HAPPY NEW YEAR 2005!!!!!

From: Christina Kraich-Rogers
Date: Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:33 pm
Subject: joint call for healing and peace

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
INDIGENOUS ELDERS' CALL:

This is a call for Global Four Directions Prayer for
Peace, a 24 hour effort to end the war and global violence. We are asking all the leaders and peacemakers to join us in this effort.

The start date will be 12 noon, December 31, starting in the Eastern time zones, and continuing through January 1.

On September 11, 2001, as a result of the tragedy, we were all one people and it is time for us to come back together with one heart, one mind, one prayer, one intention to create a more peaceful world for the generations to come and all our relations.

This activation comes as a request from some of the Four Directions Elders and Medicine People as communicated to Grace Smith Yellow Hammer.

We are requesting spiritual leaders all over the globe to call their people together in their sacred spaces so that all people, all colors, all directions are included in this effort.

With all the devastation of war and escalation of terror and environmental harm on the planet, it is obvious why we need to come together at this time.

For those of you who will understand this, there was recently a quarter moon in the morning with two stars within the crescent. This along with the recent Venus alignment, is a potent call for an activation because it signifies both danger and opportunity.

We hope you will be inspired to join us in this call. We are simply asking all people of all races, all faiths, all traditions to pray for peace and healing in whatever way is appropriate during this time and to remember that as we link with one heart, one mind, one intention we can heal the
world one step at a time.

May peace prevail on Earth,

Sincerely,

Grace Smith Yellow Hammer , Dineh [Navajo]
yhammer@cybertrails.com

Grandfather William Commanda, Annishinabe [Ojibway]
Keeper of the Seven Fires Prophecies Belt
www.circleofallnations.com

Grandfather Martin Gasheseoma
Traditional Hopi Elder

Chief Arvol Looking horse {Lakota]
www.wolakota.org

Venerable Bardor Tulku Rinpoche [Tibetan Buddhist]
Karma Triyana Dharmachakra
www.kagyu.org

Roberto Borrero, United Confederation of Taino People
mayohuacan@yahoo.com

Grandmother Sara Smith
Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan
Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Ontario Canada
nyaweh@sympatico.ca

Grandfather Henry Niese
Eagle Voice Center , North Carolina

Chief Tom Dostou, Waban-aki ( Eastern- Land)Aylnu, Bear
Clan, Midewin
tmpdostou@yahoo.com

Reverend Dr Dave Randle, Executive Director, The Whale
Center
whale@globalhealing.net

World Peace Prayer Society
www.worldpeace.org

Erma Pounds
Director, Arizona Karma Thegsum Choling (KTC) [Buddhist]

Reverend Charles Gibbs
United Religions Initiative
www.uri.org

Reverend Ilfra Halley
Center for the Living Earth
ilfra@wamc.org

Reverend Betsy Stang, Executive Director
The Wittenberg Center for Alternative Resources Inc
www.wittenbergcenter.com
bebird@aol.com

Elizabeth Stinson, Director Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma
County
Santa Rosa, California
http://www.peaceandjusticesonomaco.org/

Earth Policy News - Eco-Economy Indicator: Population

Eco-Economy Indicator – POPULATION GROWTH
Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2004
December 21, 2004

Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends that the Earth Policy
Institute tracks to measure progress in building an eco-economy. World
population growth is the focus of this fourth updated Eco-Economy
Indicator. As the global population grows and consumption increases, the
human ecological footprint expands. When assessing the adequacy of basic
resources such as land and water, population size is the universal
denominator, always shrinking per capita availability as it expands.

WORLD POPULATION GREW BY 76 MILLION PEOPLE IN 2004:
3 Million Added in the Industrial World and 73 Million in the Developing
World
Janet Larsen

During 2004, 133 million people were born and 57 million died, expanding
world population by 76 million. This excess of births over deaths was
concentrated in the developing countries, which added 73 million people
compared with only 3 million in the industrial countries. World
population, growing by 1.2 percent annually, is projected to reach 6.4
billion in 2005…

For entire text see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Pop/2004.htm
For data see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Pop/Pop_data.htm

For an index of Earth Policy Institute resources related to Population and
Health see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Pop/index.htm

And for more analysis regarding the growing world population, see Chapters
5, 6, and 10 of Lester Brown’s book, PLAN B: Rescuing a Planet Under
Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, at
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PlanB_contents.htm

Clarke survives devastation

AP

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lanka's best-known resident, science-fiction writer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke, said yesterday he and his family were safe, but regretted the lack of a warning system in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. Sunday's massive earthquake and tsunami killed at least 22,799 people in the South Asian nation and injured another 8,815, according to official tolls. Some 4,059 remained missing and nearly one million people were homeless.

"I am enormously relieved that my family and household have escaped the ravages of the sea that suddenly invaded most parts of coastal Sri Lanka, leaving a trail of destruction," said Clarke, the author of 2001: A. Space Odyssey.

Originally from Somerset, England, Clarke came to Sri Lanka, a small island country of 19 million people off India's southern tip, for underwater diving in 1954. Two years later he made the tropical island his home.

"There is much to be done in both short and long terms for Sri Lanka to raise its head from this blow from the seas," said Clarke in an e-mail to friends seen by The Associated Press.

"Among other things, the country needs to improve its technical and communications facilities so that effective early warnings can help minimize losses in future disasters."

Clarke, 87, said that in his first book on Sri Lanka, The Reefs of Taprobane written in 1957, there was a reference to a "tidal wave reaching the Galle harbour," although it was not part of the plot. Galle, in southern Sri Lanka, is the country's second-largest town. It was badly hit by Sunday's disaster.

Clarke predicted space travel before rockets were even tested and foretold computers wreaking havoc with modern life when modems and PCs were not household words.

His 2001: A. Space Odyssey, loved by dreamers and scientists since it appeared as a novel and a movie in 1968, was just one of scores of fiction and non-fiction works produced in a career that began in 1959. In 1997, he produced another bestseller with the sequel to 2001 - 3001: The Final Odyssey.

Clarke said Sunday's tsunami damaged a diving school he runs and his two beach bungalows, but he reported no personal human loss.

"Many others were not so fortunate," he said.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Entertainment/2004/12/31/802764-sun.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Earth Policy News - The Soybean Factor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2004

The following is a section from Chapter 3, Moving Up the Food Chain
Efficiently, from "Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an
Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures" by Lester R. Brown,
which will be published February 3, 2005.

For a complete Table of Contents
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm

THE SOYBEAN FACTOR
When we think of soybeans in our daily diet, it is typically as tofu,
veggie burgers, or other meat substitutes. But most of the world's
fast-growing soybean harvest is consumed indirectly in the beef, pork,
poultry, milk, eggs, and farmed fish that we eat. Although not a visible
part of our diets, the incorporation of soybean meal into feed rations has
revolutionized the world feed industry, greatly increasing the efficiency
with which grain is converted into animal protein.

In 2004, the world's farmers produced 223 million tons of soybeans, 1 ton
for every 9 tons of grain they produced. Of this, some 15 million tons
were consumed as tofu or meat substitutes. The remaining 208 million tons
were crushed in order to extract 33 million tons of soybean oil,
separating it from the more highly valued meal. Soybean oil dominates the
world vegetable oil economy, supplying much of the oil used for cooking
and to dress salads. Soybean oil production exceeds that of all the other
table oils combined--olive, safflower, canola, sunflower, and palm oil.

The 143 million tons of soybean meal that remains after the oil is
extracted is fed to cattle, pigs, chicken, and fish, enriching their diets
with high-quality protein. Experience in feeding shows that combining
soybean meal with grain, in roughly one part meal to four parts grain,
dramatically boosts the efficiency with which grain is converted into
animal protein, sometimes nearly doubling it.

The world's three largest meat producers--China, the United States, and
Brazil--now all rely heavily on soybean meal as a protein supplement in
feed rations. The United States has long used soybean meal to upgrade
livestock and poultry feed. As early as 1964, 8 percent of feed rations
consisted of soybean meal. Over most of the last decade, the meal content
of U.S. feeds has fluctuated between 17 and 19 percent.

For Brazil, the shift to soybean meal as a protein supplement began in the
late 1980s. From 1986 to 1997, the soymeal share of feed rations jumped
from 2 percent to 21 percent. In China, the realization that feed use
efficiency could be dramatically boosted with soymeal was translated into
reality some six years later. Between 1991 and 2002, the soymeal component
of feed jumped from 2 percent to 20 percent. For fish, whose protein
demands are particularly high, China incorporated some 5 million tons of
soymeal into the 16 million tons of grain-based fish feed used in 2003.

The experience of these three countries simply indicates that the same
principles of animal nutrition apply everywhere. The ratio of soybean meal
to corn in the feed mix varies somewhat according to the price
relationship between the two. Where corn is cheap, as in the United
States, the corn share of the feed mix tends to be slightly higher. In
Brazil, which has an economic advantage in soybean production, the soy
component is higher.

As world grain production was tripling from 1950 to 2004, soybean
production was expanding thirteenfold. The growth in this protein source,
most of it consumed indirectly in various animal products, is a surrogate
for rising affluence, one that measures movement up the food chain.

The soybean was domesticated in central China some 5,000 years ago and
made its way to the United States in 1804, when Thomas Jefferson was
President. For a century and a half the soybean was grown mostly as a
curiosity crop in home gardens. Most farmers outside of China did not even
know what a soybean looked like. But after World War II, production
exploded as the consumption of livestock and poultry products climbed in
North America and Europe.

By 1978, the area planted to soybeans in the United States had eclipsed
that planted to wheat. In some recent years, the U.S. harvested area of
soybeans has exceeded that of corn, making it the country's most widely
planted crop. In the United States, where soybean production is now five
times that in China, the soybean has found an ecological and economic
niche far larger than in its country of origin.

U.S. soybeans are grown mostly in the Corn Belt, often in rotation with
corn. The soybean, a nitrogen-fixing legume, and corn, which has a
ravenous appetite for nitrogen, fit together nicely on the same piece of
land in alternate years. In fact, if the Corn Belt were being named today,
it would be called the Corn/Soybean Belt.

Another chapter in the soybean saga has been unfolding over the past three
decades in Latin America. After the collapse in 1972 of the Peruvian
anchovy fishery--which accounted for a fifth of the world fish catch and
supplied much of the protein meal used in livestock and poultry foods at
that time--some countries in Latin America saw an opportunity to produce
soybeans. As a result, both Brazil and Argentina began to expand soybean
production, slowly at first and then, during the 1990s, at breakneck
speed. As of 2004, soybean production exceeds that of all grains combined
in both countries. Brazil now exports more soybeans than the United States
does. And within the next few years Brazil is likely to overtake the
United States in production as well.

While production was increasing thirteenfold over the last half-century,
soybean yields have almost tripled, which means that the area in soybeans
has increased some fourfold. In contrast to grains, where the growth in
output has come largely from raising yields, growth in the harvest of the
land-hungry soybean has come more from area expansion.

As a result, in a world with limited cropland resources, the soybean has
been expanding partly at the expense of grain. Nonetheless, this expansion
so greatly increases the efficiency of grain used for feed that it reduces
the cropland area used to produce feedgrains and soybeans together.

# # #

Lester R. Brown is President and Founder of the Earth Policy Institute, a
nonprofit environmental research organization focused on providing a
vision of an environmentally sustainable economy--an eco-economy--and a
road map of how to get from here to there.

For more on OUTGROWING THE EARTH:
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm

Order your copy today and get free shipping (U.S. and Canada only)
or call (202).496-9290 x 13

Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste 403
Washington, DC 20036
T: (202) 496.9290
F: (202) 496.9325

Books will be shipped in mid-January.

Earth Policy News - Eco-Economy Indicator: Temperature Rising

Eco-Economy Indicator – TEMPERATURE RISING
Copyright Earth Policy Institute 2004
December 9, 2004

Eco-Economy Indicators are the twelve trends to track that measure
progress—or lack thereof—in building an eco-economy. This third updated
Eco-Economy Indicator is on global temperature.

GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISE ACCELERATING
Lila Buckley

October 2004 was the warmest October since recordkeeping began in 1880.
February was the second hottest and March the third hottest on record. The
average global temperature for the first 10 months of the year—14.57
degrees Celsius (26.22 degrees Fahrenheit)—makes 2004 the fourth warmest
year on record. These record-breaking readings, which come from the global
series maintained by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, continue
a trend of rising global temperatures.

For entire text see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Temp/2004.htm
For data see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Temp/Temp_data.htm

And for more information on the effects of rising temperature, see Chapter
4 of Lester Brown’s book, PLAN B: Rescuing a Planet
Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, posted at
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PlanB_contents.htm

For an index of Earth Policy Institute resources related to Temperature
and Climate see http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Temp/index.htm

Earth Policy News - OUTGROWING THE EARTH (Book)


Coming this February …

OUTGROWING THE EARTH: THE FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGE IN AN AGE OF FALLING
WATER TABLES AND RISING TEMPERATURES by Lester R. Brown (W.W. Norton &
Co.)
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm

Order your copy today and get free shipping (U.S. and Canada only) or call
202.496.9290 x 13.

Preface from Outgrowing the Earth:

On hearing his political opponent described as a modest chap, Winston
Churchill reputedly responded that “he has much to be modest about.”
Having just completed a book dealing with the increasingly complex issue
of world food security, I too feel that I have a lot to be modest about.

Assessing the world food prospect was once rather straightforward, largely
a matter of extrapolating, with minor adjustments, historically recent
agricultural supply and demand trends. Now suddenly that is all changing.
It is no longer just a matter of trends slowing or accelerating; in some
cases they are reversing direction.

Grain harvests that were once rising everywhere are now falling in some
countries. Fish catches that were once rising are now falling. Irrigated
area, once expanding almost everywhere, is now shrinking in some key
food-producing regions.

Beyond this, some of the measures that are used to expand food production
today, such as overpumping aquifers, almost guarantee a decline in food
production tomorrow when the aquifers are depleted and the wells go dry.
The same can be said for overplowing and overgrazing. We have entered an
era of discontinuity on the food front, an era where making reliable
projections is ever more difficult.

New research shows that a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to a
decline in wheat, rice, and corn yields of 10 percent. In a century where
temperatures could rise by several degrees Celsius, harvests could be
devastated.

Although climate change is widely discussed, we are slow to grasp its full
meaning. Everyone knows the earth’s temperature is rising, but commodity
analysts often condition their projections on weather returning to
“normal,” failing to realize that with climate now in flux, there is no
normal to return to.

Falling water tables are also undermining food security. Water tables are
now falling in countries that contain more than half the world’s people.
While there is a broad realization that we are facing a future of water
shortages, not everyone has connected the dots to see that a future of
water shortages will be a future of food shortages.

Perhaps the biggest agricultural reversal in recent times has been the
precipitous decline in China’s grain production since 1998. Ten years ago,
in Who Will Feed China?, I projected that China’s grain production would
soon peak and begin to decline. But I did not anticipate that it would
drop by 50 million tons between 1998 and 2004. Since 1998 China has
covered this decline by drawing down its once massive stocks of grain. Now
stocks are largely depleted and China is turning to the world market. Its
purchase of 8 million tons of wheat to import in 2004 could signal the
beginning of a shift from a world food economy dominated by surpluses to
one dominated by scarcity.

Overnight, China has become the world’s largest wheat importer. Yet it
will almost certainly import even more wheat in the future, not to mention
vast quantities of rice and corn. It is this potential need to import 30,
40, or 50 million tons of grain a year within the next year or two and the
associated emergence of a politics of food scarcity that is likely to put
food security on the front page of newspapers.

At the other end of the spectrum is Brazil, the only country with the
potential to expand world cropland area measurably. But what will the
environmental consequences be of continuing to clear and plow Brazil’s
vast interior? Will the soils sustain cultivation over the longer term?
Will the deforestation in the Amazon disrupt the recycling of rainfall
from the Atlantic Ocean to the country’s interior? And how many plant and
animal species will Brazil sacrifice to expand its exports of soybeans?

Food security, which was once the near-exclusive province of ministries of
agriculture, now directly involves several departments of government. In
the past, ministries of transportation did not need to think about food
security when formulating transport policies. But in densely populated
developing countries today, the idea of having a car in every garage one
day means paving over a large share of their cropland. Many countries
simply do not have enough cropland to pave for cars and to grow food for
their people.

Or consider energy. Energy ministers do not attend international
conferences on food security. But they should. The decisions they make in
deciding which energy sources to develop will directly affect atmospheric
carbon dioxide levels and future changes in temperature. In fact, the
decisions made in ministries of energy may have a greater effect on
long-term food security than those made in ministries of agriculture.

Future food security now depends on the combined efforts of the ministries
of agriculture, energy, transportation, health and family planning, and
water resources. It also depends on strong leadership—leadership that is
far better informed on the complex set of interacting forces affecting
food security than most political leaders are today.

Take a look at the Table of Contents and read Chapter 1, “Pushing Beyond
the Earth’s Limits” (online now in Adobe format).
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm

Order your copy today and get free shipping (U.S. and Canada only) or call
202.496.9290 x 13.

Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste 403
Washington, DC 20036
T: (202) 496.9290
F: (202) 496.9325

Open Letter To:

Dr. Lester R. Brown,
Earth Policy Institute

Dear Dr. Brown,

I must commend the article below. I've come to much the same conclusions myself through large amounts of environmental reading. I do find something missing in the article however, and I believe that you might be best equipped to study and fully address it.

What would the feasibility and impact be if U.S. vehicles were converted to biodiesel or biodiesel-electric hybrids, and U.S. heating technologies were converted from gas and fuel oil to sustainable wood foresting and biodiesel?

My understanding is that biodiesel can be run in either diesel engines or oil furnaces with no modifications, the only caveat being that if petroleum products were previously used in the engine or furnace, there must be a period of frequent fuel filter changes and slow ramp-up of petro-fuel to bidiesel blend, and modern seals and gaskets are required. I understand biodiesel acts as a solvent to sludge in engines left from burning petro-diesel. I also understand that biodiesel has extensive reduction of many pollutant emissions, is almost sulfur-free, is a carbon-neutral fuel, and has a net positive energy balance in the production cycle. http://www.biodiesel.org is an excellent place to start with information gathering on the subject.

This fuel already appears to be gathering serious momentum with over 200 stations now selling it nation-wide, and a growing number of fleet vehicle owners experimenting with it's use, and quite a few environmental activists running diesel-powered cars and light trucks on the fuel.

My questions are these:

1. How true are the claimed benefits of this fuel?

2. Would U.S. agriculture be able to produce enough non-food plant matter to supply the domestic transportation markets and heating markets without surrendering food production, especially if high-thermal mass/ highly insulated or underground housing and biodiesel-electric hybrid technologies were used. If not, what percentage of these markets could reasonably be serviced?

3. If factored into the picture you present in the article below, what impact would biodiesel be potentially capable of producing on the U.S. net fossil fuel use, especially as related to oil and it's byproducts?

Sincerely,

Daniel A. Stafford
http://www.whizzyrds.com/Windblog.html

--------------------------------------------------------------

THE SHORT PATH TO OIL INDEPENDENCE: GAS-ELECTRIC HYBRIDS AND WIND POWER OFFER WINNING COMBINATION
by Lester R. Brown

With the price of oil above $50 a barrel, with political instability in
the Middle East on the rise, and with little slack in the world oil
economy, we need a new energy strategy. Fortunately, the outline of a new
strategy is emerging with two new technologies.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update43.htm

Earth Policy Institute - Year in Review

THE EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE’S YEAR IN REVIEW

The mission of the Earth Policy Institute is to offer the world a vision
of an environmentally sustainable economy--an eco-economy--and a road map
of how to get from here to there. As a small organization with a global
mission, we have designed a unique information dissemination model,
capitalizing on the synergy between a worldwide network of book
publishers, the communications media, and the Internet.

This year has brought increased awareness of the major environmental
problems the world is facing, such as ice melting. At the institutional
level, staff members have done some 150 radio and television interviews,
given more than 50 conference addresses and public lectures in Asia,
Europe, and North America
(http://www.earth-policy.org/Lectures/index.htm ). The more than 900
websites linked to our site have brought a record number of hits. The
membership in our Plan B Team, those who have purchased 5 or more copies
of Plan B, now exceeds 600
(http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PlanB_team.htm ).

We’ve also received a number of comments from readers around the world,
some of which can be found at
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Talking.htm

ECO-ECONOMY UPDATES RELEASED IN 2004:

GLACIERS AND SEA ICE ENDANGERED BY RISING TEMPERATURES by Janet Larsen
By 2020, the snows of Kilimanjaro may exist only in old photographs. The
glaciers in Montana's Glacier National Park could disappear by 2030. And
by mid-century, the Arctic Sea may be completely ice-free during
summertime. As the earth's temperature has risen in recent decades, the
earth's ice cover has begun to melt. And that melting is accelerating.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update32.htm

TROUBLING NEW FLOWS OF ENVIRONMENTAL REFUGEES by Lester R. Brown
In mid-October 2003, Italian authorities discovered a boat carrying
refugees from Africa bound for Italy. Adrift for more than two weeks and
without fuel, food, and water, many of the passengers had died. At first
the dead were tossed overboard. But after a point, the remaining survivors
lacked the strength to hoist the bodies over the side. The dead and the
living were sharing the boat in what a rescuer described as "a scene from
Dante's Inferno." http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update33.htm

U.S. LEADING WORLD AWAY FROM CIGARETTES by Lester R. Brown
The United States--the country that gave the world tobacco--is now
leading it away from cigarettes. After climbing for nearly a century, the
number of cigarettes smoked per person in this country peaked at nearly
2,900 in 1976 and began to decline. By 2003 the figure had dropped to
1,545 cigarettes--a fall of 46 percent. If this trend continues for
another quarter-century, smokers will be a rarity in the United States.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update34.htm

THE SIXTH GREAT EXTINCTION: A STATUS REPORT by Janet Larsen
Almost 440 million years ago, some 85 percent of marine animal species
were wiped out in the earth's first known mass extinction. Roughly 367
million years ago, once again many species of fish and 70 percent of
marine invertebrates perished in a major extinction event. Then about 245
million years ago, up to 95 percent of all animals--nearly the entire
animal kingdom--were lost in what is thought to be the worst extinction in
history. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update35.htm

CHINA'S SHRINKING GRAIN HARVEST: HOW ITS GROWING GRAIN IMPORTS WILL AFFECT
WORLD FOOD PRICES by Lester R. Brown
On February 8th, the Chinese government announced an emergency
appropriation, increasing its agricultural budget by 25 percent, or
roughly $3 billion. The additional funds primarily will be used to raise
support prices for wheat and rice, the principal food staples, and to
improve irrigation infrastructure. For the State Council to approve such
an increase outside of the normal budget-making process indicates the
government's mounting concern about food security.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update36.htm

EUROPE LEADING WORLD INTO AGE OF WIND ENERGY by Lester R. Brown
Europe is leading the world into the age of wind energy. In its late
2003 projections, the European Wind Energy Association shows Europe's
wind-generating capacity expanding from 28,400 megawatts in 2003 to 75,000
megawatts in 2010 and 180,000 megawatts in 2020. By 2020, just 16 years
from now, wind-generated electricity is projected to satisfy the
residential needs of 195 million Europeans, half of the region's
population. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update37.htm

SAUDIS HAVE U.S. OVER A BARREL: THE SHIFTING TERMS OF TRADE BETWEEN GRAIN
AND OIL by Lester R. Brown
In 1970, a bushel of wheat could be traded for a barrel of oil in the
world market. It now takes nine bushels of wheat to buy a barrel of oil.
The two countries most affected by the dramatically shifting terms of
trade between grain and oil are the United States and Saudi Arabia.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update38.htm

WORLD FOOD PRICES RISING: DECADES OF ENVIRONMENTAL NEGLECT SHRINKING
HARVESTS IN KEY COUNTRIES by Lester R. Brown
When this year's grain harvest begins in May, world grain stocks will be
down to 59 days of consumption--the lowest level in 30 years. The last
time stocks were this low, in 1972-74, wheat and rice prices doubled. A
politics of scarcity emerged with exporting countries, such as the United
States, restricting exports and using food for political leverage.
Hundreds of thousands of people in food-short countries, including
Ethiopia and Bangladesh, died of hunger.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update39.htm

WORLD FOOD SECURITY DETERIORATING: FOOD CRUNCH IN 2005 NOW LIKELY by
Lester R. Brown
Closing the gap in the world grain harvest this year following four
consecutive grain harvest shortfalls, each larger than the one before,
will not be easy. The grain shortfall of 105 million tons in 2003 is
easily the largest on record, amounting to 5 percent of annual world
consumption of 1,930 million tons.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update40.htm

DEAD ZONES INCREASING IN WORLD'S COASTAL WATERS by Janet Larsen
As summer comes to the Gulf of Mexico, it brings with it each year a
giant "dead zone" devoid of fish and other aquatic life. Expanding over
the past several decades, this area now can span up to 21,000 square
kilometers, which is larger than the state of New Jersey. A similar
situation is found on a smaller scale in the Chesapeake Bay, where since
the 1970s a large lifeless zone has become a yearly phenomenon, sometimes
shrouding 40 percent of the bay.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update41.htm

COAL TAKES HEAVY HUMAN TOLL: SOME 25,100 U.S. DEATHS FROM COAL USE LARGELY
PREVENTABLE by Janet Larsen
Startling new research shows that one out of every six women of
childbearing age in the United States may have blood mercury
concentrations high enough to damage a developing fetus. This means that
630,000 of the 4 million babies born in the country each year are at risk
of neurological damage because of exposure to dangerous mercury levels in
the womb. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update42.htm

THE SHORT PATH TO OIL INDEPENDENCE: GAS-ELECTRIC HYBRIDS AND WIND POWER
OFFER WINNING COMBINATION by Lester R. Brown
With the price of oil above $50 a barrel, with political instability in
the Middle East on the rise, and with little slack in the world oil
economy, we need a new energy strategy. Fortunately, the outline of a new
strategy is emerging with two new technologies.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update43.htm

FOREIGN POLICY DAMAGING U.S. ECONOMY by Lester R. Brown
Last week I spent two days at an international conference of
parliamentarians in Strasbourg, France, with delegations from some 81
countries, and two more days at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Although I was invited to talk about population, food, water, climate
change, and energy, the question-and-answer sessions and the individual
conversations invariably turned to U.S. foreign policy.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update44.htm

ECO-ECONOMY INDICATORS RELEASED IN 2004:

WORLD SALES OF SOLAR CELLS JUMP 32 PERCENT by Viviana Jiménez
World production of solar cells--which convert sunlight directly into
electricity--soared to 742 megawatts (MW) in 2003, a jump of 32 percent in
just one year. With solar cell production growing by 27 percent annually
over the past five years, cumulative world production now stands at 3,145
MW, enough to meet the electricity needs of more than a million homes.
This extraordinary growth is driven to some degree by improvements in
materials and technology, but primarily by market introduction programs
and government incentives.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/2004/indicator12.htm

CARBON EMISSIONS REACH RECORD HIGH by Lila Buckley
In 2003, carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels climbed to a
record high of 6.8 billion tons, up nearly 4 percent from the previous
year. Global emissions of carbon have been rising steadily since the late
eighteenth century—and rapidly since the 1950s. In fact, annual emissions
have quadrupled since 1950.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/CO2/2004.htm

EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE BOOKS:
We also not only post all of our publications online for free downloading
in pdf, but this year we made the book chapters easier to access by
posting them in html.

PLAN B calls for a worldwide mobilization to stabilize population and
climate to sustain economic progress worldwide.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PlanB_contents.htm

ECO-ECONOMY provides a vision of an environmentally sustainable economy
along with a roadmap on how to get from here to there.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Eco_contents.htm

THE EARTH POLICY READER examines the economic costs of ecological deficits
and outlines 12 trends measuring our progress in creating an eco-economy.
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/EPR_contents.htm

Our books are being published in 20 languages, including major languages
(those spoken by more than 50 million), such as Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi (India), Persian,
Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian, and several
minor languages including Catalan, Danish, Polish, Romanian, and Swedish.
There are three English-language publishers, U.S./Canada, India/South
Asia, and the U.K. and Commonwealth, and two Spanish-language publishers,
Spain and Latin America. http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/intl.htm

The staff of the Earth Policy Institute is grateful for the support you
have provided this year either by reading our material and talking about
the issues with friends and colleagues, by purchasing our books, and by
donations. http://www.earth-policy.org/Donations/index.htm

Wishing you a pleasant holiday season,

The staff of the Earth Policy Institute

UW-Madison News Release--MapTEACH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12/30/04

CONTACT: Timothy Olsen, (608) 263-2086, tpolsen@wisc.edu; De Anne Stevens, (907) 451-5000, deanne_stevens@dnr.state.ak.us



LEARNING PROJECT BLENDS HIGH TECH WITH TRADITION IN RURAL ALASKA



MADISON - High-tech geospatial tools are being paired with traditional Native knowledge of the land to create learning opportunities for Alaskan students, teachers and community members in a new project led by educators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.



The National Science Foundation recently awarded $869,000 to the university's Environmental Remote Sensing Center (ERSC) and two partners, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), to develop a series of after-school and summer learning activities that include annual field camps in rural Alaska.



Called MapTEACH (short for Mapping Technology Experiences with Alaska's Cultural Heritage), the three-year project seeks to educate students, teachers and others in geospatial information technology that applies to their local conditions; relate modern science and technology to traditional knowledge; and help develop a growing and sustainable rural economy.



"The idea is to try to find new ways to tell old stories about the landscape," says project director Timothy Olsen, a staff member at ERSC, part of UW-Madison's Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.



"In rural Alaskan communities, many people have a deep and extensive knowledge of the landscape and of the natural resources that exist out there. So there's real expertise, and this project gives us a chance to try to build on that using geospatial information technology."



The project has targeted three localities in Alaska, including some of its most economically challenged rural areas.



"Some of these communities are extremely rural, lacking most of the modern amenities that we take for granted in other parts of the country," says De Anne Stevens, a DGGS geologist and 2003 alumna of the Environmental Monitoring Graduate Program at UW-Madison. "The communities are frequently very small, with very few teachers."



Stevens and Olsen developed the idea for the project through discussions about educational needs in rural Alaska, where Stevens frequently works in the field. She's been interested in finding ways to make geologic maps and other DGGS products more accessible to local people, and Olsen has long had a keen interest in technological education for young people. They sought funding under a special NSF program to promote just that.



MapTEACH will introduce participants to technologies such as satellite and aerial photographs and analysis, Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and transmitters, and computer mapping and modeling. Olsen says these tools will allow local people to build on long-practiced methods of characterizing the landscape, particularly among Native Alaskans.



"In the arctic tundra and sub-arctic areas of Alaska, people have traditionally gone out into the bush without maps. They've used oral stories to guide their way," says Olsen. "The descriptions that people have heard from elders, and the experiences they have hunting, fishing and berry gathering, are the things that make them experts. What we want to do is help make a connection between that traditional expertise and this new information technology."



Some of the technology has already found its way into rural Alaska, where people sometimes use GPS transmitters and other gear. Olsen says this project will give more community members opportunities for hands-on education in a range of high-tech tools.



MapTEACH will be implemented in two separate but content-equivalent formats to meet the unique requirements of reaching students in rural Alaska. Students serviced by centralized school districts will take part in a nine-week after-school program. Other more geographically dispersed students will be brought together in Intensive Studies Institutes at established living and learning facilities for two weeks of full-time instruction.



"This is informal science education; it won't actually take place in the classroom. It will take place after school and during the summer," Olsen explains. "Participants will have an intensive two-week introduction to a number of topics, including cartography, topographic maps, geology and glacial morphology, all connected to and building upon local knowledge of the landscape."



Participants will then take a week-long camping trip in the bush, where they'll combine traditional knowledge with high-tech tools to measure and document the landscape.



"That will be the real test of how we can connect these two different ways of knowing," says Olsen. "We're looking for the interests and goals of local people to guide us in how we use the technology, so we're going to listen to what they want to do and how they want to do it."



Stevens says the curriculum is evolving based on local input in each of the three sites.



"Each group of materials will be tailored to speak to what's going on in the landscape there," she explains. "Students will be able to look out their own windows and see the things that we're talking about and relate it not only to the science and technological imagery, but also to their own culture and history."



Stevens says the project will help strengthen technical expertise in rural communities that often face growing issues of land ownership and land-use planning, and it will help students develop employable skills.



"We hope that young people will gain proficiencies that are marketable," Olsen explains. "The U.S. Department of Labor recently identified geospatial technology as one of the hottest trends in new technology; it's going to be an area of tremendous growth in the economy."



Olsen also says one of the driving forces behind the project is the need for sustainable development in many parts of rural Alaska.



"We're trying to help people develop activities that bring a cash economy into very remote areas of rural Alaska, where at times there's very little cash economy of any kind," he says. "So a very challenging and idealistic goal is not only to assist in the education of students and teachers, but to do it in such a way that they can have viable, meaningful work in rural areas of Alaska using high technology."



The project could help develop and broaden business opportunities based on hunting and fishing, camping and hiking, gold prospecting and other outdoor activities.



MapTEACH is funded under NSF's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which is designed to increase opportunities for students and teachers to learn about and use information technologies (IT) within the context of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and aims to foster IT workforce development.



"We'll measure our results according to the products that students and teachers create using the technology, and according to how they perceive how useful it is," says Olsen. "We're also going to look at general trends in academic performance. Alaska has a set of standards, and we hope to see improvements in those as well. But our primary goal is to improve geospatial information technology proficiencies in a marketable way."



For more information about MapTEACH, visit http://www.mapteach.org/.



###



- Steve Pomplun, (608) 263-3063, spomplun@wisc.edu









****************************************************

For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email

news release system, please send an email to:

releases@news.wisc.edu



For more UW-Madison news, please visit:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/



University Communications

University of Wisconsin-Madison

27 Bascom Hall

500 Lincoln Drive

Madison, WI 53706



Phone: (608) 262-3571

Fax: (608) 262-2331

A little late but something to think about for next Christmas...

UW-Madison News Release--Shakhashiri program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12/2/2003

CONTACT: Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, (608) 262-0538, bassam@chem.wisc.edu



'ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS CHEERY' PROGRAM HITS 35-YEAR MARK



MADISON - Chemistry professor Bassam Shakhashiri is marking 35 years of making science fun for the community with his annual Christmas program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.



Shakhashiri, described by Encyclopedia Britannica as "the reigning dean of lecture demonstrators," says that "Once Upon a Christmas Cheery in the Lab of Shakhashiri" is his way of sharing the joy of doing science with "kids of all ages."



"It is my holiday gift to the community," says Shakhashiri, the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea. The purpose, he says, is to try to both inspire children to take an interest in science, and to motivate adults to encourage their children in the subject. But mostly, he says, it's to have fun.



The program will feature experiments with exploding balloons, floating soap bubbles and mystery guests including Santa Claus and Bucky Badger. Many of this year's demonstrations will feature element No. 35 on the periodic table, bromine.



This Christmas program, Shakhashiri says, follows in the tradition of the 19th century British scientist Michael Faraday, who would gather children at the Royal Institution on Christmas Day to interest them in science.



"I borrowed from him the important responsibility of sharing the joy of science with kids of all ages," Shakhashiri says. "But I've been doing it a lot longer than Michael Faraday did it."



"Once Upon a Christmas Cheery" has been a hit since he began it for his students as a review of the semester and a preview for the next. Word spread about the performance, and soon it was a packed house.



Over the years, more shows were planned to accommodate the crowds. It also has traveled around the country, playing at venues such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution. Once, Shakhashiri says, he even had the vice president and his family in the audience.



"This attracts people from all walks of life," he says. "It's especially rewarding when former students bring their own children to see it."



"It's popular," says UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, who will be participating in this year's program, "because Professor Shakhashiri makes serious and complex scientific points in ways that are sometimes humorous, sometimes startling, sometimes amazing and always entertaining. He's just a natural and charming showman."



Shakhashiri says, "This is in the best tradition of the Wisconsin Idea. We share the richness of science with all people."



Tickets for the programs on Dec. 4-5 are no longer available. However, the show will air on Wisconsin Public Television stations including WHA-TV, Channel 21 in Madison, at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 24, and at 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 26. Check local listings for dates and times of the telecast on PBS Television Stations nationwide.



More information: http://www.scifun.org/xmaslect/xmascheery.htm



###









****************************************************

For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email

news release system, please send an email to:

releases@news.wisc.edu



For more UW-Madison news, please visit:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/



University Communications

University of Wisconsin-Madison

27 Bascom Hall

500 Lincoln Drive

Madison, WI 53706



Phone: (608) 262-3571

Fax: (608) 262-2331

UW-Madison News Release--Spinal therapy for pets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12/03/2004

CONTACT: Tania Banak, (608) 263-6914, banakt@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu



SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE OFFERS SPINAL THERAPY FOR PETS



MADISON - It's not a replacement for traditional veterinary care, but spinal manipulative therapy for animals can relieve pain and restore normal function following trauma, surgery or chronic medical conditions such as arthritis. This treatment modality now is available at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.



Dawn Mogilevsky, a veterinarian who already provides acupuncture service to clients at the veterinary school's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, has recently become certified in veterinary spinal manipulative therapy. She took 210 course hours at Healing Oasis Wellness Center, Sturtevant, Wis., which is certified through the Wisconsin Education Approval Board. 



The program is intensive, providing participants with considerable hands-on experience with cats, dogs, and horses.



"I focus on joints of the body that are not moving properly," says Mogilevsky. "I work with the joints in the spine and extremities. If joint alignment is altered in any way, it affects the body, and that in turn alters motion and function."



If movement is restricted in one area, the rest of the body must compensate, which often leads to problems in other parts of the body. During a manipulation, the veterinarian feels the joints to determine if they're moving properly. If not, the joint is "adjusted" with a gentle, controlled thrust. 



Generally, patients return a week or two after the initial appointment. After that, visit frequency depends on the problem. If the adjustments were targeted at helping the patient recover from surgery, no additional treatments are needed once normal motion is restored.  Other types of problems, such as compensations due to hip dysplasia or arthritis, may require ongoing treatment.



Performance animals - such as hunting, agility, flyball, or search-and-rescue dogs - that use their bodies more actively than the average pet, can also benefit.



To make an appointment for a pet, call the UW-Madison Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at (608) 263-7600 or 1-800-DVM-VMTH. An adjustment is $55. 



Mogilevsky is a member of the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association, and plans to take their certification examination in May 2005. To date, there are only 18 AVCA certified veterinarians in Wisconsin.



###









****************************************************

For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email

news release system, please send an email to:

releases@news.wisc.edu



For more UW-Madison news, please visit:

http://www.news.wisc.edu/



University Communications

University of Wisconsin-Madison

27 Bascom Hall

500 Lincoln Drive

Madison, WI 53706



Phone: (608) 262-3571

Fax: (608) 262-2331

SMALL WIND E-NEWSLETTER

January 2005

Issue No. 14, December 30, 2004

Editor: Larry Sherwood, Interstate Renewable Energy Council

The current Small Wind Newsletter is also available on the web at http://www.irecusa.org/smallwindenergy/e-newsletter.html. If you have trouble with links in this e-mail message, try the web version of the newsletter.

Article summaries and links follow the Table of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NEWS
(1) COLORADO Hog Farm Installs Wind Turbine
(2) Berkeley Lab Releases Report on State Markets
(3) VIRGINIA County Adopts Small Wind Zoning Ordinance
(4) OREGON Solicitation includes Small Wind
(5) NABCEP Moves Ahead on Small Wind Task Analysis
(6) NEW YORK Wind Incentive Rules Revised
(7) PENNSYLVANIA Awards Energy Harvest Grants
(8) WISCONSIN Wind Site Evaluation Tools
(9) NORTH CAROLINA Small Wind Initiative Update
(10) TEXAS Alternative Energy Institute Posts Wind Map
(11) 2005 Small Wind State Stakeholders Meeting Scheduled
(12) Northwest Agriculture and Energy Leaders to Convene in Montana
(13) Upcoming Small Wind Events

INTERCONNECTION AND NET METERING
(14) PENNSYLVANIA - PUC Initiates Interconnection Proceeding
(15) IDAHO - PUC Resolves Issues Disputed by Idaho Power, Small-Power Producers
(16) MICHIGAN - PSC Approves Utilities' Interconnection Standards
(17) FERC Extends Filing Deadline in Small-Generator Interconnection Proceeding

INCENTIVES
(18) CALIFORNIA Emerging Renewables Program
(19) OHIO Distributed Energy Resource Grants

RESOURCES
(20) CANADA Clean Energy Project Analysis Software

LINKS TO SMALL WIND IN THE NEWS
(21) Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter
(22) Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter
(23) Arizona Republic
(24) Havre (MT) Daily News

PRODUCTS
(25) U. S. Department of Energy Awards Southwest Windpower

ABOUT THE SMALL WIND NEWSLETTER
Includes information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe.

NEWS

(1) COLORADO Hog Farm Installs Wind Turbine
The Colorado Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation recently constructed a 65 kW wind turbine at Colorado Pork near Lamar in southeast Colorado. Colorado Pork is a concentrated animal feeding operation with 6,300 sows. The wind turbine complements a combined heat and power system using biogas produced from hog waste. Full article.

(2) Berkeley Lab Releases Report on State Markets
Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has released a report, Evaluating State Markets for Residential Wind Systems: Results from an Economic and Policy Analysis Tool. Full article.

(3) VIRGINIA County Adopts Small Wind Zoning Ordinance
In October 2004, the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors approved a zoning ordinance for small wind energy systems, the first of its kind in Virginia. Students at James Madison University drafted the original ordinance with guidance from members of the Virginia Wind Energy Collaborative and assistance from members of Rockingham County's planning board. Full article.

(4) OREGON Solicitation includes Small Wind
Through the Open Solicitation Program, the Energy Trust of Oregon is interested in innovative demonstrations of small-scale wind. Full article.

(5) NABCEP Moves Ahead on Small Wind Task Analysis
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners has announced the creation of a working group to begin describing the job of a “Small Wind” installer. Full article.

(6) NEW YORK Wind Incentive Rules Revised
New York State Energy Research and Development Administration recently issued some clarifying revisions to its wind incentives. The basic incentives remain unchanged. Full article.

(7) PENNSYLVANIA Awards Energy Harvest Grants
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded 34 grants totaling $5 million for the second round of the annual Pennsylvania Energy Harvest initiative. The grants will leverage more than $13 million in private funds to promote advanced energy technologies proven to generate jobs, improve air quality, preserve land, protect watersheds and enhance energy security. Included are 4 grants for small wind systems. Full article.

(8) WISCONSIN Wind Site Evaluation Tools
Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program recently released new Wind Turbine Output estimator software. Full article.

(9) NORTH CAROLINA Small Wind Initiative Update
The North Carolina Small Wind Initiative, committed to increasing wind power in the Southern Appalachian region, experienced an eventful first six months of operation. Thus far, the Small Wind Initiative has conducted a number programs including: a direct mailing campaign, four small wind workshops, six small scale turbine installations, and a variety of presentations. Full article.

(10) TEXAS Alternative Energy Institute Posts Wind Map
The Alternative Energy Institute at West Texas A&M University has posted online its detailed wind power map for Texas. Full article.

(11) 2005 Small Wind State Stakeholders Meeting Scheduled
The 3rd Annual Small Wind State Stakeholders Meeting will be Sunday, May 15 immediately prior to Windpower 05. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory plans to host the meeting at the National Wind Technology Center with shuttle service from the conference hotel in downtown Denver. Watch for further details.

(12) Northwest Agriculture and Energy Leaders to Convene in Montana
People from Montana, the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere will gather to learn from national and regional experts how to make renewable energy sources like wind, biofuels and solar energy a profitable new crop at the Harvesting Clean Energy conference January 20-21, 2005, in Great Falls, Montana. Full article.

(13) Upcoming Small Wind Events
Listing of upcoming small wind events.

INTERCONNECTION AND NET METERING

Check the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s Connecting to the Grid web site for the latest interconnection news.

(14) PENNSYLVANIA - PUC Initiates Interconnection Proceeding
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has initiated an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) concerning interconnection standards and procedures for small generators, and has issued a request for comments on these standard and procedures. After receiving and considering comment submissions, the PUC will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR). Full article.

(15) IDAHO - PUC Resolves Issues Disputed by Idaho Power, Small-Power Producers
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission issued an order (Case No. IPC-E-04-8) on November 22, 2004, defining the parameters of contracts between Idaho Power and developers of small-power wind and geothermal projects. Full article.

(16) MICHIGAN - PSC Approves Utilities' Interconnection Standards
The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved interconnection rules filed by the state's regulated utilities. The proposed rules filed by Xcel, AEP and a coalition of other utilities operating in the state were received by the PSC in March 2004 and approved in August 2004. Full article.

(17) FERC Extends Filing Deadline in Small-Generator Interconnection Proceeding
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has extended the deadline to February 18, 2005, for comments on the Commission's development of standardized interconnection agreements and procedures for small generators. Full article.

INCENTIVES

New Incentives reported by the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE), a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy. To access state-by-state incentives and policies that promote wind energy technologies, click here and select "wind" from the drop-down menu.

(18) CALIFORNIA Emerging Renewables Program
Changes to the Emerging Renewables Program were proposed in the November 19, 2004 Draft Fourth Edition Guidebook. These changes include a decrease in incentive amounts of $0.20 for each technology and the addition of a pilot performance-based incentive program. The changes, once finalized will take effect January 1, 2005. Full article.

(19) OHIO Distributed Energy Resource Grants
The Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency is offering grants to cover a portion of the costs of eligible distributed energy resources (DER) projects located in the service territories of the state's five investor-owned electric distribution companies -- American Electric Power (Columbus and Southern Power and Ohio Power); CINergy(Cincinnati Gas and Electric); Dayton Power and Light; First Energy (Cleveland Electric Illuminating, Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison); and Monongahela Power (Allegheny Power). This round of grants, supported by the Ohio Energy Loan Fund, is available only to end-users of DER projects that include, but are not limited to, industrial heat recovery, combined heat and power, landfill or biomass methane for electric generation, solar-electric and wind. Full article.

RESOURCES

Click here for archived articles and links to Small Wind Resources.

(20) CANADA Clean Energy Project Analysis Software
The Government of Canada's RETScreen International Clean Energy Project Analysis Software is a unique decision support tool provided free-of-charge and can be used world-wide to evaluate the energy production, life-cycle costs and greenhouse gas emission reductions for various types of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies. Full article.

LINKS TO SMALL WIND IN THE NEWS

(21) Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter, December 17, 2004, Waupun school sees benefits of turbine. Proposed wind turbine will supplement solar panel to power pumps for school pond. Full article.

(22) Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter, December 17, 2004, Waupun eyeing ordinance governing wind turbines. In response to proposal for small wind turbine at school and wind farm proposals, City of Waupun considers wind turbine ordinance. Full article.

(23) Arizona Republic, December 18, 2004, Wildlife refuse in Md. finds clean power blowin’ in the wind. Case study of installation at wildlife refuge. Full article.

(24) Havre (MT) Daily News, December 23, 2004, Co-op is testing the power of wind. Hill County Electric Co-op is testing wind at its office in Havre, MT. Full article.

PRODUCTS

(25) U. S. Department of Energy Awards Southwest Windpower
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) issued Southwest Windpower, along with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the “Outstanding Research and Development Partnership” award. Southwest Windpower was chosen from a field of over forty industry and university partners currently involved in the DOE Wind Energy Program portfolio of research and development activities. Full article.

ABOUT THE SMALL WIND NEWSLETTER

The Small Wind Newsletter is published electronically every other month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. The Small Wind Web Site contains news, resources, and links.

To subscribe, go to http://www.irecusa.org/smallwindenergy/newslettersub.html, fill in the subscription form, and then click on subscribe. There is no fee for subscriptions.

If you have comments or news items, please send them to Larry Sherwood.

Disclaimer: The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) does not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process that is referred to or linked to in this newsletter. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply IREC's endorsement or recommendation.

The Christmas Tree Ship:

http://christmastreeship.homestead.com/

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw107858_20041128.htm

Sunken Rouse Simmons attracting new interest

November 28, 2004, 4:48 PM

MUSKEGON, Mich (AP) -- It's been 92 years this month since the Rouse Simmons, loaded with more than 5,000 Christmas trees, sank in a raging winter storm on Lake Michigan, but the legacy of what's known as the Christmas Tree Ship continues.

The location of the ship's wreckage was unknown until 1971, when a diver found it near Two Rivers, Wis. Now the ship is being remembered in plays, a cable television documentary and limited edition prints this year.

For years after the sinking, sailors reported seeing a ghostly image of the 153-foot schooner in the moonlight -- its sails in tatters, Christmas trees glistening on the deck. The sightings have faded with time, but interest in the ship remains strong.

"It really is a remarkable story about a majestic three-masted schooner, brimming with fresh-cut Michigan trees, heading ... toward Chicago, until bad weather and cold temperatures encrusted ice over the bow," Mark C. Gumbinger, a Kenosha, Wis., historian who produced a video documentary on the sinking, told The Muskegon Chronicle for a Sunday story.

Each year, a memorial dinner is held in Milwaukee by the Wisconsin Marine Historical Society to honor the ship's 17 crew members and Capt. Herman Schuenemann, who all died in the sinking. In addition, the holiday musical "The Christmas Schooner" will be performed in theaters in Alpena and Petoskey in December. And the story is included in Gumbinger's just-released video "Great Stories of the Great Lake." The Weather Channel is airing "The Christmas Tree Ship: A Holiday Storm Story" through December.

One of the most recent tributes to the Rouse Simmons is a limited edition print by folk artist Carol Dyer commissioned by The Museum of America and the Sea in Connecticut's Mystic Seaport.

Built in 1868, the ship was sold two years later to Charles Hackley of Muskegon, and for more than 20 years was a fixture there, hauling virgin Michigan white pine to Chicago.

Schuenemann was known in Chicago for his Christmas Tree Ship, which would arrive each year shortly after Thanksgiving fully loaded with the pines. They were sold directly to residents for 50 cents to $1. He also gave away trees to needy families. Schuenemann soon became known in Chicago as "Captain Santa," and the Christmas season in Chicago would not start officially until the arrival of Schuenemann's Christmas Tree Ship.

According to historians, the Rouse Simmons was crammed with about 5,500 trees as it set sail south on the lake Nov. 21, 1912 in deteriorating weather.

It was spotted more than a day later near Two Rivers, its sails in tatters, flying a distress flag and riding low in the water. But a rescue boat couldn't reach it, and it disappeared until 1971.

"This story is important not simply because it keeps history alive, but because the story remains relevant to modern day Chicagoans," said Michael O'Farrell, publicist for the Mystic Seaport. "A testament to this is the fact that the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, arriving at Navy Pier just before the holidays, delivers 4,000 Christmas trees a year to disadvantaged Chicago families."

------

Information from: The Muskegon Chronicle, http://www.mlive.com/muchronicle

County looks into biodiesel

Public-private partnership may be developed

December 26, 2004

By JOHN R. PULLIAM of The Register-Mail

GALESBURG, IL - Knox County officials are in the information-gathering phase as they attempt to decide whether to build and operate a biodiesel plant.

Knox County Landfill Administrator Larry Larson raised the issue in early December.

Gerald Link, R-District 5, told Knox County Board members Wednesday that Larson has "done a lot of research and is doing a lot of research. He is enthusiastic about it. The question is, should the county be involved in something like this?"

Link said Larson will report to the board in the next month or two.

On Monday, Larson said there are a number of economic development benefits. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced from domestic renewable resources, such as soybeans, a crop local farmers grow. The fuel can be mixed at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend that can be used in diesel engines with little to no modification.

"It could really help the county because of so many jobs being lost," Larson said.

How much of an impact such a plant might have is difficult to determine at this time because more information is needed. Knox County Administrator Alan Hallberg said he does not envision a "huge" plant.

"We don't want that, I don't think," he said.

The job potential is there, according to the National Biodiesel Board. A tax incentive for the production of biodiesel is expected to increase demand and create up to 50,000 jobs in the United States over the next 10 years, the board reports.

No studies are needed to show jobs are needed in Knox County. Maytag closed its Galesburg refrigerator plant earlier this year, moving 1,600 jobs, while BlueScope Butler is slated to close in 2005 and move 270 jobs.

As of October, more than 20 companies - a relatively small number - have invested millions of dollars in developing manufacturing plants to proproduce biodiesel and to market the fuel. About 20 other new firms are reporting plans to construct biodiesel plants in the near future.

Larson said rail access and interstate access, both readily available in the Galesburg-Knoxville area, are needed. One question would be whether the county would go it alone or look for investors.

Hallberg cited one reason why having private investors could be important.

"I imagine there's an element of the population that would be totally against it (the plant)," Hallberg said. "That's just judging from comments about the nursing home."

The Knox County Nursing Home is the one business the county owns that competes with privately-owned businesses.

Dale Parsons, D-District 3, is the board's representative to Western Illinois University's Rural Conservation Development Board. He said he has talked with that group about the county and the possibility of a biodiesel plant here.

"The interest is there," Parsons said. "They think it should be a combination of private (investors) and government together."

Knox County Board Chairman Jan Occhi, D-District 3, said board members have been encouraged to think outside of the box.

"I thought it was a good idea to look at it," she said. "Let's explore all options."

Link said he thinks other investors are needed if the plant is to become a reality.

Contact John R. Pulliam at 343-7181, Ext. 215, or jpulliam@register-mail.com.

http://www.register-mail.com/news/topnews/b52kq6mcgid.html

Biodiesel Facts

December 25, 2004

What it is

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced from domestic renewable resources, such as soybeans, a crop local farmers grow. The fuel can be mixed at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend that can be used in diesel engines with little to no modification.

The market

It can be used in any diesel engine. It also can be used in a blend or as a replacement for heating oil in oil-burning furnaces. Demand has increased from 500,000 gallons in 1999 to an estimated 25 million gallons in 2003, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

Local use

Biodiesel is available at the pump at Riverland FS gas stations in Roseville and Rosetta and Ag-Land FS Fuel 24 gas station in Kickapoo. Knoxville-based Riverland FS and Galesburg's Herr Oil are among suppliers selling the blended fuel in bulk.

Consumer cost

The fuel costs more, depending on the percent soy oil blend. For example, Williamsfield School District, which has begun using the fuel, pays 2.4 cents more per gallon for B2, a 2 percent biodiesel and 98 percent petroleum diesel blend.

Advantages

- Soy oil increases engine lubricity by 75 percent and the fuel also is cleaner burning than regular diesel, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

- The Congressional Budget Office and the USDA have confirmed that a 20 percent blend with diesel fuel is the lowest-cost alternative for meeting the federal government's Energy Policy Act compliance requirements.

- Supporters say using homegrown fuel reduces dependency on foreign oil.

Benefits to agriculture

- Farm revenue could rise with demand for the soybeans to produce biodiesel. An average annual increase of 200 million gallons of soy-based biodiesel demand would boost total crop cash receipts by $5.2 billion cumulatively by 2010, according to a 2001 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

http://www.register-mail.com/news/topnews/b53gfd1ggid.html

Article Last Updated: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 12:02:29 AM MST

Local resort introduces its first biodiesel snowcat Alternative fuels become a part of grooming at The CanyonsBy ANNA BLOOM, Of The Record staffEvery night, as most of Park City sleeps or hot-tubs it, John Neuhauser begins his work overseeing 16 hours of grooming at The Canyons, half the time in a snowcat himself, pushing snow up the slopes. However, while Neuhauser takes pride in carving corduroy, he worries about what all that diesel exhaust may be doing to the natural beauty of the landscape. Two weeks ago, Neuhauser began running one of his cats on what's known as B-20 Blend: 20 percent bio-diesel, and 80 percent petroleum diesel - a combination that smells like a Chinese restaurant, and cuts the amount of produced to less than half of straight fossil fuel. Someday soon, if all goes well with this year's guinea pig, Neuhauser hopes to run an entire fleet of bio-cats at The Canyons. Full story: http://www.parkrecord.com/Stories/0,1413,122~8132~2621729,00.html

Biodiesel pilot program hits bump in ferry service road

By Anna K. Brinkman
All three boats on the “triangle ferry route,” Southworth to Vashon to Fauntleroy, have been using “B20” blend biodiesel for several months now, but the signs didn’t go up to advertise the pilot project until about two weeks ago — just in time for the biodiesel to start clogging the filters.
The Washington State Ferries (WSF) was forced to stop using the biodiesel, for the time being, while they figure out the problem, because they can’t disrupt service.

Last July the WSF started phasing in a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent low-sulfur petroleum diesel fuel to one boat in the triangle route, while the other two began using the fuel in September. The current clogs are a setback, but are not expected to permanently derail the project.
Organizers seem pleased that Vashon is part of the biodiesel project.

“As soon as we get this (clogging) problem resolved, we’re going to put out a press release. City Light is very interested in educating people about biodiesel, and it’s helpful because a lot of people on Vashon are interested in biodiesel anyway. So this is something we can do with the Vashon community maybe,” said Celia Schorr, WSF spokesperson.

The biodiesel pilot project is a joint endeavor between WSF and Seattle City Light (SCL), a municipal electric utility company that is part of the City of Seattle government structure, according to Corinne Grande, a power analyst who has been working on the biodiesel project for several years.

SCL’s goal is to become “greenhouse-gas neutral” by the end of 2005, and they’re funding this project through their Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program. “I think we have a very good chance of making it,” says Grande of the 2005 “greenhouse-gas-neutral” goal.

As part of their agreement with WSF, SCL pays for the fuel, and the “green credits” that result from the use of B20 go to SCL instead of WSF.

The study goal is to discover whether B20 is compatible with ferry diesel engines over the long term.
Limiting pollutants is SCL’s main goal, according to Grande, but a nice side-benefit is that by virtue of buying biodiesel, SCL is helping to expand the market for that and other alternative energy sources.
“The specific biodiesel we’re using here today is soy-based biodiesel that’s manufactured in the Midwest by West Central Soy, and the distributor is the Pacific Northwest Energy Company in Tacoma,” said Tina Stotz, environmental manager at WSF. “When it started to get cold, we started seeing some of the clogging problems,” she said.

“The clogging problem is something a lot of people deal with when they begin using biodiesel, because it acts like a different kind of solvent and cleans out the engine,” said Stotz. “ But it doesn’t typically happen after you’ve been using it for a while.”

Full story:

http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=90&cat=23&id=351491&more=

Biodiesel Plant Shapes Up Slowly (1:56)

Plans to build a biodiesel plant in St. Lawrence County are taking longer than expected. Canton College officials want to double the capacity of the factory. But they're still waiting for investors and federal legislation to make the project financially feasible. David Sommerstein reports.

::: ENN Daily Newsletter - Wednesday, December 29, 2004 ::: Tsunami Swallows Most of Southern Sri Lanka Town HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — This story is datelined Hambantota, Wednesday, but in reality most of the town doesn't exist anymore. Military Says Quake Destroyed Three-Quarters of Sumatra's Western Coastline BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — From Indonesia to India, workers rushed to bury corpses to ward off disease Wednesday as cargo planes touched down with promised aid -- from lentils to water purifiers -- to help the region cope with its tsunami catastrophe. The death toll across Asia and Africa soared to nearly 68,000. Endangered Ferrets Make Comeback in Arizona PHOENIX — Endangered black-footed ferrets are reproducing more and surviving longer in the wild in Arizona than they have since recovery efforts began nearly a decade ago, wildlife biologists say. Government, Missouri Environmental Group Reach Settlement on Clean Water Standards for Lakes and Streams ST. LOUIS — The government must make sure Missouri complies with federal clean water standards to protect streams and rivers from bacteria, sewage and mining discharges, according to a consent decree. Palo Alto, Calif., to Buy 'Green' Power Created by Gas of Decomposing Garbage Palo Alto, Calif. — Pushing to buy at least 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, Palo Alto has turned to a new supply: rotting garbage in Watsonville. Tribes, Environmentalists Clash over Proposed Casino in Columbia River Gorge CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. — For 12,000 years or more, Columbia River tribes gathered nearby to do business with distant tribes. Now they want to come back -- to deal blackjack and poker. In the Economics of Global Warming, Pig Emissions Have a Part to Play SANTIAGO, Chile — Pig manure in Chile will keep neon lights glowing on Tokyo's Ginza in years to come. It's a grand north-south tradeoff to slow global warming: You reduce your "greenhouse gas" emissions so I don't have to cut back on mine. Texas Panel Finishes Energy Blueprint The Texas Energy Planning Council has created a blueprint its members believe will ensure the state remains the nation's leading energy producer. READ ALL PRESS RELEASES & AFFILIATE NEWS USGBC Draft Report Shows Vinyl Building Products Have Comparable Impacts to Products Made of Competing Materials Expert Group Recommends No Credit for Eliminating Vinyl Or ‘Any Particular Material' ARLINGTON, Va. — A new draft report from the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) PVC Task Group finds that the environmental and health impacts of vinyl used in building products are comparable to those of competing materials, the Vinyl Institute said today. — By The Vinyl Institute