The White House finally bet solar panels

Three weeks after the expedition "solar" environmentalist Bill McKibben is crashing the gate of the White House, Barack Obama has decided to swerve to the energy policy of the presidential mansion and has agreed to install new thermal and photovoltaic panels.
The recently announced Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who has urged Americans to follow suit and opt for renewable energy. The solar industry has launched the house through the window and the 350.org campaign, which on Sunday summoned the global day of action against climate change, has finally entered the "solar commitment" of the White House.
The panels, which will be installed next spring, mostly have a high symbolic value. In 1979, ahead of time, then-President Jimmy Carter decided to install the first thermal plate in the west wing roof to provide hot water. Two years later, completing the revenge of the "lobby" of fossil fuels, Ronald Reagan decided to withdraw unceremoniously and the White House with solar Panel.

White House with solar Panel

In the sly, President Bush pioneered the use of geothermal energy in their Texas ranch returned to install a small thermal panels to heat the pool water and other units of the presidential mansion. What Obama is now trying to achieve even energy supply to the monthly bill, to be determined and the White House with solar Panel..

It is unknown what might have brought about the sudden change in the White House, beyond the exit of the cabinet chief Rahm Emanuel. The fact is that the issue of McKibben and 350.org, which was loaded with an old panel of Jimmy Carter, had to turn around in September with the mission unfulfilled and the White House with solar Panel.

Solar Energy
"We could have said we had an excellent exchange of ideas and ensure that the Administration has taken seriously our request," McKibben wrote then. "But that would have been lying."
Three weeks later, and after weighing whether or not to recall at this point to Jimmy Carter, the White House announces rectified and solar conversion and the White House with solar Panel.. Is not known how he may have the final decision on Michelle Obama, who masterminded the famous garden in the presidential mansion, which the irrigation system can be activated by next spring, thanks to solar future

Earth Heat beat his record in June

The month of June was the warmest in history since 1880 when records began climate data. The average temperature from April to June has set a new record, according to measurements carried out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA.

Specifically, the average temperature in June stood at 16.2 degrees Celsius. The half of the twentieth century was 15.5 °, ie, 0.60 ° below the level recorded last month.
Also, the first half of the year was, on average, the second warmest since measurements are made. The first six months of 2007 still holds the record.

The Earth Heat
NOAA notes that in various places on Earth have been recorded at higher temperatures than average over these months, as in Peru, central and eastern U.S. and eastern and western Asia.
June, a cold month in Spain.
However, in other parts of the globe has been lower temperatures than usual. In Spain, the average temperature was the coldest since 1997, according to AEMET.

There were also lower temperatures in Scandinavia, southern China and northwestern United States.
The surface temperature of the oceans in June stood at 0.54 º C above the average of the twentieth century, making this month in the fourth warmest June since 1880 reigstrado. The heat was most intense in the Atlantic.

The American Research Center NOAA published every month that his department analysis of weather makes temperatures recorded on Earth. Their database goes back to 1880.

BP gets completely seal oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico

Oil giant BP has reported that for the first time in 87 days, has managed to completely stop the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Thanks to the important test done to test the effectiveness of the new containment hood installed over the subsea well in which the leak occurred since 22 April, "there is no flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico," said vice president of BP exploration and production, Kent Wells.

In a statement, the oil firm said that "during the tests, the three openings are closed, which for all practical purposes closed well ... Although we can not guarantee it is not expected to pour oil into the sea during the test" .

After closing the valves, the engineers began monitoring the pressure. Pressure is expected to continue rising, because if it remains low, it means that there could be leaking oil.
Resistance Testing

BP, the company responsible for the spill, took over the endurance of the bell after being suspended last night by detecting a crack in the shutter.

"The tests began today in accordance with procedures approved by the National Incident Command" and until they develop normally, the statement said. The first tests will last at least six hours and could take up to 48 hours, the statement said.

The company warns that even stop oil spill into the sea during the trial period "that does not mean that the flow of oil and gas well has stopped permanently."

Throughout the testing period will be measuring the pressure inside the hood. If it is too low, it will point to the existence of another similar to the detected leak last night and have to start all over again.

In a news conference Thursday, the coordinator of the anti-dumping by the U.S. government, Admiral Thad Allen, said that if there is a high pressure will be good news, because it will mean that the device works as properly and is able to withstand the flow of oil.

If the tests are positive and the bell can become operational, would be connected by pipelines to ships in the area. According to Allen, the system would be able to transfer up to 80,000 barrels per day, an amount greater than that flowing from the well failed. It is estimated that currently flow from the well between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil a day.

The hood is designed only as a provisional remedy to the disaster, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and the coming Thursday in its day number 87. The permanent solution will come when completed two wells drilling subsidiary, through which they inject a mixture of heavy clay and cement permanently seal the well.

The spill began after the April 20, for reasons still unknown, broke out and sank in the sea oil rig 'Deepwater Horizon', maintained by the oil company BP, accident that killed eleven workers.

Spain has two proposals to safely store mercury

Starting next March can not be used or marketed in the EU mercury. Despite its high level of toxicity, this metal has been used for many years to make fluorescent lamps, thermometers, sphygmomanometers and other measuring devices.
The EU is now seeking solutions to store surplus mercury safely and efficiently, as one of the most toxic compounds, methylmercury, can cause serious health problems in living beings and pollute the environment. It is estimated that European countries, Spain is the biggest producer will face a surplus of 8,500 tons of mercury, both from the extraction of the mine waste used by businesses.

Spain's proposals were presented Monday in Almaden (Ciudad Real). These two projects: a temporary storage system that will reuse the mercury in the event that necessary, and a final technical transforms it into a non-polluting.
"It is not known if in the future be re-used metallic mercury. This is why we also designed a system that is securely stored and will retrieve it if necessary, thus avoiding having to remove it again from the mine," Ana says Conde, project manager and head of the department of corrosion of the National Center for Metallurgical Research, CSIC.

And that, to date, there is no clear alternative in some industrial processes: "For example, companies clorocáusticas still use mercury as an electrode for the production of chlorine." In his case, the time to find alternative methods expires in 2020. Once the industry confirm that mercury is no longer necessary, final systems will be used for disposal of waste.
Double steel wall

The temporary storage system designed by researchers at the CSIC is shaped like a sphere and can store 50 tons of liquid mercury, but larger containers can be constructed.

It consists of a double wall of steel with a thickness of 8 mm: "It has followed the model of double hull tankers. If there is a break, there is another compartment that would store the mercury. The area is earthquake resistant and has an alarm system and surveillance, "says Conde. The vessel meets all standards for transport by truck can be moved if necessary, using a crane.

The second technique is final and transform the liquid mercury in an inert solid material that does not pollute, "similar to those used in the construction sector," said Aurora Lopez, a researcher in the department of primary metals and recycling of materials from center. "It's kind of brick which contains 30% mercury, with a size of 4x4x16, but can be made with any other dimension."

"We have done several studies on saline and alkaline environments to see how this material behaves when outdoors and the results have been satisfactory, presents a very good durability," says Lopez. In the future we will see if it can be used in civil engineering: "It would be an added value if we could succeed to use paving or construction of dams, although the initial objective is to develop an inert material."

The European Commission will now study the solutions provided by all countries (in Germany, for example, have proposed to put the mercury in a salt mine) and decide what is the procedure to be used on European soil.

They find traces of oil on a beach in Tamaulipas

The suspicion environmentally speaking most feared by the Mexican authorities during the last month could be confirmed shortly. Because they have found on a beach in the state of Tamaulipas (north), located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico coast, oil remains in the solid state, which could come from the discharge of BP in the Gulf of Mexico. That is, their disastrous consequences would be closer to the coasts.

So far, local authorities have only that, a suspect and have opened an investigation to comprobrala after collecting the samples in one of the most visited beaches in the state, of Miramar, near the town of Ciudad Madero.
The local civil defense troops found the first other fuel, reports the Mexican state agency "Notimex." Then they combed the entire beach, although they have been found only small amounts of additional oil.

Given the possibility that these remains are the prelude to a 'black tide' that plunged into the costs of state, local authorities have announced they will open an investigation to determine the origin of oil and maintaining constant contact with federal authorities.

Indeed, just a week ago, the government of Mexican state of Tamaulipas announced it will sue the British Petroleum (BP) by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Even if the stain does not reach the Mexican coast, the damage and disruption already started to generate, as are costs of environmental studies, preventive, and cancellation of investment," claimed then the governor of Tamaulipas, Eugenio Hernandez Flores.

The claims of the northern state joined the 20 million dollars that the Mexican Ministry of Environment will seek to BP to fund the plan of action against the oil slick that is already underway.

Brazil's energy fever flood the Peruvian jungle megahidroeléctricas

While Alan Garcia and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Wednesday in Manaus to put the finishing touches on Energy Integration Agreement Peru-Brazil, Peru Ashaninka communities of the Ene river, decimated and displaced from their territories during the two decades of political violence , attended a negotiation helpless she can knock them back from their ancestral territories.

This agreement, whose contents are taken with considerable reserve by both Governments, calls for the construction in the Peruvian Amazon hydroelectric plant for 30 years committed for export to Brazil a cumulative capacity of over 6000 MW.

In practice, this will, according to the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), the Brazilian capital construction for up to 6 mega power plants that will flood thousands of hectares of unique biodiversity and become displaced peasants and indigenous peoples that inhabit.

In the past three decades, three million people have been displaced in Brazil for the construction of hydroelectric dams, according to the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB). Today, the unmet demand for energy giant almost 200 million people will require dams to extend beyond its borders and with them, also the social and environmental conflicts.
An agreement 'beating'

In none of the 15 articles of the 'Agreement for the supply of electricity to Peru and Brazil export surpluses' specifies how many hydroelectric projects are 'promoted' or what their exact location.

"The cumulative capacity of all generating plants that can be committed for export to Brazil will be a maximum of 6000 MW plus a 20% tolerance," according to Article 3.

"It's a very clever because the agreement did not identify the projects but the amount of energy, prevent governments can do calculations to find the total number of hectares inundated and the people to be displaced," he told ELMUNDO.es Mariano Castro, Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, who denounced the 'rush' of both leaders realize their signature.

"Peru now has a potential for clean energy nine times greater than domestic demand, therefore, there is sufficient justification to move quickly to build these plants and we have to assume all environmental and social costs," the expert report .

For its part, the leaders show off their excellent bilateral relations and avoid getting into these areas cumbersome. They simply announce that the agreement will allow Peru to have energy for the domestic market at regulated prices and only the surplus electricity will be exported to Brazil.
Without environmental safeguards

While the agreement is very explicit in setting energy export quotas, is vague as it relates to social and environmental costs. Article 9 says only that "all activities undertaken for the implementation of this Agreement (..) will be conducted in a context of sustainable development."

The lack of social and environmental safeguards of these agreements has led to the formation of a platform composed of universities and environmental organizations who claim that by flooding the Amazon forest will generate greenhouse gases, the product of the putrefaction of organic matter. Thus, they say, a dam in the Amazon 10 times more pollution than a coal plant.

According to this platform, one of the dams in Brazilian capital that will benefit from this agreement will be in Inambari export in the region of Madre de Dios, an area which houses the largest number of protected natural areas of the country.

This power plant will flood 40,000 hectares, making it the largest in Peru and the 5th largest in America. For its construction, 3400 people living in towns of the departments of Puno, Cusco and Madre would have to be displaced. Since the announcement of this hydroelectric project, has starred Inambari strikes and mass protests.
Without prior consultation with indigenous peoples

Another would be to hydro Pakitsapango in the district of Junin. Through a resolution, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has authorized a company to carry out feasibility studies necessary to initiate this project.

For the people who live Ashaninka the concession area, Pakitsapango (House of the Eagle) is a sacred territory.

"This award overlaps the territory of 10 of our native communities and the Ene River basin and was issued without informing or consulting (...), placing us in a position of vulnerability and demonstrating, once again, lack of respect Peruvian Government to our way of life and our rights, "read the public statement issued on 8 May by Ashaninka communities of the Ene River Basin

So far, the Peruvian Executive does not enact the law of prior consultation with indigenous peoples, adopted by Congress in late May. This law will force the State, as set out in ILO Convention 169, to consult indigenous communities before granting a concession project affecting them.

"I find it outrageous that the energy agreement is signed with Brazil without regard to the rights of native peoples," says Congresswoman Gloria Ramos, member of the Commission of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvian Congress. "There is a political calculation not to pass the bill prior consultation. With the signing of the agreement with Brazil shows that we continue with the logic that caused the Baguazo."

NASA launches new system to predict tsunamis

A research team at NASA has presented the principles of a prototype system to predict tsunamis that measures large terremototos quickly and accurately and get estimate the size of a subsequent tsunami.

The team, led by Y. Tony Song of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, used data in real-time earthquake of magnitude 8.8 in Richter scale in Chile last February to predict the size of the resulting tsunami. The measurement system combining regional data globables hundreds of GPS points, considering their positions in second, with a motion detection capability of even a few centimeters. The accuracy of GPS-based prediction was subsequently confirmed by measuring the height of the sea surface by satellite.
Differences with previous systems

The prediction method Song, published in 2007 and recently confirmed in a new study estimates the energy an earthquake under the sea transfers to the ocean to cause a tsunami, and is based on data from coastal GPS stations near the epicenter and measurements of the slope. For its part, the tsunami warning systems rely mainly on conventional location, depth and magnitude of the earthquake, although history shows the lack of reliability of the scale as an indicator of a subsequent tsunami, reports the JPL laboratory.

Moreover, previous models assumed that detection of tsunami force is determined by the amount of seafloor shifted vertically, while Song theory explains that the horizontal movements of the continental slope failure also contribute to determine the strength, transmitting kinetic energy to the ocean.

In the case of the earthquake in Chile, Song's team correctly predicted that this quake, the fifth strongest that has been registered by measuring devices, would lead to a tsunami with almost no significant effects in the Pacific.

Emissions down in Spain out of the economic crisis

Emissions of greenhouse gases in Spain have fallen in the past two years on the sidelines of the economic crisis. It is known that the decline in industrial activity occurred in recent months also was associated with a decrease in emissions of CO2 and other gases into the atmosphere. However, the Minister of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs, Elena Espinosa, said during the presentation of the "Environmental Profile of Spain 2009", that emissions have fallen regardless of whether the crisis.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the environmental profile of Spain is "satisfactory whole." And the reduction of greenhouse gases or CO2 emissions by 7.5% in 2008 compared to 2007 and 8.2% in 2009 compared to 2008.

At the launch, Environment Minister said that Spain "expect" to meet the commitment of the Kyoto Protocol, which limited its growth in emissions of greenhouse gases by 2012 in 15% of 1990 levels. After this date must reduce these emissions by 20% until 2020.

Espinosa stressed that the present edition, the sixth, includes two new chapters, one devoted to Coastal and Marine, and another, the Green Economy and stressed that in 2008 increased green jobs, particularly those related to renewable energy.
Lights and shadows of environmental profile

The Environmental Profile addresses the environment from two perspectives, the situation of the natural environment in its different areas (air, water and biodiversity, among others) and human activities that take place in the natural environment, represented by various productive sectors (industry, fisheries, energy, tourism).

According to the report, water consumption continues to decline in homes since 2007 and reserves of water stored in the year 2009 increased 23%, which has led to a decrease in the production of desalinated water.

Also continues to decline municipal waste generation per capita waste going to landfill, with slight increase of incineration and an improved collection, although we are still above the European average.
Diffuse sectors

One of the areas of greatest concern to the ministry, are called diffuse pollutants in cities, mainly due to transport.
In 2008, irrigated agriculture continues to increase its efficiency in water use, increasing the surface using drip irrigation systems by 28% in the last five years. It has also been a significant increase in the area devoted to organic farming, increasing the latter that the Minister has described as "encouraging."

According to the profile, stabilizes the forest area, close to 28 million hectares of land remains rural tourism activities and visits to National Parks and fell by 8% overall aquaculture production, dragged by lower mussel production.

In the transport sector in 2008 has produced the greatest reduction in energy consumption (3.1%) since 1990. Regarding the energy consumption of each household, the year 2008 presented a decrease of 5% compared with 2007, and was more pronounced decrease in thermal applications in the electrical.

The oil spill has already cost BP more than 1,000 million euros

The British oil giant British Petroleum has already spent EUR 1.049 million trying to contain oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, not counting the 300 million pledged for reconstruction of artificial islands in Louisiana, as announced by the company.
This assessment responds to the expenditure on the tasks of containment of the spill, the drilling of wells, grants to the states of the Gulf of Mexico, claims paid and federal spending.
On Sunday, BP claimed that are taking significant strides in combating oil spill and that the group is picking up "most" of oil that comes out of the leak.
The container recently installed on the flight is leading more than 1,500 tonnes of crude per day on a boat on the surface safely, in his words.
Despite this initial assessment and containment efforts, the oil is cautious and says that it is still "early" to say with certainty the success of container installed last week.
In addition, the British oil announced in the same statement that he expects a second system of containment, which would increase the amount of oil captured from your well broken, will be available for operation in mid-June.
The system for capturing oil through a manifold, which was developed before the failed maneuver "top kill" to block the well, will add to an already deployed containment lid and could allow BP to capture almost all the oil.