The Super Tree

From an article by Ochieng’ Ogodo on 27 August 2009

African farmers could triple yields by planting a type of acacia tree that sheds its nitrogen-rich leaves in time for the growing season alongside their crops.

“Besides organic fertiliser and livestock fodder for farmers, it also acts as a windbreak, provides wood for fuel and construction and cuts erosion by loosening the soil to absorb water during the rainy season. The tree becomes dormant and sheds its leaves during the early rainy season at the time when seeds need fertiliser and regrows them at the beginning of the dry season, so not competing with crops for light” he said at the 2nd World Congress of Agroforestry in Nairobi this week.

Planting the trees can nearly triple yields, he says. In Malawi, maize yields under the acacia canopy are 280 per cent higher than outside it.

http://www.scidev.net/en/news/acacia-tree-can-boost-crops-and-more-across-africa.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_news

Saving money on sewage treatment

A regular sewage plant for  28,000 people costs about €225,000 a year to run according to figures from Germany. Installing a new form of digester unit (many sewage plants don’t have them) made by IGB, shortened the digestion process from 30-50 days down to 5-7 days. In addition there is reduction in the residue by about 1/3 which reduces disposal cost by €70,000 a year. In addition, sewage plants us a lot of electricity in the process. The biogas produced by the digester can provide enough electricity to reduce costs by a further €100,000 a year. A bit of a no-brainer?

The full article is here.

Early Rice Harvests Ease Annual Famine In Bangladesh

Problem:

In Bangladesh  Monga ( famine that affects 2 million households from Sept to Dec when food has run out) can be decreased by

• Planting seed directly into ground instead of the usual method used in Asia.

[The rice seeds are sown by hand in special nursery beds. Then they are transplanted to rice fields.]

• Using a seed with shorter growing season

What is achieved?

• The growing season 25 – 40 days shorter
• Increases rice yield
• Direct planting reduces planting costs
• This permits growing of 2^nd crop eg maize, potato wheat chickpeas or vegetables
• Give 2 lots of work to landless peasants

Full article found here:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090722093808.htm

China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants

May10 2009  New York Times Link

IANJIN, China — China’s frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. China now uses more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined, making it the world’s largest emitter of gases that are warming the planet.

But largely missing in the hand-wringing is this: China has emerged in the past two years as the world’s leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the technology and driving down the cost.

While the United States is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at a rate of one a month.

While construction has stalled on a new generation of low-pollution power plants that turn coal into a gas before burning it in the US , China has already approved equipment purchases for just such a power plant, to be assembled soon in a muddy field here in Tianjin.

Western countries continue to rely heavily on coal-fired power plants built decades ago with outdated, inefficient technology that burn a lot of coal and emit considerable amounts of carbon dioxide. China has begun requiring power companies to retire an older, more polluting power plant for each new one they build.

This is not to say that China has got it all right. There are still old inefficient power stations producing electricity and some of the better ones are not being used to their best effects. Only half the country’s coal-fired power plants have the emissions control equipment to remove sulphur compounds that cause acid rain, and China has not begun regulating some of the emissions that lead to heavy smog in big cities.

After relying until recently on older technology, “China has since become the major world market for advanced coal-fired power plants with high-specification emission control systems.”

Recent international reports have cut its forecast of the annual increase in Chinese emissions of global warming gases, to 3 percent from 3.2 percent, in response to technological gains.

But by continuing to rely heavily on coal, which supplies 80 percent of its electricity, China ensures that it will keep emitting a lot of carbon dioxide; even an efficient coal-fired power plant emits twice the carbon dioxide of a natural gas-fired plant. So the next step is who will be first to remove all CO₂ from thermal energy production? Many countries, including the UK, say they are investigating it strongly. But China has just built a small, experimental facility near Beijing to remove carbon dioxide from power station emissions and use it to provide carbonation for beverages, and the government has a short list of possible locations for a large experiment to capture and store carbon dioxide.

But it does not stop there. China is making other efforts to reduce its global warming emissions. It has doubled its total wind energy capacity in each of the past four years, and is poised to pass the United States as soon as this year as the world’s largest market for wind power equipment. China is building considerably more nuclear power plants than the rest of the world combined, and these do not emit carbon dioxide after they are built.

Solar Power Experiences Strongest Year of Growth Yet

From an article by by Yingling Liu / June 18, 2009

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6156?emc=el&m=258906&l=4&v=0acf32e1b9

The year 2008 saw the most phenomenal growth in the solar power market yet, with dramatic increases in installations of solar photovoltaics (PVs), which generate electricity directly from sunlight, and solar thermal plants, which use the sun’s heat to produce power. The latter include concentrating solar power (CSP)—a technology that uses mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight to heat water to drive a steam turbine for electricity generation—is expanding in many regions.

Newly added PV power installations amounted to 5,600 megawatts (MW), in one year increasing by more than half  cumulative total of 9,000 MW to almost 15,000 MW by the end of 2008.

Europe remains the leading market for PVs, accounting for over 80 percent of world demand in 2008. Spain overtook Germany to become the number one solar PV market worldwide, with its market increasing in one year from 560 MW to an estimated 2,600 MW in 2008. This 300+ % growth accounted for almost half of all new installations in 2008. Germany followed in second place, with new installations of about 1,500 MW.

The United States came in a distant third, adding approximately 348 MW, followed closely by Italy, South Korea, and Japan.

The phenomenal growth in the top two national PV markets—Spain and Germany—suggests that government support programs are pivotal in the development of the solar market. A feed-in tariff policy in Spain requires utilities to buy electricity generated from solar power projects at premium guaranteed long-term prices that are set by the government, an incentive introduced to encourage the adoption of renewable energy. The lucrative solar electricity rates in Spain fanned unexpected enthusiasm from the industry.

However in September 2008 the government considerably reduced the feed-in tariff payments and put a cap on annual PV installation from 2009 through 2010, aiming at a target of 3,000 MW by the end of 2010. This policy change is expected to slow the PV market in Spain significantly over the next few years.

Germany, which was the number one solar market for years, also has a feed-in tariff program for renewable energy. It aims to reduce the premium solar electricity rates gradually and predictably until solar energy achieves price parity with conventional power. As the result of amendments to the German law in mid-2008, payments for PVs declined considerably starting in January 2009, reflecting a reduction in installed cost. The stability and consistency of Germany’s feed-in tariff has proved beneficial for continuous market development, and the country is expected to regain the top PV market position in 2009.

The Chinese PV industry is leading in silicon-based cell production, primarily to meet soaring demand from Spain and Germany. Combined Chinese and Taiwanese production accounted for 39 percent of the global cell output in 2008, up from only 7 percent in 2004.

On an individual company basis, the German company Q-Cells was the number one producer of solar cells in 2008, First Solar of the United States ranked second, and Suntech of China came in third.²²

Cconcentrating solar power (CSP)— has seen considerable development in the United States, with more than 350 MW of CSP built in California between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. The country also hosts one of the world’s largest CSP plants, the 64-MW Nevada Solar One CSP plant. The Mediterranean region has started to see increasing new CSP capacity as well, making Europe, North Africa, and Middle East a potential global hub for CSP generation. Two new CSP plants came on-line in 2008—the 50-MW Andasol-1 plant in Spain and a 5-MW plant in California. Projects with more than 6,000 MW of capacity are now in the pipeline in the United States, mostly planned for California, Arizona, and Florida. Over 3,000 MW of CSP projects have been announced in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East; out of these, 2,500 MW are to be built in Spain. Israel and the United Arab Emirates opened tenders for 350 MW projects in the Middle East during 2008, and projects are now planned for Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt.

Biodiesal from non-food crops on marginal land that is more productive

Ardent Energy Group has formed a sub-branch in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia to grow jatropha and castor oil plant. A 50-year lease on the land includes permission to operate an oil crushing plant and biodiesel processing facility has been given on marginal land in Western Ethiopia

Jatropha and castor were selected as the first source of oil by AEG due to the resiliency of the plant, its ability to grow in marginal soil conditions and the extremely high-yield of oil to hectare as compared to other crops such as soybean. The ability of jatropha to thrive in harsh climates is also favorable, as the plant will not be competing with land that could otherwise be used for food production.

RESTORING THE LIVELIHOODS OF POST-TSUNAMI VICTIMS IN THE MALDIVES WITH IRIS AUTOPOTS

I saw this article here about how this innovate method of farming in uncompromising circumstances was leading to improved community facilities (aka Fair trade-type arrangement) as well as  local people earning a better and more sustainable living using these autopots. It would seem that the Maldives are very sandy are were not much use for agriculture but are now into producing golden melons much loved by the tourists! And the system is sustainable, eco friendly etc.  etc. So I went searching and found this picture.

What appears to be the way it works is that water + nutrients flow through the pipe to a valve on the lower right – the little box then fills and allows liquid through to the tray on the left. Once full, the valve closes and does not open again until all the liquid has been taken up by the plant in the big pot.

These are the types used in the Maldives. However, in many other areas big commercial systems using the same system in big banks  in China and many other places in Malaysia (where it was first developed) and other Far Eastern Countries.

GM corn comes a step closer to a complete meal

There have been plenty of promise that GM foods could help alleviate third world health problems. But precious little evidence that it had been achieved – until now.

Scientists have for the first time genetically modified white corn to increase the levels of several different vitamins — bringing closer the prospect of crops that can deliver full nutritional requirements.

The team increased the levels of beta-carotene, the precursor of vitamin A 170-fold; levels of vitamin C six-fold and also doubled the folic acid in the African staple.

See here for more details

Biomass made into electricty produces more miles than bio-ethanol

Electric vehicles using biomass converted into electricity travelled 81 percent farther per area of cropland than vehicles with internal combustion engines running on  ethanol, researchers in California found.

A small sport utility vehicle could do 36,000 km on the energy produced from a hectare of switch-grass converted into ethanol. But converting that biomass into electricity allowed a battery-powered SUV to get 56,000 km on the highway, the study published in Science magazine said.

But we do not yet produce enough switch grass to run power stations nor is the development of 2nd generation  bio-fuels sufficiently advanced for this to be a current reality. But certainly the idea that electric cars could prove to be more efficient than those run on bio-fuels is something to bear in mind.

Source: http://planetark.org/wen/52798

Lives changed by a millipede

This is in Kenya, near Mombasa

Look around at the lush and fertile landscape and it’s hard to believe that this is a man-made environment. Yellow weaver birds making a huge din whilst building their pendulous nests, a sleek cormorant prepares to dive into the water and even a hippo wallows in the mud.

The hippo as it turns out has a vital role to play in the ecosystem. The mud on it’s back is removed from the ponds and so stops the water hole from silting up. The crocodiles too play their part. They feed on the dead farm animals or remnants from the thriving organic fish-farm. And their excreta helps fertilise the water making the algae grow, which is food for the fish as well as nutrients for the rice paddies and bananas

Only 30 years ago – this thriving forest landscape was a rocky, lunar-like desert, created by mining coral for cement. Actually, there are still parts of it which have been newly quarried to give one an idea of how it all started. The inspiration behind the transformation is Dr. Rene Haller, a Swiss agronomist, who has just celebrated his 50th anniversary of living on the Kenyan Coast.

He started experimenting with different trees to see if any would put down roots into the dry, rocky terrain. The Casuarina tree, whose seeds had been washed onto Kenyan shores when Krakatoa erupted in the 1860s, was the best candidate. It produces nutrients in nodules on its roots and so is self-sustaining

But Haller’s most miraculous discovery was the beneficial effects of the millipede. This marvellous red-legged insect loves eating the needles dropped by the casuarinas. It’s pooh then becomes the humus for the more vegetation – thus starting the whole ecosystem development.

Haller’s vision didn’t stop there. He managed to set up lots of different business enterprises supported by rehabilitated land, both employing and providing food for hundreds of local people. He also managed to demonstrate the value of conservation – for example, by showing farmers the benefits of tree-planting in preserving water for irrigation.

To find out more about his ideas go to www.haller.org.uk