When it comes to fighting obesity among women, it may not be enough to just look at traditional red flags like diet and exercise. A new study suggests that ethnicity matters in looking at obesity among women – and current programs may be underestimating the obesity problem among Hispanic women.

A new study of obesity among women aged 20-33 showed higher levels of obesity among Hispanic women than both black women and white women. Over 69 percent of the Hispanic women tested qualified as obese under World Health Organization guidelines, compared with 58.7 percent for whites and 60.4 percent for black women.

“It is a serious public concern that more than two –thirds of Hispanic reproductive-aged women are obese,” the study’s authors wrote. “There is a need to organize the obesity prevention programs targeting all three race or ethnicity groups equally with a special emphasis on Hispanic women.”

Obesity is linked to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, according to the Obesity in America Web site. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says one-third of Americans were obese in 2008. Alabama is the fattest state, with 31 percent of the population obese, according to the CDC’s Web site.

First Lady Michelle Obama is leading a campaign to combat childhood obesity and promote exercise among children.

The study did not address possible causes of higher obesity rates among Hispanic women. The rates may be due to different metabolic rates or lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise, senior author Abbey Berenson said in e-mailed comments

The study’s authors took 555 black, white and Hispanic women between the ages of 20 and 33 and measured their height, weight, and body mass index (BMI).

Crucially, the study used the World Health Organization criterion for obesity: more than 35 percent body fat. The Department of Health’s research agency uses a criterion of BMI greater than 30 kilograms a square meter, even though body fat varies between ethnic groups for any given BMI.

The study found that the BMI-based definition underestimated obesity in each ethnic group. The percentage of the Hispanic woman classified as obese under the Department of Health definition fell by nearly a third.

“BMI is not ‘one size fits all,” Berenson was quoted as saying on Lab Spaces, a scientific news Web site. “Inaccurate classification can decrease the impact of obesity prevention programs that will result in many women not receiving the help they need.”

To be sure, the study has limitations. The sampling was age specific (20-33) and the sampling of women was not random. The majority of the Hispanic women sampled were predominately of Mexican descent, and so the conclusions may not apply to other Hispanic groups in the United States such as Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.

Mexico is the world’s second-fattest country after the U.S., even though 47 percent of the population lives in poverty. In 2007, Mexican Health Minister Jose Cordova warned that the country’s diabetes problem could bankrupt its health service.

The study was published in the May edition of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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The number of obsolete computers –  a major component of e-waste –  produced each year may reach as high as 1 billion by 2030 as Asian consumers buy more personal computers and the average lifetime of the machines decreases, according to a new study.

That would be around one obsolete computer a year for every eight people on the planet.

E-waste poses a unique environmental hazard thanks to the hazardous techniques used to harvest copper and precious metals from the electronics. Recyclers in developing countries often burn computer parts or pour acid over them to expose the metals, releasing toxic gases and polluting the local water supply.

The developing world may account for 70 percent of the obsolete computers as computer sales level off in North America and Western Europe.

“Motivations to address e-waste include rapidly growing waste streams, concern over the environmental fate of heavy metals and other substances in e-waste and impacts of informal recycling in developing countries,” the authors of the paper, published today by the American Chemical Society, wrote.

The paper’s authors said governments could create centralized recycling points that would pay for used computer parts and then recycle them safely in a bid to minimize the environmental impact of e-waste.

A used desktop computer can hold as much as $18 of recyclable material, the study said. The average monthly income in China was $168.75 in 2006, according to The World Bank.

The paper’s authors used information on computer ownership and population growth from sources including the UN International Telecommunication Union and the U.S. Census Bureau. They combined this data with information on the average lifespan of a computer in different regions to forecast the number of obsolete computers.

Computers last longest in the Middle East and Africa, with an average lifespan of 5.8 years, a full two years longer than computers in North America, according to the study.

China and Indonesia have both banned the import of used computers in a bid to control e-waste. Still, the growing volume of e-waste generated in developing countries would limit the effectiveness of any international trade-focused measures, the study said.

“A global trade ban on e-waste partially mitigates impacts of informal recycling, but leaves the bulk of the problem untouched,” the authors wrote.

The authors of the paper were Jinglei Yu, Eric Williams, Meiting Ju and Yan Yang from China’s  Nankai University and Arizona State University.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey will phase out aging trucks in a bid to cut air pollution from the east coast’s busiest port.

The program will replace 600 trucks made before 1994 with models that are less than seven years old, The Environmental Protection Agency said today on its Web site.

There are more than 3 million trips made to and from the port’s marine facilities each year, according to the EPA.

Replacing the older vehicles will cut soot pollution from the trucks by 2/3, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in an e-mailed statement. Soot contains tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream when inhaled, aggravating asthma and heart conditions.

“Reducing dirty diesel emissions will protect the health of truck drivers and other workers at the port, along with the nearby community,” EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said in the statement.

The scheme will cost $28 million, with $7 million coming from the federal government’s stimulus plan. Truck drivers will be able to apply for financing for as much as 25 percent of the cost of replacing their vehicle.

“Nobody drives a 30-year-old truck because they like the dirty exhaust,” Rich Kassel, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council said on the organization’s Web site. “They drive them because they cannot afford to buy a newer truck.”

China will be the world’s largest solar market in five years’ time as its surging economy boosts demand for new sources of energy, according to a new report.

The Chinese solar market will expand almost tenfold to 5.5 GW of installations a year in 2015, making it the world’s largest solar consumer, according to a report by Boston, MA-based Lux Research.

“A few years ago, the market marveled at the speed at which Chinese firms could build polysilicon plants,” Lux Research Analyst Ted Sullivan wrote in the report. “In the coming years, expect to marvel at the pace at which they can install solar projects.”

China will maintain or increase its subsidies for solar power, even as current market leaders Germany and Spain reduce their funding for the industry, according to the report. The Chinese government has even taken an equity stake in some of the country’s major solar players, Sullivan said.

German solar subsidies are expected to fall by at least 15 percent this year, prompting outcry in the country’s solar industry. Spain has slashed its subsidies by almost a third since 2007.

“The downturn has spurred Chinese policymakers at all levels …. to push solar,” Sullivan wrote.

China is the world’s second-largest consumer of energy after the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Chinese government has set a target of GDP growth of 8 percent in 2010 for the country of 1.3 billion people, despite the global economic downturn.

U.S. solar demand will be reach 5.2 GW of installations a year in 2015, from 1.1 GW this year, according to the report. Nearly half of that power will come from sunny California, where rooftop panels are providing electricity at ever cheaper rates.

Falling prices in California “are likely to trigger a demand boom in the next few years,” Sullivan wrote.

World solar product manufacturing will grow to a $77 billion dollar-a-year industry by 2015, the report said. Still, a changing subsidy outlook and weak demand relative to supply mean it could be a rocky ride for some individual companies.

“Capacity remains well above demand,” Sullivan wrote. “There will be widespread company failures.”

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A new technique could allow biofuels to be manufactured from waste plant materials such as sawdust and plant stems, reducing the need to consume foodstuffs like corn for fuel purposes.

Researchers at The University of Wisconsin tested a technique that converted cellulose, a material found in all plant matter, into the simple sugars that form the base material of biofuels such as ethanol, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Biofuel manufacturers have struggled to convert cellulose into simple sugars on an industrial scale and so relied on foodstuffs like corn and sugar cane that were naturally high in sugar. Microbes feed on sugars and produce biofuels like ethanol as a by-product.

“Our goal was to find a simple way to convert junk biomass into sugar,” Ronald Raines, one of the researchers, said in an interview. “We’re trying to be practical.”

In 2007, the world price of foods such as corn and wheat spiked, driven in part by increased demand from biofuel producers. Protestors took to the streets in countries including Mexico and Haiti to decry the rise in prices, and Cuban leader Fidel Castro said that the use of ethanol could end up starving  more than 3 billion people.

Raines and co-author Jospeh Binder used acid to convert the cellulose in corn stover – the parts of the plant left in the field after harvesting – into simple sugars that could be digested by yeast and e.coli microbes. The breakthrough was the dilution of the acid during the process, which prevented the sugars from turning into furanics, a substance that kills the microbes, Raines said.

The new technique could allow biofuel manufacturers to use high-density crops like switchgrass as the raw material for the fuels, increasing the amount that can be produced per acre of crops, Raines said.

“Corn is a low-density crop in terms of biomass per acre,” Raines said. “You can’t walk through [switchgrass] without a machete.”

In February, President Barack Obama announced new regulation of biofuels that aims to boost production in the United States to 36 billion gallons a year, around three times the current figure. The proposal is part of a drive to create green jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“When you burn petroleum, you release CO2 that has been out of circulation for millions of years,” Raines said. “When you burn ethanol and biofuel from other plant matter you’re not affecting the carbon balance at all.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered polluters to pay as much as $500 million for the clean-up of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, which is clogged with contaminants from decades of industrial runoff.

Polluters, which may include the City of New York and utility Con Edison, will have to pay for the clean-up operation under the agency’s Superfund scheme, EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said today in a conference call.

“The goal of Superfund is that polluters pay for cleanup, and not always the taxpayer,” Enck said. “This is going to cost a lot money.”

The EPA rejected a plan from New York City that would have put most of the cost of the clean-up on the Army Corps of Engineers. The City, which owns the canal, may now be liable for pollution caused by City-owned properties on the waterfront.

Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, said the EPA’s decision was “disappointing,” but that the City will “work closely” with the federal agency on the clean-up.

“We had an innovative and comprehensive approach that was a faster route to a Superfund-level clean-up,” LaVorgna said in e-mailed comments. “The project will now move on a Superfund timeline.”

The clean-up may take as long as 12 years, according to Enck.

Bob McGee, a spokesman for Con Edison, said the company will cooperate fully with the federal government.

The canal water contains pesticides, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, the EPA said in a statement. The canal is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, and there are plans to build homes on the waterfront.

The canal was built in the 1860s to allow access to the Gowanus Bay. Once completed, it became home to businesses including tanneries, oil refineries and coal yards, according to the EPA. It may take as long as 12 years to complete the clean-up, Enck said.

“This site has a very long legacy of toxic pollution,” Enck said. “Give us one decade to get it cleaned up.”

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New York City will pay out five grants to planned small-scale solar installations to boost the city’s green energy capacity.

The grants, totaling nearly $200,000, will go to projects including a performing arts college in Manhattan and a hospital in Queens, the City’s Economic Development Corporation said today in an e-mailed statement.

All five projects are solar thermal, which uses the sun’s rays to provide heat and hot water for buildings…

New York City is turning to small-scale renewable energy projects as cost and permit difficulties obstruct the construction of large wind and solar farms in the area.

The grant program “demonstrates our commitment to building a green economy while simultaneously ensuring the sustainability of our city,” said Seth W. Pinsky, president of the Economic Development Corporation in the statement.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said he wants the City to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. In his State of the City address in January, Bloomberg vowed to “green” the use of heating oil in large public buildings without giving details.

The solar projects include a planned $1.1 million installation at The New York Hospital Queens that would save the hospital 2.7 million cubic feet of natural gas a year, according to the statement.

The federal government may place renewable energy facilities on contaminated land in a bid to reduce the amount of green space used for commercial developments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are studying 12 sites including a tribal community dump in Minnesota and closed landfills in Puerto Rico as potential locations for wind, solar and small hydro development, the EPA said today in an e-mailed statement.

“Renewable energy projects on these sites will be designed to accommodate the site conditions,” the EPA said in the statement.

The EPA tracks almost 15 million acres of potentially contaminated land in the United States. The land can be attractive for renewable energy facilities because there are few  site owners to deal with…

The assessment of the 12 sites will cost EPA more than $650,000. The scheme is part of the RE-Powering America’s Land initiative, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost economic growth by developing contaminated land and mining sites according to the statement.

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Solar power has the potential to supply over half of the world’s energy needs, research company Frost & Sullivan said.

Solar-powered electricity will lead growth in renewable energy driven by technological advances in photovoltaic solar power, Christina Priya Dhanuja, senior analyst at Frost & Sullivan, said today in an online presentation.

“Solar power has the biggest potential among all renewable energy sources,” Priya Dhanuja said in the presentation.

Photovoltaic solar power uses semi-conductors to convert the sun’s rays into electricity.

The United States lags behind Europe in the solar industry, with a total of 2,135 megawatts of installed photovoltaic and concentrated solar power capacity, according to the presentation. Europe has a total of 13,231 MW of installed capacity.

In his State of the Union speech on Jan. 27,  President Barack Obama spoke of plans to boost the manufacturing of renewable energy components in the United States.  Earlier that month, the Department of Labor announced $100 million of federal stimulus funds to train workers in skills including installing solar panels.

“Public policy should play a critical role in creating an environment where new energy technologies can emerge and thrive,” Priya Dhanuja said.

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City dwellers are driving deforestation as urban lifestyles boost demand for food, according to a new study.

New immigrants to cities typically see their incomes rise, leading them to consume more processed food and animal products. This has led to large-scale farming enterprises clearing forested land in rural areas of countries such as Cambodia, Brazil and Indonesia to meet urban demand for food, the study from Columbia University showed.

Last year was the first on record when half the world’s population lived in cities. Previously, small-scale farmers clearing trees for their own plots of land were the major drivers of deforestation.

“People in cities and the rest of the world need to be fed.” Ruth DeFries, professor of sustainable development at Columbia and lead author of the report said in an e-mailed statement. “That creates a demand for industrial-scale clearing” of forests…

Deforestation and land use change contribute 25 percent of the carbon emissions that cause climate change, according to The Nature Conservancy.

Not all the products being produced on deforested land are being eaten, the study said. Farmers are also cutting down trees to produce sugar and palm oil for use in the production of biodiesel.

The study’s authors analyzed remote-sensing images of forest cover across 41 countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa between 2000 and 2005. They combined this data with information on population and economic trends to show that the highest forest losses were correlated with growth of agricultural exports and expanding urban populations.

DeFries called for greater focus on the impact of deforestation from industrial farms, rather than small land-holders.

“Governments will have to look at policies that intensify yields on existing high-yield fields—not clear more land,” DeFries said.

The study appears in the early edition of this week’s Nature Geoscience.

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