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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

99% of new power generation added in January came from renewable energy, it was reported...


"99 Percent Of New Power Generation Added In January Came From Renewable Energy"
 
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Colorado solar
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
More than 99 percent of new electric capacity added in the U.S. in January came from renewable energy sources, according to data released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday.
Of the 325 megawatts of new capacity installed, solar led the way with 287 megawatts added in January. That was followed by geothermal power with three new units totaling 30 megawatts, one new unit of wind energy with an installed capacity of 4 megawatts, and three new units of biomass totaling 3 megawatts. In addition, there was 1 megawatt added that FERC defined as “other.”
Despite significant gains, renewables are still a relatively small piece of the overall capacity picture in America. Renewable sources, including hydro, account for just over 16 percent of total installed operating generating capacity, according to FERC — a picture dominated by fossil fuels.
And it’s important to note the difference between capacity to generate electricity and actual generation. Capacity is the total amount of energy that can be produced, whereas generation is the total amount that is produced. Because renewable sources like wind and solar produce energy less of the time than other resources with the same amount of capacity, these two numbers can sometimes vary significantly.
Like capacity, electricity generation in America is heavily dependent on fossil fuels. As of November 2013, renewable energy sources, including hydro, accounted for about 13 percent of total net generation, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Big picture aside, the immediate renewable energy trend is clear. January’s noteworthy numbers mirror those from several months last year — in November, 100 percent of the 394 megawatts of new capacity added came from renewable sources. In October, 699 megawatts were added, 99 percent of which came from renewable sources. And in March, 100 percent of new electrical generation capacity came from solar, as seven units with a total combined capacity of 44 megawatts were added.
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Thursday, February 20, 2014

Government experts backing protective measures they have put into place for endangered dolphhins...


Govt experts back protection for endangered dolphins

Government experts are backing the protection measures they've put in place for the endangered Hector's and Maui's dolphins.
It comes as a parliamentary committee considers petitions asking the protection for the dolphins to be extended and improved.
Among the requests is that the current two to seven nautical mile set net ban be pushed further out.
MPI Inshore Fisheries Manager Steve Halley says that's premised on a 100 metre sea depth contour, but the evidence is that on the North Island's west coast Maui's dolphins don't go out that far.
"And we remain open to evidence to suggest otherwise, but at this stage we don't have any strong evidence to suggest otherwise."
Meanwhile, there's some good news when it comes to the state of the Hector's Dolphin population.
Department of Conservation marine species and threats manager Ian Angus has passed on new numbers on population estimates to a Parliamentary hearing today.
"For the East Coast South Island we're looking at 9100, that's based on the new study.
"It's some great news which is a lot more than previously thought."
Photo: Hector's Dolphin (James Shook)

Critics claim the Government has not done as much as it could. It is wary of the pro-fishing lobby especially in an election years. New Zealand's celebrated green and clean image is taking some flak here.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blqsKj0r3nU&list=PLYFuqvXdLaowmMELQJSc6ita9zpbUpkFn&feature=share&index=21


http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1402/S00279/poor-government-science-is-letting-down-nzs-dolphins.htm



Ecospree

Monday, February 17, 2014

Serenely green...


Saturday, February 15, 2014

Monarch butterflies vanishing - Monsanto blamed...

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/monarch_butterfly_decline_monsanto_s_roundup_is_killing_milkweed.html
English: Photograph of a Monarch Butterfly.
English: Photograph of a Monarch Butterfly. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Our monarch butterflies are vanishing -- and all signs point to Monsanto as the main culprit.
Major press outlets worldwide reported earlier this month that the butterflies are in "grave danger". Their population has reached the lowest numbers ever recorded. Now, an independent study has linked the monarch's decline with Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide.
This corporate giant knows what it's doing. But Monsanto says we should balance the butterfly's survival with what it calls "productive agriculture" (read: Monsanto's bottom line). We need to fight this now, before it’s too late for the butterflies.
Tell Monsanto to pull its butterfly-killing herbicide before it’s too late.
The annual mass migration of 60 million monarchs from Canada to Mexico is one of the most beautiful phenomena in the natural world. But it's now on the verge of being a relic of history, and a key link in our food chain is under threat. 
The monarch butterfly is in a serious, decades-long decline. The WWF has reported that this winter, the monarchs are only occupying an area of 1.7 acres in Mexico, down from 45 acres in 1996. An evolutionary strategy based on eating a common weed seemed smart -- until Monsanto came along. Just one state along the monarchs' migration route, Iowa, is reported to have lost 98 percent of its milkweed.
Monsanto products like Roundup dominate the agricultural market worldwide. This corporate giant sells matching genetically-engineered plants resistant to its pesticides -- and encourages factory farms to douse fields with gallons of Monsanto's herbicides.
But sprayed over vast areas, these poisons effect the entire ecosystem. Monsanto's Roundup is also wiping out the monarchs' primary food source -- a plant called milkweed. Scientists have linked the monarch's rapid population decline to the spread of Monsanto's pesticides. Losing these butterflies means wiping out insects, birds and small mammals that rely on the monarch and its place in the food chain.
Tell Monsanto to save the monarchs by pulling its ecosystem-threatening herbicide.
Every second we wait is another second closer to the monarch’s extinction. We helped wake up the world to the danger of Bayer's pesticides on the bees. Now let’s harness that awareness to save the monarchs from Monsanto!
**********
More information:
Slate: The Missing Monarch, 30 January, 2014Our monarch butterflies are vanishing -- and all signs point to Monsanto as the main culprit.
Major press outlets worldwide reported earlier this month that the butterflies are in "grave danger". Their population has reached the lowest numbers ever recorded. Now, an independent study has linked the monarch's decline with Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide.
This corporate giant knows what it's doing. But Monsanto says we should balance the butterfly's survival with what it calls "productive agriculture" (read: Monsanto's bottom line). We need to fight this now, before it’s too late for the butterflies.
Tell Monsanto to pull its butterfly-killing herbicide before it’s too late.
The annual mass migration of 60 million monarchs from Canada to Mexico is one of the most beautiful phenomena in the natural world. But it's now on the verge of being a relic of history, and a key link in our food chain is under threat. 
The monarch butterfly is in a serious, decades-long decline. The WWF has reported that this winter, the monarchs are only occupying an area of 1.7 acres in Mexico, down from 45 acres in 1996. An evolutionary strategy based on eating a common weed seemed smart -- until Monsanto came along. Just one state along the monarchs' migration route, Iowa, is reported to have lost 98 percent of its milkweed.
Monsanto products like Roundup dominate the agricultural market worldwide. This corporate giant sells matching genetically-engineered plants resistant to its pesticides -- and encourages factory farms to douse fields with gallons of Monsanto's herbicides.
But sprayed over vast areas, these poisons effect the entire ecosystem. Monsanto's Roundup is also wiping out the monarchs' primary food source -- a plant called milkweed. Scientists have linked the monarch's rapid population decline to the spread of Monsanto's pesticides. Losing these butterflies means wiping out insects, birds and small mammals that rely on the monarch and its place in the food chain.
Tell Monsanto to save the monarchs by pulling its ecosystem-threatening herbicide.
Every second we wait is another second closer to the monarch’s extinction. We helped wake up the world to the danger of Bayer's pesticides on the bees. Now let’s harness that awareness to save the monarchs from Monsanto!
**********
More information:
Slate: The Missing Monarch, 30 January, 2014

Our monarch butterflies are vanishing -- and all signs point to Monsanto as the main culprit.
Major press outlets worldwide reported earlier this month that the butterflies are in "grave danger". Their population has reached the lowest numbers ever recorded. Now, an independent study has linked the monarch's decline with Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide.
This corporate giant knows what it's doing. But Monsanto says we should balance the butterfly's survival with what it calls "productive agriculture" (read: Monsanto's bottom line). We need to fight this now, before it’s too late for the butterflies.
Tell Monsanto to pull its butterfly-killing herbicide before it’s too late.
The annual mass migration of 60 million monarchs from Canada to Mexico is one of the most beautiful phenomena in the natural world. But it's now on the verge of being a relic of history, and a key link in our food chain is under threat. 
The monarch butterfly is in a serious, decades-long decline. The WWF has reported that this winter, the monarchs are only occupying an area of 1.7 acres in Mexico, down from 45 acres in 1996. An evolutionary strategy based on eating a common weed seemed smart -- until Monsanto came along. Just one state along the monarchs' migration route, Iowa, is reported to have lost 98 percent of its milkweed.
Monsanto products like Roundup dominate the agricultural market worldwide. This corporate giant sells matching genetically-engineered plants resistant to its pesticides -- and encourages factory farms to douse fields with gallons of Monsanto's herbicides.
But sprayed over vast areas, these poisons effect the entire ecosystem. Monsanto's Roundup is also wiping out the monarchs' primary food source -- a plant called milkweed. Scientists have linked the monarch's rapid population decline to the spread of Monsanto's pesticides. Losing these butterflies means wiping out insects, birds and small mammals that rely on the monarch and its place in the food chain.
Tell Monsanto to save the monarchs by pulling its ecosystem-threatening herbicide.
Every second we wait is another second closer to the monarch’s extinction. We helped wake up the world to the danger of Bayer's pesticides on the bees. Now let’s harness that awareness to save the monarchs from Monsanto!
**********
More information:
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Saturday, February 8, 2014

Hail,hail Kale. A fad or wonder food perhaps?


Kale salad
Kale salad (Photo credit: Salim Virji)

Hail to Kale!


Kale Nutrition Facts

Thriving even in frost, kale is an easy-to-grow green that keeps on giving: cut the smaller, paler green leaves to anchor or mix into fresh garden salad; use the larger, dark greens for stir-fries, pizza topping, or soup, while the plant keeps right on growing.
One variety is known as dinosaur kale in Tuscan regions for its glossy, crinkly, green-to-violet-colored leaves. Kale has a relatively short life in terms of crispness, so it’s best to use within a few days of harvesting.

Health Benefits of Kale

If vitamins could be packaged and labeled as such, they would look very much like kale. That’s because the vitamins offered by just one cup of this relatively little-known veggie can trump a whole week’s worth of other foods: 684% of the daily value of vitamin K, 206% of the suggested daily amount of vitamin A, and 134% of vitamin C (and even more vitamin C in the Scottish curly-leaf variety).
Kale can legitimately be called a superfood, if only after one particular study, which reported the high antioxidant activity in this vegetable. The phytonutrient indole-3-carbinol aids in DNA cell repair, while at the same time slowing the growth of cancer cells. With its sulforaphane content, kale protects against prostate and colon cancers. It also has properties that studies show ca ease lung congestion, and is beneficial to your stomach, liver, and immune system. It contains lutein and zeaxanthin, which help protect your eyes from macular degeneration:
Read more here: http://foodfacts.mercola.com/kale.html

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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Hemp on the comeback?..

English: Cultivation of industrial hemp for fi...
English: Cultivation of industrial hemp for fiber and for grain in france. Deutsch: Kultivation von industriellen Hanf in Frankreich Français : Culture de chanvre industriel pour les fibres et les graines. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
5342185688_ca913cd65f_n1604402_680073078698485_1168195161_n
:yes:;D www.hemp.org - An acre of hemp makes 300 gallons of oil and 6,000 pounds of high protein hempseed meal, and 30 tons of fiber for paper, building materials, canvas, rope, lace and linen. The reason marijuana was prohibited in the 20th century
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Sunday, February 2, 2014

500 dolphins die in northern Peru...


500 dolphins die in northern Peru

500 dolphins die in northern Peru


Mystery surrounds the discovery of hundreds of dead dolphins on beaches in Peru.
At least 500 of the mammals have been founded washed up on beaches there in recent weeks, and scientists are at a loss to explain why.
The Peruvian Sea Institute, or Imarpe, sent a team of scientists to investigate why the dolphins beached themselves in the northern regions of Lambayeque and Piura.
Other beachings of dolphins occurred in the past two years in northern Peru.
The team covered a 142-kilometre stretch of coast on January 28-29, travelling from Pimentel, a resort city in Lambayeque, to the southern part of the reserve in Illescas, located in Piura, the newspaper said, citing officials.
Experts found at least 400 beached dolphins, with the discovery coming after around 100 other dolphins beached themselves in recent weeks.
Fishermen told the Imarpe team the dolphins were caught in nets regularly and drowned.
The scientists, however, confirmed that some young and adult dolphins died at sea and others arrived on the beaches near death.
Tests on tissue samples in Lima determined the dolphins were not poisoned by fishermen and did not die from the effects of any oil exploration activities.
It's thought they may have died from ingesting toxic algae.
Imarpe spokesperson Jaime de la Cruz says officials are concerned about the deaths because dolphins approach the coast at this time of year to mate and feed.
In 2012, about 800 dolphins were found dead in central and northern Peru, with Imarpe concluding in a report that the animals died from natural causes.
Contact with fishing vessels, pesticides, pollution from heavy metals and seismic mining exploration were among the human causes ruled out.
The report, however, also ruled out some possible natural causes of the deaths, including lack of food, bacterial infections, viral infections and biotoxins.
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