Friends of the earth thread!

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Boil the amount of water you need for one cup of tea, rather than half a kettle full. It will save time, energy - and money.

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As costs continue to drop, the wind energy industry shows "strong growth"

The global wind energy industry is expected to enjoy continued strong growth in coming years with total installed capacity seen more than tripling from current levels by 2014, an industry survey showed on Tuesday.

Over the next eight years, international installed capacity is expected to increase to about 210,000 megawatts from today’s installed total of about 59,000 megawatts, a study by the German Wind Energy Institute (DEWI) showed.

The study, conducted on behalf of Hamburg Messe in the run-up to an industry fair in May, identified Germany, France, Spain and the United States as key future markets.

“The international wind energy market, which showed growth rates in 2005 of 16 percent in Europe, and as much as 73 percent outside of Europe, will continue to boom”, the report said.

In the world’s largest wind power market, Germany, the onshore market is expected to continue to grow, while the offshore market is seen subject to delays.

Total installed power by 2010 in Germany will be about 23,700 megawatts onshore and 1,300 megawatts offshore against current capacity of 18,428 megawatts, all on land, according to the survey.

One megawatt of wind power is enough to provide electricity for several hundred households.

Denmark’s Vestas is the market leader in the fast-growing industry for wind energy, and has been at the center of takeover speculation for several years.

Industrial conglomerate Siemens and GE Wind, a subsidiary of General Electric have been expanding their presence in the sector. Other players include Spain’s Gamesa and Germany’s Enercon.

Although still generally considered higher than the cost of fuel-generated electric power, the cost of wind power continues to drop as larger multi-megawatt turbines are developed and improved

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The day-to-day demand for paper is putting immense pressure on the world's forests. Think creatively about how to reduce your paper use - use ends of wallpaper, newspaper and old posters as drawer liners or wrapping paper, glossy mags for your home-made cards, leftover office paper for shopping lists. If you have more ideas of your own, share them

[RedFlag32]

If you're concerned about the companies behind the brands you buy, Ethiscore is a website that can help you identify the best and worst. It does this by calculating an 'ethical score' out of 20 for a wide range of consumer products and services. There's plenty of free reports - about trainers, butter, toothpaste, mobile phones and loads more. To access the wider range of reports, you need to subscribe - for details, visit www.foe.co.uk/living/poundsavers/purse_power.html

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Mar 19 20:09

Hong Kong pollution leaves tourists choking


Hong Kong - Green activists said Sunday that Hong Kong's multi-billion dollar tourism industry was at risk after a survey found half the visitors to the city had complained of the worsening air pollution.

Friends of the Earth Hong Kong said the poll of tour guides also found that one in ten tourists suffered pollution-linked health problems while visiting the semi-autonomous southern Chinese territory.

The poll of more than 150 tour guides and agents who accompanied overseas
and mainland Chinese tourists in Hong Kong also found that 40 percent of
visitors were aware of the city's pollution problems before arriving.

"Hong Kong's lucrative tourism business, its international image and its
citizens' health are at risk from the pollution in this city," said Edwin Lau, Friends of the Earth Hong Kong coordinator.

"Matters have got to a terrible state in a very quick time," Lau added,
citing an study that found Hong Kong Airport recorded one day of smog-related poor visibility in every 3.5 days last year, up from one in eight in 2002.

Last week smog levels rose to such dangerously high levels that the
government was forced to warn people with breathing or heart problems to stay indoors.

Visibility also plummeted, blocking out the city's famous high-rise views
and reducing visibility in the busy harbour to less than a kilometer.

The government has said most of the pollution rolls in from mainland
China's heavily industrialised Pearl River delta region, which has seen huge economic growth in the past decade.

However, Friends of the Earth Hong Kong and local campaigners Clear the Air say local power producers are also major culprits.

"The pollution is not 'coming down from China'," said Annelise Connell,
chairperson of Clear The Air, in a statement.

"The sulphur dioxide levels are really bad ... which shows that our own
power plants are involved in regional pollution," she added.

Lau said Hong Kong's two major power plants, which use a high level of
polluting coal, and the city's bus companies, which rely on vehicles with poor emissions controls, were the major sources of pollution.

Tourism last year brought in a record 22 million visitors. (*)

LKBN ANTARA Copyright © 2005

[Papa C.]

Just making this a sticky, should have done it weeks ago!