Climbing to Greater Heights & Cleaning Up in the Himalayas

Apa Sherpa, 51, who has climbed Everest a record 20 times, is leading the Eco Everest Expedition 2011, which aims to collect four tonnes of garbage under a “Cash for Trash” programme funded by a private trekking company. And the Kasmiri Times reports on the state of the Himalayas:  “this planet is already under threat from an alarming rise in greenhouse gas emissions. There has been large-scale deforestation on the Himalayas where both locals and adventurers have been using trees as firewood.

AFP report (7 April 2011):

KATHMANDU — A top Nepalese mountaineer who holds the record for the number of successful summits of Everest left for another attempt on Wednesday on a mission to clean garbage from the world’s highest peak.

Apa Sherpa, 51, who has climbed the mountain a record 20 times, is leading the Eco Everest Expedition 2011, which aims to collect four tonnes of garbage under a “Cash for Trash” programme funded by a private trekking company.

A team of 58 people, including 23 foreigners, will take part, earning 100 rupees ($1.40) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) of garbage brought to the basecamp. Empty oxygen bottles, ropes and tents are the most frequently discarded items.

“If my ascent would promote the cause and help protect the mountain, I am always ready to climb,” the man nicknamed “Super Sherpa” told AFP before his flight to the Everest region.

Apa, who completed his first Everest summit in 1990, started his mountaineering career as a porter in his early teens.

He said the latest expedition would seek to set an example of how to climb in an eco-friendly manner.

“We will not use fossil fuel. We will cook using solar-enabled cookers and drink sterilised water instead of boiling it,” he said.

Around 3,000 people have climbed the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) Himalayan peak, which straddles Nepal and China, since it was first conquered by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Japanese climber Ken Noguchi will also take part in the cleaning mission. He hopes to bring down another tonne of garbage, taking the total collection to five tonnes.

This climbing season, which runs from spring to the summer monsoon, will also see a diverse group of Nepalese civil servants scale the mountain in a bid to raise awareness about climate change.

Source: www.google.com

Saving the Himalayas

Tushar Charan in Kasmiri Herald on line (9 April 2011):

For the devout Hindus and Buddhists the Himalayas are the abode of gods; others see them as a snow-white mountain range of pristine beauty. The Himalayas also serve as the life line for the people in India, China and other countries in the region because the glaciers there are the largest store of water after the polar ace caps, feeding seven major rivers – the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong, Thamlwin, Yangtze and Yellow River. But in recent years, the Himalayas, famous for the highest peak in the world (Everest), have also earned a dubious reputation: the highest garbage ground on planet Earth.

This planet is already under threat from an alarming rise in greenhouse gas emissions. There has been large-scale deforestation on the Himalayas where both locals and ‘adventurer” have been using trees as firewood. When Everest was first conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953 they had left their used equipment on the slope of the Everest. But those were the days when conservation was hardly treated as a serious issue.

In fact, today Sir Edmund is one of the biggest champions of cleaning the Himalayas and he has shown it not by words but with his deeds and action. Another notable mountaineer, Sir Chris Bonnington laments that the Himalayan ecology is being ruined by the litter.

According to the WWF, the Himalayan glaciers are melting fast. As a result countries like India, China and Nepal could expect to live through a cycle of floods followed by drought – both sources of untold miseries to people in a vast region. It is believed that the Himalayan glaciers are retreating at the rate of 10-15 metres (33-49 feet) a year. The Gangotri glacier, source for the Ganga, is receding at the rate of 23 metres (75 feet) a year. Environmentalists warn that by 2025, the temperature on Earth could rise by 2 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era level: a signal for trouble.

A concerned United Nations is setting up a task force that will investigate effects of climate change on the Himalayan (and other similarly threatened) region. Climate change in regions like the Himalayas poses danger to nature and national and cultural heritage. The governments of member countries of the UN will be reminded of their legal obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, though with the world’s most powerful country taking a defiant attitude towards controlling gas emissions the success of the UN mandate may be doubted.

The international community, however, is greatly worried about preserving the ecology of the Himalayas. The Sagarmatah (Nepalese name for Everest) National Park in Nepal has been put on the world heritage danger list. The question of saving the Himalayas has become a matter of uttermost importance. And appropriately enough, some of the leading mountaineers, many of whom had made it to the highest peak in the world, are now actively associating themselves with save Himalayas campaign

The task is immense. Scaling Everest was once considered the most difficult climb. In the first 30 years since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay set foot on Everest, 150 climbers had achieved the mountaineers feat of pride: reaching Everest. In 2001, the same number of mountaineers (150) completed the Everest expedition over a period of three days. Since then there has been a big rush apparently.

Everest has now been “conquered” by about 2250 people and the number is multiplying fast. Today, it would appear the Himalayan climb has begun to resemble a “mela” (a Sanskrit word meaning ‘gathering’). Of the hundreds or thousands who attempt the Himalayan peaks every year many return after leaving their unused oxygen bottles, food packages and tents to make their descent lighter. But the Himalayas are not like a street cleaned by scavengers. Consider how the “mela” takes place.

Early this summer, 45 people had reached the Everest peak on one day. And some of them were not just scaling the highest peak; they were doing other things that brought them mention in record books. One mountaineering couple tied the nuptials knot on Everest. A helicopter pilot landed on the summit with his flying machine. There is always a competition these days on racing through the climb in less than a day; youngsters in their teens have been reaching the peak. Some of the more brash ones attempt to do the to- and fro-Everest run without the help of oxygen.

The Himalayas have become a big tourist magnet. Last year, nearly 400,000 visitors had arrived there. (The number may be less this year, not for lack of enthusiasm among people but because of the political uncertainty in Nepal). People pay up to $65000 for a guided “tour” of Everest. It is not uncommon to see the Base Camp for an Everest expedition crowded with 1000 people. To accommodate that number hundreds of tents are pitched, as are places for food and drink and other necessities. The garbage left after the consumption of items makes a small mountain of its own.

Luckily, the authorities in Nepal are quite alive to the problem posed by “Himalayan tourism”. The government allows an expedition only after it has paid a deposit, which is returned only after the team members have brought back their litter. Porters who accompany expeditions are offered incentives for filling their empty bags with mountain litter. People are now more conscious about garbage and try not to leave it on the Himalayas. A cleaner Himalayan area will perhaps bring more tourists who, after all, do contribute to the local economy. Tourism helps business and creates jobs; just what Nepal needs most.

The clean up efforts in the Himalayas are said to be making an impact. The Royal Nepalese government has been persuading climbers–with some success– to use metal containers and utensils which can be brought down rather than crushed and left as the plastic or glass ones are. But the “guilty” persons are actually the large number of Himalayan tourists, not the serious climbers. Clearly there can be no let up in maintaining vigilance against spreading garbage on the “roof” of the world for the sake of survival of over two billion people.

Source: www.kashmirherald.com

Singapore, Europe, Japanese & China Takes Wind Out of US Sales

 Despite the fact that US$80 billion dollars was allocated towards stimulating the renewable energy sector in last year’s stimulus bill….manufacturing of wind turbine parts is dismally low. Japanese, Chinese and European companies are investing more vigorously in wind projects than US companies are. But Spanish wind technology leader Gamesa has opened its advanced materials research centre in Singapore, at the Nanyang Technological University to focus on improving the performance of giant wind turbines.

By Brian Merchant in Treehugger, (1 April 2011):

Despite the fact that US$80 billion dollars was allocated towards stimulating the US renewable energy sector in last year’s stimulus bill, mere millions have been directed towards wind projects. Stateside manufacturing of wind turbine parts is dismally low. And, most strikingly of all, it appears that Japanese, Chinese, and European companies are investing more vigorously in wind projects on American soil than American companies are. As a result, it seems that the US is fast losing an opportunity to become a leader in an industry that may come to define coming decades–and losing jobs and wealth in the process.

A recent article by energy research analyst Shaun Randol of Global Association of Risk Professionals, a risk management firm, details the lack of domestic investment in American wind power. There are deemed to be three primary factors leading to the lending malaise on wind power: “frozen credit lines, regulatory and legislative uncertainty, and risk aversion to new projects. Each, though seeming to be relatively obvious, is pretty accurate.

Frozen Credit, Frozen Wind Projects

This one applies across the board: small business are having trouble getting loans right now (not exactly a news flash), and wind power companies are no exception. But Randol points out that while American banks and investment firms are keeping their pocketbooks sealed, foreign ones are jumping at the opportunity to get in on the ground floor:

Billions of investment dollars are floating around, yet someone like Tom Carnahan of Missouri could not get a single American bank to invest in his $240 million, 150-megawatt wind farm project. Instead, European and Japanese banks stepped up to the plate. In October, Renewable Energy Group and Cielo Wind Power announced a joint venture agreement with the Chinese Shenyang Power Group to construct a 600 megawatt wind farm in Texas. On November 6th, AES Corporation announced that China Investment Corporation (CIC) was purchasing a fifteen percent stake in the company for $1.58 billion.

All this amounts to the fact that some 84% of $1 billion US energy grants have gone to foreign companies–because they’re the ones actually getting the ball rolling.

While this is a good thing in that it means more net wind power projects in the region, the US economy would benefit from the jobs and revenue such projects create. Jobs in the US wind power sector jumped from 35K to 85K between 2007 and 2008, showing the capacity for rapid expansion is there. And Iberdrola SA, the Spanish wind power firm that’s one of the largest investors in US wind, employs only 800 people in the US.

Low investment in US wind power means the US manufactures fewer of its wind turbine parts domestically, which means fewer jobs created in the US. See the graph above. It should be pretty clear by now that we’re losing out on an important opportunity to create jobs, stimulate innovation, and become more active in the burgeoning industry. But to do so, we’re going to need more support from stimulus funding, and more cooperation from the banks.

Wind power, one part of a multifaceted energy generation future, shows no sign of slowing down–indeed the sector is growing rapidly. Illiquidity, unfortunately, is putting the brakes on its promising future. Despite the known risks (below), banks should ease up and start doling out cash for these hungry wind projects.

Source: www.treehugger.com

By Qiuyi Tan on Channel News Asia (7 April 2011):

SINGAPORE : Spanish wind technology leader Gamesa has opened its advanced materials research centre in Singapore.

The lab is housed at the Nanyang Technological University and will focus on improving the performance of Gamesa’s giant wind turbines.

Wind energy is not harnessed in Singapore, but the Economic Development Board said this research lab will put the Republic on the map for global wind energy research.

While the future of nuclear energy is now uncertain, Gamesa sees wind energy gaining space in the renewable energy portfolios of many countries.

This includes Asia, which represents 38 per cent of Gamesa’s global sales today.

Jorge Calvet, chairman and CEO of Gamesa, said: “India is going to increase its investment in wind. China will continue with its very aggressive plan of investing in wind and we will see other countries in Southeast Asia coming on line with wind energy as well.

“It will not substitute any other form of renewable energy, or any other form of energy, but it will have to increase its percentage in this portfolio.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

It’s a Gas & it’s Going to Waste

A GE study, “Flare Gas Reduction: Recent Global Trends and Policy Considerations” estimates that 5% of the world’s natural gas production is wasted by burning or “flaring” unused gas each year—an amount equivalent to 30% of consumption in the European Union and 23% in the United States. But with greater global attention and concerted effort—including partnerships, sound policy and innovative technologies—large-scale gas flaring could be largely eliminated in as little as five years. It’s a win-win outcome, says GE.

GE Reports (4 April 2011):

GE today released a study, Flare Gas Reduction: Recent Global Trends and Policy Considerations, which estimates that 5 percent of the world’s natural gas production is wasted by burning or “flaring” unused gas each year—an amount equivalent to 30 percent of consumption in the European Union and 23 percent in the United States.

Gas flaring emits 400 million metric tons of CO2 annually, the same as 77 million automobiles, without producing useful heat or electricity. Worldwide, billions of cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas are wasted annually, typically as a by-product of oil extraction.

The study finds that the technologies required for a solution exist today. Depending on region, these may include power generation, gas re-injection (for enhanced oil recovery, gathering and processing), pipeline development and distributed energy solutions. Nearly $20 billion in wasted natural gas could be used to generate reliable, affordable electricity and yield billions of dollars per year in increased global economic output.

“Power generation, gas-reinjection and distributed energy solutions are available today and can eliminate the wasteful practice of burning unused gas. This fuel can be used to generate affordable electricity for the world’s homes and factories,” said Michael Farina, program manager at GE Energy and author of the white paper.

“With greater global attention and concerted effort—including partnerships, sound policy and innovative technologies—large-scale gas flaring could be largely eliminated in as little as five years. It’s a win-win outcome,” continued Farina.

The report provides a region-by-region analysis of gas flaring trends, including:

•           Within the Russian Federation, by some measures the world’s largest source of flare gas emissions, as much as 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas produced is wasted annually. If half of this flare gas (25 bcm per year) was captured and sold at prevailing domestic prices in Russia, the economic opportunity may exceed $2 billion U.S. dollars (65 billion rubles). A significant portion of this waste could be avoided with modest policy efforts and greater emphasis on investments in power generation and gas processing technologies.

•           Although Nigeria has reduced flare gas emissions by 28 percent from 2000 levels, the country’s oil industry still wastes 15bcm of natural gas every year. While nearly half of the population has no access to electricity, the country spends nearly $13 billion per year on diesel-powered generation and perhaps 10GW of potential electricity is flared away. Successful capture and flare gas utilization could potentially triple per capita electricity consumption for this nation of 155 million people.

•           Elsewhere in West Africa, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo and Cameroon collectively waste about 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year.

•           Low natural gas prices and higher costs related to capturing flare gas in the Middle East inadvertently encourage the wasteful burning of unused gas.

“Making better use of vented and flared gas is a tremendous opportunity. It will help slow global warming while also saving scarce natural resources. While this issue has been on the radar screen for some time, many countries still waste massive amounts of gas through flaring and venting,” said David Victor, director of the Laboratory on International Law & Regulation at the University of California San Diego.

The study highlights the following recommendations to reduce gas flaring:

Strengthen International Commitments

The next phase of flare gas eradication requires a coordinated effort from central and regional governments, oil and gas producers, technology providers and the international community. These efforts must include both proper punitive actions and incentives to encourage investment.

Advance Local Solutions

Local efforts are critical to flare gas reduction. Governments, producers and technology providers across the globe must cooperate to:

•           Communicate the value of gas, including greater efficiency;

•           Highlight the financial benefits associated with gas flaring reduction;

•           Secure local government support for monitoring and enforcing flaring regulations; and

•           Build capacity that helps local investors and contractors develop, operate and service distributed power generation.

Expand Access to Financing

Local efforts require capital support, including investments in pipeline, processing and storage, which make it economically efficient to gather and utilize flare gas. Various forms of credit enhancement, including partial risk guarantees, are one option to support investment while policy reforms are underway. Targeted technology funds and carbon partnerships also can facilitate projects, along with carbon financing and expanded eligibility for flare gas reduction within the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) is an advanced technology, services and finance company taking on the world’s toughest challenges. Dedicated to innovation in energy, health, transportation and infrastructure, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com.

GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With more than 90,000 global employees and 2010 revenues of $38 billion, GE Energy www.ge.com/energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy—GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas—work together to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.

Source: www.genewscenter.com

Governments Under Carbon War Room Spotlight

British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, co-founder of the Carbon War Room, announced  (not on April Fool’s Day!) new awards for the best and worst performing countries on climate change action. The Carbon War Room, a non-profit organisation that promotes business solutions to climate change, is adding the new awards to its existing, high-profile Gigaton Awards to spur government action. 

By Jenny Marusiakin eco-bsiness.com (1 April 2011)

British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, co-founder of the Carbon War Room, announced on Wednesday (not on April Fool’s Day!) new awards for the best and worst performing countries on climate change action.

The Carbon War Room, a non-profit organisation that promotes business solutions to climate change, is adding the new awards to its existing, high-profile Gigaton Awards to spur government action. 

Gigaton Awards are given annually to companies who deliver the best measurable results on reduction of carbon emissions through energy efficiency and best sustainability practices within their industry. The goal is to challenge entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers to take bold, innovative steps to stabilize the climate.

Sir Branson’s announcement extended that challenge to national governments.

“Businesses have to fulfill their promises. When they do they inspire others, but when they don’t they stifle growth. In this way, countries are no different,” said Sir Branson.

The top country award will be presented to the country deemed to have made the most progress in setting and acting on carbon emission targets, and on implementing policies that encourage businesses to take carbon reduction measures.

Aimed at exposing the worst performing countries, the “Melting Glacier Award” will go to the country that has made the least headway in implementing effective carbon reduction policies.

The awards are similar to those handed out by NGO Climate Action Network (CAN) at the annual UN climate change summits to countries who perform worst during each day’s negotiations at UN climate change conferences.

Started in 1999 in Germany,  ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards are determined by CAN at the end of each day’s talks and presented by local activists at ‘winning’ embassies in capital cities around the world.

Chief executive of Carbon War Room Jigar Shah said, “This new category sends a clear message to the world’s leaders that there does not have to be a trade-off between the economy and the environment. Citizens and businesses cannot reap the benefits of climate wealth unless the right conditions are created.”

This year’s Gigaton Awards ceremony will take place on December 3rd at the World Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa and will coincide with the United Nations climate change summit.

The World Climate Summit, a forum that brings together businesses, policy-makers and financial experts to improve actions on climate change, is working with Carbon War Room to produce the awards. The World Climate Summit is organised by UK-registered company World Climate Ltd.

Winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges, comprised of business and civic leaders, according to both quantitative and qualitative criteria.

The first Gigaton Awards were presented during the United Nations talks on climate change held in Cancun in December. Six awards were given to companies from across six different sectors. Recipients included Suzlon, 3M and Nike. 

Until now, Gigaton Awards were given only to corporations. This year marks the first year that countries will be selected.

The encouragement for countries on climate policy is timely. In December, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), released a statement urging national leaders to follow through with promises regarding climate change policies.

“In Cancún, governments renewed their trust in each other, but to succeed fully they need to press boldly ahead with what they have agreed. Implementation is the most effective avenue to harness the support of business and civil society, both of which are critical,” said Ms. Figueres.

Carbon War Room chief executive Jigar Shah told Eco-Business that given the uncertainties around oil and commodity prices, there is a real benefit to Asian economies to pursue gigaton scale reductions through energy efficiency, energy diversification, and proper management of forests.

He added that those reductions are difficult to implement because the current process around deploying infrastructure favor familiar technologies over the most cost effective technologies.

Countries that successfully overcome this barrier through innovative policy can serve as a positive example to Asian governments. “The Gigaton awards will highlight countries that have mined this potential for the betterment of their economies,” he said.

Source: www.eco-business.com

Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room, a non-profit organization that harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change, The Gigaton Throwdown, and the World Climate Summit today announced that the 2011 Gigaton Awards will go deeper than business evaluations to include a country specific category.

In just its second year, the Gigaton Awards expands its arena by not only recognizing pioneering companies that inspire gigaton change through their delivery in carbon reduction, but by also celebrating the best and exposing the worst countries—based on actual progress against promises and baselines as well as progressive business policies.

“Although this will be a fun event, there is definitely a serious side to it,” said Sir Richard Branson, Co-Founder of the Carbon War Room.  “Businesses have to fulfill their promises. When they do they inspire others, but when they don’t they stifle growth. In this way, countries are no different.”

Winners will be selected by an independent Academy, comprised of business and civic leaders, according to both quantitative and qualitative criteria. The Academy will select a winner for the country that has made the best overall progress in both reducing carbon emissions and using policy to stimulate the right conditions for business to create climate wealth. The country with the least progress, however, will be awarded the “Melting Glacier Award”.

“This new category sends a clear message to the world’s leaders that there does not have to be a trade-off between the economy and the environment. Citizens and businesses cannot reap the benefits of climate wealth unless the right conditions are created.” said Jigar Shah, CEO of Carbon War Room.

The 2011 Gigaton Awards ceremony will take place during the United Nations Climate Summit in South Africa on December 3 at the World Climate Summit, Southern Sun Hotel Elangeni, Durban.

Last year the Awards recognized individual companies across six major sectors for their leadership in emissions reductions and sustainable practices.  A pool of 28 nominees across six major sectors was selected based on quantitative data indicating emissions reductions on an annual basis. The six sectors included consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, industrials, telecommunications and utilities. The 2010 Gigaton Award winners included:

◦NIKE for its energy savings program aimed at reducing its global greenhouse gas emissions,

◦Reckitt Benckiser Group for demonstrating its leadership in mitigating risk from climate change and sustainable practices,

◦Suzlon for its achievement in managing its emissions and overall sustainability milestones,

◦3M for its leadership in improving energy efficiency and sustainable practices,

◦Vodafone Group for its new business which provides carbon reducing connections, and

◦GDF Suez for its demonstrated leadership by emitting among the lowest CO2 per KWh produced in Europe.

The Awards are based on the Gigaton Throwdown project, launched in 2007, at the Clinton Global Initiative by Sunil Paul. The project encourages entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers to grow companies that stabilize the climate.

About the Carbon War Room

The Carbon War Room harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change. The War Room’s unique approach focuses on bringing together successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, policy experts, researchers, and thought leaders to focus on market-driven solutions. For more information, visit http://www.carbonwarroom.co

About World Climate Summit

The World Climate Summit is a new, open and collaborative framework for business, finance and government leaders to accelerate solutions to climate change until 2020. It is a global platform facilitating large-scale collaboration between businesses, financiers, philanthropists and governments on regional, national and global solutions to climate change. This annual summit will run in parallel to the UNFCCC, with the inaugural one at COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico. For more information, visit www.wclimate.com

About the Gigaton Throwdown Initiative

The Gigaton Throwdown Initiative inspires companies, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors to think big about solutions to the climate crisis.  Founded by Sunil Paul in 2007, it sponsors research and awards to educate and inspire the private sector to achieve climate stability.  For more information visit www.gigatonthrowdown.org

BMW’s Mini E UK field trials programme which involved two groups of forty drivers  in “real world” use of adapted battery-powered versions of the Mini, raised one of the biggest challenges faced by car manufacturers hoping to sell lots of EVs; how to reshape sometimes mistaken preconceptions about battery-powered cars held by potential buyers -  range and performance. And a CNN Money report shows that charging electric cars will be a vital part of the consumer experience, and the auto industry knows making the experience as easy as possible is crucial to the cars’ success.

By David Wilkins in the Independent (18 March 2011):

BMW’s Mini E UK field trials programme which began in December 2009, has ended. Two groups of forty drivers took part in the trials, which involved “real world” use of adapted battery-powered versions of the Mini.

The Mini E is a research vehicle, based on an existing car originally designed to take a combustion engine, rather than being designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle (EV), but BMW believes it has been able to gather useful information on the likely future use of battery-powered cars. A full assessment will be completed later on, but the company’s analysis of early feedback shows that those who took part were fairly typical of drivers in general in terms of their daily mileage and other aspects of their car use.

Perhaps the most interesting findings concern the subject of range. So-called “range anxiety” is widely perceived to be one of the biggest obstacles to the widespread adoption of EVs; a recent survey of European consumers by the consulting firm Deloitte highlighted the limited distance EVs could cover between top-ups from the grid as an important issue, and participants in the trial also expected difficulties with range and the lack of recharging facilities away from their home base before they had experience of driving the Mini E. But once the test drivers had experience of the car in daily use, few of them actually had any problems in practice. Although they wanted more public charging points, most said they’d been able to cope even in the absence of a comprehensive recharging infrastructure.

This points to one of the biggest challenges faced by car manufacturers hoping to sell lots of EVs; how to reshape sometimes mistaken preconceptions about battery-powered cars held by potential buyers. This is true not just of range but also of performance. Most people who actually get the chance to drive one of the latest electric cars are favourably impressed by their acceleration and refined behaviour, and this was borne out by feedback from BMW’s UK test group, although there were reports that the cars’ performance was affected by the very cold weather of December 2009 and January 2010.

One of the snags with the Mini E identified by trial participants, a need for more passenger and luggage space, should be easier to fix. While the Mini E has a big battery pack where the rear seat would be on a normal Mini, future plug-in BMWs such as the recently announced i3 will be designed from the ground up as EVs. That will make it much easier to arrange the packaging of the car in order to accommodate the batteries and electric drivetrain, and also to incorporate exotic weight-saving materials such as carbon fibre into the structure.

BMW also reports that “the BMW Group is trusted to provide a technically mature solution to the challenges presented by EVs.”. Perhaps an established badge will go a long way to reassuring sceptical buyers that electric cars really can work.

Source: www.independent.co.uk

By Steve Hargreaves, senior writer for CNN Money (6 April 2011):

Charging electric cars will be a vital part of the consumer experience, and the auto industry knows making the experience as easy as possible is crucial to the cars’ success.

In a bid to avoid the eight million different types of chargers available for mobile phones — and the resulting frustration among consumers — the industry is working hard to standardize plugs for new electric vehicles.

There are currently about seven different types of plugs and sockets worldwide for car charging, according to Tom Baloga, an executive at BMW — much better, he said, than the 20 or so there could have been.

“There has been a great collaboration among the industry to standardize as much as possible,” Baloga said during a roundtable discussion Tuesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Green conference.

The industry is also working on ways to make electric cars more friendly for city dwellers, who don’t often have the luxury of a garage and nearby electric outlet to plug in a vehicle.

Among the devices in the works are portable charging pedestals that could be anchored in parking lots or even on side streets.

The panel, which included executives from BMW, General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) and CODA, among others, debated the merits of charging company Better Place’s system.

Under Better Place’s model, consumers don’t buy the actual battery. Instead, they use service stations where the battery is swapped out in a matter on minutes, eliminating the charging process for the consumer all together.

Exotic cars for eco-millionaires

The panelists thought the concept will take off in certain places, notably Israel where the company’s founder is from, and among some fleet vehicles like taxis.

But they also felt building the infrastructure is expensive, and fast charging batteries could endanger its business model. 

Source: www.money.cnn.com

Lucky Last Word – Science of Communicating Science

Two scientists –one from the US and one from the UK – have called for a new “science of communicating science” to be deployed in order to deal with the fact that public concern over global warming has plunged in recent years, says this report from Lewis Page posted on The Register (UK) site.

We could have assumed this was an April Fools’ Day joke, but we read on and decided it was for real. It was based on a research paper published in Nature 29 March 2011 by Nick Pidgeon of the Understanding Risk Research Group, School of Psychology, Cardiff University and  Baruch Fischhoff of the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA.

A major challenge facing climate scientists is explaining to non-specialists the risks and uncertainties surrounding potential changes over the coming years, decades and centuries. Although there are many guidelines for climate communication, there is little empirical evidence of their efficacy, whether for dispassionately explaining the science or for persuading people to act in more sustainable ways.

With the aid of their special teams of advisers and decision scientists and communications experts, the climate scientists would avoid falling into obvious traps and perhaps alienating the very public they seek to win over. Read More

By Lewis Page Posted in Environment, The Register (1April 2011):

Trick-cyclists in Blighty and the USA have called for a new “science of communicating science” to be deployed in order to deal with the fact that public concern over global warming has plunged in recent years, says this report from Lewis Page posted on t in We could have assumed this was a April Fols’ Day joke, but we read on and decded it was for real.

This won’t do at all

“We need to move on from a sterile debate about whether global warming is happening or not,” says Professor Nick Pidgeon of Cardiff uni.

Pidgeon and his fellow psychologist Baruch Fischhoff (of Carnegie Mellon uni in the States) say that instead climate scientists should ally themselves with psychologists and others from the “social and decision sciences” so as to change the public’s mind and motivate global action.

The two trick-cyclists indicate that modern psychological methods could help mainstream climate scientists to be much more persuasive than they currently are. They write:

Recent advances in behavioural and decision science also tell us that emotion is an integral part of our thinking, perceptions and behaviour, and can be essential for making well-judged decisions … Emotion creates the abiding commitments needed to sustain action on difficult problems, such as climate change … appropriately framed emotional appeals can motivate action, given the right supporting conditions (in particular a sense of personal vulnerability, viable ways to act, feelings of personal control and the support of others).

In order to generate these emotions in the public, Fischhoff and Pidgeon suggest the creation of special cross-disciplinary teams comprised of “climate and other experts, decision scientists, social and communications specialists, and programme designers”. They write:

In this strategy, social and decision science research provides connections that scientists normally lack.

The two men suggest that these teams would be large and well-funded, along the lines of the RAND Corporation in the States. In the UK, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research would be a good basis to start from, but it would need to develop “a major focus on communication and decision-making research”.

With the aid of their special teams of advisers and decision scientists and communications experts, the climate scientists would avoid falling into obvious traps and perhaps alienating the very public they seek to win over.

Many climate scientists are understandably frustrated by the limited response to what they see as the greatest threat facing our planet. One impulsive response to a seemingly recalcitrant public is a big advertising campaign. However, unless founded on sound social and decision science principles and accompanied by rigorous empirical evaluation, such efforts have little chance of sustained success. Moreover, each communication failure makes future success less likely … Given the gravity and the complexity of climate-related decisions, we need a new model of science communication.

The proposed new “science of communicating science” would seem to have certain parallels with Isaac Asimov’s famous imaginary discipline “Psychohistory”, which in his books could be used to predict – and alter – the behaviour of large populations. Admittedly Psychohistory only worked on huge galactic civilisations, and then only if the people being manipulated for their own good were unaware that the science of Psychohistory existed – neither of which are the case here. But it’s interesting all the same.

You can read the would-be psychohistorians’ paper in full here, courtesy of Nature Climate Change. There’s also a statement with canned quotes from Cardiff uni here. Given what day it is, we should note that neither are datelined today. ®

Source: www.theregister.co.uk

A major challenge facing climate scientists is explaining to non-specialists the risks and uncertainties surrounding potential changes over the coming years, decades and centuries. Although there are many guidelines for climate communication, there is little empirical evidence of their efficacy, whether for dispassionately explaining the science or for persuading people to act in more sustainable ways. Moreover, climate communication faces new challenges as assessments of climate-related changes confront uncertainty more explicitly and adopt risk-based approaches to evaluating impacts. Given its critical importance, public understanding of climate science deserves the strongest possible communications science to convey the practical implications of large, complex, uncertain physical, biological and social processes. Here, we identify the communications science that is needed to meet this challenge and the ambitious, interdisciplinary initiative that its effective application to climate science requires.

Published Nature 29 March 2011

Understanding Risk Research Group, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK

Nick Pidgeon

Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA

Baruch Fischhoff

Source: www.nature.com

Editor’s Note: We have for some time been calling for improvements in the communicating science – and particularly climate change – and in the book “The ABC of Carbon” we did our best to demystify and desensitise the issues and the opportunities. But when you observe the tone of political debate in Australia and the US, as well as the noticeable resistance from many business for a carbon price, one can only wonder whether all the words from scientists and other knowledgeable sorts is getting through at all. But we will keep plugging away. We do believe the “pen is mightier than the sword” – or maybe a more up-to-date way of saying the same thing would be:  all modern means of communication will help make sure that truth will prevail and Government and business will be forced take appropriate action on climate change before we reach the tipping point! – Ken Hickson