Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The largest wind power project in China is to be developed in the Turpan Basin in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Huadian Corporation will invest US$1.87 billion in two million kilowatts of capacity. China's Law on Renewable Energy came into force on January 1st 2006 and emphasizes the development and use of solar energy and wind power. It includes a national renewable energy requirement that should increase the role of renewable energy to up to 10 per cent of total energy consumption by the year 2020. "China could and should be a world leader in renewable energy development," commented Yu Jie, Greenpeace energy policy advisor, when the law was passed last year.

Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority is giving 15 small wind turbine systems to municipalities, public authorities or schools to publicize the role of this technology in meeting energy needs. According to Pennsylvania governor Edward G Rendell, "by placing these windmills where many people can see them, Pennsylvanians will be able to learn about and experience alternative energy as part of their daily lives." Successful applicants will receive a Southwest Windpower small-scale wind system and basic installation at no charge, though they will have to pay a fee to connect to the grid and they must provide public outreach and education.

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• Xinhua
• Forbes
• Renewable Energy Access

• Yahoo
• Program details, PEDA

A two-day meeting on desertification, hunger and poverty was held in Geneva, Switzerland, April 11-12th 2006. The aim was to find new ways of combating desertification. "The issue of desertification has largely been ignored by the international community. There is a lack of interest and a lack of support," said Liliane Ortega of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the national representative to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. "The problem is that many poor countries don't have the means to fight desertification and the situation, because of human and climatic reasons, is getting worse and worse. It's not an issue – unlike climate change or biodiversity – in which the economic world is very interested," she continued.

The participants concluded that, alongside more foreign aid, there was a need for mobilization at the political level and from the countries affected. "It was not just a question of trying to find more money, but that there can be a partnership between the West and the developing world... that [the affected countries] have to act themselves but with the support of the West," commented Ortega. The meeting was a contribution to the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.

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Background

• Swissinfo
• Swissinfo

• International Year of Deserts and Desertification

Climate change could cause the extinction of tens of thousands of species over coming decades, according to a recent study. The researchers predict a substantial thinning out of biodiversity in hotspots such as the Caribbean basin. These hotspots are "the crown jewels of the planet's biodiversity," said lead author Jay Malcolm of the University of Toronto. Around 40 per cent of the species in these areas could disappear as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere double.

The study concludes that the tropical Andes, the Cape Floristic region (on the tip of South Africa), southwest Australia, and the Atlantic forests of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina are particularly vulnerable. Species in many of these regions have few avenues for escape. These hotspots "are essentially refugee camps for many of our planet's most unique plant and animals species," according to Lee Hannah of Conservation International. "If those areas are no longer habitable due to global warming, then we will ... be destroying the last sanctuaries many of these species have left.".

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• canada.com
• New Zealand Herald

• Reuters