Japan ends nuclear shutdown sparked by Fukushima crisis

Yahoo –  AFP, Harumi Ozawa, 11 Aug 2015

Operators restart the nuclear reactor at the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai 

nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on

August 11, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Japan on Tuesday restarted its nuclear power programme after a shutdown triggered by the 2011 Fukushima crisis, as the government pushes to return to a cheaper energy source despite widespread public opposition.

Utility Kyushu Electric Power turned on a reactor at Sendai, about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo, at 10:30 am (0130 GMT).

The 31-year-old reactor -- operating under tougher post-Fukushima safety rules -- was expected to reach full capacity around 11:00 pm Tuesday and would start generating power by Friday.

People stage a sit-in rally against the

restarting of the nuclear reactor outside

the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai 

nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai 

on August 11, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Commercial operations would begin early next month, a company spokesman said.

The restart comes more than four years after a quake-sparked tsunami swamped cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima plant, prompting the shutdown of Japan's stable of 50 reactors and starting a pitched battle over the future use of atomic power.

The accident sent radiation over a wide area and forced tens of thousands from their homes -- many of whom will likely never return -- in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima reactors is expected to take decades and compensation expenses -- excluding the cost of the site's cleanup -- now top $57 billion.

Anti-nuclear sentiment still runs high in Japan and television showed protesters scuffling with police in front of the plant, which is on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Among the 200 protesters was Naoto Kan, prime minister at the time of Fukushima and now a high-profile anti-nuclear activist. He said the failure of pro-atomic premier Shinzo Abe to cancel the restart "cannot be forgiven".

The resource-poor nation, which once relied on nuclear power for a quarter of its electricity, restarted two reactors temporarily to feed its needs after Fukushima. But they both went offline by September 2013, making Japan completely nuclear-free for about two years.

'Safety first'

The country adopted stricter safety regulations to avoid a repeat of the accident, including more backup prevention measures and higher tsunami-blocking walls in some areas.

The restart of a reactor at the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai nuclear power 

plant ends a two-year nuclear shutdown in the energy-hungry country that was

sparked by public fears following the 2011 Fukushima crisis (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

"It is important to restart reactors one by one from the perspective of energy security, the economy and measures against global warming, but safety always comes first," Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa told reporters..

Yukio Edano, a senior member of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan who criticised Abe for taking a holiday near Mount Fuji on Tuesday, said the restart was ill-advised and "trampled on the grave sacrifice seen in Fukushima".

Strengthened safety measures are key to Abe's bid to get some of about four dozen reactors back up and running. The government wants nuclear power to generate up to 22 percent of Japan's electricity needs by 2030, a lower percentage than before Fukushima.

Power companies that own the reactors are also keen for more restarts after having to import pricey fossil fuels.

Japan's post-Fukushima energy bill skyrocketed as it scrambled to fill the gap left by taking reactors offline, a problem worsened by a sharp weakening of the yen which pushed up the cost of dollar-denominated energy imports.

Several other reactors have been given a safety green light, but battle lines are drawn in many local communities strongly opposed to restarts.

About 200 protesters gathered in front of the Sendai plant to protest against

 the restart, including Naoto Kan, prime minister at the time of the Fukushima

disaster (AFP Photo)

"Abe is not listening to the voice of the people -- he is acting as if he has been given a blank cheque," said Takashi Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Seikei University.

Officials have stressed that any switched-on reactor would operate under much tighter regulations than those that existed before Fukushima. Some will be decommissioned for safety reasons.

"A disaster like that at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will not occur" under the new rules, Nuclear Regulation Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka said in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper published at the weekend.

But Tanaka conceded there was "no such thing as absolute safety" and Japan's people are sceptical as the country remains deeply scarred by the legacy of Fukushima -- although no deaths have been directly attributed to the accident.

The government was strongly criticised for its cosy ties with Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, which itself was accused of incompetence in dealing with the 2011 crisis.

Last month a judicial review panel decided that a trio of former TEPCO executives should be indicted, paving the way for the first criminal trial linked to the disaster.

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Japan prepares to mark three years since devastating quake

"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Massive mural transforms poor Mexico neighborhood

Yahoo – AFP, Sylvain Estibal, August 8, 2015

Artist nicknamed "Trejo" paints a mural honoring the wisdom of the elders in the

 Palmitas neighborhood of Pachuca, Mexico, as part of a giant mural across the

shantytown's houses (AFP Photo/Omar Torres)

Pachuca (Mexico) (AFP) - Palmitas, a hardscrabble neighborhood in the Mexican city of Pachuca, used to have a reputation as a battleground where gangs fought deadly turf wars.

But recently the bloodshed on the hillside slum's narrow streets has fallen dramatically and it has gained a far more welcome kind of attention.

General view of the giant mural in Palmitas,

Pachuca, which contains still more 

mini-murals that interact playfully with

 the overall design (AFP Photo/Omar

Torres)

A Mexican artists' collective called German Crew has painted a giant mural across the shantytown's houses, working with residents to transform their crumbling walls into a vibrant artwork.

Viewed at a distance, the entire neighborhood now forms a bright, rainbow-colored wave that has brought new pride for residents and opened new horizons for local youths.

Viewed up close, the giant mural contains still more mini-murals that interact playfully with the overall design.

The artists repainted some 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) of gray walls across more than 200 houses to create what the city government bills as the largest mural in Mexico.

The project was launched in 2012 with the goal of using art to repair the neighborhood's tattered social fabric and reduce crime.

Funded by the Mexican government, it cost $310,000 and employed 20 local painters.

"We had to convince residents to let us repaint their houses," said Ana Estefania Garcia, the head of city planning for Pachuca, a two-hour drive northeast of Mexico City.

"First the neighborhood was repainted in white, as if to say, 'We're starting from scratch.' That was a shock for them."

The city meanwhile cleaned the neighborhood's streets, removed the rusted-out remains of junked cars and installed new streetlights and eight security cameras.

Partial view of the giant mural in Palmitas, Pachuca, which contains still 

\more mini-murals that interact playfully with the overall design (AFP

Photo/Omar Torres)

The sprawling artwork was then painted across this new facade, relaunching the tradition of the Mexican mural, brought to world fame by artists such as Diego Rivera (1886-1957).

New beginnings

City officials credit the project with a dramatic drop in crime.

"Crime has gone down by 35 percent since the project was launched in 2012," said Garcia.

"Members of rival gangs worked together on the project. They got to know each other."

The gangs still exist, but today they "eat, paint and get along," she said.

"They're not best friends, but they know they can work together to take care of their community."

That view is echoed by Roberto Robles, a 36-year-old graffiti artist and member of German Crew.

City officials in Pachuca say a project to

 paint the walls of houses with a mural 

has reduced crime by 35 percent since its

launch in 2012 (AFP Photo/Omar Torres)

"Art makes a big difference. Colors change people's mood. Gray immerses them in monotony," he said.

"One boy told me that since we painted his house, he feels like going to school more because he's happier."

Some are skeptical, however, including the lone resident to resist the mural project.

"The cameras are the main thing that reduced the violence. A thug stays a thug, no matter what color the walls are," said Adante Lopez, who initially refused to have his house repainted before finally giving in.

But the mural has not been touched by graffiti or vandalism since its completion.

German Crew is now working on more detailed individual paintings on the walls telling the story of the neighborhood and its residents.

Legal Protocols, Lack of Funding Stall Geothermal Development in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Nayantara Bhat, Aug 09, 2015

Indonesia holds 40 percent of the world's geothermal potential at sites such

as the Patuha Geothermal plant in Bandung. (JG Photo/Rezza Estily)

Jakarta. Despite Indonesia already having several plants and government plans to develop the geothermal industry, progress has been stalled by legal protocols and a lack of funding, the World Bank says.

Indonesia’s position on the Pacific Ring of Fire – the intersection of three tectonic plates – means that the country is a hotbed of seismic activity. The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry estimates that the country might have the potential to generate almost 28 gigawatts of energy this way – 40 percent of the world’s geothermal energy resources.

The recent Indonesian Economic Quarterly published by the World Bank in July highlighted geothermal energy production as an area of great potential. Despite a 2012 Finance Ministry fund to develop the geothermal energy sector and capital seeding of more than $200 million, the sector has not expanded as expected.

Plans to build 44 new plants and triple production capacity to 4000 MW were included in the National Energy Policy last year. However, only 175 megawatts were added between 2010 and 2014. The World Bank attributes this to several factors, including a hesitancy to invest, and a feed-in tariff that has discouraged the market.

Additionally, the country’s legal framework protecting forest areas from mining activities was only amended to allow geothermal mining in August 2014, toward the end of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s term.

The feed-in tariff, a subsidy scheme between geothermal energy suppliers and government-run electricity monopoly PLN, failed to be implemented as sellers and buyers were not able to agree on a fixed price.

The high level of upfront investment required for geothermal projects also means that pricing needs to be able to cover the costs. The government-regulated returns made by PLN, said the World Bank, were too low to cover the risks of geothermal development.

Aside from PLN, other major finance institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation are often reluctant to fund geothermal projects from the get-go, preferring to invest once the project has been proven to have at least 50 percent of its potential.

The World Bank has recommended improvements to the tendering process for development, including not allowing areas to be put to tender without certified proof of its geological potential. The institution also suggests a tariff reform based on a continuous review process, so that present tariff can be readjusted to future rates.

With electricity demand growing at almost 4.8 percent annually and 35 percent of the country’s inhabitants living without electricity, according to the International Energy Agency, geothermal power could be the solution, especially as it is free from the price uncertainty associated with traditional fuels.

“Geothermal power represents an energy source that is not subject to volatility as the price remains flat. It will also free up other resources such as coal and oil for export,” says Rahul Shah, chief financial officer at Sorik Merapi Geothermal Power.

Geothermal energy is widely understood to be a proven technology that is more environmentally friendly, with fewer resultant greenhouse gas emissions. Development in the industry means generating power is becoming easier and more efficient.

“This energy is replenished through natural means and therefore does not lead to concerns of energy security for our future generations,” Shah said. He added that with new developments in technology, geothermal plants were now able to generate power at much lower temperatures than before.

Another development in the sector is a technology known as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), which artificially cracks hot rocks to release steam to power the turbines without the need for a nearby water source.

Geothermal plants are often located in forest areas and displace nearby inhabitants, raising concerns over the land space needed as well as the impact on biodiversity.

However, with research and new technology, pinpointing potential geothermal spots can be space-efficient, says Indra Sari Wardhani, climate and energy manager at WWF Indonesia. She cites the plant in Salak as an example, saying that the facility, which has a capacity of 330 MW, takes up around 175 hectares of land.

“When you have determined the amount of capacity and the potential points, the area that is used is not big,” she says.

The WWF developed guidelines last year for sustainable development of the geothermal sector in forest areas, highlighting environmental considerations such as maintaining biodiversity and mitigating deforestation and social disruption.

Indra Sari says geothermal energy is likely to be a huge part of Indonesia’s move toward renewable sources of energy.

GlobeAsia

Office aircos are set to men’s comfort levels: Dutch researchers Jobs

DutchNews, August 5, 2015

Dutch researchers have shown that office air conditioning systems are often set to a 1960s formula based on men’s thermal comfort rather than women’s, according to a report on TheConversation.com. 

The research, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that if the office thermostat is set for men, it will be too low for women, forcing them to put on woollies in the height of summer. 

This is because women are smaller and generate less metabolic heat than men which means they will not feel comfortable in office temperatures set for the opposite sex. 

By the same logic, if the thermostat is set for Europeans it will be too low for Asians, who weigh, on average, 30% less, the paper states. 

Maastricht University researchers Boris Kingma and Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt say that energy consumption in homes and offices accounts for some 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. 

However, a more realistic approach to the temperature needs of a building’s occupants will lead to more efficiency in energy consumption and cut emissions, the researchers say.

Beijing tasked with crap job of creating 'toilet revolution' in rural China

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-07-18

Outhouses in Quzhou, Zhejiang province. (Internet photo)

Toilets in the Chinese countryside have earned a nasty reputation, with some little more than ramshackle shelters surrounded by bunches of cornstalk and others just open pits next to pigsties.

However, a toilet revolution is under way as the Chinese government scrambles to meet a UN health target requiring 75% of rural areas to have sanitary toilets by this year.

China's national standard require toilets in rural homes to have walls, roofs, doors and windows and to be at least two square meters in size. They may be flush toilets or dry toilets with underground storage tanks.

Provincial officials around the country said they have been urged to renovate sub-standard toilets and build new ones for farmers.

"Toilets seem like quite an insignificant thing, easily overlooked, but we find it to be an important and quite difficult task," Chen Xiaojin, deputy chief of the health department in eastern China's Jiangsu province, told Xinhua.

Currently, 94% of rural Jiangsu homes have these "sanitary" toilets. Chen said Jiangsu boasts the highest number of up-to-standard toilets in the country, thanks to persistent work in persuading and assisting rural residents to upgrade their facilities.

Sanitary toilets are a health priority for Jiangsu officials. The provincial health department publishes a ranking of cities each month based on their work to build new toilets. Officials who have slacked off risk being reprimanded.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, a national figure on rural toilets will not be available until the end of the year. But the commission said China should have no problem meeting the UN target, as the 2014 figure had already reached 74%. China will set an additional national target of 85% for 2020.

"We must realize the period from now to 2020 is crucial. We are under a lot of pressure, and officials at every level must advance with the campaign," said Li Bin, head of the commission, at a national conference last December.

In Yongkang Village in central Jiangsu, villager Bu has just finished building a flush toilet.

"This kind of new, high-quality toilet is much better and cleaner with no smell," he said. His old one was a thatched space full of flies and maggots. "In the countryside, toilets used to be the dirtiest places. Now they have become the cleanest spots," he said.

HEAVY FUNDING

In Bu's village, each household received 800 yuan (about US$130) from the government to rebuild or renovate their toilets during the first half of 2015. The average home toilet upgrade costs about 3,000 yuan (about US$485), and the farmers must make up the costs not covered by the subsidies.

From 2004 to 2013, China's central government earmarked 8.27 billion yuan (US$1.33 billion) to build toilets in rural areas. Farmers who have agreed to build new toilets are eligible to receive the funds. The amounts vary from 150 yuan (US$24) in central and western China to 500 yuan (US$80) in the eastern and southern regions, where building materials are more expensive. Local governments with deeper pockets may also offer additional subsidies to villagers.

However, officials claim convincing rural residents to change their toilets is a challenge. "Most villagers are used to their way of using the toilet. It is hard to change," said Wang Zhigang, Communist Party secretary in Tanggou township in northern Jiangsu.

Farmers collect feces to be composted on their farmland. If they use flush toilets, no compost will be left behind. Dry toilets with tanks bring the extra task of regular cleaning.

"We had to build a few toilets first and take villagers to visit, and then encourage them to build new ones," he said. Slogans such as "sanitary toilets improve lives" are painted on walls of rural homes. TV stations are told to air videos promoting the use of better toilet facilities.

Fu Yanfen, a researcher at China Disease Prevention and Control, warned that about 80% of contagious diseases such as diarrhea and cholera in rural China are caused by contamination from toilets.

"The improvement of rural health has a profound impact on rural life and the rural economy. The local government must keep up with their work. We should continue to help the villagers in the repair, cleaning and maintenance of these facilities," Health Minister Li Bin said.

A renovated bathroom at Guilin Central Square, Guangxi, Feb. 26. (File photo/Xinhua)

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A cleaner at work at a toilet in Xujiahui Park in Shanghai, Oct. 21, 2014.

(File photo/Xinhua

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This Man Is Modi's Best Chance To Make India Sanitary

China gives new twist to world's second tallest building

Yahoo – AFP, Bill Savadove, 21 June 2015

The under-construction Shanghai Tower (bottom C), the Shanghai World 

Financial Center (L) and the Jin Mao Tower (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

Shanghai (AFP) - The world's second tallest building, Shanghai Tower, will soon open in the Chinese financial capital with a twist -- a 120-degree twist, to be exact.

A softened triangular "outer skin" is literally twisted around a circular core, sending the glass and steel tower spiralling 632 metres (2,086 feet) into the grey sky above the city.

State-backed developer Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Co. views the modern design as a symbol of China's future, a super-tall building in the city's gleaming Pudong financial district, which did not even exist 25 years ago.

The under-construction Shanghai 

Tower, will soon open in the Chinese 

financial capital with a twist (AFP

Photo/Johannes Eisele)

People involved with the project said the building will open this summer, with office tenants moving in first, but the developer declined to comment.

"This twist is an iconic symbol of looking forward for the Chinese people," said Grant Uhlir, practice area leader and principal for Gensler, the US architecture firm whose design was chosen for the building which broke ground in 2008.

"It's been referred to as a strand of DNA. It's also been referred to a place where the ground connects with the sky," he said.

Although still dwarfed by the reigning champion Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 828 metres (2,732 feet), and with new challengers under construction, the $2.4 billion Shanghai Tower can still lay claim to a host of superlatives.

Besides being the tallest double-facade building, the world's fastest elevators travelling 18 metres per second will whisk people up and down while the globe's second highest hotel will be located on the 84th to 110th floors.

An estimated 16,000 to 18,000 people will pass through the Shanghai Tower every day. The building will sway up to a metre (three feet) in high winds, with a 1,000-tonne "damper" weight near the top reducing the effect.

'It has to be unique'

"When you do these iconic, super-tall buildings, it can't be a copy of something else. It has to be unique," said American chief architect Marshall Strabala, who participated in the project while at Gensler.

Now the head of his own firm, he spent part of his three-decade career working on some of the world's tallest buildings including the Burj Khalifa.

He said the double skin plays other roles besides pure design, providing insulation to keep the building cool in summer and warm in winter and reducing wind stress.

"This building is a giant Thermos bottle, that's all it is," he said.

But the vacuum flask metaphor masks the mind-numbing complexity involved in balancing the design, safety requirements, building codes and client demands that shaped the tower.

Marshall Strabala, the chief architect of the Shanghai Tower, poses next 

to a three-metre model of the tower (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

Despite the futuristic look, concepts owing to Chinese culture are present.

A golden canopy at the base of the building was originally meant to be green, the colour of weathered copper, but the developer rejected the idea because in Chinese, the expression "wearing a green hat" means being a cuckold.

"It's not a good thing. Gold is a colour of prosperity," Strabala said.

A white stone structure dubbed the "River Wall" on the lower floors conceptually cuts the building into west and east, like Shanghai itself is divided into Puxi and Pudong on either side of the Huangpu River.

"Pudong side is business, Puxi side is fun. The retail, restaurants (in the building) are on the fun Puxi side," Strabala said.

The developer is expected to shun using floor numbers with the number four, which sounds like the Chinese word for death.

Gensler says the building has 121 "occupied" floors, while the total number has been given as 127 or 128 storeys depending on how they are counted.

'Curse' of tall buildings

Office space will take up much of the 573,000-square-metre (6.2-million-square-foot) building, while the retail space is small compared to a shopping mall -- just four floors.

The building's arrival on the Shanghai office market could potentially pull down rents and drive up the vacancy rate, analysts said.

An empty office space in the Shanghai 

Tower, which is still under construction

(AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

"It remains to be seen whether the pool of tenants currently in Pudong is large enough to fill the building or whether Shanghai Tower will need to start offering discounts to attract others," said Michael Stacy, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield's tenant advisory group in China.

Property agents are quoting rental rates in a range of 9 to 16 yuan ($1.45 to $2.56) per square metre a day depending on location, but they say the developer is offering rent-free periods.

Strabala believes the prestige of the address will draw tenants though he jokes about the "curse" of tall buildings, which seems to follow economic strife.

Workers broke ground on Shanghai Tower in November 2008, just weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which helped spark the global financial crisis, and it will open at a time when China's economy is slowing.

Strabala, however, is not worried, stressing that recognition of the building as the world's second tallest will attract tenants.

"This building will fill up because people will want to be here," he said.

Moroccan villagers harvest fog for water supply

Yahoo – AFP, Zakaria Choukrallah, 19 June 2015

A Moroccan inspects fog fences in a hamlet on the outskirts of the southern

coastal city of Sidi Ifni, on June 7, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fadel Senna)

Sidi Ifni (Morocco) (AFP) - Green technology to turn fog into fresh water straight from the tap has put an end to exhausting daily treks to distant wells by village women in southwest Morocco.

Families in five highland Berber communities have begun to benefit from "fog harvesting", a technique devised in Chile two decades ago and since taken up in countries from Peru to Namibia and South Africa.

On the summit of a mountain named Boutmezguida, which looms over the villages at 1,225 metres (4,019 feet), thick fog shrouds about 40 finely meshed panels designed to trap water and relay it to a network of pipes.

A Moroccan woman uses water collected 

on fog fences to wash her hands in a 

hamlet on the outskirts of the southern

 coastal city of Sidi Ifni, on June 7, 2015

(AFP Photo/Fadel Senna)

To have water running from a faucet at home is a "revolution" for inhabitants of the semi-arid mountains known as the Anti-Atlas, says Aissa Derhem, the chairman of an active regional association called Dar Si Hmad for Development, Education and Culture (DSH).

DSH prides itself on building "the world's largest fog-collection and distribution system" and helping locals in the Sidi Ifni region -- Derhem's birthplace -- to learn to operate it, after repeated droughts and scarce rain.

"Our rain here is the fog," Derhem adds.

Tiny droplets are caught on the mesh while fog wafts through panels. The harvesters mix all they catch with more water derived from drilling, then supply the villages on the lower slopes.

Derhem first heard about fog harvesting 20 years ago. A few years later on returning to Sidi Ifni, he realised that the local climate was similar to that of the Andes in South America.

DSH joined forces with Fog Quest, a Canadian charity whose volunteers work in a range of developing countries. North Africa's first pilot project became operational after almost a decade's work refining techniques.

'An imitation of nature'

The valves were opened at Sidi Ifni for the first time to mark World Water Day, March 22. Ever since, "92 households, or nearly 400 people," have enjoyed running water at home, says Mounir Abbar, the project's technical manager.

Aissa Derhem, the president of the "Dar Si Hamed for development, education

 and culture" association touches a fog fence in a hamlet on the outskirts of the

southern coastal city of Sidi Ifni, on June 7, 2015 (AFP Photo/Fadel Senna)

"Morocco has a lot of fog because of three phenomena: the presence of an anticyclone from the Azores (north Atlantic islands), a cold air current and a mountainous obstacle," Derhem says.

The mesh that traps water is "merely an imitation of nature," he adds, pointing out how spiders have always caught minute droplets of water in their webs.

"This is ecological and enables us to look after the regional water table, which we have been emptying away," Derhem says.

The scheme will be extended to other villages and, in time, advocates hope, to other parts of the country.

In the village of Douar Id Achour, residents are proud of their new taps, for good reason. Women and children used to spend an average of four hours a day on a round trip to a well, even longer in dry summer.

"I filled two 20-litre (5.3-gallon) containers four times a day," says Massouda Boukhalfa, 47. "But even those 160 litres wasn't enough for us, because we have cattle as well."

'Ready for export'

During droughts, water was carried in by tanker trunk. "That took a fortnight and cost 150 dirhams (13.7 euros), $15.6) for 5,000 litres on average," young resident Houcine Soussane recalls.

According to Dar Si Hmad, 7,000 litres of fog water cost three times less than before, even with a fee of 20 dirhams to each household for the right to a counter.

Thick fog is trapped by finely meshed panels and relayed it to a network of pipes

(AFP Photo/Fadel Senna)

Villagers today have more time to collect the nutty fruit of argan trees and extract its prized and potentially lucrative oil, used in cooking, skin care and easing arthritis. Reputed as an anti-ageing product, argan oil has been taken up abroad as an ingredient in high-end cosmetics.

"Our women and daughters no longer wear themselves out. They go to school and are safe," 54 year-old villager Lahcen Hammou Ali sums up. "With the time saved, we can pay for water all year by producing a bottle of argan oil."

DSH next wants to supply fog water to as many villages as possible in the area. It also plans to replace mesh in the panels with a new variety that can resist wind speeds of 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph).

The panels were perfected on Moroccan soil with help from the German charity Wasserstiftung, and successfully passed the testing phase.

"The nets are now ready for export to other towns in Morocco, in all the mountainous regions and along the seafront," Derham says, hopeful they can be deployed in all highland areas where fogbanks are frequent.

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Robot to 3D-print steel canal bridge in Amsterdam

Yahoo – AFP, 16 June 2015

An artist’s visualisation of the 3D bridge which a Dutch company is planning
to print across an Amsterdam canal (AFP Photo/Joris Laarman)

The Hague (AFP) - A Dutch startup has unveiled plans to build the world's first 3D-printed bridge across an Amsterdam canal, a technique that could become standard on future construction sites.

Using robotic printers "that can 'draw' steel structures in 3D, we will print a (pedestrian) bridge over water in the centre of Amsterdam," engineering startup company MX3D said in a statement, hoping to kick off the project by September.

The plan involves robotic arm printers 'walking' across the canal as it slides along the bridge's edges, essentially printing its own support structure out of thin air as it moves along.

Specially-designed robotic arms heat the metal to a searing 1,500 degrees Celsius (around 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit) to painstakingly weld the structure drop-by-drop, using a computer programme to plot the sophisticated design.

"The underlying principle is very simple. We have connected an advanced welding machine to an industrial robot arm," said the bridge's designer Joris Laarman.

"We now use our own intelligent software to operate these machines so they can print very complex metal shapes which can differ each time," Laarman said of the project also involving the Heijmans construction company and Autodesk software.

So far, the robotic arm has been used to print smaller metal structures, but the bridge will be the first ever large-scale deployment of the technology, MX3D spokeswoman Eva James told AFP.

It is hoped that the bridge will be a first step towards seeing the technique used on construction sites, especially those involving dangerous tasks such as on high buildings, she said.

The technique also removes the need for scaffolding as the robot arms use the very structure they print as support.

The designers are now in talks with the Amsterdam city council to find a site for the project which they hope will be completed by mid-2017.

"I strongly believe in the future of digital manufacturing and local production," said Laarman. "It's a new form of craftsmanship."

"This bridge can show how 3D printing has finally entered the world of large-scale functional objects and sustainable materials," he said.

Amsterdam city council spokeswoman Charlene Verweij told AFP the Dutch capital was supporting the project.

"We are still in negotiations as to where exactly the bridge will be built," she said.

Government to Install Solar Panels at DPR, Presidential Palace

JakartaGlobe, Dion Bisara, Jun 15, 2015

The government plans to install solar panels at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta,
Bogor Palace, the House of Representatives and the office of the Coordinating
Ministry of Economic Affairs. (AFP Photo/Cesar Manso)

Jakarta. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources plans to auction Rp 34 billion ($2.6 million) worth of rooftop solar panels for government and public buildings this year.

The ministry is conducting a study on several buildings and airports in order to determine the demand for electricity and the layout of the solar panels, said Maritje Hutapea, director of renewable energy at the ministry over the weekend.

The government plans to install solar panels at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Bogor Palace, the House of Representatives and the office of the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Solar panels will also be installed at several airports, including Tambulaka, Maumere and Labuan Bajo, all of which are in East Nusa Tenggara. Surabaya city government has also expressed an interest in installing solar panels on the roof of its building.

State utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara will buy any excess electricity from the solar panels, Maritje said.

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