US stimulus money fuels 'smart' power grid surge

Glenn Chapman Yahoo News 22 Mar 09;

AUSTIN, Texas (AFP) – Electric grids are getting smarter in an IBM lab in Texas as the promise of billions of US economic stimulus dollars fuels a drive to make power delivery more efficient and greener.

A chunk of stimulus cash aimed at promoting a "smart grid" designed to foster renewable energy generation and let people and utilities better manage electricity use has IBM in alliances with a growing host of startups.

"Smart grid was starting to get hotter, but post-stimulus it is dead center at IBM and in the venture community we deal with," said Drew Clark, director of strategy at IBM's venture capital group.

"What really got the juices flowing is that we see what is in the bill."

President Barack Obama's stimulus package devotes 10 billion dollars to smart energy technology, with nearly half of the money designated for power grid innovations, according to Clark.

A "proof-of-concept" lab at IBM's campus in Austin could almost double for a television studio set.

A mannequin lies in a bed in a mock hospital room equipped with sensors capable of detecting the presence of doctors, providing them details about patients, and even knowing whether medical personnel wash their hands.

Nearby are re-creations of a living room, kitchen, cafe, and utility control center, each featuring sensors that enable devices to anticipate the desires of those that enter.

Solutions Experience Lab IT architect Jeff Mausolf plays a utility control center worker reacting to a surge in demand due to a heat wave.

Mausolf taps a few computer keys, commanding a thermostat setting in a stage home to rise a few degrees, turning off power-gobbling air conditioning.

As the pseudo-emergency escalates, Mausolf turns off lights and appliances in houses by sending orders through "e-meters" to "smart outlets."

The technology is already being used in Austin.

Mausolf dons a white hard hat and walks to a utility repair crew van outfitted with computer gear that helps him swiftly diagnose outages and what is required to fix the problems.

"The biggest part of building all this was the security and encryption to protect the systems," Mausolf said, dismissing Hollywood film scenarios in which hackers commandeer power grids to wreak havoc.

"I don't worry about my power not being on in the morning when I wake up."

Even Internet search king Google has leapt into the energy management arena and called for investment in a nationwide smart grid.

Google announced in February that it is refining PowerMeter software that tells residents which devices in their homes are electricity hogs and which are being frugal with energy.

"There is a new excitement in the air about home energy management," Clark said. "The technology is coming. Google couldn't resist either."

The stimulus package sets out to push creation of an energy web mirroring interactive and user-empowering aspects of the Internet.

IBM is courting startups as well as championing a universal open technology standard to make certain that computerized appliances, meters, and other parts of a smart power web speak the same software language.

Clark sees the coming of in-home boxes similar to those provided by cable television firms, only these electronics-packed cases will be devoted to controlling electricity use.

It could evolve to a point where people choose whether their electricity comes from solar panels, wind turbines, coal plants, or nuclear facilities.

Tens of billions of dollars in the stimulus package are for new power lines, ideally in remote spots where winds or sun are prime for turbine or solar power generation.

"The cost of wind is at parity with coal and solar is damn close," Clark said. "The problem is delivering it."

IBM considers itself a "master architect" bringing together pieces of the power grid. The US technology giant recently won a contract to build an "intelligent infrastructure" in Malta for electricity and water.

"We are organizing IBM to take advantage of the urgency created around the infrastructure," Clark said. "We have been doing this for years, but the stimulus has set it on fire. We are locked and loaded; ready to go."

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World wants tough 2050 climate cuts, split on path

Alister Doyle, Reuters 23 Mar 09;

OSLO (Reuters) - Governments broadly support tough 2050 goals for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions but are split on how to share out the reductions, according to a new guide to negotiators of a new U.N. climate pact.

A document to be presented to U.N. climate talks in Bonn from March 29-April 8 narrows down a list of ideas for fighting global warming in a new treaty due to be agreed in December to about 30 pages from 120 in a text late last year.

"It shows that there's an awful lot still to be done. And it also shows what needs to be done," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters on Monday of the text by Michael Zammit Cutajar, chairman of a U.N. negotiating group.

"It's a good leg-up to a much more precise agenda focusing on filling in the gaps," de Boer said.

More than 190 governments agreed in 2007 to work out a climate treaty by the end of 2009 after warnings from the U.N. Climate Panel that greenhouse gases, from burning fossil fuels, would bring more droughts, floods, heatwaves and rising seas.

"There is broad support by parties for a science-based indicative goal for the reduction of greenhouse gases to the middle of the century," the text says.

Possible goals include halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, deep cuts to limit a rise in temperatures by 1.5 or 2.0 degrees Celsius (2.7-3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, or setting a low personal emissions quota for everyone.

PATHWAYS

It adds: "There is a lack of convergence on the issue of the contribution by different groups of countries to the achievement of the long-term goal and pathways to it."

Rich nations say they will lead the way in making cuts but dividing up the burden between rich and poor is a huge tussle. Recession is making wary of commitments to shift from cheap coal, for instance, to more expensive renewable energies.

Still, De Boer said a distant 2050 goal was not irrelevant, for instance to an investor considering building a high polluting coal-fired power plant.

"If I was walking my trolley through the supermarket about to buy a power station and knew that governments of the world are aiming for minus 50 percent by 2050 I know that it would influence my purchasing choice," he said.

He also said the text showed "strong convergence" on a need for ambitious mid-term targets for developed nations as close as possible to reductions of between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 advised by the U.N. Climate Panel.

"The numbers offered so far do not come close to that yet," he said. He noted that Japan, Russia and Ukraine have not even made proposals for 2020 cuts.

U.S. President Barack Obama wants to reduce U.S. emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 15 percent cut from current levels. The European Union has agreed 2020 cuts of 20 percent below 1990 levels, and 30 percent if other rich nations follow suit.

Zammit Cutajar said his text did not eliminate past proposals, but presented them in a more concise way. "It doesn't take anything off the table," he told Reuters.

"It's a good start but there's still way too many options," said Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director at the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Bonn meeting will be a chance to see if the Obama administration comes up with new ideas. Former President George W. Bush was isolated from other rich nations in staying out of the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for curbing emissions until 2012.

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Climate pact needs flexible deadline: agency chief

Megan Rowling, Reuters 23 Mar 09;

LONDON (Reuters) - The deadline for a new global accord on climate change should be extended if Washington is not ready to make commitments on cutting greenhouse gas emissions by December, the head of a major environmental funding agency said on Monday.

More than 190 governments agreed in 2007 to forge a climate treaty by the end of 2009 at U.N. talks in Copenhagen, after scientists warned that rising emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, would bring more droughts, floods and rising seas.

Monique Barbut, chief executive officer of the Global Environment Facility, told Reuters the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama wanted to tackle global warming but might not have time to pass legislation on carbon trading in time to sign an international pact by December.

"I really think what is very important is not so much that we do it in Copenhagen, what is very important is that we get real good commitments," she said in an interview on the sidelines of an event on financing climate change.

"So if it needs six more months for the U.S. to be totally ready, I think it is much more important that we wait for those few months than that we take commitments that are going to anger many people."

President Bill Clinton agreed in 1997 to the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, aimed at cutting greenhouse gases in the period to 2012, but did not try to get a hostile Senate to ratify it.

In December, U.S. Senator John Kerry predicted the Senate would let Obama sign up to a U.N. pact to fight global warming in late 2009 even if U.S. climate laws were not yet in place.

Barbut noted other obstacles to reaching a deal in Copenhagen, including the European Union's reluctance to pledge billions of dollars in funding for poorer countries until it can see what other nations are prepared to put on the table.

"I do not honestly see European countries agreeing today to massively scale up their level of international solidarity to tackle climate change unless they get something in return," she told the event organized by the Overseas Development Institute.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said on Friday the bloc could move no further until other rich countries spelled out their targets for cutting emissions.

Success at Copenhagen will likely depend on whether agreement is reached on a fund worth tens of billions of dollars annually to help poor countries limit their emissions and cope with the impacts of global warming.

But Barbut, whose Washington-based agency is the financial arm for international conventions on environmental issues including climate change, said this would not happen unless a global deal on targets for reducing emissions was also reached.

"For me, and for plenty of reasons, this story is not a likely scenario, which means that in spite of the impressive and authoritative figures of funding needs that are floated around, the financial architecture will probably only change gradually, and its means will certainly not increase 10-fold overnight," she said.

(Reporting by Megan Rowling, editing by Tim Pearce)

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Greenhouse gases endanger health: US Environmental Protection Agency

Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters 23 Mar 09;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that climate-warming greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, pose a danger to human health and welfare, a White House website showed on Monday.

EPA's proposed "endangerment finding," sent to the Obama administration on Friday, could pave the way for U.S. limits on emissions that spur climate change.

The substance of the proposal was not immediately made public, but the White House Office of Management and Budget showed EPA sent a proposed rule for an "Endangerment Finding for Greenhouse Gases under the Clean Air Act."

An endangerment finding is essential for the U.S. government to regulate climate-warming emissions like carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act.

The environment agency had no comment on the endangerment finding, but such a finding is only sent to the White House when the EPA determines that human health and welfare are threatened.

"I think it's historic news," said Frank O'Donnell of the environmental group Clean Air Watch. "It is going to set the stage for the first-ever national limits on global warming pollution."

Representative Ed Markey, a Democrat who heads the House climate change committee, also offered praise while slamming the Bush administration's record.

"This finding will officially end the era of denial on global warming," Markey said in a statement. "Instead of allowing political interference in scientific and legal decisions, as was the case in the previous administration, the Obama administration is letting the sun shine in on the dangerous realities of global warming."

U.S. BUSINESS SEES 'DANGEROUS GAME'

William Kovacs of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was wary of the possible changes. "They're playing a very dangerous game with the way they're moving forward. The regulated community, if carbon dioxide is regulated, swells from about 15,000 to 1.5 million entities. That's the risk."

EPA's move could spur Congress to cap carbon emissions, said Eileen Claussen of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs repeated President Barack Obama's support for a market-based system to limit carbon emissions and allow companies that emit more than the limit to trade allowances with those that emit less. Congressional Democrats also favor this kind of cap-and-trade plan to cut emissions.

In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA has the authority to make these regulations if human health is threatened by global warming pollution, but no regulations went forward during the Bush administration.

Carbon dioxide, one of several so-called greenhouse gases that spur global warming, is emitted by natural and industrial sources, including fossil-fueled vehicles, coal-fired power plants and oil refineries.

An internal EPA document made public last year showed the agency's scientists believed greenhouse pollution posed a health threat, but no official finding was ever accepted by the Bush White House.

On March 10, the EPA proposed a comprehensive U.S. system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, a step toward regulating pollutants that spur climate change.

(Additional reporting by Tom Doggett and Ayesha Rascoe; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

AP source: EPA says global warming a public danger
H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Yahoo News 23 Mar 09;

WASHINGTON – The White House is reviewing a proposed finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that global warming is a threat to public health and welfare.

Such a declaration would be the first step to regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and could have broad economic and environmental ramifications. It also would likely spur action by Congress to address climate change more broadly.

The White House acknowledged Monday that the EPA had transmitted its proposed finding on global warming to the Office of Management and Budget, but provided no details. It also cautioned that the Obama administration, which sees responding to climate change a top priority, nevertheless is ready to move cautiously when it comes to actually regulating greenhouse gases, preferring to have Congress act on the matter.

The Supreme Court two years ago directed the EPA to decide whether greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, pose a threat public health and welfare because they are warming the earth. If such a finding is made, these emissions are required to be regulated under the Clean Air Act, the court said.

"I think this is just the step in that process," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, noting the Supreme Court ruling. Another White House official, speaking anonymously in deference to Gibbs, predicted "a long process" before any rules would be expected to be issued on heat-trapping emissions.

But several congressional officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft declaration had not been made public — said the transmission makes clear the EPA is moving to declare carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a danger to public health and welfare and views them as ripe for regulation under the Clean Air Act.

Such a finding "will officially end the era of denial on global warming," said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., whose Energy and Commerce subcommittee is crafting global warming legislation. He said such an endangerment finding is long overdue because of the Bush administration's refusal to address the issue.

The EPA action "signals that the days of ignoring this pressing issue are over," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., whose Senate committee is working on a climate bill.

Many business leaders argue — as did President Bush — that the Clean Air Act is ill suited to deal with climate change and that regulating carbon dioxide would hamstring economic growth.

"It will require a huge cascade of (new clean air) permits" and halt a wide array of projects, from building coal plants to highway construction, including many at the heart of President Barack Obama's economic recovery plan, said Bill Kovacs, a vice president for environmental and technology issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Abigail Dillen, an attorney for the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, which is involved in a number of lawsuits challenging permits for new coal plants, dismissed the dire economic warnings from business groups about carbon dioxide regulation.

"It's to their interest to say the sky is falling, but it's not. ... The truth is we've never had to sacrifice air quality to maintain a healthy economy. The EPA has discretion to do this in a reasonable way."

An internal EPA planning document that surfaced recently suggests the agency would like to have a final endangerment finding by mid-April. But officials have made clear actual regulations are unlikely to come immediately and involve a lengthy process with public comment.

Gibbs, when asked about the EPA document Monday, emphasized that "the president has made quite clear" that he prefers to have the climate issue addressed by Congress as part of a broad, mandatory limit on heat-trapping emissions.

But environmentalists said the significance of moving forward with the long-delayed endangerment issue should not be understated.

"This is historic news," said Frank O'Donnell who heads Clean Air Watch, an advocacy group. "It will set the stage for the first-ever national limits on global warming pollution and is likely to help light a fire under Congress to get moving."

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Carbon trading 'undermined by boom and bust'

Terry Macalister and Ashley Seager, The Guardian 23 Mar 09;

A shake-up in the way the "boom and bust" carbon markets are working in Europe is being urged ahead of tomorrow's auction of new emission certificates by the UK government.

The Carbon Trust, which is funded by government money, and the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers argue that some kind of floor price or carbon tax might have to be put in place to prevent the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS) being discredited by a further collapse in prices, which have already slumped from €30 per tonne to just over €10.

As ministers prepare to raise money by selling off more carbon certificates to –polluting companies, Michael Grubb, economist at the Carbon Trust, said the ETS was being badly undermined by volatility and uncertainty as the financial crisis ate into a scheme that was meant to fight global warming.

"Very low carbon prices could wreak much damage on the credibility of emissions trading and undermine the EU's attempts to form a platform of leadership in the [forthcoming] Copenhagen [climate change] negotiations," Grubb said. "Moreover, the historic pattern of boom and bust points to [the] inherently volatile characteristic of emissions trading to date and the potential benefits of building in more robust design. There are various options that could be considered." Among these, he said, were reserve price auctions in which a minimum floor price is set.

Richard Gledhill, PwC's global climate change leader, said that volatility and low carbon prices were undermining the business case for long-term investment in emissions reductions.

He added that a mixture of cap-and-trade schemes such as the ETS plus a –carbon tax could be the way forward. "Business needs clear, long-term price signals if major shifts in private sector investment are to be made," he said.

PwC points to estimates that the world needs to spend about $500bn a year over the next 20 years on renewable energies and energy efficiency alone, many times the current level. That level is already dropping back because of the seizing-up of capital markets.

"Much of the debate on whether climate change should be tackled with a tax or through carbon trading is unduly black and white," said John Hawksworth, PwC's head of macroeconomics. "Our evaluation of the arguments suggests that neither carbon taxes nor carbon trading is clearly superior to one another. Both approaches have pros and cons.

"A hybrid trading scheme with price ceilings and floors offers a potentially attractive balance of price flexibility and predictability that we think merits serious consideration by governments as a potential alternative to either pure trading or pure tax solutions."

PwC also say that the extra money governments would generate through the use of carbon taxes or trading could provide useful income to spend on environmental programmes without having to raise income or corporate taxes. Estimates show, for example, that auctioning carbon permits under the ETS could raise up to £8bn a year by 2020.

The consultancy says its hybrid system could be merged into the ETS with relatively few modifications and then linked into similar schemes in the US and other major developed economies. It could also be used for developing countries such as China and India in the medium term.

• This article is an extended version of that which appeared in today's paper

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Bottled water sales starting to run dry

Revolt grows as environmental fears prompt diners to ask for tap
Martin Hickman, The Independent 23 Mar 09;

A revolt against bottled water in restaurants is growing. Last year, figures showed that, after more than three decades of year-on-year growth, bottled water sales dropped by 9 per cent. Now a survey shows more people prefer tap water when they dine out.

Almost two thirds of the people, 63 per cent, said they always asked for tap water or would prefer to drink tap water in restaurants rather than buy a bottle of still or sparkling. Despite that, one in four people surveyed by the WaterAid charity felt pressured to order bottled water when dining out.

Women were more likely to choose tap water than men, while people in Greater London and Scotland were the most likely to choose bottled water. Diners in the South-east and East Anglia were the happiest with tap.

The research group TNS asked 2,018 people about their water-drinking habits while dining out. Some 38 per cent, equating to 14 million nationwide, said they always asked for tap water and 25 per cent, or 9.5 million, said they preferred tap water. Thirty-seven per cent of diners said they always asked for bottled water. Although there is no historical comparison for the number of bottled water refuseniks, the level of people who "always" ask for tap is believed to be on the rise after high-profile campaigns to cut the environmental cost of bottled water.

The popularity of bottled water soared during the 1990s and early 2000s. Sales increased 6 per cent annually to more than two billion litres. But last year that trend was reversed, with sales in the UK dropping by 9 per cent. Most bottled water has a lower carbon footprint than other soft drinks but tap water is less harmful still and 1,000 times cheaper, costing 0.1p a litre at home. The £2bn-a-year British bottled water industry is hoping to persuade people that its product is purer than tap water, which is chemically treated before being pumped into houses and businesses.

WaterAid called on restaurants to ask diners to donate a few pence towards its work when customers order free tap water, with the launch of its Tap into WaterAid initiative. So far, 36 restaurants have signed up to the scheme, launched to mark United Nations World Water Day yesterday.

Andrew Cook, WaterAid's deputy chief executive, said: "Water is essential for life, yet here we are in 2009 and more than one in eight of the world's population are without access to it. Over 1.8 million children die every year from water-related diseases. We're so lucky here in the UK; we just turn on a tap and our fresh water is there."

According to WaterAid, 884 million people in the developing world are without clean water. "The only choice they have is to walk for miles in search of dangerously dirty water, or go without," the charity said.

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Carbon footprint labels should be displayed on new products say UK MPs

Labels showing a product's carbon footprint should be displayed on goods and services to help consumers tackle climate change, according to an influential committee of MPs
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 23 Mar 09;

Some foods are already displaying "carbon reduction labels" alongside the ingredients to show how much of the greenhouse gas was produced in the manufacture of a product.

However a report from the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said a proliferation of different environmental labels are confusing for consumers and allow companies to appear more eco-friendly than they actually are in a method known as "greenwash"

The committee wants a robustly monitored system of environmental labels to show the impact of each product, including labels showing the carbon emissions produced, so that consumers can make a more informed choice.

Colin Challen, a member of the committee, said it was essential goods display carbon content if consumers are to help the UK meet its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

"Given the challenge we face in decarbonising the economy, the committee believes carbon labelling may prove the single most important environmental measure in promoting behavioural change at home, at work and in business," he said.

Euan Murray, general manager of the Carbon Trust, the Government-backed body in charge of helping business cut greenhouse gases, has been piloting a Carbon Reduction Label with Tesco, Walkers Crisps and Pepsi among other businesses.

"The Carbon Reduction Label means that a company has measured the carbon emissions from every stage of the lifecycle of its product," he said.

"Consumers can then make choices about a product or service, and understand the impact that their decisions will have on climate change. And the UK will make bigger steps towards Government's carbon emission reduction targets as a result."

Shoppers need clear labels to put a stop to 'greenwash'
Nicholas Watt, The Guardian 23 Mar 09;

Tough standards on labelling should be enforced by the government to clamp down on "greenwash", in which companies exaggerate the environmental credentials of their products, a Commons committee recommends today.

A universal scheme, with independent verification, should be introduced because the "proliferation of labels" was confusing consumers, according to MPs on the Commons environmental audit committee.

The problem of greenwash has been highlighted in recent years after the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) censured a series of high profile companies for making misleading claims about the environmental impact of their products.

A complaint against Shell, which ran a newspaper advert depicting its refinery chimneys emitting flowers, was upheld by the advertising watchdog. Friends of the Earth complained about the advert, which ran with the slogan: "Don't throw anything anyway. There is no away."

MPs on the committee call for a series of changes to improve environmental labelling. These include:

• Enforcing a new labelling scheme by law that would include independent monitoring.

• Giving greater powers to trading standards officers and the ASA to act when companies make "inaccurate and misleading" claims.

• Forcing car dealers to display EU information on vehicle performance.

Colin Challen, the Labour chairman of the environmental information sub-committee, said: "The government has to act to deal with the problem of greenwash. Clear labels are needed to help consumers make informed choices but for consumers to have confidence in them, environmental labels must be backed up by independent monitoring that is fully verified."

The new universal system must be flexible. Challen said: "The environmental choices a consumer makes buying shampoo are different to those they make when buying a car. Whatever we are buying, more needs to be done to make clear the environmental choices we each make whenever we choose one product over another.

"An effective environmental labelling regime will also generate the kind of market signal needed to trigger a transformation in business activities all the way down the supply chain of a particular product. This kind of action is vital if we are going to decarbonise the UK economy."

The ASA annual report last year said claims that products and services were carbon neutral, zero or negative were often open to challenge, as were statements claiming products to be 100% recycled or "wholly sustainable".

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Mar 09

Casque offs: Hornbills in Singapore
on the annotated budak blog

Free Chek Jawa boardwalk tour
on the Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs blog

Macro @ Pulau Ubin
on the colourful clouds blog and manta blog.

Pleasant Surprises @ Seletar
on the Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature blog

Kalak Kambing at Kranji
from wild shores of singapore blog

Moray eels (Muraenidae)
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog with more posts about other kinds of eels as well as NOT eels.

Cooperative breeding
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Of sani-sentry duties and Coppersmith Barbets (Part 6)
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Another octopod
on the annotated budak blog and babbling bather.

Visit to KK Asia Plastic Recycling
from News from the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore

Monday Morgue: 23rd March 2009
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog

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MacRitchie-Upper Peirce path closed?

Popular path closed?
Lin Yanqin, Today Online 23 Mar 09;

HE HAD been running there since 1992, but marathoner Elangovan Ganesan and other running enthusiasts will no longer be able to return to one of their favourite routes in Singapore.

Since last week, joggers who regularly use a path linking MacRitchie and Upper Peirce reservoirs have found themselves being turned away by Singapore Island Country Club security guards.

The reason? According to PUB and SICC, the path lies on the club’s golf course and within range of flying golf balls.

“In consideration for public safety, SICC and PUB decided to close the path,” they told Today.

Besides security guards stationed temporarily at various entry points to the path, SICC will be planting hedges with signage to advise the public not to enter. A fence has also been erected at the Upper Peirce Reservoir dam, the main entry point.

Mr Elangovan, like many of his peers, was disappointed when he heard the news. “It’s a bit sad, especially since interest in distance running is really picking up in Singapore, and if you want to promote it as a sport you should have the venues,” said the 34-year-old, who has been hit by a golf ball once in his 18 years running there.

“But safety is an issue no matter where you run, on the streets or in a park. Runners basically run at their own risk.”

Some runners felt that the club was thinking more about the safety of its members, especially after a brawl broke out last month between SICC members and a group of youth at the golf course off Sime Road, after the youth had allegedly trespassed onto the course.

Jogger June Chia, 29, who uses the path once a month, said: “I’ve seen people run onto the course and security trying to stop them. Maybe (SICC members) had enough.”

Running club MacRitchie Runners 25 president Mark Dyson believes the public could have been consulted first. “Perhaps the path could be open during certain hours, such as early morning, where there are few golfers anyway,” he said.

Now, his club’s plans to hold its annual race, covering trails through MacRitchie and beyond, have been thrown into disarray with the closure. “Our members are quite upset, we’re trying to meet with the management to discuss any compromises,” said Mr Dyson.

The path is apparently so popular because of its challenging terrain, peaceful forested setting and the fact that it avoids the road.

“There are other venues, but this one is really unique,” saidMr Elangovan.

“It benefits runners because it’s a mix of terrain.”

According to PUB, MacRitchie Reservoir offers “several alternative scenic routes” and nature trails that serve as connectors to other parts of the reservoir. It also welcomed feedback on its 24-hour Call Centre (1800-284 6600).

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Really Really Free Market in Singapore

The spirit of giving
Haircuts, toys and clothes at no cost at the Really Really Free Market
Esther Ng Today Online 23 Mar 09;

THERE may be no such thing as a free lunch, but yesterday, books, toys and designer togs, as well as services such as tarot reading and haircuts, were given away for free at the Really Really Free Market Singapore at Post Museum.

The people who gave away their services and belongings for free and those who took what was on offer subscribe to a philosophy of giving and helping the community.

“Why spend $30 on a haircut when all the stylist does is just trim off the length?” said Ms Biddy Low, who gave away free haircuts. The 29-year-old full-time musician taught herself hairstyling after her unsatisfactory experience with hairdressers.

Ms Harlina Samat, 23, who picked up Vera Wang and Bulgari perfumes at the first market on Jan 18, decided she would do some giving this time round.

“I think this whole idea of giving without expecting anything in return is great, especially during these recessionary times,” she said as she gave away her books and clothes.

“What you don’t want, someone else might need. Most people have too many material goods that they have no use for, so ... we can re-cycle and re-use.”

Some foreign workers in the neighbourhood popped in to have a look.

Mr Farooq Qasim, 26, was pleased with his finds. The Bangladeshi got himself a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a short-sleeved shirt from a neat pile of clothing that was laid out on a mat. “I was surprised to learn that everything here was free. Not every day you can get things for free,” he said.

Equally pleased was Filipina expatriate housewife Sherlina Vasquez, who picked up two soft toys for her six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter. Ms Vasquez, who found out about the event through Facebook, told Today that she gave away a box of VCDs at the first event.

Asked if people might take advantage of the market, Ms Lai Chin Yun, 31, one of the givers said: “Well, no system is perfect. Even if 20 per cent are freeloaders, this is still helping 80 per cent — the majority.”

It’s this need to help and share that prompted Post Museum to start the market.

“Not everything is based on monetary value. People have the skills or the goods and they want to help. It’s also about getting people to think about alternatives to consumerism,” said organiser Jennifer Teo.

At 4pm, an hour after the market opened, there were not many people at the event. “It’s still early. People start coming in at around 5pm onwards,” saidMs Teo. Indeed, as the afternoon progressed, various people trooped in with bags and unpacked their stuff.

The next free market will be held in May. There is no need to pay for a spot. Just turn up at Post Museum, located at Rowell Road, between 3pm and 9pm. For more information, call Post Museum at 6396 3598.

The Really Really Free Market movement started in 2004 in the United States as a protest against globalisation and consumerism.

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Catch your own prawns at prawn ponds

Don't want to get overcharged for prawns at Newton?
The New Paper 23 March 09

WHY spend $239 on eight prawns - as some tourists did recently - when you can enjoy hooking and barbecuing them yourself, all for a lot less?

After the furore over overpriced prawns at the Newton Food Centre, fishing facilities such as the Hai Bin U Enterprise in Bishan are hoping more people will visit them for a taste of big prawns.

For $15 an hour, their customers have a chance to reel in fresh prawns, some of which can be as long as a soft drink bottle.

The company provides you with a rod and bait, and you can sit by a pond waiting for the prawns to bite.

Mr Edward Ng, 35, who does marketing for Hai Bin U, said that some of the customers - known as 'prawnsters' - are so crazy about 'prawning' that they have even done it for 24 hours at a stretch.

Customers can cook the prawns right there as barbecue pits are also available.

On weekends, an average of 1,000 people flock to the pond, which is open round the clock, Mr Ng said.

The pond is refilled with about 10kg of live prawns every hour.

Various locations

There are more than 10 such prawn fishing facilities in various locations around the island, said Mr Daryl Chan, owner of Punggol Prawning.

'The price of $15 an hour is more or less standard at these places,' he said.

Mr Ng of Hai Bin U said: 'The pricing is 20 over years old, but we're trying to remain competitive with the other prawn fishing facilities.'

When The New Paper on Sunday visited Hai Bin U this week, the two main ponds had several 'prawnsters' around the perimeter, hoping to reel in the big head - or 'Tua Tau' as many call it - fresh water prawns.

Hai Bin U orders six to eight tonnes of prawns monthly, and this can go up to 10 tonnes during the school holidays. The monthly bill: about $250,000.

Primary school pupil Low Kai Yi, 10, was among those spotted at the pond.

'I asked my mum to bring me here today,' he said. 'It's more likely that I'll catch a prawn here, rather than out in open waters.'

One of his first few catches included a large 'Tua Tau'. He caught it in less than half an hour.

He said: 'We usually take them home to cook and eat.'

Kai Yi's mother, Dr H H Lee, 46, a dental surgeon, helps her son with unhooking the prawns each time he pulls one out of the pond.

'When they get to catch the prawn, it makes the experience more rewarding,' Dr Lee said. 'It's the excitement of the bite.'

Mr James Tan, 19, a full-time NSman, has been to Hai Bin U more than 10 times, staying for two to three hours each time.

He said: 'The number of prawns you catch depends on your luck.'

He catches eight or nine prawns each visit. His biggest catch was about 20.

His friend and fellow NSman, Mr Desmond Lim, 19, was on his second visit to the ponds.

'Here, we can relax, chit chat with friends, and break away from what we usually do,' he said. 'We'll grill the prawns to eat later too.'

- Han Su-Ying, newsroom intern

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Desalinating water: Call to cut energy use

Business Times 21 Mar 09;

SINGAPORE needs to manage the higher amount of energy required to produce desalinated water compared with taking water from conventional sources, Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.

'Although desalinated water and Newater have afforded enhanced water security, they are more energy intensive than conventional water sources,' he said at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul.

'Energy consumption in desalination and reclamation technologies has to be reduced to ease the trade-off between water and energy,' he added.

Singapore is looking at ways to reduce the energy cost through research and development. Examples include the use of membrane distillation and a variable salinity plant which could treat feed water of different salinity.

Singapore had to improve water management due to scarcity, said Dr Yaacob. 'To support the right attitudes, we do not subsidise it, and instead price it to reflect its scarcity.'

According to the Asia Pacific Water Forum, the region is the most vulnerable to water-related disasters. And with extreme events such as droughts and floods expected to increase, Dr Yaacob pointed out that Singapore is vulnerable. This is why almost 20 years ago new reclamation projects had to be built to a level of 1.25m above the highest recorded tide level, he said.

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