Algae: Biofuel Of The Future?

Algae are tiny biological factories that use photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide and sunlight into energy so efficiently that they can double their weight several times a day.

As part of the photosynthesis process algae produce oil and can generate 15 times more oil per acre than other plants used for biofuels, such as corn and switchgrass. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater or even contaminated water, at sea or in ponds, and on land not suitable for food production.

Read it all from ScienceDaily (Aug. 19, 2008)

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Sins Against Nature; Sins Against God: Archbishop Bartholomew of Constantinople To the Plenitude of Rome

( Courtesy :thenazareneway to Communions )

Sins Against Nature; Sins Against God

Archbishop Bartholomew of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch To the Plenitude of Rome

Patriarch Bartholomew is the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, and has a flock of over 300 million. Unlike most other religious leaders, his crusade is for the preservation of the environment. "To commit a crime against the natural world is a sin," he says. "For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God's creation; for humans to contaminate the Earth's waters, land, air, and life with poisonous substances, these are sins against God."

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord, God, The Fashioner and Sustainer of Every Creature Beloved Brethren and Children in the Lord,

The God of tender mercy and love for mankind created the cosmos to be a place of sublime beauty, serviceable and apt to the needs of every human being. Into such a world, God allowed the crown and monarch of His creation, the human person, to partake of everything in it that is needful for life.

Every necessary relationship of the human being with creation is conjoined with a sense of joy and satisfaction. If there is an excess or privation of what is, by its use, naturally good then there is an accompanying sensation of want (in the case of privation) or surfeit (in the case of excess).

Thus does the human being possess in himself instinctively a means of measuring beneficial need or detrimental excess. The need manifests as privation; the excess manifest as wasteful superfluity.

It follows then that all human beings, endowed with freedom of will, have the capacity to direct their own instinctual faculty to prescribe their own limits; whether to restrain such limits for reasons of ascetical discipline, or to exceed them by the power of desire.

Thus we find ourselves confronting this condition: either we are subject to greed, or to a certain hatred for life, for the natural blessings and gifts God, that is to attitudes which are equally unacceptable, being opposite to the perfect plan of God for humankind's enjoyment of life.

The unfortunate reality is that humanity has rejected to be shaped by the suggestions and inducements of God. We have not followed His guiding grace in determining the measure of our needs and how we use the world; how we work in the world or how we preserve the world. The result is that we behave toward the environment, toward nature, rapaciously and catastrophically.

When we apply our own sense of mastery and not appropriate use we upset the natural harmony and equilibrium that is based in God.

Nature reacts negatively and the result is that terrible desires pile up on the human family. Unusual fluctuations in temperature, typhoons, earthquakes, violent storms, the pollution of the seas and rivers, and the many other catastrophic actions for man and the environment ought to be an obvious alarm for something to be done with human behavior.

The principal reason for this catastrophic behavior of contemporary man is his egocentrism, which is another face of self-reliance apart from God, and even self-divinization. On account of this egocentrism, the relationship between humanity and nature has been radically altered.

Now an impertinent, arrogant subjugation of the forces of nature has supplanted that which was designed by God. In place of the preservation of life and freedom, these forces serve to destroy and oppress our fellow man, or we indulge in excessive consumption, without regard to the consequences of such excess.

The use of atomic and nuclear forces of nature for warlike purposes constitutes unmitigated hubris. Whatever the manner of our over consumption, we have burdened the natural environment with such pollution that the earth's temperature is rising and many of nature's balancing acts are now unstable, with all that this implies.

The enormous amount of energy that is consumed for the purposes of the modem day machine, as well as the prodigality of modem life that far exceeds the reasonable human needs of today, comprise two distinct sectors, in which the responsibilities of leaders and simple citizen are woven together in such a way that each has the capability of taking action for the betterment of the general condition.

Beloved children and brethren in the Lord, let us act, each one from his own position and setting, giving every effort to an amelioration of senseless consumption.

Let us work toward a restoration of a harmonious working of the planet on which we live, so that in tranquility our children may enjoy all the blessings of the creation of our loving God, the blessing He offers to all people. So be it!

Your beloved brother in Christ
and fervent supplicant before God,
+ BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople ----------------------------------------------------

The Sixth Mass Extinction

Dying Frogs Sign Of A Biodiversity Crisis

ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2008)

Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

In a new article published online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet.

"There's no question that we are in a mass extinction spasm right now," said David Wake, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley. "Amphibians have been around for about 250 million years. They made it through when the dinosaurs didn't. The fact that they're dying out now should be a lesson for us." Read it all here

Sustainable Energy Alternatives

Sustainable Energy Alternatives

There are many alternative energy sources that are sustainable and do not pose the accident risks inherent in nuclear energy production. These sources include:

1.

Bioenergy: biomass, such as plant matter and animal waste, can yield power, heat, steam, and fuel.
2.

Geothermal: renewable heat energy can be harnessed from deep within the earth.
3.

Wind: turbines turning in the air convert kinetic energy in the wind into electricity.
4.

Solar: the sun's energy can be captured and used to produce heat and electricity.
5.

Hydrogen: if produced by renewable sources, it can power fuel cells to convert chemical energy directly into electricity, with useful heat and water as the only byproducts.
6.

Tidal: using the movement of the ocean to power turbines and generate electricity.

Read it all from Kaleidoscope

Jerry Achen on Global Warming Awareness Day 08.08.08

Fr. Jerry Kurian, currently doing doctoral studies in Communication in Gurukul suggested ten ways to beat the global warming locally. He was talking to the Gurukul Community on the August 8th 2008 at 8 pm when the Gurukul lights were switched off to show its solidarity with those who are concerned with global warming. Chennai has followed Sydney and Mumbai, in this exercise of solidarity. Jerry Achen who belongs to the Syrian Orthodox Church has been a member of the faculty of the Orthodox Seminary at Mulanthuruthy, Kerala. To enter into his thought world go to his blog, Jerry achens world.

Here is the full text of the speech:

Switching off for 8 minutes and 8 seconds

It is indeed an honour to share some insights with you as we have assembled here to be part of an activity aimed at creating awareness about global warming. As the name suggests, human kind have through their actions made a negative impact on the earth. Global warming in effect is the increase in the temperature of the earth due to the increase of green house gases, which trap the heat from the sun and lead to warming up of the earth’s surface.

How are these gases formed and who is responsible? The gases are a direct result of the burning of fossil fuels and other combustible matter. The release thereby of the poisonous CO2 leads to the fearful situation that was mentioned above. Humans are involved in this activity of putting an unfair amount of burden upon mother earth.

The motor bikes, scooters and cars we ride and drive emit gases into the atmosphere that pollute the air we breathe. Public transport systems which include buses, trains and aeroplanes also emit poisonous gases, the only difference being that the ratio of people transported and the emissions are much more positive than smaller transport.

Clubbed with this, we use appliances which run on electricity and emit green house gases and lead to the pollution of the environment. We could ask ourselves the question, “What can we do?” “We have to live and therefore we cannot stop using any of the things we are using now.”

Before we close the argument on this it is worth while to look at some of the things we could suggest in tackling this problem.

1. Create and maintain a green cover of forests both within and without city limits. Cutting of trees, if done should be done so in a sustainable fashion.
2. Apart from parks, and other sources of green cover, cities, towns and villages should be brought under a scheme whereby planned planting of trees is undertaken.
3. Educate children and adults alike about the need for being concerned about one’s environment. Reward those who are involved in programmes to save the environment.
4. Make friendship groups in living spaces and work places, whereby resources are shared. Car sharing and eating together can be tried out which will lead to saving fuel and money. This will also be an initiative which helps in bringing about a community feeling once again instead of an individual consumerist culture.
5. Using our bodies as modes of transport. Walk and cycle more. This helps to keep ourselves in shape and also cuts heavily on fuel.
6. Trying to be creative with the way we use our resources and make our purchases. Think before we purchase something, be it a bulb, an appliance. Think whether it is of use to us, how long we will use it and how much energy it will use.
7. Do not force others to do this but try to be a silent example oneself.
8. Adopt trees and take care of them. If you don’t have the time to plant a sapling, try helping someone you know will do so.
9. Show solidarity with people who fight to bring down global warming.
10. Spare a minute for our children and what world they are going to live in. Think about what we got and what they are going to have.