Dutch solar and wind energy production rises, hits 10% of total in 2017

DutchNews, December 29, 2017

Wind turbines close to the beach at Velsen Noord. Photo: DutchNews.nl 

There was a 40% increase in the amount of solar power generated in the Netherlands last year while wind power production was up by one third, according to new figures from monitoring website energieopwek.nl. 

In total, renewables now account for 10% of energy production in the Netherlands, the website is quoted as saying by news agency ANP. Energieopwek.nl is a joint initiative between energy companies and grid operators. 

From next year, the website will also publish the amount of energy produced by geothermal systems. 

By 2020, 14% of energy produced in the Netherlands should come from renewable sources, in order to meet targets set down by industry and the government.

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20TH KRYON SUMMER LIGHT CONFERENCE, US (7), June 2-4, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version "The State of the Earth")

"....  A mini ice age is coming. "Kryon, isn't that doom for the planet?"  Many have seen the artist's rendering of major earth cities under ice and all of the other things that go very well with science fiction movies. That's simply a painting of someone's doom scenario, not reality based in the history of the cycle. If you want to know what a mini ice age is like, just flash back in history and study what took place in about 1650. That was a mini ice age. Due to the change in the Gulf Stream (the ocean), the river Thames froze in London. Dear ones, it was cold, but it did not doom the planet. That's a mini ice age.

That's what you're facing, and I'll say it again. If you live in a cold climate, heed this advice: It's going to get colder. Get off the grid! Within the next 15 years, find a way of producing electricity independently or in smaller groups. This can be done neighborhood-wide or separately in homes. You're going to need this, dear ones, because the grid as it exists right now all over the world is not prepared for this coming cold, and the grid will fail. That's not doom and gloom, that's just practical, commonly known information. Your electricity infrastructure is delicate, too delicate. Prepare for a cold spell that may last for a couple of decades. That's all it is. Technology is racing forward to allow this. Don't let your politics get in the way of your survival. ..."

"...  This is controversial. The planet can't just "change the water". It does it instead with a "reboot of life in the ocean" using the water cycle. Watch for evidence of this as it occurs, and then remember this channel. This weather cycle is to refresh the life in the ocean so that everyone on the planet will have needed food from the ocean. Gaia does this by itself, has done it before, and it does it for a reason - so it will not stagnate.

Dear ones, indeed, you have put compromising things into the air and the water, but it has not caused this cycle. We have said for a very long time, stop killing the environment! The reason? It's going to kill you, not Gaia. Gaia is spectacularly resilient and will survive anything you do. However, it is you who may not survive if you continue polluting. All this is starting to change with your awareness, and you're starting to see this and move with it. But Humans are not causing the current weather shift. This will be known eventually.

What is happening has happened before, and it's almost like a reboot for the oceans and it carries a lot of dichotomous events. You're going to see reports of a dying ocean, but at the same time you're going to see unusual reports of too many fish and other sea life in places that were supposed to have a decline. You're going to see the life cycle of the ocean itself start to change and reboot.

The chief player in this renewal is a place you would not expect: Antarctica. I want you to watch for magic in Antarctica. It has always been the core of the refreshing of microbes and other kinds of life in your oceans and it's especially active during these mini ice ages. The process will cause currents under the sea to be filled with new life, delivering it to both hemispheres almost like an under-sea conveyor belt. ..."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet; again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much…

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four.”

THE RELATIONSHIP TO GAIA - April 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

New Mini Ice Age

"The weather you have today, and all the alarming attributes of it, is a scenario of what was scheduled to happen on Earth anyway. I review again that the weather changes you are seeing prophesied by myself, 21 years ago, are not a surprise. The changes are not caused by the pollutants you put in the air. You call it global warming and that's a nice phrase, and perhaps that will get you to put less pollutants in the air – a very good thing. But what you are seeing in the weather shift today was not caused by Humans putting things into the air. It would have happened anyway in about 300 years."

"We've called this process the water cycle, since it's all about water, not about air. The water is the predominant attribute of Gaia and of the weather cycle you're seeing. More predominant is the temperature of it. The cycle is ice to water and water to ice, and has been repeated on this planet over and over and over. It is not new. It is not exceptional. It is not frightening. But it's a cycle that modern humanity has not seen before, and it's a long cycle that is beyond the life span of a Human Being. Therefore, it tends to be overlooked or not seen at all !"

"In the days of the Lemurians, the water level of the Pacific Ocean was almost 400 feet lower, and that's only 50,000 years ago. [Kryon invites science to check this out – the water level at that time.] That was a water cycle working, and the reason it was lower was due to so much of the water being stored as ice. Today you're going through another water cycle that will eventually lead to cooling. The last one was in the 1400s."

"Science sees that at about 1650. As mentioned, they are so slow there is no remembrance that a Human has of them except in past writings and in the rings of the trees. The time span of the changes is so great that environmental record keeping does not exist in the form that it does today. But you can still look at the rings of the trees and at the striations of the rocks and can generally figure out that a few hundred years ago, you had a mini-ice age. Now you're going to have another one." 

Bali declares 'garbage emergency' amid sea of waste

Yahoo – AFP, Bagus SARAGIH, December 28, 2017

The Indonesian holiday island has become an embarrassing poster child for the
country's trash problem (AFP Photo/SONNY TUMBELAKA)

Kuta (Indonesia) (AFP) - Bali's palm-fringed Kuta beach has long been a favourite with tourists seeking sun and surf, but nowadays its golden shoreline is disappearing under a mountain of garbage.

Plastic straws and food packaging are strewn between sunbathers, while surfers bobbing behind the waves dodge waste flushed out from rivers or brought in by swirling currents.

"When I want to swim, it is not really nice. I see a lot of garbage here every day, every time," Austrian traveler Vanessa Moonshine explains.

"It's always coming from the ocean. It's really horrible," she adds.

Often dubbed a paradise on earth, the Indonesian holiday island has become an embarrassing poster child for the country's trash problem.

The archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is the world's second biggest contributor to marine debris after China, and a colossal 1.29 million metric tons is estimated to be produced annually by Indonesia.

The waves of plastic flooding into rivers and oceans have been causing problems for years -- clogging waterways in cities, increasing the risk of floods, and injuring or killing marine animals who ingest or become trapped by plastic packaging.

Officials in Bali have declared a "garbage emergency" across a stretch of coast that 

includes Jimbaran, Kuta and Seminyak beaches (AFP Photo/SONNY TUMBELAKA)

The problem has grown so bad that officials in Bali last month declared a "garbage emergency" across a six-kilometre (3.7-mile) stretch of coast that included popular beaches Jimbaran, Kuta and Seminyak.

Officials deployed 700 cleaners and 35 trucks to remove roughly 100 tons of debris each day to a nearby landfill.

"People with green uniform were collecting the garbage to move it away but the next day I saw the same situation," said German Claus Dignas, who claimed he saw more garbage with each visit to the island.

"No one wants to sit on nice beach chairs and facing all this rubbish," he added.

Bali's rubbish problem is at its worst during the annual monsoon season, when strong winds push marine flotsam onto the beach and swollen rivers wash rubbish from riverbanks to the coast, according to Putu Eka Merthawan from the local environment agency.

"This garbage does not come from people living in Kuta and nearby areas," he told AFP.

"It would be suicidal if Kuta people were doing it."

War on waste

Some 72 kilometres from Kuta, Mount Agung has been threatening to erupt for two months, prompting tourists to cancel visits and displacing tens of thousands of villagers living within a 10 kilometre-radius of the volcano's crater.

Indonesia is the world's second biggest contributor to marine debris after 

China (AFP Photo/SONNY TUMBELAKA)

But the island's waste problem is no less of a threat, said I Gede Hendrawan, an environmental oceanography researcher from Bali's Udayana University.

"Garbage is aesthetically disturbing to tourists, but plastic waste issue is way more serious," he told AFP.

"Microplastics can contaminate fish which, if eaten by humans, could cause health problems including cancer."

Indonesia is one of nearly 40 countries that are part of UN Environment's Clean Seas campaign, which aims to halt the tide of plastic trash polluting the oceans.

As part of its commitment, the government has pledged to reduce marine plastic waste by 70 percent by 2025.

It plans to boost recycling services, curb the use of plastic bags, launch cleanup campaigns and raise public awareness.

Still, the scale of the problem facing Indonesia is huge, due to its population of more than 250 million and poor waste processing infrastructure.

Hendrawan, who says both locals and tourists are responsible for the island's rubbish problem, urged authorities to invest more resources to tackle the problem.

"The Bali government should spare more budget to raise people's awareness to take care of local rivers, not to dump waste," he said.

"The central government should boost the campaign to reduce use of plastic packaging and ban free plastic bags at convenient stores."

Bali's palm-fringed Kuta beach has long been a favourite with tourists seeking sun and surf, but nowadays its golden shoreline is disappearing under a mountain of garbage. pic.twitter.com/Y27qrxapmy

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 28, 2017

Giant lobster, destined for dinner, finds new home at the Dolfinarium

DutchNews, December 20, 2017

Photo: Louis the Lobster facebook page 

An 8.2 kilo lobster, auctioned off by a restaurant owner for charity, has been found a new home at the Dolfinarium amusement park in Harderwijk. 

The lobster, thought to be about 80 years old and nicknamed Louis, was the biggest ever seen by Haarlem restaurant owner Fausto Albers, the AD reported on Wednesday. 

Albers decided to auction the lobster off to the highest bidder who would then be able to enjoy a lobster-based meal. But customer Yvonne van Eeerden decided instead that Louis should not end up as dinner. 

‘I thought it was a shame to eat something so big and which had lived for 80 years,’ she told the AD. ‘So I decided to save the lobster and support a good cause at the same time.’ 

Van Eerden, who paid €400 to free Louis, had originally hoped to return the lobster to Canada, where he probably came from. That proving impossible, he has now been found a new home in his own aquarium at the Dolfinarium. 

The proceeds of the auction are going to the Ocean Clean-up Foundation which is attempting to remove plastic soup from the seas. According to local broadcaster NHTV, restaurant owner Albers has doubled Van Eerden’s donation.

Lizard, turtle among more than 100 new species found in Mekong region

Yahoo – AFP, December 19, 2017

The Crocodile Lizard is a scaly reptile that hails from northern
Vietnam's evergreen forests (AFP Photo/Thomas Ziegler)

Bangkok (AFP) - A Vietnamese 'crocodile lizard' and a Thai turtle found on sale in a local market are among more than 100 new species discovered in the ecologically diverse but threatened Mekong region last year, researchers said Tuesday.

The Southeast Asian countries flanking the Mekong river, which snakes down from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea, are among the most biodiverse in the world.

Each year, scientists announce scores of new species discovered in the region, which includes Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

But there are fears that many more species could die out before they are found in a region whose jungle and river ecosystems are increasingly threatened by roads, dams and a thriving illegal wildlife trade.

In total, scientists confirmed 115 new species in 2016 after a lengthy vetting process, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

They include 11 amphibians, two fish, 11 reptiles, 88 plants and three mammals.

Each year, scientists announce scores of new species discovered in Thailand, 

Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (AFP Photo/Montri SUMONTHA)

"While the global trends are worrisome, and the threats against species and their habitats here in the Greater Mekong are massive, these new species discoveries give us enormous hope," said WWF's Lee Poston.

"But we have to do more to protect their habitat and prevent them from entering the illegal wildlife trade," he added.

The new finds include a bat with a horseshoe-shaped face and a snail-eating turtle discovered by a scientists in a local market in northeastern Thailand.

The Crocodile Lizard, a scaly reptile that hails from northern Vietnam's evergreen forests, was also among the new species announced on Tuesday.

Although the reptile was first discovered in 2003, it has taken years to confirm its status as a separate subspecies.

Coal mining and pet trade poachers have gravely endangered the lizard, whose numbers are estimated to be fewer than 200, scientists said.

Two new mole species were also found in Vietnam, with researchers noting that their underground dwellings have helped protect them.

Over the past 20 years more than 2,500 new species -- amounting to around two per week -- have been discovered in the Greater Mekong, WWF said.

Graphic on new species discovered in the Mekong region pic.twitter.com/SBKFN4rB1Q

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 19, 2017

International call for Japan to halt Antarctic whaling

Yahoo – AFP, 18 December 2017

Japan's fisheries agency says the hunt is needed to study whale behaviour
and biology

The European Union and 12 other nations condemned Japan's Antarctic whaling programme Monday, rejecting Tokyo's argument that the annual slaughter is for scientific research.

Japan's whaling fleet left for the Southern Ocean last month, planning to kill 333 minke whales over a four-month period.

Its fisheries agency says the hunt is needed to study whale behaviour and biology, but critics say such lethal research is unnecessary and acts as a cover for commercial whaling.

"(We) jointly express... opposition to Japan’s continued so-called 'scientific' whaling in the Southern Ocean," the EU and its allies said in a statement.

"We remain resolutely opposed to commercial whaling, in particular in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary established by the International Whaling Commission (IWC)."

In addition to the EU, the letter was signed by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.

Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt, only to resume it the following year under 

a new programme

Japan is a signatory to the IWC's moratorium on hunting, but exploits a loophole that allows whales to be killed in the name of scientific research.

In 2014, the UN's International Court of Justice ordered Tokyo to end its regular hunt in the Antarctic waters, saying the project did not meet conventional scientific standards.

Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt, only to resume it the following year under a new programme -- saying the fresh plan had genuine scientific value.

The joint statement noted that the IWC ruled last year that the new research programme was not scientific and should be halted.

"Japan's decision to return to the Southern Ocean this year is contrary to the commission's requests," it added.

Around the world in 42 days: French sailor smashes solo record

Yahoo – AFP, December 17, 2017

Francois Gabart's MACIF trimaran nearing the finish line on Saturday (AFP Photo/HO)

Brest (France) (AFP) - Frenchman Francois Gabart smashed the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the globe on Sunday, completing the mammoth feat in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.

The 34-year-old sailor crossed a virtual finish line drawn between the island of Ushant off France's northwest tip and Lizard Point in southwest England at 0145 GMT, comfortably beating the previous record set by compatriot Thomas Coville last year by six days and 10 hours.

The race time was announced by an observer from the World Sailing Speed Council but will be subject to checks of the boat's black box and its GPS data before final confirmation.

Father-of-two Gabart becomes just the fourth title-holder for a world record of sailing the globe solo without stopping.

Since the record was first set in 2004, nearly 30 days have been shaved off.

French sailor Francois Gabart has become just the fourth title-holder for a world 

record of sailing the globe solo since it was first set in 2004 (AFP Photo/DON EMMERT)

The debut record holder was Frenchman Francis Joyon who completed the odyssey in 72 days and 22 hours.

British female sailor Ellen MacArthur took to the seas a year later, racing against the clock to break that record by just a day and a half (71 days, 14 hours).

She remained undefeated until 2016 when Coville set a new record of 49 days and three hours which many predicted would be difficult to topple.

Gabart's 30 metre (98 foot) long new generation maxi-trimaran was helped by good weather throughout much of the voyage, particularly during the long and arduous Pacific section.

He set a number of new solo race records along the way, including the fastest navigation of the Pacific (7 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes) and the longest distance covered in 24 hours (851 miles or 1,576 kilometres).

French sailor François Gabart shatters the around the world record pic.twitter.com/cV8CadFbkJ

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 17, 2017

Ouch! Sea lions attack swimmers in San Francisco Bay

Yahoo – AFP, December 16, 2017

Experts say attacks by sea lions and other marine mammals in San Francisco
Bay are rare but not unheard of (AFP Photo/Ina Fassbender)

Washington (AFP) - Hearty souls that brave the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay for a morning dip have a new reason to shiver: attacks by sea lions, including one that nearly netted a guy's genitals.

A cove known as Aquatic Park has been closed to swimmers for a few days by the National Park Service because of three attacks in just a week. Such attacks are rare but not unheard of.

A man named Rick Mulvihill suffered a severe bite Friday morning and was hospitalized, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, quoting the fire department.

Mulvihill belongs to a club whose members take early morning swims in waters with an average temperature in December of about 53 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius).

"It hit him right here, close to the family jewels," said fellow club member Bob Roper, 79, pointing at the inside of his upper thigh.

"I've been here 50 years and I've never heard of anything like this," Roper told the Chronicle. "You have a lot of very, very nervous swimmers now and I don't blame them."

All the attacks might be by the same animal, which could be a sea lion or a harbor seal, said Claire Simeone, a veterinarian.

Sri Lanka hands over debt-laden port to Chinese owner

Yahoo – AFP, 9 December 2017

Sri Lanka hands over debt-laden port to Chinese owner

Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka Saturday handed over a deep-sea port to a Chinese firm, in a deal agreed to boost the cash-strapped island's finances that has raised concerns at home and abroad over Beijing's growing influence.

The $1.12 billion deal first announced in July lets a Chinese state company take over the southern port of Hambantota, which straddles the world's busiest east-west shipping route, on a 99-year lease.

"With the signing of the agreement today the Treasury has received $300 million," Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a ceremony in the capital to mark the handover.

"This is the beginning of our debt settlement," Wickremesinghe said.

The loss-making port will now be jointly managed by the state-owned Sri Lanka Port Authority and China Merchants Port Holdings.

Sri Lanka owes China $8 billion that former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's regime borrowed for its infrastructure development projects, including the port.

The deal has raised concerns at home and overseas, where countries such as India and the United States are known to be worried that China getting a foothold at the deep-sea port could give it a military naval advantage in the Indian Ocean.

On Friday Sri Lanka's parliament approved wide-ranging tax concessions for the port deal, including a tax holiday of up to 32 years for the Chinese firm, that opposition parties objected to.

"Please tell this House the details of very favourable tax concessions you gave China on the deal. What are you getting out of it?" Anura Dissanayake, an opposition law marker asked in parliament Saturday.

Sri Lanka has said it wants to reduce its high foreign debt with the proceeds of the Hambantota port deal, and is selling off some other enterprises to raise revenue.

Morgan the ‘Dutch’ orca is pregnant, in breach of agreement

DutchNews, December 5, 2017 - By Hanneke Sanou

Under EU law Morgan, highlighted, cannot be used for mainly commercial
purposes or breeding. Photo: www.freemorgan.org

The wild orca found in the Wadden Sea in 2010 and now kept at the Loro Parque amusement park in Tenerife is pregnant, in contravention of the conditions of her transfer to Spain. 

Loro Parque earlier refused to comment on the pregnancy rumours when contacted by DutchNews.nl but has now confirmed the pregnancy in a statement on its website. In the statement, the park says it ‘considers it a natural right of every animal to reproduce which must not be repressed under any circumstance.’ 

The orca, nicknamed Morgan, was found in a severely weakened state in the Wadden Sea in 2010 and sent to the Dolphinarium in Harderwijk to recover. The then-junior economic affairs minister Henk Bleker, who was responsible for Morgan, decided she could not be returned to the wild and she was sent to the Loro Parque in Spain instead. 

The original European CITES certificate approving the transfer stated that Morgan would be used for research purposes only. However, the orca has since become part of a show of performing animals and, according to the Free Morgan Foundation (FMF), which is fighting to release the animal back into the wild, her health is suffering. Breeding the killer whale would also be in breach of the certificate. 

‘For us this news doesn’t come as a surprise. Loro Parque has been busy for years trying to get Morgan pregnant. They have done this despite the ban on breeding and her young age when a pregnancy can be dangerous to both mother and calf,’ FMF vice chair Hester Bartels said in a statement to the press. 

Morgan is now 11 years old, with an expected average life span of 50. 

Court 

The news about Morgan’s pregnancy comes only weeks before a court hearing on January 23 in which the decision by the junior minister not to intervene regarding Morgan’s situation at Loro Parque goes to appeal. 

The foundation says new evidence has emerged concerning Morgan’s welfare at Loro Parque, including the failure of the Dutch and Spanish CITES management authorities to abide by the terms of Morgan’s exemption certificate. 

They also failed to take affirmative measures to ensure that Morgan is not subjected to breeding, the foundation said. Morgan’s pregnancy will result in a hybrid calf. While this would do nothing for the maintenance of the wild orca population, a calf with a new bloodline would be financially advantageous for the park, the FMF said. 

The park, however, says breeding programmes are in line with the European guideline and the Spanish law on zoos.