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The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
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  • Carbon emissions threaten ‘underwater catastrophe’ , scientist warn

     

    And a separate paper in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research Letters warned that increasing acidity in the seas could damage fish, corals and shellfish – leaving fishing communities facing economic disaster.

    The researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts, said emissions from deforestation and burning of fossil fuels had increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere by almost 40% above pre-industrial levels.

    Currently around 30% of the CO2 put into the atmosphere by human activities is absorbed by the oceans where it dissolves, altering the chemistry of the surface sea levels making it more acidic.

    The acidity can damage wildlife, particularly shell-forming creatures and the species that feed on them, with knock-on effects on people who rely on the oceans for food and livelihoods.

    Damage to corals could also reduce the coastal protection from storms that reefs currently provide.

    According to the US researchers, there were almost 13,000 fishermen in the UK in 2007, who harvested £645m of marine products, almost half (43%) of which were shellfish.

    In the US, domestic fisheries provided a primary sale value of $5.1bn (£3.1bn) in 2007, they said.

    The statement from the science academies of 70 countries, warned that despite the seriousness of the problem, there was a danger it could be left off the agenda at Copenhagen.

    The joint statement calls on world leaders to explicitly recognise the dangers posed to the oceans of rising CO2 levels, which it warns are irreversible and could cause severe damage by 2050, or even earlier, if emissions carry on as they are.

    Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society, said the effect of rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere on the oceans had not received much political attention.

    But he said: “Unless global CO2 emissions can be cut by at least 50% by 2050 and more thereafter, we could confront an underwater catastrophe, with irreversible changes in the makeup of our marine biodiversity.

    “The effects will be seen worldwide, threatening food security, reducing coastal protection and damaging the local economies that may be least able to tolerate it.

    “Copenhagen must address this very real and serious threat.”

  • EU 37bn plan to power EU with the Saharan sun

    £37bn plan to power EU with the Saharan sun

     

    Vast farms of solar panels in the Sahara could provide clean electricity for the whole of Europe, according to EU scientists working on a plan to pool the region’s renewable energy.

    Harnessing the power of the desert sun is at the centre of an ambitious scheme to build a €45bn (£35.7bn) European supergrid that would allow countries across the continent to share electricity from abundant green sources such as wind energy in the UK and Denmark, and geothermal energy from Iceland and Italy.

    The idea is gaining political support in Europe, with Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, recently backing the north African solar plan.

    Because the sunlight is more intense, solar photovoltaic panels in north Africa could generate up to three times the electricity compared with similar panels in northern Europe.

    Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European commission’s Institute for Energy explained how electricity produced in solar farms in Africa, each generating around 50-200 megawatts of power, could be fed thousands of miles to European countries. The proposed grid would use high-voltage direct current (DC) transmission lines, which lose less energy over distance than conventional alternating current (AC) lines.

    The idea of developing solar farms in the Mediterranean region and north Africa was given a boost by Sarkozy earlier this month when he highlighted solar farms in north Africa as central to the work of his newly formed Mediterranean Union.

    Depending on the size of the grid, building the necessary high-voltage lines across Europe could cost up to €1bn a year every year till 2050, but Jaeger-Walden pointed out that the figure was small when compared to a recent prediction by the International Energy Agency that the world needs to invest more than $45tn (£22.5tn) in energy systems over the next 30 years.

  • Atmospheric water generator

     

     

    Collecting water from the air has been a practice for some 2,000 years, in the form of “air wells” in Middle Eastern deserts, and later in Europe. Around the 1400s, we see water-collecting Dew Ponds, and later the Fog Fences, which have for hundreds of years have been used in Europe to collect clean water from the air. In the early 1970s, Melvin Littrell began producing water from the air with a system that did not need a compressor. Through this development, the creation of the first real Atmospheric Water Generator was produced. In 1990, Littrell patented the system’s technology as an AWG or atmospheric water generator.

    They are available in various sizes and styles, ranging from domestic systems that produce 32 oz. a day to all-electronic units producing 75 liters per day with compressors, and finally to commercial applications that can produce from 35,000 to 109,000 gallons of water each day.

    [edit] Principle of operation

    The principle of operation remains similar for most manufacturers except the WPG. The AWG is essentially a conventional dehumidifier that condenses water from air. A compressor circulates refrigerant through a coil or chiller array. A controlled-speed fan pushes air over the water reaction area and condenses the water. This water is then passed into a holding tank.

    The rate at which water can be produced depends on relative humidity and ambient air temperature and altitude. Relative humidity is the amount of water vapor present in the air at a given temperature at a given time. AWGs become more effective as relative humidity and air temperature increase. As a rule of thumb, AWGs do not work efficiently when the temperature falls below (35°F), the relative humidity drops below 40%, or at high altitudes (above 4000 feet). If the ambient air has passed through an air conditioner, much of the water vapor has already been removed. In the winter, with a heater on, most of the humidity is lost, leaving little for the AWG to produce.

    [edit] Optional AWG features

    AWG features vary depending on the manufacturer. In order to meet stringent FDA standards and NSF, most systems are coupled to one or more advanced filter systems (including an UV light chamber) before being stored in stainless-steel holding tanks. A list of optional features typically found in AWG systems would include:

    • An air filter to help prevent dirt from accumulating on the surface of the coil
    • An automatic level switch placed in the generator’s holding tank to shut the machine off when the tank is full
    • Hot and cold stainless-steel storage tanks that allow water to be served heated or chilled
    • The so-called “split system” is a two-part system. Designed by Prof. James D. Vagarasoto in 1991, the two-part system allows the user to place the generator in a location of high humidity and serve as a tabletop unit that dispenses hot or cold water. These systems eliminate the adverse effects of most older-style atmospheric water generators, as they heat the area where the generator is placed. In the summer, air conditioning system remove most of the humidity, so the conventional AWGs don’t work very well because they are humidity-driven.

     

  • Green collar job creation’oustripped traditional sectors in US’

    .

    The study stopped before the economic downturn, which has caused steep job losses in the traditional economy. Some 347,000 Americans were put out of work in May alone.

    However, its authors also noted that the rapid growth came at a time when there was little or no federal government support for clean energy – unlike today when Barack Obama has committed to greening the economy.

    They also said that wind farms, solar projects, and battery factories had fared better than traditional manufacturing as the job market has contracted.

    “This is a sector poised for explosive growth,” said Lori Grange, the interim deputy director of Pew. “Our report points to trends that show a very promising future for the green energy economy.”

    The report helps bolster Obama’s claims that his $787 billion economic recovery plan could create millions of new jobs. The package contains about $85 billion in green investment, and the administration has repeatedly touted its efforts at creating new clean energy jobs.

    The Pew report said the new jobs were created across 38 states, and not restricted to specific regions.

    By 2007, more than 68,200 businesses accounted for about 770,000 green jobs. That is not hugely below the numbers of jobs in fossil-fuel industries, including oil and gas extraction and coal mining, which employed 1.27 million people in 2007, the report said.

    California created the most green jobs: 125,390, while Wyoming had the fewest, just 1,419. Pay scales among the new jobs ranged from $21,000 to $111,000 a year, Pew said.

  • Japan’s 15% target to cut emissions condemned as ‘disaster’

     

    Taro Aso, Japan’s prime minister, announced the target in Tokyo while UN talks on a draft climate agreement are continuing in Bonn. The talks, which finish on Friday, aim to lay foundations for a a meeting in Copenhagen in December when a new global treaty on global warming to succeed the Kyoto protocol will be agreed.

    Observers said Japan’s target was only slightly more ambitious than already required under Kyoto – a cut of 6% on 1990 levels by 2012. Japan’s emissions have actually risen 7% since 1990. Its new 15% reduction commitment uses a 2005 baseline, equating to a 8% cut on 1990 levels by 2020.

    Japan will have to do more to help keep global warming below dangerous levels, said the European environment commissioner Stavros Dimas: “The EU believes that we must be fundamentally guided by science.”

    Japan’s target represents “the weakest target any country has pledged so far”, said Kristian Tangen, at analysts Point Carbon

    The UN climate panel says developed countries should reduce their emissions by 25% to 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 to keep temperature increases to within 2C of pre-industrial temperatures.

    Paul Cook, director of advocacy at development charity Tearfund, said: “This is a disaster. The level of ambition among developed countries is already incredibly weak – way below the 40% emissions reductions needed. . Japan’s decision risks creating a race to the bottom among other developed countries looking for an excuse to evade tough targets.”

    The group said Japan’s decision would make it difficult for EU countries to increase their target of a 20% reduction by 2020 to 30% – which they say they will only do if other developed countries make a similar effort to cut emissions.

    The Obama administration has talked of cutting emissions by 17% on 2005 levels by 2020, about 4% relative to 1990 levels. But the target has yet to be approved and may be weakened to help it pass into law.

    Cook said: “It is difficult to see how a fair, science-based deal can be achieved [at] Copenhagen if developed countries so utterly fail to do what is necessary to prevent a catastrophe for poor people and for the planet. Japan should be condemned for its failure of leadership and ambition.”

    Japan argues its target is ambitious given that its economy is already relatively energy and carbon efficient. It already has made a long-term pledge to cut emissions 60-80% by 2050.

    Kim Carstensen of WWF said: “It is true that Japan’s energy efficiency improved in the 1980s, during the oil crisis. Unfortunately, since 1990 most of the sector’s energy efficiency either stagnated or declined.”

    Hidefumi Kurasaka, professor of environmental policies at Chiba University, Japan, said: “The target is not strong enough to convince developing nations to sign up for a new climate change pact. Japan’s population is falling, so that means it has an advantage over the United States. The fact that Japan can commit to only an 8% cut from 1990 levels, even as its population falls, will lead to doubts over its seriousness to fight climate change.”

  • Rain ensures critical water supply to Murray River

     

    Altogether, over the three-year period 2006-2009 only 5040GL has flowed into the river, one fifth the long-term three-year average of 26,700GL.

    The outlook for irrigation water for 2009-10 is grim.

    Mr Freeman said after nine dry years, the soil was now so dry that the long-standing relationship between rainfall and inflow into the rivers had broken down.

    “Even if you do get average rain, you get nothing like average run-off. In fact in most of the basin we have got no run-off from the rain.”

    He said although there had been some rain in the northern basin, “we haven’t got the run-off. We will get a small inflow into Menindee Lakes.”

    But Mr Freeman said the soil was now wet in the northern basin “and this most recent rain in the last few days is wetting up the southern basin to a point where it may respond and we might get run-off.”

    Mr Freeman was also optimistic about the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast for average rain over winter, the wettest time of year for the Murray system. “The outlook for the next three months is better than we have had for the last few winters, without doubt.”

    Basin storages are now at 980GL, or 11 per cent of capacity, above the lowest year of 2007, but well below the average of 4670GL.

    “It is a pretty gloomy story,” Mr Freeman said.

    But he pointed out that there were some positives.

    The series of algal blooms that extended down the Murray River from Albury to Wentworth before Easter have dissipated, thanks to the lower temperature.

    “We have gotten through a terrible summer with minimal water, high temperatures and significant blue-green blooms without a major environmental disaster. I think that is good,” hesaid.

    Mr Freeman added that salinity was at an all-time low.

    “If you don’t irrigate, you don’t mobilise salt. People are talking about the water quality at Swan Hill — it is some of the best we have ever seen.”