RSS Feed
Archive for November, 2010
Kenya on the cusp of a geothermal energy boom
Posted by East African: Jaindi Kisero on November 21st, 2010
East African: Geothermal electricity generation in Kenya started in 1956 when two exploratory wells were drilled to a depth of 950m.The wells never discharged and were later abandoned.
It was not until 1985 that Olkaria I (45MW) was commissioned.Drilling continued in the Olkarai II steam field, with 30 wells being drilled by 1991.
In 1992, following the aid embargo by the Paris Club , donors pulled out and no work was undertaken until 1999.
Olakaria 119(70MW) was commissioned in 2003.
Right now drilling...
Leaking Siberian ice raises a tricky climate issue
Posted by Associated Press: Arthur Max on November 21st, 2010
Associated Press: The Russian scientist shuffles across the frozen lake, scuffing aside ankle-deep snow until he finds a cluster of bubbles trapped under the ice. With a cigarette lighter in one hand and a knife in the other, he lances the ice like a blister. Methane whooshes out and bursts into a thin blue flame.
Gas locked inside Siberia's frozen soil and under its lakes has been seeping out since the end of the last ice age 10,000 years ago. But in the past few decades, as the Earth has warmed, the icy ground...
California must prepare for climate change
Posted by Sacramento Bee: William K. Reilly and John Bryson on November 21st, 2010
Sacramento Bee: The science of climate change has grown increasingly sophisticated, driven by advances in technology and global collaboration. This has contributed to a much greater understanding of how rising air and ocean temperatures are affecting the world, from the desertification of northern China to the steady retreat and anticipated disappearance of the glaciers.
Scientists, for example, have only recently been able to measure with certainty what has long been more generally known – that the Arctic...
Climate change is the new global terror, says Al Gore
Posted by Hindustan Times: None Given on November 20th, 2010
Hindustan Times: Nobel Peace Prize winner and champion climate campaigner Al Gore outlined the doom the world is awaiting because of climate change and expressed disappointment at world leaders failing to clinch a treaty to fight the new global terror. Terming the logjam in climate negotiations as a “startling paradox”, the man, whose documentary, The Inconvenient Truth won an Oscar said the year 2010 had seen worst of climate change.
“There was severe drought in Russia and extreme flooding in Pakistan. What more...
Climate change will make India hotter, bring heavier rain
Posted by Times of India: Dipannita Das on November 20th, 2010
Times of India: By 2030, India can expect a 1 to 1.5 degree Celsius rise in temperature and more intense spells of rain. However, the number of rainy days will be fewer.
This phenomenon will directly impact water conservation making it a necessary practice, experts from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune have said.
It was also observed that over the last 30-40 years, night temperature has gone up and such conditions have damaged the rice yield in the country.
IITM is one of the institutes...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Climate change will make India hotter, bring heavier rainBuried treasure: Good uses for greenhouse gas
Posted by Australian: Graham Lloyd on November 20th, 2010
Australian: A NEW vision of a low carbon world is taking shape. It is a future that relies less on rooftop solar panels and high-cost alternative energy options. This vision has new roads and office blocks built using waste gases from power stations that have been turned into cement. The roads will carry cars still burning oil, but it has been recovered by pumping carbon emissions underground to increase production.
The serious money in the race to develop carbon capture and storage has turned its attention...
Green roofs sprouting in Rocky Mountains
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 20th, 2010
Reuters: On a small farm in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, Nate Lengacher recently harvested thousands of sedums: low-maintenance plants with a key place in the small but growing world of green roofing.
Lengacher's sedums are succulent plants that store water in their leaves and grow from a multilayered system of soil and root and water barriers.
On roofs, the plants moderate building-top temperatures and cut heating and cooling costs below. Pointing to the rows of mats topped by thin layers of soil and...
Latinos, Asians more worried about environment than whites, poll of California voters finds
Posted by LA Times: Louis Sahagun on November 20th, 2010
LA Times: California's Latino and Asian voters are significantly more concerned about core environmental issues, including global warming, air pollution and contamination of soil and water, than white voters, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/USC poll.
For example, 50% of Latinos and 46% of Asians who responded to the poll said they personally worry a great deal about global warming, compared with 27% of whites. Two-thirds of Latinos and 51% of Asians polled said they worry a great deal about air...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Latinos, Asians more worried about environment than whites, poll of California voters findsThe final climate frontiers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 20th, 2010
ScienceNews: Modern explorers have pushed into nearly every nook and cranny of the globe, from polar Antarctica to the depths of the Amazonian jungle. Yet there’s land still to explore, and regularly comes news of unexpected and wondrous findings -- a mongooselike carnivore spotted in Madagascar, a massive waterfall discovered in Peru.
Such is the state of climate science today. In some respects its territory has been thoroughly probed. Despite vigorous questioning of the premises and conclusions of research...
India: Heavier monsoon with climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 19th, 2010
Times of India: Climate change in the next 30-40 years will mean that the monsoon in India may get heavier by 8 to 10 per cent, but there may not be many days of rain, according to weather scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
The temperature will also increase between 1 and 1.5 degree Celsius by 2030, the experts added.
The five-member team used the UK meteorological office s regional climate model called PRECIS (providing climate investigation studies) to arrive at both...