Living Green, Living Free

Our small kitchen garden on Flickr.Tomatillos, tomatos and...

touristlemonpie — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:25:15 -0300

Our small kitchen garden on Flickr.

Tomatillos, tomatos and lavanders…
we love our plants :)

occupymelbourne, a set on Flickr.Our photo set about the first...

touristlemonpie — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 02:35:27 -0300

occupymelbourne, a set on Flickr.

Our photo set about the first day of Occupy Melbourne on October 15th at City Square in Swanston Street.

Spring is here, with tomatillo and lavander on Flickr.

touristlemonpie — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:09:00 -0300

Spring is here, with tomatillo and lavander on Flickr.

350, Moving Planet 2011, a set on Flickr.@350, @Moving_Planet...

touristlemonpie — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:55:28 -0400

350, Moving Planet 2011, a set on Flickr.

@350, @Moving_Planet 2011, Melbourne, Australia :D

Photo

touristlemonpie — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:41:16 -0400

Patagonia Aysen Film Festival, dams opinions and repression.

touristlemonpie — Wed, 11 May 2011 19:50:36 -0400

voyagers:

These are the first days after the winter time change, the sunset is dark and the sunrise is bright. From home I can see the Mackay, the city of Coyhaique and the surrounding hills. The snow is moving forward, the inauguration day was snowing near the city for a long time.

An anxious feeling was enveloping the city, the next days are fundamental, a commission was voting the Mega Dams Project of HidroAysen. I have been talking with local and foreign people, almost all of them are against the dams.

The slogan of the Third Film Festival of Patagonia Aysen 2011, “nature and social movements” is precise. Conversation, debate, the exploration of new realities, the foment of a healthy and conscious environment, a respectful attitude with the Earth and society, were the target of this festival.

I felt that the people were afraid, but, why? of what?

Read More

Patagonia without Dams march, Temuco, Chile

touristlemonpie — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:35:52 -0400

voyagers:

During our last week before leaving for Patagonia, we took part on the Patagonia Without Dams march that took place in Temuco

Todays demonstration was at a national level, all of Chile’s biggest cities are participating in a national movement to protect one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth

Here are some pictures, you can see more in our Flickr

A video about a neighbor building between 8:20 and 9:40 (with...

touristlemonpie — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 22:32:49 -0400

A video about a neighbor building between 8:20 and 9:40 (with some pictures at 6:30 and 7:50 pm =) I blurred the video on purpose, because I wanted to avoid misunderstanding :P by green.lemonpie.cl

Volunteering at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 2011

touristlemonpie — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:02:25 -0300

Volunteering at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival 2011:

Do you like green initiatives? Do you like music and to meet new people?!

Here is your chance to become a Volunteer at Bonnarro Festival 2011

Coachella Festival always Green at the desert

touristlemonpie — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:39:18 -0300

Coachella Festival always Green at the desert:

If you are an artist and you are looking for Coachella VIP tickets and an opportunity to show your artwork to the world this is your chance!

TRASHed Coachella is searching the globe for the greatest artists in modern time to assist with redesigning recycling bins for Coachella

2011. Since 2004, Coachella has hosted this interactive recycling bin art walk to help keep the festival grounds spotless and looking good.

Source and more info: http://coachella.com/event/sustain#Rec

Another great news is that the Recycling empty bottles initiative is back! and if you are attending Coachella Festival you just need to collect ten empty bottles and you will receive 1 bottle of water :D With this initiative you help to clean the place and recycle and also you are saving a lot of money because water is priceless in the middle of the desert :D

THE ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER RIDE: A Brief History of Fossil...

touristlemonpie — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:04:26 -0300

THE ULTIMATE ROLLER COASTER RIDE: A Brief History of Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we’re reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we’re in for an exciting ride. While there’s a real risk that we’ll fall off a cliff, there’s still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future

Codelco and Solarpack will build the first industrial solar plant in South America

touristlemonpie — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:58:40 -0300

Solarpack, the Spanish multi-national company specializing in solar photovoltaic power plant development, investment, consulting, and services, and Codelco, the largest copper producer in the world, will construct the first industrial solar electric power plant in South America.

The Calama Solar 3 project agreement specifies construction and operation of 1MW of installed power in a new solar photovoltaic power plant (equivalent to the consumption of 1,500 households). It will provide electric power to the mining company facilities in Chuquicamata, located in the north of Chile.

Calama Solar 3 will be the first solar power plant in the world built without subsidies or specific tax benefits for solar energy. Codelco will purchase the electric power generated by the solar plant under a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) at a long term stable price and at competitive rates compared to Northern Chile’s electric system (SING) wholesale prices.

The plant will occupy an area of 6.25 Ha. Silicon PV modules will be installed on single shaft trackers. This great precision tracking system will enable the 4.080 PV modules to follow the sun’s path in its daily East-West movement.

This plant will generate clean energy in an area where it is much needed and it will reduce CO2 emissions in 1,680 tons per year. On the other hand, its environmental impact is minimal, not only because it does not generate CO2 emissions, but also because it does not require ground preparation, it needs very little water to operate and its height (max 2m) does not have a visual impact on the landscape.

It will generate highly predictable electric power, even more in Northern Chile, an area noted for some of the highest solar radiation on the planet (nearly 2,500 kwh/m2/year). Thanks to this radiation levels, the plant will generate 2.69 GWh of electricity per year. This Solar photovoltaic power plant features a 31% capacity factor, making it the most productive in the world. The life cycle of this type of plant is 35 years.

The Calama Solar 3 plant will start operations in 2011, which will be a historic milestone, not only for Chile but for all South America, as it will be the first industrial solar photovoltaic plant to start producing energy in the continent. .

Source: http://www.solarplaza.com/

Photo: davepope

Amazon drought, worst in 47 years

touristlemonpie — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:55:00 -0300

The Amazon’s 18-meter level on September was the lowest since 1963, disrupting transportation of food, fuel and medicines in northern Brazil. Growers in Brazil’s Southeast expect the drought will lessen output of the nation’s key commodities. Brazil is the world’s biggest producer of coffee, sugar and oranges. The prices of this products are increasing around the globe

The Amazon river and its basin functioning at half their normal capacity, when compared to the 2005 drought, it’s threatening rainforests, livelihoods, and entire populations as the maneuvering of supplies to river towns becomes extremely difficult. Boats normally used to transport food have been halted, and supplies can only be ferried by canoe. Air lifts of food supplies have begun to provide relief in remote areas

Greenpeace and other environmentalists warn that dry weather such as what the Amazon region is experiencing now will become more common due to climate change. Meterologists, however, explain that the current dry spell may be the result of a particularly active hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean. Such storms draw moisture away from the Amazon as they progress

The Brazilian Government recently declared an estate of emergency in 25 municipalities near the Amazon basin

Picture by sibauch

Existe suficiente agua para satisfacer las necesidades humanas, pero...

touristlemonpie — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:07:00 -0300

[Esta es una version en espanol de There is enough water available to meet human needs, but… ]

Aunque menos del uno por ciento del agua existente en la Tierra se encuentra actualmente disponible para uso humano, existe suficiente agua para satisfacer las necesidades humanas y del medio ambiente. El desafío consiste en asegurar suficiente agua en buenas condiciones de forma tal que no destruyamos los ecosistemas, ríos, lagos y acuíferos, desde los que obtenemos nuestros recursos de agua. Todos vivimos lado a lado con el agua, ya sea al extremo de una tubería o al borde de un río. Necesitamos agua para nuestra subsistencia básica, para cultivar, generar energía y producir bienes que utilizamos a diario. Sin embargo, el uso de agua desde los ecosistemas de agua dulce, se encuentra muy por sobre los niveles que pueden ser sostenibles acorde a la demanda actual y, aun mas, los pronósticos apuntan consistentemente a que la demanda por agua continuara creciendo en la mayor parte del mundo.

Fragmentacion de rios

El incremento de la demanda por agua e hidroelectricidad,

en conjunto con los esfuerzos en pos del control de inundaciones y mejoramiento de la navegabilidad de ríos, han llevado a la construcción de represas y otras infraestructuras en la mayoría de los grandes ríos del mundo. Las Infraestructuras acuáticas brindan beneficios, pero ademas tienen un profundo impacto en los ecosistemas de agua dulce y en aquellos que dependen de los servicios prestados por e’stos. Las represas alteran los regímenes de flujo de ríos al cambiar la cantidad, temporalidad y calidad del agua que fluye río abajo. Las mas grandes represas pueden cortar por completo la conexión ecológica existente entre los hábitats río arriba/río abajo, este es el caso por ejemplo de los peces migratorios. Las infraestructuras para la defensa contra inundaciones pueden cortar la conexión entre un río y su planicie aluvial afectando estos hábitats. La creciente demanda por energías bajas en carbono, mayor capacidad de almacenamiento de agua y control de inundaciones, parecen estar causando una nueva ola en pos de la construcción de represas y otras infraestructuras a nivel mundial.

Ríos secándose

En décadas recientes, el incremento en la extracción de agua ha llevado a que algunos de los ríos mas largos del mundo se vayan secando. El Nilo en Egipto, el Ganges en el sur de Asia, el río Amarillo en China, y el Colorado en Estados Unidos están entre los mayores ríos, que se encuentran tan danhados, desviados y sobre explotados que poca o nada agua dulce llega a su desembocadura por periodos significativos de tiempo. En orden de satisfacer la demanda creciente, el agua también esta siendo transportada grandes distancias de una cuenca a otra, lo que produce múltiples impactos ecológicos. A veces esto ocurre en distancias muy grandes, como es el caso del esquema de transferencia de agua sur/norte en China.

Polucion del agua

Ha habido éxitos importantes al enfrentar problemas de polucion urbana e industrial en los países desarrollados durante los últimos 20 anhos, a menudo gracias a regulaciones estrictas y la utilización de presupuestos significativos para mejorar las instalaciones de tratamiento de aguas residuales. Sin embargo, la polucio’n sigue siendo un gran problema en muchos ríos. Después de que el agua ha sido utilizada para propósitos domésticos, industriales o agrícolas, toda el agua que no ha sido evaporada/transpirada, es retornada a los ecosistemas de agua dulce. Estos flujos de retorno están a menudo cargados de nutrientes, contaminantes y sedimentos. Ademas pueden tener una mayor temperatura, por ejemplo cuando el agua ha sido utilizada para el enfriamiento de procesos de generación térmica.

En China, cerca del 80 por ciento de los mayores ríos se encuentran tan degradados que ya no soportan vida acuática. En Pakistán, menos del 25 por ciento de la población tiene acceso a agua limpia para beber. Menos del 3 por ciento de los residentes de Indonesia esta conectados al alcantarillado, llevando a una severa contaminación de ríos y lagos. 75 por ciento de las aguas superficiales de India y Rusia se encuentran tan contaminadas que no debieran ser usadas para beber o banharse. Las Naciones Unidas han revelado el deterioro de todos los 677 mayores lagos de Africa, ademas de cada uno de sus mayores ríos. El lago Victoria, la fuente del Nilo, es utilizado como cloaca. En Latinoamerica, m’as de 130 millones de personas no tiene acceso a agua limpia debido a la contaminación de lagos y ríos. Grandes ciudades, como Sao Paulo y Ciudad de México se enfrentan a la doble crisis de sobre consumo de agua y polucion masiva. Solo al rededor del 2 por ciento del agua residual de Latinoamerica recibe algún tratamiento. La situación en el Norte es mejor, pero no buena. El 22 por ciento del agua superficial de Europa se encuentra seriamente amenazada, y el 40 por ciento de los ríos y arroyos de Estados unidos son demasiado peligrosos como para nadar, pescar o beber, lo mismo ocurre con el 46 por ciento de los lagos debido a la masiva contaminación toxica de granjas industriales.

Agua virtual y comercio global

Con las nuevas herramientas de huella de agua, es posible entender la completa extensión de la dependencia de recursos globales de agua de naciones o empresas. Los números pueden ser sorprendentes: la huella de agua de una taza de café negro, por ejemplo, es 140 litros. Cuando los bienes y servicios son comerciados entre países, ocurre lo mismo con el agua virtual que ellos contienen. El comercio global puede anhadir mucho a la huella de agua de un país. Por ejemplo, mientras una familia promedio en el el Reino Unido utiliza 150 litros por persona por día, el consumo de productos provenientes de otros países en el Reino Unido, implica que efectivamente cada residente absorbe 4,645 litros de agua cada día. El origen de esta agua es importante. Un estudio reciente encontró que el 62 por ciento de la huella de agua del Reino Unido es agua virtual contenida en comodities agrícolas y productos importados desde otros países; solo el 38 por ciento es utilizado desde fuentes de agua locales. La mayor parte del agua virtual proviene de Brasil, Ghana, Francia, Irlanda e India. Brasil provee soja, café y ganado, mientras que Francia provee principalmente productos carneos, e India, algodón, arroz y te.

Agua Comun

El bien común es una nueva forma de expresar una idea vieja, la idea de que hay algunas riquezas que nos pertenecen a todos y que estos recursos comunitarios tienen que ser protegidos y administrados para el bien común.

Son cosas que hemos heredado y que hemos creado juntos y que, ojalá, durarán para las futuras generaciones. El bien común incluye los regalos de la naturaleza como el aire, los océanos,la fauna y la flora; junto con las creaciones sociales que compartimos, tales como las bibliotecas, los espacios públicos, la investigación científica y las obras creativas.

Los principios de los ámbitos comunes de agua son:

Proclamar al agua como bien común
Adoptar la narrativa de una Democracia de la Tierra
Proteger el agua a través de la conservación y la ley
Tratar las cuencas hidrográficas como ámbitos comunes
Reivindicar el control comunitario sobre las fuentes de agua locales
Defender la soberanía de las comunidades y la nación respecto del agua
Adoptar un modelo fundado en la justicia respecto del agua, no en la caridad
Reclamar el abastecimiento público y tarifas justas
Consagrar el derecho al agua en las constituciones nacionales y en un Convenio de las Naciones Unidas
Usar y ampliar la doctrina del fideicomiso público para proteger al agua

Recientemente la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas voto para afirmar que “El derecho humano al agua garantiza a todas las personas el agua en cantidad suficiente, en condiciones de seguridad y aceptabilidad, siendo físicamente accesible y asequible para usos personales y domésticos.” Este es un paso muy importante, pero todavía tenemos un largo camino por recorrer.

Fuentes:

http://wwf.panda.org/

http://www.ourwatercommons.org/

PD: disculpen la ausencia de tildes en algunas palabras, tengo teclado en ingles y openoffice no me deja corregirlo. :D

There is enough water available to meet human need, but...

touristlemonpie — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:30:35 -0300

Although less than one per cent of water on the Earth is currently accessible for direct human use, there is enough water available to meet human and environmental needs. The challenge is to secure enough water of good quality in a way that doesn’t destroy the very ecosystems, rivers, lakes and aquifers, from which we take our water supplies.

We all live at the water’s edge, whether we are at the end of a pipe or at the bank of a river. We need water for our basic survival, for cultivating crops, for generating energy and for producing the goods that we use every day. However, the use of freshwater ecosystem service is now well beyond levels that can be sustained even at current demands and forecasts consistently suggest that demand for water will continue to rise in most parts of the world.

River fragmentation

Increased demand for water and hydroelectricity

, together with efforts to control flooding and aid river navigation, have led to the construction of dams and other infrastructure on most of the large rivers around the world. Water infrastructure can bring benefits but it also has profound impacts on freshwater ecosystems and on those who depend on services provided by such ecosystems. Dams alter river flow regimes by changing the quantity, timing and quality of water that flows downstream. The largest dams can completely sever ecological connections between upstream and downstream habitats, for migratory fish for instance. Flood defense structures can sever the connection between a river and its floodplain, impacting on wetland habitats. Growing demand for low-carbon energy, water storage capacity and flood control appears to be causing a new drive to build dams and other infrastructure across the globe.

Rivers running dry

In recent decades, increasing abstraction of water has led to some of the world’s largest rivers running dry. The Nile in Egypt, the Ganges in South Asia, the Yellow River in China, and the Colorado River in America are among the major rivers that are so dammed, diverted, or overtapped that little or no fresh water reaches its final destination for significant stretches of time. In order to satisfy increasing demand, water is also being transferred over great distances from one river basin to another, which can compound ecological impacts. Sometimes this is on a large scale, as in the case of the south-north water transfer scheme in China.

Water pollution

There have been some great successes in addressing problems of urban and industrial pollution in developed countries in the last 20 years, often due to stricter legislation and the allocation of very significant budgets to improved wastewater treatment facilities. Nevertheless, pollution remains a major problem for many river systems. After it has been used for domestic, industrial or agricultural purposes, any water that hasn’t evaporated/transpired is normally returned into freshwater ecosystems. These return flows are often loaded with nutrients, contaminants and sediments. They can also be warmer than the receiving waters, for instance when water has been used for cooling purposes in thermal power generation. Every day two million tonnes of sewage and other effluents drain into the world’s waters.

In China, close to 80 percent of the major rivers are so degraded, they no longer support aquatic life. Less than 25 percent of the population of Pakistan has access to clean drinking water, so polluted has that country’s surface water become. Fewer than three percent of Indonesia’s residents are connected to a sewer, leading to severe pollution of nearby lakes and rivers. Seventy-five percent of India’s and Russia’s surface waters are so polluted they should not be used for drinking or bathing. The UN has revealed the unprecedented deterioration of all of Africa’s 677 major lakes and every one of its major rivers. Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile, is being used as an open sewer. In Latin America, more than 130 million people do not have access to clean drinking water because of the pollution of lakes and rivers. Major cities such as Sao Paulo and Mexico City are facing the twin crises of over-consumption of water and mass pollution. Only about two percent of Latin America’s wastewater receives any treatment at all. The situation in the North is better, but not good. Twenty percent of all surface water in Europe is “seriously threatened” and 40 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are too dangerous for swimming, fishing or drinking, as are 46 percent of lakes due to massive toxic run-off from industrial farms.

Virtual water and global trade

With new water footprinting tools we are able to understand the full extent of a nation’s, or a company’s, dependence on global water resources. The numbers can be startling: the water footprint of a cup of black coffee, for instance, is about 140 liters. When goods and services are traded between countries, so is the virtual water they contain. This global trade may add substantially to a country’s water footprint. For example, while an average household in the UK uses around 150 liters per person per day, UK consumption of products from other countries means that each UK resident effectively soaks up 4,645 liters of the world’s water every day. The source of this water is also important. A recent study found that 62 per cent of the UK’s water footprint is virtual water embedded in agricultural commodities and products imported from other countries; only 38 per cent is used from domestic water resources. Most of the virtual water comes from Brazil, Ghana, France, Ireland and India. Brazil provides soybeans, coffee and livestock products, while France provides mainly meat products, and India, cotton, rice and tea.

However, the impact of these footprints may not be reflected in the number of liters of water. A smaller footprint can create more negative impacts in a river basin which is relatively more water stressed. Conversely, certain water footprint figures have large green water components, which may have a positive impact in the production regions by supporting the livelihoods of local communities. What this shows is that UK consumption of food and clothing (and indeed that of all countries that import food and clothing) has an impact on rivers and aquifers globally and is inextricably linked to the continuing security and good management of water resources in other parts of the world.

Water Commons

The commons is a new way to express a very old idea; that some forms of wealth belong to all of us, and that these community resources must be actively protected and managed for the good of all.

The commons are the things that we inherit and create jointly, and that will (hopefully) last for generations to come. The commons consists of gifts of nature such as air, oceans and wildlife as well as shared social creations such as libraries, public spaces, scientific research and creative works.

Water Commons Principles

Affirm water as a commons, that is, it belongs to everyone and no one, passed onto future generations in sufficient volume and quality
Ensure that the earth and all of its ecosystems enjoy rights to water for their survival – indeed it is on those ecosystems that human life depends
Conserve water as society’s first course of action (enforced by law), including suggesting drastic changes to industrial and agricultural practices
Treat watersheds – the source of water - as a common as well and not simply the water itself
Encourage local, community management while legally binding communities to respect upstream and downstream neighbors’ rights
Forge or affirm trans-boundary agreements that respect water sovereignty for both communities and nations
Provide water as a basic principle of justice, not as an act of charity
Ensure public delivery and fair pricing of water
Promote enshrining the right to water in nation-state constitutions, laws and a UN covenant
Employ innovative legal tools to protect water and manage water as a commons, including through public and community trusts

Recently the United Nations General Assembly voted to affirm “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.” It is a great step, but we still have a long way to go.

Sources:

http://wwf.panda.org/

http://www.ourwatercommons.org/

Bye bye stromatolites, it was awesome having you here for the last 3.5 billion years

touristlemonpie — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:48:00 -0400

Chilean authorities recently approved a new mining project, Pampa Hermosa property of SQM. Pampa Hermosa project is going to extract iodine, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate near the Pampa del Tamarugal, an oasis of life in the middle of the Atacama Desert.

Even though the project is located just 50 km from the coast, instead of utilizing treated seawater, they are going to extract water form the aquifers Salar de Llamara (Llamara salt flat) and Quebrada Amarga, the last one gives water to the Loa River, the most important in the region.

The Llamara salt flat is one of the last places on earth where stromatolites are still alive, and the only one where the government doesn’t protect them.

Stromatolites first appeared on earth around 3.5 billion years ago, their most important caracteristic is that the organisms which construct them are photosynthetic, they take carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates and oxigen. During the time when stromatolites first appeared there was little oxigen on the planet, so thanks to them is that other animal life was able to develop.

Stromatolites are formed through the activity of cyanobacteria which grows in sediment and sand, binding the particles together and forming layers which over a long period of time harden to form a rock.

Photo: nahomi carolina

Argentina protects its glaciers

touristlemonpie — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 19:00:38 -0400

Environmental organizations and people in general in Argentina are celebrating the approval of a new law which restricts the extraction of minerals, oil and gas near glaciers, in order to protect these enormous freshwater reserves.

By a vote of 35 against 33 and 1 abstention, the Senate approved the bill to preserve glaciers and their surrounding areas last week. The President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner vetoed a similar but lees restrictive law in 2008, lawmakers close to her are assuring the public that this is not going to happen this time.

The new law stipulates that glaciers are “public goods” which are forbidden to be “destroyed or moved”. Severe penalties are set for those infringing this regulations. The Argentinian Institute of Snow Research, Glaciology and Environmental Science is set in charge of making a nationwide inventory of glaciers. Once the inventory is completed, the Institute’s experts will be in charge of the approval of investment projects in protected areas, and will also be capable of stopping already operating projects in glacier zones or periglacial areas.

According to environmentalists and NGOs, the newly approved bill is an improvement on the one that was vetoed. “The 2008 law only restricted mining activity in the glaciers, but this one also includes fossil fuel extraction and any industry which uses toxic substances” said Hernán Giardini of Greenpeace Argentina.

Along with Chile, Argentina holds the vastest glaciers in South America, this glaciers are extremely endangered thanks to several mining projects built in the last 20 years taking advantage of lax laws and low taxation.

Sources:

http://periodismohumano.com/

http://www.terram.cl/

Constructed from cross-laminated timber panels from the first...

touristlemonpie — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:26:30 -0400

Constructed from cross-laminated timber panels from the first floor upwards, Stadthaus is the tallest modern timber structure in the world. The nine-storey building is the first of this height to construct load bearing walls and floor slabs as well as stair and lift cores entirely from timber. Each panel is made up of 5 layers of timber crossing each other, making a panel that could be compared to precast concrete. Doors and window openings are pre-cut into the panels during manufacturing and the panels arrive at site in lengths up to 9.0 m. The building was completed within 49 weeks.

This building is a result of the practice’s research in reducing the carbon emissions not only of the finished building but of the whole build process. Waugh Thistleton Architects estimate the wooden structure of the building will store over 186 tonnes of carbon for its lifetime. Moreover, by not using more traditional concrete building techniques, a further 125 tonnes of carbon is saved from entering the atmosphere. They anticipated carbon emissions saved from a building of this size to be the equivalent to 21 years of use.

More pictures @ Waugh Thistleton Architects

Solar cell production climbs to another record in 2009

touristlemonpie — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 15:13:00 -0400

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturers produced a record 10,700 megawatts of PV cells globally in 2009—an impressive 51-percent increase from the year before. While growth in 2009 slowed from the remarkable 89-percent expansion in 2008, it continued the rapid rise of an industry that first reached 1,000 megawatts of production in 2004. By the end of 2009, nearly 23,000 megawatts of PV had been installed worldwide, enough to power 4.6 million U.S. homes. Solar PV, the world’s fastest-growing power technology, now generates electricity in more than 100 countries.

Made of semiconductor materials, PV cells convert solar radiation directly into electricity. Rectangular panels consisting of numerous PV cells can be linked into arrays of various sizes and power output capabilities-from rooftop systems of one to several kilowatts to ground-mounted arrays of hundreds or even thousands of megawatts. (One megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts.)

There are two broad categories of PV: crystalline silicon and thin-film. Crystalline silicon cells account for more than 80 percent of the annual PV market. But thin-film PV, a relatively new technology that is less efficient but also less expensive to make and potentially adaptable to more applications, is gaining ground. In fact, First Solar, a thin-film company headquartered in Arizona but with most of its production capacity in Malaysia, was the top PV manufacturing firm in 2009, contributing roughly 10 percent of world PV production.

China produced 3,800 megawatts of PV in 2009, leading all countries for the second straight year. Together China and third place Taiwan accounted for 49 percent of all PV manufacturing, a share that should keep climbing as companies there grow larger and more quickly than competitors based in countries where operating costs are higher. Rounding out the top five producers in 2009 were Japan in second place, Germany in fourth, and the United States in fifth. (See data.) These traditional industry leaders have lost significant market share with the recent ascent of China and Taiwan. Indeed, Japan, which dominated the global market in 2004, controls just 14 percent today.

While China now manufactures more than a third of the world’s PV cells, most Chinese consumers cannot yet afford the technology. Ninety-five percent of its production is exported, much of it bound for Germany, the world leader in using PV. Germany installed a record 3,800 megawatts of PV in 2009, more than half the 7,200 megawatts added worldwide. This brought Germany’s overall PV generating capacity to 9,800 megawatts, nearly three times as much as the next closest country, Spain. Already in the first half of 2010, Germany added another 3,800 megawatts.

Italy was first runner-up in newly installed PV in 2009 with 730 megawatts, more than doubling its total installed capacity. Japan and the United States, third and fourth in both new and overall PV generating capacity, each installed close to 500 megawatts in 2009. (See data.)

World installed PV capacity has grown 16-fold over the past decade in large part due to government incentives encouraging the use of solar power. Although PV production and installation costs have fallen substantially over time, government support will be necessary until solar reaches grid parity (price competitiveness) with heavily subsidized fossil fuels. Incorporating fossil fuels’ largely externalized costs, such as climate change and pollution-related illnesses, into the price of fossil-generated electricity would further accelerate PV’s march to grid parity.

The most important solar incentive to date is the feed-in tariff, which guarantees generators of renewable electricity—including homeowners, private firms, and utilities—a long-term purchase price for each kilowatt-hour they produce. This powerful incentive to invest in renewables has now been adopted by some 50 countries, including Ecuador, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Thailand, and most of the European Union.Deutsche Bank estimates that feed-in tariffs had driven 75 percent of world PV installations as of 2008.

Nowhere has the feed-in tariff been more effective than in Germany. In a country that on average receives about as much sunlight as cloudy Seattle, this premium payment for solar electricity has not only spurred Germany to preeminence in installed PV capacity, it has also helped grow a domestic solar industry with more than 10 billion euros ($13 billion) in annual sales.

With PV system prices plummeting, including a 30-percent drop in 2009 alone, the German government announced in mid-2010 that in order to control costs and bring support levels in line with market conditions, it would reduce tariff rates further than the annual cuts originally stipulated by law. While industry stakeholders warn of job losses and reduced demand, the government believes that other changes, including allowing larger systems to qualify for the premium, will ensure further growth. Electricity from PV could reach grid parity in Germany by 2013.

The United States, where total PV connected to the grid is doubling every two years, has no national feed-in policy. Instead, federal tax credits along with various state and local programs, including renewable portfolio standards (RPS) that require utilities to get a certain percentage of the electricity they sell from renewables, have been the main drivers of U.S. PV growth. With an RPS mandating 33-percent renewable electricity by 2020, California has 60 percent of the total 1,260 megawatts of grid-tied PV in the United States. Although this state still leads by a wide margin, others are growing more rapidly. Five states doubled their installed PV in 2009, including Florida, home of the new 25-megawatt DeSoto plant, currently the country’s largest PV park.

While interest in small-scale installations keeps growing in industrial and developing countries, the PV landscape is evolving to include utility-scale, multiple-megawatt solar parks of the DeSoto variety. In September 2010, a newly-expanded 80-megawatt park in Ontario, Canada, overtook a plant in central Spain to become the largest operational PV power plant in the world. Spain and Germany currently account for 8 of the top 10 plants, but that list could soon change dramatically as ambitious projects in other countries come online. China, with scarcely 300 megawatts of installed PV at the end of 2009, has a pipeline of large projects worth a total of 12,000 megawatts. The United States has 23 projects ranging from 100 to 5,000 megawatts under development in the arid Southwest. But these simply scratch the surface of that region’s potential: harnessing a mere 2.5 percent of the annual solar radiation striking the Southwestern land suitable for solar power plants could produce as much energy as the country currently uses.

India also is bidding to become a major player in the solar market, having announced its Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in November 2009. Named for India’s first prime minister, the Mission envisions 20,000 megawatts of grid-connected solar power and 2,000 megawatts of distributed, off-grid solar installations by 2022. The planned capacity build-out will be roughly half PV and half concentrating solar thermal power, another budding solar technology. If India meets its target, it would be a tremendous boost for a country with vast solar resources but an estimated 400 million people who lack electricity.

Even with the lingering effects of the global recession, more than 16,000 megawatts of PV are slated to be installed in 2010. Germany will likely again account for half of the newly added capacity, as developers rush to finish projects before cuts in the feed-in tariff fully take hold. Beyond 2010, analysts expect annual PV installations to be more evenly distributed among an expanding roster of countries. With costs dropping, economies of scale growing, and governments realizing the benefits of this limitless, climate-friendly resource, the future for solar power looks bright.

Source: Earth Policy Institute

Scientists say ozone layer depletion has stopped

touristlemonpie — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 15:46:37 -0400

The protective ozone layer in the earth’s upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid-century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, the chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) which were used in refrigerators, aerosol sprays, and some packing foams.

Ozone provides a natural protective filter against harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun, which can cause sunburn, cataracts, and skin cancer as well as damage vegetation.

First observations of a seasonal ozone hole appearing over the Antarctic occurred in the 1970s and the alarm was raised in the 1980s after it was found to be worsening under the onslaught of CFCs, prompting 196 countries to join the Montreal Protocol. “The Montreal Protocol signed in 1987 to control ozone-depleting substances is working, it has protected us from further ozone depletion over the past decades,” said Len Barrie, head of research for the World Meteorological Organization. “Global ozone, including ozone in the polar region, is no longer decreasing but not yet increasing”.

The ozone layer outside the polar regions is projected to recover to pre-1980 levels by 2048, although the annual springtime ozone hole over the Antarctic is not expected to recover until 2073.

Although CFCs have been phased out, they accumulated and persist in the atmosphere, and the effect of the ban takes years to filter through.

Scientists are still coming to grips with the complex interaction between ozone depletion and global warming, Barrie explained. “In the Antarctic, the impact of the ozone hole and the surface climate is becoming evident,” he said. “This leads to important changes in surface temperature and wind patterns, amongst other environmental changes.”

CFCs are classified among greenhouse gases that cause global warming, so the phaseout “provided substantial co-benefits by reducing climate change,” the report found. Barrie estimated that it had avoided about 10 gigatonnes of such emissions a year. However, the ozone-friendly substances that have replaced CFCs in plastics or as refrigerants - hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) — are also powerful greenhouse gases. HFCs alone are regarded as 14,000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, which is the focus of international efforts to tackle climate change, and HFC emissions are growing by 8 percent a year, according to U.N. agencies. “This represents a further potential area for action within the overall climate change challenge,” said U.N. Environment Program chief Achim Steiner in a statement.

Source: AFP