Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maceng2 who wrote (10392)	3/14/2007 11:35:38 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 36917

'Green fuel' from seaweed could help solve energy crisis By Ofri Ilani The dramatic increase in the price of fuel in recent years has succeeded where many environmental groups have failed: It convinced many firms around the world to seek alternative sources of energy. One of the cheapest alternatives, already commercially available, is the production of fuel from a variety of agricultural produce, mostly corn. However, the increase in the demand for corn has also caused a significant price hike and developing nations' populations are experiencing difficulties obtaining corn for consumption. It is now possible that new technology may offer a solution to the problem, which Israeli firm Seambiotic Ltd. revealed earlier this week. The technology allows the production of commercial quantities of fuel from a surprising source, one that will not undermine global food sources: seaweed. The new technology unveiled by the firm at an international conference on marine biotechnology that opened on Sunday in Eilat, allows the industrial cultivation of seaweed through the use of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Instead of allowing the polluting gas - one of the main contributors to global warming - to escape into the atmosphere, the gas passes through a filtration process and enters a pool, where it feeds microscopic seaweed. The seaweed is used to produce fuel. According to the scientists who developed this technology, it is possible to produce a liter of fuel for every five kilograms of seaweed. The technology was developed in the experimental farm set up by Seambiotic Ltd. three years ago in the compound of the Ashkelon power plant, with the support of the Israel Electric Corporation. The seaweed pools are situated several hundred meters from the power plant smokestacks, and are filled with sea water that is used to cool the plant's turbines. The seaweed used is found in the Mediterranean in small concentrations, but the carbon dioxide allows it to grow in the pools at a concentration of one million times greater. Last week, the company filed a technology patent in the United States. "In the scientific literature, it is stated that it is impossible to grow seaweed through the use of carbon dioxide from power plants, because of the large quantities of pollutants released from the smokestacks," says Amnon Bachar, director of Seambiotic. "But it appears that whoever wrote that does not know how to grow seaweed. We have found that seaweed can grow on the basis of the carbon dioxide being emitted from power plants. We get the carbon dioxide for free, and the power plant produces less pollution," he said. The use of carbon dioxide reduces the cost of production radically, to about 50 cents per kilo of seaweed. haaretz.com

To: maceng2 who wrote (10392)	3/14/2007 11:43:36 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 36917

Britain aims for CO2-limit target dates By JENNIFER QUINN, Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 14, 12:02 AM ET LONDON - The British government proposed bold new environmental legislation Tuesday that would set legally binding, long-term limits on carbon emissions — a move it hopes will prompt the United States, China and India to follow suit. The climate change bill would be the first legislation in an industrialized country to spell out such long-range goals, including a carbon budget set every five years that would cap CO2 levels and create an independent body to report on progress. The legislation also calls for binding targets, including an emissions reduction of 60 percent by 2050. "This is a revolutionary step in confronting the threat of climate change," Prime Minister Tony Blair said. "It sets an example to the rest of the world. Britain's political parties have jostled in recent weeks for the "green" vote, seeking to display their environmental credentials in hopes of securing a key battleground in the next national election. Both Blair's Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives have seized on the issue — devoting more media time to the ozone layer than to British troops in Iraq. Stung by bad news from Iraq, Blair's camp has worked to draw attention to issues in which he can seize the initiative — such as the environment. With Blair planning to step down by September, success in brokering a global carbon pact would be seen as a significant achievement. Blair hopes Germany — which holds both the European Union and the Group of Eight presidencies — and Britain can lead work on a new global pact to curb emissions. The next step is getting the United States, China and India to make similar commitments, he said. The bill must be approved by both houses of Parliament to become law. The government hopes it will be enacted in the first half of next year. EU leaders agreed last week that the bloc will produce 20 percent of its power through renewable energy, as opposed to its current average of 6 percent. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Britain is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 percent from 1990 levels by 2008-2012, as part of an overall European Union target of an 8 percent reduction. Some 10,000 power plants and other industrial facilities across the EU have been assigned quotas for maximum emissions, and can buy and sell allowances in an Europe-wide trading system. Nations that ratified the Kyoto Protocol — the United States is not one — are expected in the next two years to negotiate post-2012 reduction targets. Under the plans, an independent advisory committee would check progress and could compel government officials to appear before a judge to explain any failures. Judges would be able to issue public warnings to the government, or force it to buy credits allowing greater emissions under international carbon trading schemes, Blair's Downing Street office said. In documents that accompany the draft bill, the British government said domestic action on climate change could change the terms of the debate. Governments would need to "count the carbon, just as they count the pennies," Treasury chief Gordon Brown — Blair's likely successor — said. Brown has laid out plans to assist the public to reduce emissions, proposing the scrapping of standby modes on electric appliances like TVs and a ban on non low-energy lightbulbs. The draft legislation was welcomed by environmentalists and opposition groups but some said the targets could be more ambitious. The bill called for emissions to be reduced by 60 percent by 2050, and by as much as 32 percent by 2020. Targets were based on 1990 levels. The Green Party said emissions should be reduced by 90 percent by 2050. "Their insistence on mediocre — and dangerous — targets means all their efforts do not go nearly far enough," said Green Party spokeswoman Sian Berry. Christian Aid said it should be increased to an 80 percent reduction by 2050. By 2020, the charity said, the goal should be a reduction of 40 percent. London Mayor Ken Livingstone praised the legislation, but called for the government to address the issue of aviation emissions. The opposition Conservative party, which has made the environment one of its key policy areas, prefers rolling targets instead of five-year goals. John Coequyt, an energy policy specialist for Greenpeace USA, in Washington, said European initiatives on environmental issues were essential to pressure for a change in American policy. "From the U.S. perspective, what we need more than anything is strong leadership out of the EU and U.K.," he said. "The more concrete goals the EU and U.K. set, the better." But H. Sterling Burnett, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative Dallas think-tank, said he doubted there would be an immediate impact. "It's hard to say they will lead the world anywhere, because the world is going to take a wait-and-see approach," Burnett said. news.yahoo.com