Nearly 15,000 oppose Montenegro plan to drown wild beauty

Moraca River, MontenegroThe Montenegro government was yesterday handed a 14,764 signature petition asking it to consider alternatives to its four dam plan for the country’s second most important and most scenic River. The plan for multiple dams on the Moraça River, which will inundate areas of the Montegnegro capital’s natural and cultural heritage and threatens flows into the Balkan’s largest lake and its fisheries and bird migration reserves, was drawn up 40 years ago.

From climate change to securing sustainable employment: key issues facing the Arab region

UNEP-Led "Environment Outlook for the Arab Region" launched at League of Arab States meeting in Cairo

Multiple challenges are facing the Arab region from climate change and food insecurity to decreasing water availability and unemployment according to a new assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The Environment Outlook for the Arab Region (EOAR), compiled at the request of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) says important progress is being made to address sustainability.

World environment ministers signal resolve to realize sustainable development

In the first landmark Declaration issued by ministers of the environment in a decade, governments pledged to step up the global response to the major environmental and sustainability challenges of this generation.

The wide-ranging Nusa Dua Declaration, agreed today in the closing session of the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, underlines the vital importance of biodiversity, the urgent need to combat climate change and work towards a good outcome in Mexico later in the year and the key opportunities from accelerating a transition to a low-carbon resource-efficient Green Economy.

Food Dictatorship Vs. Food Democracy

Dr Vandana Shiva. Photo Credit: Documentary.orgAn International conference on “Two Decades of the GMO Free Movement” was organized by Navdanya / Research Foundation for Science, Technology & Ecology in association with the International Commission on the Future of Food, ARSIA, Region of Tuscany, Italy, Center for Food Safety, USA, Save Our Seeds, Germany, Diverse Women for Diversity and Initiative for Health, Equity and Society on February 23, 2010 at India International Centre.

Ever since giant corporations like Monsanto started to commercialize GMO crops and foods, citizens and governments across the world have organized to keep their food and agriculture GMO free.

Understanding the threat to monkey numbers from forest decline

Monkey populations in threatened forests are far more sensitive to damage to their habitat than previously thought, according to new research.
An analysis of monkeys living in Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains suggests that the impact of external factors, such as human activity, on species numbers is felt in forests as large as 40 square kilometres.

Researchers also found that the health of monkey populations is closely related to the type of habitat found between forest fragments, rather than the distance that separates them.

A second hydrocarbon boom threatens the Peruvian Amazon

A rapid and unprecedented proliferation of oil and gas concessions threatens the megadiverse Peruvian Amazon. The amount of area leased is on track to reach around 70% of the region, threatening biodiversity and indigenous people. This is one of the central conclusions from a pair of researchers from the Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), and the Washington DC-based NGO Save America's Forests, who have, for the first time, documented the full history of hydrocarbon activities in the region and made projections about expected levels of activity in the near future.

The study, conducted by Martí Orta and Matt Finer, researchers at ICTA and Save America's Forests, respectively, and published in Environmental Research Letters, reconstructs the full history of hydrocarbon activities in the region and makes projections for the next five years. Researchers have found that more of the Peruvian Amazon has recently been leased to oil and gas companies than at any other time on record.

Introduced Tilapia dine on native fish

The poster child for sustainable fish farming—the tilapia—is actually a problematic invasive species for the native fish of the islands of Fiji, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.

Scientists suspect that tilapia introduced to the waterways of the Fiji Islands may be gobbling up the larvae and juvenile fish of several native species of goby, fish that live in both fresh and salt water and begin their lives in island streams.

Sunflower genome holds the promise of sustainable agriculture

As agricultural land becomes increasingly valuable, the need to maximize its utilization increases and decisions about what crops to plant and where, become paramount.

The sunflower family includes a number of valuable food crops, with sunflower seed production alone valued at about $14 billion annually. Yet the sunflower family is the only one of a handful of economically important plant families where a reference genome is not available to enable the breeding of crops better suited to their growing environment or consumers tastes.

Valuable rare-earth raw materials extracted from industrial waste stream

Fierce competition over raw materials for new green technologies could become a thing of the past, thanks to a discovery by scientists from the University of Leeds.

Researchers from Leeds' Faculty of Engineering have discovered how to recover significant quantities of rare-earth oxides, present in titanium dioxide minerals. The rare-earth oxides, which are indispensable for the manufacture of wind turbines, energy-efficient lighting, and hybrid and electric cars, are extracted or reclaimed simply and cheaply from the waste materials of another industrial process.

Coastal trees 'poor shield against tsunamis'

On the 5th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, an international scientific team has cautioned against claims that 'bioshields' – belts of coastal trees – offer protection from tsunami or storm surges.

In fact, planting alien trees along exposed coastlines will do more harm than good, by destroying local ecosystems, displacing people and taking money away from more effective coastal defence projects, according to the scientists.

Biogas plant for biological wastes recycling

Ukrainian engineering company ZORG Ukraine has announced development of new waste-management solution for plants that produce alcohol. Biogas plant can reduce sanitary zone (distance from the enterprise to residential area) from 500m to 150m. In many cases such ecological issues are vital for some enterprises.

Out-of-date lagoons occupy lots of space and have bad smell. Biogas plant requires space that several times less if to be compared to lagoons and manure storages. Water in lagoons is bounded by colloid compounds hence evaporation is very faint. After treatment in biogas plant water is separated and easily vaporised.

Winter winds will generate electricity for Ames, ISU

The winds of January are a good thing if you're getting electricity from a wind farm, and that's the case for the City of Ames and Iowa State University. The city and university will begin buying wind-generated electricity from a new wind farm north of Zearing. Around the first of the year, local appliances, lights, and computers may be powered by a new, eco-friendly energy source.

The timing is excellent, says ISU assistant director of utilities Jeff Witt, because "winter is the best time for wind energy in Iowa and January is probably the peak month."

Kenya's Tana River Delta under siege

Photo:Michael Laplace-Toulouse/BirdLifeThe Tana River Delta in Kenya's north coast is under unprecedented threat as corporations and foreign agencies scramble to exploit its riches for export crops, biofuels and minerals. NatureKenya (BirdLife Partner) – with support of RSPB (BirdLife in UK), Schweizer Vogelschutz SVS/BirdLife Schweiz (BirdLife in Switzerland) and DOF (BirdLife in Denmark) – are working with local communities to try and stop the proposed poorly planned developments which would result in tens of thousands of people losing their livelihoods.

Definitive agreement on zero emission mobility

619 free charging points to be installed by 2011 in North East England

Regional Development Agency One North East and car manufacturer Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., today entered the next phase of their partnership on the development of zero emission mobility in North East England. The two parties have signed a definitive agreement which sets out a road map for the roll-out of electric vehicles and infrastructure in North East England and cements the region's status as the national centre for the development of ultra low carbon vehicles.

Deutsche Bank completes 250-kw solar project at Piscataway facility

New Jersey Project Part of Deutsche Bank's Commitment to be Carbon Neutral by 2012

Deutsche Bank has announced the completion of a 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system at its Piscataway, NJ, office. The roof-mounted array will offset a portion of the facility's electricity consumption and reduce its carbon emissions by 143 metric tons annually, equivalent to 16,232 gallons of gasoline.

Fertiliser use not always helpful in re-vegetation efforts

Photo:Danielle Langlois/WikimediaPlants in subarctic Quebec community don't always benefit from application of fertiliser

Companies and communities trying to restore vegetation on damaged northern landscapes should think twice about using fertiliser to stimulate growth according to new research published in the November issue of Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research.Not all plants benefit from the use of fertilisers. In fact, some do worse.

Shell awarded permit to study natural gas potential in central South Africa

The South African Petroleum Authorities (Petroleum Agency SA) today awarded Shell a Technical Cooperation Permit for a one-year study to determine the hydrocarbon potential in parts of the Karoo Basin in central South Africa.

The permit covers an area of approximately 185,000 square kilometres. The study will provide a better understanding of the area's geology and shale gas potential, establishing the scope to pursue natural gas exploration. Shell will have the exclusive right to apply for exploration permits following completion of the study.

Toward home-brewed electricity with 'personalised solar energy'

New scientific discoveries are moving society toward the era of "personalised solar energy," in which the focus of electricity production shifts from huge central generating stations to individuals in their own homes and communities.

That's the topic of a report by an international expert on solar energy published in the ACS' Inorganic Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal. It describes a long-awaited, inexpensive method for solar energy storage that could help power homes and plug-in cars in the future while helping keep the environment clean.

Ethanol-powered vehicles generate more ozone than gas-powered ones

United States Postal Service vehicle advertising its use of w:E85 fuel, Winter Carnival parade, Saint Paul, Minnesota.Photo:Michael Hicks/WikimediaEthanol, often promoted as a clean-burning, renewable fuel that could help wean the nation from oil, would likely worsen health problems caused by ozone, compared with gasoline, especially in winter, according to a new study led by Stanford researchers.

Ozone production from both gasoline and E85, a blend of gasoline and ethanol that is 85 per cent ethanol, is greater in warm sunny weather than during the cold weather and short days of winter, because heat and sunlight contribute to ozone formation. But E85 produces different byproducts of combustion than gasoline and generates substantially more aldehydes, which are precursors to ozone.

Climate change financing - the role of development cooperation

"Development cooperation can play an important role in ensuring that the poorest countries will benefit from climate change funding," says Olof Drakenberg, policy analyst at the Environmental Economics Unit at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg.

Available funding for addressing climate change and other environmental issues is but a fraction of what is needed. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt promised this week that Sweden will contribute about 370 million USD annually for adaptation and emission reductions in developing countries. With its move, the Swedish government seeks to increase the pressure on other EU countries to provide money.