Climate change: Islanders plan for flood-adapted homes

 

This Philippines island is continually flooding as sea level rise as a result of climate change.

There's a long term plan to relocate the residents, but is their own plan more sustainable?

Here's my latest for DW News Asia

Click here: Video 

 

 

 

 

(Martianization) - ‘Impossible’ heatwave struck Philippines in April, scientists find Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila

 

A man tries to cool himself during hot temperatures in Manila, Philippines, last month. Photograph: Aaron Favila/AP

 

 

 

The record-breaking heatwave that scorched the Philippines in April would have been impossible without the climate crisis, scientists have found. Searing heat above 40C (104F) struck across Asia in April, causing deaths, water shortages, crop losses and widespread school closures.

The extreme heat was made 45 times more likely in India and five times more likely in Israel and Palestine, the study found. The scientists said the high temperatures compounded the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where displaced people are living in overcrowded shelters with little access to water.

The results of the latest study to assess the role of human-caused global heating in worsening extreme weather shows how severe the impacts are already, with only 1.2C of average heating above preindustrial levels over the past four years.

 

Another “impossible” heatwave hit west Africa and the Sahel in late March, again causing deaths, and reaching 48.5C in Mali. Deaths from extreme heat are poorly recorded in many countries but previous research suggests millions of people have died early over the past two decades. In Europe, where recording is better, heat-related deaths rose by 25% in the past decade.

The scientists warned of worse to come. If global temperature rises to 2C, repeats of April’s extreme heat will be expected every two to three years in the Philippines and every five years in Israel, Palestine and nearby countries. Hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists told the Guardian recently that they expected global inaction in ending fossil fuel burning to result in at least 2.5C of heating.

“From Gaza to Delhi to Manila, people suffered and died when April temperatures soared in Asia,” said Dr Friederike Otto at Imperial College London, part of the World Weather Attribution (WWA) study team. “The additional heat, driven by emissions from oil, gas and coal, is resulting in death for many people.”

Dr Carolina Pereira Marghidan, a heat risk consultant at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said: “The heat really compounded an already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with displaced populations having limited to no access to food, water, healthcare, and generally living in overcrowded shelters which trap heat, or living outdoors.”

 

The WWA research examined three areas that suffered extreme heat in April. Global heating made temperatures 1.7C hotter in Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, and 1C hotter in the Philippines, where 4,000 schools were closed and portable pools set up to help people cool down. The south Asian region examined encompassed India, where the temperature reached 46C, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

“Climate change is an absolute gamechanger when it comes to extreme heat,” said Otto. The study used weather data and climate models to compare the likelihood of heatwaves in today’s hotter climate and in a climate without human-caused heating. The researchers found that the current El Niño climate cycle, which raises global temperatures, had very little effect on the increased likelihood of the heatwaves.

“Asia contains some of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the world,” said Pereira Marghidan. “This rapid urbanisation has in many cases led to unplanned development, increased concrete across the cities, and extreme losses of green space in many cities.” She said outdoor workers such as farmers and street vendors and those in informal housing were particularly vulnerable and that the study showed the need to improve heatwave early warning and planning programmes.

Hundreds of attribution studies have shown how global heating is already supercharging extreme weather across the world. Dr Mariam Zachariah at Imperial College London, who was part of the study team, said: “Unless the world takes massive, unprecedented steps to reduce emissions and keep warming to 1.5C, extreme heat will lead to even greater suffering in Asia.”

Speaking to CNN Philippine President

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Philippine President Benigno Aquino warned that storms like Haiyan were becoming more frequent, and there should be "no debate" that climate change was happening.

He said either the world was committed to action on climate change "or let us be prepared to meet disasters".

 

 

 

 

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Locals buck oil firms’ ethanol imports

BY EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO Reporter

Local ethanol players have said oil companies have not been complying with the Biofuels law because they continue to buy ethanol abroad.

Tetchi Cruz Capellan, Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) executive director, said that as stated in the Biofuels Act of 2006, all liquid fuels for motors and engines in the Philippines should contain locally sourced biofuels.

“We cannot understand why the oil companies refuse to heed the law,” she said.

Because of this, the Department of Energy earlier issued a circular that controls the importation of ethanol by requiring all oil companies to declare compliance to the Biofuels Act.

Most oil firms continue to source most of their ethanol requirements from countries like Brazil because of limited local production.

“If the department fails to control the importation of ethanol from Brazil, [then] we are simply replacing Middle East oil imports with Brazilian ethanol imports,” Capellan said.

Brazil is the recognized global leader in ethanol production, exporting 3.5 billion liters of ethanol and has supplied the domestic market with approximately 14 billion liters in 2007.

The South American country imposes a 30-percent import tax on ethanol to protect its industry whereas the Philippines only slaps a 1-percent duty on such imports.

Capellan said that the uneven playing field slowed the entry of investments in the biofuels sector, consequently undermining the alternative fuels program of the government.

As a result, Alto Power Inc.—which has a potential to produce 40 million liters of ethanol—announced last month they would pull out investments from the ethanol plant project in Cagayan de Oro because of the government’s weak support for the industry.

Locals buck oil firms’ ethanol imports

BY EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO Reporter

Local ethanol players have said oil companies have not been complying with the Biofuels law because they continue to buy ethanol abroad.

Tetchi Cruz Capellan, Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) executive director, said that as stated in the Biofuels Act of 2006, all liquid fuels for motors and engines in the Philippines should contain locally sourced biofuels.

“We cannot understand why the oil companies refuse to heed the law,” she said.

Because of this, the Department of Energy earlier issued a circular that controls the importation of ethanol by requiring all oil companies to declare compliance to the Biofuels Act.

Most oil firms continue to source most of their ethanol requirements from countries like Brazil because of limited local production.

“If the department fails to control the importation of ethanol from Brazil, [then] we are simply replacing Middle East oil imports with Brazilian ethanol imports,” Capellan said.

Brazil is the recognized global leader in ethanol production, exporting 3.5 billion liters of ethanol and has supplied the domestic market with approximately 14 billion liters in 2007.

The South American country imposes a 30-percent import tax on ethanol to protect its industry whereas the Philippines only slaps a 1-percent duty on such imports.

Capellan said that the uneven playing field slowed the entry of investments in the biofuels sector, consequently undermining the alternative fuels program of the government.

As a result, Alto Power Inc.—which has a potential to produce 40 million liters of ethanol—announced last month they would pull out investments from the ethanol plant project in Cagayan de Oro because of the government’s weak support for the industry.

Death Toll Expected to Rise After Storm in the Philippines

MANILA — At least 86 people were killed and dozens of others were missing early Monday after a tropical storm swept through the northern Philippines, causing Manila’s worst flooding in nearly half a century, officials said.

Here in the capital, countless people remained on the roofs of their houses, where they had spent the night, drenched and unable to come down because of the floodwaters that had accumulated since the rain began falling Friday evening. The death toll was expected to rise sharply as more reports of casualties came in from provinces outside of Manila.

Tropical Storm Ketsana, packing 53-mile-per-hour winds, dumped nearly 17 inches of rain in just 12 hours, said Nathaniel Cruz, the government’s chief weather forecaster.

Officials said nearly 300,000 people were displaced by the storm; tens of thousands were brought to evacuation centers in schools, churches, gymnasiums and public parks. In Marikina City, a Manila suburb, people pitched tents wherever they could, some on the bridge across the overflowing Marikina River.

The storm “submerged up to 80 percent” of Manila, according to the environmental group Greenpeace.

“It was terrifying to see the water rising, especially because there were live electrical wires around us,” said Diverson Bloso Jr., a waiter at a restaurant in Quezon City that was one of many flooded businesses. “There were trash and rats and cockroaches all around us.”

King Catoy, a filmmaker, rushed to Marikina City, where he recorded scenes of devastation: streets and houses covered in muck, people washing salvaged belongings in the murky river, a couple holding their five dogs — the only ones left with them after the storm.

“Marikina City always prided itself of being the most orderly, the cleanest and the most prepared city in the whole country,” Mr. Catoy said. Ketsana, he said, “showed that all that may have been just a facade.”

Death Toll Expected to Rise After Storm in the Philippines

MANILA — At least 86 people were killed and dozens of others were missing early Monday after a tropical storm swept through the northern Philippines, causing Manila’s worst flooding in nearly half a century, officials said.

Here in the capital, countless people remained on the roofs of their houses, where they had spent the night, drenched and unable to come down because of the floodwaters that had accumulated since the rain began falling Friday evening. The death toll was expected to rise sharply as more reports of casualties came in from provinces outside of Manila.

Tropical Storm Ketsana, packing 53-mile-per-hour winds, dumped nearly 17 inches of rain in just 12 hours, said Nathaniel Cruz, the government’s chief weather forecaster.

Officials said nearly 300,000 people were displaced by the storm; tens of thousands were brought to evacuation centers in schools, churches, gymnasiums and public parks. In Marikina City, a Manila suburb, people pitched tents wherever they could, some on the bridge across the overflowing Marikina River.

The storm “submerged up to 80 percent” of Manila, according to the environmental group Greenpeace.

“It was terrifying to see the water rising, especially because there were live electrical wires around us,” said Diverson Bloso Jr., a waiter at a restaurant in Quezon City that was one of many flooded businesses. “There were trash and rats and cockroaches all around us.”

King Catoy, a filmmaker, rushed to Marikina City, where he recorded scenes of devastation: streets and houses covered in muck, people washing salvaged belongings in the murky river, a couple holding their five dogs — the only ones left with them after the storm.

“Marikina City always prided itself of being the most orderly, the cleanest and the most prepared city in the whole country,” Mr. Catoy said. Ketsana, he said, “showed that all that may have been just a facade.”

RP seeks P20b from Brazil’s ethanol makers

By Othel V. Campos

The government is seeking P20 billion in investments from Brazilian biofuel makers to finance five bio-ethanol distilleries that the government wants to put up in the Philippines, an agriculture official said yesterday.

“We’ll be leaving Friday. We already submitted five proposals to partner with Brazilian ethanol producers for bio-ethanol projects here in the Philippines,” said Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. president Marriz Agbon.

Agbon said an ethanol plant coulde cost a minimum of P4 billion “so by rule of thumb, we are eyeing a total of P20-billion investments for bio-ethanol alone.”

The Philippines presented the proposals to select companies who are members of Unica, the Brazilian federation of sugarcane and ethanol manufacturers.

A select group of sugarcane planters will join the Philippine delegation to Brazil as part of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s official entourage.

“This is a specific investment proposal that we submitted to several members of the federation only. We’re hoping to forge joint-venture agreements with these companies,” Agbon said, adding that the P4-billion tag price included a 5-hectare plantation of feedstock and a processing plant of 30 million liters annual capacity.

“Since [Brazilians] are 40 years ahead of us [in bio-ethanol production], we’re hoping to come across a cost-effective arrangement and the use of high-yielding [sugarcane] varieties,” Agbon said.

Agbon said the Philippines had already signed an agreement for agricultural research and commercialization with a Brazilian corporation.

The Philippines expects to sign a technical agreement on the exchange of germplasm of high-yielding sugarcane varieties and technological exchange in high-value crops, specifically mango, coffee and rubber.

RP seeks P20b from Brazil’s ethanol makers

By Othel V. Campos

The government is seeking P20 billion in investments from Brazilian biofuel makers to finance five bio-ethanol distilleries that the government wants to put up in the Philippines, an agriculture official said yesterday.

“We’ll be leaving Friday. We already submitted five proposals to partner with Brazilian ethanol producers for bio-ethanol projects here in the Philippines,” said Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corp. president Marriz Agbon.

Agbon said an ethanol plant coulde cost a minimum of P4 billion “so by rule of thumb, we are eyeing a total of P20-billion investments for bio-ethanol alone.”

The Philippines presented the proposals to select companies who are members of Unica, the Brazilian federation of sugarcane and ethanol manufacturers.

A select group of sugarcane planters will join the Philippine delegation to Brazil as part of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s official entourage.

“This is a specific investment proposal that we submitted to several members of the federation only. We’re hoping to forge joint-venture agreements with these companies,” Agbon said, adding that the P4-billion tag price included a 5-hectare plantation of feedstock and a processing plant of 30 million liters annual capacity.

“Since [Brazilians] are 40 years ahead of us [in bio-ethanol production], we’re hoping to come across a cost-effective arrangement and the use of high-yielding [sugarcane] varieties,” Agbon said.

Agbon said the Philippines had already signed an agreement for agricultural research and commercialization with a Brazilian corporation.

The Philippines expects to sign a technical agreement on the exchange of germplasm of high-yielding sugarcane varieties and technological exchange in high-value crops, specifically mango, coffee and rubber.

Foul odor from waste lagoon to be treated

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines—San Carlos Bioenergy Inc., the country’s first ethanol plant found in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, is putting up a facility to reduce the foul odor from its plant that residents up to 10 kilometers away have been complaining about.

The anaerobic digester will be operational in two to three months, said Judito Salvador, the firm’s community relations manager. It will convert wastes into biogas, according to the website balitapinoy.net.

It will also biologically treat wastes to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions, Salvador said.

The integrated ethanol distillery and power cogeneration plant, located at the San Carlos Agro-Industrial Economic Zone, is the first in Southeast Asia. It started operation only in January.

So far, it has produced about 5 million liters of ethanol that its sells to Petron Corp.

The plant can produce up to 30 million liters of ethanol yearly and eight megawatts of power, its website said.

The distillery processes feedstock of mixed juice from sugar cane crushed on-site while its cogeneration plant uses the residual sugar cane pulp known as bagasse as primary fuel.

Salvador said the foul odor was coming from the wastewater treatment lagoon, which was now being treated with lime and enzymes.

Complaints about the “obnoxious order” have come from as far the residents of Calatrava town, about 10 km from San Carlos.

Calatrava Councilor John Mark Fabroz said the smell “like human waste” would reach the town proper at night, usually starting at 9 p.m.

Fabroz said he would file a resolution before the municipal council to ask the firm to abate the “obnoxious odor.”

He said he had also received reports that the odor had reached Toboso town, which is 30 km from San Carlos.

Toboso Mayor Evello Valencia Jr. said he had not smelled the foul odor, but some residents had told him that they did.

But Valencia said he could definitely smell the odor when he passes through San Carlos, even with the windows of his car rolled up.

Valencia said he would raise the matter at the Inter Local Health Zone meeting of the first district.

San Carlos Mayor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he was confident that the company would address the air pollution.

The methane produced during anaerobic digestion will be used as supplemental fuel for the boiler, the website said.

Foul odor from waste lagoon to be treated

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines—San Carlos Bioenergy Inc., the country’s first ethanol plant found in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, is putting up a facility to reduce the foul odor from its plant that residents up to 10 kilometers away have been complaining about.

The anaerobic digester will be operational in two to three months, said Judito Salvador, the firm’s community relations manager. It will convert wastes into biogas, according to the website balitapinoy.net.

It will also biologically treat wastes to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions, Salvador said.

The integrated ethanol distillery and power cogeneration plant, located at the San Carlos Agro-Industrial Economic Zone, is the first in Southeast Asia. It started operation only in January.

So far, it has produced about 5 million liters of ethanol that its sells to Petron Corp.

The plant can produce up to 30 million liters of ethanol yearly and eight megawatts of power, its website said.

The distillery processes feedstock of mixed juice from sugar cane crushed on-site while its cogeneration plant uses the residual sugar cane pulp known as bagasse as primary fuel.

Salvador said the foul odor was coming from the wastewater treatment lagoon, which was now being treated with lime and enzymes.

Complaints about the “obnoxious order” have come from as far the residents of Calatrava town, about 10 km from San Carlos.

Calatrava Councilor John Mark Fabroz said the smell “like human waste” would reach the town proper at night, usually starting at 9 p.m.

Fabroz said he would file a resolution before the municipal council to ask the firm to abate the “obnoxious odor.”

He said he had also received reports that the odor had reached Toboso town, which is 30 km from San Carlos.

Toboso Mayor Evello Valencia Jr. said he had not smelled the foul odor, but some residents had told him that they did.

But Valencia said he could definitely smell the odor when he passes through San Carlos, even with the windows of his car rolled up.

Valencia said he would raise the matter at the Inter Local Health Zone meeting of the first district.

San Carlos Mayor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he was confident that the company would address the air pollution.

The methane produced during anaerobic digestion will be used as supplemental fuel for the boiler, the website said.