viernes, agosto 31, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: The Role of LEDs In Energy Efficiency

Today, Energy Tech Stocks [ETS] has the fifth installment from our interview, outlining my LED stock picks. He quotes me at the start saying that it's "going to be a gigantic market" about LEDs. It is, but only when compared to the current size of the market... you can ramp up a lot from a very small base.

jueves, agosto 30, 2007

EUROPE: Statoil to buy stake in Baltic biodiesel

Statoil has enrolled institutional investors in a plan to buy a 42.5 percent stake in UAB Mestilla, a company building the Baltic States’ biggest biodiesel facility.

SEB Venture Captial and the Norwegian oil company have agreed a letter of intent for the share in Mestilla. Owners of Lithuanian agricultural company Linas Agro will be the other shareholder, with a 57.5% stake, a Statoil statement said.

Construction at the plant began early last year in the free economic zone near the coastal town of Klaipeda. Plans call for production by autumn 2007.

The raw material is vegetable oil pressed on the spot from the rape see of locals in the Norwegian model. No shortage is anticipated in this area near Northeast Europe’s breadbasket.

Lithuanian regulators must approve the Statoil stake.

Statoil,  biodiesel, Linas Agro, SEB Venture Captial ,Mestilla, UAB Mestilla,Norway,  Lithuania



Via: Scandinavian Oil & Gas
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miércoles, agosto 29, 2007

CLIMATE CHANGE: RE: El uso del cambio climático en los medios de comunicación

Manuel Torres LaveagaBienvenida es la reflexión de Manuel Caminante, aunque denoto cierto recelo de quienes han venido a meter el GOL. Es decir, Al Gore y todos los empresarios que empiezan hacer negocio con el Cambio Climático.

Estamos concientes que esta lucha por el respeto al medio y la problemática del cambio climático, con consecuencias como el calentamiento global o incluso un futuro con dificultades por el exceso explotación y agotamiento de recursos naturales. Ahora bien, no debe de ser ningún recelo. Si el lo que nos importa que ¨que se emprendan acciones, políticas, proyectos, se ingenien formulas que mejoren las expectativas para las generaciones venideras y por supuesto la calidad de nuestro presente ¨. Eso debe ser lo importante. Quien se lleve el merito ? que eso no te quite el sueño, lo importante es un cambio de cultura.

¿ por que hasta hoy se presta mas atención al cambio Climático ?, pueden ser muchas cosas, pero yo pienso en este momento en al menos, en un par.

La primera es que quienes llevaban esta lucha por años, por décadas atrás. No desarrollaron el correcto método de comunicación. El mensaje no llegaba al destinatario.

La Segunda, y mas obvia es las consecuencias climatológicas que se experimentan en los últimos años y que dan que pensar para que reflexionemos sobre una mayor responsabilidad.

Creo que aquí coincidimos en que hay una obligación de ser mas concientes, pero procuremos una mejor formación e información. Ya que tras las bandera ¨de lucha por el cambio climática ¨ se emprenden proyectos sin pies ni cabezas: como la de hace unos meses, cuando en todo el mundo y especialmente en Europa se suspendió por unos minutos el uso de electricidad, estaban concientes de que fue mas costoso para los sistemas eléctricos retirar de golpe y demandar de golpe tantos volúmenes de electricidad. Eso es muy costoso para el sistema y para la producción de electricidad, al ser un bien NO que no se almacena, Acaso no se ha intentado poner de moda los ¨biocombustibles¨, sin explorar las consecuencias del encarecimiento de recursos naturales que forman parte de nuestra dieta alimentaría.

Lo verde me gusta, y lo defiendo. Pero para que el día de mañana no se condene esta ¨cultura verde¨ y hayamos construido una acertada sociedad sostenible, seamos mas responsables al emprender políticas que pueden repercutir socialmente.
|by Manuel Torres Laveaga|



Los Medios

Recuerdo los años 90 y el auge de la gastronomía ibérica, convertida actualmente en fenómeno cultural y, por supuesto, económico. ¿Cuánto ha tenido que ver el televisivo Karlos Arguiñano –al menos como detonante- en nuestra actual capacidad a la hora de decidirnos por un tinto de una determinada zona vinícola o por un tipo de jamón ibérico?. ¿Y cuánto los políticos del momento o las empresas del sector? Cualquiera de ellos ha tenido influencia en este tipo de decisiones cotidianas. Pero los que nos han querido influir, sin duda, han utilizado lo que llamamos Medios de Comunicación de masas.

Actualmente, los Medios de Comunicación de masas son capaces de generar una Cultura de Masas . No es que la Cultura de las Masas sea reflejada en ellos, sino que ellos son capaces de instaurarla.

Cuando los Medios de Comunicación introdujeron la Publicidad como forma de autofinanciación, delegaron su autonomía y soberanía a las Corporaciones económicas que los sustentaban. El medio de conseguir el sustento económico –la publicidad- terminó siendo el objetivo . Esto se vio favorecido porque el propio sistema capitalista tendía a depender de una comunicación peculiar, que Guy Debord denominó “La Sociedad del Espectáculo”. En la obra con este título, Debord señala que en la sociedad capitalista moderna, orientada al espectáculo, la vida de los hombres escapa a su propia reflexión. Domina el espectáculo en detrimento del diálogo y la comunicación directa. La sociedad del espectáculo es el modelo de vida socialmente dominante. Y este modelo tiene sus propios códigos comunicativos, que fueron divertidamente tratados en la película “El show de Truman”, que en realidad era un tremendo drama (sobre todo porque estos códigos son perfectamente reconocibles y dominantes en la vida de cada uno de nosotros). Nuestra vida convertida en un constante anuncio publicitario. Pasamos de ser ciudadanos a convertirnos en clientes-consumidores.

El entorno informativo creado en la era electrónica transforma la cultura en negocios, pero también los negocios en cultura. Esta visión la desarrolló Marshall McLuhan en su libro “La cultura es nuestro negocio”, donde denomina la publicidad televisiva como “Arte cavernario del siglo XX”, ya que (al igual que las primeras obras rupestres) no ha sido creada para que se la examine profundamente (sino para producir un efecto) y porque no expresa pensamientos privados sino metas colectivas.

En la Introducción de “Comprender los Medios de Comunicación” (también de McLuhan) de la edición de 1995, Lewis Lapham resumía las ideas del autor respecto a la Publicidad de la siguiente forma: “McLuhan observa, correctamente, que son las malas noticias –escándalos sexuales, desastres naturales y muertes violentas- las que hacen vender a las noticias buenas –es decir, los anuncios publicitarios-. Las malas noticias son la invitación a que los incautos pasen y vean…”.

Por tanto, tenemos como resultado unos medios de comunicación de masas en manos de Corporaciones con intereses comerciales y de control social. Se convirtieron en la voz de sus amos. Estos medios han generado códigos comunicativos culturales acordes a sus intereses, que han terminado por filtrarse en nuestro lenguaje diario y ha afectado nuestra forma de percibir nuestro entorno (1).

Y en esto estábamos cuando llegó el Cambio Climático…

El cambio climático
Al igual que la gastronomía ibérica, el Medio Ambiente ha eclosionado en los medios en forma de Cambio Climático . Y el repunte –que no el detonante- lo tenemos, quizá, en el mediático Al Gore y su oscarizado documental.

Después de décadas silenciados y algo más (2), recibimos esperanzados algunos hechos significativos. Los resultados de investigaciones científicas están siendo recopilados por diversas organizaciones con acceso a los medios de comunicación y la repercusión consecuente en la opinión pública y en la agenda política. Ejemplo de ello son El Informe Stern (3) o los informes de los distintos grupos del IPCC (4). Pero la Sociedad del Espectáculo precisó de un Maestro de Ceremonia para presentar los hechos a la “audiencia”, el Karlos Arguiñano del Cambio Climático: Al Gore, un exvicepresidente usamericano metido a tareas divulgativas sobre ‘la pésima situación medioambiental en el planeta’ (5). Igual alegría, o más, nos hubiese dado que este exvicepresidente de los USA hubiese firmado el Protocolo de Kioto durante su permanencia en el Poder. Lo cierto es que el documental que ha realizado aparece cuando la evidencia del deterioro medioambiental es tangible y ha dejado de ser un mensaje abstracto, “paranoico y trasnochado”, de unos jóvenes desorientados. “Una verdad incómoda” (supongo que no tengo que aclarar que es el título del documental) utiliza el lenguaje propio de la “Sociedad del espectáculo”. Una circense presentación, con abundantes y llamativos datos –especialmente en su presentación-. Para finalizar con una serie de recomendaciones que podríamos denominar, por ser diplomáticos, como tíbias y prácticamente irrelevantes, insulsos consejos que apenas llegan a parche mal pegado. Puro “Arte cavernario” (6).

Efectivamente, este documental aparece en un momento propicio, con una Cultura de Masas receptiva al mensaje. Por un lado, la evidencia del deterioro ambiental no se puede seguir negando -aunque algunos insisten, carecen ya de asideros-. Pero por otro, a través de los medios de comunicación, centenares de multinacionales responsables del Cambio Climático habían comenzado años atrás su lavado de imagen, anticipando la “demanda verde”. Algunos ejemplos: British Petroleum usa como color corporativo el verde para recordarnos su “compromiso con el Medio Ambiente”; Acciona nos recuerda constantemente a través de masivos consejos publicitarios sus oxímorones prácticos; y claro, “pensar en verde” supone nuestra incapacidad de apartar nuestra atención de la cerveza Heineken… ¿el alcohol será nuestra salida? Etc.

El sistema socioeconómico que nos ha llevado a este punto de inestabilidad medioambiental para los humanos carece de los instrumentos comunicativos adecuados. Los Medios de Comunicación de que dispone el Sistema están diseñados para autoperpetuarse, pero, aparentemente, la inercia de estos medios impide cualquier posible autocorreción. Al menos, por el momento.

Lo mas llamativo, a mi entender, es que hoy se habla de Cambio Climático como un ente con vida propia. De “cómo enfrentarnos al Cambio Climático”. De “cómo combatir el Cambio Climático”. Gran éxito para los medios de comunicación de masas. Han doblegado, una vez más, el lenguaje, poniéndolo al servicio de sus amos (los amos de los medios). Mediante este uso del lenguaje, consiguen desenfocar la atención de ‘la Masa’ a la que se dirigen (y dirigen).

Además, en su necesidad de captar la atención, los Medios de Comunicación han conseguido la vulgarización del conocimiento sobre el Cambio Climático , por el cual se tiende a dar por ciertas las previsiones mas extremas y catastrofistas. También se usa el constructo Cambio Climático como Cajón de Sastre y como ‘Sparring’. Todo es atribuible a él y a él debemos combatir. Este miedo generalizado hace que el ciudadano medio tienda a atribuir, por ejemplo, cualquier inclemencia atmosférica al “Cambio Climático”. Todo esto puede tener varios efectos negativos.

Por un lado, los propios defensores de nuestro ecosistema (organizaciones, científicos, personas involucradas activamente, etc.) puede que hallemos pruebas que refuten algunos de los efectos ‘sobreatribuidos’ al Cambio Climático. Supongamos, por ejemplo, que demostrásemos (lo que es complicado) que “el Katrina” podría haber ocurrido sin el Cambio Climático. De hecho, podría haber ocurrido porque es probabilísticamente posible. Este resultado, sin duda, sería utilizado y amplificado por los negacionistas. Sin embargo, y sin la necesidad de un titular emotivo, lo constatable es la correlación entre el Cambio Climático y el aumento de número de fenómenos atmosféricos perversos (como el Katrina), así como su intensidad.

Igualmente, la visión catastrofista puede llevar a la inacción como individuos y como sociedad. Si ya no hay vuelta atrás, ¿para qué complicarnos la vida?

Enfocando a través de la metáfora
Pero el más perjudicial de todos los efectos que la Comunicación de Masas ha introducido sobre el constructo Cambio Climático , a mi juicio, ha sido convertirlo en término estelar y, en consecuencia, focalizar la mayor parte de la atención sobre él. Siguiendo nuestra humana y creativa tendencia al uso de metáforas, y siendo consciente de la dudosa pertinencia de algunas de ellas, podríamos introducir el término Cambio Climático en una que podría denominarse “Metáfora del Síntoma de Infección” . El Cambio Climático, la estrella del show mediático, es un SÍNTOMA del mal estado de nuestro medio ambiente, de nuestro ecosistema –que nos sustenta y del que el ser humano forma parte-. Es como la tos, la fiebre o la diarrea, que son síntomas de la existencia de una infección o inflamación. Mal médico sería el que se centrase en hacer desaparecer el síntoma y se olvidase del foco que lo genera. Padre equivocado o madre equivocada sería la que se centrase en tratar la tos del hijo o la hija, olvidándose de buscar y atajar el origen de la posible infección o inflamación que la origina. Pero esto es, desgraciadamente, lo que ha ocurrido con el manejo de la información medioambiental desde los Medios de Masas.

El desenfoque actual del problema en los Medios de Comunicación, así como el lenguaje utilizado (inherente a un sistema económico dominado por el Mercado), evita que asumamos nuestra responsabilidad o que tomemos conciencia de las acciones que realizamos y que inciden sobre el origen del problema: el imposible crecimiento continuo que el Sistema impone.

Pero el optimismo puede seguir presente entre nosotros. Si alguien ha llegado a estas líneas finales será consciente que ha utilizado un medio de comunicación de masas: la Red de Redes, en cuyo seno se están desarrollando lenguajes, metáforas y comunicaciones alternativas a las impuestas por el Poder económico. Caminemos pues.

---------------

(1) Ejemplo que sintetiza todo esto es una de las perlas que Pascual Serrano nos dedica en su libro “Perlas, patrañas, disparates y trapacerías en los medios de comunicación”, cuando una persona que está observando extasiada la granadina Sierra Nevada en su esplendor blanco, ante los micrófonos de un medio de comunicación afirma “habría que pagar por ver esto”. El ciudadano se había convertido en un consumidor que se sentía culpable por disfrutar gratuitamente del ‘espectáculo’ de la naturaleza.

(2) El más mediático de los movimientos ecologistas ha sido sin duda Greenpeace. A pesar de su protagonismo, o también por él, no se libró de sufrir acciones violentas (al igual que la mayoría de los grupos ecologistas) por parte de Empresas Privadas e, incluso, provenientes de Estados occidentales autodenominados ‘democráticos’: http://www.greenpeace.org/mexico/copy-of-participa-y-ap-yanos

(3) Asesor Económico del Gobierno Británico, emitió un informe a cuyo resumen se puede acceder en castellano: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/2/9/stern_shortsummary_spanish.pdf

(4) http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC

(5) Lo entrecomillo porque no es lo mismo que decir ‘la pésima situación medioambiental del planeta’ . En esta última, que es la más utilizada por los medios, se elige una visión antropocéntrica. De tal forma que parece que la situación del medioambiente también es pésima para el planeta, lejos de ser una verdad objetiva (el planeta puede albergar multitud de medio-ambientes diferentes al actual, manteniendo distintos tipos de vida sobre él).

(6) Sin embargo, a pesar de todo, considero que Al Gore nos envía un mensaje profundo y oculto en su documental: “Soy una persona concienciada, soy una persona que se involucró en la lucha medioambiental. Llegué a lo mas alto del Gobierno del país mas poderoso del mundo y… descubrí que no tenía Poder para cambiar lo importante”. La democracia usamericana perdió el poder en manos de las Corporaciones. Si aceptamos esta interpretación, el documental se apartaría del sentido de “Arte Cavernario” definido por McLuhan.


Via: Rebelion
by Manuel Caminante (Alterzoom)

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martes, agosto 28, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: Científicos norteamericanos logran acumular energía en una batería compuesta al 90% de papel que se puede doblar

La pila del futuro tiene las semblanzas de un papel de color negro, es formada por un 90% de celulosa y por el otro 10% de nanotubos de carbono que funcionan como eléctrodos. Es superligera, se puede plegar, recargar y puede funcionar a temperaturas extremas de entre menos 40 y más 160 grados centígrados. Así lo creen los científicos Instituto Politécnico Rensselaer en Nueva York, que han publicado su trabajo en la edición digital de la revista Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).


Los científicos, dirigidos por Robert Linhardt, impregnaron diariamente papel de celulosa poroso con nanotubos de carbono. Con esto, junto con un electrolito para transportar corrientes eléctricas, los investigadores crearon condensadores de alta capacidad o supercondensadores, baterías y dispositivos híbridos que almacenan y proporcionan energía. Como fuente de energía, los supercondensadores proporcionan corrientes y voltajes comparables a otros supercondensadores y dispositivos de almacenamiento de energía flexibles.

Los investigadores crearon una batería de papel, litio y aluminio y la utilizaron para producir y dirigir luz. También desarrollaron una fuente de energía híbrida que combina los supercondensadores y las baterías. Estos papeles funcionaban incluso si se enrollaban sobre sí mismos, se retorcían o se doblaban, en un amplio rango de temperaturas y con electrolitos diferentes.

Posibles aplicaciones al cuerpo humano
Los científicos descubrieron que incluso la sangre y el sudor eran electrolitos adecuados para los supercondensadores, lo que sugiere muchas aplicaciones biológicas y médicas. Según los investigadores, los papeles nanocompuestos pueden servir como fuentes de energía adaptables a muchas formas y tamaños debido a su flexibilidad.

new technology, batería de papel,batería de litio, batería de aluminio, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, nanotubos, celulosa, Robert Linhardt,


Via: El Pais


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TECHNOLOGY: En España, el CIEMAT ha diseñado un Reactor Nuclear solo para eliminar residuos radiactivos

El Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT) ha diseñado un pequeño reactor nuclear cuya finalidad no es generar energía, sino transformar los residuos radiactivos en elementos estables. El organismo propondrá al Gobierno su ubicación junto al futuro 'Almacén Temporal Centralizado'.

Uno de los principales problemas de la energía nuclear es la generación de residuos radiactivos, cuyo almacenamiento habría de prolongarse durante mucho tiempo. Aunque la radiación decrece rápidamente, su vida sobrepasa la de cualquier civilización conocida: entre 10.000 y un millón de años según dónde se establezca el nivel de seguridad.

Para resolver este problema un grupo de científicos españoles ha diseñado un reactor que permitiría convertirlos en elementos estables; es decir, no radiactivos. El modelo, de carácter experimental, tan sólo tendría un megavatio de potencia. Serviría para demostrar que la 'transmutación' (eliminación) de los residuos es viable desde el punto de vista tecnológico.

Juan Antonio Rubio, director del CIEMAT, se mostró contrario a la opción del "Almacenamiento Geológico Profundo" por la que han optado algunos países, como Estados Unidos o Finlandia. Rubio cree que aunque este tipo de almacenes permanentes ofrecen garantías de seguridad, períodos de confinamiento tan largos como los que se manejan son excesivos.

"Construcciones que hayan durado 300 años hay muchas, pero que hayan durado 100.000 años, eso es otra cosa, por mucha garantía científica y geológica que exista", señaló Rubio, quien cree que sería preferible construir almacenes temporales hasta que la tecnología necesaria para eliminarlos esté "madura".

Juan Antonio Rubio cree que en el mundo actualmente existen unas 300.000 toneladas de combustible radiactivo, de las que aproximadamente el 1% (unas 3.000 toneladas) es material radiactivo de larga duración. La 'transmutación' los reduciría a tres toneladas, cuyo almacenamiento sería "relativamente fácil".

Via: El Mundo
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INDIA:IWPA seeks virgin areas for wind generation

The Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA) has appealed to the Union ministry for renewable energy to start steps for wind mapping and exploration of new areas across the country that has the potential to generate wind power.

Addressing the 11th AGM of the association, IWPA Chairman PR Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha said the best areas of wind have already saturated, the second best areas should now be identified and encouraged to set up windmills with additional concessions.

On infrastructure bottlenecks, he said the creation of infrastructure in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu has not kept pace with the growth of windmills in the region.






Via: India Economic Times
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sábado, agosto 25, 2007

AUTOMOTION: General Motors develops diesel-like gasoline engines

General Motors Corp. says it intends to improve the mileage of its gasoline engines by making them run more like diesel engines.

Although many automakers are pursuing the same strategy - notably Honda - GM became the first company Friday to demonstrate the technology in running concept cars.

"This is not ready for prime time yet," said Tom Stephens, group vice-president of powertrain for GM. "We don't have a date pinned to it at all," he said at the company's proving grounds here 80 kilometres west of Detroit.

"But in my opinion, it's going to happen," he said of mass market production of HCCI engines. Called homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI), the system, which has been 30 years in development, enables gas engines to mimic key aspects of the diesel combustion cycle.

Specifically, the system uses high pressure to increase burn efficiency to levels only achieved in diesel engines until now.

Diesel engines are up to 30 per cent more efficient than gas engines but create more emissions - making HCCI an attractive goal. Stephens said the technology will not be sold until at least 2013. He said it is too early to tell how much it will cost in production.

Via: CanWest News Service



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martes, agosto 21, 2007

WESTERN HEMISPHERE: America Latina podría producir equivalente a 54.000 millones barriles petróleo

America Latina tiene un potencial de producción de biocombustibles equivalente a 54.000 millones de barriles de petróleo, lo que la convierte en una de las grandes reservas energéticas del mundo, en opinión de la Comisión de Económica para América Latina (CEPAL) de las Naciones Unidas.

El director de la División de Recursos Naturales de la CEPAL, Fernando Sánchez-Albavera, ofreció hoy estas cifras en el foro sobre energía, democracia y lucha contra la pobreza que está desarrollando el Club de Madrid en la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo.

Sánchez-Albavera explicó hoy el papel que pueden jugar los biocombustibles en el desarrollo del continente, si se tiene en cuenta que la capacidad de producción de la zona es muy superior a las necesidades internas.

De hecho, remarcó a título de ejemplo, en Perú bastarían 7.000 hectáreas de cultivo para que el país cumpliese el objetivo de 5% de sustitución de petróleo por biocombustible.

En cambió, añadió, EEUU debería destinar la quinta parte de todos sus campos de cultivo para autoabastecerse en ese mismo porcentaje de sustitución, lo cual le resultaría 'insostenible'.

Según las cifras que maneja la CEPAL, el gran potencial de producción de biocombustibles está situado precisamente en zonas con niveles de consumo de energía muy inferiores a los de los países occidentales: América Latina y Africa, que suman un potencial de producción equivalente a 130.000 millones de barriles de petróleo.

Sánchez-Albavera enfatizó el desarrollo que pueden generar los biocombustibles en esas zonas, pero hizo algunas precisiones, la primera de ellas resumida en esta sentencia: 'El 'american way of life' no repetible en todo el mundo, no es sostenible'.

También subrayó que no todos los países se han dotado de un marco legal para ordenar la producción de biocombustibles sin que ésta afecte a otras variables, como el uso del agua, la producción de alimentos o las necesidades de las comunidades locales.

Los datos de la CEPAL indican que casi el 30 por ciento de la energía que produce América Latina proviene de fuentes renovables, pero también señalan que casi toda ella es hidroeléctrica y que apenas se han probado en la zona otras alternativas, como la eólica.

Este organismo calcula que el año pasado la inversión en energías renovables movilizó en todo el mundo 71.000 millones de dólares. De ellos, sólo 1.000 corresponden a América Latina y prácticamente toda esa cantidad se concentra en un solo país, Brasil.

Via: Terra


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lunes, agosto 20, 2007

SPAIN: Madrid podría ahorrar 8 millones al año con un alumbrado más ecológico


La ciudad de Madrid podría ahorrarse cada año más de ocho millones de euros en la factura del alumbrado público si implantara en sus instalaciones las propuestas de la Estrategia de Ahorro y Eficiencia Energética del Ministerio de Agricultura, según la entidad ecologista Grupo de Protección del Cielo.

La principal conclusión del estudio desarrollado por esta organización es que mediante la aplicación de esta estrategia se conseguiría un ahorro del 20 por ciento en el consumo eléctrico de los ayuntamientos, lo que además reduciría "de forma importante" la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero y disminuiría la "grave" contaminación lumínica existente en la Comunidad de Madrid.

Entre estas medidas destaca la sustitución de 50.000 luminarias ineficientes porque lanzan más del 50 por ciento del flujo lumínico al cielo (globos y faroles verticales, sobre todo), así como la colocación de sistemas de regulación de flujo lumínico en un 60 por ciento de las lámparas de alumbrado existentes.

"Madrid es una de las pocas grandes capitales que apenas si dispone de reductores de flujo", apunta la organización, que también propone cambiar los actuales semáforos por lámparas incandescentes, que consumen nueve veces menos.

La sustitución de lámparas de mercurio por otras de sodio, "de mayor eficacia" es, por otra parte, la medida "más implantada" en la capital, por lo que en este aspecto "no queda casi margen para seguir ahorrando".

"La implantación de las medidas propuestas resulta muy fácil de acometer y sería plenamente rentable gracias a un plan, puesto en marcha por el Ministerio de Industria que subvenciona hasta en un 80 por ciento la inversión necesaria en estos cambios", afirma este grupo, que recuerda que la Dirección General de Energía de la Comunidad de Madrid también concede este tipo de ayudas.

"Lamentablemente", destaca la asociación, el consistorio "en vez de aprovechar estas ayudas se ha centrado en los dos últimos años en la obra de la M-30" y ha dejado de lado "los planes de ahorro que condujeron en el periodo 2001-2005 a una importante reducción de la abultada factura en alumbrado público".
Via: Madridario

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domingo, agosto 19, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: ¿La electricidad del futuro puede ser la humana?

Es posible que en un futuro no muy lejano, el ser humano sea capaz de emplear su propia electricidad para ampliar la autonomía de los aparatos electrónicos que suelen acompañarnos: móviles/celulares, cámaras, relojes, portátiles, PDAs, iPods, entre otros.

El desarrollo conseguido por científicos alemanes han dado como resultado una manera de transformar el calor del cuerpo y sea utilizado como electricidad. El descubrimiento es una excelente noticia, que promete interesantes caminos para su empleo en el futuro.

Lo que se plantea no es una locura, sino una posibilidad que desarrollada por este grupo de científicos. Pensar que podemos proveer de electricidad a objetos de nuestra necesidad, me parece increíble. Los científicos pertenecen al Instituto de Fraunhofer. Cuando surjan mas noticias sobre el tema, aquí se las tendremos. Se imaginan, la energía del futuro es la humana, ¿ quien lo diría?.

g3nergy

Via: tech.co.uk
Manuel Torres Laveaga





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martes, agosto 14, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: Underwater Turbine looking new energy [video]

Verdant Power hopes to make foreign oil and energy pollutants a thing of the past by building six underwater turbines that convert current to energy. But first, they have to work out the kinks.

The operation, which only started in December, is currently under construction. According to reports, the strong currents are what are causing the damage to the turbines.

The company, its partners and state officials who have financially banked the project, are saying that this is only a setback and that the project will eventually be successful. Even after more money had to be poured into the project to repair damages, people involved in the endeavor were optimistic.

Mollie E. Gardner, a geologist for Verdant Power who owns the equipment, said, "But the good thing is that there's more power in the East River than we thought."

The project proved that the turbines can create 1,000 kilowatt hours a day of clean energy, according to reports. Now the mechanisms will be shut down until the company can figure out how to fix them.

Trey Taylor, the habitually optimistic founder of Verdant Power, said, "The only way for us to learn is to get the turbines into the water and start breaking them."
Via: AHN







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CANADA: McGuinty Government Invests In Green Industry

The McGuinty Government is helping Sarnia-Lambton's petrochemical industry develop environmentally friendly alternatives to fossil fuels by supporting a new Bioindustrial Innovation Centre, Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco announced today on behalf of the Premier and Minister of Research and Innovation Dalton McGuinty.

"We are on the side of Ontarians who want a prosperous economy and a clean environment," said Premier McGuinty. "This project is helping Ontario become a leader in environmental protection and driving the new knowledge-based economy that is based on creative, forward-thinking ideas, leading-edge research and new technologies."

The new Bioindustrial Innovation Centre will connect researchers and the local petrochemical industry to create and commercialize new sources of clean fuel. The centre, acting in partnership with others in the community, is expected to attract over $1 billion in private sector investment by 2014, immediately support up to 1,000 jobs in research and engineering, and help attract new bioindustrial plants to the petrochemical industry in Sarnia.

"A good part of Ontario's industrial base was built on energy and chemicals created from fossil fuels right here in Sarnia-Lambton," said Minister Di Cocco. "This new innovation centre will leverage that expertise and infrastructure, and make Ontario a leader in developing renewable alternatives. The result will be a competitive new industry that is also environmentally sustainable."

Located at the University of Western Ontario's Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, the centre will help support the development of a bio-hybrid chemical industry. The McGuinty government is committing $10 million to the project, which is also receiving support from the University of Western Ontario's Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, the City of Sarnia and Lambton County.

A retrofit of 60,000 sq. ft. of existing laboratory space will provide a commercialization centre with incubator suites, laboratory equipment, pilot plant space, and growth space for start-up companies. An additional 60,000 sq. ft. of new office space will serve as an accelerator centre to house Colt Engineering, a current tenant of the research park. Colt Engineering is a rapidly growing company specializing in project management of ethanol,
biodiesel, and bio-chemical plants, as well as traditional petrochemical facilities.
"The centre will support both research and commercialization," said

Minister Di Cocco. "There is widespread industry and community support for a hybrid industry that integrates the traditional petrochemical industry with the new bioeconomy.

The Bioindustrial Innovation Centre is a strategic use of existing industry and infrastructure to achieve industrial scale biotechnology. It is a big step forward in building the Ontario of the future with clean, green jobs."

Investing in research and innovation is another example of how the McGuinty government is working on the side of businesses and families to strengthen Ontario's economy.

Via: CNW


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domingo, agosto 12, 2007

OCEANIA: Australia eyes solar

Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced he will allot nearly $300 million in green vouchers for schools to improve energy and water efficiency.

'Every school in Australia will be eligible for a voucher of up (to approximately) $44,000 to help install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks,' Howard said in a speech, according to his Web site.

'Not only will this help reduce energy and conserve water, but it will provide students and our school communities with a first-hand lesson in how we can act locally to preserve the environment,' he said Tuesday.

However, some said the money could be more wisely spent.

'Schools are being used 200 days a year. So, for half the year that hot water`s not going to be used,' Professor Tim Flannery told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

'If you want to maximize emission abatements, you put those solar hot-water units on houses where there is a demand 365 days a year for hot water,' Flannery said, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald.

'Instead of spending a dollar and getting 50 cents back, you`ll be spending a dollar and getting a dollar`s worth of value,' Flannery said.

And while he allowed that Howard`s hot-water project was also educational, according to the newspaper, he qualified that statement: 'Even so, you could still look at putting solar panels on schools where you generate electricity that would be used somewhere in the grid.'

According to Howard, his hot-water initiative for schools is just the latest step in a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The series of steps, dating back to 1990, 'will prevent about 87 million tons of climate-changing carbon a year entering the atmosphere by 2010.'

'That`s a massive reduction and a tangible example of (the Howard government`s) commitment to the climate change challenge,' he said.

New Zealand also saw an uptick in solar energy activity this week, when SunSeeker Energy (Australasia) went public on the New Zealand stock exchange, NZAX. The company 'said it was now a subsidiary of the New Zealand-listed entity and expected to begin production for Asia, Australia and New Zealand this month,' the New Zealand Herald reported.

'The Australian company said it chose the NZAX after research revealed `(a) pro-business attitude ... plus the cost-effective option of compliance listing,`' according to the report.

'The move was a good fit for us and our existing shareholders, as at this early stage in the company`s development we are not seeking to raise public capital,' the newspaper quoted SunSeeker`s chairman, Geoffrey Taylor, as saying.

The company said on its Web site its 'engineers have designed a solar energy unit that utilizes segments of trough concentrator optics to focus the energy from the sun on a photovoltaic array.'

This somewhat ambiguous description has led critics to question the decision to list the company so early: 'Frankly, there is hardly any information available and that makes any assessment of the company`s prospects, even at the most basic level, difficult,' Bruce McKay a director of niche banker Saffron Capital, wrote Wednesday in Wellington, New Zealand`s Dominion Post.

'Clearly, the plan is to raise capital to build manufacturing capacity, sales and marketing channels and the necessary company and administration facilities, but how much is an open question. The ... product is a new technology and there is no information as to how this might be received by potential purchasers,' McKay said.

He said: '(SunSeeker Energy`s) only asset is a 32 per cent shareholding in a company called Sun Seeker Energy (UK) Ltd, a British-based company that holds the rights for the marketing and manufacture of SunSeeker`s products in Australasia, and is negotiating to acquire the rights for the British market.'

According to the New Zealand Herald, the company`s technology is not yet patented.
Via: Monster & Critics




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viernes, agosto 10, 2007

UNITED KINGDOM: International Power In With The Wind

British energy supplier International Power has taken a leap into the wind power super league–a sector that has thrived in Europe, thanks to concerns about global warming, the supply of oil, and the continent’s increasing dependence on Russia for its gas supplies.

International Power agreed to buy Trinergy, which has wind farm projects in Italy and Germany for 868 million euros ($1.2 billion) over the weekend, making it one of the world’s largest producers of wind energy. The news was welcomed by the markets, on an otherwise gloomy day. Its shares topped the gainers in early afternoon trading in London, rising 14.50 pence (30 cents), or 3.4%, to £4.41 ($8.96).

Trinergy is being acquired from private investors linked to the Matrix Group and CJS Capital Partners, and is being funded through the acquisition of £202 million ($410.2 million) in debt, and the company’s own liquid resources.

The market thumbs up reflects confidence in International Power’s decision to firm up its foothold in Europe’s wind power sector, which has been growing rapidly. Last year the wind power capacity in the European Union increased by 19.0%, and is expected to continue to grow, boosted by a new European Commission commitment. In March an agreement by European Union governments committed their countries to binding targets to ensure that 20.0% of all energy will come from renewable sources by 2020.

The acquisition fits snuggly with International Power’s strategy of increasing its presence in the renewables sector. Last November, the company bought Levanto, which has operations in France and Germany. After the acquisition of Trinergy is complete, International Power will have a total operational capacity of 1,013 megawatts, and an additional 117 mega watts under construction.

Trinergy has its strongest presence in Italy; its German division accounts for just 14.8% of its total current 581 megawatt capacity. 67 megawatts of additional capacity are currently under construction in Italy.

Germany and Spain are currently the largest wind energy markets in Europe, but the Italian market is expected to grow rapidly, thanks to a favorable regulatory environment.

"Both Italy and Germany are attractive markets with significant growth targets for renewable generation, supported by clear regulatory frameworks," said International Power's Chief Executive Philip Cox.

Analysts expect the company to continue expanding its presence in the industry, including possibly in Britain. The world's largest wind energy company Iberdrola , acquired Scottish Power for 17.1 billion euros (23.6 billion).
Via: Forbes
by Vidya Ram



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BUILDING: The Watford´s showcase, Eco-Homes froms United Kingdom 2007

Real green homes of the future showcased.
Design studies on display in Watford near London are showcasing new environmentally friendly houses.

Legislation in the UK means all new houses built from 2016 will have to meet strict energy efficiency standards. Solar thermal panels, wind turbines and photo-voltaic cells are key technologies.


Via: EuroNews




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jueves, agosto 09, 2007

CLIMATE CHANGE: The nuclear energy is the solution for the present? [video]

Bruno Comby and Frédéric Marillier are both French environmentalists who believe global warming is real, dangerous, and has to be stopped. But Marillier heads the anti-nuclear campaign of Greenpeace France.

He advocates renewable energies rather than a nuclear industry that he argues is expensive, dangerous and unreliable. Bruno Comby is president of Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy.

He believes nuclear power is needed to help reduce co2 emissions and that global warming poses a bigger threat than nuclear catastrophe. Two different approaches to saving the planet now, in Agora.



Via: EuroNews

miércoles, agosto 08, 2007

TECHNOLOGY: Cooking Up More Uses for the Leftovers of Biofuel Production

The baking tins and muffin cups lining the countertops in a corner of Ronald Holser’s cluttered laboratory were filled with curious substances resembling angel food cakes and loaves of bread. But Mr. Holser did not advise eating them. The concoctions were prototypes for biodegradable weed barriers and sticky films intended to hold grass seeds on the ground long enough to germinate.

If Mr. Holser, a research chemist, and his colleague Steven F. Vaughn, a plant physiologist, are successful, they will have found more than ecologically friendly ways to fight weeds and grow grass.

They will have found innovative uses for a byproduct of the production of biodiesel fuel, glycerol. This, in turn, could help transform the biodiesel industry into something that more closely resembles the petroleum industry, where fuel is just one of many profitable products.

“Just like petroleum refineries make more than one product that are the feedstock for other industries, the same will have to be true for biofuels,” said Kenneth F. Reardon, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. “Biorefining is what the vision has to look like in the end.”

Glycerol is used in a variety of products, including foods, soap and dynamite. But as biodiesel fuel production in the United States has risen, the market for glycerol has become saturated.

If scientists like Mr. Holser, who works at the United States Department of Agriculture’s research center in Athens, Ga., and Mr. Vaughn, who works at the department’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill., can expand the number of valuable uses for the syrupy liquid, biodiesel makers could sell their glycerol instead of paying someone to haul it away.

“Every week I get at least one or two calls from biodiesel producers who have all this glycerol and don’t know what to do with it,” Mr. Holser said.

Glycerol, also called glycerin, is not the only byproduct of biofuel production that is the subject of experiments. Scientists are also looking at profiting from the leftovers from the production of corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol, made from materials like switch grass, corn husks and prairie grass. Around the country, scientists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are becoming increasingly interested in making more than fuel out of the raw materials for biodiesel fuel and ethanol.

TECHNOLOGY: Cooking Up More Uses for the Leftovers of Biofuel Production“The opportunity, as we think about increasing our consumption of biologically derived fuels, is to consider what besides fuels can we make,” said Erik Straser, general partner of MDV Mohr Davidow Ventures, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, Calif.

Some researchers, like Mr. Holser, are simply trying to find new uses for the regular byproducts of biofuels: distillers’ dry grain from corn ethanol and lignin from cellulosic ethanol.

Other researchers are trying to develop technologies and processes that could yield different, more valuable byproducts. And still others are placing their bets on “biorefineries.”

In the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, not far from the Coors brewery in Golden, Colo., PureVision Technology is making lignin. A natural compound that helps provide strength and rigidity in plants, lignin makes up 15 to 25 percent of most plants.

Most plans for cellulosic ethanol processing call for burning the lignin to generate steam and heat to run the process. As a fuel, lignin is worth around $40 a ton.

PureVision has devised a way to make a different form of lignin — one with a molecular composition that could make it an attractive material for a variety of industrial products like glues, sealants and detergents.

Ed Lehrburger, PureVision’s founder and chief executive, said he thought his lignin could sell for $300 a ton or more. Mr. Lehrburger said his company was collaborating with a wood and paper products manufacturer that is interested in using the lignin for a biobased glue for its laminates, plywoods and other products.

“Lignin is going to be one of the big drivers of the switch from oil-based to biobased products,” Mr. Lehrburger predicted.

In Ames, Iowa, Victor Lin has created a technology that changes the production process for biodiesel. Among other attributes, Mr. Lin’s invention yields a higher quality form of glycerol, which could be more easily converted into useful industrial materials. A chemistry professor and the associate director of the Center for Catalysis at Iowa State University, Mr. Lin is also the founder of a company, Catilin, which is backed by an initial $3 million in venture financing from MDV.

The production of biodiesel fuel requires a catalyst. Mr. Lin created a catalyst that is safer and easier to use than the one commonly used now, reducing the cost of producing biodiesel and its impact on the environment (requiring less water, for instance).

Dr. Lin and his colleagues are trying to turn the resulting glycerol into a substance called 1,3 propanediol, or PDO, the base material for a substance used in upholstery, carpets, clothing and other applications. DuPont uses PDO to make its Sorona line of fabrics.

For every gallon of biodiesel you make, you make a pound of glycerol,” said George Kraus, a professor of chemistry at Iowa State, where he is director of the Center for Catalysis and a collaborator of Mr. Lin. “A lot of people have been contacting us about burning it, and we say there have to be better uses.”

The price of glycerol, now 20 to 50 cents a pound, could drop as low as 5 cents a pound as biodiesel production increases.

Mr. Kraus said the higher quality glycerol made with the new process could command a much higher price. “What we see,” he said, “is an opportunity to make something that might cost 80 cents a pound.”

In another lab at Iowa State, Robert C. Brown is using distillers’ dry grain —a main byproduct of corn ethanol that is largely sold as animal feed — to produce hydrogen and a compound called PHA. Mr. Brown hopes his version of PHA, which is biodegradable, could be used for surgical gowns and gloves that must now be disposed of as medical waste.

Critics of corn ethanol like to say the process isn’t very efficient,” Mr. Brown said. “Part of that is because your products aren’t just fuel.” Finding other high-value applications, he added, lets producers “justly say, this is not a waste stream; it adds to the profitability of the plant.“

Back in Peoria, Mr. Vaughn is also looking at making products from distillers’ dry grain, including another biofuel. The grain is more than 10 percent oil, and one ton of it can yield 30 gallons of biodiesel.

Interest in the biorefinery model is not limited to research scientists and start-up companies. Archer Daniels Midland is expanding some of its wet mill plants, which already churn out ethanol and a variety of other corn-based materials like high-fructose corn syrup, amino acids and sorbitol, to make industrial products. It has begun making propylene glycol, a widely used compound, from glycerol.

“As petroleum prices increase and we try to become more independent with regard to energy and petroleum in general,” said Mark Matlock, senior vice president for research at the company, which is based in Decatur, Ill., “there are other opportunities that come up for industrial chemicals as well as fuels.”

But despite the many uses for byproducts, the biorefinery model is more difficult than it may seem. “The dream is the multiproduct biorefinery,” said Jim McMillan, manager of biorefining process research and development at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. “The challenge is that the market for the fuels is like two orders of magnitude bigger than for even a fairly big chemical” that could be produced alongside the fuel.

biofuel
Via: The New York Times
by HILLARY ROSNER

TECHNOLOGY: Levitation? incredible levitation effects

Levitation has been elevated from being pure science fiction to science fact, according to a study reported today by physicists. In earlier work the same team of theoretical physicists showed that invisibility cloaks are feasible.

Now, in another report that sounds like it comes out of the pages of a Harry Potter book, the University of St Andrews team has created an 'incredible levitation effects’ by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together.

Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, have worked out a way of reversing this pheneomenon, known as the Casimir force, so that it repels instead of attracts.

Their discovery could ultimately lead to frictionless micro-machines with moving parts that levitate But they say that, in principle at least, the same effect could be used to levitate bigger objects too, even a person.

The Casimir force is a consequence of quantum mechanics, the theory that describes the world of atoms and subatomic particles that is not only the most successful theory of physics but also the most baffling.

The force is due to neither electrical charge or gravity, for example, but the fluctuations in all-pervasive energy fields in the intervening empty space between the objects and is one reason atoms stick together, also explaining a “dry glue” effect that enables a gecko to walk across a ceiling.

Now, using a special lens of a kind that has already been built, Prof Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin report in the New Journal of Physics they can engineer the Casimir force to repel, rather than attact.

levitationBecause the Casimir force causes problems for nanotechnologists, who are trying to build electrical circuits and tiny mechanical devices on silicon chips, among other things, the team believes the feat could initially be used to stop tiny objects from sticking to each other.

Prof Leonhardt explained,The Casimir force is the ultimate cause of friction in the nano-world, in particular in some microelectromechanical systems. Such systems already play an important role - for example tiny mechanical devices which triggers a car airbag to inflate or those which power tiny 'lab on chip’ devices used for drugs testing or chemical analysis. Micro or nano machines could run smoother and with less or no friction at all if one can manipulate the force.

Though it is possible to levitate objects as big as humans, scientists are a long way off developing the technology for such feats, said Dr Philbin.

The practicalities of designing the lens to do this are daunting but not impossible and levitation “could happen over quite a distance”.

Prof Leonhardt leads one of four teams - three of them in Britain - to have put forward a theory in a peer-reviewed journal to achieve invisibility by making light waves flow around an object - just as a river flows undisturbed around a smooth rock.

Via: Telegraph
by Roger Highfield

lunes, agosto 06, 2007

CO2: New technology would store carbon underground

Standing near an 800-meter-deep bore hole in the ground here, Frank Schilling picked up a fist-sized cylinder of sandstone and poured water onto its surface, watching the tiny stream skitter until it suddenly disappeared inside the rock's porous body.

The rapid absorption of the water , he said, showed how easily a much-less benign substance - carbon dioxide - could be stored once he and a team of researchers started pumping it into the half-mile-deep shaft.

"Everyone assumes we're going to store carbon dioxide inside of a cavern but the key is the tiny holes in this rock," said Schilling, a professor of mineral and rock physics. "We're going to press in the carbon dioxide and push out the salty water that's already there."

Schilling is spearheading a project near this small town about 20 kilometers, or 12 miles, west of Berlin that could change the way countries and industries store carbon dioxide, a fast-growing type of pollution, for generations to come.

Even as the drive to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming picks up, a number of countries are increasingly turning to coal as a major source of energy. The push for wide-scale development of coal that is quickly gaining in China is also growing steadily in some parts of Europe and the United States, forcing governments and businesses to consider how to dispense with carbon dioxide, a harmful side-product.

Several countries already bury carbon dioxide in sites off shore. At an undersea saline aquifer off Norway, Statoil buries carbon dioxide extracted from natural gas to avoid paying pollution taxes to the Norwegian government. Other projects involve oil fields, like those at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, where operators pump carbon dioxide back underground as part of efforts to extract hard-to-reach hydrocarbons in aging wells.

But existing oil and gas wells might only be able to accommodate a few decades worth of carbon dioxide. Offshore aquifers, even though they are vast, would require enormous lengths of pipeline to carry carbon dioxide out to sea.

"Putting CO2 offshore has the obvious advantage of public acceptability," said Jeff Chapman, chief executive of the Carbon Capture & Storage Association in London.

"But we know that there are centuries worth of space for storage onshore," he said, citing examples of promising sites in China, Germany, Poland and the United States.

Schilling's three-year experiment, called CO2Sink, makes Ketzin an important test of whether carbon dioxide might safely and durably be buried inland, where underground storage space could be almost endless. It involves pumping 100 tons of the gas each day into the sandstone beneath this flat Brandenburg countryside and monitoring the ecosystem for adverse results.

If the carbon dioxide stays put, as Schilling expects, that would give a major boost to carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, an emerging technology that would allow industries based on fossil fuels to meet stringent emissions requirements - and stay in business for decades.

"I won't say it's not dangerous, but it's less dangerous than people think," Schilling said. Ketzin, he added, could be "writing a piece of history."

Shell, Vattenfall, E.ON, Statoil and RWE are contributing money and expertise to the project, which is overseen by the National Research Center for Geosciences in Germany, Schilling said. But he said that the bulk of total financing, about €30 million, or $41.5 million, comes from the European Union and Germany, which is heavily dependent on burning coal for its electricity and where the government faces widespread opposition to nuclear power, the main alternative to coal.

Some environmentalists favor the technology because it might be the only way to control carbon dioxide emissions at a time when developing countries like China are burning ever-greater amounts of coal to fuel their booming economies.

"The growth of coal plants is absolutely scary," said Sanjeev Kumar, a carbon emissions expert with the environmental group WWF in Brussels. "If we can make fossil fuels as green as we can, then we should try to get carbon capture and storage to work on a global level."

EU policy makers still are considering whether to make it mandatory for all new coal plants to incorporate the new, cleaner technologies after 2020.

That is not fast enough for Kumar, who is lobbying for an immediate moratorium on new coal plants in Europe unless they are constructed so that carbon dioxide technology can be incorporated as soon as it becomes available.

But a number of environmentalists are concerned that further development of the technology for commercial use will simply encourage industries and governments to rely more heavily on coal. They argue that funding should be channeled into the development of renewable energies rather than on prolonging the use of fossil fuels and accumulating vast amounts of underground waste.

"You've got to consider the load on future generations to take care of these storage sites," said Gabriela von Goerne, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace in Germany. "We believe this technology does not solve our problems at all."

Environmentalists said they were also skeptical that the new technology made underground carbon dioxide storage secure. One potential hazard is that concentrated carbon dioxide is heavier than air. Large quantities of escaped gas have, in the past, settled in low-lying areas with tragic results.

In 1986, about 1,800 people were suffocated at Lake Nyos, Cameroon, when a massive cloud of carbon dioxide escaped from the formerly volcanic site. Environmentalists have warned of similar dangers if leakages occur and gas settles in dips and valleys, where people live.

Leaks from carefully selected storage sites, properly monitored, would not carry those same risks, backers of the technology say.

"If CO2 ever does get to the surface, it's not going to be in our lifetimes or much of our near-descendants' lifetimes," said Chapman of Carbon Capture & Storage Association.

At the CO2Sink project, Schilling said he expected only about 1 percent of the 60,000 tons of carbon that is to be buried at Ketzin over the next three years to escape over the next century, and about at most 5 percent over the next millennium - amounts he said would be benign.

Any leaks would be most likely to occur at the bore hole, but around-the-clock monitoring would ensure problems are quickly fixed, he said. The carbon dioxide used in the experiment will be provided by Linde, which provides gas for carbonated beverages.

But people who live in and around Ketzin are worried about having carbon dioxide stored directly underneath their feet. The latest effort to bury gas in the neighborhood reminds many residents of environmental sacrifices already made in the name of industrial progress. During the mid-1960s, leaks of carbon monoxide from a former underground gas storage site at Ketzin required the permanent evacuation of a nearby village, Knoblauch.

"They already have a garbage factory in Ketzin and now this as well," said Beatrice Görtz, 35, who lives with her toddler, Mia, in Neu Falkenrehde, a hamlet two kilometers from the injection site. "I can't imagine that it's positive."

Among experts, there are growing concerns that public opinion could turn against the technology in the same way it did against nuclear power and genetically modified foods.

David Reiner, a lecturer in technology policy at Judge Business School at Cambridge University who has coordinated public opinion polls on carbon storage in six countries, said that if the public remained in the dark about the way carbon storage was supposed to work, there was no way of knowing how they would react to wide-scale development.

"Many people have an initial negative impression," he said, "although once they learn more we tend to see a more positive inclination."

Standing near an 800-meter-deep bore hole in the ground here, Frank Schilling picked up a fist-sized cylinder of sandstone and poured water onto its surface, watching the tiny stream skitter until it suddenly disappeared inside the rock's porous body.  The rapid absorption of the water , he said, showed how easily a much-less benign substance - carbon dioxide - could be stored once he and a team of researchers started pumping it into the half-mile-deep shaft.


Via: International Herald Tribune
by
James Kanter
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