Ketsana Hits Cambodia September 29, 2009

The powerful typhoon that has hit the Philippines and Vietnam with deadly force is now battering Cambodia.

At least nine people have died in Kampong Thom province in central Cambodia.
When Typhoon Ketsana hit Vietnam, more than 30 people were killed and almost 200,000 people fled their homes; severe flooding remains in central provinces.
In the Philippines, where the typhoon hit over the weekend, at least 246 people are known to have died.
Relief officials in the Philippines, struggling to feed and shelter hundreds of thousands of displaced people, admit they have been overwhelmed by the disaster.
They warn that new storms are heading towards the country.
Cambodia caught
In Vietnam, Ketsana hit with torrential rains and winds of more than 150km/h before it headed inland towards northern Cambodia and southern Laos.
Typhoons usually weaken on reaching land, but Ketsana is still dangerous, officials said.
"At least nine people were crushed last night when their house fell down," said Chea Cheat, chief of the Red Cross office in Kampong Thom province, about 130 km (80 miles) north of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
He added that at least 78 houses in his province were destroyed and that heavy rain and rising floods were continuing.
International organisations and government officials in Cambodia said they were distributing tents and food to affected people while assessing damage across at least five of the country's provinces.
Vietnam floods
The BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh said that Ketsana had been devastating when it headed toward the city of Danang, on central Vietnam's coast.
The airport and schools were closed. Railways and roads linking north and south Vietnam were cut off. Danang airport has since reopened.
The biggest floods in decades now threaten Vietnam's central provinces, correspondents said, with thousands of homes inundated with water.
Vietnamese state media reported that at least 33 people had died from floods and landslides in seven coastal and central highland provinces, and river waters in Quang Nam provinces could reach a level last seen in 1964.
Around 170,000 people were evacuated before the typhoon made landfall.
Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said late on Tuesday that he hoped power supplies would be restored quickly, particularly to Quang Ngai province where Vietnam's first oil refinery, Dung Quat, was due to reopen after an outage shut the plant's test runs last month.
Overwhelmed

In the Philippines, the government said it now believed 246 people had died after the storm struck on Saturday, a figure that is expected to rise as mud is cleared from the worst affected areas.
Almost two million people were affected by the flooding in Manila, the worst to hit the city in 40 years. At one point, 80% of the city was submerged.
Ketsana, with winds of up to 100km/h (60mph), hit the Philippines early on Saturday, crossing the main northern Luzon island before heading out toward the South China Sea. Officials say more than 40cm (16in) of rain fell on Manila within 12 hours, exceeding the average for the whole month of September.
Meanwhile forecasters said a new storm forming in the Pacific Ocean was likely to enter Philippine waters on Thursday and make landfall later on the northern island of Luzon.

Ondoy - Ketsana Wrecks Havock in Vietnam - September 29, 2009

By TRAN VAN MINH, Associated Press Writer – Tue Sep 29, 10:14 am ET
HANOI, Vietnam – Typhoon Ketsana roared into central Vietnam on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people as it brought flooding and winds of up to 90 mph (144 kph), disaster officials said. Some 170,000 were evacuated from its path.
Ketsana left more than 200 dead across the northern Philippines as a weaker tropical storm.
After gathering strength over the South China Sea, the typhoon made landfall in midafternoon, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Danang, according to the National Weather Center.
Two people in Quang Nam province were killed by falling trees, and another died when struck by a power line, said Nguyen Minh Tuan, a provincial disaster official.
"The rivers are rising and many homes are flooded, and several mountainous districts have been isolated by mudslides," Tuan said.
Another three died in Thua Thien Hue province, disaster official Le Minh said. A man was killed by a falling tree, a woman died in floodwaters and a 3-year-old drowned in a flooded home.
As the storm moved inland toward Laos, nine people died in Kon Tum province in the Central Highlands, including a family of five whose house was buried in a mudslide, disaster official Nguyen Van Vy said.
Deaths were also reported in Danang and the province of Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai.
Some flooding was reported in Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Quang Nam province, but no serious damage was reported.
The storm weakened as it approached Laos, and by Tuesday evening, the rain had stopped along some parts of the coast.
River levels were still rising, however, and more rains are forecast for the region Wednesday.
Authorities evacuated 170,000 people from six central provinces as the typhoon approached and heavy winds began lashing Vietnam's central coast in the morning, officials said.
"There's a blackout across our entire province," said Truong Ngoc Nhi, vice governor of Quang Ngai province, south of Danang. "Streets are strewn with fallen trees and utility poles. It looks like a battlefield."
Vietnam Airlines canceled all flights to the tourist destinations of Danang and Hue and travelers were stranded along the central coast.
The typhoon ruined the wedding of Bui Thi Anh Nguyet, a 24-year-old-bride who consulted a fortune teller before setting the date for her nuptials.
According to Vietnamese tradition, the groom comes to the bride's hometown, picks her up and brings her to his hometown for the wedding. Nguyet had planned to marry in Danang, but the wedding party got stuck in Binh Dinh province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Danang.
"We had been preparing for this wedding since January, and we chose today as our most auspicious and happiest day, but now we are stranded," Tuyet said telephone. "Parts of the highway are flooded. I don't know how long we'll be stuck here."

Earthquake in Indonesia October 1, 2009

A second earthquake struck off the coast of western Indonesia on Thursday, a day after the region was hit by a more powerful quake that toppled buildings, trapping thousands of people under rubble and killing at least 200, officials said.

The shallow inland 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit 240 km south of Padang at a depth of just 24 kilometres, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were reports the second quake badly damaged dozens of additional buildings.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.6, struck at 5:15 p.m. local time Wednesday. It had an epicentre about 50 kilometres off the coast of Sumatra, according to Indonesia's meteorological agency.

A higher death toll is expected once officials tally casualties in other areas of West Sumatra province, where communications and roads have been severed.

The massive underwater quake, which had a depth of 85 kilometres, briefly prompted the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to issue a tsunami alert for Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand. It was later lifted when there were no immediate reports of high waves.

Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency, said Thursday that about 500 buildings collapsed in the coastal city of Padang in the Southern Sumatra province as well as in other town and cities.

The 7.6-magnitude quake had an epicentre about 50 kilometres off the coast of Sumatra. (CBC)

The hospital in Padang is among the collapsed buildings, said Rustam Pakya, head of the country's Health Ministry.

Other collapsed buildings include homes, hotels, schools and shops, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla told a news conference Wednesday.

The rubble of other collapsed buildings are thought to have trapped thousands of people, Pakya said.

A field hospital is being prepared to assist the injured and medical teams were on the way from neighbouring provinces, he said.

Piles of rubble

Witnesses said people ran out of homes and buildings in fear when the quake hit.

Television footage showed devastation, with piles of rubble and smashed houses in Sumatra.

The quake has also caused widespread power and phone line outages, according to officials, making communication difficult. Several injuries are being reported by witnesses.

An earthquake survivor receives medical treatment in Padang Panjang, West Sumatra, on Wednesday. (Tundra Laksamana/Associated Press)Bridges collapsed in Sumatra, according to reports, and landslides also cut off the coastal area.

There were also reports that the tremor caused several water pipelines to break, causing flooding in streets.

It is not yet clear if the quake had any impact on the country's large oilfields and liquefied natural gas terminal, which are also based on Sumatra.

Wednesday's tremor was felt in the capital of Jakarta, and in Singapore and Malaysia.

Geologists have long said Padang, with a population of 900,000, may one day be destroyed by a huge earthquake because of its location.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, straddles continental plates and is prone to seismic activity along what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. The quake was along the same fault line that spawned the massive December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Hours earlier, a tsunami had swept into Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, killing at least 99 people after a strong underwater quake in the South Pacific.

Ondoy - Kethsana Worst Storm in 40 years

(UPDATE) Ondoy's death toll climbs to 246
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/29/2009 8:17 AM




MANILA - The government on Tuesday has confirmed a total of 246 people dead and nearly 40 people still missing following devastating floods and landslides in Luzon caused by tropical storm Ondoy.

As of 3 p.m., the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said it has accounted for 246 dead people with 101 of the fatalities coming from Metro Manila and 105 from Region IV-A.

The NDCC said 38 people remain missing and 5 people were injured due to flashfloods and landslides that hit several areas in Luzon on Saturday.

The number of those affected by the tropical storm’s onslaught on Saturday has climbed to 1.93 million.

The agency said 319,547 people were sheltered in 607 makeshift evacuation camps and schools around Metro Manila, Rizal and other areas in Luzon placed by the government under a state of national calamity.

Another 247,870 people are outside evacuation centers, mostly with relatives, the NDCC said.

The cost of damages to property and crops by Ondoy has also risen to P4.69 billion, the NDCC added.

In a press conference on Monday afternoon, NDCC chairman and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the Philippine government will send requests for international assistance thru the United Nation Resident Coordinator.

The government, television networks, movie stars and non-government groups have been going out and pleading for relief goods, cash and medicine for the thousands of affected families staying in cramped evacuation centers.

Classes in all school levels in Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas and other areas remained suspended on Tuesday.

Teodoro said he and education officials will meet on Tuesday to decide if there is a need to extend class suspensions.

He said the NDCC is preparing for another possible storm to enter while floods in some parts of Rizal province have yet to recede.

Fair weather

The government's weather bureau PAGASA said the southern part of Luzon and western section of Visayas will experience mostly cloudy skies and rainshowers on Tuesday due to an enhanced southwest monsoon.

PAGASA weather bureau chief Prisco Nilo on Monday said that he expects fair weather in the next 2 to 3 days in Metro Manila.

"We don't expect prolonged strong rains in Metro Manila area," he added.

"What happened is that, the southwest monsoon is enhanced by Ondoy although it's far away already and so we're still experiencing some rains in Metro Manila and adjacent areas," Nilo said.

However, he said the weather situation could change significantly.

Nilo said the PAGASA has monitored two "cloud clusters" that may affect the Philippines in the coming weeks.

"These are only cloud clusters. They're not tropical depressions yet," he said.

as of 09/29/2009 10:14 PM

Tsunami in South Pacific

A tsunami triggered by a strong quake in the South Pacific has killed at least 34 people in Samoa, say reports.
Samoa's delegate to the US Congress, Eni Faleomavaega, told AFP thousands of people had been left homeless.
Dr Lemalu Fiu, at a hospital in the Samoan capital, Apia, said the number of casualties was expected to rise as people arrived from coastal areas.
An 8.3-magnitude quake struck at 1748 GMT, generating 15ft (4.5m) waves in some areas of Samoa and American Samoa.
The Samoa islands comprise two separate entities - the nation of Samoa and American Samoa, a US territory - with a total population of about 250,000 people.
A tsunami warning was issued, but it has now been cancelled.
President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in American Samoa, enabling federal funding to made available to help victims.

Floating cars

"Some of the areas there are only a few feet above sea level, so you can imagine the devastation," said Mr Faleomavaega. "It caused severe damage to property, there are cars floating everywhere. "Mase Akapo, a National Weather Service meteorologist in American Samoa, told the AP news agency that at least 14 people had been killed in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila.
He said another 20 people had died Samoa

The water was swirling like a spa pool outwards [towards] the rim of the lagoon and in a few seconds the water sunk



Talutala Mauala, Secretary General of the Red Cross in Samoa, said she was travelling to the country's south coast, where injuries had also been reported.
"We won't know the full extent of the damage until we get there and see for ourselves," she said.

Ms Mauala said it could take many months for people to rebuild their homes.
An Associated Press reporter said he had seen "bodies everywhere" in the main hospital in Lalomanu, on Samoa's main island of Upolu, including at least one child.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported that three South Koreans were among the dead and one is still missing.

Beaches gone
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said the quake struck at a depth of 33km (20 miles) some 190km (120 miles) from Apia. Waves of 5.1ft (1.57m) hit Apia and Pago Pago in American Samoa.

People fled for higher ground as the waves approached
Radio New Zealand quoted Samoan residents as saying that villages were inundated and homes and cars swept away.

Graeme Ansell, a New Zealander near Apia, told the radio station the beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale had been "wiped out".

"There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need around here," he said.
Samoalive News said local radio stations had been receiving reports of high sea swells hitting coastal areas on the eastern and southern side of Upolu island
"School has been called off for the day with tsunami warnings calling for people to head to higher grounds," the website said.

Witnesses have reported scenes of destruction.



"It's horrible... The village is gone and my once beautiful beach front villa has now been submerged in water," Josh Nayangu told the BBC after fleeing the area on a small fishing boat with his wife and son.
Ula Osasa-Mano, who was visiting family on the island, told the BBC the water along the Apia seawall was turbulent.
"The water was kind of swirling like a spa pool outwards [towards] the rim of the lagoon and in a few seconds the water sunk," Ula Osasa-Mano said.
General alert

The PTWC - a branch of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - issued a general alert for the South Pacific region.
Stuart Weinstein, the deputy director of the PTWC, told the BBC that the agency was monitoring the situation, but said the wave was expected to be "much smaller" than the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed about 230,000 people in 11 countries.
Mr Weinstein said Tuesday's quake had only had 3% of the energy generated by the 2004 quake.

He said he expected the quake to be destructive in the areas closest to the epicentre, but said it "remains to be seen" how far any devastation would spread.
By 2200 GMT, the tsunami warning had been cancelled.

Black Carbon Warms the Planet Second Only to CO2

ISIS Report 28/09/09

Eighty percent of black carbon emissions come from fossil fuels and biomass burning associated with deforestation; reducing black carbon emissions may be the quickest, cheapest way to save the climate Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

New research shows that airborne soot, or black carbon (BC) aerosols resulting from incomplete combustion, are warming the earth much more than previously thought [1]. According to Veerabhadran Ramanathan at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography San Diego and Greg Carmichael at the University of Iowa, the warming effect of black carbon is 55 percent that of CO2, the biggest contributor to global warming.

The annual emission of BC (for year 1996) was estimated at about 8 Tg (1012g); of which 20 percent comes from biological fuels (wood, dung and crop residues), 40 percent from fossil fuels (diesel and coal) and 40 percent from open biomass burning (associated with deforestation and crop residue burning). High BC emissions occur in both northern and southern hemispheres, the former from fossil fuels and the latter from open biomass burning. BC is often transported long distances, mixing with other aerosols on the way such as sulphates, nitrates, organics, dust and sea salt, to form transcontinental plumes of brown clouds that extend vertically 3 to 5 km. BC is removed from the atmosphere by rain and snowfall; that and direct deposition limits the atmospheric lifetime of BC to about a week.

Major BC sources coincide with atmospheric solar heating and surface dimming

Until about 1950s, North America and Western Europe were the main sources of soot emissions, but now developing nations in the tropics and East Asia are the major source regions. Field observations and satellite sensors reveal that BC concentrations peak close to major source regions, giving rise to regional hotspots of solar heating in the Indo-Gangetic plains in South Asia, eastern China, most of Southeast Asia including Indonesia, regions of Africa between sub-Sahara and South Africa, Mexico and Central America, and most of Brazil and Peru in South America.

Whereas CO2 heats the earth surface through the greenhouse effect, BC heats the earth by decreasing its albedo in several ways. (Albedo is the fraction of solar energy not absorbed but reflected from the earth back into space.) First it heats the atmosphere by absorbing solar radiation reflected by the earth’s surface to the atmosphere. This is referred to as ‘top of atmosphere’ or TOA heating. Second, soot inside cloud drops and ice crystals decrease the albedo of clouds by enhancing absorption of solar energy. Third, when airborne black carbon particles, or soot, is deposited over snow and sea ice, it darkens the surfaces and decreases the otherwise high albedo, contributing to the melting of Arctic ice.

Ramanathan and Carmichael estimate that TOC heating (the first pathway), is 0.9 W/ m2 (range 0.4 to 1.2 W/m2), which is 55 percent of the CO2 warming of 1.66 W/m2; greater than that due to other greenhouse gases including methane, and much larger than the 0.2 to 0.4 W/m2 estimated previously by the IPCC.

BC also absorbs solar energy directly, a heating effect estimated at 2.6 W/m2. This direct absorption reduces the solar radiation reaching the earth surface, resulting in a dimming effect estimated at -1.7W/m2.

The calculations are complicated by the mix of aerosols that originate from some sources of BC which co-emit organic carbon compounds (such as benzene, ethane and ethyne from wood burning, all harmful to human health [2]) and sulphate, also harmful to human health [3], that tend to have a cooling effect by direct light scattering and interaction with clouds.

BC melting glaciers and Arctic ice

Models that include only the BC contribution leads to a warming from the surface to about 12 km altitude by as much as 0.6 ˚C over most of the northern hemisphere including the Arctic region, comparable to that due to greenhouse gases [1].

BC atmospheric heating may be an important contributing factor to the melting of Himalayan glaciers. Analysis of temperature trend reveals warming in excess of 1 ˚C since the 1950s [4]. Models suggest that movement of the warm air heated by BC from South and East Asia over the Himalayas contributes warming as much as 0.6 ˚C of the region, which is as large as the warming trend due to greenhouse gases [5]. More than two-thirds of the Himalayan glaciers have retreated, with disastrous consequences for downstream agriculture.

BC contributes substantially to melting of snow through direct soot deposition over snow and sea ice. It darkens the snow and enhances solar absorption significantly. Model simulations showed that the deposition of BC from sources in North America and Europe over the Arctic sea ice may have resulted in an Arctic surface warming trend of as much as 0.5 to 1 ˚C [6]. In addition, the study estimated that BC-induced reduction of snow albedo contributes a major warming of 20 W/m2.

Measurements of BC in ice cores indicate that sources and concentrations of BC in Greenland varied greatly since 1788 as the result of forest fires and industrial activities. Beginning about 1850, industrial emissions resulted in a seven-fold increase in BC concentration, with most change occurring in winter. At its maximum between 1906 and 1910, the estimated surface warming effect in early summer from BC in Arctic snow was about 3 W/m2, 8 times the typical pre-industrial average [7]. The direct absorption of sunlight by BC heats the Arctic atmosphere by approximately the same amount as human-injected CO2 in spring and summer, when snow and ice are most vulnerable to melting [8]. Black carbon also warms the Arctic, including in winter, by thickening low-level clouds that trap more of Earth’s emitted heat (TOA heating, see above).

A draft white paper from the US Environment Protection Agency point to diesel and open burning (both agricultural and wildfires) as the major sources of BC that reach the Arctic from the eight Arctic Council nations: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Russia [9]. These sources also comprise the greatest part of BC emissions in near-Arctic regions (north of approximately forty degrees latitude), including much of the European Union, Ukraine and China north of Beijing. With increased shipping expected in and near the Arctic due to sea ice loss, marine sources of BC will be more important. The draft white paper concludes that “There is sufficient evidence to support the reduction of BC emissions from the identified sources (diesel, burning and marine) as a means to slow the rate of warming in the Arctic over the next few decades.” It recommends practical measures such as retrofits of diesel engines with particulate diesel filters, management of springtime biomass burning; and also pointing to significant mortality and morbidity averted due to air quality benefits from reducing particulate emission.

BC perturbs the monsoons

Rainfall has been decreasing over the past 50 years over many regions of the tropics, particularly Africa, South Asia and northern China. These drying patterns cannot be explained solely by global warming. Models are now investigating the effects of BC and associated atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) formed by BC with other aerosols [1].

Emissions of BC and other aerosol precursors from South Asia have increased significantly since the 1950s. This results in a dimming trend of about 7 percent as detected by surface radiometers in India, with concomitant decrease in the evaporation of the Indian Ocean, where similar dimming has occurred, so less moisture is fed to the monsoons in South Asia. The dimming suppresses greenhouse warming over the North Indian Ocean while the greenhouse warming proceeds unabated over the southern Indian Ocean. As a result, the summer-time sea surface north-south temperature (SST) gradient is decreased, and has been decreasing since the 1950s. The decrease of the SST gradient weakens the monsoonal circulation, and hence the monsoon rains during summertime. At the same time, the atmospheric heating gradient has increased. BC solar heating of the atmosphere over South Asia strengthens the monsoon outflow with stronger rising motions over the subcontinent, accompanied by a bigger influx of moisture into south Asia. This effect increases rainfall and peaks during spring when BC heating is at its most intense.

These effects of BC have been invoked to explain the Sahel drought of the 1970s and 1980s.

BC impacts on health worse than previously thought

A new report released in June 2009 from the non-profit Health Effects Institute (set up by the Environmental Protection Agency in the US) finds that risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease from soot is twice as high as previously thought [10]. It goes up by 24 percent for people living in soot-laden areas instead of 12 percent. The study draws on data gathered from 350 000 people over 18 years, and an additional 150 000 people in more recent years. It included 116 American cities, with the highest levels of soot particles in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles and the Central Valley of California, Birmingham, Alabama; Atlanta; the Ohio River Valley; and Pittsburgh. The sources of the fine BC particles include diesel engines, automobile tires, coal fired power plants and oil refineries.

The health impacts of BC are worse in developing countries [11], where an estimated 1.8 million people die every year from exposure to BC and other emissions from indoor fires. The health impacts of co-emissions such as organic carbons and sulphate aerosols are also known [2, 3]. The global annual infant and adult premature mortalities due to sulphate aerosol exposure are estimated to be nearly 0.14 and 0.85 million, respectively.

Reducing BC emission can result in immediate climate and health benefits

Because the average life time of BC in the air is or the order of 10 days, there is a real possibility of reducing warming quickly by cutting BC emissions, which is much cheaper than cutting CO2 emissions, Ramanathan told a journalist [12]. And it would deliver substantial benefits as a bonus. Given the concentration of BC emissions in Asia, which is also having dire local air pollution effects, reducing black carbon emissions should be an important part of international development projects.

China and India account for ~25 to 35 percent of global BC emissions, and their expanding economies could make them an even larger source. Technologies to reduce black-carbon emissions already exist: newer combustion techniques and after treatments (scrubbing) often reduce particle emissions by several orders of magnitude. Providing alternative energy-efficient and smoke-free cookers and transferring technology for reducing soot emissions from coal combustion in small industries could have major impacts both on health and on the climate.

Ramanathan and Carmichael [1] showed that simply replacing the biological fuels used currently with BC-free cookers such as solar, biogas and natural gas in South and East Asia would have a dramatic effect. Over South Asia, a 70 to 50 percent reduction in BC heating, and in East Asia, a 20 to 40 percent reduction.

ISIS has been proposing anaerobic digestion of organic farm and human waste to generate methane for both developing and developed countries [13-15] (Biogas Bonanza for Third World Development , SiS 27; How to Beat Climate Change & Post Fossil Fuel Economy, SiS 29; Organic Agriculture and Localized Food & Energy Systems for Mitigating Climate Change, SiS 40). This is all the more relevant now in the context of reducing BC emissions.

Andrew Grieshop and colleagues at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in Canada point out that eliminating all present-day emissions of black carbon globally over the next 50 years would have an approximate climate mitigation effect equivalent to removing 25 Gt C from the atmosphere over the same period [16]. According to conservative estimates, one tonne of black carbon causes about 600 times the warming of one tonne CO2 over a period of 100 years.

Source: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/blackCarbonWarmsThePlanets.php

UERM Flood

Typhoon Ondoy brought a months rains in just 24 hours...

The video is from a school near where I am staying... about 2 km away.

I am not surprised this happened.

More about this story...

The Red Dawn of Sydney, Apocalypse?

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 23, 4:10 am ET

SYDNEY – Australia's worst dust storm in 70 years blanketed the heavily populated east coast Wednesday in a cloud of red Outback grit, nearly closed the country's largest airport and left millions of people coughing and sputtering in the streets.
No one was hurt as a result of the pall that swept in overnight, bringing an eerie orange dawn to Sydney, but ambulance services reported a spike in emergency calls from people with breathing difficulties, and police warned drivers to take it easy on the roads.
Dust clouds blowing east from Australia's dry interior — parched even further by the worst drought on record — covered dozens of towns and cities in two states as strong winds snatched up tons of topsoil, threw it high into the sky and carried it hundreds of miles (kilometers).
International flights were diverted from Sydney to other cities — three from New Zealand were turned around altogether — and domestic schedules were thrown into chaos as operations at Sydney Airport were curtailed by unsafe visibility levels. Passenger ferries on the city's famous harbor were also stopped for several hours for safety reasons.
The dust over Sydney had largely cleared by midafternoon, though national carrier Qantas said severe delays would last all day because of diverted and late-running flights.
The dust was still flying further north, however, and the sky over the Queensland state capital of Brisbane was clogged with dust into the early evening.
Such thick dust is rare over Sydney, and came along with other uncommon weather conditions across the country in recent days. Hailstorms have pummeled parts of the country this week, while other parts have been hit with an early spring mini-heatwave, and wildfires.
"It did feel like Armageddon because when I was in the kitchen looking out the skylight, there was this red glow coming through," Sydney resident Karen told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The storms — visible as a huge brown smudge in satellite photographs of Australia on Wednesday — are the most severe since the 1940s, experts said. One was recorded traveling from southern Australia all the way to New Zealand some 1,400 miles (2,220 kilometers) away.
Officials said particle pollution in Sydney's air rose to the worst on record Wednesday, and the New South Wales state ambulance service said it had received more than 250 calls before midday from people suffering breathing problems.
People with asthma or heart or lung diseases were urged not to go outside and to keep their medicine inhalers handy.
"Keeping yourself indoors today is the main thing to do if you have any of those conditions and particularly if you're a known sensitive sufferer such as children, older adults or pregnant women," said Wayne Smith, a senior state health official.
Sydney residents coughed and hacked their way through their morning commute, rubbing grit from their eyes. Some wore masks, wrapped their faces in scarves or pressed cloths over their noses and mouths.
"These dust storms are some of the largest in the last 70 years," said Nigel Tapper, an environmental scientist at Monash University. "Ten very dry years over inland southern Australia and very strong westerlies have conspired to produce these storms."

The World's Fastest Electric Urban Car

The Tango, built in Spokane, WA is billed as the world's fastest urban car powered by electricity. The Tango achieves 0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds and has a top speed of 130 MPH!

EBM (Energy By Motion) machine

This uniquely configured rotating machine generates additional torque on the shaft when rotated through the magnetic field. Combined electrical/heat output exceeds input energy by over 40 percent.

Little Green Knowledge is Dangerous

The Green Revolution started when Al Gore presented and campaigned about Global Warming some years ago... with the movie "The Day after Tomorrow"... I am not really sure if it was able to help spread the awareness or just disensitize people.

Personally, Green Conssiousness dawned on me when I started to experience lung problems about 2 years ago more or less. I thought that all my years of being an automotive enthusiast and being addicted to the smell of gasoline and exhaust fumes as well as burned rubber - perhaps was taking its toll on me.

Although I have experimented on Hydrogen on demand systems in 1984, I never went deeper into this technology until only 2 years ago.

After realizing that my exhaust emissions has greatly improved on my bike and cars - I have also felt better when I drove my vehicles... the absence of the irritating toxic fumes was too obvious... and was truly a pleasant experience.

I had a chance to chat with many Taxi drivers... I found out that with the advent of LPG for Taxis - the rise of mortality on Taxi Drivers with lung problems - being brought to the Philippine Lung Center has also risen up significantly.

I felt this was a red flag.

Then comes another Green Idea about Biochar... it was not after reading an article that this Biochar initiative is dangerous because it is a threat to deplete the oxygen level of the atmosphere that I realize; we have all the more reason why we should promote Electrolysis on board combustion enhancement for all internal combustion engines.

A single cell generator for Hydroxy aka HHO that can produce 1 Liter per minute will produce about 15 Liters of Oxygen per hour - more or less.

This is much higher than what a single Tree can produce in half a day.

The figures are alarming already, there is indeed an obvious lowering of oxygen content in our air. CO2 has increased and the burning of bio-mass is not going to help increase oxygen at all... it consumes oxygen in the process.

With an HHO or Hydroxy generator in our cars, we are making excess Oxygen and burn fossil fuel better with bits of hydrogen in the combustion cycle. It not only lowers emission, it also improves the vehicles performance and mileage.

Naysayers and Big Oil Company agents of disinformation will always bombard us with self-limiting suggestions to keep us inside the Rabbits Hat so to speak.

We cannot keep ourselves inside the box forever... What we dont know will hurt us more soon! it is better to know more than just pretend to know more.

Being Green is not as easy as segregating your waste or doing organic farming.

Waste segregation is done naturally by outside the house forces whether we like it or not, I will post a video about this soon for you to realize why and how.

If we truly want to be green, we have to be aware of the emissions of our vehicles, generators or any equipment necessary to sustain our lifestyles and how are we going to generate oxygen.

Here are some ways to generate Oxygen:

1. Plant Trees Wisely
2. Do not cut Trees Unnecessarilly

and #3. Install an Eletrolysis Reactor for water in your vehicles or generators.

Some Suggestions to keep oxygen from depletion:

1. Do not burn bio-mass
2. Do not burn your trash or garbage or old leaves
3. Do not burn wood or paper
4. Keep your vehicle tuned to burn fuel more efficiently and make it run more and rev less calibration.
5. Keep a moderate lifestyle, breath slower and deeper, refrain from extreme physical exertions or activities that promotes respiratory excitement.

We dont need to be infused with too much complex knowledge about being green...

A really green consioussness is to be also aware of Oxygen... not only about Reducing Carbon Footprint.

And of course, Bio-Fuel is not Green at all.

You have to keep in mind, Bio-Fuel is actually burning your food to fuel your cars - not your body.

We are feeding our Mechanical monster gods with our very food... the farmlands becomes dedicated to plant these feedstock to keep our cars running - at the expense of our food.

Now people will become more into the eating habit of Genetically Modified Organic foods.... not really promoting a healthy life at all.

A move to stop bio-fuel initiative is rising.

Fossil Fuel is actually OK, for as long as we can utilize it efficiently.

All this Green Movement - if allowed to be put into the hands of the Big Corporations.... may become more dangerous than it seems.

Now is the time to put the control right into the hands of each and every individuals.

Equip yourself with knowledge... Enrich yourself with wisdom... Empower yourself with applications.

ehnriko

5 Facts about Hydrogen

by Tracie Close
08/27/2008

Alternative Fuel
As the world continues to turn away from burning fossil fuels for energy, scientists are constantly reevaluating the options for automotive fuels. It is well-known that burning fossil fuels creates excess greenhouse gases, which have negative effects on the environment as well as polluting the air we breathe. Biofuels have been heavily researched and production has become a top issue in many regions of the world, with differing effects. Another option is hydrogen, which has long been recognized as the cleanest potential vehicle fuel. That said, its production on a mass scale is still not economically practical.


Using Wind Power to Create Hydrogen
Different ways of creating hydrogen are being explored. Although the idea of harnessing energy from wind is far from novel and the Dutch have been at it for centuries, the idea that it could become a significant energy source for producing hydrogen fuel is relatively new. For example, there's a project being conducted currently in Denmark that is using wind power to produce electricity for electrolyzing water into hydrogen. The hope is to increase the productivity and viability of the process so that worldwide production could match demand. Renewable energy like wind will be used in six new hydrogen plants in western Denmark. Hopes are to have hydrogen fuel stations all over the country completed by the UN Climate Conference in 2009.

Worldwide Potential
Hydrogen power emits water, which cannot harm the environment or the ozone. When hydrogen is created with wind power this fuel is, as far as we know, endless and completely clean. From Australia to New Zealand, the U.S. and Japan, applications of hydrogen fuels are being studied and developed.

Technology and Science
In the U.S., scientists and engineers are finding better ways to produce hydrogen using sources other than fossil fuels like natural gas. Electrolysis of water is one popular technique but some experts say it may be too inefficient, requiring large amounts of electricity. This could become a moot point if countries like the U.S begin to rely on greater amounts of nuclear power for electrical generation, as is being seriously discussed today. In this case significant off-peak electricity will be available to electrolyze water into hydrogen. Researchers at Penn State are also investigating the use of bacteria to break down plant matter for producing hydrogen in a process that some believe has the potential to be highly efficient and create large quantities of hydrogen economically.

Future Possibilities
Hydrogen fuel is a better alternative than just about every other vehicle fuel option that we know of today. As research continues on the best way to create it, the possibility of a completely new industry filled with jobs and other opportunities is surfacing. Not only can this fuel help our planet, it can help to improve the global economy as well.

Tracie Close is a freelance writer for print and the web on eco-friendly topics. Her articles have been published in Saving American Manufacturing, Philadelphia Style Magazine, and High Tech, High Touch. She also has contributed numerous articles about green living for eHow.com.

5 Things You Need to Know About How Ethanol Is Made

by Bill Siuru
07/03/2008



A Very Old Technology
While the technology and equipment is much more sophisticated today, ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is produced basically as it has been done as long as man has been making beer and wine. As done for centuries, most ethanol today is produced by fermentation. When the feedstock is a grain like corn, the starch is first converted to sugars. Then, in the presence of the right type of yeast and in the absence of oxygen, the sugars are converted to ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. It is important that there is no oxygen during fermentation, otherwise you get water and carbon dioxide rather than ethanol. Ethanol can also be made from rice, wheat, sorghum, sunflower, and potatoes. In Brazil, where ethanol accounts for over 40 percent of the country's automotive fuel, sugar cane is used as the feedstock. Brazil is currently the world's biggest producer of ethanol.

Fuel or Food
Critics of using ethanol as a fuel say that the environmental benefits are nil and more important, the use of biofuels has to compete with the same feedstocks that are used for food. As we're seeing now, this means higher food prices and even food shortages. In the U.S., ethanol is mostly produced from corn that is both land and energy intensive. Experts say there is not enough agricultural land to grow enough corn for both fuel and food. The U.S. Department of Energy says corn-based ethanol provides only 26 percent more energy than required for its production, much of this being the fossil fuels used for fertilizer, diesel for tractors and trucks, and coal and natural gas for operating ethanol plants.

Government Mandate
The new Energy Independence and Security Act calls for a dramatic increase in biofuels - from 7.5 billion gallons in 2012 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. Corn- and other grain-based ethanols are expected to account for up to 15 billion gallons of these biofuels. The remaining 21 billion gallons will come from cellulosic and biomass sources.

Cellulosic Ethanol to the Rescue
Since cellulose is present in every plant, there is an abundance of low cost feedstock materials. Promising feedstock candidates include grasses and fast growing trees. The estimated 325 million tons of waste materials discarded every year - like urban wood waste, mill residues, corn stover and wheat straw - could provide as much as 30 percent of our fuel needs. Currently, switchgrass is of great interest because it contains much cellulose. An acre of grasses or other crops grown to make ethanol could produce more than twice the gallons of ethanol compared to corn, partly because the whole plant can be used. One gallon of fossil fuel can produce over five gallons of ethanol from prairie grasses.

Development Still Needed
While cellulosic biomass is cheaper to grow than corn because it requires less energy, fertilizer, herbicides, and other necessities make it substantially more expensive to process into ethanol than corn. Currently, it costs about $2.25 per gallon, about twice as much as from corn. This translates to the equivalent of $120 a barrel oil. The target is to half this by 2012. Incidentally, there is no difference between corn and cellulosic ethanol since both are ethyl alcohol. Also, ethanol cannot be transported readily through existing petroleum pipelines and must now be transported by barge, rail, or truck. This adds greatly to the cost of E85 (85-percent ethanol and 15-percent gasoline) and means E85 is still only readily available in or near corn-growing states. Finally, the oil companies have shown little interest in selling this competitor to gasoline.

Current Status for Cellulosic Ethanol
Plants to produce cellulosic ethanol, at least in demonstration quantities, are coming on line in various locations in the U.S. as well as in China and Spain. Recently, General Motors announced its partnership with Coskata to use this company's breakthrough technology to make ethanol from many feedstocks including garbage, old tires, and plant waste. It uses microorganisms that eliminate the need for costly pretreatments with enzymes. The microorganisms also ferment the material at lower temperatures and pressures to further reduce costs. A cost of about $1 per gallon is projected. The process extracts about 7.7 units of energy for every unit spent in turning feedstock into ethanol. It also reduces CO2 emissions by up to 84 percent compared to gasoline. Coskata's process uses less than a gallon of water to make a gallon of ethanol compared to three gallons or more for other processes. Coskata will deliver the first ethanol from its pilot plant to GM in late 2008, The first commercial-scale plant making 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol should be running in 2011.

Bill Siuru is a retired USAF colonel who has been writing about automotive technology for nearly 40 years. He has a bachelor's degree in automotive engineering, a PhD in mechanical engineering and has taught engineering at West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

5 Things You Need to Know About Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)

by Jennifer Olvera
07/03/2008

What LPG Really Is
Liquid Petroleum Gas - also called LPG, autogas, or LP Gas - is more commonly known in the U.S. as propane. In reality, however, LPG is a blend of propane and other hydrocarbon gases, such as butane. LPG is a byproduct that occurs during crude oil extraction and refining or from gas streams. It has a very high octane rating and becomes liquid when compressed, but reverts to a gas at normal temperatures and atmospheric pressure. Transporting LPG in its liquid state is ideal since it's extremely dense.

Benefits and Drawbacks of LPG
When used to power internal combustion engines, LPG is non-toxic, non-corrosive, additive-free, and doesn't contain tetra-ethyl lead. It also burns cleaner than traditional liquid motor fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. However, its energy density is lower than these fuels, resulting in fewer miles per gallon. Because certain types of internal combustion engines need lubrication from diesel and gasoline, it's possible that the use of LPG, which is non-lubricating, can damage valves and reduce the life of engines.

There are Different Kinds of LPG
It's important to use the right grade of LPG in order to prevent engine damage. Of the three kinds that are commercially available - propane, engine fuel-grade propane (or HD5), and commercial-grade butane - HD5 is the only engine fuel-grade propane. Standard HD5 requires a minimum propane content of 90 percent and propylene content that's lower than 5 percent. However, it's important to note that despite attempts to provide a standard in the U.S., the standards for HD5 are not universal since the concentration of propane itself can range between 50 percent and 100 percent. Its composition therefore ranges from country to country and location to location.

LPG Results in Power Loss
The use of HD5 results in a power loss of about 4 percent and up to an additional 20 percent among engines that have been converted to burn LPG. One of the ways this can be overcome is by using a supercharger or turbocharger to increase the volume of air that's burned with fuel in the engine's combustion chambers. Ways to enrich the oxygen content of the intake air are being investigated, but the findings aren't currently being applied to commercially available vehicles.

LPG Can Reduce Maintenance
It is believed that using LPG reduces the wear and tear on spark-ignited engines. Oil does not need to be changed as frequently, plus spark plugs and engines have been found to last longer than cars powered by gasoline. Typically, LPG-fueled cars start easier in cold temperatures, too, but the opposite can be true when it's hot. Propane's properties are highly affected by the temperature at which it's stored. When it gets warm, propane's volume increases; a safety fill-stop device ensures room remains in the tank so it cannot be filled to capacity. Because propane is stored under pressure and has a low viscosity, it's more common for it to leak through cracks, gaskets, seals, and pumps.

Jennifer Olvera, a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, has been writing professionally for over a decade. In addition to covering the "green scene" for publications such as Where Magazine and Crain's, she has become one of the preeminent dining, food, and entertainment writers in Chicago. She has regularly been published in Chicago Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Zagat, Citysearch.com, and Gayot.com.

Top 2008 Fuel Economy Favorites

By: Todd Kaho
02/14/2008



Suddenly, it's cool to drive a more environmentally mindful vehicle. High fuel prices, an unstable oil market, and world political forces are changing attitudes and vehicle preferences as a matter of economic necessity for both consumers and the auto industry. Shopping for a new vehicle today means paying attention not only to purchase price, monthly payments, and insurance costs, but for the first time since the oil crisis of the 1970s, fuel economy as well.

Automakers now have a business case for building fuel efficient cars for the North American market. As demand grows, moving the large number of high mileage cars necessary to maintain profitability becomes easier to achieve. That's good news for all since greener cars are easier on the environment, conserve natural resources, and save drivers money through lower operating costs.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the savings achieved by a car that gets 30 mpg compared to one that gets 20 mpg amounts to $775 per year, assuming 15,000 miles of driving annually and a fuel cost of $3.10. Add this up over the years a vehicle is typically in your driveway and the potential dollar savings is eye-opening.

Selecting a more fuel efficient car, truck, or SUV is a matter of choice and not necessarily price. Here, we've singled out 10 mileage standouts at five different price points that start below $15,000 and rise to over $30,000. Other vehicles are offered for consideration at each price level. The top selections aren't always the two highest fuel economy choices in a price range, but rather the most significant when functionality and drivability are taken into account. Considered, too, are consumer needs ranging from family size to vehicle styling. Clearly, there are lots of choices out there that fit differing needs and "greenness" will always be subjective. Here are 10 of our favorites that won't steer you wrong.

UNDER $15,000



HONDA FIT, 28 CITY/34 HIGHWAY MPG, $13,950
EPA classifies the Honda Fit as a small station wagon, making it the fuel economy leader in that segment. But in reality, the Fit competes more closely with the Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa subcompacts, cars that are small on the outside and big on the inside. Regardless, Honda's little five-door hatch is a very functional economy car/wagon that easily delivers fuel economy in the low to mid-30 mpg range. Power comes from a 109 horsepower, 1.5 liter VTEC four-cylinder and either a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission.



FORD FOCUS, 24 CITY/35 HIGHWAY MPG, $14,300
Ford's new 2008 Focus is proof that domestic manufacturers can produce great small cars. The Focus is offered as either a sporty two door coupe or four door sedan in base S, mid-range SE, and higher-end SES trim levels. The new car has a stiffer body structure than before, allowing a greater level of suspension tuning that makes it fun to drive and pleasant to live with daily. It comes standard with Ford's Duratec 2.0-liter four cylinder engine that can be ordered as a PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicle) variant in many states.

Others To Consider:
Toyota Yaris, 29 city/36 highway mpg, $11,350
Nissan Versa, 26 city/31 highway mpg, $12,710
Chevrolet Aveo, 24 city/34 highway mpg, $10,895
$15,000-$20,000

CHEVROLET MALIBU, 22 CITY/30 HIGHWAY MPG, $19,995
The completely redesigned 2008 Chevy Malibu may well restore your faith in domestic automakers. This fresh-from-the-tread-up design delivers considerable value in a good size family sedan. A base price under 20 grand represents considerable value when you consider it includes traction control, four wheel ABS, a year of OnStar, XM Satellite radio, and an automatic transmission. Bolstering its family appeal is a five star frontal and side impact crash rating. A 2.4-liter double overhead cam Ecotec engine is standard with a 3.6-liter V-6 optional. The Malibu is also offered in a mild hybrid version that delivers 24/32 mpg, but it doesn't make the under 20 grand cut.


NISSAN ROGUE, 22 CITY/27 HIGHWAY MPG, $19,250
Crossover vehicles try to be many things to many people, a feat the 2008 Nissan Rogue manages with surprising ease. The Rogue hits a sweet spot between true economy car thriftiness and SUV versatility. A smaller crossover package, the Rogue is easy to maneuver around town and parks more like a compact car than SUV. It is offered in both front wheel drive and all wheel drive powertrains, so if you live in snow country you may want to step up to all-weather capability with only a one mpg loss in both city and highway driving. This is made possible by Nissan's choice of a very willing 170 horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder that delivers V-6 like power through a continuously variable transmission.

Others To Consider:
Toyota Corolla, 27 city/35 highway mpg, $15,250
Honda Civic, 26 city/34 highway mpg, $15,010
Subaru Impreza, 20 city/27 highway mpg, $16,995
$20,000-$25,000

HONDA CIVIC HYBRID, 40 CITY/45 HIGHWAY MPG, $22,600
In the U.S. market, the Honda Civic is the economy car by which all others are judged. Rightly so, since the Civic has set standards for space efficiency, fuel economy, and clean emissions from the start. Now, some 35 years after the first Civic was introduced, this basic economy car has morphed into a platform that satisfies buyers from the sport compact performance crowd to commuters seeking maximum economy. The Civic Hybrid is in many ways the ultimate incarnation of the Civic's low environmental impact, high fuel efficiency promise. Utilizing Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology, the Civic Hybrid consistently delivers better than 40 mpg without sacrificing functionality.


TOYOTA PRIUS, 48 CITY/45 HIGHWAY MPG, $21,100
When you hear the word hybrid, this is the car most people envision. Pure and simple, the Toyota Prius is an icon of hybrid powertrain evolution. It has now been 10 years since the first Prius was sold in Japan, and that decade of refinement and technological advancement is evident in the current model. Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive incorporates a 1.5-liter, double overhead cam four-cylinder engine producing 76 horsepower. With the integration of a 67 horsepower electric motor this package provides 295 ft-lbs of torque from 0 rpm. The Prius is comfortable, stylish in its own quirky way, and provides drivers a high-profile statement for environmental performance.

Others To Consider:
Chevy Malibu Hybrid, 24 city/32 highway mpg, $22,790
Saturn Vue Green Line, 25 city/32 highway mpg, $24,795
Saturn Aura Green Line, 24 city/32 highway mpg, $22,790
$25,000-$30,000

TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID, 34 CITY/32 HIGHWAY MPG, $25,350
How do you make the best selling car in America even better? If you're Toyota, you add a hybrid version, of course. The Camry Hybrid debuted last year along with a complete redesign of the model. Utilizing Toyota's proven Hybrid Synergy Drive system, the Camry offers a combined gasoline-electric drive output of 187 horsepower. A true full hybrid like the Prius, the Camry Hybrid is capable of operating solely on electric power at slow speeds, on the gasoline engine alone, or via a combination of the two. The latest generation Camry is a solid mid-size sedan that suits a wide variety of missions well, particularly the roll of a comfortable family commuter car.


FORD ESCAPE HYBRID, 34 CITY/30 HIGHWAY MPG, $26,505
Ford continues to make strides with its hybrid program as evidenced by the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. The new model is not only quieter and more refined, but delivers better fuel economy than previous models as well. With 2008 EPA numbers of 34 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway for the front wheel drive model, the Escape Hybrid lays claim to being the most fuel efficient SUV available in America. The combination of a 2.3-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder gas engine and 94 horsepower electric motor allows the Escape Hybrid to deliver performance equivalent to a standard V-6 engine without sacrificing fuel economy. The Escape Hybrid is a great small SUV alternative for buyers who not willing to sacrifice utility for economy.

Others To Consider:
Nissan Altima Hybrid, 35 city/33 highway mpg, $25,710
Mercury Mariner 2WD Hybrid, 34 city/30 highway mpg, $27,195
Mazda Tribute 2WD Hybrid, 34 city/30 highway mpg, $25,310
OVER $30,000

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID, 27 CITY/25 HIGHWAY MPG, $37,650
The family friendly Highlander Hybrid grew in size, weight, and utility for 2008, yet delivers equivalent mileage to its smaller predecessor. The roomier interior features three rows, with the center row offering a removable center section that stows in the bottom of the console for easy access to the rear. Toyota is calling the new Highlander a crossover vehicle rather than an SUV. A quieter and more refined ride clearly moves the Highlander apart from truck based SUVs. Power comes from a 3.3-liter double overhead cam V-6 that works in harmony with electric drive to produce a combined output of 270 horsepower. The new model also offers an "EV" button that provides the ability to drive more on electric power only at lower speeds and for limited distances.


MERCEDES-BENZ E320 BLUETEC, 23 CITY/32 HIGHWAY MPG, $53,025
With ultra low sulfur -- or "clean" -- diesel now the standard in the U.S., automakers are finally able offer the diesel engine's roughly 30 percent fuel economy advantage while meeting the same stringent clean air standards as gasoline cars. The luxurious Mercedes E320 Bluetec is among the first to market with clean diesel technology that meets 50 state emissions requirements. The 3.0-liter Bluetec V-6 features 210 horsepower and an impressive 400 lbs-ft of torque delivered through an electronically controlled 7-speed automatic transmission. With fuel economy on par with smaller hybrid sedans, this Mercedes can cover a lot of ground between fill ups ... nearly 700 miles in highway cruise mode.

Others To Consider:
Lexus GS 450h, 22 city/25 highway mpg, $54,900
Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, 20 city/22 highway mpg, $49,590
Lexus RX 400h, 27 city/24 highway mpg, $41,280
Want to know more about fuel efficiency and higher mpg vehicles? Be sure to check out these articles on GreenCar.com:

350 ppm CO2 The Target

ISIS Report 09/09/09

350 ppm CO2 The Target
#################

Reducing present atmospheric CO2 to 350 ppm is needed to
avert irreversible climate catastrophe, top climate
scientists say Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Rajendra Pachauri, United Nation’s top climate scientist and
head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), took everyone by surprise when he said that the
target to aim for is 350 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in the
atmosphere, bearing in mind that we now have 385 ppm.

The IPCC produces an authoritative assessment of climate
science every five years. Its last report in 2007 helped set
the target of 450 ppm that many environmental groups and
national governments have adopted as their goal for the
Copenhagen negotiation this December.

But 450 ppm is out of date. When Jim Hansen from NASA
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, in the US and
other scientists looked at phenomena such as how rapidly
polar ice has been melting in summer [1], they produced a
convincing demonstrating that 350 ppm is the bottom line.
“But it's been hard to get that news out to the powers that
be. So today it comes as enormous and welcome news that
Pachauri, from his New Delhi office, said that 350 was the
number,” [2] wrote Bill McKibben, prominent author and
environmentalist.

350 ppm needed to avert “irreversible catastrophic effects”

Concern about global warming due to greenhouse gases (GHGs)
led to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change [3] that has the objective of stabilizing GHGs in the
atmosphere at a level preventing “dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system.”

In its 2007 report [4], the IPCC estimates that global
warming of more than 2-3 °C may be dangerous. The European
Union adopted 2 °C above pre-industrial global temperature
as a goal. This and other considerations led to the 450 ppm
CO2 maximum target.

But Hansen and colleagues [5] point out that IPCC climate
models are inadequate, as they include only fast feedback
processes, which gives ~ 3 °C warming for doubled CO2, a
figure referred to as ‘climate sensitivity’. Instead, the
more realistic climate sensitivity that includes also slow
feedback processes is ~6 °C for doubled CO2. The earth’s
history shows that this doubling of CO2 covers the range of
climate states between glacial conditions and ice-free
Antarctica.

The decrease from a high atmospheric CO2 was the main cause
of a cooling trend that began 50 million years ago, when the
planet remained nearly ice-free until CO2 fell to 450 ± 100
ppm. Hansen’s team point out that unless we have prompt
policy changes, the critical level of atmospheric CO2 will
be passed in the opposite direction - glacial to ice free -
within decades. “Paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate
change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its
current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm, but likely less than
that.” They wrote.

They suggest this target may be achievable by phasing out
coal use, except where CO2 is captured; and adopting
agricultural and forestry practices that sequester carbon.

If the present overshoot of this target CO2 is not brief,
there is a possibility of seeding “irreversible catastrophic
effects”.

Read the rest of this report here
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/350ppm_CO2_the_Target.php

Or read other articles about climate change here
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/climateglobalwarming.php

Beware the Biochar Initiative

ISIS Report 07/09/09

Turning bioenergy crops into buried charcoal to sequester
carbon does not work, and could plunge the earth into an
oxygen crisis towards mass extinction Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

The story goes that charcoal buried in the soil is stable
for thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years and
increases crop yields. The proposal to grow crops on
hundreds of millions of hectares to be turned into buried
‘biochar’ is therefore widely seen as a “carbon negative”
initiative that could save the climate and boost food
production.

That story is fast unravelling. Biochar is not what it is
hyped up to be, and implementing the biochar initiative
could be dangerous, basically because saving the climate
turns out to be not just about curbing the rise of CO2 in
the atmosphere that can be achieved by burying carbon in the
soil, it is also about keeping oxygen (O2) levels up.
Keeping O2 levels up is what only green plants on land and
phytoplankton at sea can do, by splitting water to
regenerate O2 while fixing CO2 to feed the rest of the
biosphere [1] (Living with Oxygen, SiS 43).

Climate scientists have only discovered within the past
decade that O2 is depleting faster than the rise in CO2,
both on land and in the sea [2, 3] (O2 Dropping Faster than
CO2 Rising, and Warming Oceans Starved of Oxygen, SiS 44).
Furthermore, the acceleration of deforestation spurred by
the biofuels boom since 2003 appears to coincide with a
substantial steepening of the O2 decline. Turning trees into
charcoal in a hurry could be the surest way to precipitate
an oxygen crisis from which we may never recover.

Burying charcoal to save the climate

The International Biochar Initiative (IBI), according to its
website [4], was formed in July 2006 at a side meeting of
the World Soil Science Congress at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in the United States, by people from academic
institutions, commercial ventures, investment banks, non-
government organizations and federal agencies around the
world, dedicated to research, development, demonstration,
deployment, and commercialisation of biochar on a global
scale.

IBI has introduced biochar into the 2008 US Farm Bill, so it
now counts among a handful of “new, high-priority research
and extension areas”. IBI is also working with the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to promote
biochar in the post-Kyoto climate agreement. And the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has already
included biochar in a section entitled: “Enhanced Action on
Mitigation” to serve as basis for negotiations during pre-
Copenhagen meetings [5].

Biochar is just charcoal, produced by burning organic matter
such as wood, grasses, crop residues and manure, under
conditions of low oxygen (pyrolysis). A number of different
pyrolysis techniques exist depending on temperature, speed
of heating, and oxygen delivery [6, 7], resulting in
different yields of biochar and co-products, “bio-oil” (with
energy content value approx 55 percent that of diesel fuel
by volume) and “syn-gas” (a mixture of hydrogen, carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons), which can be
used to generate electricity, or as low-grade fuel for
ships, boilers, aluminium smelter and cooking stoves.

IBI has encountered strong criticism as a “new threat to
people, land and ecosystem” in a declaration signed by more
than 155 non-profit organisations worldwide [8]. But patent
applications have been made, and companies formed for
commercial exploitation of biochar production. Intense
lobbying is taking place for biochar to be included in the
Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism for mitigating
climate change [9, 10], so people implementing that
technology would be able to sell certified emission
reduction (CER) credits.

Things have moved forward so fast with so little public
awareness and debate that critics are alarmed, especially
over the proposal from some prominent advocates that 500
million hectares or more of ‘spare land’ could be used to
grow crops for producing biochar [11, 12], mostly to be
found in developing countries; the same as was proposed in
the biofuels initiative several years earlier.

Read the rest of this report here
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/bewareTheBiocharInitiative.php

========================================================
This article can be found on the I-SIS website at
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/bewareTheBiocharInitiative.php

Green fuels to make up 20%

Writer: YUTHANA PRAIWAN
Published: 7/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business


Nongbua Cogeneration pig farm installed a 70-million-baht facility to produce biogas from the excrement of 15,000 pigs. Over 5,000 cubic metres of biogas is piped daily to a 1.4-megawatt power plant supplying electricity to the farm. SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

Under Thailand's 15-year alternative energy master plan, alternative sources will account for 20.4% of all energy consumed in 2023, compared with 6% this year, according to the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE).

The sources covered include ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, hydropower, biogas, biomass, wind power and solar cells.

"Some of those projects will apply to the UN carbon-trading scheme. We expect that greenhouse gas emissions will be cut to 42 million tonnes per year once the plan is fulfilled," said Krairit Nilkuha, the newly appointed director-general of the DEDE.

The DEDE expects that by 2023, solar cells will generate 650 megawatts of electricity, biogas 270 MW, biomass 9,720 MW, community waste 368 MW, hydropower 770 MW, and wind turbines 1,300 MW.

Mr Krairit said that because some alternative energy sources were more costly than traditional ones, the agency would offer attractive rates, known as adder tariffs, for power purchased from such projects.

The adder rates are 3.50 baht per unit (kilowatt.hour) for wind turbine power, 2.50 baht for community waste, 0.30 baht for biomass and biogas. The incentives would be offered for the first seven years of operation.

For solar power, an adder of eight baht a unit would be offered for 10 years, he added.

Rangsan Sarochawikasit, executive director of the Bureau of Energy Research, said the Energy Ministry would support the plan through Board of Investment privileges and soft loans to encourage energy services companies to apply to the United Nations for carbon credit trading.

At present, utilities are buying 4.1 MW of electricity from 47 solar cell operators, 20.5 MW from 25 biogas operators, 244 MW from 46 biomass operators, 2.4 MW from three power-from-waste projects, 0.06 MW from 2 mini-hydropower plants, and 0.08 MW from a wind turbine operator.

In the transport sector, the use of ethanol is expected to rise to 9 million litres per day from 1.3 million, methyl ester (B100) to 4.5 million litres from 1.4 million, and compressed natural gas to 690 million standard cubic feet (mmscfd) from 108 mmscfd.

NASA | A Tour of the Cryosphere 2009

It has been said that the frozen parts of our planet, also known as the cryosphere, may be the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine' when it comes to climate change. This video shows some of the most dramatic fluctuations to our cryosphere in recent years using visuals created with a variety of satellite-based data.