It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, October 08, 2021
PRIVATE OWNER IS UNKOWN RACIST CENSOR Outrage after Indigenous art in Calgary covered up with brick wall
By Jill Croteau Global News Posted October 6, 2021 The timing couldn't have been worse. That's the sentiment from many within the Indigenous community after a popular piece of art along Calgary’s 17th Avenue was covered up. As Jill Croteau reports, it happened on the heels of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Artist Kalum Teke Dan is proud of his Blood Tribe roots; they have helped inspire his striking works of art seen all over the province.
But one of the Indigenous artist’s first passion projects that transformed a once blank wall along Calgary’s 17th Avenue has been altered by a different project under construction.
“I feel disrespected. They should have consulted me or the owner of the building besides throwing a brick wall in front of it,” Dan said Wednesday.
Kalum Teke Dan.
Jill Croteau/Global Calgary
It took Dan almost a week to create the piece called “Sunset Song.” He said it’s a representation of renewal and life.
But a development in the parking lot formerly owned by a fast-food chain is underway, and a wall has been constructed over top of it.
“This mural is iconic and launched my career, and everybody loved it. It isn’t just my disappointment; it’s everyone’s disappointment,” Dan said.
Some members of the community passing by the mural feel the timing is tone-deaf.
This comes just days after the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Theodora Warrior from the Piikani Nation lives just steps from the art.
“It is a war cry, it’s pride, it’s power and it’s a respectful piece of art, such a visual of who we are,” Warrior said. “It was an actual visual of what Canada does to us and that’s cover us up and silence us.
“They would rather bulldoze over something so beautiful and put it away and hide it from everybody.”
The mural blocked by the brick wall on 17th Avenue in Calgary.
Jill Croteau/Global News
The Beltline Urban Murals Project commissioned the mural in 2018. Executive director Dexter Bruneau said he expected it would be temporary, but said there was no consultation when work began to cover up the artwork.
“We are disappointed this one, in particular, was covered up. We understand the nature of development in the Beltline means sometimes murals get covered up,” Bruneau said.
The brick wall is on the site of a former fast-food restaurant parking lot, but it’s not known who is behind this construction. The City of Calgary issued the development permit but no one returned Global News’ repeated requests for comment.
BUMP is already consulting with Dan on another Indigenous mural. Dan said he would like to replicate this one somewhere else in the Beltline.
Scientists discover distinct groups of transient orcas that hunt in deep ocean waters off BC
Darron Kloster / Times Colonist - Oct 6, 2021 / 10:01 am | Story: 347796
Photo: Selena Rivera
Scientists have discovered distinct groups of transient orcas that prefer to hunt and live in deeper water in the eastern Pacific, including off B.C.
Joshua McInnes of the University of British Columbia’s Marine Mammal Research Unit, said 150 “outer coast” orcas have been documented over the past 13 years.
They are transients, or Bigg’s orcas, and hunt marine mammals.
But McInnes said the outer-coast orcas don’t often “hang out” or associate with the West Coast population of transients that frequent the near-shore waters of British Columbia, Washington state and southeast Alaska.
The outer coast orcas prefer the continental shelf break or the deep waters over the Monterey Submarine Canyon, he said.
It was originally thought all transient orcas between southern California and northern Alaska were a single population, but research is showing “pocket communities” of transients that spend most of their lives in deep water and rarely mix.
The study by the University of British Columbia, and the U.S.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Marine Life Studies says the outer coast orcas prefer habitat up to 60 kilometres off shore.
These 150 documented outer-coast orcas are usually offshore between central California and Oregon, but McInnes said 26 had been identified off British Columbia and Alaska. He photographed one in the Salish Sea in 2009.
More than 100,000 photographs of dorsal fins and saddle patches were collected between 2006 and 2018, and used to identify and number the orcas. The images were collected by whale watch ecotours, dedicated line transect surveys and marine mammal surveys in California and Oregon.
Another group has been identified in the eastern Pacific as “oceanic orcas.” There are 40 documented so far. They prefer to hunt up to 200 kilometres offshore. “We really don’t know much about these orcas,” said McInnes. “They can’t be linked to [other transients] right now.”
He noted some oceanic orcas have scars on their bodies from cookie-cutter sharks, a parasite that feeds off larger animals without killing them and leaves cookie-shaped scars. Also called the cigar shark, it lives in warm waters worldwide and has been recorded as deep as four kilometres.
“This suggests their movements are in deep waters, but we don’t know where they spend most of their time,” said McInnes. “Orcas can move 100 to 200 kilometres a day, and it’s not set in stone who they hang out with.”
Group Ten Metals close to initial resource for Stillwater West project in Montana
Henry Lazenby | October 6, 2021 Sibanye-Stillwater’s East Boulder mine in the Stillwater Complex of Montana. Credit: Sibanye-Stillwater
Group Ten Metals (TSXV: PGE; US-OTC: PGEZF) expects to publish its first resource estimate in the coming weeks for the Stillwater West platinum-group elements (PGE) plus gold, copper, nickel and cobalt project in Montana, president and CEO Michael Rowley tells The Northern Miner.
Group Ten is the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, with a $15 billion major, Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE: SBSW), running a highly successful operation one kilometre away at the closest point. Sibanye hosts about 86.9 million ounces PGEs across all resource categories at Stillwater
“This is a big system, and that’s pretty rare for a junior in the first place. Large magmatic systems with grade are very rare in the world,” he says in an interview.
“You’ve got the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, the Norilsk Camp in Russia, and then there’s the Stillwater Complex of Montana. Stillwater looks a lot like the Waterberg in South Africa.”
Since acquiring the project in 2017, Group Ten has been working feverishly towards establishing first resources at Stillwater West. “Our strategy is to debut those resources, get them on the table, grow the company around those and expand them organically through the drill bit, to create value,” says Rowley.
“We think we’ve already done that for an expansion next year. I don’t have the results yet, of course, but visually we think we have. And we’ll probably do a bigger program next year. We’ve essentially doubled our program each of the four years we’ve been on the ground, and we look forward to doing that again, maybe more next year.”
Rowley believes the initial resource statement will make a robust debut. “It’s going to place us nicely among our peers,” he says. “We expect we’ll grow those resources as fast as we can issue an update next year.”
Consulting engineering firm SGS Geological Services recently completed a site visit and is working with Group Ten to deliver the resource estimate. The initial resource will hinge on the most advanced target areas at Stillwater West, comprising the Chrome Mountain, Camp, and Iron Mountain targets.
The company is finalizing block models comprising drill-defined nickel and copper sulphide mineralization, enriched in palladium, platinum, rhodium, gold and cobalt for release in the near term.
In addition to the more advanced areas, the inaugural resource figures will include the Crescent target area following the successful expansion of the block models based on the continuity of mineralization observed in all target areas.
Diamond drilling is ongoing, with one rig at the Chrome Mountain target area, and a second that completed priority holes at the Camp target area before moving to the Iron Mountain area.
Group Ten has drilled twelve holes to date. Rowley says conditions remain favourable, and the program is expected to continue into October.
The company is undertaking an induced polarization geophysical survey to the west of the highly successful 2020 survey in the Chrome Mountain target area. In-fill lines, and additional extension lines off the east end of the previous work at the Crescent target area, are also planned.
Bulk mining in North America
Rowley says Group Ten is bringing PGM bulk mining to North America for the first time. The model was pioneered by Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) on the Platreef project in South Africa, and applied to the Mogalakwena mine in the early 1990s by Anglo American (LSE: AAL), and continued today at Platinum Group Metals’ (TSX: PTM) advanced Waterberg project.
“These three adjoining projects comprise the Platreef district and are similar in stratigraphic location and mine model, with bulk mining methods, economies of scale, and co-product nickel and copper sulphides,” says Rowley.
Group Ten also adds cobalt to that mix at Stillwater that the Bushveld does not have.
Bulk mining brings much lower operating costs (about $400 per oz. at Anglo American and Ivanhoe Mines) and multi-decade mine life in comparison with conventional platinum group mines from narrow reef-type deposits that have dominated production for many decades historically, according to Rowley.
“For example, our neighbour Sibanye-Stillwater mines at about $800 per ounce, and the deepest mines in the Bushveld, home to three-quarters of the world’s platinum resources, have even higher costs in both monetary and human terms,” says Rowley.
Stillwater West is in a parallel location at Stillwater, in a famously similar system, and the focus is clearly on those more extensive, Platreef-style systems. “To be clear, we have known reef-type mineralization — and these are reflected in our cross-sections. But our upcoming resources will be bulk-tonnage Platreef-in-Montana PGE-nickel-copper-cobalt-plus-gold mineralization, with lots of room to grow,” he says.
Meanwhile, the company has engaged Greg Dipple and his team at the University of British Columbia, Canada, for a second phase of research to assess the capacity to use mineral carbonation to bind carbon dioxide for permanent disposal as part of a potential mining operation at Stillwater West.
Preliminary work has shown good potential based on the presence of certain minerals at Stillwater West. This next phase of the study is expected to refine and advance that work by identifying specific minerals in rock samples while looking at possible reaction rates, among other items.
“This new study paves the way for further reductions in the carbon footprint for all our commodities in a possible production scenario at Stillwater West, offsetting the impact of mining activities and potentially even achieving significant reductions wherein the uptake and disposal of carbon exceeds the emission from operations.
“In addition to being strongly aligned with Group Ten’s Environmental, Social and Governance guidelines and principles, the incorporation of carbon uptake may bring financial benefits via initiatives such as the 45Q Tax Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration that is now in place in the U.S.,” Rowley says.
Over the last year, Group Ten Metals’ shares listed in Toronto have traded within a range of C26.5¢ and C51¢ and at presstime were C33¢ per share.
A UN panel issued a dire warning this year that without a radical reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the world is dangerously close to runaway warming. Per-capita, Canada has among the highest emissions in the world. (Shutterstock/Edmund O'Connor)
A new report from a Berlin-based think tank shows Canada is trailing behind other wealthy countries when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, and outlines concrete steps that individuals, governments, and businesses can take to help the world limit warming to the 1.5 C goal set by the Paris Agreement.
The report, 1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards A Fair Consumption Space for All, was produced by the Hot or Cool Institute, and compares 10 countries selected to represent a range of income-levels — Canada, Finland, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil, India, and Indonesia.
Out of the countries studied, Canada had the worst per-capita record by far.
The analysis compared the average per-capita carbon emissions of people in each of those countries, a metric the authors called "average lifestyle carbon footprints." The report focuses on key domains where tangible lifestyle changes could make a significant difference, including food, housing and personal transportation.
Have questions about climate science, policy or politics? Email us: ask@cbc.ca. Your input helps inform our coverage.
The average person in Canada produces an equivalent of 14.2 tonnes of CO2 as of 2019, according to the findings. By comparison, the average per-capita footprint in Finland is 9.7 tonnes and in the United Kingdom it's 8.5 tonnes.
"I do think the atmosphere in Canada provides a real opportunity for us asking for change," said lead author Lewis Akenji, who is also the managing director of the Hot or Cool Institute.
Akenji said the idea was to link the Paris Agreement targets to tangible lifestyle changes that can make a difference, in light of this year's "code red" report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
'Not just the individual': Need for better infrastructure
If Canada is going to play its part, he said, the country will need to cut per-capita carbon emissions by 82 per cent in the next decade, and by 95 per cent by 2050.
Eating meat, using fossil fuel cars, flying, and living in large houses with high energy consumption are all highlighted in the report as lifestyle choices that contribute to larger carbon footprints.
"There is no universal sustainable lifestyle," the report states. "If one must use a car, then an electric car in Iceland might make sense, where 100 per cent of electricity comes from renewables, but not in India where electricity is primarily generated from coal."
While the cuts required might sound drastic, it is possible according to Madhur Anand, a professor in the school of environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph and director of the Guelph Institute for Environmental Research.
"We can make progress really quickly. I would look at it from that perspective, rather than think that it's a problem that's too big to solve," Anand said.
Many European countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, started investing in technology to cut carbon emissions long before Canada, but experts say there is still time to catch up.
"It is not just the individual that has to change," Akenji said. "Policies need to come into place, businesses need to come on board with viable products that are sustainable."
"You cannot have citizens just taking action and the government waiting for citizens to change their lifestyles. Canada does not have that luxury."
A photo shows commuters stuck in a traffic jam in Laval, Que. While citizens can reduce their carbon footprint by buying electric cars or opting to bike, train or bus, experts say the government also needs to provide reliable, efficient public transit options for all. (Stéphane Grégoire/Radio-Canada)
Fewer fossil-fuel cars, less meat
The concept behind the 1.5 Degree Lifestyles report was to take the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and, drawing on modelling from the IPCC, establish an equitable target carbon footprint for individuals — one that is the same no matter where a person lives in the world, rich or poor.
The number to shoot for is 0.7 tonnes of CO2 per capita each year by 2050, according to the report's findings. In order to be on track to hit that mark, the average should be 2.5 tonnes per person by 2030.
Preventing the runaway global warming and extreme weather events predicted in the IPCC's latest modeling will require changing how we get around, how we heat and cool our homes, and what we eat, according to the Berlin-based research.
Much of the responsibility lies with countries like Canada, where the report found that per-capita consumption emissions are six times higher than India's, which average to 2.2 tonnes per person annually.
Canadians' love for meat and dairy were found to be significant contributors to carbon footprints, partly due to the popularity of cheese and beef, which are carbon-intensive foods.
Keeping houses heated is another major factor. While Canadians can't help that they have long, cold winters, their reliance on natural gas as an energy source combined with large living spaces makes household footprints larger, according to the report.
By comparison, in a lower-middle income country like India, living spaces are smaller and a significant portion of the population lives in poverty; as a result, the overall energy demand is quite low per person due to basic living conditions and a warmer climate. That, combined with the popularity of vegetarianism keeps carbon footprints comparatively low, with most of the food consumed being plant-based and low-impact.
Anand recently published a paper about how global inequity can actually exacerbate climate change, due to conflict.
"We know there's a huge inequity problem in terms of climate change both on the side of emissions but also on the side of impacts," she said.
"We need to see richer countries helping poorer countries. There's no other way around it."
Even compared to wealthier countries, Canada has a lot of work to do.
Take Japan for example, where people are far less dependent on cars thanks to reliable, efficient public transit systems.
For the average Japanese person, transport contributes 1,970 kg CO₂e to their carbon footprint. For the average Canadian, it's more than double that, at 5,000 kg CO₂e.
"By far the biggest savings Canadians can make in terms of changes are to move from private car use to shared mobility systems," Akenji said.
"The government needs to make sure that these [shared transit] options are available … that they are efficient [and] they are regular so that people can depend on them to go to work or to go visit family, and also that they are clean and safe."
According to the 1.5-Degree Lifestyles report, meat and dairy products are a major contributor to footprints especially in high-income countries, such as Canada. (CBC/1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards A Fair Consumption Space for All)
Diet is another factor and if Canadians want to lower their footprints, the report suggests eating less meat. Meat products make up for 61 per cent of the average Canadian's food carbon footprint of 2,270 kg of CO₂e per year.
Tom Gunton, founding director of the resource and environmental planning program at Simon Fraser University, said he believes there is momentum in Canada for change.
"It's all do-able. We just have to roll up our sleeves and get at it," he said.
"The bad news is that we have a very poor record in Canada. We have very high emissions compared to any of the wealthy countries in the world. The good news is that we are actually starting to develop plans to achieve these reductions."
Work to do, says government
Canada has committed to cutting emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030 and transitioning to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Gunton said what's lacking is a plan that firmly outlines how those targets will be reached, especially while the energy sector continues to rely on oil and gas.
"We're moving in the opposite direction and that's probably our biggest gap right now. We need to eliminate all the subsidies in the oil and gas sector and use that money for investing in renewables or helping transitions in that sector for workers."
With the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, fast approaching, the office for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada acknowledged there is work to do.
Press secretary Joanna Sivasankaran said that, while Canada is responsible for less than two per cent of the total global greenhouse gas emissions, it's true the country is one of the highest per-capita emitters in the world.
"The Government of Canada has a real and serious plan to tackle climate change by cutting pollution from every sector of the economy and every region of the country, including measures to cut emissions from transportation, homes and buildings, and agriculture," Sivasankaran said.
Phasing out gas generation by 2030 would
lead to blackouts, higher bills: IESO
The Canadian Press - Oct 7, 2021 / 11:40 am | Story: 347939
Photo: The Canadian Press
Hydro One electricity transmission lines are seen south of Chesley, Ont.
Phasing out natural gas generation by 2030 would result in rotating blackouts and higher electricity bills, Ontario's electricity system operator said in a report released Thursday concluding that the move isn't possible on that timeline.
The Independent Electricity System Operator examined the idea after 31 municipal councils in the province called for it to happen by the end of the decade.
The IESO concluded it would be too costly for a relatively small return on emission reduction, wouldn't be possible to build the necessary infrastructure in that time, and would leave supply too unreliable.
Phasing out gas generation by 2030 would cost more than $27 billion to install new supply and transmission lines, increase annual system costs by $5.7 billion a year and result in an extra $100 on an average monthly electricity bill.
"A gas phase-out strategy by 2030 provides a very poor return on investment, and suggests that it would be more cost-effective to direct spending into broader carbon reduction strategies that produce much greater impacts," the report concludes.
Ontario's electricity system is already 94 per cent emissions-free, the IESO said, thanks to the phase-out of coal seven years ago, and accounts for a small percentage of the province's overall emissions.
But the IESO has projected that emissions from the electricity sector will rise from around four megatonnes currently to more than 12 by 2030, largely due to nuclear refurbishments and retirements, resulting in a greater need for gas.
Energy Minister Todd Smith said he has asked the IESO to evaluate a moratorium on new natural gas generation and develop an "achievable" pathway to phase it out because doing so by 2030 isn't feasible.
"The significant impacts to affordability and reliability are unacceptable to our government as it would not only impact current consumers but would hinder other progressive actions to reduce emissions such as decarbonization and electrification," Smith said in a statement.
Gas also plays a key role in system reliability, the IESO said, producing large amounts of power to meet high demand, and providing balance when wind and solar generation is variable.
Demand for electricity in the province can vary by up to 10,000 megawatts during the day, and gas generation can respond quickly to those changes, the report said. Without gas generation, those demand fluctuations could lead to rotating blackouts, said David Devereaux, senior manager resource and plan assessments.
"If we faced a prolonged period of high demand, so think of heat waves this past summer, there would be insufficient time to recharge the batteries before each day," he said.
"Now, in our reports, you're going to see terms like blackout, but don't picture a sudden lights-out event like 2003. The scenarios we see are really more of a slow burn."
The report also says there isn't enough capital, equipment and staff to build necessary replacement infrastructure by 2030, and it would mean relying on newer forms of supply such as storage and small modular reactors, which wouldn't be available by that time in Ontario at the scale needed.
"It's very much of a case of a plan that works on paper," Devereaux said of the IESO's modelling for replacing gas generation.
The modelling relied heavily on storage, which captures excess energy and reinjects it into the system when supply is low, but more than 6,000 megawatts would be needed, he said.
"This would likely be the largest fleet of storage in the world," Devereaux said.
"Now, we're very interested in storage, and we're absolutely convinced that it has an important role to play in our system. But we feel like we have a lot to learn before we can roll it out on this scale."
When Ontario phased out coal, it took 12 years, and relied on gas generation as replacement capacity. But gas is less easily replaced, the IESO said. Eliminating coal also added billions in additional costs to ratepayers and drove up hydro bills.
The IESO said there are potential pathways to phase out natural gas generation over a longer period of time, but it's not feasible to do it by 2030.
Extreme drought in Brazil triggers fatal sand storms
Issued on: 08/10/2021 -
A massive dust storm is seen engulfing the neighborhood of Nossa Senhora do Carmo at the city of Frutal, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on September 26, 2021
Sao Paulo (AFP)
Unusually powerful sandstorms have left at least six people dead in Sao Paulo in recent weeks, local media said, as southeastern Brazil grapples with severe drought.
Scenes of huge orange dust clouds rumbling across the countryside -- with winds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour -- have been seen at least three times since the end of September, terrifying residents in urban and rural areas of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais states.
The six people killed in Sao Paulo were victims of falling trees and houses and other direct consequences of the storms, local media reported.
"In some ways, they're a common occurence, but not of this magnitude that we've seen in 2021," meteorologist Estael Sias of the Brazilian weather channel Metsul told AFP of the storms.
"It's the result of a long period of a lack of rain, high temperature and low humidity," he explained.
After the dry season, rain arrives, usually accompanied by wind storms.
"The wind gusts come in contact with the sandy ground and churn up into the atmosphere pollution, waste and the leftovers from fires, which also happen during the dry period," Sias said.
The strong storms "can't be separated from climate change," he said.
"In this century, every year has had record temperatures. There is more heat in the atmosphere, which has just been transformed into energy for extreme (weather) events: rain, storms, floods, but also drought, cold and heat, what has just been unleashed with events like these dust storms," Sias said.
Such storms, which can be frequent in desert regions, can reach thousands of meters into the sky, be up to 160 kilometers wide and last for several hours, according to Sias.
In addition to dealing with extreme drought, the mostly agricultural region also has large open areas uncovered by vegetation, which also leaves land vulnerable to soil being caught up in high winds.
Brazil is facing its worst drought in 91 years, which has led to a critically low water level in hydroelectric reserves in the central-western and southern part of the country, driving up electricity costs.
Brazil first post-pandemic oil auction finds few buyers
Issued on: 07/10/2021 -
An environmental activist dressed as a dinosaur is seen in front of a line of riot police during a protest against an oil auction held in Rio de Janeiro on October 07, 2021
Mauro PIMENTEL, MAURO PIMENTEL AFP
Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
Brazil's oil auction ended in disappointment on Thursday, with the government selling offshore drilling rights in only five out of 92 blocks on offer.
The dismal results reflected the weakened state of the oil industry during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as environmental concerns, according to experts.
The auction brought in just 37.14 million reais ($6.7 million) compared to the $2 billion raised at the previous auction held in October 2019, before the pandemic started.
Crucially, in a win for environmental activists, no offers were made for the blocks in the northeastern Potiguar Bay, which is close to the Fernando de Noronha and Rocas Atoll archipelagos, the former a UNESCO World Heritage site and the latter a biological reserve.
Around 50 protesters demonstrated in front of a hotel in Rio de Janeiro where the auction took place, notably against the projects' risks to traditional fishing.
One demonstrator carried an iconic AFP photograph of an oil-stained Brazilian boy following an oil spill off the coast of northeast Brazil in 2019.
All the five blocks were bought by Royal Dutch Shell. They are located in the southeastern Santos Bay, close to the oil-rich pre-salt layer on Brazil's coast.
Brazil's state oil company Petrobras, usually very active at auctions, made no bids.
Rodolfo Saboia, the director of the National Oil Agency, which organized the auction, insisted the result was "positive" given how hard the industry has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
"We cannot call it a failure, we couldn't expect all the blocks to find a buyer," he said.
But Fernanda Delgado, a researcher at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, told AFP that "everyone expected there to be interest in more areas."
The lack of bids was because companies "did not want to take the political risk or environmental risk," Delgado added.
Mexican exhibit showcases recovered ancient treasures
Issued on: 09/10/2021
A visitor looks at a sculpture called "El Creador" at the "Greatness of Mexico" exhibition at the National Museum of Anthropology in the Mexican capital
Pedro PARDO AFP
Mexico City (AFP)
Ancient Mexican artefacts recovered from abroad are among the archaeological treasures on display at an exhibition showcasing the country's cultural heritage 200 years after it won independence from Spain.
Titled "The Greatness of Mexico," the exhibition at the National Museum of Anthropology and another site showcases 1,500 rare pieces, including Mayan sculptures and Aztec codices.
Almost half of them are on display in Mexico for the first time, having been loaned or returned by European countries or collectors.
The exhibition demonstrates "who we Mexicans are," said Yectli Hernandez, a Mexico City resident who came to the exhibit.
Hernandez said she was proud of her given name's indigenous roots, as well as her Spanish surname -- a reflection of Mexico's diversity.
"The Greatness of Mexico" exhibition presents 1,500 pieces, almost half of which are on show in the country for the first time
Pedro PARDO AFP
"I'm as proud to enter a cathedral as I am to visit pyramids," Hernandez said.
The exhibition illustrates that "the history of this country did not begin just 500 years ago," said Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero.
She was referring to the fall of the Aztec empire to Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's government says that it has recovered more than 5,700 artefacts from foreign countries since late 2018.
Italian general Roberto Riccardi was recently awarded the Aztec Eagle, the highest distinction granted to a foreigner in Mexico, for his work in the recovery of archaeological pieces.
The exhibition illustrates that Mexican history "did not begin just 500 years ago" with the fall of the Aztec empire, Culture Minister Alejandra Fraustro Guerrero said
Pedro PARDO AFP
Just last month, Riccardi helped recover more than a dozen items that were due to be auctioned off in Italy.
"The sale of these objects constitutes an offense in the eyes of Mexican law," the culture minister said.
Every time there is an auction of Mexican artefacts, the government asks that they be seized and returned, said Bernard Tallet, outgoing director of France's Center for Studies on Mexico and Central America.
"Mexico says that its works have been stolen from it," some during the colonization era and others during the 19th century, Tallet said.
Mexico's government says that it has recovered more than 5,700 artefacts from abroad since late 2018 Pedro PARDO AFP
Like many Mexicans, Hernandez, the museum visitor, hopes more artefacts will be returned.
Chile president investigated after Pandora Papers leak
Issued on: 08/10/2021
Chilean prosecutors have opened an investigation into President Sebastian Pinera over the sale of a mining company through a firm owned by his children, which appeared in the Pandora Papers leaks
JAVIER TORRES AFP/File
Santiago (AFP)
The Chilean public prosecutor's office on Friday opened an investigation into President Sebastian Pinera over the sale of a mining company through a firm owned by his children, which appeared in the Pandora Papers leaks.
Attorney General Jorge Abbott opened the probe after the Pandora Papers revealed the sale of the Dominga mining company by a firm "linked to the family of President Pinera," said Marta Herrera, head of the anti-corruption unit in the public prosecutor's office.
Pinera hit out at the move, claiming he had already been absolved of any guilt in a 2017 investigation.
"I have full confidence that the courts, as they have already done, will confirm there were no irregularities and also my total innocence," said Pinera.
The sale of the mine to one of Pinera's closest friends dates to 2010, during his previous term as president.
"As president of Chile I have never, never carried out any action nor management related to Dominga Mining," added Pinera, who took no questions from journalists.
Herrera said the public prosecutor's office took the decision to investigate because of the possibility that the deal involved "bribery, eventual tax crimes, matters that will all ultimately be the subject of an investigation."
The case is due to be led by the public prosecutor in the region of Valparaiso, to the north of the capital Santiago.
Herrera said bribery convictions carried a prison sentence of five years.
According to an investigation by two local media, CIPER and LaBot that are part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that produced the so-called Pandora Papers, Dominga was sold to businessman Carlos Alberto Delano, a friend of Pinera's, for $152 million in a deal carried out in the British Virgin Islands, a well-known tax haven.
The investigation found that the payment was due to be staggered over three instalments with a clause that stated the final instalment was dependent on "not establishing an area of environmental protection in the area of the mining company's operations, as environmentalists are demanding."
According to the investigation, the Pinera government did not create a protected area around the site of the mine in question. - 'Public knowledge' -
On Monday, Pinera denied that there was any conflict of interest in the mine's sale.
He insisted that he knew nothing of the deal, because during his first presidency from 2010-14 he said he put the administration of his assets in blind trusts.
"The decision of the administration of these assets to sell Dominga Mine in 2010, which I was not informed about, was precisely to avoid any trace of conflict of interests," said conservative Pinera, a 71-year-old billionaire.
He said the information contained in the Pandora Papers was "not new" and has been public knowledge since 2017.
"It was also investigated in depth by the public ministry and resolved by the courts of justice," he added.
However, on Friday Herrera said the sale of the Dominga mine was not actually "expressly included" in the case that was shelved in 2017.
Dominga owns two open-air mines in the Atacama desert, 500 kilometers north of Santiago, that are yet to be exploited.
A mining project to do so was approved by a regional court but has yet to be ratified in the supreme court due to appeals.
The project included the construction of a cargo port close to an archipelago that is home to a national park reserve where protected species live, including 80 percent of the world's population of Humboldt penguins.
During his first presidency, Pinera announced the cancellation of the construction of a thermoelectric plant close to the Dominga mine, but took no more steps to protect the area.
Brazil's Lula to announce next year if will run for president
Issued on: 08/10/2021 -
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva became eligible to run for office again after the supreme court overturned his conviction for graft
EVARISTO SA AFP
Brasília (AFP)
Brazil's left-wing former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Friday he would announce "at the start of next year" whether or not he will run for the presidency in October 2022.
Lula, 75, has been flying high in opinion polls, well clear of incumbent far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
"I've been saying I'm not a candidate because I will only decide on my possible candidacy at the beginning of next year," said Lula at a press conference in the capital Brasilia.
"I haven't decided yet because I will decide when the time is right and I will talk to everyone."
Lula, whose decision on his possible candidacy has been eagerly awaited, spent the week meeting political leaders in Brasilia.
The former trade union leader was unable to contest the last election in 2018 as he was serving a jail sentence for graft.
But he once again became eligible to run for office when in March the supreme court overturned his conviction.
Lula said next year's election would be a chance to "fight a lot so that we can fix this country."
"The country will have to have enough judgement so that the day of the election it elects someone that respects democracy ... and doesn't say stupid things the whole time," added Lula in a clear reference to Bolsonaro.
"He should shut his mouth and govern."
The latest opinion poll from the Datafolha institute on September 17 gave Lula, who was president from 2003-2010, 44 percent voter intentions compared to just 26 percent for Bolsonaro.
Chilean scientist plans to clean up mining with 'metal eating' bacteria Issued on: 09/10/2021
Chilean biotechnologist Nadac Reales shows a nail and screw inside a jar with metal-eater bacteria in her laboratory at a mining site in Antofagasta
MARTIN BERNETTI AFP
Antofagasta (Chile) (AFP)
Starving microorganisms capable of surviving in extreme conditions have already managed to "eat" a nail in just three days.
In Chile, a scientist is testing "metal-eating" bacteria she hopes could help clean up the country's highly-polluting mining industry.
In her laboratory in Antofagasta, an industrial town 1,100-kilometers north of Santiago, 33-year-old biotechnologist Nadac Reales has been carrying out tests with extremophiles -- organisms that live in extreme environments.
Reales came up with her idea while still at university as she was conducting tests at a mining plant using microorganisms to improve the extraction of copper.
"I realized there were various needs in the mining industry, for example what happened with the metallic waste," she told AFP.
Some metals can be recycled in smelting plants but others, such as HGV truck hoppers that can hold 50 tons of rock, cannot and are often discarded in Chile's Atacama desert, home to the majority of the country's mining industry.
Chile is the world's largest producer of copper, which accounts for up to 15 percent of the country's GDP, resulting in a lot of mining waste that pollutes the environment.
In her research, Reales, who now runs her own company Rudanac Biotec, concentrated on iron-oxidizing bacteria called Leptospirillum.
She extracted the bacteria from the Tatio geysers located 4,200 meters above sea level, some 350 kilometers from Antofagasta.
The bacteria "live in an acidic environment that is practically unaffected by relatively high concentrations of most metals," she said.
"At first the bacteria took two months to disintegrate a nail."
But when starved, they had to adapt and find a way of feeding themselves.
After two years of trials, the result was a marked increase in the speed at which the bacteria "ate," devouring a nail in just three days.
- Surprising benefit -
Reales says "chemical and microbiological tests" have proved the bacteria are not harmful to humans or the environment.
"We've always seen a lot of potential in this project that has already passed an important test in the laboratory," said Drina Vejar, a microbiologist who is part of a four-person team working with Reales.
"It's really necessary at this time when we have to plan for a more sustainable development, especially in all these cities with so many polluting industries."
Mining companies have shown interest in the research but while Rudanac Biotec previously benefitted from a state fund for start-ups, the company needs investment to move on to its next stage of trials.
Chilean scientist Nadac Robles hopes her 'metal eating' bacteria will make green mining "totally feasible"
MARTIN BERNETTI AFP
Reales says she needs money to see if her method will "eat a medium sized beam or a hopper."
When the disintegration process is complete, what remains is a reddish liquid residue, a solution known as a lixiviant that itself possesses a surprising quality.
"After biodisintegration the product generated (the liquid) can improve the recovery of copper in a process called hydrometallurgy," said Reales.
Essentially, the liquid residue can be used to extract copper from rock in a more sustainable manner than the current use of chemicals in leaching.
Reales says it means green mining is "totally feasible."
That is of great interest to mining companies that could use it to improve their large scale extraction of copper or other minerals, while also reducing their pollution, something they are required to do by law.
Reales recently submitted a request for an international patent for her technology, but more importantly she hopes it will help reduce metal waste blotting the landscape in the mining regions of her country.
“Absent significant changes in policy or technology,” global energy consumption will grow by almost 50% between 2020 and 2050, according to a new report released Wednesday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will also increase through 2050 due to economic and population growth, the report finds.
The number of internal combustion engine cars is expected to peak in 2023 in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Globally, the internal combustion engine market is expected to peak in 2038.
A coal fired power plant in Jiayuguan, Gansu province, China. Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Even with the current drive toward more renewable energy sources, global carbon emissions are going to increase through 2050, unless there are significant changes in policy or technology between now and then.
That’s according to a new report released Wednesday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a division of the federal U.S. Department of Energy which analyzes and shares data. For the report, the EIA projects future energy trends based on current laws and regulations. This assumption, and the resulting findings, emphasize the need for governmental changes and new technology to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change.
“Even with growth in renewable energy, without significant policy changes or technological breakthroughs, we project increasing energy-related carbon dioxide emissions through 2050,” said Stephen Nalley, the Acting Administrator of the EIA, in a written statement.
Assuming current trajectories, economic and population growth will drive a 50% increase in global energy consumption between 2020 and 2050.
Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, will see the largest growth among energy sources through 2050, the report says.
“The worldwide push to generate more electricity from renewables and also increase electric grid reliability could push more expansion of battery storage on a global scale,” Nalley said. But even though renewables will grow fastest, liquid fuels will be the still be the primary source of energy, primarily because of the transportation and industrial sectors. (Liquid fuels refers to all petroleum, including crude oil and products of petroleum refining, natural gas liquids, biofuels, and liquids derived from other hydrocarbon sources, including coal to liquids and gas to liquids. Here, liquid fuels does not include liquefied natural gas and liquid hydrogen.)
Oil and natural gas production will increase overall to meet demand in developing economies in Asia.
“The fast-growing economies in Asia could combine to become the largest importer of natural gas and crude oil by 2050, given their significant increase in energy consumption,” Nalley said.
Demand for and consumption of energy in non-OECD countries in Asia will be more than those countries are able to produce. That will drive an increase in the import of crude oil and finished petroleum products from the Middle East, the EIA says.
Non-OECD countries in Asia will be the largest importers of natural gas, the report says, while Russia will be the largest exporter of natural gas.
Also mentioned in the report, sales of electric vehicles are expected to grow through 2050, and the number of internal combustion engine cars is expected to peak in 2023 in OECD countries.
Globally, the internal combustion engine market is expected to peak in 2038.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2021 Reference case Note: Petroleum and other liquids includes biofuels.
In our International Energy Outlook 2021 (IEO2021) Reference case, we project that, absent significant changes in policy or technology, global energy consumption will increase nearly 50% over the next 30 years. Although petroleum and other liquid fuels will remain the world’s largest energy source in 2050, renewable energy sources, which include solar and wind, will grow to nearly the same level.
Falling technology costs and government policies that provide incentives for renewables will lead to the growth of renewable electricity generation to meet growing electricity demand. As a result, renewables will be the fastest-growing energy source for both OECD and non-OECD countries. We project that coal and nuclear use will decrease in OECD countries, although the decrease will be more than offset by increased coal and nuclear use in non-OECD countries.
We project that global use of petroleum and other liquids will return to pre-pandemic (2019) levels by 2023, driven entirely by growth in non-OECD energy consumption. We do not project OECD liquid fuel use to return to pre-pandemic levels at any point in the next 30 years, in part because of increased fuel efficiency.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Outlook 2021 Reference case Note: Delivered consumption includes fuels directly used by the end-use sectors as well as electricity, excluding generation, transmission, and distribution losses.
We project that the industrial sector will increasingly consume petroleum liquids as feedstock in the expanding chemicals industry. In OECD countries, liquid fuel consumption in the industrial sector will grow three times as fast as liquid fuel consumption in the transportation sector.
Delivered electricity consumption will grow the most in the residential end-use sector. We project that in non-OECD countries, electricity will account for more than half of the energy used in households by 2050, compared with 33% in 2020. In non-OECD commercial buildings, we project that electricity will make up an even larger share of energy consumption in 2050, at 64%.
Globally, we project increased consumption of natural gas through 2050. The industrial sector is the main contributor to the growth in global natural gas consumption through 2050 in our Reference case, largely in non-OECD countries. Across OECD countries, gains in energy efficiency will reduce household natural gas use by 2050. The industrial sector will use the largest share of both natural gas and coal among all end-use sectors. Industrial coal use will expand fastest in non-OECD countries, where energy-intensive industries such as iron and steel production are expanding more quickly than in OECD countries.
