Koalas Under Threat From Climate Change
New research shows increased temperatures and carbon dioxide levels are a threat to the Australian national icon, the koala. Professor Ian Hume, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and his students from the University of Sydney have been researching the effects of CO2 increases and temperature rises on eucalypts.


Kick the oil habit and make your own ethanol
A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home that won't spike food prices. E-Fuel Corp unveiled on Thursday the "MicroFueler" touting it as the world's first machine that allows homeowners to make their own ethanol and pump the brew directly into their cars.


High fuel prices could slash US emissions.
HIGH gasoline prices could lead to a dramatic saving in US greenhouse-gas emissions. That’s the conclusion of economists in the US, who suggest high fuel prices are turning consumers off SUVs and onto smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. What’s more, car owners are predicted to cut back on driving in order to save money. Together, these changes in consumer behaviour could make an important dent in the US contribution to global warming, reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by tens of millions of tonnes per year. The impact will be dramatic, says Chris Knittel, an economist at the University of California, Davis, who was involved in one of the studies.


Airline emissions 'far higher than previous estimates'
The aviation industry's failure to curb its soaring carbon emissions could lead to the "worst case scenario" for climate change, as envisaged by the United Nations. An unpublished study by the world's leading experts has revealed that airlines are pumping 20 per cent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than estimates suggest, with total emissions set to reach between 1.2 billion and 1.5 billion tonnes annually by 2025.


Consumer group ranks companies on emissions efforts
Consumer companies are getting greener, but they are still quite carbon-intensive, according to a study to be released today. Nonprofit group Climate Counts will release its second annual rankings of 56 consumer companies today on how they measure greenhouse gas emissions, their plans to reduce them and how fully they disclose their efforts.


Petrify, liquefy: new ways to bury greenhouse gas
Turn greenhouse gases to stone? Transform them into a treacle-like liquid deep under the seabed? The ideas may sound like far-fetched schemes from an alchemist's notebook but scientists are pursuing them as many countries prepare to bury captured greenhouse gases in coming years as part of the fight against global warming.


China says Beijing Olympics "basically" carbon neutral
This summer's Beijing Olympics will be "basically" carbon neutral thanks to a series of energy saving measures such as the use of solar power and an afforestation program, a senior official said on Thursday. Technology Minister Wan Gang said that the event was expected to generate 1.18 million tonnes of carbon, in part because so many athletes and spectators were traveling long distances.


Celulose Irani - Biomass to Electricity
Located in Vargem Bonita, Brazil, the Celulose Irani Project demonstrates how one paper manufacturer is finding economic value in what was once considered waste. The facility uses byproduct biomass from their paper production process to generate sustainable energy for their facility. Irani thus provides a model for biomass projects that reduce both waste and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), promoting sustainable development through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).


Collaboration Calls for New U.N. Agency to Oversee Transport Emissions
A newly formed watchdog of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is proposing that the U.N. establish a new authority to regulate emissions from high-carbon international activities such as aviation and shipping. The International Scientific and Business Congress on Protecting the Climate, a group of climate change policy negotiators, scientists, and business stakeholders, suggested that the UNFCCC establish a World Carbon Authority to oversee a global emissions cap-and-trade scheme that would apply initially to the transport sector.


Unmanned Aircraft to Study Southern California Smog and its Consequences
"These monthly UAV flights will provide unprecedented data for evaluating how long range transport of pollutants including ozone, soot and other particulates from the northwest United States, Canada, east Asia and Mexico mix with local pollution and influence our air quality and regional climate including the early melting of snow packs," said Ramanathan.


Working towards a greener postal sector
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have agreed to work together to slash the CO2 emissions caused by members of the postal sector. Under the agreement signed in Berne last week by Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, and Edouard Dayan, Director General of the UPU, UNEP will help the UPU calculate the volumes of greenhouse gases generated by the postal sector, using a clearly-defined methodology.


Environmentalists divided about burying CO2
Greenpeace and more than 100 other environmental groups denounced projects for burying industrial greenhouse gases on Monday, exposing splits in the green movement about whether such schemes can slow global warming. Many governments and some environmental organizations such as the WWF want companies to capture heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the exhausts of power plants and factories and then entomb them in porous rocks as one way to curb climate change.


Fungi have a hand in depleted uranium's environmental fate
Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns, according to a new report in the May 6th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. The researchers found evidence that fungi can “lock”� depleted uranium into a mineral form that may be less likely to find its way into plants, animals, or the water supply.


EPA dangles prospect of tougher lead standard, but hedges its bets
Like a Kentucky Derby contender that came up lame, EPA Administrator Steve Johnson was a late scratch at his own press conference today to discuss a proposed tougher standard for lead concentrations in the air. As you may know, the lead standard hasn’t been updated since 1978. And we know now that virtually any level of lead in the air can get into the blood stream, leading to possible brain damage for children and other bad health effects. EPA is under a court order to issue a final new standard by September of this year.


Japan, China to join in $300 mln CO2 project: paper
Japan and China will cooperate in a $300 million project to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from a thermal power plant, a Japanese daily reported on Saturday. Under the plan of the project, emitted carbon dioxide from a thermal power plant will be injected into a major Chinese oil field to extract more crude oil, the Nikkei business daily said.


Toilet Truths
Despite modern marvels such as the space toilet, much of the world still endures a medieval level of sanitation. Nearly 2.6 billion people live without basic services, forced to defecate on the ground or line up to pay for the use of soiled latrines. Some historians give the flush toilet mythological origins in the court of King Minos of Crete. Queen Elizabeth I had one as well, built by her godson in 1596. In the nineteenth century, architects started to incorporate water closet innovations into their designs and the modern toilet was born. Thomas Crapper, a British plumber, had a hand in perfecting the cistern to make flushing quieter and more polite.


Pittsburgh, Los Angeles have worst U.S. air pollution
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pittsburgh, a former steel-making center once known for its sooty skies, is the worst U.S. city for short-term particle pollution, the American Lung Association announced on Thursday. It was the first time a city outside California topped any of the association's three lists for different kinds of pollution in its annual "State of the Air" report.


Rich world must back 80 percent carbon cuts: Stern
LONDON (Reuters) - Rich countries must commit to cutting carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and developing nations must agree that by 2020 they too will set their own targets, leading economist Nicholas Stern said on Wednesday. He said the only way the world could defeat the climate crisis was by ensuring that global carbon emissions peaked within 15 years, were then halved from 1990 levels to 20 billion tonnes a year by 2050, and cut to 10 billion thereafter.


Mass Mobilizations in Mexico Temporarily Stop Bush-Calderon Oil Privatization
The Peaceful Civil Resistance Movement in Mexico has entered a new stage in their struggle against the U.S.-led offensive to privatize Pemex, Mexico's national oil corporation. On Friday, April 25, the deputies of the three political parties that make up the Broad Progressive Front (FAP) ended their 16-day takeover/occupation of the Senate and National Assembly chambers in Mexico after a deal was worked out with the legislative coordinators of the two ruling parties in Mexico: the PRI and the PAN.


Pepsi Cans to Promote Recycling
Over seven billion Pepsi cans will be branded with recycling messages provided by the National Recycling Coalition as part of Pepsi’s new “Have we met before?”� campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to show that new aluminum cans are produced with at least 40 percent recycled aluminum. Recycling factoids will be featured on 750 million Pepsi/Diet Pepsi aluminum cans per month.


Safe water? Lessons from Kazakhstan
Despite significant efforts to improve access to safe water and sanitation, a new report co-authored by an expert at The University of Nottingham, argues that much more needs to be done. A major survey in Kazakhstan found that, despite meeting the UN definition of what constitutes safe water, a large number of people reported suffering from illnesses like hepatitis and gastroenteritis.


Plan to reverse global warming could backfire
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A proposed solution to reverse the effects of global warming by spraying sulfate particles into Earth's stratosphere could make matters much worse, climate researchers said on Thursday. They said trying to cool off the planet by creating a kind of artificial sun block would delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by 30 to 70 years and create a new loss of Earth's protective ozone layer over the Arctic.


EU considers truck pollution charges
EU countries would be allowed to charge heavy road users for the costs they incur on society, including congestion, air pollution and noise — something prohibited by EU law up till now — according to an early draft of a Commission proposal to revise its 'Eurovignette Directive'. The draft document seen by EurActiv suggests that toll prices on roads could be raised to include medical care for health problems relating to air and noise pollution, but also related productivity losses and welfare costs — for example due to sleep disturbance.


Report confirms ozone pollution can kill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even breathing in a little ozone at levels found in many areas is likely to kill some people prematurely, the National Research Council reported on Tuesday. The report recommends that the Environmental Protection Agency consider ozone-related mortality in any future ozone standards, and said local health authorities should keep this in mind when advising people to stay indoors on polluted days.


Greece suspended from UN Kyoto carbon trading
OSLO/LONDON (Reuters) - Greece has been suspended from U.N. carbon trading in an unprecedented punishment for violating greenhouse gas reporting rules that underpin a fight against global warming, officials said on Tuesday. A group of legal experts enforcing compliance with the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol also said it was opening proceedings against Canada for alleged violations of rules on accounting for heat-trapping gases.

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