Earth Day 2013: Philippines unveils building made from plastic bottles

Via: @GuardianSustBiz

A Philippines building powered by solar energy and built from old plastic bottles was opened this weekend to showcase renewable energy and highlight the problem of waste ahead of today’s Earth Day.

Designed in partnership with Stephen Lamb, founder of South Africa based green design firm Touching the Earth Lightly, the Solar Revolution Pavilion is a 200 sq metre, 6-metre high structure built of 1,600 plastic vegetable crates containing reused plastic bottles.. The crates will eventually become eco-friendly bricks for a school library’s walls.

The environmentalist David de Rothschild who journeyed across the Pacific on a boat made from plastic bottles in 2010, said at the building’s unveiling in Manila’s Luneta Park: “This is a living example of how you can take food, shelter, water and energy using existing resources that people often disregard as wasteful and actually turn them into something that is useful, and beneficial and can create a quality of life.”

The Filipino social entrepreneur Ilac Diaz who helped open the building and whose My Shelter Foundation’s “Liter of Light” project has transformed plastic bottles into sunlight-powered bulbs for 120,000 homes of the 20 million Filipinos still living without electricity, said the pavilion will also see the launch of a new solar night light. Made by adding LED lights and batteries to the bottles, these lights will be distributed to 150 locations around the country.

Visitors to the building will also be able to learn about other locally available green technologies, such as hydroponics, which involves growing plants without soil.

Diaz said: “The point is to teach people how to do it. The world has been too much about expensive technologies that are imported and brought in off-the-shelf. We want people to be able to come out of that pavilion knowing how to build these technologies themselves.”

Source:  www.guardian.co.uk 

Bikini made of Solar Panels

If you liked the previous post on the outdoor lounge charging stations, then you gonna love this!  It was posted in 2011 already.. wonder how its going?

For those of you fed up with your iPod running out of power when lazing about in a bikini or man thong, New York-based designer Andrew Schneider may have the answer for you.

iKini comes in the shape of a $200 (£120) swimsuit made of solar panels that can charge everything from an MP3 to a camera, to things that go ‘bump’ in the night. And if you’re worried about getting your iKini wet, don’t be–as long as you make sure the suit is dry before plugging in your device. “You wouldn’t even feel the charge,” says Schneider.

The swimsuit is powered by photo-voltaic panels sewn together with conductive thread and takes about 80 hours to create.

So what about us guys… Andrew Schneider, is even hoping to create a pair of trunks that can cool beer…

SOURCE: http://helablog.com

Zuma falls short on green issues, says WWF – by By John Yeld

Cape Town – Half of South Africa’s precious freshwater resources are generated from just eight percent of the country’s land surface area – but much of this area overlies abundant coal reserves in places like Mpumalanga, says conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature SA (WWF-SA).

Responding to President Zuma’s State of the Nation address last week, the group said it had hoped the president would have dealt explicitly with the conflict between conserving water sources and exploiting coal.

“Furthermore, WWF would like to see greater leadership on how the impacts of coal mining on water will be minimised, after Mining Minister Susan Shabangu recently proposed that coal be declared a ‘strategic resource’.”

The group welcomed the State of the Nation address with its emphasis on social infrastructure, and

congratulated the government on the establishment of the R800 million Green Fund and investments made in green economy projects.

“However, we caution that key environmental matters were not addressed. What is even more worrying is that these very issues will have a profound effect on the future health of our economy and well-being of our people,” it added.

It noted that Zuma had referred in his speech to the development of two new dams: the Umzimvubu Dam in the Eastern Cape and construction of the first phase of the Mokolo Crocodile River Water Augmentation scheme near Lephalale and Thabazimbi in Limpopo.

WWF-SA demanded to see how the catchments supplying these dams would be managed.

The group said it had concerns about fracking for shale gas since the lifting last year of the moratorium on fracking in the Karoo, as it doubted the government’s capacity and willingness to implement and monitor stringent environmental standards – “given the poor record in the mining sector”.

It recognised the government’s rollout of renewable energy projects.

“But for renewables to have lasting and beneficial impacts on our economy, we have to have a much longer term horizon for the development of the renewable sector in the country.

“South Africa needs to move away from its minerals intensive economy to other sources of growth, and our main interest is in expansion of the green economy.”

It had also wanted President Zuma to have said more about rhino poaching.

“This is a critical issue with broader impacts on both the national economy and security.

More than two-thirds of our poached rhino horns are exported through Mozambique, and it’s critical that our president takes this matter up with his Mozambican counterpart.” – Cape Argus

SOURCE:  www.iol.co.za

Local SA Company’s Cooking Oil Powers Engines

OVER a million litres of vegetable cooking oil used by the Spur Corporation across three of its restaurant operations in the Western Cape have been converted to biodiesel to power a range of fishing vessels, trucks and mining equipment.

The oil recycling initiative that forms part of the group’s waste management programme has been running for six years, with one million litres collected to date. As a result, some 870 000 litres of biodiesel were produced, translating into a saving of 3.1 million kg of CO2 equivalent emissions.

Working through a Western Cape company, Envirodiesel, the oil is collected weekly from the group’s Spur Steak Ranches, Panarottis Pizza Pasta and John Dory’s Fish Grill Sushi, and is purified and converted to biodiesel which is then sold on to companies using this type of fuel.

Envirodiesel even powers its own collection vehicles with the biodiesel as it is cleaner and more fuel-efficient than diesel and provides better engine lubrication.

According to CEO Pierre van Tonder, all the oil collected by Enviro-diesel is converted into biodiesel.

“We have made it mandatory that oil waste has to be collected from our restaurants once a week and a register is maintained to track compliance by all our franchisees.”

“We are aware that some environmentalists do not promote biofuel production where land is involved that could be used to grow food. However, this is not an issue here. We are converting waste into a viable source of energy.”

Read more: www.cbn.co.za 

Qatar hosts ‘critical’ climate talks

Via: @Earth_NewsRT

 

The 18th United Nations climate change conference, known as COP18 , has opened in Doha, the Qatari capital.
Over the next two weeks, up to 17,000 people will attend the conference. Delegates will be negotiating a new global deal on climate, but there are ongoing tensions between rich and poor countries.

The meeting elected the former Qatari energy minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, as president of the Conference of the Parties.

Asad Rahman, senior campaigner for Friends of the Earth, speaks to Al Jazeera.  In his opening remarks he said the meeting was “critical” and a “golden opportunity” to make progress on a new global climate deal.

“This is an historic conference,” said Attiyah, “it is of vital importance considering the items on its agenda. It is a turning point in the negotiations on climate change.”

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African foreign minister, officially handed over the COP presidency to Attiyah, Qatar’s deputy prime minister, at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha.

After brief speeches by both, Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC executive secretary, pointed out the “unique” location of this year’s COP.

“Each COP is unique – and this is no exception,” she said.

“This is the first time the COP is being held in the Gulf region. On this historic occasion, the region has an unequaled world stage to showcase the contributions being made to reduce the Gulf’s food and water vulnerabilities, to put regional energy growth on a more sustainable path and to build a safer, stronger and more resilient energy future for all countries.”

Carbon permits

A central issue at the summit is the problem of “hot air” carbon permits.

The term refers to attempts by some wealthy countries to carry over unused carbon permits so they can be offset against future cuts.

Developing nations say this is unfair and reduces the value of any commitment to reduce carbon dioxide.

In one of the summit’s first announcements, Australia said it will aim to cut its emissions by 0.5 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 in a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol.

Maxwell Smith of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition told Al Jazeera he thought Australia’s decision to participate in a second period of the Kyoto Protocol was a “positive step”. But, he added, a 0.5 per cent reduction was “nothing. That is completely unacceptable”.

At the opening session of a working group on the Kyoto Protocol on Monday afternoon, New Zealand said that, although it would not join the second commitment period, it would continue to “play by the Kyoto rules” and work to combat climate change.

New Zealand noted that, under a second commitment period, the countries that would be required to make emissions cuts only make up about 15 per cent of worldwide emissions.

A Nauru delegate, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States – a group representing 44 mostly low-lying countries particularly vulnerable to climate change – called for greater ambition for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which binds many developed countries to make emissions cuts.

“This conference is about nothing less than preserving the fundamental integrity of the climate change regime,” she said, “and that must begin with a strong second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

“If developed countries cannot live up to their current obligations, how can we have any confidence in a future agreement?”

Nauru also called for stronger commitments from developed countries to help developing countries finance ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, developed countries have pledged to provide $100bn a year for adaptation and mitigation measures for developing countries by 2020.

As Qatar welcomes world leaders to the conference, its own environmental record has come under criticism as a major contributor to greenhouse gases.

Spotlight on polluters

The climate talks have placed a spotlight on Qatar, which produces nearly 50 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide for each of its 1.6 million residents.

Follow our in-depth coverage of Doha COP18 negotiations, Jamie Henn, co-founder of the environment group 350.org, pointed out that Qatar had set some goals, including the plan to use 20 per cent renewable energy by 2024. Still, he said, the host country could do more.

“We are fully aware of the perils the world is facing as a result of climate change,” Attiyah, who is also a former Qatari petroleum minister, said.

“We hope the conference will produce tangible results and reinforce international co-operation.”

Qatar “is also one of the 10 developing countries predicted to be most affected by rising sea levels”, Attiyah said.

“Environmental sustainability is a key pillar of our national vision,” he said.

In terms of volume, China remains the top emitter with more than eight billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year – an increase of 171 per cent since 2000.

China is followed by the US, which produces over five billion tonnes annually, although its emissions have fallen since 2007.

In third place is India. Its economic boom has made it the third worst polluter, pumping out nearly two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

And then there is Russia, producing around 1.6bn tonnes of emissions every year.

 

SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com 

South Africa 2nd Round Renewable Energy Auction: 19 Awards Totaling 1.044 GW

Via:@greeneconpost

The South African government on May 21 awarded renewable energy contracts with a total capacity of 1,043.9 MW as it named the preferred bidders of a second-round Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Program (REIPPP) auction. Nineteen project bids were accepted: 9 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a total 417.1 MW; 7 wind power projects totaling 562.5 MW; 2 small hydro projects totaling 14.3 MW; and 1 concentrating solar PV project of 50 MW.

The South African government expects to award renewable energy contracts with a total maximum capacity of 3.725 gigawatts (GW) over the five-stage course of the Renewable Energy IPP Program. This week’s announcement of preferred project bidders is part of the second round of the SAR100 billion (~$12 billion) REIPPP.

Second-round auction bids to develop 79 renewable energy projects with a total 3.2 GW of capacity were submitted to South Africa’s Dept. of Energy to develop renewable energy projects in “Window 2″ of the REIPPP, the bidding window for which closed March 5. While 51 met the RFP (Request for Proposals) criteria, only 19 were selected due to a cap on the electricity generation capacity to be awarded.

Renewable Energy Transition Key to Spurring Economy, Job Creation, Protecting the Environment

A lack of sufficient, reliable electricity generating capacity has been plaguing South Africa’s economy, while heavy reliance on coal to generate electricity brings all the financially unaccounted-for environmental and health costs and risks associated with coal-fired power plants. As a developing country, South Africa is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) in both absolute and per-capita terms. At the same time, high un- and under-employment continues to be a chronic social and economic problem.

South Africa is richly endowed when it comes to potential renewable energy resources, however. The SA government has come around to the view that encouraging, and actively supporting, a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources can go a long way toward meeting its social, economic and environmental challenges. Encouragingly, that’s a viewpoint that developing economies around the world are coming round to, particularly as emerging market economies are the primary drivers underlying actual and forecast growing global fossil fuel demand.

The SA government’s Integrated Energy and Integrated Resource Plans lay out the overarching strategy for South Africa to start a transition to clean, renewable energy and address critical social, economic and environmental problems.

The Renewable Energy IPP Program is central to reaching SA’s renewable energy and IRP goals. The government has set targets of producing 10,000 GW-hours of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2013, and installing 17.8 GW of renewable power capacity by 2030, less than 10% of its forecast total.

Read More: http://bit.ly/L6IVh3

Elections Organic Law voted in Parliament

Via: @GreenKnack

Luanda– The Angolan Parliament Monday in Luanda unanimously voted the bill altering the Organic Law on General Elections, Angop learned.

This was during the Parliament’s ninth ordinary plenary session, at which the MPs also approved a bill that clears doubts and omissions resulting from the interpretation and application of the said law.

The session also clarified the meaning and scope of some dispositions contained in the Organic Law on General Elections, seeking to establish clear criteria for the early voting abroad.

The House considered that early voting abroad shall be exercised under a coordination between the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Government, represented by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

As to the list of electoral delegates and observers, the session ruled that it is a concern of the political parties and coalitions to secure the presence of their delegates at the polling station, in line with the law.

People entitled to early voting include soldiers, national police, civil protection and State Security officers, detainees and prison services officer on duty on the voting day.

The list includes workers of diamond and oil exploration, maritime and aeronautic, road and railway firms, as well as medical doctors on duty, interned patients and high competitions athletes.

SOURCE: www.portalangop.co.ao

It’s Much Easier Being Sustainable Than Green – Anthony Zolezzi

Via: @Bennuworld

Lately, I have started rethinking the value of businesses “going green.” When companies spend money to make their products or manufacturing methods “greener,” but find consumers are reluctant to pay a corresponding “green” surcharge, what they have done is to substitute one form of green – the environmental kind – for another — the monetary variety. And while virtue may be its own reward, it’s also true that a company that engages in enough unprofitable behavior may soon become unsustainable.

Now when you say anything is in danger of becoming unsustainable, that implies more urgency than the idea of simply modifying it in some way to go along with a “green” agenda.  So what I would advise today’s companies to do is to dispense with the idea of going green,  and talk about becoming sustainable instead. It may seem like a mere semantic substitution – but semantics can mean the difference between a message that nobody buys and one that’s truly effective.

“Sustainability” is about people, planet and profits  – all three of which are essential parts of the equation – whereas “green” is a one dimensional concept. It is also one that many consumers simply can’t wrap their heads around. Far too often, they associate it with hippies, or elitists, or folks who lack a sense of practicality, and give more importance to trees than jobs. Now green can, under some circumstances, be a tie breaker — but it is not a key selling point that is going to distinguish your enterprise. Sustainability, on the other hand, symbolizes survival– something that can be successfully conveyed even to those who disdain a green rationale.

So how do you go about creating a sustainable company that, in turn, can promote an image of sustainability to the public?

Read Anthony’s five tried & tested ways that he believes forms the best approach: http://bit.ly/KJ8mav

Natural Gas Vehicle Faceoff: Honda vs. Detroit – by Matter Network

Via: @greeneconpost

Ever since the introduction of the Tesla Roadster in 2008, compressed natural gas (CNG) has taken a back seat as an alternative fuel in the U.S. retail automotive market. Despite heavily financed advocacy campaigns, the technology has suffered from a lack of model availability, infrastructure, and public interest. Recent announcements from both domestic and foreign automakers, though, may be placing the alternative fuel back in the spotlight alongside electricity.

General Motors, Chrylser, and Ford all announced in early March that by the end of 2012, CNG versions of the OEMs’ pickup trucks will be available for the U.S. retail market directly from their dealers. The “Big Three” used to sell CNG vehicles retail in the 90’s and early 2000’s, but cheap gas and a lack of infrastructure made the more expensive CNG models less desirable. Thus the CNG models have been relegated to the conversion aftermarket with other eco-friendly alternative fueled vehicles such as biodiesel and EVs. Ford was the first of the Big Three back into the CNG market, offering packages preparing engines for CNG conversions in 2009.

One auto-manufacturer, Honda, has consistently maintained a CNG light duty vehicle on the U.S. market: the Civic GX. The GX has been a perpetual winner of the “Green Car of the Year” award, but is only available in four states. Though sales of the Civic GX in the U.S. have not been spectacular (2009 sales numbered less than 2,000), Honda announced in late 2011 it was expanding its sales territory to 38 states while simultaneously installing CNG refueling stations at its dealerships – essentially creating its market.

The trend certainly has much to do with the rising price of gasoline and the more consistent price of CNG, as well as the slowly growing infrastructure (there are now 449 publicly accessible stations). Though the increased interest from OEMs is encouraging, the trend has not yet translated to actual sales. This is in large part because conventional internal combustion engines are becoming more efficient, hybrid mpg ratings are topping 50 miles, and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are finally starting to hit the market. All these competing technologies also rely on an infrastructure that is quickly becoming, or already, easily accessible. This fact is troubling for Honda, because it means that a) the GX faces stiff competition, and b) it doesn’t have the public infrastructure to make “range anxiety” irrelevant. For GM, Chrysler, and Ford, however, the issues of competition and range anxiety are less concerning.

Read More: http://blog.cleantechies.com

Clean tech sector in Ireland could generate 80,000 jobs by 2020 – John Kennedy

Via: @GreenKnack

At least 20,000 and as many as 80,000 new jobs and a boost of €3.9bn to Ireland’s GDP by 2020 are possible if Ireland focuses on clean tech. This would require a national clean tech framework.

At present Ireland’s import of fossil fuels stands at €5.6bn, according to Ernst & Young. And the grimace on the face of most motorists as they drive away from a petrol station across Ireland today speaks volumes as they are forced to pay higher and higher fuel costs.

But there is an opportunity to instead become an exporter of fossil fuels when you consider opportunities for renewable energy. After all, Ireland has one of the longest coastlines in Europe.

Globally the clean tech sector is estimated to be a US$5 trillion market and according to Ernst & Young if Ireland takes advantage of its natural advantages in this area as many as 80,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created in areas like renewable energy and retrofitting and construction.

“The clean tech sector can transform Ireland’s economy in two fundamental ways. Firstly, the sector can drive economic recovery through job creation and growth,” Barry O’Flynn, Head of clean tech and Sustainability at Ernst & Young Ireland explained.

“Secondly, it places future economic growth on a sustainable path by breaking our dependence on importing fossil fuels which currently stands at €5.6 billion, by significantly reducing domestic national energy consumption and generating more indigenous renewable energy,” O’Flynn added.

The Ernst & Young report warns, however, against policy inaction and points out Ireland’s international competitiveness will be eroded if volatile, high energy prices prevail.

The negative impact on GDP is estimated to range from €9.8bn to €12.3bn. Fiscal suicide in these recessionary times!

Read more on: Correct clean tech actions: http://bit.ly/Kepn9v