Month: January 2008

A real boom for solar PV in the United States

Investment within Venture Capital in solar photovoltaïc in the United States reached one billion Dollars in 2007. This almost represents a ten-fold increase compared to 2005. Greentech Media proposes for $600 a full report on the importance this energy source has in venture capital (VC) today and will have in 2009. The least I can …

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60 years ago, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated

On January 30th 1948, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as the Mahatma or Bapu (Father), was assassinated. 60 years later, India is paying homage to the father of the country and some of his ashes are scattered in the Arabian sea near Mumbaï. I never speak about news events, but as I studied enough the …

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EU’s climate change scheme is a disappointment

The European Union presented last week its climate change mitigation and energy plan, and I am somehow disappointed by it. The final plan states a measure to decrease by a mere 20 percent greenhouse gases emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. This is in total contradiction with what was mentioned in Bail (minimum of …

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Using wind energy for cargo shipping

This is the great – and yet very simple – idea developed by a German company, SkySails. The container ship pictured on the left uses one of the oldest inventions: a simple kite. According to SkySails, this enables to decrease by 10 to 35 percent the energy consumption of these boats, which are largely used …

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Résumé du mois de Décembre 2007

Avec un peu de retard, voici l’heure de vous proposer le résumé de mes articles du dernier mois de 2007. On retiendra diverses nouvelles de ces jours, bonnes et moins bonnnes, mais j’ai le sentiment que les choses vont dans la bonne direction, et ce meme si la situation requiert plus que jamais de grands …

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Norway to become climate neutral by 2050

We stay in the arctic region as today’s article is on Norway which expressed its willingness to become totally climate neutral by 2050. Being climate neutral means that one country – or one person – does not emit any greenhouse gases or when it does, offset its emissions. In this article I will have a …

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The melting of permafrost, a serious danger ?

Under the term permafrost, scientists refer to frozen soil that is mostly found in cold countries like Canada and Russia (cf. map from the UNEP on the left) Climate change might unfreeze these soils, which might be a serious danger as they contain very large quantities of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. I previously …

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There is no perfect energy generating solution

When I was writing in October my article on the clean alternatives to coal, I was planning to add at the bottom a page summing up the pros and cons of each solution. I never did so but still found this document interesting as it sums up quite well the situation at hand. Each and …

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China is facing increasing water crises

According to a recent article from the French daily Le Monde, China is experiencing more and more difficulties to answer its water needs as a severe drought strikes the country. This reinforces even more the problems of water scarcity and pollution that the People’s Republic is facing and one can ask how the Chinese will …

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UK government approved the building of nuclear plants

According to several sources, including the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, the British government approved the building of new nuclear plants. This occurs as nuclear energy is becoming more and more interesting as it is the second lowest greenhouse gases energy solution behind hydro. This might be for this country the beginning of …

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