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-- a _kt75 | note   Tweet  _download: server 1 Big is beautiful? [1] – The solutions for sustainable water management/alternative energy generation by means of water dams are multifarious and range from very small hydro power projects to largest scale dam solutions. Currently, there seems to be a certain tendency towards the latter option in particular in developing and emerging countries. In this context, the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance dam and the Congolese Grand Inga Dam represent the most known examples of large scale water dams. A widely discussed key question however is: comply such gigantic structures with the idea of sustainable development? What are the implications associated with the construction of such facilities and how efficient (from an economic point of view) are they? Are there any geo-political consequences and in case of what type of are they? In order to address some of the above questions and to provide for a better understanding of the issue of s...

-- a _kt75 | reprint   Tweet Summary: Global GHG emissions continue to rise and a steady and logical shift towards the emerging countries (e.g. BRICS) is notable. That will be one of the key reasons will the recent Obama plan as well as the Germany led 'Energiewende' will fail, i.e. won't hardly result in any lowering of global warming effects. Reprint: Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide rose by 1.4 percent last year, setting a new record, according to data released Monday. The findings, from the International Energy Agency (IEA), come just weeks after scientists in Hawaii recorded carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere higher than 400 parts per million, another modern record. The data suggests that the globe could warm well more than the two degrees Celsius that climate scientists have set as an acceptable level by the end of this century, a target towards which international negotiations are currently working. “Climate change has quite frankly slipped to the back bur...

-- a _kt75 | reprint     Tweet ■ Case Ethiopia - Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Ethiopia has refused to halt work on a controversial giant dam across the river Nile that Egypt fears will severely curb its water supply. The refusal came after the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, promised to "defend each drop of Nile water with our blood" and other senior Egyptian politicians called for the dam's destruction. A spokesman for the Ethiopian prime minister said on Tuesday that Morsi's speech was irresponsible and that the project would proceed as planned. "Nothing is going to stop the Renaissance Dam. Not a threat will stop it," Getachew Reda said via telephone. "None of the concerns the Egyptian politicians are making are supported by science. Some of them border on what I would characterise as fortune-telling." Ethiopia hopes its Grand Renaissance dam – which will cost more than $4.3bn (£2.8bn) – will form Africa's largest hydropower p...

-- a _kt75 | reprint compilation     Tweet Shaun New berr y, AngloGold Ashanti vice-president of strategic project design and spokesman for collaborative research group the Technology Innovation Consortium (TIC), says all the gold miners are facing the same challenges that the TIC is addressing. These are how to mine deeper and particularly make advances in safety and productivity. At the moment, conventional SA deep-level mining uses hand-held drills to bore holes into the rock for the insertion of explosives. Also, the necessity of making tunnels wide enough to accommodate people and equipment causes significant dilution of grade, sometimes halving it, or worse. About 40% of an ore body has to be left behind as safety pillars to reduce seismic risks. The TIC is investigating mechanical rock-breaking techniques called continuous reef boring, which would be considerably safer and more efficient than hand-held drilling. It is looking at ways of improving extractio...

-- a _kt75 | reprint     Tweet In recent years the electronics industry has gained notoriety for creating an endless stream of disposable products that make their way at life's end to developing countries, where poor people without safety gear cut and burn out valuable materials, spilling contaminants into their water, air, and lungs. Solar modules contain some of the same potentially dangerous materials as electronics, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium, and sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. So as solar moves from the fringe to the mainstream, insiders and watchdog groups are beginning to talk about producer responsibility and recycling in an attempt to sidestep the pitfalls of electronic waste and retain the industry's green credibility. Solar modules have an expected lifespan of at least 20 years so most have not yet reached the end of their useful lives. But now, before a significant number of dead panels pile up, is the perfect t...