31 Pages full of Hope

Paris agreement has missed an opportunity to strengthen and internationalize a paradigm shift based on renewable energy sources, underground keep 80% of fossil resources, halt the extractive industry to fit planetary boundaries. Instead nearly 200 countries have opted to devote the marketing commodification of the climate and "cheat solutions"

Climate justice, decarbonization, adequate funding, human rights, gender, climate refugees ... there are many kpi's that have been left out of the final text "agreement".

In addition, it has opted for the formula with less legal force (agreement) to a dangerously vague and open to interpretations text, in which emission reduction commitments of greenhouse gases are not binding. The review of the commitments will be too late when we are close to having already issued a number of greenhouse gases that would involve exceed the limit of 1.5°K.

Overall this is an agreement of intent without mechanisms to regulate or penalize for noncompliance, but includes important points and gives us the framework for action in a global struggle to stop climate change, giving a key message towards the end of the era of fossil fuels.

So in the agreement two very important points are included:

1.- Commitment to keep the increase in global average temperature "well below 2°K compared to pre-industrial levels, and continue efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5° K above pre-industrial levels"

2.- 195 countries plus the EU intend to achieve quickly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, according to the best scientific information available in order to "achieve a net balance of emissions of greenhouse gases to be zero in the second half century "

Both points are very important because they make long-term objectives in line with scientific advice and to get CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels will have to be zero by 2050 at the latest.

Furthermore, the Agreement states that countries must improve their commitments to reduce emissions every five years beginning in 2020. Certainly very late and very weak, given that these commitments are not binding and penalty mechanisms and commitments reduction submitted by countries currently lead to nearly 3°K temperature rise.

So with this we enter the area of ​​commitment, responsibility, morality and national policies of each country both the Agreement and its inhabitants, as the most vulnerable countries already suffering frontline change impacts climatic.

We have heard hundreds of countries, including the EU as a whole and in its public statements emphasized that takes little more ambition, so we demand that those words have failed to be reflected in the text and enhance commitments will be reduction of emissions before and after 2020.

Less than a week before the general elections that will give Spain a new government for the next four years, climate action has to be on the agenda of all political agendas and with the agreement of Paris freshly cooked in hand we want to see a roadmap with specific targets and dates from the beginning of his term to ensure achieving the goal of 100% renewable future free of coal, oil and gas by 2050.

The primary goal of decarbonisation of our economies has ended in a vague reference to the need to reach peak emissions "as soon as possible" and "a balance between emissions and anthropogenic sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse greenhouse". That is, the fulfillment of commitments to offset emissions, rather than trust their significant reduction, through a change in the way we produce and consume. In other terms: Would be instead of Will be.

This 31 pages does not include emissions from the bunker, opens the door to accounting tricks in calculating emissions and leaves unprotected struggles as the divestment of fossil fuels and brake fracking and oil shale tar sands.

The "agreement" also maintains commodifications mechanisms of climate enrolled in previous treaties, such as carbon markets, that encourage speculation and politics of the book versus actual efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Nor should provide guarantees for the financing mechanisms. The funding for adaptation to the most vulnerable countries has been relegated to a decision of the summit, not the binding agreement, which enables turning back in the future. Moreover, much of this funding may be used to drive the said false solutions such as geoengineering or carbon capture and storage, which is a major obstacle to the development of renewable energies.

The most interesting elements are only in the preamble, that is, in the declarative part lacking legal force. This is the case of the appeal to "many more efforts to reduce" emissions. This makes the agreement more like a statement of intent than a text to the challenge posed by climate change, in clear contradiction to the origin of the climate negotiations and the direction of the United Nations itself.

World leaders have opted in Paris for the same resource eater model that has brought us to the current situation and leads us to the environmental collapse. It once again shows that many citizens have clear which path to follow while negotiating these frames continuously those voices go unheard and lack the necessary leadership to the greatest challenge of the century.

This is no time to lose arms or to be pessimistic in the fight against climate change. What happened in Paris shows the need to continue keep pressing for the necessary action to be taken against a deal that condemns us from moment to an increase of more than three degrees. It also underlines the importance of empowerment of change driven by citizens against global warming, with thousands of struggles, as articulated against TTIP, fracking and nuclear power. To pollute is still free of charge as no penalties or sanctions are going to be taken into account against partners of this global-legally-vinculant agreement.

A green window has been closed, the door to citizenship, the street and the everyday struggles are more open than ever. Experiences such as organic agroecology, food sovereignty, sustainable mobility and the divestment of fossil fuels will bring out the lack of ambition of political leaders. Only a genuine change in the production pattern and near consumption will effectively mitigate global warming.

NREL: Renewable Economic Potential has been Tripled

A report by analysts of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, by its acronym in English), entitled Estimating the Economic Potential of Renewable Energy in America: Methodology and initial results holds from a new method of analysis that Renewable generation is economically viable in many parts of the country due to the recent rapid decline in the costs of the technology used.

The new analysis method NREL researchers, under the Department of Energy, called geospatial, is used to estimate the economic potential of various renewable resources.

Allegedly at work, economic potential, a measure of the potential of renewable generation can be defined in several ways. "For example, a definition might expect revenues (based on local market prices) minus the costs of generation, considered over the expected useful life of the asset."

"Another definition could be generation costs relative to a reference point (for example, a combined-cycle natural gas), using assumptions of fuel prices, capital cost and efficiency of the plant" .

"The economic potential in this report is defined as the subset of technical potential of available resources when necessary cost of generating electricity (which determines the minimum income requirements for the development of the resource) below disposable income in terms displaced and displaced energy capacity. "

According to analyst NREL Philipp Beiter, and one of the authors of the study, "decreasing costs of renewable technologies it is an important driver for these results," adding: "the economic potential has more than tripled as a result of cost reductions already made by renewable generation technologies between 2010 and 2014, especially for wind and solar photovoltaic. "

The paper argues that the trend is likely to continue as more renewable energy deployment and continue reducing costs, expected for 2020 and 2030 that significantly increase their economic potential. By 2020 the economic potential equal nearly half of the annual demand for electricity in the United States, and 2030 will be 75% with the potential for profitable renewable energy generated in all the states.

World’s largest #CSP #Solar #Power Plant, by the Saharan #Sun 2 #Help #Renewables provide almost half the country’s energy by 2020

Now the trading city, nicknamed the “door of the desert”, is the centre for another blockbuster – a complex of four linked solar mega-plants that, alongside hydro and wind, will help provide nearly half of Morocco’s electricity from renewables by 2020 with, it is hoped, some spare to export to Europe. The project is a key plank in Morocco’s ambitions to use its untapped deserts to become a global solar superpower.

Ouarzazate solar plant will create enough electricity to power a million homes once it is finished.Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

On the edge of the Sahara desert and the centre of the north African country’s “Ouallywood” film industry it has played host to big-budget location shots in Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, The Living Daylights and even Game of Thrones.

The Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by high walls, is the set of numerous movies. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

When the full complex is complete, it will be the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world , and the first phase, called Noor 1, will go live next month. The mirror technology it uses is less widespread and more expensive than the photovoltaic panels that are now familiar on roofs the world over, but it will have the advantage of being able to continue producing power even after the sun goes down.The potential for solar power from the desert has been known for decades. In the days after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 the German particle physicist Gerhard Knies, calculated that the world’s deserts receive enough energy in a few hours to provide for humanity’s power needs for a whole year. The challenge though, has been capturing that energy and transporting it to the population centres where it is required. The Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, a group of earthen buildings surrounded by high walls, is the set of numerous movies. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian As engineers put the finishing touches to Noor 1, its 500,000 crescent-shaped solar mirrors glitter across the desert skyline. The 800 rows follow the sun as it tracks across the heavens, whirring quietly every few minutes as their shadows slip further east. When they are finished, the four plants at Ouarzazate will occupy a space as big as Morocco’s capital city, Rabat, and generate 580MW of electricity, enough to power a million homes. Noor 1 itself has a generating capacity of 160MW. Morocco’s environment minister, Hakima el-Haite, believes that solar energy could have the same impact on the region this century that oil production had in the last. But the $9bn (£6bn) project to make her country’s deserts boom was triggered by more immediate concerns, she said. “We are not an oil producer. We import 94% of our energy as fossil fuels from abroad and that has big consequences for our state budget,” el-Haite told the Guardian. “We also used to subsidise fossil fuels which have a heavy cost, so when we heard about the potential of solar energy, we thought; why not?” Solar energy will make up a third of Morocco’s renewable energy supply by 2020, with wind and hydro taking the same share each. “We are very proud of this project,” el-Haite said. “I think it is the most important solar plant in the world.” Each parabolic mirror is 12 metres high and focussed on a steel pipeline carrying a ‘heat transfer solution’ (HTF) that is warmed to 393C as it snakes along the trough before coiling into a heat engine. There, it is mixed with water to create steam that turns energy-generating turbines. The HTF is made up of a synthetic thermal oil solution that is pumped towards a heat tank containing molten sands that can store heat energy for three hours, allowing the plant to power homes into the night. The mirrors are spaced in tier formations, to minimise damage from sand blown up by desert winds.

The 12 metre-high parabolic mirrors. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Technicians say that the Noor 2 and 3 plants, due to open in 2017 will store energy for up to eight hours – opening the prospect of 24/7 solar energy in the Sahara, and the surrounding region. “The biggest challenge we faced was being able to finish the project on time with the performance [level] we needed to achieve,” said Rashid al-Bayad, the project director. But even as the first phase of the project nears completion, Morocco is eyeing grander international ambitions. “We are already involved in high tension transportation lines to cover the full south of Morocco and Mauritania as a first step,” says Ahmed Baroudi, manager of Société d’Investissements Energétiques, the national renewable energy investment firm. But he says the project’s ultimate impact will go far wider – even as far as the Middle East. “The [ultimate] objective given by his majesty the king is Mecca.” Whether that ambition is achieved remains to be seen but exporting solar energy could have stabilising effects within and between countries, according to the Moroccan solar energy agency (Masen). Talks are ongoing with Tunisia, and energy exports northwards across the Mediterranean remain a key goal, despite the collapse in 2013 of the Desertec project, a German plan to source 15% of Europe’s energy from North African desert solar by 2050. Renewable energy and the politics of subsidies Letters: How are we ever to wean ourselves off fossil fuels when government policy is so skewed in their favour? Read more “We believe that it’s possible to export energy to Europe but first we would have to build the interconnectors which don’t yet exist,” said Maha el-Kadiri, a Masen spokeswoman. “Specifically, we would have to build interconnections, which would not go through the existing one in Spain, and then start exporting.” Spain has itself prohibited new solar projects because of a lack of interconnectors to transmit the energy to France. The EU has set a target of ensuring that 10% of each member country’s power can be transported abroad by cable by 2020. In the meantime, Morocco is focused on using solar to meet its own needs for resource independence. This could one day include water desalination, in a country that is increasingly being hit by drought as the climate warms. Officials are keenly aware of the running they are making in what is the most advanced renewable energy programme in the Middle East and North African region. “We are at the avante-garde of solar,” el-Kadiri says. About $9bn has been invested in the Noor complex, much of it from international institutions such as the European Investment Bank and World Bank and backed by Moroccan government guarantees. Undisclosed energy subsidies from Morocco’s unelected ruler, King Mohammed VI, have prevented the cost from being transferred to energy consumers. 60 second climate fix: Can the sun cool down the Earth? One month before launch, over a thousand mostly Moroccan workers are still racing to fix electric wires, take down scaffolding and wrap rockwool insulation around steel pipelines. They bustle past in yellow and orange bibs, working 12-hour shifts against a backdrop of the Atlas mountains. Harnesses with hammers and gloves strapped to their belts swing by their sides. Ubiquitous hard hats, safety shoes and ear plugs give the scene an air of theatrical camp.  For Hajar Lakhael, a 25-year-old environment and security manager from Meknes, rehearsals are almost over and the blockbuster production is nearly ready for action. “We’ve done the construction and now we will see how these projects look when they start,” she says. “It is exactly like the preparation for a grand performance.” A global audience will be watching with interest. Source: The Guardian

Vote so that Cervantes will have his Star... www.estrellacervantes.es

www.estrellacervantes.es muArae b and Dulcinea, Quijote, Sancho & Rocinante are the candidates to become muArae c, muArae d, and muArae e into its four respectively planets #YoEstrellaCervantes

An informative Cervantes Star Video Project developed by Francisco Javier Gorgas, astrophysicist at UCM and president of the Spanish Society of Astronomy. www.estrellacervantes.es #yoEstrellaCervantes.

Star name / planet name Proposed names


mu Arae Cervantes from Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish novelist, poet and playwright (1547-1616). Author of "Don Quixote". Somewhere in the Ara constellation, around a star without a proper name, only known by the letter "mu", four planets trace their paths. Around an author of universal fame, also his four main characters revolve. We propose to elevate Cervantes to the status of a galactic Apolo, lending his name to the system's central star, while Don Quijote (Quixote), Rocinante, Sancho and Dulcinea are justly transfigured into his planetary escort. Quijote (muArae-b), the leading character, in a somewhat eccentric orbit, befitting to his character, and beside his faithful companion Rocinante (muArae-d) in the middle of the scene. Good Sancho (muArae-e), the ingenious squire, moving slowly through the outer 'insulae' of the system. The enchanted Dulcinea (muArae-c), so difficult for Quijote to contemplate in her real shape, close to the heart of the writer.


The importance of Miguel de Cervantes in the universal culture can hardly be overestimated. His major work, Don Quijote, considered the first modern novel of world literature and one of the most influential book in the entire literary canon, has many times been regarded as the best work of fiction ever written. However, while Shakespeare has his Uranian satellites, Cervantes has been so far excluded from the cosmic spheres. With this proposal, supported by the prestigious Cerantes Institute, and arriving just in time for the 400 Anniversary of the publication of the novel's second part, we reclaim for the Famous Knight of la Mancha, his comrades and their creator the place that they deserve among the stars.

mu Arae b http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/systems/106#planet-15 Quijote
From "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote (Quixote) of La Mancha", the protagonist of the novel written by Cervantes. His reading in excess of books of chivalry waved his mental faculties, believing the fictions of the books as real facts...

mu Arae c http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/systems/106#planet-16 Dulcinea
Dulcinea del Toboso, fictional character in the novel 'Don Quijote' written by Cervantes, is a peasant converted in the fantasies of Quijote as the most beautiful of the women, object of his true love and devotion.

mu Arae d http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/systems/106#planet-17 Rocinante
Rocinante is Don Quijote's horse in the novel by Cervantes. As a member of the chivalry, Quijote believes this work horse is the most valuable horse a knight can ride.

mu Arae e http://nameexoworlds.iau.org/systems/106#planet-18 Sancho
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel 'Don Quijote' written by Cervantes. He acts as a squire to Don Quijote, a peasant man of broad humor and irony, and always bound to Earth.

Somewhere in the Ara constellation, around a star without a proper name, only known by the letter "mu", four planets trace their paths. Around an author of universal fame, also his four main characters revolve. We propose to elevate Cervantes to the status of a galactic Apolo, lending his name to the system's central star, while Don Quijote (Quixote), Rocinante, Sancho and Dulcinea are justly transfigured into his planetary escort. Quijote (muArae-b), the leading character, in a somewhat eccentric orbit, befitting to his character, and beside his faithful companion Rocinante (muArae-d) in the middle of the scene. Good Sancho (muArae-e), the ingenious squire, moving slowly through the outer 'insulae' of the system. The enchanted Dulcinea (muArae-c), so difficult for Quijote to contemplate in her real shape, close to the heart of the writer.

The importance of Miguel de Cervantes in the universal culture can hardly be overestimated. His major work, Don Quijote, considered the first modern novel of world literature and one of the most influential book in the entire literary canon, has many times been regarded as the best work of fiction ever written. However, while Shakespeare has his Uranian satellites, Cervantes has been so far excluded from the cosmic spheres. With this proposal, supported by the prestigious Instituto Cervantes, and arriving just in time for the 400 Anniversary of the publication of the novel's second part, we reclaim for the Famous Knight of la Mancha, his comrades and their creator the place that they deserve among the stars.

In a Sunny Country... Wind & Solar Hibrid Power

Hey man, In an #energy context such #Spain, where we must meet the EU targets for renewable energy by 2020, remember the importance of the #solar #pv and #wind #power inside our electricity #mix and just because we are in a country that has great resources for these two technologies, and by the way, only by joinning together two small isolated facilities in the area, which already found their owners the importance of having a few photovoltaic modules and a small wind turbine all together.

Hibrid facilities like the ones which we all have seen on Spanish roads, plus facilities that have been made by owners who have put their own money, to see how costly it was to bring the utility line of duty.

But besides this type of remote installations, where storage is present, you also could consider, as in many other parts of the world, to combine both technologies in On Grid installations, using and making profitable the same resources, you can get scale economics. While this may in some cases incur a small loss on the premises, by the interaction between this two technologies.

It is known that the hibrid site construction (solar and wind) complement each other better than it looks, but make a small summary of some of these synergies on why this happens:

• A wind farm site has surfaces on which you can install an additional photovoltaic plant.
• The combination of photovoltaic and wind systems, can make the same resource of land occupied, can produce up to twice as much electricity, while it was found that the losses caused by shading of the turbines are just only considered to be at the order of two percent at most.
• The construction of such plants hybrid energy does not require network expansion because these plants generate wind and solar energy at different times, which means that the level fed into the grid is more stable than wind power plants and photovoltaic alone.
• The effects on power grids, this type of facilities photovoltaic and wind energy in electricity networks, both global and regional level, makes these networks behave in a much more stable, because while producing wind turbines much more electricity during the coldest parts of the year, due to higher levels of wind over the winter months, the solar power plants generate more energy in summer, offsetting lower production of wind energy at this time of year.
• Losses wind shading on photovoltaic installations are minimal (evidently for that are also the designers).
• The common elements that will be used by each facility, such as network connections, authorizations, driveway, mains power evacuation, …, will lead to significant cost reductions, in addition to the aforementioned stabilization of energy production.
But besides synergies, when seeing the whole project, also a series of mutual interactions between the two facilities will be taken:
• The integration of the PV plant within the wind, generate a reduction of wind speed and wind profile disturbance, and consequently the energy production of the wind farm decreases, although very little.
• In the interaction of the wind farm on the PV system must be taken into account among others, the following topics:
- The slopes of the available areas
- The own shadows on the horizon
- The impact of shadow generated by wind turbines

But all this can be a good project circumvented in some cases, taking into account the effects of possible stabilization in production, mixing the two types of technologies, as we will have:
• wind during winter, while solar radiation is low but very efficient production in sunny days due to less cell temperature
• wind during the night, when there is obviously no radiation
• wind during the rainy and cloudy days, while radiation is low
• Good radiation on sunny days, when we anticyclone, and we have wind

A profit will also be in Capex (capital expenditure), due to the synergies between the wind farm and photovoltaic system:
• Cost of installed electrical equipment
• Cost of energy networks evacuation
• Costs of civil engineering works (access, roads …)
• Cost of land lease
• Stabilization of the energy produced

All this should be compared with revenue losses already mentioned, when they are operating the two facilities, due to the loss of energy production, as losses due to the PV system, can cause a loss of income below 1 5% by photovoltaic systems, and losses in the turbine, can also cause a loss of income below 2% (compared with independent photovoltaic plant, according to some studies consulted).
The study should be complete and contemplate:

• The mutual interactions
• Annual degradation modules
• Rates
• Discount rates

Other points where synergies could be established is in operation and maintenance activities, although it is more difficult in some of its aspects have staff specialized in both technologies, but those common elements can be treated together, after having more specialized staff Specific elements of the different facilities.

Say that, although it seems that there are lights and shadows, international experiences made are positive. And in the future framework for distributed generation and smart grids, making the generation is stable, and that fits as far as possible to demand, will make use of existing networks and lower requirements Additional investments are to collect more and more important. Not to mention that in some cases it is not possible to perform short-term lines due to environmental problems.


It is for all this, so important to conduct this type of hibrid facilities, with only renewable technologies, for cases of small isolated facilities to small and medium connected to network an important consumption facilities, and avoid the use of large MW existing sites, where the combination of the two technologies can lead us to some technical and economic synergies.

Renewable Energies can Replace Fossil Fuels by 2050.

In 15 years, participation in Electricity Generation from renewable energies will triple the current situation, from the current 21% to 64%. In a new report entitled Energy Revolution pioneer 2015 by Greenpeace International, the Global Wind Energy Council and Solar Power Europe, former EPIA, we are shown on 364 pages, the road to an energy sector powered by 100% renewable energy, as this shows that it is possible to completely do without fossil fuels and stock only clean and renewable energies in 2050.

The Energy Revolution scenario is 2015 or something similar, is necessary if we are to have a reasonable chance of complying with the agreed target of keeping the increase in global average global temperature below 2°C.

Missing and less than three months to go to the climate summit in Paris, world leaders have the opportunity to take the first critical steps to tackle climate change by accelerating the ongoing transformation of the energy sector in the world fossils and towards 100% renewable fuels by mid-century.

According to Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council, we now have competitive technologies that can solve most of the climate problem, namely the carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector.

What is needed now is the political will to implement the right policies and fiscal and regulatory measures to implement them in full.

On the other hand, according to Greenpeace Sven Teske, lead author of the report, wind and solar technologies currently have a competitive cost with respect to coal. It is very likely that these outweigh the coal industry in terms of jobs and energy supplied in the next decade.

The Energy Revolution scenario 2015 shows how this transformation is possible and at what cost, as well as its impact on employment in the energy sector. The report updates the previous scenarios energy revolution, and for the first time offers an advanced with a supply of 100% renewable energy scenario and provide updated with current policies scenario of the World Energy Outlook the IEA extrapolation all this comparison purposes. A detailed report shows that the transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050, could create millions of new jobs and save money analysis.

In fact, the investment required would be more than covered by the future savings in fuel costs, since to make these changes, an investment that would be more than covered by the savings generated in the future in fuel costs would be necessary. On the one hand the average additional investment required in renewable energy by 2050 would be approximately 900,000 million euros a year, while as renewable energy, which do not require spending fuels, saving at that time would be about 950,000 million euros a year, enough to cover the investment required, with the balance point between 2025 and 2030.

In this 2015 report Energy Revolution, the largest global source of energy worldwide for 2050 would be wind energy, supplying about 30% or 32% respectively.

The wind industry alone could employ 8 million people in 2030, almost 10 times more than at present (which is almost twice as many people currently employed by the oil and gas), and in the case of the photovoltaic industry could employ 9.7 million people by 2030 worldwide, ten times more than today.

Within 15 years, the share of electricity generation from renewable energies would triple the current situation, from the current 21% to 64%, covering almost two thirds of global electricity demand. In countries with rapid development of renewable energy, such as Brazil, China and India, CO2 emissions could fall by a third, from the current 30 Gt generated annually, 20 Gt by 2030.

Smart Grids, Self-Consumption and Sellf Sufficient Micro Grids

More important, however, is the reduction of global CO2 emissions, and reaching zero emissions in the energy sector will not solve all the climate problem, although it is by far the biggest challenge, and must therefore be the main objective of the work of governments to the climate summit in Paris later this year, governments will have to manage the dismantling of the industry that is becoming obsolete, guiding the fossil fuel industry, to prepare gradually, and being aware that every euro invested in fossil fuel projects, it is a sunk cost, as declared Sven Teske, Greenpeace researcher.

Also, be careful not to be influenced by pressure from vested interests in the fossil fuel industry, that will not get in the change of renewable energies, which are the most effective and fairest way to have a clean and secure energy future, due to their investment costs.

Meanwhile Kumi Naidoo, head of Greenpeace International has urged all the skeptics who say you can not do, to read this report and recognize that can be done, should be done and it will be for the benefit of all.

We hope therefore that the climate summit in Paris, have advances that allow us to be optimistic about the evolution of our energy future.

EGA is registered as 14.302 Engineer at COITIMadrid

#SomeTimes we #Spend more on a #car than #Investing #In a #Child

If my readers insist me to tell you what is the most momentous social discovery of the last centuries, I will have no choice but to respond: the unexpected impact on adult life of what happened to the baby from the womb.

I have it clear. Very recently no one seriously dealt with the impact that would have on the fetus from the womb stress levels of the latter or, less reason, father. Clearly, the dilemma then was to send or not to daycare as the only alternative for her to not have to leave work; very few had the awareness or knowledge to worry about the educational treatment he received there the newborn. Nobody knew anything about the effects on a child's adolescence was the absence of the father after a separation.

First things first. When the mother is worried or stressed, is the impact on children's health? It seems difficult to deny. A parent may have, biologically, many children, while a mother just a few. The result of this difference takes the value unconsciously given by two is different. For the mother it is one of the few biological assets that you can have in his life. It is not surprising that the degree of concern about the impact on the life of the fetus, or later baby of their own stress or anxiety is much greater for her than the father.

Stress levels of an expectant mother can affect the emotional state of the fetus; YOGA can help (Image: Flickr user).

Can anyone suggest why we try to hide the negative results of most surveys and analyzes on learning in kindergartens? The results tend to show that an increase in aggression and violence in later life occurs when the regime started day care before age five, extending over many years for 30 or 40 hours per week. As Eduard said once a great British neurologist specializing in early childhood education: "Sometimes we are more willing to pay for good parking that save our children."

In the above lies one of the great contradictions of our society. We have the great merit of current and lifelong with the Islamic world have managed to assimilate women into production processes and hence other civilizations based on exclusive religions can never compete with us. Now it is about to make the sacrifice or the application of knowledge necessary for the incorporation of women into the work can be done in the best conditions, ensuring the quality of the physical and academic content of the necessary nurseries.

Finally, we now also know of intergenerational communication of children. It turns out that, on average, a child doomed to grow up without a father present following a marriage separation accessed before the average age of puberty; and not only that, usually have greater integration difficulties than the average for girls her age. The teenager does not make himself questions about your own situation, collects information encoded on the degree of trust that can be deposited in adults and, particularly, in men. Of those questions a determined attitude on the family environment arises.

We have to take care a lot more than we wanted or known how emotional learning for children and not only, as has happened so far, cognitive or academic learning. To seven years, children are the best example of an R&D expenses paid, we can not leave their fate if we want to survive. See more at: goo.gl/iwZjX

EGA is registered as 14.302 Engineer at COITIMadrid

Principles or Growth; Are they Mutually Exclusive?

The Volkswagen CSR Failure case

Volkswagen 2L TDI

The Volkswagen case is, for all purposes, the utter failure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). There is no possible palliative: we are talking about a conscious manipulation, known by all company levels, intentionally designed to get a competitiveness plus to face up the strength of other competitors, that got the best "eco" industrial leadership worldwide while it is advertised as an ecological and on the other hand the planet is being overpoisoned with 40% more NOx emisions.

A total lack of ethics in engineering, which has already led to the resignation of not only the CEO of the company, but also positions as the head of R&D in charge of Audi or Porsche engines, which can reach more brands and that leaves only clear evidence: it is quite impossible that the CSR department knew nothing of all this. The chain of command leading from the development of software lines that established the condition that put the vehicle in test mode emissions and they returned to circulation mode, the "dirty mode" when the test ended are fully audited, and fully documented internal testing: all responsibilities can be traced, and no longer cover the whole company, but the entire group. A demonstration that the only way to do software is open, anyone can inspect the code: software has become the true weakness beyond the control.

We speak of an engine, something quite tangible, not an interpretation or a shade. An engine emitting more pollution than forty times what he owed, and a brand camouflage consciously decided to dissemble when they underwent tests. Neither the management of CSR dumbest in the world could claim that he knew nothing about: o not be credible, or prove that their work was meaningless and in fact was a simple tactic of advertising distraction, a stupid one in section actually it is read and only serves to decorate the corporate memory.

That, is fearly the great reality: the vast majority of companies, CSR is reduced to put a manager, usually with a certain aura of respectability, in charge of a department that is dedicated to just whitewash responsibilities, just make things look nice over all, although in reality they are as far from it as in the present case. In an outpouring of ingenuity, we have deceived pretending that companies might be able to regulate themselves and take responsibility for its CSR practices, when the stubborn reality showed clearly that all its actions, except the purely symbolic, were geared solely to maximizing benefit by all possible means.

Volkswagen decided fully aware that no matter how poison the planet issuing forty times more nitrogen oxides than the amount legally permitted, if doing so managed to position itself as the first car brand in the world. Simply it did not matter. The parallels with the tobacco industry are impressive, and settle on a sadly solid social base: the same way that many smokers were willing to believe that actually snuff inhaling was not as harmful, millions of drivers now prefer to consciously issuing a the atmosphere gases clearly harmful to all provided that does not worsen the acceleration of your vehicle. That, and no other, is now the concern of the vast majority of the owners of a diesel Volkswagen: "I'll have to take my car to check and as a result you will lose benefits? For as not force me, I do not take. " While the most serious problem, poisoning the planet and its inhabitants, is something not directly see, that is not tangible and not have to touch us directly to us, the fall in the performance of our car is something we notice every time out of a traffic light, and is a price that, incredibly and completely irrational, are not willing to pay. We prefer the evidence of power in the accelerator to what we consider a distant hypothesis of deaths from respiratory diseases and degraded planet to the limit. Beyond ask whether Volkswagen is "too big to fail" or if there are more brands involved, we must face this reality: the RSC is not working.

Actually, the problem of CSR is that: ask about companies that self-regulation and a management to behave as if above the social reality. We have done something very wrong when the common man sees CSR as something dispensable, superfluous, as a set of good wishes prevail only when they do not interfere with the economic benefits or the delicious feeling back that sticks to the back of seat when we step on the pedal to the table. The way companies have managed CSR so far makes its leaders in a kind of sanctimonious to which, in fact, is put in place only to make nice, and that, in any conflict of interest, just enough to remind them who pays his salary.

The Volkswagen case is proof that CSR must reinvent itself from its base. Schemes must be fully traceable responsibility to ensure that those responsible will end directly to jail when certain issues are infringed. They will have to become highly paid positions because of the responsibilities they have to assume, and budget to develop appropriate schemes to find out all the details of what happens in some companies that have proven to be responsible enough to control themselves . The crisis of Volkswagen evidence of the failure of capitalism, such a fool as to try to dilute the responsibilities and close our eyes to the reality of a future system - or a present - clearly unsustainable.

If you are a manager of CSR, the least we should do to see the Volkswagen case is not thinking how you're being so stupid, so blind or so shameless as your colleague Volkswagen. Are you in your office just to "make things look pretty, but they are not"? Are you willing to lie, to dress, to makeup or even kill people in exchange for a slightly more substantial benefit? What comes first in your scale of values, sustainability of your company or the planet? What is more important, a few thousand deaths from respiratory diseases or cancer, or the throne of the world of automotive industry?

CSR has failed. The Volkswagen case evidence is so important, so glaring and so brutal that should lead all companies to review their priorities and rethink operation of that department. Rethinking if something could happen in your business, because it is very possible that they are as sad as a thundering yes. Your company is so willing to cheat, lie and kill people in exchange for a business benefit as it has been Volkswagen. That their managers are actually CSR as irresponsible as the German brand. If that is not enough to consider that they are doing something very, very wrong ... better cleave figuratively shot. It will be a social, corporate and well used responsibly bullet. We live in the era of software. More and more things are controlled by software, and that, in principle, is great. A software-controlled vehicle is much more efficient than one that is not. But also introduces new and unexpected possibilities.

    The computer or older systems were simple and easy to repair, but very rigid: carburetor adjusted the fuel and air mixture to optimize the speed that the car had a linear fashion, and the dealer could not change the timing of detonations predefined came. So the regulations had to be set to operate in all regimes of engine acceleration and therefore were not optimal for either. The consequences: increased consumption, increased pollution and lower power.

    The arcades of the bars are controlled by software, the temptation is obviously cheat them, and the industry has been able to control is not done. Why in something that depends on the health of millions of people they have not established such controls?

    All diesel vehicles of the Jetta, Golf and Beetle models between 2009 and 2014, 2014 and 2015 Passat and the Audi A3 between 2009 and 2015

    Tests done by real movement in various conditions, the doubts arise when results were found. The tests were made by a NGO, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), and detect inconsistencies, contacted the Environment Agency (EPA)

    Enter a software program in the ECU (Engine Control Unit) which detects the conditions of the test. It's like "tune" the computer. And it is not an "accident" is something completely premeditated.

    Diesel vehicles NOx adjust the amount of driving air in the fuel mixture controlled by software. The problem is to adjust those emissions decreases engine performance.

    Volkswagen had a cheaper two-liter engine that exceeded the performance of the rest of the industry, including its leader, Toyota. The two-liter engine Volkswagen had better performance than equivalent 2.2-liter engines from brands like Honda or Toyota. In fact, he managed to wrest the throne Toyota mid-year 2015. But then, how do you get it? Easy: 40 times more polluting !!

    Absolute hypocrisy: the brand was announced just talking about respect for the environment.

    Now, Volkswagen will have to do without cost at least half a million vehicles in the United States, with the cost that this entails, and face fines if they are calculated according to the amount per vehicle, reach 18 billion dollars.

    But it's worse: the owners of vehicles as those vehicles would suddenly worsen their performance, and apparently to have, among other things, worse acceleration.

    The maneuver involves:

•         The complaint and fines of Environment Agency
•         The Department of Health complaint by threatening public health
•         The Commerce Department complaint because those vehicles had not specified performance
•         The complaint of the Department of Justice for criminal behavior
•         Research in any number of countries
•         Collective complaints by associations of investors and owners of vehicles
•         Removing vehicles dealers
•         Brutal impact on the reputation of the brand and the entire German industry

    Usually tons of NOx emitted by half a million vehicles in the US: a souped 1000. As have issued 10,000 to 40,000.

    Extrapolating to the 11 million vehicles worldwide, the total amount emitted is between 250,000 and one million tons per year !!

    The largest power plant in Europe emits 40,000 annually. An amount of one million tons is equivalent to the amount emitted by all power plants, the whole industry, all vehicles and all agriculture in a country like the UK.

    Much more serious in Europe than in the USA, by the much higher number of diesel vehicles.

    NOx is responsible for inflammation in the airways, asthma, and other respiratory and heart disease, especially for combination with other components of pollution. Some estimates put about 9,500 premature deaths in the incidence of high levels of NOx in a city like London.

    It is undoubtedly the biggest scandal and the worst case in the history of the automotive industry.

    Losses of more than 20% of its market valuation on the first day, and another 20% in the second, over 30,000 million euros. Only Qatar Sovereign Fund, one of the largest shareholders of the company, has lost 5,000 million in two days. The CEO, Martin Winterkorn, has resigned. For the German economy, it is a greater impact than all the Greek crisis.

    It is destined to become a case study on CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility (or rather, lack of it)

Is it actually possible to remain true to one’s principles if they are not compatible with optimizing profits at any cost?

Aquí y en menos de tres minutos se lee también en español y también en la tve

#Let's Save #Bees: #Please #Sign #Greenpeace #Petition below

Bees play a vital role in ecosystems. A third of the food we consume and about 90% of wild plants depend on pollination. Please Sign to protect them!

© Fred Dott / Greenpeace

There are still more than 300 authorized hazardous products for bees

Thanks to the thousands of signatures across Europe for bees are now four banned toxic insecticides. However, they are temporary and partial bans. In Spain there are still allowed 319 dangerous products for bees. So we ask you to sign to require the Spanish Government:

Set a timetable for banning the most harmful pesticides (imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, fipronil, chlorpyrifos, deltamethrin and cypermethrin).

Bees are disappearing and with them many other pollinating insects that are essential for the development of major crops intended for human consumption in Spain. Therefore, and for the love he professes to these insects, the beekeeper Jesus Gonzalez coordinates the project “Adopt A Hive” where hives sustainably managed and partners can sponsor one to change honey. «Bees can be saved. The key is to create a strong empathic bond with them that impels us to act. We need people to love and want to bees as any other animal or pet» Alejandro Panés (@AlexKafiri) proclaims.

“We no longer remember their buzz and honey we eat is a substitute” he says. Children grow up not knowing how their sting hurts or how it smells a flower. Kiwis, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, zucchini, apples, peaches and almonds have become luxury products, at least the truth. We have reacted late. Overexploitation of hives in manufacturing and indiscriminate use of herbicides and pesticides have dented. Bees can not live in the world we have created.

The above paragraph may well be accompanied by a dark melody, a sharp cry and a certified ‘dystopian product’ label. Unfortunately, it’s not that far from reality. In southwest China, farmers pollinate their apple and pear trees by hand. In Spain we run the serious risk of following in his footsteps. Fortunately, there are still people who have not given up. Jesus Gonzalez takes a lifetime keeping bees and four years as head of Adopt a Beehive in Pedro Bernardo, Ávila. An ecological and sustainable project that puts their bit to overcome this problem. «Bees pollinate up to 160,000 species of fruit, flowers and trees. Of all these, they alone are concerned with the 80 percent», Jesus says. He is convinced that can be saved. Everything happens for creating and strengthening the bond between people and bees.

Reluctantly, the bees are disappearing and with them many other pollinating insects such as bumblebees — How long haven’t you seen one? —, butterflies and others. In a Greenpeace study, entitled Food under threat, the NGO states that nearly three quarters of major crops for human consumption in Spain depend on pollination by these insects. Something extremely relevant to food level, but also commercial, since Spain is the second largest producer of almonds, peaches and nectarines quarter and third of strawberries, crops belonging to the most vulnerable to lack of pollination by insects. Furthermore, Spain is the EU country most important in terms of honey production, with 17 percent of the total community census.


For its part, the European Union has been made to quantify the depopulation of beehives and identify the causes. In April 2014, the European Reference Laboratory for bee health (EURL) published the results of the first active surveillance program on mortality in bee hives (EPILOBEE). The research was conducted on more than 30,000 hives of 17 members throughout 2012 and 2013 and, in addition to counting deaths, collected agricultural practices and clinical manifestations of the most prominent countries infectious and parasitic diseases. In winter, most delicate time, mortality ranged between 3.5 percent and 33.6 hive. The countries of northern Europe were the most affected with figures above 20 percent while Spain and other Mediterranean countries lost less than 10 percent of the hives studied. However, these data contradict those of the Spanish beekeeping, published in the study of Greenpeace, who claim that the mortality in our country was between 20% and 40 percent. Something is wrong here.

     Develop a comprehensive action plan to protect bees and other pollinators and set a roadmap to increase to 7.6 million hectares the area devoted to organic farming in 2020.

From today's actions depend on future generations of humans and other species.Firm to ask the Spanish authorities to protect the bees! see more at Que-puedes-hacer-tu/Ser-ciberactivista/salvar-abejas/

EGA is registered as 14.302 Engineer at COITIMadrid