Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

How A Far Away Island Can Rock Your World

Radio Ecoshock | 29.09.2011 18:15 | Climate Chaos | Ecology | Energy Crisis | Sheffield

The peat fires have returned to Indonesia. Last time that happened, a carbon burst larger than car emissions staged the hottest year on record (1998). Peat and forest fires in this one country can help tip climate. Plus Indonesia is world's largest shipper of coal for electricity generation. Interview with Dr. Florian Siegert from the GeoBio-Centre of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. India has huge coal scheme and is the biggest buyer of Indonesia coal. We talk with Shankar Sharma, electricy expert. With 173 new Indian coal plants approved this year, is it a Ponzi scheme?

While we worry about the economy here, developments on the other side of the world could change the climate for generations.

Nobody is reporting on this. The peat fires in Sumatra are blanketing Singapore and Malaysia. Nobody can put them out. Huge carbon emissions. Last time these fires in 1997 doubled the rate of increase in greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Indonesia also has more tropical forests burning this year than any other country, more than the Amazon. But there is no campaign to save it.

And Indonesia is the world's largest shipper of thermal coal for power plants. it goes all over Asia, but the big Indian conglomerate Tata just bought into Indonesian coal producers.

There has been a mania of coal plant construction in India, with 173 new projects approved this past year alone.

Some projects have stopped in mid-construction for lack of coal. And coal prices went way up.

Banks in India have lent fantastic amounts for this coal/electricity rush, and some could go bankrupt.

Peasants and fisherpeople pushed off their land for some of the world's largest coal-fired plants have protested. Several were shot dead by police. Wetlands are being trashed. Water shortages a huge issue.

It's time to look at what is happening on the far side of the world. We'll feel the weird weather when it comes. All the species will feel the new heat.

Will Indonesia drive us into new record heat years?

Some key points from this program:

* peat fires in Indonesia in 1997 DOUBLED the rate of greenhouse gas emissions measured at Mauna Loa that year.

* this may have pushed 1998 as the super hot year (my opinion, based on various research and interviews)

* scientists estimate peat fire emissions in 1997 from Indonesia contributed more greenhouse gas emissions (17% or more of global human-made totals) - more than all cars that year.

* now the peat fires are big again, with smoke blowing over Singapore and Malaysia (as they did in 1997).

We will get another carbon blast.

Dr. Siegert's satellite measurements also show other tropical forest fires in Indonesia are the largest in the world - bigger than the Amazon. More carbon, and no one is talking about saving these forests.

Siegert says a misplaced desire for "green" biofuel in Europe is driving both deforestation and burning of peat lands, to install more palm oil plantations. He says palm oil from peat lands produces 5 to 10 times the actual greenhouse gas emissions of the fuel when burned in cars or power stations (e.g. in Holland). A dangerous scam.

In the second half of the program, I interview a well-known Indian engineer and power expert, Shankar Sharma, about the Indian electric system. With my own research, we find:

* India has approved 173 power stations this year alone.

* displaced peasants and fisherpeople are protesting in the thousands against new coal plants. Several have been shot dead by police.

* the coal binge threatens fresh water supplies in India, already a very scarce resource

* to off-set this, coastal state governments and private enterprise are building giant coal plants (4 Gigawatts and above) along the Eastern coast of India, in Andhra Pradesh. Their plan is to use electricity to run desalination plants - to provide cooling water for the coal. More carbon wasted.

* the Indian giant conglomerate Tata has purchased a one third interest in the largest private coal miner in Indonesia

* Indonesia raised coal prices, so one Indian coal mega-project has stopped dead, and another is running only partly

* India has long since passed the Peak Coal point from its own resources

* so they buy from Indonesia, the world's largest shipper (by ship) of thermal coal (for power plants). Indonesia is the world's second largest coal exporter, period.

* the Indonesian government plans to increase their own coal usage tremendously, planning or building 35 new coal plants. They also want to provide 55% of all fossil fuel needs from coal, by building coal liquification plants. Horrible. They have no plan to save the planet, just a plan to burn it down.

While we have our eyes on the economic problems of the West, events in Indonesia, combined with the Indian coal rush, could sink the climate.

My guest, Shankar Sharma, says India has plenty of renewable resources to leave coal behind. Available solar energy alone could power the country, plus they have some geothermal, and tons of tidal power possible.

Sharma says the model of huge power stations can never serve the diverse peoples of India. They need small renewable power sources.

Find all my source links in my blog here.

 http://www.ecoshock.info/2011/09/how-far-away-island-can-rock-your-world.html

Alex Smith, host Radio Ecoshock
 http://www.ecoshock.org

Radio Ecoshock
- Homepage: http://www.ecoshock.org

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. is thT CO or co?? — Guardian of Light
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech