The CDM allows players in rich countries to meet their emissions limits by investing in clean projects in developing countries, such as wind farms and hydroelectric projects, which otherwise would not have happened.

The secondary market in issued CDM credits rose from 40 million tons and $836.2 million in 2006, to 350 million tons and $8.3 billion in 2007, Point Carbon said.

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Natural gas: 'natural' transition from dirty to clean energy?

Natgas a vital bridge for energy needs: gas group
Reuters 18 Jan 08;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Natural gas remains the United States' only viable fuel source to help bridge a 15-year gap for the nation to transition from dirty fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives, an industry trade group said.

According to American Gas Association chairman David McClanahan, natural gas, with its "small carbon footprint" will be the key fuel until new nuclear power, renewables and liquefied natural gas can also meet America's growing energy needs.

"We need a bridge until clean coal and nuclear are available, which could be a 10 to 15 year period. Natural gas is ready to play a key role to the challenges that our nation faces not only in 2008 but in 2028," McClanahan said speaking to the New York Society of Security Analysts in New York on Thursday.

McClanahan said new nuclear plants would have no effect on supply until the end of the next decade or later, as the industry faces growing opposition from environmentalists and lengthy construction times.

In addition, he said with wind and solar energy not always available at times of peak demand, there are limits to how much renewables can add to the solution.

LNG will play a factor, McClanahan said, but stiff competition from other parts of the world, particularly Asia, will likely keep costs relatively high.

The AGA is focused on getting their message out that natural gas is abundant and less expensive and can help offset climate concerns, one of the biggest challenges facing the energy industry.

"We are in the midst of a seismic shift in the way carbon issues are dealt with in this country. It's a complicated issue and the solutions are elusive, but we can't wait for the perfect solution to present itself," he added.

But in order to meet those needs, McClanahan said offshore areas must be opened up for drilling as soon as possible and not after a supply crunch starts to affect prices.

"Supply is the number one issue. There are domestic places that are not being drilled offshore. Section 181 (in the Gulf of Mexico) was opened last year, but there are expectations that there is a lot of gas on the East Coast and West Coast," he said.

McClanahan said there are fears about not having those supplies until a "crisis" resulting in a big spike starts to hit consumers, some of whom are already showing signs of an economic pinch.

THE MODERATING FACTOR

McClanahan, also the president and chief executive officer of Houston-based CenterPoint Energy, said the company was starting to see some early indications of an economic slowdown in some of its Midwest market areas.

CenterPoint serves gas and power customers in Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

"People have to have energy to heat or cool their homes, but we are seeing signs that people are starting to feel the pinch of a housing slowdown."

McClanahan said his company came out of last winter with its highest amount of delinquent accounts.

"We saw people having to make decisions about what bills to pay. It seems like they were putting aside their energy bill on the 'I'll pay it next month' pile," McClanahan said.

"We worked with those customers, but we were kind of shocked coming out of last winter. It's an indication that high energy prices and high prices at the pump are affecting people's bottom lines," he added.

McClanahan said high volatility and high prices remain big concerns for the gas industry, but the moderating factor is more supply. "Our message is we've got plenty of gas. We've just got to go and get it," McClanahan said.

(Reporting by Eileen Moustakis and Michael Erman; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Gushing British gas to be harnessed for clean power
Reuters 18 Jan 08;

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could soon harness the flow of high pressure gas from fields into the national pipeline network to generate carbon-free electricity, after the government confirmed its support for the clean energy on Friday.

The geopressure technology's main backer in Britain, 2oc, is working with network operator National Grid to generate up to a gigawatt of power in this way by 2010, equivalent to the output of a large nuclear power station.

The method, which uses the surge of gas into the network to drive turbines and make electricity, had been facing possible exclusion as part of an overhaul of Britain's Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme to support clean energy.

But the government said on Friday the technology would continue to get support as it tries to boost Britain's tiny renewable energy sector to meet tough European Union targets.

"Geopressure has the potential to be a low-carbon energy source which will help the UK in meeting its ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions," energy minister Malcolm Wicks said in a statement.

"It is an efficient additional use of the gas we will continue to need as part of our energy mix."

Gas flows from subsea fields into the network at such high pressure that pressure reduction stations have to be scattered across the country before it can safely enter British homes.

Geopressure being included in the RO, which helps emerging clean energy technologies to compete with established but dirtier fossil fuel power plants, was welcomed by company chairman Lord Oxburgh.

"The government has helped us to show world leadership in the fight against climate change. We are already talking to a number of partners in the UK and globally who are as keen as we are to exploit this clean, renewable energy," he said.

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren, editing by Anthony Barker)

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EU targets for individual countries on renewables and climate goals

UK set for 15% renewables target
Roger Harrabin, BBC News 18 Jan 08;

The European Union is expected to tell the UK that 15% of energy needs must be met from renewable sources by 2020.

The figure, currently about 2%, will include all energy used for heating and cooling buildings.

Experts have called the target challenging because they say heating and cooling are hard to achieve on a mass scale using renewable fuels.

The EU, which is trying to create a low-carbon economy in Europe, will announce its decision next week.

Tough but achievable

As current heating and cooling technologies are unproven on a mass scale, electricity generation is expected to meet much of the target - primarily through offshore wind, however the government is also looking favourably on the prospect of a tidal barrage across the Severn.

It is expected that the UK will have to obtain between 30% and 40% of its electricity from wind, wave and solar sources by 2020 - up from the current level of 5%.

"The target is do-able but only if we really pull out all the stops," observed Gordon Edge, head of offshore energy at the British Wind Energy Association.

He said there was still a problem with "interconnectors", cables that transport the electricity from the offshore wind farms to the National Grid.

Mr Edge added that following years of scepticism from the government's industry department, civil servants were now asking: "What can we do to help? There has been a huge change in attitude."

The UK's expected 15% target is a share of the total EU target of gaining 20% of energy from renewables by 2020.

The share is calculated on nations' existing levels of renewable power and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A government spokesman would not confirm the 15% figure but pointed out that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in a speech shortly before Christmas, said that the UK would hit whatever target it was given.

In the autumn, he overruled an attempt by the business and enterprise department to get the targets redefined to make them less onerous.

EU to set Finland 38 pct renewables goal: report
Reuters 19 Jan 08;

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The European Commission will ask Finland to increase its renewable energy output by around a third to 38 percent in draft proposals to be unveiled next week, Finnish public broadcaster YLE said on Saturday.

The Commission is due to spell out on Wednesday how it intends to cut greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change, share out the burden of cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) and increase the use of renewable energy sources.

"According to information obtained by YLE from sources at the negotiations, Finland should produce 38 percent of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2020," YLE said.

The commission is also set to propose Finland cut its CO2 emissions from transport and agriculture by 16 percent compared to levels in 2005. YLE said the figures were draft numbers that were still under discussion.

YLE quoted Finland's energy minister Mauri Pekkarinen as saying Finland could live with the numbers, but last week the minister said in a speech the EU targets were too ambitious.

The Finnish news agency STT, citing unofficial information, said the Commission would ask Sweden -- the EU's best renewable energy performer -- to increase to 50 percent from 39.8 percent the proportion of its energy produced from renewable sources.

EU leaders agreed last March to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in 2020 from 1990 levels, as well as use renewable sources for 20 percent of power production and biofuels for 10 percent of transport fuel by the same date.

(Reporting by Sami Torma; Editing by Jon Boyle)

EU demands action from Germany on climate goals
Reuters 19 Jan 08;

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany must take concrete steps to tackle global warming instead of protesting when it comes to implementing planned measures, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was quoted as saying on Saturday.

In an interview with German magazine WirtschaftsWoche, Barroso hit back against German protests about the Commission's proposals to cut emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

"We agreed on climate policy goals in the EU -- under the German presidency by the way," he said. "These plans must become concrete. We can't just talk about tackling climate change in general and then protest when it comes to implementation."

Although Chancellor Angela Merkel has made battling global warming a centerpiece of her administration, Germany has protested the EU plans would be too harsh on German carmakers, who form one of the country's most powerful lobbies.

The Commission wants a four-year phase-in period from 2012 for fines on manufacturers whose fleets exceed an average of 120 grams of the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

The Commission will on Wednesday present draft laws on energy sector reform and ways to fight climate change, based on ambitious binding targets agreed by EU leaders last March.

(Reporting by Dave Graham)

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