Safaris in Kenya hurt by drought

by Sean McLachlan on

Safaris in Kenya are being impacted by a three year drought that has dessicated the landscape and killed many animals.

In Samburu National Reserve, elephants are dying for lack of food and other species such a zebra and crocodiles are also suffering. Some are moving out of the area and away from visitor’s eyes in search of water. Local herders are hurting too as they have to search harder to find forage for their herds. This has led to increased poaching as locals struggle to feed their families.

The arid grassland of Samburu National Reserve does not have sufficient ground water to handle a long-term drought and much of the land has dried up and become sand. As one of Kenya’s lesser-known reserves, it usually offers abundant wildlife and a less crowded safari experience. Safaris are still taking place, but visitors will be getting a hard lesson in the fragility of the environment along with their pictures of beautiful animals.

Boeing and Air New Zealand to Test 2nd Generation Biofuel

by Josh Lew on

Boeing has announced that it will carry out tests of a new “2nd generation” biofuel using one of its 747s. The plane,owned by Air New Zealand will take off on December 13th. Because it is the first live test, only one of the plane’s 4 engines will use the fuel, made from the nuts of jatropha plants (pictured).

Jatropha is an inedible plant that is indigenous to Central America and the Caribbean, but grows in most of the warm weather regions of the world. Unlike earlier biofuel sources, which were grown on arable farmland, jatropha grows well in areas that cannot be used for agriculture. Its use, therefore, will not affect food prices or food supply.

The fuel is made by extracting the oil from the nuts of the plant. UOP, whose parent company is Honeywell, is responsible for producing the jatropha-fuel. According to Boeing, UOP’s production was “the world’s first large-scale production run of a commercially viable and sustainable biofuel for aviation use.” The biofuel will be mixed with regular jet fuel for the December 13th test.

[Via The Register]