DONG Energy and Inbicon Inaugurate One of the World's Largest Demo Plants for 2nd Generation Biofuel

http://www.physorg.com/news177780192.html

NASA Develops Algae Bioreactor as a Sustainable Energy Source

November 18, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) -- As a clean energy alternative, NASA invented an algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of other products.

The NASA bioreactor is an Offshore Membrane Enclosure for Growing Algae (OMEGA), which won’t compete with agriculture for land, fertilizer, or freshwater.
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., licensed the patent pending algae photo-bioreactor to Algae Systems, LLC, Carson City, Nev., which plans to develop and pilot the technology in Tampa Bay, Florida. The company plans to refine and integrate the NASA technology into biorefineries to produce renewable energy products, including diesel and jet fuel.
"NASA has a long history of developing very successful energy conversion devices and novel life support systems,” said Lisa Lockyer, deputy director of the New Ventures and Communication Directorate at NASA Ames. “NASA is excited to support the commercialization of an algae bioreactor with potential for providing renewable energy here on Earth.”
The OMEGA system consists of large plastic bags with inserts of forward-osmosis membranes that grow freshwater algae in processed wastewater by photosynthesis. Using energy from the sun, the algae absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and nutrients from the wastewater to produce biomass and oxygen. As the algae grow, the nutrients are contained in the enclosures, while the cleansed freshwater is released into the surrounding ocean through the forward-osmosis membranes.
“The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels,” said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of Algae Systems. “The technology is simple and scalable enough to create an inexpensive, local energy supply that also creates jobs to sustain it.”
When deployed in contaminated and “dead zone” coastal areas, this system may help remediate these zones by removing and utilizing the nutrients that cause them. The forward-osmosis membranes use relatively small amounts of external energy compared to the conventional methods of harvesting algae, which have an energy intensive de-watering process.
Potential benefits include oil production from the harvested algae, and conversion of municipal wastewater into clean water before it is released into the ocean. After the oil is extracted from the algae, the algal remains can be used to make fertilizer, animal feed, cosmetics, or other valuable products.
This successful spinoff of NASA-derived technology will help support the commercial development of a new algae-based biofuels industry and wastewater treatment.
Provided by JPL/NASA (news : web)

Have more than one Hotmail account? Link them together to easily access both.

#3531

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Sat Nov 21, 2009 2:19 am
Subject: Palm oil’s green value "derived from best information available"

jimroland99

Offline

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/business/43970-palm-oils-green-value-derived-from-best-information-available

Palm oil’s green value derived from best information available

By Siti Hawa Othman

BRUSSELS, Nov 19 — A European Commission official said the low carbon emission savings calculation for palm oil, was the best figure known at the time the EU Renewable Energy Directive was put together.
Paul Hodson, the European Commission Directorate-General for Transport and Energy (TREN) said this in explaining to dissatisfied Malaysian officials on how its scientists had derived the 19 per cent level for palm oil compared to rapeseed (38 per cent), sunflower (51 per cent) and soya (31 per cent).
“If this figure is changed, then the EU will have problems in also changing the numbers to the directive,” he explained.
He also said that Malaysian officials had spoken to the Commission on changing the figure.
Hodson was speaking at a palm oil sustainability forum on, Biofueling Europe: Sustainable Production, organised by the SME Union in conjunction with a working visit by the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
Dompok is leading a palm oil and timber mission to Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium from Nov 10-21.
During the forum, the chief executive officer of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron lambasted the EU figure as that gathered by the industry experts had shown the carbon emission savings level to be about 60 per cent and with the “methane capture process”, it was pushed to a further 80 per cent.
He also voiced concern that the implementation programmes with regards to the renewable energy directive, would be biased, with creeping protectionist elements which violates WTO rules.
Hodson, meanwhile, said the EU scientists would look at the views put forward and decide if there was a need to change the carbon emission savings figure for palm oil.
Meanwhile, the EU renewable energy directive has among others, proposed an overall binding target of a 20 per cent share of renewable energy sources in energy consumption and a 10 per cent minimum target
for biofuels in transport by 2020.
Hodson said the legislation is creating a market for biofuel.
He stated that instead of too much emphasis being given to countries such as United States and China, there was a need for Europe to work together with countries like Brazil and Malaysia, which play a key
role in renewable energy.
“While, it is impossible to meet all the sustainable criteria, palm oil has done very well so far.
“As to whether conversion of land is responsible for the loss of carbon stock, we need to understand this from the Malaysian perspective,” he said.
Meanwhile, touching on the bad press for palm oil, Yusof said Malaysia would bring up at the upcoming Copenhagen climate talks, the fact that the country is a nett carbon sink, since 56 per cent of it is under
forest cover and another 25 percent being agriculture land.
As such Malaysia,he highlighted, has been clearing the carbon emission of others and this is an early contribution by the country, which has not been given due recognition.
Yusof said the industry could not open up more land and had to concentrate on ways to increase production yield.
However, he pointed out that there was still available land for oil palm cultivation, in Africa.
He also expressed the view that despite all the positive things being done, palm oil was still getting a raw deal following the EU directive and campaigns by NGOs. — Bernama

Have more than one Hotmail account? Link them together to easily access both.

#3532

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Sat Nov 21, 2009 2:28 am
Subject: New cellulosic biofuel plants: Denmark, and planned in Oregon

jimroland99

Offline

1. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/DONG-Energy-and-Inbicon-prnews-3266563412.html?x=0&.v=1

DONG Energy and Inbicon Inaugurate One of the World's Largest Demo Plants for 2nd Generation Biofuel

~1.5 million-gallon plant uses Genencor enzymes to convert straw to transportation fuel ~

Press Release
Source: Genencor
On 4:04 pm EST, Thursday November 19, 2009

COPENHAGEN, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Danish Prince Joachim inaugurated the DONG Energy and Inbicon cellulosic ethanol plant in Kalundborg, Denmark, on Wednesday, November 18. The facility is one of the world's first and largest 2nd generation ethanol demonstration biorefineries. Genencor's Accellerase enzymes are used in the plant's innovative process for converting straw to fuel. Genencor, a Division of Danisco, was the first to market with commercial enzymes for converting cellulosic materials, such as agricultural and forestry wastes and bioenergy crops, into biofuel. The DONG/Inbicon technology will provide ethanol for E85 fuel (85% ethanol), which will fill the tanks of VIP cars for the UNFCCC Global Climate Summit in Copenhagen, from December 7 to 18.
Danisco's CEO, Tom Knutzen attended the inauguration. "Danisco is pleased to see the great progress DONG and Inbicon have made, and we offer our congratulations," said Knutzen. "As a supplier of enzymes for the plant, we have followed the construction phase with great anticipation. Danisco is driving the future of enzymes for 2nd-generation biofuel through our sales to leading players like DONG and others, and through our other collaboration, the joint venture DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE). We're also pleased to know that VIPs at the Climate Summit will be driving around on renewable fuel made by our enzymes."
Michael Persson, VP Finance & Corporate Affairs, Inbicon, said, "It has taken years of testing, perfecting, and patenting the biomass conversion process to reach this phase of large-scale commercial demonstration. It's a great advantage to work with industry leaders like Danisco, and our other suppliers, as collaborators in driving the future of biofuels innovation. Together we'll play a vital role in making the shift to cost-effective renewable fuels, building the low-carbon economy, and creating economic growth opportunities through advanced biorefineries."
The Kalundborg facility will work on scaling up the process to commercial volumes. Annual production includes 5.4 million liters (1.5 million gallons) of biofuel, as well as lignin pellets and molasses.
Genencor launched Accellerase 1500 and three accessory products in April 2009, and will introduce a new generation of Accellerase in 2010.
About Genencor
Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, is a world leader in industrial biotechnology and a pioneer in enzyme innovation. Genencor improves process and product performance for a spectrum of industries. As part of a large global organization, Genencor has a manufacturing and distribution network that spans more than 40 countries. In collaboration with customers, technology leaders and other stakeholders, Genencor supplies competitive, biobased solutions. These innovations create value throughout the supply chain, from raw material to finished product.

2. http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_13819369?source=rss

Lakewood biofuel concern begins plant construction

The Denver Post

Posted: 11/19/2009 01:00:00 AM MST

A Colorado company that has developed a process to convert wood to fuel is starting construction of what will eventually be a commercial-scale production plant.
Lakewood-based ZeaChem is working with Hazen Research of Golden to build the first units of its biofuels refinery. ZeaChem president and chief executive Jim Imbler says the company will transfer the modular units to Boardman, Ore., where it will eventually run a commercial refinery.
ZeaChem plans to start production at a demonstration facility in Oregon by the end of next year. ZeaChem uses a bacterium to break down the cellulose in wood to make fuel. Imbler says the process, unlike traditional fermentation with yeast, produces little carbon dioxide. The company raised $34 million this year to help build a refinery. The Associated Press

Add other email accounts to Hotmail in 3 easy steps. Find out how.

#3533

From: "robert_palgrave" <robertpalgrave@...>
Date: Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:33 am
Subject: BBC Countryfile Sun 22 Nov 7pm "Wood burning is OK"

robert_palgrave

Offline

Part of the programme will look at new pronouncement from Forestry Commission
and 'conservation groups':

"Cutting down thousands of trees and burning them helps to combat global warming
and is good for wildlife, according to the Forestry Commission and 15
conservation groups, including the RSPB and the country's Wildlife Trusts. In a
report revealed to Countryfile's Tom Heap they say 2 million tonnes of timber
could be harvested each year - enough to heat nearly half a million homes -
while improving the wildlife habitat and extending public access."

Trailed this morning on BBC1 Breakfast with Tom Heap making the mistaken point
that burning trees now is the same in climate impact terms as letting dead wood
decompose over many years. The trail did not mention the figure of 2 million
tonnes, or the 0.5 million homes that can be heated by wood burning. Could have
left the impression that wood burning on any scale is OK.

For comparison the proposed Angelsey wood burning power station will consume 2.4
million tonnes per year. And there are several other power stations of a similar
size - hundreds of MW - in the pipeline.

#3534

From: "robert_palgrave" <robertpalgrave@...>
Date: Sun Nov 22, 2009 9:27 am
Subject: “Fragile” supply of biomass threatens projects

robert_palgrave

Offline

Monday 16 November 2009

Plans to scale up the use of biomass for UK power generation will fail to
materialise unless important supply chain challenges are resolved, according to
an independent report.

The report, conducted by research firm Verdantix and published last week
(November 12), found that investors in biomass equipment risked failing to meet
operational targets because UK biomass could only meet 5% to 10% of projected
demand by 2014 and large volume imports faced significant supply chain risks.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has set a target for 15% of
the UK's renewable energy to be generated by biomass by 2020, but the research
found that supply chain issues such as cost would block planned investments.

The paper analysed the role of 14 companies in the supply of biomass to three
different UK market segments. Verdantix identified the following companies who
are active in the UK's biomass supply chain: AW Jenkinsons, Balcas, Biojoule,
Eddie Stobart, EDF Trading, Energy Power Resource Limited (EPRL), The Energy
Crop Company, Euroforest, Forestry Commission, Forever Fuels, Land Energy,
Lantmannen, Silvigen and UPM Tilhill.

Author of the `Smart Vendors: Biomass Supply Chain (UK)' report, analyst James
Pinney, said: "The UK government, power generators and city councils have
ambitious plans to scale-up the use of biomass for renewable power generation"

"Our research with industry insiders shows that UK biomass supplies will only
meet small-scale demand, typically within a 60-mile radius of the biomass
facility. The low volume of UK supply means that every year power generators
will import millions of tonnes of wood chips, elephant grass, palm kernels and
olive pellets to feed their huge biomass facilities. But uncertainties surround
the reliability and cost of importing biomass from countries like Canada,
Malaysia, Russia and Sweden."

Large-scale generation

The report noted that by 2014, power companies such as Drax Group and MGT Power
planned to bring seven large-scale biomass power generation facilities on line,
generating a total of 2,100 MW - enough to power 600,000 homes.

However, it also claimed that projects would be hindered by the size of required
capital expenditure, fragile local supply chains and the size of plots required
to build and operate biomass units and fuel storage facilities.

Mr Pinney added: "In April 2009, the UK government's change of tack on subsidies
for co-firing biomass pulled the plug on many planned investments and hit UK
biomass suppliers. Power generation from biomass competes with other industries
for scarce land-use resources. Fixing the supply chain will not eliminate
security of supply or price volatility risks."

The research also found that two different supply chains currently existed in
the UK; large-scale power producers' source their biomass oversees, while low
output power generation facilities, corporate, public sector and domestic
markets are met by local supply chains.

Forestry Commission
The Verdantix research follows an announcement by the Forestry Commission (FCE)
last week that it aimed to increase the amount of woodfuel produced in the South
West of England in an attempt to improve the supply chain


<FCE report is covered here - I think it is the basis of the BBC Countryfile TV
programme Sunday 7pm:

http://www.newenergyfocus.com/do/ecco/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=32&listitemid\
=3217 >

#3535

From: Eric Brooks <brookse@...>
Date: Sat Nov 21, 2009 1:57 am
Subject: Planting Bio-Fuels In Rwanda While Rwandans Go Hungry

brookse@...

http://www.examiner.com/x-8257-SF-Energy-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d18-Planting-biofuels-in-Rwanda-while-Rwandans-go-hungry

Planting bio-fuels, in Rwanda, while Rwandans go hungry

November 18, 4:39 PM

SF Energy Policy Examiner

Ann Garrison

Rwanda's greatest natural resource is its fertile agricultural land, but most is centralized in the hands of government elites and planted in export crops, coffee, tea, flowers, and soon, bio-fuels----while Rwandans go hungry.

On November 9, 2009, Benoit Ndagijimana, Deputy Secretary General of the United Democratic Forces of Rwanda, a.k.a., the UDF-IINKINGI, a dissident Rwandan political party, protested the Rwandan government's dedication of 10,000 hectares of land, in Eastern Rwanda, to produce bio-fuels, in a consortium with U.S.-based Eco-Fuel Global and UK-based Eco Positive:

"This unique decision is made when prices of food commodities are increasing every day, but many Rwandans barely have one meal a day and display obvious undernourishment, and, when at least 60% of households in the rural areas of Rwanda suffer from different degrees of food insecurity. This decision poses additional harms to the Rwandan peasants already afflicted not only by current land expropriation underway since July 1994 but also by forced villagization and technocratic regionalization of crops. . ." http://hungryoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/11/udf-inkingi-condemn-decision-to-sell.html

Rwanda's greatest natural resource is its fertile agricultural land, but most of it is centralized in the hands of government elites and planted in coffee, tea, and flowers for export. This Global Eco-Fuels investment, like Costco and Starbuck's investment in Rwandan coffee plantations, obviously undermines most Rwandans struggle to secure life's most basic necessity---food.

The best hope of redistributing Rwandan land to Rwandan people, for sustainable agriculture that might feed them, is a fair and honest election in Rwanda in August 2010, which the government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the U.S.A.'s greatest ally in Africa, is doing all it can to prevent----as evidenced by its repression of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda's four attempts to convene, and, its refusal to grant a passport to the United Democratic Forces of Rwanda's First Vice Chairman Eugène Ndahayo.

If allowed to participate, the Rwandan Greens, the United Democratic Forces of Rwanda, and other parties would probably be able to form a coalition capable of winning the election:

For a critique of bio-fuels planting on the entire African continent, see the Pambazuka News, "Bio-fuels and neo-colonialism," which describes it as "a new and massive land-grabbing scramble in Africa, unprecedented since the fall of colonialism."

Eco-Fuel Global is based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.A., in the San Francisco Bay Area. Eco Positive is based in London, UK.

#3536

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:16 am
Subject: Global body needed to direct green technology, G77 says

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/22/green-technology-climate-change-g77

This could become important body, if it happens, re: control of biofuels/biomass.

Global body needed to direct green technology, G77 says

Developing nations call for UN body to police battle on climate change

100 clean tech : solar energy plant, Sanlucar la Mayor, Spain

World's largest solar energy plant, Sanlucar la Mayor, Spain. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features

A green technology body with powers to direct a worldwide transition away from a high-carbon economy is needed to combat climate change, according to the world's developing nations. While most negotiations ahead of the UN's climate change summit in Copenhagen next month have been concerned with which nations should slash greenhouse gas emissions and by how much, the method in which these cuts will be achieved has received far less attention. Yet the importance of green technology – from wind turbines to electric cars to zero-carbon buildings – is enormous.

Developing nations argue that the costs should be paid by the rich nations, and that a new global body is required, perhaps working as part of the UN, to direct the world's low-carbon transformation in sectors as diverse as power, transport and heavy industry.

"We know that, to limit global temperature rises to below 2C, we'll need a step change in global innovation and technology transfer," said Shane Tomlinson of environment consultants E3G. "In the period to 2020, it's vital we avoid high carbon lock-in. The infrastructure decisions that developing countries are taking today, such as new power stations, are going to determine their emissions pathways for 20-30 years."

In the short term, that means rolling out proven technologies such as onshore and offshore wind power, solar photovoltaics and energy efficiency measures. A recent analysis by the Climate Group found that, to meet the emissions targets already agreed by nations, 9.3bn tonnes of CO2 must be prevented from entering the atmosphere by 2020. But these will not be enough for the deep cuts – 80% or more on 1990 levels – that many rich countries will have to deliver by 2050, if the world is to limit warming to the 2C that scientists agree is the safe limit. By then, according to the International Energy Agency, 17 technologies will have to be developed and rolled out to deliver a reduction of 42bn tonnes of CO2. Most of that technology – ranging from carbon capture and storage, solar power and zero-emission vehicles – will need to be deployed in emerging economies.

At Copenhagen, the first decision on technology will be to decide if a new co-ordinating body should have powers to command the clean tech roll out. "The G77 [group of developing nations] and China have proposed a new central executive, political body," said Tomlinson. It would be part of the existing UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which administers the Kyoto protocol.

However, Europe and the US want only an advisory committee – their main concern is that a strong political body may end up channelling funds into state enterprises rather than keeping a level playing field for all businesses. Developing countries say an advisory body would have little power to drive the dramatic changes needed.

The polarised debate has led some to compare the sharing of IP in green technology to arguments over whether pharmaceutical companies should give up patents for expensively developed HIV or malaria drugs in those nations blighted by the illnesses. Alia al-Dalli, deputy resident representative in Morocco for the United Nations Development Programme, said that without local education programmes, the only winners from Copenhagen will be multinational technology companies. "Capacity-development is very important – people need to be educated and aware. You've got to be able to produce technologies by the south for the south, in the south," she said. "It will not merely be technology transfer."

Ambuj Sagar, a professor of policy studies at the Indian Institute of Technology – Delhi, said: "The best step would be if we stopped using the term technology transfer and started using something like innovation co-operation to signify that this is not a simple issue. It is not a hand-off from producers of technology to users of technology. We need co-operation instead of a simple reliance on markets to tackle what is an immense challenge."

#3537

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:26 am
Subject: Investment fund for biomass/biogas

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a44d8366-d604-11de-b80f-00144feabdc0.html

New funds: Nov 23

Published: November 22 2009 11:13 | Last updated: November 22 2009 11:13

â—Earth Capital Partners is launching the ECP Renewable Energy Fund to invest in solar, biogas and biomass projects, targeting up to â‚¬750m. ECP has teamed up with Eon Climate & Renewables to be the fundâ€™s main industrial service provider.

#3538

From: "Norman Jiwan" <norman@...>
Date: Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:23 am
Subject: DECLARATION 'SAVE THE PEOPLES AND FOREST OF PAPUA'

papahasimoto...

Offline

DECLARATION OF THE FIRST CONGRESS
‘SAVE THE PEOPLES AND FOREST OF PAPUA’
PORT NUMBAY, 21 November 2009

WE, THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE FIRST CONGRESS, RECOGNIZE THAT ADAT COMMUNITY UNDERGOES MARGINALIZATION AND NEGLECTION FROM THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO THE EXPANSION OF PALM OIL PLANTATION, MINING, DECENTRALISATION, MILITARY INFRASTRUCTURE ACTIVITIES AND LOGGING CONCESSION IN WHICH THESE ACTIVITIES DO NOT RESPECT AND REGONIZE ADAT COMMUNITY RIGHTS AND CAUSE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE LAND OF PAPUA.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PAPUA ADAT COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN THE KEY PLAYERS AND MAIN ACTORS IN NATURAL RESOURCES BASED-LOCAL WISDOM MANAGEMENT FOR CENTURIES. WE UNDERSTAND THAT ALL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES SHOULD INVOLVE ADAT COMMUNITY AND ALL OF THE OUTCOMES SHOULD BE MAINLY INTENDED TO IMPROVE THE WELFARE OF PAPUANS

REFLECTING THE REALITY, WE, THE PARTICIPANTS OF FIRST CONGRESS, “SAVE THE PEOPLE AND FOREST OF PAPUA, WHICH BRINGS TOGETHER CUSTOMARY LEADERS, FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, CSO/NGO ACTIVISTIS, WOMEN REPRESENTATION, EXPRESS OUR CONCERN AND POSITION TO PUSH FORWARD FOR A RECOGNITION, PROTECTION OF ADAT CUSTOMARY RIGHTS AND EMPOWER ADAT COMMUNITY.

WE AFFIRM THAT PAPUA MUST BE MADE AS A PEACEFUL AND PROSPEROUS LAND FREE FROM VIOLATIONS AND INTIMIDATIONS. THIS COMMITMENT INSPIRES US TO ISSUE A DECLARATION IN THIS FIRST KONGRESS ‘SAVE THE PEOPLE AND FOREST OF PAPUA WITH THE AFFIRMATION THAT:

“IT IS THE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE STATE TO SAVE THE PEOPLE AND FOREST OF PAPUA,”

WE THEREFORE DECLARE:

1.             PAPUA LAND IS RECOGNIZED AS PAPUAN’S MOTHER WHO GIVES THE LIFE. THE LAND OF PAPUA IS THE HERITAGE OF ADAT COMMUNITY. THUS, IT BELONG TO ADAT CUSTOMARY PEOPLE. THERFORE, THE LAND CAN NOT BE SOLD AND BOUGHT.

2.             ADAT HONOR, AS PART OF ADAT ASSETS, SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TO NON PAPUANS

3.             ALL NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE LAND OF PAPUA SHOULD BE FREE FROM MILITARY AND POLICE INTERVENTION AND INVOLVEMENT

4.             ALL DEVELOPMENT IN THE LAND OF PAPUA AND ITS UTILITY IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO IMPROVE THE WELAFARE OF ADAT COMMUNITY. THEREFORE, ADAT COMMUNITY SHOULD BE INVOLVED AND PARTICIPATE ACTIVELY IN ALL DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

5.             ALL FORMS OF EXPLOITATION OVER NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE LAND OF PAPUA WHICH DESTROYS ENVIRONMENT AND CAUSES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS SHOULD BE STOPPED.

6.             THE LAND OF PAPUA SHOULD BE FREE FROM ‘INTELLECTUAL PROSTITUTION’ DONE BY ACADEMICS AND CSO ACTIVISTS WHICH OFTEN LEGITIMATES DECENTRALIZATION, DESTROYS ENVIRONMENT AND LOCAL WISDOM

7.             DECENTRALIZATION IN THE LAND OF PAPUA HAS CREATED NEW PROBLEMS, CAUSES HORIZONTAL CONFLICTS WHICH DESTROYS THE EXISTING ADAT COMMUNITY STRUCTURE. THEREFORE, THE DECENTRALIZATION OF REGENCY/CITY AND PROVINCE IN THE LAND OF PAPUA SHOULD BE STOPPED.

8.             ALL FORMS OF ACTIVITIES AND INITIATIVES FOR CARBON TRADE AND CARBON COMPENSATION WHICH DO NOT RECOGNIZE THE RIGHTS OF ADAT COMMUNITY IN LAND OF PAPUA SHOULD BE STOPPED.

9.             THE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD GIVEN TO GOVERNOR OF PAPUA PROVINCE INDICATES AN APPRECIATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR THE EFFORTS TO SUSTAIN AND PROTECT PEOPLE AND FOREST OF PAPUA. THEREFORE, GOVERNMENT OF PAPUA SHOULD MATERIALIZE AND REALIZE THEIR SUPPORT FOR THE PROTECTION OF PAPUA LAND

10.         THE VIOLATIONS OF INTELLECTUAL RIGHTS DONE BY NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND RESEARCHERS OVER PAPUA ENDEMIC FLORA AND FAUNA SHOULD BE STOPPED

11.         ADAT COMMUNITY HAS EXPERIENCED DRAMATIC DEPOPULATION. THEREFORE, STATE-SPONSORED FAMILY PLANNING SHOULD BE STOPPED AND ALL PARTIES SHOULD SERIOUSLY COMBAT THE SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS, IMPROVE MOTHER AND CHILDREN HEALTH AND NUTRITION AND PROMOTE EDUCATION QUALITY

12.         ADAT COMMUNITY IN THE LAND OF PAPUA IN ALL LEVELS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE REGIONS SHOULD STRENGTHEN THEIR ADAT STRUCTURE AND THEIR CAPACITY AND PRESERVE ADAT VALUES AND NORMS.

ALL REGULATIONS ISSUED BY GOVERNMENT WHICH DO NOT RECOGNIZE AND PROTECT AND EMPOWER ADAT COMMUNITY IN THE LAND OF PAPUA SHOULD BE REMOVED.

WORK FOR YOUR BELOVED LAND
UNITED WE CAN, WE CAN UNITE
SAVE THE PEOPLE AND FOREST OF PAPUA
GOD BLESS THE LAND OF PAPUA

===========================================================

Norman Jiwan

Head of Department

Social and Environmental Risk Mitigation Initiatives

Sawit Watch, Association

Jl. Sempur Kaler No. 28

Bogor 16129
Phone: +62-251-8352171

Email: norman@...

Homepage: www.sawitwatch.or.id

===========================================================

#3539

From: "claudia.theile@..." <claudia.theile@...>
Date: Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:43 am
Subject: Bulgaria builds palm oil terminal in Black sea

claudia.theile@...

Dear all,

After the Ukraine, also Bulgaria is set to import more palm oil. See article here under. This is a very concerning trend. Countries from South East Europe are exporting more and more of their rape seed and sun flower oil to the richer EU states that build up biodiesel installations. At the same time, more palm oil is used for the food industry in Europe, also in the new EU meber states.
greetings,
Claudia

source: http://www.palmoilhq.com/PalmOilNews/bulgaria-to-develop-black-sea-indonesian-palm-oil-terminal/

November 20, 2009 20:16 UTC+8
Bulgaria to Develop Black Sea Indonesian Palm Oil Terminal

www.novinite.com

Bulgaria is set to develop a terminal for imported palm oil at one of its Black Sea ports according to reports in the Indonesian press.

After Thursday’s reports of the Bulgarian government investing USD 30 M in the Indonesian fertilizer industry and looking to buy coal from East and South Kalimantan. Bulgaria is now reported to be planning to want to develop a Indonesian palm oil terminal at one of its Black Sea ports.

The plan is one of significant results of Indonesian economic and international relation officials’ meeting with Bulgaria in Bilateral Consultative Forum in Lombok, Indonesia on Thursday, vivanews.com stated.

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Marin Raykov, and Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Evgeny Angelov both attended the meeting.

The Bulgarian delegation welcomed Indonesia’s intention to conduct market expansion of Indonesian agricultural products to Europe. The products include cocoa, coffee, vanilla, black pepper and white pepper.

Aside from the economic collaboration, Indonesia and Bulgaria also signed a Visa-Free Agreement for Diplomatic and Working Passport Holders.

-- Claudia Theile
Campaigner Biomass/Palmoil
Friends of the Earth
Netherlands
P.O. Box 19199
1000 GD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
T (+31) (0)20 5507 300
F (+31) (0)20 5507 310
www.milieudefensie.nl

#3540

From: Miriam Ross <mr@...>
Date: Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:28 pm
Subject: Survival International report highlights biofuels threat to indigenous peoples

mimross

Offline

Dear Friends,

Please find below Survival International's press release on our new report, ‘The most inconvenient truth of all: climate change and indigenous people’. In addition to highlighting some of the ways in which indigenous peoples are being affected by climate change itself, the report looks at how indigenous peoples are suffering due to some of the measures supposedly intended to stop climate change - including biofuels.

The report contains a section on how sugar cane plantations for biofuel are threatening the Guarani Indians of Brazil.

Download the report at http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/132/survival_climate_change_report_english.pdf

Best wishes,

Miriam Ross

SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

23 November 2009

‘Moves to stop global warming are devastating tribal people’, says new report

Hydropower dams are being built across the Amazon in
the name of combating climate change. ©Survival

Measures to stop global warming risk being as harmful to tribal peoples as climate change itself, according to a new report from tribal rights organisation Survival International.

The report, ‘The most inconvenient truth of all: climate change and indigenous people’, sets out four key ‘mitigation measures’ that threaten tribal people:

1. Biofuels: promoted as an alernative, ‘green’ source of energy to fossil fuels, much of the land allocated to grow them is the ancestral land of tribal people. If biofuels expansion continues as planned, millions of indigenous people worldwide stand to lose their land and livelihoods.

2. Hydro-electric power: A new boom in dam construction in the name of combating climate change is driving thousands of tribal people from their homes.

3. Forest conservation: Kenya’s Ogiek hunter-gatherers are being forced from the forests they have lived in for hundreds of years to ‘reverse the ravages’ of global warming.

4. Carbon offsetting: Tribal peoples’ forests now have a monetary value in the booming ‘carbon credits’ market. Indigenous people say this will lead to forced evictions and the ‘theft of our land’.

The report calls for tribal people to be fully involved in decisions that affect them, and for their land ownership rights to be upheld.

Survival Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This report highlights ‘the most inconvenient truth of all’ – that the world’s tribal people, who have done the least to cause climate change and are most affected by it, are now having their rights violated and land devastated in the name of attempts to stop it. Hiding behind the global push to prevent climate change, governments and companies are mounting a massive land grab. As usual, where money and vast profits are at stake, the world’s indigenous people are being shamefully swept aside.’

Read the report.

A press kit is available.

To read this story online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5273

For more information and images, or to use the attached image, please contact Miriam Ross:

T (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504543367
E mr@...
W http://www.survivalinternational.org/

Survival International
6 Charterhouse Buildings
London EC1M 7ET
United Kingdom

#3541

From: "sarah.clayton7" <sarah.clayton7@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:19 am
Subject: KLM's First (one eighth) Biofuel Flight Takes Off

sarah.clayton7

Offline

23.11.2009  (Reuters)

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines on Monday said it operated its first ever passenger
flight powered by sustainable biokerosene.

During the 1.5 hour flight above the Netherlands, one engine of the Boeing 747
ran on a mixture of 50% sustainable biofuel and 50% traditional kerosene. The
other three engines ran on 100% normal kerosene.

KLM chief executive Peter Hartman said the biofuel used on the flight reduces
CO2 emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional kerosene.  "We hope to
receive certification at the end of 2010. Then the question is: how fast can we
produce it?"

Aircraft account for an estimated 2-4% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions,
which scientists say could cause global temperatures to rise, triggering
widespread disease, famine, flooding and drought.

Experts say global aviation emissions could reach 2.4 billion tonnes in 2050,
which would be 15-20% of all CO2 permitted under a global agreement and a nearly
four-fold increase on current levels.

KLM, North Sea Petroleum and Spring Associates on Monday founded the SkyEnergy
consortium, targeting sufficient supply of biofuels for planes.

"We have demonstrated that it is possible.  Government, industry and society at
large must now join forces to ensure that we quickly gain access to a continuous
supply of biofuel," Hartman said.

(Reuters)

http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1259004254.html



see also



KLM flies world's first "passenger flight on biofuel"

23.11.2009  (Yahoo news)

THE HAGUE (AFP) – A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent
biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline
KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

"This is technically feasible. We have demonstrated that it is possible," KLM
chief executive officer Peter Hartman said after the flight, which took off and
landed at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam.

"Government, industry and society at large must now join forces to ensure that
we quickly gain access to a continuous supply of biofuel."

The flight had about 40 people on board, including Hartman, Economic Affairs
Minister Maria van der Hoeven, the director of nature group WWF in the
Netherlands, Johan van de Gronden, and a handful of journalists.

KLM spokeswoman Monique Matze told AFP that of the Boeing's four engines, one
was powered by a mix of 50 percent sustainable kerosene and 50 percent normal
fuel.  The biofuel was manufactured from the camelina plant, sourced from a
biotechnology company based in Seattle in the United States.

The test flight was also the first of any kind in Europe powered partly by
sustainable biofuel, according to KLM.

"Of course, we (!) compensated the footprint of transporting the fuel from the
United States to here," added Matze, citing ongoing projects to reduce CO2
emissions.

KLM said its quest for biokerosene was conditional on forests, food and water
sources not being jeopardised.

Matze said the company "dare not name any targets" for switching to biofuel for
its commercial flights, saying "the difficulty now is the availability of
biofuels."

Monday's flight, she said, was "the first step towards ensuring clean and
sustainable air transport."


http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=three%20mile%20island&ei=UTF-8


and my own rough calculations:

Boeing say a 747 uses about 4 litres (1 gallon) of fuel per second.
So for a 90 minute flight, that is

   90 x 4 x 60 = 21,600 litres (5,400 gallons)

so one eight of that is 2,700 litres (675 gallons) of camelina oil.

Camelina, average predicted yield 135 Gallons/acre/year
(see page 16 of 
http://www.enviro.aero/Content/Upload/File/BeginnersGuide_Biofuels_ReferenceCopy\
.pdf )

So this one flight used - in theory - 5 acres of land for one year.  And if the
whole flight had been using camelina only, it would have taken  40 acres for one
year to fuel it.

That is something like 20 football pitches for a one and a half hour flight.

Sarah

#3542

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:51 am
Subject: Shame companies into using sustainable palm oil, says minister (UK)

jimroland99

Offline

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shame-companies-into-using-sustainable-palm-oil-says-minister-1826276.html

Key excerpt:

The Government, she disclosed, is funding a climate change standard for palm oil plantations to run as a voluntary scheme alongside the Rspo programme.

Environmental groups Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace complain the Rspo is full of loopholes and works with companies which have only partly certified their plantations.

Shame companies into using sustainable palm oil, says minister

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Monday, 23 November 2009

Multinational companies should be “named and shamed” into sourcing sustainable palm oil to protect the world’s tropical rainforests, says Britain’s Energy Minister, Joan Ruddock.

In an interview with the The Independent, Ms Ruddock, who saw the devastation of virgin rainforest first hand on a trip to Indonesia last week, urged companies to improve their sourcing of the world’s cheapest vegetable oil.

She backed the new league rankings introduced by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which last month ranked 59 European retailers and manufacturers on their degree of involvement with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (Rspo).

Among 14 British firms that had not bought any Rspo oil were Boots, Waitrose, Morrisons, the Co-op, and Tesco.

While avoiding the mention of the worst performing companies, Ms Ruddock praised the best, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer, and suggested that rather than introducing a labelling scheme for sustainable palm oil NGOs should focus on the reputatations of corporations and "show consumers which are supporting sustainability and which are not.”

Asked if she supported WWF’s ‘naming and shaming,’ she replied: “Yes, I do and I want to encourage all companies using palm oil in their companies to work with the Rspo to support the production of sustainable palm oil.”

She said she had been “quite depressed” by the blackened degraded landscapes she had found in heavily logged or burnt jungles, and could see several forest fires raging in the distance.

The Government, she disclosed, is funding a climate change standard for palm oil plantations to run as a voluntary scheme alongside the Rspo programme.

Environmental groups Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace complain the Rspo is full of loopholes and works with companies which have only partly certified their plantations.

Ms Ruddock nonetheless believed the scheme represented the best chance of saving further destruction of primary forests which leads to the eviction of native peoples, loss of wildlife and greenhouse gas emissions.

“I think what matters is with the Rspo is there’s a spectrum of companies and that have both the sustainable and unsustainable views but it’s a unique combination of companies that are in production,” Ms Ruddock said.

“So I think this is a body that we very much want to support. Of course we want to move further and faster on their commitment to sustainable growing - and we want to get the criteria improved.”

Britain is spending £165m on a scheme to pay developing countries to keep their forests, REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, which will be discussed at the Copenhagen summit on climate change next month.

[Comments]

Use Hotmail to send and receive mail from your different email accounts. Find out how.

#3543

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:21 pm
Subject: No ILUC considerations under UK Renewable Energy targets

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-11-23a.300405.h&s=biofuel#g300405.r0

#3544

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:34 pm
Subject: KLM forms SkyEnergy - aviation agrofuel company - WWF is adviser

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://corporate.klm.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/archive-2009/klm-takes-strides-in-sustainable-air-transport

#3545

From: "Almuth" <almuth@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:07 pm
Subject: Fwd: New book on carbon trading

almuthbernst...

Offline

Note: Chapter 4 includes a case study on a biomass power station that receives CDM credits.

http://carbontradewatch.org/

CARBON TRADING – HOW IT WORKS AND WHY IT FAILS

Carbon trading lies at the centre of global climate policy and is projected to become one of the world's largest commodities markets, yet it has a disastrous track record since its adoption as part of the Kyoto Protocol. /Carbon Trading: how it works and why it fails/ outlines the limitations of an approach to tackling climate change which redefines the problem to fit the assumptions of neoliberal economics. It demonstrates that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the world's largest carbon market, has consistently failed to ´cap´ emissions, while the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) routinely favours environmentally ineffective and socially unjust projects. This is illustrated with case studies of CDM projects in Brazil, Indonesia, India and Thailand.

UN climate talks in Copenhagen are discussing ways to expand the trading experiment, but the evidence suggests it should be abandoned. From subsidy shifting to regulation, there is a plethora of ways forward without carbon trading – but there are no short cuts around situated local knowledge and political organising if climate change is to be addressed in a just and fair manner.

Download: http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/cc7/cc7_web.pdf

*To request a printed copy, please contact: nina[at]tni.org

#3546

From: "Phil England" <phil@...>
Date: Tue Nov 24, 2009 4:54 pm
Subject: sweet little film about food security in kenya

philengland2004

Offline

View this email in your browser

ï»¿

----- Original Message -----

From: Rowan Phillimore

To: phil@...

Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:29 PM

Subject: A Film from The Gaia Foundation

The Kamburu Story - A film from the Gaia Foundation

Dear Friends

We are thrilled to share with you a short film from Gaia and our Kenyan partner, The Institute of Culture & Ecology.

As you are all aware, in just two weeks time we will see the most critical climate negotiations since the Kyoto protocol was adopted in 1997. The Copenhagen climate conference will determine the way we approach the crisis we face and whether we make the decisions now that secure the future of generations to come. At such a critical time, it is imperative that the contribution that local and indigenous communities are making to foster real solutions to climate resilience and local community self-governance are recognised as viable approaches to climate change.

The Kamburu Story - A Community-led Response to Climate Change was made last month and shares the courageous steps of the Kamburu community of central Kenya, as they re-learn and enhance indigenous organic farming methods. The programme has been community-led, in recognition that the agricultural knowledge needed for food sovereignty is already within the community. In just 18 months the people of Kamburu have created a food surplus and are now actively sharing their learnings with neighbouring communities. They understand that their resilience depends on the resilience of the ecosystem that sustains them.

The film runs for just 12 minutes, it would mean a lot to the community of Kamburu, and to us, if you could spare that time amidst the chaos of life to watch it.

Click on the image below to be re-directed to the film...

Bookmark with:		What are these?
	digg	facebook	mySpace
	linkedin	bebo	twitter

We need your help to ensure that the voice of African communities is heard in Copenhagen and beyond.

1. Please share this film with friends, family and colleagues in order to help us raise awareness of this positive story of change during Copenhagen and beyond. The forward to a friend button at the bottom of this email will ensure that the graphics are not re-formatted upon sending. Alternatively, simply cut and paste the vimeo link and and pass on to as many people as you can.

2. Please donate what you can. There are communities right across Africa that need their confidence re-building so that they can find their own local solutions to build climate resilience. Please help Gaia and our partners to continue this work by donating now. Please click here to donate online. We greatly appreciate your support.

Who is The Gaia Foundation?


	The Gaia Foundation is the small international hub of a global network of dynamic individuals and organisations working together at different levels to address the root causes of todayâ€™s most pressing ecological, social and economic challenges. Our work is to foster critical connections, through which new thinking, knowledge, practices and commitment can lead to significant change. We work in Africa, South America, Asia and Europe, to regenerate healthy ecosystems, enhance traditional knowledge and practices for land, seed, food and water sovereignty, and to strengthen community self-governance. This enables communities to become more resilient to climate change and related challenges. To find out more about The Gaia Foundation contact Rowan on 0207 428 0054 or please visit our website

The Gaia Foundation
Gaia Learning Centre: 18 Well Walk Hampstead, London, NW3 1LD
Gaia Main Office: 6 Heathgate Place, Agincourt Road, London, NW3 2NU
Charity registration number 327412 | Telephone: 020 7428 0055

Unsubscribe
Forward to a friend
Contact us

www.gaiafoundation.org

#3548

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 1:57 am
Subject: Plant forests across Britain to beat climate change, say scientists

jimroland99

Offline

1. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6930091.ece

From The Times

November 25, 2009

Plant forests across Britain to beat climate change, say scientists

(Peter Willows)

Iconic species such as the English oak and the beech could be destroyed by higher temperatures in the South of England

Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor

The creation of new forests and woodlands across the country will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent and protect communities at risk of flooding, according to a scientific study for the Forestry Commission.
Planting trees in 23,000 hectares a year for the next 40 years — about the size of Queen’s Balmoral estate, or a town the size of Kettering, Northamptonshire — would result in just an extra 4 per cent of land for trees, bringing a total of 16 per cent forest in Britain.
In flood plains and upland areas such as Cumbria, where extreme rainfall and flooding is already a reality, there is a need for new forestry to capture rainfall and lessen the flood risk. Trees in city and town centres would help to mitigate expected higher temperatures, while new woods along rivers will provide shade and help to protect aquatic eco-systems.
Professor Sir David Read, chairman of the study, told The Times that one of the crucial findings of the report was the importance of woods in river catchment areas. “Trees intercept rainfall and retain water, and one of the problems we are seeing now in the Lake District is [that] there is nothing to stop the water running off the hills,” he said. “We must look again at the contribution of forestry in the uplands and returning them in the direction they once were before we deforested them.”

The professor, one of Britain’s leading plant scientists, accepted that new forests would be controversial in some areas and that it was important for communities to have their say in how areas embrace the challenges of climate change. “What we need is an integrated examination of land use across the UK so that a consensus can be reached on how we tackle our changed circumstances,” he said.
In order to achieve this sylvan future, however, the professor said that Britain must accept the introduction of non-native species to replace native trees. Iconic species such as the English oak and the beech could be destroyed by higher temperatures in the South of England and the Sitka spruce, the most commercial tree in Britain, is likely to be confined to the North and North West.
He said: “We have to think now what is going to replace them. It is possible that Pyrenean, downy or white oak will do better in future conditions, but we urgently need the trials now to test these species. We have got to find out now which species will be best for the environment. We can’t wait until 2050. We can’t be squeamish, as we have been in the past, about replacing native species with non-native species, though of course there would need to be proper safeguards and we would have to assess the potential for invasiveness.”
He suggested that the Sitka spruce grown in Britain, predominantly in Scotland, were from seeds from British Columbia, but that it would be prudent now to try strains that currently grow in the warmer climate of southern Oregon. His scenario envisages many new woodlands for the South of England that would not only capture carbon emissions but that would also be used as an energy crop to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
These woods would comprise willow and poplar, and more mixed deciduous forests of sycamore, ash and birch. The Scottish landscape would continue to be dominated by conifers, he suggested, while in Wales there would be a mixture of new broadleaf and conifer plantations.
Future rainfall patterns forecast most extreme weather on the west coast of Scotland, in the North West of England and the west coast of Wales, and therefore he believed that these areas should be considered a priority for new forests.
The assessment, thought to be the first national study of this kind in the world, is intended to trigger a new debate between the Government and landowners over future land use.
Professor Read said: “By increasing our tree cover we can lock up carbon directly. By using more wood for fuel and construction materials we can make savings by using less gas, oil and coal, and by substituting sustainably produced timber for less climate-friendly materials.
“While so many emission-reduction measures have negative connotations, tree planting can be a win, win, win solution: people love trees, we benefit from them in so many different ways, and now we know they could play a significant part in reducing the UK’s CO2 emissions.”
Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said that the Government intended to work with communities and businesses to ensure that sufficient trees were planted to tackle climate change. He pledged to do more to increase forestry. “Forests and trees are an important part of the way we live and interact with our surroundings, and we cannot underestimate the role that trees will play in reducing our carbon emissions,” he said.
Many traditional forests have been restored. A century ago there was just over 5 per cent woodland, while today it is 12 per cent. Estimates for the maximum cover since the last Ice Age suggest Britain was once 80 per cent forest.

2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8377744.stm

Page last updated at 22:59 GMT, Tuesday, 24 November 2009

More forests planned to tackle climate change

#3549

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:14 am
Subject: "40% of Tanzania earmarked for biofuels" - speaker to UK

jimroland99

Offline

"The nine regions that have been earmarked for biofuel cover roughly 40 per cent of the total land of Tanzania."

http://business.scotsman.com/business/Expert-to-warn-UK-about.5850355.jp

Expert to warn UK about biofuel damage

Premium Article !

Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button.
Options

Premium Article !

To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site.
Subscribe

Registered Article !

To read this article in full you must be registered with the site.

Published Date: 24 November 2009

By Andrew Arbuckle

SO FAR, it is not an issue in this country with production outstripping demand for food but now large tracts of Africa and South America are being bought up by multinational companies determined to claim that they are meeting their renewable energy contracts and this action is having a major effect on local farmers.

This week, Stephen Ruvuga, an expert on biofuels, who leads a farmers group in his native Tanzania, will come to Scotland to explain the damage to his homeland and other countries experiencing the same tactics.

He is in Scotland principally to speak at a conference at the Moredun on 2 December but will also attend the Royal Highland Winter Fair tomorrow.

Speaking prior to his visit, which is sponsored by the Scottish charity Vetaid, Ruvuga said he believed biofuel production would interfere with traditional food production patterns. It will also disrupt the livelihood and ecology in Africa.

"Primarily, it targets markets in Europe and seeks to address the European consumer patterns rather than the African economic and energy challenges."

He stated there are currently about 38 companies, the majority of which are European and American, that have applied for land for biofuel production in Tanzania.

The nine regions that have been earmarked for biofuel cover roughly 40 per cent of the total land of Tanzania. Most of the tracts that have either been earmarked or already purchased range from 500,000 hectares to about 20,000 hectares.

Ruvuga gave actual examples of this business saying SEKAB from Sweden is reported to have acquired about 200,000 hectares from the Coast Region.

Page 1 of 1

Add other email accounts to Hotmail in 3 easy steps. Find out how.

#3550

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 2:17 am
Subject: Distorted oil reserve figures create biofuel opportunities in Asia

jimroland99

Offline

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2009/11/Pages/Distorted-oil-reserve-figures-create-biofuel-opportunities-in-Asia.aspx

Distorted oil reserve figures create biofuel opportunities in Asia

John C.K. Daly, OilPrice.com

Published 11/23/2009

The recent revelations of a International Energy Administration whistleblower that the IEA may have distorted key oil projections under intense U.S. pressure is, if true (and whistleblowers rarely come forward to advance their careers), a slow-burning thermonuclear explosion on future global oil production. The Bush administration’s actions in pressuring the IEA to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves have the potential to throw governments’ long-term planning into chaos.

Whatever the reality, rising long term global demands seem certain to outstrip production in the next decade, especially given the high and rising costs of developing new super-fields such as Kazakhstan’s offshore Kashagan and Brazil’s southern Atlantic Jupiter and Carioca fields, which will require billions in investments before their first barrels of oil are produced.

In such a scenario, additives and substitutes such as biofuels will play an ever-increasing role by stretching beleaguered production quotas. As market forces and rising prices drive this technology to the forefront, one of the richest potential production areas has been totally overlooked by investors up to now – Central Asia . Formerly the USSR ’s cotton “plantation,” the region is poised to become a major player in the production of biofuels if sufficient foreign investment can be procured. Unlike Brazil , where biofuel is manufactured largely from sugarcane, or the United States , where it is primarily distilled from corn, Central Asia 's ace resource is an indigenous plant, Camelina sativa.

Of the former Soviet Caucasian and Central Asian republics, those clustered around the shores of the Caspian, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have seen their economies boom because of record-high energy prices, while Turkmenistan is waiting in the wings as a rising producer of natural gas.

Farther to the east, in Uzbekistan , Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan , geographical isolation and relatively scant hydrocarbon resources relative to their Western Caspian neighbors have largely inhibited their ability to cash in on rising global energy demands up to now. Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan remain largely dependent for their electrical needs on their Soviet-era hydroelectric infrastructure, but their heightened need to generate winter electricity has led to autumnal and winter water discharges, in turn severely impacting the agriculture of their western downstream neighbors Uzbekistan , Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan .

What these three downstream countries do have however is a Soviet-era legacy of agricultural production, which in Uzbekistan’s and Turkmenistan case was largely directed towards cotton production, while Kazakhstan, beginning in the 1950s with Khrushchev’s “Virgin Lands” programs, has become a major producer of wheat. Based on my discussions with Central Asian government officials, given the thirsty demands of cotton monoculture, foreign proposals to diversify agrarian production towards biofuel would have great appeal in Astana, Ashgabat and Tashkent and to a lesser extent Astana for those hardy investors willing to bet on the future, especially as a plant indigenous to the region has already proven itself in trials.
Known in the West as false flax, wild flax, linseed dodder, German sesame and Siberian oilseed, camelina is attracting increased scientific interest for its oleaginous qualities, with several European and American companies already investigating how to produce it in commercial quantities for biofuel. In January Japan Airlines undertook a historic test flight using camelina-based bio-jet fuel, becoming the first Asian carrier to experiment with flying on fuel derived from sustainable feedstocks during a one-hour demonstration flight from Tokyo 's Haneda Airport . The test was the culmination of a 12-month evaluation of camelina's operational performance capability and potential commercial viability.
As an alternative energy source, camelina has much to recommend it. It has a high oil content low in saturated fat. In contrast to Central Asia's thirsty "king cotton," camelina is drought-resistant and immune to spring freezing, requires less fertilizer and herbicides, and can be used as a rotation crop with wheat, which would make it of particular interest in Kazakhstan, now Central Asia’s major wheat exporter. Another bonus of camelina is its tolerance of poorer, less fertile conditions. An acre sown with camelina can produce up to 100 gallons of oil and when planted in rotation with wheat, camelina can increase wheat production by 15 percent. A ton (1000 kg) of camelina will contain 350 kg of oil, of which pressing can extract 250 kg. Nothing in camelina production is wasted as after processing, the plant’s debris can be used for livestock silage. Camelina silage has a particularly attractive concentration of omega-3 fatty acids that make it a particularly fine livestock feed candidate that is just now gaining recognition in the U.S. and Canada . Camelina is fast growing, produces its own natural herbicide (allelopathy) and competes well against weeds when an even crop is established. According to Britain ’s Bangor University ’s Centre for Alternative Land Use, “Camelina could be an ideal low-input crop suitable for bio-diesel production, due to its lower requirements for nitrogen fertilizer than oilseed rape.”
Camelina, a branch of the mustard family, is indigenous to both Europe and Central Asia and hardly a new crop on the scene: archaeological evidence indicates it has been cultivated in Europe for at least three millennia to produce both vegetable oil and animal fodder.

Field trials of production in Montana , currently the center of U.S. camelina research, showed a wide range of results of 330-1,700 lbs of seed per acre, with oil content varying between 29 and 40%. Optimal seeding rates have been determined to be in the 6-8 lb per acre range, as the seeds’ small size of 400,000 seeds per lb can create problems in germination to achieve an optimal plant density of around 9 plants per sq. ft.
Camelina's potential could allow Uzbekistan to begin breaking out of its most dolorous legacy, the imposition of a cotton monoculture that has warped the country's attempts at agrarian reform since achieving independence in 1991. Beginning in the late 19th century, the Russian government determined that Central Asia would become its cotton plantation to feed Moscow 's growing textile industry. The process was accelerated under the Soviets. While Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan , Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were also ordered by Moscow to sow cotton, Uzbekistan in particular was singled out to produce "white gold."
By the end of the 1930s the Soviet Union had become self-sufficient in cotton; five decades later it had become a major exporter of cotton, producing more than one-fifth of the world's production, concentrated in Uzbekistan , which produced 70 percent of the Soviet Union 's output.
Try as it might to diversify, in the absence of alternatives Tashkent remains wedded to cotton, producing about 3.6 million tons annually, which brings in more than $1 billion while constituting approximately 60 percent of the country's hard currency income.
Beginning in the mid-1960s the Soviet government's directives for Central Asian cotton production largely bankrupted the region's scarcest resource, water. Cotton uses about 3.5 acre feet of water per acre of plants, leading Soviet planners to divert ever-increasing volumes of water from the region's two primary rivers, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, into inefficient irrigation canals, resulting in the dramatic shrinkage of the rivers' final destination, the Aral Sea. The Aral, once the world's fourth-largest inland sea with an area of 26,000 square miles, has shrunk to one-quarter its original size in one of the 20th century's worst ecological disasters.

And now, the dollars and cents. Dr. Bill Schillinger at Washington State University recently described camelina’s business model to Capital Press as: “At 1,400 pounds per acre at 16 cents a pound, camelina would bring in $224 per acre; 28-bushel white wheat at $8.23 per bushel would garner $230.”
Central Asia has the land, the farms, the irrigation infrastructure and a modest wage scale in comparison to America or Europe – all that’s missing is the foreign investment. U.S. investors have the cash and access to the expertise of America ’s land grant universities. What is certain is that biofuel’s market share will grow over time; less certain is who will reap the benefits of establishing it as a viable concern in Central Asia.

If the recent past is anything to go by it is unlikely to be American and European investors, fixated as they are on Caspian oil and gas.

But while the Japanese flight experiments indicate Asian interest, American investors have the academic expertise, if they are willing to follow the Silk Road into developing a new market. Certainly anything that lessens water usage and pesticides, diversifies crop production and improves the lot of their agrarian population will receive most careful consideration from Central Asia’s governments, and farming and vegetable oil processing plants are not only much cheaper than pipelines, they can be built more quickly.

And jatropha’s biofuel potential? Another story for another time.

This article was submitted by www.OilPrice.com, which focus on Fossil Fuels, Alternative Energy, Metals, Oil Prices and Geopolitics. To find out more visit their website at: http://www.oilprice.com.

Have more than one Hotmail account? Link them together to easily access both.

#3551

From: "Almuth" <almuth@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:34 am
Subject: 5th December

almuthbernst...

Offline

Climate Emergency Bike Ride to focus on BP and E.ON, including BP's agrofuel investments and lobbying

Please meet outside the BP head office, St Jame's Square at 10.45 am to welcome the Climate Emergency Bike Ride, organised by Campaign Against Climate Change, which will stop outside BP in protest against their role in agrofuel and tar sands expansion and in humanitarian and environmental crimes. If you can bring banners or placards along, that would be great.

BP is a major investor in Brazilian sugar cane ethanol and directly involved in the destruction of the world's most biodiverse savannah. Sugar cane in Brazil is responsible not just for major biodiversity destruction, but also for pushing other agricultural activities into the Amazon forest, and for the displacement of large-numbers of rural communities. Slavery-like working conditions are widespread. BP prides itself of having been instrumental in formulating UK biofuel legislation. See: www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/BP.pdf . Another focus of the protest outside BP's head office is the company's tar sands investments in Canada. According to the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign and other groups "In Canada, oil production from the tar sands emits three times the global warming pollution as conventional oil, requires excessive amounts of energy and fresh water, and destroys huge swaths of boreal forest."

Afterwards, people will follow the cyclists to protest against coal power station plans outside E.On's Head Office and then join the Climate Emergency Rally at 12 noon, Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, also organised by Campaign Against Climate Change. See www.campaigncc.org for more details. "End Agrofuel Use" is one of six key demands of the rally.

Biofuelwatch and Food not Fuel

#3552

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:43 am
Subject: Fwd: 5th December

a_boswell_2004

Offline

For anyone not going down by coach (and arriving earlier).

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Almuth" <almuth@...>
Date: 25 Nov 2009 10:38
Subject: [biofuelwatch] 5th December
To: <biofuelwatch@yahoogroups.com>

Climate Emergency Bike Ride to focus on BP and E.ON, including BP's agrofuel investments and lobbying

Please meet outside the BP head office, St Jame's Square at 10.45 am to welcome the Climate Emergency Bike Ride, organised by Campaign Against Climate Change, which will stop outside BP in protest against their role in agrofuel and tar sands expansion and in humanitarian and environmental crimes. If you can bring banners or placards along, that would be great.

BP is a major investor in Brazilian sugar cane ethanol and directly involved in the destruction of the world's most biodiverse savannah. Sugar cane in Brazil is responsible not just for major biodiversity destruction, but also for pushing other agricultural activities into the Amazon forest, and for the displacement of large-numbers of rural communities. Slavery-like working conditions are widespread. BP prides itself of having been instrumental in formulating UK biofuel legislation. See: www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/BP.pdf . Another focus of the protest outside BP's head office is the company's tar sands investments in Canada. According to the Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign and other groups "In Canada, oil production from the tar sands emits three times the global warming pollution as conventional oil, requires excessive amounts of energy and fresh water, and destroys huge swaths of boreal forest."

Afterwards, people will follow the cyclists to protest against coal power station plans outside E.On's Head Office and then join the Climate Emergency Rally at 12 noon, Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, also organised by Campaign Against Climate Change. See www.campaigncc.org for more details. "End Agrofuel Use" is one of six key demands of the rally.

Biofuelwatch and Food not Fuel

#3553

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:46 am
Subject: Milton Keynes : Biogas into gas mains

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-11-24a.300711.h&s=green+energy#g300711.r0

#3554

From: "robert_palgrave" <robertpalgrave@...>
Date: Wed Nov 25, 2009 7:20 pm
Subject: Plant forests across Britain to beat climate change, say scientists

robert_palgrave

Offline

The creation of new forests and woodlands across the country will help to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent and protect communities at risk of
flooding, according to a scientific study for the Forestry Commission.

Planting trees in 23,000 hectares a year for the next 40 years — about the size
of Queen's Balmoral estate, or a town the size of Kettering, Northamptonshire —
would result in just an extra 4 per cent of land for trees, bringing a total of
16 per cent forest in Britain.


etc

Professor Read said: "By increasing our tree cover we can lock up carbon
directly. By using more wood for fuel and construction materials we can make
savings by using less gas, oil and coal, and by substituting sustainably
produced timber for less climate-friendly materials.

"While so many emission-reduction measures have negative connotations, tree
planting can be a win, win, win solution: people love trees, we benefit from
them in so many different ways, and now we know they could play a significant
part in reducing the UK's CO2 emissions."

Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said that the Government intended to
work with communities and businesses to ensure that sufficient trees were
planted to tackle climate change. He pledged to do more to increase forestry.
"Forests and trees are an important part of the way we live and interact with
our surroundings, and we cannot underestimate the role that trees will play in
reducing our carbon emissions," he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6930091.ece

comment from John Coleman below the article:

"Some advice,I plant trees.In my life time trees I planted 50 years ago have
been cropped fencing,posts sheds etc.
The CO2 argument is nonsense for the UK.
Insignificant.
Man should cease to fell the forests of Indonesia,Malaysia and Borneo.Been
there,UK buys the timber.The natives loose their land,the financiers make a
profit from the West.
Find a practical use for home grown timber other than burning it.
Cease digging up the peat on Scottish hills for expensive windmills.Leave the
CO2 where it is.
Soft woods mature in plus 50 years,native hardwoods plus 100 years.
Not a slick quick solution?
Find a use for our timber?"

#3555

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:56 am
Subject: new food crisis looms due to biofuels and speculation - UN food rappateur

a_boswell_2004

Offline

http://www.euractiv.com/en/cap/world-set-new-food-crisis-2010-un-warns/article-187695

#3556

From: MUCODEF <mucodef2000@...>
Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 9:28 am
Subject: Which is important FOREST/BIOFUEL

mucodef2000@...

Hi All
The last remnant of Cameroon South Western Dense Humid forest is under threat for Palm oil cultivation for biofuel

ATANGA Wilson Nebafor
+23777812631
"Be GREEN before printing this mail"

#3557

From: "Almuth" <almuth@...>
Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:37 am
Subject: Fwd: The European Union Must Stop False Solutions to Climate Change

almuthbernst...

Offline

Press Release: "We Seek HELP"

Human security, Ecological and Climate Debt, Land rights, Production and Consumption Change

The Indonesian Peasant's Union (SPI) – La Via Campesina, WALHI (FoE Indonesia), the Anti-Debt Coalition (KAU) and the Action-Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LS-ADI)

25 November 2009

The European Union Must Stop False Solutions to Climate Change

JAKARTA (25/11) – Eleven days before the fifteenth Conference of the Parties under the United Nations' Climate Change Convention that will be held in Copenhagen between the 7th and the 18th of December, an issue which remains controversial is the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and the Indonesian government, designed to support trade liberalisation between the two region as well as increase cooperation in the mitigation of climate change, in part through the provision of 550 million Euros of funding.

This climate change cooperation is based on a European Union agreement to decrease emissions by up to 20%, while at the same time encouraging the use of 10% agrofuel energy by 2020. To reach this target the European Union is supporting a carbon trading mechanism and the production of agrofuels in developing nations.

This decision will undoubtedly worsen the condition of developing nations like Indonesia, which are already experiencing the effects of climate crisis. Aside from the fact that the European Union's emissions target is not strong enough to save the global climate, support for the development of agrofuels will worsen the exploitation of land and shifting land use, and instead support the interests of corporations. Supporting the development of agrofuels also increases conflict between peasants and plantations, and by 2008 more that 500 such conflicts had already occurred between peasants and palm oil plantation companies in Indonesia.

Accordingly we argue that Annex 1 countries, in particular the European Union, must take appropriate and immediate steps to solve climate change. With the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, countries must commit to a decrease in emissions of at least 40% by 2020, while avoiding market mechanisms and prioritising the welfare of the people.

We call on Annex 1 countries and the European Union to show a serious commitment to changing extravagant consumption patterns and to instead consider ecological limits. Annex 1 countries also need to acknowledge that the use of clean energy does not equate with the use of agrofuels or nuclear energy, and does not involve dirty technology transfer such as carbon capture and storage. Annex 1 countries and the European Union should not allocate funding via loans, and should instead transfer knowledge to developing countries to establish renewable energy such as solar, wind and micro hydro.

In relation to agriculture, we call on Annex 1 countries and the European Union to support sustainable agriculture, because this will correct environmental damage and help millions of small farming families. Agriculture must also support the cooling of the earth by using farming practices that store CO2 and decrease the use of energy within agriculture.

The European Union, as an organisation that respects human rights and is concerned about environmental problems, must immediately cease its support of false solutions to climate change, including the promotion of agrofuels in developing countries, carbon trading mechanisms and carbon offsets, as a way of avoiding climate change.

www.walhi.or.id/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=410%3Auni-eropa-harus-hentikan-solusi-palsu-perubahan-iklim&catid=176%3Asiaran-pers&Itemid=157&lang=en

#3558

From: Andrew Boswell <andrewboswell@...>
Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 3:53 pm
Subject: Fwd: Conference Announcement / Call for papers: Greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy systems: impacts of timing, issues of responsibility - March 8 - 10, 2010

a_boswell_2004

Offline

IEA Bioenergy Task 38, in cooperation with JOANNEUM RESEARCH and Centre wallon de Recherches agronomiques, is pleased to announce its 2010 Annual Conference.

Theme: “Greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy systems: impacts of timing, issues of responsibility”
Dates: March 8 - 10, 2010
Location: Brussels, Belgium

The conference will take place on March 8th and 9th. There will be an optional field excursion to nearby bioenergy facilities on March 10th.

Objectives
Who should take responsibility for emissions due to land use change associated with bioenergy? How does the timing of emissions from land use change, emission reductions, and sequestration associated with bioenergy systems influence the mitigation benefit of bioenergy? How can policy be devised to recognize impacts of timing, and issues of responsibility?

The conference will present research on this subject and discuss policy approaches to promote the appropriate use of biomass for energy.

At this time we are inviting relevant papers for the conference. Please send abstracts and titles to Ms. Susanne Woess-Gallasch (

susanne.woess@...) by January 7th

Sincerely

Neil Bird and Susanne Woess-Gallasch

JOANNEUM RESEARCH
Elisabethstrasse 5
A-8010, Graz, Austria
Tel: +43 (316) 876 1423
Fax: +43 (316) 876 91423
Email: neil.bird@...

Background
IEA Bioenergy is an international, collaborative research programme on bioenergy aiming at improved international cooperation and information exchange (www.ieabioenergy.com). The primary goal of IEA Bioenergy Task 38 ("Greenhouse Gas Balances of Biomass and Bioenergy Systems") is to investigate all processes involved in the use of bioenergy and carbon sequestration systems, with the aim of assessing overall greenhouse gas balances and supporting decision makers in selection of mitigation strategies. Participating countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the USA. The conference is part of a series of workshops and conferences within Task 38, taking place on a regular basis. For more detailed information on the Task, its output, and on previous events see: www.ieabioenergy-task38.org/

You are currently subscribed to climate-l as: andrewboswell@...
Go to your membership options.
To unsubscribe click here.
- Subscribe to IISD Reporting Services' free newsletters and lists for environment and sustainable development policy professionals at http://www.iisd.ca/email/subscribe.htm

--
Andrew
Councillor Andrew Boswell
Green Party Group Leader
Norfolk County Council E: andrewboswell@...; T: 01603-613798, M 07787127881

#3559

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:54 pm
Subject: 'Organic farming may counter climate change,' report says

jimroland99

Offline

For Soil Association page see: http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/Soilcarbon/tabid/574/Default.aspx

This study doesn't appear to go into the indirect consequences from finding additional grassland to compensate for reducing uptake of soya, whether in lost carbon from deforestation or lost reafforestation opportunity.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/organic-farming-may-counter-climate-change-report-says-1827624.html

'Organic farming may counter climate change,' report says

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Organic farming can play an important role in countering climate change, a new report suggests today.

Use of organic methods means that the soil takes up much more carbon, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide to boost global warming, according to the report from the Soil Association, the organic food and farming charity.

Soil is a major store of carbon, the report says, containing three times as much as the atmosphere and five times as much as forests. About 60 per cent of this is in the form of organic matter in the soil. On average, organic farming produces 28 per cent higher levels of soil carbon compared to non-organic farming in northern Europe, according to the report, and 20 per cent higher for all countries studied (in Europe, North America and Australasia).

The report suggests that widespread adoption of organic farming practices would offset 23 per cent of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture through soil carbon sequestration alone, more than doubling the Government's target of a 6-11 per cent reduction by 2020.

If all UK farmland were converted to organic, the report says, at least 3.2 million tonnes of carbon would be taken up by the soil each year – the equivalent of taking nearly 1 million cars off the road.

[Comments]

Add other email accounts to Hotmail in 3 easy steps. Find out how.

#3560

From: Jim Roland <quailrecords@...>
Date: Fri Nov 27, 2009 1:14 am
Subject: US bets $150m on high-risk renewable energy

jimroland99

Offline

Two ARPA-E grants for algal biofuel research and one for researching cyanobacteria producing fatty acids for biofuel.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427355.300-us-bets-150m-on-highrisk-renewable-energy.html?full=true

[report includes video clip]

US bets $150m on high-risk renewable energy

23 November 2009 by Phil McKenna
Magazine issue 2735. Subscribe and get 4 free issues.
For similar stories, visit the Energy and Fuels and US national issues Topic Guides

Video: Compact turbine generates more power

IF YOU had $150 million to spend on boundary-busting energy research, where would you put the cash? The US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has committed that amount this year, with one lofty aim: to transform the planet's energy future. But which technologies are its best bets?

ARPA-E knows it's taking some huge gambles: it fully expects that many of the 37 projects it picked will fail. "Our model is to look for risky, high-potential technologies that don't currently have a means of funding to see if they will work," says ARPA-E's deputy director, Shane Kosinski.

ARPA-E knows it's taking some huge gambles: it fully expects many of the 37 projects it picked to fail

The initial announcement that funding was available resulted in a flood of over 3600 grant applications. A team of 400 leading energy researchers helped whittle down the list. The fine details of the projects chosen remain sketchy, however.

Topping the grant allocation list was drilling company Foro Energy of Littleton, Colorado. The company has been tight-lipped about how it plans to spend the $9.1 million it was allocated. However, ARPA-E has confirmed that the grant will help to develop a hybrid thermal-mechanical drill system capable of quickly cutting through ultra-hard rock formations deep underground, potentially unlocking vast new stores of geothermal energy.

For "hot rocks" to become a viable, mainstream energy source, drills that can cut through much harder material than those used in the oil and gas industries are needed.

"If you can drill down 2 to 3 kilometres you can potentially open up a vast sea of heat that you can run power plants on," says Joseph Romm at the Center for American Progress, who headed the DoE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office in 1997.

Such drilling technology is likely to use intense temperatures to soften hard crystalline rock, allowing a mechanical drill bit to move through it with less wear. Prior attempts at thermal drilling have employed electrical heaters, pressurised steam, lasers and blowtorches as hot as 1800 °C.

The type of thermal technology Foro is pursuing remains unknown, but documents obtained by New Scientist through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that the company currently has a laboratory-scale drill and plans to dig a 4.6-kilometre-deep demonstration well within three years. "We didn't even consider this 10 years ago because we did not imagine you could drill down that far economically," says Romm.

The second-largest grant went to chemical manufacturing giant DuPont and biofuel start-up Bio Architecture Lab of Seattle, which will split $9 million to develop technology to obtain biobutanol from algae. The project aims to make biofuels a more viable energy source, says Nathan Danielson of DuPont. The first goal would be to produce higher yields than cellulose-based feedstocks such as maize are able to, without needing fresh water or arable land to grow. Secondly, biobutanol packs a higher energy density than existing ethanol biofuels and can be mixed with regular gasoline in higher concentrations.

"The conversion of algae into its basic sugars and subsequent treatment with a biocatalyst into biobutanol has never been done before; a significant portion of these technologies will have to be developed from scratch," says Danielson.

If 2.5 per cent of US coastal waters were seeded with floating kelp beds, the biobutanol harvested from them could replace about 26 billion litres of petroleum-based gasoline per year, Danielson claims.

ARPA-E's third-largest grant - one of only two for wind power - went to FloDesign of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, which is developing a new type of wind turbine that could dramatically increase energy generation. It has been working on turbines which harvest twice as much energy as a conventional turbine of the same size.

FloDesign would not reveal specific goals for its 30-month project. However, the company has previously said it planned to complete a 3.6-metre-diameter, 10-kilowatt system by early 2010 before ramping up to megawatt-rated turbines.

Rounding out the four largest grants was $7.2 million to develop low cost, megawatt-rated batteries capable of backing up and smoothing out the intermittent energy supply from wind farms and other renewable sources. Today, such power-grid-scale batteries are prohibitively expensive for most renewable energy applications.

EaglePicher Technologies of Joplin, Missouri, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, will use the funds to develop a sodium beta alumina battery that will cost no more than $200 per kilowatt of capacity, compared with about $500 today.

Sodium beta alumina batteries have been around for decades and require operating temperatures in excess of 300 °C. By reconfiguring the battery's architecture, the group hopes to be able to operate it at higher power densities and at lower temperatures, allowing for construction using cheaper materials. The project aims to develop a modular, scalable 5-kilowatt battery within three years.

For Romm, the recent influx of funding to enable these and other ARPA-E grants is a dream come true. "I would have given anything to have had this kind of new money," he says.

Others are less enthused. Energy analyst Daniel Kammen at the University of California, Berkeley, says the agency needs a more radical approach. "I think there are some nice projects in there, but I think we're going to need to see a more 'pie in the sky' portfolio over time," he says.

Such projects may include super-high wind turbines that tap into the jet stream, space-based solar power, and solar panels integrated into the skin of buildings, he suggests.

ARPA-E will be accepting applications for its next round of funding before the end of the year, though this cash is likely to be provided for a narrower range of technologies directed at specific problems, Kosinski says. But he insists it is still aiming high. "If it's going to make a significant impact, ARPA-E is interested."

ARPA-E's other gambles

$6.9m for an all-metal power-grid-scale battery to Massachusetts Institute of Technology
$6.7m for more efficient electric car batteries to Delphi Automotive in Kokomo, Indiana
$6.0m for a novel algae-harvesting system for biofuels to Univenture of Marysville, Ohio
$5.3m for a nanotube-enhanced ultra-capacitor to FastCAP Systems of Cambridge, Massachusetts
$5.1m for a new class of metal-air batteries to Arizona State University in Tempe
$5.2m for cyanobacteria that produce fatty acids for biofuel feedstock to Arizona State University
$5.0m for sensors, software and controls to improve energy use in buildings to Stanford University

[Comments]

View your other email accounts from your Hotmail inbox. Add them now.