Monday, October 10, 2011
International golfers for Pan Gulf event
OVER 100 golfers from around the world will be taking part in the Pan Gulf Golf Day at Awali Golf Club on October 14.
The event, which is being held in cooperation with Pan Gulf Industrial Systems, will consist of two competitions.
The first, teeing off in the early morning, will be a strokeplay tournament comprising more than 100 entrants. It will also act as a KPAO (Kingsbury, Pinhey, Ayto, O'Sullivan) qualifier, the final of which will be held at Awali Golf Club in April next year.
The other is an invitational Stableford competition. Scheduled to tee off at around midway, around 20 invited golfers from the US, Australia, Bahrain and the rest of the GCC will be in the fray.
Both tournaments will be played over 18 holes along Awali Golf Club's sand course.
Amateurs
The players taking part are all amateurs. They will be vying for attractive cash prizes in each competition, with additional awards for the day's various side competitions also to be given out, such as a Harley Davidson motorbike for the first player to sink a hole-in-one.
"The main aim of our Pan Gulf Golf Day is for everyone to have a good time out on the golf course and to make some money for charity," event organiser Martin Allison told the GDN yesterday.
Part of the event's proceeds will be donated to the Think Pink charity.
Following the day's play, there will be live music featuring the Gruesome Twosome band and a dinner.
The Pan Gulf Golf Day's main sponsors are Remtec and Chemetron; while other sponsors are Notifier, Autronica, Stahl, Nalco, DNH Speakers and ATP.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Phl to start ODS phaseout
By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star)
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government will finally start to put an end to the use of harmful substances that deplete the earth’s ozone layer by 2013.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje announced the other day that a freeze order on the importation of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) more than a year from now.
He said the ban on ozone-depleting substances (ODS) is pursuant to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to which the Philippines is a signatory.
“Starting 2013, we are putting a cap on the importation of HCFC to 2,644 metric tons (MT) — the country’s average import of HCFC from 2009 to 2010,” Paje said.
From the base level of 2,644 MT, the HCFC import will be gradually reduced by 10 percent, to 2,3796 MT by 2015; 35 percent to 1,718.6 MT by 2020; then 67.5 percent, to 859.3 MT in 2025.
Paje said that from 2030 to 2039 the DENR would allow the import of the substance to only 66.1 MT annually, representing 2.5 percent of the base level, for the continued use of the servicing sector.
HCFCs are a group of ODS controlled by the Montreal Protocol and comprise the last of eight ODS groups to be phased out pursuant to the Protocol.
The other ODS that have already been phased out in the country include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 11, 12, 113, 114, halon 1301 and 1211, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroforms.
HCFC consumption in the Philippines is attributed to HCFC-22, more commonly known as R-22, HCFC-141b, HCFC-123 and blends of HCFC-225.
HCFCs are commonly used as substitutes for CFCs in the foam blowing, refrigeration, fire extinguishing, solvent and servicing sectors.
Of these HCFCs, Paje said the DENR will prioritize the phaseout of HCFC-141b because it has the most ozone-depleting potential (ODP) of 0.11 as compared with HCFC-22 or R-22 with an ODP of .055 only, HCFC-123 with 0.02 and HCFC blends, from .025 to .033.
He said phaseout would initially cover the foam sector, particularly the polyurethane rigid foam in appliances, panels and sprays.
A total of 364.34 MT of HCFCs is projected to be phased out under the project, which is being implemented by the DENR through the Environmental Management Bureau in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Paje said a total of $2.26 million was granted to fund the project from Japan and the Multilateral Fund.
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government will finally start to put an end to the use of harmful substances that deplete the earth’s ozone layer by 2013.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje announced the other day that a freeze order on the importation of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) more than a year from now.
He said the ban on ozone-depleting substances (ODS) is pursuant to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to which the Philippines is a signatory.
“Starting 2013, we are putting a cap on the importation of HCFC to 2,644 metric tons (MT) — the country’s average import of HCFC from 2009 to 2010,” Paje said.
From the base level of 2,644 MT, the HCFC import will be gradually reduced by 10 percent, to 2,3796 MT by 2015; 35 percent to 1,718.6 MT by 2020; then 67.5 percent, to 859.3 MT in 2025.
Paje said that from 2030 to 2039 the DENR would allow the import of the substance to only 66.1 MT annually, representing 2.5 percent of the base level, for the continued use of the servicing sector.
HCFCs are a group of ODS controlled by the Montreal Protocol and comprise the last of eight ODS groups to be phased out pursuant to the Protocol.
The other ODS that have already been phased out in the country include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) 11, 12, 113, 114, halon 1301 and 1211, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroforms.
HCFCs are commonly used as substitutes for CFCs in the foam blowing, refrigeration, fire extinguishing, solvent and servicing sectors.
Of these HCFCs, Paje said the DENR will prioritize the phaseout of HCFC-141b because it has the most ozone-depleting potential (ODP) of 0.11 as compared with HCFC-22 or R-22 with an ODP of .055 only, HCFC-123 with 0.02 and HCFC blends, from .025 to .033.
He said phaseout would initially cover the foam sector, particularly the polyurethane rigid foam in appliances, panels and sprays.
A total of 364.34 MT of HCFCs is projected to be phased out under the project, which is being implemented by the DENR through the Environmental Management Bureau in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Paje said a total of $2.26 million was granted to fund the project from Japan and the Multilateral Fund.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Arctic ozone loss at record level
Ozone loss over the Arctic this year was so severe that for the first time it could be called an "ozone hole" like the Antarctic one, scientists report.
About 20km (13 miles) above the ground, 80% of the ozone was lost, they say.
The cause was an unusually long spell of cold weather at altitude. In cold conditions, the chlorine chemicals that destroy ozone are at their most active.
It is currently impossible to predict if such losses will occur again, the team writes in the journal Nature.
Early data on the scale of Arctic ozone destruction were released in April, but the Nature paper is the first that has fully analysed the data.
"Winter in the Arctic stratosphere is highly variable - some are warm, some are cold," said Michelle Santee from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
"But over the last few decades, the winters that are cold have been getting colder.
"So given that trend and the high variability, we'd anticipate that we'll have other cold ones, and if that happens while chlorine levels are high, we'd anticipate that we'd have severe ozone loss."
Ozone-destroying chemicals originate in substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that came into use late last century in appliances including refrigerators and fire extinguishers.
Their destructive effects were first documented in the Antarctic, which now sees severe ozone depletion in each of its winters.
Their use was progressively restricted and then eliminated by the 1987 Montreal Protocol and its successors.
The ozone layer blocks ultraviolet-B rays from the Sun, which can cause skin cancer and other medical conditions.
Longer, not colderWinter temperatures in the Arctic stratosphere do not generally fall as low as at the southern end of the world.
Ozone destruction takes place within polar stratospheric clouds, with chlorine the main culpritNo records for low temperature were set this year, but the air remained at its coldest for an unusually long period of time, and covered an unusually large area.
In addition, the polar vortex was stronger than usual. Here, winds circulate around the edge of the Arctic region, somewhat isolating it from the main world weather systems.
"Why [all this] occurred will take years of detailed study," said Dr Santee.
"It was continuously cold from December through April, and that has never happened before in the Arctic in the instrumental record."
The size and position of the ozone hole changed over time, as the vortex moved northwards or southwards over different regions.
Some monitoring stations in northern Europe and Russia recorded enhanced levels of ultraviolet-B penetration, though it is not clear that this posed any risk to human health.
While the Arctic was setting records, the Antarctic ozone hole is relatively stable from year to year.
This year has seen ozone-depleting conditions extending a little later into the southern hemisphere spring than usual - again, as a result of unusual weather conditions.
Chlorine compounds persist for decades in the upper atmosphere, meaning that it will probably be mid-century before the ozone layer is restored to its pre-industrial health.
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