• Posted on: June 2nd, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

REDD PROJECTS AND OXIGEN BRAZIL

Four months after the Copenhagen Accord, the interest and discussions about reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries – colloquially known as REDD plus – continues. Clearly, helping developing countries implement comprehensive initiatives to protect their forests is a sensible investment; however, new satellite mapping technologies – such as those highlighted on SeeSouthernForests.org, the World Resources Institute’s new web-based mapping portal – show that deforestation and forest degradation occurs in the United States as well.

As the United States considers funding to conserve forests in the tropics, it is equally imperative that we take a look at what is happening in our own backyard and consider the role that our forests can serve in reducing the impacts of climate change.

Deforestation in the United States

Addressing U.S. deforestation will help meet our Copenhagen targets and strengthen the U.S. economy in our forest dependent communities.

The United States is losing significant forest cover to suburbanization, mining, and infrastructure development. Most U.S. forests have been logged and some are on their second or third rounds of logging. Forests can naturally regenerate, but not if they are paved over, which is why this round of deforestation is so disconcerting. According to the U.S. Forest Service, approximately 12 million acres of southern forests will be lost to suburbia between 1992 and 2020. Another 19 million acres will be lost by 2040 unless there are changes in the pattern of development that now favors low density housing, strip malls, and exurban road construction near cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, and Richmond1.

Forests and Climate Change

By losing forest, the United States also loses one of its best defenses against climate change. According to Forest Service carbon accounting tools, the 21 million acres of forests that are expected to be lost to sprawl in the next 20 years sequester roughly 32 million tons of carbon per year. Furthermore, when cleared for development, carbon stored in these forests is also lost, amounting to approximately 8 million tons per year. Taken together, lost carbon sequestration capacity and emissions from clearing will represent a carbon footprint of at least 40 million tons per year by 2030. To put this into context, this amount is roughly 13% of the U.S. emissions reduction target President Obama announced at Copenhagen.

Creating New Incentives to Reduce Deforestation

There are a number of options for reducing deforestation pressure in the United States. One approach is to understand how public infrastructure investments contribute to the problem. Multi-billion dollar highway projects that induce sprawl and deforestation on the fringes of our urban areas provide an example. Take Birmingham, Alabama, one of the hotspots of forest loss in the South. Construction of the Northern Beltline highway, a $3.4 billion public investment, is set to begin soon and will literally clear the way for commercial and residential development on the few big tracts of forest left near the city. Can these investments be redirected to encourage Smartgrowth instead?

Creating markets for ecosystem services can provide new income opportunities to forest landowners in addition to or in lieu of timber.

We can also create incentives for private forest landowners, who own 87% of southern forest acreage, to keep their land rather than sell to developers. Creating markets for ecosystem services can provide new income opportunities to forest landowners in addition to or in lieu of timber. For example, water quality markets make it possible for downstream water utilities to pay upstream forestland owners to keep their forests in a well managed state. Offsets are yet another approach. Consumers are increasingly demanding that the companies they do business with offset the environmental impacts of their operations by protecting land. These voluntary offset markets, such as Wal-Mart’s Acres for America program, make it possible for forestland owners to receive financial support to maintain healthy forest cover on their lands.

As the United States refines its role in REDD plus in the coming months, a more complete exploration of the opportunities for reducing deforestation in the United States is warranted. Addressing U.S. deforestation will help meet our Copenhagen targets and strengthen the U.S. economy in our forest dependent communities. Innovative solutions are already on the table such as markets for carbon offsets, water quality credits, and habitat credits. It’s time to take a hard look at how to fully develop these efforts and then scale them up before millions more acres are permanently lost to development.

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  • Posted on: May 5th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Oxigen &Virgin racing

The Virgin Racing team head to Barcelona in Spain this week for Round 5 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. This race marks the start of F1’s European season, which is typically an opportunity for teams to regroup after the challenge of the four long-haul rounds that open the season and embark on the next phase of the Championship with renewed vigour.

In theory the teams should have enjoyed the benefits of a three-week break between the Chinese and Spanish Grands Prix, however the Icelandic volcano had other plans for the sport. Many Virgin Racing team personnel were stranded in Shanghai for up to five additional days, which put paid to the carefully laid plans to bring much-anticipated modifications to the VR-01, which relied on three full weeks of manufacture, homologation and race preparation. As a consequence, Virgin Racing will debut only one revised chassis in the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, which Timo Glock will put through its paces.

The Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Catalunya, around 25km outside of the city of Barcelona. The track is something of a home from home for the F1 fraternity since, before the advent of the more cost-conscious era of Formula One, the teams spent many weeks of the year testing at the facility. The track has staged the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991 and is a popular venue for teams and drivers, thanks to its demanding and varied layout, which throws up a bit of everything. It’s a track where every aspect of set-up needs to be right in order to be quick. The long pit straight demands good aero efficiency, there are some very challenging slow speed corners, off-camber and on-camber, and a couple of high-speed corners. A car that performs well in Barcelona tends be competitive at many of the tracks on the F1 calendar.

Timo Glock, Race Driver #24

“The last few weeks haven’t exactly gone according to plan thanks to the Icelandic volcano, but what this has enabled us to do is draw a line under the disappointment of Shanghai and focus on better things ahead. We have taken a good hard look at the first four races and now have a very clear picture of where things have gone well for us and where we need to improve. It’s a shame that we couldn’t bring two new modified chassis to Spain, because we would have had two sets of data to work from, but we will work with what we have and hope that it brings the kind of results we are hoping for. Most of the drivers know this track really well, because we’re all used to testing and racing here so often in the past. To have a really quick lap here you need to have a car with good downforce as you need to have the confidence to commit to the very high speed corners. I have done some work in the simulator in preparation for this race and we have a good idea of what to expect from the modified chassis, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we shape up when we hit the track in Barcelona this week.”

Lucas di Grassi, Race Driver #25

“Race day was tough for us in China, but we have to stay focused on what we achieved prior to that and the way we have been improving through the race weekends. We had been getting on top of our reliability problems, so we expect Spain to be a new chapter for us. I was one of the lucky ones after Shanghai – I got out on the Monday after the race and headed to Brazil. I spent some good time with family and friends and worked on my fitness. I will do some work on the simulator this week before heading out to Barcelona. This is a track I know from racing in other formulae – in particular GP2. It’s a nice challenge for a driver and though I’m disappointed that I will be driving the previous specification chassis, as we didn’t have enough time to modify two cars, I hope with all the work we’ve been doing to make our race weekends go more smoothly we can have a positive European debut.”

John Booth, Team Principal

“What should have been a useful three-week break in the calendar, and an opportunity to ensure we are fully prepared for the European season, turned into something of a race against time thanks to the fallout from “The Volcano”. It took up to five days after the Chinese Grand Prix before the entire team were back in England, so we had to rush headlong into preparations for Spain. The planned modifications to the chassis were always going to be our most significant development, but they were also the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we will bring to Barcelona. As a new team we will be using new trucks and a new motorhome for the first time and on top of that we moved into our new race preparation facility while the team were stranded in China, so we certainly had a lot going on for us when we finally made it home. Nonetheless, the team have done an admirable job and we’ll be heading to Spain this week full of optimism for the next phase of our debut season.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director

“Since Shanghai, we have conducted an extensive investigation into the failures that halted the obvious progress the team has been making since its debut. That investigation has highlighted a number of issues that are currently being addressed by the race team, Wirth Research and our key suppliers and our continuing aim is to put an end to the reliability issues that have dominated our Grand Prix debut. Having worked tirelessly to prepare the new car for the race, including its successful rehomologation, it is a bitter pill to swallow that we are unable to complete the second car due to the “volcanic delays”. Running two fundamentally different specification cars at Barcelona will certainly challenge the team, but as the reliability fixes apply to both specifications, we’ll keep our heads down and focus solely on getting both cars to the chequered flag.”

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  • Posted on: April 22nd, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

The Greener Team…

The start of the F1 season always sends die-hard F1 fans hearts racing, making them impulsively race off and buy an even bigger flat screen TV and, at dinner time, designating race time as sacred. It’s exciting for us; one can only imagine how exhilarating it is for the Virgin Racing team members. John Booth, Team Principle for Virgin Racing, may not have experienced his pulse accelerating 0 – 100 km/hr in 2.8 seconds at the start of the first race, but I bet it wasn’t far off. To quote Sir Richard Branson, ‘Both car and the team are in their infancy and like all infants some of our first steps may falter’. Wise words from a wise man whose’ credentials do not warrant questioning. One can only imagine the anticipation of Timo Glock and Lucas Di Grassi as they darted off in unproven cars in full view of the world press. No doubt that whilst battling the corners, reporting their cars performances back to the crew, fighting the awesome power of the Cosworth CA2010 engines and preying the Bridgestone Potenza tyres would grip like glue, they had grins on their faces like Lottery winners.

All this is to be expected from a formative F1 team. And, judging by the amount of people that still invest in the shaky stock market, this precarious ride is to be expected when investing too. Why don’t we ever slam the brakes on and ask ourselves ‘Why do we let our hard earned savings & pension funds sit on this unpredictable ride year after year and then throw our hands in the air in disbelief when the stock market spins out of control we lose everything?’ Clearly it’s a time for change and Virgin Racings’ partners Oxigen Investments may have the ideal solution.

Emblazoned on the rocket red cockpit of the Virgin Racing cars you will see the Oxigen Investments logo. So who are Oxigen Investments, what do they do and why are they official partners of Virgin Racing? Oxigen Investments are tree plantation specialists who plant swaths of sustainable forests for ethical felling on behalf of private and corporate investors. The forests of trees that they plant grow to maturity and felled for their timber, which is sold to the global timber trade and the proceeds sent to investors. During this process, carbon is pulled from the atmosphere creating oxygen, creating a better world for all of us. New trees are planted in their place and the process starts again. Now consider the following quotes and it’s easy to understand why Oxigen proving very popular with investors;

Jeremy Grantham, a respected US fund manager stated, ‘Timber is the only asset to have grown in three out of the four market collapses of the 20th century, and has risen steadily in price for 200 years’ In addition, Bloomberg Wealth Management stated ‘…hardwood has quietly and consistently out performed nearly all other commodities for the past 100 years…”

If you are after an investment that sits firmly on the grid, grows with time and won’t spin off the tracks, then you may wish to consider joining the greener team, Oxigen. To learn more about Oxigen Investments why not take a quick look at  www.oxigenplc.com or call them direct on 0800 021 33 44.

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Oxigen Brazil

Kaiapo

Kaiapo medicine man, Brazil

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Environmentalists

we have long voiced concern over the vanishing Amazon rainforest, but they haven’t been particularly effective at slowing forest loss. In fact, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in donor funds that have flowed into the region since 2000 and the establishment of more than 100 million hectares of protected areas since 2002, average annual deforestation rates have increased since the 1990s, peaking at 73,785 square kilometers (28,488 square miles) of forest loss between 2002 and 2004. With land prices fast appreciating, cattle ranching and industrial soy farms expanding, and billions of dollars’ worth of new infrastructure projects in the works, development pressure on the Amazon is expected to accelerate. Given these trends, it is apparent that conservation efforts alone will not determine the fate of the Amazon or other rainforests. Some argue that market measures, which value forests for the ecosystem services they provide as well as reward developers for environmental performance, will be the key to saving the Amazon from large-scale destruction.

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Brazil has a 2-3 yr window of opportunity to consolidate its gains in controlling Amazon deforestation

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Rhett Butler, mongabay.com
December 03, 2009

Payments from U.S. cap-and-trade, a carbon tax, or a proposed climate change mitigation mechanism could help end Amazon deforestation in Brazil, reducing CO2 emissions 2-5%, by 2020. But Brazil’s window to act is only 2-3 years, say scientists.

Funds generated under a U.S. cap-and-trade or a broader U.N.-supported scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation (“REDD”) could play a critical role in bringing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon to a halt, reports a team writing in the journal Science. But the window of opportunity is short — Brazil has a two to three year window to take actions that would end Amazon deforestation within a decade.

Analyzing Brazil’s plan to cut Amazon forest clearing by 70 percent over the next decade and current efforts by major Brazilian beef and soy producers to exclude deforesters from the supply chain, Dan Nepstad of the Woods Hole Research Center and colleagues lay out a scenario under which net forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon could fall to zero by 2020. The external cost of the effort would be $7 to $18 billion, or 13-33 percent of what Americans spend annually on diet foods and beverages. Roughly half the payments would go towards establishing a forest peoples’ fund to pay for “community forest-based economic activities, health, education, and cultural preservation for the region’s indigenous, and traditional forest peoples and smallholder farmers.”

Ending deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon would reduce global carbon emissions 2-5 percent, safeguard the planet’s largest

reservoir of terrestrial biodiversity, and ensure the continued provision of critical ecosystem services for Brazil and the world. It would also clearly establish Brazil as the leading player in the environmental services market, a sector expected to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually in the next 20 years. Brazil’s reduction in emissions from deforestation could alone generate $37 billion to $111 billion between 2013 and 2020 in revenue, some of which could be used to expand the program to end deforestation. Finally, eliminating Amazon deforestation in Brazil would send a powerful message to other countries, showing that it is indeed possible to protect the environment and benefit economically.

“Brazil has a 2-3 year window of opportunity to consolidate its gains in controlling Amazon deforestation,” Nepstad told mongabay.com.

“The political momentum is high today and the drivers of deforestation are still weak, and both of these conditions could change very soon,” he said, noting that Brazil will be holding elections in 11 months and the economy is poised to heat up, raising the prospect of increased demand for commodities produced in the Amazon.

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

world’s oxigen.

Tropical rainforests are a world like none other; and their importance to the global ecosystem and human existence is paramount. Unparalleled in terms of their biological diversity, tropical rainforests are a natural reservoir of genetic diversity which offers a rich source of medicinal plants, high-yield foods, and a myriad of other useful forest products. They are an important habitat for migratory animals and sustain as much as 50 percent of the species on Earth, as well as a number of diverse and unique indigenous cultures. Tropical rainforests play an elemental role in regulating global weather in addition to maintaining regular rainfall, while buffering against floods, droughts, and erosion. They store vast quantities of carbon, while producing a significant amount of the world’s oxygen.

Despite their monumental role, tropical forests are restricted to the small land area between the latitudes 22.5° North and 22.5° South of the equator, or in other words between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. Since the majority of Earth’s land is located north of the tropics, rainforests are naturally limited to a relatively small area.

Tropical rainforests, like so many other natural places, are a scarce resource in the 21st century. The vast swaths of forest, swamp, desert, and savanna that carpeted Earth’s land surface a mere five generations ago have been reduced to scattered fragments; today, more than two-thirds of the world’s tropical rainforests exist as fragmented remnants. Just a few thousand years ago, tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 percent of the Earth’s land surface, or about 6 million square miles (15.5 million square km), but today less than 5 percent of Earth’s land is covered with these forests (about 2.41 million square miles or 625 million hectares). The largest unbroken stretch of rainforest is found in the Amazon river basin of South America. Over half of this forest lies in Brazil, which holds about one-third of the world’s remaining tropical rainforests. Another 20 percent of the world’s remaining rainforest exists in Indonesia and Congo Basin, while the balance of the world’s rainforests are scattered around the globe in tropical regions

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Tropical rain forests

Tropical rainforests are a world like none other; and their importance to the global ecosystem and human existence is paramount. Unparalleled in terms of their biological diversity, tropical rainforests are a natural reservoir of genetic diversity which offers a rich source of medicinal plants, high-yield foods, and a myriad of other useful forest products. They are an important habitat for migratory animals and sustain as much as 50 percent of the species on Earth, as well as a number of diverse and unique indigenous cultures. Tropical rainforests play an elemental role in regulating global weather in addition to maintaining regular rainfall, while buffering against floods, droughts, and erosion. They store vast quantities of carbon, while producing a significant amount of the world’s oxygen.

Despite their monumental role, tropical forests are restricted to the small land area between the latitudes 22.5° North and 22.5° South of the equator, or in other words between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. Since the majority of Earth’s land is located north of the tropics, rainforests are naturally limited to a relatively small area.

Tropical rainforests, like so many other natural places, are a scarce resource in the 21st century. The vast swaths of forest, swamp, desert, and savanna that carpeted Earth’s land surface a mere five generations ago have been reduced to scattered fragments; today, more than two-thirds of the world’s tropical rainforests exist as fragmented remnants. Just a few thousand years ago, tropical rainforests covered as much as 12 percent of the Earth’s land surface, or about 6 million square miles (15.5 million square km), but today less than 5 percent of Earth’s land is covered with these forests (about 2.41 million square miles or 625 million hectares). The largest unbroken stretch of rainforest is found in the Amazon river basin of South America. Over half of this forest lies in Brazil, which holds about one-third of the world’s remaining tropical rainforests. Another 20 percent of the world’s remaining rainforest exists in Indonesia and Congo Basin, while the balance of the world’s rainforests are scattered around the globe in tropical regions

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  • Posted on: April 19th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying

PRESS RELEASE

Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying

17 April 2010

Virgin Racing once again qualified as the best of the new teams in Shanghai today in this afternoon’s decisive shoot-out to determine the Grid for tomorrow’s 56-lap Chinese Grand Prix.

Timo Glock posted the 19th fastest time – a 1:39.278 – which was just two seconds away from the more established teams. He remarked that the team had made big advances with the car during the course of a weekend that has proved to be a big set-up challenge for many of the teams and is generally pleased with the car’s performance today.

Lucas di Grassi was on his way to an equally impressive lap, looking strong in sectors 1 and 2. He made a couple of mistakes in the third sector which cost him time and he missed out to end the day in 22nd position.

Timo Glock #24

“It was a good Qualifying session and I am happy, despite only really having one clean shot. On the first set of tyres I had traffic with Rubens doing a slow in-lap, so that frustrated my first quick run. With a proper first run I think we could have improved even more for the second, but overall I’m pleased with the lap and it’s important to be in front of Lotus again. I have to say that on Friday things were looking difficult for us here, but it has been a good demonstration of what the team is capable of. With the engineers we have been able to improve the car quite a lot overnight to make the car work better at this track and the mechanics did a nice job. So far our weekend has been trouble-free, so we will wait and see what possibilities tomorrow brings.”

Lucas di Grassi #25

“This was not a great qualifying session for me. The car behaved as expected and it was performing quite well. Reliability-wise we have also been very good. I was very quick on the first two sectors but made a mistake that cost me 3 or 4 tenths. As a result, I lost two or three positions on the grid. The important thing is to finish tomorrow’s race as the best of the new teams again, so we will perform as well as possible and see what opportunities are there to take advantage of.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director

“Our improving reliability allowed both drivers to conduct some interesting and fruitful set-up work today in P3 and Qualifying. We elected to only do two runs in Q1 and Timo got blocked on his first run, so he did a good job to deliver a solid performance in his single lap. Lucas performed strongly today, so it was a shame that he lost time in his final sector as that would have been an impressive lap for a Shanghai rookie. Our performance today has been all the more satisfying as we haven’t been able to introduce a planned aero upgrade as it is currently on the wrong side of the Icelandic volcano plume! All in all, we’re looking forward to the race, rain or shine.”

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  • Posted on: April 6th, 2010
  • By: admin
  • Under: Oxigen PLC

Malaysian Grand Prix – The Race

Malaysian Grand Prix – The Race

4 April 2010

Virgin went all the way today as Lucas di Grassi brought his VR-01 home in 14th position, helping his Virgin Racing team to achieve an important first race finish. Lucas drove a very mature race to see his own maiden chequered flag. He beat the other new teams into submission at the same time as having to contend with a missing front wing end-plate after an unsuccessful 11th lap challenge from the Lotus Racing car of Heikki Kovalainen.

Timo was less fortunate on a day where both cars were looking good to make it to the finish. He was going great guns at the start, but was losing time behind Jarno Trulli. In a bid to dispense with the Lotus he was about to execute a crucial overtaking move when he locked his rear wheels into the corner, the back end of his VR-01 stepped out and he inadvertently struck Jarno’s car, which resulted in Timo’s race coming to an end after only 2 laps.

Nevertheless, everyone at Virgin Racing is delighted that their season is now properly underway and both drivers will be heading straight back to Bicester for some all-important race preparation on the Wirth Research Simulators in readiness for their next challenge – the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.

Lucas di Grassi #25

“It was a very tough race today – physically and mentally – but I’m so happy to bring the Virgin Racing car home to the finish. I had a great start and was able to make up five places on the opening lap. We had very good early pace and continued to be strong, despite losing my front wing end-plate when Heikki tried to overtake me. We had a good pit stop and we were still looking very strong in the second part of the race. We were well ahead of the other new teams, which meant that we could afford to ease off a little to make sure nothing got in the way of our result today. It has been a long wait and we’ve had some tough times in the past few months, but we know that we’re making progress and we can go on to achieve better things. Today showed that we are truly competitive and it’s a great feeling that our fight has really started now. Timo’s DNF was a real shame but I think we can start to look forward together to some great racing now.”

Timo Glock #24

“I had a pretty good start and the first laps were quite fun with a lot of fights going on. I dropped behind Jarno and in general I was quite a lot quicker than him. I tried to overtake but locked the rears and for some reason the anti-stall didn’t kick in. Unfortunately I hit Jarno and it was my mistake. But it’s great that Lucas finished the race, and ahead of Lotus, which is good for the team. I hope that in the next race we can get both cars to the finish.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director

“Finally getting one of our cars to see the chequered flag is a great reward for everyone at Virgin Racing and Wirth Research and I want to thank all of our partners, sponsors and supporters for their patience and understanding during the last few months. The race was quite stressful on the pit wall as we left the grid assuming that it was going to rain. It took a little while for us to be really sure that it wasn’t and then, being mindful of our fuel tank limitations, it was really just a case of the team and Lucas deploying our well-practised fuel-saving techniques to excellent effect. Timo was very fired up for the race and it was unfortunate that he didn’t manage to get a finish but his time will come very soon. This weekend has been, from start to finish, a clear step forward and comes as a result of diligent hard work from a great many people and I dedicate this result to them. We’ve come in for heavy criticism for our radical low-cost design approach and relative inexperience in F1, which makes our performance throughout the weekend all the more satisfying.  Finishing our first Grand Prix as the leading new team will give us lots of information and we’ve got some clear direction on issues to address for Shanghai, which will allow us to perform better all round, without distracting us too much from the bigger Barcelona upgrade. So once again, well done to everyone at Virgin Racing and we now looking forward to building on this platform.”

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