CDL's eco-friendly practices wins

Future returns from green moves today
CDL's eco-friendly practices have not only won the developer most Green Mark Awards but also raised its public profile
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 6 Sep 08;

AS the call for environmental protection resonates around the world, property developers in Singapore have not missed the message and have begun riding the green wave. Ninety-five Green Mark Awards were given out to environment-friendly buildings in 2007, a jump from 17 in 2005.

But 'building a green development is more than just placing a couple of eco-friendly features within a property', said Kwek Leng Joo, managing director of City Developments Ltd (CDL). 'It takes concerted and sustained efforts that cut across the entire development chain and its stakeholders.'

Even before the green movement gathered such a momentum, CDL says it was already engaged in eco-friendly practices. They have become an integral part of property development and management, as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities today. Green initiatives in property development undoubtedly contribute to environmental sustainability. But less known, perhaps, are the other rewards CDL reaps from its efforts. Eco-friendly practices have raised CDL's public profile, it says. 'Going green equates to value for home buyers and enhances our reputation and goodwill,' said Mr Kwek.

BT approached several industry watchers who generally agreed. The initiatives are 'definitely beneficial in terms of the image' and will 'probably reinforce CDL's credentials and standing in the Singapore property market', said CIMB-GK analyst Donald Chua. At a conference here in May, Merrill Lynch singled out CDL as a case study for strong CSR practices. Not just CDL, companies around the world believe environmental issues can shape their image. In a McKinsey Quarterly survey last December of more than 2,100 global executives, 68 per cent felt climate change is a somewhat or very important factor to consider when managing corporate reputation and brands.

Besides winning public favour, green initiatives can help launch companies onto institutional investors' radar screen. 'CDL is the only Singapore developer listed on the FTSE4Good Index series since 2002,' said CDL's chief financial officer Goh Ann Nee.

The series measures the performance of companies which meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards and facilitates investment in those companies. Benchmarks like these are useful to the increasing number of professional investors who watch out for how environmental, social and corporate governance issues can affect the performance of their portfolios.

For instance, more than 400 global investment institutions managing assets exceeding US$15 trillion have signed up to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment. These are best-practices for incorporating such issues into mainstream investment decision-making and ownership activities. 'Most of our major shareholders are institutional Western-based funds who are familiar with socially responsible investments (SRI) and even have proactive investing policies,' said Ms Goh . 'We have found that increasingly, investment funds are asking more questions relating to the company's CSR efforts and commitment, beyond just financials.'

Even small acts can impress. After a meeting at CDL's office recently, '(three European institutional investors) commented that they noticed the green stickers on switches which highlight the importance of switching off lights after using the room', said Ms Goh. 'They were pleasantly impressed that CDL was taking proactive steps towards cultivating eco-friendly habits within the office.'

However, some industry watchers believe that the broader market still needs time to warm to developers' green initiatives. As one analyst pointed out, 'SRI funds are still very small right now' and many are pure environment funds which focus on sectors such as green energy.

Some investors could also be concerned that going green incurs higher costs. CDL typically allocates 2 to 5 per cent of a project's cost to green features. For its residential project The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove, it earmarked 3.8 per cent of the construction cost for green features. But CDL seeks to draw out the bigger picture. 'It is a common misperception that an eco-friendly approach to building happens at the expense of the bottom line,' said Mr Kwek. At the end of the day, the triple bottom line - financial, economic and social - also counts.

Going green also leads to savings in the long term. CDL's City Square Mall, for instance, could enjoy cost savings of $48,000 per year from water-efficient designs alone.

Another analyst said with tongue in cheek that beyond impressing the investment community, eco-friendly property developers could 'score some brownie points with the authorities'. The government has certainly been paying attention to environmental issues. Under legislation that came into effect on April 15, all new buildings and major retrofittings under certain criteria will have to meet minimum Green Mark certification standards.

'(The legislation) has no impact on our business as we have already been practising this for some time,' said Mr Kwek. 'Being an early adopter of these practices has enabled us to harness extensive knowledge and expertise.' Ultimately, 'the fundamental motivation behind our green practices is our care for the environment and our future', he added.

Since the introduction of the Green Mark Awards in 2005, CDL has attained the highest number of Platinum and Gold Plus awards among developers. And it looks like it will be going strong with its green initiatives.

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28 new cases of chikungunya fever detected in Singapore since Aug 25

S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 5 Sep 08;

SINGAPORE : Twenty-eight new cases of chikungunya fever have been detected since the last update on August 25.

A joint statement from the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Health Ministry said 16 of the new cases were imported.

Eight of the imported cases are Singaporeans. Among this group, seven had travelled to Malaysia and one to the Maldives. Among the foreigners, seven are Malaysians and one is an Indonesian.

Out of the 12 local cases, 11 are linked to existing clusters. Of these, four come from the Kranji Way cluster, one from Lim Chu Kang and the remaining six from the Sungei Kadut cluster.

An additional sporadic case is a 28-year-old general worker who stays at Mandai Estate and has no fixed work site. He also has no recent overseas travel history.

NEA said mosquito control remains the primary measure to prevent the spread of chikungunya fever.

It has deployed 13 officers to carry out mosquito control operations in the Mandai Estate area. Mosquito breeding sites have been detected and destroyed in 10 out over 85 premises inspected.

In the Lim Chu Kang farm areas, NEA said it has deployed as many as 22 officers daily to conduct inspections. It has so far detected and destroyed more than 77 mosquito breeding habitats in the farms.

It has also extended its checks to cover nearby vacant lands and forested areas.

Preventive measures such as oiling and larviciding are also carried out to rid the areas of potential breeding habitats.

NEA said fogging operations remains a last resort to mosquito control and are used in selected areas where the adult mosquito population is high.

It added that visitors and workers in the affected areas should take the necessary precautions as the predominant species of Aedes mosquitoes in those areas tend to favour outdoor habitats.

As of Thursday, a total of 178 cases was reported this year.

The Health Ministry said those who develop symptoms of chikungunya - which include fever, joint pain and rashes - should consult their doctors immediately. - CNA/ms

Chikungunya: 28 new cases in fortnight
Straits Times 6 Sep 08;

A 56-YEAR-OLD delivery man who was in Lim Chu Kang Lane 5A only long enough to drop off some goods is among 28 new chikungunya cases in the last two weeks. This brings the year's total to 178 cases.

Four new cases cropped up in Kranji Way, bringing the toll there to 29 cases; six were reported in Sungei Kadut, which has had 14 to date.

An isolated case was found in Mandai, where a 28-year-old general worker was affected.

The National Environment Agency has deployed 13 officers in Mandai estate to check for mosquito breeding. Mosquitoes were found breeding in 10 of the 85 houses checked.

Owners who do not comply with orders to take steps to prevent this can be fined up to $50,000.

The remaining 16 new infections are 'imported cases', among those who travelled to and from mainly Malaysia.

Looking at the year's total of 178 cases, 86 have been imported ones. Locally acquired infections surfaced in 19 locations here.

Symptoms of chikungunya, which is caused by a mosquito-borne virus, include fever, rashes and joint pain.

The Ministry of Health advises people who develop these symptoms to consult their doctors immediately.

GRACE CHUA

Chikungunya imported via Causeway
Today Online 6 Sep 08;

THE number of chikungunya cases here has gone up by 28 since Aug 25, with 16 of these being imported — mostly from Malaysia.

Among the 16 were eight Singapore residents, with seven of them having travelled up-country, and the other to the Maldives prior to the onset of their illness.

The remaining eight comprised seven Malaysians, who either live in Johor or had made trips to Malaysia; and an Indonesian who had come to Singapore for medical treatment.

This prompted the Ministry of Health (MOH), in itsupdate on Friday, to caution that “in the absence of avaccine, and the presence of the aedes mosquito, Singapore remains vulnerableand receptive to the introduction of chikungunya outbreaks.

“It is likely that caseswill continue to occur aslong as situations in neighbouring countries do not improve.”

Malaysia had reported an increase in the number of ­suspected cases of chikungunya last week — 224, ­compared with only 179 the previous week.

Johor, Malacca, Perak, Penang and Sarawak were the most active states, according a Malaysian health ministry official.

Bernama news agency said on Thursday that ­nationwide, there were a total 1,703 cases notified, with Johor registering the most: 996 cases.

Meanwhile, of the 12 new local cases here, 11 were linked to existing clusters such as Kranji Way, Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Kadut, while the 12th is a general worker living in Mandai Estate.

The latest figures take the total number of notified cases this year to 178 as of Thursday, said the MOH.

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Number of new HFMD cases in Singapore soars past epidemic levels

Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia 5 Sep 08;

SINGAPORE : The number of new hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases in Singapore has reached epidemic levels for the first time since June this year.

This comes at a time when kindergartens are gearing up for a spike in cases when the new school term begins on Monday.

But doctors said that often it is the lack of proper hygiene at home that helps spread the disease.

HFMD is a common childhood infection, which typically sees two peaks each year.

617 new cases were reported last week - breaking the epidemic threshold of 565 cases. But this is below the numbers seen in the previous seasonal epidemic between March and May, which saw 1,466 new cases a week at its height.

Experts differ on how much impact the September holidays will have on infection rates.

The Health Ministry said that the one-week break might provide some relief, but some doctors think the time away from school may be too short to have a large effect. Furthermore, childcare centres continue to operate as usual during this time.

But with classes due to reopen on Monday, the PAP Community Foundation kindergarten in Woodlands Avenue 6 is taking no chances. Aside from increasing the frequency of checks, it also teaches its kids to look out for ulcers and sores on the palms, soles and buttocks.

Veronica Tee, administrator, PCF Sembawang, said: "The children already know that when they do feel unwell during class time, they need to let the teacher know. And we have also put in an added measure recently - by doing another check mid-way during class."

During an outbreak, kindergartens and childcare centres will minimise outdoor excursions and intermingling between children of different age groups.

Cherie Hearts, which operates a chain of 30 childcare centres here, said that it will also rope in healthy adult volunteers to help take care of children should its centres have to shut down.

It said this would help ease the load of those working parents who have difficulty taking leave.

NTUC Childcare said it provides hand sanitisers for visitors throughout the year.

Hand hygiene is also stressed at all centres, but some doctors said that not enough is being done at home.

Dr Thoon Koh Cheng, Department of Paediatric Medicine, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, said: "Strict hand hygiene is probably still overlooked. People let down their guard when the child is well, and when the child becomes sick, people let down their guard again by allowing them to go back to childcare centres and kindergartens when they are just on the brink of recovery."

One factor that could account for the rise in cases is the weather. The theory goes that during rainy weather, people tend to stay indoors, and this makes it easier for viruses to spread. - CNA/ms

HFMD: 617 children infected last week
Ministry tracking situation closely as number crosses epidemic level
Lee Hui Chieh, Straits Times 5 Sep 08;

WHEN school re-opens next week, parents should keep a close eye on their children and avoid sending them to school if they have the tell-tale symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

The number of children who came down with the common childhood affliction crossed the epidemic level last week, and looks likely to go up, going by past trends.

Last week, 617 children were diagnosed with the usually mild disease which causes fever and rashes on the hands, feet and buttocks, higher than the official epidemic level of 565 cases a week.

Ten children had to be hospitalised because their illness left them unable to eat properly.

But it is too early to declare that an HFMD outbreak is under way, as numbers fluctuate from week to week, and could come down this week, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

In fact, fewer children are expected to catch the disease from other children during this week, as it is the one-week school holiday period.

She added: 'A sustained rise above the epidemic level for two or more consecutive weeks is more significant, especially if there is a rising trend. MOH will continue to monitor the situation closely.'

Still, it is likely that numbers will continue to grow, as traditionally, more children are hit by HFMD between August and October each year.

The total number affected during this peak period tends to be lower than the other traditional peak period of March to May. As many as 1,466 children came down with the disease in a week in April at the height of the first peak this year.

The disease is of great concern to the authorities this year because the current predominant virus is EV71 that causes a deadly form of the disease.

This year, EV71 has caused four children to develop encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain lining.

One of them, a three-year-old boy, died last month - the first HFMD death here since seven children were killed, mostly by the same virus, in a severe outbreak in 2000 and 2001.

Mr James Hou, 36, a manager of an engineering company, is taking no chances after his four- year-old son came down with HFMD last week.

He took his son to KK Women's and Children's Hospital when the boy complained of a headache two days after being diagnosed with HFMD.

He said: 'If it's just fever, it's not unusual. But when other symptoms come, it's better to have a detailed check.'

He said that the family was particular about hygiene and handwashing at home, so his son had probably caught the disease outside.

So even though his son has recovered, he has kept both the boy and his five-year-old daughter away from their childcare centre because other children there came down with HFMD recently.

He has also banned them from going to playgrounds for the time being.

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Ecologists facing poachers in saving Sumatran turtles

Andi Abdussalam, Antara 5 Sep 08;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Ihsan Alhamid Andalas, a nature lover, was happy with face looked shining as he explained he was to have about 400 new `babies` this week.

Not only Andalas, other conservationists grouped in Bengkulu province`s Young Nature and Environment Lovers Association (KP3ALH) were also delighted.

They all shared the same reason for happiness as the 400 bred-turtle eggs they had laid in four holes were about to hatch, where about 400 young turtles would be born.

Located in the Air Hitam Nature Park area, Muko-Muko district, Bengkulu province, Sumatra, the turtle eggs had been laid there about 60 days ago.

"We hope the eggs will hatch this week. We have four holes which are filled with 100 eggs each," Andalas who is the KP3ALH chairman told ANTARA News on Tuesday (Sept.2 2008).

The KP3ALH`s efforts to breed the rare species is in line with the increasing awareness of the country`s nature lovers of the importance of conserving the animal in the face of declining population due to local poaching, either for consumption or for commercial purposes.

In Bangka Belitung (Babel), a new province in Sumatra, sea turtle hunting has been increasing over the past few years.

Dozens of Leatherback sea turtles are hunted and killed each month to be used as ingredients for production of traditional medicines and as raw materials for leather good accessories, Head of Babel`s Agriculture and Forestry Service Andre Wiryono said.

As a result of rampant hunting, the population of leatherback turtles, locally called `Penyu Belimbing` (Dermochelys Coriacea) in the province has fallen to only about 1,000.

"It is very difficult for local fishermen now to get the species," Andre Wiryono, said. The rare species is usually found in three different locations, including the waters off Mendarnu Island, he said.

The local turtle species facing a serious risk of distinction in Babel includes five local turtle species, namely `Penyu` Kemp`s Ridley (Lepidochelys Kempi) and `Penyu Sisik` (Eretmochelys Imbricata) which according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) are at the greatest risk of being extinct.

The others are `Penyu Hijau` green turtles (Chelonia Mydas), `Penyu Lekang` or Grey Turtle (Lepodochelys olivacea) and `Penyu Tempayan` or loggerhead turtle.

Conservationists should therefore take the lead in the breeding of local turtles in Babel such as their colleagues are doing in Bengkulu. Otherwise, Babel`s turtles are facing extinction as poachers continued to hunt them.

In Benkulu, turtle breeding by conservationists get support from the Nature Conservation Agency (BKSDA). Thanks to the support, the quality of the KP3ALH`s breeding place could be further improved.

The turtle hatchery site which gets assistance from the BKSDA is developed with permanent walls and barbed fences with a door. So it is relatively secure and could be protected from thefts. Inside this location, only one hole with 100 turtle eggs has been made, however.

Unlike the other location, which has four holes with 400 eggs, its condition is still prone to theft.

The location was fenced with wood only. The sand layer inside which functions as a medium of hatching could clearly be seen from outside so that it is quite prone to thefts. There were four holes in the breeding location, each containing 100 turtle eggs.

Although turtle egg is prone to natural predators, its main enemy is actually human beings. "Predators like monitor lizards and pigs eat the eggs based on their need only. On the other hand, human beings, when they find them, will take them all," Andalas said.

He said that turtle eggs need 60 days` time to hatch and when young turtles are born they would slide into the sea where the offspring will face another threat from, for instance, sharks.

Local people usually collect turtle eggs for consumption or for money. They sell them at Rp1,200 (about 13 dollar cents) each. That`s whey it is easy to find turtle eggs in food stalls in Muko-Muko district.

Sand along the coast of Air Hitam, including the Air Hitam Natur Park (TWA) constitutes natural habitat for Sumatran turtles to lay their eggs each year. Here one can find leatherback turtles or other types such as green turtles, grey turtles (lepodochelys olivaccea) and one called `penyu sisik` (eretmochelys imbricata).

Along this coastal line is actually a place for various turtles from all continents of the world to lay their eggs. A tagged turtle was once spotted here which was later known to originate from the Philippines.

Besides, the coast of West Sumatra is also a place for turtles to lay their eggs. The West Sumatra regional administration is developing the coastal lines as a tourist resort to help promote the Visit Indonesia Year 2008.

A number of foreign journalists representing various news agencies and newspapers in the world were recently invited to release turtle offspring produced by breeding into the open sea from Mandeh Beach, Pesisir Selatan district, West Sumatra.

"Apart from releasing the turtle offspring, the foreign journalists also visited the Mandeh maritime tourist resort, one of the attractive resorts in the Visit Indonesia Year," Basril Basyar, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) chairman of West Sumatra chapter said.

West Sumatra even promoted the site during the Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) in Singapore last April.

"We have places where tourists can see something more unique, namely the turtle breeding process. For such an experience, why should we go to Brazil. Let`s come to Pulau Penyu (Turtle Island) in West Sumatra," Head of the West Sumatra Tourism, Arts and Culture Office, H James Hellyward, said during the ADEX event in Singapore.(*)

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Extinction Circles Giant Vultures

LiveScience.com Yahoo News 5 Sep 08;

A shadow has fallen over endangered giant vultures whose captive populations are too small to save the species.

Captive breeding colonies currently lack the genetic diversity to ensure survival for oriental white-backed vultures (Gyps bengalensis) in the wild, where the birds are dropping dead from feeding on drug-tainted meat.

The vultures boast a seven-foot wingspan and thrived in South Asia until the mid-1990s, when people started using an anti-inflammatory drug called diclofenac to treat arthritis-like symptoms in livestock. Vultures that fed on the tainted carcasses of the animals died of kidney failure within a day or two.

"We know the problem, and we know the solution," said Jeff Johnson, a biologist who conducted the research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and is now at the University of North Texas in Denton. "We just need to get diclofenac out of the environment and more birds into protection before it is too late."

Their fate shares similarities with that of the California condors in North America, which are dying from lead poisoning after feeding on animals wounded or killed by hunters.

A shrinking population means less genetic diversity that can help species adapt to changing environments and climates or disease outbreaks. The results could spell extinction for the giant vultures, despite the small captive breeding colonies in India and Pakistan.

Johnson and other researchers took genetic samples from old museum specimens of the giant vultures, and also collected recent feather and tissue samples from Pakistan's last remaining wild breeding colony. They then used computer simulations to determine that the number of vultures in captivity are not enough to maintain genetic diversity if wild populations go extinct - a likely case if people continue using diclofenac.

The loss of the giant vultures means fewer of nature's garbage disposals to take care of uneaten livestock carcasses, which can become breeding grounds for bacteria and attract rabid feral dogs. Such birds also have cultural value for the ancient Parsi religion of South Asia, which places deceased people on "Towers of Silence" for vultures to consume the remains. The Hindu religion similarly reveres a vulture saint named Jatayu.

A conservation organization called the Peregrine Fund is working to try and save the giant vultures, but faces political, logistical and funding challenges in the vultures' home countries.

"One of my goals with this paper," Johnson said, "is to raise awareness of the problem and to increase political will in India and Pakistan to get this matter resolved."

The study is detailed in the August issue of the journal Biological Conservation.

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Climate change could stop corals fixing themselves

Devin Powell, NewScientist.com news service 5 Sep 08;

Climate change is depriving coral reefs across the globe of the building materials used to make their shells. Current plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions may not be enough to fix the problem, according to new research.

The daily life of corals is a constant battle against erosion. The reef builders patch up holes in their shells, left by nibbling sea creatures, using a mineral called calcium carbonate. To keep up with repairs, corals in the wild usually require three times as much of the mineral as sheltered corals grown in laboratories.

Before the industrial revolution, says Ken Caldeira of Stanford University, 98% of all corals lived in waters above the required calcium carbonate threshold.

But the situation is changing, according to Caldeira, who has built a model to study how greenhouse gas emissions tinker with the chemistry of open water oceans.
Acid waters

Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which reacts with water to make carbonic acid which lowers the ocean's pH. As the pH drops, dissolved calcium carbonate decreases - impairing the corals' ability to rebuild themselves.

The United Nations' most optimistic plans to curb carbon dioxide emissions hope to stabilize the gas at a concentration of 450 parts per million by the year 2100. This scenario, which many economists consider to be too costly to achieve, would still lower the pH of the oceans by as much as 0.2, according to Caldeira's model.

This would leave only 8 to 34% of the world's corals in waters containing healthy amounts of calcium carbonate.

More conservative goals to level carbon dioxide at 550ppm by 2150 would place half the southern oceans' coral in fatally under-saturated waters that could not support reef building even in protected laboratory settings. These reefs are likely to slowly dissolve away.
Tough corals

Even at today’s level of 380 ppm, nearly half of the world's coral population lives in perilous waters low on calcium carbonate. One major storm or catastrophe could pose a serious threat to any one of these reefs, which may not have the necessary supply of minerals to repopulate. "We've already seen this in the Galapagos, where a single bleaching event wiped out a coral reef that had been around for thousands of years," Caldeira told New Scientist.

"We need to be concerned," says Chris Langdon of the University of Miami. But faced with these bleak predictions, he emphasizes the resiliency of corals.

In the laboratory, Langdon has shown that naked corals in acidic waters – unable to produce a skeleton – can still cling to life for years in acidic water and rebuild when the pH eventually rises. The key to fixing the world's oceans, says Langdon, will be a combination of cutting carbon dioxide emissions and new carbon sequestration strategies that remove the gas from the atmosphere.

Journal reference: Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2008GL035072 (in press)

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Pyrenees glaciers will melt by 2050: Spanish study

Yahoo News 5 Sep 08;

Climate change will melt the 21 remaining glaciers in the Pyrenees mountains before 2050, a group of Spanish researchers said Friday.

"The steady increase in temperature -- a total of 0.9 degrees Celsius from 1890 to today -- indicates that the Pyrenees glaciers will disappear before 2050, experts say," said a statement published on the SINC website, an official science news site.

The melting of the glaciers is "a result of the global warming we are experiencing," said Juan Gonzalez Trueba, professor at the University of Cantrabria, who led the study.

"High mountains are areas which are particularly sensitive to changes in the climate and environment. The melting of the glaciers is one of the clearest indicators that global warming is happening right now," Trueba said.

Researchers from the universities of Cantabria, Madrid and Valladolid conducted "the first global study" into thawing in the three mountainous areas in Spain: the Pyrenees on the border with France, the Picos in the north-west and Sierra Nevada in the south, the statement said.

"Between 1880 and 1980, at least 94 glaciers melted in the Iberian peninsula. Another 17 disappeared from the 1980s to the present day," the SNIC website said.

Now there are only 21 glaciers in all of the Pyrenees -- 10 on the Spanish side and 11 on the French side of the border. The glaciers cover a total area of 4.5 square kilometres (1.7 square miles).

"From 1990 to today, our calculations show this rapid thawing caused the smallest glaciers to completely disappear whereas the surface area of the larger glaciers was reduced by 50 to 60 percent," the statement said.

Europe's most southerly glacier which used to be in the Sierra Nevada disappeared at the start of the 20th century, while the glaciers in the Picos mountains have also vanished.

All glaciers in Spain were formed during a "mini ice age" which lasted from 1300 to 1860. The largest expansion of glaciers came between 1645 and 1710.

The Spanish researchers also found that the melting of the Pyrenees glaciers is not a new phenomenon. Thawing of the smaller glaciers in this area was detected between 1750 and the start of the 19th century.

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Solar energy can meet all the world's energy demands: expert

Yahoo News 5 Sep 08;

The world must speed up the deployment of solar power as it has the potential to meet all the world's energy needs, the chairman of an industry gathering which wrapped up Friday in Spain said.

"The solar energy resource is enormous, and distributed all over the world, in all countries and also oceans," said Daniel Lincot, the chairman of the five-day European Photovoltaic Solar Energy conference held in Valencia.

"There is thus an enormous resource available from photovoltaics, which can be used everywhere, and can in principle cover all the world energy demand from a renewable, safe and clean source," he added.

Lincot, the research director of the Paris-based Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy, said solar energy was growing rapidly but still made only a "negligible" contribution to total energy supply.

Last year the world production of photovoltaic models represented a surface of 40 square kilometres (16 square miles) while meeting the electrical consumption of countries like France or Germany would require 5,000 square kilometres, he said.

Under current scenarios, photovoltaic models will represent about 1,000 square kilometres by 2020 accounting for about only 3.0 percent of energy needs in the 27-member European Union, he added.

Over 200 scientists and solar power experts have signed a declaration calling on the accelerated deployment of photovoltaic power which was launched at the conference.

More than 3,500 experts and 715 sector firms took part in the gathering, billed as the largest conference ever organised in the field of photovoltaic conversion of solar energy.

Germany and Spain are the world leaders in solar energy power. Germany has 4,000 megawatts of installed capacity while Spain has 600 megawatts.

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Australian climate advisor urges 10 percent emissions cuts

Yahoo News 5 Sep 08;

Australia's chief climate advisor Friday urged a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 but conceded this may not save the country's natural assets such as the Great Barrier Reef.

In an assessment of the targets required to manage the harmful effects of air pollution on climate, Professor Ross Garnaut said Australia should cut its emissions by 10 percent of 2000 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050.

This would be Australia's share of the burden if international agreement was reached to limit carbon emissions in the atmosphere to a concentration of no more than 550 parts per million molecules, Garnaut said.

He said while a global objective of 450 parts per million would suit Australia better, his review's targets and trajectories "are the best available to us now" as emissions rise rapidly due to global economic growth.

Garnaut said natural assets at risk at the level he had recommended were the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral ecosystem, and the Murray-Darling River system which irrigates Australia's biggest farming zone.

"I have to say the odds are not great for the Great Barrier Reef... if the world gets no further than 550 parts per million," the esteemed economist and former diplomat told the National Press Club.

"There are lots of important environmental values in Australia that will be at risk at 550 parts per million. Where they will be without mitigation of climate change -- they are not at risk, there's certain death."

Environmental groups immediately attacked the recommendations, saying they did not go far enough and forfeited Australia's chance to be a global player in the climate change debate.

Garnaut said he accepted that the only progress on the issue would be global and that if the international goal was set at 450 parts per million "the odds are we might not get there".

"So I say that 550 (ppm) is the realistic, immediate objective but that should not be the end of the game," he said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, elected in November in part on the strength of his campaign to combat climate change on the world's driest inhabited continent, has committed to a 60 percent cut in emissions by 2050.

Rudd has said he would use Garnaut's review, the final report of which is due this month, to guide his thinking on cuts to emissions in the short term.

Garnaut's emissions trajectories are based on the "per capita" allocation of emissions rights -- which he said provided the only possible basis for an international agreement including developing countries.

He said the 10 percent cut by 2010 was a 30 percent cut per capita and amounted to a "major task of structural adjustment".

He said modelling indicated the cost to Australia of the 550 ppm scenario would be 1.1 percent Gross Domestic Product by 2020.

Environmental group Greenpeace said Garnaut's recommendations showed he had "all but given up on reaching a global agreement to combat catastrophic climate change".

"This is the government's chief climate change advisor suggesting Mr Rudd write a death warrant for the Great Barrier Reef, the Kakadu National Park and our international reputation," spokesman Steve Campbell said.

"Accepting this kind of damage to the planet is completely immoral."

The Australian Conservation Foundation said Garnaut's proposed targets would fail to position the country as a global player in environmental change.

"To be a credible global player Australia's target must be within the range already on the table of the international negotiations, which have recognised that developed countries, as a group, need to cut their carbon pollution by at least 25-40 percent by 2020 to keep global warming below dangerous levels," executive director Don Henry said.

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Era of cheap water over, say Stavros Dimas, EU Environment Minister

Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 4 Sep 08;

The era of cheap water in Europe is over and people will have to pay for what they use, Expo 2008 has heard.

European Environment Minister Stavros Dimas told the conference in Zaragoza, Spain - which has a water theme - that the Continent was squandering too much of its water resources and the guiding principle now had to be: the user pays.

Clean drinking water was a vital resource and people had to realise they must pay for it in exactly the same way as they do for their petrol, heat and energy.

"In some areas of the southern Mediterranean where water is already scarce as much as 44 per cent of the supply is wasted.

"That is unsustainable and has to change," he said at the conference on water and drought.

"Water comes at a price and it will be up to each country in the EU to take the right measures and to ensure people pay for what they use.

"If someone who lives near the sea has a swimming pool then they will have to pay more. It is only logical to tax more heavily those who can afford to have a swimming pool when they could just as easily swim in the sea.

"Similarly, if someone opens a golf course in an area where there is little water, then they must pay more."

He said several EU countries including the UK, Germany and Spain were already suffering water shortages and the problem would be made worse by the higher temperatures and more frequent periods of drought brought by climate change.

Mr Dinas was outlining progress on drawing up an EU Water Framework Directive which will form part of an energy and climate package which to be published later this year.

He told the conference that the effects of higher temperatures would be felt first in the southern Mediterranean.

"It is one of the most vulnerable regions where water scarcity and drought will become more acute. We have to move towards more efficient use of the resources we have.

"Forty four per cent of water is wasted in the Mediterranean area and 40 per cent in the rest of Europe but substantial savings can be achieved. The potential to save water must become a priority," he said.

Mr Dinas said if individual countries did not take action now to make consumers pay for water they would face dire consequences in the future when there might not be enough clean drinking water.

He said agriculture - responsible for between 60-70 per cent of all water usage - and industry would also have to pay their fair share.

Austrian MEP Richard Seeber, who is helping draw up the EU's water strategy, said the average daily amount of water used per person in Europe had shot up from 100 litres to 400 litres and the aim was to cut this to just 80 litres.

He told the conference that half the people in Europe lived in areas where there was a water shortage. They had to be motivated to use less water and the best way to do that was by charging for it.

"It will be up to member states to fix their pricing policy and if people argue that filling a swimming pool is a human right then you have to ask 'is ït a human right to deprive our children and grandchildren of water."

"We have to change our behaviour not only in Europe but across the world. It is possible to live without oil but it is not possible to live without water."

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Urban Surprise: More Bicyclists Means Fewer Accidents

LiveScience.com Yahoo News 6 Sep 08;

In a study that at first glance seems counterintuitive, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, reviewed safety studies from 17 countries and 68 cities in California and found that the more people bike in a community, the less they collide with motorists.

"It appears that motorists adjust their behavior in the presence of increasing numbers of people bicycling because they expect or experience more people cycling," said Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from the university.

With fewer accidents, people perceive cycling as safer, so more people cycle, thus making it even safer, she said.

"Rising cycling rates mean motorists are more likely to be cyclists, and therefore be more conscious of, and sympathetic towards, cyclists," she said.

Safety experts said the decrease in accidents that comes with an increase in cycling is independent of improvements in cycling-friendly laws and better infrastructure such as bike paths. The safety studies reviewed were from Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, 14 other European countries, and 68 cities in California.

Although the review focused on bicycling, it appears that the more is safer rule also applies to pedestrians, Hatfield said.

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Apocalypse Not: Atom-smasher won't doom planet, says study

Yahoo News 4 Sep 08;

People who fear a powerful atom-smashing machine, due to start operations next Wednesday, will cause Earth to be gobbled up or reduced to grey goo can rest assured, according to a study released Friday.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been shadowed by Internet-fuelled concerns that it will release energies so powerful that it will create a runaway black hole that will engulf the planet, or a "strangelet" particle that would transform Earth into a lump of strange matter.

But the new report says these fears are unfounded.

It says the LHC will replicate collisions that already occur naturally when Earth runs into the path of high-energy cosmic rays.

"Nature has already conducted the equivalent of about a hundred thousand LHC experimental programmes on Earth -- and the planet still exists," it says.

The assessment is written by five physicists at LHC's operator, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva.

They had been asked by CERN to take a fresh look at a safety assessment written by CERN scientists in 2003 that also gave the project the green light.

The LHC, installed in a 27-kilometre (16.9-mile) tunnel on the French-Swiss border, is to start unleashing a beam of protons next Wednesday in the first stage of its commissioning process.

Two parallel beams of particles, one going clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, will blast around the underground ring.

At four locations on the ring, superconducting magnets will bend the beams so that groups of protons smash into each other in a giant chamber which is swathed with detectors to record the resulting sub-atomic debris.

This invisible rubble could help resolve some of the biggest questions in physics, such as the nature of mass, the weakness of gravity and whether, as some theoreticians suggest, there exist dimensions beyond our own.

The new Safety Assessment Report says that any black holes produced by the collider would be "microscopic" and decay almost immediately, as they would lack the energy to grow or even be sustained.

"Each collision of a pair of protons in the LHC will release an amount of energy comparable to that of two colliding mosquitoes, so any black hole produced would be much smaller than those known to astrophysicists," it says.

As for the hypothesised "strangelets," the report referred to data from the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York to say that these would not be produced during collisions in the LHC.

The review is published in a journal of the Institute of Physics, London.

France has also asked a French watchdog agency, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), to carry out a safety appraisal of the LHC.

On August 29, the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, France, tossed out a last-ditch legal bid to stop the LHC's switch-on.

The suit had been filed by a group of European citizens, led by a German biochemist, Otto Roessler, of the University of Tuebingen.

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