Environment News latest RSS headlines - Knoxville Times.com

South African regulator gives nod for Eskom wind power project

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:01:11 -0400

JOHANNESBURG - The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has granted power producer Eskom a licence for its Sere wind farm in the Western Cape, paving the way for the company to start construction of its $254.3 million (R2.4-billion) project. Sere is the Nama word for "cool breeze". The wind farm project is scheduled to become fully commercially operational by the end of ...

Sweet chestnut blight – the latest threat

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:56:47 -0400

ban imports of sweet chestnut saplings from foreign nurseries in an effort to stop the spread of a fungal blight that is already killing chestnuts across Europe and North America and now threatens the UK's estimated 44m specimens. An infection of the blight - known as Cryphonectria parasitica - is usually fatal to sweet chestnuts. It causes a characteristic bright brown cankered bark, in ...

DR Congo waits on funding for Grand Inga

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:56:46 -0400

The dream of harnessing the mighty Congo River with the world's largest set of dams has moved closer, with the World Bank and other financial institutions expected to offer finance and ...

How can tree stumps improve agricultural productivity

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:56:45 -0400

There's a received wisdom that tree stumps, shoots and bushes should be cleared from a field before planting crops. It seems logical, but the experience of farmers in southern Niger suggests otherwise. There, the practice of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) has been found to significantly improve soil quality and crop yields, along with additional resources and income from tree ...

Record Burmese python caught in Florida

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:56:44 -0400

Florida .It's a new record for the longest Burmese python caught in the wild in Florida. The previous record was a 17ft 7in python caught in August in Everglades national park.According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the 18ft 8in snake was caught May 11 alongside a road in rural Miami-Dade County.Wildlife officials said Monday that a Miami man spotted about 3ft of ...

Nuclear power is safe and pigs can fly

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:26 -0400

That's the lesson Greenpeace Sweden sent to the nuclear industry once again today as we flew our paramotor glider over the unprotected Ringhals nuclear power plant in southwest Sweden, near Gothenburg. With simple gear and without hindrance, our Greenpeace activist dropped pig-shaped balloons from the glider onto the reactor roof as part of our ongoing "stress test" of nuclear ...

Matt Ridley has joined the real climate debate

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:52:26 -0400

A climate monitoring station. 'No one places their faith in any single climate model, and no one has done so for 20 years.' Photograph: Cliff Leight/Getty ...

Pests that bug us have their own ecological importance

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:52:25 -0400

I detest household bugs. Abhor them. There isn't a word strong enough to describe how I feel about bugs in my home. That hatred provokes guilt, because I fancy myself an environmentalist. As such, I'm supposed to feel a kinship with all creatures.We're connected in a circle of life, a colourful tapestry, a delicate web of interdependence. But I can't help it: my love of ...

Danzer feels the bite as the FSC show its teeth

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:28:53 -0400

To the layperson the world of forest certification is often a technical one that does not seem to operate at what could be called a breakneck pace. However, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has this week reached a landmark decision that fits the old adage that 'good things come to those who ...

Fallen trees damage homeowners cars

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:24:47 -0400

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A loud boom was loud enough to be heard in the shower if Harold Gallespie's south side home. When he came outside, he saw portions of his tree resting on his two cars. The trees that are 30 years old, if not older, snapped during ...

Twitter hit-and-run boast shows dangers of road tax entitlement | Dawn Foster

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:30:50 -0400

It's safe to assume that most people in the event of hitting a cyclist while driving, who realised what they had done, would stop, call the police, and stay on the scene. Not so for one young woman, who appears to have hit a cyclist, carried on driving, and then most bizarrely taken to Twitter to boast of the ...

Chelsea flower show at 100 A century of cuttings

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:30:49 -0400

Chelsea Flower Show clings on, almost ivy-like, to its past. Just as it is wedded to convention, so too is the language used by the press to describe the annual 'horticultural extravaganza'. Like the rest of Fleet Street, the Guardian and Observer have fallen into this trap - just carry out a simple archive search and you will unearth trusty descriptions of the event being a ...

Rwanda Environment Projects Threatened By Financial Constraints

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:04:50 -0400

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), an international fund which among others sponsors projects in Rwanda, has warned that financial constraints might affect it programs. Based in Washington, GEF normally sponsors projects related to biodiversity, international water management systems, climate change, the ozone layer, land degradation, as well as persistent organic pollutants. During a ...

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 17th to May 20th 2013

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:02:47 -0400

TEPCO announced yet another leak on Friday, this time from a tank holding treated water near reactors number 5 and 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The 27 cubic meters of spilled water had already been absorbed into the ground, but officials said that radiation was below detectable levels. After a valve was closed, the leak stopped. But, the next ...

Dubai makes $350 million off the environment

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:51:58 -0400

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Dubai: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's conservation initiative saved Dh16 million in electricity and water, it was announced at the eighth Conservation Award for the educational sector.Along with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) jointly honoured the efforts of individuals ...

UBD To Plant Trees For Green Wave Campaign

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:24:09 -0400

View Comments Bandar Seri Begawan - Universiti Brunei Darussalam will be holding a tree planting activity tomorrow (May 22) at the university campus to mark its Green Wave campaign, according to a press release. The Green Wave is a multi-year campaign to raise awareness on biodiversity that contributes to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) programme of work on Communication, Education ...

7-Eleven finds convenient business environment

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:22:02 -0400

/enpproperty--> Megumu Ubasako, chairman of 7-Eleven (Chengdu) Co Ltd, has made the capital of Sichuan province his home. "I am already a local here," said the 57-year-old Japanese national, joking that he feels like a business traveler when he returns to his home in Saitama prefecture near Tokyo every year. His affection for the city is partly due to the family like ...

Xcel to seek bids for biomass power plant burning beetle-kill timber

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:49:31 -0400

A Canadian coin is shown next to a pine beetle. With thousands of acres of dead trees, killed by the Rocky Mountain pine beetle, littering Colorados high country, Xcel Energy Inc. says it will explore burning some of the states dead forest to generate electricity. Xcel (NYSE: XEL), the states largest electricity and natural gas provider, on Monday said it has asked state regulators to approve its ...

Deep Sea Mining Economic Bonanza or Environmental Boondoggle

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:23:12 -0400

This computer generated image from Lockheed Martin suggests how the company could mine manganese nodules from the sea floor, using underwater vehicles that vacuum up nodules and transport them to a ship on the ocean surface. (Source: Lockheed ...

REUTERS SUMMIT-Argentina seeks U.S. environmental okay on biodiesel

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:19:18 -0400

Mon May 20, 2013 5:19pm EDT (For other news from Reuters Latin America Investment Summit, click here) BUENOS AIRES May 20 (Reuters) - Argentina is pursuing U.S. environmental approval to export biodiesel more easily to that market and revitalize a local industry in "crisis" due to trade problems with the European Union, Argentina's main biofuels chamber said on Monday. The head of the ...

Saloon bar politics by Ukip could harm Britains climate change credibility and drag Tories to right on environment warns minister

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:03:09 -0400

The rise of Ukip risks fuelling climate change scepticism as Conservative politicians embrace the populist "saloon bar" politics of Nigel Farage's party, the Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, has ...

Country diary Coombs Dale Derbyshire

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:10:39 -0400

The high limestone country north of Longstone Edge has its own strange energy, a consequence perhaps of the quarrying there, both ancient and modern. The land is scarred and nicked, like the face of a veteran fighter, a blue-collar countryside.It's also rich with tales of horror, now recruited for the purposes of tourism. The notorious highwayman Black Harry, hanged at nearby Wardlow Mires, ...

Environmental Working Groups 2013 sunscreen guide takes aim at high SPFs

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:51:09 -0400

The Environmental Working Group is warning that some sunscreens may not protect people as well as they might have thought. The consumer watchdog's latest annual report of sunscreens comes at a time when beach goers can expect to see new sunscreen labels on store shelves that are designed to make the products easier to use. Despite those long-awaited changes mandated by the Food and Drug ...

Syrias makeshift oil refineries It is like hell – video

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:50:15 -0400

As a result of the rush to make quick money, open-air refineries have been set up in al-Raqqa province. Crude is stored in ditches and heated in metal tanks by wood fires, shrouding the region with plumes of black smoke, and exposing the local population to the dangers of the thick smog and the frequent explosions at the improvised ...

Plague of deforestation sweeps across south-east Asia

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:43:58 -0400

deforestation is dizzying, threatening the region's remarkable biodiversity, which includes more than 1,700 species discovered in the last 15 years alone. Many of the forests in Vietnam have been cut down for the furniture export market and the trees replaced by coffee bushes; in less than 10 years, Vietnam has gone from zero to number two in global coffee production. So much forest has been ...

How Productive Meetings Are Like Bonsai Trees

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:21:03 -0400

.' In other words, socialize your content before the meeting using quick huddles, office fly-bys, one-on-one conversations." By doing these small meetings, May says, you can gather a team's input and build a soft consensus. In this way, you can pay down the transaction cost of ...

Heartland Institute wastes real scientists time – yet again | John Abraham

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:36:27 -0400

100,000 copies were sent out . What was it about this little book that got us talking? Many things. First, a coordinated mailing of a book is unusual. But what is more unusual is a book that purports to be the "real story" ...

Flight recorders from crashed U.S. military plane found in Kyrgyzstan

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:09:33 -0400

Searchers found flight recorders from a U.S. military plane that crashed in Kyrgyzstan in early May, Kyrgyz's Transport and Communication Ministry said Monday. A ministry spokesman said the recorders were found in debris at the crash site and turned over to U.S. officials for analysis, RIA Novosti reported. The Boeing KC-135 refueling tanker with a three-member crew crashed into a gorge ...

Summit being held on beetle-killed trees

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:08:10 -0400

Crew leader and head sawyer Tom Pryor checks the potential hazards of a large dead trees before attempting to cut them down. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post ...

RNA can Catalyze Single Electron Transfer in an Oxygen-Free Environment

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:07:08 -0400

Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry postdoctoral fellow Chiaolong Hsiao (left) and professor Loren Williams examine on a light box a polyacrylamide gel surrounded by an iron solution to determine whether RNA is stable in the iron solution.(Credit:Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek) The study shows that RNA is capable of catalyzing electron transfer under conditions similar to those of ...

Green heating payments to double

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:33:24 -0400

Payments to help householders switch from heating their homes with oil to greener systems such as biomass boilers and solar thermal will double in most cases, the government is to announce on Monday.The grants were intended as a stopgap measure until the start this summer of the government's ...

Better tools needed to assess farmings environmental footprint

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:32:50 -0400

THE beef and lamb sector is working hard to address environmental issues, but more work is needed to define how the carbon footprint of all agricultural sectors is measured to assess its environmental impact. The statement came from a group of MPs who have been feeding into an inquiry on the positive and negative effects of livestock on the environment.The committee, led by Neil Parish MP (Con, ...

Protection for trees from pests and disease held back by skills gap

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:16:14 -0400

caterpillars that strip oaks of leaves are being hampered by a "skills gap", a government-appointed taskforce has warned.The taskforce, set up in the wake of a fungus that kills ash trees being found across England last year, also called for plant health to be put on a par with animal health, and for the creation of a chief plant health officer akin to the government's chief ...

Strong storms leave Kansas City with power outages downed trees damaged roofs

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:35:18 -0400

The feared tornadoes didnt come Sunday evening. But the heavy winds, which split trees and downed power lines on both sides of the state line, sure did. West of Kansas City, a tornado touched down in rural Lyon County, Kan., causing structural damage to homes ...

Dog-meat mafia fuels Thai canine trade

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:33:44 -0400

Thai authorities are struggling to stop dogs from being stolen and smuggled to northern Vietnam, where a million dogs are eaten each year. This video report ...

Chelsea flower show a guide to edible flowers

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:33:43 -0400

Visitors to this year's show can pop down to a nearby restaurant and try a flower-based lunch menu. Is it just a novelty - or something worth taking ...

Ethiopian sacred forests sold to Indian tea producer

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:04:06 -0400

Despite opposition from Ethiopia's President and environmental authorities, a rainforest area providing livelihood to an indigenous people has been leased out to make tea ...

Study to question popularity of environmental investing

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:11:08 -0400

GLG Partners will work with Mercer’s investment consulting business to determine whether environmental investing has become the norm. Issues surrounding climate change and other major environmental issues will be examined, and their effect, if any, on the approach and focus for mainstream investment. ';We believe that environmental liabilities are already changing the ...