Education brings choices.Choices bring power.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPECIAL FOCUS: Nuclear Energy: A Panacea for Renewable Energy?

Uranium Mining and its Implications

CHORNOBYL UPDATE: Making History

In Memoriam Dr. Mohamed El Banna

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:Water For Life

GOOD NEWS

DYD YOU KNOWNREL Supports Solar Energy TechnologiesAdding New Persistent Organic Pollutants to the Stockholm Convention

VOICESAn NGO Introduction to Mercury PollutionThe Geocoded TenKilometer Cube Stacked

Mission Statement

20th International Conference on Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions

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Amidst concerns over the deleterious effects of anthropogenic climate change, nuclear energy has been heralded as an ideal technology for climate change miti-gation. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), a nuclear energy industry association, nuclear energy in the U.S. “avoids almost 650 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year (…nearly as much carbon dioxide as is released from passen-ger cars) [and]…about 2.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide [worldwide].” NEI further states that “without the emission avoidances from nuclear generation, re-quired reductions in the U.S. would in-crease by more than 50 percent to achieve targets under the Kyoto Protocol.” These are extremely impressive claims which ap-pear to indicate that nuclear energy is a panacea solution for combating climate change. However, are these claims factual or a result of ‘creative carbon accounting’? Clearly, the calculation of carbon dioxide avoidance must assume some carbon emit-ting technology (or a mix of technologies) that are being replaced, thus this is an area where the total “avoided” CO2 would be di-rectly affected by different numbers used in the calculations.

Technology Overview:Before analyzing the environmental (as

well as health, safety and cost) implications of nuclear energy, a basic understanding of how nuclear power plants operate is in-structive. Nuclear power plants rely on nu-clear fission to generate power. Fission is the process whereby a heavy and unstable atom (typically uranium or plutonium) is split into lighter, more stable atoms. The combined atomic weight of the lighter at-oms which resulted from the fission process is slightly less (by about .7%) than that of the original heavy atom. As we know, mass can neither be created nor destroyed. Instead,

Source: nature.com/climate/2008/0810/full/climate.2008.99.html

Spring 2011, vol. XXIII No.1

SPECIAL FOCUS:Nuclear Energy: A Panacea for Renewable Energy?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has”

MARGARET MEAD

this tiny fraction of ‘missing’ mass was con-verted into energy as is predicted by Albert Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (E = MC2; where E is energy, M is mass and C is a constant). Current nuclear power plant designs take advantage of only a small frac-tion (0.7%) of uranium atoms in nature to capture the heat energy produced during fission for conversion to electricity. How-ever, since ore grades (i.e. overall quantity of uranium per amount of mined material) vary widely, the associated energy inputs required (and the corresponding carbon footprint) for mining and processing the uranium for use in fuel can vary widely de-pending on ore grade.

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Fallacy: Nuclear Energy as a Carbon Neutral Technology:

The aforementioned statistics of the NEI underscore the reality that nuclear fission does not emit carbon di-oxide or other greenhouse gasses. While this is true, the actual nuclear fission is only one of myriad processes in-volved in nuclear energy production. An examination of the entire process involved in generating energy – a cradle to the grave analysis – shows that indeed no en-ergy source is truly carbon free from a lifecycle perspec-tive, and the size of nuclear’s carbon footprint can vary greatly depending on the technology used to extract the uranium from the environment (traditional mining vs. in situ leach technology), the enrichment technology (gaseous diffusion vs. centrifuge) used for production of the most common nuclear fuel used and the overall electricity mix used to supply the energy for enrichment (fossil vs. nuclear). A more efficient centrifuge-based enrichment process and a nuclear-based electricity sup-ply, such as used in France, would have a much lower carbon footprint.

The nuclear fuel cycle begins with mining uranium ore. Mining is one of the most carbon intensive indus-trial processes (cement making is another – more on this below) and uranium mining, because of low yields is even more energy intensive. ‘High-grade uranium ores’ are those that produce 1 kg of uranium per metric ton of ore ( for a yield of .1%). Furthermore, these ‘high-grade uranium ore’ deposits are being rapidly depleted. Within a matter of decades (or less, according to some estimates) ‘high-grade uranium ore’ deposits will be de-pleted, leaving only ‘low-grade uranium ore’ deposits which contain less than 1kg of uranium per 10 metric tons of ore (for a yield less than 0.01%). The mining pro-cess releases massive quantities of carbon dioxide and also introduces naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) to the accessible environment where workers and the public can receive potentially significant expo-sures, chiefly due to radon.

After, mining the ore is transported – releasing ad-ditional carbon dioxide – to refiners which use an en-ergy intensive and therefore carbon intensive process to refine the ore to purities which are suitable for nuclear fission. The refined uranium is again transported, this time to nuclear reactors. The reactors themselves are constructed out of thousands of tons of cement. Ce-ment production is a carbon intensive process and re-actor construction results in CO2 emissions through the use of cement and other energy intensive materials.

Once trans-ported to nu-clear reactors, the uranium is used to create energy through fission in the re-actor core. The refined urani-um is only suit-able for limited amounts of en-ergy production and must be replaced after five or six years of use in the reactor core. The resulting ‘spent’ nuclear fuel rods, while not suitable for further power generation, remain highly radioactive for thousands of years and must be managed appropriately to ensure protection of human health and the environment. Currently, in the U.S. and elsewhere, this spent fuel is stored on site until a perma-nent disposal option becomes available.

Accordingly, spent fuel inventories are increasing at many locations that as of yet have no viable repository for their disposal. However, there is a scientific consen-sus that geologic disposal is a safe, effective means for isolating spent fuel and related wastes from humans and the environment for the very long time periods needed, and several countries now appear close to constructing and operating such disposal sites (e.g., Sweden, Finland and France). Other countries appear to be undecided in their approach to dealing with the waste problem. The U.S., which was on track to open the first geologic repos-itory for spent fuel at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, is now re-evaluating its options following the shutdown of the program in 2009 by the Administration. Reprocessing of spent fuel for reuse in reactors, as practiced in France and a limited number of other countries, has been pro-posed as a way to reduce the amount of material for

The Process of Fission

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies,

and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open

market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”- John F. Kennedy, 35th US president (1917-1963)

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disposal while extracting more energy from existing re-sources. However, the benefits from this technology are also widely debated and the process still generates signif-icant amounts of radioactive waste which cannot be re-purposed and requires disposal in a manner similar to that for spent nuclear fuel Finally, decommissioning of nuclear power plants is an expensive endeavor, although those costs are typically internalized in the cost of the electricity.

Quantifying Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Nuclear Energy:

Currently, one of the most efficient applications of the nuclear fuel cycle for electricity generation in terms of CO2 generation is the use of CANDU-type nuclear re-actors in Canada because of the availability of extremely ‘high-grade uranium ore’ within Canada and the unique ability to use uranium fuel with little or no enrichment. This technology is reported to produce approximately 15 kilotons of carbon dioxide per TWh of energy (as opposed to an average of 66 kilotons CO2 per TWh re-ported by Sovacool, 2009). Nuclear power clearly gen-erates less CO2 than other baseload sources of electric-ity, such as coal (960 – 1050 kilotons CO2 per TWh) and natural gas (443 kilotons CO2 per TWh). Although, there is no question that renewals, such as wind and so-lar have lower carbon footprints and are less expensive than nuclear, their ability to replace nuclear, coal, gas, and other baseload electricity sources are currently lim-ited by their intermittency, e.g., the times that wind does not blow and times that solar radiation is insufficient for generation (night or cloudy days). However, in addition to the climate change issue, substantial concern and controversy over the environmental and human health risks associated with nuclear energy remain.

Future of Nuclear Energy:While it is clear that civilian nuclear power plants are

not a panacea solution to climate change, this does not mean that there is not a role for nuclear power. Reli-able electric power is widley recognized as an important

contributor to improved quality of life, health and de-velopment as emobodied in the UN Millennium De-velopment Goals. A growing consensus among various organizations and viewpoints is that a mixture of energy technologies are needed to achieve the often conflicting goals of increased power generation to meet develop-mental goals, climate change mitigation, environmental protection and energy security. Civilian nuclear power plants are not always a logical solution for energy gen-eration due to high construction costs and the need for a developed industrial and regulatory infrastructure; a long-term waste management capability; and a special-ized workforce to ensure safe and efficient operation. However, many recognize their place in the mixture of global energy options. In addition, highly enriched ura-nium and other weapons grade nuclear material can be used in civilian nuclear reactors to produce energy and to sufficiently degrade the nuclear material such that it is no longer suitable for use in nuclear weapons. Russia to numerous Eastern European countries. Ukraine was also involved in these deals.

YUCCA MOUNTAIN SITE

Fuel Cycle Process Actual 1996Energy Sources (kt/TWh)

All Fossil Fuel Energy Sources (kt/TWh)

Construction 2.22 2.22

Heavy Water Charge 0.0 9.64

Heavy Water Replacement 0.0 2.26

Mining and milling 0.22 0.37

Chemical Treatment 0.06 0.06

U3O8 Transport 0.005 0.005

U3O8 to UO3 0.025 0.051

UO3 to U02 0.050 0.087

Fuel Fabrication 0.01 0.11

Decommissioning 0.61 0.61

Total 3.20 15.41

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSION ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE CANDU FUEL CYCLE

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Country Mine Owner Mine type Production (metric tons)

% of world production

Canada Key Lake Cameco/Uranerz Open pit 5,429 15.4Canada Rabbit Lake Cameco/Uranerz Open pit/underground 3,972 11.3Australia Ranger ERA Open pit 3,508 10.0Namibia Rossing RTZ Open pit 2,452 7.0

Niger Akouta Cogema/Onarem Underground 2,120 6.0Canada Cluff Lake Cogema Open pit/underground 1,963 5.6Australia Olympic Dam WMC By-product (copper)/underground 1,466 4.1Niger Arlit Cogema/Onarem Open pit 1,200 3.4S. Africa Vaal Reefs Anglo-American By-product (gold)/underground 914 2.6Gabon Okelobondo Cogema/ Gabon State Underground 565 1.6

TOTAL 23,589 67.0

Top Ten Uranium Mines, 1996 (“Western world” only)

Source: Uranium Institute (now the World Nuclear Association)

In the context of mitigating climate change, nuclear power is seen as a vi-able option by many. However, common analyses of nuclear energy’s utility fail to address the grave ecological and health related costs of uranium mining. Typical analyses also fail to demonstrate that the negative effects mainly afflict highly vul-nerable, indigenous populations. In light of this reality, it is imperative to realize that viable alternatives to uranium mining and nuclear energy exist.

Even under the best regulatory condi-tions, uranium mining is likely to lead to environmental contamination. Tailings from uranium mines contain a wide spectrum of heavy metals as well as large concentra-tions of radionucleides. Moreover, the tail-ings are usually liquid or semi-liquid and are therefore easily introduced into ground water. Once introduced, there is no fully effective means for decontamination. Both miners and people living nearby uranium mines are afflicted by a host of related diseases including a variety of cancers, heavy metal poisoning and respiratory infection.

Often, uranium deposits have been located in land inhabited by indigenous populations (there are substantial uranium deposits on Navajo land in the U.S. and on land belonging to Canada’s First Peoples in the North West Ter-ritories). Recently, the Uranium Corporation of India has proposed to mine for uranium in Meghalaya, India, an area with a large indigenous population. While, uranium mining in Meghalaya and other areas may provide indigenous communities with access to cheaper, secure modern energy resources, it will likely be at a considerably cost to the local populations health and to the environment.

URANIUM MINING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

Moreover nuclear energy plays an important role in science and medicine. Nuclear reactors have enabled re-search which has led to the discovery of numerous suba-tomic particles and has enhanced our understanding of the universe and how it was formed, 14 billion years ago. Nuclear reactors are also crucial to producing medical isotopes, used for cancer treatment and advanced imag-ing. Thus, one can conclude that nuclear energy, while not a panacea for climate change, does have beneficial uses and will play an important part in energy develop-ment for the future. As Sovacool stated in his extensive critical survey “rather than detail the complexity and

variation inherent in the greenhouse gas emissions asso-ciated with the nuclear lifecycle, most studies obscure it; especially those motivated on both sides of the nuclear debate attempting to make nuclear energy look cleaner or dirtier than it really is”.Sources: energyscience.org.au/FS02%20CO2%20Emissions.pdf; computare.org/Support%20documents/Publications/Life%20Cycle.htm; nei.org/keyissues/protectingtheenvironment/lifecycleemissionsanalysis/; UNSCEAR 2008 Report, Volume I; www.unscear.org/unscear/en/publications/2008_1.html; Sovacool, Benjamin K. Valuing the Greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear power: a critical survey. Elsevier Ltd. 2008 Energy Policy: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol.

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CHORNOBYL UPDATE: Making HistoryUkraine came into global conscious-

ness as the country where the world’s worst nuclear accident happened – Chornobyl (Ukrainian spelling). Previ-ously is was only known as part of the Soviet Republic. Over the last twenty-five years since the Chornobyl Nuclear Disas-ter of April

26th, l986, increased factual informa-tion has emerged thus enabling scien-tists and politicians to readjust their as-sessment of the most dangerous nuclear explosion in human history. The story will continue to change as access to sci-entific and medical sources expands. In the meantime, we can ask what is impor-tant for a young person to learn now.

To a 20 year old, events in the Soviet Union - which no longer exists - oc-curred a long time ago; for an adoles-cent it’s a very long time ago and far away; and for the younger student, it is an event that occurred in a land not found on the map of l986, “in a galaxy far, far away.” The Chornobyl sto-ry tells of a population victimized and suffering since 1986. However, there are those who continued to live near the burnt reactor near the exclusion zone, eating food grown in the local contaminated soil and aging as if there been no nuclear explosion. These images further affirm a picture of victimization and suffering.

The Chornobyl story also demonstrates an array of reckless choices made by dictatorships to protect their power. Here again, political decisions victimized a pop-ulation many of whom have since emigrated. Citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia – the aggrieved populace – continue to be typically presented as powerless against the horror of invisible death dealing nuclear dust. Their land ruined, their children maimed, their need for aid perpetual.

At the end of last year, Ukraine announced plans to offer what one might call disaster tourism. This year, the

Chornobyl site is expected to be open to controlled visits and, presumably, would educate tourists about the spe-cifics of the accident. But what would the take away mes-sage be? The answer depends on the point of view about Ukraine, Ukrainians and the accident.

A tourist might learn the differences among nuclear reactor types, why an old Soviet RBMK model was more susceptible to human error than newer models made in Europe or North America. A young tourist might come away wondering if another Chornobyl could happen or just as likely could conclude that the accident was a unique event. A visitor may well feel pity for a nation of victims.

The Chornobyl story inevitably evokes emotion: hor-ror, fear, anger, sadness. An emotionally charged story is not necessarily a factual one, and the story of Chornobyl could devolve into one of sorrow and pity. However, sep-arating fact from feeling is the key lesson to be gleaned from the complex tale that is Chornobyl.

A young tourist visiting the Chornobyl site would do well to remember the words of former New York State Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but not their own facts.” It is the scientifically validated facts that a young person needs to have in order to make a sound judgement!

A cemetery of radioactive vehicles is seen near Chornobyl nuclear power plant. Source: AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

“Fear is, I believe, a most effective tool in destroying the soul of an individual -

and the soul of a people.”- Anwar Sadat, 3rd President of Egypt (1925-1981)

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We are entering an exciting era in which no country should be in isolation. The technological revolution in information, communication and transportation, plus the adoption by most of the countries of a free market economy is transforming our planet into one big world which we describe as globalization. In fact human beings have interacted across the planet since Adam descended on earth and this interaction took various forms and po-litical structures across the centuries. However, globali-zation is different now. It is backed by scientific knowl-edge, technology and economic expansion, and it also carries risks to those who cannot make profits on how we maintain our ecosystems, which are the source of the goods and services for our national economics.

Although, if technology and economics are the driv-ing force for globalization today, religion was one of the main driving forces for globalization in the past centu-ries. The main impact of religion is on the individuals themselves; it was the enlightening force that let all hu-man beings know their creator, their origin, their past , why they live and die, what is good and what is bad, what will happen after death. In other words it let them know that they are global by nature and their diversity in all its aspects is an integral part of this global nature, not only on earth but in a greater universe.

Religion, faith and spiritually have great influence on human beings, and it is a good idea to try to get the

IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Mohamed El-BannaChairman, Day Hospital Institute for Development & Rehabilitation, Cairo, Egypt

world religions to have a common stand or understand-ing of how important is the relation between our health and environment. Indeed I would like to thank WIT and Dr. Durbak to have brought this issue into this confer-ence. But the question is really whether religion has any-thing to do with health and environment.? The answer is yes, definitely in the religion of Islam and that is the subject of this presentation.

Islam is an Arabic word which means in English sur-render or submission to God. The Islamic religion is the most recent of the world religions. It started fourteen centuries and twenty five years ago when the Angel Ga-briel (Holy Spirit) came to Mohamed and asked him to read. This was the start of the revelation of the Koran that took 23 years to be completed. The Koran is the holy book of God after the Torah and The Bible and the miracle and the proof that Mohamed is the prophet and the messenger of God. The Koran tells the facts and the truth about God the creator of this universe and the story of the creation of the heavens and earth, the crea-tion of Adam and his presentation to the angels, Satan, Adam and Eve in paradise, the descent to earth, the stories of the previous prophets and messengers, the last day and the resurrection, together with Islamic law (Sharia), events during the life of Mohamed and his in-teraction with the people. The Islamic religion is built on five pillars: the testimony that there is no god ex-

We are deeply saddened by the death of Dr. Mohamed

El-Banna, on Feb 28, 2011. Dr. El-Banna joined our Board

of Advisors in 1993, served as WIT’s Regional Director

for Africa (1996-2011) and was responsible for the

publication and circulation of the Arabic edition of the

World Ecology Report. He was appointed advisor to Egypt’s

Minister of Population (1994 – 1996) and served on

Egypt’s delegation to the International Conference on

Population and Development (Cairo, 1994). Dr. El-Banna

chaired UNDP/ GEF National Steering Committee -

Egypt. He also developed the Middle East Regional

Hub for the International POPs Elimination Network.

We reprint his address, “Islam, Health and Environment” presented at WIT’s Ninth International Conference on Health and Environment:

Global Partners for Global Solutions, UN Headquarters.

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cept God, and Mohamed is his messenger; raising the prayers; giving the alms tax; fasting during the month of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca for those who can afford it. The Koran and the teachings of Mohamed are the main sources of Islamic religion. They will be the references in this presentation which will highlight the relation to health or environmental issues.

General PrinciplesFirst, God created the earth in perfect form and

planned its resources to match all the requirements of his creatures. But everything he created is with a limit although he is able to oversee everything. He rounded the earth, extracted from it its water and green land and made the mountains to stabilize it. He ordered the hu-man to colonize the earth and enjoy life together with their animals but not to waste its resources or to corrupt it. An example of that is the degradation of the Aral Sea, reduced to half its size by a combination of dam-ming and pollution by heavy metals and chemicals. The sea’s contamination resulted in the rise of tuberculosis, anaemia, kidney and liver disease among the region’s residents.

Second, there is no inflicting of harm in Islam. The prevention of harm should precede any good deed.

Third, biodiversity of plants are set to God’s wisdom, and so the trees and the fruits which have different tastes are irrigated from the same water. It is forbidden to de-stroy the trees in Islam even during war. Many plants and trees are mentioned in the Koran e.g. olives, figs, palm trees, pomegranates, wheat, onions, garlic, zucchini.

The animals are also created by God, and like us, they have language and communicate. If an animal is killed for food, the name of God had to be mentioned during the process otherwise it is a sin. It is forbidden to harm or tor-ture animals. The prophet Mohamed said that a woman entered hell for torturing a cat by not feeding it.

Fourth, sustainability which is an important rule in Is-lam.. The prophet Mohamed said that the best deed is what is small and sustained. Also he said that when any-one dies his deeds are stopped apart from three: a good son or daughter praying for him, science left to benefit all; a sustainable good deed. He also said that if the last day comes when one of your an offspring holds a palm, the palm should be planted.

These rules have warned for centuries what has now occurred to the earth’s environment. I refer particularly

to the findings of the report of the fraying of global eco-systems published by UNDP, UNEP, The World Bank and WRI.

The gateway to health in Islam starts from human be-havior and then its impact to the environment. God or-dered that there are 5 prayers a day and no prayer can be performed without washing the hands till the elbow, the face, passing a wet hand over hair and washing the feet till the ankles. The rules for washing after sexual and bod-ily functions are precise. Mohamed declared that cleanli-ness is an act of faith in Islam and kept the rules simple. He also would stop people from entering the mosque for prayer if they ate onions or garlic or they smelled.

The most interesting fact about washing before prayer is that it should be done with pure (clean) water. This had drawn the attention of all Moslems to the conditions of clean water and a cluster of publications focusing on the criteria of pure water existed over centuries. Also in build-ing mosques, there is always a supply of clean water and this became an Islamic tradition up till now.

The prophet Mohamed declared that Moslems should not eat unless they are hungry, and they should not over-eat. He also said that the stomach is the origin of sickness and controlling food (dieting) is the origin of cure. He declared that God never created an illness unless he made a cure for it except aging (senility) which has no cure. He ordered the people to seek medical cures, and he estab-lished the Moslem scholars and the foundation of mod-ern medicine. The prophet Mohamed was the first to es-tablish the rule of quarantine for epidemics recognizing that when plague attacks a community or town no body should come in or go out.

The prophet ordered the people not to sit at the sides of the roads and talk. Roads should be kept free for pas-sengers. He declared that preventing or removing harm from the roads is an act of faith in Islam.

In the Koran, when Lukman (wise man) advised his son, he told him not to walk proud and joyful on earth and to lower his voice ( noise pollution). These are just a few points to highlight the relation of Islam, health and envi-ronment and the need of support from all individuals of different faiths and religious leaders to stand firmly with NGOs, governments, and United Nations to sustain the viability of our ecosystems. It is vital to all of us whether rich or poor.Source: Presented during the Ninth International Conference on Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solu-tions held at the United Nations Headquarters.

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Google: Technology-DrivenPhilanthropy

Six years after its formation in 1998, the booming Internet Search Engine, Google, launched its phil-anthropic counterpart, Google.org. Since its inception in 2004, Google.org has used its extensive resources in information and technology to sup-port organizations and build prod-ucts that address challenges faced by humanity. Although initially focusing its attention on grant funding, the or-

ganization eventually shifted its focus to launching engineering projects that would raise awareness about critical is-sues such as climate change, poverty, and public health.

Among the organization’s most no-table projects are Google PowerMeter, an energy monitoring tool that allows you to conserve energy and save money by tracking your energy consumption at home over the internet; RE>C (Re-newable Energy Cheaper Than Coal), a project looking to moderate the use of coal for energy by using wind and so-lar energy to create enough energy to power a city the size of San Francisco, RechargeIT, which aims to moderate oil use and cut down CO2 emissions by advancing the adoption of electric vehicles and the Google Earth Engine, which makes forest monitoring possi-ble through raw satellite imagery of the Earth which is updated daily.

It was during the UN Climate Change Conference on Sep. 21, 2009

that the Google Earth forest monitor-ing application was first presented. The groundbreaking Google Earth ob-servation system was developed in con-junction with the Carnegie Institution for Science and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and it combined up-to-the minute forestry technology with raw satellite data and imagery which enables observation and meas-urement of changes in forest cover. The images provided by this system provide comprehensible images that allow individuals to view greenhouse gas emissions and track forest cover changes and human-induced degra-dation caused by logging and fires. Google Earth can also help lower the cost of forest monitoring for scientists, experts and non-profit organizations because the program is available on-line for free. Source: www.un-redd.org/admin/news-letter5; www.livegreenblog.com/news/disappearing-forests-visualize-deforesta-tion-in-3d-with-google-earth-6200/

Food For Thought: WATER FOR LIFEAlthough a large portion of the developed world has

access to clean, potable freshwater at the turn of a fau-cet, the current system is not sustainable and will even-tually deplete its supply. Tap water comes from surface or ground water, and problematically, cannot be created or destroyed, only recycled throughout the water cycle. Therefore, any consumption of water exhausts the limit-ed amount that is and will ever be on earth. In addition, those who have access to freshwater often take this water for granted and consume it much too quickly. A typical shower in a developed country wastes five to eight gal-lons of water per minute. A harsh inequality exists in which water is used to dispose of human waste in some areas of the world, while other places lack the clean wa-ter needed to sustain life.

Water is such a scarcity, not only because it is being consumed too fast, but because it takes thousands of years for groundwater to fully replenish itself through precipitation. To make matters worse, roadblocks to sus-tainability exist, such as the catch 22 in which water is required to generate energy, and energy, in turn, is re-quired to extract and purify water. Thousands of gallons of water are required to produce a single gallon of fuel. Solutions such as dams, pumping, and desalination tem-porarily generate water but do not address the rapidly

depleting supply. A solution to achieving water sustain-ability would be to focus on the groundwater portion of the water cycle—to consume it at a rate at which precip-itation is able to replenish the supply. By finding ways to reclaim used water, conserve energy, and complete simple tasks such as disposal of waste water would pro-mote less use of ground and surface water thus lead-ing to a decreased threat of depletion. Sustainability will be achieved only when people realize water’s worth and strive to conserve it.

Source: sawater.com.au/SAWater/Education/OurWaterSystems/The+Water+Cycle.htm

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NREL Supports Solar Energy Technologies

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an investment of up to $7 million in total funding through DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to support the de-velopment and commercialization of emerging solar energy technologies. Four projects have been launched to advance photovoltaic innovations.

The PV Technology Incubator program has the primary goal of ad-vancing the timeline and commercial potential of new manufacturing pro-cesses and products with the poten-tial for dramatic price improvements. This is the fourth installment of the successful PV Incubator program to advance photovoltaic innovations, where companies benefit from close partnership with the national labora-tories. an guarantee.

In this current round, companies were selected in one of two catego-ries: Tier 1, representing the develop-ment of commercially viable proto-types, receiving up to $1 million over 12 months; and Tier 2, representing the development and manufacturing scale-up of pilot-scale processes receiv-ing up to $4 million over 18 months. Funding will be issued through the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Crystal Solar, Santa Clara, Calif., is developing a new technology for the fabrication, handling, processing and packaging of very thin single-crystal silicon wafers (four times thinner than standard cells). This solution uses much less silicon, eliminating many of the wasteful and expensive wafer-processing steps and addressing the

problem of handling very thin wafers.NREL is the Department of Ener-

gy’s primary national laboratory for re-newable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Visit the DOE Solar Energy Tech-nologies Program online at www1.eere.energy.gov/solar. Visit NREL on-line at www.nrel.gov.

Adding New Persistent Organic Pollutants to the Stockholm Convention

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) does more than address the original ‘dirty dozen’ POPs chemicals. It rec-ognizes the need to take global ac-tion on all chemicals with the follow-ing POP-like characteristics:1. persistent in the environment;2. travel long distances via air and water;3. are toxic; and4.bioaccumulate in living things.

The Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee (POPRC) is a sub-sidiary body to the Stockholm Con-vention. The objective of the POPRC is to review proposals submitted by Parties to the Convention for listing new chemicals in Annex A, B, and/or C. The POPRC have assessed the following chemicals for inclusion on the Stockholm Convention’s list of POPs and recommended them for inclusion. The recommendation was accepted by COP4 2009.

Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Penta BDE) Octabromodiphenyl ether (Oc-taBDE) Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS): Pentachlorobenzene, Chlorde-cone, Hexabromobiphenyl, Lindane, Alpha & Beta hexachlorocyclohexane.

Currently the POPRC is assessing the following three chemicals:1. Short-chained chlorinated paraf-fins (SCCPs);2. Endosulfan;3. Hexabromocyclododecane (HB-CDD).Source: http://www.ipen.org/

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FUNGI KILL MALARIA-CAUSING PARASITES IN MOSQUITOES

NIH-funded study finds way to re-duce transmission of malaria to hu-mans. Spraying malaria-transmitting mosquitoes with a genetically modi-fied fungus can kill the malaria para-site without harming the mosquito, potentially reducing malaria trans-mission to humans, according to a new study published in the journal Science.

An estimated 225 million malaria cases occur worldwide annually, re-sulting in about 781,000 deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. Although the disease is present in 106 countries around the world, most cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Treating bed nets and indoor walls with insecticides is the main prevention strategy in devel-oping countries, but the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria are slowly becoming resistant to these in-secticides, rendering them less effec-tive.

One of these new strategies is kill-ing Anopheles mosquitoes by spray-ing them with the naturally occur-ring fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. Previous studies have found that this method nearly eliminates disease transmission when mosquitoes are sprayed soon after acquiring the ma-laria parasite. However, treating mos-quitoes with the fungus kills them before they have a chance to repro-duce and pass on their susceptibility to the spray. By genetically modifying M anisophliae fungi to block the de-velopment of the malaria parasite in the mosquito the malaria parasite was significantly reduced in the salivary glands of the sprayed population. The transgenic strain could then reduce trasmission of malaria to humans.Sources: niaid.nih.gov/topics/vector/Pages/Default.aspx; niaid.nih.gov/topics/malaria/Pages/default.aspx;nih.gov/news/health/feb2011/niaid-25.htm.

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An NGO Introduction to Mercury Pollution

The International POPs Elimina-tion Network, IPEN, has recently released “An NGO Introduction to Mercury Pollution.” This book pro-vides information about mercury pollution and its harm to human health and the environment. The book also presents the major sources of mercury pollution and calls for civ-il society efforts at the local, national, and global level to work toward con-trolling human activities that release mercury into the environment. IPEN Mercury Book is available in English, Russian and Spanish.Source: http://www.ipen.org/

The Geocoded1 10 Kilometer Cube Stacked: A Tool for Making the Global, Local

The Geocoded Spatial Transpar-ent Metric ( GSTM) takes in a vol-ume of space above and below our feet.. This proposal suggests an edu-cational metric tool for schools. This geocoded cube stacked would reflect our local reality, including its unique geography, ecosystem and neighbor-hood relationships.

We could set goals for indicators to be measured, at a small scale, like one meter cubed. Then, through the GSTM program we could enter data about our unique locality and our progress towards local sustainability. By becoming familiar with our own neighborhood, we would get better at understanding what is happening on a global scale and seeing how we are all interconnected. This would help us connect the data dots (1m3:10km3x2) and make better choices in health and the environment. By understanding our local environment, we will get a better at understanding the global ramifications of our behavior at home.

The figure to the left is called the Geocoded Spatial Transparent Metric. This is a representation of how this would work. There is a ten kilometer geocoded cube above sea level and

another geocoded ten kilometer cube just below sea level. The blue line rep-resents sea level. This new volumet-ric is submitted to The International Standards Organization (ISO).

GSTM builds on the Geographic Information System, Geographic Po-sitioning System and other algorithms such as Voxels or Google Earth. It uses data to flesh out its unique, but recog-nizable, complex pattern at a scale of ten kilometers cubed stacked two high above the geospheroid sea level (ISO). The advantage of a ten kilometer cube stacked (10km3x2) is that it is large enough to have diversity and complex-ity, but small enough that each individ-ual could know it and work well with it.

The GSTM you live in is unique to your geography and your neigh-borhood. Using GSTM in school you learn about different data sets that are being added to your locality. Groups like FAO, NOAA, WHO, CDC, CITES, and NIEHS, as they monitor and pro-vide analytic data, can directly impact local education. The GSTM provides a scaffold for multidisciplinary educa-tional and vocational training. Local awareness of contextual data relating to biodiversity and human health can be seen. The GSTM can increase in-teraction and contribution by students on a global and local level. It therefore augments core education and voca-tional training and builds on our hu-man ability to think spatially.

Past, Present and Future: We can set goals within our local GSTM environment and we can study stored data of previous environmental, geo-logical, and meteorological events that occurred within that stacked cubed neighborhood, going back, let’s say 5, 10, or even 50 years. The GSTM makes logical and measurable predictions of what we may possibly expect and ena-

bles us to study and measure the past, present, and future. It aids in anomaly detection and risk assessment.

The GSTM cube can be monitored in real time using GIS integrated spa-tial mapping technology and as such allows us to view, understand, ques-tion, interpret, and visualize data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. Me-ter cube data measurements become contextualized using the Geocoded Spatial Transparent Metric “spatial thinking” tool (NAS 2006). As such GSTM using map coordinates [10km3 x 2 (x, y, z, t)] can monitor such things as global carbon in soil, air, land, sea and biodiversity.

Think Global: GSTM is a rapid risk assessment tool, particularly, as it has valuable application in the veri-fication of local biodiversity (CBD) integrated into any future climate change treaty (UNFCCC). This might reveal interesting patterns upon which to take immediate local action regard-ing the health of our children. It is hoped that we might be able to “learn to see” spatially at the learned scale of the ten kilometer cubed stacked. GSTM ten kilometers cube stacked is a scale we might be able to grasp to posi-tively impact our own health and local ecosystem biodiversity. By Tamra Raven, web.mac.com/tamraravenReferences: 1) Quirk, Nancy. (March 24, 2002) Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: A Service Learning Approach to Teaching and Learning ‘Global Environmental Politics’. 2) National Academy of Sciences, Com-mittee on the Support for the Thinking Spatially: The Incorporation of Geographic Information Science Across the K-12 Cur-riculum, Committee on Geography, Na-tional Research Council. (2006). 3) ESRG (Eastern Research Group). (January 22, 2010). Marine Spatial Planning Stakehold-er Analysis. NOAA Coastal Service Center. Charleston, SC. 4) ESRI. (2008). GIS for K-12 Education. What is it Like Around My Community, My Country, My World? Cor-porate Office, Redland, CA. Retrieved from http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/k12broch.pdf[1] GEOCODE (Geospatial Entity Object Code) is a standardized all-natural num-ber representation format specification for geospatial coordinate measurements that provide details of the exact location of geo-spatial point at, below, or above the surface of the earth at a specified moment of time.

11World Ecology ReportWorld Information Transfer

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World Information Transfer, Inc., (WIT) is a not-for-profit, non-govern-mental organization in General Consultative Status with the United Na-tions, promoting environmental health and literacy. In 1987, inspired by the Chornobyl nuclear tragedy, WIT was formed in recognition of the press-ing need to provide accurate actionable information about our deteriorat-ing global environment and its effect on human health. WIT exercises its mandate through:• World Ecology Report (WER). Published since 1989, the World Ecology

Report is a quarterly digest of critical issues in health and environment, produced in four languages and distributed to thousands of citizens throughout the developing and developed world.

• Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions Con-ference. Since l992, WIT has convened what we believe to be one of the world’s premier forums for the presentation of scientific papers by in-ternational experts on the growing clinical evidence supporting the link between degrading environments and diminished human health. The conference has been convened as a parallel event to the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The scientific pa-pers presented at the conference are available on WIT’s web site.

• Health and Development CD ROM Library. This project consists of a library of CDs each of which focuses on a subject within the overall topic of Development and Health information. Our Human Information CD ROM Library offers one bridge across the “digital divide” for both devel-oped and developing countries. The project is continuous with future topics being developed.

• Health and Development CD ROM Library for Ukraine. In conjunc-tion with UNDP, WIT has developed a country specific library disc for distribution in schools and centers in Ukraine.

• Humanitarian Aid. In conjunction with the K.Kovshevych Foundation, WIT provides humanitarian aid to schools, hospitals and orphanages in areas devastated by environmental degradation. Shipments include com-puters, clothing, toys and medical equipment.

• Internship. World Information Transfer (WIT) offers internships in New York City, where our main office is located. Our goal is to encourage fu-ture leaders in health and environment. Our interns spend the majority of their time at the United Nations.

• Scholarship Program. With the support of the K. Kovshevych Founda-tion, WIT offers scholarships to intellectually gifted university students in need of financial assistance to continue their studies in areas related to health and environment.

• www.worldinfo.org WIT provides through its web site up to date science based information on the relationship between human health and the natural environment, including the papers from the WIT’s annual con-ference, the archived World Ecology Reports, and our new Ecology En-quirer, an e-newsletter written by our Interns targeted to young people.

• Centers for Health & Environment. The aim of the Centers is to pro-mote research, education and solutions. The first center was opened in Ukraine in 1992.

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Organized by World Information Transfer (WIT)Co-sponsored by the Government of Ukraine

NUCLEAR POWER: HISTORY REVISITED

APRIL 26, TUESDAY 3–6 PM: CHORNOBYL - LESSONS FOR NUCLEAR SECURITYOpening Remarks: Dr. Christine K. Durbak, Conference Chair and Founder, WIT H.E. Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UNStatements: UN Secretary General, H.E. Ban Ki-moon UN General Assembly President, H.E. Joseph Deisst UNDP Administrator, Helen ClarkKeynote Address: Volodymyr Holosha, Deputy Minister of Emergencies, Government of Ukraine

Panel: Reflections on Chornobyl - 25 Years Later European Union Eugene Cholij – President, UWC Tamara Galo – President, UCCA Nadia McConnell – USUkraine Foundation Prof. Timothy Mousseau – Dean, Univ. of S. Carolina Mary Szkambara – President, WFUWO Marianna Zajac – President, UWLA

APRIL 27 - WEDNESDAY 10 AM – 1 PM: NUCLEAR E NERGY: FROM CRADLE TO GRAVEOpening Remarks: Dr. Christine K. Durbak, Conference Chair and Founder, WIT H.E. Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UNKeynote Address: Dr. Maureen Hatch, National Cancer Institute, Chornobyl Study

Moderator: Amb. Valeriy Kuchinsky, former Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Mr. Werner Obermeyer, WHO, New York office Dr. Andrew Sowder, Electric Power Research Institute Mr. Loren Setlow, USA EPA Mr. Steve Nesbit, Duke Energy Mr. Rod McCullum, Nuclear Energy Institute Prof. Timothy Mousseau, Dean, Univ. of S. Carolina

Closing Remarks: H.E. Yuriy Sergeyev, Permanent Representative of the Ukraine to the UN Dr. Christine Durbak, Chair and Founder, WIT

LUNCH 1-3 PM: DELEGATES DINING ROOM (INVITATION ONLY)Speaker: Mary Pope Osborne, Author, MagicTree House Series