CANADA / GERMANY - Clean Energy

My wife and I recently drove from Vancouver to Saskatoon to visit friends. Neither of us had travelled through the prairies since the 1970's before we met; my wife by train from Toronto to Vancouver and me by car after crossing the border from North Dakota into Western Saskatchewan to drive back to Vancouver after an extended driving tour in the USA.

We were both amazed at the wide open spaces and the almost unlimited amount of uncluttered landscape which reminded us a great deal of northern Germany where we travelled extensively in 2017. The big difference between the prairies and northern Germany is the lack of renewable energy producing sources on the Canadian prairies. In Germany, we came across huge solar farms and wind farms, kilometer after kilometer. Farm houses, barns and most buildings had solar panels on the roofs. Towns had clusters of wind vanes on high ground near each town.

Saskatchewan grows many crop including canola and wheat that contribute a great deal to the Canadian economy, but much of the countryside we drove through lay fallow or was unused. While I understand the highest wind speeds in Saskatchewan are in the southwest, it seemed the unused land in the rest of this very flat land could be used to create massive solar farms. Given that Saskatchewan is the sunniest province in Canada, in all seasons, and boasting almost 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, building environmentally friendly, clean energy solar farms across the province would seem to be a no brainier.

Upon our return, I did a bit of research on Germany and came across the following information. Germany recently increased its renewable energy goal from 55 to 65 percent by 2030 to compensate for the decommissioning of aging nuclear and coal plants. Germany has been called "the world's first major renewable energy economy." Renewable energy in Germany is mainly based on wind, solar and biomass. Germany had the world's largest photovoltaic installed capacity until 2014, and as of 2016, it is third with 40 GW. It is also the world's third country by installed wind power capacity, at 50 GW, and second for offshore wind, with over 4 GW.

 In Germany, the share of renewable electricity rose from just 3.4% of gross electricity consumption in 1990 to exceed 10% by 2005, 20% by 2011 and 30% by 2015, reaching 36.2% of consumption by year end 2017. As with most countries, the transition to renewable energy in the transport and heating and cooling sectors has been considerably slower.

Now however, more than 23,000 wind turbines and 1.4 million solar PV systems are distributed all over the country. According to official figures, around 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2010, particularly in small and medium-sized companies. This is an increase of around 8% compared to 2009 (around 339,500 jobs), and well over twice the number of jobs in 2004 (160,500). About two-thirds of these jobs are attributed to the Renewable Energy Sources Act.

Germany's federal government is working to increase renewable energy commercialization, with a particular focus on offshore wind farms. A major challenge is the development of sufficient network capacities for transmitting the power generated in the North Sea to the large industrial consumers in southern parts of the country. Germany's energy transition, the Energiewende, designates a significant change in energy policy from 2011. The term encompasses a reorientation of policy from demand to supply and a shift from centralized to distributed generation (for example, producing heat and power in very small cogeneration units), which should replace overproduction and avoidable energy consumption with energy-saving measures and increased efficiency.

Compare these statistics to Canada's record. In the electricity sector, hydroelectricity is the largest renewable energy source in Canada, accounting for approximately 60 percent of Canada's electricity generation. Other non-hydro renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind, tidal and solar, contribute 3 percent, compared to Germany's 36% at the end of 2017.

The big issue with hydroelectricity is its impact on the environment due to the enormous amounts of concrete required. A major component of concrete is cement; the cement industry is one of the primary producers of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Concrete causes damage to the most fertile layer of the earth, the topsoil.

Solar energy systems have some certain negative impacts on the environment just like any other energy system, but solar energy is a lot cleaner when compared with conventional energy sources. Solar energy systems have many advantages such as being cheaper and not producing any pollutants during operation and, being almost an infinite energy source when compared with fossil fuels.
On a closing note, a common myth is that solar panels do not work during winter, but on the contrary, cold temperature will typically improve solar panel output. The white snow can also reflect light and help improve PV performance. Winter will only hurt solar production if the panels are covered with snow, a problem easily solved.

Saskatchewan could be a leader in this field in Canada if not globally given its climate and geography.

DO MOST PEOPLE NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING?

Every day on this planet, there are people flying all over the world, visiting here, visiting there just because they can. They are called tourists. 

Every time one person flies from where they live to somewhere they want to go (not where they HAVE to go) that person generates more than 20% of the greenhouse gas in that one flight than their internal combustion car emits in one year. This number is based on a North American based average.  Keep in mind, even if you own an electric car, you are still generating greenhouse gases, this gas created through the manufacturing of your vehicle and from the generation of the electricity used to power the car, particularly if this electrical power is generated by coal or natural gas powered power-plants. Even hydro electric dams create greenhouse gases through their building process. Materials like concrete, earth moving machines, trucks, portable generators, burning, etc.

According to some estimates, there are roughly 20,000 planes in use around the world, serving three billion passengers annually. By 2040, more than 50,000 planes could be in service, and they are expected to fly more often. The total worldwide ocean cruise capacity at the end of 2018 was 537,000 passengers and 314 ships. Annualized total passengers carried worldwide was 26.0 million passengers (a 3.3% increase over 2017) and almost 6 times the population of New Zealand or equivalent to the population of Australia. 

However, I digress. My curiosity is aroused by what I perceive to be disinterest by what seems to be a majority of people in the dire warnings of impending climate doom by climatologists, environmentalists and scientists.

I think people who choose ignorance fall into 5 categories in regard to warnings of future global calamity for the last remaining homo race on this small planet:

• People who just choose to ignore these warnings as not having credibility. IE Climate change deniers.
• People not wanting to know or pretend that everything really is OK 
• People frightened of these warnings and choosing not to believe them? 
• People who believe an invisible man who lives in the sky is going to save the pure of heart and thought so why bother doing anything.
• People with plenty of money who just want to enjoy all the earth has to offer with little to no thought of their effect on the planet; IE cruise ships, constant overseas vacations, unlimited consumerism and so on.

Most people in the western world are very comfortable in their own little worlds. If retired and with money in the bank, they think very little of the environmental ramifications of the cruises they go on or the extended travel trips to exotic parts of the world they undertake.  

WHY ARE THERE NO ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN THE TOP TEN LIST OF GREEN COUNTRIES

In the top ten of greenest countries in the world today, there is not one English speaking country. The closest is New Zealand at number 11. The United States does not even appear in the top 20.  The Donald Trump /  Right-wing Evangelical Republican factor.

The top of the eco-chart is Finland. According to the 2016 EPI report, Finland’s ranking "stems from its societal commitment to achieve a carbon-neutral society". It adds: "Finland’s goal of consuming 38 per cent of their final energy from renewable sources by 2020 is legally binding, and they already produce nearly two-thirds of their electricity from renewable or nuclear power sources.

The 20 most environmentally-friendly countries
Finland - EPI rating: 90.68
Iceland - 90.51
Sweden - 90.43
Denmark - 89.21
Slovenia - 88.98
Spain - 88.91
Portugal - 88.63
Estonia - 88.59
Malta - 88.48
France - 88.2
New Zealand - 88
United Kingdom - 87.38
Australia - 87.22
Singapore - 87.04
Croatia - 86.98
Switzerland - 86.93
Norway - 86.9
Austria - 86.64
Ireland - 86.6

Luxembourg - 86.58

In the world or places of polluted countries, Delhi is in a league of its own. Half an hour of sightseeing is enough to leave you with a sore throat. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the average concentration of PM 2.5 particles in the Indian city is 150 micrograms per cubic metre of air. PM 2.5 refers to fine particles (2.5 micrometres or smaller in diameter) produced by combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, forest fires, and some industrial processes. By comparison, London's average is 16. 

But what of the most polluted countries? Pinpointing them is a little more problematic. The WHO tracks air quality at 1,622 locations in 92 countries - but all are urban areas. So while Pakistan, Egypt and Mongolia are among the most polluted countries according to the map below, this only refers to pollution in its cities. Air quality in the Karakoram mountain range or the Gobi Desert will, of course, be pristine. Similarly, Russia appears to be among the worst performing countries - but its ranking is based only on air quality in Moscow. 

FIDDLING WHILE ROME BURNS

Are a majority of we humans fiddling while Rome burns?  Don't know the meaning to this phrase? Read on. 

The definition in broad terms is: To occupy oneself with unimportant matters and neglect priorities during a crisis.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Fiddling while Rome burns'?

The source of this phrase is the supposed story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned, during the great fire in AD 64. However, there are two major flaws with the story. Firstly, there was no such instrument as the fiddle (violin) in first century Rome. If Nero played anything during the Rome fire, it was probably the lyre.

Secondly, the story may be completely false and Nero may very well not have neglected his duty at all. Nero died four years later, and we should remember that history is written by the victors. The historian Suetonius records the Nero was responsible for the fire and that he watched it from a tower while playing an instrument and singing about the destruction of Troy. Others record this story merely as a rumour.

By modern-day standards Nero certainly appears a bizarre character, but that doesn't make this story true. Roman scholars differ over interpretations of events surrounding the fire. The rivalries and conflicting accounts, even those in contemporary reports, make the 'fiddling' story uncertain.

In modern times, a majority of us inhabitants of planet Earth are occupying ourselves with trivial matters, neglecting the important issue:GLOBAL WARMING! 

The past five years have been the five warmest since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. The Earth has experienced 42 straight years (since 1977) with an above-average global temperature, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Based on five separate data sets that keep track of the Earth's climate, the global average temperature for the first 10 months of 2018 was about 1.8 degrees above what it was in the late 1800s. That was when industry started to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Australia experienced record summer heat in January of this year. The town of Port Augusta reached the hottest day since record-keeping began in 1962 with a temperature of 121F or 49.5C.  The heat was so intense it caused bats to fall from trees, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other gases being released into the atmosphere by industry, transportation and energy production from burning fossil fuels are enhancing what's known as the planet's natural greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent among all greenhouse gases produced by human activities, attributed to the burning of fossil fuels.

The atmospheric carbon dioxide level for March was 411.97 parts per million and continue to rise. It has now reached levels in the atmosphere not seen in 3 million years.

That's an increase of 46% from just before the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, when CO2 levels were around 280 parts per million. Levels began to rise when humans began to burn large amounts of fossil fuels to run factories and heat homes, releasing CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Scientists say to keep a livable planet, we need to cut the level to 350 parts per million.

A consequence of higher temperatures is the melting of the polar ice caps, which is causing sea levels to rise. The world's oceans have risen about an inch in the past 50 years due to melting glaciers alone, a study published this month in the journal Naturefound.

The Earth's glaciers are now losing up to 390 billion tons of ice and snow per year, the study suggests.  Global warming has caused over 3 trillion tons of ice to melt from Antarctica in the past quarter-century and tripled ice loss there in the past decade, another study, released in June  2018 revealed

Where do we go from here?  Maybe. See the following link. 

https://www.drawdown.org/

Should We Be Worried About Global Warming?

Anthrax Outbreak In Russia Thought To Be Result Of Thawing Permafrost

Russia is fighting a mysterious anthrax outbreak in a remote corner of Siberia. Dozens of people have been hospitalized; one child has died. The government airlifted some families out because more than 2,000 reindeer have been infected.

Officials don't know exactly how the outbreak started, but the current hypothesis is almost unbelievable: A heat wave has thawed the frozen soil there and with it, a reindeer carcass infected with anthrax decades ago.

Some scientists think this incident could be an example of what climate change may increasingly surface in the tundra. The place where the outbreak is occurring is called the Yamal Peninsula. It lies high above the Arctic Circle at the top of the world. It's so cold there, the soil — called permafrost — is frozen solid, more than 1,000 feet deep in some places, or about the height of the Empire State Building.  

"The soil in the Yamal Pennisula is like a giant freezer," says Jean-Michel Claverie at the National Center for Scientific Research in France. "Those are very, very good conditions for bacteria to remain alive for a very long time."

In this case, the bacteria were anthrax, and more than 75 years ago, they killed a reindeer. The carcass got covered in a thin layer of permafrost, Russian officials think. For decades, it lay there frozen. Then this summer, a heat wave hit and a thicker layer of permafrost melted, and the reindeer's carcass rose to the surface, the theory goes. As it warmed up, so did the anthrax.

Russian officials say they're working hard to get the outbreak under control. They're vaccinating reindeer and burning the carcasses of dead animals.

There's likely to be more cases of anthrax resurfacing, says Birgitta Evengard, a microbiologist at Umea University in Sweden. That's because climate change is causing the temperature in the Arctic Circle to rise very quickly.

"It's rising about three times faster in the Arctic than in the rest of the world," she says. "And that means the ice is melting and the permafrost is thawing."

In the early 20th century, there were repeated anthrax outbreaks in Siberia. More than a million reindeer died. Now there are about 7,000 burial grounds with infected carcasses scattered across northern Russia.

"It's not that easy to dig in the permafrost to bury these animals," Evengard says. "So they are kind of very close to the surface."

That means anthrax outbreaks in Siberia could occur every summer, she says. And it's not just anthrax that could be a problem.

People and animals have been buried in permafrost for centuries. There could be bodies infected with all kinds of viruses and bacteria, frozen in time. She says scientists are just starting look for it.

"So we really don't know what's buried up there," she says. "This is Pandora's box."

For example, researchers have found pieces of the 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska's tundra. There's also likely smallpox and the bubonic plague buried in Siberia.


So the question for researchers is: Could these pathogens — like anthrax — ever be reactivated?  READ ON......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/14/thawing-siberian-permafrost-soil-risks-rise-anthrax-prehistoric/

TIME TO RETHINK THE USE OF FOSSIL FUELS FOR THE SAKE OF OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE

Canada warming at twice the global rate, leaked report finds.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canada-warming-at-twice-the-global-rate-leaked-report-finds-1.5079765

Canada is, on average, experiencing warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, with Northern Canada heating up at almost three times the global average, according to a new government report.

The study — Canada's Changing Climate Report (CCCR) — was commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada. It says that since 1948, Canada's annual average temperature over land has warmed 1.7 C, with higher rates seen in the North, the Prairies and northern British Columbia.

In Northern Canada, the annual average temperature has increased by 2.3 C.

While the increased warming in the Arctic is not yet fully understood, snow and ice play a critical role in reflecting the sun’s radiation and heat. But scientists say the retreat of glaciers and disappearing sea ice both contribute to a feedback loop of warming, which is one of the factors contributing to Canada’s disproportionate temperature increase.

The report suggests the majority of warming felt in Canada and around the globe is the result of burning fossil fuels.

THE RICHER ARE GETTING RICHER, THE POOR ARE POORER & CHILDREN SUFFER NEEDLESSLY

The wealthiest 1 percent of the world's population now owns more than half of the world's wealth, according to a new report. The total wealth in the world grew by 6 percent over the past 12 months to $280 trillion, marking the fastest wealth creation since 2012, according to the Credit Suisse report.

Check out this link form the UL Guardian as it relates to the mess in the UK over Brexit..

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/01/21/news/obscene-gap-between-rich-and-poor-says-oxfam

How much wealth does the top 10% of the world's population control?

The top 10% of families -- those who had at least $942,000 -- held 76% of total wealth. The average amount of wealth in this group was $4 million. Everyone else in the top 50% of the country accounted for 23% of total wealth, with an average of $316,000 per family.Aug 18, 2016

Imagine. Out of 7 billion people living on this planet, 700 million control  three quarters of the world's wealth. How disgusting is that? Why does i person need a billion dollars? Why does a family need 100 billion dollars?

None of us can take our possessions with us when we go and as sure as taxes, we are all going to go at some point. 

Maybe it's time for another revolution. Time for 700 million human beings to realize that they were not given two hands to grab as much as they can for themselves. 

Then there is the insane amount of money spent annually on weapons. Do you really want to know how much?  Global military spending rose to $1.7 trillion last year, an increase of 1.1 per cent on 2016, according to an arms watchdog. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said Wednesday that China increased its military spending in an upward trend that has continued for over two decades.May 2, 2018. That is $285 dollars for every man woman and child on the planet. 

How much does it cost to feed a child in sub Sahara Africa?  For the sake of precision: due to the recent fuel and food price increase, the cost to feed a child per day is now 25 cents.

Imagine?  This is PER DAY! Not per meal. Do the numbers if you dare and while you are about it, read the following link.

http://www.fao.org/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/

What on this planet is more important than children?

One hundred years from now,
It will not matter,
What kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
How much I had in my bank,
Nor what my clothes looked like.

One hundred years from now,
It will not matter,
What kind of school I attended,
What kind of typewriter I used,
How large or small my church.

But the world may be. . .
A little better because. . .
I was important in the life of a child.

~Author Unknown

Children are the ones who are very vital for deciding how the world is gonna be after some years. So if one can do some good in the life of a child then there can be change, at least a slightest change, in the world to come. And if most of them think on same lines then we can hope of a better future ahead. The main component which decides how the person is going to be in the future or the present is the amount of education he/she has within them. 

Education has to be aimed at the overall development of child. Rural areas have been major victim of lack of educational facilities, thats where most of the children are deprived of even the basic education. And coming to the urban life its totally insane. Children are a means of cheap labor who rarely speak against their masters. There were many drives which were aimed at preventing Child Labor, but if the child itself is willing to work or the parents are not ready to take their child back, then nothing can be effective or nothing will work. 

The only way to do it is to  change the education system for such children. Let them have a separate educational system where they are given Vocational Training in parallel with the Basic Education. The training will help them earn their livelihood in the future and also education. And there must be a certain age limit after which the person/Child will be allowed to carry on his/her independent work in the area in which he/she has been trained, until then he/she will have to be under the scrutiny of the Institute providing training.

Education is the missing link everywhere. Lack of basic education has been an hindrance to many and at most occasions uneducated people get cheated easily. There should be some cash based incentive for the children education. So planning of buying car even though already have one, of having number of houses- one in each area or of buying thing which you already have/are not in need of? Then do think before doing it. Read the lines above- It might have an impact.

PARENTS - HAVE YOUR CHILDREN VACCINATED

The science of vaccinations has been proven. Vaccinating saves lives. Full stop! Countries around the world where vaccinating children has slowed down or in some places, stopped are now experiencing the resurgence of diseases that were once considered eliminated.

There are hundreds of website providing misinformation on vaccinating children, 100% of them written by ignorant, superstitious and / or quacky religious nuts who see the hand of the devil in anything that is not written and supported  by whatever holy book they are choosing to follow. They are doing everything they can to get their misinformation and propaganda out so that you don't vaccinate and protect your kids.

The following is a link to a very educational website for parents who care about their children and the community at large. The article is "50 Anti-Vaccine Myths and Misinformation".

https://www.verywellfamily.com/anti-vaccine-myths-and-misinformation-2633730

Please share this blog post with your friends and family if this is an issue you feel strongly about.

School pupils call for radical climate action in UK-wide strike

If there are changes going  to be made in how the environment is caretakered, its going to be kids. A great many of the old farts making short term decisions today are not going to be around when the #$@% hits the fan 20 years from now. Unless we get greenhouse emissions under control with all inhabitants of this planet working for the greater good, the future for youngster and babies of today  being born will not be uncertain, it will be terminal.  

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/15/uk-climate-change-strike-school-pupils-children-environment-protest

WIKI LOVES EARTH

Greanwold contributed to Wikipedia

I can’t say enough how grateful I am to you and the millions of people who give what they can to support Wikipedia. You are part of a select group of knowledge seekers giving back to the knowledge ecosystem, and your contributions are truly incredible. Thank you for your support. Thank you for coming to Wikipedia when you want to learn. We couldn’t do this without you and the millions of others who give just enough to keep Wikipedia vibrant, fresh, useful—and entirely free of ads. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Wikipedia exists because people give of themselves through thousands of individual actions. Each edit, donation, and upload is a gift that someone has given the world. And I always anxiously await this time of year, when one of the best gifts of all comes to us: the photos from the Wiki Loves Earth photo contest. 

We invite you to open our gift to you. Discover secrets of our natural world found on Wikimedia Commons. Explore the top 15 photos of 2018, taken, shared, and selected by Wikimedia volunteers.

MORE BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS

SAVING THE PLANET

I am really tired of hearing news reports and interviews on "saving the planet". It's not the planet that has to be saved. It is saving humanity from itself. The planet will continue to "survive", long after humans have wiped themselves out. There is another 5 billion years ahead of this planet before it is consumed by a dying star, the sun. 

We humans are a squabbling, quarrelsome bunch, many who are religious fundamentalists of some religion or belief who for the most part have undying faith in some invisible man who lives in the sky  swooping down one day to save all those who believe. I should mention at this point there are now an estimated 4,400 religions existing in the world today and god knows how many sub-sects. Does this mean there are 4,400 gods?

The big bugaboo today is plastic! It is not a "fake" scare such as Y2K. It is stifling this planet and being consumed by the very  sea-life and land animals we consume. Ergo, humans are consuming plastic in ever increasing amounts. The Great Lakes are now fully polluted with micro plastic balls. There is 18 BILLION pounds of plastic thrown into the oceans each year.  Glaciers all over the world are retreating with a dire recent warning that Canadian glaciers will have disappeared in another 50 years. Rising oceans?  Watch out all you people who live near coastlines.

So, saving the planet!  The earth has been here for an estimated 4 billion years. Homo sapiens have been around for about 200,000 years. Neanderthals, who died out around 35,000 years ago where around for about 350,000 years. What are the chances of our species lasting that long? As long as we have wars, religious conflict, greed, power struggles, unchecked pollution and destruction of our forests and oceans. NOT THAT DAMN LONG!

18 BILLION POUNDS OF PLASTIC GO INTO OUR OCEANS EACH YEAR

The inhabitants of earth are drowning in plastic. This, according to a new report carried out by National Geographic. What is the future on this planet for the children of today if the oceans become poisoned?

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/planetorplastic/

Greanwold's World is for Kids and Families

Greanwold’s World, a global Internet website for 5 – 11 year old children, is a new entrant in the $700 + Billion Dollar “kiddy” market. Initially the Greanwold brand will be marketed in all English speaking countries including India and also China, and is designed to make a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of children around the globe via the Internet, with fun, excitement, intelligence, magic and a touch of social responsibility. 

The latter is accomplished with a school fund raising program; Greanwold’s Run for your Life Campaign and a children’s charity, The Greanwold Foundation for Kids Worldwide as well as a package of mesmerizing new video games and “apps’, some with an environmental and  “green world” message. 

Greanwold’s mission? Encourage parents and kids who-have, to help parents and kids world-wide who have-not.

www.greanwold.com