POST MODERN ALCHEMY

A leap toward carbon neutrality? Transmuting carbon dioxide to methanol


By Dr. Tim Sandle
August 2, 2024


Madrid wants to ramp up production of emissions-free fuel like green hydrogen - Copyright AFP Valentin BONTEMPS

Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a catalyst material known as cobalt phthalocyanine that converts carbon dioxide—a significant driver of climate change—into renewable fuels such as methanol.

The researchers studied using cobalt phthalocyanine as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into methanol through multiple reaction steps. The first step converts carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and the second step converts the carbon monoxide into methanol. Methanol could potentially be used to power vehicles in a more environmentally friendly way.

Hence, the most-produced chemical worldwide can be generated environmentally friendly, serving as a base material for a wide range of industries and products.

This approach presents a sustainable method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while offering an avenue to produce clean energy.

While the conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol has been industrialized, achieving this transformation on a large scale through electrochemical processes has proven to be a significant challenge.

Cobalt phthalocyanine acts like a molecular hook for carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide molecules. The arrangement of these molecules around the cobalt metal (the geometry) is crucial because it determines how strongly each gas molecule binds.

The problem, they found, is that cobalt phthalocyanine binds much more strongly to carbon dioxide molecules than to carbon monoxide molecules. Because of this, once carbon monoxide is produced in the first step, the carbon monoxide is displaced by another carbon dioxide molecule before it can be further converted to methanol.

Using advanced computational modelling, the researchers calculated that cobalt phthalocyanine binds carbon dioxide over three times more tightly than it binds carbon monoxide. They also confirmed this through experiments measuring reaction rates when varying the amounts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

The researchers showed that the difference in binding affinity has to do with how the catalyst’s electrons interact with the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide molecules. To solve this issue, the researchers suggest redesigning the cobalt phthalocyanine catalyst to strengthen how it interacts with carbon monoxide and lessen how strongly it binds to carbon dioxide.

Resolving this roadblock should pave the way for using catalysts like cobalt phthalocyanine to efficiently convert carbon dioxide waste into methanol fuel on a large scale.

The research appears in the journal ACS Catalysis. The paper is titled “Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Methanol by Cobalt Phthalocyanine: Quantifying CO2 and CO Binding Strengths and Their Influence on Methanol Production.”

Uninspiring: Is this what we really think of our workplaces?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
August 2, 2024

The BT Tower in central London is set to be transformed into a hotel

 - Copyright AFP STRINGER

According to new research, over half of UK employees find their office spaces ‘uninspiring’, while 84 percent want their workplace to offer them an ‘experience’ alongside their daily workload.

A consistent finding reveals that those who work in offices that are effective and offer appropriate experiences report that their workplace has an advantageous effect on a range of factors that contribute to a business success.

Savoy Stewart has examined some of Europe’s most popular offices to pinpoint what makes them so inspiring, and reveal how to incorporate these features into other workspaces to boost employee productivity. The findings have been presented to Digital Journal.

Designate an area for entertainment and relaxation

Google’s office in Amsterdam and Zurich are a great example of the importance of having an area entirely focused on entertainment or relaxation. Employees have access to mediation rooms, relaxation areas and even a room with different games to play. This ensures that should they need a break from work, a designated area is on hand for them to use.

Incorporating such spaces can help boost productivity. Recent research has proven that taking short breaks can boost performance and a person’s wellbeing. Areas focused on entertainment breaks can be created by adding comfortable furniture or games like ping-pong, table football or pool.

Add a unique office design

The most popular offices around the world all have one main thing in common and that is their unique design. Some have creative graffiti on their walls, others have slides connecting two floors (Ticketmaster’s London office) or even a firefighter’s pole (Google’s Zurich office) to help employees get quickly from one floor to another. Ensuring there’s a creative atmosphere in the workspace will in turn boost employee’s creativity.

Value employees’ physical health in your office design

While people’s mental health is of great importance, so is their physical health and it shouldn’t be neglected. LEGO and Google offices have done a great job of taking care of their employee’s physical health by incorporating gyms or even desk bikes into some of their offices. People exercising regularly is beneficial for clearing their minds and making sure they’re sharp when they’re working.

Turning a space into a gym with some basic equipment can make a big difference and show employees that their wellbeing is valued. Another idea is to put standing or walking desks for anyone who wants to get some movement in while completing tasks. To further benefit employees’ health, encourage them to set reminders for short breaks from their screens to help maintain eye-health.

Create a clearly designed space for people to sit and eat

Another important feature well known offices have in common is that they provide a designated area to sit and eat or drink. Having an area in the office where people can do that is a great way to save them some time from having to go out, searching for a place to eat. It also encourages discussion amongst employees. Even a small kitchen area can make a difference.

Incorporate nature

Maintaining a connection to nature can help liven up the office space. Many popular offices have a lot of plants, or outdoor areas where people can get some fresh air. The green plants can actually help people’s eyes relax, especially if they work on computers, while the fresh air can provide a nice break from the closed working space.

Slow down to save the planet, says Japan’s rock star philosopher Saito


By AFP
August 1, 2024


Kohei Saito's argument that capitalism is the root cause of climate change and we need to stop chasing growth to save the planet has struck a chord in Japan 

- Copyright AFP Philip FONG

Katie Forster

As Tokyo’s millions put in another day’s work on the coalface of capitalism, celebrity Marxist philosopher Kohei Saito and his friends are clearing rocks from a muddy mountain stream.

Saito’s core argument — that capitalism is the root cause of climate change and we need to stop chasing growth to save the planet — has struck a chord in the world’s fourth-largest economy, especially among young people.

The associate professor at the University of Tokyo has sold half a million copies of his latest book and last month spoke at music festival Fuji Rock, headlined by The Killers.

He has become a face of the global movement for “degrowth” — a word that “kind of freaks people out”, Saito told AFP as he tended to his slice of collectively owned land on the capital’s western outskirts.

“Maybe it’s not the best way to convince people, especially in America,” said the 37-year-old, whose hit title “Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto” came out in English this year.

But using the term is one way to “provoke or challenge” widely accepted economic principles which are leading to environmental ruin, he said.

Saito is not a member of the Japanese Communist Party and he rejects the need for top-down, Soviet-style systems.

Instead he believes in grassroots change led by projects such as Common Forest Japan, his attempt to reconnect with nature and build a democratically run community.

“Unless the left or liberal, progressive side offers a more attractive vision of the future… right-wing populism will take advantage of this crisis,” Saito said.

He is a regular TV news talk show guest, and recently made headlines for saying he was boycotting the Olympics, citing its “excessive commercialism” and “double standards” over Israel’s participation and Russia’s exclusion.

– ‘Degrowth isn’t just frugal living’ –

Saito’s calls for a world where fewer things are produced — reducing carbon emissions — and a break with overconsumption and long working hours have resonated with those disillusioned with the status quo in Japan.

The Japanese version of “Slow Down” came out in 2020, when the pandemic brought many industries to a standstill.

“I didn’t expect this was something people would be interested in, because Marx is outdated” and degrowth could sound like “some kind of negative dictatorship”, he said.

Yet coming of age after Japan’s 1980s boom years, Saito’s generation has seen decades of economic stagnation despite the pursuit of growth, he contends.

So “that kind of discussion has some attraction, especially to young people who don’t fetishise the old kind of Japanese miracle any more”.

New technologies such as electric cars, carbon capture or nuclear fusion cannot solve the climate problem in a system that is always seeking greater profit, Saito said.

Banning private jets and “excessive public advertisements” as well as “introducing a much more radical wealth tax” could be a starting point instead.

“But I also want to emphasise that degrowth is not simply about giving up everything and living in frugality,” said Saito.

It’s about challenging capitalism’s sense of “scarcity” that makes people insecure about the future — a stress they try to overcome with shopping and other intensive consumption which in turn “destroys the planet”.

– ‘No greedy behaviour’ –

On the mountainside, the slim, round-spectacled philosopher, his wife and two children, and around 20 others climbed up the stream’s banks, home to worms and wild mushrooms.

They moved stones and branches to allow the water to flow more easily, trying to reduce the risk of landslides.

Although his ideas could sound far-fetched to minds “almost dominated by the logic of capital”, Saito says the forest project exemplifies a society where there is “no greedy behaviour — because it doesn’t make sense”.

Growing up in Tokyo, Saito wasn’t much of a hiker and his parents weren’t political.

He discovered socialist thinkers like Noam Chomsky as a teenager interested in his “criticism of American imperialism”. Years later, Japan’s 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster brought home “the unsustainable relationship between humans and nature”.

While pursuing his PhD in Berlin, Saito investigated Marx’s take on ecology in the German’s notebooks from his later years.

The idea of degrowth dates back to the 1970s, but has gained traction recently with a slew of new books including “Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World” by economic anthropologist Jason Hickel.

Saito makes clear in “Slow Down” that for now his ideas only apply to the world’s rich countries, which are disproportionately responsible for climate change.

Despite being a keen observer of local politics, as a philosopher, he says tricky decisions, like how much new infrastructure is too much, are not his to make.

“I’m not a good politician. Because politics is about compromise, right?”

Re

Olympics organisers ‘firmly condemn’ harassment of opening ceremony artists

RELIGIOUS REVANCHIST HOMOPHOBES


By AFP
August 2, 2024

Thomas Jolly says he has become the target of cyberbullying - Copyright POOL/AFP Mikhail VOSKRESENSKIY

Olympics organisers on Friday threw their support behind the creator of the Paris Games opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, and participating artists after he reported cyberbullying over one controversial scene.

“Paris 2024 gives its full support to Thomas Jolly as well as the creators and artists of the opening ceremony in light of the attacks against them,” a spokesperson told AFP.

French investigators have opened an inquiry after Jolly, who is openly gay, complained of cyberbullying following the performance, sources close to the case said Friday.

The open-air ceremony along the River Seine last Friday has drawn praise despite being complicated by an unexpected downpour.

But Christians and far-right groups have taken offence at one of its scenes including members of the LGBT community that they say mocks Christian values, a claim the theatre director has rejected.

Jolly filed a legal complaint on Tuesday, “explaining he had been targeted on social media by threatening and insulting messages criticising his sexual orientation and wrongly assumed Israeli origins”, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

They were notably investigating death threats against him, it added.

A source close to the case said many of the hate messages had been in English.

Jolly and his colleagues did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investigators are also looking into similar complaints from Barbara Butch, a French DJ and lesbian activist who starred in the controversial scene.

Her lawyer said she had been “threatened with death, torture and rape”.

Ceremony organisers have said they were portraying feasting Olympian gods in a nod to a host of famous classical paintings, with a blue-painted French pop star and actor, Philippe Katerine, playing Dionysus, the father of Sequana, the goddess of the River Seine.

But critics have wrongly seen it as a disrespectful parody of the Last Supper, the final meal between Jesus and his apostles.

Former US president Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election to the White House in November, called the ceremony a “disgrace”.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hails from an Islamic-rooted party, condemned it for “immorality against all Christians”.

burs-ah/as/js

 CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Coca-Cola says will appeal US tax court penalty worth $6 bn


By AFP
August 2, 2024


Image: — © Digital Journal

Coca-Cola said Friday it plans to pay a tax penalty worth $6 billion while it pursues an appeal in a long-running dispute with the Internal Revenue Service.

“The company believes it will prevail on appeal,” Coca-Cola said of a US tax court ruling dated July 31 that covered the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. The back taxes amount to $2.7 billion, which with interest makes the total owed “approximately $6.0 billion,” the company said.

“The company looks forward to the opportunity to begin the appellate process and, as part of that process, will pay the agreed-upon liability and interest to the IRS,” Coca-Cola said Friday, adding that it has 90 days to file a notice with the US Court of Appeals.

The case dates to 2015 when Coca-Cola received a notice from the IRS contesting the company’s accounting of income from foreign affiliates over the need for “arms-length” pricing of transactions with these entities, Coca-Cola said in a securities filing.

Following a November 2020 decision in which the US Tax Court ruled against Coca-Cola, the company set aside reserves of $438 million.

On June 28 following an updated analysis, Coca-Cola increased the tax reserves to $456 million.

Coca-Cola’s press release Friday did not give a timeframe for the $6 billion payments.

In its latest quarterly filing, Coca-Cola said the IRS could also look to apply its methodology on pricing with foreign affiliates for the years 2010 through 2023, resulting in “the potential aggregate incremental tax and interest liability” of $16 billion.

The Coca-Cola filing also said the company was evaluating how recent court rulings for the tax case. This includes the Supreme Court decision overturning the 40-year Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council precedent to reign in federal regulatory agencies.

Shares of Coca-Cola fell 0.2 percent in late-morning trading.

Climate change: Wildfires rage across North America


ByDr. Tim Sandle
August 3, 2024

DIGITAL JOURNAL


A firefighter works to extinguish a wildfire in Keratea, near Athens, on the weekend - Copyright AFP CLARENS SIFFROY

More than 100 wildfires are burning across Canada and the U.S., the largest of which is located in California. Dubbed the Park Fire, this fire has burned more than 385,000 acres, or about 601 square miles (an area slightly larger than the city of Los Angeles).

The present situation sees the fire having destroyed 109 structures and it is only 12 percent contained. More than 8,000 have been told to evacuate their homes, according to the BBC.

According to Paige Fischer, associate professor at the School for Environment and Sustainability (University of Michigan): “This summer’s wildfires are consistent with the trend scientists have expected and the public has experienced in recent years—wildfires are becoming more damaging, and in many places, they are occurring with greater frequency, magnitude and severity.”

Fischer conducts research on how people experience and perceive wildfire risk, as well as what motivates and constrains them in taking action to reduce risk. She also examines how people adapt to long-term changes in climate conditions that drive wildfire risk.

This leads to her focusing on the impact on people: “Beyond the existential crisis that wildfires pose to neighbourhoods and communities in the wildland-urban interface, we should be extremely concerned about wildfire impact that is most difficult to control: toxic smoke. We are just beginning to understand how bad wildfire smoke is for human health and how many people are exposed, especially from vulnerable populations.”

A second commentator from the same institution is Jonathan Overpeck, an interdisciplinary climate scientist and dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability.

Considering the climate impact, Overpack notes: “The current North American wildfire season is surging across the western U.S. and Canada, made worse by the warming and drying effects of human-caused climate change. As climate change worsens, so too does the risk of ever larger and more severe wildfires.”

Overpack is an expert on climate and weather extremes, sea-level rise, and the impacts of climate change and options for dealing with it. He served as a lead author on the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 and 2014 reports.

Expanding on the climate change issues further, the researcher says: “The growing wildfire crisis is also leading to significant declines in air quality, including far from the wildfires themselves, as well as often devastating consequences for human infrastructure and communities where fires are occurring. Erosion, landslides and water contamination are also becoming larger problems as climate change-supercharged wildfire seasons continue to get worse.”

How the last meal of a 3,000-year-old crocodile was brought back to life using science

The Conversation
August 2, 2024 

Crocodile (Shutterstock)

What do you think of when you think about ancient Egyptian mummies? Perhaps your mind takes you back to a school trip to the museum, when you came face to face with a mummified person inside a glass case. Or maybe you think of mummies as depicted by Hollywood, the emerging zombie-like from their sandy tombs with dirtied bandages billowing in the breeze.

It might surprise you to know that the Egyptians also preserved millions of animals.

In a recent study, my colleagues and I revealed extraordinary details about the final hours in the life of a crocodile that was mummified by the ancient Egyptian embalmers. Using a CT scanner, we were able to determine how the animal died and how the body was treated after death.

To the Egyptians, animals served an important religious function, moving between the earthly and divine realms. Hawks were associated with the sun god, Horus, because they flew high in the sky, closer to the sun (and therefore to the god himself). Cats were linked to the goddess Bastet, a brave and ferociously protective maternal figure.

Most animal mummies were created as votive offerings or gifts.

Animal mummies provide a snapshot of the natural world, taken between approximately 750BC and AD250. Some of these mummified species are no longer found in Egypt.

For example, ancient Egyptians would have seen sacred ibises, long-legged wading birds with curved beaks, along the banks of the Nile every day. The birds were mummified in their millions as offerings to Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing. The birds are no longer in Egypt as climate change and the effects of desertification have made them move south to Ethiopia.

Another commonly mummified animal was the crocodile. Although crocodiles lived in the Nile during ancient times, the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970 prevented them from moving northwards towards the delta in lower Egypt.

Crocodiles were associated with Sobek, Lord of the Nile and the god whose presence signalled the annual Nile flood which provided water and nutrient-rich silt to their agricultural land.

Crocodiles were mummified in huge numbers as offerings to Sobek. They were used as talismans throughout pharaonic Egypt to ward off evil, either by wearing crocodile skins as clothing, or by hanging a crocodile over the doors of homes.

Most crocodile mummies are of small animals, which suggests that the Egyptians had the means to hatch and keep the young alive until they were required. Archaeological evidence reinforces this theory, with the discovery of areas dedicated to the incubation of eggs and rearing of hatchlings. Some were pampered as cult animals and allowed to die a natural death.

As the crocodiles grew larger, the risk to crocodile keepers increased, suggesting perhaps that larger specimens were captured in the wild and hastily dispatched for mummification. Research on the mummified remains of larger animals has revealed evidence of skull trauma inflicted by humans probably as an attempt to immobilise and kill the animal.

What we found

The crocodile mummy in our study holds evidence to suggest how these animals might have been caught. The mummy is held in the collection of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK, and measures 2.23 metres long. In May 2016, the large crocodile mummy, which formed part of a wider study by a team of researchers I work with from the University of Manchester, was transported to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to undergo a series of radiographic studies.

Medical imaging techniques allow researchers to study ancient artefacts without destroying them, the way that studies of mummies once did.

X-rays and CT scans showed that the animal’s digestive tract was filled with small stones known as “gastroliths”. Crocodiles often swallow small stones to help them digest food and regulate buoyancy. The gastroliths suggest the embalmers did not carry out evisceration, the process of removing the internal organs to delay putrefaction.

Among the stones, the images also showed the presence of a metal fish hook and a fish.

The study suggests that large, mummified crocodiles were captured in the wild using hooks baited with fish. It adds weight to the account of Greek historian, Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BC and wrote about pigs being beaten on the banks of the river to lure the crocodiles, which were caught on baited hooks placed in the Nile.

Unlike many aspects of life in ancient Egypt, little information was recorded relating to animal worship and mummification. Classical writers who travelled to the country remain some of our best sources of information.

Colleagues from the Birmingham School of Jewellery helped replicate the hook in bronze, the metal most likely to have been used to create the ancient original, for display alongside the crocodile mummy.

Modern technology is helping us to learn more and more about our ancient past. I can only imagine what secrets technology might help reveal in the future.


Lidija M. Mcknight, Lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

PAKISTAN


Good policies or good luck?

Dr Nadia Tahir 

Published August 3, 2024 

IS it good luck or good policies that matter more for a resilient economy? IMF programmes for Pakistan offer valuable insights. With the IMF’s Stand-by Arrangement (SBA), our economy has shown some maturity.

Our total foreign exchange reserves are $14.3 billion, and the inflation rate has come down significantly from 38 per cent in May 2023 to 11.8pc in May 2024. The exchange rate has been tamed, with the dollar exchange rate hovering around Rs280. The primary balance is in surplus because of a check on non-interest spending. All these indicators are signs of recovery after the SBA and the current staff-level agreement.

In recent years, the phenomenon of ‘neo institutionalism’ has examined the role of institutions in shaping policy formation and its outcomes. According to NI, human actions are structured by institutions. Precedent is key in institution formation, but simultaneously, a hindrance in structuring non-partisan policies.

With the staff-level approval of the Extended Fund Facility from the IMF, Pakistan is set for another term of stabilisation. This time, it is a soft stabilising growth programme, not a hard stabilisation one, which is harmful to growth. The EFF plans to roll out $7bn over 37 months, aiming to capitalise on hard-won macroeconomic stability. For many, it is a wish list; for others, it is wishful thinking.

A discussion has started on the will, desire, and capability to spearhead reforms. The common narrative is that these reforms are essential to correct market rigidities and widen the tax net. Can these reforms make a dent in our elitist and rent-seeking culture? Let us examine some prescribed policies agreed upon for stabilising growth in the economy.

Can the reforms make a dent in our elitist and rent-seeking culture?

Firstly, there must be an increase in tax revenues by 1.5pc of GDP in FY25 and 3pc over the duration of the programme. IMF experts prescribe the collection of more taxes from retailers, feudal lords, and exporters. However, taxing these sectors will shrink growth prospects, and it is a significant challenge for the government. The EFF is silent on the tax collection strategy. It only says the government should collect more taxes through direct and indirect measures.

There is agreement on increasing the tax net and bringing more people into it, but the devil lies in the details. The presumptive tax regime has been censured by individuals and businesses. There is a demand for a progressive tax system, including the overhaul of the FBR and possibly a single national tax authority for collecting all types of revenues. Can we turn around the FBR and the taxation policy so quickly?

At least there is no precedent to support the assumption that we can. IMF experts must have a sound basis for believing that $7bn in the next three years is a good enough incentive to undertake this expensive reform. The IMF’s desire to have more taxes is correct, but is it the right time after the budget approval? For good policy, timing is everything, and where developing a policy for restructuring the FBR and bringing more people into the tax net is concerned, the timing is not in our favour.

Secondly, controlling demand through increasing interest rates in a country where food security, along with stunted growth among children, is an issue, is debatable. There is another debate on whether controlling inflation and the exchange rate results from macroeconomic policies or entirely fortuitous exogenous and non-policy-related factors. It is difficult to tell. There is discomfort with high interest rates, and local investors are waiting for the monetary stance to be eased. Salaried individuals hope for a lesser tax burden and an expansionary fiscal policy. Can the reforms outlined in the EFF for the next 37 months meet these expectations?

Thirdly, restoring the energy sector and refraining from further unnecessary expansion of the generation capacity is another contentious issue. IPP agreements and contract re-negotiations are not easy to handle. People and businesses need competitive rates for electricity. Arbitration and dispute resolution mechanisms need a strong federal government. This needs good luck and good policies both.

Fourthly, the IMF is mindful of and is respecting the rights of the provinces while demanding full harmonisation of the agricultural income tax regime with federal income and corporate taxes. The Fund expects this to be completed by Jan 1, 2025. Consensus is required not only for imposing taxes, but also for the tax collection methodology — should it be ‘produced index unit’ or ‘gross value’? Without farm productivity data, it is not easy to decide. Problems with landholding data is another challenge.

Another agenda item is cutting public expenditure and subsidies. Fiscal adjustment in spending, rather than increasing tax revenues in a shrinking economy, is generally considered a better option. Promoting the private sector and removing state distortions or selling state-owned enterprises has been on the agenda since the early 1990s. In this budget, the government indicated that Rs30bn would be collected from privatisation proceeds. Improving SOE operations and management is a challenging task, requiring changes in governance rules and restructuring of the boards of the respective state-owned enterprises.

Pakistan has experienced 24 cycles of reforms with the IMF. With foreign liabilities due in the coming year, the situation will be no different from the times we have asked friends and partners to roll over debt liabilities. Investors demand quick solutions before investing in Pakistan, and waiting for good luck is not an appealing strategy.

Can we afford to wait for good luck? The SBA barely stabilised the economy, and we narrowly escaped default. With EFF approval on the horizon, we are planning for a moderate growth of 3.6pc of GDP. History teaches us that the pursuit of growth can land the economy in a precarious situation. For a resilient economy, we have to earn good luck through good policies.

The writer is director, economy, at the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, Lahore.

info@casslhr.com

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024

Indonesia's Papua rebels ready to free New Zealand pilot held for over a year


Aug 03, 2024


JAKARTA - A separatist group in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua has agreed to free New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens from more than a year in captivity since kidnapping him, according to an audio message issued by a spokesperson on Saturday.

An armed faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), led by Egianus Kogoya, kidnapped Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023 after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote, mountainous area of Nduga.

Kogoya has agreed to release Mehrtens and is readying a plan to do so, the spokesperson, Sebby Sambom, said, adding that it could take up to two months.


"Commander Egianus has said humbly, for the sake of humanity, we will release the pilot," he said, but gave no reason for the timeframe.

Indonesia's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indonesia has previously said it had prioritised talks with religious and community leaders to free the pilot, as a military operation in the rugged highland area presented dangers.


In February, New Zealand called for the immediate release of Mehrtens, a year after his kidnapping.

The group has released videos of the pilot several times, asking the United Nations to mediate talks towards Papua's independence. One of them showed him holding the banned Morning Star flag and surrounded by Papuan fighters.

A low-level but increasingly deadly battle for independence has raged in the resource-rich western half of Papua, where attacks by independence fighters have grown deadlier and more frequent as they have procured more sophisticated weapons. 

REUTERS

Mexico City’s women water harvesters help make up for drought

August 03, 2024 
By Associated Press

 

Abigail Lopez, a member of cooperative Pixcatl, removes a filter from a water collector system at a community garden in Mexico City, July 14, 2024.

MEXICO CITY —

Gliding above her neighborhood in a cable car on a recent morning, Sonia Estefanía Palacios Díaz scanned a sea of blue and black water tanks, tubes and cables looking for rain harvesting systems.

"There's one!" she said, pointing out a black tank hooked up to a smaller blue unit with connecting tubes snaking up to the roof where water is collected.

"I'm always looking for different rainwater harvesting systems," she said, smiling. "I'm also always looking for places to install one."

Driven by prolonged drought and inconsistent public water delivery, many Mexico City residents are turning to rainwater. Pioneering company Isla Urbana, which does both nonprofit and for-profit work, has installed more than 40,000 rain catchment systems across Mexico since the company was founded 15 years ago. And Mexico City's government has invested in the installation of 70,000 systems since 2019, still a drop in the bucket for the sprawling metropolis of around 9 million.

But there's little education and limited resources to maintain the systems after installation, leading the systems to fall into disuse or for residents to sell off the parts.

Enter Palacios Díaz and a group of other women who make up the cooperative Pixcatl, which means harvest of water in the Indigenous Nahuatl language.

In lower-income areas like Iztapalapa — Mexico City's most populous borough — the group tries to keep systems functioning while also educating residents on how to maintain them. That includes brainstorming their own designs and providing residents with low-cost options for additional materials.

Palacios Díaz has lived with water scarcity in Iztapalapa as far back as she can remember. "Here, people will get in line starting at 3 in the morning to get water (from distribution trucks) up until 2 in the afternoon," she said from her mother's home. "There was a time in which we went for more than a month without a regular supply of water."

Earlier this year, the reservoirs that supply the capital were perilously low. Authorities reduced the amount of water being released and neighborhoods not accustomed to water scarcity faced a new reality.

Entering the rainy season, most of Mexico was in moderate to severe drought. Mexico's reservoirs are beginning to approach half their capacity, but they haven't filled by much, according to recent reports by the National Water Commission.

The country depends on the rains — which normally peter out in October — to fill the reservoirs, but the drought has taken them so low that that might take years.

That's encouraged many Mexicans like Palacios Díaz to turn to rainwater harvesting.

Abigail Lopez, a member of cooperative Pixcatl, cleans a filter from a water collector system at a community garden in Mexico City, July 14, 2024.

At the height of the pandemic, she taught classes on urban farming and water harvesting at a local community space. It wasn't until her students said they wanted to learn how to install and understand their own systems that she seriously considered taking a government course. After enrolling in a training program in 2022 to become an installer, she met other young women from the city interested in water harvesting systems and they formed the cooperative.

Near the skirt of a volcano on the fringes of Iztapalapa, Lizbeth Esther Pineda Castro, another member of the cooperative, and Palacios Díaz adjusted a ladder to reach the roof of a small house. The two-story home inherited by Sara Huitzil Morales and her niece sits in Iztapalapa's Buenavista neighborhood.

Huitzil's mother had qualified for a free water harvesting system from Mexico City's government in 2021. After the installation, Huitzil requested Pixcatl's maintenance since she wasn't sure how to take care of the system.

Sporting their navy polos with the Pixcatl logo, Pineda and Palacios Díaz cleared debris off the roof so the system only collects fresh rain.

"We also add a little bit of soap and chlorine to clean the pipes," said Palacios Díaz as she swept the liquid down a connecting tube that leads to the harvesting system.

Downstairs, they joined the other members of the cooperative in a courtyard to look at the giant 2,500-liter water tank, enough to serve Huitzil's needs for several months when filled. The colossal container stood nearly as tall as Palacios Díaz. Another cooperative member cleared a filter of leaves and dirt.

Last, Palacios Díaz plopped in a couple of chlorine pills to clean and disinfect the water. The frequency of the entire maintenance process depends on several factors, including how much water is in the tank, how much has been used, and whether it has rained.

Huitzil said before the harvesting system, she endured water shortages and rationing. The publicly available water was consistently dirty and "dark like chocolate." She often used the water that remained from doing laundry to clean the courtyard. Sometimes when dirty water would arrive, she would put it in buckets and wait for the dirt to settle to the bottom, using the cleanest for showering.

The system has transformed her daily use of water, and she doesn't have to think twice about whether it's safe. The system initially uses six filters, plus three more if the water is to be used for drinking.

"The water is good, it's so good!" said Huitzil. "My clothes come out very clean and the water is sweet. You can even harvest it to be cleaner to drink."

With more than 1.8 million residents, Iztapalapa has been one of the primary beneficiaries of Mexico City's harvesting system program. But after two years, the city stopped giving away free systems when many residents, facing economic hardship and sometimes struggling to maintain the systems, sold off their parts.

"It should be easy to maintain, but it's tedious," Palacios Diaz said. "Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a scenario in which we not only have environmental problems, but economic problems."

Loreta Castro Reguera, an architecture professor at Mexico's National Autonomous University, focuses much of her work on water and urban design. She said rainwater harvesting is a great solution because during Mexico's rainy season residents can use rainwater instead of water from the Cutzamala system — a reservoir that provides water to Mexico City and the State of Mexico.

Palacios Díaz dreams of rainwater systems in markets, malls, and other community spaces. The cooperative is also working on designs personalized for their clients' needs — whether for a low-cost system or to fulfill a greater demand for water.

As women, she and the other members of Pixcatl want to set an example for those who want to get involved in water harvesting.

"I think it's really beautiful we can inspire young girls and show women in another context," said another member, Abigail López Durán, "that we can also use tools and aren't afraid to get hurt."