ZWA full text

Waste goes green in Essar Steel plant

Kim — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:47:13 -0400

Hazira, August 25 The saying—convert waste into
wealth—has been truly put into practice by the Ruias-promoted Essar
Steel. It has been touted as the first Indian steel company to become a
zero waste and environment-friendly steel plant.

“We have adopted various measures to utilise the
plant waste effectively to achieve our goal of becoming a zero waste
company. It is our endeavour to make this world class plant into a
green plant,” said Dilip Oommen, Chief Executive Officer of Essar
Steel. Essar Steel’s plant at Hazira has an output capacity of 4.6
million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and generates 20-24 per cent slag and
less than one per cent dust.

The company has developed technology to use slag
for manufacturing cement, vitrified steel and build roads. Dust will be
used to make bricks by mixing it with rice husk. Other steel firms
simply dump these wastes, said Oommen.

For more click here.

Failed Doha talks heat climate task

Kim — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:48:14 -0400

DESPITE the best efforts of deniers, there are depressing similarities
between the Doha talks on free world trade and negotiations for an
international agreement on what to do about climate change. Success on
both issues relies on satisfying the competing demands of developed and
developing nations. After seven years of on-again, off-again talks, the
latest effort to broker a Doha deal failed because the developing world
did not trust that developed nations would not use their markets as a
dumping ground for agricultural surpluses in times of glut to the
detriment of local farmers. The talks, designed to break down tariff
protections in the US and Europe, could not accept developing nations
using rapid tariff adjustments for self-protection.

For more click here

Study links melting ice to increased carbon pollution

Kim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:34:36 -0400

A provocative new study of the record-setting Arctic thaw that's
unlocking the Northwest Passage and transforming Canada's polar
frontier has, for the first time, drawn a clear connection between
rising global carbon pollution and the retreat of sea ice.

The
study by top Norwegian climate researcher Ola Johannessen, to be
published in October by the Chinese Academy of Sciences but obtained
Friday by Canwest News Service, identified a "strengthening linkage"
between the upward trend in CO2 emissions over the past century and the
shrinking of the Arctic ice cap, which reached a historic minimum last
year and appears headed for similar decreases this summer.

For more click here

Musician lends voice for water conservation effort

Kim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:32:39 -0400

A new musical campaign encourages Central Texans to conserve water.

Local musician Ray Benson joined with Austin Water Utility for the Observe and Conserve TV and radio campaign.

July and August see the highest water demand of the
year in Austin, and with the drought conditions, conservation becomes
even more important.

"Our conservation program will save over 32 million
gallons every day and that, in turn, will eliminate about 19,000 tons
of greenhouse gas from our atmosphere every year," Austin City Council
Member Lee Leffingwell said.

For more visit:

http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=215939&SecID=2

Green taxes on air travel exceed carbon costs

Kim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:31:17 -0400

Airline passengers now pay more in green taxes than is
needed to cover the cost of environmental damage they cause, the
Government has admitted.

The disclosure emerged in the Emissions Cost Assessment which was quietly released before MPs departed for the summer recess.

According
to the Department for Transport, aviation now pays £100m more than its
environmental costs a year as a result of the doubling of Air Passenger
Duty in February last year.

For more visit:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/02/cnairtax102.xml

Fertilization timing may affect greenhouse gas emissions, corn yields

Kim — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:29:10 -0400

Greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints are often heard buzz words these days.

Agriculture
scientists are becoming a part of the global movement, studying ways
that production agriculture affects greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas
emissions.

“We know that greenhouse gases are produced in the
soil, and different agricultural practices influence the production of
these gases,” said Rebecca Phillips, environmental scientist at the
USDA - Agricultural Research Service lab in Mandan, N.D.

For more visit:

http://www.farmandranchguide.com/articles/2008/08/01/ag_news/production_news/pro09.txt

Gore’s grand vision

Kim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:13:13 -0400

Former Vice President Al Gore on
Thursday called on Americans to solve global warming, end U.S.
dependence on foreign oil and rein in energy prices by converting the
nation’s electricity production to carbon-free power within 10 years.

Leave it to The Goracle to offer the
most radical energy plan by any U.S. political figure — and to re-frame
a debate that has been frustratingly focused on oil drilling.

That’s chutzpah of the first order.
It’s also visionary leadership, the kind this country hasn’t seen since
President John Kennedy challenged Americans to put a man on the moon in
10 years. “Many people doubted we could accomplish that goal — but
eight years and two months later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked
on the surface of the moon,” Gore noted.

For more visit:

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=124518&sid=5&fid=1

Carbon trade ads coming soon

Kim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:08:27 -0400

The Federal Government is beginning an advertising campaign about its carbon trading policies, as it continues to reassure businesses and families about the effect of the changes.

The Government released its discussion paper on an emissions trading scheme last week, and is now consulting with industry and community groups before the draft legislation is released at the end of the year.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong told Channel Nine that Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson had agreed that a public information campaign would be needed.

For more visit:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/20/2308747.htm?section=justin

Food manufacturers urged to separate waste at source

Kim — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:03:50 -0400

Food and drink manufacturers recycled or recovered 82% of the waste produced at their sites in 2006, a Defra-funded report has revealed.

However, the study has called for the sector to segregate more waste at source to further reduce the amount it sends to landfill.

We hope that the survey results will send a message to the waste industry to invest more in anaerobic digestion and composting capacity

The report, which was jointly published by the Defra and the food and drink sector's trade association, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), indicated that, of 835,000 tonnes of food and packaging waste produced at 236 sites run by FDF members, only 138,000 tonnes was sent to landfill.

For more visit:

http://www.letsrecycle.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=37&listcatid=217&listitemid=10220

Garnaut Review Draft Report –Key Recommendations for AETS Design

admin — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0400

This came in from Bake McKenzie and covers a lot of the issuse raised in relation to the Garaut report.

On the4 July 2008, the Garnaut Review released its Draft
Report.

In addition to considering the
potential impacts that climate change may have on Australia's environment
and economy, the Draft Report recommends a number of key design features for an
Australian Emissions Trading Scheme (AETS).

In the lead up to the release next
week of the Government's Green Paper on the design of an AETS, we are pleased to
provide you with an overview and analysis of Professor Garnaut's
recommendations.

Click
here for an overview and analysis of the key AETS design features

We will keep
you updated as and when opportunities arise for submissions to Government on the
design features of the AETS.

For further
information, please contact the Baker Mckenzie personell listed below.

www.bakernet.com
www.cdmrulebook.org

Paul Curnow
Partner

+61 2 8922 5173
paul.curnow@bakernet.com

Martijn
Wilder
Partner

+61 2
8922 5276
martijn.wilder@bakernet.com

Andrew
Beatty
Partner

+61 2
8922 5632
andrew.beatty@bakernet.com

Emissions scheme won’t inflate food prices: Garnaut

Kim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:25:47 -0400

Claims that an emissions trading Scheme will drive up the
price of food and other basics are exaggerated, the federal government's chief
climate change adviser says.

Professor Ross Garnaut addressed some 1200 people in Brisbane
today as part of a national tour to discuss his draft climate change report,
which recommends an emissions trading scheme be phased in by 2010.

The agriculture and transport industries claim they would be
forced to pass on the costs of an emission trading scheme.

But Professor Garnaut told reporters any increases would
have a “modest” impact on families compared to the recent price hikes resulting
from the rising cost of oil.

“I think there's a lot of exaggeration going on, and the
important thing is that if and when the prices of some goods and services
rise, there's adequate compensation in other ways for low income
Australian households,” he said.

Professor Garnaut said families would not be worse off.

“The average family will not be poorer,” he said.

“It will pay more for some goods and services but it will
receive more in other ways, and that will balance it.

“If no action was taken, Queensland
would be a big loser,” he said.

“There are serious risks to the Great Barrier
Reef, the drying and warming of southern Australia
will have its effects through the Darling Downs and the rest of the Queensland
end of the Murray-Darling system,” he said.

For more visit:

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=28&ContentID=84321

Garnaut, trucking industry at odds over ETS

Kim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:24:15 -0400

An Interesting interview with Ross Garnaut Reporter: Annie Guest

MARK COLVIN: Professor Ross Garnaut has been
selling his draft report on climate change at a forum in Brisbane
today. He saved his most passionate comments for the trucking industry,
rejecting its calls for compensation after emissions trading starts.

The Transport Workers' Union says the Federal Government's climate change advisor doesn't know what he's talking about.

Annie Guest reports from Brisbane.

(Sound of audience clapping)

ANNIE GUEST: The climate change roadshow played to a packed Brisbane City Hall today.

ROSS GARNAUT: Thank you Premier and that is a warm Queensland welcome. Great to be back here.

ANNIE
GUEST: And Professor Ross Garnaut reminded the 1,200-strong audience,
Queensland will get a whole lot warmer as the climate changes.

And
he highlighted other local effects of climate change in an effort to
convince them to embrace the reforms ahead. Among those effects: a
dying Great Barrier Reef and thirsty, drought-affected farms. And
there's a less discussed impact as well.

Professor Garnaut says
Queensland's big coal industry will lose export dollars, if there's a
slowdown in economic growth in developing nations because of unabated
climate change.

But it's the effects of his proposal to combat
climate change with an emissions trading scheme that includes fuel that
truck drivers are most interested in today.

The Queensland secretary of the Transport Workers' Union is Hughie Williams.

HUGHIE
WILLIAMS: Well, it's going to send the price of fuel up more than what
it is at the present time and if the price of fuel continues to rise
like it has, there's going to be many truck drivers who can't afford to
be delivering freight. These are owner-drivers.

ANNIE GUEST:
Hughie Williams says the proposed emissions trading scheme would be
keenly felt in Australia's most decentralised state of Queensland,
driving trucks off the roads.

HUGHIE WILLIAMS: The small companies that might own up to 10, 12 trucks. They'll be out of business.

And
the big companies will be struggling also because they can only recoup
their money by putting the price of their cartage up, because if fuel
goes up, cartage must go and if cartage goes up to any of the major
retail stores and so on, up goes the prices and costs of living.

ANNIE GUEST: But that's just hyperbole, according to the Federal Government's climate change advisor.

ROSS GARNAUT: I think there's a lot of exaggeration going on.
The union's Hughie Williams denies its overstating the concerns, and is demanding compensation for the industry.

HUGHIE
WILLIAMS: Truck drivers have got to be reimbursed, because if they
don't get reimbursed they can't afford to have their truck on the road.

ANNIE GUEST: Not so, says Professor Garnaut.

ROSS
GARNAUT: Well if the trucking industry says that they will jack up the
price of other goods, it means that the people who pay the higher
prices should be compensated, not the trucking industry.

For more visit:

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2301634.htm

Is climate 'the' issue, or is it just one of many?

Kim — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:20:37 -0400

We sat in chairs dipping down towards the river, facing a Yarra
obscured by a geometric lattice-work of steel and glass amid the winter
gloom of a late afternoon in Melbourne. The motion to be argued in the
recent Deakin Debate at Federation Square was “that climate change is
the only issue”.

The stark framing of the motion was clearly chosen to provoke strong
argument, even among those members of the audience inclined to endorse
quick action on climate change but unwilling to grant the issue primacy
among such pressing candidates as armed conflict and global poverty.

An audience pre-poll showed majority resistance to the motion, with
the ABC's Peter Mares noting that another poll after the debate would
test the persuasiveness of the arguments to be presented.

For more visit:

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7541

Orange / Regional Outlook conference

Kim — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:09:16 -0400

Start: 2 Jul 2008 - 8:30am

End: 2 Jul 2008 - 5:00pm

ABARE (the Australian Bureau of Agricultural
and Resource Economics) hosts a series of
Regional Outlook conferences across Australia
in 2008.

Each conference features a diverse range
of local speakers, complemented by ABARE
economists and analysts.

With a conference program tailored to the
region, delegates can access the latest
commodity data, economic forecasts and
research results plus hear innovative business
stories and updates on regional industries.

To view the information page click here

Stop Trashing the Climate

Kim — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:58:49 -0400

Greeting to all,

Today, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's joint report with Eco-Cycle and the Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA) is being released on this United Nations World Environment Day.

The report, Stop Trashing the Climate, provides evidence that preventing waste and expanding reuse, recycling, and composting programs -- that is, aiming for zero waste -- is one of the fastest, cheapest, and most effective strategies available for combating climate change. The report documents the link between climate change and unsustainable patterns of consumption and wasting, dispels myths about the climate change benefits of landfill gas recovery and waste incineration, and offers a roadmap for change.

The 92-page full report and the 20-page Executive Summary are available on the web along with our press release and a one-page summary of our findings.

Check it out: http://www.stoptrashingtheclimate.org/

Please pass this report on to your networks, and feel free to use the campaign poster as a visual that is on the website.

Eric

Eric Lombardi
Executive Director
Eco-Cycle Inc
5030 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO. 80301
303-444-6634