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Archive for April 25th, 2013
UK shale gas bonanza ‘not assured’
Posted by BBC: Roger Harrabin on April 25th, 2013
BBC: Shale gas in the UK could help secure domestic energy supplies but may not bring down prices, MPs report.
The US boom in shale gas has brought energy prices tumbling and revitalised heavy industry, but the Energy and Climate Change Committee warns conditions are different in Britain.
The MPs say the UK's shale gas developers will face technological uncertainties with different geology.
And public opinion may also be more sceptical, they add.
The UK is a more densely populated landscape...
United Kingdom: Fracking firms should offer sweeteners to locals, say MPs
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey and Terry Macalister on April 25th, 2013
Guardian: Shale gas fracking companies should be made to offer incentives, such as cash payments or rebates on energy bills, to people living near their sites, according to an influential committee of MPs.
But the demand for sweeteners to help overcome opposition to fracking came as one of the world's leading insurance groups warned that those drilling in shale areas, deep waters or the Arctic risked "company-killing" reputational and environmental damage.
The energy and climate change committee says...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Fracking firms should offer sweeteners to locals, say MPsUS shale gas boom “unlikely” to be repeated in UK, warn MPs
Posted by BusinessGreen: Will Nichols on April 25th, 2013
BusinessGreen: MPs will today highlight the role domestic shale gas could play in boosting tax revenue and enhancing energy security, but will also warn that its effect on energy prices remains far less certain.
A report to be published today by the Energy and Climate Change Committee will warn a repeat of the dramatic fall in domestic gas prices seen in the US as a result of a shale gas boom is "unlikely" to be replicated in the UK due to "differences in geology, public attitudes, regulations and technological...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US shale gas boom “unlikely” to be repeated in UK, warn MPsRhinos now extinct in Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2013
Mongabay: Poachers have likely killed off the last rhinos in Mozambique's Limpopo National Park, according to a park official who spoke with Portugal News.
Park director António Abacar said that no rhinos have been sighted in Limpopo National Park since January, “which means that the ones that lived in the park are probably dead”.
Abacar blamed poachers, including park rangers, noting that 30 employees are being disciplined.
Limpopo National Park is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Rhinos now extinct in Mozambique’s Limpopo National ParkThe Drought-Stricken Midwest’s Floods: Is This What Climate Change Looks Like?
Posted by Atlantic Wire: None Given on April 25th, 2013
Atlantic Wire: The dramatic images resulting from this week's floods in the Midwest are, in a way, a welcome sight. Six months ago, the region was wracked by drought. While the sudden drought-to-flood transition may not be due to climate change, it's close to what some models predict.
High water has been pervasive throughout the upper Midwest, ranging from Michigan to Missouri. CNN reports that the worst isn't over: flooding is expected this weekend in North Dakota, into Illinois, down to St. Louis. Six months...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Drought-Stricken Midwest’s Floods: Is This What Climate Change Looks Like?Indonesia: Samsung admits to using tin linked to child labor, deforestation; Apple mum on sourcing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2013
Mongabay: Mobile device giant Samsung has admitted to using tin sourced from a controversial mining operation on the Indonesian island of Bangka, where unregulated mining kills 150 miners a year and causes substantial environmental damage, reports The Guardian and Mongabay-Indonesia.
Samsung's admission came after a campaign by Friends of the Earth, which led to nearly 16,000 customers contacting the company. In an email sent the customers and the NGO, Samsung said it is investigating the matter.
"While...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Indonesia: Samsung admits to using tin linked to child labor, deforestation; Apple mum on sourcingCEO Bans Politics in Review of Australia’s Climate Ambitions
Posted by Bloomberg: Mike Anderson on April 25th, 2013
Bloomberg: Australia’s first review of its emission-reduction targets will try to sidestep the political questions surrounding carbon markets, according to the head of the newly formed Climate Change Authority.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a national discussion on what Australia’s target should be,” Anthea Harris, chief executive officer of the climate authority, said in an interview from Melbourne. “We’ve lost sight of what is most important. It’s time to refocus the national debate.”
Prime...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on CEO Bans Politics in Review of Australia’s Climate AmbitionsNitrogen fertilizer is bad stuff — and not just because it could blow up your town
Posted by Grist: None Given on April 25th, 2013
Grist: Officials in Texas continue to investigate the cause of the explosion last week at West Fertilizer that killed 15 people and injured 200. The explosion, which could be felt up to 50 miles away, obliterated the facility and destroyed houses. It was fueled by a massive stockpile of nitrogen fertilizer - up to 270 tons of ammonium nitrate, a solid fertilizer that comes in the form of a powder or pellets, and over 50,000 gallons of anhydrous ammonia gas.
But while the explosion last week was spectacular...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nitrogen fertilizer is bad stuff — and not just because it could blow up your townIllinois River Crests To All-Time High Near Peoria
Posted by National Public Radio: Tanya Koonce on April 25th, 2013
National Public Radio: Peoria has a front row seat to the great Illinois River flood of 2013. A temporary flood wall is in place and pumps are keeping the water at the lowest points from coming up through the sewers and into the store fronts. Whether their property is underwater or not, the resolve of people living and working along the Illinois River isn't wavering.
UK should do more to speed shale gas development- lawmakers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 25th, 2013
Reuters: British lawmakers criticised the government on Friday for unnecessarily delaying development of shale gas, saying it should now encourage companies to come up with more accurate estimates of recoverable reserves.
The lack of progress over the past two years in exploration and development of UK shale gas is disappointing and needs to speed up, members of the influential cross-party Energy and Climate Change Committee in parliament said in a report.
Britain and some other countries have considered...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK should do more to speed shale gas development- lawmakers