Climate activists’ oil stunt ‘reckless’

Climate change protesters who spread an oil-like substance on two busy roads in Edinburgh on Monday have been criticised for endangering motorists. Lothian and Borders police said the substance – possibly diesel or vegetable oil – was made safe after the authorities spread 7.5 tonnes of grit on the road, but described it as “an extremely reckless and dangerous act which could put many members of the public at risk”.

The incident happened at the start of a day of action by climate activists against Royal Bank of Scotland, which saw 12 people being arrested for protesting against the lender’s investment in fossil fuels such as oil extracted from tar sands. It is understood none of the arrests concerned the oil on the roads. Margaret Smith, Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, said she fully supported the activists’ right to protest peacefully.

“However, reports suggest they have crossed a line by recklessly endangering people’s lives,” she said. “This is absolutely unacceptable and the police are right to take action to protect innocent people going about their daily lives.” The Camp for Climate Action said it did not know anything about the oil ­incident. Five arrests were made after a group of protesters occupied the head offices of Forth Energy, a company planning to build four biomass power stations in Scotland.

Simultaneously, seven protesters blocked the RBS executive car park at the Gyle business park by gluing themselves together. There were other arrests after campaigners blockaded two city centre banks. RBS said it had been one of the most active banks in the world in providing funding for renewable energy projects in recent years

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd6c1c10-aee3-11df-8e45-00144feabdc0.html

Microsoft-Backed Green Search Engine (Ecosia) Attacks Google

Ecosia is being endorsed by the WWF and billed as an “eco-friendly” search engine but it is also based on Microsoft technology.  A search engine project backed by the World Wildlife Fund, and based on technology from Microsoft and Yahoo, heavily criticises the carbon intensity of Google’s search infrastructure and also contains a sly dig at Apple. The Ecosia search engine announced this week in the run up to the UN climate talks in Copenhagen is being billed as an environmentally friendly application which donates 80 percent of the income generated from sponsored links to help preserve rainforests. However, while the search site appears to have the highest of environmental aims, a video created to promote its launch is more partisan. The site is based on Microsoft’s Bing search engine, and its video depicts Google investors as fat, cigar smoking figures while also criticising the search giant for the carbon intensity of its technology.

 “Google has grown into one of the most profitable businesses in the world and its investors have made a fortune. But although Google’s investors might be happy to keep counting out their money, maybe they should take notice of a few unresolved issues in the search engine universe,” the video states. “For example there are a lot of C02 emissions caused by the search engines and their massive server networks. Some experts claim that a single Google search causes the same amount of emissions as a lightbulb does in an entire hour.”

The video goes on to depict the CO2 emerging from the “massive server networks” by using images that clearly resemble Apple’s iMac desktop machines rather than any PC that could be construed to run Microsoft’s Windows.

The project is also being supported by the WWF but the exact make-up of its management and funding is not clear at this point as the FAQ section had not been completed at the time of writing. WWF and Ecosia were contacted for comment but did not reply in time for this article.

“There might be a more eco-friendly way to use the profits from search rather than simply stuffing more cash into the pockets of investors,” the video continues. “With that in mind a bunch of like-minded people came together to think about how to make search engines more environmentally friendly.”

According to a statement released by the WWF the site is being tested publicly ahead of its official launch on 7 December to coincide with the UN climate talks in Copenhagen. “The same day the conference begins on Dec. 7, web users can start using a new green search engine called Ecosia,” the organisation states. “The new application, powered by Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Bing search engines, will allow internet surfers to protect about 2 square meters of Amazon rainforest just by clicking on sponsored links.”

Ecosia’s backers also claim that the search site is more eco-friendly than its competitors. “By using the green search engine internet users also reduce their own carbon footprint as the servers of Ecosia use eco-friendly electricity,” the organisation stated.

Commenting on the Ecosia launch, a spokesman for Google made reference to the fact that the video was being hosted on the Google-owned Youtube and cited the search giant’s own statistics on the carbon intensity of its search infrastructure which while different to the light-bulb comparison used by Ecosia, appear to be comparable in terms of total energy used.

“Gotta love open platforms like YouTube!,” he said. “Our stat is that a search on Google produces 0.2g of carbon–which means if you do 5 searches a day, your Google use creates less CO2 than a single load of washing.”

According to the Carbon Footprint site, a single load of washing at 40C in an A-rated machine produces around 273g of CO2, so we’re guessing the Google figure is talking about a whole year’s searches, and assumes 500g per load in a less-efficient machine.

 Earlier this year, a Harvard University physicist made news by stating that executing two Google searches on a computer can generate nearly the same amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) as boiling a kettle. Google moved quickly to refute those findings, arguing that the speed of its search processes prevented it from burning so much energy. “Our engineers crunched the numbers and found that an average query uses about 1 kJ of energy and emits about 0.2 grams of carbon dioxide,” Urs Holzle, senior vice president of Operations at Google, wrote in the 11 May posting.

 Google is aiming to produce its own renewable energy according to Google’s “green energy czar” Bill Weihl

 http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/microsoft-backed-green-search-engine-attacks-google–apple-2663

AP, other news agencies partner for Web news hub

The Associated Press is partnering with other international news organizations on an online hub where readers can interact with journalists covering the climate talks opening next week in Copenhagen. The page on the social-networking site Facebook is aimed at drawing new readers and getting them more involved with news coverage online. Traditional media outlets have struggled to generate enough online traffic and advertising to replace revenue that’s been lost as readers and advertisers shift to the Web. The goal of the news agencies’ Facebook project — called the Climate Pool — is to produce a central place online to get stories and other content on the Copenhagen conference. Besides links, the agencies will post blog items, lead live discussions between readers and journalists, and take suggestions on what to cover. Also participating in the project are Agence France-Presse, ANP of the Netherlands, APA of Austria, APcom of Italy, Canadian Press, dpa of Germany, Kyodo of Japan, Lusa of Portugal, Press Association of the United Kingdom and RIA of Russia. The project at the United Nations-led conference will incorporate elements of previous AP experiments with social networking and live events

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hMJJ108RbFXZxQUdEGbNJIySmI2gD9CAVA100

Britain’s claim to be a world leader in green energy called into question by new study

Britain’s claim to be a world leader in green energy investment has been called into question by an authoritative new study that will embarrass ministers as they prepare to launch an important climate change initiative tomorrow.

A report from Deutsche Bank says that the UK does not have the right climate change strategy to attract international investment and is lagging behind other countries, such as Germany, France and China. Britain’s energy strategy lacks the level of transparency and certainty required to encourage investment, according to Deutsche Bank’s study on the best places to do business. It comes as ministers prepare to launch six draft national policy statements on energy and climate change policies tomorrow.

“What investors want is transparency, longevity and certainty – TLC – in policy regimes to mobilise capital,” said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Bank’s asset management division, which is based in New York. “Many major emitters such as the US and the UK do not have enough TLC in their policy frameworks. Our rankings show that China has a lower risk for climate change investors, as does Germany, but the research also shows that in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, they have demonstrated their ability to deliver scale.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said its host of new initiatives to streamline planning and ensure the building of new infrastructure, such as clean coal plants, is proof of its positive commitment to moving to a low-carbon economy. “You will have seen [from] the recent announcement from RWE and E.ON about spending £15bn and creating thousands of jobs here in new nuclear plants that investment does seem to be coming,” said a DECC spokesman. But Deutsche Bank says Japan and Australia are among the countries that represent lower risk profiles than the UK because they have more comprehensive and integrated government plans.

Parker and his colleagues are particularly keen on feed-in tariffs – which pay consumers to generate their own electricity and sell it back to the grid – to encourage green power, which have been very successfully used in Germany. Britain was originally opposed to this kind of incentive but has recently accepted that they should be introduced, although, crucially, ministers have yet to indicate what price utilities will pay to those consumers who generate their own power. Deutsche Bank claims that the UK has attracted $17bn (£10bn) in capital investment as a result of climate change policies, compared to $36bn in Germany and $41bn in China. It admits the UK figure is still “substantial” but largely puts this down to the fact that the City is a major centre for the capital markets.

The national policy documents the government will unveil tomorrow will cover energy sectors including gas, the electricity grid and, in particular, nuclear. The nuclear document will give detailed analysis of the 11 sites put forward by developers for new plants and give initial verdicts on their suitability. Those areas are expected to include those nominated already by EDF and RWE, such as Sizewell in Suffolk and Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey…Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is also expected to give a draft “justification” statement explaining there is a national need for new nuclear stations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/08/green-energy-strategy-report