Two years ago, when the world leaders assembled in Copenhagen for the 15^th Conference of Parties (COP) meet, the media was in a tizzy. Every inch of celluloid and newsprint zoomed in on the ‘battle’ between the Developing Countries (primarily the BASIC countries, led by India) v/s the Developed ones (with Big Bad United States at the helm). The Copenhagen Meet had a simple agenda: Charter and adopt an effective treaty to carry forward Kyoto Protocol’s legacy when its legal obligations ended in 2012.

Copenhagen was a failure. A huge one. The negotiations were disarrayed and the ‘Copenhagen Accord’ drafted by BASIC was “taken note of” but not “passed”. The document recognized that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of the present day and that actions should be taken to keep any temperature increases to below 2°C. One part of the agreement pledges US$ 30 billion to the developing world over the next three years, rising to US$100 billion per year by 2020, to help poor countries adapt to climate change. Accord also favors developed countries’ paying developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation, known as “REDD”. Though more than 130 countries have signed it later; in the absence of any legal bindings, it is just a piece of paper.

I wrote a piece for YKA on the Copenhagen Summit prior to the Cancun Meet scheduled in Nov-Dec 2010. I ended it with “The media, the NGOs and the youth should gear up. November isn’t far away”. Well,

Analysis by experts worldwide put the blame on various factors: the Recession, Domestic pressure within countries like US and China, Developing Countries for trying to protect their growth by not accepting emission cut commitments; and Developed countries – primarily US – too for the same reason! What a paradox!

The one thing Copenhagen did garner was widespread dialogue and awareness. Citizens came out on the streets in large numbers. People religiously followed ‘Earth Hour’. But the 2010 Meet at Cancun was a blip on the radar. And except one or two snippets, I definitely don’t see much on the Durban Meet which started on 28^th November and will go on till 9^th December – at least not in India. Most of my acquaintances (even the intellectual ones) aren’t even aware of Durban. People have bigger worries obviously – The rising dollar, the Lokpal tussle, the FDI War and, now, Kapil Sibal vs Facebook.

So, what is the Durban Meet aiming for? To secure a global climate agreement as the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period (2008–2012) is about to end. But isn’t this what we aimed for in Copenhagen as well? Just a year before Kyoto expires, it is essential that this year we get a Kyoto-II or something close.

Now, for some facts: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by half in the last 20 years according to new data. Last year, emissions from burning fossil fuels rose by 5.9%, bringing the total rise since 1990, the baseline year for calculating emissions under the Kyoto protocol, to 49%, an average rate of increase of about 3.1% a year.

Prof Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, and an author of the research, said the data showed that little had been achieved in the past two decades in reducing the risks from climate change.

“There have been efforts to use more renewable energy and improve energy efficiency but what this shows is that so far, the effects have been marginal,” she said. “We need to do something about the 80% of energy that still comes from burning fossil fuels.” She said the problem was urgent, as the chances of holding global temperature rises to less than 2C above pre-industrial levels (which scientists regard as the limit of safety) beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and irreversible, were dependent on emissions peaking by 2020 at the latest.

Even the recession hasn’t produced a dent in the greenhouse gas emissions as they are projected to continue rising at around 3% per year. The situation is precarious: carbon emissions rocketing to unprecedented levels, alongside increases in joblessness, energy costs and income disparities. Julia Steinberger of the University of Leeds says, “Surely the transition to a green economy has never seemed more appealing.”

IPCC warned in November 2011 that extreme weather will strike as climate change takes hold. Heavier rainfall, storms and droughts can cost billions and destroy lives. Estimates suggest that every dollar invested in adaptation to climate change could save $60 in damages.

The prime focus in Durban also includes focusing on “finalizing at least some of the Cancun Agreements”, reached at the 2010 Conference, such as “co-operation on clean technology”, as well as “forest protection, adaptation to climate impacts, and finance – the promised transfer of funds from rich countries to poor in order to help them protect forests, adapt to climate impacts, and “green” their economies”.

I did not write this post to discuss the intricacies of the Meet or the legal/strategic misalignments between the foreign policies of developed or developing countries. I could write a separate article for that.

I wrote this so that people would know. And people would read. Think. Maybe even participate in a dialogue. Walk a protest. Light a candle. Something. Something?

Excerpts and sources:

1. COP17 Official Website: www.cop17-cmp7durban.com
2. Harvey, Fiona: Carbon dioxide emissions show record jump. The Guardian’s online edition at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/dec/05/carbon-dioxide-emissions-biggest-jump
3. Roy, Siddhartha: Post-Copenhagen: The Battle is now in Mexico. Youth Ki Awaaz’s online edition at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/09/post-copenhagen-the-battle-is-now-in-mexico/
4. Wikipedia page: 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference

Algae have been traditionally regarded as simple plants, and some are closely related to the higher plants.

Forms of Algae

The main branches/lines of algae are:

* Chromista – this line includes the brown algae, golden brown algae, and diatoms. The plastids in these algae contain Chlorophylls A and C. ( see: Brief Introduction to the Phaeophyta, Brown Algae – from Wikipedia)
* The Red Line – this is an early branch of marine algae containing just Chlorophyll A. Red algae can often be seen coating wave washed rocks. A characteristic of red algae is that their plastids contain only one type of chlorophyll — chlorophyll a. This is different from green algae and plants which have both chlorophyll a and b. (see: Introduction to the Rhodophyta, Red Alga – from Wikipedia)
* Dinoflagellates – these evolved on a separate line that includes, surprisingly, the ciliated protists. (see: Introduction to the Dinoflagellata from UMCP, Berkeley, Dinoflagellate Information – from MBARI, Dinoflagellate – from Wikipedia)
* The Euglenids – this independent line of single celled organisms that include both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic species (see: Euglenid – from Wikipedia)
* The Green Line, is related to plants. Plants and green algae have chlophylls A and B. ( see also: Introduction to Green Algae)

The three most prominent lines of algae are the brown algae (Chromista), the red algae, and the green algae, of which some of the most complex forms are founds among the green algae. This lineage eventually led to the higher land plants. The point where these non-algal plants begin and algae stop is usually taken to be the presence of reproductive organs with protective cell layers, a characteristic not found in the other alga groups

Where do algae grow?

Algae are some of the most robust organisms on earth, able to grow in a wide range of conditions.

Algae are usually found in damp places or bodies of water and thus are common in terrestrial as well as aquatic environments. However, terrestrial algae are usually rather inconspicuous and far more common in moist, tropical regions than dry ones, because algae lack vascular tissues and other adaptions to live on land

As mentioned above, algae grow in almost every habitat in every part of the world. The following are examples of non-marine (loosely termed ‘freshwater’ here) habitats.

Animals: Reported substrates include turtles, snails, rotifers, worms, crustacea and many other animals

Aquatic plants: Algae grow on and inside water plants (including other algae)

Artificial substrates: Wooden posts and fences, cans and bottles etc. all provide algal habitats.

Billabongs & lagoons: Rich microalgal habitats, particularly for desmids.

Bogs, marshes & swamps

Farm Dams

Hot springs

Lakes

Mud and sand

Ponds (ephemeral), puddles, roadside ditches and rock pools

Reservoirs

Rivers

Rock (internal & surface)

Saline Lagoons

Saline Lakes & Marshes

Salt marshes and salt lakes

How are algae cultivated for biodiesel?

Like plants, algae require primarily two components to grow: sunlight and carbon-di-oxide. Like plants again, they use the sunlight for the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is an important biochemical process in which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the energy of sunlight to chemical energy. This chemical energy is used to drive chemical reactions such as the formation of sugars or the fixation of nitrogen into amino acids, the building blocks for protein synthesis. (see Photosynthesis – from Wikipedia)

Since algae need for their growth sunlight, carbon-di-oxide and water, they can cultivated in open ponds. However, the unassisted growth in open ponds is slow, owing to the lower concentration of carbon-di-oxide; where carbon-di-oxide concentrations are increased artificially, higher growth rates can be achieved in open ponds as well. Alternatively, algae could be grown in closed structures called photobioreactors, where the environment is better controlled than in open ponds. While the costs of setting up and operating a photobioreactor would be higher than for those for open ponds, the efficiency and higher oil yields from these photobioreactors could be significantly higher as well, thus offsetting the initial cost disadvantage in the medium and long run.

Finding algae strains to grow isn’t too difficult. Cultivating specific strains of algae for biodiesel could be however a bit more difficult, as they can require high maintenance and could get easily contaminated by undesirable species.

I’m a student, and I see people around campus throw cans of drinks, and packets of chips around and think to themselves “Whatever will the cleaners do, if we start keeping the environment clean” and laugh about it. It’s a dismal picture. Anyone who tries to stand firm, is either made fun of or ignored. A few months ago, after class I stayed back to switch off the computers because everyone seemed to have walked off happily after class got over. A few minutes later, a faculty passed by and couldn’t believe that I was merely switching off the computers to save electricity. I was in fact made the target of an interrogation! “Who told you to do that?”, “Why are you alone in the lab?” were two of many questions that followed. Even after explaining the reason for my actions, he still found it hard to believe. The reason I narrated this incidence is not to point fingers at anybody, or boast about myself, but because such few people care about the issue, that it is hard for anybody to believe that there are people out there who actually want to make a difference.

It’s been made so much easier now. There are separate cans around campus for “Plastic”, “Paper”, and “Metals”. People still choose to throw anything, anywhere, or resort to “The plastic bin is on the other end of the corridor”. It’s sad hearing that countries are launching campaigns, and implementing provisions to combat the issue, yet citizens won’t even walk a few steps to throw their litter into the allotted bin. To make it even worse, the word around the block is “The government isn’t doing enough”, or “The laws should be stricter”.

I think it’s time for us to stop shifting blame, and pick up our own litter. Easier said than done, I know, but it’s high time we started walking on the right path, instead of choosing just the easier one.

The pointers would help cultivate Eco awareness among your peers and help the poor farmers of India.

So do your bit!

1.    Corporate gardens with natural fertilizers & pesticides. Every office should maintain a garden which cultivates using only natural fertilizers & pesticides. There should be HR policies for participation of employees for gardening;  by contributing manure or tending to a certain plant area of the garden.

2.    Rewarding the employees who uses bicycles to commute or car pools. Ask your boss to distribute free Bicycles to the employees as reward for going green. It would encourage those who live nearby to commute by it, reducing pollution. The ones who live far off could use bicycles to go to the market. It would be a good exercise and would keep the employee in good health.

3.    Corporate conglomerates to distribute Organic Cotton natural dyed fabrics to employees. The employees who come up with the most innovative usage of the fabric should be awarded a ‘Go Green’ badge. You could even suggest having quarterly sale of the products done by corporate employees with these yardages. The funds accumulated by these sales could be used to help the organic farmers.

4.    Talent Exchange programs between corporate world big bees and farmers / handicraft artisans. This includes education of farmers by corporate employees. In turn the corporate employees would be trained in one craft by the artisans from the villages. It would be a fitting exchange program.

5.    Ask your HR to set up a hobby room today. The hobby room should have tailoring machine, paints, iron box, wood carving tools, hand embroidery tools, Khadi wheel and wooden looms.  Any other tools that help making a product that needs skill could be dded to the collection. It would help you relax to do something other than work at times.

6.    Gather bio degradable home/office waste and make the office arrange it to be delivered to farmers. The accumulated waste could be used by farmers as natural fertilizers. Food Canteen should adhere to zero wastage policy and use the left over food for the cause too.

If you have more such suggestions, you could add it to the list. Do your bit for the planet, start giving suggestions to others.

Unsolicited advice could be unwelcome; but don’t be hesitant to give a piece of your mind to your employer for a good cause.

- Office space: think of office prices in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Banglore etc….. What is the cost of office building for 1000 seating? I was looking for 1000 sqft decent office in Andheri(E), it was astonishingly high at 80l-1 cr. Office space in midtown NYC can be anywhere between 5000-1000 USD for 1000 sqft.
- Electricity: saving of electricity. Employers can vouch you the cost of electricity due light and air conditioning.
- Parking lot: we are not there yet when every employee would prefer to drive to office. In USA, most of the employers provide parking space if the offices are NOT located in major cities.
- Subsidized food: many companies with large number of employees do provide these facilities. With food prices rising around the world, the canteen bill will definitely going to affect drastically.
- Monitoring cost of employees – be it surveillance camera or attending machines
- Additional cost of HR – for general HR issues including dispute resolutions

What corporate can loose??

- Face to face interaction for understanding the work.
- the employees who are not motivated needs constant surveillance which would be difficult to monitor if he/she works from home
- affect on performance

What Employee can gain?

- The extra time with family members; the time you spend away from home and the time of travel.
- The cost nanny: its really breaks one’s budget if its single parent or single earning and needing the nanny services. I pay about USD 1600 for nanny services. Although, I have spent additional money for surveillance camera and required infrastructure for the cam, I haven’t got feeling for comfort for a single day.
- Cost of Gas: yes, its tremendous. I am paying on and average USD 1000 for my gas. It makes huge difference in my monthly budget if I can avoid traveling to client site or work from home.
- Cost Toll: In India, toll is just beginning, it will get to the point, where the commuters fill feel the pinch.
- Cost of formal dresses: it is unbelievably high one keeps a track of total money spend on formal dressing to the office. (pls remember tech-mahindra’s dress coding article.) you can not go to office in flip-flops or denim.

What employees can loose??:

- Not sure if the spouse (especially stay in moms) would appreciate your constant interfering in her household work.
- May be kids do not want to be monitored so closely.
- Personal growth – by working closely an employee knowingly or unknowing learns about work/knowledge/behavior. Its kind of industry updates/happenings.

Some of the solutions to these problems could be –

- Initially, I thought that work from home for partial day. (It would disadvantage to the employees as they have to spend same amount of money and time for travel, clothes, nanny …..)
- Working from home for part of the week i.e. 2-3 days a week. This would allow one team to occupy the space on certain days. The corporate can accommodate two teams for the cost of one. In this situation, the whole team can manage their meetings, presentations, and performance review…etc as per their schedule. Its still 50% cost saving for both corporate and employees. Win-win situation.

-Corporates can gain carbon credit by letting employee work from home, thus resulting in saving fuel / natural resources & helping government to reduce traffic, vehicular pollution & most important the foreign exchange that require to buy the oil.

-Employees too can feel better by being more environmental friendly by saving natural resources, reducing vehicular pollution, making personal contribution towards government treasury & of, course saving money.

So work from home, by all means, is going GREEN….

Written by Ms Sandhya Jane,  Center for Green Technology (‘http://www.cfgt.org’ an initiative of ANISAN Technologies Inc ‘http://www.anisans.com’), has close to two decades of experience in IT, Management in USA & India and currently promoting Green Technology in India.

Power through the batteries, power through grid – power needs to be saved as this saved power can be given to the needy and the mother earth can be served in a better way. Use Lead and Mercury free batteries which are green. Start using the solar panels for the lighting purpose which will save the environment from pollution and use the most abundant and un-used natural resources.

we can save power by using power saving and green lighting like the LED lighting systems which consume very less power and give better light and also has no emmissions into the environment like the CFL.

We waste money on different activities. Now utilize that money on service to the Mother Nature and also help yourself by using this money on the use of LED Lighting systems and the solar systems.

SO BE GREEN, SAVE MONEY, SERVE YOURSELF, SERVE MOTHER EARTH, SERVE MOTHER NATURE.

USE LED SAVE ENERGY SAVE ENVIRONMENT.

WE HAVE ALL THE GREEN PRODUCTS.

Housewives not thinking environmental when they put all the domestic waste in the polythene bags and throw it in the near by drainage or roadside. Servant maids not caring to go to dust bin and throwing wast covers in the nearby drainages.  When we use one cloth bags which is kept in our vehicle we can avoid hundreds of polythene bags. When we carry our own water bottle we can save many number of mineral water bottle.

Please propagate the same in your office and Home. Please. Please.

B.RAMAKRISHNA REDDY
HYDERABAD

This is my immense pleasure to drop something to reconstruct this environment surrounds us.

I would like to start my topic with this famous saying by Cree Indian Prophesy where he sited a meaningful quote

Only after the last tree has been cut down…the last river has been
poisoned…the last fish caught, only then will you find that money cannot be
eaten.“

Yes,,what a saying!We each and every individual needs to understand the basic meaning lies behind this.We the people forget the basic needs of our life running behind money.

The day we stepped into this world after mother’s womb is our Earth,which gives us pure water to drink,fresh air to breath and healthy fruits to eat and grow,but what as much we grow we make us busy in destroying it.Is it the fair return we give to our earth?

As mentioned in my Punchline,i would like to justify the three words mentioned by me.

An Idea;In this segment,it enables us to think more and more and come up with differnet ideas to save our earth.It starts from the time we get up to go to the bed.We can find the way the more we move forward,

1>Switch off fan and light when its not in use,even if minimize the use.

2>Proper use of water,use waste water for flushing.

3>Store rain water.

4>Try to plant as much as possible.

5>We need to educate people the importance of our plant  and make them the real meaning of our environment.

6>Save paper.

An effort;

Sleep tight but dream nicely to make our environment more lively and fresh.Treat this as your own living room where you stay peacefully.

A step;

Come up,lets put hand to hand to make this mission Possible.

Think positive,,think green,,,

Go green,,, remember divide we fall together we make.

Awaiting more response and ideas,,,

yours

pallabi