大象传媒

Hi All,

I'm Anne's temporary replacement, Anna.

I'm making an appearance, even though I'm usually quite shy, because I'm worried about some of the Comments that I've been moderating today. I'm getting the impression some of you feel that not all Comments are appearing. This worries me, since I've been getting RSI wading through the spam we get to this site (at a ratio of about 25:1!!!) to make sure that all your Comments appear as soon as possible!

I'm looking in to why some of the Comments might not be appearing, so let me know if you have had a Comment fail to appear in the last few days. Also, if you have any questions about why posts might occasionally be failed by the Moderator, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

I thought this might be of interest.


From the Small Islands Voice:


Do you live in a small island?
Tell us what you think.



In this week's article contributors focus on reducing energy consumption and supplying future energy needs through renewable sources such as solar panels and tidal currents.

Father Api from Fiji (Pacific) writes: Thank you for telling us what is going on in your countries in regards to the use of alternative fuels. In Fiji, and in places like Labasa where I work as a church minister, it's sad to see the prices of goods continue to rise. The main cause is the high cost of fuel. I am not sure about the position of our Government in relation to what other countries are now trying with local fuel sources, but I am all for it. Poverty increases also because of high fuel costs. My suggestion would be to request various governments to work together at different levels to try and develop new fuels for nations like ours. Governments could put aside funds for research and technical assistance. We just cannot go along with big, well financed nations on this issue. If we start now our children will benefit and we could help our communities reduce poverty and other problems.

Hari Baral, takes up this idea: Some writers to this forum are pointing their fingers to government to take responsibility for policy development regarding the use of non-fossil fuel for energy demand. But should not the users play a more responsible role by reducing energy use by using their cars less often, turning off household electric gadgets when not in use, etc. Unless we can develop a balanced two-way policy of reducing our excessive energy consumption and adopting clean, renewable energy, we will never have a sustainable energy policy.

Peter Jacobs from St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Caribbean) writes: Renewable energy is not an easy option for small islands. In St. Vincent, the use of wind is a possibility, but the cost of windmill replacement after a hurricane might outweigh the savings on oil; unless a windmill could be designed that would fold down in times of hurricanes. We do not have sufficiently large rivers for hydroelectricity. The continuing development of an island requires energy and the only source we have in abundance is sunlight. The cost of harnessing solar is expensive but might just be the way of the future for small developing islands, as the panels can be taken down before a storm or hurricane.

Taking up the renewable energy theme further, Thomas Goreau writes: Most island nations have huge completely untapped energy resources in their tidal currents and this can be used cost-effectively on scales from very small to very large, using new simple technology to turn tidal and ocean currents into electrical currents. This is not wave energy, it is tidal energy that is so predictable that you can practically adjust your watch to it. And it is clean non-polluting energy that can be tapped affordably wherever peak currents reach more than 4 knots. At this year's United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development we made a presentation to try to get funding for island nations to start developing their vast unused tidal energy resources and we will keep pushing this proposal next year. We have found great interest in developing such projects on the part of the UN Ambassadors from Fiji, Tuvalu, Palau, Maldives, and the Marshall Islands, among others. We are looking for funding to start the first projects early next year, but the problem is that tidal energy is not on the list of sustainable energy technologies the UN agencies, Global Environment Facility, etc. are mandated to fund, even though for islanders it is our best hope for large amounts of affordable clean power.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr allows for translation into other languages.
For those who prefer, you may respond to this forum in Espa脙卤ol, Fran脙搂ais or Portugu脙陋s.

Title: Can tidal currents supply future energy needs?
Author: Father Api, H. Baral, T. Goreau, P. Jacobs
Date: Thursday, 2 November 2006



Please send your comments to smallislandsvoice@sivglobal.org

To see all the messages in this global forum, visit http://www.sivglobal.org

To find out more about Small Islands Voice, go to http://www.smallislandsvoice.org

As MadLamb and thewhitesettler have already pointed out, Children in Need takes place this Friday.

If you've been thinking about raising money head straight to the which has loads of information about the big day as well as a downloadable (is that a word?) fundraising pack. You can also donate online or create your own sponsorship webpage.

As well as all of this, the site carries information about how last year鈥檚 donations were spent across Scotland and details of how you can apply for a grant.

And if that wasn鈥檛 enough you can also go behind the scenes to discover just how Terry Wogan got that amazing six pack. I have to confess I look at him in a whole different light these days... ;-)

I was reading the latest comments to be added to Runestone鈥檚 recent post when one in particular caught my eye.

CAC wrote 鈥� 鈥淣ot everyone on this isle can attend meetings and participate as much as they would like to - this blog is a good way for the normally unheard to get in their say. I wish more people would be brave enough to air their views鈥�.

So, why not do just that? Create your own blog and have your say.

Sign up if you have concerns about what鈥檚 happening on your island, if you have solutions to current problems, if you want to start a debate on a topic or if you just want to tell the world what鈥檚 great about where you live.

It鈥檚 really simple to get going. to find out more.

It seems that the method we use of letting folk know when their posts or comments are rejected may not be working as it should.

Normally, when something is rejected we send a wee note explaining why it can鈥檛 be published. It now looks as if those notes aren鈥檛 reaching their intended recipients.

If one of your posts or comments hasn鈥檛 been published and you haven鈥檛 received an explanation can you email me at islandblogging@bbc.co.uk to let me know? (Bear in mind that it can sometimes take a few hours for comments to appear on the site.)

Thanks for your help!

Hello,

Following a query (actually, more of a complaint!) I received at the beginning of the week, I just want to remind everyone that Island Blogging is not moderated over the weekend. All posts and comments will be seen to first thing on Monday morning.

Enjoy your weekend :)
Anne

As you鈥檒l have seen in today鈥檚 headlines, islanders on South Uist, Eriskay and Benbecula are set to take control of their estate in Scotland's biggest ever community land buyout.

Beacons are to be lit throughout the islands tonight in celebration 鈥� weather permitting I assume!

If you live on South Uist, Eriskay or Benbecula this is the perfect time to start blogging! It would be great to hear from you at the moment. Tell us what the deal means for you 鈥� and tell us about the celebrations too!

We do have a couple of bloggers from South Uist and Eriskay, though they鈥檝e not been heard of for a while. Please get back in touch!