Welcome
Welcome to the two weekly review of energy and environmental events and developments from both here in New Zealand and on an international basis. As always we hope you find our collection of stories to be of interest in what continues to be an evolving sector. Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time touring around Canterbury in a new rental car. One of the things that intrigued me was the fuel computer – whenever I took off a little hard – the fuel consumption was 60 L/100km (due to the automatic transmission), 6 to 7 L/100km when cruising and 14-21 L/100km when passing on the open road. When the headlights were turned on an extra 0.3 L/100km was added onto the fuel consumption. Whilst this may not be groundbreaking news, it did provide some satisfaction – knowing the amount of fuel being consumed immediately changed my driving style for the better… This week the saucy “La-Nina” is having her say on the weather, and is likely to until autumn (see the NZ Daily Storage Graph from M-Co for comparison against 1992). Meanwhile, Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau below expected levels leaving Meridian at the mercy of the weather and insatiable demand of the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter. Interesting to see that in the USA, state owned power companies manage to negotiate long-term contracts including profit share and greenhouse gas emission targets... The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has recently proven that it has authority - successfully fining a retailer $18,000 for selling air conditioning units that fail to meet minimum performance requirements. Good to see some recognition of MEPS and EECA having some teeth to make a difference. Gilligan’s island had a bamboo television set and a lot of other interesting gadgets that the professor thought up, however I’m not sure how they powered them (apart from maybe a pedal powered generator?). The Galapagos Islands (Equador) have undertaken a programme of developing renewable energy resources across the islands – starting with a 2.4MW wind farm – said to offset 60 to 80% of electricity demand (Oct-Dec) previously supplied by diesel generators. Portugal is also moving toward 60% of electricity to be from renewable energy. Hydro dams, wind farms, pumped storage, and wave machine projects are all proposed, however the change of land use for hydro projects is being protested against – brings back reminders of Project Aqua in NZ and the Three Gorges Dam in China. On a final note, international dignitaries are meeting at a conference called “Mobilizing Finance for the Climate Challenge”. There is still growing interest world-wide in climate change.

Power hungry smelter drains lakes
Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 24 February 2008
**When supplies are tight, the big smelter at Tiwai Pt becomes a heavier burden for Meridian. Tim Hunter reports.**
MARTEN HUNTER/Sunday Star Times POWER DOWN: When supplies are tight. the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter becomes a heavy electrical drain.
Near-record low lake levels are hitting hard at state-owned power generator Meridian as it struggles to feed its huge contract with Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter. The smelter, owned by multinationals Rio Tinto and Sumitomo, buys about 15 per cent of New Zealand's electricity generated every year and is usually fed from the purpose-built hydro station at Manapouri in Fiordland. But water levels at Lake Manapouri and its feeder lake, Te Anau, are now below minimum normal operating levels, severely restricting the station's ability to supply Tiwai Pt. Meridian must therefore source power from elsewhere at market prices. In the current conditions, where lake levels are heading below their levels in the crisis year of 1992, market prices are significantly higher than allowed for in Meridian's smelter contract, producing a serious cash squeeze for the state-owned generator. How much it is costing Meridian is not known, but this month average market prices in the South Island have topped $140 per megawatt hour (MWh) - almost triple the contract price for Tiwai Pt. At those levels Meridian would be losing $1 million a day. Industry sources say Meridian would be unable to secure a hedge contract at a low enough price to avoid losses on its smelter deal. The company does have a back- up contract with Contact Energy to take power from the Clyde and Roxburgh dams, but not at discount prices. Energy data suggest that contract has not yet been invoked. The Star-Times asked Meridian for comment but the company refused to discuss any of these issues, citing commercial confidentiality. Rio Tinto said the contract had arrangements to respond to "extreme hydrological situations", but did not elaborate. Manapouri has been off-line before, but this year there are complications. Energy consultant Bryan Leyland's appraisal of our current electricity supply situation is typically forthright. "We are in deep s--- right now and we're going to be in deeper s--- in the future," he told the Star- Times. The state of our power supplies is "the worst I've seen it in 52 years". The crisis has several causes but the biggest immediate problem in the South Island is lack of rain. Hydro lake levels are around 74% of average and tracking close to their levels in 1992, when the drought was so severe power cuts were enforced. Worse, lake inflows are well below even 1992 and look likely to stay that way for several months. In the crucial Southern Alps catchment area, below-normal rainfall, soil moisture and stream flows are "very likely", said National Climate Centre hydrologist Alistair McKerchar. "That's about the strongest projection we ever make." Tiwai Pt, like other smelters around the world, relies on plentiful cheap hydro power. Its contribution to the Southland economy is huge, with 787 fulltime employees and 133 local contractors. But when power supplies get tight, some see Tiwai Pt's ravenous crucibles as a mouth to feed too many. A typical critic is pressure group Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa, which advocates shutting Tiwai Pt to "free up that massive block of electricity for something more useful". The scale of its demand is considerable. Its contract with Meridian is for the supply of 554 megawatts 24-hours a day, rising to 610MW at peak times. To put that in context, Manapouri, the biggest hydro power station in New Zealand, has a capacity of 755MW. No other power station, apart from Genesis Energy's coal- fired steam turbines at Huntly, is capable on its own of producing enough power for Tiwai Pt. Those figures also assume enough water to allow generators to operate at their normal output. As of last week, Meridian data showed Lake Manapouri's water level was below its minimum normal operating range - meaning Manapouri could not generate enough power for Tiwai Pt. For hydro power purposes, it has effectively been sucked dry. Data from Energylink shows Manapouri was producing just over 200MW in the week ending February 17 - less than half the power Meridian is obliged to deliver to the smelter. Energy had to be found elsewhere and the figures suggest the shortfall was being made up from Meridian's Waitaki hydro system - the network of lakes including Tekapo, Pukaki and Benmore. The terms of the power contract between Meridian and the smelter, a joint venture of multinational Rio Tinto Aluminium and Sumitomo Chemical Company of Japan, are not publicly known. However, Companies Office documents show the smelter paid $276m for its electricity in 2006 and similar sums in previous years. At an estimated power use of 5000-5300GWh, this suggests it is paying $52-$54 a MWh, assuming no side deals. How cheap this looks varies from year to year. Meridian reports that in 2006/07 its average price at Benmore was $51.74/MWh, while the year before it was $97. These are wholesale prices - the actual average price to industrial customers was much higher for most of the past decade at between $61 and $91 per MWh. Commercial and residential customers paid more still - typically $100 to $117/MWh. Overall, it looks like Tiwai Pt pays less for its power than other customers almost all of the time. The question is, could Meridian sell Manapouri's power more productively elsewhere? Currently the answer is no. The ability of the national grid to transmit such a large quantity of power north of Roxburgh is severely constrained. Grid operator Transpower estimates about 300MW could be contributed from Manapouri if Tiwai Pt wasn't there, and beyond that its water would have to be spilled. But the problem could be solved. "We have the ability to reinforce those lines fairly cheaply," said Transpower's general manager of grid investment Tim George, indicating a cost of $30m-$40m. "That would allow us to get 1000MW out. "We are examining it." The upgrade would take two or three years, after which Meridian would have a bigger market for its power. The point is moot, however in October the smelter sealed a new contract with Meridian securing its power supplies out to December 2030. Again, the terms of that contract are confidential. However, in other countries the parties are less coy. For example, in December New York governor Eliot Spitzer announced a deal to supply 478MW of power from state-owned New York Power Authority to Alcoa, whose smelter is a major local employer. Terms made public included Alcoa's commitment to minimum employment levels for the 30-year duration of the contract, a share of profits when aluminium prices are high, and further investment from Alcoa of $US600m in a modernisation project that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70%. The Star-Times asked Meridian whether its existing or new contracts with the smelter allowed it to share the benefits of high aluminium prices, currently close to 10-year highs, but the company refused to say.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4413920a13.html

Climate Update 104 - February 2008
Global setting and climate outlook

La Niña likely to remain until autumn
Difference from average global SST (click to enlarge).	Monthly SOI values (click to enlarge).
A moderate to strong La Niña episode is in progress across the entire equatorial and tropical Pacific, and is very likely to persist through autumn 2008. Below normal sea surface temperatures extend from 160° E to the South American coast, while a ‘horseshoe’ shaped pattern of relatively warm surface water continues in the extra-tropics of both hemispheres.

Sea surface temperatures(SST) around New Zealand
Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (differences from normal) in the New Zealand region are positive andconsistent with a La Niña event. The January SST anomaly in the New Zealand box was +0.4 °C, with the November to January average anomaly about +0.2 °C. The most persistent positive anomalies are still west of the country in the mid and southern Tasman Sea. SST around New Zealand are expected to remain close to or above normal during the next three months	New Zealand SST (click to enlarge).

Outlook for February to April 2008
Regional outlook (click to enlarge). In the New Zealand region late summer mean sea level pressures are expected to be higher than normal over and east of New Zealand and the Tasman Sea, and lower than normal to the north, with more easterly winds on to northern New Zealand, and lighter winds than normal across the South Island. Air temperatures are likely to be above average across the country. Rainfall is expected to be normal over the North Island and north of the South Island, and below normal elsewhere. Normal or below normal soil moisture and river flows are likely in the North Island and the top of the South Island. In the remainder of the South Island, below normal soil moisture and river flows are very likely. Through to May 2008, in addition to the earlier event this tropical cyclone season (cyclone Funa), there remains a significant chance of at least one more ex-tropical cyclone passing close to the country.

http://www.niwa.co.nz/ncc/cu/2008-02/outlook

Retailer fined $18,000 for selling inefficient appliances
**4:20PM Thursday February 21, 2008**
A Christchurch retailer must pay $18,800 in fines and costs in New Zealand's first prosecution for selling imported electrical appliances that don't meet energy efficiency ratings. Matipo Trading Co Ltd, which runs Cargo Shed on Johns Road on the city's outer perimeter, did not appear in Christchurch District Court today but Judge Stephen Erber found all 10 charges proved. He said there had been repeated approaches to the company to comply with the regulations and its repeated failure to comply amounted to defiance. Even with all those penalties piling up, they will not go close to covering the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority's (EECA) costs in bringing the case. When it could not get the company to comply and get air conditioning units rated itself, it bought six units and had them shipped to New South Wales for testing. Its total costs, including shipping, testing, and legal fees, amounted to $40,000. Judge Erber said those costs were not recoverable because of a ruling made in the High Court, but he ordered the company to pay $2500 solicitor's fees on top of court costs of $1300 and fines totalling $15,000. Because the company did not appear and the case was heard through a formal proof procedure, he had no information about the company's means. Care had to be taken in such cases to act "firmly but moderately," said Judge Erber. The EECA prosecutor Geoff Brodie said the Cargo Shed had sold air conditioning units which were not rated and were "hopelessly inefficient." "They would only get one star, if anything," Mr Brodie said. Advertising showed they were reduced from $900 to $300 . The Act had been in force for five years but the authority had sought to get compliance by encouragement and education rather than coercion. It had been goaded into this first prosecution. When the company would not comply, six units were sent to a testing facility in Australia, where the regulations are the same. One unit did not work at all, one broke down, and the other four failed the tests by margins of 61 to 72 per cent. He said a company official had now approached the authority about importing a new line of air conditioners that would be tested to comply with the regulations. The company faced six charges of failing to display energy efficiency labels at the time of sale, and four charges relating to the testing failures. The maximum fine is $10,000 on each charge. Judge Erber said the company had imported substandard units "for off-loading onto the New Zealand market without attempting to comply with the regulations. "Consumers are entitled to expect that where there are standards for such products they will be complied with."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10493756

First Galapagos Wind Turbines to Halve Diesel Imports
QUITO, Ecuador, February 20, 2008 (ENS)

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Galapagos' Islands discovery, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa Monday launched a program to end the use of fossil fuels on the Galapagos by 2015.

The initiative is led by the San Cristobal Wind Project, which erected three wind turbines near the town of El Progresso on San Cristobal Island.

The wind farm is on the island that suffered the worst oil spill in the history of the Galapagos - the spill resulting from the grounding of the tanker "Jessica" at the entrance to the harbor at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on January 16, 2001.

The turbines are generating 2.4 megawatts of power, enough to halve the island's diesel fuel imports and pave the way for further renewable energy development to supply the 30,000 residents of the Galapagos archipelago's five inhabited islands.

The turbines started supplying power to San Cristobal last October. Project partners will formally dedicate the wind turbines at a celebration in the Galapagos on March 18.

The system will meet 60 to 80 percent of electrical demand during the windy months of October, November and December.

The three turbines of the San Cristobal Wind Project (Photo courtesy Galapagos Wind)

The San Cristobal Wind Project is an international partnership between the government of Ecuador, the United Nations Development Program and nine of the world's largest electricity companies from G8 countries - known as the e8.

The project's primary objectives are to reduce the risk of oil spills associated with the transport and delivery of fuel to the island; reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels; and contribute to the protection of the region's unique biodiversity.

On a larger scale, the project is an example of multilateral collaboration for climate change mitigation and a showcase for the global promotion of small-scale renewable energy power generation and distribution systems in remote areas.

Lead company in the project's development, funding and implementation was American Electric Power, which provided about half of the $10.8 million funding.

Some $3.2 million was provided by the government of Ecuador and $1 million from the United Nations Foundation, coupled with contributions from the UNDP and other sources. A trust has been established to facilitate ongoing training, maintenance and operation of the wind farm and its eventual removal.

"From day one, the overriding concern was the need to protect this invaluable place and its incredible biodiversity," says American Electric Power chief executive Michael Morris.

"The e8 team approached this work with a level of caution akin to the curators responsible for da Vinci's Mona Lisa or Michelangelo's David," he said.

AEP project team leader Paul Loeffelman says the lengthy feasibility study undertaken to address institutional, financial and environmental questions resulted from of monitoring and studies of the Galapagos petrel, a sea bird that nests on several of the islands.

One of the six endemic marine birds of the Galapagos archipelago, the long-winged Galapagos petrel is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN-World Conservation Union.

The petrel nests in burrows where its eggs and chicks are preyed upon by rats and cats, non-native species brought to the islands aboard pirate ships and other vessels.

In recent decades, the petrel population has been threatened by agricultural expansion and the increase in predators and other invasive species that crowd out plants supporting the petrel, particularly the endangered endemic plant miconia.

Another e8 member, Hydro Quebec, coordinated the Environmental Impact Assessment and related bird monitoring activities in collaboration with Scottish Power.

Early in the extensive environmental investigation, the e8 project team found that the site first proposed for the three wind turbines, San Joaquin, had active petrel nests as well as miconia.

Galapagos petrel chick (Photo courtesy Galapagos Wind)

The turbine site was changed to the hill known as El Tropezón, an agricultural area with no petrel nests and few miconia plants.

Because petrels spend the daylight hours fishing at sea and return to the island at night, little was known about their flight paths. The e8 team undertook studies to find out if the petrel flew near the proposed wind project site.

A Bird Review Committee, formed to assess the field test results, reported that only a few petrels had been observed flying over the project site during the five month study. The petrels stayed close to the ground when flying over hills such as El Tropezón, well below the sweep of the turbines' blades.

The committee concluded that although the turbines presented no major threat to the survival of the petrel, some of the birds were being killed when they flew into transmission lines.

As a result, the project buried the transmission line near El Tropezón hill, chose turbine towers with no tension wires and minimized fencing.

The committee also called for a rat control program and a long-term study of petrel flight patterns to determine whether the turbines can operate at night during the nesting season without negative impacts.

The San Cristobal Wind Project has been registered as a Clean Development Mechanism project under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM allows industrialized countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitments to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries.

The project will receive certified emission reduction credits for the diesel electricity generation replaced by the wind turbines.

According to project manager Luis Vintimilla of EOLICSA, the company established to operate the project, it is not possible to replace all diesel generation on the Galapagos with wind power.

"That would be ideal, but there is not enough wind year round," he said. "In particular, during four months of the year with unfavorable wind conditions, during certain hours on certain days, it will be necessary to continue using diesel generated electricity. However, it is recommended that future work be done on projects to substitute the diesel currently used with a more environmentally friendly fuel."

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2008/2008-02-20-03.asp

Staking all on a renewable future
By Simon Gompertz Working Lunch

What does the Iberian wolf think about renewable energy?

Not much, it seems.

Three packs of wolves range across the mountains above the Minho valley in northern Portugal, just beside zones marked out for the biggest wind farm in Europe.

The wolves had to be tracked by satellite to see what they got up to once the building work started. Not surprisingly, they were frightened off.

As the first wind turbines were finished and a measure of peace returned to some of the hilltops, they started to move tentatively back into the area.

The wolves, an endangered species, are witnessing a monumental change in the way Portugal is powered.

They will have to get used to these turbines and more, because 120 are being installed at Alto Minho. The project is backed by the French electricity company, EDF.

The government wants 45% of the country's electricity to come from renewables such as wind, hydro, and solar by 2010. And that's just a start.

Portugal's government wants further increases in renewable power

"This challenge will create a new industrial revolution," Portugal's economy minister, Manuel Pinho, told the BBC.

"The countries that move first will have an advantage," he added.

Just by way of comparison, the UK's ambition is to raise the share from renewables from 5% to 10% over the next three years.

If Portugal's revolution succeeds, the country will rank with Sweden and Denmark at the top of the European league for renewables. The economy will be transformed and so will the landscape.

Ten new dams

Portugal has a head start because in the past it developed a large amount of hydro-electric power. Now all useful rivers are to be dammed, which means that ten new dams will be built. Several more are being upgraded.

An extraordinary solar power station, the biggest in the world, is changing the face of the Alentejo, Portugal's sun-baked southern plain. 2,500 solar trackers, nearly as big as tennis courts, are being lined up in rows across a 130 hectare site.

And Alto Minho is just the latest in a string of wind farms which will crowd mountain tops down the length of the country, supplying 12% of its electricity.

Solar power station being built in Moura

The world's biggest solar power farm under construction

"We don't have oil, we don't have coal," points out Jose Miguel Oliveira, the manager of Minho Valley Wind Development.

"So we have to use what we have and wind is one of the resources we have."

It's true that if you include transport and heating, Portugal depends on imported fossil fuels for 85% of its energy needs.

But even in a country which has embraced renewable power there are misgivings about the rapid rate of development.

Popular protest

One controversial project is the dam earmarked for the River Tua, inland from the city of Porto. A 25-mile lake will be created along a valley famous for its juniper and cork forests.

Joao Branco from an environmental pressure group, Quercus, showed me the site, pointing out that wolves visited this area as well, along with Bonelli's eagle, black storks and otters. He says they should all be protected.

"I think there will be enough popular protest to stop the construction of the dam," he added.

Joao Branco is convinced the dam's construction can be stopped

Already, builders have started blasting a road though the rocky Tua gorge, where the 100m high dam will be erected. The work was suspended after Joao's group found that planning permission had not been granted, yet.

The campaigners are torn between their concern about climate change and their love for the wildlife.

"We should have renewable power but not at any price," Joao says.

Pumped storage

Yet the dams are essential if Portugal's ambitious plans for renewable energy are to be fulfilled, because hydro-electric power is being relied upon to keep the Portuguese grid stable when the wind stops blowing.

While wind turbines are spinning, any excess electricity will be used to pump water from below the dams to the reservoirs at the top. The stored energy can be released to balance the grid at critical times.

Seven of the new dams are designed specifically for pumped storage.

This view of the Tua river valley will disappear forever

"The combination of wind and water is really the centrepiece of Portugal's energy strategy," explains Manuel Pinho.

He expects that by 2020 the proportion of electricity generated from renewables "will be between 55% and 60%".

At least the creation of reservoirs can have helpful side-effects in a country where water is precious. Driving to the huge dam at Alqueva in the Alentejo you pass grove after grove newly planted olives, all neatly interlaced with irrigation hoses.

Hugely controversial

The dam, opened three years ago, was hugely controversial, but farmers have been taking advantage. Tourist developments are starting and a new airport is planned.

At Alqueva, I asked Antonio Mexia, head of the main electricity company, EDP, about objections to dams.

"Generally environmentalists don't live near the dam," he answered. "The local people tend to be massively in favour."

Meanwhile, Portugal is trying a new way of generating electricity which has no impact on the countryside, but might worry surfers.

Three British-designed Pelamis wave generators are waiting on the quayside in Porto to be towed out to sea. The power produced will be tiny, about the same as a big wind turbine, but it will be the world's first commercial wave farm.

"If you look at the coast and the Atlantic, there's ample opportunity to site wave farms in Portugal," predicts Ian Sharpe, in charge of Portuguese investment for the Australian financial group, Babcock & Brown.

500 wave machines

He is responsible for the Pelamis project and is planning to install 500 wave machines off Portugal, if the first attempt is a success.

The first three wave machines have a generation capacity of 2.25 MW

"We'll run out of suitable locations for wind farms in Portugal, in terms of onshore wind, so we see wave taking over from wind."

Maintenance engineers at Alto Minho have no doubt about what renewable energy means for them.

"Other factories are closing," explains Marco Lajoso who found a job with the German turbine maker, Enercon.

"We have, solar, we have waves, we have wind. That's the future," he adds.

Several thousand jobs have been created in northern Portugal, building and maintaining wind farms. New factories are being set up with state help.

All or nothing

It is a deliberate strategy. Seeing that most equipment might have to be imported and that manufacturers in Germany and Denmark were overwhelmed, the government set about creating a home-grown renewables industry.

To Portuguese politicians, this seemed a dream formula: cure the climate, cut out imports and create jobs. It was all or nothing.

"The cost of inaction is tremendous," Manuel Pinho warns other countries from his office in the elegant centre of Lisbon. "You have to get moving as soon as you can."

The world, and the wolves, will be watching Portugal's progress, to see how well the formula works.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/working_lunch/7256687.stm

Financing the Transition from a Brown to a Green Global Economy Tops Environment Ministers Meeting
**UN Environment Programme's 10th Special Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Monaco 20-22 February**
Financing the Transition from a Brown to a Green Global Economy Tops Environment Ministers Meeting UN Environment Programme's 10th Special Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Monaco 20-22 February Nairobi/Monaco, 11 February 2008 - The biggest gathering of environment ministers to take place since the climate change breakthrough in Bali will be happening in Monaco later this month under the theme "Mobilizing Finance for the Climate Challenge". More than 100 ministers from across the globe are scheduled to attend the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GMEF) - the world's forum for environment ministers -alongside senior figures from industry and economics; science; local government; civil society, trades unions and intergovernmental bodies. These include Tulsi Tanti, Managing Director of Indian wind energy company Suzlon; Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; and Juan Somovia, the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation. Other key figures include Gunter Pauli, entrepreneur, businessman and founder of the Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives and an expert on nature's solutions to environmental challenges; James Cameron, founder of Climate Change Capital - an investment banking group specializing in financing a low-carbon economy; and Fernando Ibanez, Chief Executive Officer of Saguapac, one of the world's most successful and largest water cooperatives. They will be joined by V. Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, an expert on the emerging challenge of 'global dimming'. Professor Ramanathan is leader of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud research team. It is carrying out cutting edge research on the emerging links between soot in the atmosphere and novel climatic impacts including accelerated glacier melt, reduced crop yields and shifts in rainfall patterns of the Monsoon. The delegates will all be attending the 10th Special Session of the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum. Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The last climate convention meeting delivered the Bali Road Map. This is the path along which over 190 countries are traveling in order to deliver a new and decisive climate deal by Copenhagen in 2009." "Mobilizing finance, focusing markets and unleashing innovation will be central to successfully negotiating the Road Map and avoiding too many detours and dead ends," he added. "We are already glimpsing a transition to a low carbon society. Billions of dollars are now being invested in renewable energy and hundreds of institutions with trillions of dollars of assets are now endorsing investment principles that reflect environmental alongside social and governance concerns," said Mr. Steiner. "Designing and delivering a Green Economy will not only avert dangerous and debilitating climate change. It can address the wider sustainability challenges outlined in UNEP's recent Global Environment Outlook from loss of biodiversity and rapid ecosystem degradation to collapsing fish stocks and depleted soils," he said. "In doing so, it opens the door to true sustainable development - development that benefits rich and poor alike by unleashing creativity and innovation, spawning new technologies and industries and stimulating new kinds of green employment patterns. In short, it is about investing in tomorrow's economy today," said Mr. Steiner. Examples of transformations already underway include: - UNEP's Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (SEFI) is helping financiers scale up investment in the growing global markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency. SEFI's report last year underlined how capital is mobilizing towards these low carbon sectors, with total transactions surpassing the $100 billion milestone in 2006 and reaching nearly $160 billion in 2007. - In collaboration with the United Nations Foundation and Shell Foundation, UNEP helped two of India's largest banking groups - Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank - create a credit market for helping rural villages finance the purchase of solar lighting systems. 100,000 people in southern India have benefited and the initiative is now self-financing with some 20 banks involved. The Programme was awarded the prestigious Energy Globe Award in 2007. - In Tunisia a similar initiative has created a credit market for bank financing of solar hot water systems. Over 20,000 systems have been financed, affecting about 100,000 people and increasing market volume more than 700% since 2004. The positive results have led the government to enact legislation aimed at decreasing the country's reliance on using Liquid Petroleum Gas for water heating and instead make the shift to solar. - UNEP and partners such as UNDP and the World Bank are also building the capacity of some 30 developing countries to access the carbon markets for financing climate friendly infrastructure. These multi-million dollar initiatives, including ones under the Nairobi Framework, fall under the umbrella of the CD4CDM programme - the largest initiative of its kind within the development community. - The geothermal electricity potential in Africa is estimated at 7,000MW, much of it in the part of the Rift Valley that runs from Kenya to Djibouti. With funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), UNEP and the World Bank are about to launch the African Rift Geothermal Facility (ARGeo). The $17 million project will underwrite the risks of drilling for steam and in doing so build the confidence of the private sector to build geothermal power stations. - UNEP and the GEF's Solar and Wind Resource Assessment have 'found' 10 million MW of solar and wind energy in 26 developing countries available for private sector development. - With $20 million in GEF and UN Foundation support, UNEP is also working with the Asian and African Development Banks to leverage private sector financial flows towards clean energy entrepreneurs. Over 50 entrepreneurial businesses specializing in clean energy technologies and services have been financed to date in Africa, Brazil and China Evolving UNEP Other key issues on the table in Monaco include the approval of UNEP's new Medium-Term Strategy for 2010-2013. It is designed to evolve the institution into a more efficient, focused, effective and results based environmental body of the United Nations better equipped to deal with the sustainability challenges of the 21st century. Ministers will also address the issue of International Environment Governance and how well UNEP is placed to address the challenges and opportunities outlined in the recently published landmark report, Global Environment Outlook-4. Chemicals and Waste Challenges Also on the table are reports on improved funding for the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management and the extent to which the international community is moving forward on the management of the hazardous heavy metal mercury. Ministers will also be presented with a key report on tackling illegal international trade in hazardous substances alongside one outlining recommendations on how to improve waste management including recycling in developing economies. UNEP Year Book 2008 - An Overview of Our Changing Environment This year's Year Book will be presented to ministers and the media. It includes a Global Overview highlighting emerging climate change concerns including the way rising CO2 emissions are triggering acidification of the seas and oceans. The 2008 Feature Focus reflects on how market and financial mechanisms are evolving and discusses barriers to progress but also underscores the enormous economic opportunities from improved efficiencies and innovations in consumption and production patterns. The Emerging Challenges section examines how feedback mechanisms in the Earth's climate system, for example methane releases from thawing Artic permafrost and marine hydrate deposits, might amplify global warming in the future. Green Jobs - Towards Sustainable Work in a Low-Carbon World UNEP in partnership with the ILO and the International Trades Union Confederation will also be launching a preliminary report from the Green Jobs Initiative on how an emerging Green Economy is generating new employment opportunities in agriculture, construction, engineering and transportation. Global Civil Society Forum The meeting will be preceded on 19 February by the 9th Global Civil Society Forum whose steering committee includes Professor Michael Koech, Sustainable Development and Environment Network of Kenya; Dr Mahmood Khwaja, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Pakistan and Ms. Zhang Hehe, Friends of Nature, China. Other members are Ms Sascha Gabizon, Women in Europe for a Common Future, Germany; Mr. Jan-Gustav Strandenaes, Norway; Ms Esther Neuhaus, Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for Sustainable Development, Brazil. Art for the Environment Initiative A groundbreaking touring art exhibition, reflecting the climate theme and entitled "Melting Ice / A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change", will be shown at the Office of Cultural Affairs in Monaco throughout the environment ministers' meet and on until 16 March. The unique exhibition, a partnership between the Natural World Museum and UNEP which was first shown on World Environment Day last year at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, brings together leading artists from the developed and developing world.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=528&ArticleID=5741&l=en

Quote of the week
Your grandchildren will likely find it incredible - or even sinful - that you burned up a gallon of gasoline to fetch a pack of cigarettes! ~Paul MacCready, Jr.

Technology Corner

Tidal Power

Introduction

The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy - around 20% of Britain's needs.

Although the energy supply is reliable and plentiful, converting it into useful electrical power is not easy.

There are eight main sites around Britain where tidal power stations could usefully be built, including the Severn, Dee, Solway and Humber estuaries.

Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations.

The movements of the sea could be a huge energy source

How it works: Tidal Barrages

These work rather like a hydro-electric scheme, except that the dam is much bigger.

A huge dam (called a "barrage") is built across a river estuary. When the tide goes in and out, the water flows through tunnels in the dam.

The ebb and flow of the tides can be used to turn a turbine, or it can be used to push air through a pipe, which then turns a turbine. Large lock gates, like the ones used on canals, allow ships to pass.

If one was built across the Severn Estuary, the tides at Weston-super-Mare would not go out nearly as far - there'd be water to play in for most of the time.

But the Severn Estuary carries sewage and other wastes from many places (e.g. Bristol & Gloucester) out to sea. A tidal barrage would mean that this stuff would hang around Weston-super-Mare an awful lot longer! Also, if you're a wading bird that feeds on the exposed mud flats when the tide goes out, then you have a problem, because the tide won't be going out properly any more.

More details

The largest tidal power station in the world (and the only one in Europe) is in the Rance estuary in northern France. It was built in 1966.

A major drawback of tidal power stations is that they can only generate when the tide is flowing in or out - in other words, only for 10 hours each day. However, tides are totally predictable, so we can plan to have other power stations generating at those times when the tidal station is out of action.

There have been plans for a "Severn Barrage" from Brean Down in Somerset to Lavernock Point in Wales. Every now and again the idea gets proposed, but nothing has been built yet.

It may have over 200 large turbines, and provide over 8,000 Megawatts of power (that's over 12 nuclear power station's worth). It would take 7 years to build, and could provide 7% of the energy needs for England and Wales.

Another option is to use offshore turbines,
rather like an underwater wind farm. This has the advantage of being much cheaper to build, and does not have the environmental problems that a tidal barrage would bring. There are also many more suitable sites. Find out more about the world's first offshore tidal power station at www.marineturbines.com/technical.htm

The University of Wales Swansea and partners are also researching techniques to extract electrical energy from flowing water.

The "Swanturbines" design is different to other devices in a number of ways. The most significant is that it is direct drive, where the blades are connected directly to the electrical generator without a gearbox between. This is more efficient and there is no gearbox to go wrong. Another difference is that it uses a "gravity base", a large concrete block to hold it to the seabed, rather than drilling into the seabed. Finally, the blades are fixed pitch, rather than actively controlled, this is again to design out components that could be unreliable.

Find out more at www.swanturbines.co.uk

Yet another option:
vertical-axis turbines

Find out more from the Canadian company Blue Energy at www.bluenergy.com

Advantages

Once you've built it, tidal power is free.
It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste.
It needs no fuel.
It produces electricity reliably.
Not expensive to maintain.
Tides are totally predictable.
Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not ruinously expensive to build and do not have a large environmental impact.

Disadvantages

A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area - the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed. There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages.
Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out.

Is it renewable?

Tidal energy is renewable. The tides will continue to ebb and flow, and the energy is there for the taking.

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