TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is expected to report as early as this week that its greenhouse gas emissions sank last year, the first year of its Kyoto Protocol obligations. But the fall is not the good news it may appear to be, as it is mostly due to a recession that has cut the money firms have to spend on green initiatives, and also forced the government to focus more on economic stimulus than its green agenda. This could make it harder for the world's 5th-biggest polluter to prepare for... Read Full Story
JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesia-based study shows carbon-rich tropical peat lands trap more greenhouse gases than first thought, driving up their potential value on the carbon market and strengthening a case for their protection. Green groups on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Barcelona said tropical deforestation accounted for a smaller portion of global carbon emissions than thought, reaching 15 percent including draining peat soils where rainforests grow. Huge amounts of... Read Full Story
Before you even start buying materials for your DIY plastering job in your home or business, it is extremely important for you to learn and understand major issues and facts about lime plaster. It is very unfortunate that a lot of us have erroneous perceptions and misconceptions in as far as this plastering material is concerned. Lime plaster has been plagued by a lot of myths and it is incumbent upon us to distinguish these myths from the accurate information about lime.
Lime plaster is... Read Full Story
Smokestack scrubbers will eliminate most of the sulfur emissions from the coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant, but they will also produce a new waste stream for a site still engaged in a $1 billion cleanup from a massive ash spill. "It is a tradeoff. In order to clean the air up, you create a landfill," the Tennessee Valley Authority's Ron Nash said Thursday during a tour of Kingston's new $500 million scrubber complex. "But it is still better to clean the air. We all breathe the air. It is not... Read Full Story
Asia-Pacific leaders plan to call for sweeping cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at a summit here next week, according to a draft communique obtained by AFP Friday. "We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, recognising that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries," the draft said. Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including... Read Full Story
A list of key points negotiators hope to clarify before meeting for a decisive U.N. climate conference next month in Copenhagen, Denmark. EMISSIONS TARGETS — Industrial nations are asked to make specific pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, while developing nations should state how they are reducing emissions growth. Scientists say industrial countries should reduce emissions by 25 to 40 percent from 1990 levels to avoid climate catastrophe. So far their pledges amount to... Read Full Story
Asia-Pacific leaders plan to call for sweeping cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at a summit here next week, according to a draft communique obtained by AFP Friday. "We believe that global emissions will need to peak over the next few years, and be reduced to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, recognising that the time frame for peaking will be longer in developing countries," the draft said. Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including... Read Full Story
Al Gore receives award for his anti global warming efforts
Al Gore, who barely lost (or won) the US Presidential election in November 2000, and vowed never to return to US political life, appears to have come out a winner for not doing so. The former Vice President for 8 years under the Clinton Administration decided to devote his time afterwards to teaching as well as making the world aware of the dangers of global warming , a warning that has been noted several times on Green... Read Full Story
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Draining and burning of the world's peat bogs accounts for about 5.5 percent of global carbon emissions but are currently excluded from governments' climate targets and U.N. talks, a study found on Wednesday. Peat stores around twice as much carbon as all the world's trees, but compared with the well-publicized issues of fossil fuels and forests, the sector was the "Cinderella" of climate change policies, said Hans Joosten at Germany's Greifswald University, co... Read Full Story
Scientists pointed the finger on Wednesday at Southeast Asian countries for draining wetlands for palm oil and cheap timber production, warning the practice was stoking dangerous global warming. In a presentation on the sidelines of the UN climate talks, a network of scientists branded Southeast Asia the world leader in greenhouse gases that seep from degraded peat soils. Peatlands comprise compacted carbon from vegetation, deposited over thousands of years. The carbon is safely stored when... Read Full Story
