Category: Archive

The design firm of Atkins did not believe that the look of the project was enough, and felt that it was important to incorporate sustainability features into this design. They first attempted to bring in solar panels into the project, but found that the extreme heat conditions of Bahrain made it an unfeasible proposition. So they turned to a second option, and came up with an even more striking image, that of the three 29 meter wind turbines, each supported by a 30-meter bridge spanning between the two towers.

The floorplan was key in making this feature work. The wing-like towers help to funnel and accelerate the wind velocity between them. Furthermore, the difference in the vertical shape of the towers should help reduce the pressure differences between the bridges, which, when combined with an increased wind speed at the higher levels, should provide an equal velocity amongst the turbines. All this will provide for an even greater efficiency in the powering of the generators.

When I heard about this project, I honestly thought that this feature would eventually be dropped. We’ve all seen it happen, a cool looking tower ends up changing dramatically due to cost-cutting, changes in the marketplace conditions, or a change in scope or brief.

But, luckily, it turns out that I was wrong. The Bahrain World Trade Center has just recently completed the installation of the three wind turbines, officially making it the first building in the world to incorporate this sort of technology at this scale. The turbines will be tested throughout the rest of 2007 and if all goes well, they ought to start normal operation next year.

Below is an unofficial translation of a press release issued by Homo et Natura and the Wayuu and Yukpa communities:

By Presidential Decree, the Environmental Minister Prohibits New Coal Mines in Zulia State

Caracas, March 21, 2007. By presidential decree, the Environmental Minister Yubiri Ortega de Carrizalez announced yesterday to the Yukpa and Wayuu indigenous peoples of the Sierra de Perija that opening new coal mines in the state of Zulia is prohibited, as well as the expansion of the existing Guasare and Paso Diablo mines.

Yesterday, indigenous people from Perija and the social and environmental movements that were protesting against the coal mines at the Ministry felt that we had buried in Caracas the ghost of coal and its threats against the indigenous peoples of Zulia state. However, until the mining concessions are canceled by decree, we will continue this struggle.

“We are very hopeful,” said the Environmental Minister to the Yukpa and Wayuu leaders, Homo et Natura and the alternative media, “because the president has ordered a new model of development for the region encompassing ecology, agriculture, tourism and sustainable development.”

We know that the powerful multinational mining interests in Zulia will keep trying to keep their mega-coal project alive, whatever the cost. Questions remail about the future of the Nigales Bridge, Bolivar Port and the Zulia railroads, all of which were designed to carry coal….

If coal mines — which represent the grief of thousands of families that have lost their children and husbands, suffered poverty and contamination of their soil, air and water, lost their forests, rivers, vegetation – are stopped forever,

If the Venezuelan state decrees finally that mines will be defeated and replaced by agriculture, sustainable grazing, in favor of life, we will find the eyes of the world seeing an exemplary act of social justice and the beginning of necessary change.

Coal mines already destroyed whole communities in Mara, destroyed the forests and rivers in their way, left the Bari indigenous people without lands, and brought indigenous leaders to their knees for decades, making their own people feel ashamed of them. By saying today “Not one more mine in Zulia state,” president Hugo Chavez brings back hope for the future of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra de Perija and for life itself. Now we await the decree that will defeat forever this black curse….”

A leaked report by the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change paints a devastating picture of Australia’s future.

The report was revealed on the ABC’s The 7.30 Report and predicts the average coastline temperature could rise by up to 3.4 degrees by 2050 and by more than 6 degrees by 2080.

This will result in the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, more frequent and intense floods, fires, droughts and storms. The Murray-Darling Basin will further suffer from dwindling of streamflows.

Ironically, Prime Minister John Howard says that although he has not yet read the draft report on Australia, he believes that "we need to take action in a balanced and measured fashion."

Source: ABC News Online  

How long will the poles stay frozen?

By Mary Carmichae
Newsweek International

April 2, 2007 issue – Every year, the cap of sea ice floating atop the North Pole dwindles from about 14 million to 7 million square kilometers—a number that would panic scientists if it weren’t a normal occurrence, courtesy of nature. Most of the summer shrinkage is caused by melting, and the pack ice grows again once winter arrives, freezing the choppy water back into solid sheets. Because it’s a recurring cycle, scientists have never found this phenomenon worrisome. Until this year, when Ronald Kwok of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory rang the alarm. He’d noticed that in 2005, little of the ice that had formed the previous winter had gone on to survive the summer—making the Arctic cap the smallest it had been in five decades.

The polar regions are notorious shape-shifters. Complex ecosystems, they can be swayed by factors from wind to water to warming, and their forbidding climate makes on-site research difficult. As a result, they’re a bit of a mystery to scientists, and their future is hard to predict. But with ever more omens foretelling the death of the ice caps—possibly, in some models, by the year 2040—researchers are launching a major effort to make such a prediction. Mark Serreze of the University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center says the 2040 doomsday forecast "has gotten thrown around too loosely." We might have more time than that, he says: it could be 2060, 2070, 2080. On the other hand, it could be sooner. "We may already have had a kick to the system that has sent it over the edge," says Serreze. Either way, he adds, most researchers agree it’s a question of "when," because it’s too late for "if."

Full story, go to Newsweek International  

One of the most memorable scenes in An Inconvenient Truth is when Al Gore makes the sea level rise 20 feet and inundate various low-lying regions of the world, including Manhattan and Florida. It was suitably squirm-inducing, especially if the viewer happened to live in one of the areas shown. For the rest of us, or at least for me, however, the lingering question has been, "what would it look like where I live?"

Now, thanks to Google’s mapping API and the ingenuity of one Alex Tingle, we have Flood Maps, where you can view any part of the world and raise the sea level in 1 meter increments, up to 14 meters (about 46 feet).

Source: Grist  

Project will reduce pressure on drinking water, create jobs: It will reduce the region’s reliance on drinking water by up to 84 per cent; recycled water will be used for flushing toilets and outdoor use and rainwater water tanks will provide cold water to washing machines." Councillor McDonald said implementation of the master plan would provide more than 200 jobs.

An integrated urban water cycle community: “A wide range of infrastructure projects related to this project are currently on the boil, which will ultimately create the largest integrated urban water cycle community of its kind in Australia," said Cr McDonald.

Towards a sustainable water future: "In the current time of drought, the Pimpama Coomera Master Plan will create a sustainable water future by capturing, using and reusing water in new ways."

Reference: http://www.goldcoastwater.com.au/pimpamacoomera

Erisk Net, 15/3/2007