Winning kampung leads with green thumbs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/06/2008 11:40 AM 

 

 JP/J. Adiguna

 

A multitude of plants fill the garden of a community unit's (RW) office in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. At the main entrance, small, unique chandelier ornaments made out of straws and other plastics greet the guest. 

Inside, around 20 women, who form community unit 07's participating group in the Family Welfare Program (PKK), held a meeting here recently to discuss health and environmental issues in their neighborhood. 

"These are not ordinary plants. All of them have medicinal qualities and can be used to treat cold, fever, sexual enhancement and even cancer," group member Endong Baso Ali said. 

The residents grow the herbs using home-made compost. They learned how to make compost through the Jakarta Green and Clean (JGC) 2008 program. Before this, the residents had to buy commercial compost. 

In RW 07, which is comprised of several neighborhood units (RT), most of the houses have three separate waste buckets: one for inorganic waste such as plastic, one for metal waste and one for organic waste. 

"Each household produces its own compost for growing the plants by putting their food leftovers in an organic waste bucket each day," Utiek, another PKK member, said. 

After being collected at the home level, the inorganic waste is deposited at "trash banks", available at each RT. The PKK members then reuse the waste to make crafts such as bags, wallets, umbrellas and ornaments that are then sold at exhibitions. 

"We learned the skills from the JGC program, which not only contributes to a cleaner environment, but opens up new jobs and income opportunities through the plastic waste recycling business," Utiek said. 

The RW 07 PKK members' hard work has earned them the "Jakarta Clean and Green Award", worth Rp 20 million (US$1,666), which was presented by Governor Fauzi Bowo at the JGC 2008 parade, held at the Hotel Indonesia circle last week. They topped the shortlist of 300 RWs from Jakarta's five municipalities, despite the fact that this was the first year they participated in the annual competition, now in its third year. 

Toiletries producer PT Unilever Indonesia initiated the JGC program with the support of the Republika daily newspaper, radio station Delta FM and NGO Aksi Cepat Tanggap, in collaboration with the city Environment Management Board (BPLHD). The program is part of Unilever's corporate social responsibility platform, designed to help communities find a solution to environmental issues the proper management of organic and inorganic waste. 

According to Utiek and the PKK members, the program is a win-win situation for both the community and Unilever. 

"We handle their waste and get some money, and they have their waste problems solved," Utiek said. 

However, Marwati, from RW 02 in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, which won fourth place, said that Unilever did not pay as much attention to her plastic crafts business compared to one of her peers in the neighborhood. 

"In this RW, we have three plastic waste processing centers. Only one center received a free sewing machine from Unilever. They also received help on the marketing and distribution of their products," she said. 

Marwati said Unilever told her they would only provide extra help on plastic processing centers that could deliver products that met the "required quality standard". 

"I don't think that is the right attitude. Each of us received the same training, tools and materials at the beginning of the program. The final products don't have a significant difference in terms of quality," she said. 

"But I am still very pleased with the JGC program. It helps a lot in transforming this neighborhood from what used to be dry and dusty into greener and cleaner," she added. (hdt)

Related Article:

Building up people’s skills, cutting down their waste

Intel works on tiny devices for eco-technology

Some of Intel Corp.'s tiny devices could one day have a big impact on the environment. 

David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer, Friday, December 5, 2008 

The computer chipmaker on Friday offered reporters a glimpse of its research into products such as chip-size sensors that monitor air quality while riding piggyback on street-sweepers. Or cell phones that recharge themselves with energy "scavenged" from the environment. 

Sensing 

Intel has designed tiny sensors that can continuously analyze pollution. The company has tested a version of this technology in San Francisco, putting the sensors in small boxes attached to street-sweeping machines. A transmitter connected to the sensor relays the data to whoever needs it. Distributed around the globe, these devices could give scientists up-to-the-minute details of air quality worldwide. "We could, in fact, litter the planet with these things," Rattner said. "Why can't we have these sensors on your cell phones?" 

'Free' energy 

Intel is developing devices that can tap the energy in the environment around them. Sunlight is one possibility, but so are television signals, cell phone towers and body heat. The amounts of energy captured at any one time would be very small, so the devices would need to act as "scavengers," storing up energy until they had enough to perform a specific task. 

Wireless Identification and Sensing Platform (WISP) 

This concept merges sensing and energy scavenging. Intel is researching sensors that would store up energy until they had enough to run a built-in data transmitter. Again, because the amount of power involved would be small, the transmitter would have very limited range. But it could still be useful. Rattner gave an example of a medical implant monitoring a patient's health and transmitting data to a doctor by shipping that data to a cell phone near the implant. 

Adaptive power 

Energy demand in a computer or a data center isn't constant - it increases or decreases depending on what tasks the gear is performing. Intel is trying to develop processors that can follow changes in energy demand microsecond by microsecond (one millionth of a second), minimizing the amount of electricity lost to idling. 

E-mail David R. Baker at dbaker@sfchronicle.com.

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'Solar taxi' goes round the world

BBC

Solar powered car arrives at climate change conference in Poland after round the world trip

 

A solar-powered car has arrived at the UN climate change talks in the Polish city of Poznan after a round-the-world trip covering almost 40 countries.

 

At the wheel of the "solar taxi" was Swiss teacher Louis Palmer who made the 52,000km (32,000 mile) 17-month trip.

 

He said the feat proved solar power was a viable alternative to oil-based fuels and could help fight global warming.

 

But he said the prototype would need serious modification before it could be mass produced.

 

The small blue-and-white three-wheeler tows a trailer packed with batteries charged by the sun. It can travel for 300km on a single charge and reach speeds of 90km/h (55mph).

 

"People love this idea of a solar car," Mr Palmer said outside the venue of the UN climate talks. "I hope that the car industry hears...and makes electric cars in future."

 

Mr Palmer, 36, said the car ran "like a Swiss clock," breaking down only twice during the gruelling trip through 38 nations starting in Lucerne in July 2007.

 

Passengers included UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Monaco's Prince Albert, Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, he said.

 

The car runs on solar power but Mr Palmer also had a battery for travel at night or in less sunny nations, such as winter-time Poland, that he recharged from local electricity.

 

He says the prototype cost as much as two Ferraris to build, but would cost around 10,000 euros ($12,620) if mass produced, with an extra 4,000 euros for solar panels.

 

Mr Palmer said he now plans to return home: "I promised my mother to be back before Christmas."

 

But next year, he plans to arrange a trip with six vehicles around the world in 80 days drawing power from sources such as hydro, geothermal and wind energy.

 

Related Article:

Portable power: Tiny solar cells show promise

Cutting Down on Colors Could Save Unilever $26 Million

Millions Up for Grabs for Marketers Willing to Reduce Number of Tints in Packaging

 

By Jack Neff,  AdAge.com, Published: December 01, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Somewhere over the rainbow lies $5 billion in savings for the package-goods industry.

 

Using a color-harmonization program called Project Rainbow, Unilever is reducing the more than 100 hues it uses on its spreads and dressings packaging in Europe to six. Unilever's hope is to save tens or eventually even hundreds of millions of dollars a year. By some estimates, the entire industry could save $5 billion annually if it follows suit.

 

LFH, the branding and design group behind the switch, said the initial savings for Unilever in Europe amount to $13 million to $26 million. Graham Hawkins, production director of LFH, said other package-goods companies are expressing interest, and said savings from color reduction could be applied to other areas of marketing.

 

But will consumers notice the fewer colors?

 

"The jury's still out with some brand managers, some design managers, as to whether there's any sort of aesthetic cost," said Thomas Gilmore, director-brand strategy for the Cincinnati-based branding and design firm RGI, who has worked with marketers such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp. "But it's certainly a trend you see, and it's on, I think, most every design manager's list of things to think about."

 

In the current economic climate, he said, it's becoming a far more attractive option, enough so that he believes even brands that do see a significant difference will consider it. "Brand managers see what else they can do with that money in their budgets," he said. "It's money that could be used for a website or an in-store promotion or any number of things."

 

Advancements in printing, which have added as many as four additional colors to the old four-color process, have helped make such moves possible, reducing the need for specialized or "spot" colors to get the right look -- or close to it.

 

There's even a potential environmental benefit. Mr. Gilmore, who founded the Sustainable CPG forum on LinkedIn, notes considerable reductions in waste from such consolidations. Cost savings and waste reduction come from buying inks on a greater scale, creating far less ink and packaging waste in the process of doing changeovers, and from producing final packaging because reduced complexity can improve quality and consistency, Mr. Hawkins said.

 

A few companies have adopted more-generic lineups of standardized colors, Mr. Hawkins said, but he believes quality suffers in comparison to the customized system Unilever adopted. LFH used a patented system by which it audits colors used by a marketer and then recommends a reduced palette that can achieve nearly the same look.

 

"Basically, eight out of 10 marketers couldn't tell the difference between their old packaging and the new packaging once we converted it," Mr. Hawkins said. The other two didn't see enough difference to justify the added cost for more inks, he said.

 

"The team was, quite frankly, blown away with the results," said Matthew Daniels, best-practices manager for the Unilever spreads and cooking business, in a statement. "No one could quite believe that such quality could be realized when using six colors."

 

But the approach isn't for everyone. Savings are much bigger for the largest, most diverse package-goods companies with the most complexity in their packaging lineups.

Discourse: The bright side of the global crisis: Fewer emissions

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post | Mon, 12/01/2008 7:11 AM 

Delegates from 185 countries will attend a two-week UN climate change conference in Poznan, Poland, starting Monday, to create a new regime of emissions cuts as mandated in the Bali road map. The Indonesian delegation, led by State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar, said Indonesia was responsible for ensuring the follow-up of the road map, which was agreed upon during last year’s UN climate change conference in Bali. Rachmat, accompanied by National Council for Climate Change secretary-general Agus Purnomo, talked to The Jakarta Post’s Adianto P. Simamora about the agenda for Poznan.

Question: What progress has been made to follow up on the Bali road map since you started leading the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)?

Answer: The Bali road map is a prestigious achievement in climate change talks and the world respects it. It is a milestone on the road to making a success of the conferences in Poland and in Copenhagen next year.

As the UNFCCC president, assisted by the governing body, I am responsible for protecting the Bali road map in the next climate talks. The governing body consists of ministers from several countries. On Monday, I will hand over my UNFCCC presidency to the environment minister of Poland.

After the Bali conference, we organized a series of intensive meetings including those in Bangkok, Bonn and Accra to draft a “negotiable text” on emissions cuts. The text will be finalized in Poznan before being voted on during the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009. I admit it is not an easy job but there has been positive progress.

At the Accra climate conference, each (participating) country submitted a position paper, including Indonesia. These will be further discussed in Poland.

In general, the thorniest issue is related to future commitments to emissions cuts. We need a concrete target in the mid-term period of between 25 percent and 40 percent rather than the long-term commitment of 50 percent by 2050. If rich nations agree with it, there must be action.

How do you see the commitment of rich nations to dealing with emissions cuts amid the global economic downturn?

The economic crisis actually brings both positive and negative impacts on efforts to combat climate change.

Many companies, including those in the United States — the largest emitter — are suffering from the economic meltdown. Many companies have scaled down their production while others have become bankrupt.

This means there are emissions cuts. It is the positive impact.

In addition, the use of climate-friendly technology such as hybrid cars is also reducing emissions from the transportation sector.

I attended several high-level meetings this year, including one in Hokkaido, Japan, and the recent G-20 meeting. I see leaders of developed nations becoming more afraid of the economic crisis. 

The United States spent a lot of money to bail out its economy. But I am sure the newly elected president Barack Obama will join the new climate regime. We are optimistic.

The bad news is the global financial crisis. Industrialized  nations are short of funds to support capacity-building and climate-resilience programs for developing countries.

But for me, God is fair. For example, Indonesia, which has been accused of being the world’s third largest emitter, is now ranked 24th. It is because of a significant decline in the number of forest fires. There are now fewer forest fires in Indonesia than in Australia.

What are the targets of the Indonesian delegation for the Poznan meeting?

Our vision is to get as many benefits as possible for Indonesia. Our delegation has prepared itself with very detailed position papers for the conference.

We will push agendas of demonstration activities for the reduction emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), voluntary carbon market, adaptation fund, financial mechanism and technology transfers before 2012 when the Kyoto protocol commitment ends.

We plan to have several bilateral meetings to negotiate financial aid bilaterally. I think many countries are ready to help Indonesia finance the mitigation and adaptation of climate change.

Even before the Poznan meeting, we received money and commitments from a few  countries this year, including Australia, Japan, Germany and France. I believe more money will come to Indonesia for climate change after the Poznan conference.

The availability of grants and technical assistance for developing countries is crucial in adapting to climate change.

We are also exploring the possibility of bilateral and multilateral support for technology transfers. The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) and the State Ministry for Research and Technology have been active in coordinating an exercise to complete the needs assessment for technology transfers in the past few years.

A draft report of the technology needs assessment is at the final review stage and will be presented at a side event during the Poznan forum. Among the identified technologies are renewable energy technologies.

Unfortunately, some clean and climate-friendly technologies are a bit more costly than the relatively dirty technology.

Financial and policy incentives are needed for higher adoption and procurement of clean technology.

The international climate negotiations can facilitate development partnerships to promote clean technologies, such as geothermal, wind and solar power generation.

As part of the global solidarity to prevent the worsening of climate change, the Indonesian delegation will also look for opportunities to get clean technology investment for our country.

Climate change gathers steam, say scientists

PARIS (AFP) — Earth's climate appears to be changing more quickly and deeply than a benchmark UN report for policymakers predicted, top scientists said ahead of international climate talks starting Monday in Poland.

 

Evidence published since the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change's (IPCC) February 2007 report suggests that future global warming may be driven not just by things over which humans have a degree of control, such as burning fossil fuels or destroying forest, a half-dozen climate experts told AFP.

 

Even without additional drivers, the IPCC has warned that current rates of greenhouse gas emissions, if unchecked, would unleash devastating droughts, floods and huge increases in human misery by century's end.

 

But the new studies, they say, indicate that human activity may be triggering powerful natural forces that would be nearly impossible to reverse and that could push temperatures up even further.

 

At the top of the list for virtually all of the scientists canvassed was the rapid melting of the Arctic ice cap.

 

"In the last couple of years, Arctic Sea ice is at an all-time low in summer, which has got a lot of people very, very concerned," commented Robert Watson, Chief Scientific Advisor for Britain's department for environmental affairs and chairman of the IPCC's previous assessment in 2001.

 

"This has implication's for Earth's climate because it can clearly lead to a positive feedback effect," he said in an interview.

 

When the reflective ice surface retreats, the Sun's radiation -- heat -- is absorbed by open water rather than bounced back into the atmosphere, creating a vicious circle of heating.

 

"We had always known that the Arctic was going to respond first," said Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. "What has us puzzled is that the changes are even faster than we would have thought possible," he said by phone.

 

New data on the rate at which oceans might rise has also caused consternation.

 

"The most recent IPCC report was prior to ... the measurements of increasing mass loss from Greenland and Antarctica, which are disintegrating much faster than IPCC estimates," said climatologist James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

 

Unlike the Arctic ice cap, which floats on water, the world's two major ice sheets -- up to three kilometers (two miles) thick -- sit on land.

 

Runaway sea level rises, Hansen said, would put huge coastal cities and agricultural deltas in Bangladesh, Egypt and southern China under water, and create hundreds of millions of refugees.

 

The IPCC's most recent assessment "did not take into account the potential melting of Greenland, which I think was a mistake," said Watson, the former IPCC chairman.

 

Were Greenland's entire ice block to melt, it would lift the world's sea levels by almost seven meters (22.75 feet), while western Antarctica's ice sheet holds enough water to add six metres (20 feet).

 

Neither of these doomsday scenarios is on the foreseeable horizon.

 

But for coastal dwellers, even a relatively small loss of their ice could prove devastating.

 

IPCC estimates of an 18-to-59 centimetre (7.2-to-23.2 inches) rise by 2100 has been supplanted among specialists by an informal consensus of one metre (39 inches), said Serreze.

 

The accelerating concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and signs of the planet's dwindling ability to absorb them, are also causing some scientists to lose sleep.

 

During the 1970s, there were on average 1.3 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas -- in the air. In the 1980s the figure was 1.6 ppm, and in the 1990s 1.5 ppm.

 

In the period 2000-2007, however, the concentration jumped to an average 2.0 ppm, with a high of 2.2 last year, according to the Global Carbon Project, based in Australia.

 

"The present concentration is the highest during the last 650,000 years and probably during the last 20 million years," said the Global Carbon Project's Pep Canadell, a researcher at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

 

And in 2008, he said, there has been an "exponential growth" in the atmospheric concentration of methane, another greenhouse gas that is an even more potent driver of global warming than CO2.

 

One potential source of both gases is frozen tundra in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, where temperatures have risen faster than anywhere else on Earth.

 

"The amount of carbon that is locked up in permafrost that could be released into the atmosphere is just about on a par with the atmospheric load the world has right now," said Serreze.

 

These higher concentrations of greenhouse gases come at a time when Earth's two major "carbon sinks" -- forests and especially oceans -- are showing signs of saturation.

 

The December 1-12 forum of 192-member UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) comes midway through a two-year process launched in Bali for braking the juggernaut of global warming.

 

Scheduled to run until December 12, the talks are a stepping stone towards a new pact -- due to be sealed in Copenhagen in December 2009 -- for reducing emissions and boosting adaptation funds beyond 2012, when the current provisions of the UN's Kyoto Protocol expire.

 

P&G continues to shrink energy footprint

Dayton Business Journal

 

Procter & Gamble Co. reduced its water and energy consumption by 6 percent to 8 percent in its last fiscal year, increasing its reductions since 2002 to roughly 50 percent.

 

The maker of Tide, Charmin and Pantene also cut its waste disposal by 21 percent in the year ended June 30, according to its annual sustainability report (www.pg.com/sustainability). In the same period, P&G (NYSE: PG) reduced its water consumption by 7 percent, its energy use by 6 percent and its carbon dioxide emissions by 8 percent.

 

All are part of an ongoing, three-part campaign by P&G to markedly reduce its consumption and improve the lives of children over a 10-year period. Since 2002, P&G has cut its corporate water use by 51 percent, its energy use by 46 percent, its carbon dioxide emissions by 52 percent and its waste disposal by 50 percent.

 

As part of the program, the consumer products maker also wants to develop and market, by 2012, $20 billion in earth-friendly or “sustainable innovation” products, such as Tide Coldwater or Bounty Mega rolls. As of the end of the last fiscal year, P&G sold almost $2.1 billion in such products.

 

Lastly, P&G reached more than 60 million children globally through its “Live, Learn and Thrive” clean water program. The goal, by 2012, is to reach 250 million children, according to the report.

 

“Sustainable development is a very simple idea,” A.G. Lafley, P&G’s CEO, wrote in the report. “It’s about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come.”

 

P&G has been investing in geothermal energy, windmills and landfill gases. At a manufacturing plant in Mehoopany, Pa., a heat-recovery system can reclaim enough energy to power almost 12,000 U.S. households annually. In Utah, P&G in the last fiscal year broke ground on a 1 million-square-foot-facility that will use solar-tracking skylights, a tissue-making machine that uses 19 percent less energy and geothermal industry.

 

 

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4400.

Plastic recycling business offers fortune to man who takes all risks

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/22/2008

Leaving his job as a foreign bank auditor in the capital in 1999, Baedowy set off to explore the unknown world of plastic recycling. 

Feeling uneasy while his seniors and bosses anxiously faced redundancy after their 20 years of service, Baedowy decided to resign after his three years of working. 

"I was frowned upon by my parents," he said, recalling the time he told his parents about his resignation and intention to be go into the "waste business". 

Similar to most people who break into the recycling business, he said he did not start his business out of a concern for the environment. 

"I have to put food on the table for my wife and three children. I was looking for a business that only required a small amount of capital, generated enough money to met my daily requirements and would make me rich in the long run." 

Baedowy found that recycling plastic waste fit his three criteria. 

His business, however, failed in its first year because the plastic crushing machine he bought for Rp 20 million always malfunctioned. 

"During that year, I spent more time fixing the machine than recycling," he said, adding that there were times he regretted resigning. 

But the long hours spent fixing the machine paid off. Baedowy discovered ways to modify the plastic crushing machine, getting rid of its flaws. 

Baedowy also figured out new ways to sort and crush plastic waste. People started to visit his factory in Cimuning, East Bekasi, to seek his advice. 

He said other plastic recycling firms remained silent when he asked them for advice when he started out nine years ago. 

"The experience motivated me to be different. I prefer to welcome queries about my business," he said. 

"The more, the merrier." 

Today, Baedowy employs about 40 workers at his 1,000-square-meter factory and produces four to five tons of plastic scraps and pellets a week. His 60 business partners, from Naggroe Aceh Darussalam to Papua, each produce approximately three tons per week. 

His business partners come from all walks of life, he said, from fresh graduates and the unemployed to cooperatives and state institutions. 

His partners are taught how to manage their recycling businesses and are supplied with a modified recycling machine. They, in turn, sell their products to Baedowy. 

"I am not only giving the fish and the bait, but I am offering the whole pond." 

Baedowy has been exporting plastic scrap and pellets to Guongzhou, China, since 2004. 

"The typical problem with Indonesian plastic scrap and pellets is the quality. Through training, I ensure that all my partners are able to create products of international standard." 

Although his export business has contracted from 60 percent of his total business to 20 percent due to the global financial crisis, he said, he was not worried. 

"Prices can plummet or soar anytime. But as long as there are some margins to take, everything will be fine." 

In his factory, plastic glass scraps are recycled into raffia cord, while plastic pellets from plastic bags and sacks are remade into new plastic bags and sacks. Scraps from plastic bottles are recycled into polyester thread, while plastic pellets from buckets, lubricating oil and shampoo bottles are recycled into brooms, balls and piggy banks. 

He profits at least Rp 500 for every kilogram of plastic waste, which means a weekly production of three tons will bring a profit of Rp 1.5 million per week. 

Baedowy said his business contributed to the environmental campaign to some extent, by urging people to reduce, reuse and recycle. 

"It is important to make more people aware that waste is a profitable business," said the recipient of the government's 2006 Young Initiator Award. 

"That's the only way the green campaign will work here."

Times Square Getting Eco-Friendly Billboard

wcbstv.com

NEW YORK (AP) ― Times Square is getting its first environmentally friendly billboard powered entirely by wind and sun.

 

Construction begins this month on the 35,000-pound billboard advertising the Ricoh Americas Corporation, an office equipment and document storage supplier.

 

It will have 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels and produce enough power to light six homes.

 

The sign may not be quite as dazzling as some of its neighbors along Broadway.

 

It will be lit by floodlights, rather than light-emitting diodes, and won't have a backup generator, so it could go dark during a long period with little wind or sun.

 

But company spokesman Ron Potesky says the sign's turbines will probably be able to keep the billboard lit even after four days without breezes or bright sun.

Plan for new Maldives homeland

BBC

The president-elect of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, says he wants to buy a new homeland for his people.

He says that the gradual rise in sea levels caused by global warming means the Maldives islanders may eventually be forced to resettle elsewhere.

The Maldives is the lowest nation in the world. Its highest land is little more than two metres above sea level.

The United Nations estimates that sea levels may rise globally by nearly 60 centimetres this century.

Devastation fears

The Maldives comprise more than 1,000 islands and coral atolls surrounded by the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

The white sandy beaches are a major tourist attraction bringing in billions of dollars every year.

Now Mohamed Nasheed, who will be sworn in as the country's first democratically elected president on Tuesday, has said that he will set up a fund to acquire land in other parts of the region.

Mr Nasheed's spokesman, Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, told the BBC's World Today programme that the new government had to take action.

"Global warming and environmental issues are issues of major concern to the Maldivian people. We are just about three feet (0.91 metre) above sea level," Mr Zaki said, speaking from the capital, Male.

"So any sea level rise could have a devastating effect on the people of the Maldives and their very survival".

Similar culture

Over the last century, sea levels around parts of the archipelago rose by nearly 20cm. Mr Nasheed fears that even a small rise could leave some islands inundated.

Mr Nasheed's plan is to create a "sovereign wealth fund" using tourism revenues to buy land so that future generations will have somewhere to rebuild their lives if they have to leave.

He wants somewhere within the region, where the culture is similar - possibly India or Sri Lanka.

His fears is that if he does not take action, the future descendents of the 300,000 islanders could become environmental refugees.

Related Article:

Mass relocation planned as seas rise

Portable power: Tiny solar cells show promise

By Julie Steenhuysen, Thu Nov 6, 2008 3:01pm EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers have developed some of the tiniest solar cells ever made and said on Thursday the organic material could potentially be painted on to surfaces.

So far, they have managed to pull 11 volts of electricity from a small array of the cells, which are each just a quarter of the size of a grain of white rice, said Xiaomei Jiang of the University of South Florida, who led the research.

"They could be sprayed on any surface that is exposed to sunlight -- a uniform, a car, a house," Jiang said in a telephone interview.

"Because it is in a solution, you can design a special spray gun where you can control the size and thickness. You could produce a paste and brush it on," she said.

Eventually, Jiang envisions the solar cells being used as a coating on a variety of surfaces, including clothing. They might generate energy to power small electronic devices or charge a cell phone, for example.

Solar cells, which convert energy from the sun into electricity, are in increasing demand amid unstable gas prices and worries over global warming.

Most conventional solar cells are made up of silicon wafers, a brittle substance that limits where they can be placed.

Many teams of scientists are working on different ways to make solar cells more flexible in the hopes of taking better advantage of energy from the sun.

The tiny cells from Jiang's lab are made from an organic polymer that has the same electrical properties of silicon wafers but can be dissolved and applied to flexible materials.

"The main components are carbon and hydrogen -- materials that are present in nature and are environmentally friendly," Jiang said.

In research published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Jiang and colleagues showed an array of 20 of these cells could generate 7.8 volts of electricity, about half the power needed to run a microscopic sensor for detecting dangerous chemicals and toxins.

Her team is now refining the manufacturing process with the hope of doubling that output to 15 volts. "It's a matter of months," Jiang said.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Cynthia Osterman)

Related Article:

New nano coating boosts solar efficiency

Shell Eyes Geothermal Investment

Friday, 07 November, 2008 | 14:41 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Shell International BV said they are interested in investing in Indonesia's newest energy sector. "The biggest potential is in geothermal and solar energy," said Shell International's chief of Political Analyst for Global Business Environment, Cho-Oon Khong yesterday. 

According to Cho-Oon, the details of the plans cannot yet be confirmed. However, he views Indonesia as playing an important role in facing the challenges of energy sources in the future. 

These challenges include the wide gap between the demand and supply in oil fuel and issues on global warming. He said supplies in oil and gas will become more limited 20 years from now. 

This, he said, has led to an increase in oil prices. On the other hand, the increasing global demands in energy will create alternative supplies and the use of more efficient energy. "Shell will adapt to that, allowing us a bigger opportunity of investing in Indonesia, both from the upstream and the downstream sectors," he said. 

Energy and Mineral Resources minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Indonesia's potential in geothermal reserves are equal to 219 million barrels of oil or 27.000 megawatt. However, the capacity installed produces only 1.052 megawatt. 

According to Purnomo, the main impediment in developing this source of energy is the large investment needed and high electricity rates produced. The cost of producing electricity from this source is higher than using the conventional coal. 

The government is currently studying three areas to implement an experimental CO2 Captured and Storage (CSS) project. This technology regulates the emission of carbon dioxide in fossil fuels and produces environmentally-friendly oil and natural gas. 

SORTA TOBING