Osama Bin laden as "Environmental Activist"

Osama bin Laden yesterday criticised relief efforts in Pakistan and called for action against climate change in what appeared to be a new audio tape from the al-Qaida leader.

The audio message lasted about 11 minutes, and was broadcast with a video showing still images of Bin Laden and images of natural disasters, the Islamist website used by al-Qaida said.

The authenticity of the tape and its precise release date could not be immediately confirmed. In it, however, Bin Laden congratulates Muslims on the holy month of Ramadan, which started on 11 August 11 and ended 9 September.

He describes the fate of the Pakistani people following catastrophic floods, saying: "Millions of children are out in the open air, lacking basic elements of living, including drinking water, resulting in their bodies shedding liquids and subsequently their death."

Bin Laden also touches on global warming, the second time he is believed to have made climate change a prominent theme of one of his statements.

"The huge climate change is affecting our (Islamic) nation and is causing great catastrophes throughout the Islamic world," he says in the tape.

"It is not sufficient anymore to maintain the same relief efforts as previously, as it has become crucial to deliver tents, food and medicine."

Islamic charities, some with suspected ties to militant groups, were quicker than the Pakistani government to provide relief to flood victims.

Pakistani and US officials have repeatedly expressed concern that the Taliban and other militant groups could exploit the disarray following the floods in Pakistan to gain recruits.

Bin Laden urges a "huge transformation" in how relief work is administered, suggesting the number of victims of climate change is far larger than the number of victims of war.

He blames countries in the region for setting aside a "huge part" of their budgets to finance armies without having any impact on the Palestinian cause.

"Spending is nowhere in comparison to what is being spent on those armies," he says.

The message was Bin Laden's first since 25 March, when he threatened to execute any Americans taken prisoner by al-Qaida if accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was executed.

US soldiers and Afghan militia forces launched a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on the United States in pursuit of the Saudi-born Bin Laden.

But he has never been found, and is believed to be hiding in the mountainous border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/02/osama-bin-laden-climate-change





Please subscribe to get my updates!!!

Renewable energy production goes down in UK

The UK has suffered a second fall in renewable energy production this year, raising concern about the more than £1bn support the industry receives each year from taxpayers.

The drop in electricity generated from wind, hydro and other clean sources in the first half of 2010 could also be a setback to the coalition government's promise that the UK could help lead a "third industrial revolution" and create a low-carbon economy.

The DECC today said lower than expected wind speeds and rainfall led to a 12% fall in renewable electricity generated between April and June, compared to the same period in 2009. This setback follows a smaller but still notable decline between January and March, again compared to last year.

With a sharp drop in output from nuclear power stations as well, greenhouse gas emissions from each unit of electricity generated will inevitably have risen, at a time when the UK has pledged to cut such pollution, and is pressing other countries to do the same.

The renewable energy figures are likely to prompt criticism of the government's energy policies from all sides. Supporters want ministers to increase funding for green industry so more wind farms are built, reducing the risk of seasonal set backs; critics will say the government should instead increase support for energy efficiency, nuclear power or cleaner forms of burning fossil fuels.

With speculation mounting that the government is considering cutting the feed-in tariff subsidy for small-scale renewable equipment, 69 industry figures and other experts will tomorrow publish an open letter to the government warning such a move would "shatter" confidence and put future investment "in mortal peril".

However, Robert Gross, director of the Centre for Energy Policy and Technology at Imperial College London, said it was too soon to react to the drops in renewables, pointing out that other electricity sources were also vulnerable to short-term problems, such as fluctuations in supply and prices of fossil fuels and technology shutdowns at nuclear reactors. Risks were not likely to arise until renewable sources made up more than 25-35% of electricity supply, when the UK would need back up from one or more of the several options: new gas plants, better connections to mainland Europe, better demand management so more electricity was used at off-peak times, and better technology to store surplus energy for peak times, said Gross.

The DECC also suggested the government was not yet planning to change its policies, which included direct support of £265m from 2000-2009, and about £1bn indirect subsidies for large installations through 'renewable obligation certificates' in 2008-9.

"Wind energy is home-grown, low-carbon and adds diversity to our energy mix," said a department statement. "The intermittent nature of wind means that we do need alternative back-up generation, for when wind speeds drop. But for most of the time it will be possible to generate significant amounts of electricity from wind, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels we need to consume."

The latest energy statistics for the second quarter of 2010 show total energy production in the UK was 9.2% lower than the same period last year, while final energy consumption was 1.8% higher. Among the different fuels, output from oil and coal fell, while only gas increased its output, by 7.1%. It was a similar picture for electricity alone: coal power stayed steady at about 23% of electricity supplied, nuclear output fell by 23% to 15.8%, and gas production rose by more than 10% to over half of all electricity.

Chris Huhne, the climate secretary, repeatedly chastised the previous government for putting the UK in 25th place among the 27 European Union countries for renewable energy, a ranking based on 2008 figures.

However, last week RenewableUK, the industry lobby group, said the UK was "on course" to meet its commitment to reach 15% of all energy – including at least 30% of electricity – from renewable sources by 2020.

Responding to today's figures, a spokesman for the group said: "Clearly we need to deploy more renewable devices if we expect to get more in the energy mix. Hydro and wind power will vary from year to year, as do other technologies, but we know that they can and do contribute significant amounts of electricity.

"Hydro is one the world's oldest and most widespread energy technologies, and wind power has shown its mettle across Europe. If we don't write off nuclear energy on the basis of [its latest] fall, why would we write off hydro, or even wind, which is now the UK's largest source of renewable energy?"

Louise Hutchins, climate campaigner for Greenpeace, said: "At the moment it [renewable energy] is a very small share in electricity and small fluctuations in weather can have an impact on the percentage of supply. When we have a lot more renewable energy there will be a lot more stability."

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/sep/30/uk-renewable-energy-production-drops


Please subscribe to get my updates!!!

Contribute something to our mother Earth

CONTRIBUTE TO A NOBLE CAUSE

There is a cute small round press button at the bottom right corner of almost all monitors: Please make use of this




Stop printing out Harry Porter, Jeffrey Archer and other e-books. This is a classic example of paper wastage.




If you have forgotten to give double-side prints, make sure you make use of the empty sides as scribbling pads or for your kids' imposition



!


Take two minutes from your busy schedule before hurrying back home to shut down the computer.




All of us are big time Googlers. Have you heard of the Blackle search engine? Blackle (Google powered) is a search engine designed all in Rich Black so that your system consumes less power. So change your homepage.





Plastic bags these days indeed come in bright and flamboyant colours and tempt us to take them home with us. But the saying, "Appearances are deceptive" holds true for these plastic things too. Next time, hold back or go prepared to counter temptation with a cloth bag.




Roses, Jasmine, Hibiscus and Peas; All these saplings cost hardly between Rs 10 - 20 each. Can't we afford to plant these in and around our houses? Also, more importantly, caring and maintain them as they grow?





Try to segregate the different kinds of waste into Bio-Degradable (Fruit or vegetable waste) , Recyclable (waste Paper, paper products) and Electronics (Floppy disks, CD-ROMS ). Once you have segregated your thrash, look for specialized trash cans to throw them away.




Try to minimize the use of horns. Honking has drastically increased and this adds to the noise pollution and does not provide a conducive environment to live in.




Use rechargeable batteries though it's an expensive product, it's one-time purchase. Recharge when required. (Same applies to cell-phones, MP3s, iPods and Laptops)




The best pens to use would be ink ones. Though if you have to use a ball point pen, buy refills instead of buying new pens. Pencils are much better for rough use! (That's why we used it at school!!!)




Remember to close water taps before preening in front of the mirror. Of course you are beautiful, but Water is a precious resource!





Let's not just wake up and walk out of finished meetings and conferences with a sigh of relief, let us remember to turn off the lights and projectors too.




Take few minutes to learn about topics like 'Global Warming' , 'Air / Noise /Land / Water Pollution ' etc apart from constant surfing of News, Latest Gadgets, Movies and Music.




The Earth has already become a dangerous place to live in for the animals and birds. Soon it might be our turn. So let's pledge to save our beautiful planet so that you and your future generations can live happily and peacefully ever after.






Please subscribe to get my updates!!!