Green Tax Hike Hint!!!
Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne has given the clearest indication yet that the coalition will raise green taxes in an attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions and make good on its pledge to become the “greenest government ever”.
Both the Conservative and the Liberal Democrat election manifestos featured commitments to increase the proportion of green taxes raised by the Treasury by shifting more levies on to polluting activities.
However, with the Treasury focused on spending cuts, no green tax hikes have yet been announced and the only environmental tax commitment to make it into the coalition programme for government was the pledge to replace air passenger duty with a per-flight duty.
But in an interview with the Sunday Times yesterday, Huhne insisted that an increase in green taxation was on the horizon.
“The government is absolutely up for a shift from taxation on general matters to things that pollute the environment,” he told the paper. “There are lots of different elements we will have to look at. In the end, though taxes may fall to business, it’s consumers who will end up paying.”
Huhne insisted that any increase in green taxes, such as fuel duty, landfill tax or potentially a carbon tax, would be accompanied by the introduction of incentive schemes that reward households and businesses that embrace environmentally responsible behaviour.
Describing recent trials where councils have offered rewards or tax rebates to households that recycle or invest in energy efficiency measures as ” successful”, Huhne said he wanted to see similar incentive schemes rolled out more widely.
He also made the economic case for a greater level of support for the low-carbon economy, arguing that the UK was already losing ground to China in the development of clean technologies.
“These are very fast-growing markets and it’s crucial for our future that we’re in the lead,” he warned. “There is a lot going on in China – they are certainly ahead of us on solar cells; they are building pilot schemes of low-carbon cities across China. We must not be left behind.”
Huhne is responsible for delivering the government’s target to cut emissions from central government by 10 per cent during its first year in office and the Sunday Times reported that substantial changes have already been made at the Department of Energy and Climate Change to help meet the target, including limiting the amount of time air conditioners are on in the office.
He will also represent the UK at the UN’s Mexico summit in November, but remains deeply sceptical that a deal can be reached this year, arguing that the ongoing stand-off between the US and China over emission targets is unlikely to be resolved within the next few months.
Conker Shortage Due to Climate Change?
Many have fallen from trees before they are ripe enough to be used for the popular pastime, The Campaign For Real Conkers said.
The group said this year’s conker season was likely to be delayed as a result.
Spokesman Keith Flett said ideally the conkers would ripen in warm, sunny and dry conditions then fall off the trees in wet and windy weather. However, the poor weather has made the conkers fall prematurely meaning they are not ripe yet and still soft.
Mr Flett, 53, said: “Normally conkers games would be in full swing by now but there is a real shortage of serviceable conkers.
“The conkers are no where near ripe enough yet and people won’t be able to get their practice in. When you whack a conker before it is ripe it will crumble to bits.”
The late crop could pose problems for those wishing to compete in the World Conker Championships held on October 10 in Ashton, Northants, as their weapons could fall apart when they hit each other.
Mr Flett advised people to use their prize conkers from last year or to travel to Wales or the south west of England where the weather has been better.
The game is played by two people, each taking turns to hit their opponents conquer with their own.
The winner’s conker, which is threaded on to the end of a piece of string, will smash their competitors conker to pieces. The victorious player is the one whose conker lasts the longest.
First UK Prosection under WEEE and Packaging
A hairdresser supplier has the dubious honour of becoming the first firm to fall foul of two new waste laws, according to the Environment Agency (EA).
The EA said Aston and Fincher Ltd of Pavilion Drive, Birmingham, was the first prosecution of a business for offences under both the packaging regulations and the producer responsibility legislation for electrical equipment.
By admitting 31 charges on Friday (September 3) the firm, a wholesaler of hairdressing supplies operating from 26 warehouse sites in the UK, admitted it had avoided paying approximately £10,900 in charges.
The rules are part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive and the company avoided paying £445 plus unknown costs of financing the recovery and recycling of equipment for which they would have been responsible in 2008.
Aston and Fincher was fined £650 for each offence (a total of £20,150). It was also ordered to pay compensation of £7,135 to the EA for loss of registration fees, costs of £3,605.11 and a victim surcharge of £15.
The EA investigations found Aston and Fincher had committed offences in each year from 2001 to 2008.
The company also imported a range of electrical items into the UK, and failed to meet their obligations under the WEEE Regulations.
This legislation came into force in 2007, and this is the first case of prosecution of a producer of electrical equipment under these regulations.
Speaking after the case Hannah Wooldridge, an EA officer leading in the investigation, said “This is the first prosecution of a business for offences under both the Packaging regulations and the similar producer responsibility legislation for electrical equipment.
“It should send a strong message out to all companies who do have producer responsibility obligations to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements placed on them.
“These regulations do not set out to criminalise companies who don’t comply, they are about making all producers responsible for their impact on the environment, and helping them to reduce it wherever possible.
In mitigation, the company secretary, David Winnington, said it was not a deliberate intention to evade the regulations. The company was simply not aware of them.
He said the business was now fully compliant with both regulations and they pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity
ebay Does it Bit
EBay has introduced a reusable shipping box for sellers on the auction site, in a move that the company said would not only deliver environmental benefits but would also encourage buyers to become sellers.
The “eBay Box” is designed to be reused over and over again, allowing users of the site to significantly cut down on packaging waste. The box is made of 100 per cent FSC-certified and recycled material, printed with water-based inks, and is designed to require minimal tape.
The company is due to start a pilot run of 100,000 boxes from October and sellers will be invited to place orders for free eBay Boxes until supplies run out. Once the boxes have been distributed it is hoped that they will make their way around the US, as buyers reuse the boxes when they sell on other items.
EBay said each box will be printed with a number of tips on reuse and resource saving. According to calculations by the company, reusing every box at least five times would protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.
Recipients of the eBay Boxes can log its location on TheBox.eBay.com; the site will track the boxes’ progress and engage with the people who use and reuse them to help eBay assess how the pilot has performed.
The eBay Box programme was one of five winning ideas to emerge from the company’s annual Innovation Expo earlier this year, where employees were invited to put forward new ideas for the business.
Global Warming is Real
The crack in the roof of the world: ‘Yes, global warming is real – and deeply worrying’
Around me is an endless expanse of searing white beneath an unmarked blue August sky. In front of me is a roaring, angry river of the richest, brilliant turquoise, churning at 20 knots through a crystal gorge fringed with icicles.
This river runs deep, possibly 13ft. Not a speck of dust, mud, weed or debris pollutes its flawless, azure depths.
Despite being only 100ft across, this mighty channel carries more water than the Thames, and if I fell in I would have about 20 seconds to live.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1301713/The-crack-roof-world-Yes-global-warming-real–deeply-worrying.html#ixzz0ySj5Vp00
Green Makeover
A castle which doubled as the home of the aristocratic Marchmain family in a television adaptation of Brideshead Revisted has been transformed through a green makeover.
Castle Howard in Yorkshire was one of the stars of the 1980s ITV serialisation of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel alongside a young Jeremy Irons.
The story which was written during World War II looks back at a time when the British aristocracy ran the country and deals with emotive issues of homosexuality and religion.
In present day real life the castle is home to the Hon Simon Howard, who spent £160,000 an energy saving ground-source heat recovery system.
Mr Howard, who was interviewed in the latest issue of County Life Magazine, says he nearly fell off his chair when he was quoted the price.
But he’s been astounded by the savings when the castle’s annual heating bill was cut in half from £40,000 to £20,000.
He said: “People said, ‘you must be mad’. But it’s not as if the technology is not proven – it’s just that not many people have taken a chance on it yet. I’m immensely pleased that we took that leap of faith.”
Myth – More Energy is Used to Produce Recycled paper than produce virgin paper
Rationale for recycling
Industrialized paper making has an effect on the environment both upstream (where raw materials are acquired and processed) and downstream (waste-disposal impacts). Recycling paper reduces this impact.
Today, 90% of paper pulp is made of wood. Paper production accounts for about 35% of felled trees, and represents 1.2% of the world’s total economic output. Recycling one ton of newsprint saves about 1 ton of wood while recycling 1 ton of printing or copier paper saves slightly more than 2 tons of wood. This is because kraft pulping requires twice as much wood since it removes lignin to produce higher quality fibres than mechanical pulping processes. Relating tons of paper recycled to the number of trees not cut is meaningless, since tree size varies tremendously and is the major factor in how much paper can be made from how many trees. Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 16% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more generation forests account for the balance. Most pulp mill operators practice reforestation to ensure a continuing supply of trees. The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certify paper made from trees harvested according to guidelines meant to ensure good forestry practices. It has been estimated that recycling half the world’s paper would avoid the harvesting of 20 million acres (81,000 km²) of forestland.
Energy
Energy consumption is reduced by recycling, although there is debate concerning the actual energy savings realized. The Energy Information Administration claims a 40% reduction in energy when paper is recycled versus paper made with unrecycled pulp. while the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) claims a 64% reduction. Some calculations show that recycling one ton of newspaper saves about 4,000 kW·h (14 GJ) of electricity, although this may be too high (see comments below on unrecycled pulp). This is enough electricity to power a 3-bedroom European house for an entire year, or enough energy to heat and air-condition the average North American home for almost six months. Recycling paper to make pulp may actually consume more fossil fuels than making new pulp via the kraft process; however, since these mills generate all of their energy from burning waste wood (bark, roots) and byproduct lignin. Pulp mills producing new mechanical pulp use large amounts of energy; a very rough estimate of the electrical energy needed is 10 gigajoules per tonne of pulp (2500 kW·h per short ton), usually from hydroelectric generating plants. Recycling mills purchase most of their energy from local power companies, and since recycling mills tend to be in urban areas, it is likely that the electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels.
Landfill use
About 35% of municipal solid waste (before recycling) by weight is paper and paper products. Recycling 1 ton of newspaper eliminates 3 cubic meters of landfill. Incineration of waste paper is usually preferable to landfilling since useful energy is generated. Organic materials, including paper, decompose in landfills, albeit sometimes slowly, releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Many larger landfills now collect this methane for use as a biogas fuel. In highly urbanized areas, such as the northeastern US and most of Europe, land suitable for landfills is scarce and must be used carefully. Fortunately, it is in such areas that collection of waste paper is also most efficient, as it creates more jobs for people and saves space in landfills.
Water and air pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making virgin paper. Pulp mills can be sources of both air and water pollution, especially if they are producing bleached pulp. Modern mills produce considerably less pollution than those of a few decades ago. Recycling paper decreases the demand for virgin pulp and thus reduces the overall amount of air and water pollution associated with paper manufacture. Recycled pulp can be bleached with the same chemicals used to bleach virgin pulp, but hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydrosulfite are the most common bleaching agents. Recycled pulp, or paper made from it, is known as PCF (process chlorine free) if no chlorine-containing compounds were used in the recycling process. However, recycling mills may have polluting by-products, such as sludge.
Red, White and Blue Brigade Go Green
An investment fund managed by BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners has bought an Irish wind farm.
The deal sees 100% of Gortahile Windfarm, which owns and operates a 20 megawatt wind farm in County Laois, bought from ABO Wind Ireland.
The Gortahile Windfarm began work at the end of August 2010, it is forecast to produce around 70 GWh of electricity per year, enough to meet the annual needs of more than 11,200 households.
“This acquisition represents the cornerstone of a larger portfolio that we intend to build in Ireland,” said Joost Bergsma, CEO of the fund.
“Ireland is a very attractive renewables market for financial investors because of its strong wind regime, its robust REFIT support policy, and its commitment to achieving its 2020 renewable energy target.”
The Gortahile Windfarm purchase is the first in a partnership agreement between BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners and ABO Wind, in which the parties have agreed to transact 50 megawatts of generation capacity over the next 16 months.
Another Company Another Fine, When will we learn?
A court has ordered a demolition company to pay more than £10,000 for polluting a Northamptonshire brook with oil.
Northampton Magistrates Court fined Deltatrax £5,000 and ordered it to pay £5,073.28 in costs after the company pleaded guilty to discharging diesel into the Swanspool Brook, a tributary of the River Ise.
Environment Agency officer Chris Willis said after the hearing: “Oil in the water can harm wildlife, affect fish and taint drinking water at very low concentrations.
“This pollution was avoidable and continued even after it was brought to the attention of the company. Responding to the problem straight away could have avoided this becoming such a serious matter.”
The spill happened at a former pie factory in Chester Road, Wellingborough, which was being demolished.
Claire Bentley, prosecuting for the agency, said the oil polluted 700m of the brook requiring a clean-up by agency workers and contractors.
Oil was first spotted floating on the surface of the brook next to the town Castle Fields on Sunday, April 5 by a passerby.
Environment Agency officer Chris Willis traced it back to a discharge pipe behind the demolition site and tried to contain it with booms and pads.
Company representatives failed to respond to a request from the agency for an interview under caution about the issue, the court heard.
Miss Bentley said the pollution risk was foreseeable as oil was being stored in a tank, which had no secondary containment, was not bunded or secure.
Mr Gary Lewis, defending, said the company replaced the tank once it was alerted to the deficiencies by Mr Willis.
He told the court it believed the spillage had been caused by intruders and said there had been a history of vandalism and break-ins at the site, which had been derelict for some time.
Deltatrax pleaded guilty last Friday (August 20) to breaching the Water Resources Act and polluting the Swanspool Brook
IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change went ‘beyond its remit’ according to the latest independent review into its work.
Last night (August 30) the IPCC said it welcomed the findings of the independent review by the InterAcademy Council an umbrella group for various national academies of science from around the world.
According to the report the process used by the IPCC to produce its periodic assessment reports has been successful overall, but it needs to ‘fundamentally reform its management structure’ and ’strengthen its procedures’ to handle ever larger and increasingly complex climate assessments as well as the more intense public scrutiny.
“Operating under the public microscope the way IPCC does requires strong leadership, the continued and enthusiastic participation of distinguished scientists”, said Harold Shapiro, president emeritus and professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University in the United States and chair of the committee that wrote the report.
“An ability to adapt, and a commitment to openness if the value of these assessments to society is to be maintained.”
The review, which took nearly four-months, examined every aspect of how the IPCC’s periodic climate science assessments are prepared, including the use of non-peer reviewed literature and the reflection of diverse viewpoints.
The review also examined institutional aspects, including management functions as well as the panel’s procedures for communicating its findings to the public.
“The IPCC will be strengthened by this review and by others of its kind this year,” said its chairman Rajendra Pachauri.
“We already have the highest confidence in the science behind our assessments. We’re now pleased to receive recommendations on how to further strengthen our own policies and procedures.”
National governments, which form the IPCC, will study the review at a plenary in October, the 194 governments will determine what action to take then.
Six other independent reviews have looked at various aspects of climate science this year. Of those that examined the quality of the science itself, all of them found that the IPCC’s work had been carried out appropriately.
Mr Pachauri and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon jointly requested the IAC review in March 2010.
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