The Biomass Energy Project of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) (a Namibia-based international NGO with charity status) was awarded the 2008 Intel Environment Award. In an attempt to develop an  “ecologically sound and economically viable habitat improvement program”, the CCF looked into the viability of an income generating initiative which utilizes an invasive African thorn bush as a resource. It came up with a biomass project which uses a technology  to convert this invasive African thorn bush into clean biomass fuel. In so doing, the habitats of cheetahs and other wildlife species that have been threatened by the bush are saved. The biomass processing plant of the “Bush Project” uses a “high-pressure extrusion process” to convert the bush into a clean and economically viable alternative to firewood and charcoal. Aside from ensuring the survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem, the project provides income-generating opportunities for self-employed entrepreneurs in Namibia..

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary, Yvo de Boer, recently gave a press briefing on the highlights of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Data for 2008. The emissions data are from 41 industrialized countries that have GHG reporting obligations. Given the recent trends in GHG emissions, Mr. Boer also mentioned about the tasks that need to be addressed in the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland (1-12 December 2008). The 2008 emissions data report shows that the GHG emissions (from the 41 industrialized countries) in 2006, was 5% below the 1990 levels. However, between the year 2000 and 2006, a disturbing rise in emissions (by 2.3%) was observed. For countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the 2006 GHG emissions were 17% below the “Kyoto baseline”. Canada was reported to have one of the highest increases in GHG emissions in 2006 (21.3%). According to Executive Secretary Boer, the rising emissions “underscore urgent need for political action on climate change. This is an important issue which needs to be discussed at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Poznan.".

The annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) is said to be “the world’s most authoritative source of global energy trends.”  The 2008 edition provides a full update of energy projections to 2030, as well as a comprehensive analysis on climate change scenarios after 2012, oil/gas supply prospects and “energy poverty in resource rich Sub-Saharan African countries. Among the highlights in global trends (as mentioned in the WEO 2008 Fact Sheet) (URL above) are: (1) There will be a slow growth in energy use till 2030, with a “persistent dominance of fossil fuels”, and continued rise in carbon dioxide emissions. (2) World energy demand expansion between 2006 to 2030 is about 45% with an average rate of growth of 1.6% per year, under a “Reference Scenario” of no new government policies beyond those already adopted by mid-2008. (3) More than 50% of incremental global energy demand to 2030 will be from China and India; the Middle East will become an emerging energy demand center, comprising about 11% of incremental global energy demand. (4) Energy related emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases “will inexorably rise, pushing up the average global temperature by 6^oC in the long term” and,  5) Modern renewable energy technologies will be the second major source of electricity, next to coal after 2010. More information about the WEO 2008 can be obtained at the IEA website (URL above)..