The European Commission today announced the winner of a competition to design a new EU-wide logo for organic food - a leaf formed from the stars of the EU. The logo, known as the Euro-leaf, will be compulsory on all EU pre-packaged organic foods from 1 July this year. There are already logos in the EU's member states denoting organic food, but Mariann Fischer Boel, the European agriculture commissioner, said an EU-wide logo "will make it easier for consumers to recognise organic food whichever country it is from". The winning design, by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, was chosen by the general public in a contest that attracted around 130,000 votes. In all, Milenkovic won 63% of the votes cast for the shortlist of three, selected from over 3,500 entries.
The logo, known as the Euro-leaf, will be compulsory on all EU pre-packaged organic foods from 1 July this year.
There are already logos in the EU's member states denoting organic food, but Mariann Fischer Boel, the European agriculture commissioner, said an EU-wide logo "will make it easier for consumers to recognise organic food whichever country it is from".
The winning design, by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, was chosen by the general public in a contest that attracted around 130,000 votes. In all, Milenkovic won 63% of the votes cast for the shortlist of three, selected from over 3,500 entries.
EU ministers will trigger a debate on an EU strategy for electric cars this week amid warnings by green groups that the electricity used to charge the vehicles could prove as polluting as the fuel engines they are supposed to replace. Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, will table a document assessing challenges facing the electric vehicles industry at an informal meeting of EU competitiveness ministers tomorrow (9 February). It aims to adopt a common EU action plan in May to give Europe's car-manufacturing industry a competitive edge in the race against the US, China and Japan.
Spain, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, will table a document assessing challenges facing the electric vehicles industry at an informal meeting of EU competitiveness ministers tomorrow (9 February).
It aims to adopt a common EU action plan in May to give Europe's car-manufacturing industry a competitive edge in the race against the US, China and Japan.
The dream of turning Australia's tropical north into a major food bowl to replace drought-stricken southern farmlands and feed a future Asia has been shattered by a new report released on Monday. Despite a billion of liters of annual rain, the equivalent of 2,000 Sydney Harbours, northern Australia has limited water, with 65 percent of rain lost through evaporation and 20 percent in rivers, while only 15 percent recharges groundwater reserves. And climate change will make northern Australia hotter and drier by 2030, reducing water availability, said the report by the Northern Australian Land and Water Taskforce.
Despite a billion of liters of annual rain, the equivalent of 2,000 Sydney Harbours, northern Australia has limited water, with 65 percent of rain lost through evaporation and 20 percent in rivers, while only 15 percent recharges groundwater reserves.
And climate change will make northern Australia hotter and drier by 2030, reducing water availability, said the report by the Northern Australian Land and Water Taskforce.
The main impact of climate change will be on water supplies and the world needs to learn from past cooperation such as over the Indus or Mekong Rivers to help avert future conflicts, experts said on Sunday. Desertification, flash floods, melting glaciers, heatwaves, cyclones or water-borne diseases such as cholera are among the impacts of global warming inextricably tied to water. And competition for supplies might cause conflicts. "The main manifestations of rising temperatures...are about water," said Zafar Adeel, chair of UN-Water which coordinates work on water among 26 U.N. agencies.
Desertification, flash floods, melting glaciers, heatwaves, cyclones or water-borne diseases such as cholera are among the impacts of global warming inextricably tied to water. And competition for supplies might cause conflicts.
"The main manifestations of rising temperatures...are about water," said Zafar Adeel, chair of UN-Water which coordinates work on water among 26 U.N. agencies.
there are a lot of ways to promote agriculture using desalinated seawater, even if you only use evaporation methods. Keep the water in the system by using greenhousing.
Australia could probably end up utilizing its whole coast for 10km inland if it wanted to. keep to the Fen Causeway
re flooding lake eyre, it would probably be an environmental disaster, and my climate scientist friend says it would have negligible effect on rainfall (consider the rainfall north of perth, which has a large ocean providing the aforementioned evaporation).
Using evaporative desal in greenhouses is a great idea, and one I've promoted to farmers in the past. But it's too far out for them and too far in for scientists. And it only makes sense for locally scarce foods (e.g. bananas in WA) given the cost of greenhouses over fields.
Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign to suspend California's landmark global-warming law, in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations. Supporters say they have "solid commitments" of nearly $600,000 to pay signature gatherers for a November initiative aimed at delaying curbs on the greenhouse gas emissions of power plants and factories until the state's unemployment rate drops. GOP gubernatorial candidates and Tea Party organizers paint the 2006 law, considered a model for other state and federal efforts, as a job-killing interference in the economy. Talk radio is flailing at what John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, drive-time hosts on Los Angeles' KFI-AM (640), call "the global-warming final solution act" promoted by "fascist, Nazi" officials.
The deal marks Areva's first foray into solar energy and the nuclear giant hopes to have the leading market share in concentrated solar power by 2012, an Areva executive told Reuters in an interview. "This market is set to have 20 gigawatts by the year 2020. Areva has an objective to be a world leader in solar energy," said Anil Srivastava, Areva's senior executive vice president of its renewable energies business group. The executive said Areva chose solar thermal technology -- which uses the sun's heat to create steam to run turbines for electricity -- over other solar power options because it is "the closest" to nuclear plants.
"This market is set to have 20 gigawatts by the year 2020. Areva has an objective to be a world leader in solar energy," said Anil Srivastava, Areva's senior executive vice president of its renewable energies business group.
The executive said Areva chose solar thermal technology -- which uses the sun's heat to create steam to run turbines for electricity -- over other solar power options because it is "the closest" to nuclear plants.
The hundreds of billions that have been spent on hot fusion could have implemented international energy security many times over using dull old thermal solar.
THE Copenhagen climate dance continues. This week, 55 nations representing 78 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, submitted pledges to the UN to cut emissions by 2020. The commitments were made to meet a deadline set at the climate talks held in Copenhagen in December. But they mostly reiterate national pledges made before the summit, and are steeped in conditions. The US, for instance, reaffirmed its commitment to cut emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels, contingent on legislation being passed at home. China repeated that it would "endeavour to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 per cent" between 2005 and 2020.
THE Copenhagen climate dance continues. This week, 55 nations representing 78 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, submitted pledges to the UN to cut emissions by 2020.
The commitments were made to meet a deadline set at the climate talks held in Copenhagen in December. But they mostly reiterate national pledges made before the summit, and are steeped in conditions. The US, for instance, reaffirmed its commitment to cut emissions to 17 per cent below 2005 levels, contingent on legislation being passed at home. China repeated that it would "endeavour to lower its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 per cent" between 2005 and 2020.
Norbert Roettgen has stirred up a heated debate in Germany's governing coalition by saying that no efforts should be wasted to replace nuclear technology as fast as possible. Roettgen argues that it has very little support among Germans, even 40 years after the first nuclear power station started operating. The environment minister raised some eyebrows in his own party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), as well as his coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), who accused him of muddying the waters with regards to the government's energy policy. Consternation The Free Democrats argue that Roettgen's remarks are confusing, because the government's official policy clearly acknowledges nuclear energy as a 'bridging technology' that will only be abandoned when it can safely be replaced by renewable energy sources.
Norbert Roettgen has stirred up a heated debate in Germany's governing coalition by saying that no efforts should be wasted to replace nuclear technology as fast as possible.
Roettgen argues that it has very little support among Germans, even 40 years after the first nuclear power station started operating.
The environment minister raised some eyebrows in his own party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), as well as his coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), who accused him of muddying the waters with regards to the government's energy policy.
Consternation
The Free Democrats argue that Roettgen's remarks are confusing, because the government's official policy clearly acknowledges nuclear energy as a 'bridging technology' that will only be abandoned when it can safely be replaced by renewable energy sources.
