EU neighbours could get much environment and socio- economic benefits by adopting EU environment legislation

The European Commission has released results from an international study project on Socio-economic Benefits of Enhanced Environment Protection in the European Neighbourhood partner countries and the Russian Federation. According to the study, a partial, voluntary adoption of EU environment legislation could save between 50.000 and 150.000 lives per year in these countries, due to reduced air pollution alone.
Positive effects of enhanced environment protection would also be significant in the water sector. Improved drinking and waste water standards could lead to a decrease in morbidity and mortality in the region and to benefits ranging from € 9 to € 21 billion per year.
On waste, a partial take-over of the EU environment acquis would lead to additional 64 million people being connected to proper municipal waste collection. Around 25.000 jobs would be created in this sector. Major positive social and economic benefits would also result from reinforced nature protection, sustainable forest management, reduced land degradation, stronger use of renewable energy, and better adaptation to climate change.
The study intends to alert decision-makers and society in the European Neighbourhood Region and the Russia Federation that strengthened environment protection also leads to significant social, health and economic benefits. It estimates the possible advantages resulting from voluntarily adopting parts of the EU environmental legislation, and proposes a methodology to quantify these benefits. Partner countries are invited to use this methodology in their national law- and policy-making. The European Commission will consider it in the planning of its future development and cooperation portfolio in the neighbourhood region.
Background:
The study 'Analysis for European Neighbourhood Policy countries and the Russian Federation on Social and Economic Benefits of Enhanced Environmental Protection' covers Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Similar projects have been conducted in the last ten years in the new EU Member States, in the Western Balkans and in Turkey, and have served as a basis for modernization of these countries' environment policies.
The 20-month study has been carried out by environment experts from the partner countries, in cooperation with international research institutes and consultancy firms (Arcadis Belgium, Institute for European Environmental Policy, Environmental Resource Management, Metroeconomica, Ecologic). The East and South regional summary studies as well as a Benefits Assessment Manual are published on the website http://www.environment-benefits.eu.

Otro incendio forestal

La noticia es: Un feroz incendio ha devorado casi un millar de hectáreas del parque natural de As Fragas do Eume en Galicia, España y parece que ha sido intencionado. Lo dijo el presidente de la Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijoo, que habló de tres focos simultáneos, y también el alcalde socialista capelán, Manuel Meizoso. “Hay gente que está quemando el patrimonio más valioso que tenemos”, declaró Feijóo. Las llamas han calcinado gran parte de uno de los pulmones verdes de Galicia y el mejor exponente de bosque atlántico europeo. En menos de cuatro horas, las llamas saltaron el Eume desde A Capela a Monfero y por el camino carbonizaron valiosos robles, castaños protegidos, cipreses y otros árboles que “ardían como papel de periódico”, según los vecinos.
Las Fragas del Eume es un parque natural creado el 30 de julio de 1997 y abarca 9126 hectarias en las riberas del río Eume, concretamente en los ayuntamientos de Cabañas, A Capela, Monfero, Puentedeume y Puentes de García Rodríguez, todos ellos de la provincia de La Coruña en Galicia. En la actualidad residen en el parque 521 personas en los cinco concejos anteriormente nombrados. Ha tenido algo especial por el delicado equilibrio existente entre el hombre y la naturaleza. Ahora parece que alguien quiere dañar este equilibrio con un incendio aparentemente intencionado.
No es de recibo que sigan ocurriendo estos incendios forestales. No existen medidas de prevención efectivas ni suficientes para evitarlo. Algo hay que hacer para que no sufran los bosques y con ello la flora vegetal y fauna animal y el cambio climático estos incendios y mucho se puede hacer usando medios humanos y materiales necesarios. No faltan recursos humanos sino programas para emplearlos.

NASA illustrates the global warming since 1880

The first 11 years of the 21st century experienced notably higher temperatures compared to the middle and late 20th century. The only year from the 20th century in the top 10 warmest years on record is 1998.
Higher temperatures today are largely sustained by increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. These gases absorb infrared radiation emitted by Earth and release that energy into the atmosphere rather than allowing it to escape to space. As their atmospheric concentration has increased, the amount of energy "trapped" by these gases has led to higher temperatures.
The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, when the GISS global temperature record begins. By 1960, the average concentration had risen to about 315 parts per million. Today it exceeds 390 parts per million and continues to rise at an accelerating pace.
Further information and an animation map about global temperatures since 1880 at:
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20120119/

An inevitable decline of oil production: One more reason so as to develop renewable energies and efficient use of energy

Olivier Rech, responsible for petroleum issues at the International Energy Agency from 2006 to 2009, expects an inevitable overall decline of oil production "somewhere between 2015 and 2020".
He says: Outside OPEC, (which represents 58% of production and 23% of global reserves) things are clear: of 40 million barrels per day (mb/d) of conventional petroleum extracted from existing fields, we face an annual decline on the order of 1 to 2 mb/d. For OPEC production (42% of production and 77% of global reserves) he says that the data are still opaque and he notes that Barclays and Goldman Sachs banks estimate that the spare production capacity of OPEC, more particularly that of Saudi Arabia, is significantly lower that what is officially claimed.
Total evokes the possibility of maintaining production on a plateau of about 95 mb/d until 2030.
He says that is true. The production of oil has already been on a plateau since 2005 at around 82 mb/d[NB: with biofuels and coal-to-liquid, we approximate 88 mb/d for all liquid fuels.] It appears to him impossible to go much higher. Since demand is still on an increasing trajectory (unless, possibly, the economic crisis engulfs the emerging economies), He expects to see the first tensions arising between 2013 and 2015.

Further information:

http://petrole.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/12/30/oi-will-decline-2015-according-to-a-former-expert-of-the-international-energy-agency/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/11/06/business/20071107_WINNERSLOSERS_GRAPHIC.htm

More dangerous signs of climate change: A road map is necessary

The effect of GHG emissions and deforestation yet made by man may be more dangerous than what scientists have ever forecasted. Talks in Durban to limit global temperature rises to 2C, agreed in Copenhagen Conference in 2009, will not prevent the possibility of dangerous climate change, warns Dr. Hansen, the scientist who first raised the alarm over global warming at US senate hearings in 1988. He believes carbon dioxide concentrations – now at nearly 389 parts per million (ppm) – should be no higher than 350ppm to stop catastrophic events such as the melting of ice sheets, dramatic sea level rises and methane being released from beneath the permafrost.
Signs of these possible effects of climate change have been observed. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Igor Semiletov, of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that he has never before witnessed the scale and force of the methane– a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – being released from beneath the Arctic seabed.
"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing," Dr Semiletov said. "I was most impressed by the sheer scale and high density of the plumes. Over a relatively small area we found more than 100, but over a wider area there should be thousands of them."
Scientists estimate that there are hundreds of millions of tonnes of methane gas locked away beneath the Arctic permafrost, which extends from the mainland into the seabed of the relatively shallow sea of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. One of the greatest fears is that with the disappearance of the Arctic sea-ice in summer, and rapidly rising temperatures across the entire region, which are already melting the Siberian permafrost, the trapped methane could be suddenly released into the atmosphere leading to rapid and severe climate change.
Read more about that in:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/father-of-climate-change-2c-limit-is-not-enough-6273721.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html
The solution can come through curbing GHG emissions turning to renewable sources of energy , further actions in efficient use of energy and too by stopping deforestation and instead promoting afforestation. Today great emitters of some developing countries, China and India, think that reducing or limiting their GHG emissions imply a reduction in their necessary development to satisfy people demands. Other great emitters of developed countries, USA, perhaps doesn’t limit their emissions waiting for a solution in the advancement of science and technology to make the alternatives of green economies more attractive and competitive than the actual traditional economy responsible of GHG emissions made by man. It is time to act beginning in planning a road map so as to limit GHG emissions and to invest much more in R+ D+ I in green economies.

Energy, climate change, water and green economy

Energía, cambio climático, agua y economía verde

Energía, cambio climático, agua y economía verde están íntimamente relacionados. Si de verdad queremos encontrar soluciones sostenibles, debemos asegurarnos de que nos dirigimos a los cuatro de una manera simultanea. Son piezas del mismo rompecabezas y por lo tanto no es práctico verlas de manera aislada. Cuando usted tiene un problema de energía, sin duda no se puede resolver un problema de agua; Esto funciona también a la inversa. Y si usted está preocupado por el cambio climático, en realidad está preocupado por la energía, el agua y la economía verde - ya sea que lo sepa o no. Los responsables políticos, las universidades y centros de investigación, empresas y sociedad civil están trabajando duro tratando de encontrar soluciones a los desafíos del agua y la energía dentro de una economía verde de lucha contra el cambio climático.

¿Por qué este tema importa tanto ahora?
"El cambio climático se espera que va a exacerbar las tensiones actuales sobre los recursos hídricos. [...] Se prevé una aceleración en el siglo 21 de las pérdidas de masa generalizadas de los glaciares y de las reducciones en la capa de nieve en las últimas décadas, reduciendo la disponibilidad de agua, potencial hidroeléctrico, y cambiando la estacionalidad de los flujos (en algunas regiones)”.
Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático, Cambio climático 2007: Informe de Síntesis
Por ello es extremadamente importante realizar una gestión sostenible del agua y de los ecosistemas hídricos. En los últimos años se ha agravado la sequía en el sur de Europa, Asia Central, África, Oriente Medio y regiones de Australia; mientras que las inundaciones provocan cada vez más muertes y perjuicios económicos en China, Pakistán, India, Tailandia y países europeos.
Se prevé un aumento en la demanda global de energía primaria de poco más del 50% de aquí al 2030. Shell dice que vamos a necesitar lo equivalente a cuatro Arabias Saudíes de petróleo más. Las extracciones de agua dulce se prevé que aumenten un 50% para el año 2025 en los países en desarrollo, y el 18% en los países desarrollados.
El aumento de la demanda de energía producirá un aumento en las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero y en el calentamiento del planeta y por ello la disponibilidad del agua será reducida en consecuencia (de cierta calidad y cantidad, y en un momento dado, un lugar o de flujo).Mucha de esta demanda serìa del carbón por ser más barato para centrales térmicas, especialmente en China. Mientras la demanda de energía será mas creciente para conseguir agua. Un modelo nuevo y genuino de las energías renovables y el ahorro y la eficiencia en el uso de la energía y el agua dentro de una economía verde son necesarios para enfrentarse con estos retos de un riesgo probable.

La actual crisis financiera representa una oportunidad para volver a analizar la manera de gestionar este riesgo. Tenemos que aprender a considerar los temas críticos como el agua, energía, cambio climático, los alimentos, la tierra, el desarrollo y los ecosistemas en conjunto. Impulsar las nuevas energías renovables y la eficiencia en el uso de agua y energía mediante la inversión en (I+D+i) en tecnologías e infraestructura son vías fundamentales para lograr los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. Es esencial que la actual crisis financiera no lleve a una caída en el apoyo a estas vías.
De un tiempo para acá, se viene hablando de la”‘economía verde” que se considera todavía como un concepto emergente. Su eje central, según la Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente, es la idea de revitalizar economías a medida que vayan saliendo de la reciente crisis económica, a la vez que se reducen de manera significativa sus riesgos medioambientales y se solucionan los problemas de escasez ecológica. A nivel global, hacer la economía más sostenible es el corazón de unos esfuerzos renovados por integrar consideraciones medioambientales y sociales dentro de la toma de decisiones económicas de gran calado, hasta y más allá de la Conferencia de Río sobre Desarrollo Sostenible que celebrará la ONU en 2012.
Finalizo con una reflexión de la profesora Jacqueline McGlade, directora ejecutiva de la Agencia Europea de Medio Ambiente “necesitamos seguir reforzando el vínculo entre política e información. Se trata de un camino en dos direcciones; los responsables de las políticas deben hacer un mejor uso del abanico de informaciones medioambientales disponible actualmente; pero, al mismo tiempo, las evaluaciones medioambientales deben concebirse de la manera más relevante de cara a las políticas.” Algo que sigue brillando por su ausencia en muchos casos por imperativos inmediatos de circunstancias.
“Si queremos sostener el desarrollo social y económica, tendremos que hacer que nuestras economías sean más verdes. Esto implica una gestión equitativa de los recursos limitados, sin comprometer las funciones esenciales del ecosistema. Nuestra capacidad, como sociedad, para alcanzar con éxito este objetivo dependerá del acceso que tengamos a información y evaluaciones medioambientales relevantes, creíbles y legítimas.”

Dr. Mahmoud M. Rabbani

Trabaja y escribe en asuntos de medio ambiente

Publicado en Diario de Navarra y en Hispagua.cedex.es

Industrial estates can be partially turned to green energies

Indusrial Estate Landaben in Pamplona, Spain

Wind turbines and solar panels will be becoming familiar sights at car assembly plants as automakers slash carbon emissions not only of the models they produce, but along the whole production chain.
From 2013, BMW has decided to install wind turbines at its plant in Leipzig in eastern Germany to provide the power for the assembly of its electric and hybrid models, the i3 and the i8, being unveiled at this year's IAA motor show.
French giant Renault boasts that has opened a "zero-carbon" factory at Tangiers, Morocco, powered by wind turbines while biomass generators provide steam and heating and manufacturing waste is recycled.
And in an investment that could prove attractive not only in image terms, but in financial terms, too, the auto giant is planning to equip its French sites with solar panels by 2012.
Further information about green energies in car assembly plants in:
http://www.france24.com/en/20110914-carmakers-turn-green-energy-assembly-plants

Well, that can be extended too covering many industry plants and workshops that capture wind and solar energy in their areas. Then it will not be unusual to see solar panels upon roofs of premises in industrial estates and wind turbines decorating their panoramas. New sources of renewable energies can be so operated in situ to satisfy some of energy demands in factories and workshops in industrial parks.