Empty Car Park Spaces Offer Japan a place for Solar Panels

Developers of solar panal projects in Japan are looking to rooftops and empty lots in response to constraints limiting connections to the grid and difficulties finding suitable land. government approvals for smaller-sized projects of less than 1 megawatt have outnumbered larger projects every month since 2013, according to data based on official figures.

 The pattern of approvals reverses the trend set when Japan first began offering incentives for clean-energy in July 2012. Developers initially favored “mega” projects built on large patches of open land.

From May 2013 through January -- the latest available figures provided by the government -- Japan approved 6,500 megawatts of solar projects in the 10-kilowatt to 1-megawatt category. That’s double the approvals for larger projects. A solar plant with 1 megawatt of capacity can generate enough electricity for about 316 typical Japanese homes.

Projects of less than 1 megawatt are usually found on rooftops, unused land, or in industrial areas, the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies said in a report in March. The segment accounted for about a half of Japan’s solar capacity added after the introduction of inducements designed to boost clean-energy development, according to the report.

illegal wildlife trade.

Leaders from 40 states are gathering in London to discuss the illegal wildlife trade.The aim is to draw up a global declaration that will tackle animal trafficking.Conservationists believe there are just 3,200 tigers left in the wild.

Interpol, the international intelligence agency, which will also be present at the meeting, says most of this being driven by organised crime syndicates, who have moved from narcotics and guns onto wildlife.

Much of the demand comes from Asia, where animal products, such as rhino horns, are used in traditional medicine or are bought by the rich as trophies.Delegates from China and Vietnam will be attending the meeting, held at Lancaster House on Thursday.They will be joined by representatives from African states, where a lot of the poaching takes place.

UK weather: 100mph winds hit mainland england

Winds gusting over 100mph are lashing parts of the UK in what the assistant chief of the defence staff describes an "almost unparalleled natural crisis".It comes after the Met Office issues its first "red warning" of the winter, meaning there is a "risk to life", with widespread damage expected. 

Power to thousands of homes has been cut off and transport has been disrupted by the hurricane-force winds.Sixteen severe flood warnings remain for Berkshire, Surrey and Somerset.Assistant chief of the defence staff Major General Patrick Sanders, who is coordinating the armed forces response, described the floods as an "almost unparalleled natural crisis".

The British Prime Minister

In the Commons, David Cameron, The British Prime minister, repeated his pledge that "money is no object in this relief effort". He unveiled a package of measures to help businesses and homeowners repairing flood-damaged property to build in new defences and said small businesses affected by flooding would get 100% relief from business rates.

Targets for 2016 asian vultures

After the devastation wrought by a drug on Asian vulture populations, a project hopes to begin releasing captive-bred birds into the wild by 2016.The Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (Save) programme says it plans to release up to 25 birds into a 30,000-sq-km drug-free "safe zone". 

 

Diclofenac - used by vets on cattle - was identified as causing a crash in vulture numbers and banned by India.But, says Save, the version for human use is still given illegally to cattle.Diclofenac was banned for use by vets and farmers in 2006 because of its effect on vultures that feed on livestock carcasses.

 Use of diclofenac in animals has been reported to have led to a sharp decline in the population in the Indian Subcontinent, a 95% decline in 2003, 99.9% decline as of 2008.Vultures eat the carcasses of livestock that have been administered veterinary diclofenac, and are poisoned by the accumulated chemical

The link between the anti-inflammatory drug, used to reduce swelling in injured or diseased animals, and the devastating demise of Asia's vulture populations was firmly established in 2004.

China to spend £76bn to tackle air pollution

In an attempt to clean up the smoggy air in the Chinese capital, Beijing's authorities have introduced a new set of measures to cut emissions and allocated 760 billion yuan (£75.8 billion) to improve the city's air quality by 2017.

The new measures are part of Beijing's efforts to put in place a national plan introduced in September to reduce the country's dependence on coal in order to improve air quality. A number of China's cities are plagued with air quality problems, which has led to concerns about the environmental costs of the country's massive economic growth.

Last week, Beijing once again suffered hazardous levels of air pollution prompting the city's mayor to announce an "all-out effort" to tackle the smog. Residents were advised to stay indoors as levels of fine particulate pollution known as PM2.5 reached the highest in a year. Unhealthy and even hazardous levels of air pollution have become commonplace in Beijing and in 2013 the city endured a total of 189 polluted air days.

On the West Coast of the U.S., pollution blown in from China can account for 12 to 24 percent of sulfate concentrations on any given day, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found. That pollution caused Los Angeles to experience an extra day of smog levels that were above the federal health standards for ozone in 2006.

MPs concerned over environment budget cuts

Substantial cuts to the british government's environment department budget will hamper its future ability to cope with emergencies such as flooding, british MPs fear.They called on Environment Secretary Owen Paterson to clarify which policy areas faced the biggest cuts. 

Mr Paterson has said resources will be shifted to respond to changing needs.
The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) budget has been cut by £500m since 2010 and must find £300m in savings by 2016.

Coastal and inland defence have been struggling to hold back the water

Prospect deputy secretary general Leslie Manasseh said: "They need to learn the lessons of the experiences of this winter, which have had such a devastating impact on so many people."Mr Paterson responded to this by saying that he had been assured that frontline services would be protected, and promised to keep £370m for vital new flood defences.

Antarctic rescue of Akademik Shokalskiy ship

A helicopter from a Chinese ship set down nearby, bringing in a crew to assess the landing situation.The aircraft left but then returned to begin ferrying the first passengers out to an Australian ice-breaker.The Shokalskiy has been trapped since Christmas Eve.

The reason why the icebreaker repeats scientific investigations made by Douglas Mawson and his team between 1911 and 1914. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's (Amsa) Rescue Co-ordination Centre, which is overseeing the operation, had earlier said it was unlikely the rescue would go ahead on Thursday as hoped because of the sea-ice conditions.

Pesticides May Impact Human Nervous System

Recent research by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that Bee-harming and other pesticides may impact on the complex human nervous system.They hound that current safety guidelines for two pesticides—acetamiprid and imidacloprid—may be too lax to protect humans, especially the developing brains of unborn children.

 The finding is based on recent research published in PLoS ONE where scientists found that newborn rats exposed to the chemicals experienced movement issues, shrinking brains and weight loss.The EFSA recommends raising the safety limits of both the chemicals based on the research, though it notes that . However, the recommendation still has to be accepted by the European Commission.

Europe has recently installed a two-year partial ban on three neonicotinoids—imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam—due to research linking the pesticides to the collapse in bee colonies and other pollinators. Scientists have found that while the pesticides don't kill bees outright, they impact their nervous systems, altering behavior to such an extent that eventually whole colonies collapse. 

½ of the uk suitable for fracking

More than half of the UK could be suitable for shale gas fracking, according to the government-commissioned report.
Under the maximum scenario, up to 2,880 wells could be drilled for oil or gas in a new licensing round, the report says, generating around 16,000 to 32,000 jobs.

Fracking – a process that involves splitting shale rocks deep underground - uses huge amounts of water, and in some places this would need to be shipped in by tanker. This means fracking will squeeze water supplies for local communities around the shale gas site.

Around ¾ of water will used for fracking flows back with the addition of extra water to be used again for fracking.

Greenhouse gases during the exploration phase could be up to 0.96 million tonnes of CO2 – totalling just over 15% of the UK’s emissions from all oil and gas production.