Canadians Set Up First Solar Powered Community In North America

ENN, December 29, 2009

A new Canadian neighborhood is North America's first solar-powered community. The community, named the Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) is located in the town of Okotoks, Alberta, and consists of 52 houses all powered by solar (what else?) energy. Read more...

Japan to bring back solar power subsidy for homes

ENN, December 24, 2008

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan plans to bring back subsidies for solar panel equipment from January, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday, as the world's fifth-biggest emitter struggles to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
METI said the government would offer 9 billion yen ($99.6 million) in the first quarter of 2009 and possibly more in the fiscal year starting next April to foster use of solar panel equipment in homes. Read more...

Malaysia 'to double tiger stock'

BBC News, December 22, 2008

Malaysia has launched a national plan to double the country's wild tiger population by 2020, activists say.
Conservation groups and the government have set an ambitious target of expanding the tiger population from 500 to around 1,000 over 12 years. Read more...

Japan's first solar cargo ship

ENN, December 19, 2008

TOKYO - THE world's first cargo ship partly propelled by solar power took to the seas on Friday in Japan, aiming to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions when automakers ship off their exports.
Auriga Leader, a freighter developed by shipping line Nippon Yusen K.K. and oil distributor Nippon Oil Corp, took off from a shipyard in the western city of Kobe, officials of the two firms said.
The huge freighter capable of carrying 6,400 automobiles is equipped with 328 solar panels at a cost of 150 million yen (S$2.4 million dollars), the officials said. Read more...

Yet read also: Japan’s First (Barely) Solar Powered Cargo Ship Takes to the Waves

Νέα καταδίκη της Ελλάδας για το περιβάλλον

Ελληνική Ορνιθολογική Εταιρία, 16 Δεκεμβρίου 2008

Άλλη μια καταδίκη για παραβίαση της ευρωπαϊκής νομοθεσίας για το περιβάλλον εισέπραξε η χώρα μας από το Ευρωπαϊκό Δικαστήριο στις 11/12. Αυτήν τη φορά, η Ελλάδα καταδικάστηκε για ανεπαρκή προστασία των προστατευόμενων περιοχών (Ζώνες Ειδικής Προστασίας) του δικτύου Natura 2000, γεγονός που συνιστά παραβίαση της Οδηγίας για τη διατήρηση των άγριων πτηνών (79/409/ΕΟΚ). Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Darfur conflict ravages environment

ENN, December 10, 2008

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's Darfur conflict has devastated the environment in the region, stripping forests and destroying farmland, according to a U.N. report.
People caught up in the five-year crisis have cut down large areas of woodland, partly to feed a booming war-fueled construction industry, said a report by the U.N.'s Environment Program (UNEP) seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Read more...

EU carbon trading system brings windfalls for some, with little benefit to climate

International Herald Tribune, December 09, 2008

BRUSSELS: The European Union started with the most high-minded of ecological goals: to create a market that would encourage companies to reduce greenhouse gases by making them pay for each ton emitted into the atmosphere.
Four years later, the carbon trading system has created a multibillion-euro windfall for some of the continent's biggest polluters, with little or no noticeable benefit to the environment so far. Read more...

Greenpeace bids to turn Japan against whaling

ENN, December 09, 2008

TOKYO (Reuters) - Greenpeace launched a campaign to turn Japan against whaling on Tuesday, with directors of the group from around the world delivering a letter to Prime Minister Taro Aso, urging him to halt the hunts.
The letter handover came weeks after Japan's whaling fleet set off for the Antarctic for an annual hunt aimed at catching about 900 whales, which Tokyo says is carried out for scientific research purposes.

In a break with past practice, Greenpeace is focusing on a campaign to try to change Japanese domestic opinion this year, rather than send a ship to chase the fleet in the Southern Ocean, which caused diplomatic ruffles last year. Read more...

EU bans low-efficiency light bulbs from 2012

ENN, December 09, 2008

EU governments have agreed a phase-out timetable to remove from the market all incandescent light bulbs and low-efficiency halogen bulbs by 2012 at the latest. The restrictions will be introduced as "implementing measures" under the energy-using products (EuP) directive and will begin to bite from next year.
"It's a groundbreaking measure that will change the way we consume energy," EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs said after the decision was taken by a committee of member state representatives in Brussels on Monday. Read more...

Yet read also: Managing mercury risks from energy-saving light bulbs (13/11/08)

EU leaders reach new climate deal

BBC News, December 12, 2008

European Union leaders have reached a deal on a package of measures to fight global warming. The plan, agreed at a Brussels summit, sets out how 27 member-countries will cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, compared with 1990 levels. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the summit chairman, said something "quite historic" had happened in Brussels.
But critics said concessions made to some nations and sectors would lessen the package's long-term impact. Read more...

France fined over GM crop delay

BBC News, December 09, 2008

The EU's top court has ordered France to pay a 10m-euro (£8.7m; $12.9m) fine for delaying implementing EU rules on genetically modified (GM) crops.
The European Court of Justice said France's conduct was "unlawful". France has refused to apply a 2002 law which set out how biotech crops could be planted in areas where other conventional crops were being grown. Read more...

U.S. polluters to pay record $11.8 billion in 2008: EPA

ENN, December 05, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement actions during the 2008 budget year resulted in a record $11.8 billion in pollution controls and projects to clean up the environment, the agency said on Thursday.
"After these pollution control activities are completed, EPA estimates record pollution reductions of 3.9 billion pounds per year," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Read more...

Genetically Modified Crops Reach 9 Percent of Global Primary Crop Production

ENN, December 05, 2008

Washington, D.C. - Genetically modified crops reached 9 percent of global primary crop production in 2007, bringing the total GM land area up to 114.3 million hectares, according to Worldwatch Institute estimates published in the latest Vital Signs Update. The United States continues to be the global leader in production, accounting for half of all GM crop area. Read more...

EU approves genetically modified soybean for import

ENN, December 02, 2008

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has authorized imports of a genetically modified (GM) soybean type for sale across its 27 national markets for the next 10 years, the European Commission said on Thursday.
Developed and marketed by Monsanto, the soybean is destined for use in food and animal feed, not for growing. It is a second-generation GM product known by its code number MON 89788 and commercially as Roundup RReady2Yield. Read more...

Anti-whaling activists joined by Daryl Hannah

ENN, December 02, 2008

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Hardline anti-whaling activists prepared on Tuesday to pursue Japan's Antarctic whaling fleet with support from Daryl Hannah, who criticized Greenpeace for opting out of the annual chase.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which clashed last year with the eight-ship fleet, bombarding it with stink bombs and briefly boarding a harpoon vessel, departs Australia on Wednesday for the Southern Ocean. Read more...

EU agrees to cut car emissions in climate fight

ENN, December 02, 2008

European carmakers must cut global-warming gases from new vehicles by 18 percent within the next six years, the EU agreed on Monday, after a long battle between environmentalists and an industry facing tough times.
"This deal represents a balance between the needs of the environment and the car industry across Europe, which is suffering massively at the moment," British Conservative lawmaker Martin Callanan told Reuters late on Monday. Read more...

Is Recycling Worth It? Popular Mechanics Investigation

ENN, December 02, 2008

Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year. But does it pay off—for the environment or the economy? Popular Mechanics has some real answers.
Written by Alex Hutchinson, appearing in the December issue of Popular Mechanics. Read more...

Hot air: UN climate talks to create 13,000 tonnes of carbon

ENN, December 1, 2008

Staging a global forum on climate change is a dilemma, for it adds to very problem it is trying to solve. Around 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) will add to Earth's greenhouse effect from the December 1-12 meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC said.
That estimate is based on a turnout of 8,000 people, but as of Sunday 10,657 people had registered for the talks.
Poland, which is hosting the meeting, "plans to offset the total emissions resulting from the conference once a final calculation has been made," the UNFCCC said. Read more...