Posted in Environment, Peruvian News, tagged Carhuaz, climate change, earthquakes, electricity, glaciers, global warming, melting glaciers, Pedro Suarez-Vertiz, Peru, tsunamis, video, water, Yungay on April 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Global climate change is becoming the threat we all feared in Peru. Independent Television News has posted a video of how a large chunk of ice fell into an Andean lake, triggering a tsunami that may have killed three people.
The location of this disaster, Carhuaz, is very close to where one of the most tragic disasters occurred in modern world history. In 1970, a massive earthquake triggered a landslide that killed an estimated 25,000 people who lived in the city of Yungay.
Posted in Energy, Environment, Peruvian News, tagged alternative energy, biomass, clean energy, climate change, glaciers, global warming, hydroelectric power, micro hydro, Peru, renewable energy, solar, solar energy, solar power, wind, wind energy, wind power on February 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Peru may soon become a wind energy giant by developing projects along its extensive coastline. Estimates suggest that coastal wind turbines could produce around 65,000 Megawatts, 15 times the country's current energy needs.
Last week Peru’s government approved wind, solar, micro hydro, and biomass energy projects that will add 500 megawatts of clean, renewable energy, meeting 12% of the current electricity needs of the country.
This is a crucial boost for a country that currently produces 80% of its electricity via hydroelectric power– an uncertain resource of energy going forward. Peru’s Andean glaciers provide most of the water for hydroelectric dams and they are expected to melt by 2022 as a result of global warming and climate change. However, Peru’s El Comercio suggests that in addition to the more well-known alternative energy projects the government has approved, up to 500 megawatts of energy will also be produced by up to 17 small micro hydro projects that might not be dependent on the glaciers. Some of these facilities are already operational but did not have government contracts prior to this time.
Posted in Environment, Music, Peruvian Culture, Peruvian News, tagged Amazon Rainforest, Amazonas, Andes Mountains, climate change, Cuando Piensas en Volver, glaciers, global warming, hydroelectric power, lyrics, Music, music videos, musicians, Pedro Suarez-Vertiz, songs, water on January 13, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Peruvian rock star Pedro Suarez-Vertiz's new album is called Amazonas. Click over to Huffington Post to watch the music video for the album's title track.
One of Peru’s most popular musicians has released an optimistic climate change anthem as the title track of his newest album Amazonas.
While Pedro Suarez-Vertiz has produced numerous hits, he is also well known for writing socially conscious songs. For these reasons, he is a beloved musician and celebrity in Peru. He has also gained an international audience because of songs like “Cuando Piensas en Volver” (When You Think of Returning), an anthem for expatriates who miss their countries.
Click here to read more and watch the video on The Huffington Post.
Posted in Environment, Peruvian News, tagged bicycles, Christmas, Christmas Tree, climate change, LED, LED lights, Lima, Peru, San Borja, solar, solar energy, solar power, wind, wind energy, wind power, zero emissions on December 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
On Friday I wrote about how the Lima district of San Borja planned to light an eco-friendly Christmas Tree using LED lights, wind power, solar power, and bicycles. As promised, here are several photos of the beautiful tree.
San Borja's eco-friendly Christmas Tree at dusk with its wind turbine in the background. (photo © Levi Novey)
Posted in Environment, Peruvian News, tagged alternative energy, bicycles, Christmas, Christmas Tree, energy, LED lights, Lima, Peru, renewable energy, San Borja, solar energy, solar power, wind energy, wind power, zero emissions on December 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Tonight the Lima district of San Borja plans to light an emissions-free Christmas tree in a popular park as part of event called “Magic, Light, and Color: the Energy You Generate.”
The 11 meter high tree will display LED Christmas lights powered by a combination 10 bicycles, a wind turbine, and two small solar panels attached to the turbine. The power from these clean energy sources will be stored in batteries that will help power the tree for the nights to come.
Posted in Peruvian News, tagged beaches, Costa Verde, crime, LarcoMar, Lima, Miraflores, oceans, paragliding, parasailing, Peru, police, surveillance, water safety on December 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
A paraglider passes over Lima's Costa Verde near the popular LarcoMar shopping center.
My friends over at the news source Living in Peru posted an interesting story last week about how Peru’s police force is planning to conduct regular paragliding patrols over Lima’s 90 beaches this year.
My first thought– “this is cool.”
My second thought– “is it really going to work?” (more…)
Posted in Environment, Peruvian News, tagged Alto Purús National Park, Amazon Rainforest, biodiversity loss, Brazil, climate change, deforestation, Environment, global warming, national park, park ranger, Peru, sustainable development, tropical rainforest on November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This article was originally published on ecopolitology.org– a website covering the politics of energy and the environment.
While it’s not news to most of us who work in or follow international conservation, Peru’s El Comercio newspaper ran a story today about how only 8 park rangers patrol Alto Purús National Park. Alto Purús is the largest national park in Peru and the third largest in all of South America.
Alto Purús “protects” 2,724,263 hectares of tropical rainforest (~ 6.7 million acres). The math’s not too challenging on this one. That’s almost a million acres for each of the 8 rangers to patrol.
Posted in Peruvian News, tagged black market, body fat, crime, gangs, media, Peru on November 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I’m always a little disappointed that what most foreigners hear about Peru are stories like this one. There are a lot of good things that happen in Peru too (as well as in most countries).
Nonetheless, according to the Associated Press:
A gang in the remote Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, police charged Thursday, draining it from their corpses and offering it on the black market for use in cosmetics… Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police. He said the suspects, two of whom were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat, told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon ($15,000 a liter)… Mejia said the suspects told police the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima, the Peruvian capital. While police suspect the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, he could not confirm any sales… Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications. (more…)
