At a small boggy island off the southwest coast of Newfoundland, winds whip against the hills and chop into the sea. They gust pretty much all year, but are strongest in the winter. They’ve shaped the character and history of this fishing village: The Four Winds, one of Ramea Island’s oldest and stateliest homes, is named after this force of nature.

Here, on the sleepy island of 600 people, wind power is helping shape Canadian innovation. Ramea is home to one of the world’s few wind-hydrogen-diesel energy projects. The $12-million enterprise, led by Nalcor Energy and mainly funded by the provincial and federal governments, has been under development since 2007. It will begin running next year and undergo three years of testing.

If successful, the technology could wean Ramea off diesel-generated electricity almost entirely and bring cleaner energy to the island and other isolated communities. “The costs of trucking diesel fuel in are quite exorbitant,” noted Terry Kimmel, vice-president of the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association. “So why not … use renewables and make your own energy? What you save is a lot of carbon dioxide that’s going into the atmosphere.”

When wind turbines are built next to large electricity transmission systems, energy storage isn’t much of an issue; the grid can absorb the power immediately. But when energy supply is greater than demand on Ramea Island, storage is essential to ensure the wind power isn’t wasted.

Before Canada’s first wind-diesel demonstration project was constructed on the island in 2004, the community got all of its electricity from diesel generators. The small wind farm included six 65 kilowatt turbines that produced at times too much energy for the local grid to handle. Nearly 60 per cent was wasted.

Hydrogen should solve this problem. Three larger wind turbines have been added to the island. Now when there’s too much wind power, it will be used to produce hydrogen though water electrolysis. The hydrogen gas will then be stored in tanks and tapped when wind energy is not creating enough power for the community. A hydrogen converter generator will convert the stored hydrogen to electricity, producing much fewer greenhouse gas emissions than diesel.

At the moment, wind makes up about 10 per cent of Ramea’s electricity supply. The new wind-hydrogen energy system is expected to reduce the village’s reliance on diesel significantly – perhaps entirely.

A smattering of wind-hydrogen projects worldwide power buildings and, in some cases, environmentally friendly fuel-cell vehicles. “It’s part of a transition to a hydrogen age,” Mr. Kimmel said. Nalcor Energy, a provincially owned company, hopes its wind-hydro-diesel energy technology can be commercialized and exported worldwide. Newfoundland alone has nearly two dozen isolated diesel-dependent electricity systems.

Cost is a key challenge. The renewable energy project would not have gone ahead without government support. Green energy is more expensive to produce than fossil fuels. Prince Edward Island had ambitious $10-million plans for a wind-hydrogen village in North Cape that could tie into the regional power grid. The energy was supposed to be used to light houses and fuel vehicles and a tour boat. The project was scaled back significantly after the federal government reduced funding for it, said Mark Victor, special projects co-ordinator with PEI Energy Corporation.

Today, the $3-million wind-hydrogen village is largely focused on research. Its hydrogen is used to fuel a truck for demonstrations. Still, it is an achievement for a technology in its infancy. Wind and hydrogen are a great match, noted Harvey Silverstein, a Halifax-based hydrogen economy consultant who was an adviser for the PEI project.

“Using hydrogen, you can capture all the wind energy that’s being generated and store it and then use it later or for fuel or even convert back into electricity,” Mr. Silverstein said.

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An international team of researchers, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA, will helicopter onto the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf, one of Antarctica's most active, remote and harsh spots, in mid-December 2011--weather permitting.

The project's mission is to determine how much heat ocean currents deliver to the underside of the Pine Island Glacier as it discharges into the sea. Quantifying this heat and understanding how much melting it causes is key to developing reliable models to predict glacier acceleration and therefore predict how much ice will be delivered from land into the ocean thus contributing to sea level rise.

"Pine Island Glacier has begun to flow more rapidly, discharging more ice into the ocean, which could have a significant impact on global sea-level rise over the coming century," said Scott Borg, director of the Division of Antarctic Sciences at the NSF. "This project, which aims to determine the underlying causes of this phenomenon, illustrates the fact that research conducted in Antarctica contributes to knowledge that benefits society in general."

As manager of the United States Antarctic Program, NSF coordinates all U.S. research on the southernmost continent and the surrounding ocean. The multidisciplinary group of scientists will use a combination of traditional tools and sophisticated new oceanographic instruments to measure the ocean cavity shape underneath the ice shelf and determine how streams of relatively warmer ocean water enter this cavity, move toward the very bottom of the glacier and melt its underbelly, causing it to release more than 19 cubic miles of ice into the ocean each year. If all goes as planned, the 13-person team will depart from McMurdo Station, the National Science Foundation's logistics hub on Ross Island, in mid-December and spend six weeks on the ice shelf.

Facilitating this work is difficult--Pine Island Glacier is almost 1,400 miles (2,200 kilometers) from McMurdo Station--about the distance from Washington, D.C. to Bismarck, North Dakota. Everything needed to support the research and the scientists at this remote site has to be airlifted to the camp or transported by an overland traverse.

Extreme hazards--cold, harsh, stormy climate, as well as crevasses in the region present even further challenges. Transporting supplies and personnel to the site is a major undertaking and one that has taken several years to master.

Assessing and mitigating these hazards and obstacles has been a significant undertaking for NSF. The Pine Island Glacier research was initially supported as a centerpiece of NSF's 2007-2009 International Polar Year (IPY) suite of projects. NSF served as the lead agency for IPY, a coordinated deployment of researchers from more than 60 nations to the Arctic and Antarctic.

"The scale of a project required to comprehend the dynamics of something as large and complex as the forces acting on the Pine Island Glacier also emphasizes the increasing need for agencies such as NASA and NSF to collectively bring their expertise to bear on common goals. It also highlights the important work done by the nation's colleges and universities with NSF support," said Borg. "This is a major undertaking but it promises very interesting and very important results."

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The Cayman Islands tourism product is to be marketed to more than 9,000 travel agents by tour and excursion provider Island Routes. Owner David Shields told the Compass an agreement has been signed with Dolphin Cove in order to represent a range of Cayman Islands-based products and market them to international travel companies.

“We are representing the traditionally popular products including the dolphin experience, the turtles, Stingray City, kayaking, parasailing and submarines,” Mr. Shields said. “We sell through our web-based platform and also the aggrieves programme we have with travel agents in the US and Canadian markets. The 9,000 travel agents will be entitled to commission on the products they sell.”

A perfect fit

In fact, Mr. Shields served as assistant director of tourism in the Cayman Islands between 1995 and 2000 and he said he knew the destination, the customer profile and the traffic well.

“Cayman is a perfect fit for Island Routes and it has been fantastic working with Shomari Scott and the Department of Tourism,” he said. “We are really looking forward to this opportunity. It is about the Cayman people and the quality of the destination. We have a stringent, 100 point inspection and review process and of course it is important that there is a high level of insurance compliance. We have now gone through that procedure and are ready to represent the quality of the Cayman Islands.”

History and nature

Discussions have taken place with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, he revealed, about how Island Routes could assist in representing the cultural aspect and the flora and fauna of Cayman.

“It is not just sand and sea, there is a rich history too. We have discussed things like the Botanical Gardens and Pedro St. James to see how we can represent this history to the travel community,” Mr. Shields said.

He said the company is active in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia, Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas and that further Caribbean expansion was set for 2012. “Our aim is to be the premier tour and excursion company of the region, offering the ultimate in experiences,” he said.

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He had just won his round one heat of a world tour event but decided his professional career was over. After 12 years surfing the globe, including seven on the world tour against the likes of Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Mark Occhilupo, Munro retired there and then. He didn't show up to his next heat, sold his surfboards and went home to Scotts Head one hour south of Coffs Harbour without even his luggage.

"I've got no regrets," he told The Advertiser this week. "I wanted to go out a winner and on my terms so that was pretty cool. "I was burnt out. If you feel the fire in the belly then it's a good sign to keep chasing, but after seven years on the world tour that fire was slowly dimming."

That was October, 2007 and Munro has spent the past four years developing his surfing academy on the NSW coast. He has never had an inkling to return to competition, and is adamant this weekend on Kangaroo Island is not a "comeback".

But when he heard about the inaugural Kangaroo Island Pro, he could not resist. "I've been fortunate enough to compete in all the iconic events in Australia and many around the world," he said. "I've never surfed professionally in SA or Kangaroo Island, so thought it would be pretty cool to be a part of it.

"I still spend a lot of time in the water because if I don't surf, I get grumpy. "There's no pressure on me because it's purely a decision just to be a part of the event. "So why not have a bit of fun, check the place out and catch up with a few guys I used to travel and compete with?"

Munro, who turns 33 this month, had eight victories in his professional career. They including two on the world tour - the Rip Curl Pro in 2005 and the Rio Surf International in 2001 where he beat Occhilupo in the final.

His highest ranking was sixth in the world at the end of the 2005 season. Yesterday, he got through his first heat and moved into the round of 48 at Vivonne Bay. The six-star world tour event has attracted 80 surfers.

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The remote British colony of St Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean is to get a $344 million airport, six years later than originally planned, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has announced.

Home to a population of just over 4,000, up until now the small island has only been accessible by sea, and in particular by way of the RMS St Helena – the only regular ship to call at St Helena.  The UK government previously announced plans for an airport to be built on the island back in 2005, but these were put on hold in 2008 due to funding issues.
 
The South African construction company Basil Read has been awarded the contract to design, build, operate and transfer the airport, while the UK government’s DFID will finance the project.  Andrew Mitchell, International Development Secretary, said the airport would go-ahead now an acceptable price had been achieved.
 
He said that in real terms the agreed contract for design and construction represented a saving of 20% on prices negotiated in 2008, when the project was put on hold.  In the long term the gateway is expected to help to reduce the island's dependency on annual British aid, which reached £26 million year last.
 
Andrew Mitchell said: “St Helena is a British territory and so it is right that we find a way to secure its long-term future.  “A new airport will reverse decades of decline and reduce the island's dependency on yearly handouts.
 
"We're facing tough times at home and I was determined to negotiate a contract that represents better value for money for the UK taxpayer and gives St. Helena a real chance of economic growth and financial independence.”The airport should eventually make the island financially independent, no longer reliant on funding from the UK government.
 
The UK government believes a new airport is the best way to bring new financial opportunities to the island, not least a boom in tourism.  At present just 950 visitors make the trip to St Helena each year by ship. With an airport it is estimated that the number of tourists visiting will grow to around 30,000 a year.
 
The design phase of the $344 million project is scheduled to commence immediately, and construction is expected to take place over a 48-month period.  Due to open in 2015, those who want to visit the island by air will have to go to South Africa first.
 
According to Basil Read, the scope of work includes building a 1,850m runway with a taxiway and apron to cater for aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800.  A 3,500sqm terminal building will be built, as well as an air traffic control tower and a 14 km airport access road and all related infrastructure.
 
After construction, the operations phase of the airport contract will continue in partnership with Lanseria Airport for a further period of ten years at an estimated contract value of $58 million.  The island of St Helena, measuring 16km by 8km, is one of the world’s most remote locations, located approximately 1,900km from Africa, with Ascension Island as its nearest neighbour more then 1,000km away.
 
The Island is famous for where the French Emperor Napoleon was exiled following his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. He died on the island in 1821.

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Forbidden islands have long captivated, especially ones shrouded in mists, forests and legends of treasure, pirates and Indians. Add world-class diving and snorkeling along with a world hot spot for lightning strikes, and you get one of the most fantastic and unique islands on the planet. Caño Island is all this, plus you can visit it without going on an extended cruise.

While most of the world’s most famous wild islands are reached by heading out to sea for days at a time, Caño Island lies less than an hour’s boat ride off Costa Rica’s southern Pacific coast. Lodges from Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula to Manuel Antonio on the Central Pacific take visitors to the island daily.

Most of Caño Island Biological Reserve is forbidden to visitors; one small section of beaches and two short trails on the northwest side of the island are all most people are allowed to see. Six dive sites and two snorkel areas, again on the northwest side of the island, make up the meager portion of the marine protected area that is not forbidden.

Allowing only a small part of the island to be used seems to be working well. With hundreds of hotels and operators from all over Costa Rica offering tours to the island, it seems that limiting the number of visitors just makes everyone want to go to the island more – and pay more.

Thousands of boats a year visit the island, many paying for people to swim in the waters and hang out on the beach. Sportfishing and superyachts invariably motor around for better chances of catching fish just outside the protected waters, and for the views of thick forests and waterfalls cascading into the sea. The fact that a great part of the island is sure to be untouched seems to be its greatest attraction.

The competition for the island’s next greatest attraction is fierce. Some of the healthiest coral reefs left in the world, or birthing and mating waters for two hemispheres of humpback whales? The accounts of Sir Francis Drake dumping Spanish silver to load more gold, or pre-Columbian mystery stone spheres? Costa Rica’s best mainland dive sites, or the best Pacific coast snorkeling? Lots of whitetip sharks, or lots of giant stingrays? Vast fish schools the size of clouds, or the resident spotted dolphin clan? That Caño gets more lightning strikes than anywhere in the world part of the year, or that the island is named for its ring of singing streams cascading to the sea?

One thing Caño Island does not have much of is wildlife. The ancient forests of thick, giant trees towering overhead are strangely and peacefully quiet. The cacophony concerts of the mainland Osa Peninsula rain forests are absent on Caño. Here, the breeze through the trees, the crashing surf, the running waters and the haunting call of the Inca dove predominate.

You will see no macaws or jaguars at Caño Island. There are so few birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, freshwater fish and plant species for one reason: the island effect. Small islands do not have the space needed to produce the necessary diversity for groups big enough to prevent inbreeding. For this same reason, the small ring of marine protected area around the island is not big enough to protect whales and dolphins, sharks and billfish and turtles into the future. Only big protected areas protect big animals.

The island does have some endemic stream fish species and amphibians found nowhere else in the world, although tourists do not get to see them. To save the unique and fragile animals that do live on the island, only two trails were made for visitors, and these may soon shut down to minimize the effects of sedimentation in the island’s streams. Treasure and Indian artifacts are hidden, except for a rather lame pile of artifacts set up so people can see something and that gives them less reason to hike about. Hiking is best left for the Costa Rican mainland.

Extravagant lunches are probably best left on the mainland as well. With the risk of having too many people eating on the beach, some operators are ending the tradition of competing for the biggest picnic in a crowd. As the main tourist attraction at Caño Island is underwater, some trips now focus on only diving and snorkeling with a quick visit to the beach, and then eat on the boat or the mainland. This is a good thing, because the wastewater from all the ranger station toilet visits may be causing a smothering algae bloom on the corals everyone comes to see.

This shows why keeping such a big chunk of the island off-limits is a good idea. However, opening a dive site on the south side could reduce daytime poaching by fishermen, by having tourists pay for monitoring patrols. The many tourist boats that ply the north side strictly patrol this area as they work, reporting infractions quickly to the rangers, who do not need to waist fuel patrolling, only enforcing. This same arrangement is making a lot of money for people all over Costa Rica, including the government, which collects a substantial amount of money from park fees.

And it is helping to conserve one of the world’s most interesting islands.

Going There

Pretty much any hotel on the southern Pacific coast will book tours to Caño Island for guests. The boat ride takes 40 minutes from Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula; 1.5 hours from Sierpe; 2 hours from Dominical and Uvita; and 3 hours from Quepos/Manuel Antonio.

Your boat should have all safety gear, radio, captain, guide and lifejackets, and should drive slowly around divers, snorkelers and marine mammals like dolphins and whales. The operator should take care of fees for visiting and diving the island. (This must be done via Internet at least the day before by the operator.) Dive guides should make sure no one touches coral or other marine life on the bottom and that no one collects anything, not even shells.

The same conditions that bring in so many big fish – quickly changing currents, visibility and temperature – make Caño Island for experienced divers only. This is a bad place to learn to scuba dive. Snorkeling, however, is for all ages and levels, by boat only.

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Australia and New Zealand have teamed up to deliver 450,000 litres of drinkable water to the drought-stricken Pacific island of Tuvalu. Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles said the shipment to Tuvalu's main island of Funafuti was delivered today. "This much-needed water will fill government storage facilities and enable households to access more water in Tuvalu," Mr Marles said.

Australia also has provided two delivery trucks to help distribute water to communities. Tuvalu declared a state of emergency in September after months without rainfall forced its government to start rationing the water supply. Mr Marles said Australia and New Zealand would provide a second shipment of 600,000 litres of water if the drought worsens. Australia also is providing two small desalination units, with the first due to arrive in Funafuti this month. It also is teaming up with the US and the UK to build 40,000-litre-a-day desalination plants to be up and running in December. Last month the New Zealand Defence Force started up a desalination unit on the island. Tuvalu is one of the world's smallest independent nations with fewer than 11,000 residents. It relies heavily on rainwater which has been scarce because of the La Nina weather pattern.

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French authorities sent reinforcements Monday to battle a wildfire raging through the national park of Reunion Island, a unique ecosystem designated a World Heritage Site. A total of 171 firefighters were to arrive on the French overseas territory in the southwestern Indian Ocean, local prefect Michel Lalande said, bringing to 400 the number of French reinforcements sent to help battle the blaze.

The fire erupted on October 11 in La Reunion National Park and according to local officials has already affected more than 2,600 hectares (6,400 acres) of land. The park, which covers more than 100,000 hectares or 40 percent of Reunion, was last year granted World Heritage Site status by UN cultural agency UNESCO, which praised its "variety of rugged terrain and impressive escarpments, forested gorges and basins creating a visually striking landscape". UNESCO raised concerns about the fire in a statement last week, saying it was "the worst the area has seen in 20 years."

"Key areas of endemic plants seem to be seriously affected as well as other key micro-habitats for biodiversity. Among wildlife, several rare species are under threat," UNESCO said. French environmentalists have accused authorities of reacting too slowly to the fires. The French Green Party on Sunday denounced "the drastically inadequate response" by state and local authorities to the fire, which it called "a true national catastrophe".

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Researchers at Rice University say urban development in Galveston Island should be more focused towards its east end. The island's length, width, and thickness sets a far stronger foundation in the long run than its west coast, according to the study, which was funded by the Shell Center for Sustainability.

"The west end of the island is low, and that makes it more susceptible to storm surge and breaching,"  Rice University oceanography professor John Anderson said. "It's also experiencing erosion rates of three to five feet a year, and during major storms those rates can easily be ten times that amount in a single event."

"To add to that, there really is no new sand being brought into the island. That spells out a future of erosion. The west end is certainly not sustainable in the long run," Anderson said. The last two companies that made city designs for the west end went bankrupt before they could actually develop land.

Researchers at Rice do not want to convey the message that the west end of the island is doomed. Anderson claimed that the current population could easily stay sustained as long as no more than two Category Four hurricanes hit Galveston in a single season.

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The island of Maui ( /'ma?.i?/; Hawaiian: ['m?uwi]) is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States.[3] Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lana?i, Kaho?olawe, and Moloka?i. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444, third-highest of the Hawaiian islands, behind that of O?ahu and Hawai?i. Kahului is the largest census-designated place on the island with a population of 26,337 as of 2010.[4] Wailuku is the seat of Maui County. Other significant places include Kihei, Lahaina, Makawao, Pa?ia, Kula, Ha?iku, Hana, Ka?anapali, Wailea, Makena, and Kapalua.

Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend of Hawai?iloa, the Polynesian navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. According to that legend, Hawai?iloa named the island of Maui after his son, who in turn was named for the demigod Maui. The earlier name of Maui was ?Ihikapalaumaewa.[5] The Island of Maui is also called the "Valley Isle" for the large isthmus between its northwestern and southeastern volcanoes and the numerous large valleys carved into both mountains.

Maui's diverse landscapes are the result of a unique combination of geology, topography, and climate. Each volcanic cone in the chain of the Hawaiian Islands is built of dark, iron-rich/quartz-poor rocks, which poured out of thousands of vents as highly fluid lava, over a period of millions of years. Several of the volcanoes were close enough to each other that lava flows on their flanks overlapped one another, merging into a single island. Maui is such a "volcanic doublet", formed from two shield volcanoes that overlapped one another to form an isthmus between them.

The older, western volcano has been eroded considerably and is cut by numerous drainages, forming the peaks of the West Maui Mountains (in Hawaiian Mauna Kahalawai). Pu?u Kukui is the highest of the peaks at 5,788 feet (1,764 m). The larger, younger volcano to the east, Haleakala, rises to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level, but measures 5 miles (8.0 km) from seafloor to summit, making it one of the world's highest "mountains".

The eastern flanks of both volcanoes are cut by deeply incised valleys and steep-sided ravines that run downslope to the rocky, windswept shoreline. The valley-like Isthmus of Maui that separates the two volcanic masses was formed by sandy erosional deposits.

Maui's last eruption (originating in Haleakala's Southwest Rift Zone) occurred around 1790; two of the resulting lava flows are located (1) at Cape Kina?u between ?Ahihi Bay and La Perouse Bay on the southwest shore of East Maui, and (2) at Makaluapuna Point[7] on Honokahua Bay on the northwest shore of West Maui. Although considered to be dormant by volcanologists, Haleakala[8] is certainly capable of further eruptions.

Maui is part of a much larger unit, Maui Nui, that includes the islands of Lana?i, Kaho?olawe, and Moloka?i. During periods of reduced sea level, including as recently as 20,000 years ago, they are joined together as a single island due to the shallowness of the channels between them.

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