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CLEAN ENERGY NEWS
Vol.8 Issue No. 16 May 7 2008
CE News is a free weekly e-mail publications that features news, information
and events related clean energy, clean air and climate change. CE News is
published by Clean Energy Nepal. For more information on our campaign please
visit http://www.cen.org.np/
To contribute articles, news items, or event announcements for the next
issue, send an email with the complete details and URL source to
c...@mos.com.np
HEADLINES
. Stress On Hydel Project
. Load-Shedding
. Electricity In Lapilang, Charikot
. Electricity By Raising Fund
. Australian Petition Urges Renewable Energy Investment
. Extra Funding For Clean Coal
. Audi To Offer Electric Cars In 5-10 Years: Report
. World Can Reach Climate Change Deal In 2009 - UN
. Environmentalists Divided About Burying CO2
LOCAL NEWS
Stress On Hydel Project
Mr. Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, vice president, National Planning Commission,
gave more stress on hydropower generation in Nepal in the 64th meeting of
UNESCO held in Thailand.
Though Nepal has potential to generate 42,000 MW electricity, very less
electricity is being generated and used, said Mr. Pokhrel.
In the meeting he also informed that more than 0.2 million biogas plants
have been installed in Nepal. In addition, six thousand solar panel has also
been distributed to the remote areas.
Source: Rajdhani, May 1, 2008
Load-Shedding
By Dr. Badri
It is welcome news that the load-shedding will be reduced by a half. The
experts have opined that it can be further reduced if we could promote
modern energy efficiency technologies, such as with the use of CFL bulbs in
massive scale.
This is also a challenge to all users to display civic sense by minimizing
the use of electricity. The government has the onerous responsibility to
encourage manufacturing of high quality CFL bulbs at affordable prices so
that the conventional bulbs can be replaced as soon as possible. At the same
time, attention should be paid to proper disposal of used CFL bulbs to
safeguard human health and conserve environment.
Source: The Kathmandu Post, May 1, 2008
Electricity In Lapilang, Charikot
With the aid from Nepal Yantra Sala Energy, Lagankhel and labors'
contribution, 19 KW energy has been generated in Lapilang VDC.
A total investment of 3.2 million has benefitted 234 households of that VDC.
The locals of the VDC cheered with joy as they have been waiting for this
day long ago.
Source: Annapurna Post, May 1, 2008
Electricity By Raising Fund
The locals of Dimipokhari VDC of Ramechhap districts have been able to
generate 5 KW electricity by themselves in their VDC by raising fund.
Four thousand rupees from each household was raised to generate electricity,
said Mr. Ganesh Upadhaya, secretary, Users Group. He also said that though
it has not been managed properly, 42 households of the VDC have been
benefitted with the generation of electricity.
Source: Kantipur, May 4, 2008
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Australian Petition Urges Renewable Energy Investment
The environmental group Greenpeace will today present a petition of 30,000
signatures to the Australian treasurer urging the government to invest more
in renewable energy.
Members of 80 international organizations signed the statement which says
the government should abandon investments in carbon capture and storage.
Julien Vincent from Greenpeace says the technology is unproven and the
treasurer must consider this in next week's budget.
"At a time when we need to be drastically reducing our use of on fossil
fuels because they're the major driver of climate change," he said.
"It's simply irresponsible to be using taxpayers money to fuel the problem
any further and so we want Wayne swan and the federal government to live up
to their word on climate change and start putting our money where their
mouths are and fund renewables instead of fossil fuels".
Source: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au
Extra Funding For Clean Coal
THE Rudd Government is believed to have earmarked $275 million for six new
clean coal projects in its first budget next week, alongside similar funding
for renewable technologies.
A clean coal council and a taskforce to develop storage options are expected
to form part of its $500 million commitment to clean coal made during last
year's election campaign.
These new funds for clean coal technology follow $350 million committed to
technology development under the Howard government's Low Emissions
Technology Development Fund. These projects attracted more than $2 billion
in matching industry investment.
Development of clean coal technology as a possible solution to the threat of
climate change has been backed by environmental leaders such as former US
vice-president Al Gore and British climate policy adviser Nicholas Stern.
The Government is planning to spend $50 million to further develop the use
of ammonia to capture carbon dioxide from the emissions of the Munmorah
coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley in NSW, and $50 million to
develop gasification technology at the Centre for Low Emission Technology in
Queensland.
The programs fall under the control of Resources and Energy Minister Martin
Ferguson. He said last night he could not comment on budget speculation but
backed the Government's commitment to help develop the technology, given
that 83 per cent of Australia's electricity was generated from coal.
Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ May 05, 2008
Audi To Offer Electric Cars In 5-10 Years: Report
By Nicola Leske
Audi, the luxury unit of Volkswagen, sees great opportunities in electric
cars and will offer automobiles with no exhaust emissions within ten years,
its top executive told a German weekly.
Rupert Stadler told Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday that
he expects diesel and battery technology to dominate in the coming five to
ten years.
"By then we will offer cars without exhaust emissions," Stadler said.
Asked if Audi was not lagging domestic rivals Mercedes and BMW in the
development of lithium-ion batteries that are more powerful than batteries
used now in hybrids, Stadler said Audi's research capacities were larger
than those of its German competitors.
Developing fuel-saving technology tops the agenda of Germany's car industry
in an effort to fulfill stricter emission regulations and conserve fuel.
Source: Reuters, http://www.enn.com/May 4, 2008
World Can Reach Climate Change Deal In 2009 - UN
By Andrew Hay
The world can reach a significant new climate change pact by the end of 2009
if current talks keep up their momentum, the head of the United Nations
climate panel said on Sunday.
The United Nations began negotiations on a sweeping new pact in March after
governments agreed last year to work out a treaty to succeed the Kyoto
Protocol by the end of next year.
The United Nations hopes to go beyond Kyoto by getting all countries to
agree to curbs on emissions of greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.
Getting the private sector on board with a well regulated carbon emissions
trading system is key to long-term financing, according to delegates at the
ADB seminar.
India's Pachauri said popular awareness of global warming had risen sharply
over the last 12 months and put pressure on Washington and other governments
for action.
He said he believed it would be very difficult for any country to remain
outside a climate change pact.
Faced with threats, China is switching over to renewable energy sources
which are expected to provide more than 30 percent of its power needs by
2050, according to the United Nations.
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/ May 4, 2008
Environmentalists Divided About Burying CO2
Greenpeace and more than 100 other environmental groups denounced projects
for burying industrial greenhouse gases on Monday, exposing splits in the
green movement about whether such schemes can slow global warming.
Many governments and some environmental organizations such as the WWF want
companies to capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the exhausts of power
plants and factories and then entomb them in porous rocks as one way to curb
climate change.
Greenpeace and 112 green groups from 21 nations said governments should
invest in wind, solar and other renewable energies rather than in capture
technologies that would allow coal-fired power plants to stay in operation.
"Carbon capture and storage is not an ideal solution, but it buys us time,"
said Stephan Singer, head of the WWF's European Climate and Energy Program
in Brussels. "We believe it is part of the solution -- an emergency exit."
The U.N. Climate Panel has said CCS could be one of the main ways for
slowing climate change by 2100 -- contributing a bigger share of greenhouse
gas cuts than energy efficiency, a shift to renewable energy or a push for
nuclear power.
Source: Reuters, http://www.enn.com/ May 5, 2008
LINK OF THE WEEK
Haiyang city, a local city in Shandong province, announced to release daily
report on urban air quality. Those air quality information will be revealed
through TV every day. This is an important progress for local cities in
China to release daily air quality.
<http://www.vecc-sepa.org.cn/news/news_detail.jsp?newsid=24281>
http://www.vecc-sepa.org.cn/news/news_detail.jsp?newsid=24281
DID YOU KNOW?
The aviation industry's failure to curb its soaring carbon emissions could
lead to the "worst case scenario" for climate change, as envisaged by the
United Nations.
An unpublished study by the world's leading experts has revealed that
airlines are pumping 20 per cent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
than estimates suggest, with total emissions set to reach between 1.2
billion and 1.5 billion tonnes annually by 2025.
The report, by four government-funded
...
read more »
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