World Cup, Wind Turbines, Wetlands...

Well, I've been away for a week, so there will be loads of environmental newsy stuff to catch up on. I'll try and review some of the major stories I've missed this week, though...

Rather topically, here's a story about Germany's approach to the World Cup. They have made an incredibly commendable effort to make it ecologically friendly, including offering spectators travel passes inclusive within their ticket price on public transport to encourage green travel to matches. Many of the stadia in which the matches are being played are themselves 'green', some of which use solar energy panels, some of which harvest rain water etc. All the energy being used is provided by green hydroelectric plants in Switzerland and they are even committed to carabon offsetting the emissions that the competition will engender in Germany. This will be done using a variety of projects, including highly recommeneded ones in developing countries. There have remained several criticisms of the scheme, cheifly that it does not take account of the fans' travel to the venues, most of which will have been done through cheap airlines. Alternative means of transport, especially rail, simply must be made more efficient, but perhaps more importantly, more reasonably priced. The other main criticism of the competition that has caused energy inefficiency is the organisation that has involved fans travelling around the country between matches, as different stages have been held in different stadia. This decision was taken actively and has been defended, since it is argued that it gives visitors a chance to experience more of the country's varying culture and landscape. What might prove harder to defend is Beckenbauer's helicopter flights...

Here's another example of green building. A school in Liverpool has recently been built with sustainable design. It has reduced energy needs and also uses solar panels to offset that which it expends. It is well insulated, using concrete and a grass roof and uses harvested rainwater for its bathrooms. It is hoped that the school will act as a teaching aid as well as a green model. Here's a link from treehugger to a story about the school too.

This related article is absolutely full of useful links, especially for schools, some of which I'll reference here. It is all about an international programme called Eco Schools. It provides a framework in which schools can look at their impact on the environment and work out how to reduce it and aims to teach pupils to take ownership of such initiatives. Its website offers suggestions on how to do this. The Centre for Research, Education and Training in Energy (Create) is a charity offering similar advice. They list many other related internet sites, so I'll try and list some of them in the links section.






Here is news that Shell is planning to construct its first windfarm in Hawaii. It will be in an area with exceptionally high winds, and where energy costs are currently very high. It is hoped that a fifth of their energy will now come from renewable sources.







Greenpeace (see links) has undertaken a survey throughout several countries on computer usage. Their results are encouraging and show that the majority of computer users in each of the countries would be willing, and in fact, keen to pay extra to know that their computers were 'green'. Follow that story here. Dell has recently vowed to be more ecologically friendly in its production and will eliminate some toxic components from their goods. This is being praised by IT organisations as well as environmental ones. Have a look here.

A new programme has been created which will model how long the ozone layer hole over the South pole would take to recover. Scientists now believe that it will be approximately twenty years longer than had hitherto been thought. It still seems probable that the hole will shrink and recover if we manage to abstain from using CFCs and halons, which is the silver lining. Here's ENS's coverage.

Today is a big day also for wetland habitats, as Britain's biggest wetland is created. It is a government-funded project and will cover 115 hectares. It aims to improve flood defences and to create wildlife habitats for species being made homeless by development.

Finally, UK has set more rigourous goals for its second phase of the European Emissions Trading Scheme. The aims will focus largely on power companies, and allow most other organisations to continue operating at current levels. It seems to me that if it's possible to cap those in the energy industry, we should be aiming to apply them to as many organisations as is possible. These companies will however, have the possibility to 'sell' back their excess allowance, so hopefully energy efficiency will seem cost effective to them too. Hopefully we will be able to set a good, functional example to other countries. More on all that here.

I'm sure there are loads of other really interesting and important stories I have missed, but I'll try and catch up a little more tomorrow...