Monday, May 31, 2010

irishtimes.com:Irish companies join forces to tap geothermal energy

Irish companies join forces to tap geothermal energy

ESB INTERNATIONAL (ESBI) plans to join with GT Energy to develop
systems for generating electricity from geothermal energy � heat
generated under the ground.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0531/1224271503796.html

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Saturday, May 29, 2010

BBC E-mail: Thousands flee volcanic eruptions

Peter Lydon saw this story on the BBC News website and thought you
should see it.

** Thousands flee volcanic eruptions **
Thousands of people are forced to flee as two volcanos erupt in Guatemala and Ecuador, closing schools and airports.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/world/latin_america/10189054.stm >


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Monday, May 24, 2010

[From: Peter Lydon] Chinese engineers propose world's biggest hydro-electric project in Tibet

Spotted on the guardian.co.uk site and thought you should see it.
To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/24/chinese-hydroengineers-propose-tibet-dam
Chinese engineers propose world's biggest hydro-electric project in Tibet
Mega-dam on Yarlung Tsangpo river would save 200m tonnes of CO2 but could spark conflict over downstream water supply
Jonathan Watts, Asia environment correspondent
Tuesday May 25 2010
guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/24/chinese-hydroengineers-propose-tibet-dam

Chinese hydropower lobbyists are calling for construction of the world's biggest hydro-electric project on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river as part of a huge expansion of renewable power in the Himalayas.
Zhang Boting, the deputy general secretary of the China Society for Hydropower Engineering, told the Guardian that a massive dam on the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo - the Tibetan name for the river - would benefit the world, despite the likely concerns of downstream nations, India and Bangladesh, which access water and power from the river.
Zhang said research had been carried out on the project, but no plan has been drawn up. But documents on the website of a government agency suggest a 38 gigawatt hydropower plant is under consideration that would be more than half as big again as the Three Gorges dam, with a capacity nearly half as large as the UK's national grid.
"This dam could save 200m tonnes of carbon each year. We should not waste the opportunity of the biggest carbon emission reduction project. For the sake of the entire world, all the water resources than can be developed should be developed." That CO2 saving would be over a third of the UK's entire emissions.
The mega-facility is among more than 28 dams on the river that are either planned, completed or under discussion by China, according to Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan scholar of environmental policy at the University of British Columbia.
Tsering publishes a map today [http://tibetanplateau.blogspot.com" title="] of all of the projects that have been reported by Chinese newspapers and hydro-engineering websites.
From this, he concludes that the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra ? until recently considered the last great undammed river in Tibet ? will be the next focus of government efforts to increase the nation's power supply. One of them is a map of planned dams [http://www.hydrochina.com.cn/zgsd/images/ziyuan_b.gif" title="] showing a 38-gigawatt hydro-plant at Motuo on the website of Hydro China, an influential government enterprise responsible for dam construction. A separate State Grid map of future transmission lines indicates the remote area will soon be connected to the rest of China's power supply. Hydro China and State Grid declined requests for clarification.
The government has not confirmed the existence of the scheme, but Tsering cites several newspaper reports of survey teams exploring the area and provides links to other online documents that indicate preparations for large-scale hydro-development of the area.
Given the huge expense, technical difficulties and political sensitivities of the scheme, it is far from certain of final approval by the government. But several Chinese hydroengineers see it as the ultimate goal in an accelerating race with India to develop water resources in one of the planet's last remote regions.
Tapping the power of the river as it bends and plunges from the Himalayan roof of the world down towards the Indian and Bangladeshi flood plains has long been a dream of the world's hydro-engineers.
Along with the Congo river at the Inga falls, this is considered one of the two greatest concentrations of river energy on earth, but it was long thought impossible to access because of the rugged, high-altitude terrain and the risk of water-related conflict with neighbouring countries.
But China has overcome many engineering obstacles with the construction of the railway to Tibet, and its growing energy demands are spurring exploration of ever more remote areas.
"Tibet's resources will be converted into economic advantage," Yan Zhiyong, the general manager of China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group, told China Energy News earlier this year. "The major technical constraints on damming the Yarlung Tsampo have been overcome." He declined the Guardian's request for an interview, saying the subject was too sensitive.
The exploitation of the Brahmaputra is already under way. China recently announced plans to build five dams further upstream, including a 500MW hydroplant at Zangmu, which is under construction by the power utility Huaneng.
According to Tsering, the biggest of them will be a huge plant at the great bend ? either at Metog, known as Motuo in Chinese, or at Daduqia. The former would involve the construction of a series of tunnels, pipes, reservoirs and turbines to exploit the spectacular 2,000-metre fall of the river as it curls down towards India.
Although there has been no official confirmation of plans for a dam, the discussion is far from secret. On a prominent Chinese science forum [http://www.sciencenet.cn" title="], Zhang said a dam on the great bend was the ultimate hope for water resource exploitation because it could generate energy equivalent to 100m tonnes of crude coal, or all the oil and gas in the South China sea.
He warned that a delay would allow India to tap these resources and prompt "major conflict" in a region where the two nations have sporadically clashed over disputed territory.
"We should build a hydropower plant in Motuo ... as soon as possible because it is a great policy to protect our territory from Indian invasion and to increase China's capacity for carbon reduction," he wrote last year [http://www.sciencenet.cn/m/user_content.aspx?id=249662" title="]
Any step forward is likely to be controversial. Tibetans consider Metog a sacred region, and environmental activists warn against building such a huge project in a seismically active and ecologically fragile area.
"A large dam on the Tibetan plateau would amount to a major, irreversible experiment with geo-engineering," said Peter Bosshard of International Rivers. "Blocking the Yarlung Tsangpo could devastate the fragile ecosystem of the Tibetan plateau, and would withhold the river's sediments from the fertile floodplains of Assam in north-east India, and Bangladesh."
China's construction of dams also raises the prospect of a race with India to develop hydropower along south Asia's most important river.
"India needs to be more aggressive in pushing ahead hydro projects (on the Brahmaputra)," Jairam Ramesh, the Indian environment minister, told the Guardian during a recent visit to Beijing [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/12/copenhagen-destroyed-danish-draft-leak" title="]. "That would put us in better negotiating position (with China).
To minimise the risk of water-related conflict, the two nations have agreed to share information about hydro-plans on the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra.
Indian media have raised concerns that Beijing may ultimately embark on a gigantic diversion scheme that would channel water away from India to the dry northern plains of China, but such fears are dismissed by Tsering, who says the dam at Metog would be for hydropower, not water diversion. "The laws of physics will not allow water diversion from the Great Bend."

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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

irishtimes.com:Pfizer adds to the dole queues

Pfizer adds to the dole queues

IRELAND&#8217;S FLIRTATION with pharmaceuticals, including Pfizer, goes back
a long way and has proved very beneficial. Coming in after food and
electrical goods, it is the third largest provider of manufacturing
jobs. Nine out of the top 10 global pharmaceutical companies have
operations in Ireland where they produce seven out of the top 10
blockbuster drugs. Many of the jobs involved are highly-skilled and
well paid; the so-called smart jobs which we are told are more durable
than mere assembly jobs. The firms involved, mainly due to the lowest
company tax rate in Europe, have generated huge profits from their
Irish operations.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0519/1224270653949.html

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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

irishtimes.com:Paper bags bad, disposable nappies good

Paper bags bad, disposable nappies good

What�s the true environmental impact of the things we do and buy? In a
new book, MIKE BERNERS-LEEhas calculated the carbon footprints of various human activities and natural phenomena, from the consumption of a tomato to the eruption of a volcano � with some surprising results

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2010/0518/1224270592685.html

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irishtimes.com:Pfizer announces plan to cut 785 jobs in Irish operations

Pfizer announces plan to cut 785 jobs in Irish operations

Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer is to cut 785 jobs at its Irish operations
as it prepares to shed 6,000 jobs worldwide over the next five years.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0518/breaking29.html

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Monday, May 17, 2010

Global security depends on tackling world hunger

Global security depends on tackling world hunger

OPINION:Ireland is hosting a vital international meeting on food
security against a backdrop of worst recession since 1930s, writes PETER POWER, DAVID NABARROand TOM ARNOLD

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0517/1224270548434.html
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Sunday, May 9, 2010

irishtimes.com:West Clare hit by seismic tremor

West Clare hit by seismic tremor

THE EARTH moved for residents in west Clare on Thursday night in what
was the first seismic tremor to have occurred in the region since
records began in 1978.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0508/1224269950839.html

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Saturday, May 8, 2010

irishtimes.com:West Clare hit by seismic tremor

West Clare hit by seismic tremor

THE EARTH moved for residents in west Clare on Thursday night in what
was the first seismic tremor to have occurred in the region since
records began in 1978.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0508/1224269950839.html

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Thursday, May 6, 2010

irishtimes.com:Prevailing wind to bring more ash

Prevailing wind to bring more ash

WEATHER:THE NORTHWESTERLY winds which brought ash from the
Eyjafjallaj�kull volcano over Ireland resulting in the stoppage of
flights yesterday, are set to dominate the weather until tomorrow
evening, according to Met Eireann.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0505/1224269733099.html

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irishtimes.com:Emigration on rise to US and Britain

Emigration on rise to US and Britain

THE NUMBER of Irish people emigrating to the US increased by 12 per
cent last year despite a significant drop in the number of temporary
visitors from Ireland.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0505/1224269734931.html

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

irishtimes.com:Physical fabric of our country left in tatters

Physical fabric of our country left in tatters
RENEWING THE REPUBLIC:We need to fashion a new sense of property and
planning if we are to heal the blighted landscape left as a legacy by
the boom
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0505/1224269725959.html
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Monday, May 3, 2010

BP tries to salvage status after Deepwater Horizon oil spill

To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site, go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/02/bp-salvage-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill

BP tries to salvage status after Deepwater Horizon oil spill

British oil and gas group's chief executive says it accepts role as 'responsible party' for clean-up

Simon Bowers
Monday May 3 2010
The Guardian


http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/02/bp-salvage-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill


BP was fighting to save its reputation in the US, insisting the response effort was "the largest ever mobilised anywhere in the world".

The British oil and gas group, still bitterly remembered for the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 and for environmentally damaging pipeline leaks in Alaska, is reaching out to Louisiana communities, establishing town hall meetings and places for volunteers to enrol. It is also working with the local shipping community to make sure as many vessels as possible are available to help with the response effort.

BP's chief operations officer, Doug Suttles, denied that the company was not doing enough, insisting the response effort was "the largest ever mobilised". Meanwhile, BP America's chairman, Lamar McKay, told ABC News that the accident was caused by failed equipment, adding: "We don't know why it failed yet."

The cost to BP is $6m (?4m) a day, including attempts to cap the well, activate the cut-off valves known as the "blowout protector", and to disperse the expanding slick. Independent estimates have put the final bill at between $3bn and $12bn.

McKay said that efforts to trigger the blowout preventer were like carrying out "open heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark with robot-controlled submarines".

Tony Hayward, BP chief executive, has stressed BP accepts its role as "responsible party" for the clean-up and has pledged to cover all "legitimate and objectively verifiable" losses caused by the disaster. Yet BP is privately seeking to draw a distinction between the Texas City tragedy, where it was found directly responsible, and the Deepwater disaster, where Swiss firm Transocean was drilling on its behalf.

While the cause of the leak remains unclear, speculation centres on two areas: the "cementing" process to secure the well walls ? work that contractor Halliburton insists was completed 20 hours before the accident ? and the "blowout protector". The equipment, supplied by US firm Cameron International, "is the ultimate failsafe mechanism", Hayward said. "And for whatever reason, it failed to operate."

"BP will be graded on the things that I established early on that were the goals of this operation," said Admiral Thad Allen of the US Coast Guard. "The ability to stop the leak at its source; the ability to attack the oil at sea; to protect the resources ashore; and to recover and mitigate the impacted areas."


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Immigration numbers fell in first quarter of year (The Irish Times, 03 May 2010, Page 7)




Immigration numbers fell in first quarter of year
JAMIE SMYTH Social Affairs Correspondent
The Irish Times
03 May 2010

THE NUMBER of Poles registering to work or to apply for welfare services in the Republic fell by 40 per cent in the first quarter of the year, new figures show. In the three months to the end of March this year 1,815 Polish nationals were issued with... read more...


© 2010 irishtimes.com

Sunday, May 2, 2010

NYTimes.com: Tracking the Oil Spill



U.S. | May 01, 2010
Tracking the Oil Spill
The map sequence shows how the oil spill is spreading in the Gulf of Mexico.


TV pundits ask whether oil slick is Obama’s Katrina’ (The Irish Times, 01 May 2010, Page 13)


TV pundits ask whether oil slick is Obama’s Katrina’
LARA MARLOWE in Washington
The Irish Times
01 May 2010

TELEVISION COMMENTATORS yesterday began asking whether the oil spill off the coast of Louisiana “will be [President Barack] Obama’s Katrina moment”, an allusion to the hurricane in 2005 that gave GeorgeWBush’s administration a reputation for tardy and...read more...

Cap pays food producers €2bn (The Irish Times, 01 May 2010, Page 2)




Cap pays food producers �2bn
JASON MICHAEL
The Irish Times
01 May 2010

NEARLY �2 BILLION was paid to Irish farmers and businesses under the EU Common Agricultural Policy ( Cap) in 2009, according to the Department of Agriculture. The names of all Cap recipients from October 16th, 2008, to October 15th, 2009, have been...read more...