BUENOS AIRES - Argentine environmental groups are opposed to a project to extend the life of the Embalse nuclear plant by 20 years. The energy plant was slated for closure in 2010.

Located in the central province of Córdoba, Embalse has already suffered at least seven accidents of varying degrees, mostly involving leaks of heavy water and radioactive tritium into the nearby lake.

The National Ecologist Action Network, an umbrella of 70 environmental groups, charges that the plant ''must be closed'' as a step towards phasing out Argentina's use of nuclear energy.

Network director Raúl Montenegro told Tierramérica that activists propose a referendum on the fate of the power plant.

BOGOTA - Visitors to Animal Kingdom park, one of the largest areas of the Walt Disney World recreational complex in the southeastern U.S. state of Florida, will have the opportunity to enjoy Mesa de Los Santos coffee, a delicacy among coffees from Colombia.

Communications director Claudia González told Tierramérica that coffee roasting company Joffrey's Coffee & Tea chose this coffee variety for distribution at Disney World for its taste, balance, aroma and low acidity, but also because it is organically grown using shade-tree techniques that are bird friendly.

Mesa de los Santos, which is cultivated at 5,100 meters above sea level, is the only special Colombian coffee with three certifications for its environmentally friendly cultivation practices.

MEXICO CITY - Scientists from the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico are putting the final touches on the first fluorescent light that is free of environmentally harmful gases and powders.

This year, after seven years of research, the invention and the patent on the process will be ready, María Luisa Ojeda, a member of the team of scientists involved, told Tierramérica.

The white fluorescent lights used widely today contain mercury, which when released into the environment cause serious contamination problems. The Mexican invention uses a harmless compound of aluminum and silicon, she explained.

It is hoped that this new lightbulb will be used around the world, eliminating the contamination associated with the existing fluorescent bulbs when broken or disposed of.

GUATEMALA CITY - Environmental authorities will ask the Guatemalan Congress to declare a national emergency for the 239 hotspots detected via satellite in the northern jungles of the Petén department.

Most of the red spots on the satellite images, ''which are believed to be forest fires,'' are in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, presidential spokesman Eduardo González told Tierramérica.

There are 10 times more hotspots now than there were during the 2003 and 2004 fire seasons. A declaration of emergency, which could be approved next week, would mean an extra 1.3 million dollars for the budget, and 60 percent would be for a two-month contract to hire a special Canadian tanker aircraft capable of spraying fires with 3,785 liters of water per flight, said González.

LIMA - The Peruvian National Prize for Women in Microbusiness went to Margarita Ríos, 58, who for the past seven years has grown and exported exotic flowers in the northeastern Amazonian city of Iquitos.

Ríos grew some wildflowers, and in 1998 a Dutch expert visited the Peruvian Amazon region to determine the potential for business based on biodiversity. ''I didn't understand much at first, but I went to his seminar and I invited him to my farm,'' she said.

''He recommended various flowers, including the torch ginger (Etlingera elatior) and the 'miskipanga' (Renealmia). I planted nearly a hectare, but they said, 'how are we going to buy your flowers that grow only in the forest?'" she recalled as she collected her award.

She realized that her flowers could be exported because they could survive several days without water, she told Tierramérica.

To boost production, ''I gave away seeds, and now we are eight housewives in Iquitos who grow flowers for export,'' said Ríos.