Cool Cities, Cool Planet - with Art Rosenfeld

Wishing for comprehensive energy efficient program in Malaysia. Is the Malaysia budget 2011 enough for the program...?

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Malaysia - rocky's bru: In Malaysia, "Bloggers against Bullies" group formed

Why should we have our own Electronic Foundation Foundation (EFF) regarding rocky's bru: In Malaysia, "Bloggers against Bullies" group formed

Electronic Frontier Foundation (Malaysia)?!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States. Its stated mission is to:^[1]

• Engage in and support educational activities which increase popular understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed by developments in computing and telecommunications.
• Develop among policy-makers a better understanding of the issues underlying free and open telecommunications, and support the creation of legal and structural approaches which will ease the assimilation of these new technologies by society.
• Raise public awareness about civil liberties issues arising from the rapid advancement in the area of new computer-based communications media.
• Support litigation in the public interest to preserve, protect, and extend First Amendment rights within the realm of computing and telecommunications technology.
• Encourage and support the development of new tools which will endow non-technical users with full and easy access to computer-based telecommunications.

The EFF is supported by donations and is based in San Francisco, California, with staff members in Washington, D.C. They are accredited observers at the World Intellectual Property Organization^[2] and one of the participants of the Global Network Initiative.^[3]

EFF has taken action in several ways. It provides funds for legal defense in court, defends individuals and new technologies from what it considers baseless or misdirected legal threats, works to expose government malfeasance, provides guidance to the government and courts, organizes political action and mass mailings, supports some new technologies which it believes preserve personal freedoms, maintains a database and web sites of related news and information, monitors and challenges potential legislation that it believes would infringe on personal liberties and fair use, and solicits a list of what it considers patent abuses with intentions to defeat those that it considers without merit. (source: http://j.mp/97opsq)

more details on video below:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Electronic Frontier Foundation - Cindy Cohn
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Legal Guide for Bloggers

Updated Feb 11 2009

Whether you're a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you've been seeing more and more stories pop up every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post.

Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people don't want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that's under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.

The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you're doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law doesn't help - in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts haven't yet decided how it applies to bloggers.

But here's the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies shouldn't use the law to stifle legitimate free expression. That's why EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.

To be clear, this guide isn't a substitute for, nor does it constitute, legal advice. Only an attorney who knows the details of your particular situation can provide the kind of advice you need if you're being threatened with a lawsuit. The goal here is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger, to let you know you have rights, and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected.

Please note that this guide applies to people living in the US. We don't have the expertise or resources to speak to other countries' legal traditions, but we'd like to work with those who do. If you know of a similar guide for your own jurisdiction or feel inspired to research and write one, please let us know. (source: http://j.mp/cVx5Pu).

Novel & Innovative - Dean Kamen's vapor compression distiller "slingshot"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Dean Kamen
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Hope it can be commercialize soon.

beautiful street view.

Ginkos in Sendagaya: http://t.co/PAWLEKH

beautiful street view at Japan.

Yasmin Ahmad: 1 year after she passed away

yasmin ahmad at TEDxKL

Al-fatihah...


i still remember today as one of our Malaysian most talented & creative people since P.Ramlee leaving us all.


I love your stories. You're the kind of people with heart of gold. The first time and the last time i met you is during TEDxKL, she present a life public talk to the audience.. she in front of me in same table but I was stunt by her humble and honest conversation with others. I think i will remember the moment for the rest of my life.  She was humble and amazing speaker while giving a talk at TEDxKL 2009.


I wish I get to know you better and talk to you that day.. ;(


again, al-fatihah and enjoy her some of her speech & art work below;




TEDxKL 2009 :







Chocolate

Synopsis

A quiet tale that reminds us that, despite the multifaceted contradiction of Malaysia, life goes on – even if not all of it is sweet.

Happy Earth Day ... !!!

Activities around Earth Day in Malaysia.


My opinions:




Malaysia government should set the target much higher, 25 tree per person.


Target: 


planting 1 billion tree in 5 year - offsetting 130 billion tone of C02 in 4 year. (1 tree = offset 130 tone CO2). 


Economic gain according to REDD (link1, link2):
= 130 B x USD 10 CO2/tonne 
= USD 1.3 trillion.


(please correct me if fact is wrong).




Pulau Pinang:

April 22, 2010 — The state level launch of the 26 million trees for Malaysia is held at the Esplanade, Penang.

Penang is giving away free Tecoma plants (also known as Spring Blossom of Penang) to Penangites who are interested to plant the trees in their community. This trees, when in bloom looks like the Sakura flowers in Japan.

All Aduns and Head of Departments are invited to witness the launching and they are given a tree each to plant at the Esplanade.

When asked about the absence of UMNo, Barisan Nasional Aduns, YB Phee said their absence is obvious. Phee claimed that the Penang State Government under the Pakatan Rakyat can rise above politics to work together with the Federal Government to heed this call to green Malaysia. However, the UMNO Barisan Nasional state leaders in Penang are only interested in playing politics. -- Malaysiakini.

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• 
  
  
  

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my $1 on: Incandescent Lamps to be phased out in Malaysia gradually

Dear Datuk Peter Chin,

   Time to do promote community campaign exchanging light bulb with old one. yes, the cost of CFL is expensive more than RM 10/pc - this is social innovation with positive economic impact - focus on high density residential area first like dbkl flat in Kuala Lumpur and several city in north and south. Sime Darby & Osram has done CFL exchange programme at the rate of RM 50 for 8 pieces (RM 6.25/pc) in July 2009 - cheap but not cheap enough.

   Phase out incandescent lamps is good move - well done, but moving toward the target is much more important. My expectation of government action in this matter is not up to the  limit of sending army to change light bulb like Venezuela (BBC News,March 8 2010, Light bulbs power Venezuela out of electricity crisis, retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8543469.stm on 17 April 2010). 

Our neighbor, Philippines - really focus on local community movement to catalyst the campaign. And Singapore - bring the Energy Efficiency campaign to primary school level to university called "Project ZeroCarbon".

The Philippine Energy Efficiency Project/Program (PEEP):

Fast Fact	Notes
Philippine Energy Efficiency Project	·         The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided a US$ 31 million loan in support of the $46.5 million Philippine Energy Efficiency Project. ·         Under the project, 13 million compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) will be distributed, free of charge, to homes and businesses throughout the Philippines – replacing inefficient incandescent light bulbs. ·         The budget for the bulb replacement program is US$ 18 million.
A Few Firsts for Asia	·         This is the very first nationwide program in Asia to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. ·         This is the first time an Asian country is receiving carbon market credits for replacement CFLs. ·          The Philippines is aiming to be the first country in Asia to be incandescent bulb free – by 2010.
Cost Savings for Families	·         Families can save 400 pesos a year for each incandescent bulb they replace with a CFL. ·         CFLs can last up to 10 years – 10x longer than traditional bulbs – providing additional costs savings. ·         Even families that buy new CFLs themselves will realize an overall cost savings from lower energy bills and unneeded incandescent bulb replacements.
Big Savings for the Philippines	·         The project will save US$ 100 million in annual fuel costs, and allow the deferment of US$ 450 million in new power plant construction costs. ·         National CO2 emissions will be reduced by 300,000 tons a year, allowing the Philippines to receive approximately 300,000 tons of certified emission reduction (carbon market) credits annually. ·         The project pays for itself and starts realizing a positive cash flow within the very first year.
Incandescents vs. CFLs	·         Incandescent bulbs are inefficient. Less than 20% of the electricity used by these bulbs produces light, while the remaining 80% is wasted as heat. ·         CFLs use the vast majority of electricity input to produce light. ·         There are over 40 million inefficient incandescent bulbs in operation in the Philippines. ·         Every 1 million incandescent bulbs that are replaced by CFLs translate into a 50 MW reduction in electricity demand. The construction cost of a new 50 MW power station is over US$ 50 million.
The Costly Challenge of Powering the Philippines	·         Electricity demand in the Philippines is expected to double by 2030. ·         Without action, there could be power shortages in Luzon and Visayas as soon as 2012. ·         In rural areas, incandescent bulbs constitute over half of evening peak power loads – when the marginal generation cost is 5-10 more than off-peak times. ·         CFL use can reduce peak demand by 40-80%, significantly reducing generation costs.
ADB Support for the Philippines' Energy Sector	·         ADB has provided almost US$ 3 billion to support the improvement of the Philippines' power sector, helping expand barangay (village) electrification coverage from 55% in 1986 to 94% in 2006.

   
my simple math on PEEP:

Cost:
-----
total sum needed                                :   USD  46,500,000
-> total financing required                    :  USD  31,000,000

budget for replacement                         :  USD  18,000,000
Amount bulb replacement                      :          13,000,000 unit

Cost/unit CFL                                      :  ~ USD 1.40

Income (benefit):
---------------------
fuel cost (annual)                                :  USD 100,000,000
carbon credit (annual)                          :               300,000 tonne
carbon credit (USD/annual)                   :           10,000,000
defer power generation:
-> (1,300MW/annual)                           :   USD 300,000,000
                                                          -----------------------------

Profit =  Income - Cost                         :   USD 400,000,000 - USD 46,500,000
                                                          = USD 353,500,000
Return on Investment (ROI)                  
(excluding. carbon credit)                      : ~ 258 day / 8.6 month.




Strategy for energy efficient for "1Power":

1. invest in CFL fast, procure CFL now - huge order drive cost down.
2. don't wait for 2014 - potential revenue loss can mount to more than USD 400M/year.
3. invest in white roof & green roof - much cheaper than building power plant.
4. invest in "appropriate technology".

Malaysia still lack of information and simple "cost - benefit  analysis" as  show at above table; what the stakeholders (rakyat, government, TNB , investors and environment as whole) and  benefit from switching from incandescent lamps to CFL. Philippines has a good campaign strategy (equip. with campaign material,  and active partners) involved in the programs and how to finance the activity. 

“The way it would work is that the utility would spend the money and take the risk to make its customers as energy efficient as possible,” he explained. That would include installing devices in your home that would allow the utility to adjust your air-conditioners or refrigerators at peak usage times. It would include plans to incentivize contractors to build more efficient homes with more efficient boilers, heaters, appliances and insulation. It could even include partnering with a factory to buy the most energy-efficient equipment or with a family to winterize their house. - Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy.

   Rather just focusing on traditional campaign - tv, radio and newspaper and magazine - better off the expenditure to be spend into implementation directly to consumers in the local community and the education sector especially bundle the exchanging light bulb activity with competition (example: Project ZeroCarbon 2009) year round. The mechanism of the competition work as schools compete against each other for the most energy saving in each month. The winning schools' each month win - set of energy saving device (CFL bulb) worth equal or more which they have save + matching CFL from the sponsor. Estimated saving more 80% downstream - ROI for school: less than 4 month.

   Same goes to water usage & introduction of "Garbage That Is Not Garbage" program initiative ( City of Curitiba, Brazil) in Malaysia school. have you ever heard about school water bill mount to RM 10,000 ?! The  current limit  for water & electric bill is cap at RM 2,000. As Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said ""Sebagai contoh dalam soal bekalan air dan api, jika kita dapat berjimat cermat sehingga 10 atau 20 peratus ia akan membawa kesan besar kerana kita ada 10,000 sekolah." Therefore, it's wise to award the winner  of the competition/ league  winning  prizes such CFL bulb/ other type of energy saving device/ water collection system etc for better results in the fuuture.

   And if the winning prize (CFL bulb/ energy saving device) can be transferable to other school within the communities, earning them 10% of the value paid for "reward"(CFL bulb"/ energy saving device", that is can be used in services and improvements suggested by the own community.

   This activity can be self-sustained from co-sponsor local company sponsorship with endorsement from education ministries and your ministries.

   Here some example what the US Energy Department have done: 

The Kill-a-Watt Competition at University of Central Florida

 

 

   Apart from phasing out light bulb, we can learn from City of Curitiba, Brazil which use innovative Municipal Solid Waste Solution using less power compare to capital intensive - German Solid Waste Solution (Thayane Vitola Rohn (2007). Improvements to Curitiba´s waste disposal system: A comparative study between Curitiba and Germany solutions, Retrieved from http://www.design.ufpr.br/issd/papers/ISSD1101.pdf). 

   Why Recycling (Solid Waste Management) can help increase energy efficiency and cheaply ?! Waste sorting & collection mechanism can be made cheaply from recycle oil drum and stick with label: food, metal, plastic, paper as be done as well.

   Imagine 1,000 student and how much food waste per school in Kuala Lumpur, they contribute per day:

Fact:

Food separation in school also important as part energy efficient effort in school because food waste represent 56% or 387.83 /kg/cap/year of municipal solid waste components in Kuala Lumpur.  (Iwan Budhiarta, Chamhuri Siwar, Hassan Basri (2007).Simulating A Carbon Hedge Fund and Trading Advantage from the Municipal Solid Waste Management: The Role of Waste-to-Carbon in Malaysia, Retrieved from http://j.mp/8XVgI2).

Food waste especially can be recycle in organic way through:

1.  Worm composting - vermicompost (story1, story2, story3) can be sold and be channel back to school co-operation and,

 "Think about the RM140mil per year that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) spends on our waste disposal. Money that Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail would like to put to better use like planting more trees and building more parks."  --TheStar Malaysia.

2. Bokashi composting with help of effective microorganisms (EM) (intro & success story in Malaysia) to be used for reducing volumes of sewage sludge has often been suggested as feasible in either wastewater treatment plants or on-site wastewater treatment systems such as septic tanks; therefore increase flow rate, increase efficiency of wastewater treatment plant (no longer accessable: http://www.jpvpp.gov.my/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=116&func=fileinfo&id=46&lang=en)

Fact:
In the United States 5 - 10% of the edible food purchased in a grocery store is thrown away. This disposal wastes the energy used to grow, process,package and transport the food and the energy used to dispose of the garbage. Approximately 1,500 trillion Btu of energy are wasted in this manner every year in the United States.(Whiffen and Bobroff (1993). Managing The Energy Cost of Food. 3, Retrieved from http://www.p2pays.org/ref/08/07686.pdf)

Quote from the article below "Managing The Energy Cost of Food by H.J Whiffen & L.B Bobrof, May 1993:

Recycling is an energy efficient waste disposal option. Compost your organic wastes  and use the compost to supply your landscape plants and garden vegetables with the nutrients and soil organic matter they need. Participate in a recycling program for your aluminum, steel, glass, plastic and paper packaging materials. (For more information, see CIR-958: Backyard Composting of Yard Waste; AE-27: Converting Yard and Kitchen Waste into Compost; EES-73: Enviroshopping Energy Considerations.)

Managing the Energy Cost of Food - H. J. Whiffen and L. B. Bobroff - May 1993

This simple downstream activity  will resulting multiplier effect energy efficiency  in upper stream and benefiting local communities. 

Why schools' should be the center of focus? It's  center of education and available almost 10,000 school all over Malaysia.

Don't also forget about benefit of White Roof chain effect: White paint might just be the solution to tackling climate change.

Reference: 

1. Hillary (2009, June 16). Cool roofs for hot climates. Retrieved from http://j.mp/aO5xNW

2. USdepartmentofenergy. (2009, July 23). White Roof: Secretary Steven Chu discusses the benefits of switching to white roofs and light colored pavements [ Video File]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wDIkKroOUQ

Regards,

Syawal.

http://syawalisme.blogspot.com

;)

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