Madrid y Barcelona se enfrentan a una contaminación preocupante

Madrid y Barcelona, las dos mayores ciudades de España, tomaron esta semana medidas contra la contaminación del aire, por su gran alcance debido a un anticiclón de gran alcance , limitando la velocidad de los coches o la recomendación de utilizar el transporte público.
Los niveles de contaminantes en la atmósfera han alcanzado el pasado fin de semana en Barcelona el doble del nivel permitido por la Unión Europea. A las nueve de la noche, prácticamente no había estaciones marcadas en verde en el mapa de la web municipal de calidad del aire de Madrid, informa el Diario El País.
Las medidas tomadas no son suficientes y se exigen medidas más concretas: restringir el tráfico de coches privados en el centro de la ciudad, aumentar el transporte público y con precios más bajos (more public transport and lower reliance on automobile),favorecer y promocionar los vehículos menos contaminantes, el aumento de las tarifas de estacionamiento, el desarrollo del traslado en bicicleta y más zonas peatonales, la creación de grandes plazas de estacionamiento en las afueras , revisión de sistemas de calefacción yendo hacia sistemas más limpias,reducción de emisionesde sistemas industriales de combustión, planes de choque, programas de educación y sensibilización etc.
"La contaminación mata a 16.000 personas prematuramente cada año en España", según cifras citadas por la Comisión Europea el miércoles por Ecologistas en Acción. "Puede aumentar la tasa de mortalidad de 5%", dijo Javier González Medel, portavoz de la Asociación en Defensa de la Salud Pública en Madrid.

WWF: Highest environmental standards required for deep-sea floor drilling for gas in the eastern Mediterranean.

After the drilling of oil and oil spill risks they entail, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned on Wednesday February 9 against environmental risks of drilling in deep waters to exploit gas deposits colossal in the eastern Mediterranean, which would cause irreversible damage to marine biodiversity.
The recently discovered Leviathan gas field, 135 km off the coast of Israel - Palestine, is the world’s biggest deepwater gas find in a decade – with an estimated volume of 16 trillion cubic feet of gas – while the West Nile Delta gas field, discovered earlier this year, lies in Egyptian waters, 80 km northwest of Alexandria.
But on these two areas sits a unique and delicate marine ecosystem, whose rich biological communities host rare species of deep-sea sponges, worms, molluscs and cold water corals – some of which are thousands of years old.
The Levant Sea is protected by such laws as a Mediterranean-wide ban on destructive trawl fishing beyond the depth of 1,000 metres by the UN’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, and encompasses two deep-sea Fisheries Restricted Areas where other potentially harmful activities are also limited – in recognition of the sea bed’s value and fragility.
WWF is calling on the eastern Mediterranean states – particularly on Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon – and on the European Union, to ensure that the highest environmental standards are set regarding current and prospective developments in deep-sea floor drilling for gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean, including exploratory drilling and future commercial exploitation.

Further information on: http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=199297

Spain: Desalination plant powered by renewable energy without brine discharge

A report by researchers at the Cartagena Technical University (UPCT) in Spain outlines a desalination process using renewable energy and resulting in lower environmental impacts. Population and industrial growth have placed a heavy demand on water supplies. Moreover, climate change and population density have brought the topic of water sustainability to the fore. Since the 1960s, Spain has been a global leader in desalination, and remains the largest user in the Western world of such technologies. Today, Spain's more than 700 desalination plants produce 1.6 million cubic metres of water a day - enough to meet the needs of eight million people. Over the last four decades, Spain has developed the second largest tourist industry in the world. Such growth has necessitated significant development along the country's Mediterranean coast. To meet the water demands of the region's many golf courses and holiday resorts, local authorities have relied heavily on desalination. However traditional desalination processes can cause environmental damage when brine, which has a higher salt concentration than seawater, is pumped back into the sea. Moreover, a study on the potential impacts of desalination drafted for the European Commission found that in view of Europe's proposed 20-20-20 environmental target, desalination would place a high demand on energy resources at a time when increasing energy efficiency was a priority. The UPC desalination plant would involve both distillation and vapour compression, driven by renewable energy. The system proposed reduces environmental impacts and promises 100 m3 of freshwater an hour. Initially, seawater distillation would use heat provided by solar cells. The resulting saltwater flow would then be fed into a vapour compressor, driven by wind turbines, for final separation of salt and water.
Further information on:
‘Seawater integrated desalination plant without brine discharge and powered by renewable energy systems', Desalination 235 (2009):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6TFX-4V476YK-K-1&_cdi=5238&_user=10&_orig=browse&_coverDate=01%2F15%2F2009&_sk=997649998&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWz&md5=2094de858c629b586f937df496b0e9bd&ie=/sdarticle.pdf
‘Potential impacts of desalination development on energy consumption', DG Environment study:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/quantity/pdf/desalination.pdf
Related information on the ETAP website:
‘The desalination technology race':
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/pdfs/desalination.pdf

El Comité de las Regiones de la Unión Europea (CoR) busca contribuciones para las políticas del agua sostenible.

Pantano de Itoiz en Navarra (Spain)

La política del agua debe promover una gestión eficiente y sostenible de los recursos hídricos y las autoridades locales y regionales tienen un papel importante que desempeñar en este contexto. Como parte de la "eficiencia de recursos" iniciativa insignia de la estrategia "Europa 2020, la Comisión Europea llevará a cabo una revisión de la política de aguas de la UE para el año 2012.
Con esto en mente, el Comité de las Regiones propone adoptar un dictamen prospectivo sobre "El papel de las autoridades regionales y locales en la promoción de una política sostenible del agua" en su sesión plenaria en junio de este año. Nichi Vendola (IT / PSE), Presidente de la Región de Puglia, miembro de la Comisión CDR ENVE y el coordinador político de la Plataforma europea de seguimiento de 2020, asumirá el papel de ponente de este dictamen.

EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) seeks input on sustainable water policies
Water policy must promote efficient and sustainable management of water resources and local and regional authorities have an important role to play in this context. As part of the "Resource Efficiency" Flagship Initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Commission will carry out a review of EU water policy by 2012.
With this in mind, the Committee of the Regions intends to adopt an outlook opinion on "The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy" at its plenary session in June this year. Nichi Vendola (IT/PES), President of the Region of Puglia, member of the CoR ENVE Commission and the political coordinator of the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform, will take on the role of rapporteur for this opinion.
Read more in:
http://www.emwis.net/thematicdirs/news/2011/01/eu-committee-regions-cor-seeks-input-sustainable-water-policies