China Surges Past U.S., Europe in Clean-Energy Asset Financing
China attracted more asset financing in clean-energy technology in the second quarter than Europe and the U.S. combined, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
Financing of wind turbines, solar panels and low-carbon technology in China climbed 72 percent to $11.5 billion compared with the year-earlier quarter, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said in an e-mailed statement. U.S. investments in clean energy rose to $4.9 billion while in Europe it fell to $4.5 billion.
“China continues its extraordinary surge and Europe has suffered a setback according to our figures for asset finance in the second quarter,” said Michael Liebreich, chief executive of New Energy Finance. “Where investors are placing their bets is changing rapidly.”
China’s $586 billion stimulus program, implemented last year and still being spent, and economic growth boosted industrial output and energy demand. The world’s most populous nation installed 14 gigawatts of new wind power last year, more than any other country.
$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas
General Electric, in partnership with four prominent venture capital firms, announced a $200 million competition for clean-energy innovation funds on Tuesday.
The program, called the Ecomagnination Challenge, is aimed at fostering ideas that will help speed up the development of the so-called “smart grid” “” that is, what energy experts say is a much-needed digital upgrade to the nation’s aging and largely analog electric system.
In announcing the program, G.E.’s chief executive, Jeff Immelt, said the company was hoping to make resources available to those with the most innovative ideas for improving energy creation and distribution in the United States “” and ultimately around the globe.
“We know how to make things, we know how to sell things, we know how to service things,” Mr. Immelt said during a panel discussion in San Francisco on Tuesday morning. “We have a big brand, so let’s go.”
Biodiversity Inches Up the Corporate Agenda
More and more companies are making noteworthy efforts to minimize damage to the environment from their activities, according to a report on business and biodiversity issued on Tuesday.
The report said that Wal-Mart, for example, had sought to eliminate “excess product packaging,” reducing its disposal expenses while increasing its customer numbers and business revenues. The mining company Rio Tinto has made progress by starting offset projects in Madagascar, Australia and North America, news-media materials accompanying the report said. The energy company BC Hydro was singled out for a policy of “no net incremental ecological impact,” and Coca-Cola aims to become “water neutral” by 2020, the materials said.
The study is part of a series titled The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, a joint initiative by industrialized nations and the United Nations Environment Program intended to draw attention to the global economic benefits of fostering biodiversity. The group plans to present a synthesis report in October at a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan.
UN eyes private help in $100 billion climate aid
A pledge by rich nations in Copenhagen to provide as much as $100 billion a year of climate-related aid to developing countries by 2020 may depend in part on the generosity of private donors and other non-governmental sources.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that his panel of advisers “” seeking ways to fulfill a U.N. climate summit’s pledge in the Danish capital last December “” was considering private sources to deliver some of the aid promised to help developing countries deal with rising sea levels, drought and other effects of rising temperatures.
The panel chaired by prime ministers Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Jens Stoltenberg of Norway have been meeting this week to devise ways to set up a $30 billion annual fund by 2012 that would increase to $100 billion a year by 2020. The panel also includes billionaire George Soros, White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, the president of Guyana and ministers from Britain, France, Mexico, Singapore and South Africa.
“The challenges will be great,” Ban told reporters. “They have to first of all identify the sources of resource “” whether it comes from public funding or private funding. I suspect that to generate $100 billion, both private and public funds would be necessary.” He did not specify, however, what sort of private funds might be sought “” individual, corporate or other sources. Ban’s advisory panel on climate financing said it plans to submit a final report in October on how to set up the fund.
Nepal to host int’l climate change meeting in Oct.
Nepali government has sent invitation to 51 mountainous countries for a meeting on climate change scheduled for October 4-5 in capital Kathmandu. According to Wednesday’s The Himalayan Times daily report, the cabinet on June 23 decided to host a ministerial-level meeting in Nepal. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had announced the meeting at the Copenhagen summit on climate change held in December 2009. Countries having mountains over 4,000 meters high are included in this group.
According to a source at the Ministry of Environment, there were a few rounds of talks with donor agencies working on climate change issues and they have shown interest in supporting the initiative. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development is technically assisting the ministry. This is the largest meeting ever in history taking place on the government’s initiative.
Warming Waters Exacerbate Dwindling New England Fisheries
Pete Libra is frustrated. The 40-year-old cod fisherman sees lots of fish in the ocean, and he wants to catch more. Fishing authorities see fewer, and want him to catch less. “I’m not a scientist. But I see the fish,” said Libra. His is the voice of many of the fishermen in Gloucester, the heart of a once-great fishing industry that powered fledgling America and underwrote New England’s economy.
Many fishermen here feel threatened by a sweeping new set of fishing limits imposed this spring by authorities trying to rebuild fish stocks they say are depleted by overfishing and facing pressures that include climate change. Federal fishing regulators have traditionally reacted to falling stocks by putting additional curbs on fishing. But that approach may not work in the face of larger environmental changes such as global warming.
The chief fishing grounds for Massachusetts watermen are Gulf of Maine and the Georges Bank, the most westward of the famous Atlantic fishing banks off the North American coast. They are among the most famous and historically productive fishing grounds in the world; their collapse in the mid-1990s was equally historic, and the debate over how to manage the depleted stocks while nursing them back to health has been hotly contested ever since.
Trying to Stop Cattle Burps From Heating Up Planet
To hear Athol Klieve tell it, a key to reducing Australia’s enormous carbon emissions is to make a cow more like this country’s iconic animal “” the kangaroo.
Both animals are herbivores, and both eat grass that is fermented before entering their main stomachs. But while cattle belch enormous amounts of methane to digest the food, kangaroos release virtually none “” they burp only harmless acids that can be turned into vinegar.
Sure, Mr. Klieve, an expert on bovine stomachs, has fiddled around with the ruminants’ diet to make them less gassy. But on a tour of the new $28 million Center for Advanced Animal Science here, Mr. Klieve grew animated when he talked of leading a team of microbiologists and genetic researchers to make cattle guts behave like kangaroos’.
“Feed additives can lead to incremental decreases in methane,” Mr. Klieve said, standing inside a nearly complete high-tech chamber where cattle will be brought in to have their methane burps measured precisely. “But we’re trying to do other things that might give us a quantum leap, and that’s why we’re looking at kangaroos.”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
far off-topic Joe,
but WuWt and Monckton are putting pressure on Abraham and his university, trying to force them into taking down the presentation.
i think there is dire need for a site with lots of clicks to interfere.
it would be great if people could write a couple of short and friendly e.mails, pointing out that Abraham is right and tat his presentation is fine.
thanks in advance.
According to a report published last week by Greenpeace International, the European Union could reduce carbon emissions by up to 95% compared to 1990 levels if it fully harnesses renewable technologies, such as wind turbines and solar panels.
http://www.homeheatingguide.co.uk/blog/greenpeace-argues-case-for-renewable-energy-in-the-european-union.html
Plants ‘can think and remember’
Plants are able to “remember” and “react” to information contained in light, according to researchers.
Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems.
These “electro-chemical signals” are carried by cells that act as “nerves” of the plants.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10598926
Local panel discusses implications of Gulf of Mexico oil spill for Alaska
http://www.capweek.com/stories/071410/new_675407842.shtml
Abu Dhabi’s Costly Desalination Plants Prompt Wastewater Treatment Plans
http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/07/13/24335/abu-dhabi-wastewater-treatment/#more-24335
$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas
General Electric, in partnership with four prominent venture capital firms, announced a $200 million competition for clean-energy innovation funds on Tuesday.
The program, called the Ecomagnination Challenge, is aimed at fostering ideas that will help speed up the development of the so-called “smart grid” — that is, what energy experts say is a much-needed digital upgrade to the nation’s aging and largely analog electric system.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/200-million-for-smart-grid-ideas/
2 drillers fined for Pennsylvania gas well blowout
The state is imposing $400,000 in fines against two companies that it blames for a natural gas well “blowout” in rural Clearfield County in June, an accident that spewed 35,000 gallons of chemical-laden “fracking fluid” into the atmosphere for 16 hours.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10195/1072546-113.stm
Last six months second driest in the UK in 96 years, say scientists
River flows have dropped to their lowest levels in 50 years, hundreds of fish have died and reservoirs are drying out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/14/uk-drought-2010
Rich countries to pay energy giants to build new coal-fired power plants
UN’s Clean Development Mechanism to use European carbon offset credits to subsidise 20 ‘efficient’ coal plants in India and China
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/14/un-carbon-offset-coal-plants
A Warm Atlantic Stokes Hurricane Fears
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/a-warm-atlantic-stokes-hurricane-fears
Sod… I think everyone should record a copy of Abraham’s slide lecture response to Monckton and repost it elsewhere on the internet. This is a common method used on Youtube where the creationist crowd is continually filing false DCMA’s to get videos exposing intelligent design taken down.
Delayed action in addressing climate change risks comes at a financial cost to the international community, the U.N. secretary-general said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following a meeting with this top climate change delegates at the United Nations said that mobilizing the financing to address climate change was an urgent need.
“The more we delay, the more we will pay in lost opportunities, resources and lives,” Ban told reporters.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/07/14/Delay-now-pay-later-Ban-says-on-climate/UPI-55591279110741/
1# & 11#
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/jul/14/monckton-john-abraham
>>>>>
so now we see power plants bing affected with 0.8C.
>>>>>
Rio Tinto Alcan faces $100-million hit
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/rio-tinto-alcan-faces-100-million-hit/article1639635
Operating profit in second half of 2010 to feel impact of low snow and rain levels in Quebec
Rio Tinto Alcan (RTP-N47.640.090.19%) is expected to take a $100-million (U.S.) hit to its operating income in the second half of 2010 because of low snow and rain levels in Quebec.
Low water levels and other factors have constrained Rio Tinto’s ability to produce power, forcing it to buy more electricity than normal or curtail output.
Rains continue in flood-hit China
An estimated 29 million people have been affected by the floods across 10 provinces and regions of China.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/07/20107144848354530.html
Flood situation grim in Punjab district
‘The flood situation is grim in Sardulgarh area. Nearly 30 villages are flooded and most of the residents have been shifted to safe locations. With the rising water level in Ghaggar, danger of flood is still looming over 39 more villages,’ Mansa Deputy Commissioner Kumar Rahul told IANS.
http://sify.com/news/flood-situation-grim-in-punjab-district-news-national-khouOchfeca.html
Yamaha unveils zero-emission electric motor scooter
Japan’s Yamaha Motor unveiled on Wednesday a zero-emission electric motor scooter for city use that it said could travel five times farther than a gasoline model for the same cost.
http://www.physorg.com/news198329471.html
paulm, see
Sudden Surplus Calls for Quick Thinking
Certainly seems like an argument against building MORE coal-fired power plants, if we’re dealing with excesses of clean power…
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/sudden-surplus-calls-for-quick-thinking/
Will ‘Solar Trees’ Sprout in Parking Lots? (video)
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/will-solar-trees-sprout-in-parking-lots/
Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it opened a greenhouse facility to grow and test algae, the next step for its nascent biofuels program.
Researchers from Exxon and its partner Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI), will use the facility to test whether large-scale quantities of affordable fuel can be produced from algae.
Exxon said last year it will invest $600 million over the next five to six years attempting to develop biofuel from algae.
If research milestones are successfully met, Exxon said it will spend more than the $600 million over the next decade, $300 million of which will be allocated to SGI.
Exxon’s biofuel investment represents a tiny portion of the oil company’s spending, which is set for $32 billion for just this year. That figure includes the budget of XTO, a natural gas company the oil major acquired.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66D3RZ20100714
Journal of Glaciology Volume 56(197), 2010
http://www.igsoc.org/journal/56/197/
Against odds, Democrats will bring climate bill to Senate floor
.. Reid confirmed the bill will have four parts: an oil spill response; a clean-energy and job-creation title based on work done in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; a tax package from the Senate Finance Committee; and a section that deals with greenhouse gas emissions from the electric utility industry.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-07-14-against-odds-democrats-will-bring-climate-bill-to-senate-floor/
Studies show that dispersants, which break down oil into tiny droplets and can also break down cell membranes, make oil more toxic for some animals, like baby birds. And the solvents they contain can break down red blood cells, causing hemorrhaging.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/science/earth/15necropsy.html
New York Book review….my how time flies…
Hansen Day, Jul 13th 2006 – The Threat to the Planet
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Climate-Portals/139434822741700
>>>
Yes Prokaryotes, and that plant they are talking about is a hydroelectric one.
We are in for a rude awakening right across the board.
Here in BC Canada much of our power is generated from hydro, but we may not be out of the woods. There is much planning to do and no one seems to be doing it….
Markey Amendment to Recover Billions in Royalties from BP, Oil Companies in Gulf Passes Committee
Legislation authored by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) to recover upwards of $53 billion in lost oil drilling royalties in the Gulf of Mexico passed the Natural Resources Committee today, putting the legislation on a path towards fixing a 15-year-old legislative flaw. The recovered money would go directly to deficit reduction efforts.
“Instead of drilling for free in the Gulf of Mexico, we will finally drill for deficit dollars from these profit-rich companies,” said Rep. Markey. “This was an easy choice between standing with BP and the other oil companies that are drilling for free, or standing with American taxpayers and reducing our deficit. My colleagues chose today to stand with the American people.”
http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/pressreleases_2008?id=0289
Footloose Glaciers Crack Up
New detailed observations of what happens when glaciers float on ocean surface
This study presents the first detailed observation of the transition from grounded to floating glaciers. Such a transition is currently taking place at Columbia Glacier, one of Alaska’s many tidewater glaciers. Tidewater glaciers flow directly into the ocean, ending at a cliff in the sea, where icebergs are formed. Prior to this study, Alaskan tidewater glaciers were believed to be exclusively “grounded” (resting on the ocean floor), and unable to float without disintegrating.
However, Columbia Glacier unexpectedly developed a floating extension in 2007 that has endured far longer than researchers expected. The research team believes that this floating section may have been caused by the speed at which the glacier is receding. Columbia is one of the fastest receding glaciers in the world, having retreated 4 kilometers (2.49 miles) since 2004, and nearly 20 kilometers (12.43 miles) since 1980.
“We’re seeing more tidewater glaciers retreat,” Walter said. “As they retreat, they thin and that increases the likelihood that they’ll come afloat.”
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/science/07-14GlaciersCrack.asp
Heat wave warning system crucial
Over the last few days the temperature in Taiwan has shot up and the media has been awash with articles of how people can avoid the worst of the heat wave. The papers have also been full of stories about the number of heat-related deaths. Questions have been raised as to the potential health risks posed by the scorching heat, when in fact the best way to deal with this problem, and to reduce the health risks posed by climate change, is to establish some form of early warning mechanism.
Environmental protection and health professionals in Taiwan have for many years now taken the impact of global warming on health very seriously. The National Science Council (NSC) has also been aware of the problem for some time. National Taiwan University set up the Global Change Research Center (GCRC) a while back, and the NSC is funding academic research into the effect of climate change in Taiwan and what ecological changes are going to mean for people’s health, predicting how the situation is likely to evolve.
Over the last century Taiwan’s average temperature has increased by between 1.1 and 1.4 percent, twice the global average. The temperature of the surrounding oceans has risen at a higher rate, having a considerable impact on the fishing ecology.
http://www.diigo.com/annotated/497fc07f212b63175cd335e0376ee695
Deep-sea mining: potential for both riches and distasters
By Martin Laine.
Even as BP’s deep-water oil well continues to gush out millions of barrels of oil, China has taken the first steps in something that may be even more hazardous to the ocean environment: deep-sea mining.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294652
Better news from across the pond, published by the Financial Times – http://www.FT.com
- Ministers toughen stance on emissions
By Fiona Harvey in London
Published: July 14 2010
“Europe’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions should be drastically toughened, three of the European Union’s most powerful member states say today in a surprise development that will leave businesses fuming.
Ministers from Germany, France and the UK come together for the first time in the Financial Times to call for the EU to slash emissions by 30 per cent by 2020, instead of the current 20 per cent target.
. . . . . . .
Today’s move marks a U-turn for Germany, which has long opposed a unilateral move to 30 per cent, favouring the EU’s previous pledge to raise its target only if other countries showed similar ambitions, which they did not at last year’s Copenhagen climate summit. France also had strong reservations, but the UK’s Liberal Democrat party scored a coup when the ruling coalition of which they are a part backed the change.”
_________________________________________________________
It is maybe worth noting that this will be a 30% cut off the legal 1990 baseline by 2020, against which the US senate’s APA was aiming to cut 3.67% by 2020 (presented as 17% off 2005) but is now being shrunk to a utilities-only format. Quite why Obama chose to perpetuate the US renegeing (under GWBush) on its signature of the UNFCCC mandate with its 1990 baseline, needs to be discussed publicly.
In the same edition (possibly behind a paywall for those not already registered) is an article by the British, German & French ministers, which is well worth a read as excellent messaging to industry.
- Europe needs to reduce emissions by 30%
By Chris Huhne, Norbert Röttgen and Jean-Louis Borloo
Published: July 14 2010
“Europe’s current focus on recovery from recession must not distract us from the question of what kind of economy we want to build. Unless we set our countries on a path to a sustainable low-carbon future, we will face continued uncertainty and significant costs from energy price volatility and a destabilising climate.”
________________________________________________
Note the first known usage of “a destabilising climate” in any UK broadsheet.
Regards,
Lewis
Peru Suspends Mine’s Operations Over Spill
LIMA – Regulators halted the Empresa Minera Caudalosa Chica mining company’s operations in the southern Peruvian highlands after toxic waste was spilled into a river, the Energy and Mines Ministry said.
Huancavelica authorities said the two rivers were contaminated with 21,420 cubic meters (5.7 million gallons) of waste after the containing wall of a reservoir collapsed.
CAOI has called on the Energy and Mines Ministry to apply the maximum penalty because Caudalosa is operating “informally and without complying” with a legally required environmental-remediation program.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=360362&CategoryId=14095
Suicide tied to air pollution and asthma
In one study, researchers examined more than 4,000 suicides in seven major cities in South Korea. They found that spikes in particle pollution upped suicide risk by as much as 10 percent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100715/hl_nm/us_suicide_pollution
Uneven Rise of Indian Ocean Sea-Levels
High Levels at Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java
http://geology.com/press-release/indian-ocean-sea-level-rise/
Nedbank first in carbon neutrality
http://www.savingwater.co.za/2010/07/14/18/nedbank-first-in-carbon-neutrality/
Activists Stop Strip Mining Machine on Coal River Mountain
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2010/07/14/breakingactivists-stop-strip-mining-machine-on-coal-river-mountain/
Five Reasons China Will Rule Tech
http://blogs.forbes.com/china/2010/07/13/five-reasons-china-will-rule-tech/
Prince Charles attacks climate change sceptics
Prince of Wales accuses those who question whether human activity is causing global warming of ‘peddling pseudo science’ and blocking action
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/15/prince-charles-attacks-climate-sceptics
Steam process could remove CO2 to regenerate amine capture materials
http://www.physorg.com/news198344726.html
EU to press member states on oil-drilling ban
Norway, which is not an EU member state, has complied with the commissioner’s demand, but others have not, a development Mr Oettinger highlighted when speaking to reporters after the meeting.
“Norway did stop drilling, not the UK,” he said. “What is good for Norway should be good for EU member states as well.”
The industry, for its part, rejects calls for any bans on deep-water drilling. Michael Engell-Jensen, executive director of the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, told reporters at the Oettinger event that are no problems with oil drilling in EU waters: “The industry feels that we have a system in Europe which does provide a safety which is acceptable.”
http://euobserver.com/9/30484
This video shows north sea rig oil spills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzcrXHSU6_Y
BP faces 7-year offshore drilling ban
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10642556
Large oil spill near North Sea oil platform: Norway
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gKH21ZKRRYqBvlHS1Q-lBK51G_Fg
Denmark says oil spill observed in North Sea
http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=60387
Investigators probe Susquehanna gas well fire
http://thetimes-tribune.com/investigators-probe-susquehanna-gas-well-fire-1.890360
Indonesia Pledge Cooperation With Australia in Montara Oil Spill
http://www.tempointeractive.com/hg/luarnegeri/2010/07/15/brk,20100715-263710,uk.html
Senators seek BP Lockerbie bomber probe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south+scotland-10645909
Germany’s Siemens agrees multibillion-euro deals in Russia
“Green technologies from Siemens will help Russia reach its targets for energy efficiency and climate protection,” Siemens President and CEO Peter Loescher said in a statement.
Under the agreements signed Thursday, Siemens will modernize 22 railway switching yards by 2026 and supply Russian Railways with 240 regional trains over the next 10 years.
Siemens will also install wind turbines with a total capacity of as much as 1,250 megawatts in Russia by 2015. Three joint ventures with Russian partners are planned, so that most of the products are manufactured in Russia.
Siemens will also become a partner in the new Skolkovo Innograd Foundation, which will establish a research center.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/siemens-agrees-multibillion-euro-deals-in-russia-2010-07-15
Brammo Empulse: The New 100 mph King of Consumer Electric Motorcycles, Sold At Best Buy
http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-07/brammo-impulse-new-100-mph-king-consumer-electric-motorcycles-sold-best-buy
Gulf Residents Make Passionate Case in Maine for Climate Change Legislation
Almost three months after a BP oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of barrels’ worth of oil continues to leak out every day, and residents’ panic level keeps rising. Several Gulf residents were in Maine today to passionately advocate for climate change legislation that they say could have prevented a disaster that’s devastating their livelihoods and coastlines.
http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineNewsArchive/tabid/181/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3475/ItemId/12909/Default.aspx
Ads Backed by Fossil-Fuel Interests Argue ‘CO2 Is Green’
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/07/14/14greenwire-ads-backed-by-fossil-fuel-interests-argue-co2-79814.html
Subsidies at work.
UN rural development arm helping respond to Niger food crisis
The last severe drought in 2005 resulted in a famine that claimed 1 million lives and affected another 50 million people.
Scant and irregular rainfall since last year has touched off the latest crisis, with Niger – where 7.1 million people, or half its population, is going hungry – at is centre. Nearly 90 per cent of rural households are at risk, including herders, as well as women who head their households and their dependents.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35328&Cr=niger&Cr1=food
Enviro Groups Stunned That Govt Ignoring 27K Wells
Melinda Pierce, deputy director of national campaigns for the Sierra Club, said the AP investigation shows that the government must do more to prevent another oil disaster.
“From exploration to drilling to the sealing of abandoned wells, the government must step up safety inspections and oversight to ensure that oil companies don’t cut corners that could put our marine resources and coastal economies at risk,” she said.
Derb Carter, a director with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said government inaction on abandoned wells is “not unlike the way we dealt with hazardous waste years ago where we just buried it somewhere and didn’t think about it.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=11103144&page=3
BP troubles deepen with Buncefield verdict
Beleaguered BP will find its reputation further tarnished tomorrow when a British criminal court passes sentence on a company it half owns over safety breaches connected with the worst explosion and fire since the second world war.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/15/bp-buncefield
Team Develops Non-Toxic Oil Recovery Agent
A team of chemists led by Dr. George John, Associate Professor at The City College of New York (CCNY), has developed a non-toxic, recyclable agent that can solidify oil on salt water so that it can be scooped up like the fat that forms on the top of a pot of chilled chicken soup. The agent could potentially be used to recover oil lost in the British Petroleum (BP) spill in the Gulf of Mexico
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100714151749.htm
Thank-you Prokaryotes,
That is a very nice read and encouraging.
Thank you Prokaryotes, Joe and staff.