EcoRadio

Category: News

Add your news
You can add news from your networks or groups through the website by becoming an author. Simply register as a member of the Generator, and then email Giovanni asking to become an author. He will then work with you to integrate your content into the site as effectively as possible.
Listen to the Generator News online

 
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.
As well as Giovanni’s articles it picks up the most pertinent articles from a range of other news services. You can publish the news feed on your website using RSS, free of charge.
 

  • Tropical pastures may help fight climate chaos

    The related article below is from The Land

    A specialist researcher believes there are opportunities and significant challenges in reducing greenhouse gas emission from livestock production systems, while maintaining and even increasing productivity.

    The researcher is Beverley Henry from Meat and Livestock Australia’s Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change unit, who will be a speaker at the Australian Tropical Pastures Conference at Goondiwindi, Qld, on March 18-19.

    Dr Henry said about 60pc of Australia’s total methane emissions were derived from livestock industries.

    This represented about 11pc of total national greenhouse emissions.

    She said on current knowledge, the greenhouse emissions could be reduced by about 20pc.

    “The challenge is particularly difficult for extensive production systems where few options currently exist for practical intervention,” she said.

    “In some intensive livestock industries, strategies such as feeding supplements and using nitrification inhibitors can be developed for widespread application.”

    An acknowledged global authority on carbon sequestration under tropical pastures will speak at the conference dinner.

    He is Myles Fisher, a researcher and consultant from the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture, Columbia.

    Dr Fisher has been involved in considerable research on the environmental benefits of tropical pastures in Africa, South America and other countries.

    Dr Fisher said pastures had a massive role to play in providing ecosystem services.

    “In South America, for example, there are 50 million hectares of introduced pastures that could impact on the global carbon balance,” he said.

    Dr Fisher said the spot price for accumulated carbon sold as an environmental service is $40/tonne on European exchanges.

    However, there were requirements that would have to be met before this option would be considered by buyers, he said.

  • Wong says Darling benefits by 11billion litres

    The following transcript is from the ABC

    TONY EASTLEY: In the old days landholders downstream from Toorale Station in western New South Wales had little to cheer about. They had seen their water flows diminish over the years.

    But a controversial buy-back of the huge station by the state and federal governments has them celebrating and describing the buyback as good value for money.

    Figures released by the Federal Water Minister show that the buyback has put an extra eleven-billion litres of water into the Darling River.

    But the Minister is still under pressure to do more about upstream users in Queensland.

    More from environment reporter, Shane McLeod.

    SHANE MCLEOD: The $23-million price tag brought plenty of criticism for the federal and New South Wales governments when they snapped up Toorale Station near Bourke last September. But some like the president of the Australian Floodplain Association, Wilcannia grazier Mark Etheridge, believes it’s money well spent.

    MARK ETHERIDGE: I think government paid about $24-million for it. We have had a relatively minor flow come down the Warrego now and there is probably a lot of money’s worth of water coming into the Darling.

    SHANE MCLEOD: The Federal Minister for Water Penny Wong thinks it’s a good investment. She says that as a result of the purchase, more than eleven billion litres of water has flowed on downstream.

    PENNY WONG: That is water that would otherwise have been taken if the station hadn’t been purchased; it would have been taken out of the river.

    SHANE MCLEOD: The Minister will pay a visit to Toorale later today. The return of water has been achieved because since taking control of the property, the governments haven’t used their water rights and they haven’t used the storages and levees on the property to force the Warrego’s floodwater out onto the plains.

    Mark Etheridge says it’s something that’s been possible because the flow in the Warrego hasn’t been at major flood levels.

    MARK ETHERIDGE: The issue at Toorale is that when the storages are full and the pipes in the storage banks can no longer handle the influx then water will spill out onto a flood plain; which in itself is not a bad thing. I guess more water would spill onto that floodplain given that the banks are there.

    Now in a moderate flow as we’ve just had, the banks and the pipes can handle the amount of water. In a larger flow then I think we need to look at altering the structures to allow more water down the channel of the Warrego itself.

    SHANE MCLEOD: While water’s flowing through Toorale, further upstream in Queensland so-called sleeper licences are being activated on the Warrego.

    The Minister says it’s being dealt with but keeping in mind the legal rights of those upstream.

    PENNY WONG: No, look these licences in Queensland are already existing property rights. Whether or not people agree with that, that is the position of those entitlements. What we have done through purchasing Toorale is return water to the river that would not otherwise have been in the Darling River and that is a good thing for the environment.

    TONY EASTLEY: Penny Wong, the Minister for Climate Change and Water speaking there with Shane McLeod.

  • Mercury treaty puts more pressure on coal

    From the Guardian

    Environment ministers overcame seven years of obstacles today and committed to reducing the world’s mercury pollution.

    In a sign of America’s return to a global leadership role, United Nations environment ministers meeting in Nairobi agreed to take immediate steps to limit exposure to mercury.

    The White House said it would press hard for a legally binding treaty when negotiations get under way later this year.

    “The United States will play a leading role in working with other nations to craft a global, legally binding agreement that will prevent the spread of mercury into the environment,” said Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House council on environmental quality.

    The Bush administration had blocked international efforts to limit mercury – although such protections are in place in America.

    Mercury, which can travel thousands of miles from its original source, damages the central nervous system, and is especially dangerous to pregnant women and babies.

    The treaty will include measures to reduce the supply of mercury and its use in products, such as thermomenters, and processes, like paper making. It will also seek to cut back on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, which are responsible for about half of the world’s mercury pollution.

    The new-found consensus in Nairobi, which saw the US, India and China lifting their resistance to a binding global mercury treaty, raised hopes for progress later this year at the crucial UN meeting in Copenhagen on an international climate change deal.

    “There was a seismic shift from the American government from its previous position,” said Nick Nuttall, the spokesman for the UN environment programme. “It was clear from the beginning of this week that the US negotiators had been given a clear line from Washington, and indeed the White House, to come together with the rest of the world and do something.”

    “The US has taken a leadership role that will chart a new course on mercury protections around the world. We have set a strong example that is already influencing others to do the same,” said Susan Egan Keane, an analyst at the US National Resources Defence Council.

    Barack Obama had earlier taken a number of steps at home to break with the George Bush legacy on the environment – most notably restoring the power of government agencies to regulate carbon dioxide from power plants.

    The strong push from the US side in Nairobi this week evidently helped wear down resistance from governments such as China and India. China is heavily dependent on coal-fired power plants, while Indian manufacturers still use many processes that depend on the metal.

    The eight-point plan agreed on Friday calls for reduction in mercury emissions from power plants, and in its use in thermometers and other household products, as well as in plastics production and paper-making. It would cut down on the use of mercury in gold panning, a process that results in huge quantities of the heavy metal being washed into streams.

    Mercury is a naturally occurring element, but pollution has caused levels to rise sharply in many fish species, increasing the danger to humans that eat them.

    “Today the world’s environment ministers, armed with the full facts and full choices, decided the time for talking was over – the time for action on this pollution is now,” said Unep’s director, Achim Steiner.

    Formal treaty negotiations will get underway later this year, with a view to reaching a final agreement in 2013.

  • 40 nations condemn UK as climate criminal

    Related article from The Observer

    A global protest against UK plans to build new coal power plants is being launched today by campaigners from more than 40 developing countries accusing the government of being a “climate criminal”.

    They have written an open letter to energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband that follows repeated warnings from UK groups that the decisions to approve new coal power plants and the expansion of Heathrow airport would damage the nation’s position in international negotiations when it tries to persuade other countries to cut global-warming emissions.

    The 27 groups, including campaigners from India, Brazil, Indonesia, the Philippines and Uganda, say they are “alarmed” that the UK government is considering allowing new coal plants to be built, including one at Kingsnorth in Kent. They blame emissions from rich countries for causing global warming and the “increased floods, droughts, sea-levels and disease” that threaten the livelihoods of “hundreds of millions of people”.

    “Coal power is the most climate-polluting way to generate electricity,” continues the letter. “New coal power stations in the UK will exacerbate the impacts of climate change on impoverished communities in the south[ern hemisphere] … A decision to support new coal power stations will confirm the UK as a climate criminal in the international climate-change negotiations.”

    The groups oppose the current plans to build coal plants with no equipment for carbon capture and storage (CCS), and existing proposals for a “demonstration” of the technology are inadequate, said the World Development Movement, the UK-based poverty campaigning charity which coordinated the letter.

    The letter also criticises proposals to offset the carbon dioxide from coal plants by investing in clean technology projects in the developing world through the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism, which the groups say has “continuously had negative impacts on communities in the global south while failing to cut emissions”.

  • Wine prices chaotic as market and crops fail

    From The Land

    Australia’s era of cheap plonk is over, with vineyards struggling against nature and the global financial crisis.

    In the Barossa Valley, grapes are shrivelling under the blistering sun.

    In the Yarra Valley, the damage from the devastating bushfires that ripped through the region is still being assessed.

    At least the Hunter Valley seems to have overcome high temperatures and recent heavy rains to produce a good harvest.

    And in London restaurateurs are spending long nights looking at empty tables, spelling an end to the party on the other side of the world.

    Wine growers are expecting a rationalisation as the twin burdens of a lesser crop and slowing economy inflict wrath on their grapes.

    In the 12 months to January the industry’s peak body, Wine Australia, found that export volume dropped by 9pc.

    As growers finalised picking their white grapes this month, they are also facing the prospect of a 15pc fall in crop yield this year because of heat stroke and bushfires.

    The falls are expected to eat away the oversupply of grapes enjoyed from 2004 to 2006, when it was estimated that the industry was 20pc too large.

    Lawrie Stanford, Wine Australia’s general manager of information and analysis, said this season would have a profound effect on the industry with Australian wine exporters yet to convince foreigners they’re among the best in the world.

    “The era of cheap wine is definitely going to be over,” Mr Stanford said.

    “We simply can’t sell that wine any more – it’s over because growers have the aim to be a smaller industry, and it’s going to be over because after the global financial crisis passes, the programs in place in the industry to promote our higher priced wines will be what carries us through.”

    Wine Australia will release its annual survey on Friday of this year’s wine yield, but early estimations are that output will be lower than the 2007-08 season.

    Tony Jordan, from the Yarra Valley Winegrowers Association, said he expects a fall of as much as 15pc nationwide, though his region has experienced a more modest fall of about 5pc.

    Barbara Storey, from the Barossa Grape & Wine Association, expects crop yields to be down 20-30pc on a normal year after this month’s heatwave.

    “The ripening has been accelerated by the heat,” Ms Storey said.

    The main task for growers will be winning back the confidence of foreign drinkers when trade picks up again, especially our two biggest export destinations, Britain and the US, which spent 18pc and 26pc less on Australian wine in 2008, respectively.

    “We know that we haven’t quite done the job of convincing overseas consumers,” Mr Stanford said.

    “We also need to take into account that there’s been a fundamental shift in world market which will still be there when economic recovery occurs.”

  • Turnbull discovers biochar

    From Australian Associated Press

    AUSTRALIA could reduce greenhouse gas emissions annually by 150 million tonnes more than the Federal Government proposes, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has said.

    Mr Turnbull has flagged a more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target than the Government’s 5-15 per cent by 2020, and a less complex scheme for achieving the target.

    “We could, at relatively low cost … cut an additional 150 million tonnes a year by 2020, and do that very, very realistically without rocket science technology,” he said on ABC radio.

    Mr Turnbull says the government’s planned emissions trading scheme (ETS), due to start operating in July 2010, is “incredibly cumbersome”.   “(It) seems to disappoint everybody,” he said, adding the scheme was also ineffectual and economically damaging.

    Australia’s carbon emissions should be reduced by using such measures as environmental forestry and bio-char technology, Mr Turnbull said.  “The objective is to reduce emissions, not to have an ETS.”

    Mr Turnbull said the Opposition was not prepared to finalise a reduction scheme until it was known what the rest of the world planned.

    Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has said the Government has always acknowledged the need for additional policies, but turning Australia from one of the most carbon-intensive economies in the world to a low-pollution one requires the “hard” economic reform of an ETS.

    “Mr Turnbull knows this,” Senator Wong said.  She said Mr Turnbull was opposing an ETS simply because it did not have support in his party.   “Many … simply do not want to take action on climate change.”

    She said Mr Turnbull’s idea of using environmental forestry would require planting an area half the size of Tasmania every year for a decade to implement, Senator Wong said.  “That gives you an example of how much of what Mr Turnbull is talking about is nothing more than a mirage.”