Prince Charles gives speech to EU on climate change
by David Masters
Last week Prince Charles delivered his first speech to the European Parliament for 16 years. In the speech he chose to outline the need for a global partnership to stop the "doomsday clock of climate change". The Prince contended that private, public and non-governmental organisations need to work together on the climate crisis. "For me," Prince Charles said, "the crux of the problem is - and I only pray I will ...
Valentine’s campaign highlights the real cost of roses
by David Masters
A campaign launched on Valentine's day is attempting to uncover the real cost of roses. The campaign's focus is on a lake in Kenya, where rose farming has wreaked havoc on the local environment. Lake Naivasha has supplied water to local industrial sized flower farms for decades. The farms grow roses and other decorative plants to be sold in Europe. The impact of this high intensity farming has been a ...
South Africa goes green in a bid to oust frequent powercuts
by David Masters
As widespread powercuts and rising energy bills strike South Africa, the country is turning to green building as a way of tackling both of these problems, whilst reducing its carbon footprint. Being neither a developing country nor an industrialised world power, South Africa's energy supply is less than reliable. However, until now, energy has always been cheap. Now, though, the growing energy demands of business and domestic users have led to ...
U.S. biofuel laws equate to 2.3 million cars off the road
by David Masters
U.S. petrol stations will be serving even more biofuel this year as the country's renewable fuel regulations become more stringent. In order to comply with the Energy Independence and Security Act signed by President Bush in December, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the 2008 Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) will be raised from 4.66% to 7.76%. The RFS determines how much non-petroleum fuel must be blended in with ...
Warm water, not melting ice raising sea levels.
by Alan Harten
Creeping rises in ocean water levels around Antarctica over the past 10 years are almost certainly due to an increase in sea water temperature is and not an increase in melting ice. That is the claim of an Australian scientist who has conducted a 15 year salinity and temperature study in the Southern Ocean. He says that the average temperatures have increased by approximately 3/10 of a degree Celsius. Satellites ...
Overfishing and finning mean shark species are closer to extinction
by Rachel Thomas
Nine species of shark are added to the endangered list whilst scientists inform of the fact that overfishing and finning are draining the oceans of fish. With a 99% decline over the past 30 years the scalloped hammerhead shark is especially endangered. It is to be announced endangered on the World Conservation Union (IUCN) list. Julia Baum from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California and member of the IUCN ...
Government warned that 1 million planned new homes are on floodplains
by David MastersThousands of people who were flooded out of their homes last summer are still living in temporary accommodation, and insurers are warning that up to a million UK homes could be vulnerable to the same fate in the future. A total of 15,000 households were forced to evacuate long-term after the floods last June and July, which has cost the insurance industry £3 billion. Almost half of these have yet ...
Council fuming at £60,000 bill to find newts a new home
by David Masters
Cheshire County Council are fuming after discovering that EU regulations require them to find a new home for newts that have been found on school land which is earmarked for a new building. The bill for re-homing the newts will total £60,000, equal to £15,000 for each of the four great crested newts that were found on the site. Under European law great crested newts are a protected species. Applications for ...
Are dead salmon a serious concern for people’s health?
by Alan Harten
Research scientist Nat Scholz experiments to discover how pesticides sprayed onto the land then flow into streams and rivers to give a high level of toxins, he then examines how these toxic elements affect the nervous system of the salmon. These pesticides are widespread use across the US, and this run off into the food supply, could pose a serious risk for humans. Scholz, from the National Oceanic and ...
Study on state of world’s oceans a prompt to action
by Rachel Thomas
A large study, led by the University of California, shows the full view of the impact that humans have left on all the world’s oceans. Scientists found that over 40% of the world’s oceans have been seriously affected by pollution, fishing and climate change, with no areas left immaculate. The shocking results came as a bit of a surprise to those who led the research. The largest impact was ...
Construction businesses told to stop polluting waterways
by David Masters
2006 saw over 120 cases of the construction industry polluting waterways in England and Wales. Construction businesses were told by the Environment Agency this week that this is completely unacceptable, and that the prevention of waterway pollution should be factored in to construction project plans. This condemnation of waterway pollution coincided with the the Environment Agency publishing guidelines for construction businesses. The guidelines outline simple steps that construction projects should follow, ...
Smart meters the way forward for Ireland
by David Masters
A leading energy expert has said that smart meters are the way forward for Ireland. Cathy Mannion, director of Electricity Networks and Retail Division at the Commission for Energy Regulations (CER) has said that it is a question of when, and not if, smart metering will be installed and implemented. Ms. Mannion is reported to have said: "We acknowledge that smart meters are the wave of the future. I suppose ...
Philippines make switch to low energy bulbs
by David MastersThe President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagel Arroyo, has announced that her country will be the first in Asia to phase out traditional, environmentally-unfriendly light bulbs in favour of energy efficient fluorescent lamps. The Philippines are following in the footsteps of a number of other countries, including Ireland, set to ban traditional bulbs from next year, and Australia, who have already passed legislation that will make the bulbs illegal from 2010. ...
International conference told that ‘green building is at a tipping point’
by David Masters
The International Builders Show, a major building conference currently being held in Florida, has emphasised the growing demand for environmentally friendly building projects. Key speakers at the event are set to highlight the rapid expansion of the green construction sector. Calli Schmidt, of the U.S. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), revealed that the organisation will be publishing national standards for green construction projects. He added that these ideas are what ...
Prince Charles calls for action on deforestation
by Alan Harten
Prince Charles, on Thursday, called for a new world wide fund to assist in the preservation of tropical rainforests, he said in a speech to the European Parliament "In the simplest of terms, we have to find a way to make the forests worth more alive than dead," and that "The doomsday clock of climate change is ticking ever faster towards midnight," He called for partnerships between public and private ...
GM crops increasing
by Rachel Thomas
A report released yesterday revealed that the global use of GM crops increased last year by 12%, reaching 114million hectares over 23 countries. The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) claimed that approximately 11 million of the 12 million farmers currently growing biotech crops are resource-poor. Clive James, who wrote the report, spoke of the fact that GM crops would be increasingly significant in reducing hunger and poverty ...
Government, businesses and customers all want smart metering
by David Masters
According to Don Leiper, acting managing director of E.ON UK, smart metering is the way forward in revolutionising the way that people use energy. However, Leiper warns that the benefits will only be reaped in full if the Government makes "bold and brave" decisions now. Leiper argues that the energy industry would have to be simplified if smart metering was to be implemented successfully. Smart meters are gas and ...
Southern Water fined £20 million for overcharging
by David MastersWater firm Southern Water has been fined over £20 million after an investigation found that it had deliberately misrepresented information, and provided a poor service to its customers. Ofwat, the water watchdog, confirmed the £20.3 million fine, which represents more than 3.5% of Southern Water's annual turnover. Their investigation, which began in October 2005, found that Southern Water had behaved "unacceptably" over a long period of time. Southern Water's misdemeanors included ...
Luxury apartments to generate their own power
by David Masters
A development of two luxury apartment blocks near London's Canary Wharf will use state of the art technologies to generate their own heat and electricity on site. The Pan Peninsular development will house 762 luxury apartments, a private cinema, and a riverside restaurant. The total cost of the development, to be completed in 2009, is £27 million. The tower blocks will be Britain's tallest residential building. The ...
74% of packaging to be recovered by 2010
by David Masters
New Government targets propose that almost three quarters of the UK's packaging waste will be recovered by 2010. The planned targets were confirmed by Defra, who estimate that the plans will result in 285,436 tonnes of saved carbon in 2010 alone. In 2008 ministers are aiming for 72% of packaging to be recovered. This is to rise to 74% by 2010. Joan Ruddock, waste minister, said: "Reducing, recovering and recycling packaging is ...