See also: Related OurFood News
Subsections
Global corporations
According to Peter Dicken (University of Manchester,
UK), most writers on globalization project a highly simplistic
conceptualization of the firm that spans the ideological spectrum: from the
hyper-globalist of the populist business literature to the anti-globalization
movements: One of the center claims of hyper-globalists
in business is that international firms are inexorably and inevitably abandoning
their ties to their country of origin and converge towards a universal global
organizational form[1].
Kenichi Ohmaeś exhortation (1990:94) to business
manager is usually invoked as the exemplar of such a position:
"Country of origin does not matter. Location of headquarters does not matter.
The products for which you are responsible and the company you serve have
become denationalised." Some of these ideas were existent before Ohmae, such
as the US Under-Secretary of State, George Ball in 1967 coined the liable "
Cosmocorp", describing what he saw as the emerging global corporation. Barned
and Muller (1974) gave examples of US corporate executives to transform
their forms to placeless global corporations.
Other quite bizarre ideas are that technological and regulatory developments
in the world economy have created a "global surface"on which a dominant
organizational form will develop and inexorably wipe out less efficient
competitors who are no longer protected by national or local barriers. Such an
organization is "placeless" and "boundry-less".
This claims that the placeless corporation is becoming the norm amongst
international firms received a substantial boost in the 1990s with the
persistence of the Japanese financial crisis and the unexpected East Asian
financial crisis of 1997-1998.
model of the global corporation. The US-style
corporation was projected as being the most effective way of maximizing
shareholder value. All other models of business organization were not less
efficient but would be vanquished.
The collapse of Enron, WorldCom and other high profile US companies in 2002
seriously threw into doubt both the efficiency and incorruptibility of the
US corporate model.
According to global executives and managers, the suggestion that
multinationals were "national companies with units abroad" was roundly
rejected as old fashioned and not compatible with the demands of the
contemporary global economy. Most of them considered their corporations to be
in a transitional state between the multinational corporation and the global corporation. These groups like to compare TNCs (transnational corporations) with nation-states in order to demonstrate that
TNCs have become more powerful than states. The Institute for Policy Studies in the US published Anderson and Cavanagh (2000:3) stating:
Of the 100 large economics in the world, 51 are corporations and only 49 are
countries (based on a comparison of corporate sales and country GPDs).
General Motors is now bigger than Denmark, DaimlerChrysleri is bigger than
Poland. Royal Dutch/Shell is bigger than Pakistan. The 1999 sales of each of
the top five corporation (General Motors, Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil, Ford Motor
and DaimlerChrysler are bigger than the GDPs of 182 countries).
These figures do not tell us much about the gobalness of corporations or even
the extent to which corporations are more or less oriented to domestic or
foreign operations.
Analyzing all data Peter Dicken comes to the conclusion that contrary to many
sayings, place and geography still matter fundamentally in the way in which
firms are produced and in how they behave. The basic point of Dickens is that
firms - including TNCs are produced through an intricate process of embedding
in which the cognitive, cultural, social, political and economic
characteristics of the national home base play a dominant part. Despite the unquestioned geographical
transformations of the world economy, driven at least in part by the
expansionary activities of transnational corporations, the convergence to a
single "placeless" type did not take place yet. This is because, over time,
and under specific circumstances, societies have tended to develop distinctive
ways of organizing their economies, even within the broad, apparently unitary,
ideology of capitalism
Not all capitalisms are the same and come in many different varieties. Forms
of economic coordination and governance cannot easily be transferred from one
society to another for they are embedded in social systems of production
distinctive to their particular society.
Economic performance is shaped by the entire social system of production in
which firms are embedded and not simply by specific principles of management
styles and work practices.
Dickens says that the differences of firms from different geographical context have enormous implications for economic development policy at
national, regional and local levels. He calls for meticulous comparative
international analysis of firm-place relationship. Transnational corporations are
not placeless; "global" corporations are, indeed, a myth.
The three most important instruments of economic power are the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
World Trade Organization ( WTO )
Established in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO),
located in Geneva, Zwitzerland, enforces a dozen separate trade agreements and
serves as a forum for ongoing talks to develop new trade agreements. The WTO
is the product of the Uruguay Round (1986-1994) of
negotiations. Today, the WTO has 146 members.
It includes specific commitments by WTO member governments to improve market
access and reduce trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture. These commitments
are being implemented over a six year period (10 years for developing
countries) that began in 1995. Participants have agreed to initiate
negotiations for continuing the reform process one year before the end of the
implementation period, i.e. by the end of 1999.
These talks have now been incorporated intothe broader negotiating agenda set
at the 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar Environmentally speaking, the most important new topics
under negotiation in the WTO are investment and services. Its Budget for 2003
was 154 million Swiss francs.
- Administering WTO trade agreements
- Forum for trade negotiations
- Handling trade disputes
- Monitoring national trade policies
- Technical assistance and training for developing countries
- Cooperation with other international organizations
The WTO's Agriculture Agreement wants to promote fairer competition, improving
market access and reducing trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture. These
commitments are being implemented over a six year period (10 years for
developing countries) that began in 1995. Participating governments have
agreed to initiate negotiations for continuing the reform process one year
before the end of the implementation period, i.e. by the end of 1999. These
talks have now been incorporated into the broader negotiating agenda set at the 2001.
The Doha Declaration
The declaration
reconfirms the long-term objective to establish a fair and market-oriented
trading system through a program of fundamental reform. The program
encompasses strengthened rules, and specific commitments on government support
and protection for agriculture. The purpose is to correct and prevent
restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets.
Without prejudging the outcome, member governments commit themselves to
comprehensive negotiations aimed at market access and export subsidies that
distort trade. The declaration makes special and differential treatment for
developing countries integral throughout the negotiations, and should enable
developing countries meet their needs, in particular in food security and
rural development.
The non-trade concerns, such as environmental protection, food security and rural development will be considered in the Agriculture Agreement.
The Peace Clause of the Uruguay Round [2]
The Peace Clause was introduced at the eleventh hour
during the Uruguay Round as a "take-it-or-leave-it" condition for signing a
deal. After protecting illegal subsidies for nine years, that Peace Clause
elapsed in 2003. While the details of a new Peace Clause are not known it is
almost certain that it would block developingcountries from taking a raft of
new cases to the WTO.
The US said last week that it needs the Peace Clause to be renewed to protect itself from litigation while it is in the process of reducing its trade-distorting subsidies. But Charveriat said that members of the WTO should make a stand.
The US and EU currently pay at least $13bn worth of illegal subsidies for agriculture. If the Peace Clause were reintroduced, no poor country would be able to take them to the WTO court for this, for possibly up to 10 years.
The General Council, at its meeting on 27-28 July 2006, supported a recommendation by Director-General Pascal Lamy to suspend the Doha negotiations. The Task Force on Aid for Trade submitted its report and recommendations aimed at helping developing countries increase exports of goods and services.
According to FAO, the Doha Round of international trade negotiations collapsed
mainly because of
a fight for advantage in agricultural markets by large and powerful countries, corporations and lobbies. [3]
The approach adopted in the talks was flawed from the outset, FAO said. It failed
to take sufficient account of the interests of developing countries and focussed
on "free trade, rather than fair trade."
The emerging financial markets in China and India force western countries to look
after counterweights. A free trade zone between Europe, USA and Canada would
bring together financial markets with similar social structures. In case of a
total failure of the WTO, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will try to relaunch a 1998 plan for a transatlantic free trade zone when it takes up the
rotating EU presidency in January 2007.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)
Sanitary and phytosanitary of WTO wants to
ensure that every consumers are being supplied with food that is safe to eat, and at the same time, to ensure that strict health and safety regulations are
not being used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers. An agreement on
how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures
(sanitary and phytosanitary or SPS measures) sets out the basic rules in the WTO.
Standards and Trade Development Facility
(STDF)
The Standards
and Trade Development Facility (STDF) is a global program in capacity building
and technical assistance to developing countries in trade and standards. The
Facility builds upon a Head of Agency communiqué issued by the World Bank, the
World Animal Health Organization (OIE), World Trade Organization (WTO), World
Health Organization (WHO), and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the
Doha Ministerial of the WTO in 2001. Funding is initially provided through the
World Bank's Development Grant Facility, along with support from the Doha
Development Trust Fund of the WTO.
The activities of STDF relate specifically to food safety, plant, and animal
health, and to the standards developed by the FAO/WHO Joint Codex Alimentarius
Commission (Codex), the FAO International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC),
and the OIE.
WTO is important and can turn out to be a good partner of the United Nations
as soon initial errors are amended. Learning from errors of the past, global
control can be improved using feedback from NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations.)
WTO, The World Trade Organization
The WTO is the only global international organization dealing
with the rules of trade between nation. The goal is to help producers of goods
and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.
It is located in Geneva, Switzerland. It had been preceded by GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) since 1948 and was established on 1 January 1995 by the Uruguay Round
negotiations (1986-94). A second WTO
ministerial meeting was held in Geneva in May 1998. 146 countries are members of the WTO.
GATT had mainly dealt with trade in goods. WTO and its agreements now cover trade
in services, and in traded inventions, creations and designs (intellectual
property) TRIPS.
Functions of the WTO
The WTO shall facilitate the implementation, administration and operation, and
further the objectives, of
- TRIPS
- Multilateral Trade Agreements
- Plurilateral Trade Agreements
The WTO provides the forum for negotiations among its Members concerning their multilateral trade relations in matters dealt with under the agreements in the Annexes to this Agreement.
The WTO administers the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM).
The WTO cooperates with the International Monetary Fund and with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the rules of trade between nations at a global or near-global level. These agreements are often called the WTO's trade rules. These rules are actually agreements that governments negotiated. These agreements and annexes deal with the following specific sectors or issues:
For goods (under GATT)
- Agriculture
- Health regulations for farm products (SPS)
- Textiles and clothing
- Product standards (TBT)
- Investment measures
- Anti-dumping measures
- Customs valuation methods
- Preshipment inspection
- Rules of origin
- Import licensing
- Subsidies and counter-measures
- Safeguards
For services (the GATS annexes)
- Movement of natural persons
- Air transport
- Financial services
- Shipping
- Telecommunications
The WTO agreements are negotiated
and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations. These documents provide the legal
ground-rules for international commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding
governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits.
Handling trade disputes
The
most harmonious way to settle these differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation. That is the purpose behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements.
The Doha Development Agenda
The
bulk of the WTO's current work comes from the 1986-94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the "Doha Development Agenda" launched in 2001.
The Ministerial Conference is composed of representatives of all the Members. The Ministerial Conference carries out the functions of the WTO and take actions necessary to this effect. The Ministerial Conference has the authority to take decisions on all matters under any of the Multilateral Trade Agreements, if so requested by a Member. It meets every two years.
The General Council is composed of representatives of all the Members. It
conducts the functions of the Ministerial Conference during the intervals
between meetings of the Ministerial Conference. The WTO continues decision-making followed the
agreements of GATT 1947. At meetings of the Ministerial Conference and the
General Council, each Member of the WTO has one vote. The European Community
has a number of votes equal to the number of its member States. Decisions of
the Ministerial Conference and the General Council are taken by a majority of
the votes cast.
WTO related Agreements
- Agreement on Agriculture
- Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
- Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
- Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
- Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures
- Agreement on Preshipment Inspection
- Agreement on Rules of Origin
- Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures
- Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
- Agreement on Safeguards
- Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
- Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes
- Trade Policy Review Mechanism
- Plurilateral Trade Agreements
- Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft
- Agreement on Government Procurement
- International Dairy Agreement
- International Bovine Meat Agreement
International standards
An annex to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement cites standards which are to be used in connection with trade matters:
- The FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission for food
- The International Animal Health Organization (Office International des Epizooties) for animal health
- The FAO's Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention for plant health
- For matters not covered by the above organizations, appropriate standards, guidelines and recommendations promulgated by other relevant international organizations open for membership to all Members, as identified by the Committee can be added.
Protection of life or health
Article 20 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) allows governments to act on trade in order to protect human, animal or plant life or health, provided they do not discriminate or use this as disguised protectionism. In addition, there are two specific WTO agreements dealing with food safety and animal and plant health and safety, and with product standards. The Sanitary
and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement sets out basic rules. It allows
countries to set their own standards. But it also says regulations must be based on science. They should be applied only to the extent necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health. And they should not arbitrarily or unjustifiable discriminate between countries where identical or similar conditions prevail.
Member countries are encouraged to use international standards, guidelines and
recommendations where they exist. However, members may use measures which result in higher standards if there is scientific justification. They can also set higher standards based on appropriate assessment of risks so long as the approach is consistent, not arbitrary. And they can to some extent apply the "precautionary principle", a kind of "safety first" approach to deal with scientific uncertainty. Article 5.7 of the SPS Agreement allows temporary "precautionary" measures.
The agreement still allows countries to use different standards and different methods of inspecting products. If an exporting country can demonstrate that the measures it applies to its exports achieve the same level of health protection as in the importing country, then the importing country is expected to accept the exporting country's standards and methods.
Codex Alimentarius Commission
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.
The main purposes of this Programme are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organisations. The Codex Alimentarius Commission published only voluntary standards for the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, food additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, labelling and methods on analysis and sampling. The General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) transformed into a formal organisation the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1994.
The chloramphenicol ban that certain U.S. States placed in the mid 1980s and the current hormone ban negotiations between Europe and the U.S. initiated the creation of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) WTO document which was written by the U.S. Codex delegation in 1987.
Chloramphenicol has been banned in Europe for use on animals since 1994.
Drugs such as chloramphenicol and sulfonamide are sometimes used to protect honey bees from brood diseases. Honey with elements of chloramphenicol and sulphonamide were detected in a UK honey brand which was composed of a blend of imported honey.The honey was recalled in November 2005.
Exposure to chloramphenicol in food in any quantity is undesirable, but the level of risk will depend on how much is consumed and how frequently. Chloramphenicol and sulphonamide in food are illegal. Chloramphenicol can cause cancer and lead to aplastic anaemia in susceptible people.
The importance of the Standards and Guidelines of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the WTO is growing with global trade and exchange of foods enforcing the ban of pesticides and antibiotics in food worldwide.
The Codex Standards are now being recognized as scientific and they are being used as a point of reference in cases of disputes over non-Tariff trade barriers and whether certain trade restrictions have a legitimate scientific basis by the WTO agreement on the SPS and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). International Corporations and global trade organizations are becoming strongly interested in the Codex, as it helps to harmonize regulations on a worldwide level.
The United States came under World Trade
Organization penalties failing to eliminate a tax break. It was declared an illegal export subsidy by the WTO. A 5 percent penalty tariff awaits U.S. exports such as jewelry and refrigerators, toys and paper. The dollar's sharp decline in value against the euro, the European Union currency, means American goods are cheaper on European markets. That may protect U.S. Manufacturers.
Export Dumping
The practice of selling products at prices below their cost of production is one of the most damaging of all current distortions in world trade practices.
The U.S. is one of the world's leading sources of dumped agricultural commodities such as wheat, maize, soybean, rice and cotton. Brazil is considering a case against U.S. cotton before the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2001, Canada briefly imposed both countervailing and anti-dumping duties on U.S. corn imports. WTO wants to address dumping in
agriculture following three steps
1. The elimination of visible export subsidies as quickly as possible.
2. A commitment from exporting countries to keep products priced below the cost of production out of world markets.
3. The publication of annual fullcost of production estimates for OECD countries.
Developing countries need healthy agricultural sectors to eliminate poverty. To achieve this, agricultural commodities must be priced fairly.
Definitions of Dumping
If a country
determines that imports into their country are dumped, and if they can establish that "material injury" to domestic competitors is occurring, then antidumping duties are a WTO-legal response. There are two common definitions of export dumping contained in Article Six of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT):
First definitionThe first definition describes the export of a product at a price below the normal selling price in its domestic market. For example, if a Japanese car is sold in Japan at a higher price as it is sold in an other country, this fact is called dumping. The second definition of dumping contained in
Article Six of the GATT applies to situations where the domestic price is too distorted to provide a useful reference. This happens when government regulation crowded out (or even prohibited) the functioning of an open market through regulations, subsidies, price supports and other instruments. This is the case when the export price into another market is less than the cost of production in the country of origin plus a reasonable addition for transportation, handling and profit. Agricultural production is often exported under these conditions.
Oligopolis
Market prices are also distorted by the
presence of oligopolies. A few transnational agri-business firms dominate all
agricultural commodity production, transportation and processing in the United
States. Over 80 per cent of US corn is exported by three firms: Cargill, ADM and Zen Noh. The top four beefpackers in the United States are Tyson (owner of Iowa Beef Packers), ConAgra, Cargill (owner of Excell Corporation), and Farmland National Beef Packing Company. They control 81% of the market.
Three of these four (Smithfield replaces Farmland) are also the top pork packers; two (Tyson and ConAgra) are among the top poultry producers. Cargill ranks among the top three or four companies across the sector, from beef and pork packing, to turkeys, animal feed, grain terminals, corn exports, soybean exports, flour milling, soybean crushing, and ethanol production.
Visible export subsidies should be eliminated as
quickly as possible via the WTO or the OECD over the next few years. Countries must make a commitment to keep products priced below the cost of production out of world markets. Since the exporting and importing corporations that profit at present from this dumping are not likely to voluntarily give up this practice, countries will need to take policy measures to gain corporate compliance.
By far the easiest and most WTO-legal approach is for the importing country to
impose countervailing duties to bring the dumping prices up to the cost of
production levels. The most effective way to end dumping will be to work inside
the United States, the European Union, and other major grain exporters to secure
legislation that ensures export prices capture the full cost of production,
including the cost of marketing and a reasonable profit.
The OECD has to publish each year a full-cost of production estimate, including all producer paid costs, government paid input costs, and the cost of marketing with a fair profit, as the GATT proposes in Article 6.
Governments could phase out dumping over five years through eliminating direct export subsidies and using full cost of production prices to ensure fair prices. Europe has used the so-called Peace clause that was put
in place during the Uruguay Round to protect many of its farm industries with hefty subsidies that adversely affected Australian producers. The Peace clause is believed to be finished at the end of 2003. Australia, together with Brazil use the end of the clause to particularly target subsidies such as sugar.
Sugar world prices are low mainly because of the ten-fold increase in exports
from Brazil (to over 10 million tons) in the last 10 years aiming to expand its
production even further to 50 per cent of the world sugar market.
According to British Sugar Brazil has been able to expand its exports of sugar to the world market only because of repeated massive devaluations of its currency and has been supported by cross subsidy from their heavily government-supported bioethanol industry. Danisco, big in business with sugar from sugar beet in Europe, is also consternated about the matter. Danisco sold later on its sugar business to Nord Zucker.
With the failure of WTO talks in Cancun in September 2003, pressure has
intensified on Europe.
The three options for change the regime of sugar currently under discussion in Brussels are: leaving the regime as it is; providing a price reduction; or alternatively full liberalization for sugar.
While critics want to see a fairer regime with Europe flinging open the doors to imports from developing countries, European sugar producers are concerned that full liberalization would raze the industry to the ground killing about 75 per cent of the sugar production with massive job losses. The European beet growers' association (CIBE) estimates that 500,000 jobs in the EU depend on the current common market organization (CMO) sugar regime, in place since 1968.
Full liberalization would mean abolishing the current domestic EU price support system, abandoning production quotas and totally removing import tariffs and quantitative restrictions on imports.
Meanwhile the struggle between EU and USA continues. The dispute arose over the
so-called Foreign Sales Corporation tax ruled illegal at the end of the 1990s.
[4]
India, second in sugar plantation after Brazil, may now increase its output
using the new sugar beet plants from Syngenta. The plant needs 30 to 50 per
cent less water than sugar cane.
The new sugar beet can grow well in warm climate where it can bring two
harvests a year. Its sugar yield is higher as obtained with sugar cane. It
sounds good. It grows at saline and poor quality soil that cannot be used for
other agricultural purposes, so not more land is needed to increase sugar
output. This means that sugar output can be expanded without taking land from
other food crops.
After ten years of development the sugar production for food started in Ambad
near Jalna, and bioethanol at Kalas, near Pune. The use of tropical sugar
beet in other tropical regions with poor soil conditions is being examined.
It is the revival of the Green Revolution, were there not the doubts about gene
transfer to soil, bacteria and other plants. Can poor farmer afford to buy Syngenta sugar beet seed and the accompanying agrarian chemicals?
Climate and political factors in Sudan and Nigeria cause insecurity in the supply
of gum arabic
Sugar beet pectin was found by Siew and Williams 2008 to be a substitute
being, however, more expensive than gum arabic.
Studying the content of protein and ferulic acid of the sugar beet pectin
fraction the authors found that one or both of these two functional groups
adsorb onto the surface of the oil droplets and stabilize the emulsions.
The authors concluded that compared to those made with gum arabic, the
emulsion samples made with sugar beet pectin samples exhibited similar (or
even slightly higher) stability.
DuPont acquires Danisco, a company which produces enzyme and speciality food ingredients such as enablers, cultures and sweeteners, for $6.3billion in 2011. DuPont becomes leader in industrial biotechnology with science-intensive innovations in food production in biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol, biomaterials, and other emerging technologies. Research will remain in Denmark.
Swiss biotech Syngenta moves its biotechnology centre to Beijing, China to
evaluate genetically-modified and native traits in soy, corn, wheat, sugar
beet and sugar cane. It will focus on yield improvement, drought resistance,
disease control, and the conversion of biomass for biofuels.
China known to disregard food safety, is an easy market for Syngenta.
The joint framework of EU and US had been presented for the WTO negotiations
Cancun meetings, focusing on three areas: domestic support, market access and
export competition. For domestic support, the paper provides substantial cuts by
all members who use trade distorting subsidies.
For market access, there is a formula which takes on board both the formulas
discussed to date (Uruguay Round and so-called 'Swiss' formula), while fully
preserving the elements of flexibility and recognition of the existence of
sensitive products.
The framework paper addresses export subsidies refunds and exports credits,
provides partial elimination of export subsidization for a common list of
products of interest for developing countries and provides a path for parallel
reduction of export subsidization for the products that are not eliminated.
Globalization benefits the shift of production from traditional countries to
emerging markets, bringing important consequences for the US soybean
industry.
Peter Goldsmith at the University of Illinois says that the US share of
world soybean production has declined since the early 1990s from about 50 per
cent to less than 40 per cent. During that time, Brazil's share increased to
more than 25 per cent, and Argentina's share rose to nearly 15 per cent.
Similar changes are underway in the processing sector.
The staple food for over 500 million people, cassava is a good commercial cash
crop and a major source of food security, but it needs a competitive edge to
thrive in the global starch market.
Competing in the mainstream commodity starch arena - maize, wheat or potato - is 'extremely difficult', particularly when it is not the commodities themselves that are the competition, 'but rather the functional characteristics of the value-added products'.
Until recently, the starch markets of the world were virtually closed to foreign countries because high import duties created barriers to trade for anything but the most basic of commodities. But in April 1994 the GATT Uruguay Round paved the way for new trade opportunities.
In 2002 Nigeria came in as the largest producer of cassava in the world. But in 2003 despite favorable weather conditions in the country, an outbreak of mosaic disease placed its cassava crop under pressure.
Cassava is cultivated for its starchy, tuberous roots that can be processed into tapioca, ground to produce manioc or cassava meal (Brazilian arrowroot), used as animal fodder or cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
Thailand is the world's leading exporter of aggregate dry cassava products, also known as tapioca, in the form of pellets for the feed industry in USA under a low tariff rate preferential quota.
The three most important instruments of economic power - World Trade
Organization (WTO), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) try to force the worldś acceptance of genetically modified foods and crops. The
American administration launched in May 2003 a complaint with the WTO against the
European Union for its five-year ban on approving new biotech crops, claiming the
European policy to be illegal, harming the American economy.
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture is being used to attack the European Union, which will be forced to either alter its policy toward GM crops and foods, or face economic sanctions across a range of sectors.
The US has so far opposed the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety which entered into force in September 2003 and has been signed by over 100 countries being intended to ensure through agreed international rules and regulations that countries have the necessary information to make informed choices about GM foods and crops.
The USA has also avoided to sign the Kyoto Protocol (Biosafety). Since the US has still not ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), it has no need to follow the Cartagena Protocol and therefore will try to force the GM food to be accepted by all other countries.
With the biotech patents coming into force with TRIPs Agreement in 2005, agriculture research in developing countries will not be possible any more.
Kyoto protocol
During the Kyoto summit, participating nations agreed to reduce the CO2
levels to 7% below the levels found in 1990. It is an agreement made under
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and was
negociated in Kyoto in December 1997. It entered into force on February 16,
2005. [8] [9]
Australia and United States have signed but, currently, refuse to ratify it.
The United States produces 20% of total carbon dioxide. To protectig its
industry the USA did not sign the protocol, proposing to plant forests in the
USA and third world countries.
CO2 is not eliminated by photosynthese. It is released again once
organism dies and decays.
Studying forestation it has been found that forests inherently warm the
atmosphere by absorbing heat from light due to their non-reflective leaves.
An increase of number of trees means more fires, and this increases global warming.
The only option for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide is by reducing the
amount of gas released from burning of fossil fuels. 06.03.07: Sustainability
Milles et al. 2011 studied the prion infectiousness of Class B biosolids under mesophilic (37degree C) and thermophilic (60 degree C). The authors report a 2.43-log(10) reduction in prion infectivity under mesophilic temperatures after 15 days and a 3.41-log(10) reduction after 10 days under thermophilic conditions. The authors stress that there must be additional factors aside of temperature treatment which reduce the number of infectious prions, because reduction was higher in the biosolid samples compared with control in phosphate buffered saline.
Biosolids are nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of sewage sludge. When treated and processed, these residuals can be recycled and applied as fertilizer or compost to improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth. Manure is an agricultural waste not generally captured in collection programs, but nonetheless, is generated in high volumes and can offer multiple beneficial uses including nutrients for crop production and organic matter to improve soil properties. [11]
EPA issued regulations in 1993 that limit the pollutants and pathogens in biosolids, entitled "The Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge", (40 CFR part 503) [12]. If biosolids are included as part of the compost or fertilizer, part 503 land application requirements in effect ensure that any biosolids that are land applied, through compost or fertilizers, contain pathogens and metals that are below specified levels to protect the health of humans, animals, and plants. [13]
Biosolids are divided into Class A and Class B on this basis of their pathogen content and
control. Class A biosolids must undergo more extensive treatment than Class B biosolids to reduce pathogens, including bacteria, enteric viruses, and viable helminth ova, to below detectable amounts.
The Class B pathogen requirements were developed from the 1979 40 CFR 257 regulations for processes to significantly reduce pathogens, reducing pathogenic viruses, Salmonella bacteria, and indicator bacteria (faecal coliform) by at least 1 log (90%) (EPA 1989). The majority of the phosphorus in cereal
grains and oilseed meals is organically bound as phytic acid or phytate which
is nutritionally unavailable to nonruminant animals like swine and poultry.
They lack phytase in their digestive tract, and must be supplemented with inorganic phosphorus. Not used phosporus passes the digestive tract and end in
the environment. Biofuel production increases further environmental phosphorus
and nitrogen being washed by rainwater into the open waters increasing algal
bloom and fish dying.
Adding phytase to the feed of pig and poultry may become a strategy to
counter steady increasing feed phosphate prices and may reduce the heavy
environmental burden of pig and poultry farming.
Rising demand of phosphate fertilizers for food and ethanol crops to feed
developing nations and produce ethanol, reduce the available quantity of feed
phosphates.
Recently developed bacterial phytases proved to be more effective in releasing
plant-bound phytate phosphorus than traditional fungal phytases, allowing a
reduction in dicalcium phosphate in feed up to 30%.
Thacker and colleagues 2004 determine the effects of phytase supplementation
on nutrient digestibility in low-phytate barleys fed to finishing pigs. They
found that both supplementation with phytase and selection for low-phytate
genotypes of barley increasing the digestibility of phosphorus for pigs, but
no additive effects was noted in this study.
The authors leave it to the decision of the swine producers to choose between low-phytate barley or supplementation with phytase. The authors stress that the
yield of low-phytate barley and the additional costs of the phytase
supplementation must be kept in mind.
Manure phosphorus in areas of intensive animal production has high
environmental implications. Maguire and colleagues 2004 reported that turkey
and broiler litters resulting from feed with non-phytate phosphorus closer to
requirement decreased orthophosphate in litters by an average of 38%. The
study found no increase of the concentration of orthophosphate in litters
using feed supplemented with phytase, but a decrease of phytate phosphorus in litters up to 38% resulting from phytate phosphorus hydrolysis.
The authors stress that feeding non-phytate phosphorus closer to requirement and
supplementing feed with phytase reduces total phosphorus concentrations in
litters leaving the phosphorus solubility in litters and amended soils
unaltered.
Pillai and colleagues 2009 assessed the environmental impact of manure
utilization in land applications, comparing the effect of standard Australian
commercial diet from layer hens, with the effect of diets modified with
phytase supplementation.
The authors report an increase of water soluble phosphorus by 8 to 12% in
the manures, independent of the levels of nonphytase phosphorus in the diets.
This feed reduced total nitrogen content by 12 to 31% of the manures and
nitrate accumulation in the manure-amended soils increased. Net nitrification
occurred together with a decrease in soil pH resulting in retention of water
soluble phosphorus.
The researchers concluded that phytase supplementation of feed reduces manure
total nitrogen content, increases water-soluble phosphorus, and influences total
phosphorus and extractable mineral nitrogen is influenced by the nonphytase
phosphorus level in the diet.
Dou 2009 and colleagues 2009 looked at heavily manured soils and their
phosphorus loss to water. Inorganic orthophosphate was the primary form of P
in manure treated and untreated soils. Also present are pyrophosphate and
phosphate monoesters. Phosphate diesters were scarcely found. Polyphosphate
was present in manured soils but absent in untreated soils.
Manure soils did not differ from untreated soils in relation to the
concentrations of inositol hexakisphosphate, even in soils receiving poultry
manure which is very rich in these compounds. The authors suggest that inositol
hexakisphosphate does not accumulate in soil and is carried by rain to open
waters, harming thus the environment. The potential phosphorus release is 3 to 30
times greater from treated than untreated soils.
Phosphorus source coefficients (PSC) for manures, composts, and other organic
phosphorus (P) sources are indicators of P availability for transport in
runoff from agricultural soils. They are an important parameter of the P Site
Index (PSI) which is used in Mid-Atlantic states as part of comprehensive
nutrient management planning. [20]
Shober and colleagues 2009 assess the effects of anoxic conditions on the
release of phosphorus from soils amended with manures and biosolids. In this
study the concentration of dissolved phosphorus released was significantly
lower under reducing conditions than under oxidized conditions.
The authors suggest precipitation of Fe(II)-oxide increasing P sorption capacity
of the soils or Fe(II)-phosphate decreases the solubility of P. the researchers
conclude that no PSCs changes are needed PSCs when assessing phosphorus
solubility of organic sources under reducing conditions under relatively static
conditions, which were defined by the authors as seasonable high water table,
periodically submerged soils and stagnant drainage ditches.
Leytem and colleagues 2008 assessed the different effects of various cereal grain diets
and supplementation with phytase. Phytase supplementation had a 3-fold
phytate P hydrolysis compared with unsupplemented diets. Barley diets
produced the lowest water soluble phosphorus excreta compared with other
cereals. The authors report further that there was a 25% reduction in water
soluble phosphorus from the high P to the low P + phytase diets. Changing the
diet from high phosphorus to the low phosphorus a 37% reduction of water
soluble phosphorus in manure was attained. The authors do not find it likely
that intrinsic phytase in grain meliorate the phytate utilization by poultry
because there was no difference noted between the effect of the different
cereals diets.
Lim and colleagues 2004 point out that phytate is the most abundant organic
phosphorus compound in soil and runoffs into aquatic systems. Microbial
phytases mineralize phytate. From the four known classes of phytase in the
microbial world only the beta-propeller phytase family is present in aquatic
environments. It is also present in soil and plant bacteria.
According to the authors beta-propeller phytase genes act independently or are
closely associated with a TonB-dependent receptor-like gene in operons. The
linking of these two genes may be important in cycling of phosphorus and iron.
The authors stress that beta-propeller phytases play a major role in
phytate-phosphorus cycling in both soil and aquatic microbial communities.
According to Simpson and colleagues 20087 renewable fuel production, such as
grain-ethanol and perennial-grass-based cellulosic ethanolgrain-based
ethanol,is expanding rapidly in the USA with enormous water quality implications.
The authors estimate that these crops cause a nitrogen loss to water of
2000-4000 kg ha yr. A greater acreage of corn is estimated to increase N and P
loss to water by 37% 117 000 tons and 25% 9 000 tons, respectively. These
runoffs are further increased by manure phosporus and nitrogen from animal
feed using dried distiller's grains.
Switchgrass and woody materials may replace grain fuel-stocks and provide
environmental benefits, however, all alternative fuel production technologies will retain its environmental impacts. The authors stress the need to understand
these impacts to avoid environmental consequences of biofuel production. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) crude
oil has the potential to taint seafood with flavours and odours imparted by
exposure to hydrocarbon chemicals. The U.S. Food and Drug monitors the oil
contamination of seafood. The agency says the public should not be concerned
about the safety of seafood they are buying at this time.
NOAA conducts a combination of both sensory analysis (of tissue) and chemical
analysis (of water, sediment, and tissue) to determine if seafood is safe
following an oil spill. The results will be made pubic as soon as possible.
This inspection program is based on lessons learned from major oil spills such
as the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska; 1996 spill in Rhode Island; 1999
spill in Coos Bay, Oregon; and, several spills in San
Francisco including the most recent in 2007.
Meanwhile all commercial fishing is prohibited in waters in front of Lousiana.
Oil has reached the islands in front of the mainland. The marshland of the
Mississippi delta is endangered. [25]
Researchers published in the Journal of Fish Biology the description of the
Halieutichthys aculeatus species complex (pancake batfishes). Three species
are recognized. Halieutichthys aculeatus was already known and two new
species Halieutichthys intermedius and Halieutichthys bispinosus are now
described by the authors. Arm-like fins are use to move along the bottom of the sea.
All species live in immediate proximity of the BP oil spill which threatens
all marine life of the Gulf and part of the Atlantic ocean. The researchers
are also concerned with the microscopic fauna of the region. Phase out of oil
economy should be the most urgent aim of US government. Hydrogen economy
present a feasible alternative to fossil energy.
The Ocean Studies Board (OSB) in 2005 cited possible harms to the environment
when oil dispersants are used. Fishes corals, shrimps, oysters and other
marine life may be poisoned by the chemicals and the toxic components of the
dispersed oil. The use of dispersants reduces the threat posed to marine
mammals and birds that frequent the air-water interface where oil slicks form.
The dispersed oil plume affects other portions of the ecosystem, such as the
fish and the fauna in water column and on the seafloor. Dispersants may also
affect the water-repellent layer of the feathers of seabirds.
Dispersants are chemical agents such as surfactants, solvents, and other
compounds that reduce interfacial tension between oil and water in order to
enhance the natural process of dispersion by generating larger numbers of
small droplets of oil which spread in all directions. Oil spill dispersants do
not reduce the total amount of oil entering the environment.
The Corexit oil spill dispersant is biodegradable, has low toxicity and
enhanced penetration of the surfactants and helps to counter the "mousse"
forming tendencies of the spilled. Its ingredients are distillates, petroleum,
hydrotreated light 30%, Propylene Glycol 5% Organic sulfonic acid salt 30%.
Sulfonic acids and their salts (sulfonates) are used extensively in such
diverse products like detergents. [29]
paragraphHealth risk of the BP oil spill on April 20, 2010 [30]
Crude oil contains a mixture of volatile hydrocarbon compounds-polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons that typically include the carcinogens benzene, toluene,
and xylene. According to the CDC, symptoms of exposure to these compounds
include drowsiness, dizziness, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches,
tremors, confusion, and unconsciousness.
Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) is a term used to describe a large family
of several hundred chemical compounds that originally come from crude oil. It
is not practical to measure each one separately, therefore the total amount of
TPH are measured and referred to.
Some of the TPH compounds can affect your central nervous system. One compound
can cause headaches and dizziness at high levels in the air. Another compound
can cause a nerve disorder called "peripheral neuropathy,"consisting of
numbness in the feet and legs. Other TPH compounds can cause effects on the
blood, immune system, lungs, skin, and eyes.
Animal studies have shown effects on the lungs, central nervous system, liver,
and kidney from exposure to TPH compounds. Some TPH compounds have also been
shown to affect reproduction and the developing fetus in animals.
Saudi Aramco's Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih denies global acute resource scarcity. He says there is no need to look for alternatives to fossil energy. Al-Falih stressed the rising conventional outputfrom countries like Brazil and Iraq and hails the unconventional oil developments of energy intensive oil sands in the US and Canada, amounting to 2.3 million barrels per day or equal to production of Norway.
According to Al-Fahlih, all this, together with the volatile situation of US economy and debts "... makes spending on aggressive energy programs unlikely," abundant affordable hydrocarbon supplies challenge investment in renewable technologies, says Al-Falih.
The denial of sustainable energy investments suppresses the facts that humanity will inevitably lead to a climatic catastrophe of drought, storms and floods. Al-Fahlih destroys the future of his own children moved by the greed to generate rising profits for Aramco. Global food production will be affected, resulting in hunger in Africa The welfare of the global population is irrelevant for Al-Falih. The movement "Occupy worldwide" wants to shock the conscience of CEOs addressing all aspects of economy. Humanity must stop deploying global resources, and must move to a friendly energy economy. Green energy is becoming a good business, from which Aramco could also profit. The International Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC) has determined that one TPH compound (benzene) is carcinogenic to
humans. IARC has determined that other TPH compounds (benzo[a]pyrene and
gasoline) are probably and possibly carcinogenic to humans. Most of the other
TPH compounds are considered not to be classifiable by IARC. There are no regulations or advisories
specific to TPH. The following are recommendations for some of the TPH
fractions and compounds:
The EPA requires that spills or accidental releases into the environment of 10
pounds or more of benzene be reported to the EPA.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set an exposure limit of
500 parts of petroleum distillates per million parts of air.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Air Force
Office of Safety and Health (AFOSH) have set a permissible exposure level
(PEL) of 400 parts of petroleum distillates per million parts of air (400 ppm)
for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends
that average workplace air levels not exceed 350 milligrams of petroleum
distillates per cubic meter of air (350 mg/cubic metre) for a 40-hour workweek.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) lists fuel oils as hazardous materials
and, therefore, regulates their transportation.
The IOM workshop on June 22 and 23, 2010 in New Orleans, discussed the health
concerns related to the BP oil spill.
Scott Barnhart stressed that crude oil contains a complex mixture of heavy
metals and volatile and nonvolatile polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Exposure by
skin contact, inhalational and ingesting oil-contaminated foods may lead to
cancer, neurologic, renal, hepatic, dermatologic, and hematologic effects.
Gina Solomon reported that BP data showed levels of benzene and
2-butoxyethanol (the dispersant chemical) above the Recommended Exposure Limit
set by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Dr. Solomon
recommends residents not to fish in any areas that have been declared
off-limits or where they see evidence of oil contamination, and fish or
shellfish that has an oily odour should be discarded and not eaten. Noting a
strong odour of oil or chemicals, and are concerned about health effects,
residents should seek refuge in an air conditioned environment, preferably
with the air conditioner on recirculation mode to avoid intake of polluted air.
Maureen Lichtveld pointed out that the psychosocial aspect needs to have a much
higher priority as it is being focused on. She referred to Exxon Valdez oil spill
which caused a significant increases in depression, posttraumatic stress
disorder, and other anxiety disorders, as well as generally poorer scores on
mental health assessments. There are not enough data to predict whether there
could be future elevations in cancer risks, reproductive issues, or neurological
sequelae from this oil spill this must stay under observation.
The BP Deepwater Horizon rig explosion on April 20, 2010 caused an enormous oil spill together with a plume of air pollution within hours containing the lightest chemicals. Heavier compounds in the oil took longer to evaporate, spread out much more widely and contributed most to the formation of air pollution particles forming secondary organic aerosol. These particles are a major portion of air pollution but are not sufficiently being studied.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) performed two measures of air pollution particles, including organic aerosol in June 2010 over the spill area. Heavier compounds had been usually not measured because available monitoring equipment were focused on the lighter, more volatile materials.
Organic aerosols come from organic material and are linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease and even premature death. Organic aerosols make up about half the air pollution particles in cities. There was about the same amount of organic aerosol in the plume above the Gulf as there is in U.S. urban air.
Hugh Coe point to the importance of aerosols which are particles smaller than 1 µm. These particles scatter the sunlight and play a role in cloud formation. Anthropogenic activities alter quality and numbers of such particles, exerting a direct effect on climate. Semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and organic compounds of intermediate volatility (IVOCs) found in crude oil are precursors of such aerosols. The airborne measurments of de Gouw et al. provided knowledge on the oxidation of IVOCs and SVOCs in the atmosphere during the formation organic particles. [34]
NOAA is looking for a quantification of the fraction of aerosol particles that can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) to be used in large-scale models. [35]
A strategy to decarbonise the fuel economy is most important for a sustainable
future. Solar energy and wind turbines, together with hydrogen technology is the solution for the environmental harm which is done by exploiting oil, gas,
coal and uranium mines.
Benefit from the use of alternative energy in Kuwait were elucidated by he
professor of vital chemistry at Kuwait University, Lamia Jawhar, and Ahmad
Al-Jassar, the Ministry's Undersecretary at a workshop held at the Ministry of
Electricity and Water at June 4, 2010
.
Ahmad Al-Jassar stressed that the ministry is interested in alternative energy
and solar energy as a promising source of energy in the future to decrease
the influence of pollution on human health.
According to Dr Lamia Jawhar the emissions of power plants using oil as fuel
contaminate the food, water and air with cancer causing materials. This
contamination has increased since the Iraqi Invasion of 1990. She recommends
to move towards renewable energy instead of depending solely on oil generated
energy. Oil resources are destroying Kuwait's only source of food, the ocean
and polluting Kuwait shores. Marine life is endangered by carbon dioxide and pollution of estuary and
low oxygen levels of and pollution of coastal waters. Rising acidification low
oxygen content caused by nutrient-rich sewage and a mix to toxic metal salts
impair respiratory and physiologic pathway of marine animals. Oysters are an
indicator of changes in marine habitat and are important for the food industry.
The researcher say that it is imperious to stop CO2 emission and pollution now.
According to Sokolova, Ivanina and Kurochkin 2010 juvenile oysters kept under
high CO2 grow at a faster rate than the adults and need to use more energy
for survival, reduced growth of their shells and their soft bodies. The
shells presented increased fragility.
These effects were less pronounced in the adult oysters with slow growth and slower metabolisms compared with juvenile oysters. The authors expect to see
huge effects on oyster populations in the future.
The oysters also respond to increasing CO2 levels by increasing the expression
of carbonic anhydrase, an enzyme that regulates pH and regulates production of
bicarbonate, which is used to make the shell, but the researchers fear that it is
not enough. The authors suggest to monitor oysters as an indicator of the
reaction of marine life on rising acidification of water.
Increased levels of carbon dioxide cause the water to become more acidic.
Nutrient-rich run-off reduce the oxygen content of coastal waters. Steps to
reduce greenhouse emissions and minimize nutrient-rich run-off along
coastlines are urgently needed to protect marine life. Pathogenic bacteria and
viruses threaten marine animals which need a sound immune system to protect
from infection. Louis Burnett and Karen Burnett report a reduced immune
response of fish, oysters, crabs and shrimp under low oxygen and high carbon
dioxide conditions resulting in decreased ability to fight off infection of Vibrio bacteria.
The authors write that if marine animals are challenged blood cells clump up
to attack the pathogen. These blood cells also lodge in the gills. Immune
response to an infection reduces, therefore, the gill function. The exchange
of oxygen is reduced by about 40 percent making it difficult to live in low
oxygen conditions. The situation is aggravated gets with increased carbon
dioxide levels.
Te authors report further that marine organisms exposed to bacteria under low
oxygen, high carbon dioxide conditions loose the ability to react to the
situation, and start a molecular pathways of cell death.
The authors stress that coastal animals are adapted to fluctuating levels of
oxygen and carbon dioxide, however cannot survive without responding to theses
stresses. Deep-water animals may be much more affected by ocean acidification
because they are not trained by exposure to the ebb and flow of oxygen and carbon
dioxide levels.
Macey and colleagues 2010 assessed the impact of low-dose mixtures of heavy
metals, such as copper, zinc and cadmium, which are common pollutants in coastal
estuaries. Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica. were exposed to Cd, Zn or
Cu, either alone or in combination. Oxidative membrane damage from these
pollutants, as found by the authors using linear analysis came along with
disturbance of acid-base balance in oysters. Artificial neural network ANN
analysis provided further details of metal interactions with acid-base balance
which may predict oxidative damage. The authors concluded that ANN may be useful
to study subacute effects of contaminants as found in estuary waters.
Ivanina, Cherkasov and Sokolova 2008 report that exposure to cadmium resulted
in an increase of protein synthesis, associated with the increased expression
of metallothioneins and stress proteins (heat shock proteins HSP60, HSP70 and
HSP90) in oyster cells. GSH synthesis was inhibited.
The authors stress that cadmium detoxification mechanisms using
metallothioneins and GSH cannot fully protect protein in gill cells which
call on help of HSPs as a secondary line of cellular defence.
The authors conclude that gill tissues of oysters are very sensitive to cadmium
exposure, resulting in reduced oxygen uptake, energy misbalance and impaired
respiratory efficiency.
The European Food Safety Authority EFSA studied the causes of the increased Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) mortality reported in France, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland 2008-2009, with special focus on Ostreid Herpesvirus-1(OsHV-1) µvar), as well as environmental factors.
The Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) panel found that OSHV-1 infection is a necessary cause but may not be sufficient by itself as other factors appear to be important. The role of other pathogenic agents such as Vibrio spp. has not yet been resolved. Climatic and seasonal factors alone are not likely to be a sufficient cause for the increased Pacific oyster mortality although these events are seasonal in their occurrence. An increase or a sudden change in the temperature of the water around oysters has been shown to be an important risk factor predisposing for the disease. Up to now no outbreaks have been reported when the water temperature is below 16°. Husbandry practices such as introduction of non certified possibly infected spat, movements and mixing of populations and age groups are probably important risk factors.
Events of increased mortality have been only observed in Pacific oyster. In addition to C. gigas, there is evidence of susceptibility to OsHV-1 in Ostrea edulis, Pecten maximus and Ruditapes philippinarum. There was no investigation on susceptibility to OsHV-1 µvar made on other mollusc species other than Crassostrea gigas.
OsHV-1 (reference strain and µvar) was detected by PCR in Pacific oyster older than 18 months associated with increased mortality. Therefore it is concluded that oysters older than 18 months can be a source of virus and it is not safe to transfer oysters older than 18 months from affected areas to areas not affected by increased mortality events.
The Panel calls for a description of the Pacific oyster aquaculture industry in Europe namely regarding number of farms, production figures, and traceability on movements/transfers both on hatchery and grow out sites should be achieved in accordance to the requirements by Council Directive 2006/88/EC. There is also a need to establish the health status of oyster spat at source. An assessment of the health status should include results of regular batch laboratory testing (at least in regards to OsHV-1, ref strain and µvar, Vibrio species, and histopathological examination) and epidemiological assessment. Improved diagnostic methods should be developed to check for the presence of OsHV-1 µvar and other strains.
Since 2002 Australia has experienced the worst drought in recorded history.
Extreme drought are expected to occur every year or every two years, from 2010
on. Half of the rain fall lacking since 1950 is blamed to be related to man
made emission of greenhouse gases.
Australian agriculture is being severely hit by the climate change. The continent had been the second world exporter of wheat. Exports dropped in 2007 down to 13
million tons.
Regions of 5 percent of Australia experiencing extreme temperatures may
expand uip to 95 percent of the Australian territory.
These issues have highlighted the reality of global climate change. Australian
ecosystems, water resources, agriculture, built infrastructure, regional and
remote communities, and health all have vulnerabilities to climate change.
Responses need to embrace nearly all aspects of our economy, society and the
environment.
The problem of climate change is serious and demands a major response, which
requires two platforms:
- Mitigation of impact, through reduction of net greenhouse gas emissions.
- Adaptation to the inevitable climate change that will occur while mitigation
gradually takes hold. [44]
Australian may use the desert area for solar power plants and hydrogen production
for transportation fuel. This could lead to a new export economy based on
hydrogen. [45]
Bandyopadhyay and colleagues 2010 describe the potential of photobiological hydrogen production by oxygenic photosynthetic microbes which express nitrogenase and/or bidirectional hydrogenases. These enzimatic pathways are oxygen sensitive, and depend on protective mechanisms presented by the diazotrophic cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142, which generates high levels of hydrogen under aerobic conditions. The wild-type Cyanothece 51142 may even produce up to 465 micromol of hydrogen per mg of chlorophyll per hour per litre of broth in the presence of glycerol.
The Cyanothece 51142 strain was isolated in 1993 from samples of water of the Gulf of Mexico by the authors. As a cyanobacteria it can perform phoptosythesis producing carbohydrates from the CO2 of the atmosphere during daytime. During the night it uses the stored energy to transform nitrogen from atmosphere into ammonia and hydrogen. This rhythm is not altered under continued ilumination, whereas the hydrogen yield even increased under such conditions.
Welsch et al. 2008 sequenced the genome of Cyanothece sp. ATCC 51142 which performs oxygenic photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation within the cell Its genome has one large circular chromosome, four small plasmids, and one linear chromosome which contains a cluster of genes for enzymes involved in pyruvate metabolism, important for fermentative processes. [47]
Barnett and Pierce 2009 found that climate change may dry out the Lakes Mead
and Powel, reservoirs on the Colorado River The authors say that this will
happen in the next 20 years if no effort will be undertaken to preserve a
minimum amount of water in the reservoir. Such measures could be delivery
cuts. Lake Mead and Powel were build based on data of the 20th century which
was very wet, compared with data from tree rings of the region. Therefore an
increasing chance of substantial shortages during dry years is predicted by
Barnett and Pierce. Water delivery shortage of 60 -90% of the Colorado River
region is being expected.
The authors concluded that big shortfalls may be avoided if the river's users
reduce their average water use. The sustainability of the system could thus be
secured even if the climate changes. Food production of the region will be
affected by drought.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in
Stuttgart, Germany, develops a system to collect drinking water from air
humidity. The Institute says that
there is humidity in the atmosphere of deserts and cite the Negev desert in
Israel, with an annual average relative air humidity of 64 percent and 11.5
millilitres of water in every cubic meter of air.
Siegfried Egner from the Frauenhofer Institute explains that their system uses
hygroscopic salt brine which absorbs moisture from the air. The diluted brine
is transferred to a vacuum tank heated by solar energy. There the water
evaporates, is cooled and drops in a storage tank. On its way down the
droplets create the vacuum for the distillation tank. The reconcentrated
brine is reused for new moisture absorption.
The device can be dimensioned as single-person unit or as plants to supply water
to entire hotels. This could alleviate the water scarcity in the desert and arid
regions.
Seawater contains about 35 grams of salt per litre and brackish water contains
5 grams per litre and must be desalinated to be suitable as drinking water.
Desalination uses high amount of energy.
Desalination systems are: Vacuum destilation is used. In the
distillation process, feedwater is heated and then evaporated to separate out
dissolved minerals. The most common methods of distillation include multistage
flash (MSF), multiple effect distillation (MED), and vapor compression (VC) Distillation plants produce a high-quality product water that ranges from 1.0
to 50 ppm tds, while RO plants produce a product water that ranges from 10 to
500 ppm tds. (The recommended California drinking water standard for maximum
tds is 500 mg/L, which is equivalent to 500 ppm.) High pressure forces salty water through
membranes retaining the salt. It uses electricity to
draw salt ions out of water through a membrane. Both methods require large
amounts of energy. These cells are being studied because they
offer the advantage to clean waste water and deliver electricity which may be
used for desalinarion. Logan, Kape and colleagues 2009 suggest the desalination
of wastewater using a process which works without electrical energy input or high
water pressure by adding a third central chamber between the positive and the
negative cells using membranes as walls of a typical microbial fuel cell. The
authors explain that a typical microbial fuel cell consists of one chamber filled
with wastewater and the other with water, each containing an electrode. Bacteria
in the wastewater produce electricity. The researcher added a third central
chamber. The water to be desalinated is located in the central chamber. When the
bacteria in the cell consume the wastewater protons are released. At the other
electrode of the water chamber protons are consumed. Chlorine negative ions move
from the salty water into the wastewater chamber and sodium positive ions move to
the opposite chamber, desalinating the water in the middle chamber.
Decreased salinity of the central chamber decreases the conductivity, stopping
desalination at 3.5 gram/litre in seawater and 0.5 g of salt per litre in
brackish water.
Current water desalination techniques are energy intensive and some use membranes operated at high pressures. There are different approaches being developed to reduce the energy and costs.
Fossil fuels are their main energy source. New strategies try to reduce energy consumption introducing membrane-based desalination processes. Subramani et al 2011 reviewed recent work regarding the utilization of energy efficient design, high efficiency pumping, energy recovery devices, advanced membrane materials (nanocomposite, nanotube, and biomimetic), innovative technologies (forward osmosis, ion concentration polarization, and capacitive deionization), and renewable energy resources (solar, wind, and geothermal). Utilization of energy efficient design combined with high efficiency pumping and energy recovery devices have proven effective in full-scale applications. According to Jason Reese, Professor at the University of Strathclyde, carbon nanotubes could play a role in the desalination of water to cope with an ever growing demand for water.
Reverse osmosis systems use high pressure or electricity to desalinate sea water or brackish water. These techniques are inefficient and expensive. Professor Reese reports that carbon nanotubes are expected to have water permeability 20 times that of modern commercial reverse-osmosis membranes. Efficiency at repelling salt ions may be increased by attaching specific chemical groups to the tubes creating a "gatekeeper" function.
Two million people die from water-borne diseases each year, such as diarrhoea and cholera in disaster-stricken areas, A new technology may desalinate water and eliminate pathogens using small devices.
The dubbed ion concentration polarization (ICP) technique desalinates water using a simple electronic system on a tiny chip. It requires less than 3.5 Wh/l, while reverse osmosis requires 10-15 Wh/l. And electrodialysis, using ion-exchange membranes, requires 5 Wh/l. The water passes 500 micromillimetres wide channels on a chip. An electric potential is applied at a junction of two separate tubes. Where salt ions form a brine at one tube and drinking water at the other channel.
The prototype chip converts seawater, with a salinity of 30,000 mg/l, into water with less than 600 mg/l, meeting the standard for drinking water. ICP can also remove potentially harmful larger molecules such as cells, viruses and bacteria if a barrier such as a nanofiltration membrane is introduced in the system.
Understanding of microbial fuel cells was recently improved by studies of microorganisms known to function either as electrode-reducing microorganisms at the anode or as electrode-oxidizing microorganisms at the cathode. Electrical power can be generated by microorganisms that can completely oxidize organic compounds with an electrode serving as the sole electron acceptor.
Loveley 2008 describes these systems and looks at mechanisms for electron transfer to anodes , such as, direct electron transfer via outer-surface c-type cytochromes, long-range electron transfer via microbial nanowires, electron flow through a conductive biofilm matrix containing cytochromes, and soluble electron shuttles, which are used depending on which microorganism is used and the thickness of the anode biofilm.
Cao et al 2009 report that biodegradable organic matter and bacteria may be used to desalinate water. The authors describe a microbial fuel cell with an anion exchange membrane placed at the anode side, and a cation exchange membrane located near the cathode. Both membranes created a middle chamber for the desalinated water. Current produced by bacteria on the anode,move salt ions from the middle chamber to the external electrode chambers, leaving desalinated water in the middle chamber.
Kim and Logan 2011 improved this system by using an electrodialysis stack consisting of 5 pairs of desalting and concentrating cells, desalination was increased to 98% salt removal. [56]
Luo, Jenkins and Ren2011 describe a microbial electrolysis and desalination cell, which is an integrated bioelectrical system to desalinate salt water, produce hydrogen gas, and potentially treat wastewater. The reactor is also divided in three chambers using a pair of ion exchange membranes With an added voltage of 0.8 V, it achieved the highest H2 from the cathode chamber, and 98.8% of NaCl were remoed from the middle chamber. An anode recirculation alleviated pH and high salinity inhibition to improve bacterial activity. [57]
Rothausen and Conway 2011, of the UK University of East Anglia in Norwich, report that the emissions of the energy needed for the water sector will affect the world climate more than predicted affected by foregoing studies. The researchers calculated that US use of water use increases the global emission of greenhouse gases by five per cent. In India about six per cent of global greenhouse gases are being emitted alone by irrigation pumps.
The agriculture uses 70% of the global global demand of 3800 billion cubic metres, Industry and homes exceeds the expectations of other researches. The authors name four reasons of growing energy demand: Pumping ground and surface water, water treatment at waterworks, heating and cooling at home by the industry and sewage treatment.
The global population will increase by 50% until 2030. Water and energy demand will increase accordingly. The authors point to the pressures on the water management which include stricter water-quality standards, increasing demand for water and the need to adapt to climate change, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The authors call for the development of intelligent watering systems and energy efficient drinking water production to reduce greenhouse gases emission. Worldwide uniform methods may help to identify the importance of energy demand of the water management in different counties.
The UN says that a severe drought caused pre-famine conditions and high malnutrition in Kenia , Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda, affecting more than 10 million people. Food prices are rising and many households cannot afford primary foods. High mortality rates among children due to malnutrition are reported. The report says further that the situation is deteriorating.
Drought and fighting are driving Somalis from their homeland, with more than 20,000 arriving in Kenya in just the past two weeks. UN humanitarian appeals for Somalia and Kenya, each about $525 million, are barely 50 percent funded, while a $30 million appeal for Djibouti is just 30 percent funded, while Western countries spend billions each month on ammunition to bomb Arab countries.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell called the offers from rich European countries as derisory and urged other nations to contribute more. According to Tony Lake, the head of the UN Children's Fund, the situation will worsen. He called for immediate help to families. A series of events that caused the current crisis in Somalia were drought, rising food and fuel prices, and ongoing conflict.
Humanitarian catastrophes in Africa and Middle East are worsening each year, such as the Sahel famine in 2010. All remediations are, unfortunately directed to the effect of drought or other disasters. They do not try to correct the causes of famine.
Social injustice such as exploring natural resources without participation of the local residents, and the causes of climate change are to be addressed on, otherwise social unrest at these regions will increase.
Weather conditions over the Pacific, including an unusually strong La Niña, have interrupted seasonal rains for two consecutive seasons. The rains failed this year in Kenya and Ethiopia, and for the last two years in Somalia. The crisis is compounded by rebel activity around southern Somalia from the Al-Shabaab group.
According to RajivShah of the United States Agency for International Development, climate change has contributed to the severity of the crisis. La Niña started to develop in August 2010. It cools surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, while allowing warmer water to build in the eastern Pacific. The pool of warm water in the east intensifies rains in Australia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Domino-style, this pattern also increases the intensity of westerly winds over the Indian Ocean, pulling moisture away from East Africa toward Indonesia and Australia. The result? Drought over most of East Africa and floods and lush vegetation in Australia and other parts of Southeast Asia, according to the US government’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
However, two experts, De LeeuwThornton of the International Livestock Research Institute suggested that it is premature to blame climate change for the drought. The researchers argue that La Niña events were common from 1950 till 1976, fewer events during two decades until about 1996, and over the following 15 years La Niña events were more frequent. They stress the need of immediate help for those in desperate need of food and water.
The primary mission of governments is to create activities to generate income for the general population. The population of the Horn of Africa and the Subsahara region is desperate need of energy to desalinate and prepare drinking water, to transport it to where it is needed. Local authorities, funds of developed countries, the United Nations, and most of all, wealthy Arabian countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait should provide materials and funds to initiate solar energy in the impoverished countries. Massive help to the infrastructure of these regions could prevent further unrest, such as the rebel activity around southern Somalia from the Al-Shabaab group. What happens in Somalia is an example for the whole Moslemic underdeveloped countries, which disregard the enormous wealth of solar energy. Photovoltaic is the technology for local small starts which can be brought to distant villages. Evolving the system to over-regional dimensions the resulting revenue may create a solid base of economic development.
When water management and energy infrastructure develops other very good activities, such as the "Self-Help Assistance Program- ASAP Africa" can strengthen local small farming activities.
Drinking water is becoming scarce. Technology of ultra-filtration and reverse
osmosis are playing key roles in desert countries to recycle water.
According to Kuwait's Ministry of Public Works, Kuwait is a desert and suffers
from severe heat and harsh weather conditions, and water resources are scarce,
given the low levels of rainfall and the lack of fresh water, the paper
explained. The consumption of water per individual in Kuwait was very high
compared to the rest of the world, leading to large volumes of sewage water.
Treated water has become one of the main resources for the irrigation of
crops, including the farms in Abdali, as well as green areas in the city. It
is also used in concrete mixes, and private enterprises are being encouraged
to use it in their daily operations such as cleaning and cooling.
The Sulaibiya Treatment Plant has an output capacity of 425,000 cubic meters
per day, and is the largest sewage water treatment plant in the world that
used reverse osmosis.
The Rigga Treatment Plant, has an output capacity of 180,000 cubic meters per
day, and there are plans to close it down and to build an alternative plant by
2020 that covers the whole southern area of the country. The Jahra Treatment
Plant is working at a capacity of 65,000 cubic meters and will be closed down
in 2011 after the completion of a new plant in Chabd. The smallest plant is
that of Umm Al-Haiman, designed to generate an output of 27,000 cubic meters
per day.
A new plant in the southern area of Kuwait with an overall output capacity of
400,000 cubic meters, to replace the plants in Rigga and Umm Al-Haiman by
2020. In 1984 chlorine was included in the treatment process and reverse
osmosis was included in 2004.
The waste water treatment plant of Ardiya is being used as pre-treatment stage
and is connected to the Sulaibiya treatment plant where it is treated to potable
water standards. Wastewater from Kuwait
City is forwarded to the Ardiya plant an aerated grit chamber excludes sand and
grit down to a particle size of 0.2mm. Two 20,000cbm circular buffer tanks
balance the influent variation. Agitators within the buffer tanks maintain a flow
velocity greater than 0.3m/s to avoid sedimentation problems.
The Sulaibiya waste water treatment plant removes organics, minimises nitrate
release, reduces phosphate outflow. There are nine aeration tanks with a total
volume of 208,900cbm, offering anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic treatment zones.
The Sulaibiya plant comprises three elements-biological nutrient removal,
reverse osmosis / ultra-filtration membranes and sludge treatment. The
finished effluent is delivered to the nearby brackish water gathering centre
prior to use, while the membrane system brine overflow is returned to the sea.
Part of the activated sludge from the anaerobic zone is transferred to the (RAS) denitrification chamber to serve as a carbon source. With no available
oxygen present, phosphate re-dissolves to be later re-incorporated at an
enhanced rate into biomass in the aerobic zones. Although this means that high
phosphate concentrations occur when the mixed liquor enters the anoxic zone,
it subsequently leads to the requisite phosphate reduction necessary to
protect the reverse osmosis membranes. In addition, nitrified activated sludge
is returned into the anoxic zone to keep the nitrate concentration in the
aerobic zone low, leading to the lowered levels required in the secondary effluent.
Sludge is treated to provide a material suitable for unrestricted agricultural
use, requiring it to be dry, with a low organic content and free of pathogens.
The resulting product is subsequently stored for more than six months before
consignment for use. The UF/RO removes residual pollutants, dissolved solids
and pathogens from secondary effluent, to yield potable quality water.
The ultra-filtration systerm comprises 60µm disc filters. The cross-flow,
dead-end membranes will be cleaned by chemical enhanced backwash using a
primary acid wash, followed up with chlorine rinse if required.
The reverse osmosis facility comprises 24 first array skids, 20cm x 1m membrane
modules per vessel. The facility is fitted with an in situ cleaning system. Air
stripping tower de-gassifiers remove CO2 from the permeate and a chlorine dosing
facility also forms part of the plant.
Soy beans, fish meal and oil are basics of animal feed. Their price influences
global food trade prices.
According to a market report of FAO Globefish The cost of many vegetable oils
has doubled in the past year as a result of a confluence of factors, including
use of crops for biofuels and insufficient harvests.
Fish oil is actually a by-product of the fish meal industry, with the protein
part used largely for animal feed. The price of fish oil is closely related to
the fluctuation of the price of vegetable oil. Up to 80% of fish oil is used in
aquaculture as feed for farmed fish. As vegetable oils gets expensive, fish
farmers have opted for the comparatively cheaper fish oil instead, increasing the
demand for fish oil. The price of fish oil rose from
US$800 per metric tonne in February 2007 to $2200 per metric tonne in February
2008. Fish meal prices of US$ 1 210/tonne is about US$
100/tonne 6% below the price level one year ago due to little buying interest
in China. Prices for fish meal and fish oil will remain high in a climate of
overall increasing vegetable meal prices, creating an environment of higher
prices. The present price level of soymeal is US$ 500/tonne
is almost double the price level of one year ago. The UN has called for a five-year moratorium
on biofuels. Growing crops for fuel is more profitable than planting food crops. UK will rethink their biofuel politic.
The European Commission, however decided in February to rise the level of
biofuel up to 10% by 2020. Germany tries to rise the content of bioalcohol from
5% to 10% in German petrol by 2009. Stop such enormous monocultures of rape
see, Soy, castor oil and palmoil in Argentina, Brazil. These plantations use the best soil for cereals and they destroy the rain forests. The corn belt of USA
should get back to produce food for humans and not alcohol as fuel. Cut the set-aside land
subvention of 6,5 Million Hectares being 1,6 Billion EURO/year for farmers to
do nothing. Every farmer which produces more than 92 ton cereals/year is
forced to set-aside 10% of his land, for which he then gets the set-aside subventions. [67] Meat
farming consumes enormous amount of cereals which otherwise could be used as
human nutrition. Eating more vegetables and fruits is healthy and helps to
reduce food shortage.
Strange suggestions like geoengineering are
being elaborated with highly Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution of
Washington in Stanford:
Bomb the atmosphere with sulphur particles to becloud the sun (Paul Crutzer,
costs some billion Dollar);
Position a solar sail between the sun and the earth to shadow the earth (Lowel
Wood and Roger Augel, costs 100 Billion Dollar);
Nebulise sea water ot get clouds whiter (John Latham and Stephen Salter);
Add fertiliser to the sea in form of iron sulphate (Alfred Wegener-Institut
AWI Bremerhaven Germany);
Sequestrate CO2 from the atmosphere; reforest and burn wood (Elmar Kriegler and
Joshuah Stolaroff, Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung PIK, Germany,
costs 100 to 170 Billion Dollars).
Biochar could be made from residues from plantation forestry harvesting.
However, there are costs in collecting diffuse residues, and waste streams
from processing are already used directly in process heat or have other valued uses.
Winsley recommend in 2007 the short-rotation growing or coppicing of poplar,
willow, or eucalypts on low-value land. Cloned eucalyptus in Brazil can
produce 40 tonnes of dry biomass per hectare per year.
Steiner and colleagues 2007 suggests to use biomass for the production of
biochar. The authors promote slash and char instead of slash and burn in the
Amazon region. [70]
Fine-grained charcoal used in soils, called "biochar", is being promoted as a
way of mitigating global warming and making soils more fertile, despite scarce
and contradictory evidence. The main lobby group, the International Biochar
Initiative (IBI) aims to make biochar eligible for carbon credits, both
internationally and in the US. By ramping up financial supports for biochar, a
large new demand for biomass will contribute to pressures to convert natural
forests to industrial plantations and to harvest from already declining and
sensitive ecosystems. The IBI supports the US WECHAR (Water Efficiency via
Carbon Harvesting and Restoration) bill setting up federal government
guarantees for private loans for biochar research, development and
commercialisation. There are several authors which promote slash and char
instead of slash and burn of secondary forest in the Amazon region.
Charcoal itself is wrongly called carbon neutral, cutting down large areas of
salt cedars, pinyon pines or other trees creates disturbances that result in
emissions from soils and vegetation. When burned, a portion of the C contained
in the wood is released. The remaining C, retained in the charcoal is then to
be applied to soils, where, in theory it will be sequestered safely away from
the atmosphere. However, it is not known how much will remain for how long and
there is also evidence that charcoal can cause pre-existing soil carbon to be
emitted as carbon dioxide. In a recent preliminary study in Canada, no
additional carbon was found in soils less than two years after biochar was
applied [73]. Furthermore, there is a significant risk that small biochar particles could
become airborne in which case they would absorb heat, contribute to global
warming and present a health risk when inhaled. For more information about the
WECHAR Bill, see www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/wechar_factsheet.pdf . Industrial charcoal is very
different from Terra Preta, the biochar of indigenous population of Central Amazonia. Biochar advocates
ideas that require the use of 500 million hectares or more of monocultures.
Serious ecologic risks may result from spreading genetic modified trees
adapted for biochar. Industrial charcoal production at the expense of organic
matter needed for making humus may not be beneficial to plant growth.
Deleterious results are expected using combinations of charcoal with fossil
fuel-based fertilisers made from scrubbing coal power plant flue gases. The
pyrolysis using temperaures of 500°C and higher, can result in dangerous soil
and air pollution. [73]
An international declaration urging caution on biochar can be found at:
www.regenwald.org/international/englisch/news.php?id=1226 .
Preston 2009 advocates the generation of electricity as a by-product of
food/feed production by fractionation of biomass into inedible cell wall
material that and convert it to a gas used as fuel in combustion engines
driving electrical generators. The author claims that his model is highly
appropriate for decentralized small scale production of electricity in rural
areas and captures carbon as biochar which remains after the gasification.
The biochar would compete which the organic material desperately needed as soil
cover and conditioner. Energy from this system is still based on carbon cycle. Tropics are best suited for photovoltaic, wind turbines and hydrogen obtained by
electrolysis of water to decarbonise energy and fuel for transportation so as
presented by the Desert Energy Project.
Dias and colleagues 2010 compared the use of Eucalyptus biochar with coffee husk
and sawdust as bulking agent for the composting of poultry manure in a
proportion of 1:1 (fresh weight). The use of sawdust was found to be the most
efficient in preserving the organic matter and nitrogen in the mature compost.
Biochar from wastewater sludge through pyrolysis at a temperature of 550 degrees
improved the production of cherry tomatoes by 64% . The ability of biochar to
increase the yield was attributed to the combined effect of increased nutrient
availability (P and N) and was best in combination with the fertiliser. In this
study Hossain and colleagues stress that the bioavailability of metals present in
the biochar was found to be below the maximum permitted concentrations for food.
Extensive deforestation, followed by herbaceous or scrubby vegetation reduce evaporation and increase runoff. Recolonization by forest increased evapotranspiration and improved infiltration of water in the soil. The findings of Lacombe et al 2010 may be applied in the study of the hydrology of the Amazon region where actual anthropogenic changes equal that of the Mekon Basin.
The authors studied the hydrological changes in two catchments of the lower Mekong Basin that were either heavily bombed in southern Laos or depopulated in northern Laos during1955 to 1975, and political instability up to the end of the 1980s.
Between 1965 and 1975 South-East Asia as many bombs were released as during the Second World War, deforesting 8 000 and 40 000 km(2) the vegetation cover of the Ho Chi Minh trail, amounting to 70% of its surface area. Herbaceous or scrubby vegetation took over resulting in a reduction in average annual evapotranspiration and a substantial increase in runoff in that area, estimated over 50% more between 1972 and 1975, then 15% more between 1975 and 2004.
The northern Laos, experienced an exodus from Laos of 730 000 to one million fled Laos, escaping from war an the following Pathet Laoregime in 1975. The abandoned land was recolonized by forest. The regenerated vegetation resulted in increased evapotranspiration and improved infiltration of water in the soil reversing trend. The authors calculate a 30
The authors demonstrated trends towards increase or decrease of the Mekong's discharge that were closely correlation with war and extensive land-use changes the region during the 20th Century. The authors found that hydrological changes were not influenced by the climate as rainfall remained stable. Hydroelectric dams drain only 2% of the catchments and have only a slight influence on the river's discharge. Urban expansion is still a marginal phenomenon in Laos, where the demographic pressure remains low
. The authors stress that new land uses, such as intensive mining and extraction of timber and clearance for agriculture may generate major problems in the short term, such as flooding or conversely water shortages, or pollution. Forest cover changes in tropical areas, such as deforestation is expected to perpetuate at a high rate over the coming decades. Offshore Wind Energy
increase solar energy and cooperate with Arabian states to develop solar
electricity and production on hydrogen in the Arabian deserts. Hydrogen from
solar energy may provide plenty clean fuel for transportation. [45]
The Arabian solution based on solar electricity and hydrogen for
transportation was built on researches from Kosuke Kurokawa [79] and the Buckminster Fuller's Electrical Grid [80]
The Arabian solution is planed to start its production of clean electricity and
hydrogen by electrolysis of water in 2009. It is a financial enterprise of
Arabian countries to minor the dependence of fossil energy. The emerging Arabian
technology will leave behind western dreamt away science and will secure
leadership in the hydrogen fuel economy.
Arab food security disregards sustainability and social peace [81]
Experts fear that food security of the Gulf region will be endangered by factors such as population growth, climate change and natural disasters affecting food-producing countries, primarily in East Asia. Food shortage and high food prices are expected in the next five years.
This is being increased by decline of fishing and easying of open-imports caused by the outcomes of oil export. According to the analyst Omar Al-Juraifani, barley cultivation in the 1980thn was discouraged by the high cost of water. Barley is used as feed for livestock and must be imported because its production requires extensive irrigation.
Al-Juraifani encourages investment in the agriculture sector beyond the Gulf region, such as Egypt, Sudan, Indonesia and others. and re-export the production. Further research on seawater desalination and develop agricultural techniques to save water is necessary. Keeping reserve food stocks of large quantities could help stabilize prices neutralising the bets on food commodities at the stock market. Al-Juraifani suggestions are focused on financial profit. He disregards all social aspects and safety issues.
The investments in large scale are not secure because they are based on investments on usable crop lands displacing the local small farmers. This creates social injustice and imperils the rain forests. Cargill, for instance, is an example how such investments destroy the ecology and the social stability of these places.
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi, a citizen of Saudi Arabia, is the son of a Yemeni father and Ethiopian mother. He is the 64th richest man in the world. His fortune is based on oil refineries and the booming construction industry.
His company, the Saudi Star Agricultural Development leases for nearly 25,000 acres in the northeast of Ethiopia to produce rice for the Saudi market. The Horizon Plantations, another Al Amoudi venture, secured licenses for more than 600,000 acres of farmland in western Ethiopia.
The Sheikh is now reportedly the largest foreign-based investor in Ethiopian land.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar has agrarian Joint venture funds in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines. Kuwait Investment Authority approached several countries in South East Asia to discuss potential for long-term investment in agriculture and other sectors. Libya Africa Investment Portfolio (LAP), Libya accomplished a partnership with the Liberian Foundation for Africa Development Aid, to produce rice in Liberia. Lybia will also develop 100,000 ha in the Office du Niger, the land area with highest agricultural potential in Mali.
Agricultural land is being bought, leased or taken from peasant farmers at an alarming pace for the production of export crops by foreign investors or wealthier, food-insecure nations like China, Libya and South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The developing poor countries are on target. According to a World Bank report, some 111 million acres of farmland were acquired by global investors in 2009, nearly 75 percent of which were in Africa. The lands are being taken for the production of rice, corn , wheat and agrofuels like jatropha and palm oil. In Ghana maize and sorghum ccrops are being displaced by about 2.5 million acres of jatropha plantations under current agreements with foreign companies.
In 2011 devastating floodwaters covered large parts of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, killing hundreds of people and damaging wide swaths of farmland. Rice crops were seriously damaged. Samarendu Mohanty of the the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines estimates that global rice stocks are at least 20 million tons higher than 2008, however, rice prices quickly doubled, following rumours about a shortage of this commodity at the stock market. Its a problem of the financial system betting of rising prices, and not of food security. [85]
Concepcion Calpe of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome said that the region is able to plant a second crop once flood waters recede. He sees bottlenecks not based on crop losses, but problems are the logistics to store and transport the supplies. Therefore production should be focused on autarchy of the consumers.
The current industrial agriculture system is accountable for high energy costs for the transportation of foodstuffs. The average conventional produce item travels 1,500 miles (2,400 km). The energy used to transport food is decreased when urban agriculture can provide cities with locally grown food. locally produced foods are increasingly abundant, convenient and rewarding. [86]
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture presents a most useful manual for local produced foods. It focuses on hygiene and food safety issues, which can be adhered to at local farm. Many of these issues, however cannot be monitored in distant regions which are not under the local law.
Picture: An urban farm in Chicago. By Steven Walling. Wikipedia Urban Farming.
Looking to a sustainable world, Arabian countries should invest in greening their own region by planting trees, desalinate water for agriculture. Separating the household garbage in paper, organic garbage mostly of rejected or date expired food or other green garbage. This can be used to fertilise the soil, it retains humidity. Rain water should be gathered in artificial sees building dams. The Leopold Center describes effective chlorine sanitizing in treating a food and food contact surface with a sanitizing solution. [87]
Food prices in Africa, Middle East and India are rising quickly repeating the troubles of the US bank crisis of 2008, causing riots in poor countries. Once more the poorest of the poor suffer at most from the climate change which aggravates drought, storms or flood catastrophes in these regions. Now the situation worsens because prices of all kind of food clean water and energy to cook meals are exploding.
The population of the US and other wealthy western nations, which are to be blamed for the climate change, will hardly notice impairments in their daily life. However, according to the World Bank maize, wheat and oil have brought 44 million people to the edge of extreme poverty since June 2010. This forces farmers in Indonesia to defend their fields with machetes.
The causes of food price inflation varying from country to country. Extreme weather events that destroy crops, such as drought in China, floods in Australia, Pakistan and India, droughts in Argentina and Eastern Europe leaded to food scarcity on the international market.
Governments need to take immediate actions to provide sustainability of food, reduce emission of greenhouse gases, and most of all, avoid the disastrous politics which lead to concentration of wealth built at burden of the poor.
USA The country does not show any sign that it moves toward sustainability. It has the highest greenhouse gases emission per capita of the world. Steven Chu is the example of how scientists bow to the power of giant corporations. Speculations on food prices and oil barrel prices at the bourses increase the price hype. [89]
Germany Under the image of sustainability, Germany imports alcohol from Brazil and palmoil from Malaysia, grown on land which had been used for food crops or at the expenses . The political parties are entangled in combating each others and German scientist follow their inactivity mourning the deployed climate conditions but they fail to present feasible immediate global solutions. Germanys' green look is built on the depletion of the ecology of the developing regions:
Nigeria increases its sugar cane monoculture which need much water and displaces small farmers. This will destroy local self-sufficient communities disregarding the needs of the local population. [90]
Soy cultivation has already resulted in the deforestation of 21 million hectares of forests in Brazil. Monocultural production of soy in the Amazon Basin has rendered much of the soil infertile. One hundred thousand hectares of depleted former soy-growing lands have been abandoned to cattle-grazing, which leads to further degradation. In Brazil, soybean cultivation displaces eleven agricultural workers for every new worker it employs. [91]
France France is entangled with the use and propagating one of the most dangerous source of energy which leaves nuclear waste for million of years. Germany is having a hard time to handle its nuclear waste. France and USA do not bother about this issue.
Arab countries Concentrate on state projects such as export of oil and gas which are burned by their customers and boost the emission of greenhouse gases of the developed countries.
Thari Al-Ajmi of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), commenting data of the Arab environment report, says that the Arab world's carbon dioxide emissions represent only 4.7 percent of global emissions but the region will be heavily affected by any increase of sea level as a result of global warming because 50 percent of the Arab world's population lives at sea level. The Arab population is growing fast from 334 million to 586 by 2050, while agricultural land in the Arab world dropped from 23 percent in the year 1980 to 5.1 percent today. Another challenge is the demand of water, because 66 percent of the region's surface water resources come from outside the Arab world. The Arab citizens' annual share of water dropped from 3,500 cubic meters in the year 1960, to 1,000 cubic meters now. Urgent actions need to be taken to cope with the future demand of water and confront poverty. [92]
The report on financial speculations released in September 2011 by the World Development Movement (WDM) says that the financial services industry, focused on agricultural commodity markets, operates at the expense of commercial traders and the world's consumers. This levers out the purpose to establish prices on supply and demand, and management of risk is unable to be fulfilled by standard market devices.
The speculation on food prices causes price inflation, price volatility and serious harm to people at risk of hunger and poverty. Wheat prices, a staple food for large populations, drive costs of bread hurting low income groups. Other speculations on cocoa are less harmful than speculation on wheat, because confectioneries are luxury foods which are not essential to life.
The WDM call for effective regulation of commodity derivatives to prevent excessive speculation which ends in hunger and poverty. The financial services industry capitalised on agricultural commodity markets functions at the expenses of commercial traders. The WDM cites banks like Goldman Sachs making over $1 billion and Barclays making as much as $550 million from speculation on food in one year alone. Such institutions are lobbying with all their power to prevent any regulation.
Such regulation has already been proposed by the WDM in their report in July 2010, blaming bankers for price rises in coffee, chocolate and bread. Banks which caused the financial downturn in 2008 created volatile food prices, pouring money into commodities like wheat and maize after giving up on failed mortgages. [94]
The actual situation is marked by the dissolution of self-feeding economic units such as tribes and closed communities. Their local believes and friendships kept peace. Their local markets provided food at accessible prices, To restart such autochthonous government should tackle the most pressing problems of the poor people which are local energy, water and food, by distributing photovoltaic arrays with additional equipment such as storage batteries water pumps and desalination systems. These measures must initially meet the poor settlements. It cannot be a measure of broad agricultural activities because this could lead to environmental displacements, as happens in Israel where the excessive use of water from the Jordan river leads to the death of rare ecosystems and formation of dangerous sinkholes, [95] Electricity is dramatically underpriced for domestic consumers in Abu Dhabi paying less than two US cents per kWh, for the US consumers which pays 10 cents/kWh and for the European consumers which is paying 23 cent/kWh. Western countries have to realise that they have built their wealth at the expenses of the global climate. Now it is time to invest in solar technology instead of spending tens of billion US dollars on armament shown at the armament exhibition in Abu Dhabi in February while revolt of the poor is shaking Arab governments. The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan are set to spend $68 billion on defence in 2011. Their spending is expected to reach nearly $80 billion in 2015. [96]
Morocco: The country projects to invest US$9 billion (Dh33bn) in solar energy plant designed to supply more than one-third of the country's generating capacity by 2020, however political instability will retard any further development of the project and there is doubt if such goals will ever be realised. [97]
India is the best example of a democracy failing to eliminate hunger. Official data say that there are 238 million people living in hunger, while the country bears one of the richest society of the world. It is an alarming fact that malnutrition is worse in India than in many sub-Saharan African countries. Hunger is also growing in major democracies. In the US one in every ten Americans lives in hunger. In Europe, 40 million people are hungry. [98]
To avoid further ecological destabilisation the climate must be addressed on. For this a global action should be started using great photovoltaic plants to generate electricity and use it for the production on hydrogen as fuel as described by Desert Energy Project.
Small actions planned to become part of a mix of activities in a far future are only meant to postpone the problems. They are planed to maintain status quo. The actual problems of the poor population of the Mena region, the Middle East and the South of Asia are not being addressed. When the awakening after the revolution comes and the hungry people realised that nothing has changed this second uprising will be more violent and will be uncontrollable. Urgent action is therefore imperative. We are on the eve of a global revolution of the hungry and thirsty population.
Small farms are more efficient in the use of land, produce diversity of crops needed for their immediate neighbours, protect landscapes, and biodiversity. Local grown vegetables fruits and grains are linked to the social cohesion of the communities. Importing food weakens the bonds between ethnic groups. Such communities should be addressed to counter local hunger and the resulting government defiance.
Tribal elder of rural communities should be furnished with photovoltaic and desalination equipment to start local small self-sufficient communities. Investing in the infrastructure of such organic growing settlements within the local family bonds rebuilds the human dignity and the gratitude toward the donor. It incentives the local small farmers to be proud of their work, instead of being jobless in an ugly city. Providing agricultural equipment to the poor is a better investment in the future of the country than distribute money without being connected to specific projects. Such actions are affront to human dignity. Local communities are the foundation of humanity. Interference and change of the rural culture of a people leads to the loss of ancient wisdoms which are best suited to small farms where diversity can achieve a sustainable agriculture.
In Gulf states desalination of seawater or brackish water produces high quantities of brine which is returned to the sea. High evaporation concentrates further the salt content of the Arabia Sea. Ecological problems are being expected by scientists.
Dr Ahmed al Masoum, the deputy director general of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai reported that desalinated water used in local agriculture, is deprived of the natural mineral content of water. Plants irrigated with such water are poor in essential minerals. To avoid a mineral deficiency on the local diet, Dr. Masoum advices to use sea salt instead of common kitchen salt which is poor in micro minerals, compared with up to ninety essential elements found in seasalt. He also recommends to include salicornia as a green to improve taste of salad instead of using kitchen salt.
The ICBA has identified 224 salt-tolerant plants which tolerate brackish water, but most are for animal fodder. Salicornia grows well in saltwater, being therefore rich in minerals. Salicornia europaea and Salicornia virginica are two important species. Salicornia europaea is highly edible, either cooked or raw.
Biodiesel The seeds of Salicornia bigelovii contain high levels of unsaturated oil and protein and can be used as animal feedstuff, as biofuel. It grown on coastal land and effluent from marine aquaculture , such as shrimp farms. Experimental fields of Salicornia in Ras al-Zawr (Saudi Arabia), Eritrea (Northeast Africa) and Sonora (Northwest Mexico) study the production of biodiesel. The Global Seawater company says the yield is between 225 and 250 gallons of biodiesel per hectare of salicornia. [99]
Qatar Science and Technology Park, Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Airways announced a project of agrofuels for the aviation industry. in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on high salinity soils. Salicornia crops could allow the Sinai Bedouin to produce oil for cooking or industry fuel and feed for their livestock which comes today from the Nile valley. [100]
The United States miss the transition to 21st century energy sources, says Robert Repetto, author of the book "America's Climate Problem: The Way Forward 2011"
Repetto writes that the Fossil energy interests are spending "hundreds of millions of dollars" lobbying U.S. politicians in Congress and funding groups to confuse the public about the serious risks climate change poses. America is locked in a climate-policy stalemate, while right-wing and libertarian "think tanks" like the Competitive Enterprise Institute create an atmosphere of doubt and uncertainty, just like the tobacco companies did regarding the health effects of smoking.
According to Repetto the Senator James Inhofe received 768,000 dollars in contributions from fossil energy and mining interests to oppose to action on climate change.
Repetto calls for tougher regulations and tighter enforcement to make coal a less attractive energy source than alternative energy options. He says that it is fals that action on climate change will hurt jobs and the economy. The car technology and coal-powered electricity system is over a century old. History shows that energy coming from water mills were replaced 50 years later by steam power which was then followed by electrical power. All fears of transition proved to be unsupportable.
The authors stresses the need to change to renewable energies and increases energy efficiency. He points to the fact that Europe already has built over 800 offshore wind projects, the U.S. has none and is being left behind.
Persist stubbornly on greenhouse gases Aside from loosing leadership in technology, the countries which stubbornly persist on using fossil energy will be seen as ugly countries. The rage of the poor people which suffer the most from climate catastrophes will be directed against such culture.
The American people has a low capacity to understand the radical change which started in the heart of the poor. America must understand that it has to abandon the carbon-based economy and its ailing Bank and exchange system.
The American way of thinking is demonstrated by Thomas L. Friedman. He reduces the whole problem to a a price equation: "We need clean energy that is cheaper than the true cost to society of fossil fuels, when you measure the climate change those fuels cause, the pollution they trigger, and the energy wars they engender." Mr. Friedman did not understand that actual green energies are by many times cheaper than fossil energy, counting the damage and the suffering the western countries already have caused to the poor. He analysis the situation from the comfortable position of a country which exploits energy regardless of the damage it causes to other nations. [102]
The Guardian cites poverty, repression, decades of injustice and mass unemployment as the causes of the political instability of the Middles East and the north of Africa. The Blue Peace report [104] describes the situation of Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel. Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East programme at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic Studies, predicts that existing political construct to break down when, food prices and water scarcity increases further.
Several Arab governments, alerted to the security threats try to improve preparedness for emergency situations. The director general of the UAE's National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority submitted a proposal to the Cabinet to build emergency reserves of food, water and medicine.
The governments should create a preparedness program for food and water for 10 days for their population. Turmoil, natural catastrophes or external interferences may interrupt food supply of the countries which broadly depend from food and water imports.
The government should use the available infrastructure of the retailing system. For that the government should make a commercial agreement that all retailers maintain a minimum of 10 days turnover of staple food in all outlets. For that an annual fee of 10% of the value of the stored food is paid by the government, covering to extra costs of financing, transporting, storage, handling and selling of the commissioned food.. The staple food should include bottled water, canned meat and canned fish, rice, beans, peas, maize flower, wheat flower, noodles, fats and oils, margarine, UHT milk, infant formula, backing soda, salt and spices.
The amount must be determined by each outlet, based on their average daily selling volume calculated for 10 days. It must be of interest of the retailers to cooperate in this program as additional 10% revenues are an additional income and the company is engaged in a public safety program which brings stability to the country and also adds to the security of their business. In case of an emergency the outlets can perform the distribution of the food to their customers.
The government must create a commission which controls that amounts of commissioned foods are present in all outlets.
According to Right to Food the shocking news is that global hunger increased
yet again this year. The FAO's latest report, The State of Food Insecurity in
the World 2004, reports that hunger has increased to 852 million gravely
undernourished children, women and men, compared to 842 million last year,
despite already warning in 2003 of a "setback in the war against hunger".
Important recent progress in reducing hunger has been made, but the overall trend
is now one of regression, rather than the progressive realization of the right to
food. In fact, it appears that hunger has increased every year since the 1996
World Food Summit. The FAO issued The Voluntary guidelines on the right to food which set out
some practical steps on how Governments can implement the right to food. Instead of building on
environment unfriendly biofuel the European Union should support projects in
the desert of northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Solar electricity can
supply all Energy needed to get Europe moving on without any harm to nature.
Hydrogen from water hydrolysis will be the solar fuel for the future.
The increase in food prices hit at most bread, dairy and meat being biofuel
blamed for an important reason of food shortfall. To reverse this trend
Europabio presented at the World Biofuels Markets in Brussels on 13.03.2008 its
future contribution to sustainable energy.
In its press release the association stresses the importance of a measure in
order to stimulate the transition towards biofuels with high greenhouse gases
savings, and proposes a "stepwise approach"starting with a relatively low
greenhouse gases savings threshold and increasing in time, or a system where a
moderate threshold could be set as basis, coupled with an "incentivisation
system" rewarding additional greenhouse gases savings.
The association claims that in five to seven years biofuel of second generation
using waste such as straw as source could help to reduce the negative effects on
food supply in Europe and third countries, by reducing biofuel of the first
generation which rely on corn and other starch sources. The moratorium on biofuel
of the Friends of the Earth targets this period of first generation biofuels.
[108]
Environmental growing concerns and rising food prices turn the possible uses of
waste is of great importance to optimise the conversion of wheat, barley and oat
waste into useful materials such as biomass, biogas/biofuel, animal feed and
composting. Arvanitoyannis and colleagues recommend the conversion of wheat
waste into biomass or biogas in view of the energy problems and the extended
pollution of the environment due to release of carbon dioxide compared with other
methods such as incineration. [109]
Corn and rice waste are of great volume. Arvanitoyannis and Tzerkzou published a
review for most of the waste treatment techniques (composting, pyrolysis,
gasification, combustion), to reduce its volume and/or toxicity and to make the
waste safer for disposal and uses of treated corn and rice waste such as
fertilisers, biomass and biogas/biofuel. [110]
Fish waste has great impact on the marine environment and EU regulations include
it within the frame of Integrated Coastal Management. Arvanitoyannis and
colleagues 2008 summerise the application of fish waste as animal feed,
biodiesel/biogas, dietic products (chitosan), natural pigments (after
extraction), food-packaging applications (chitosan), cosmetics (collagen), enzyme
isolation, Cr immobilisation, soil fertiliser and moisture maintenance in foods
(hydrolysates). [111]
According to Arvanitoyannis and colleagues meat waste materials like blood,
hair, tail, horns and bones are a high pollution factor of meat production.
Methods like aerobic and anaerobic composting like windrows, aerated static
piles and bins or aerated chambers are discussed.
According to the authors meat and bone meal are increasingly being used in animal
nutrition as a protein source in place of proteinaceous feeds.
[111]
The olive oil industry continues to be one of the most heavily polluting ones
among the food industries. Various thermal processes, such as pyrolysis,
combustion and gasification, were investigated. Another crucial issue is the fate
of treated waste. Arvanitoyannis and colleagues 2007 present a review of various
thermal treatment waste methodologies and summarise the uses activated carbon
and briquette production. [112]
Biosorption is a low-cost removal and recover of metals from water. Mack and
colleagues reviewed in 2007 studies related to the recovery of precious
metals such as gold, platinum and palladium by biosorption, especially in
wastewaters. According to the authors common biosorbents are based on
derivatives of chitosan with high surface positive charged amine functional
group content which attract anionic precious metal ions at low pH.
According to Macaskie and colleagues 2005 bacterial hydrogenases may help to remove toxic heavy metals from solution reducing them to insoluble forms. Pd(II) may thus be cell-bound as Pd(0)-nanoparticles acting as a catalyst in
the remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated solutions
Hydrogenases can also be used synthetically in the production of bio-hydrogen
from sugary wastes through breakdown of formate produced by fermentation. This
hydrogen may be useful to decompose polychlorinated biphenyls in waste
waters, or as fuel to power E-cells.
The reduction of U(VI) and Se(IV) were highlighted by the authors which stress
the importance of the hydrogenase-3 component of the FHL (formate
hydrogenlyase) complex in Escherichia coli to reduce the radionuclide
99Tc(VII) to its insoluble form 99Tc(IV).
Citrobacter sp. accumulates heavy deposits of uranyl phosphate HUO2PO4 and can
accumulate several times their own weight of precipitated metal at the cell
surface. [115]
According to Vignais 2008 hydrogenases are metalloenzymes subdivided into two
classes that contain iron-sulfur clusters and catalyze the reversible reaction to
form hydrogen gas. Nickel and/or iron atoms form their active center of the two
classes, the (NiFe)hydrogenases, or the (FeFe)hydrogenases. A third class of
hydrogenase, characterized by a specific iron-containing cofactor and by the
absence of Fe-S cluster has catalytic properties different from those of (NiFe)-
and (FeFe)hydrogenases. The (NiFe)hydrogenases may further be subdivided into
four subgroups. Mikheenko and colleagues 2008 describe the reducion of palladium Pd(II) to Pd(0) by Wild-type Desulfovibrio fructosivorans and three hydrogenase-negative mutants, resulting in deposition of palladium nanoparticles on the cytoplasmic membrane.
According to Yong and colleagues 1997 immobolized Citrobacter sp. bacteria
accumulate heavy metals as cell-bound metal phosphates, utilizing phosphate released by the enzymatic cleavage of a phosphomonoester
substrate.
The authors describe the bioreactor activity and the Michaelis-Menten kinetics
equation. They stress that nitrate is an inhibitor of the Citrobacter
phosphatase and describe the removal of lanthanum from a nitrate-supplemented
system.
Loyd and colleagues 2008 describe bacteria producing precious metal catalysts
from waste streams, ferrite spinels for biomedicine and catalysis, metal
phosphates for environmental remediation and biomedical applications, and
biogenic selenides for a range of optical devices. The authors stress the
importance of biomineralization global biogeochemical cycles, but also provide
new methods for material synthesis that eliminate toxic organic compounds.
Deplanche and colleagues 2008 report the microbial precipitation of gold from
acidic leachate (AuIII) from jewelry waste was achieved using Escherichia coli
and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans using hydrogen as the electron donor. Hydrogen alone or with heat-killed cells did not recover gold from leachates. All gold was
recovered within 2 hours. Gold nanoparticles of 20-50 nm, depending on pH of the
solution, accumulated in the periplasmic space and on the cell surface.
Waste electric and electronic equipment, or electronic waste and their
hazardous material contents were assessed by Cui and Zhang 2008. The authors
report that recycling of these waste is driven by economic stimuli of the
recovery of precious metals.
In the last decade pyrometallurgical processing was largely displaced by
hydrometallurgical process for recovery of metals from electronic waste. The
authors discuss these hydrometallurgical processing techniques such as cyanide
leaching, halide leaching, thiourea leaching, and thiosulfate leaching of
precious metals. Bioleaching is used for recovery of precious metals and copper
from ores for many years. However, the authors stress the need of further reseach
on the bioleaching of metals from electronic waste.
Humphries and colleagues 2006 describe the reduction of Chromium using resting
cells of Desulfovibrio vulgaris NCIMB 8303 and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans NCIMB
8307 for the hydrogenase-mediated reduction of Pd(II) to Pd(0), forming a hybrid
palladium bionanocatalyst (Bio-Pd(0)) which reduced Cr(VI) to the less
environmentally problematic Cr(III) species.
Macaskie and colleagues 2009 report that E. coli, break down a source of
inositol phosphate (also called phytic acid), from plant waste freeing
phosphate which binds uranium as uranium phosphate precipitate on the
bacterial cells. This procedure turns binding uranium from leakages and
spills economically attractive. Commercial pure inositol phosphate is too
expensive to be used for uranium recovery. The authors stress the importance to
recover uranium from mine run-offs and also from nuclear wastes to ensure
energy security and avoid pollution of the environment.
Nuclear contamination of soils such as Asse 2 in Germany and other nuclear spills
could make biologic recovery important.
Macaskie and colleagues 2007 describe Escherichia coli performing anaerobic
hydrogen metabolism using two 'uptake' hydrogenase isoenzymes, hydrogenase -1 and
-2 (Hyd-1 and -2), and fermentative hydrogen production is catalysed by Hyd-3. This may lead to the production of bio-hydrogen from sugars.
Penfold and Macaskie introduced the pUR400 plasmid, containing genes which allow
the sucrose transport into the cell and its metabolism in the Escherichia coli
HD701, a hydrogenase-upregulated strain. The new strain could metabolise sucrose
from waste materials for the production of hydrogen.
EuropaBio refers to the European directive on the promotion of the use of energy
from renewable sources (COM 2008 30) where the rules are critical in order to
ensure that the environmental benefits of using biofuels outweigh any possible
environmental disadvantages. At the same time, the Commission is committed to
promoting in all its policies the rapid development of second generation
biofuels. It will closely monitor market developments and their effects on food,
feed, energy and other industrial uses of biomass, and take appropriate action if
needed.
EuropaBio says that it is important that the emerging biofuels sector be built
on sound sustainability principles do not stand in the way of food production,
forest protection, soil degradation prevention and sound water supplky.
- The development of a credible and robust certification scheme on an EU or
global basis to guarantee that biofuels are produced in an environmentally
sustainable way.
- The development of a credible and robust certification scheme on an EU
or global basis to guarantee that biofuels are produced in an environmentally
sustainable way.
- The development of sustainability criteria for the biomass used for fuel
production as well as for all (energy) applications.
- The support of a threshold value for greenhouse gas savings,
restrictions on land use to avoid major reduction in carbon stocks and
biodiversity loss from land use change.
Some experts and government leaders are blaming the price fluctuation on
increased biofuel production, which requires a fair amount of agricultural
land. High energy prices and inflation are also seen as culprits.
It is "unacceptable for the export of agro-fuels to pose a threat to the
supply situation of the very people already living in poverty," Development
Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said prior to the IMF meeting.
"The targets for fuel blends must be put to the test." [127]
Yet land used for farming agricultural commodities is being converted into
producing biofuel.
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer the corporations which are driving
biofuel to concentrate on Indonesia, Brazil and the corn belt of USA targeting
the heart of all problems. The do not consider to use the other 27 million square kilometres because it is not profitable to plant there.
The Patzek paper
According to professor Tad W. Patzek new calculations show that the entire
surface of the Earth cannot create enough additional biomass to replace more than
10% of current fossil fuel use. [128]
Solar power and compressed natural gas offer more-efficient energy
technologies than planting, fertilizing, harvesting and refining fields of
corn into fuel. [128]
Professor Patzek recommends to decrease all automotive fuel use in Europe by
up to 6 percent per year in 8 years, while switching to the increasingly
rechargeable hybrid and all-electric cars, progressively driven by
photovoltaic cells. [129]
Solar electricity and hydrogen is being suggested to replace fossil fuels for
transportation in Europe. The Arabian deserts provide the sunshine and acreage
which does not compete with agriculture. [45]
Cargill and agri-food giant is known for
commercialising soy bean in Brazil, using Santarem in the middle of the Amazon
Regions as shipping port. It has now opened a huge new rapeseed plant in
Montoir, near Saint Nazaire, France, with a capacity to process 600,000 metric
tones of rapeseed per year.
The plant will produce 250,000 metric tones of rapeseed oil per year and
350,000 metric tonnes of protein-rich animal feed. Twenty-five per cent of the
oil is be destined for food use, and the vast majority of this will be used
for French food production. Diester Atlantique esther plant will process the oil to fuel.
The company argues that there is plenty of rapeseed available in France. No
scarcity of oil for food is expected in the French market.
The FAO and the EFSA and WHO in a joint seminar in Rome discussed the health
effects of climate change on food and water safety and nutrition in Rome in
October 2008. on the World Food Day, addressing the challenges of climate
change and bioenergy.
According to the organizations, the challenges to nutrition food and water
safety are projected to grow with climate change. The WHO estimates that more
than 60 million people in the eastern part of the WHO European Region live in
absolute poverty which will be hit the most. The global cost of climate change
is projected to be up to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of
this century.
Consensus is growing on the necessity to implement effective measures to
reduce risks and adopt strong measures to reduce the effects of climate change
and help people cope with new threats. Such measures should include:
Scientific advice on emerging food safety risks linked to climate-related
changes recent outbreaks, such as the bluetongue disease in Europe, are
increasingly important. Changing patterns and practices of crop production
could lead to the increased use of agrochemicals presenting new risks. The
distribution and spread of plant and animal diseases could also be affected
and must be observed.
The WHO says that health systems should strengthen disease control and health
protection. Action includes ensuring clean water and sanitation, safe and
adequate food, disease surveillance and response, and disaster preparedness;
increasing health professionals' awareness of climate-related diseases;
delivering accurate and timely information to citizens; and advocating to
other sectors reduced emissions that can benefit health.
FAO extended the EMPRES (Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animals
and Plant Pests and Diseases) programme to include food safety to enable the
FAO an early detection of food safety problems and to develop guidance for
managing emerging risks. [132]
The Italian Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policy expressed his concern
about the impact of climate change on health, water safety and nutrition in
Italy, resulting from disease vectors entering the country. He cited also that
a 14% drop in precipitation in the last five decades increased water
scarcity. The rise in sea level will entail risks for Italian coastal areas to
floods.
In the European Region, food productivity is projected to decrease in the
Mediterranean area, south-eastern Europe and central Asia, where food security
is at risk. Crop yields could decrease up to 30% in central Asia by the
middle of the 21st century.
Climate change also raises the issue of food safety. Higher temperatures
favour the growth of bacteria in food. Infections with Salmonella spp. rise by
5-10% for each one-degree increase in weekly temperature, at ambient
temperatures above 5 degree Celsius, and in some areas new diseases may arise.
Water stress is projected to increase over central and southern Europe and
central Asia by 2080. Projected reductions in summer water flows of up to 80%
will result in the loss of fresh water and increased potential for contamination.
The quality of coastal water is endangered, putting bathers and seafood eaters at
risk of infection. Only 25% of the rural population in Central Asia have access
to safe water, leading to the diarrhoea-related deaths of 13 500 children every
year. Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel offer only a very small gain in energy
efficiency and their production minimally reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Research is underway to develop cellulosic biofuels from low value non-food
crops, such as grasses or wood, but these are more difficult to process than
starch or sugar crops and it is not clear that their production will expand
significantly in the near future.
Biofuel production can have negative impacts on nutrition through increased
greenhouse gas emissions, direct effects on health and sanitation and reduced
food availability and associated price effects. Biofuel production can
exacerbate climate change because of the burning of forests to clear land for
bioenergy, water shortages and contamination. Use of sugarcane as a feedstock
is particularly water-intensive.
Increasing prices are leading to the diversion of food and feed crops to
biofuel production. This can reduce food availability and may consign food and
feed production to less productive land, reducing yields.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that rising
bioenergy demand accounted for 30 percent of the increase in weighted average
grain prices between 2000 and 2007. The impact was 39 percent of the real
increase in maize prices. IFPRI projects that in 2020, if biofuel development
proceeds at or exceeds its current pace, calorie availability will decline and
child malnutrition will increase substantially, particularly in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The WHO stresses that it is important to
advocate to other sectors to reduce emissions to benefit health, environment
and food security. However, no feasible alternative for fossil energy is being
presented by governments and NGO's.
Solar energy, from the desert may be the solution to desalinate water, provide
clean electricity, and deliver hydrogen for CO2-free fuel for transportation.
[45]
Climate change makes near-surface fish grow
faster
Ronald E. Thresher and
colleagues (2007) studying the the biological impacts of the climate change on
marine species found that six of eight species show significant changes in
growth rates during the last century. In depths<250 m temperatures increases
speeding growth rates. Deep-water (>1,000 m) cool down and species register
a decline in growth during the last century. The authors conclude that marine
life is growing faster nears the surface, but is slowing down in deep water.
The researcher used otolith analysis. [134]
Otoliths are calcified structures located in the inner ear just behind the brain that assist fish with balance and hearing. In temperate waters seasonal growth periods appear on otoliths asalternating opaque and translucent bands. This pattern looks much like the annual growth rings present in the trunks of trees. Depending on the number of rings in these structures the age of each fish can be determined. Similar seasonal bands can also be found in other hard parts such as scales, fin rays, spines, and vertebrae. [135].
However, Hans O. Pörtner and Rainer Knust from the Bremerhavener Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar- und Marine Research warn that a mismatch between the demand for oxygen and the capacity of oxygen supply to tissues is the first mechanism to restrict whole-animal tolerance to thermal extremes. The researchers studied the eelpout, Zoarces viviparus, a bioindicator fish species for environmental monitoring from North and Baltic Seas (Helcom). Warm water prevents an eelpout from absorbing enough oxygen to cope with a changing environment. Both scientists found out how changes in temperature directly affect the fish physiology of fish, a link between rising sea temperatures and declining numbers of fish. They concluded that decrements in aerobic performance in warming seas will be the first process to cause extinction or
relocation to cooler waters. [136]
Tobias Wang a zoophysiologist at the University of Aarhus in Denmark does not believe that the species will go extinct necessarily, but they will move and a major impact on the distribution of animals will take place. [137]
The Humboldt Squid, Dosidicus gigas, the fiercest of all the cephalopods, and
for reasons unknown to science, they are appearing in huge numbers along the
West Coast, from the Gulf of Mexico to Southeast Alaska, including the
Monterey Bay. The squids are more than 2 metres large and weigh up to 50 kilogram.
According to Louis Zeidberg from the University Stanford these giant squids
had only be seen at the region of the equator. Zeidberg believes that due to
the earth warming the squids now spread northward.
Other scientists , like Zeidberg and Robinson support this theory saying that
this sustained range expansion coincides with changes in climate-linked
oceanographic conditions and a reduction in competing top predators.
[139]
Koeller and colleagues 2009 report that changing water temperatures and
insolation could lead to mismatches between the reproductive cycles of marine
organisms and the algal bloom of the North Atlantic. The shrimps had adapted
their egg hatching times to the phytoplankton blooms which now varies
according to water temperatures. Increasing water temperature causes eggs to
hatch too early and be ahead of the spring bloom. Phytoplankton is needed as
food for the hatching larvae.
According to the authors northern shrimp, also
called pink shrimp, is found in the Gulf
of Maine, on the Scotian Shelf and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off
Newfoundland and Labrador, on the Flemish Cap, off western Greenland and
Northern Iceland, in the Barents Sea and off Svalbard.
These shrimp populations may decline if temperatures continue to increase unless
the shrimp can adapt. Northern shrimp may serve as an early indicator of the
impact of climate change.
Murphy and colleagues 2007 stress that the Scotia Sea ecosystem is important
for the stability of the circumpolar Southern Ocean system. The Scotia Sea is
under the influence of eastward-flowing Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)
and waters from the Weddell-Scotia Confluence. This results in an advective
flow, eddy and mixing.
The Weddell-Scotia Confluence is the zone separating the waters of the Weddell
Sea from those of the Scotia Sea. It influences the summer phytoplankton blooms as a result from the mixing of micronutrients into
surface waters. Many species including Antarctic krill, live there and are food for large seabird and marine mammal populations.
The authors say that krill population dynamics and dispersal are subjected to
varying winter sea ice distribution and surface temperatures, linked to
climate processes such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation and regional
warming. Another highly interference in the ecology of the region resulted
from the fisch industry.
El Nino-Southern Oscillation reflects the monthly or seasonal
fluctuations in the air pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin,
Australia. It is is associated with floods, droughts, and other disturbances
in a range of locations around the world. These effects, and the irregularity
of this phenomenon interferes in the ecology of the region.
The authors expect that major ecological shifts will take place in the Scotia Sea
ecosystem over the next two to three decades.
Wolf and colleagues 2009 examined the influence of ocean climate variability to
the reproduction of the seabird Cassin's Auklet
(Ptychoramphus aleuticus) along 2500 km of the west coast of North America
influenced by the California Current System.
According to this study the northern region presented seasonally variable but
high food for the birds. The south was aseasonal, and low food productivity.
Auklet timing of breeding in the southern population was not significantly
related to local conditions. The breeding of northern populations, however,
was found to be influenced by oceanographic signals preceding high prey
availability.
The authors concluded that Auklets populations in the northern and central
regions of this ecosystem are sensitive to changes in timing and variability
of ocean climate conditions.
Harmon and colleagues 2010 assessed how ecological and evolutionary factors
drive population shifts in the face of a changing environment. The authors
focus on the ecological interactions within a food web and a rapid
evolutionary adaptation of the legume-loving pea aphid fare during increasing
bouts of hot weather. The authors stress that predictions of the consequences
of environmental change on populations must take into account both ecological
and evolutionary complexities, and that it is not possible to study a single
species in isolation to understand environmental change and their effect on
species, the other species around it must also be taken into account as a whole.
The authors cite the effect of increasing temperature which decrease pea aphid
reproduction, however, bacteria living symbiotically within the aphids bestow
them with a possible evolutionary defence, influencing the heat tolerance of
this symbiotic system.
The negative effect of increased temperature depended on which of two different
predatory ladybeetle species was present which highlights the importance of the
local food web. The authors stress the importance to see the whole ecological and
evolutionary aspect when studying the effects of environmental change, and rapid
evolution must be considered as an response of a population to environmental
change.
Susan Haseltine and colleagues define ecological threshold as the point at which
there is an abrupt change in an ecosystem that produces large, persistent and
potentially irreversible changes.
Once an ecological threshold is crossed, the ecosystem in question will most
likely not return to its previous state, The existence of thresholds should be
a key concern of scientists and natural resource managers, say the
researchers.
In this report the researchers stress that human actions, such as additional use
of water increase the possibility of an ecosystem to cross its ecological
thresholds, and effects on aquatic biota will not return to normal. Tools to
predict such effects must be developed to cope with different thresholds of each
ecosystem.
Blackford and Gilbert 2007 describe a coupled carbonate system-marine ecosystem-hydrodynamic model. According to the researchers the biological activity in the benthic, the region near the ground, as well as pelagic, the deep water, is an important factor in this variability. The acidification of the region due to increased fluxes of atmospheric CO2 into the marine system is calculated and shown to exceed, on average, 0.1 pH units over the next 50 years and result in a total acidification of 0.5 pH units below pre-industrial levels at atmospheric CO2 concentrations of 1000 ppm.
The potential for measurable changes in biogeochemistry are demonstrated by simulating the observed inhibition of pelagic nitrification with decreasing pH. Scientists believe that further decreased pH of the North Sea water will destroy corals and biological system of the coastal and deeper regions.
EU leaders (Chancellor Angela Merkel) met with the Bush administration on May 2, 2007 and debated co-operation, trade, climate change, energy security and climate control. Not a word about US signing the Kyoto Protocol was heard. Agreements were made which lead to a stronger and more integrated transatlantic economy. Particular focus is on removing barriers to trade, cooperation on regulations, intellectual property, secure trade, financial markets and the automotive industry, and establishment of a transatlantic economic council to monitor implementation of economic agreements. This transatlantic economy council leaves out any cooperation with the third world. The spirit of DOHA is being buried for sure.
Doha, food and agriculture
The agreements encourage further cooperation in the areas of agriculture, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, and food safety are directed to increase traffic between rich countries which can afford complex safety systems. With the talk of EU-US there can no commitment be seen to bring the Doha trade talks to a positive conclusion. US as the main cause of the collapse of the talks last July does not change its attitude.
The outcome of the EC-US talks were mainly directed to develop the trade between both powers in detriment to environment and directed against the development of the third world.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy announced that ministers have failed in their
effort to agree on blueprint agreements in agriculture and industrial products at
the meeting on Geneva from 21-29 July 2008.
Some say that DOHA talks will only start again after elections in USA and in the
European Commission in 2009, for changes in the actual politic.
The DOHA trade talks want to cut agricultural and industrial tariffs and reduce
farm subsidies to benefit developing countries.
The talks stalled on the safeguard barrier allowing developing countries to
temporarily raise tariffs temporarily in order to deal with import surges and
price falls.
Some, leaded by the USA wanted a large import surge needed to trigger the
tariff increase in order to avoid the safeguard being triggered by normal trade
growth, while others, like India and China, however, wanted a lower trigger so
that the safeguard could be easier to use and more useful.
No firm conclusions on action to combat climate change only a vague and ridiculous statement of Merkel said that progress had been made and that both sides agreed on the urgency of action, but the US continues to refuse to sign up to plan to cut greenhouse gasses by 20 per cent by 2020.
The so-called "open skies" deal to remove restrictions on transatlantic flights was signed demonstrating clearly that there is no commitment to combat climate change. Increasing air traffic increases the most dangerous CO2 producer because it happens in high altitudes were the atmosphere is most vulnerable. On the way to a nuclear catastrophe.
President Bush said he would consider Merkel's advice to include Russia in discussions related to a missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic which brought back the cold war between Russia and the rest of the world.
The uranium business is going through an enormous boom because of high demand for military uses and for power plants.
According to Handelsblatt Urenco has today 23% of world production of enriched Uranium. The company wants to increase it up to 30% in the next 5 years. Incoming orders have doubled since 2006. Urenco works with high speed centrifuges to enrich the uranium as the main cause of their success in the uranium business, compared to less efficient method of gas diffusion used in France and USA which consume four times more energy. The other three producers of uranium are: Areva France, USEC U.S. and Tenex Russia.
The Anti-Urenco conference in Almelo looked at the dangers that the depleted Uranium (DU) and Uranium hehafluorid (UF6) which may be used for military purpose or is being put to 90% into permanent storage in Russia by Urenco. The actual booming uranium business is based on the bad politic of the US which instigates a nuclear armament. [149]
The agreements between the two powers concerning trade are everything but directed to a commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, the Doha trade talks and there are no steps to avoid a nuclear armament.
Global climate change is happening faster than previously believed and its impact is worse than expected. According to Ogunlade Davidson,the co-chairman of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) there are only eight years left for changes [150]. Actual activities of the leaders of the power nations China US and Europe go in the wrong direction. They should reduce traffic, should spend efforts on solar energy (great success in Spain, the Sahara could be used to produce energy as electricity and hydrogen.) The report of
the Global Carbon Project (GCP) concludes that far from slowing down, global
carbon dioxide emissions are rising faster than ever. China (with 1,8 Billions
tons) superseded the US (1.59 Billion Tons) as greatest emitter of greenhouse CO2 gas. Other developing countries India and Brazil are joining them.
According to the Global Carbon Project the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)
rose from 1.8 ppm in 2006 to 2.2 ppm in 2007 and amounts now 383 ppm. The
researchers of GCP stress that since 2000 the increase of CO2 emission has
quadrupled compared with the foregoing decade. The emission growth rate is
still higher than the worst scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change IPCC.
The report says that the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere in 2007 increased about
37 per cent compared with 1750, before of the industrial revolution. The CO2
emission in 2007 10 billion tons, whereas 8.5 billion tons came from fossil
fuels. Deforestation the situation of the ocean reduced their efficiency to bind
CO2 by 5 percent. [152]
Zorita, Stocker and Storch 2008 using the "Monte-Carlo-Simulation" assessed the
climate data of the years between 1880 and 1990, using two statistical
null-hypotheses, autoregressive and long-memory. Following the results of their
statistical research the scientists concluded that the frequency of warm record
years after 1990 could not be an accident influenced by an external driver. They
stress that they could not specify individual responsible factors but is in full
agreement with the results of the IPCC that the increased emission of greenhouse
gases is mainly responsible for the most recent global warming.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the Summary for Policy Makers 2011 report that outlines options for addressing global warming. The report says that the global warming can be stopped for 0.1 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product per year. Emissions would have to begin to decline before 2015 and 50 to 85 percent of CO2 emissions would have to be cut by the middle of this century. If no action will be taken costs will increase up to 20 times more.
Kelly et al 2011 assessed the effect of change of temperature on the tide pool copepod Tigriopus californicus. These tiny shrimplike animals are found from Alaska to Baja California, but have little ability to evolve heat tolerance. The authors subjected the animals for heat stress and monitored them for 10 generations. Copepods from different locations presented different heat tolerance, but within these populations only about a half-degree Celsius of increased heat could be tolerated.
The authors stress that populations of these copepodes are very isolated, due to their tide pool habitat. giving little place for the flow of new genes across the local population. Animals and plants with such a fragmented habitat may be endangered by changing temperatures because natural genetic selection cannot take place. This includes even birds an plants which were separated by human activities. The authors conclude that results of models climatic change may greatly underestimate extinction risk in species with strong local adaptation.
Somero 2010 suggests that studies at the molecular level may predict effects of climate change. He stresses to determine how much change in sequence is needed to adapt proteins to warmer temperatures and determining how the contents of genomes, protein-coding genes and gene regulatory mechanisms, influence capacities for adapting to acute and long-term increases in temperature. The authors stresses that in-migration of "warm-adapted" genes of populations experiencing selection under high temperatures at low tide and high insolation, may improve heat tolerance of species, like Antarctic marine ectotherms, which have lost protein-coding genes and gene regulatory mechanisms needed for coping with rising temperature.[156]
Interaction of rising temperature with animal population are documented in the mid- to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere because warming is fastest in these regions. Dillon 2010 suggests that tropical ectotherms may be particularly vulnerable to climate warming and are experiencing large increases in metabolic rate changes far greater than those in the Arctic, even though tropical temperature change has been relatively small. The author stresses that the effect of temperature on metabolism is non-linear, therefore, even a slow rise of climate warming will have a greater impact on tropical organisms as thought. [157]
The General Agreement on Trade in Services is an agreement of the member states
of the WTO opening the world market to an unrestricted competition. The
states lose most of the means to regulate the market. The European Union has
given its consent to the Agreement in the name of all their member states.
In July 2002, the EU presented its requests for improved market access to WTO
members seeking a reduction in restrictions and expansion of market access
opportunities for the European services industry.
The services sector is the most important economic activity in the EU
accounting for over two thirds of GDP and employment such as the
telecommunication, financial, business, and environmental services sectors,
postal services, distribution, construction and related engineering services,
tourism, news agency services and energy services.
The requests do not seek to dismantle public services, nor to privatize
state-owned companies. No requests are being made on health services or
audiovisual services to any country. EU requests do not touch the access to
water resources and in no way undermine or reduce governments' ability to
regulate pricing, availability and affordability of water supplies.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) is an international trade
agreement that came into effect in 1995 and operates under the umbrella of the
World Trade Organization (WTO). Negative impacts on universal access to basic
services such as healthcare, education, water and transport. Fundamental
conflict between freeing up trade in services and the right of governments and
communities to regulate companies, a one-sided deal, GATS is primarily about
expanding opportunities for large multinational companies.
Following the end of WWII, the allies decided that prosperous and lasting peace
depended not only on the creation of a stable international political order based
on principles embedded in the United Nations (UN) Charter, but also on the
creation of a stable liberal international economic order. The twin pillars of
the international financial system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), emerged as the
institutional alternative to the regionalism characteristic of international
financial practices in the post-WWI era.
From ITO to GATT
The
International Trade Organization (ITO), was negotiated in Havana, Cuba. Political disagreements ultimately spelled the end of the ITO as a formal organization, yet participants considered trade issues important enough to resurrect portions of the ITO charter and transform them into a less formal, free standing trade agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (GATT). During the first twenty odd years of its
existence, members of GATT focused almost entirely on negotiations aimed at reducing tariffs (taxes on imported goods), one of the traditional barriers states enact to protect their markets from import competition. Six rounds of negotiations, through the completion of the Kennedy Round in 1967 introducing an anti-dumping code, accomplished substantial tariff reductions in the manufacturing sector. Finally at 1986-1994(Uruguay Round) the GATT 1994 gave origin to the World Trade Organization.
By the 1970s, with tariffs on most goods substantially reduced, and the world falling into a depression/hyper-inflation cycle due to the twin oil price shocks, states began implementing other non-tariff policies as a way to protect their industries from import competition.
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRIPs
Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
There are two main areas of intellectual property rights:
Copyrights
The rights of authors of literary and
artistic works (such as books and other writings, musical compositions, paintings, sculpture, computer programs and films) are protected by copyright, for a minimum period of 50years after the death of the author.
Also protected through copyright and related (sometimes referred to as "neighboring") rights are the rights of performers (e.g. actors, singers and musicians), producers of phonograms (sound recordings) and broadcasting organizations. The main social purpose of protection of copyright and related rights is to encourage and reward creative work and computer programs.
Industrial property
These are signs,
trademarks, geographical indications, design and the creation of technology ( patents). Ideas and knowledge are an increasingly important part of trade. Most of the value of new medicines and other high technology products lies in the amount of invention, innovation, research, design and testing involved.
Creators can be given the right to prevent others from using their inventions, designs or other creations and to use that right to negotiate payment in return for others using them. These are "intellectual property rights".
TRIPSs and Software
For the last few years the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted more than 30.000 patents on rules of organization and calculation claimed in terms of general-purpose computing equipment, called "programs for computers" in the law of 1973 and "computer-implemented inventions" since 2000.
To legitimate this practice Europe's patent movement is pressing by writing a new law. The basic documentation, starting from the latest news and a short overview are available at http://swpat.ffii.org/index.en.html.
According to US magazine Business Week (2003 December 16th) a group of "left-leaning politicians" upended a directive proposal in such a way that it actually bans software patents, thereby creating an industry-specific exemption which violates the TRIPs treaty and erases billions in intellectual property granted by the EPO.
The author gives Europe a lot of advice, demanding that Europe should set an example by finding a formula that "spurs innovation while safeguarding intellectual property".
The European Patent office has already grated 30 000 patents and problems come up:
Some basic algorithms from software will be patented like:
With a click to next "Top"
Save it on disc
Remember me later
Save before Quit
" Boot directly from CD after insert." Without such an algorithm some users will have trouble in starting the CD depending on the system in use. They are in use in a wide range of software such as:
Catalogues from Warehouses
Information CDs on a companyś products for distribution among its customers.
Training's CDs for employees. Drop Downs are indispensable for an easy surfing
of a program with topics such as Format, Tolls, Edit or File. Quick access to URLs or specific location in a text. No user can survive in the jungle of
informations without these algorithms. Such as algorithms useful for robotronics.
The European Commission and the US Trade Representative cites in favor of their software patentability proposal:" Proprietary software directly remunerates those who write programs, and it does this by means of "intellectual property", of which patents are one important kind."
The mission of the United States of America to the European Union in the paper "U.S. Comments on the Draft European Parliament Amendments to the Proposed European Union Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions" to members of the European Parliament says that the US warns Europe falling afoul of the TRIPs treaty.
The US Mission warns that any failure to endorse patentability of software in the directive might adversely impact certain sectors of the economy, because copyright does not protect the functionality of the software, which is of significant value to the owner, and that lack of clarity would lead to a continued need for negotiations with the US in WIPO.
The US Government promotes international harmonization of substantive patent law in order to "strengthen the rights of American intellectual property holders by making it easier to obtain international protection for their inventions".
The software engineers, however, say that the tools they work with and the basics of their ideas are being patented. The originality of creative work and the freedom of the profession will be destroyed by this regulation. So, I think, we have to say good by to a good trade which had given support and satisfaction to a lot of software engineers which will in future seek their fortune in the offices of the software giants.
NAFTA and FTA
The Trade Act 1979 called for study on the possibility of a free trade area around the Americas. Throughout the 1980s, economic problems, including heavy international debt burdens, precluded trade liberalization policies in Mexico. U.S. trade negotiations turned north, and by 1989 a U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed.
The Bush administration in 1990 signed an agreement with the Mexican government and in 1992 Canada joined the negotiations. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into life, entering into force an 1994.
The Clinton administration proposed expanding NAFTA to whole of Latin America in 1994. The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) aims a comprehensive trading regime, reducing both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade among the thirty four democratic states of North and South America.
Nine areas covered by FTAA
Agriculture, Market Access
Investment
Government Procurement
Services
Dispute Settlement
Intellectual Property
Competition Policy
Subsidies, Anti-dumping
Countervailing Duties
NAFTA dates back as far as 1956. It just confirmed what has been going on for over 35 years. The U.S. government first sponsored and funded the moving of U.S. factories to Mexico and Central America in 1956. In these regions very low pollution standards still exist. It was supposed to be just a temporary program where the U.S. consumer could enjoy cheaper prices while at the same time help saving the Mexican economy.
The Free Trade in the form it is now being practised bears danger not only to developing countries, it also outbalances the home labour market of US as well all other places of well developed economy moving abroad not only jobs, but also whole agrarian and industrial segments such as soybean moving to Brazil and clothing industry moving to Asia.
A conference from 4-5 November 2005 comprising 34 countries was held in Mar del Plata. No agreement could be achieved to create The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Opposition to the FTAA was presented by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. These countries demanded that agarian subsidies of the United States should be stopped.
Alca, an organisation which tries to support the creation of FTAA, pledges to continue the talks on agreemets and proposes to exclude the five counteracting countries from the free trade area.
Trade once was based on trading products and not on moving of production and exporting of decent paid jobs to cheaper labor markets. It is a hard task of WTO to eliminate the unevenness between economic regions looking forward to a fair Free Trade. WTO will play the keys of a humanitarian future world backed by its head office, the UN looking benevolently to NGOS both should behave as partners working on the dissent between human groups.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), a multilateral organization composed of members from the industrialized nations looked after the impact on environment caused by the industries on move.
To get pollution under control, the OECD Guiding Principles Concerning the International Economic Aspects of Environmental Policies was issued in 1972. According to this Guiding, containing the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP), all member states should cooperate.
Some other trade agreements include environmental protection, such as The Montreal Protocol and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It includes trade sanctions in case of non-compliance.
In the 1990s, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for Tuna/Dolphin dissent. The WTO had ruled the US policy of banning imports of tuna from states that used purse fishing techniques to catch tuna, and subsequently kill dolphins, violating the terms of GATT, followed by the rule against US (1998) to ban on shrimp imports caught without Turtle Excluder Devices.
Environmental treaties can be disrupted if WTO rules of trade are used to nullify those environmental enforcement measures under the assumptions that they violate free trade principles. The WTO has therefore the responsibility to look for a future balance between environmental behalves as being part of good trade principles. The
Declaration of Doha wants to increment the relationship between existing WTO rules and specific trade obligations set out in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).
The World Bank Group's mission is to fight poverty and improve the living standards of people in the developing world. It is a development Bank which provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance and knowledge sharing services to low and middle income countries to reduce poverty.
Education is central to development. The Bank has
committed in loans and credits for education. The World Bank is combating the spread of HIV/AIDS
around the world. The WB is a leader in the anti-corruption
effort. It is committed to ensuring that the projects it finances are free
from corruption, setting up stringent guidelines and a hotline for corruption complaints. In 1996, the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative reducing the external debt of the world's 26 poorest, most indebted
countries. The World Bank is one of the largest funders of
biodiversity projects. The greatest impacts are felt by rural people in
developing countries. In addition to environmental assessments
and safeguard policies, the Bank's environment strategy focuses on climate
change, forests and water resources. For example, to help to reduce the
effects of global warming launching the new BioCarbon Fund.
The World Bank Group consists of five closely associated institutions, all
owned by member countries that carry ultimate decision-making power. Each
institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve
living standards for people in the developing world. The term "World Bank
Group" encompasses all five institutions. The term "World Bank" refers
specifically to two of the five, IBRD and IDA. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD) lends to developing countries with relatively high per capita incomes. The International Development Association (IDA) provides
assistance on concessional terms to the poorest developing countries, those
that cannot afford to borrow from the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) promotes growth
in developing countries by providing support to the private sector. In
collaboration with other investors, the IFC invests in commercial enterprises
both through loans and equity financing. IFC's mandate is to further economic
development through the private sector. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) helps
encourage foreign investment in developing countries by providing guarantees
to foreign investors against loss caused by noncommercial risks, such as
expropriation, currency inconvertibility and transfer restrictions, and war
and civil disturbances. The International Center for Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID) is an autonomous international organization. However, it has
close links with the World Bank. ICSID provides facilities for the
conciliation and arbitration of disputes between member countries and
investors who qualify as nationals of other member countries. The IMF is an organization of the United Nations. It was established to
promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly
exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of
employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help
to ease balance of payments adjustment. The IMF is the central institution of
the international monetary system of international payments and exchange rates
among national currencies that enables business to take place between countries.
The IMF works for global prosperity by promoting the balanced expansion of
world trade, stability of exchange rates, avoidance of competitive
devaluations, and orderly correction of balance of payments problems.
The work of the IMF is of three main types. Surveillance involves the
monitoring of economic and financial developments, and the provision of policy
advice, aimed especially at crisis-prevention. The IMF also lends to countries
with balance of payments difficulties. IMF in its work of surveillance developed
internationally recognized standards and codes covering government policy making and operations.
The IMF plays a key role as standard setter in this area. Such as the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), The Code of Good Practices in Fiscal Transparency, the Code of Good Practices in Monetary and Financial Policies, and the Principles and Guidelines for Insolvency and Creditor Rights Regimes. A main function of the IMF is to provide loans to countries
experiencing balance-of-payments problems so that they can restore conditions for sustainable economic growth. The IMF provides technical assistance in its
areas of expertise, which include fiscal policy, monetary policy, and macroeconomic and financial statistics.
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
The OECD groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. With active relationships with some 70 other countries, NGOs and civil society, it has a global reach. Best known for its publications and its statistics, its work covers economic and social issues.
Anti-corruption Instruments and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
The Guidelines seek to promote and facilitate companies' contribution to the fight against corruptionbribery, solicitation of bribes and extortion.
OECD Anti-corruption Activities :The core of the OECD's action against corruption is dedicated to curbing bribery in international transactions. The European Commission, in close
co-operation with the European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF), Brussels Prosecution Service and French and Dutch police arrested two officials at the Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture on 21th October 2003 alleging corruption and insider trading in the cereal market. They had supplied confidential information with major economic and strategic value for the cereals business Paris and Rotterdam headquarters of two French and Dutch cereals groups. This demonstrates how important the work on anti-corruption and anti-fraud is especially in inter-government and international bodies.
The trade in caviar endangers the population of
sturgeon [158]
Important sturgeon basins include the Caspian Sea, the Great Lakes of North
America, the Azov Sea and the Amour River. The number of sturgeons and their
status have been affected by such negative factors as regulation of water flow, decrease in natural spawning sites, poaching and illegal trade in sturgeon caviar and other specimens.
In an attempt to assure sustainability of sturgeon (species in the order Acipenseriformes) the FAO Committee in its Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES Bremen, 3-6 June 1998 presented considerations and recommendations on the "Conservation of Sturgeons"
Important recommendations of the conference of 1998: [158]
- Encourage scientific research particularly in the Eurasian region to promote the sustainability of sturgeon fisheries through management programmes.
- Curtail the actual illegal fishing and export of sturgeon specimens by improving the enforcement of existing laws regulating fisheries and export in close contact with the CITES Secretariat, ICPO-Interpol and the World Customs Organization
- Enhance the participation of representatives of all agencies responsible for sturgeon fisheries in conservation and sustainable-use programmes for these species.
- Promote regional agreements between range States of sturgeon species aiming at proper management and sustainable utilization of sturgeons
To avoid depletion of sturgeons the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) publishes export quotas for caviar in an attempt to assure the sustainability of sturgeon.
High levels of poaching and illegal trade in the Caspian Sea accounts for some 90 per cent of world caviar trade. It is believed that for every registered 1,000 tonnes of caviar, there is 12-14,000 tonnes placed on the black market.
The 169 member countries of CITES have set strict conditions for permitting caviar exports. Countries sharing sturgeon stocks must agree amongst themselves on catch and export quotas based on scientific surveys of the stocks.
Importers in the European Union must ensure that all imports are from legal sources, and they must establish registration systems for their domestic processing and repackaging plants. However, many key importing countries have still not put these measures in place.
Further action is needed to regulate trade in caviar, meat and other Sturgeon products and to ensure that fishing levels are sustainable: [159]
- Standardized methodologies for assessments of stocks and the effectiveness of restocking programmes.
- Market inventories to allow effective control of the domestic caviar and sturgeon meat markets.
- Trans-boundary anti-poaching units
- Databank with reference tissue samples of all sturgeon species in order to assess the legality of exports.
- Universal labelling system for caviar to include re-exports and local production.
Many commercial fish, several types of sharks, rays and more than 40 species of fish may disappear from the waters of the Mediterranean sea in a near future. Many of the specialities of the Mediterranean cuisine are frozen and flown in from abroad.
According to Kent Carpenter, leading author of a 2011 report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the population of the blue fin tuna has declined by 50 percent in the last 40 years due to overfishing.
The report says that half of the Mediterranean's 76 species of sharks and rays are considered threatened or endangered. Twelve types of bony fish are likewise in trouble. The use of trawling nets, as well as the illegal use of driftnets, are a major reason for the decline of the marine species of the Mediterranean Sea, which includes dolphins, turtles and birds. Catch quotas set each year are too high to allow fish stocks to maintain health. And there is widespread disregard of those quotas. The group calls for more comprehensive protection programs in the region as well as strict regulations governing the methods of fishing that are allowed.
A fish specialist at Berlin's Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Frank Kirschbaum, along with his Polish colleague Jörn Gessner want to repopulate German rivers with the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrhyncus) , which had been threatened with extinction worldwide In 2007 young sturgeons will be set free in the river Oder , a river ending in the Baltic Sea. This fish had been bred in aquariums in the Regional Center for Agriculture and Fishery in the town of Born.
Other rivers such as Elbe and Weser ending in the North Sea, are difficult to repopulate with sturgeon because of weirs blocking the sturgeon off to their spawning ground. There the European variety of sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) had its natural home a century ago. This variety of sturgeon is being bred by Frank Kirschbaum using remnants from a tiny population still living in the Gironde River, near Bordeaux, France.
The sturgeon lives in the sea and migrates upriver only to mate. Pollution from factories and sewage from the cities and weirs caused the population of sturgeons to diminish.
Another variety of sturgeon is Hausen, the German name for the beluga sturgeon ( Huso huso ). It is the largest species of the sturgeons and can weigh up to a ton. It is known because of the Russian caviar. It lives in the Caspian, Black Sea and occasionally in the Adriatic Sea.
According to Battin and colleagues 2009
inland waters, such as streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands play
an important role in processing organic carbon and must be integrated in a
global climate strategy. The authors point out that twenty percent of the
continental sequestration are deposited as sediments in rivers and other open
waters, its outgassing contributes carbon to the atmosphere in an amount
equivalent to 13% of annual fossil fuel burning.
In their study the authors describes the carbon transfers between the
land-freshwater boundary, the freshwater-atmosphere boundary, and regional
boundaries within continents. They point to the fact that rivers transport the
carbon which escapes sedimentation or outgassing and modifies carbon accounts of
distant regions.
Wetlands and marsh areas bind carbon dioxide, protect the cost and provide
habitat for a variety of species. Based on the results of the study "The
Boundless Carbon Cycle" the importance of the protection of wetlands,
mangroves and free waters become eminent.
Needelman and colleagues 2008 stress that tidal marshes are excellent at
capturing carbon dioxide, because decomposition is very low. Most of the
sequestered carbon remains bound there.
To protect these biotypes sediments of rivers and bays are pumped into washed-out
marshes functioning as carbon sink. The group around Needelman control carbon
content of these restored marshes analysing yearly soil samples. The authors
report that the average carbon content in the restored marsh was 35 kg m-2 while
the reference marsh has only 24 kg m-2 due to a greater bulk density. A surface
carbon accumulation of 1.8 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, resulting from deposition of new
organic material was also found by the authors.
Louis A. Kaplan and a group of scientists stress the importance to protect
headwaters tributary streams, intermittent streams, and spring seeps with
forested riparian buffer zones to keep stream and river ecosystem healthy.
Healthy, undisturbed headwaters supply organic matter that contributes to the
growth and productivity of higher organisms, including insects and fish, keep
sediment and pollutants out of the main stream, and protect biodiversity of
flora and fauna.
Forested buffer zones protect these headwaters extending the total area of
aquatic habitat, protect against pollution, slow erosion, keepsthe water cool
for best trout survival.
The authors recommend that smaller watershed be protected, riparian forests be
adopted as a best management practice and that these forested buffers be
preserved and restored along as many reaches as possible. [164]
The high seas lie beyond the 200 nautical mile limits that define the extent
of national sovereignty by countries of the world. They cover 64% of the area
of the oceans, and nearly half the surface of the planet.
They are a global commons, under the stewardship of the United Nations Law of
the Sea for the benefit of all nations. However, the sustainability of this
area is endangered.
Cod stocks in the North Sea, Irish Sea and west of Scotland, for example,
remain well below minimum recommended levels.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), preparing the
Roadmap, calls for a ban of fishing for cod in the North Sea for the fourth year
running.
To avoid further depletion Callum M.Roberts and colleagues brought together
many different kinds of biological, physical and oceanographic data,enabling
to identify hotspots of activity of vulnerable species which include tunas and
billfish, albatrosses, turtles, pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) and penguins.
The Roadmap includes maps of different biogeographical zones and recommend
areas for protection.
In order to reverse the precipitous decline of the life in our oceans and
fulfil the targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the
Roadmap calls on the United Nations to take urgent action to establish and
protect a global network of marine reserves on the high seas.
The Roadmap is available at http://oceans.greenpeace.org/raw/content/en/documents-reports/roadmap-to-recovery.pdf The high seas are the least regulated and least
protected places in the world. Lying beyond the limits of national
jurisdiction, they are governed by the United Nations Law of the Sea. This
convention only came into force in 1994, and has yet to be signed by some of
the most influential nations in the world.
The Law of the Sea enshrines the right of access and use of the high seas for
all. It allows for nations to fish, lay submarine cables and pipelines, or create
other installations such as rigs and even artificial islands. Fishing operations
are insufficiently being monitored, leaving fishing fleets to exploit high seas
resources unhindered.
National sovereignty: The treaty limits US legal authority by granting power
to a United Nations-created agency. The treaty limits US military activities especially
relevant to anti-terror operations, such as intelligence collection and
submerged travel in coastal waters and the boarding of ships for anti-terror
purposes and limits the sea to "peaceful purposes," which is said to restrict
all military operations (Articles 88 and 301). The treaty would force the US to pay taxes
to the United Nations, further increasing the UN's power. The treaty would force US businesses
to turn over economically and militarily relevant technology to other countries. The treaty paves the way for increased power
of Non-governmental organizations over the US and other nations. Scotland, in its report Progress Report 2004 related to sea fishery analysed
21 species, of which only five stocks were found within safe biological
limits in Scottish waters in 2003. These safe stocks were North Sea Norway
Pout, North Sea Herring, North Sea Haddock, Saithe (VI, IV & IIIa) and West
of Scotland Haddock.
All other stocks were found to be outside safe biological limits. Some of
them, such as Cod, Haddock and Plaice for example, are particularly at risk
(i.e. close to collapse).
According to the Report to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds June
2004 aquaculture has become the fastest growing sector in the world food
economy. According to FAO, aquaculture and marinculture will dominate in
the next few decades, increasing the demand for fish meal and oil for feed,
derived predominantly from wild stocks of pelagic fish harvested by
"industrial" fisheries.
Peru, Chile,China and EU are the largest manufacturer of fish meal. Within the
EU, Denmark is the
most significant producer of fish meal and oil.
Fish meal and fish oils are used internationally as feed for farmed animals
and are considered a high quality source of proteins, minerals and vitamins. Carnivorous fish require more protein than herbivorous fish and the meal is
produced accordingly. China is the largest consumer of fish meals and takes
approximately a quarter of world production.
Many industrial stocks are susceptible to collapse under intensive harvesting
regimes, resulting in a wider ecosystem effect of these fisheries and the
impacts on commercial fish and wildlife dependent on them. Many species of sea
bird are dependent on small fish such as sandeels and anchovies. Intensive
fishery will endanger these sea birds and other species feeding on these small fishes.
Alternatives to animal feed produced from fish meal and fish oils are limited
Fishmeal provides a better balanced amino acids, vitamin composition, and
lower cost compared with other protein sources
EU legislation on additives and GM ingredients constraining high levels of
substitution limits the substitutability of fish oils
Fatty acids and
aminoacids profile are limiting barriers to substitution of omega-3 fatty
acids marine oils with plant oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids will weaken the
immune system, making fish more vulnerable to diseases and low oxygen
levels. The report says also that higher plant protein diets may increase
particulate waste and organic pollution.
Soya is the main competitor product to fish meal. Soya is cheaper than fish meal
but nutritionally poorer.
Dong-Fang Deng and Peter Bechtel developed new fish feeds made of discarded
fish portions, such as head, tail, bone, skin and internal organs. The
researchers report that many of the Alaska fish parts, added to
plant-protein-based feed, act on shrimps as feeding stimulants. The
researchers are currently examining how to best use fish byproducts to develop
practical feeds that are nutritionally balanced, cost effective and safe for
the environment.
Many of the Alaska fish parts act as feeding stimulants that, as their name
implies, stimulate fish to eat their rations. That occurred in studies with
Pacific white shrimp that were fed plant-protein-based feeds to which
fish-processing leftovers had been added.
The scientists say that from 2 million tons of wild-caught fish 1 million tons
are undervalued leftovers which are ground, dried, and then sold as ingredients
for products such as aquaculture feeds or pet foods Gelatin from the discarded skins of Alaskan
pollock maybe used in medicine. Bor-Sen Chiou 2010 develops films made from
fish gelatine and the bioplastic polylactic acid (PLA) which comes from
fermented corn sugar.
The fish- and corn-derived films may be used to produce semi-synthetic tissue to
speed repair of injured bone or cartilage and nanofibres of this material may act
as matrix on which cultured human cells may replicate. This may be used as
allergen-free transplants.
Aquaculture now supplies half of the seafood produced for human consumption,
but are running short of fishmeal from small, bony fish species like menhaden,
herring and capelin.
To satisfy these demands, Barrows and his colleagues at the ARS Small Grains
and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Hagerman, Idaho, are developing
alternative fish feeds for trout, salmon, white sea bass and yellow tailmade
from concentrated plant proteins. Protein levels in most grain and oilseed
sources are low and need to be concentrated to reach the high protein
requirements of fish. Combinations of alternative proteins, plus a fishmeal
diet are being tested. Ingredients such as corn, gluten meal, and soy proteins
are used to develop feeds that contain less fishmeal.
Various plant- and animal-based alternatives are now used or available for
industrial aquafeeds, depending on relative prices and consumer acceptance, and
the outlook for single-cell organisms to replace fish oil is promising
[170].
Alaska salmon oils are rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids used in food and
pharmaceutical industries. Bower and Hietala 2010 preserved pink salmon
leftovers of the oil extraction using a combination of smoke-processing and
acidification with lactic acid bacteria, fermented below pH 4.7, and lactic acid
concentrations over 15 g/L. The salmon tissue discarded after oil extraction may
be used in the production of high-protein crackers and other fish-based food
products with smoke-flavouring and antioxidant factors extending the shelf life
of the final product.
US Farmed tilapia and catfish with unhealthy fatty acids
characteristics [172]
According to Floyd H. Chilton and colleagues 2008 farm-reared tilapia has
very low levels of, beneficial omega-3 fatty acids ranging from almost
undetectable to 0,5 g/100g fish, and high levels of long-chain omega-6 fatty
acids such as arachidonic acid, related to pro-inflammatory effects, in ratios up to 11:1 of omega-6:omega-3.
Farmed trout and Atlantic salmon contained a healthy high concentrations of
omega-3 PUFA at 3 - 4 g/100 g of fish in a ratio of 1:1 with omega-6 content.
The authors stress that changes in the fishing industry have produced fish with
unhealthy fatty acid characteristics such as farmed tilapia which is rich in
arachidonic acid known to have pro-inflammatory effects.
- Increased Use of Fish Waste and Discards
- Development of Alternative Protein Sources. Soya modified by biotechnology to comply with aminoacid and fatty acid requirements for fish feed.
Other organisations are looking at the problem of the land workers which are
often used as slaves in the soy farms.
Ethical trade - or ethical sourcing - means the assumption of responsibility
by a company for the labour and human rights practices within its supply chain.
Ethical sourcing tries to ensure that decent minimum labour standards are met
in the production of the whole range of a company's products. By contrast
fair-trade is primarily concerned with the trading relationship, especially
those involving small producers in the South. Fair-trade ensures that
producers are paid a decent price that at least covers the true costs of
production, despite often serious fluctuations in world commodity prices.
Many consumers will always be prepared to buy special fair-trade products,
while expecting that mainstream products are safely and decently produced.
[173]
Cargill will support Conservancy efforts in Brazil's Amazon region to increase
awareness and use of agricultural best practices among soya producers and help
promote sustainable economic development in a region that is experiencing
rapid agricultural development. The Conservancy has been working with farmers,
along with governmental and private sector agricultural partners, to encourage
better management practices and conservation opportunities for critical
habitat located on private lands.
Milk powder is a basic food in countries
with poor cattle breeding, underdeveloped refrigeration and poor
transportation system. Milk powder has a long self-life even under harsh
condition and may be stored in homes with no refrigerator. Milk powder is
therefore an essential food for poor countries. Aid organisations have also
raised concerns about the depletion of government stockpiles of milk powder.
Fronterra, which controls more than one-third of international dairy product
trade is based in New Zealand. The company will begin online trading in milk
powder in July to take advantage of rapid price movements. The company hopes
to add milk to other commodities such as oil, sugar and coal which are
already selling online successfully.
Changing from contracts up to one year in advance, to daily settlement of
price the company hopes to take full advantage of soaring prices. Price
stability is thus further weakened.
Fronterra expands its production capacity of whole, skim and butter milk
powders, cheddar cheese for the Japanese, Middle East and Philippines markets.
The company will also produce whey cheese, casein, anhydrous milk fat and whey
protein concentrate. According to Frnterr the dairy demand will grow at around
3 per cent a year on the back of sales in markets like China, Latin America
and the Middle East. [175]
Alcohol and vinegar are typical products of fermentation. New fermentation of
sugars of cereals, corn or wheat by bacteria or fungi produces antibiotics,
amino acids such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) threonine, tryptophan, and lysine, an ingredient of feed industry. Organic acids, such as citric acid
are another important part of biotechnology. [176]
Enzymes, vitamin C amino acid market of lysine and MSG, opened a production
facility of aminoacids in 2005, situated in Limeira, Brazil, where abundant
main raw materials are available. Amino acids are marketed for beverages,
health foods, supplements and sports nutritional such as glutamine and branch
chain amino acids (valine, leucine and isoleucine) used for maintaining and
building skeletal muscle.
The global market for alternative sweeteners, currently leading growth in the
food additives market, holds considerable potential- growing 8.3 per cent year
on year until 2008 according to market analysts Freedonia - as rising health
concerns drive consumers towards sugar free products and food makers introduce
zero-calorie or low-calorie sugar substitutes into their new product
formulations. Alternative sweeteners like aspartame, xylitol and other
sweeteners are won by fermentation.
Biotechnology can thus bring new fields of activities to developing countries. In statistics, response surface methodology (RSM) explores the relationships
between several explanatory variables and one or more response variables. The
main idea of RSM is to use a sequence of designed experiments to obtain an
optimal response. This model is only an approximation, but it is used because
it is easy to estimate and apply, even when little is known about the process.
Nonetheless, response surface methodology has an effective track-record of
helping researchers improve products and services.
Ebrahimpour and colleagues 2008 report that artificial neural network (ANN) was
superior over RSM for both data fitting and estimation capabilities, when used
for their study. ANN, however, requires large amounts of training data in
comparison with RSM. This disadvantage may be avoided using statistical
experimental design to reduce the number of experiments. [178]
An artificial neural network (ANN), usually called "neural network" (NN), is a
mathematical model or computational model that is inspired by the structure
and/or functional aspects of biological neural networks. A neural network
consists of an interconnected group of artificial neurons, and it processes
information using a connectionist approach to computation. In most cases an
ANN is an adaptive system that changes its structure based on external or
internal information that flows through the network during the learning phase.
Basri and colleagues 2007 write that the classical method of optimization of
processes involves varying one parameter at a time that ignores the combined
interactions between physicochemical parameters. RSM and ANNs are better
suited for modelling biochemical and chemical processes, compared with the
classical method. [180]
Takayama and colleagues 2003 say that response surface method (RSM) based on the
second-order polynomial equation used for optimization of drug formulations
provide poor results. The authors describe the basic concept of the
multi-objective simultaneous optimization technique, in which an artificial
neural network (ANN) is incorporated. [181]
USA, trying to boost farming started many projects. National Renewable Energy
Laboratory claims that the production of ethanol from US corn has already
reached the volume of the Brazilian production. [182]
The City of Portland, Oregon issued the Biofuel Requirements act, demanding
that in the City of Portland, on and after July 1, 2007 all diesel fuel shall
contain 5% biodiesel (B5 fuel) and on and after September 16, 2007, all
gasoline shall contain a minimum blend of 10% ethanol (E10 fuel), Biodiesel
for this act is produced from used cooking oil and/or feedstock from the
Genera Brassica (rape, mustard), Caina, Helianthus (sunflower) or Carthamus
(safflower).
Palmoil is excluded from this issue. [183]
Tad Patzek, from the University of California looks at
the thermodynamics of the corn-ethanol biofuel cycle in 2004. He concludes that the minimum
cumulative exergy consumption in restoring the environment polluted and
depleted by the industrial corn-ethanol cycle is over 7 times higher than the
maximum shaft work of a car engine burning the cycle's ethanol.
The industrial corn cycle is not renewable, and is unsustainable by a wide margin.
The limiting factors, nutrient-rich humus and water that carries the dissolved nutrients to
plant roots are augmented by chemicals obtained in the linear, irreversible fossil fuel-based
processes. Corn yields demand continuously increases in fertilization rate of corn fields.
Patzek writes that the annual corn-ethanol biofuel production is a human
assault on geologic processes and the geologic time scale.
Ethanol became the salvation for Midwest corn growers struggling to make ends
meet with a saturated market and slumping prices. U.S. ethanol production is
rising dramatically, thanks to generous corn subsidies, American soils have
been depleted for like 50 years or something. The only reason we can get any
good yeilds out of them is through massive fertilization. Fertilizer that we
synthesize using gasoline. It's very inefficient to use the new bio-fuels, as
they ultimately require more fossil fuels to produce than enrgy they yeilds. [185] Sugar cane grows in regions with
abundant rain all the year round growing season, cheap land and not expensive
labour. The product can be sold as sugar or as alcohol according to the demands of the market. [185]
Also there is great potential in "enzimatic hydrolysis" for efficiency improvement of the conversion The biomass wastes contain cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. Acids or enzymes are used to break down the cellulose and hemi-cellulose.into sucrose sugar that is then fermented into ethanol. The lignin is more resistant to these pre-treatment processes and is therefore burned to produce energy for the system. [186]
Biofuels are currently manufactured from food crops including corn, wheat, sugar, cassava, sweet sorghum, and oilseeds.The Chinese government fears shortage of food in these items due to biofuel demand which could increase food prices and issued a moratorium on these sources.
China produces about one million tons of Ethanol annually from three million tons of corn. Non-food crops, such as cassava and drought-tolerant sweet sorghum will now have to be used for the production of bio-ethanol. Due to the great demand, China imports cassava from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Cellulosic ethanol can be produced from almost any organic matter, including agricultural waste, grasses, sewage, sludge, switchgrass, plant stalks, trees and straw. Cellulose and lignin cannot be digested by humans, the production of cellulose does not compete with the production of food. Transforming them into ethanol using efficient and cost effective hemi(cellulase) enzymes or other processes might provide as much as 30% of the current fuel consumption in the US and probably similar figures in other oil-importing regions like China or Europe.
There are two ways to produce ethanol from cellulose:
- Cellulolysis processes which consist of hydrolysis on pretreated lignocellulosic materials followed by fermentation and distillation.
- Gasification that transforms the linocellulosic raw material into gaseous carbon monoxide and hydrogen. They are then fed into a special kind of fermenter or to a catalyst bed.
They both include fermentation and distillation as final steps.
Hans Van Leeuwen, developed a process that can convert corn fiber, a
byproduct of the wet milling process that produces corn syrup, into fuel-grade
ethanol. It uses a mould which produces enzymes that break down corn fibre
into simple sugars which can be fermented into ethanol. This process may also
be applied to distillers dried grains, a byproduct of the dry milling process
that is typically used to convert corn kernels into ethanol.
According to the authors ethanol is produced grinding corn kernels and adding
water and enzymes. The enzymes break the starches into sugars. The sugars are
fermented with yeasts to produce ethanol which is distilled.
The authors say that for every gallon alcohol produced there are six gallons
of leftovers called stillage. The solids are removed by centrifugation, which
may be dried and sold as cattle feed as distillers dried grains.
Half of the remaining liquid, known as thin stillage is used for next
fermentation and the other half is evaporated and blended with distillers dried
grains to produce distillers dried grains with solubles. The researchers used a
fungus, Rhizopus microsporus, to remove about 80 per cent of organic material and
the solids so the whole thin silage may be used in the next fermentation batch.
The fungus which grows during the process is rich in protein, certain essential
amino acids and other nutrients and may be added to distillers dried grains as
feed for hogs and chicken.This process improves alcohol yield and reduces energy
needed in the process. Dr.James Palmer, of the Louisiana Tech University, developed a method to enclose
enzymes used to convert cellulosic biomass (wood, grass, stalks, etc.) to sugars
which may be converted to ethanol biofuel. The enzymes which break down cellulose
are very expensive. Enclosing them in nanoconstructs makes them reusable for
several times. The price of the process may thus be substantially reduced.
According to the authors cellulosic ethanol does not compete with food production
and may decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 86 percent, while corn ethanol only
reduce greenhouse gases only by 19 percent, compared with fossil fuels. ESRU at the University of Strathclyde made a survey of
biofuel using setaside land in UK.
The paper stresses limitations.
Bioethanol produced from Sugar beet results in a much greater yield, but
should not be used as mono culture. When only one type of crop is grow on the
same land for successive years then this crop will become very susceptible to
certain pests and diseases as well as causing the depletion of certain
minerals in the soil. The net result of these effects is a requirement for
increased use of pesticides and fertilizers which due to their production
process results in CO2 emissions. Sugar Beet yields are considerably higher
than that of wheat and so fertilizer requirements are likely to be higher
also, again causing increased emissions.
U.S. corn ethanol neglects the problem of monoculture. Depletion of the region
and environmental destruction of the Gulf Region will be the result of U.S.
ethanol agrarian politics.
ESRU suggests crop rotation to address this problem, stressing that it is
necessary to use at least two different crops for producing bioethanol. If
rapeseed, which is the crop used to produce biodiesel, is also added in then
this will also help the problem. [192]
ESRU says that total use of the 644.000 hectares of setaside land in UK could
supply 9,7% by volume and 5,5% by energy of fuel using sugar beet / wheat 50:50.
| |
Yields |
Ethanol |
energy content |
|---|
| |
Tonnes/hectare |
m³/Tonne |
|
| Wheat |
7,74 |
0,336 |
Ethanol = 21,1 MJ/L |
| Sugar Beet |
53,30 |
0,108 |
Petrol = 31,5 MJ/L |
| Rape seed |
3,00 |
0,400 |
Rape oil = 35,6 MJ/L |
| |
|
|
Diesel= 37,9 MJ/L |
| Corn |
2,00 |
|
[192] |
According to the United States Department of Agriculture the maize consume 2006 increased by 20 Million Tonnes compared with foregoing year. 14 Million Tonnes were used for the production of ethanol, only 6 Million Tonnes were used as food. Cereals which are used to produce alcohol has tripled in five years from 2001. Filling a tank of 120 liters of a Landrower could feed 26 persons for one year. More than half of the harvest of maize from South Dakota is being transformed in alcohol.
A reduction of US maize export which is two third of world export amount, could seriously hamper the cattle and poultry industry in Japan, Egypt and Mexico. Biofuel from food crops are being produced in Brazil (alcohol from sugar cane), USA ( alcohol from maize) and Europe (biodiesel from rape). Sugar price doubled in Brazil since 2004.
The production of alcohol in China from maize in India from sugar cane, Thailand from cassava is being pushed by the government. Malaysia and Indonesia invest in oilplants for biodiesel. This will lead to a shortage of food and increasing prices.
On account of that it is irresponsible from the leaders of the nations which will meat at the G-8 Summit in Germany try to increase world traffic and global increase of energy consumption.
The UK government 2008 report on biofuels says that this form of renewable
energy is an expensive and ineffective way to cut greenhouse gas emissions,
and is likely to cause increasing food prices and insecurity in Europe. This
assertion is backed by the United Nations FAO which states that biofuel
production rises food prices and threatens food security in developing countries.
The report say that the arable land in the EU is not sufficient to meet the
target set by the EU Biofuels Directive. Imports will therefore be needed,
increase environmental pressures in developingt countries, such as happening
with palm oil is already happening in Malaysia and Indonesia.
The production of biofuels affects water use, water quality, waste management,
and soil fertility, overuse of chemicals, preparing new land release CO2 and
increase the risk of nitrate leaching.
Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica announced that South Africa
revised the initial proposal of 4,5% down to 2% biofuels of its total petrol
production by 2013. Maize will be excluded from biofuelproduction because it
is a staple food and food security concerns demand the move to soya beans,
canola, sunflower and sugar cane and sugar beet for ethanol.
South Africa produces liquid fuels by synthesis from coal and natural gas making 36% of fuels demand. Imported crude oil covers 64%. The Association, however, presented a paper calling biofuel a unique
opportunity for South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa to:
a) attract significant investments into rural areas;
b) promote agricultural development at a scale never before seen;
c) materially provide for import substitution of oil with subsequent savings
for the national fiscus in many poor developing countries;
d) providing ethanol exports primarily to the north, and
e) overcoming the trade distorting effects that Africa and the developing
world have faced for years because of subsidised agricultural commodities.
The overriding conclusion of the Blottnitz report [196] and the IFEU report [197] had similar findings
and concluded that for energy balances was that the use of bio-ethanol in
place of conventional fuels or as an additive leads to a net gain, whereas
most of the other parameters , such as Acidification, human toxicity and
ecological toxicity impacts, mainly occurring during the harvesting and
processing of the biomass are in favour of fossil fuels.
Blottnitz says the potential of biofuels production is limited. While the
annual produced biomass in the world could theoretically provide our total
fuel demand, there are restrictions from other competing land use (food
production, natural conservation, sustainable agriculture) and usages
(biomass for material uses, source of bioenergy for power and heat
production). In this way, competing land use alone reduces the usable
potential in Germany to just a few percent of the fuel market. Such
limitations do not apply to the usage of biomass from waste material.
Searchinger and colleagues 2009 stress that the climate accounting treats all
bioenergy as carbon neutral. This flaw was also included climate regulations
2003/87 of the EU [199] and the The American Clean Energy and
Security Act of 2009 [200]. The authors point
to the fact that these regulations count biofuel as 100% reduction, and do not
count CO2 emitted from tailpipes and smokestacks when bioenergy is being used,
and also does not consider the CO2 emission from land use, burning of wood and
energy crops. This flaw favours deforestation
The authors say that counting bioenergy from any biomass as carbon neutral,
so as handled by the climate accounting, large-scale land conversion for
bioenergy is favoured regardless of the actual net emissions. This will lead
to further increase of greenhouse gases. The area covered by fuel crops will
be higher that the area used for food crops by the end of this century, say
the authors.
Increase of biofuel crop can only take place by deforestation, with the loss of
tress which are important carbon sinks. On the other fuel crops may use the area
of food crops, increasing the use of fertiliser ammonium nitrate which decomposes
in the soil releasing nitrous oxide N2O which is a stronger greenhouse gas as
CO2. To avoid such undesirable development, the authors suggest global rules to
protect forests and to avoid overfertilisation. Should this not be introduced all
over the globe the climate will breakdown, say the authors.
Biofuel, such as ethanol and biodiesel compete with food crops resulting in
rising prices of food staples. Robert Service points to an additional problem
of biofuel crops which may pinch water supplies and worsen water pollution.
The already serious shortage of water will even be worsened by a wide shift
from crude oil to biofuel.
Biofuels rise food prices, do more harm to the climate than good
and it may harm engines
European plans to provide 20 per cent of EU energy from renewable sources -
which are contained in a leaked draft of the EU renewable energy directive
[202]. But, the environmental campaign group
warned that plans for a huge increase in agro-fuels seriously undermine the
potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the world's poor.
A leak of the draft directive says that 20 per cent of EU energy must come
from renewable sources by 2020. And, as part of this strategy, all transport
fuels must contain at least 10 per cent agro-fuels by 2020. Friends of the
Earth criticises:
- Failure to address the impact of agro-fuels on the environment and food
security.
- Not sufficiently addressing the knock-on effects of pushing up food
prices.
- Not preventing agro-fuel production from pushing other farming
activities (e.g. cattle ranching or other crops) into rainforests or other
important eco-systems.
- Providing no criteria to protect people in developing countries from the
negative impacts of agro-fuel production.
- Ignoring important eco-systems such as wildlife-rich savannahs, which
are threatened (for example, the Brazilian Cerrado).
- Preventing EU member states from introducing stronger criteria for more
robust bio-fuel production measures at a national level. [203]
Friends of the Earth say that the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO)
- due to come into force should be put on hold. The RTFO will require all
petrol sold in the UK to contain a percentage of biofuels in order to meet EU
targets to increase the use of alternative fuels for road transport.
A growing number of academics, institutions and non-government organisations
are calling for the EU to drop its 10 per cent target for biofuels. There are
major concerns that biofuels may do more harm to the climate than good. Recent
studies have shown that the carbon savings from biofuels are often negligible
and that the expansion of biofuel production is leading to rainforest
destruction, rising food prices and human rights violations. [204]
According to Mike Childs from friends of the Earth the EU must listen to the
growing warnings about this largely unsustainable fuel-source and scrap its
damaging agro-fuels plans. Instead it should focus on forcing motor companies
to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, and strategies to encourage people
out of their cars. [205]
In Germany a 10 percent addition of alcohol may damage the engine of cars
which are not built for this kind of petrol. According to Edgar Turner and colleagues 2007 the amount of research on
by-products from the oil palm, soy and biofuels industry is increasing.
However, less than 1% of publications were related to biodiversity and
species conservation. The authors stress that more studies are needed on conservation strategies and sustainable management of plantations of oil
plants. These plantations are cited as a major threat to tropical
biodiversity centred on some of the world's most biodiverse regions.
Palm oil is also being criticised for its saturated fatty acids content
increasing the risc of coronary diseases.
The Agency has announced the first steps of its activity to help people in the
UK reduce the amount of saturated fat they eat. Eating a diet high in
saturated fat and calories can contribute to developing a range of serious
diet-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some
cancers. In the UK, intakes of saturated fat are around 20% higher than
official Government recommendations.
A key part in helping to reduce saturated fat intakes will be in developing
and building on positive and collaborative partnerships with industry, along
with improving consumer awareness.
This programme outlines future work in the following areas:
- Building on partnerships with the food industry to
- encourage further voluntary reformulation of specific food groups to
reduce the amount of saturated fat and added sugar they contain
- increase the ranges of healthier options and step up the promotion of healthier products to consumers
- make smaller portion sizes more readily available
- publish food industry commitments to reformulate
- Increasing consumer awareness activity to raise the profile of saturated
fat as part of the overall efforts to encourage people to choose a healthy diet
- Holding an independent academic workshop to examine evidence on portion
sizes, chaired by the Nutrition and Health Research at the Medical Research Council.
Industry says that palmoil is at target because of their content of saturated
fats and the use of hard fractions of the oil to replace partially
hydrogenated oils high in trans-fats.
Polish meat and the EU-Russia Summit - Samara, 18 May 2007
EU and Russian leaders will meet on Friday 18 May in a resort near the city of Samara in central Russia. On the agenda are the new EU-Russia agreement to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation agreement, energy, climate change, Russian WTO accession as well as the entry into force of the new visa facilitation and readmission agreements. [208]
The Commission in intensive collaboration with Poland and Russia tries to lift the Russian ban on on the import of polish meat and cereals. Solving this problem could open the way to the EU-Russia Summit in Samara. [209]
Accoding to ambassador Jan Tombiński, in an interview with Euractiv, said that Poland has vetoed the negotiations due to an ongoing ban on Polish meat imports imposed by Russia in 2005 because of meat with falsified certificates. Inspectors of both Russia and the EU Commission visiting Polish factories found Poland to be in full conformity with EU rules.
An EU-wide embargo was avoided. There are no reasons to continue this Russian embargo. According to the ambassador, export is a matter of the EU and Poland decided to make this a common EU issue because it is a trilateral issue, with the European Commission as the third party. [210]
The German role carrying the presidency of the EU, seen by Euobserver, is weak,
because it oversees fears of post-Communist' countries that Russia is using trade and energy as political weapons to try and divide the new model union.
[211]
The yam bean is an attractive alternative to traditional root/tuber crops.
Interspecific hybridization combined with intensive breeding methodes are
under way.
The Chuin-Type yam bean (Pachyrhizus tuiberosus) is a legume tuber which is
consumed like manioc. Grúneberg and colleagues crossed the Chui-type with
Pachyrhizus ahipa varieties, and obtained hybrids with high dry matter The
authors conclude that hybridisation is appropriate to improve the tuber dry
matter content in the yam bean in the Andean region.
The researchers believe that removing the toxic rotenone from the seeds of the Chuin type of yam bean from Peru the plant could provide a protein source
as well as seed providing edible oil.
Séraphin Zanklan, a scientist at Centre Songhai in Porto-Novo (Benin)
identified a type with high storage root production with very low reduction
in storage root and seed production under drought. It has three to five times
more protein than potatoes or yams and the storage roots can be processed into
a granular flour similar to the current staple of West Africa "cassava gari".
The bean could improve food support in poor regions. [212]
Green Peace says that Unilever, Nestle and Proctor and Gamble are driving the
destruction of peat lands and rainforests in Indonesia. These companies
account for a significant volume of global palm oil use, mainly sourced from
Indonesia and Malaysia.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is
an international multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to bringing
sustainable palm oil to the marketplace, as both a source of good for those in
producing regions as well as for those consuming the end product.
RSPO's objective is to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil
through cooperation within the supply chain and open dialogue between its
stakeholders [214]
In 2001 RSPO was set up to bring the deforestation under control, with members
like Unilever as Chair of RSPO and members like Cadbury's, Nestlé and
Tesco, Cargill and ADM, the two latest representing 40 per cent of global
palm oil trade. The Roundtable established ethical and ecological standards
for producing palm oil.
The deforestation, however was not stopped, and bad practices such as
large-scale forest clearance and taking land from local people without their
consent are still continuing. According to Green Peace the RSPO actually risks
creating the illusion of sustainable palm oil, justifying the expansion of the
palm oil industry. Palm oil plantations are now the leading cause of
rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. [215]
[216]
Monocultures like soy bean plantations, sugar cane and castor oil plantations
displace small farmers, menace biodiversity and destroy the rain forest of Brazil.
New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL), together with Loders Croklaan and Lipidos
Santiga dominate the sustainable oil market. NBPOL produces palmoil and palm
kernel oil which has been kept apart from not certified oil during the whole
supply chain. Refining takes place at the plant in Liverpool, UK. The company
increases its plantation area by more than 50 per cent, and has already
25,000 hectares of plantations in Papua New Guinea.
The New Britain Palm Oil is an executive member of the Roundtable on Sustainable
Palm Oil, bearing the vice presidency of RSPO. Green Palm Sustainability issues
the certificates on the sustainability of RSPO and sells these certificates.
Algae may combat iron deficiency and anemia in underdeveloped
countries [218]
García-Casal and colleagues studied iron, vitamin C, and phytic acid
composition and also iron bioavailability the marine algae Ulva sp, Sargassum
sp, Porphyra sp, and Gracilariopsis sp integrated in rice meals. The
researchers found 157 mg iron/100 g in Sargassum and 196 mg iron/100 g in
Gracilariopsis, and ascorbic acid concentration were found to be 38 micro g/g
dry weight in Ulva and 362 micro g/g dry weight in Sargassum. Phytates were
not detected in the algae.
The authors concluded that algae are good sources of ascorbic acid and
bioavailable iron, and stressed that promoting algae consumption could help
to improve iron nutrition in underdeveloped countries to combat iron
deficiency and anemia.
The population of krill, small marine crustaceans which are the main feed for
whales, has reduced in the past 30 years, resulting in some concern over its
harvesting for krill oil. The Antarctic Krill Conservation
Projectis a growing network of
organizations working together to promote krill conservation.
The group is concerned about increasing catches to supply growing demand
for krill as aquaculture fishmeal, obtain krill oil for nutritional and
medical purposes, bycatch of larvae and juvenile krill, as well as new catch
technologies enabling much larger catch totals, could have a combined impact
that outpaces efforts to protect krill and dependent species.
Aker BioMarine, a Norwegian company promote its krill oil product as a dietary
supplement in the Nordic Countries and the United Stateshas and predicts high
growth of this product over the next few years. The company conducted clinical
studies on the effects krill on cardiovascular disease, inflammation and joint
problems, but results were not released yet. [220]
The company expects for 2009 a total production of krill meal of approximately
20,000 metric tons. New technology for boiling will extract and preserve
bioactive components increases the value of the krill meal, the oil containing
omega-3 phospholipids and the antioxidant "astaxanthin". [220]
Shipper and colleagues 2008 presented an assessment of the conservation status
and distribution of all 5487 species of the world's mammals including marine
mammals. According to the authors marine mammals are more threatened than land
species because of accidental mortality and pollution, rather than habitat loss.
Threads are highest in northern oceans, and lower in Southeast Asia. The authors
point out that marine mammals are poorly known. The study presents data which
may be helpful for conservation.
A third of the country's milk farmers could go under if prices continue to
fall. The EU milk production has come to a point where the price paid to the
farmers does not cover expenses for feed and energy. Farmers with up to 1.000
cows are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Romuald Schaber, a German milk farmer, facing a dreadful EU and German
agrarian politics, founded the Federation of German Dairy Farmers (BDM). All
milk farmers immediately joined the BDM leaving a huge void in the mighty
German Farmers Association which is failing to look after the needs of small
and middle sized farms.
The Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer has called for German Chancellor Angela
Merkel to take measures. Both are very concerned with next elections where the
votes of the farmers may play a role.
Romuald Schaber makes pressure on the German and the European politicians to
reintroduce the milk quota system to set an upper limit of milk production in
order to avoid overproduction and erosion of milk price which is already under
production cost.
Another concern of farmers is the infiltration of the market with GM feed such
as the Monsnto GM corn Mon 810. Christoph Fischer campaigns against the
introduction of GM Food in Europe. His work made the politicians to ban the
Monsanto corn Mon 810. Corn is an important feedstuff for milk farming.
Farmers were afraid of the bad image of GM feed for their cows.
Christoph Fischer is founder of "Civil Courage Rosenheim". He advocates the
Regional Structured Agriculture which is closely related to the work of Vandana
Shiva protecting the environment and peasant agriculture in India. These
activities try to correct undesirable development of our civilisation caused by
mismanagement of politics. [224]
Monoculture eucalyptus plantations are advancing over vast areas of Brazil,
occupying land inhabited by a rural population living there for generations,
displacing them, create poverty belts and menacing ecological diversity.
Pulp industry, such as the Swedish-Finnish company Stora Enso is acquiring
land on the west frontier of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Data from 2005 of
the official body FEPAM says that Stora Enso owns 60 thousand hectares and
other sources cite 150.000 as real. The Brazilian industrial company
Votorantim Celulose e Papel plans to build a new pulp mill near the Laguna
Merin. The company will invest USD 1,800 million in the pulp mill, which is
projected to produce one million tons per year when finished in 2010.
Eucalyptus plantations take over agricultural land and cause the deforestation
of valuable biotypes. A 7 years old eucalyptus tree consumes daily about 700
litres of groundwater. Neighbouring communities dry out. The eucalyptus
plantations also make the soil infertile.
Once a small sea is now dried out by eucalyptus culture
Aracruz Celulose S.A., a Brazilian company, world's leading producer of
bleached eucalyptus paper pulp has a global market share of 24%. It owns
375,000 hectares of lands in four states The IFC, the International Finance
Corporation (A Branch of the World Bank Group) granted heavy loans to Aracruz
which made a liaison with Votorantim Celulose e papel founding the Fibria
union. Aracruz's land conflicts and not respecting the rights of the
Tupinikim, the Guarani and the Quilombola (ex-slaves) indigenous groups have
thrown shadows over the reputation of the company. [226]
Another application of eucalyptus plantations is the production of charcoal.
Brazil, Is the largest charcoal producer of the world, with more than 12 million
metric tons in year 2002, which is mainly for the metallurgy industry. 16.10.2009 The German company ThissenKrupp, installed at the periphery of Rio de Janeiro an
enormaous steel cookery under the name of "Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico
(CSA)", which is planned to produce 5.5 million tons of steel plates per year,
using Colombian coal (4 million tons a year). Once operational, CSA will emit
273,600 tons of pollutants per year, especially carbon monoxide (229,758 tons)
and sulphur dioxide (21,540 tons). In addition to the emission of pollutants, the
plant will generate 1.3 million tons of blast furnace slag and 382,000 tons of
melt shop slag annually. The Environmental Impact Assessment is suspected to have
underestimated pollutant concentrations owing to the use of incomplete data on
potential down-time. The multinational corporation Veracel, member of the Swedish Fibria & Stora Enso is planing to expand its eucalyptus plantations in the South of the state of Bahia/Brazil. According to the local NGO CEPEDES the production volume of 1,2 will be increased up to 2,5 Million Tons of cellulose/year.
Cellulose is produced from eucalyptus wood of monocultures which already cover 120.000 Hectares. Doubling the production means that plantations must double. Monocultures are vulnerable to pests and the use of agrotoxic chemicals, such as Glyphosat und Sulfluramide will endanger local population and the ecology of the region. Eucalyptus plantations need enormous amounts of water. The irrigation system will further undermine sustainability of food plantations of local peasants.
The Brazilian Centro de Estudos Ambientais (Centre of Environmental Studies) says that doubling the production and plantations will not increase employment and will result in heavy environmental and social impact. [230]
Deforestation of the original Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica) continued since 1945 in the southern region of Bahia/Brazil, according to a map showing changes in land cover as the result of deforestation practices. The study of the NGO group Gambá demonstrates the rinks for the local environment regarding Veracel Cellulose activities. The study of September 2009 presents suggestions to reverse the deforestation of the Atlantic Forest. [231]
Rainforests cover less than 6% of Earth's land surface, and host more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live. About 100 to 300 species in one hectare area in South America present a diversity of trees. This will be replaced by monocultures of Palm oil trees in the Pacific Area and Eucalyptus in South America.
The construction includes the plant with a capacity of 10 Million Tonnes of
steel slabs/y. A coal power plant of 490 mW, consuming 4 Million Tonnes of
Columbian hard coal and a port with two terminals, a bridge of 4 kilometres and a
pier of 700 metres destabilizing mangroves and sea ground. Chemicals like
cadmium, zinc and lead of 20 years of spills caused by Inga Mercantilm which
have settled on the ground of these water, were freed again and sludge of
deepening of shipping channels were used to raise the terrain of the
construction. The production lines at ThyssenKrupp CSA will be
equipped with the same monitoring and filtration systems utilized by ThyssenKrupp
Steel at its Duisburg site. These systems are among the most advanced in the
world and reduce pollution from steel production to an absolute minimum. Gases
from the coke plant, blast furnace and melt will be used to generate electricity
further reducing the impact on the environment.
The costs of the construction of the steel plant at the suburbs of Rio were 5,2
billion euro. After complaints of the population, the Rio de Janeiro state's
Environment Institute issued a pollution alert which made CSA to cut
production of pig iron from 5.000 tons/d down to a maximum of 3.500 tons/d at
its new steel mill. The complaint related the dust emissions from a hot metal
casting machine. The mill, however was not fined on this under the promise
that pollution will decrease in September, when the pollution causing
equipment will be replaced.
More than 60% of the production of CSA will go to Allabama (USA) where ThyssenKrupp has a hot-rolled coil steel rolling mill. CSA is a joint venture
with Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR) which owns about 26% of the
capital.
Brazilian coal is not cokeable, local coal cannot be used efficiently in
steelmaking. Therefore, Brazil's pig iron industry for export or steelworks
absorbs almost all coal and coke imports, which are mainly from Australia
(34%), the USA (28%) and Canada (13%).
The Brazilian government says that the environment ministry aims to produce
"green steel" using charcoal from afforested areas instead of coal. The ministry
stresses that one ton of pig iron produced from coal emits 1.9 tons of CO2, while
the production of 1 ton of green steel removes 1.1 ton of gas from the
atmosphere. This is a fairy-tail discrediting the veracity of all statements of
the Brazilian environment ministry. The US-Brazil debt-for-nature swap will be
transformed in "green steel".
Brazil, Is the largest charcoal producer of the world, with more than 12 million
metric tons in year 2002, which is mainly for the metallurgy industry.
[235]
Isabelle Deltour and colleagues report in the Journal of the National
Cancer Institute, (101, pg 1721-1724, 2009) that the incidence of brain tumour
in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden between 1974 and 2003 were stable,
decreased, or continued a gradual increase that began before cell phones came
on the market. No clear change in incidence trends were noted during 1998 to
2003, a time of 5 to 10 years seen as an induction period to have the disease
become evident.
The authors stress that there is no clear biologic mechanism that explains
how mobile phones would cause brain tumours, and there is an overall evidence
against a risk, however, the etiology of brain tumours is poorly understood
and the large majority of the cases remain unexplained.
Dr. Deltour and colleagues write that the findings may be influenced by
factors such as that the induction period for brain tumours associated with
cell phone use exceeds 5 to 10 years; that the increased risk in this
population is too small to be observed; that the increased risk is restricted
to subgroups of brain tumours or cell phone users; or that there is no
increased risk.
The controversy was intensified in August by the released of the International
Electromagnetic Field Collaborative report: Cellphones and Brain Tumours: 15
Reasons for Concern, Science, Spin and the Truth Behind Interphone, [237] which postulated "significant" cell phone risk for brain
tumours.
Morgan and Philips 2009 report that regular use of cell phones can result in a
"significant" risk for brain tumours. But previous studies have been
inconsistent. The report presents useful advices to reduce the cancer risk: Wired headset (not a wireless headset such as a Bluetooth), using
speaker-phone mode, or sending text messages; keeping the phone away from the
body when not in use; avoiding use in a moving car, train, or bus, or in rural
areas at some distance from a cell tower. Keep the cell phone turned off until
you need to use it.
The authors also recommend using a corded land-line phone
whenever possible, instead of a wireless phone, and to avoid cell phones when
inside buildings, particularly with steel structures. Since children face a
greater health risk, they should not be allowed to sleep with a cell phone
under their pillows or at the bedside. Ideally, those younger than 18 years
should not use a cell phone at all, except for emergencies. Most of all, the
cell phone industry must react to this report and develop advices which do
not pose health risks.
Reacting to the International Electromagnetic Field Collaborative Report, the US
senate hold a hearing on the health effects of cell phone in September. The final
recommendation of the hearing was that more and better research is needed to
determine if there is a risk to human health, and while more data are being
collected a precautionary approach in the meantime. Israel, France, and Finland, and the United
Kingdom issued warnings about the use of cell phones and advise taking
precautionary measures, especially for children. France requires cell phones
to be sold with earphones, establishes new limits for radiation, all cell
phones must be equipped with ear phones and a ban of cell phones advertising
for children under 12 years of age and the sale of cell phones designed for
children under 6 years was introduced.
Long-term high-frequency electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure was found by
Arendash and colleagues 2009 to provide cognitive-protective and
cognitiveenhancing effects. The authors report that in Alzheimer's disease
mice, long-term EMF exposure reduced brain amyloid-beta (A beta) deposition
through (A beta) anti-aggregation actions, increased neuronal activity, and
increased cerebral blood flow, probably due to an increased of brain
temperature during exposure. The authors cautiously propose that EMF
exposure may represent a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic therapeutic against
Alzheimer's disease and an effective memory-enhancing approach.
In three years the dream of King Abdullah came true in 2009 to diversify the
Saudi economy, moving it from an oil-based to a knowledge inspired economy.
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is now perhaps the
most-watched and most important higher education place anywhere in the world.
It is believed that USD 20 billion were invested, making the scientific
outfit of its laboratories one of the most advanced places.
Some highlights are one of the most powerful super computer in the world. The
nanotechnology research is supported by ten advanced nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) spectrometers and facilities for scanning, transmission, confocal, and
Raman microscopy, magnetic and thermal measurements. Oceanographic studies will
be performed by the Coastal and Marine Resources Lab. Biosciences and
bioengineering include genomic and proteomic labs essential to the study of
cellular molecules for DNA sequencing and genetic analysis, as well as the
investigation of cellular processes. The genomics facility is equipped with
robots and laboratory automation. [241]
Rice farming is being blame to be a major source of global warming-causing methane coming from the water-logged rice paddies.
According to Reiner Wassmann from the International Rice Research Institute in
Los Banos/Phillipines, methane is at least 20 times more effective at trapping
heat in the earth's atmosphere, compared with carbon dioxide. Methane was
responsible for one fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions.
About 10 percent of the methane comes from rice farming, while other sources
include the flatulence of cows and decomposing landfill garbage dumps.
The rice farmers in Asia and the rest of the world could improve their
agricultural methods, keeping the fiels less watered, and apply reduced amounts
of nitrogen fertiliser. Wassman, however, stressed that these fields supply rice
as staple food. The carbon footprint of a rice farmer is just a fraction of that
of a citizen of the United States or other developed country.
The Helmholtz Centre, responsible for the disaster of the nuclear repository
of Asse 2 in Germany where geologic instability caused leakage of groundwater
and contamination of the surroundings with Strontium, Polonium and Uranium,
is now the advisor of Saudi Arabia.
According to Spiegel Online from March 18, 2010 the geologist Randolf Rausch
from the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig explores the
reserves of groundwater dated from the post-glacial period in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia.
Increasing agriculture with high demand of water lowers the water table,
saltwater infiltrates. To avoid further depletion of their water reserves the
Kingdom will concentrate its activities on plantations with low water demand,
such as date palms. The wheat culture is going to be completely abandoned.
Staple food will be grown in other regions with better precipitation
conditions, such as Pakistan which has already given the export guarantee even in case of its own short supply.
Fossil groundwater is the only source of water which dates from the abundant
precipitation of the post- glacial period and was trapped in caverns of the
sedimentary rock in the East of Saudi Arabia. These water resources threaten to
expire. Saudi Arabia consumer 19 billion of cubic metres of water, of which 85
percent are used in agriculture. Most of this water comes from these archaic
reservoirs, and only 8 percent are desalted sea water. The geologist Randolf Rausch relates his impressions on ethics,
religious believes and living style in Saudi Arabia in the Spiegel Online
article March 18, 2010 as follows:
"At the beginning I had ethic concerns to
engage myself for this land of all places" says Raush. "Nowhere the Islam is
being interpreted more stringently as here. Women in Saudi Arabia go out veiled
in black from head to toe or stay behind walls. Five times a day life comes to a
standstill for prayer. Cinemas, theatres and concerts are proscribed. Tourist can
enter the country only under stringent restrictions; and those who offend God and
the Prophet must reckon to be executed in public. It is a land that did not need
to bother about what the rest of the world thought of it."
Is Germany the measure of all things? The unsteady way of Western life is
marked by corruption of the bank system, the breakdown of the family,
alcoholism, and social abnormalities.
Respecting and maintaining ecological, economic and cultural closed units is a
requirement of the communication between different cultures. The Helmholtz-Centre
for Environmental Research is well advised if it behaves non-committal on
ethical issues, it is not long ago that the Centre's misconduct with Asse 2
created million Euro costs for taxpayers to clear the mess.
The Ministry of Environment and Water, and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (Icarda) are trying to reintroduce buffel grass which uses only a fifth of water needed for Rhodes grass and has similar nutritional content. Six hours a day watering of grass could thus reduced to 20 minutes. Icarda is planning to develop seed facilities in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia to check whether seeds are healthy to avoid any disease to spread. [245]
Rhodes grass was imported from Africa and became the leading grass as feed. Rhodes grass needs high amounts of water Most farmers in the UAE plant Rhodes grass and alfalfa as livestock feed. Buffel Grass or African Foxtail Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) is a species of grass native to most of Africa, southern Asia (east to India), Southern Iran, Middle East, Indonesia and the extreme south of Europe (Sicily). Introduced to Australia and the New World such as the Sonoran Desert Region and southern Arizona. It became invasive. Easy to ignite it became a fire hazzard, regrowing where other plants were ultimately destroyed by fire. In some US regions buffel grass is being controlled by manual pulling and herbicides.
Buffel grass is still valued as livestock forage, however it is not nearly as economically viable as first thought, because of its limited life of pastures, (Ibarra 1999). Buffel grass impoverishes the soil and eventually dies, leaving behind a sterile wasteland.
Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) was imported from Africa and became the leading grass as feed. Rhodes grass needs high amounts of water. The grass is suited to a wide range of soils from light textured sandy loams to heavy textured soils. It has moderate resistance to drought and spreads readily by runners, being useful for erosion control because of strong runner (stolon) growth and a vigorous root system, assuring some degree of drought tolerance, but needs a minimum of 500mm rainfall/y. It is highly salt tolerant
Speakers at the Arab Food Industries and Franchising Forum in Jordan argued that if land in Sudan, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and Morocco were fully used it could support the rest of the region. According to George Nasrawi only a tenth of available arable land is being used for agriculture. Tourism and property offer quick returns, however this management of local resources is not.
According to Arab food experts higher food standards which are valid between all Arab countries are needed. The GCC set of standards are not completely implemented in all countries. Such standards should unify the conditions in which foodstuffs are grown and increased control of amount and type of pesticides being used to insure food safety of the Mena and Gulf region.
New flowering ornamental trees that can tolerate hot and arid climate [249]
According to the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) flowering ornamental trees such Cassia Fistula and Cassia Nodosa (known as "golden shower tree") may improve the landscape of Kuwait. These trees produce colourful flowers for a long duration and are tolerant to hot arid climates.
Picture: Wikipedia. Flowers of Cassia fistula
Amaltas (Cassia fistula - Indian Laburnum). Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Author= J.M.Garg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula
The institute studied the germination of seeds and plant growth requirements. Manual scarification was found to be the most effective way of breaking seed dormancy of Cassia sp. Cassia Nodosa seeds recorded a germination percentage of 81.6, and seed germination started thirteen days after sowing and continued up to 29 days. For Cassia Fistula, seed germination started nine days after sowing and continued up to 29 days, and the germination percentage was 85.8, report the authors. The best growth of Cassia Nodosa and Cassia Fistula was attained with a soil mixture of sand/ peat-moss/ humus in 1:1:1 ratio, and a fertilizer concentration of N: P: K at 1g/l.
Picture: Wikipedia. Trees of Cassia fistula
Suniltg http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassia_fistula
The authors suggest that Cassia species are suitable for landscape beautification in hot and arid climate such as Kuwait.
Seed Scarification: A hard seed coat that is impervious to water and gases will avoid germination. Breaking, scratching, or mechanically altering the seed coat to make it permeable to water and gases is known as scarification. The hard coat can be modified by sulphuric acid. Vinegar is safer, but less effective treatment. Hot water is also used for some seeds. Mechanical scarification uses a metal file, sandpaper, nicked with a knife, or cracked gently with a hammer to weaken the seed coat.
The bark is rich in tannins, being used for tanning hides. The wood is hard and is used to produce agricultural tools. The pulp of the fruits contain 60 to 70 per cent of sugar, some tannins and colouring agents. The fruits are dried and sold as Manna. The edible part has a fine aroma and is sweet. The pulp is said to be mild laxative. [250]
Seeds are told to be poisonous, however, Jothy et al. 2011 found that oral administration of Cassia fistula methanolic seeds extract did not produce any significant toxic effect in mice, even at a dose of 5000 mg/kg, implying that Cassia fistula in nontoxic. [251]
Nutrients of the edible fruit tissue of Indian laburnum fruit (Cassia fistula L.) [252]
Barthakur, Arnold and Alli found the edible fruit tissue of Indian laburnum fruit (Cassia fistula L.) very rich in potassium, but pulp and seeds were low in sodium. Calcium was 827 mg/100g dry weight. This is the highest calcium content of any fruits and 100 g fulfils the RDA requirement of 800g/day for adults. The fruit is a good source of iron and manganese. Aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and lysine constituted 15.3, 13.0, and 7.8% of the total amino acids respectively in the pulp, and 16.6, 19.5, and 6.6% in seeds. According to the authors the Indian laburnum fruit provides 18 kJ/g and may become a source of important nutrients and energy for humans.
According to Bhalodia and Sukla 2011 the hydroalcohol extracts of leaves of Cassia fistula Linn presented a strong antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Inhibition of the bacterial growth was compared with several antibiotics.
The authors stress that the microbial activity of the Cassia fistula, an ethnomedicinal plant, was due to the presence of various secondary metabolites. The authors suggest that these plants my help in the search for natural bioactive pharmaceutical products.
Panda, Padhi and Mohanty 2011 report that that the alcohol extract of the leaf of Cassia fistula have broad-spectrum activity and suggest its possible use in treatment of infectious diseases. [254]
Phytochemical screening of seeds of Cassia fistula revealed the presence of anthraquinones, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. One compound was identified is roseanone with anti-Candida albicans activity. The study was performed by Jothy et al 2011.
Tigris and Euphrates basin faces low flow and high
pollution
[256]
High contamination from pesticides, pollution and excess salinity threatens
Irak rivers, worsened by falling flow due to dams and irrigation. Kamal Hussein Latif, deputy minister for technical affairs, fears that because of
the low flow of the rivers, marshes at the confluence of the Tigris and
Euphrates might not revive without a moveable barrier system like the
anti-flooding project at Venice. A UN project reflooded almost half the 9,000
square km of permanent wetlands by late 2006, but is now down to 34 percent
because of drought and reduced water flows.
Dust storms have increased some 20-fold in frequency since the 1970s and
drought increases desertification of Irak. Talks with countries upstream on
the Tigris and Euphrates-Iran, Turkey and Syria-have gone nowhere. Turkey
choked off the Euphrates with hydroelectric and irrigation dams. Flows on the
Tigris are now about 280 cubic meters a second and about 220 cubic meters on
the Euphrates down from about 500 cubic meters in the 1970s.
Farmers of a triangle of hunger comprising the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia say they had no rain for six seasons. Thirsty livestock are dying by the thousands, and food prices have risen beyond what many families can afford. People of southern Somalia undertake 15 days marches to reach a refugee camp in northeast Kenya.
Aid agencies are appealing for tens of millions of dollars in emergency funding. Oxfam hopes to raise $80 million to aid 12 million people affected by hunger in Africa. Over 500 Somalis are known to have died from drought-related diseases, after two successive poor rains. Food prices of sorghum and maize are unaffordably high, says Oxfam. [258]
The European Commission will send $8 million in emergency funding to Dadaab, and has already contributed nearly $100 million to the drought crisis this year.
A spokesman for Somalia's most dangerous militant group, Al-Shabab, said that the group will allow aid agencies to return, after a ban in 2009 when Al-Shabab feared these groups could introduce spies or promote an un-Islamic way of life. According to Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage non-Muslims aid aencies must ask for permission by the drought committee of Al-Shabab.
Kristin Wartman stresses that "Occupy Wall Street" understands that the corporations cannot be allowed to control our political systems. Similarly, when corporations control the food supply we are left with an unsafe and unregulated food supply and a population in the midst of a dire health crisis as a result of corporate carelessness and greed.
The people must control food companies like Monsanto and Cargill whose sole interest is profit, not our health or protecting the environment.
One of the global players of food commodities is Glencore whose business impacts oil price boom, the food crisis, evictions, security of supply and price speculation. Commodities are trade by Glencore in Switzerland, but goods never arrive there, says a report "Commodities. Switzerland's most dangerous business. Berne Declaration" [260]
Speculations at Wall Street profit from staple food prices which poor people of Africa have to pay. Occupy Wall Street is of global importance tackling the failure of the economic system. Obama should hear the outcry of the majority of the population and act to regulate the greedy activities of stock market and international banks. At Chicago, hometown of Obama there have been a lot of arrests. A heavy setback of democracy in U.S.A is the police power demonstration against Occupy Los Angeles.
The media is bought by the lobby of Wall Street. It is a ghost industry divulging rumours, fears and false news to produce up and downs at the stock market. Experts say up and down brings gains to Wall Street, however, no money can be get out of a stable economy. This is what drives the instability of the European economy.
The pack of bloodied wolfs are chancing the wounded Greece, Italy and Spain. There is a lot of money to earn on that. Commentators like Wolgang Münchau follows the wolfs and heats up the carnage with a comment on Spiegel Online using vague insinuations like"greatest economic catastrophe ", "Angela Merkel will ruin us all", "now she has two political options: Bankruptcy or ruin ". Such bad talks are the instruments to raise the yields on 10 years bonds such as climbing up to 6,9% in last months for Italy and Spain.
The low return of less than 2 percent German bonds made them unattractive. A heavy distrust campaign made them rise to 2,26 in one week. [263]
"The worst headache of insurance business is the low level of interests, which is much worse than write-downs of Greece bonds", says The president of the insurance association GDV, Rolf-Peter Hoenen. It becomes more difficult to reinvest expiring bonds in profitable new ones. Falling interests generate a reduction of one billion of gain.
Experts say it is just a question of few weeks, if not days, that pension fund managers in Germany become aware that stocks and government debt are unsafe and venture capital in innovation of real working business such as the IT scene in Berlin or renewable energy in Germany is the coming motor of economy. [265]
Stop the insanity of the financial industry. Let the countries go to bankruptcy. It is the way USA does with Chapter eleven. Put an end of the greed of the pack of wolfs which bet on instability of the global economy.
Stop the media which heats up the bank business and the stock market. Its time to silence untrue reports which are steered by the ghost economy of Wall Street. The UNHCR refugee agency is concerned about the high incidence of malnutrition among Somali refugees flowing into Ethiopia and Kenya. UNHCR and its partners are distributing high energy biscuits for instant calories and micronutrients. These are life-saving interventions. In addition to malnutrition, overcrowding of the camps, which already host more than 382,000 people, is a major concern. The relentless violence, compounded by drought, has forced more than 135,000 Somalis to flee so far this year. In June alone, 54,000 people fled across the two borders.
On 2 August 2000 Glencore's head of Russian grain trading called on Russia's government to ban wheat exports, to compensate crop losses caused by drought an fire. The price of wheat went up by 15% in two days. The unrest which initiated the Arab Spring is last, but not least, has its roots in higher wheat prices which pushed tens of thousands further towards hunger.
The Guardian says that the bets on the future price of wheat paid off as Glencore wheat customers in the Middle East had contracts that needed to be fulfilled despite rising prices.
The Berne Declaration, a NGO of Switzerland , unveils Glencore business with commodities and their impact on oil price boom, the food crisis, evictions, security of supply, price speculation. Commodities are trade by Glencore in Switherland, but goods never arrive there. The managers of
Glencore roughly tripled their wealth at a stroke by bringing their company to the stock exchange in 2011. The widespread poverty of entire countries and the wealth of some top traders are directly linked. Switzerland is not only a tax haven, but also lacks transparency and regulation - and it attracts commodity trading as a dunghill attracts flies, says Berne Declaration in its book related to Glencore and its commodities trading.
The revenues from this multi-billion business more than trebled in value between 1998 and 2009, driven by rising commodity prices, resulting in burdens for poor countries. In Switzerland the market increased as much as fifteen-fold in the same period. Today the global arenas of this business are located around Lake Geneva and Lake Zug - albeit behind closed doors, says the Report launched by the Berne Declaration. Download sample of the Report at http://www.evb.ch/p25019141.html
According to Professor Alexander of the University of Pretoria, poverty is the root cause of internal unrest, cross-border conflicts, land redistribution problems and political instability in many African countries. Natural disasters (principally floods and droughts) are often the triggering mechanism for the downward spiral of impoverishment and eventually to anarchy if not brought under control.
Disasters are not increasing because of the increase in the frequency of hazards, but due to the increasing vulnerability to hazards, says Professor Alexander of the University of Pretoria. He cites the repetitive sequence which increases such vulnerability to disasters as being the growing population, increasing utilisation of natural resources, collapse of natural ecosystems, hunger and malnutrition, migration to the cities, unplanned occupation of high risk peri-urban areas, few employment opportunities, and rising crime rate as a means of survival, breakdown of civil administration, political instability.
According to Alexander it is imperative that authorities make every effort to combat malnutrition, disease, loss of livelihoods, and migration to areas that are perceived to be less vulnerable to disasters. Failure to do so will increase their vulnerability to future climatic extremes.
Professor Alexander predicts a slide from democracy to civil unrest affecting an increasing number of countries on the African continent if the principles of natural disaster reduction and vulnerability reduction methods are not included in local strategies.
Farmers in the western Sahel have achieved success planting trees amidst their fields. "Farmer-managed natural regeneration," or FMNR was introduced by Chris Reij, a Dutch environmental specialist at VU University Amsterdam in the Sahel mixing trees and crops, also known as agro-forestry. The trees' shade and bulk offer crops relief from the overwhelming heat and gusting winds. FMNR was initially developed and promoted on a small scale in the Niger Republic in 1983. Scale up occurred during the severe famine of 1984.
The acute situation of the poor regions of Africa need immediate remediation. Wealthy nations must take action unless their governments will be run down by starving population. Instead of spending billions on military equipment, weapons and ammunition the potentates should install photovoltaic arrays to produce solar energy to desalinate water and to transport water using pipelines to these regions. The strategies explained by Professor Alexander or even the agro-forestry strategy are of great help, but need time which is running out. The strategy of photovoltaic can start immediately, as described at www.Desert Energy Project.net. It may provide an immediate relieve of the dramatic consequences of drought and climate change. About 85-90 percent of the water of the rivers is used for crops. When it returns to the Tigris and Euphrates it is laden with pesticides and minerals.
The salinity is at about 350 ppm for the Tigris at the Turkish border, and
reaches 1,000 ppm when it arrives in Baghdad, down 280 in 1970.
Production of a barrel of oil uses up 1.6 barrels of water and rivers could
face further contamination from oil spills and waste.
DEFRA states that there continues to be no recorded impact on air quality, water
quality or water supply, and no immediate concerns for animal health or crop
production following the volcanic eruption in Iceland on Wednesday 14 April.
According to Fernando Holguin, MD, much of the particulate matter that comes
from volcanic eruptions are actually filtered in the upper atmosphere and are
not as harmful as the particulate matter that comes from car exhaust. Any
health risks would only affect people living relatively close to the eruption
because of high concentrations of particles and large amounts of sulfur dioxide.
Much more dangerous are the fine particles emitted by motor vehicles that are
smaller than 2.5 microns and are harmful to cardiovascular and respiratory health
because they can get into the blood stream.
Volcanic ash isharp, has a crystalline structure which causes it to scratch
and abrade surfaces when it is removed by wiping or brushing. Rainfall and
wind are effective in removing the ash and grass and other plants will
eventually bind it to the soil.
Medical services can expect an increase number of patients with respiratory and
eye symptoms during and after ash fall. Ash is composed of particles of minerals
quartz, cristobalite, or tridymite. These are free crystalline silica known to
cause silicosis, a disabling and potential fatal lung disease typically found in
miners and quarry workers exposed to high concentrations of siliceous dust over
long periods of time. Exposure to respirable-sized free crystalline silica from
most ash falls are typically of short duration (days to weeks), and data suggests
that the recommended respirable exposure limit of 50 micrograms/m3 of air can be
exceeded for short periods of times for the general population.
The HPA will continue to monitor the plume's movement although is not expected to
touch ground over the UK in the near future. Even if the plume does drop towards
the ground the concentrations of particles at ground level are not likely to
cause significant effects on health. Rainfall over the UK could cause a small
amount of the ash to be deposited over the country but quantities are expected to
be too small to cause health effects.
The ash would not only fertilise plants but help the soil hold water and
encourage bacteria. However volcanoes can also spew out poisonous ash and
government officials are keeping an eye on the situation because of the risk to
UK agriculture.
The Institute of Earth Sciences. Nordic Volcanological Center. University
Iceland published results of volcanic ash: Soluble fluoride on ash surface: mg
F pr. kg ash (ppm).
- Sample from the eruption site - fine glassy scoria: (pH 6.45) Fluoride 92 ppm (Leached in the laboratory. Fluoride and pH of leachate measured in the laboratory).
- Ash sample from snow on the lowland - glassy ash 0.2-1 mm: (pH 5.66) Fluoride 112 ppm (Fluoride and pH measured in meltwaer). The leachate is slightly acidic suggesting minor condensate from volcanic gases on grain surfaces. It is pointed out that the samples are coarse ash. Therefore, is has to be assumed that fluoride values will increase away from the volcano where the ash is more fine-grained and its surface are is larger.
It may be inferred that fluoride values on the Mid-southern lowlands might reach
400-500 ppm.
These values are similar to the values found during the 1973 Heimaey eruption.
Even if these values are only about one third of comparable values for Hekla
ash there is reason to be careful and move grazing animals form
ash-contaminated fields and melt-water.
Source: Institute of Earth Sciences. Nordic Volcanological Center. University
Iceland.[275]
According to the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAAA) new upper limit for air
traffic is 0.002 g/cubic metre of volcano ash level in air was established . At higher levels of this limit air traffic will be halted. Data of ash levels of
past days were below of this limit.
The Nunavut Court of Justice stopped the German "RV Polarstern" of the Alfred
Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, a research
which is part of the Eastern Canadian Arctic Seismic Experiment (ECASE).
Heinrich Miller from the German Institute says that tests were to provide
details about Earth's crust and upper mantle and offer insight into the
geological history of the ocean basin between Greenland and Canada.
The German ship planned seismic tests firing off air guns into the water
every 10-15 seconds around the clock sailing along the Baffin Bay up to
Greenland. The researchers wanted to use 30 submerged seismometers and a
4,500-metre-long hydrophone streamer to record the effects of the impacts on
the ocean floor to cover a 800-kilometre-long line along the coast of Baffin
Island. This would take 80 hour of intense sound disturbance of marine life.
Scott Highleyman, international director of the US-based Pew Environment
Group's Arctic programme says that not science, but oil and gas in the Arctic is being targeted by the tests of "Polarstern". The Department Natural
Resources Canada and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural
Resources had joint to study the hydrocarbon potential of the northern Baffin
Bay sedimentary basin, including geo-mapping for energy and minerals programme.
The Inuit population fears that the airguns might disturb narwhals, beluga,
walrus, seals and polar bears in Lancaster Sound in their migratory route
impacting the traditional hunting ground of the native population, furthermore
prospects for oil drilling in the region may be risen.
Miller said that areas of immediate interest to oil companies were unlikely to
be covered by tests, but that the data could say whether the region has oil
and gas potential.
After the disaster of the Horizon oil spill fears of Inuits to loose marine
food resources can be understood. Meanwhile drilling for crude oil 200 km from
the coast of Greenland is ongoing.
The work of the German Alfred Wegener Institute faced already a controversy in
Summer 2009 when the "Polarstern" spread iron salt in the South Pacific to
increase the growth of algae to capture CO2 from the atmosphere with negative
results. [277]
The world summit at Davos claims to improve the destiny of global economy. The think tank which gathers there is made up of bad guys earning quick money at the expense of the entire humanity. Here is the list of top Who is Who corporations nominated by the public eye awards:
Vale constructs the Belo Monte dam, creates mines, steel plants, rail roads and ports harming a most sensible environment.
Tepco neglected the structural safety of its atomic power plants in order to cut costs, causing the Fikushima disaster.
Samsung puts its workers at cancer risk using banned and toxic substances without protection.
Barclays is a banking giant speculating on staple foods driving up global food prices at the expense of the poorest. Other banks, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are also active in this business.
Syngenta sells poisonous herbicide Paraquat in the Global South. Thousands of farmers have already died due to the use of the product. The use of Paraquat is banned in Europe since 2007 because of safety concerns. Atrazine, banned in Europe since 2004, is in use in U.S.A. and elsewhere, hiving contaminated 90 percent of drinking water in the U.S. Midwest.
The US-mining corporation Freeport McMoran pollutes with its mine the environment in West Papua.
Despite their promises to work for the best of the global economy, banks, stock markets and great corporations focuses their strategy on gains. Glencore in Zug (Zwitzerland) is the dominant raw-materials colossus, with its main focus on ores and metals, and food commodities with impact on oil price boom, the food crisis, evictions, security of supply and price speculation. [267] The WDM cites banks like Goldman Sachs making over $1 billion and Barclays making as much as $550 million from speculation on food in one year alone. Such institutions are lobbying with all their power to prevent any regulation. [94]
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See also: Related OurFood News
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