NWO Theme Sustainable Earth
Sustainable Earth Newsletter - March 2010
'Sustainable Earth' is one of NWO's themes in research. Subjects are human behaviour, use of natural resources and ecology, all for a sustainable planet Earth. This newsletter focuses on research and activities by NWO and occasionally also includes articles by other partners.
Research programme in the spotlight
Successful Careers for Energy Researchers |
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In 2009 the Energy Research Stimulation programme of NWO/SenterNovem was completed. It is currently being evaluated and there will be more information about this in the next newsletter. Prior to the full evaluation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) held a short e-mail questionnaire among several former PhD students of this programme. Many PhD students are still working in the field of their doctorate research - either within the university or elsewhere. So far, the programme has rendered 15 Doctors. Four PhD students are still working on their dissertation. Read more
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Subsidy News
Call for 'Fast Track Research into conflict'
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| The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has launched a second 'call for proposals' within the theme of Conflict and Security. The focus of this call is on Fast Track Research into emerging, active, escalating and de-escalating conflict. In addition, proposals in the field of conflicts about natural resources and conflicts related to gender are welcome. The final deadline for submitting proposals is on 6 April 2010 at 12:00 hrs CET. Read more |
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Subsidies available for Earth Sciences
The NWO calls on earth scientists to make better use of the many subsidy opportunities. In 2009 the number of applications has fallen behind. This affects the level of Dutch Earth Sciences. Read more (in Dutch)
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Publications
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Change Magazine
Change Magazine aims to be a reliable portal of climate information. Change Magazine offers a printed journal, an online climate knowledge portal and an e-newsletter: Change Magazine Climate News. The NWO is one of its partners. A subscription to Change Magazine is free for everyone who is active, either professionally or as a student, in the field of climate change prevention and adaptation. Read more on www.changemagazine.nl
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Research Results
Cost and benefit analysis of EU climate policy
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| PhD student Javier de Cendra de Larragán has analysed the choices made in EU law concerning the distribution of benefits and costs arising from climate change policies from the perspective of legal principles. He studied the potential significance of these principles for law and policy, and whether and to what extent this potential has been realised in actual EU climate legislation and policy. Even though legal principles can provide and have provided important guidance in designing and testing distributional choices, important tensions between choices and principles remain. To reduce these, the researcher has made several recommendations for changes in EU climate legislation. Read more |
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Should the government intervene in urban growth?
The 'compact city' with open green spaces between cities is the result of deliberate government policy, but this spatial policy has made living in the city less attractive. Jasper Dekkers concludes that policy makers achieve their objectives but are relatively blind to any negative side effects. He received his doctorate at the Free University of Amsterdam on 19 February 2010. |
Major opportunities for energy reduction in existing housing
One third of the greenhouse-gas output in the Netherlands is caused by fossil energy consumption in buildings. As much as 56% of this is generated by residential properties. There are major opportunities for energy conservation and CO2 reduction in the existing housing stock because are many houses do not make efficient use of energy. The replacement rate of these older houses is only 1% annually. However, there are various reasons why these opportunities are not seized on a much wider scale according to Thomas Hoppe's PhD dissertation. He received his doctorate at the University of Twente on 18 December 2009. |  |
Global warming affects microbial ecosystems in polar seas |
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Local warming of polar seas has direct and indirect effects on ecosystems in coastal areas. Because of the increased input of fresh melting water into salty seawater important changes are taking place on the surface in terms of levels of salinity, turbidity and light penetration. This has major implications for the composition of the water column and the characteristics of the various layers of water, which in turn leads to clear shifts in microbial communities in the seas surrounding the arctic and the Antarctic. This process is analysed by Anouk Piquet in her dissertation. She received her doctorate at the University of Groningen on 12 February 2010.
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Dutch coastal waters warming faster
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| Since 1982, the seawater along the Dutch coast has been warming at a much faster rate than would be expected on the basis of increased greenhouse-gas concentrations. Research by the NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research on the island of Texel shows that this increased rate of warming is attributable to sunnier springs and summers and stronger westerly winds in winter. A direct relationship between increased greenhouse-gas concentrations and the rise in temperature therefore remains unproven. But CO2 may indirectly have affected the observed meteorological changes. The research results were published in the Journal of Sea Research. Read more |
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Tropical trees are growing at an increasingly rapid rate
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Four species of tropical trees have shown increased growth rates in the past two centuries, according to research by biologist Danaë Rozendaal of the University of Utrecht. The reason for these increased growth rates may be that these trees store more CO2 and therefore reduce the level of CO2 in the atmosphere to some extent. This information is important for predicting climate change. Rozendaal received her doctorate at the University of Utrecht on 3 February 2010. The results of her research were published in the February issue of the New Phytologist journal. Read more |
Farmers responsible for deforestation in the Amazon
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| Small-scale farmers who lease land from the Brazilian government are very much responsible for deforestation in the Brazilian state of Rondonia in the Amazon area. In most areas with agrarian projects, more than fifty percent of the land has been cleared of forests. However, the Brazilian Forestry Code permits farming concerns in the Amazon to clear only twenty percent of the land. This conclusion is reached by Luciana de Souza Soler, PhD student in the Land Dynamics Group at the University of Wageningen. Read more |
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News Updates
Urgency of climate problem remains |
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On 3 February Dutch Minister Jacqueline Cramer was presented with the first copy of 'The State of the Climate 2009'. This brochure, published by the Communication on Climate Change Platform (PCCC), provides an overview of relevant developments in terms of climate, climate change, climate research and climate policy in 2009. At the same time, there was commotion about errors in the Climate Report 2007 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate sceptics seized their chance. A counter attack came from as many as 50 climate researchers who indicated in an open letter that the conclusions of the IPCC remain valid. Read more
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Knowledge producers and users meet to discuss sustainable accessibility of the Randstad
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At the beginning of February 2010 a group of forty researchers, policy makers and other sustainable mobility experts met in a transparent lecture theatre at Delft University of Technology. The aim of this meeting was to get to know each other better and to think about how they could help each other with successful future knowledge development and distribution as part of the NWO-programme Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad (DBR). The focus was on the seven research programmes that received a subsidy. Read more
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Following the Antarctic expedition
The research vessel Joides Resolution left New Zealand on 8 January 2010 for a unique scientific expedition to the Antarctic. Among the 32 scientists on board are two Dutch paleo-climatologists Henk Brinkhuis and Peter Bijl. Together with a Spanish colleague, Brinkhuis leads this expedition. Take a look at the short films and follow their journey on the weblog (in Dutch). Read more
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FOM encourages innovative talent in energy research
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| The Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) will financially support young and promising researchers with innovative ideas in the field of fundamental research on energy physics with grants. The 'Fellowships for Young Energy Scientists' (YES!) programme offers research talents who have recently received their doctorate the opportunity of gaining a few years of international experience in order to eventually set up a new research line in the Netherlands. Read more |
Calendar
7 April 2010
GaMON and VAM Conference
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To mark the completion of two social scientific sustainability programmes this conference is now over-subscribed. A full report about this conference will follow in the next newsletter. |
23 April 2010
Presentation of the Vening Meinesz Award |
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During the Dutch Earth Science Conference (NAC) in the Koningshof in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, the Veing Meinesz Award will be presented to the winner. Traditionally, the NAC offers young researchers the opportunity of presenting their research results. The prize money of 10,000 euros is intended for earth scientists who have received their doctorate in the last five years and are working as scientific researcher in the Netherlands. More information on www.nac10.nl
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9 – 11 June2010
Derde International Conference on Eco-Efficiency: Modelling and Evaluation for Sustainability – Guiding Eco-Innovation and Consumption
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This conference will be held in Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands. Abstracts can be submitted until 15 March 2010. Prior to the conference several short courses will be organised including one on 'Environmentally extended input-output analysis'. More detailed information can be found on www.eco-efficiency-conf.org
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29 September – 1 October 2010
International conference 'Deltas in Times of Climate Change'
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Taking place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, this conference is organised as part of the research programmes Klimaat voor Ruimte and Kennis voor Klimaat. One of its themes is 'Governance and Economics of Climate Adaptation'. More information on: www.climatedeltaconference.org
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25 – 29 October 2010
Knowledge Collaboration & Learning for Sustainable Innovation
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The fourteenth conference of the European Round table on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) and the sixth Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) conference will be held in Delft, the Netherlands. www.erscp-emsu2010.org
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Colophon
The Sustainable Earth Newsletter is issued by NWO. It informs readers on activities, research and other topics in the field of the NWO-theme Sustainable Earth. The content of this newsletter is based on NWO programmes. Interviews and editing by Ymkje de Boer MSc, in cooperation with all relevant NWO employees, nieuwsbriefda@nwo.nl.
