Campaign Stresses Potential Role of Innovation in Fighting Climate Change
By GUY CHAZAN
LONDON -- Royal Dutch Shell, censured twice by Britain's ad police for exaggerating its commitment to green issues, is hoping to avoid controversy in its latest ad campaign. It isn't clear if it has succeeded.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant drew fire from activist groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth for past attempts to extol its environmental responsibility. It tended to boast of its investments in alternative energy with ads that spoke of the "power to create a cleaner, safer world."
Now, in a campaign designed by ad agency JWT, part of London-based WPP, Shell is stressing technology and innovation and its potential contributions to fighting global warming. Shell, its ads say, is working on ways to squeeze out "difficult" oil trapped in sand, rock and in the deepest seas. And it is trying to capture carbon-dioxide, a global-warming gas, and store it safely underground.
But alternative energy is still part of the mix. One of Shell's new print ads features a diagram of a human brain full of "unexpected" fuel sources like algae and woodchips .
With its new ad campaign, Royal Dutch Shell is focusing more on technology and innovation and its potential contribution to fighting global warming.
The ad has revived old allegations that Shell is "greenwashing" its business. Shell is trying "to hide the fact that the company is actually going backward when it comes to renewable energy," says Greenpeace climate campaigner Jim Footner. Last year, Shell spent "billions of dollars extracting dirty oil from Canada's tar sands" while pulling funding from wind- and solar-energy projects in Europe, he says.
In response to such criticism, Shell says its campaign "highlights our belief that the world will need many types of energy...to meet the energy challenge, including, for the foreseeable future, oil and gas. Accordingly, we are investing in a diverse portfolio of energy sources."
The skepticism toward Shell, however, shows the risks big oil companies take in touting their environmental awareness. Last year, BP used slogans like "The best way out of the energy fix is an energy mix." But environmental activists objected, arguing that alternative energy accounted for just 7% of the British company's spending.
BP said its ads reflected that its investments in wind, solar, biofuels and carbon capture were "real and very significant," and were "generating real growth."
In 2007, Britain's Advertising Standards Authority, a self-regulatory body set up by the ad industry, censured Shell for an ad showing how it was using waste carbon dioxide to grow flowers. The ASA said the ad was misleading, because it implied all the CO2 Shell produced was being used in this way.
Bjorn Edlund, Shell's executive vice president for communications, describes the incident as embarrassing. "We were kicking ourselves," he said in an interview.
The ASA cited Shell again last year for an ad in the Financial Times that claimed its oil-sands project in Canada was "sustainable." The body said it concluded the ad was misleading because it hadn't seen any evidence Shell was managing the project to limit CO2 emissions.
Shell says its project is "sustainable," in the sense it could meet "the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own."
JWT says the problem lies in the ASA's lack of experience with energy issues. The ASA, says Stef Tiratelli, JWT's global manager for the Shell account, didn't have a particularly deep understanding of complex issues like CO2 management.
Still, its criticism sparked changes at Shell. "Until about 2006, everybody in the industry talked about what people wanted to hear, rather than what we were actually doing," says Shell's Mr. Edlund. Lately, Shell's ads have more broadly addressed climate change. "The idea is to try and get people onto the Shell Web site...and get into a dialogue," says Mr. Edlund. Many have joined Web chats on the site about climate change and carbon capture, he says.
Shell made other changes too. The company started giving the ASA a sneak preview of its ads, to make sure it wouldn't raise objections. "We regularly talk to them," says Mr. Tiratelli. "You're forever in some kind of discussion with the ASA about whether the claims you're making are allowable."
Write to Guy Chazan at guy.chazan@wsj.com
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Bolivia has lithium, and the president intends to make world pay for it
By Simon Romero
Published: February 2, 2009
UYUNI, Bolivia: In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world's lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found here in Bolivia - a country that may not be willing to surrender it so easily.
Japanese and European companies are busily trying to strike deals to tap the resource, but a nationalist sentiment is building quickly in the government of President Evo Morales, an ardent critic of the United States who has already nationalized Bolivia's oil and natural gas industries.
For now, the government talks of closely controlling the lithium itself and keeping foreigners at bay. Adding to the pressure, indigenous groups here in the remote salt desert where the mineral lies are pushing for a share in the eventual bounty.
"We know that Bolivia can become the Saudi Arabia of lithium," said Francisco Quisbert, 64, the leader of Frutcas, a group of salt gatherers and quinoa farmers on the edge of Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world. "We are poor, but we are not stupid peasants," he said. "The lithium may be Bolivia's, but it is also our property."
The new Constitution that Morales managed to pass handily last month bolsters such claims. One of its provisions could give Indians control over the natural resources in their territory, strengthening their ability to win concessions from the authorities and private companies, or even block mining projects.
None of this is dampening efforts by foreigners, including the Japanese conglomerates Mitsubishi and Sumitomo and a group led by a French industrialist, Vincent Bolloré. In recent months all three have sent representatives to La Paz, the capital, to meet with Morales's government to gain access to the lithium, a critical component for the batteries that power cars and other electronics.
"There are salt lakes in Chile and Argentina, and a promising lithium deposit in Tibet, but the prize is clearly in Bolivia," Oji Baba, an executive in Mitsubishi's Base Metals Unit, said in an interview in La Paz. "If we want to be a force in the next wave of automobiles and the batteries that power them, then we must be here."
Mitsubishi is not alone in planning to produce cars using lithium-ion batteries. Ailing carmakers in the United States are pinning their hopes on lithium, including General Motors, which next year plans to roll out its Volt, a car using a lithium-ion battery along with a gas engine. Nissan, Ford and BMW, among other carmakers, have similar projects.
Demand for lithium, long used in small amounts in mood-stabilizing drugs and thermonuclear weapons, has climbed as makers of batteries for BlackBerrys and other electronic devices use the mineral. But the automotive industry holds the biggest untapped potential for lithium, analysts say. Since it weighs less than nickel, also used in batteries, it would allow electric cars to store more energy and drive longer distances.
With governments, including the Obama administration, seeking to increase fuel efficiency and reduce their dependence on imported oil, private companies are focusing their attention on this desolate corner of the Andes, where Quechua-speaking Indians subsist on the remains of an ancient inland sea by bartering the salt they carry out on llama caravans.
The U.S. Geological Survey says 5.4 million tons of lithium could eventually be extracted in Bolivia, compared with 3 million in Chile, 1.1 million in China and just 410,000 in the United States. Independent geologists estimate that Bolivia might have even more lithium at Uyuni and its other salt deserts, though high altitudes could make producing the mineral difficult.
Amid such potential, foreigners seeking to tap Bolivia's lithium reserves must navigate the policies of Morales, 49, who has clashed repeatedly with American, European and even South American investors. Morales shocked neighboring Brazil, with whose government he is on friendly terms, by nationalizing its natural gas projects here in 2006 and seeking a sharp rise in prices. He carried out his latest nationalization before the vote on the Constitution, sending soldiers to occupy the operations of British oil giant BP.
At the La Paz headquarters of Comibol, the state agency that oversees mining projects, Morales's vision of combining socialism with advocacy for Bolivia's Indians is prominently on display. Copies of Cambio, a new state-controlled daily newspaper, are available in the lobby while posters of Che Guevara, the leftist icon killed in Bolivia in 1967, grace the entrance to Comibol's offices.
"The previous imperialist model of exploitation of our natural resources will never be repeated in Bolivia," said Saúl Villegas, head of evaporates, a division in Comibol that oversees lithium extraction. "Maybe there could be the possibility of foreigners accepted as minority partners, or better yet, as our clients."
To that end, Comibol is investing about $6 million in a small plant near the village of Rio Grande on the edge of Salar de Uyuni, where it hopes to begin Bolivia's first industrial-scale effort to mine lithium from the white, moonlike landscape of the Salar and process it into carbonate for batteries. Morales wants the plant finished by the end of this year.
Workers here were in a frenzy to meet that goal during late January, laboring under the sun around half-finished walls of brick. Over a meal of llama stew and a Pepsi, Marcelo Castro, 48, the manager overseeing the project, explained that along with processing lithium the plant had another objective.
"Of course, lithium is the mineral that will lead us to the post-petroleum era," said Castro. "But in order to go down that road, we must raise the revolutionary consciousness of our people, starting on the floor of this very factory."
Beyond the tiny plant, lithium analysts say Bolivia, one of Latin America's least-developed nations, needs to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars to start producing carbonate. But with economic growth slowing and a decline in oil prices limiting the reach of its top patron, Venezuela, it remains unclear how Bolivia can achieve this on its own.
Even though Morales seized control of oil and natural gas projects, optimistic industry analysts point out that he allowed some foreign companies to remain in the country as minority partners.
Lithium mining in Bolivia has its own history. In the early 1990s, nationalist opposition reportedly led by Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, a wealthy holder of mining concessions who later became Bolivia's president, thwarted a plan by Lithco, an American company, to tap the lithium deposits here. That history, coupled with Morales's current tensions with Washington, might help explain why American companies appear to be on the sidelines as others seek lithium deals here.
Sánchez de Lozada was ultimately forced to resign as president in 2003 after Morales led protests against his efforts to export another natural resource, natural gas, with the help of foreign capital.
As Bolivia ponders how to tap its lithium, nations with smaller reserves are stepping up. China has emerged as a top lithium producer, tapping reserves found in a Tibetan salt flat. But geologists and economists are debating whether the lithium reserves outside of Bolivia are enough to meet the climbing global demand.
"We have the most magnificent lithium reserves on the planet, but if we don't step into the race now we will lose this chance," said Juan Carlos Zuleta, an economist in La Paz. "The market will find other solutions for the world's battery needs."
On the flat salt desert of Uyuni, such debate seems remote to those still laboring as their ancestors did, scraping salt off ground into the cone-shaped piles that line the horizon like some geometric mirage. The lithium found under the surface of this desert seems even more remote for these 21st-century salt gatherers.
"I've heard of the lithium, but I only hope it creates work for us," said Pedro Camata, 19, his face shielded from the unforgiving sun by a ski mask; cheap sunglasses covered his eyes. "Without work out here, one is dead."
Published: February 2, 2009
UYUNI, Bolivia: In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world's lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found here in Bolivia - a country that may not be willing to surrender it so easily.
Japanese and European companies are busily trying to strike deals to tap the resource, but a nationalist sentiment is building quickly in the government of President Evo Morales, an ardent critic of the United States who has already nationalized Bolivia's oil and natural gas industries.
For now, the government talks of closely controlling the lithium itself and keeping foreigners at bay. Adding to the pressure, indigenous groups here in the remote salt desert where the mineral lies are pushing for a share in the eventual bounty.
"We know that Bolivia can become the Saudi Arabia of lithium," said Francisco Quisbert, 64, the leader of Frutcas, a group of salt gatherers and quinoa farmers on the edge of Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat in the world. "We are poor, but we are not stupid peasants," he said. "The lithium may be Bolivia's, but it is also our property."
The new Constitution that Morales managed to pass handily last month bolsters such claims. One of its provisions could give Indians control over the natural resources in their territory, strengthening their ability to win concessions from the authorities and private companies, or even block mining projects.
None of this is dampening efforts by foreigners, including the Japanese conglomerates Mitsubishi and Sumitomo and a group led by a French industrialist, Vincent Bolloré. In recent months all three have sent representatives to La Paz, the capital, to meet with Morales's government to gain access to the lithium, a critical component for the batteries that power cars and other electronics.
"There are salt lakes in Chile and Argentina, and a promising lithium deposit in Tibet, but the prize is clearly in Bolivia," Oji Baba, an executive in Mitsubishi's Base Metals Unit, said in an interview in La Paz. "If we want to be a force in the next wave of automobiles and the batteries that power them, then we must be here."
Mitsubishi is not alone in planning to produce cars using lithium-ion batteries. Ailing carmakers in the United States are pinning their hopes on lithium, including General Motors, which next year plans to roll out its Volt, a car using a lithium-ion battery along with a gas engine. Nissan, Ford and BMW, among other carmakers, have similar projects.
Demand for lithium, long used in small amounts in mood-stabilizing drugs and thermonuclear weapons, has climbed as makers of batteries for BlackBerrys and other electronic devices use the mineral. But the automotive industry holds the biggest untapped potential for lithium, analysts say. Since it weighs less than nickel, also used in batteries, it would allow electric cars to store more energy and drive longer distances.
With governments, including the Obama administration, seeking to increase fuel efficiency and reduce their dependence on imported oil, private companies are focusing their attention on this desolate corner of the Andes, where Quechua-speaking Indians subsist on the remains of an ancient inland sea by bartering the salt they carry out on llama caravans.
The U.S. Geological Survey says 5.4 million tons of lithium could eventually be extracted in Bolivia, compared with 3 million in Chile, 1.1 million in China and just 410,000 in the United States. Independent geologists estimate that Bolivia might have even more lithium at Uyuni and its other salt deserts, though high altitudes could make producing the mineral difficult.
Amid such potential, foreigners seeking to tap Bolivia's lithium reserves must navigate the policies of Morales, 49, who has clashed repeatedly with American, European and even South American investors. Morales shocked neighboring Brazil, with whose government he is on friendly terms, by nationalizing its natural gas projects here in 2006 and seeking a sharp rise in prices. He carried out his latest nationalization before the vote on the Constitution, sending soldiers to occupy the operations of British oil giant BP.
At the La Paz headquarters of Comibol, the state agency that oversees mining projects, Morales's vision of combining socialism with advocacy for Bolivia's Indians is prominently on display. Copies of Cambio, a new state-controlled daily newspaper, are available in the lobby while posters of Che Guevara, the leftist icon killed in Bolivia in 1967, grace the entrance to Comibol's offices.
"The previous imperialist model of exploitation of our natural resources will never be repeated in Bolivia," said Saúl Villegas, head of evaporates, a division in Comibol that oversees lithium extraction. "Maybe there could be the possibility of foreigners accepted as minority partners, or better yet, as our clients."
To that end, Comibol is investing about $6 million in a small plant near the village of Rio Grande on the edge of Salar de Uyuni, where it hopes to begin Bolivia's first industrial-scale effort to mine lithium from the white, moonlike landscape of the Salar and process it into carbonate for batteries. Morales wants the plant finished by the end of this year.
Workers here were in a frenzy to meet that goal during late January, laboring under the sun around half-finished walls of brick. Over a meal of llama stew and a Pepsi, Marcelo Castro, 48, the manager overseeing the project, explained that along with processing lithium the plant had another objective.
"Of course, lithium is the mineral that will lead us to the post-petroleum era," said Castro. "But in order to go down that road, we must raise the revolutionary consciousness of our people, starting on the floor of this very factory."
Beyond the tiny plant, lithium analysts say Bolivia, one of Latin America's least-developed nations, needs to be investing hundreds of millions of dollars to start producing carbonate. But with economic growth slowing and a decline in oil prices limiting the reach of its top patron, Venezuela, it remains unclear how Bolivia can achieve this on its own.
Even though Morales seized control of oil and natural gas projects, optimistic industry analysts point out that he allowed some foreign companies to remain in the country as minority partners.
Lithium mining in Bolivia has its own history. In the early 1990s, nationalist opposition reportedly led by Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, a wealthy holder of mining concessions who later became Bolivia's president, thwarted a plan by Lithco, an American company, to tap the lithium deposits here. That history, coupled with Morales's current tensions with Washington, might help explain why American companies appear to be on the sidelines as others seek lithium deals here.
Sánchez de Lozada was ultimately forced to resign as president in 2003 after Morales led protests against his efforts to export another natural resource, natural gas, with the help of foreign capital.
As Bolivia ponders how to tap its lithium, nations with smaller reserves are stepping up. China has emerged as a top lithium producer, tapping reserves found in a Tibetan salt flat. But geologists and economists are debating whether the lithium reserves outside of Bolivia are enough to meet the climbing global demand.
"We have the most magnificent lithium reserves on the planet, but if we don't step into the race now we will lose this chance," said Juan Carlos Zuleta, an economist in La Paz. "The market will find other solutions for the world's battery needs."
On the flat salt desert of Uyuni, such debate seems remote to those still laboring as their ancestors did, scraping salt off ground into the cone-shaped piles that line the horizon like some geometric mirage. The lithium found under the surface of this desert seems even more remote for these 21st-century salt gatherers.
"I've heard of the lithium, but I only hope it creates work for us," said Pedro Camata, 19, his face shielded from the unforgiving sun by a ski mask; cheap sunglasses covered his eyes. "Without work out here, one is dead."
Hi-tech plan to cut city's waste
Published Date: 03 February 2009
By Craig Brown
A £40 MILLION hi-tech recycling system is set to be brought in to tackle Glasgow's waste management problem.
The autoclave proposal will go before the city council's land and environmental services committee tomorrow. The city produces 363,367 tonnes of waste every year, only 18 per cent of which is recycled, with the majority being sent to landfill, one of the worst records in Scotland. However, Scottish Government targets for local authority recycling mean that the council could face paying £30 million to £44 million in charges and tax if it continues to rely on landfill.The autoclave would be installed at Polmadie and would be the first unit in the UK to be owned and run by a local authority. The system works by soaking the waste at high pressure and at high temperature to break it down, then using a centrifuge to spin it dry.The process separates and cleans any plastics, metal and glass, which can be sold as high-quality recyclables.One autoclave is capable of dealing with 150,000 tonnes of waste a year, and the council has said that if the system is deemed successful, it would consider adding others.
Published Date: 03 February 2009
By Craig Brown
A £40 MILLION hi-tech recycling system is set to be brought in to tackle Glasgow's waste management problem.
The autoclave proposal will go before the city council's land and environmental services committee tomorrow. The city produces 363,367 tonnes of waste every year, only 18 per cent of which is recycled, with the majority being sent to landfill, one of the worst records in Scotland. However, Scottish Government targets for local authority recycling mean that the council could face paying £30 million to £44 million in charges and tax if it continues to rely on landfill.The autoclave would be installed at Polmadie and would be the first unit in the UK to be owned and run by a local authority. The system works by soaking the waste at high pressure and at high temperature to break it down, then using a centrifuge to spin it dry.The process separates and cleans any plastics, metal and glass, which can be sold as high-quality recyclables.One autoclave is capable of dealing with 150,000 tonnes of waste a year, and the council has said that if the system is deemed successful, it would consider adding others.
Supermarkets 'failing to tackle greenhouse gas emissions'
Supermarkets are failing to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions of their fridge and freezer systems, a report claimed today.
Last Updated: 8:04AM GMT 02 Feb 2009
The survey by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) identified Waitrose as the worst offender among the big five stores, despite a pledge to remove harmful greenhouse gases from its units.
According to the EIA, supermarkets are the UK's biggest emitter of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), which were introduced to fridge and freezer systems to replace ozone-depleting gases such as CFCs but are 4,000 times more powerful in causing climate warming than carbon dioxide.
There are "climate-friendly" options, such as CO2 itself, ammonia and hydrocarbons, but the EIA report said most supermarkets had failed to take sufficient action to introduce alternatives.
The report's author, Fionnuala Walravens, said supermarkets' failure to do much about the powerful greenhouse gases from their refrigeration systems was "hugely disappointing".
A Waitrose spokesman said: "We are committed to playing our part in tackling climate change and we invest in business-wide initiatives to achieve this - for example our stores use only green electricity.
"Our five-year, £55m refrigeration programme has so far achieved a 19 per cent improvement in shop energy efficiency. In addition, our robust maintenance programme includes leak detection in all stores - monitored 24 hours a day for immediate response.
"Large sections of our business now use natural refrigerants and we have are further extending their use this year."
The league table of supermarkets is as follows:
1. M&S (scored 42/100): Clear leader through their supplier training and most ambitious plans for replacing HFCs. Also the most transparent about what they were doing.
Still only have three stores using climate-friendly alternatives and not yet switched behind the scenes or for transport refrigeration.
2. Tesco (32/100): Funding research into development of climate-friendly refrigerants and investing in both practical training and e-learning.
Biggest overall contributor to HFC emissions of all the supermarkets.
3. Asda (24/100): Innovative ideas in relation to climate-friendly refrigeration and have good energy efficiency targets.
Very high level of leakage - direct emissions - and not doing as much as the others on alternatives.
4. Co-op (23/100): Future use of climate-friendly refrigerants looks promising and it is already being used in some behind-the-scenes equipment. Have good energy efficiency targets.
Leakages increased between 2006 and 2007. Have not done anything about training engineers.
5. Sainsbury (20/100): Called for Government intervention to support the transition to natural refrigerants. Have good energy efficiency targets.
Lack of investment in climate-friendly refrigeration and corporate social responsibility report shows they're not meeting energy efficiency targets.
6. Morrisons (17/100): Planning more testing of climate-friendly refrigeration. Won Green End User of the Year Award at the Cooling Industry Awards 2008.
Not transparent about what they are doing - they wouldn't provide a detailed response to our survey. Appear to be lagging behind other supermarkets.
7. Waitrose (12/100): All regional distribution centres already use or will use climate-friendly refrigeration by 2010.
Very vague response to our survey.
8. Aldi (1/100): One point for work Aldi has been doing in Germany on climate-friendly refrigerants.
Refused to participate and nothing in CSR report.
9. Lidl (0/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and did not send CSR report despite their website offering a copy if a request is sent in writing.
9. Somerfield (0/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and CSR report does not give any information on the use of climate-friendly refrigerants.
10. Iceland (-1/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and no CSR report available. Minus point for going back on 1999 commitment.
Last Updated: 8:04AM GMT 02 Feb 2009
The survey by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) identified Waitrose as the worst offender among the big five stores, despite a pledge to remove harmful greenhouse gases from its units.
According to the EIA, supermarkets are the UK's biggest emitter of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), which were introduced to fridge and freezer systems to replace ozone-depleting gases such as CFCs but are 4,000 times more powerful in causing climate warming than carbon dioxide.
There are "climate-friendly" options, such as CO2 itself, ammonia and hydrocarbons, but the EIA report said most supermarkets had failed to take sufficient action to introduce alternatives.
The report's author, Fionnuala Walravens, said supermarkets' failure to do much about the powerful greenhouse gases from their refrigeration systems was "hugely disappointing".
A Waitrose spokesman said: "We are committed to playing our part in tackling climate change and we invest in business-wide initiatives to achieve this - for example our stores use only green electricity.
"Our five-year, £55m refrigeration programme has so far achieved a 19 per cent improvement in shop energy efficiency. In addition, our robust maintenance programme includes leak detection in all stores - monitored 24 hours a day for immediate response.
"Large sections of our business now use natural refrigerants and we have are further extending their use this year."
The league table of supermarkets is as follows:
1. M&S (scored 42/100): Clear leader through their supplier training and most ambitious plans for replacing HFCs. Also the most transparent about what they were doing.
Still only have three stores using climate-friendly alternatives and not yet switched behind the scenes or for transport refrigeration.
2. Tesco (32/100): Funding research into development of climate-friendly refrigerants and investing in both practical training and e-learning.
Biggest overall contributor to HFC emissions of all the supermarkets.
3. Asda (24/100): Innovative ideas in relation to climate-friendly refrigeration and have good energy efficiency targets.
Very high level of leakage - direct emissions - and not doing as much as the others on alternatives.
4. Co-op (23/100): Future use of climate-friendly refrigerants looks promising and it is already being used in some behind-the-scenes equipment. Have good energy efficiency targets.
Leakages increased between 2006 and 2007. Have not done anything about training engineers.
5. Sainsbury (20/100): Called for Government intervention to support the transition to natural refrigerants. Have good energy efficiency targets.
Lack of investment in climate-friendly refrigeration and corporate social responsibility report shows they're not meeting energy efficiency targets.
6. Morrisons (17/100): Planning more testing of climate-friendly refrigeration. Won Green End User of the Year Award at the Cooling Industry Awards 2008.
Not transparent about what they are doing - they wouldn't provide a detailed response to our survey. Appear to be lagging behind other supermarkets.
7. Waitrose (12/100): All regional distribution centres already use or will use climate-friendly refrigeration by 2010.
Very vague response to our survey.
8. Aldi (1/100): One point for work Aldi has been doing in Germany on climate-friendly refrigerants.
Refused to participate and nothing in CSR report.
9. Lidl (0/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and did not send CSR report despite their website offering a copy if a request is sent in writing.
9. Somerfield (0/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and CSR report does not give any information on the use of climate-friendly refrigerants.
10. Iceland (-1/100): Nothing revealed. Refused to participate and no CSR report available. Minus point for going back on 1999 commitment.
Boris Johnson to put next phase of low emission zone on hold
Mayor of London to suspend third phase of the green scheme as part of a move to aid businesses during the economic downturn
Hélène Mulholland
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 17.16 GMT
A lorry passes a low emission zone sign in London. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Boris Johnson today announced the suspension of a key measure designed to improve London's air quality on the grounds that it would have a "detrimental impact" on small businesses in the economic downturn.
The mayor of London suspended the third phase of the low emission zone, which was introduced last year by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, as a way to cut harmful emissions by encouraging the replacement of high polluting vans and lorries with new models that met the required emission standards.
The scheme currently targets buses, coaches, and the most polluting lorries over 3.5 tonnes. Failure to meet the required emissions standards leads to a £200 daily charge, or a £1,000 daily fine.
Phase three of the scheme was scheduled to start in October next year and would have affected 90,000 much smaller vehicles, including vans and minibuses. A daily £100 charge was due to be imposed on those that did not meet the emissions standards. Failure to pay would have incurred a £500 fine for each day that the vans entered the zone, which covers the Greater London area.
"I want to do all I can to ease the burden of the economic downturn that is affecting us all at this time," the mayor said. "Although the low emission zone has been successful in tackling the worst polluters, and will continue to play an important role, it is not the right time to press ahead with extending it to include smaller vehicles like vans and minibuses.
"Many of these will be owned by small businesses, charities, and self-employed Londoners already hard hit by the recession. Simply put, the cost of fitting pollution equipment or getting a new vehicle would have come as punch in the ribs to those who need our help at this time, would have destroyed profit margins, and endangered our businesses."
The Green party on the London assembly described the move as the height of irresponsibility and "an absolute disaster for London's environment".
Darren Johnson, a Green assembly member, said: "The mayor is talking green while condemning Londoners to more premature deaths and more pollution.
"Substandard air quality in the capital already results in around 1,000 premature deaths per year. For the past 10 ten years, the government has failed to take proper action, resulting in Britain's air quality sinking to illegal levels. The extension of the low emission zone to tens of thousands of vans next year was going to be a huge step towards cleaning London's air. Nothing else that the mayor is proposing comes close to dealing with the problem."
He said the boroughs of Bexley, Brent, Ealing and Lambeth haved all exceeded air pollution limits set down by the EU.
The mayor's office nevertheless insisted that Johnson was committed to improving air quality in the capital.
He is in talks with the government on a package of measures to help London meet EU emission targets, including a subsidy scheme for replacing the oldest, most polluting light goods vehicles.
John Biggs, the deputy leader of the London assembly's Labour group, said "wheezy children and older people" in London suffering from poor air quality would not thank the mayor for today's decision.
Biggs said: "It looks like a retrograde step for London's health, but I would have to look at the small print."
Mike Tuffrey, the leader of the Lib Dems on the assembly, branded Johnson's decision "perverse and very disturbing".
He said: "I recognise the concerns of small businesses, but instead of dropping new air quality standards we should be providing practical help to enable them to make the changes at minimum cost. Only two weeks ago David Cameron was stating that 'we can't afford not to go green' as a successful economy and clean environment ultimately go hand in hand. Clearly Boris Johnson has still not got this message."
Johnson's intention to remove the third phase of the low emission zone will be the subject of a 12-week public consultation scheduled for later this year. Transport for London will also need to consult on the necessary changes to the scheme.
The decision comes a week after the European commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to meet EU air quality targets.
Hélène Mulholland
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 17.16 GMT
A lorry passes a low emission zone sign in London. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images
Boris Johnson today announced the suspension of a key measure designed to improve London's air quality on the grounds that it would have a "detrimental impact" on small businesses in the economic downturn.
The mayor of London suspended the third phase of the low emission zone, which was introduced last year by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, as a way to cut harmful emissions by encouraging the replacement of high polluting vans and lorries with new models that met the required emission standards.
The scheme currently targets buses, coaches, and the most polluting lorries over 3.5 tonnes. Failure to meet the required emissions standards leads to a £200 daily charge, or a £1,000 daily fine.
Phase three of the scheme was scheduled to start in October next year and would have affected 90,000 much smaller vehicles, including vans and minibuses. A daily £100 charge was due to be imposed on those that did not meet the emissions standards. Failure to pay would have incurred a £500 fine for each day that the vans entered the zone, which covers the Greater London area.
"I want to do all I can to ease the burden of the economic downturn that is affecting us all at this time," the mayor said. "Although the low emission zone has been successful in tackling the worst polluters, and will continue to play an important role, it is not the right time to press ahead with extending it to include smaller vehicles like vans and minibuses.
"Many of these will be owned by small businesses, charities, and self-employed Londoners already hard hit by the recession. Simply put, the cost of fitting pollution equipment or getting a new vehicle would have come as punch in the ribs to those who need our help at this time, would have destroyed profit margins, and endangered our businesses."
The Green party on the London assembly described the move as the height of irresponsibility and "an absolute disaster for London's environment".
Darren Johnson, a Green assembly member, said: "The mayor is talking green while condemning Londoners to more premature deaths and more pollution.
"Substandard air quality in the capital already results in around 1,000 premature deaths per year. For the past 10 ten years, the government has failed to take proper action, resulting in Britain's air quality sinking to illegal levels. The extension of the low emission zone to tens of thousands of vans next year was going to be a huge step towards cleaning London's air. Nothing else that the mayor is proposing comes close to dealing with the problem."
He said the boroughs of Bexley, Brent, Ealing and Lambeth haved all exceeded air pollution limits set down by the EU.
The mayor's office nevertheless insisted that Johnson was committed to improving air quality in the capital.
He is in talks with the government on a package of measures to help London meet EU emission targets, including a subsidy scheme for replacing the oldest, most polluting light goods vehicles.
John Biggs, the deputy leader of the London assembly's Labour group, said "wheezy children and older people" in London suffering from poor air quality would not thank the mayor for today's decision.
Biggs said: "It looks like a retrograde step for London's health, but I would have to look at the small print."
Mike Tuffrey, the leader of the Lib Dems on the assembly, branded Johnson's decision "perverse and very disturbing".
He said: "I recognise the concerns of small businesses, but instead of dropping new air quality standards we should be providing practical help to enable them to make the changes at minimum cost. Only two weeks ago David Cameron was stating that 'we can't afford not to go green' as a successful economy and clean environment ultimately go hand in hand. Clearly Boris Johnson has still not got this message."
Johnson's intention to remove the third phase of the low emission zone will be the subject of a 12-week public consultation scheduled for later this year. Transport for London will also need to consult on the necessary changes to the scheme.
The decision comes a week after the European commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to meet EU air quality targets.
Biofuels more harmful to humans than petrol and diesel, warn scientists
Corn-based bioethanol has higher burden on environment and human health, says US study
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 22.05 GMT
A jatropha nursery in the Ivory Coast. Photograph: Kambou Sia/AFP/Getty Images
Some biofuels cause more health problems than petrol and diesel, according to scientists who have calculated the health costs associated with different types of fuel.
The study shows that corn-based bioethanol, which is produced extensively in the US, has a higher combined environmental and health burden than conventional fuels. However, there are high hopes for the next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods. They have less than half the combined health and environmental costs of standard gasoline and a third of current biofuels.
The work adds to an increasing body of research raising concerns about the impact of modern corn-based biofuels.
Several studies last year showed that growing corn to make ethanol biofuels was pushing up the price of food. Environmentalists have highlighted other problems such deforestation to clear land for growing crops to make the fuels. The UK government's renewable fuels advisors recommended slowing down the adoption of biofuels until better controls were in place to prevent inadvertent climate impacts.
Using computer models developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the researchers found the total environmental and health costs of gasoline are about 71 cents (50p) per gallon, while an equivalent amount of corn-ethanol fuel has associated costs of 72 cents to $1.45, depending on how it is produced.
The next generation of so-called cellulosic bioethanol fuels costs 19 cents to 32 cents, depending on the technology and type of raw materials used. These are experimental fuels made from woody crops that typically do not compete with conventional agriculture. The results are published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The dialogue so far on biofuels has been pretty much focused on greenhouse gases alone," said David Tilman, a professor at the department of ecology, evolution and behaviour at the University of Minnesota. "And yet we felt there were many other impacts that were positive or negative not being included. We wanted to expand the analysis from greenhouse gases to at least one other item and we chose health impacts."
The health problems caused by conventional fuels are well studied and stem from soot particles and other pollution produced when they are burned. With biofuels, the problems are caused by particles given off during their growth and manufacture.
"Corn requires nitrogen fertilisers and some of that comes on as ammonia, which is volatilised into the air," said Tilman. "The ammonia particles are charged and they attract fine dust particles. They stick together and form particles of the size of 2.5 micron and that has significant health impacts. Some of this gets blown by prevailing winds into areas of higher population density – that's where you have the large number of people having the health impact which raises the cost."
Health problems from biofuels and gasoline include increased cases of heart disease, respiratory symptoms, asthma, chronic bronchitis or premature death. The team has calculated the economic costs associated with these. "For the economy, it's the loss of good, productive workers who might otherwise have been able to contribute," said team member Jason Hill, an economist at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.
"These costs are not paid for by those who produce, sell and buy gasoline or ethanol. The public pays these costs," said Dr Stephen Polasky, an economist at the University of Minnesota, also part of the team.
A report published last year by Ed Gallagher, the head of the government's Renewable Fuels Agency, suggested that the introduction of biofuels to the UK should be slowed until more effective controls were in place to prevent the inadvertent rise in greenhouse gas emissions caused by, for example, the clearance of forests to make way for their production.
His report said that if the displacements were left unchecked, current targets for biofuel production could cause a global rise in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in poverty in the poorest countries by 2020.
Gallagher also suggested the government should introduce incentives to promote the production of next-generation biofuels of the type studied by the Minnesota researchers. So-called cellulosic ethanol can be made from plants such as switchgrass or jatropha that can grow with very little fertiliser on poor land, but the technology to convert these plants into fuels is in its early stages.
Tilman said society needed to make the transition away from corn-based ethanol as soon as possible.
"We've gone one step further than the work that only looked at greenhouse gases and found some surprisingly large effects. Before we dedicate major resources to new biofuels, we should be trying to quantify other likely impacts to society – water quality, biodiversity and so on – and put all of those into our analysis." He hopes this will encourage society to make "a long-term commitment to the right biofuel".
Alok Jha, green technology correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 22.05 GMT
A jatropha nursery in the Ivory Coast. Photograph: Kambou Sia/AFP/Getty Images
Some biofuels cause more health problems than petrol and diesel, according to scientists who have calculated the health costs associated with different types of fuel.
The study shows that corn-based bioethanol, which is produced extensively in the US, has a higher combined environmental and health burden than conventional fuels. However, there are high hopes for the next generation of biofuels, which can be made from organic waste or plants grown on marginal land that is not used to grow foods. They have less than half the combined health and environmental costs of standard gasoline and a third of current biofuels.
The work adds to an increasing body of research raising concerns about the impact of modern corn-based biofuels.
Several studies last year showed that growing corn to make ethanol biofuels was pushing up the price of food. Environmentalists have highlighted other problems such deforestation to clear land for growing crops to make the fuels. The UK government's renewable fuels advisors recommended slowing down the adoption of biofuels until better controls were in place to prevent inadvertent climate impacts.
Using computer models developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the researchers found the total environmental and health costs of gasoline are about 71 cents (50p) per gallon, while an equivalent amount of corn-ethanol fuel has associated costs of 72 cents to $1.45, depending on how it is produced.
The next generation of so-called cellulosic bioethanol fuels costs 19 cents to 32 cents, depending on the technology and type of raw materials used. These are experimental fuels made from woody crops that typically do not compete with conventional agriculture. The results are published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The dialogue so far on biofuels has been pretty much focused on greenhouse gases alone," said David Tilman, a professor at the department of ecology, evolution and behaviour at the University of Minnesota. "And yet we felt there were many other impacts that were positive or negative not being included. We wanted to expand the analysis from greenhouse gases to at least one other item and we chose health impacts."
The health problems caused by conventional fuels are well studied and stem from soot particles and other pollution produced when they are burned. With biofuels, the problems are caused by particles given off during their growth and manufacture.
"Corn requires nitrogen fertilisers and some of that comes on as ammonia, which is volatilised into the air," said Tilman. "The ammonia particles are charged and they attract fine dust particles. They stick together and form particles of the size of 2.5 micron and that has significant health impacts. Some of this gets blown by prevailing winds into areas of higher population density – that's where you have the large number of people having the health impact which raises the cost."
Health problems from biofuels and gasoline include increased cases of heart disease, respiratory symptoms, asthma, chronic bronchitis or premature death. The team has calculated the economic costs associated with these. "For the economy, it's the loss of good, productive workers who might otherwise have been able to contribute," said team member Jason Hill, an economist at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.
"These costs are not paid for by those who produce, sell and buy gasoline or ethanol. The public pays these costs," said Dr Stephen Polasky, an economist at the University of Minnesota, also part of the team.
A report published last year by Ed Gallagher, the head of the government's Renewable Fuels Agency, suggested that the introduction of biofuels to the UK should be slowed until more effective controls were in place to prevent the inadvertent rise in greenhouse gas emissions caused by, for example, the clearance of forests to make way for their production.
His report said that if the displacements were left unchecked, current targets for biofuel production could cause a global rise in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in poverty in the poorest countries by 2020.
Gallagher also suggested the government should introduce incentives to promote the production of next-generation biofuels of the type studied by the Minnesota researchers. So-called cellulosic ethanol can be made from plants such as switchgrass or jatropha that can grow with very little fertiliser on poor land, but the technology to convert these plants into fuels is in its early stages.
Tilman said society needed to make the transition away from corn-based ethanol as soon as possible.
"We've gone one step further than the work that only looked at greenhouse gases and found some surprisingly large effects. Before we dedicate major resources to new biofuels, we should be trying to quantify other likely impacts to society – water quality, biodiversity and so on – and put all of those into our analysis." He hopes this will encourage society to make "a long-term commitment to the right biofuel".
Personal carbon budgets possible by 2020, says head of RSA study
Juliette Jowit
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
Everyone in the UK could have their own carbon budget by 2020, says the head of the most comprehensive trial of the idea.
Personal allowances set a limit on emissions produced by activities such as driving and heating homes. People could switch to greener services or do without to meet their allowances, sell credits if they did not use them all, or buy credits if they went over the budget because of more highly polluting activities such as flying.
The idea was given credibility by the support of David Miliband, the former environment and now foreign secretary, and the launch of a three-year study by the Royal Society of Arts. A report into the study concludes that trading allowances is too controversial in the short term, but important elements could work, including the principal of giving every person a carbon budget, said Matt Prescott, the RSA's project director.
Initially, budgets would be likely to cover only key areas such as buildings and transport, but as technology developed they could be extended, he said.
Last year the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs effectively dismissed personal carbon trading after estimating its cost would "outweigh by many times" any benefits. But the RSA report says budgets could be managed through existing technology such as bank, loyalty and fuel cards. Also, instead of individual trading, credits could be traded by local authorities or employers. A scheme would be feasible by 2013 but was "more likely around 2020", Prescott said.
The new Department for Energy and Climate Change welcomed the RSA analysis but warned of the challenges ahead.
The RSA's CarbonLimited study began in 2006. The report publishes results from three trials, none of which offered financial incentives. On average the 140 volunteers in the groups cut emissions by almost 5%. A further trial is planned.
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
Everyone in the UK could have their own carbon budget by 2020, says the head of the most comprehensive trial of the idea.
Personal allowances set a limit on emissions produced by activities such as driving and heating homes. People could switch to greener services or do without to meet their allowances, sell credits if they did not use them all, or buy credits if they went over the budget because of more highly polluting activities such as flying.
The idea was given credibility by the support of David Miliband, the former environment and now foreign secretary, and the launch of a three-year study by the Royal Society of Arts. A report into the study concludes that trading allowances is too controversial in the short term, but important elements could work, including the principal of giving every person a carbon budget, said Matt Prescott, the RSA's project director.
Initially, budgets would be likely to cover only key areas such as buildings and transport, but as technology developed they could be extended, he said.
Last year the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs effectively dismissed personal carbon trading after estimating its cost would "outweigh by many times" any benefits. But the RSA report says budgets could be managed through existing technology such as bank, loyalty and fuel cards. Also, instead of individual trading, credits could be traded by local authorities or employers. A scheme would be feasible by 2013 but was "more likely around 2020", Prescott said.
The new Department for Energy and Climate Change welcomed the RSA analysis but warned of the challenges ahead.
The RSA's CarbonLimited study began in 2006. The report publishes results from three trials, none of which offered financial incentives. On average the 140 volunteers in the groups cut emissions by almost 5%. A further trial is planned.
Clownfish lost at sea due to rising carbon dioxide levels
Ian Sample, science correspondent
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
The tale of a clownfish that got lost at sea in the 2003 movie Finding Nemo may be a taste of things to come - as rising carbon dioxide levels could leave the fish unable to find their way around, say scientists.
Tests on clownfish larvae showed they became disoriented and were unable to find a suitable place to live if they were raised in seawater that had absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The effect is potentially devastating for a wide range of fish populations because many rely on odours in seawater to seek out the right habitats to live in, according to researchers investigating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on marine life.
The world's oceans soak up vast quantities of carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels. By absorbing the gas, oceans become more acidic. Global ocean pH has dropped around 0.1 points since preindustrial times. But with increasing carbon emissions expected, this pH is predicted to fall a further 0.3 to 0.4 points by 2100.
Writing in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists describe how clownfish larvae lose the ability to sense vital odours in more acidic waters, probably owing to the damage caused to their olfactory systems.
"They can't distinguish between their own parents and other fish, and they become attracted to substances they previously avoided. It means the larvae will have less opportunity to find the right habitat, which could be devastating for their populations," said Kjell Døving, a co-author from the University of Oslo.
Clownfish eggs are carried on the ocean currents. When they hatch, the larvae pick up scents leading them to reefs and anemones, where they make their homes.
In the study, scientists checked how well the larvae followed odours in normal seawater, which has a pH of 8.15, and compared it with their performance in slightly acidified seawater that mimics ocean conditions expected in 2100 and beyond.
At a pH of 7.8, the larvae stopped following odour trails released by reefs and anemones. Instead, they homed in on scents they normally avoided, including those released by plants and other organisms which thrive in the wrong kinds of habitat for the fish. The larvae also lost the ability to use smell to distinguish between their parents and other fish.
At pH of 7.6, the larvae were unable to follow any kind of odour in the water, and instead swam in random directions.
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
The tale of a clownfish that got lost at sea in the 2003 movie Finding Nemo may be a taste of things to come - as rising carbon dioxide levels could leave the fish unable to find their way around, say scientists.
Tests on clownfish larvae showed they became disoriented and were unable to find a suitable place to live if they were raised in seawater that had absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The effect is potentially devastating for a wide range of fish populations because many rely on odours in seawater to seek out the right habitats to live in, according to researchers investigating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on marine life.
The world's oceans soak up vast quantities of carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels. By absorbing the gas, oceans become more acidic. Global ocean pH has dropped around 0.1 points since preindustrial times. But with increasing carbon emissions expected, this pH is predicted to fall a further 0.3 to 0.4 points by 2100.
Writing in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists describe how clownfish larvae lose the ability to sense vital odours in more acidic waters, probably owing to the damage caused to their olfactory systems.
"They can't distinguish between their own parents and other fish, and they become attracted to substances they previously avoided. It means the larvae will have less opportunity to find the right habitat, which could be devastating for their populations," said Kjell Døving, a co-author from the University of Oslo.
Clownfish eggs are carried on the ocean currents. When they hatch, the larvae pick up scents leading them to reefs and anemones, where they make their homes.
In the study, scientists checked how well the larvae followed odours in normal seawater, which has a pH of 8.15, and compared it with their performance in slightly acidified seawater that mimics ocean conditions expected in 2100 and beyond.
At a pH of 7.8, the larvae stopped following odour trails released by reefs and anemones. Instead, they homed in on scents they normally avoided, including those released by plants and other organisms which thrive in the wrong kinds of habitat for the fish. The larvae also lost the ability to use smell to distinguish between their parents and other fish.
At pH of 7.6, the larvae were unable to follow any kind of odour in the water, and instead swam in random directions.
Climate change might be altering waters along US west coast
Scientists believe climate change is the cause of stronger winds that drive upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean waters
McClatchy newspapers
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 16.10 GMT
The spectre of an ocean floor littered with dead shellfish, rock fish, sea stars and other marine life off the Oregon coast spurred Mark Snyder, a climate change expert, to investigate whether California's coast faced a similar calamity.
It could, the University of California Santa Cruz earth scientist said, citing climate change, which some scientists believe is responsible for stronger and more persistent winds along the coast. There's no debate that windier conditions drive more upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean waters.
At normal levels, this upwelling sustains the abundance of marine life, but too much of these rich waters leads to a boom-and-bust cycle that ultimately creates ocean "dead zones" with little or no oxygen. Marine life that can't swim or scuttle away from these lethal zones suffocate.
To assess future wind and upwelling scenarios along the California coast, Snyder and his colleagues at UC Santa Cruz ran climate simulations for two time periods. One spanned from 1968 to 2000, verifying the accuracy of the modelling. The second simulated the region's estimated climate from 2038 to 2070, using the intergovernmental panel on climate change "high-growth" emissions projections. Snyder said he chose the high emissions scenario because today's are exceeding earlier IPCC estimates.
The results showed increases in wind speeds of as much as 2 meters per second, a 40% increase from current wind speeds, which now average 5 meters per second, Snyder said.
The change in wind speeds is already happening, Snyder said. California winds have been growing in strength in the past 30 years.
Snyder said he knows his hypothesis needs more research, so he'll know whether to continue pursuing it or to discard it. The latter is unlikely, he said, given the new cycle of dead zones on the Oregon and Washington coasts that started in 2002.
"It was just chance they found the dead zones in Oregon," Snyder said, describing how fishers reported to marine scientists an alarming number of dead or dying crabs they were pulling up in traps. "It's quite possible these areas could be off the California coast," he said.
After the Oregon fishers reported their sickly catches, and divers described seeing bottom-dwelling fish in high waters or schools of fishes massing near an invisible wall - behind which was low-oxygen water - scientists from Oregon State University, along with state and federal marine experts, began investigating.
That year, and in years since, researchers have sent down a robot equipped with a video camera to record the carnage. They've also deployed a fleet of robotic "gliders" to maintain constant vigil on oxygen levels and other conditions along the Oregon coast, as well as a sophisticated monitoring buoy.
The worst year recorded was 2006, with the dead zone near the coast spreading from southern Oregon into Washington, where dead fish and crabs washed up on beaches along the Olympic Peninsula. Less severe dead zones returned in 2007.
"We've seen areas that are carpeted with dead marine life," said Oregon State marine ecologist Francis Chan. One video image stuck in his mind: A large dead sea star that must have been decades old, rotting in the water. Marine life such as that, which adhere to rocks most of their lives, can't scurry away from suffocating waters, he said. "It was pretty striking."
In normal years, winds blowing from north to south drive upwelling in the spring and summer months off the Pacific coast. These strengthened winds drive surface waters offshore, making room for deeper, nutrient-rich waters to surface, where sunlight triggers a heavy growth of phytoplankton, the bottom rung of the marine food chain.
But when the winds don't slacken and upwelling persists, excess phytoplankton blooms. When the uneaten plankton dies and sinks to the ocean floor, bacteria consuming it deplete the oxygen in the water.
Like so many other climate change projections, the scientists know they can't definitely point to greenhouse gases as the sole culprit behind windier conditions along the coast. But no other explanation fits, given the historical patterns of winds and upwelling, according to a primer from Oregon State on hypoxia, the technical term for oxygen depletion in waters.
A phenomenon called El Niño, which cycles in and out, doesn't explain it, or what's known as decadal oscillations, Chan said. "They're not at play here," Chan said. "So something else is likely at play."
McClatchy newspapers
guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 February 2009 16.10 GMT
The spectre of an ocean floor littered with dead shellfish, rock fish, sea stars and other marine life off the Oregon coast spurred Mark Snyder, a climate change expert, to investigate whether California's coast faced a similar calamity.
It could, the University of California Santa Cruz earth scientist said, citing climate change, which some scientists believe is responsible for stronger and more persistent winds along the coast. There's no debate that windier conditions drive more upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean waters.
At normal levels, this upwelling sustains the abundance of marine life, but too much of these rich waters leads to a boom-and-bust cycle that ultimately creates ocean "dead zones" with little or no oxygen. Marine life that can't swim or scuttle away from these lethal zones suffocate.
To assess future wind and upwelling scenarios along the California coast, Snyder and his colleagues at UC Santa Cruz ran climate simulations for two time periods. One spanned from 1968 to 2000, verifying the accuracy of the modelling. The second simulated the region's estimated climate from 2038 to 2070, using the intergovernmental panel on climate change "high-growth" emissions projections. Snyder said he chose the high emissions scenario because today's are exceeding earlier IPCC estimates.
The results showed increases in wind speeds of as much as 2 meters per second, a 40% increase from current wind speeds, which now average 5 meters per second, Snyder said.
The change in wind speeds is already happening, Snyder said. California winds have been growing in strength in the past 30 years.
Snyder said he knows his hypothesis needs more research, so he'll know whether to continue pursuing it or to discard it. The latter is unlikely, he said, given the new cycle of dead zones on the Oregon and Washington coasts that started in 2002.
"It was just chance they found the dead zones in Oregon," Snyder said, describing how fishers reported to marine scientists an alarming number of dead or dying crabs they were pulling up in traps. "It's quite possible these areas could be off the California coast," he said.
After the Oregon fishers reported their sickly catches, and divers described seeing bottom-dwelling fish in high waters or schools of fishes massing near an invisible wall - behind which was low-oxygen water - scientists from Oregon State University, along with state and federal marine experts, began investigating.
That year, and in years since, researchers have sent down a robot equipped with a video camera to record the carnage. They've also deployed a fleet of robotic "gliders" to maintain constant vigil on oxygen levels and other conditions along the Oregon coast, as well as a sophisticated monitoring buoy.
The worst year recorded was 2006, with the dead zone near the coast spreading from southern Oregon into Washington, where dead fish and crabs washed up on beaches along the Olympic Peninsula. Less severe dead zones returned in 2007.
"We've seen areas that are carpeted with dead marine life," said Oregon State marine ecologist Francis Chan. One video image stuck in his mind: A large dead sea star that must have been decades old, rotting in the water. Marine life such as that, which adhere to rocks most of their lives, can't scurry away from suffocating waters, he said. "It was pretty striking."
In normal years, winds blowing from north to south drive upwelling in the spring and summer months off the Pacific coast. These strengthened winds drive surface waters offshore, making room for deeper, nutrient-rich waters to surface, where sunlight triggers a heavy growth of phytoplankton, the bottom rung of the marine food chain.
But when the winds don't slacken and upwelling persists, excess phytoplankton blooms. When the uneaten plankton dies and sinks to the ocean floor, bacteria consuming it deplete the oxygen in the water.
Like so many other climate change projections, the scientists know they can't definitely point to greenhouse gases as the sole culprit behind windier conditions along the coast. But no other explanation fits, given the historical patterns of winds and upwelling, according to a primer from Oregon State on hypoxia, the technical term for oxygen depletion in waters.
A phenomenon called El Niño, which cycles in and out, doesn't explain it, or what's known as decadal oscillations, Chan said. "They're not at play here," Chan said. "So something else is likely at play."
The Arctic blast that may have cost British businesses £1.2bn
• Estimated one in five workers did not go in • Up to 3,000 extra companies may fail
David Teather and Graeme Wearden
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
London's Canary Wharf has seen 15cm of snow. Photograph: Jonathan Bainbridge/Reuters
The arctic weather that struck Britain yesterday could cost the UK economy about £1.2bn, piling further difficulty on firms already struggling in the recession.
The Federation of Small Businesses estimated that one in five commuters did not get to work, leaving many companies with a reduced staff. Some shops and bank branches were shut.
In the City many dealing rooms were half-empty, and trading on the stock market was thin. Trader David Buik of BGC Partners described it as "moribund", comparing it with the mood on Christmas Eve. In the circumstances, some City workers took the opportunity to make snowmen in Paternoster Square.
The federation calculated that the 20% of staff not at work will cost British firms £1.2bn, based on £6bn for a bank holiday.
Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said that, especially if the cold continues, an extra 2,000 or 3,000 firms may go bankrupt in the first quarter. "If it leads to delayed payments, the combined hit on profits and cashflow could send many businesses who might be close to the brink into premature bankruptcy. Many are in retail and construction, sectors likely to be most affected by snow and transport disruption."
One uncertainty is how much the damage is softened by the internet; many people will carry on jobs from home, or shop online. The centre suggested a 20% reduction in productivity would cost £900m, but pointed out some firms actually benefit. "Consumers spend more on heating and on warm clothes, and any accidents or structural damage leads to increased spending on repairs," said McWilliams.
According to him, the extreme cold winter of 1962-1963 cut manufacturing output in February 1963 by 75%, but higher spending on heating meant that, overall, GDP was unaffected.
Industry
Businesses across the south-east with large fleets of vans and trucks were struggling with the icy conditions on many roads. A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are doing everything possible to keep the mail moving and our people safe. Some deliveries are still taking place and where this is not possible our people are processing the mail to help us ensure we deliver it as quickly as possible."
BT engineers were out on the roads in the freezing conditions. A spokeswoman admitted that the cold snap had stopped some of its Openreach engineers getting to their jobs. "It is particularly challenging in London and parts of the south-east in areas where the roads are impassable because of the snow."
Many of its managers and support staff were working from home, which is a regular occurrence for tens of thousands of BT's 110,000 workforce.
BP said it had experienced some problems with petrol deliveries in the south-east of England but none anywhere else in the country.
Transport
Large swaths of Britain's transport infrastructure were shut down or operating vastly reduced services yesterday and Heathrow airport suffered its worst day since the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Motorists endured miles of tailbacks on motorways and thousands of rail services were delayed or cancelled. Some local authorities were forced to ask the Highways Agency for grit after their supplies ran out.
Rail journeys in and out of London, which account for more than two-thirds of all services in Britain, were badly affected by the freezing conditions and lack of staff. Bus and tube services in London also suffered mass cancellations.
Network Rail said bad road conditions had stopped train drivers, signallers and maintenance staff from getting to work. One of the worst affected franchises, the London-to-Brighton Southern service, said frozen points and tracks had been the main cause of massive disruption.
The Highways Agency, which maintains motorways and major A-roads in England, said it was satisfied with its response and had deployed gritters on roads over the weekend and yesterday morning. "It has been a busy and difficult day but we do not feel that we have been caught out," said a spokesman.
Retail
Retailers were hard hit as staff struggled to reach work and shoppers opted for snowball fights rather than bargain hunting.
Marks & Spencer closed 75 stores in London and south-east England because of staff shortages. The Marble Arch store in the West End closed early so staff could get home, while the early finish meant a branch near Victoria station could supply unsold cakes and sandwiches to nurses at nearby St Thomas' hospital when their delivery did not arrive.
Most shops at the new Westfield shopping centre in west London were closed, reflecting the picture at malls around the capital. At 3pm only six stores out of 265 were open. The centre closed at 5pm but promised a standard 10am-9pm today.
In the supermarkets, Asda reported a 40% leap in sales of Ribena and Vimto and a 10% pick-up in whisky sales. Tesco launched Operation Snowplough to ensure soup, pies, custard and brandy, as well as scrapers and thermal socks, were on the shelves. It was, a spokesman said, "easily the biggest operation we have mounted in nearly 20 years". At Sainsburys sales were up for "classic British ready-made meals such as bangers and mash," said a spokeswoman.
Councils
Local authorities in the south and Midlands yesterday insisted essential services were maintained despite the snow that left millions of workers stranded at home.
Meals on wheels services were given priority, together with the work of core social work teams, said the Local Government Association, which represents 500 councils in England and Wales.
In many cases staff struggled to work only to find health and safety considerations forced them to suspend their work. Refuse collection was abandoned by most councils along with parking enforcement once it became obvious the roads would be treacherous and staff could be in danger.
Thousands of schools and hundreds of libraries, including the British Library, closed after staff phoned in to say they were unable to travel to work.
Insurance
Shunting and skidding prompted a doubling in car insurance claims yesterday, while calls to breakdown and recovery services rocketed as drivers failed to cope with the worst road conditions - in the south-east at least - for more than a decade.
The AA said it received around 16,000 calls, compared with 11,000 on a normal day. The RAC said it took 2,000 calls in one hour, but some parts of the country were "eerily quiet" as drivers heeded widely-broadcast appeals not to take to the roads.
Insurance claims for minor collisions soared as drivers slid across icy roads. The AA said claims were double normal levels. "On a normal Monday we receive around 1,600 claims but by 10am we had already received 500. We expect to have received as many as 3,000 claims by the end of the day," said an AA spokesman. Norwich Union added that it had seen a 40% surge in claims yesterday.
Media
They may be reporting on the weather, but media companies are also caught up in the story as they battled with inclement conditions across London and the south-east. Newspapers pulled copy deadlines forward to mid-afternoon yesterday in anticipation of further bad weather, which will slow their delivery trucks to a snail's pace overnight. The Times, for instance, will have just one edition today while the Daily Mail made its deadline so early in the day that many reporters filed and went home after lunch. But at least they got lunch. Journalists at News International's Wapping headquarters went hungry after the snow left its canteen without supplies.
Sky News anchor Colin Brazier, meanwhile, walked four miles yesterday morning from his home in Twickenham to the satellite broadcaster's Isleworth centre for his mid-morning show.
David Teather and Graeme Wearden
The Guardian, Tuesday 3 February 2009
London's Canary Wharf has seen 15cm of snow. Photograph: Jonathan Bainbridge/Reuters
The arctic weather that struck Britain yesterday could cost the UK economy about £1.2bn, piling further difficulty on firms already struggling in the recession.
The Federation of Small Businesses estimated that one in five commuters did not get to work, leaving many companies with a reduced staff. Some shops and bank branches were shut.
In the City many dealing rooms were half-empty, and trading on the stock market was thin. Trader David Buik of BGC Partners described it as "moribund", comparing it with the mood on Christmas Eve. In the circumstances, some City workers took the opportunity to make snowmen in Paternoster Square.
The federation calculated that the 20% of staff not at work will cost British firms £1.2bn, based on £6bn for a bank holiday.
Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said that, especially if the cold continues, an extra 2,000 or 3,000 firms may go bankrupt in the first quarter. "If it leads to delayed payments, the combined hit on profits and cashflow could send many businesses who might be close to the brink into premature bankruptcy. Many are in retail and construction, sectors likely to be most affected by snow and transport disruption."
One uncertainty is how much the damage is softened by the internet; many people will carry on jobs from home, or shop online. The centre suggested a 20% reduction in productivity would cost £900m, but pointed out some firms actually benefit. "Consumers spend more on heating and on warm clothes, and any accidents or structural damage leads to increased spending on repairs," said McWilliams.
According to him, the extreme cold winter of 1962-1963 cut manufacturing output in February 1963 by 75%, but higher spending on heating meant that, overall, GDP was unaffected.
Industry
Businesses across the south-east with large fleets of vans and trucks were struggling with the icy conditions on many roads. A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are doing everything possible to keep the mail moving and our people safe. Some deliveries are still taking place and where this is not possible our people are processing the mail to help us ensure we deliver it as quickly as possible."
BT engineers were out on the roads in the freezing conditions. A spokeswoman admitted that the cold snap had stopped some of its Openreach engineers getting to their jobs. "It is particularly challenging in London and parts of the south-east in areas where the roads are impassable because of the snow."
Many of its managers and support staff were working from home, which is a regular occurrence for tens of thousands of BT's 110,000 workforce.
BP said it had experienced some problems with petrol deliveries in the south-east of England but none anywhere else in the country.
Transport
Large swaths of Britain's transport infrastructure were shut down or operating vastly reduced services yesterday and Heathrow airport suffered its worst day since the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Motorists endured miles of tailbacks on motorways and thousands of rail services were delayed or cancelled. Some local authorities were forced to ask the Highways Agency for grit after their supplies ran out.
Rail journeys in and out of London, which account for more than two-thirds of all services in Britain, were badly affected by the freezing conditions and lack of staff. Bus and tube services in London also suffered mass cancellations.
Network Rail said bad road conditions had stopped train drivers, signallers and maintenance staff from getting to work. One of the worst affected franchises, the London-to-Brighton Southern service, said frozen points and tracks had been the main cause of massive disruption.
The Highways Agency, which maintains motorways and major A-roads in England, said it was satisfied with its response and had deployed gritters on roads over the weekend and yesterday morning. "It has been a busy and difficult day but we do not feel that we have been caught out," said a spokesman.
Retail
Retailers were hard hit as staff struggled to reach work and shoppers opted for snowball fights rather than bargain hunting.
Marks & Spencer closed 75 stores in London and south-east England because of staff shortages. The Marble Arch store in the West End closed early so staff could get home, while the early finish meant a branch near Victoria station could supply unsold cakes and sandwiches to nurses at nearby St Thomas' hospital when their delivery did not arrive.
Most shops at the new Westfield shopping centre in west London were closed, reflecting the picture at malls around the capital. At 3pm only six stores out of 265 were open. The centre closed at 5pm but promised a standard 10am-9pm today.
In the supermarkets, Asda reported a 40% leap in sales of Ribena and Vimto and a 10% pick-up in whisky sales. Tesco launched Operation Snowplough to ensure soup, pies, custard and brandy, as well as scrapers and thermal socks, were on the shelves. It was, a spokesman said, "easily the biggest operation we have mounted in nearly 20 years". At Sainsburys sales were up for "classic British ready-made meals such as bangers and mash," said a spokeswoman.
Councils
Local authorities in the south and Midlands yesterday insisted essential services were maintained despite the snow that left millions of workers stranded at home.
Meals on wheels services were given priority, together with the work of core social work teams, said the Local Government Association, which represents 500 councils in England and Wales.
In many cases staff struggled to work only to find health and safety considerations forced them to suspend their work. Refuse collection was abandoned by most councils along with parking enforcement once it became obvious the roads would be treacherous and staff could be in danger.
Thousands of schools and hundreds of libraries, including the British Library, closed after staff phoned in to say they were unable to travel to work.
Insurance
Shunting and skidding prompted a doubling in car insurance claims yesterday, while calls to breakdown and recovery services rocketed as drivers failed to cope with the worst road conditions - in the south-east at least - for more than a decade.
The AA said it received around 16,000 calls, compared with 11,000 on a normal day. The RAC said it took 2,000 calls in one hour, but some parts of the country were "eerily quiet" as drivers heeded widely-broadcast appeals not to take to the roads.
Insurance claims for minor collisions soared as drivers slid across icy roads. The AA said claims were double normal levels. "On a normal Monday we receive around 1,600 claims but by 10am we had already received 500. We expect to have received as many as 3,000 claims by the end of the day," said an AA spokesman. Norwich Union added that it had seen a 40% surge in claims yesterday.
Media
They may be reporting on the weather, but media companies are also caught up in the story as they battled with inclement conditions across London and the south-east. Newspapers pulled copy deadlines forward to mid-afternoon yesterday in anticipation of further bad weather, which will slow their delivery trucks to a snail's pace overnight. The Times, for instance, will have just one edition today while the Daily Mail made its deadline so early in the day that many reporters filed and went home after lunch. But at least they got lunch. Journalists at News International's Wapping headquarters went hungry after the snow left its canteen without supplies.
Sky News anchor Colin Brazier, meanwhile, walked four miles yesterday morning from his home in Twickenham to the satellite broadcaster's Isleworth centre for his mid-morning show.
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