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The project is part of the 4Afrika Initiative, an investment programme being announced by technology giant Microsoft, that also includes a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone for the region and investment in help for small businesses on the continent, and in education and internships.For the white spaces project, the company is working with a Kenyan ISP, Indigo Telecom, and the Kenyan government. The ISP is installing wireless 'base stations' - or masts - that are solar-powered, to get round the lack of mains electricity. The base stations act as a link to the nearest main cable connection to the internet, without the expense of extending the fibre-optic network. The solar panels will power the bases stations - and also charge computer equipment The signal supplied is much more powerful than normal wifi.

Its expansion was frighteningly fast. A handful of cases were first recognized in the U.S. at the beginning of the 1980s, but AIDS was soon seen around the world. By 1990, the world had a pandemic on its hands. In 1997, the peak of the epidemic, more than 3 million people became newly infected with HIV. Then science struck back. Drugs approved for HIV treatment in the mid-1990s proved profoundly effective, transforming AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic illness. Those treatments, combined with an international commitment to manage the disease by providing access to free drug therapy, led to a steep drop in new HIV infections. The United Nations has kept track of HIV worldwide for the past couple of decades. Below, we use that data to explore some of the trends in HIV prevalence. (The chart shows the percentage of the population, ages 15 to 49, living with HIV.)

Meet the iShack, a modern take on an age-old design that is bringing new hope - and light - to the slums of South Africa. Millions of people are unable to afford to move out of slums and shanty towns in sub-Saharan Africa but the development of the iShack is intended to lift their living standards. People living in rickety and makeshift shacks in slum areas can wait for years before they can get connected to the electricity or water grids, and the United Nations estimates that 62 per cent of the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in slums. Meet the iShack, a modern take on an age-old design that is bringing new hope - and light - to the slums of South Africa. Millions of people are unable to afford to move out of slums and shanty towns in sub-Saharan Africa but the development of the iShack is intended to lift their living standards. People living in rickety and makeshift shacks in slum areas can wait for years before they can get connected to the electricity or water grids, and the United Nations estimates that 62 per cent of the urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in slums. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2259075/Slum-dwellers-South-Africa-given-taste-mod-cons-introduction-environmentally-friendly-iShack.html#ixzz2HTI9EfYr  Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

"Russia is pushing for next week's landmark UN climate science report to include support for controversial technologies to geoengineer the planet's climate, according to documents obtained by the Guardian. As climate scientists prepare to gather for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Stockholm to present the most authoritative state of climate science to date, it has emerged the Russian government is asking for "planet hacking" to be included in the report. The IPCC has not included geoengineering in its major assessments before"

"The most hated company in the world right now isn't a member of Big Oil. It's not a shady Internet company or a bailed-out megabank. Populist discontent toward dirty energy, high-tech snoops, and greedy bankers has occasionally been fierce, but it's never been laser-focused like the outrage that drew an estimated (by the organizers) 2 million protesters to anti-Monsanto rallies in more than 50 countries at the end of May."

"Given the crises facing the planet, with the population set to reach the 9 billion mark by 2050 and increasing strains being placed on water, energy and food supplies, it would be wrong to hope there could be a single solution to the storms that lie ahead. As the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, once put it in an Observer interview: "There will be no silver bullet.""

"A new grass that cuts the water running off from fields by half could help stem the rising floods that global warming is bringing to the UK. The roots of the grass, a natural hybrid of rye and fescue grasses, produce more pores in the soil than traditional types, meaning more water can be stored."

"Google has made it public knowledge for some time that it wants to connect the world to the internet. The challenge of facilitating this in remote areas has seen the search giant come up with some seemingly unorthodox methods, such as its TV white space project in South Africa. Now it's extending the use of existing technologies to provide wireless networks across Africa and Asia with blimps."

"Pollution fears are on the up-and-up in Beijing once again as winter, the smoggiest season of them all, fast approaches. After the World Health Organization released a report labelling air pollution as a leading cause of cancer earlier this month, China's government is more frantic than ever to curb the level of PM 2.5 particles in the air"

"Across the world, efforts are underway to improve the way we store and distribute energy, as we move towards more sustainable but intermittent forms of energy generation, such as wind and solar power."

"Owen Paterson, the environment minister, says the UK should lead the way in Europe by growing genetically-modified crops that reduce the use of fertilisers and chemicals and are more efficient. But anti-GM campaigners say there is not enough evidence that GM techniques are not harmful on food and farming"

"Half the planet cooks on smoky open fires, causing over 4 million premature deaths each year and contributing to climate change. Your purchase of the BioLite CampStove helps us fund the initial costs to build and support the HomeStove market abroad."

"Technological progress-improvements in the ways that goods and services are produced, marketed, and brought to market-is at the very heart of human advancement and development. It has helped reduce the share of people living in absolute poverty in developing countries from 29 percent in 1990 to 18 percent in 2004." Thanks to Sarah Gibson for the link

The opening part of this video examines carbon capture and storage plants in norway on the barran sea hope this is useful. Further information to solving issue of climate change by a capital intensive mega project.

Hope this is useful

I don't think its on Iplayer at the moment but the website tells me it will be up soon (hopefully)

Pakistan was plunged into darkness after a breakdown of a key power transmission line in southern part of the country, another reminder of the country's crippling energy crisis. The power failure on Sunday, one of the worst in the country has experienced, has caused power to be cut in major cities throughout the country including the capital Islamabad.

The institute conducting a trial of GM wheat in Hertfordshire says its website was taken down by a cyber attack on Sunday. The attack occurred on the day anti-GM protesters gathered at Rothamsted Research institute to "decontaminate" the field of modified wheat. But they were stopped from entering the site of the wheat trial by police.

Paraguay is the greenest place on earth to make and drive an electric car, according to analysis by independent research group, Shrink That Footprint, which has assessed the impact of grid-powered electric vehicles (EV) in twenty of the world's leading countries.

More than three-and-half years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster spewed millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are launching drones and ocean-going sensor arrays off the Florida coast in an effort to map the path of future oil spills before they devastate beaches and coastal ecosystems.

"Indonesia is banking on an unusual strategy to prevent further flooding in its inundated capital Jakarta, and officials claim that they are already seeing positive results. They are using 'cloud seeding' - a weather modification technology often resorted to during drought. The method involves injecting clouds with substances that encourage the formation of ice crystals heavy enough to fall, thereby speeding up the production of rain."

"The resources below provide teachers with Power Point presentations and activities for pupils aged 9-18 years. The materials enables pupils to consider their needs and wants for technology and to learn about Practical Action's view of Technology Justice... a global right to access sustainable technologies now and in the future."