Scholarships for new MSc in Energy Policy for Sustainability at the University of Sussex, UK

Dear colleagues,

Just a quick reminder that we still accept applications for two partial scholarships for our new MSc programme in ‘Energy Policy for Sustainability’ for the 2012 entry. The programme is led by the Sussex Energy Group (SEG), one of the largest independent social science energy policy research groups in the world and a core partner in the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the UK Energy Research Centre.

For more information on the programme please see:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/pg/2012/taught/3931/25557#tabs-2?SEG

For more information on how to apply for the scholarships, please see:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/funding/opportunities/view/81

Please forward this information to potentially interested students

Scholarships for new MSc in Energy Policy for Sustainability at the University of Sussex, UK

Dear colleagues,

Just a quick reminder that we still accept applications for two partial scholarships for our new MSc programme in ‘Energy Policy for Sustainability’ for the 2012 entry. The programme is led by the Sussex Energy Group (SEG), one of the largest independent social science energy policy research groups in the world and a core partner in the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the UK Energy Research Centre.

For more information on the programme please see:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/pg/2012/taught/3931/25557#tabs-2?SEG

For more information on how to apply for the scholarships, please see:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/funding/opportunities/view/81

Please forward this information to potentially interested students

Water Producing Wind Turbine

There’s water everywhere on earth, but most is undrinkable or inaccessible. A new kind of wind turbine takes the water in the air and puts it into a form we can imbibe.

Water is everywhere, but there’s hardly a drop to drink. The vast majority of the Earth’s surface is either arid or salty ocean. Only 2.5% of our plant’s water resources are fresh, and just a tiny tiny fraction (0.007%) of that is available for direct human use.

Yet one of the largest sources of water is around us every day: the air. Even our deserts are awash in moist air. Israel’s Negev hits an annual average relative humidity of 64%. That translates into 1.2 centimeters of water for every cubic meter of air.

Israel’s Negev hits an annual average relative humidity of 64%: 1.2 centimeters of water for every cubic meter of air.

The problem, of course, is it rarely is moist enough to rain. Scientists have spent decades exploring ways to convert this water vapor into water for drinking or crops. Such trials include fog nets, as well as solar-powered brine pumps to suck moisture from the air. None have gained widespread adoption.

Now a French company, Eole Water, has successfully tested a wind turbine as a source of fresh water and renewable energy. Field trials in Abu Dhabi are yielding 132 to 211 gallons daily, and the company’s marketing director Thibault Janin says in the magazine Recharge that “the results have been very good.” The results “would be even better, of course, if it was placed in coastal or offshore areas where there is higher humidity and more wind.” More

 

 

Barbados to build first waste to energy plant at major landfill

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 12, 2012 – A waste-to-energy facility expected to process approximately 350 tonnes of solid waste a day, and provide between 10 to 14 megawatts of electricity is on the cards for Barbados.

This was announced by the island’s Minister of the Environment and Drainage, Dr Denis Lowe, as he disclosed that Cabinet had recently approved BDS$377 million for the creation of a Mangrove Pond Green Energy Complex.

Along with the waste-to-energy facility, this complex will include a solar power facility, a wind energy facility, the Mangrove Pond Beautification Programme, the construction of a new mechanical maintenance facility, and the Landfill Gas Management System.
Dr Lowe said the complex formed part of Government’s efforts to develop a comprehensive programme to manage solid waste disposal and create energy options for the country.
“What we are also going to be doing in that package of services is to decommission cells one, two and three [at the Landfill], and commission the new cell four towards the end of June,” he said.
The projects listed under the programme are expected to assist with the development of the infrastructure that is necessary for achieving sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness in the execution of solid waste management in Barbados. More

The Cayman Islands should, no matter where the new land-fill is placed, seriously consider a major recycling program. Editor

 

 

 

The Pursuit of Low Gas Prices is Bad for the U.S.

It’s a fallacy that we can drill our way to low gas prices, and trying to do so not only threatens our health, but also wastes our money and misdirects innovation. If we stop focusing on the problem of high gas prices and who’s to blame and start pursuing solutions to the true problem—our oil dependence—we might find we agree more than we think.

Oil price volatility carries a huge economic cost. High oil prices have preceded every recession since 1973, and have put mobility industries especially at risk. Savvy companies get this. FedEx (which burns 1.5 billion gallons of petroleum-based fuels) is now betting on electric or hybrid vehicles, and adding biofuels and natural gas to the mix for its delivery van, truck, and jet fleets.

The relentless pursuit of low gas prices forces us to spend trillions and risk young Americans’ lives. The Pentagon gets this, and has made “more fight, less fuel” a central part of its sweeping strategy to not only reduce through efficiency the amount of oil the military uses, but also to replace it with alternative sources.

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s fleet efficiency survey shows that once the leaders in trucking started adopting efficiency measures, they continued doing so even when diesel prices dropped. Now that fuel prices are rising again, that investment is rewarding them even more.

Many have pointed to the Obama Administration and its energy strategy, in spite of the fact that gas prices and volatility are tied to the world market (which pays little regard to who is president).

Energy Secretary Steven Chu is in hot water for having said in 2008—before he was energy secretary—that, “somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” Politically inconvenient given Chu’s position now, but did he have a point? More

 

 

 

 

Choking on Rising Fuel Costs for Electricity, Barbados Launches Multiple Source-Multiple Use Renewable Energy Plan

Another sign of the rapidly changing (for the better) energy landscape: the southeastern Caribbean island nation of Barbados is taking an integrated, multiple source-multiple use approach as it launches a program to shift away from its almost total reliance on imported fossil fuel imports to clean, homegrown renewable sources for electricity generation and other uses.

The Barbadian cabinet on April 5 approved the US$188.5 million Mangrove Pond Green Energy Complex, according to a Caribbean Journal report. The complex is to include solar power and wind power facilities, a new Mechanical Maintenance Facility, a Waste-to-Energy Facility, and a Landfill Gas Management System.

In total, the Barbadian government expects the Mangrove Pond Green Energy Complex to produce more than 25 MW of clean electrical power that can be sold on to the island nation’s grid, reducing dependence on fossil fuels and helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Barbados relies almost entirely (96%) on fuel oil and diesel to generate electricity; 90% of it imported. That’s comparable to what the island nation spends on education. Barbados’s bill for oil imports in 2009 and 2010 totaled some $230 million, which amounts to nearly 6% of national GDP, about what it spends on education, Senator Darcy Boyce was quoted as saying in a Barbados Today article.

Barbados’s Sustainable Energy Framework

The government intends to reduce Barbados’s oil import bill significantly, Boyce, who heads the Prime Minister’s Energy Office, told attendees gathered for the launch of the Energy Efficiency Awareness Programme of the Sustainable Energy Framework for Barbados Pilot Project.

The aim of the Sustainable Energy Framework for Barbados Pilot Project is to reduce fossil fuel use by some 30% by bringing renewable energy resources online, and to reduce electricity demand by over 21% by implementing energy efficiency measures and technologies over a 20-year period. TheInter-American Development Bank (IADB) is contributing $1 million in investment grants and loans through the World Bank Group’s Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Rising global market prices for crude oil and derivatives have been rising consistently for several years, putting greater financial pressure on local businesses and residents alike. The direct effect rising fuel costs have on ratepayers’ pocketbooks and businesses’ operating budgets is compounded by the indirect effects, as they flow through into prices of all imports and are passed on to consumers. More

 

 

Who Put Tim DeChristopher in Isolation? Tim DeChristopher for Man of the Year

In late 2008 the Bush administration rushed to do one last favor for their friends in the oil and gas industry so the Bureau of Land Management held an auction in December of 2008 to sell oil and gas drilling rights on thousands of acres of federal land. Environmentalists weren’t pleased and activist Tim DeChristopher ended up behind bars for trying stop to this sketchy auction. He was charged with two felony counts and last July he was given a two year sentence and a $10000 fine by a federal judge. Rolling Stone reported last week because of an email he sent to the person who manages his finances, using the word “threat”, DeChristopher was put in isolation. But the Bureau of Prisons did this reportedly at the request of an anonymous Congressman. So we’re asking you to get in touch with your member of Congress office and politely ask the staff to state on the record whether or not they contacted the Bureau of Prisons about DeChristopher’s letter. If so, did they ask for the bureau to implement retaliatory measures such as isolation? Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: www.facebook.com

It could be argued that giving the oil companies massive subsidies and allowing them to pillage the United States wild natural heritage is not adding to the countries national security. Nor obviously, is imprisoning a campaigner like DeChristopher whose motivation is to mitigate global warming and climate change. Climate change is going to cause Small Island Developing States (SIDS) (and Arctic Communities) to be submerged and evacuated before the end of the century.

Where will these climate refugees go? Will America, the greatest consumer of fossil fuel (ok China has just passed the USA building your high-tech toys) allow them to come and live with you? If I were a climate refugee I would not go to live in any country that persecutes people for trying in their small way to save our world from the ravages of climate destruction. Editor