From SCHIPPER at wri.org Thu Feb 1 03:09:20 2007 From: SCHIPPER at wri.org (Lee Schipper) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:09:20 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: [NewMobilityCafe] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? Message-ID: This should be an important wake up to those whose hopes for biofuels are driving by subsidies and mandates, not a real concern for climate change. If biofuels are to contribute meaningfully to solving oil security and CO2 problems, the first job is to cut the consumption of petroleum products down to size where the biofuels contribution can be meaningful without destroying part of the planet in its own way. In short, the first step is taxing fossil fuels with a tax we believe represents the threats and damages of climate change, and THEN seeing what kinds of low-carbon options appear. Simply promoting biofuels, for example, doesn't fill buses, which would on its own reduce GHG emissions. Promoting biofuels doesn't promote the use of smaller and/or more efficient cars, and some of the US schemes, like credits for selling flex-fuel cars that allow manufacturers to sell gas guzzlers at less penalty than otherwise, may even increase overall oil use and GHG emissions. There is no free lunch, not even one grown in your back yard! >>> carlos.pardo@sutp.org 1/31/2007 9:00:08 AM >>> Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels By Elisabeth Rosenthal Wednesday, January 31, 2007 AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune Original source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing electricity plants to use some biofuel * in particular, palm oil from Southeast Asia. Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale began to look more like an environmental nightmare. Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked after the United States and China, concluded a study released in December by researchers from Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for Wetlands, a conservation group. Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels * or a 20 percent increase." "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to "just see what the effects are here in Europe." In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The government, environmental groups and some of the "green energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it pollute the Netherlands?'" Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed world, including the European Union and the United States, and enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to produce than conventional fuel. In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel fuel. But as many European countries push for more green energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. On the surface, the environmental equation that supports biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions. But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil was advertised as green energy, but there was no research about whether it was really sustainable." Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for edible oils. Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the government has encouraged its use for electricity. Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The company now has replaced the palm oil it used with conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the European Environment Agency, said. Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years. Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' energy needs with someone else's food resources," said Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands International released their bombshell calculation about the global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are released into the atmosphere. To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in Indonesia for sustainability. "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you will have to prove that you produce it sustainably * that you are producing less, not more CO2." __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Database | Polls | Calendar Check in here via the homepage at http://www.newmobility.org To post message to group: NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com Please think twice before posting to the group as a whole (It might be that your note is best sent to one person?) Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Visit Your Group Yahoo! Music Check Who's Next Discover new bands before anyone else Yahoo! Movies What's Hot Now Check out the top rated movies. Yahoo! Mail You're invited! Try the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta . __,_._,___ From ericbruun at earthlink.net Thu Feb 1 09:33:26 2007 From: ericbruun at earthlink.net (Eric Bruun) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:33:26 -0500 (EST) Subject: [sustran] Re: Histories and Ideas Behind Bogota's BRT Message-ID: <19949716.1170290006441.JavaMail.root@elwamui-huard.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070131/92eb42c1/attachment.html From sguttikunda at gmail.com Thu Feb 1 10:16:25 2007 From: sguttikunda at gmail.com (Sarath Guttikunda) Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 06:46:25 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: [NewMobilityCafe] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <683ba1ca0701311716u28bc81abgf47c37d451bf162d@mail.gmail.com> Also the uncertainty associated with the estimates of CO2 reductions is vast.. Check the attachments. We may or may not get huge reductions by swtiching to biofuels at the risk of food security and biodiversity loss, but how much is still a question. Only certain move for reduction is reducing the demand. Sarath On 1/31/07, Lee Schipper wrote: > > This should be an important wake up to those whose hopes for biofuels are > driving by subsidies and mandates, not a real concern for climate change. If > biofuels are to contribute meaningfully to solving oil security and CO2 > problems, the first job is to cut the consumption of petroleum products down > to size where the biofuels contribution can be meaningful without destroying > part of the planet in its own way. > > In short, the first step is taxing fossil fuels with a tax we believe > represents the threats and damages of climate change, and THEN seeing > what kinds of low-carbon options appear. Simply promoting biofuels, for > example, doesn't fill buses, which would on its own reduce GHG emissions. > Promoting biofuels doesn't promote the use of smaller and/or more efficient > cars, and some of the US schemes, like credits for selling flex-fuel cars > that allow manufacturers to sell gas guzzlers at less penalty than > otherwise, may even increase overall oil use and GHG emissions. > > There is no free lunch, not even one grown in your back yard! > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070201/aa69fbc5/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CO2 Emissions Reduction from Biofuels Usage.doc Type: application/msword Size: 56320 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070201/aa69fbc5/CO2EmissionsReductionfromBiofuelsUsage.doc From andrew.crane-droesch at undp.org Fri Feb 2 01:32:15 2007 From: andrew.crane-droesch at undp.org (Andrew Crane-Droesch) Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 11:32:15 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> Message-ID: <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, there are notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems cited in that article. I'm thinking specifically about Jatropha curcas, which is an oilseed shrub that can grow in arid climates and degraded soils. It provides erosion control, has medicinal value, and can be grown in areas where it will not compete with food crops. However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it would be relevant to urban transport. Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on biofuel is not much more desirable than a congested city in which the cars are running on fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given that different types of biodiesel can emit significantly greater quantities of NOx. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carlos F. Pardo SUTP To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport ; Newmobility Cafe Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:00 AM Subject: [sustran] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels By Elisabeth Rosenthal Wednesday, January 31, 2007 AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune Original source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing electricity plants to use some biofuel - in particular, palm oil from Southeast Asia. Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale began to look more like an environmental nightmare. Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked after the United States and China, concluded a study released in December by researchers from Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for Wetlands, a conservation group. Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels - or a 20 percent increase." "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to "just see what the effects are here in Europe." In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The government, environmental groups and some of the "green energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it pollute the Netherlands?'" Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed world, including the European Union and the United States, and enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to produce than conventional fuel. In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel fuel. But as many European countries push for more green energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. On the surface, the environmental equation that supports biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions. But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil was advertised as green energy, but there was no research about whether it was really sustainable." Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for edible oils. Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the government has encouraged its use for electricity. Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The company now has replaced the palm oil it used with conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the European Environment Agency, said. Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years. Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' energy needs with someone else's food resources," said Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands International released their bombshell calculation about the global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are released into the atmosphere. To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in Indonesia for sustainability. "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you will have to prove that you produce it sustainably - that you are producing less, not more CO2." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070201/283b1fd3/attachment.html From etts at indigo.ie Fri Feb 2 16:07:01 2007 From: etts at indigo.ie (Brendan Finn) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 07:07:01 -0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> Message-ID: <003401c74698$bda41950$c801a8c0@finn> Can I just ask two simple questions : 1) Does the article describe an inherent fatal flaw of biofuels, or does it present examples of appalling bad practice? 2) On balance, when we have to use combustible fuel, are we better to use biofuels which go through their full carbon intake and output cycle now, or to use fossil fuels? With best wishes, Brendan. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrew Crane-Droesch To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:32 PM Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, there are notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems cited in that article. I'm thinking specifically about Jatropha curcas, which is an oilseed shrub that can grow in arid climates and degraded soils. It provides erosion control, has medicinal value, and can be grown in areas where it will not compete with food crops. However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it would be relevant to urban transport. Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on biofuel is not much more desirable than a congested city in which the cars are running on fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given that different types of biodiesel can emit significantly greater quantities of NOx. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carlos F. Pardo SUTP To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport ; Newmobility Cafe Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:00 AM Subject: [sustran] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels By Elisabeth Rosenthal Wednesday, January 31, 2007 AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune Original source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing electricity plants to use some biofuel - in particular, palm oil from Southeast Asia. Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale began to look more like an environmental nightmare. Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked after the United States and China, concluded a study released in December by researchers from Wetlands International and Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for Wetlands, a conservation group. Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels - or a 20 percent increase." "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to "just see what the effects are here in Europe." In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The government, environmental groups and some of the "green energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it pollute the Netherlands?'" Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed world, including the European Union and the United States, and enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to produce than conventional fuel. In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel fuel. But as many European countries push for more green energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. On the surface, the environmental equation that supports biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions. But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil was advertised as green energy, but there was no research about whether it was really sustainable." Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for edible oils. Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the government has encouraged its use for electricity. Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The company now has replaced the palm oil it used with conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the European Environment Agency, said. Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years. Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' energy needs with someone else's food resources," said Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands International released their bombshell calculation about the global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are released into the atmosphere. To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in Indonesia for sustainability. "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you will have to prove that you produce it sustainably - that you are producing less, not more CO2." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070202/08eb86dd/attachment.html From sguttikunda at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 16:11:19 2007 From: sguttikunda at gmail.com (Sarath Guttikunda) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 12:41:19 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? In-Reply-To: <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> Message-ID: <683ba1ca0702012311g3d851906x224cb42d40771189@mail.gmail.com> Case of Indonesia Palm Oil for Biofuels. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6320285.stm Sarath New Delhi, India On 2/1/07, Andrew Crane-Droesch wrote: > > While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, there are > notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems cited in that > article. I'm thinking specifically about *Jatropha curcas*, which is an > oilseed shrub that can grow in arid climates and degraded soils. It > provides erosion control, has medicinal value, and can be grown in areas > where it will not compete with food crops. > > However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural > sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it would be relevant > to urban transport. > > Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on biofuel is not > much more desirable than a congested city in which the cars are running on > fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given that different types of > biodiesel can emit significantly greater quantities of NOx. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070202/78e5d075/attachment.html From sguttikunda at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 16:39:11 2007 From: sguttikunda at gmail.com (Sarath Guttikunda) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 13:09:11 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? In-Reply-To: <683ba1ca0702012311g3d851906x224cb42d40771189@mail.gmail.com> References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> <683ba1ca0702012311g3d851906x224cb42d40771189@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <683ba1ca0702012339m58edf251nfca34411bfd905df@mail.gmail.com> Some latest publications and studies in India. Biofuels in India http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ditcted20066_en.pdf UNCTAD site for Biofuels Initiatives http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Search.asp?intItemID=2068&lang=1&frmSearchStr=Biofuels&frmCategory=all§ion=whole India Planning Commissions report on Potential for Biofuels http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/cmtt_bio.pdf There is a clear demand for these fuels and demand for studies to estimate the benefits. Andrew, Do you have any reports/tables for NOx levels for biodiesel from various feedstocks? with regards, Sarath New Delhi, India Email: sguttikunda@gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070202/aee9be71/attachment.html From edelman at greenidea.info Fri Feb 2 17:58:26 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:58:26 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? In-Reply-To: <003401c74698$bda41950$c801a8c0@finn> References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc> <003401c74698$bda41950$c801a8c0@finn> Message-ID: <45C2FD32.1030901@greenidea.info> Destroying rainforests releases huge amounts of carbon, new plantations destroy animal habitat, "un-used" land is home to wildlife, and the biggest driver for "above ground oil-mining" is certainly not public transport, but individual automobile use. So, in a way, when PT advocates push for biofuels, they are just supporting continued automobile use. I think the automobile industry loves it when PT advocates join with them on "common issues", but if you look at their representatives you will see their fingers crossed firmly behind their backs. Here are some more resources: - T Brendan Finn wrote: > Can I just ask two simple questions : > 1) Does the article describe an inherent fatal flaw of biofuels, or > does it present examples of appalling bad practice? > 2) On balance, when we have to use combustible fuel, are we better to > use biofuels which go through their full carbon intake and output > cycle now, or to use fossil fuels? > With best wishes, > Brendan. > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie > tel : +353.87.2530286 > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Andrew Crane-Droesch > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > > *Sent:* Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:32 PM > *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? > > While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, there > are notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems > cited in that article. I'm thinking specifically about /Jatropha > curcas/, which is an oilseed shrub that can grow in arid climates > and degraded soils. It provides erosion control, has medicinal > value, and can be grown in areas where it will not compete with > food crops. > However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural > sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it would be > relevant to urban transport. > Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on biofuel > is not much more desirable than a congested city in which the cars > are running on fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given > that different types of biodiesel can emit significantly greater > quantities of NOx. > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Carlos F. Pardo SUTP > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > ; Newmobility Cafe > > *Sent:* Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:00 AM > *Subject:* [sustran] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? > > *Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels* > By Elisabeth Rosenthal > Wednesday, January 31, 2007 > AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune > > *Original source: > *http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php > > Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the > Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid > adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing > electricity plants to use some biofuel ? in particular, palm > oil from Southeast Asia. > > Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so > enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran > exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than > fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. > > But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm > plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale > began to look more like an environmental nightmare. > > Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing > of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse > of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the > expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and > burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions > into the atmosphere. > > Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the > world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that > scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked > after the United States and China, concluded a study released > in December by researchers from Wetlands International and > Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. > > "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we > initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for > Wetlands, a conservation group. > > Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, > may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil > fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. > > As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the > billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately > supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- > friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The > 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all > member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation > fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. > > "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse > emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment > Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types > of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up > with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels ? or a 20 > percent increase." > > "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to > "just see what the effects are here in Europe." > > In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul > searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil > subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in > Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish > which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The > government, environmental groups and some of the "green > energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop > programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify > what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. > > Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the > Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the > damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it > pollute the Netherlands?'" > > Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed > world, including the European Union and the United States, and > enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to > produce than conventional fuel. > > In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, > derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is > mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel > fuel. But as many European countries push for more green > energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the > tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. > > On the surface, the environmental equation that supports > biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, > biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it > when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions. > > But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate > research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the > Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil > was advertised as green energy, but there was no research > about whether it was really sustainable." > > Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that > "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable > energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more > research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for > the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions > rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as > emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, > providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. > > The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past > two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more > recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used > in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to > toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for > edible oils. > > Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per > liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a > substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with > little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the > government has encouraged its use for electricity. > > Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national > subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer > of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a > figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green > energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it > agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for > certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The > company now has replaced the palm oil it used with > conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. > > But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. > "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural > products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have > unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the > European Environment Agency, said. > > Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the > deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new > palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted > to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years. > > Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive > for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' > energy needs with someone else's food resources," said > Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. > > Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil > already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands > International released their bombshell calculation about the > global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. > > Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, > thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 > percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are > released into the atmosphere. > > To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned > to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has > been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send > thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. > > The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in > Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the > atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional > 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is > equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused > annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. > > "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were > not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. > "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is > backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make > sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. > > But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil > cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of > the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because > of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. > > Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully > devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there > will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. > > Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the > Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It > is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in > Indonesia for sustainability. > > "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," > said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear > that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you > will have to prove that you produce it sustainably ? that you > are producing less, not more CO2." > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages > via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. > The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there > cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the > yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for > the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a > focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot > post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site > makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From etts at indigo.ie Fri Feb 2 18:30:56 2007 From: etts at indigo.ie (Brendan Finn) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 09:30:56 -0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc><003401c74698$bda41950$c801a8c0@finn> <45C2FD32.1030901@greenidea.info> Message-ID: <006501c746ac$e3a97000$c801a8c0@finn> Todd, I understand those points, but please look again at the questions I raised. Not all biofuels are generated by destroying rainforests (for example in Ireland we grow rape seed in ordinary fields that would otherwise be fallow, without damaging the hedgerows) and the plain fact is that our societies are based on automotive vehicles using combustible fuels. Bus operators can't just park up their existing fleet of buses because there is no ecologically-pure fuel available. Now, for a simple person like myself who is involved at the operational end of things, are biofuels a red herring when looking for cleaner fuels and inherently unsound in themselves; or in a conventional setting, is it better to use them than to use petroleum or gas fuels? BTW, in the event that on balance biofuels are better (or less harm) than petroleum products, I accept the point that responsible companies should do an ecological due diligence on what they are buying. With best wishes, Brendan. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ----- Original Message ----- From: Todd Edelman To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 8:58 AM Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? Destroying rainforests releases huge amounts of carbon, new plantations destroy animal habitat, "un-used" land is home to wildlife, and the biggest driver for "above ground oil-mining" is certainly not public transport, but individual automobile use. So, in a way, when PT advocates push for biofuels, they are just supporting continued automobile use. I think the automobile industry loves it when PT advocates join with them on "common issues", but if you look at their representatives you will see their fingers crossed firmly behind their backs. Here are some more resources: - T Brendan Finn wrote: > Can I just ask two simple questions : > 1) Does the article describe an inherent fatal flaw of biofuels, or > does it present examples of appalling bad practice? > 2) On balance, when we have to use combustible fuel, are we better to > use biofuels which go through their full carbon intake and output > cycle now, or to use fossil fuels? > With best wishes, > Brendan. > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie > tel : +353.87.2530286 > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Andrew Crane-Droesch > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > > *Sent:* Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:32 PM > *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? > > While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, there > are notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems > cited in that article. I'm thinking specifically about /Jatropha > curcas/, which is an oilseed shrub that can grow in arid climates > and degraded soils. It provides erosion control, has medicinal > value, and can be grown in areas where it will not compete with > food crops. > However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural > sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it would be > relevant to urban transport. > Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on biofuel > is not much more desirable than a congested city in which the cars > are running on fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given > that different types of biodiesel can emit significantly greater > quantities of NOx. > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Carlos F. Pardo SUTP > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > ; Newmobility Cafe > > *Sent:* Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:00 AM > *Subject:* [sustran] Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? > > *Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels* > By Elisabeth Rosenthal > Wednesday, January 31, 2007 > AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune > > *Original source: > *http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php > > Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the > Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid > adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by coaxing > electricity plants to use some biofuel ? in particular, palm > oil from Southeast Asia. > > Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so > enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran > exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner than > fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. > > But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm > plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale > began to look more like an environmental nightmare. > > Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the razing > of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the overuse > of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the > expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and > burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon emissions > into the atmosphere. > > Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly become the > world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that > scientists believe are responsible for global warming, ranked > after the United States and China, concluded a study released > in December by researchers from Wetlands International and > Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. > > "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we > initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a spokesman for > Wetlands, a conservation group. > > Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener energy, > may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil > fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. > > As a result, politicians in many countries are rethinking the > billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately > supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- > friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and factories. The > 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands that all > member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation > fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. > > "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse > emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment > Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the types > of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can end up > with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels ? or a 20 > percent increase." > > "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and not to > "just see what the effects are here in Europe." > > In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have provoked soul > searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil > subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in > Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish > which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The > government, environmental groups and some of the "green > energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop > programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to certify > what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. > > Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the > Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the > damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it > pollute the Netherlands?'" > > Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed > world, including the European Union and the United States, and > enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more expensive to > produce than conventional fuel. > > In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, > derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe it is > mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel > fuel. But as many European countries push for more green > energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the > tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. > > On the surface, the environmental equation that supports > biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, > biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it > when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their emissions. > > But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate > research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the > Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil > was advertised as green energy, but there was no research > about whether it was really sustainable." > > Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now say that > "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable > energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more > research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for > the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all emissions > rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as > emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, > providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. > > The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the past > two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more > recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil is used > in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from chocolate to > toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global market for > edible oils. > > Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per > liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a > substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with > little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the > government has encouraged its use for electricity. > > Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national > subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading importer > of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last year, a > figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch green > energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it > agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for > certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be developed. The > company now has replaced the palm oil it used with > conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. > > But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. > "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural > products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have > unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the > European Environment Agency, said. > > Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the > deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused by new > palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land devoted > to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight years. > > Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too expensive > for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' > energy needs with someone else's food resources," said > Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. > > Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil > already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands > International released their bombshell calculation about the > global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. > > Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of carbon, > thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 > percent water. But when it is drained, those stored gases are > released into the atmosphere. > > To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often burned > to clear ground for plantations. In recent years Indonesia has > been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they send > thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. > > The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in > Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the > atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional > 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million tons, is > equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused > annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. > > "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia were > not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. > "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment Wetlands is > backing the certification system for palm oil imports, to make > sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. > > But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil > cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of > the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because > of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. > > Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully > devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident there > will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. > > Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the > Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last week. It > is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in > Indonesia for sustainability. > > "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil industry," > said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now clear > that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and bioenergy, you > will have to prove that you produce it sustainably ? that you > are producing less, not more CO2." > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages > via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. > The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there > cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the > yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for > the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a > focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot > post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site > makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070202/aff4e3d0/attachment.html From edelman at greenidea.info Fri Feb 2 19:02:43 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:02:43 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? In-Reply-To: <006501c746ac$e3a97000$c801a8c0@finn> References: <45C0A0E8.6050102@sutp.org> <006e01c7461e$88e71fc0$373b41a5@universi0qgqrc><003401c74698$bda41950$c801a8c0@finn> <45C2FD32.1030901@greenidea.info> <006501c746ac$e3a97000$c801a8c0@finn> Message-ID: <45C30C43.4010905@greenidea.info> Hi Brendan, Brendan Finn wrote: > Todd, > > I understand those points, but please look again at the questions I > raised. Not all biofuels are generated by destroying rainforests (for > example in Ireland we grow rape seed in ordinary fields that would > otherwise be fallow MY understanding is that fallow lands are useful for wildlife. Look in what I sent you for energy return on growing, harvesting and processing rapeseed. **** > , without damaging the hedgerows) and the plain fact is that our > societies are based on automotive vehicles using combustible fuels. Answer what you want or believe: 1) Yes, and biofuels will ensure we keep it that way, sustainably!, 2}Not for long, 3) Not for long, and if we don't start adjusting things we are screwed, 4}I know, but I hate it, 5) Some of the above. **** > Bus operators can't just park up their existing fleet of buses because > there is no ecologically-pure fuel available. I AM more concerned with the tailpipe emissions of buses, and that they are used efficiently, than what they use for fuel. A full petroleum bus is better than 50 biogas cars. > > Now, for a simple person like myself who is involved at the > operational end of things, are biofuels a red herring when looking for > cleaner fuels and inherently unsound in themselves; or in a > conventional setting, is it better to use them than to use petroleum > or gas fuels? Do you like 1) Dairy products? or 2) Milk for drinking and yoghurt for breakfast, but not cheese, nor milk in your coffee? What I mean is that "biofuels" is a useless term to describe an incredibly wide variety of products with varying degrees of pollution (from manufacturing to tailpipe) and sustainability (is a traffic jam full of cars using 100% local waste methane okay?). Biofuels does not necessarily means carbon-neutral. We cannot only look at the fuel source to see what is "better". > ] > BTW, in the event that on balance biofuels are better (or less harm) > than petroleum products, I accept the point that responsible companies > should do an ecological due diligence on what they are buying. They got to and we got to look at the whole cycle, the whole picture. HERE is something more: T > > With best wishes, > > > Brendan. > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie > tel : +353.87.2530286 > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Todd Edelman > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > > *Sent:* Friday, February 02, 2007 8:58 AM > *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is gold? > > Destroying rainforests releases huge amounts of carbon, new > plantations > destroy animal habitat, "un-used" land is home to wildlife, and the > biggest driver for "above ground oil-mining" is certainly not public > transport, but individual automobile use. So, in a way, when PT > advocates push for biofuels, they are just supporting continued > automobile use. I think the automobile industry loves it when PT > advocates join with them on "common issues", but if you look at their > representatives you will see their fingers crossed firmly behind > their > backs. > > Here are some more resources: > > > > - T > > Brendan Finn wrote: > > Can I just ask two simple questions : > > 1) Does the article describe an inherent fatal flaw of biofuels, or > > does it present examples of appalling bad practice? > > 2) On balance, when we have to use combustible fuel, are we > better to > > use biofuels which go through their full carbon intake and output > > cycle now, or to use fossil fuels? > > With best wishes, > > Brendan. > > > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie > > > tel : +353.87.2530286 > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Andrew Crane-Droesch > > > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > > > > *Sent:* Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:32 PM > > *Subject:* [sustran] Re: Biofuels- everything that shines is > gold? > > > > While skepticism about many biofuels is quite well founded, > there > > are notable examples where biofuel systems avoid the problems > > cited in that article. I'm thinking specifically about /Jatropha > > curcas/, which is an oilseed shrub that can grow in arid > climates > > and degraded soils. It provides erosion control, has medicinal > > value, and can be grown in areas where it will not compete with > > food crops. > > However, it has mostly been worked with in the context of rural > > sustainable development, less so at the scale to which it > would be > > relevant to urban transport. > > Besides, a congested city in which the cars are running on > biofuel > > is not much more desirable than a congested city in which > the cars > > are running on fossil fuel. And it could perhaps be worse, given > > that different types of biodiesel can emit significantly greater > > quantities of NOx. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Carlos F. Pardo SUTP > > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > > ; Newmobility Cafe > > > > *Sent:* Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9:00 AM > > *Subject:* [sustran] Biofuels- everything that shines is > gold? > > > > *Scientists are taking 2nd look at biofuels* > > By Elisabeth Rosenthal > > Wednesday, January 31, 2007 > > AMSTERDAM - International Herald Tribune > > > > *Original source: > > *http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/30/business/biofuel.php > > > > Just a few years ago, politicians and green groups in the > > Netherlands were thrilled by the country's early and rapid > > adoption of "sustainable energy," achieved in part by > coaxing > > electricity plants to use some biofuel ? in particular, palm > > oil from Southeast Asia. > > > > Spurred by government subsidies, energy companies became so > > enthusiastic that they designed generators that ran > > exclusively on the oil, which in theory would be cleaner > than > > fossil fuels like coal because it is derived from plants. > > > > But last year, when scientists studied practices at palm > > plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia, this green fairy tale > > began to look more like an environmental nightmare. > > > > Rising demand for palm oil in Europe brought about the > razing > > of huge tracts of Southeast Asian rain forest and the > overuse > > of chemical fertilizer there. Worse still, space for the > > expanding palm plantations was often created by draining and > > burning peat land, which sent huge amount of carbon > emissions > > into the atmosphere. > > > > Factoring in these emissions, Indonesia had quickly > become the > > world's third-leading producer of greenhouse gases that > > scientists believe are responsible for global warming, > ranked > > after the United States and China, concluded a study > released > > in December by researchers from Wetlands International and > > Delft Hydraulics, both in the Netherlands. > > > > "It was shocking and totally smashed all the good reasons we > > initially went into palm oil," said Alex Kaat, a > spokesman for > > Wetlands, a conservation group. > > > > Biofuels, long a cornerstone of the quest for greener > energy, > > may sometimes produce more harmful emissions than the fossil > > fuels they replace, scientific studies are finding. > > > > As a result, politicians in many countries are > rethinking the > > billions of dollars in subsidies that have indiscriminately > > supported the spread of all of these supposedly "eco- > > friendly" fuels, for use in power vehicles and > factories. The > > 2003 European Union Biofuels Directive, which demands > that all > > member states aim to have 5.75 percent of transportation > > fueled by biofuel in 2010, is now under review. > > > > "If you make biofuels properly, you will reduce greenhouse > > emissions," said Peder Jensen, of the European Environment > > Agency in Copenhagen. "But that depends very much on the > types > > of plants and how they're grown and processed. You can > end up > > with a 90 percent reduction compared to fossil fuels ? > or a 20 > > percent increase." > > > > "Its important to take a life cycle view," he said, and > not to > > "just see what the effects are here in Europe." > > > > In the Netherlands, the data from Indonesia have > provoked soul > > searching, and prompted the government to suspend palm oil > > subsidies. A country that was a leader in green energy in > > Europe has now become a leader in the effort to distinguish > > which biofuels are truly environmentally sound. The > > government, environmental groups and some of the "green > > energy" companies in the Netherlands are trying to develop > > programs to trace the origin of imported palm oil, to > certify > > what is produced in an eco- friendly manner. > > > > Krista van Velzen, a member of Parliament, said the > > Netherlands should pay compensation to Indonesia for the > > damage palm oil has caused. "We can't only think, 'Does it > > pollute the Netherlands?'" > > > > Biofuels are heavily subsidized throughout the developed > > world, including the European Union and the United > States, and > > enjoy tax breaks that are given because they more > expensive to > > produce than conventional fuel. > > > > In the United States and Brazil most biofuel is ethanol, > > derived from corn and used to power vehicles. In Europe > it is > > mostly local rapeseed and sunflower oil, used to make diesel > > fuel. But as many European countries push for more green > > energy, they are increasingly importing plant oils from the > > tropics, since there is simply not enough biomass at home. > > > > On the surface, the environmental equation that supports > > biofuels is simple: Since they are derived from plants, > > biofuels absorb carbon while they are grown and release it > > when they are burned. In theory that neutralizes their > emissions. > > > > But the industry was promoted long before there was adequate > > research, said Reanne Creyghton, who runs Friends of the > > Earth's anti-palm oil campaign in the Netherlands. "Palm oil > > was advertised as green energy, but there was no research > > about whether it was really sustainable." > > > > Biofuelswatch, an environmental group in Britain, now > say that > > "biofuels should not automatically be classed as 'renewable > > energy.'" It supports a moratorium on subsidies until more > > research is done to define which biofuels are truly good for > > the planet. Beyond that, the group suggests that all > emissions > > rising from the production of a biofuel be counted as > > emissions in the country where the fuel is actually used, > > providing a clearer accounting of environmental costs. > > > > The demand for palm oil in Europe has skyrocketed in the > past > > two decades, first for use in food and cosmetics, and more > > recently for biofuels. This versatile and low-cost oil > is used > > in about 10 percent of supermarket products, from > chocolate to > > toothpaste, accounting for 21 percent of the global > market for > > edible oils. > > > > Palm oil produces the most energy of all vegetable oils per > > liter when burned. In much of Europe it is used as a > > substitute for diesel oil, though in the Netherlands, with > > little sun for solar power and little wind for turbines, the > > government has encouraged its use for electricity. > > > > Supported by hundreds of millions of euros in national > > subsidies, the Netherlands rapidly became the leading > importer > > of palm oil in Europe, taking in 1.5 million tons last > year, a > > figure that has been nearly doubling annually. The Dutch > green > > energy giant Essent alone bought 200,000 tons, before it > > agreed to suspend new purchases until a better system for > > certifying sustainably grown palm oil could be > developed. The > > company now has replaced the palm oil it used with > > conventional sources of energy and local biofuels. > > > > But already the buoyant demand has created damage far away. > > "When you drastically increase the demand for agricultural > > products, that puts new pressure on the land and can have > > unintended consequences and hidden costs," Jensen, of the > > European Environment Agency, said. > > > > Friends of the Earth estimates that 87 percent of the > > deforestation in Malaysia from 1985 to 2000 was caused > by new > > palm oil plantations. In Indonesia, the amount of land > devoted > > to palm oil has increased 118 percent in the past eight > years. > > > > Oil needed by poor people for food was becoming too > expensive > > for them. "We have a problem satisfying the Netherlands' > > energy needs with someone else's food resources," said > > Creyghton of Friends of the Earth. > > > > Such concerns were causing intense misgivings about palm oil > > already when, in December, scientists from Wetlands > > International released their bombshell calculation about the > > global emissions that palm farming on peat land caused. > > > > Peat is an organic sponge that stores huge amounts of > carbon, > > thereby helping to balance global emissions. Peat land is 90 > > percent water. But when it is drained, those stored > gases are > > released into the atmosphere. > > > > To makes matters worse, once dried, peat land is often > burned > > to clear ground for plantations. In recent years > Indonesia has > > been plagued by polluting wildfires so intense that they > send > > thick clouds of smoke over much of Asia. > > > > The Dutch study estimated that the draining of peat land in > > Indonesia releases 600 million tons of carbon into the > > atmosphere a year and that fires contributed an additional > > 1,400 million tons annually. The total, 2000 million > tons, is > > equivalent to 8 percent of all global emissions caused > > annually by burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. > > > > "These emissions generated by peat drainage in Indonesia > were > > not counted before," Kaat, of Wetlands International, said. > > "It was a totally ignored problem." For the moment > Wetlands is > > backing the certification system for palm oil imports, > to make > > sure it is grown and processed in a sustainable manner. > > > > But some environmental groups are convinced that palm oil > > cannot be produced sustainably at reasonable prices. Part of > > the reason palm oil is now relatively inexpensive is because > > of poor environmental practices and labor abuses, they say. > > > > Still, some Dutch companies like Biox, a young company fully > > devoted to producing energy from palm oil, are confident > there > > will be a solution and are banking on this biofuel. > > > > Biox has applied to build three palm oil power plants in the > > Netherlands; the first one gained approval just last > week. It > > is currently auditing its plantations and refineries in > > Indonesia for sustainability. > > > > "Yes, there have been bad examples in the palm oil > industry," > > said Arjen Brinkman, a company official. "But it is now > clear > > that to serve Europe's markets for biofuel and > bioenergy, you > > will have to prove that you produce it sustainably ? > that you > > are producing less, not more CO2." > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages > > via YAHOOGROUPS. > > > > Please go to > > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership > rights. > > The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there > > cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the > > yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for > > the confusing arrangement. > > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a > > focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > > YAHOOGROUPS. > > > > Please go to > > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot > > post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site > > makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing > arrangement. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > > on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot > post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site > makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > > > ================================================================ > > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > > > -- > -------------------------------------------- > > Todd Edelman > Director > Green Idea Factory > > Korunn? 72 > CZ-10100 Praha 10 > Czech Republic > > ++420 605 915 970 > ++420 222 517 832 > Skype: toddedelman > > edelman@greenidea.eu > http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain > > Green Idea Factory, > a member of World Carfree Network > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to > http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join > the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot > post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site > makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of > people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus > on developing countries (the 'Global South'). > -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From edelman at greenidea.info Fri Feb 2 22:53:07 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 14:53:07 +0100 Subject: [sustran] How noisy is your city? Message-ID: <45C34243.40303@greenidea.info> Check out the current BBC "Have your say" on noise: You can add your comments or see what people have to say: There seems to be lots of pain, and too often an acceptance that "cities are noisy", plus actually several comments about rural locations which are anything but tranquil. They don't keep these things active for long so add your comments now... and.... shhhhhhh! - T -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From operations at velomondial.net Fri Feb 2 23:00:45 2007 From: operations at velomondial.net (Pascal van den Noort) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 15:00:45 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Re: [carfree_network] How noisy is your city? In-Reply-To: <45C34243.40303@greenidea.info> Message-ID: <00b101c746d2$8c5cb1b0$9600000a@MPBV> This a noise map for Amsterdam / Schiphol Airport http://www.geluidsnet.nl/ Pascal J.W. van den Noort Executive Director Velo Mondial From edelman at greenidea.info Sat Feb 3 02:11:57 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:11:57 +0100 Subject: [sustran] A little humour related to the biofuel discussion.... Message-ID: <45C370DD.3060500@greenidea.info> http://www.terrorfreeoil.org/images/logo/GS_blue.gif -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Sun Feb 4 02:38:19 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2007 18:38:19 +0100 Subject: [sustran] New Mobility World Conversations (Skypecasts) Message-ID: <001101c747ba$191f7690$6401a8c0@home> Dear Sustran Friends, Those of you who have got to know me over the years are probably well aware that my self-assigned mission in the fight for sustainable development and social justice is to do what I can to create open 'collaborative knowledge networks', including the dozen or so that we have jointly developed in the last two decades under the New Mobility Agenda. Indeed as the title line of the Agenda's web site refers its exact mission is: "The Politics of Transportation: New thinking & world-wide collaborative problem-solving". That says it pretty well. And in this context we have steadily since the mid eighties sought out, developed, tailored, poached, used and supported quite a number of group work tools and techniques to support out collaborative work, of which this forum is one as well as the fairly numerous supporting web sites and other communications tools that you will see at http://newmobility.org. Enough! I personally like these tools a great deal because I believe that they can not only be efficient and effective for our purposes, but also that when we get them right they can permit us to be honest practitioners in our own work and lives - i.e., in this way avoid excessive air travel and all the environmental loads that it places on the planet and its future. This is not to condemn either physical meetings or even getting on a plane when we really need to, but it does give us some real options once we learn how to work with them. And it not only helps to save our environment but also our own health and gives us more time with our families and those we love. Who could ask for anything more? Now on to the new tool that I want you all to know about today and maybe put to work with us: 1. Summary: You are invited next Friday at 15:00 Paris time to pop in and check out the first of what we hope will become a regular weekly series of public conversations on key issues and strategies to support to the huge CO2 reduction target set by the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group - with specific reference to how we can help people to get around better in all respects in our cities. This is of course the stuff of the New Mobility Agenda, complete with its dogged insistence on the importance of our concentrating on the 2-4 year period directly ahead. (We leave the rest to the others more competent in these longer range matters.) This takes the form of a Skypecast, and which if these first trials work we intend possibly to organize on a regular weekly basis and specific topics of concern. They cost nothing and if we get together to put our collective brains on this, we should get some very useful results. Read on if this strikes a spark: 2. What is it? a. Skypecast: A new group communications tool just announced by Skype which I think we can put to work for our good cause. Read all about it at http://www.skype.com/help/guides/skypecasts.html . b. Here in their words is the rundown: "Skypecasts are large, hosted calls on Skype. Let your opinion be heard on subjects close to your heart in groups of up to 100 people participating from anywhere in the world." c. We rough trialed it yesterday and found it a platform which we think we all can build on and put to work to advance our joint concerns. You will see some comments on our first round trial run yesterday just below. d. If this gives satisfaction we propose to organize an open weekly group conversation in which we can not only get together to air the issues and our ideas for how to do better. Our focus in this first cycle of meetings will be our eventual contributions to the in support of Clinton Climate Initiative and Large Cities Climate Leadership Group and their important efforts to curb greenhouse gases by very significant amounts and in the near term future (i.e., the next few years). e. The next New Mobility Agenda conference is slated for Friday, 9 February at 15:00 (Paris time, GMT +1) You can see all about it at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?message= talk_updated&id_talk=351748 ) f. Here in a nutshell is how you can put it to work. 3. Participation Guidelines: a. Sign in to get a Skype account -- takes less than five minutes at www.skype.com, costs nothing and is secure and easy to use. But you will need broadband to be comfortable. And make sure you get the latest version, 3.0, which is necessary for the conference. b. When you sign in, please be so kind as to indicate in your "Profile" your name, city, country, and if possible put in a small photo (you will see what this is important once we start to meet together on this.) (I also tend to put in my regular phone numbers in my profile just in case I am not on line with Skype so that you can call me directly if useful.) c. Once you have it installed and have checked it out, you can then call me via ericbritton (newmobility also works just fine) and we can test and tune your link. d. You will then automatically the periodic notices announcing future New Mobility World Conversations - and the time and topic interests you, sign in and participate. e. Make sure that you check the guidelines for participation, just to be sure that it is a comfortable experience for you and the others. f. Language: For these first sessions, we will be using English, but this des not stop us from organizing World Conversations in other languages. But a caution here for English language mother tongue speakers. Many of our colleagues have English as a second, third or more language, and it is important that we show our respect for them by: speaking slowly, articulating clearly, avoiding the use of jargon, and yes please! we really need to avoid that might appear to native speakers as humor or even irony. What may be funny to your culture may be incomprehensible or even offensive to others. And as to politics, we do not address specific political personalities in these conversation and certainly not in a derogatory manner. So if you wan to blow off steam about Bush, Chirac or your other least favorite leader of the day, please to it elsewhere. g. In the early sessions, I would ask you to be patient and cheerfully experimental in your attitude. There will be glitches and occasional strangeness, of that we can be sure. But with your good attitude and support we really should be able to do something useful with all this - even from the very beginning. So call it up on your computer, go make yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee, get comfortable, lean back and join the action. Don't be shy when you have something to add, just ask for the mike and for sure I will hand it to you. (That said succinctness is a great courtesy, as always in meetings of any kind). h. Have an idea for a session or would you like to make a presentation in one of the Conversations (five minute max please)? - get in touch via email and we can work it out together. i. And always, please do not hesitate to let me know what needs to be fixed or somehow adjusted to make this a better and more creative experience all around. Thanks in advance for that. 4. First trial run to check it out - Post mortem of yesterday's session: a. In the spirit of being willing to try anything which might possibly permit us to build knowledge and competence if possible without getting on to one more airplane and thereby encouraging it to do what it does so well to our assaulted atmosphere, I thought I would give it a first whack with a little trial run. b. So we did just that this afternoon under the heading "New Mobility support for Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative " . You can see the opening page I hastily hammered together to guide the session at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 350711. You will also see there the link to our experimental site in support of the Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative which you can visit at http://co2.newmobility.org c. I spent an hour or so educating myself as best I could on this new tool, then set up the test site and contacted a dozen or so of the people on my Skype network who participate in our group here, to tell them that at 16:00 yesterday at Paris time I was ready to go "on the air" and invited them to check in if their time permitted. (Eventually since it was so last minute we only had Carlos Pardo drop in, but he was very useful to the discussion and in helping me fine tune the whole thing. Thanks Carlos.) d. What happened? Well, in many ways it was a real rough ride but certainly not without its interest. i. Something like 50/60 people eventually showed up, from around twenty identified countries, and if there were a fair number of people there from Eastern Europe and Russia, well you have to consider that it was their evening and they just happened to be on line. But we also heard from people from Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, China, India, Israel, Morocco, Colombia, Panama. ii. There were something close to ten useful exchanges in all that. There would have been a lot more of course if the whole thing had been properly prepared. iii. Since it is the net and 2007 we had the usual occasional useless visitors, but I think this can happen at any kind of public event so there is not use losing time to whine about that. iv. Initially I had an open mike, but the confusion level proved quickly impossible as people started to roll in (from many different kinds of places and with very different ideas as to what this was all about). So, I put everyone on hold, and then took five minutes or so to introduce the meeting and provide some kind of background and some suggested ground rules. v. I then tried giving the floor to anyone who asked for it, but after a few you can imagine whats, I tightened things up and bit and required that each person who wishes to speak should send a chat message asking for the floor, also identifying themselves by name, city, country. Along with a reminder about the topic of the meeting. This worked pretty well for us. e. What I learned was that this works more or less like a good conference crossed with a call-in radio program. i. It requires an alert host/moderator, and some kind of agenda if it is to work. It seems like an hour is just about right if we have all the planning in shape, but I will organize the first in this new series for up to 2 hours, just for those people who might wish to hang around and keep talking on some favorite points. ii. In our case we shall need to take care with getting the agenda right, and giving people a chance to review and comment in advance. iii. It also provides a fine forum for up to five minute presentations of ideas and positions, and these too will do well to advance organize. iv. It goes without saying that such group get-togethers can be organized by people other than myself. Or we can handle it collaboratively as you wish. That's where this stands today. So now you know and I do hope that many of you will respond to this with your ideas and suggestions, and of course to get involved in the next sessions. If we put our heads together I am confident we can do something useful with this. Eric Britton PS. Wanted from Skype: (FYI) They are off to a fine start, but we shall try to draw their attention to the following - Ability for host to send chat messages to entire group with one click - And to likewise share documents and references - Participants photos should appear next to their addresses on the list of attendees. - Would like to be able to record Skypecasts and then hold available for later consultation (In this case participants will need to be notified that they will be recorded, of course. And it would also be great if we could easily edit them.) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070203/bae136b1/attachment.html From sparakh at wri.org Mon Feb 5 10:19:52 2007 From: sparakh at wri.org (Seema Parakh) Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:19:52 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Job Description Posting in Sustrans Listserve and website Message-ID: Hi, Please can you post the message below in sustran listserve and website. Please can you confirm ones posted. Thanks, Seema *---------------------------------------------- EMBARQ, WRI Center for Sustainable Transport has openings for two senior management positions - Deputy Director (http://www.wri.org/joblist/job.cfm?jid=224) and Asia Director (http://www.wri.org/joblist/job.cfm?jid=220), also see job description below. Qualified applicants only. Candidates please send cover letter and curriculum vitae/resume to: World Resources Institute Attn: Seema Parakh 10 G Street, NE (Suite 800) Washington, DC 20002 fax: 202-729-7775 email: sparakh@wri.org Please, no phone calls. Regards, Seema Deputy Director, EMBARQ, The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport World Resources Institute Employment period: Full-time appointment starting immediately. Position summary EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute?s Center for Sustainable Transport is seeking a Deputy Director whose principal responsibilities would be to lead the development of new products and projects that support EMBARQ?s strategic objectives and strengthen its long term financial sustainability. This will serve as a senior management position within EMBARQ and the successful candidate will thus have demonstrated leadership capacity in an international environment, as well as strong technical and managerial experience. Major responsibilities The Deputy Director?s principal objective is to lead the development of new products and projects that can help solve urban transport problems better, cheaper or faster and to identify and develop the opportunities for their deployment throughout EMBARQ?s network. The Deputy Director will have the experience and access to develop and sustain new partnerships with pubic and private sector leaders in cities of interest to EMBARQ. The Deputy Director will be the second in charge at EMBARQ, representing the direct at staff meetings, in the EMBARQ Network, in WRI Management Team meetings, quarterly financial review sessions and related interactions with WRI senior management, as needed. The Deputy Director structures and supervises the environmental engineering, science and health experts as well as the transport and traffic engineers as they prospect and mature new products to ensure strategic with EMBARQ long term plan. The successful candidate will have at least 10 years of experience in integrated urban land use and transportation planning, municipal finance, infrastructure finance, transport engineering, business administration or public administration in urban context. This position relates directly with all EMBARQ?s core team members, with directors of Centers for Sustainable Transport throughout the world, with government and private sector partners in developing countries, donors, and the academic sector. Qualifications The individual selected will meet most of the following qualifications: * Ten years experience in integrated land use and transport planning * An advanced degree in engineering, planning, public administration, business administration or finance * Experience in business development in the private sector * Demonstrated ability to manage programs (greater than five million USD) * Excellent spoken and written English and fluency of at least one other EMBARQ language (Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Turkish, Hindi) * Ability to direct multifunctional teams and wield influence without having power; ability to manage conflict among diverse stakeholders * Commitment to global climate protection and air quality improvement * Commitment to improved quality and cost-effectiveness of transport and improved quality of public space * International working experience at senior level Location Washington, DC. Frequent overseas travel required. Salary and benefits Depending on qualifications and experience, plus full WRI benefits. About WRI World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the planet and improve people's lives. Our mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment for current and future generations. * People and ecosystems. Reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services. * Climate change. Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change. * Markets and Enterprise. Harness markets and enterprise to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment. * Access. Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment. * Institutional excellence. Support and enhance WRI's ability to achieve results. In all of its policy research and work with institutions, WRI tries to build bridges between ideas and action, meshing the insights of scientific research, economic and institutional analyses, and practical experience with the need for open and participatory decision-making. WRI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is WRI's policy to recruit, hire, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability. WRI only accepts resumes for current vacancies. Qualified applicants only. Candidates please send cover letter and curriculum vitae/resume to: World Resources Institute Attn: Seema Parakh 10 G Street, NE (Suite 800) Washington, DC 20002 fax: 202-729-7775 email: sparakh@wri.org Please, no phone calls. *-------------------------------------- Director Asia Region, EMBARQ, The WRI Center for Sustainable Transport World Resources Institute Employment period: Full-time appointment starting immediately. Position summary EMBARQ is seeking an experienced director for its growing presence in Asia. The Asia program includes India, Turkey, Vietnam and China, however, India and Turkey will be the region?s primary focus for the 2007 to 2011 time frame. The Asia programs director must have both the technical skills identified below, as well the experience and access to develop and sustain partnerships with public and private sector leaders in the region who will be critical to the adoption of sustainable urban transport strategies. Major responsibilities The Asia Programs Director will be EMBARQ?s lead in Asia on urban transport planning and engineering. S/he will have following responsibilities: * Develop and deliver the EMBARQ Asia strategy * Develop a broad network of experts in the region who can be relied on to help deliver results in EMBARQ?s city projects. * Lead set up of new Center for Sustainable Transport - India, through which EMBARQ will work on a day-to-day basis with its partner cities in that country. * Identify, develop and maintain strategic alliances with regional institutions with which EMBARQ and the Center for Sustainable Transport - India will work. * Provide strategic direction to CST-India and CST-Turkey and guide their integration with EMBARQ and the existing EMBARQ Network of Centers for Sustainable Transport (Mexico, Brazil). This position is part of the senior management team within the EMBARQ Network and will have the responsibility of keeping the Asian programs (and CST-India and CST-Turkey) aligned and integrated with the EMBARQ strategy, business model and management structures. The Director will also identify synergy opportunities with other regions and ensure these are realized. As a senior member of the EMBARQ team, the director will bring new experience, ideas, innovation and creativity that will strengthen the whole EMBARQ Network. Qualifications The individual selected must have the following key competencies: * Ten years experience working in urban transport planning or engineering and/or transit system management, as well as a broad understanding of environment, finance, and urban development issues from an economic and institutional perspective. * At least 2 years professional activities while resident in E or S Asia or at least 5 years full engagement (including frequent visits) in E or S Asia. * An advanced degree in engineering, planning, public administration, business administration or finance. * Demonstrated ability in program and project planning, management and implementation (greater than one-half million USD, longer than 1 year in duration and/or involving complex stakeholder management). * Excellent written and oral English communication skills. * Ability to manage conflict between the stakeholders, able to direct multifunctional teams and to influence without having power * Committment to sustainable transport and to deliver GHG reduction, improved air quality and public health, improved safety, accessibility and personal security in cities public spaces * Commitment to improved quality and cost-effectiveness of transport and improved quality of public space * Demonstrable access to decision makers in Asian cities with ability to bring about sustainable transport solutions In addition, the successful candidate will be a highly motivated self-starter with strong organizational skills; capable of working independently; as well as have good interpersonal skills and the ability to work in team situations. S/he will have a mastery of MS Office, ability to use databases in a variety of contexts. S/he will work collaboratively with other WRI staff, the EMBARQ Network of Centers for Sustainable Transport and Asian partners. The Asian Program Director will report to EMBARQ?s Director. Location Home location either Washington, DC, with frequent travel to Asia or India (Mumbai or Bangalore) with frequent travel to other cities in Asia and to Washington, DC. Salary and benefits Competitive based on applicant?s experience. About WRI World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the planet and improve people's lives. Our mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment for current and future generations. * People and ecosystems. Reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with needed goods and services. * Climate change. Protect the global climate system from further harm due to emissions of greenhouse gases and help humanity and the natural world adapt to unavoidable climate change. * Markets and Enterprise. Harness markets and enterprise to expand economic opportunity and protect the environment. * Access. Guarantee public access to information and decisions regarding natural resources and the environment. * Institutional excellence. Support and enhance WRI's ability to achieve results. In all of its policy research and work with institutions, WRI tries to build bridges between ideas and action, meshing the insights of scientific research, economic and institutional analyses, and practical experience with the need for open and participatory decision-making. WRI is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is WRI's policy to recruit, hire, and provide opportunities for advancement in all job classifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, sexual preference, parental status, or disability. WRI only accepts resumes for current vacancies. Qualified applicants only. Candidates please send cover letter and curriculum vitae/resume to: World Resources Institute Attn: Seema Parakh 10 G Street, NE (Suite 800) Washington, DC 20002 fax: 202-729-7683 email: sparakh@wri.org Please, no phone calls. From anirudhsingh1 at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 16:15:44 2007 From: anirudhsingh1 at gmail.com (anirudh singh bais) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 12:45:44 +0530 Subject: [sustran] hi Message-ID: <549e2f6c0702062315x63b357atfae49013997625e@mail.gmail.com> hi all can somebody send me the soft copy of HCM2000 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070207/ee62589a/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Wed Feb 7 19:55:24 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2007 11:55:24 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Sustran Skypecast conference (trial run on Monday) Message-ID: <035801c74aa6$79164e40$6401a8c0@home> Dear Sustran Colleagues, I have heard from several of you that the timing of the Friday session (see below) does not work for you, so I have scheduled a session specifically forma Sustran perspective for next Monday, the at 09:00 GMT, hoping that will be convenient. You can see the proposed work plan for the discussions at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?message= talk_updated&id_talk=377833. It describes itself as follows: "A first open group conversation (a) to trial and comment on the potential of Skypecast audio conferences for our network collaboration and exchanges here at Sustran; and (b) to discuss in particular if and how the New Mobility STEP - Sustainable Transport Emergency Program - initiative might be put to work in cities in the Global South." For those how have yet to sign in to Skype for this, I attach last weeks' note with all the gory details. Hope this will work for at least some of us, and that once it is over we will be able to report to the rest on its potential for our collaboration and exchanges in the future. And it is just about as CO2 free as you can get, so that's one more argument for trying. Eric Britton Dear Sustran Friends, Those of you who have got to know me over the years are probably well aware that my self-assigned mission in the fight for sustainable development and social justice is to do what I can to create open 'collaborative knowledge networks', including the dozen or so that we have jointly developed in the last two decades under the New Mobility Agenda. Indeed as the title line of the Agenda's web site refers its exact mission is: "The Politics of Transportation: New thinking & world-wide collaborative problem-solving". That says it pretty well. And in this context we have steadily since the mid eighties sought out, developed, tailored, poached, used and supported quite a number of group work tools and techniques to support out collaborative work, of which this forum is one as well as the fairly numerous supporting web sites and other communications tools that you will see at http://newmobility.org. Enough! I personally like these tools a great deal because I believe that they can not only be efficient and effective for our purposes, but also that when we get them right they can permit us to be honest practitioners in our own work and lives - i.e., in this way avoid excessive air travel and all the environmental loads that it places on the planet and its future. This is not to condemn either physical meetings or even getting on a plane when we really need to, but it does give us some real options once we learn how to work with them. And it not only helps to save our environment but also our own health and gives us more time with our families and those we love. Who could ask for anything more? Now on to the new tool that I want you all to know about today and maybe put to work with us: 1. Summary: You are invited next Friday at 15:00 Paris time to pop in and check out the first of what we hope will become a regular weekly series of public conversations on key issues and strategies to support to the huge CO2 reduction target set by the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group - with specific reference to how we can help people to get around better in all respects in our cities. This is of course the stuff of the New Mobility Agenda, complete with its dogged insistence on the importance of our concentrating on the 2-4 year period directly ahead. (We leave the rest to the others more competent in these longer range matters.) This takes the form of a Skypecast, and which if these first trials work we intend possibly to organize on a regular weekly basis and specific topics of concern. They cost nothing and if we get together to put our collective brains on this, we should get some very useful results. Read on if this strikes a spark: 2. What is it? a. Skypecast: A new group communications tool just announced by Skype which I think we can put to work for our good cause. Read all about it at http://www.skype.com/help/guides/skypecasts.html . b. Here in their words is the rundown: "Skypecasts are large, hosted calls on Skype. Let your opinion be heard on subjects close to your heart in groups of up to 100 people participating from anywhere in the world." c. We rough trialed it yesterday and found it a platform which we think we all can build on and put to work to advance our joint concerns. You will see some comments on our first round trial run yesterday just below. d. If this gives satisfaction we propose to organize an open weekly group conversation in which we can not only get together to air the issues and our ideas for how to do better. Our focus in this first cycle of meetings will be our eventual contributions to the in support of Clinton Climate Initiative and Large Cities Climate Leadership Group and their important efforts to curb greenhouse gases by very significant amounts and in the near term future (i.e., the next few years). e. The next New Mobility Agenda conference is slated for Friday, 9 February at 15:00 (Paris time, GMT +1) You can see all about it at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?message= talk_updated&id_talk=351748 ) f. Here in a nutshell is how you can put it to work. 3. Participation Guidelines: a. Sign in to get a Skype account -- takes less than five minutes at www.skype.com, costs nothing and is secure and easy to use. But you will need broadband to be comfortable. And make sure you get the latest version, 3.0, which is necessary for the conference. b. When you sign in, please be so kind as to indicate in your "Profile" your name, city, country, and if possible put in a small photo (you will see what this is important once we start to meet together on this.) (I also tend to put in my regular phone numbers in my profile just in case I am not on line with Skype so that you can call me directly if useful.) c. Once you have it installed and have checked it out, you can then call me via ericbritton (newmobility also works just fine) and we can test and tune your link. d. You will then automatically the periodic notices announcing future New Mobility World Conversations - and the time and topic interests you, sign in and participate. e. Make sure that you check the guidelines for participation, just to be sure that it is a comfortable experience for you and the others. f. Language: For these first sessions, we will be using English, but this des not stop us from organizing World Conversations in other languages. But a caution here for English language mother tongue speakers. Many of our colleagues have English as a second, third or more language, and it is important that we show our respect for them by: speaking slowly, articulating clearly, avoiding the use of jargon, and yes please! we really need to avoid that might appear to native speakers as humor or even irony. What may be funny to your culture may be incomprehensible or even offensive to others. And as to politics, we do not address specific political personalities in these conversation and certainly not in a derogatory manner. So if you wan to blow off steam about Bush, Chirac or your other least favorite leader of the day, please to it elsewhere. g. In the early sessions, I would ask you to be patient and cheerfully experimental in your attitude. There will be glitches and occasional strangeness, of that we can be sure. But with your good attitude and support we really should be able to do something useful with all this - even from the very beginning. So call it up on your computer, go make yourself a nice cup of tea or coffee, get comfortable, lean back and join the action. Don't be shy when you have something to add, just ask for the mike and for sure I will hand it to you. (That said succinctness is a great courtesy, as always in meetings of any kind). h. Have an idea for a session or would you like to make a presentation in one of the Conversations (five minute max please)? - get in touch via email and we can work it out together. i. And always, please do not hesitate to let me know what needs to be fixed or somehow adjusted to make this a better and more creative experience all around. Thanks in advance for that. 4. First trial run to check it out - Post mortem of yesterday's session: a. In the spirit of being willing to try anything which might possibly permit us to build knowledge and competence if possible without getting on to one more airplane and thereby encouraging it to do what it does so well to our assaulted atmosphere, I thought I would give it a first whack with a little trial run. b. So we did just that this afternoon under the heading "New Mobility support for Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative " . You can see the opening page I hastily hammered together to guide the session at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 350711. You will also see there the link to our experimental site in support of the Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative which you can visit at http://co2.newmobility.org c. I spent an hour or so educating myself as best I could on this new tool, then set up the test site and contacted a dozen or so of the people on my Skype network who participate in our group here, to tell them that at 16:00 yesterday at Paris time I was ready to go "on the air" and invited them to check in if their time permitted. (Eventually since it was so last minute we only had Carlos Pardo drop in, but he was very useful to the discussion and in helping me fine tune the whole thing. Thanks Carlos.) d. What happened? Well, in many ways it was a real rough ride but certainly not without its interest. i. Something like 50/60 people eventually showed up, from around twenty identified countries, and if there were a fair number of people there from Eastern Europe and Russia, well you have to consider that it was their evening and they just happened to be on line. But we also heard from people from Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, China, India, Israel, Morocco, Colombia, Panama. ii. There were something close to ten useful exchanges in all that. There would have been a lot more of course if the whole thing had been properly prepared. iii. Since it is the net and 2007 we had the usual occasional useless visitors, but I think this can happen at any kind of public event so there is not use losing time to whine about that. iv. Initially I had an open mike, but the confusion level proved quickly impossible as people started to roll in (from many different kinds of places and with very different ideas as to what this was all about). So, I put everyone on hold, and then took five minutes or so to introduce the meeting and provide some kind of background and some suggested ground rules. v. I then tried giving the floor to anyone who asked for it, but after a few you can imagine whats, I tightened things up and bit and required that each person who wishes to speak should send a chat message asking for the floor, also identifying themselves by name, city, country. Along with a reminder about the topic of the meeting. This worked pretty well for us. e. What I learned was that this works more or less like a good conference crossed with a call-in radio program. i. It requires an alert host/moderator, and some kind of agenda if it is to work. It seems like an hour is just about right if we have all the planning in shape, but I will organize the first in this new series for up to 2 hours, just for those people who might wish to hang around and keep talking on some favorite points. ii. In our case we shall need to take care with getting the agenda right, and giving people a chance to review and comment in advance. iii. It also provides a fine forum for up to five minute presentations of ideas and positions, and these too will do well to advance organize. iv. It goes without saying that such group get-togethers can be organized by people other than myself. Or we can handle it collaboratively as you wish. That's where this stands today. So now you know and I do hope that many of you will respond to this with your ideas and suggestions, and of course to get involved in the next sessions. If we put our heads together I am confident we can do something useful with this. Eric Britton -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070207/8b835dae/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Feb 8 16:30:32 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 08:30:32 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Stockholm Congestion Charge - Overview In-Reply-To: <1170902433.7173282d121cb4cd.4be491c8@persist.google.com> Message-ID: <024e01c74b53$05567770$6401a8c0@home> Stockholm Congestion Charge, Sweden The Stockholm congestion charge is a traffic congestion and environmental tax that has been imposed on the majority of vehicles in Stockholm; it is the second of its kind to be introduced in Europe following the highly controversial but none-the-less successful London Congestion Charge introduced by the London Mayor, Ken Livingstone. "Transponders fitted in vehicles means the system has a more reliable capture rate and a more cost-effective back-room operation." The Stockholm congestion charge was first introduced as a trial between 3 January 2006 and 31 July 2006. A referendum on the future of the congestion charge was held in September 2006; the residents of Stockholm municipality voted yes, and 14 other municipalities voted no to implement it permanently. In October 2006, the Swedish government declared that the Stockholm congestion charge was to be introduced permanently during the first half of 2007. The incomes from the reintroduced congestion charges in Stockholm are to be used in partly financing a new bypass road, 'F?rbifart Stockholm'. IMPLEMENTING THE CONGESTION CHARGE The V?gverket (Swedish Road Administration) is the body responsible for the administration of the charge and its systems, while IBM was involved as prime contractor responsible for solution design, development and operation. IBM built the on-demand solution using wireless RFID technology supplied by Norwegian company Q-Free, one of the leading suppliers of technology for road charging systems. The system works by using a Q-Free on-board unit and road side technology in combination with an operational system provided and run by IBM. Payment is via a number of channels including by direct debit triggered by the recognition of the on-board electronic tag that is loaned to drivers. Q-Free cameras can also detect and record car number plate images using Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) software to identify those vehicles without tags, and are also used to verify tag readings and provide evidence to support the enforcement of non-payers. The use of the transponders fitted in vehicles means the system has a more reliable capture rate and a more cost-effective back-room operation than congestion charging systems that do not use such devices. It also makes it far easier to operate variable charging with automated direct debit after the passage. CONGESTION CHARGE EXEMPTIONS Exemptions to the charge include emergency vehicles, buses, diplomatic vehicles, disabled persons vehicles, military vehicles, hybrid or electric cars, motorcycles and mopeds, and foreign-registered vehicles. "The payment gates are equipped with number plate recognition cameras to record the identity of vehicles." The area of Liding? has its only access to the mainland through the congestion tax affected area ? all traffic to and from Liding?, to and from the rest of the Stockholm County, is exempt from the tax, provided that one passes the Ropsten payment station and some other payment station within 30 minutes of each other. The Essingeleden motorway (E4) that passes through the effected area is also exempt, due to it being the main road when travelling past central Stockholm. All exits and entrances of Essingeleden that are within the congestion tax area have payment stations placed at them. CONGESTION CHARGE AREA The congestion charge area includes the whole of the Stockholm city centre areas such as S?dermalm, Norrmalm, ?stermalm, Vasastaden, Kungsholmen, Stora Essingen, Lilla Essingen and Djurg?rden. There are 18 unmanned electronic payment stations at all entrances to this area (this is helped by the fact that Stockholm was built on a series of islands). The congestion tax is applied to vehicles on both entry and exit of the affected area. The payment gates are equipped with number plate recognition cameras to record the identity of vehicles passing through. Over 400,000 drivers in Stockholm have already equipped their cars with a transponder for easy payment and can pay automatically by Autogiro directly from their bank account. CHARGES The amount to pay depends on the time of the day the driver enters or exits the congestion tax area. The tax may be paid directly via a website or over the telephone by credit card, or alternatively it can be paid at any 7-11 and Pressbyr?n convenience stores in the City. The tax is not paid on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays or the day before public holidays, nor during the night time period (18:30?06:29). The maximum amount of charge per vehicle per day is 60 SEK (?6.44, $8.23, ?4.42). If the charge is not paid within five days, a reminder is posted to the driver with an additional charge of 70 SEK; if the charge is not paid within four weeks an additional fine of 500 SEK is added and if not paid then the authorities can automatically remove the amount from the offenders bank account. The Nortull congestion charge gate in Stockholm. The Nortull congestion charge gate in Stockholm. One of the other 18 payment gates for the Stockholm congestion charge area. One of the other 18 payment gates for the Stockholm congestion charge area. A map of the 18 congestion charge gates around Stockholm. A map of the 18 congestion charge gates around Stockholm. A gate gantry being installed with cameras and transponder technology. A gate gantry being installed with cameras and transponder technology. The Stockholm congestion charge may be paid at convenience stores. The Stockholm congestion charge may be paid at convenience stores. An in-car transponder can provide automatic payments for the congestion charge. An in-car transponder can provide automatic payments for the congestion charge. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/92e8f6ce/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: application/octet-stream Size: 6307 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/92e8f6ce/attachment-0003.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/octet-stream Size: 6299 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/92e8f6ce/attachment-0004.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/octet-stream Size: 3556 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/92e8f6ce/attachment-0005.bin From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Feb 8 16:32:08 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 08:32:08 +0100 Subject: [sustran] USA - The President pushes congestion pricing In-Reply-To: <1170902433.7173282d121cb4cd.4be491c8@persist.google.com> Message-ID: <025401c74b53$3e2cca40$6401a8c0@home> The President pushes congestion pricing >From the Wall Street Journal this week, an article about President Bush's push for congestion pricing in his new budget. In his annual budget blueprint to be unveiled today, Mr. Bush intends to showcase a highway "congestion initiative," according to White House documents, with grants for state and local governments to experiment with anti-jam strategies. ... a plan depicted by administration officials as "congestion pricing." The administration will award $130 million in grants starting this spring to help cities and states build electronic toll systems that would charge drivers fees for traveling in and out of big cities during peak traffic times. The money also could go to other congestion strategies such as expanded telecommuting, but administration officials make it clear they think congestion pricing is the most powerful tool they have. The White House will seek an additional $175 million for congestion initiatives in next year's budget. ...transportation officials have armed themselves with studies suggesting that traffic itself is becoming a big hidden tax on businesses across the country, as well as the No. 1 quality-of-life concern in many urban areas. Congestion pricing "is a lot cheaper than the way we're paying now ... with time, unreliability, psychological hell," said Tyler Duvall, DOT's assistant secretary for policy. The DOT estimates the total cost of U.S. congestion at about $200 billion annually, or almost 2% of GDP, counting wasted fuel, delays, environmental costs and increased inventory needs. The White House, under fire for failing to embrace a more aggressive global-warming policy, is portraying the plan as part of a climate change strategy. Administration documents estimate that "travel delay ... wasted 2.3 billion gallons of fuel" in 2003, a total that "accounts for more than 20 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions." In cities and regions that have adopted congestion-related fees, the most common approach is to offer solo commuters the choice of paying during rush hour to travel in the high-occupancy lanes reserved for car-poolers. Some tolls on existing turnpikes also have been adjusted higher for rush-hour travel. ... The Bush administration is distributing $130 million in grants to help cities build the electronic systems needed. Department of Transportation officials expect more than 10 major cities to apply before the April deadline. (If you know Houston officials that might initiate such an application, please forward this post to them. Thanks!) ... Even a 5% reduction in traffic jams can increase traffic speeds by as much as 50%, says Mr. Duvall. DOT officials figure a typical big-city traffic jam can be cleared with tolls of as little as $2 to $2.50 a day, if all lanes on a big highway are charged. But on some Southern California highways where fees are charged only for the former high-occupancy lanes, prices at the peak of rush hour have reached $8.50. Congestion pricing has already taken hold in Europe, and the success of a congestion pricing system for London's roads three years ago motivated U.S. officials and major businesses to consider the idea. Voters in Stockholm approved a similar plan in September, after a test run during the summer. The article included the table below showing how Houston's ongoing transportation infrastructure investments over the last two decades have kept congestion growth well below most major cities. Also note that extensive commuter rail transit investments have not relieved congestion in Chicago, DC, or San Francisco - a benefit that is commonly promoted with commuter rail proposals. My proposal would be for Houston to be very aggressive going after this money to convert the left lanes of most our freeways to congestion-priced EZ-tag lanes (this would be in addition to Metro's HOV lane conversions), while letting commuter buses and vanpools use the lanes for free. Having a comprehensive network of high-speed lanes to all our job centers (not just downtown) would go a long way towards encouraging car/vanpooling and transit ridership. More details here. posted by Tory Gattis @ 5:48 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/aed62940/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/octet-stream Size: 11575 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/aed62940/attachment.bin From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Feb 9 00:36:36 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 16:36:36 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Short agenda and participation notes for 9 Feb. Skypecast Message-ID: <013e01c74b96$ec437550$6401a8c0@home> Subject: Group review and commentary of New Mobility Agenda support project for Clinton Climate Initiative 1. Conference open to all comers, but please review this agenda and background materials before taking active part. * Click here for opening page of the Skypecast and basic information. * Click here for consultation document to which we are being invited to comment. 2. When you are ready to speak, you are asked to do three things as you come on the air so that we can ensure best use of time: (a) first, introduce yourself by name, organization if any, city, and country. Also (b) please assure us in a word that you have consulted this agenda and the main program site. * Interventions will be limited to 3-5 minutes max, and we thank you in advance for being concise. * On the other hand, you may wish to make a longer presentation to the group. No problem, in that case all we ask you to do is get in touch in advance and give us an idea of the topic or issues you wish to address, and how much time you think you will need. If needed, we can fine tune this together. 3. In the second half of this session, we invite comments and suggestions on the present Skypecast meeting, with a view to seeing if we can refine its organization so as to make it into a more useful way of getting together to exchange views, ideas and suggestions. 4. The meeting is being moderated by Eric Britton. If you have any questions or suggestions, you are invited to contact him with through Skype (address: ericbritton) or email: eric.britton@newmobility.org. 5. Finally, it would be kind if, once the meeting is over, you might send an email or chat message to the moderator with your reflections and suggestions for future sessions. We very much appreciate your participation and hope you find this a good way to grow your knowledge and contacts. Eric Britton P.S. Next week we will be looking at road pricing/congestion charging. Next week we will be looking at road pricing/congestion charging. We are looking at Friday at about the same time but are fully open to ideas for another schedule -- bearing in mind that we want to bring in both Europe and the Americas in that session. For some first background on our take on this, please click here . And here . PPS. And on Monday the 12th, it is the first Global South session for which the details are at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 377833. This one aims for early morning European time so as to permit max participation to the east. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070208/06dcde44/attachment.html From edelman at greenidea.info Sat Feb 10 09:27:41 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Todd Edelman) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:27:41 +0100 Subject: [sustran] CALL FOR PROPOSALS: TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES, 27-31.8. 2007, ISTANBUL Message-ID: <45CD117D.8040006@greenidea.info> TOWARDS CARFREE CITIES VII AUGUST 27-31, 2007, ISTANBUL: CALL FOR PROGRAMME PROPOSALS AND OPENING OF REGISTRATION This year's conference theme "Building a Livable Future in a Changing Climate" emphasises the potential and urgency of addressing global climate change through the creation of high-quality, carfree human habitats, while also hinting at the growing potential for change in the social and political climate. World Carfree Network and our hosts the Turkish Traffic Safety Association are now seeking programme proposals on this theme in any of the following four categories: (1) presentations, (2) debates/strategic discussions/project development meetings, (3) interactive workshops/activities, and (4) actions/excursions/on-site visits. In addition, we are accepting submissions of short films for the video night, posters or other installations for the exposition space, and street reclaiming activities for a pedestrianisation action. Proposals of 1-2 pages in length can be sent in English or Turkish to by April 30, including a title and description of your proposed activity, the applicable sub-theme(s) (Climate Change, Political Change, Socio-Economic/Cultural Change, or Change in the Physical/Spatial Environment), the anticipated or desired outcome of the activity, any relevant personal information or experience, and your full contact details. The early registration period will begin on February 10 and close on March 31. See for the online registration form, payment information, and the full version of this announcement (to be online by Feb. 10). -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Mon Feb 12 05:45:58 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:45:58 -0500 Subject: [sustran] TransMilenio Photo Flashmob Message-ID: <45CF8086.40709@sutp.org> Hi, If anyone is interested, there was a photo Flashmob in a TransMilenio station (H?roes) yesterday. It was done to react on TransMilenio's policy of not allowing anyone to take pictures inside the system, so around 100 people (possibly more!) gathered in the station at 5:30pm to take pictures. Check http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=transmifoto&w=all to see all photos that have been uploaded(keyword "transmifoto"). Also, you can see some nice pictures of TransMilenio in the photo pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/transmilenio/ --- Si alguien est? interesado, ayer hubo un Flashmob en una estaci?n de TransMilenio (H?roes). Se hizo como reacci?n a la pol?tica de TransMilenio de no permitir que nadie tome fotograf?as dentro del sistema, entonces cerca de 100 personas (tal vez m?s!) se reunieron en la estaci?n a las 5:30pm para tomar fotos. Vean http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=transmifoto&w=all para ver qu? fotos se han subido (palabra clave "transmifoto"). Tambi?n hay m?s fotos de TransMilenio en el photo pool http://www.flickr.com/groups/transmilenio/ Best regards/ Cordialmente, -- Carlos F. Pardo (change in address details/ cambio en datos de direcci?n) Coordinador de Proyecto- Project Coordinator GTZ - Proyecto de Transporte Sostenible (SUTP, SUTP-LAC) Cl 93A # 14-17 of 708 Bogot? D.C., Colombia Tel/fax: +57 (1) 236 2309 Mobile: +57 (3) 15 296 0662 carlos.pardo@sutp.org www.sutp.org From richmond at fastmail.fm Sun Feb 11 02:15:57 2007 From: richmond at fastmail.fm (Jonathan E. D. Richmond) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:15:57 -0500 Subject: [sustran] Re: Job Description Posting in Sustrans Listserve and website In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1171127757.3329.1173937495@webmail.messagingengine.com> I am very interested in the Asiua Diurector position, but am currently traveling in Bangladesh where the internet connection is pretty impossibly bad! The joib ad does not have a due date for applications -- could you please advise by what date I need to submit an application. Thanks --Jonathan Richmond ----- Jonathan E. D. Richmond (617) 864-6394 79 JFK St. Cambridge MA 02138-5801 USA e-mail: richmond@alum.mit.edu http://the-tech.mit.edu/~richmond/ -- http://www.fastmail.fm - A no graphics, no pop-ups email service From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Feb 13 00:15:08 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 16:15:08 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Quick update on New Mobility Zero CO2 Skypecast conferences. Message-ID: <069401c74eb8$983f9040$6401a8c0@home> 1. The first Sustran/ New Mobility Zero CO2 conference has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 Paris time (GMT+1). Address: https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 405959. 2. All New Mobility related Skype conferences have now been organized under the Skype address: newmobility. 3. We are looking to organize discussions of two important New Mobility topics, (a) carshare strategies for cities and the somewhere sticky road pricing/congestion changing nexus. You will see full information on both at https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 405959 and https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk= 405959. (Both topics are being treated in full two day sessions at the Sustainable Cities/New Mobility Policy Dialogues which are being held in Monaco on the last three days of March. See http://monaco.newmobility.org for details. 4. If you click to any Skypecast page and pop "newmobility" (one word, no quotes) into the Search box, you will see all scheduled projects at any time. As of this date we have three standing in the wings. 5. Latest information on all conferences now available under http://newmobility.org/agenda.htm which will be updated regularly. Is this going to be a useful addition to our group tool set. Too early to tell yet, but I do think it is worth while trying to soldier through the first rounds of problems and fine tuning to give it a fair try. After all Zero CO2 is important for each us, isn't it? And perhaps this can help us. Eric Britton PS> And if you do check in, it would be very kind indeed if you might take a few minutes to share with me your reactions, suggestions, etc, even if it is only a very short stay. You can be sure that things will be quite rough in the first couple of tries, but you can also be sure that we will be working on it. Who ever said that sustainable development and sustainable lives were going to be easy? We gotta work at it. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070212/cfe24fc2/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Tue Feb 13 21:22:03 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 13:22:03 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Interim New Mobility comments, recommendations to Clinton Climate/Large Cities teams. Message-ID: <04cc01c74f69$9284de10$6401a8c0@home> "We have to reduce about 80% of our greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 to 15 years." - William Jefferson Clinton, 1 August 2006 1. New Mobility support project in brief: Our open support project for the Clinton/Large Cities team has moved ahead over the last month, and here in two pages is the current state of play: 1. The website at http://co2.newmobility.org is approx. 90% complete. Already a pretty useful read, but does need more input (including yours if you have a mind to share your thoughts with us on this). 2. Neither of the two teams involved (Clinton, Large Cities) have in fact asked us to do anything in support of their challenging projects -- but we decided that with such a tight time horizon and such a truly great state of emergency, it would be irresponsible if we were not to share with them our carefully developed experience, insights and information on transformation strategies in the sector, with the thought that this is going to be of use to them. (Those of you who know The Commons and the New Mobility Agenda will not be surprised at such an initiative on our part.) 3. Increasingly it becomes apparent that if we are to take the Clinton Climate Challenge at its full value -- remember 80% CO2 reductions over next 10-15 years - and not just put it aside and concentrate on other less exigent stuff because Clinton's targets are not just convenient (think weasel words like "practical", "realistic") - this means we need to cut back on CO2 emissions on the order of 5-8 percent in the city as a whole over each year of the coming decade, starting in 2007. Clearly this means more than lots of good project ideas, but rather drags us hollering and spitting into a whole new dimension of policy and practice. 4. I don't know anything about the other sectors that the two teams are investigating, but I do know, with great certainty, that the CO2 objectives can be easily met in the transport sector. If you turn to the site you will see our arguments in this respect. 5. Indeed one of the reasons that I have jumped on this project with both feet is that with President Clinton's high profile backing, we may now at long last have the hammer that will allow all of those of us who are concerned with the issues and process of sustainable transport and more specifically the New Mobility Agenda finally to get these issues and trade-offs into the very high level of International visibility that is necessary if the new models and new patterns of behavior can finally start to be brought on line. The mere fact that the Clinton approach is based on politics, vision, leadership and communications rather than technical considerations or the usual cautious bureaucracy provides us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to start to make these changes of which the leading edge of policy and practice in the field has been aware for years finally take place. II. Our Zero CO2 Brainstorming Conferences 1. We want to encourage the use of technology to reduce unnecessary travel, which in a project like this where problems and resources are by definition to hugely spread out, it strikes us that there is no option but to put these technologies to work. Every day. After all, it is an emergency, isn't it? (Or do I have that wrong?) 2. You can find out more about these if you go to http://newmobility.org/agenda.htm (For the record, we have been working with a whole range of technologies on this over the last decade, with our first Zero Emissions Strategy Conference taking place in August 1997 - see http://www.ecoplan.org/zero-ems/index.htm.) 3. We have played around with the latest Skypecast package over the last few days and just this morning had a little meeting in which the following agenda items were discussed by the group. It was the first such event that was properly focused and useful. You will see the agenda items discussed in the following little annex. (In the future we will record these exchanges and if time allows to edit them down to their essentials, but for now this note will have to do.) 4. And while the discussions were lively and fruitful, even this short list has far from being exhausted. In fact, I would like it to take taken, improved and discussed in many other places - including BTW in this forum which after all has been created exactly for such purposes. III. International Advisory Council 1. At the time we set up the framework for the Kyoto World Cities cooperative program in late 2004 (see http://kyotocities.org ) we contact some 150 of our colleagues working to advance understanding and practice of these issues and invited them to show their support for the International Advisory Council, the present composition of which you can see at http://ecoplan.org/briefs/general/panel.htm. 2. These are outstanding personalities and leaders in the field, and of course in each case we sought their permission to include their names as supporters in the tough fight for sustainable development and social justice in the transport field. Two quick things about this listing if you will. 3. First, since the momentum is finally picking up considerably in our shared field, it is now time to expand this group greatly. These shared values, links, and eventual working relationships are going to be important as the push is on, so now is the time to expand the group (which I have neglected to do badly over the last year). And while we are as always interested to have established figures in the field leading the way, we also have a strong preference to bring as many young people with proven commitment, as well as women (far too few to date) and of course to continue to ensure the very broad geographic distribution. So you counsel on this will be most welcome. 4. Also if for some reason you no longer share the goals and values of the New Mobility projects, well it would be good if you would let me know so that I can sure that our listing continues to be one hundred percent solid. This is no time for ambiguity. 5. As to your nominations, it would be good to have their basic contact information along with a line or two on their work and approach. Thanks * * * So that's where things pretty much stand at this point, so let me close with the following query for you: * It is either an emergency or it is not. If it's just a "kind of emergency", what the hell -we can propose just about anything we want. But if it is - and we know that President Clinton thinks it is, and now you know that I do too, and I know as well that many of you here share this view -- then this probably changes just about everything. And are you ready for that? With all good wishes Eric Britton "We have to reduce about 80% of our greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 to 15 years." - William Jefferson Clinton, 1 August 2006 Annex: Agenda for 13 February Zero CO2 conference: Here is our current checklist of some of the key issues that it would be good to have your comments on today. in reaction to President Clinton's challenge. Perhaps we could take them in order? 1. What is your reaction to President Clinton's call for an 80% reduction of CO2 generation in cities over the next 10-15 years? What words would you use to describe this as a goal? 2. In your view is it possible that the transport sector in most "cities" could be made to achieve, say, 5-8% reductions annually over, say, the next 3-5 years? 3. What is wrong with CO2 as a policy target? 4. When you succeed in achieving major reductions in CO2, are there any other good things that start to take place in the city's transport arrangements? What are these? 5. And do we not have to be careful in using the word "cities" in this context? Isn't it the contiguous metropolitan areas that pose the real challenge (and quite different ones from those faced in tight urban cores where things are potentially a lot easier)? 6. Are there any cities (i.e., contiguous metropolitan areas) in the world that today are already achieving significant bottom line reductions in CO2 generation, and in particular with reference to the transport sector? 7. Are there any cities which have started to "break pattern" and as such start to provide proof that New Mobility policies are worth targeting and achieving through aggressive lists of projects and measures to start at least to control the situation? And if so, should they be our models for the rest, or rather seen as a potentially instructive starting point with a great deal that must follow if they are to provide examples and inspirations for others. 8. Is it possible to achieve the level of CO2 reductions that the Clinton program asks for, by means other than make making drastic reductions in traffic? And what kind of traffic, say type vehicles, must be reduced? 9. How do you deal with the fact that what you need to find a way to influence and shape in this case is not a couple of bits of new technology that are somehow (Deus ex machina) going to take the problems off our hands as individual citizens, but rather the millions, billions of personal choices that each of us make for their own reasons when it comes to getting around each day? 10. How would you describe in a phrase what is needed to meet the Clinton challenge? Would "major paradigm change" be a possible candidate? What about "managing chaos"? Your phrase? Might we discuss? 11. Can achievements on this scale be achieved on a "business as usual" and "politics as usual" basis? Or do we have to start to break all the rules? 12. What do you advise the two teams to be doing next? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070213/24b13ec0/attachment.html From litman at vtpi.org Wed Feb 14 01:28:09 2007 From: litman at vtpi.org (Todd Alexander Litman) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 08:28:09 -0800 Subject: [sustran] New Mobility comments, recommendations to Clinton Climate/Large Cities teams. In-Reply-To: <04b901c74f69$496d78e0$6401a8c0@home> References: <04b901c74f69$496d78e0$6401a8c0@home> Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20070213075417.039a1910@mail.islandnet.com> Dear Colleagues, I am too busy at this time to participate frequently in this project but would like to share some ideas. Our report, "Win-Win Emission Reduction Strategies (http://www.vtpi.org/wwclimate.pdf ) identifies various transportation policy reforms that provide multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. These strategies increase transportation options, correct existing market distortions that encourage economically excessive vehicle travel and create more accessible communities. They increase the financial rewards to consumers when they reduce their driving, giving people new opportunities to save money. Described differently, although few motorists want to give up driving altogether, compared with current travel patterns, many would prefer to drive somewhat less and rely more on alternative modes, provided they are convenient, comfortable, safe, affordable and prestigious. Market reforms that improve mobility options and reward consumers for reducing their driving can make people better off overall. This is a positive message. It means that we can reduce emissions in ways that help achieve other transport planning objectives such as reducing congestion, consumer costs and traffic accidents, and improving mobility options for non-drivers. The challenge we face is that conventional decision-making is reductionist, each issue is assigned to an individual agency or profession with narrowly-defined responsibilities. This tends to undervalue these Win-Win strategies - they tend to provide more modest but multiple benefits and so are seldom the highest ranking solution to any problem. Yet, when all impacts are considered, these solutions are often the most cost-effective way of improving transportation. For Win-Win solutions to be implemented as much as justified it will be necessary to convince transportation professionals that they should place a high value on environmental objectives, and environmental advocates that they should place a high value on conventional transport planning objectives such as reducing traffic congestion and accidents, and improving mobility for non-drivers. Most of these strategies can be applied in most parts of the world. For example, currently no country requires Pay-As-You-Drive pricing (http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm79.htm ), which converts vehicle registration and insurance into distance-based fees, and most regions could do a lot to make vehicle parking more rational and efficient, so people pay directly for just the amount of vehicle parking they actually need (http://www.vtpi.org/park_man.pdf ). These two measures alone could achieve more than half of the Kyoto emission reduction targets for automobile transportation in most developed countries, while also helping to reduce congestion, accidents and sprawl, and saving consumers money overall. Best wishes, -Todd Litman At 04:20 AM 2/13/2007, Eric Britton wrote: >?We have to reduce about 80% of our greenhouse >gas emissions over the next 10 to 15 years." - >William Jefferson Clinton, 1 August 2006 > >1. New Mobility support project in brief: >Our open support project for the Clinton/Large >Cities team has moved ahead over the last month, >and here in two pages is the current state of play: > > * The website at http://co2.newmobility.org > is approx. 90% complete. Already a pretty > useful read, but does need more input > (including yours if you have a mind to share your thoughts with us on this). > * Neither of the two teams involved > (Clinton, Large Cities) have in fact asked us > to do anything in support of their challenging > projects -- but we decided that with such a > tight time horizon and such a truly great state > of emergency, it would be irresponsible if we > were not to share with them our carefully > developed experience, insights and information > on transformation strategies in the sector, > with the thought that this is going to be of > use to them. (Those of you who know The Commons > and the New Mobility Agenda will not be > surprised at such an initiative on our part.) > * Increasingly it becomes apparent that if > we are to take the Clinton Climate Challenge at > its full value -- remember 80% CO2 reductions > over next 10-15 years ? and not just put it > aside and concentrate on other less exigent > stuff because Clinton?s targets are not just > convenient (think weasel words like > ?practical?, ?realistic?) ? this means we need > to cut back on CO2 emissions on the order of > 5-8 percent in the city as a whole over each > year of the coming decade, starting in 2007. > Clearly this means more than lots of good > project ideas, but rather drags us hollering > and spitting into a whole new dimension of policy and practice. > * I don?t know anything about the other > sectors that the two teams are investigating, > but I do know, with great certainty, that the > CO2 objectives can be easily met in the > transport sector. If you turn to the site you > will see our arguments in this respect. > * Indeed one of the reasons that I have > jumped on this project with both feet is that > with President Clinton?s high profile backing, > we may now at long last have the hammer that > will allow all of those of us who are concerned > with the issues and process of sustainable > transport and more specifically the New > Mobility Agenda finally to get these issues and > trade-offs into the very high level of > International visibility that is necessary if > the new models and new patterns of behavior can > finally start to be brought on line. The mere > fact that the Clinton approach is based on > politics, vision, leadership and communications > rather than technical considerations or the > usual cautious bureaucracy provides us with a > once in a lifetime opportunity to start to make > these changes of which the leading edge of > policy and practice in the field has been aware for years finally take place. > >II. Our Zero CO2 Brainstorming Conferences > > * We want to encourage the use of technology > to reduce unnecessary travel, which in a > project like this where problems and resources > are by definition to hugely spread out, it > strikes us that there is no option but to put > these technologies to work. Every day. After > all, it is an emergency, isn?t it? (Or do I have that wrong?) > > * You can find out more about these if you > go to > http://newmobility.org/agenda.htm > (For the record, we have been working with a > whole range of technologies on this over the > last decade, with our first Zero Emissions > Strategy Conference taking place in August 1997 > ? see http://www.ecoplan.org/zero-ems/index.htm.) > > * We have played around with the latest > Skypecast package over the last few days and > just this morning had a little meeting in which > the following agenda items were discussed by > the group. It was the first such event that was > properly focused and useful. You will see the > agenda items discussed in the following little > annex. (In the future we will record these > exchanges and if time allows to edit them down > to their essentials, but for now this note will have to do.) > * And while the discussions were lively and > fruitful, even this short list has far from > being exhausted. In fact, I would like it to > take taken, improved and discussed in many > other places ? including BTW in this forum > which after all has been created exactly for such purposes. > >III. International Advisory Council > > * At the time we set up the framework for > the Kyoto World Cities cooperative program in > late 2004 (see > http://kyotocities.org) > we contact some 150 of our colleagues working > to advance understanding and practice of these > issues and invited them to show their support > for the International Advisory Council, the > present composition of which you can see at > http://ecoplan.org/briefs/general/panel.htm. > * These are outstanding personalities and > leaders in the field, and of course in each > case we sought their permission to include > their names as supporters in the tough fight > for sustainable development and social justice > in the transport field. Two quick things about this listing if you will. > * First, since the momentum is finally > picking up considerably in our shared field, it > is now time to expand this group greatly. These > shared values, links, and eventual working > relationships are going to be important as the > push is on, so now is the time to expand the > group (which I have neglected to do badly over > the last year). And while we are as always > interested to have established figures in the > field leading the way, we also have a strong > preference to bring as many young people with > proven commitment, as well as women (far too > few to date) and of course to continue to > ensure the very broad geographic distribution. > So you counsel on this will be most welcome. > * Also if for some reason you no longer > share the goals and values of the New Mobility > projects, well it would be good if you would > let me know so that I can sure that our listing > continues to be one hundred percent solid. This is no time for ambiguity. > * As to your nominations, it would be good > to have their basic contact information along > with a line or two on their work and approach. Thanks > >* * * > >So that?s where things pretty much stand at this >point, so let me close with the following query for you: > > * It is either an emergency or it is not. If > it?s just a "kind of emergency", what the hell > ?we can propose just about anything we want. > But if it is ? and we know that President > Clinton thinks it is, and now you know that I > do too, and I know as well that many of you > here share this view -- then this probably > changes just about everything. And are you ready for that? > >With all good wishes > >Eric Britton Sincerely, Todd Alexander Litman Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org) litman@vtpi.org Phone & Fax 250-360-1560 1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA ?Efficiency - Equity - Clarity? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070213/5428a6a3/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Thu Feb 15 00:33:23 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:33:23 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Clinton Climate Initiative Employment Opportunities Message-ID: <069f01c7504d$7827b300$6401a8c0@home> While, as I understand it, these posts involve all sectors of the Clinton Climate Initiative and not just the transport component, I thought that some of you might find the following of interest. And again the website for the foundation is at http://www.clintonfoundation.org/. Eric Britton Clinton Climate Initiative: 1. Position: City Coordinator, Buenos Aires Description: The City Coordinator (CC) works with the political and administrative leadership to establish the highest priorities for developing and implementing programs that reduce energy use, use cleaner energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The CC agrees with government on the specific role the Foundation can play in achieving these priorities, and then ensures that the Foundation delivers to the satisfaction of government. The CC manages the overall city program, including planning, budgeting, managing relationships with the government and other key stakeholders, implementation, monitoring and reporting, and expectation management. The CC also determines when specialized expertise needs to be made available within the city, and coordinates with the appropriate staff of the Foundation worldwide to ensure delivery. As the ambassador of the Foundation in a city, the CC ensures that all actions of the country team are consistent with the Foundation's values, and continually strives to strengthen the mutual respect between the Foundation and government. Responsibilities include: * Taking ownership of the Foundation's agenda and successfully executing it * Building a small yet highly effective team on-the-ground to pursue the various streams of work * Establishing the appropriate processes and tools for planning, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring progress * Developing trust and strong relationships with all the key stakeholders in government, at both ministerial and administrative levels, as well as international agencies, NGOs, and donors * Maintaining appropriate bi-directional communication and information flow with HQ to ensure the Foundation's capabilities are being fully leveraged on-the-ground * Continuing to identify the most critical hurdles to taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and refining priorities to address these hurdles * Maintaining and strengthening the reputation of the Foundation as a highly capable organization, whose agenda is primarily to partner with government and assist with its most pressing needs in climate change mitigation Pluses: * Fluency in Spanish and English is required TO APPLY: Please e-mail letter of interest, resume, and names of three references to: chaijobs@clintonfoundation.org. In the subject field of the e-mail, please type only JOB CODE CITY COORD-BUENOS AIRES 2. Position: City Coordinator, Sao Paulo Description: The City Coordinator (CC) works with the political and administrative leadership to establish the highest priorities for developing and implementing programs that reduce energy use, use cleaner energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The CC agrees with government on the specific role the Foundation can play in achieving these priorities, and then ensures that the Foundation delivers to the satisfaction of government. The CC manages the overall city program, including planning, budgeting, managing relationships with the government and other key stakeholders, implementation, monitoring and reporting, and expectation management. The CC also determines when specialized expertise needs to be made available within the city, and coordinates with the appropriate staff of the Foundation worldwide to ensure delivery. As the ambassador of the Foundation in a city, the CC ensures that all actions of the country team are consistent with the Foundation's values, and continually strives to strengthen the mutual respect between the Foundation and government. Responsibilities include: * Taking ownership of the Foundation's agenda and successfully executing it * Building a small yet highly effective team on-the-ground to pursue the various streams of work * Establishing the appropriate processes and tools for planning, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring progress * Developing trust and strong relationships with all the key stakeholders in government, at both ministerial and administrative levels, as well as international agencies, NGOs, and donors * Maintaining appropriate bi-directional communication and information flow with HQ to ensure the Foundation's capabilities are being fully leveraged on-the-ground * Continuing to identify the most critical hurdles to taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and refining priorities to address these hurdles * Maintaining and strengthening the reputation of the Foundation as a highly capable organization, whose agenda is primarily to partner with government and assist with its most pressing needs in climate change mitigation Pluses: . Fluency in Portuguese and English is required TO APPLY: Please e-mail letter of interest, resume, and names of three references to: chaijobs@clintonfoundation.org. In the subject field of the e-mail, please type only JOB CODE CITY COORD-SAO PAULO 3. Position: Chicago City Director Location: City Hall, Chicago Terms: Full-time, 12-month term, with 3 month probationary period Email Contact: climateinfo@clintonfoundation.org The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is a Clinton Foundation project dedicated to making a difference in the fight against climate change in practical and measurable ways, initiating programs that directly result in substantial reductions in heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. In its first project, the CCI is assisting the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group-an organization of the world's 40 largest cities-in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency, using the same business-oriented approach that has made other Clinton Foundation initiatives successful. Urban areas account for 75 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Description: The William J. Clinton Foundation seeks qualified candidates to coordinate CCI's program in the city of Chicago for a twelve-month employment term. The term may be followed by a renewal option, based on program results. Key Responsiblities: * Serve as the City's single Clinton Foundation point of contact and provide timely support to Chicago initiatives within the scope of the Initiative * Liaise with City counterpart to identify mutual priorities and develop corresponding program direction and objectives, consistent with the City's Environmental Action Agenda and other relevant policy documents * Facilitate or participate in regular meetings to engage and brief senior-level City officials and invited stakeholders on the Clinton Climate Initiative activities in Chicago and member cities worldwide, as appropriate * Coordinate within the Foundation to secure necessary approval/buy-in on key policy decisions made with respect to Chicago programming * Develop and report on metrics used to track and manage the Foundation's Chicago-specific financial and programmatic performance. * Liaise with CCI programs in other cities around the world to share and receive best practices information. Minimum Requirements: * Candidates should have at least five years' professional experience, preferably in the fields of public policy, administration or planning or executive management. * Budget administration experience and advanced degrees in those fields are highly encouraged, and candidates with a blend of technical and policy experience are strongly preferred. * Experience in the areas of climate science, renewable energy, energy efficiency, green building and/or finance is advantageous, though not essential, as is knowledge of Chicago's municipal operations and business climate. Please send resume and cover letter to climateinfo@clintonfoundation.org 4. Position: New Orleans City Director Location: New Orleans Terms: Full-time, 3 month probationary period Email Contact: climateinfo@clintonfoundation.org Description: The William J. Clinton Foundation seeks qualified candidates to coordinate CCI's program in the city of New Orleans. The City Director (CD) works with the political and administrative leadership to establish the highest priorities for developing and implementing programs that reduce energy use, use cleaner energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The CD agrees with government on the specific role the Foundation can play in achieving these priorities, and then ensures that the Foundation delivers to the satisfaction of government. The CD manages the overall city program, including planning, budgeting, managing relationships with the government and other key stakeholders, implementation, monitoring and reporting, and expectation management. The CD also determines when specialized expertise needs to be made available within the city, and coordinates with the appropriate staff of the Foundation worldwide to ensure delivery. As the ambassador of the Foundation in a city, the CD ensures that all actions of the country team are consistent with the Foundation's values, and continually strives to strengthen the mutual respect between the Foundation and government. Responsibilities include: As the senior representative of the Clinton Foundation in the country, the CD is responsible for: * Taking ownership of the Foundation's agenda and successfully executing it * Building a small yet highly effective team on-the-ground to pursue the various streams of work Establishing the appropriate processes and tools for planning, budgeting, reporting, and monitoring progress * Developing trust and strong relationships with all the key stakeholders in government, at both ministerial and administrative levels, as well as international agencies, NGOs, and donors * Maintaining appropriate bi-directional communication and information flow with HQ to ensure the Foundation's capabilities are being fully leveraged on-the-ground. * Continuing to identify the most critical hurdles to taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and refining priorities to address these hurdles. * Maintaining and strengthening the reputation of the Foundation as a highly capable organization, whose agenda is primarily to partner with government and assist with its most pressing needs in climate change mitigation. Minimum Requirements: * 5 years experience in private or public center enterprise, with increasing levels of responsibility and leadership * Successful service in a leadership role, with full operational and financial accountability for a program, region, or business. * Ability to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones at multiple levels in government. * Demonstrated ability working with organization leadership on strategic, operational, and organizational issues, as a team player. * Experience in the areas of climate science, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green building is advantageous, though not essential. Please send resume and cover letter to climateinfo@clintonfoundation.org. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070214/ceefae3a/attachment.html From eric.britton at ecoplan.org Fri Feb 16 19:26:18 2007 From: eric.britton at ecoplan.org (Eric Britton) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 11:26:18 +0100 Subject: [sustran] New Mobility Support of Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative - Organizational note Message-ID: <019401c751b4$e6707000$6401a8c0@home> Dear Friends, In your future exchanges on this important subject, please be so kind: 1. New Mobility Idea Factory hosting these exchanges: To post all comments and suggestions concerning the Clinton/Large Cities Climate Initiative specially to the New Mobility Idea Factory via NewMobilityCafe@yahoogroups.com. Thanks for doing this rather than allowing your important comments and eventual reference points to be scattered and inconvenient for others to reference. 2. Add the word "Clinton" to your subject line: As usual we ask you to try to keep continuity in the discussions by respecting the original Subject headings where they continue to be relevant. But in any event, please ensure that you pop President Clinton's name somewhere into your reference. In this way your comment or suggestion will be called up by anyone who clicks to the top link on our support site. Kind thanks, Eric Britton PS. Again the website reference is http://co2.newmobility.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070216/3073798e/attachment.html From edelman at greenidea.info Tue Feb 20 19:35:51 2007 From: edelman at greenidea.info (Green Idea Factory) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:35:51 +0100 Subject: [sustran] Skies turn grey in Ulan Bator Message-ID: <45DACF07.4010104@greenidea.info> There are lots of reasons besides increased automobile use for Ulan Bator's descent into EGH (economic growth hell), but at bottom of article they list measures they are studying to solve the problem... but taking the auto- out of automobile does not seem to be one of them (okay, maybe it is simply not mentioned here...) Anyone have more info? -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network From etts at indigo.ie Tue Feb 20 20:18:50 2007 From: etts at indigo.ie (Brendan Finn) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:18:50 -0000 Subject: [sustran] Re: Skies turn grey in Ulan Bator References: <45DACF07.4010104@greenidea.info> Message-ID: <006801c754e0$e606c7c0$0a01a8c0@finn> The challenges in Ulaanbaatar are complex. As in many problem cities, it is has taken quite some time and many fluffed decisions to get to this point, so it won't be easy to resolve it either. There are a few key factors : a) Ulaanbaatar has grown rapidly over the past few decades, and now has more than one third of the entire population of Mongolia (c. 1 million out of less than 3 million people). This has been mostly migration from the countryside, but also from mining towns and other small population centres. There are no other counter-balancing urban centres of note. b) There is a legacy stock of Soviet-era apartments, but the bulk of the growth has been in "ger settlements". A "Ger" ('yurt' in other countries) is a felt-covered solid tent structures normally used in the countryside, and a very effective way to survive the harsh winters. No-one had foreseen settlements of thousands and thousands of these like a giant trailer park with individual fenced areas, small muddy lanes, animal husbandry and various other characteristics. I believe that about 45% of Ulaanbaatar's population is in gers. Mostly, their heating and cooking is done by coal, which contributes greatly to the air quality problems, not to mention sanitation and other issues. c) Ulaanbaatar has a roads structure suited to the Soviet era of buses and trucks, a set of relative narrow arteries and key routes, and channelled traffic. Once private cars with dispersed movement patterns hit it, it rapidly congested. It was evident in 1995-6 how it was going to turn out, but our recommendations to establish bus priority before it was too late (along with many other measures) were ignored. I haven't been there in some time, but I believe it is now heavily congested. d) The bus and trolleybus network - which in 1995-6 was fairly good but with aged rolling stock - has been seriously eroded. As I understand it, the minibuses have taken a very large share of the public transport market, extracting seriously from the large bus network, and contributing to the congestion. They are probably the only practical means of serving the ger settlements. The buses received from Korea and Japan in 1995-6 are now at the end of their viable life, and it's not certain what happens next. e) The topography of Ulaanbaatar is also a factor, being on a river plan between high ground to north and south. In the absence of wind, you can get a nasty build-up of emissions, and in sunny weather this can also lead to photochemical smog and low-level ozone. I don't know if the big coal-fired power plant on the west side of the city is still in service, but ten years ago it was a nasty addition to the problem except in summer when it shut down for maintenance. I believe that some of the international agencies are getting active there on transportation and air quality issues, hopefully they will make some contribution, but I think the problems go deep into the migration of population into Ulaanbaatar, the lack of alternative employment centres, and the now-embedded ger settlement population who probably do not have the lifeskills to live outside their current environment. I hope this is of some assistance to anyone looking at Ulaanbaatar's challenges. With best wishes, Brendan Finn. _____________________________________________________________________________________ >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : +353.87.2530286 ----- Original Message ----- From: Green Idea Factory To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:35 AM Subject: [sustran] Skies turn grey in Ulan Bator There are lots of reasons besides increased automobile use for Ulan Bator's descent into EGH (economic growth hell), but at bottom of article they list measures they are studying to solve the problem... but taking the auto- out of automobile does not seem to be one of them (okay, maybe it is simply not mentioned here...) Anyone have more info? -- -------------------------------------------- Todd Edelman Director Green Idea Factory Korunn? 72 CZ-10100 Praha 10 Czech Republic ++420 605 915 970 ++420 222 517 832 Skype: toddedelman edelman@greenidea.eu http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain Green Idea Factory, a member of World Carfree Network -------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via YAHOOGROUPS. Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. ================================================================ SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070220/9adba1f1/attachment.html From sguttikunda at gmail.com Wed Feb 21 00:23:46 2007 From: sguttikunda at gmail.com (Sarath Guttikunda) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:53:46 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Re: Skies turn grey in Ulan Bator In-Reply-To: <006801c754e0$e606c7c0$0a01a8c0@finn> References: <45DACF07.4010104@greenidea.info> <006801c754e0$e606c7c0$0a01a8c0@finn> Message-ID: <683ba1ca0702200723r3a5ca2e4ic378c3662ad96566@mail.gmail.com> Dear All, I was in UB in June, 2006 to conduct a preliminary assessment of the current AQ activities and emissions. The urban planning commission in UB conducted a study last year which concluded ~90% coming from Gers and rest from transport (~7%) and industry (~3%).. not sure of the exact proportion, but that's the ball park. Gers in general are a major contributor given the high altitude of the area, valley like terrain which traps all the pollutants in situ, and low inversion layer which is very prevalent in the cold conditions. This makes Gers the prominent source. On the other hand, it makes a lot of difference where you take these measurements. Closer to the gers, higher the contribution of those sources to the measured value - give and take some dispersion of pollutants from the neighborhoods. In this study, all the pollutants were combined together, which is not an usual procedure. That's the official assessment. Overall, motor vehicles are a major contributor, along with Gers increasing coal consumption. Given the trend in the number of vehicles on the road, their contribution is bound to increase several folds.. including indirect pollution from vehicles.. the fugitive dust from the roads. Given the dry conditions in UB, there is a lot of tendency for higher resuspension of dust on the roads. Ozone is also increasingly becoming a problem, but the monitoring system is limited in its capacity. Now, there is also an Air Quality Management Bureau (AQMB), which is in its infancy and will take some effort and collaboration from the international agencies to start and study some projects. Currently, a full scale study to inventorize the multiple sources and multiple pollutants in a co-benefit and integrated framework is yet to be undertaken. There has been some rough estimates in the past, but there is a growing need and demand from the locals to establish a credible knowledge base, which hopefully will happen soon. Programs like Efficient stoves for Gers, reducing coal consumption at power and industrial level - by reducing elec losses, will be contributing to reducing air pollutants and GHGs, but how much and how is a question. There are some recent publications on Indoor Air Pollution in Gers and the efficient stove program. with regards, Sarath -- Sarath Guttikunda New Delhi, India Email: sguttikunda@gmail.com On 2/20/07, Brendan Finn wrote: > > The challenges in Ulaanbaatar are complex. As in many problem cities, it > is has taken quite some time and many fluffed decisions to get to this > point, so it won't be easy to resolve it either. There are a few key > factors : > > a) Ulaanbaatar has grown rapidly over the past few decades, and now has > more than one third of the entire population of Mongolia (c. 1 million out > of less than 3 million people). This has been mostly migration from the > countryside, but also from mining towns and other small population centres. > There are no other counter-balancing urban centres of note. > > b) There is a legacy stock of Soviet-era apartments, but the bulk of the > growth has been in "ger settlements". A "Ger" ('yurt' in other countries) is > a felt-covered solid tent structures normally used in the countryside, and a > very effective way to survive the harsh winters. No-one had foreseen > settlements of thousands and thousands of these like a giant trailer park > with individual fenced areas, small muddy lanes, animal husbandry and > various other characteristics. I believe that about 45% of Ulaanbaatar's > population is in gers. Mostly, their heating and cooking is done by coal, > which contributes greatly to the air quality problems, not to mention > sanitation and other issues. > > c) Ulaanbaatar has a roads structure suited to the Soviet era of buses and > trucks, a set of relative narrow arteries and key routes, and channelled > traffic. Once private cars with dispersed movement patterns hit it, it > rapidly congested. It was evident in 1995-6 how it was going to turn out, > but our recommendations to establish bus priority before it was too late > (along with many other measures) were ignored. I haven't been there in some > time, but I believe it is now heavily congested. > > d) The bus and trolleybus network - which in 1995-6 was fairly good but > with aged rolling stock - has been seriously eroded. As I understand it, the > minibuses have taken a very large share of the public transport market, > extracting seriously from the large bus network, and contributing to the > congestion. They are probably the only practical means of serving the ger > settlements. The buses received from Korea and Japan in 1995-6 are now at > the end of their viable life, and it's not certain what happens next. > > e) The topography of Ulaanbaatar is also a factor, being on a river plan > between high ground to north and south. In the absence of wind, you can get > a nasty build-up of emissions, and in sunny weather this can also lead to > photochemical smog and low-level ozone. I don't know if the big coal-fired > power plant on the west side of the city is still in service, but ten years > ago it was a nasty addition to the problem except in summer when it shut > down for maintenance. > > I believe that some of the international agencies are getting active there > on transportation and air quality issues, hopefully they will make some > contribution, but I think the problems go deep into the migration of > population into Ulaanbaatar, the lack of alternative employment centres, and > the now-embedded ger settlement population who probably do not have the > lifeskills to live outside their current environment. > > I hope this is of some assistance to anyone looking at Ulaanbaatar's > challenges. > > With best wishes, > > > Brendan Finn. > > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : etts@indigo.ie tel : > +353.87.2530286 > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Green Idea Factory > *To:* Global 'South' Sustainable Transport > *Sent:* Tuesday, February 20, 2007 10:35 AM > *Subject:* [sustran] Skies turn grey in Ulan Bator > > There are lots of reasons besides increased automobile use for Ulan > Bator's descent into EGH (economic growth hell), but at bottom of > article they list measures they are studying to solve the problem... but > taking the auto- out of automobile does not seem to be one of them > (okay, maybe it is simply not mentioned here...) > > Anyone have more info? > > > > -- > -------------------------------------------- > > Todd Edelman > Director > Green Idea Factory > > Korunn? 72 > CZ-10100 Praha 10 > Czech Republic > > ++420 605 915 970 > ++420 222 517 832 > Skype: toddedelman > > edelman@greenidea.eu > http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain > > Green Idea Factory, > a member of World Carfree Network > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > > > -------------------------------------------------------- > IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss messages via > YAHOOGROUPS. > > Please go to http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss to > join the real sustran-discuss and get full membership rights. The > yahoogroups version is only a mirror and 'members' there cannot post to the > real sustran-discuss (even if the yahoogroups site makes it seem like you > can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement. > > ================================================================ > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries > (the 'Global South'). > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070220/442bc684/attachment.html From operations at velomondial.net Wed Feb 21 22:32:59 2007 From: operations at velomondial.net (Pascal van den Noort) Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:32:59 +0100 Subject: [sustran] 'The future of EU international cooperation for research and knowledge transfer on local sustainability' Message-ID: <012601c755bc$d039ccd0$9600000a@MPBV> Dear colleague The European Commission, in cooperation with Susta-Info, will organize an Expert Meeting on 'The future of EU international cooperation for research and knowledge transfer on local sustainability'. This invitation only event will take place in Seville, Spain, March 20, 2007; this is one day before ICLEI's 'Fifth European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns; Sevilla2007 - Taking the Commitments to the Streets'. The meeting aims to formulate an advice to the European Commission on which critical issues relevant in the international cooperation context should be supported as a priority by the EU research activities for urban sustainability during the 2007-2013 funding period (7th Framework Programme). Concretely, this advice may take the form of specific recommendations for themes or research topics deserving specific attention in terms of new knowledge generation or support and coordination activities stimulating the dissemination and uptake of existing knowledge on the international scene. The future exploitation of Susta-Info in cooperation with other partners could be a central element in this advice. A demonstration of Susta-Info and debate will take place in the afternoon. I have attached an invitation to register and program to this event and I hope to be able to welcome you in Seville. Pascal van den Noort www.susta-info.net Please let us know if you would like to be invited to this event, and state your field of expertise. Copy the following text in an e-mail and send to urbania@xs4all.nl Yes I would like to attend to the Susta-Info: * Expert meeting on The future of EU International Cooperation for Research and Knowledge Transfer in the morning. * Mid-Term Seminar Susta-Info in the afternoon (tick appropriate boxes) Name: Institute / City / NGO / Company: Field of Expertise: e-mail: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070221/b045f079/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SustaInfo-Sevilla2007-Seminar (2).pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 145299 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070221/b045f079/SustaInfo-Sevilla2007-Seminar2.pdf From valeria.serrano at serrano-pecorari.com.ar Wed Feb 21 23:57:27 2007 From: valeria.serrano at serrano-pecorari.com.ar (Valeria Serrano) Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:57:27 -0300 Subject: [sustran] S.A.T. Project, 4D City Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, I have been following your debates and contributions with interest, sharing your concern on the evolution of urban environments and state-of-the-art technologies that may shape future sustainable scenarios. It is following this line where I believe I may give our contribution, headed probably from a different scope. We agree today that facing worldwide critical-stage in matters of sustainability, makes ?alternatives? to be no longer a choice, but a necessity. Today?s proposals in the fields of green-policy & technology are certainly a contribution, though we believe not substantial to achieve sustainability if a paradigmatic shift in urban development and transportation is not addressed. A new order cannot be defined from the optimisation of variables, as this may only aim to achieve a limited improvement over existing parameters. This is the central matter. I am part of a multidisciplinary Group that has been since 1999, developing a special R&D Programme entitled ?4D Cities?. The Program has been structured from a set of Projects that will shape the future sustainable development of contemporary mega-cities into cities of the 21st century, from a paradigmatic shift in urban mobility and the evolution into a new urban order. The Programme?s core has been the formulation of the ?4DCity Theory?, which premises were to analyze the relationship between urban dynamics and the present obsolete urban structure (built environment) and infrastructure (i.e. transportation), proposing to re-shape present living-conditions to meet new global demands. The Manifest states that cities must evolve under a holistic perspective to meet sustainable standards. From our findings we may say that this will only be possible, if cities are ?up-graded? under a ?space-time equation? (shifting from present 2D-cities to the conception of 4D-cities). This has been the trigger to face the challenge of developing S.A.T. Project: the first 3D Private-Public Mass Transportation System, for people and freight. S.A.T. stands for ?Autonomous Transportation System? and defines not only a technological innovation (3D Transportation) but sets a new transportation category as it has been conceived not from traditional transportation schemes, but from a holistic vision, integrating environmental and societal issues, urban planning processes, architecture, policy and sustainability matters and transportation engineering. Today, all present means of transportation work in 2D. S.A.T. Project has the particularity of working under the 3 directions of movement: horizontal, vertical and on a gradient; which will lead to the re-organisation of present cities. We are not only talking about a paradigmatic shift in urban transportation, we are saying that cities will be able to increase by ten times the number of inhabitants while meeting sustainable development standards. Our proposal of a 4D urban organisation has found in S.A.T. Project, the tool to shape the evolution of contemporary 2D cities and induce their paradigmatic shift towards a 4D City, a new dynamic and sustainable organisation which will define: * a new concept of Urban Governance. * a new concept of Market. * a new concept of Urban Sustainability. * a new concept of Urban Property. * a new concept of Transportation and Mobility. * a new concept of Society. * a new concept of Production. The re-structuring process of contemporary cities will be generated from its urban dynamics, cities will not need to be ?on hold? to define their transformation process, on the contrary; the urban rhythm will increase achieving higher standards in production, exchange and interaction, applied these to any sphere (business, social, market, cultural, etc.), while cities will be already evolving. Our Research and Projects have been validated by the scientific community at International Forums and publications. An International Cooperation has been developed in partnership with the Transportation Logistics Organisation from Delft University of Technology to develop further studies on S.A.T Project. It is quite difficult to address a brief introduction to a seven-year R&D Program; I hope this at least frames the nature of our contribution. If you believe this may be of your interest, you may find more information in the following websites: www.serrano-pecorari.com.ar and www.satproject.com.ar and we remain open to your contact, Best Regards, Valeria Serrano. Valeria Serrano, Prof. Architect Director Serrano Pecorari & Asociados De Los Robles 3071 Ciudad Jard?n El Palomar B1684CBC Buenos Aires Argentina * 0054.11.4751.7541 * valeria.errano@serrano-pecorari.com.ar web: www.serrano-pecorari.com.ar | www.satproject.com.ar The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070221/e6d3e215/attachment.html From sujit at vsnl.com Fri Feb 23 16:16:06 2007 From: sujit at vsnl.com (Sujit Patwardhan) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:46:06 +0530 Subject: [sustran] Bangalore based members Message-ID: <4cfd20aa0702222316x59fb97f9ubd6a219694c9213@mail.gmail.com> 23 February 2007 I plan to be in Bangalore for a couple of days and would like to meet fellow SUSTRAN members based in Bangalore if mutually convenient. Can you please send me an Email giving your contact details if you happen to have some time on Monday 26th February? Thanks and good wishes, -- Sujit -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan sujit@vsnl.com sujitjp@gmail.com "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar www.parisar.org ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) www.pttf.net ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://list.jca.apc.org/public/sustran-discuss/attachments/20070223/a782d33e/attachment.html From carlos.pardo at sutp.org Sat Feb 24 06:22:40 2007 From: carlos.pardo at sutp.org (Carlos F. Pardo SUTP) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:22:40 -0500 Subject: [sustran] SUTP update December 2006- February 2007 Message-ID: <45DF5B20.3080009@sutp.org> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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