Bockris, John O'M

Egloff, Roger L.

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CONFERENCES & MEETINGSINTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON SOLID-WASTEMANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION, HELDIN KATHMANDU, NEPAL, FROM 28 OCTOBER TO 4NOVEMBER 1990The Solid-waste Management and Resource Mobi-lization Centre (SWMRMC) of Kathmandu, Nepal, and theGerman Technical Co-operation Agency (GTZ), co-sponsored this meeting of solid-waste management expertsto address the range of problems faced by developing citiesin Asia. The cities represented at the meeting were:Ahmedabad, Bandung, Bangalore, Bangkok, Calcutta,Ghiangmai, Colombo, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur,New Delhi, Penang, and Thimpu (Bhutan). Further Asianparticipants represented national departments or pro-grammes, such as the Adipura Award of Indonesia and theCottage Industries Department of Myanmar. There wereinternational experts from Canada, Germany, and Norway,as well as from the International Reference Centre forWastes Disposal and the World Bank, and two observersfrom Accra, Ghana. Nepalese participants, in addition toSWMRMC staff, were from the Ministry of Housing andPhysical Planning, Ministry of Education and Culture, andaid and consulting organizations.The meeting was organized around three importantcomponents of a solid-waste management system: (1)Institutional development (financial management, re-source mobilization, legal framework, integrated plan-ning, manpower development, private-sector cooper-ation, and technology choice); (2) People's participation(school education, motivation, and mass media); and (3)Resource recovery (composting, landfill gas, wastepicking, recycling, etc.). Working groups addressingspecific topics each considered effectiveness (how farstrategies meet agreed targets); efficiency (best use ofresources); significance (success in reaching targetgroups and especially in servicing the unserved); andsustainability (maintaining the solid-waste managementsystem). The summaries of these working groups werepresented in plenary sessions and also reproduced inbooklet form by the SWMRMC. The final session wasdevoted to an informal symposium on 'Waste Manage-ment in a Mega City', organized by Christian Hatzfeldton the basis of comments from the working groups.The participants visited the sanitary landfill construc-ted with German financial and technical assistance forKathmandu, the compost-making plant, low-incomeneighbourhoods, and squatter settlements (where wastegathering, sorting, and trading, were in evidence), and asmall-scale bone-meal factory, as an example of localurban-waste recycling.Immediately after the meeting, the participants joinedin the 'Cleaner City Campaign' of Kathmandu, whichconsisted of a neighbourhood cleaning drive (organizedby local clubs), the inauguration of the Nepal House-wives' Association, a children's parade, distribution ofpamphlets, poster competition, and display and a massrally with youth oratory competition. This event illus-trated some of the techniques that were encouraged bySWMRMC to raise citizens' awareness and motivationfor improvements in solid-waste management.Most of the invited experts prepared papers relating tosolid-waste management or case-studies which were notpresented at the Workshop but were printed anddistributed as resource materials. Some copies of thesepapers, and the Workshop summaries, may be availablefrom SWMRMC. For further information, pleasecontact: Sri S. B. Thapa, General Manager, Solid WasteManagement and Resource Mobilization Centre, POBox 1044, Teku, Kathmandu, Nepal.This was at once a lively and stimulating meeting thatallowed discussion of issues of pressing importance toAsian cities while providing a great deal of practicalinformation on waste management. By eschewing formalpaper presentations, the procedure permitted muchinteraction among the participants, together with cohe-rence in covering the range of solid-waste concerns forthe cities which were represented and others like them.CHRISTINE FUREDY, Associate ProfessorUrban Studies Programme, Faculty of ArtsYork University,North YorkOntario M3JIP3, Canada.SECOND ANNUAL CMDC* CONFERENCE, ON THETHEME OF ENVIRONMENT-COMPATIBLE ENERGY-SOURCES, HELD AT THE HOTEL ZURICH, ZURICH,SWITZERLAND, DURING 10-12 DECEMBER 1990About 130 people were present on this encouragingoccasion organized by CMDC President Gustav R. Grob,and although most were from Switzerland or nearbyGermany, not a few were from farther afield.There is an obvious link between energy and envi-ronment, such that most of our worst environmental pro-blems arise from the unrestrained use of fossil fuels. Thisfact was apparent throughout the above Conference,which also stressed the fact that a drive towards ahydrogen-based economy would bring relief in greatlyreducing the degradation of our environment.We should not depend overwhelmingly on direct solarenergy as our renewable resource. Although this will bean important source, and perhaps 50% of all renewableenergy will come from wind and hydro, there are, fortu-nately, others. Among the various ways of convertingsolar energy to electricity, the cheapest will be OTEC,followed by solar thermal, followed by photovoltaics. Itis peculiar that everybody stresses photovoltaics whenthe two other alternatives are so much cheaper.Regarding the production of hydrogen from rene-wable sources, the best prospect seems to be the Euro-Quebec Hydro-Hydrogen Pilot Project. This will makeuse of the huge surplus of cheap electricity availablefrom the hydroelectric power-plants recently constructedin that Canadian province. The hydrogen produced byelectrolysis would be transported to Europe in ships,either in liquid or compressed gaseous form. The cost ofthis hydrogen, at the site of delivery (Hamburg), wouldbe almost competitive with other energy-vectors.This project, initiated by Dr J. Gretz, of the EuropeanResearch Center at Ispra, in northern Italy, benefits nowfrom strong support from the industry, from the GermanGovernment, and from the European Community.The suggested introduction of a hydrogen-based eco-nomy is being met with reticence, because of the hugeinvestments which would be needed. However, con-cerning the distribution and use of hydrogen, a newtendency is gaining approval, namely to consider theprogressive admixture of hydrogen to natural gas.* Acronym of Cercle Mondial du Consensus, the 'World Circleof the Consensus'. — Ed.183Environmental Conservation, Vol. 18, No. 2, Summer 1991 — © 1991 The Foundation for Environmental Conservation — Printed in Switzerlandhttps:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900021871Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 13:09:55, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at184 Environmental ConservationOn the second day of the Conference, when stress wasbeing laid upon hydrogen as a carrier and there weremany good papers, a peculiar thing happened: a ladyfrom China spoke favourably of the use of coat (sic); anda gentleman from the Soviet Union thought that theywould continue to use natural gas for about 30 to 40years. When asked why they made these extraordinaryannouncements, they said 'But it is cheaper', and had tobe carefully educated about net cost versus apparentinitial costs!There is little doubt that natural gas will progressivelyreplace petroleum as an energy-source, if only as a tran-sition towards a fully-integrated hydrogen economy. Inthe transition period, to start with, small amounts ofhydrogen could be added to natural gas, both for trans-portation purposes and for other use. The investmentswould be reasonable.This process was described by one of the speakers, DrJ. Selzer, for supply to vehicles. He proposed the name ofHYTHANE for the mixture of HYdrogen and me-THANE.JOHN O'M. BOCKRISDistinguished University ProfessorDepartment of ChemistryTexas A & M UniversityCollege StationTexas 17843-3255, USA,&ROGER L. EGLOFFCentre International COPER1 Rue de VarembeCH-1202 GeneveSwitzerland.GLOBAL WARMING — A CALL FOR INTERNATIONALCOOPERATION, BEING THE SECOND INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE ON THE SCIENCE AND POLICY ISSUESFACING ALL GOVERNMENTS, HELD IN CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, USA, DURING 8-11 APRIL 1991As with so many meetings scheduled in early 1991,this conference suffered from the Persian/Arabian Gulfevents. Attendance declined markedly compared with thepreceding year, although well over one hundred delegates,representing 17 countries, showed up; the number ofattendees from Third World nations, or originally fromsuch nations, was impressive.An attempt was made to reach a wide range ofprofessionals as well as the public at large. Both inter-national cooperation and coordination were urged in thebroader aspects of natural resources management, currenttechnologies, policy options, and legal constraints. Globalclimatic changes were considered, as well as effects of'greenhouse' phenomena, reforestation, and employmentof biomass energy. Educational aspects were touchedupon, stressing the universities' informational role.Global Warming and Other ChangesGlobal warming was accepted as factual by allspeakers, and several effect-mitigating factors werediscussed or proposed: biomass energy, biocrops, biofuels,etc. One session dealt almost exclusively with forests andtheir effect of reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations.Canadian, Indonesian, Mexican, Bulgarian, and Tropical,forests' role assessment analyses were used as examples.A cooperative US-USSR ecosystem study was describedin considerable detail and, though of modest scale, showsvery promising aspects.Climate change indicators and the global climatelinkage received the largest totality of time. Here the coral-reef system and the subarctic biological realm were linkedto current climate oscillations, the use of models was high-lighted, and Man's influence put in focus.Methane and Water ShortageTwo other topics handled at some length were methaneand water shortage. The Gas Research Institutes' environ-mental programme in global change was reviewed, andmethane fluxes in urban and agricultural settings weredescribed. Three papers dealt with desertification andwater supply in the Sahel, particularly Chad; hydrologicsystems were handled on a global scale, and specificallyfor Indonesia.In the cadre of Man's impact upon global changes,alternative energy sources were proposed, ranging fromwood and herbaceous plants to the ocean. Activities ofseveral US agencies received some favourable echoes.Unusual, however, was a proposal for reducing globalwarming while promoting preservation of endangeredspecies: a forest of several species of Eucalyptus couldsupport a large population of marsupials and simul-taneously reduce the 'greenhouse' effect!Further GleaningsGleaning among the environmental topics touchedupon, constructive proposals were made or practicalthoughts expressed. Thus biofuels could alleviate over-production of CO2, and technologies for this are at hand.An eight-nations experiment is under way to use the tree-line as a climate-change indicator. If 84% of carbon^emission due to production and consumption are'ascribable to developed countries, a substantial proportionis nevertheless generated by China.In the context of the over-emission of CO2, alternativesfocus on changing energy policies, controlling 'green-house' gas emissions, and changing patterns of land-useand -adaptation. Where the US is concerned, mass edu-cation, tighter efficiency-standards, more research anddevelopment, and more economic incentives, could be keysteps. An enormous educational task lies on the uni-versities' front door-step, so that a constant global popu-lation might be enabled to live in happy equilibrium withthe Earth System.The Third International Conference on the Science andPolicy Issues Facing All Governments will be held, againin April, in 1992 in Chicago, and efforts will be made toincrease West European, female, and developing coun-tries' input, while diversifying even further the range ofsubjects covered.ROGER H. CHARLIER, Professor Emeritus(Free University of Brussels)2 Avenue du Congo Box 23B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.TENTH EUROPEAN PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR ENERGYCONFERENCE, HELD IN THE FIL CONGRESS CENTRE,LISBON, PORTUGAL, DURING 8-12 APRIL 1991https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900021871Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 13:09:55, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

Second Annual CMDC Conference, on the Theme of Environment-compatible Energy-sources, held at the Hotel Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, during 10-12 December 1990

Second Annual CMDC Conference, on the Theme of Environment-compatible Energy-sources, held at the Hotel Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, during 10-12 December 1990

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