Eco-Briefs

	PERU
	Million-Dollar Plan to Handle Sewage

LIMA, (Tierramérica).- The Peruvian government signed an agreement with Canadian Commercial Corporation, a governmental entity, to build three sewage treatment plants in the capital for a cost of 350 million dollars.

A mere five percent of wastewater in Lima, home to eight million people, is treated before being dumped into the sea. The result is highly polluted ecosystems at the dump points.

The initiative is to begin with the construction of the San Bartolo sewage plant, which alone will boost the capital's wastewater treatment coverage to 23 percent.

	ARGENTINA
	Indigence on the Rise

BUENOS AIRES, (Tierramérica).- Argentina's social tragedy is deepening, evidenced by the fact that extreme poverty now affects nine million people, more than a quarter of the population of 35.2 million, according to a new study by the Economy Ministry.

The Argentine government defines as indigent a four-person family whose income is below 90 dollars, the monthly cost of the "basic food basket", the minimum considered necessary to cover nutritional needs.

In Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, home to more than 12 million Argentines, the critically indigent -- those who live on less than 63 dollars a month -- make up 73 percent of the extremely poor population.

	EL SALVADOR
	Efficient Oven Design Honored

SAN SALVADOR, (Tierramérica).- Salvadoran engineer René Núñez-Suárez received in New Delhi the individual prize of the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) for the "turbo-oven", a process of low-temperature combustion that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide, associated with the burning of fuels.

The design entails a stainless steel cylinder with 10 air injectors, an internal ventilator and an air-regulating plate. With electricity and five 10-cm pieces of wood, it generates enough heat to cook meals three times a day.

The "turbo-oven" demonstrated a significant reduction in the consumption of wood compared to the traditional ovens based on fire alone.

*Source: Inter Press Service.