Year: 2010

Taking a break (Merry Christmas)

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Dear visitors, readers and subscribers, as we are nearing the holiday season and the end of this year I am taking a short break at blogging. This is the occasion for me to wish you all a merry Christmas and holiday season. Please be sure that I will come back in January 2nd, 2011 to … Read more

Urban lights increase air pollution

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Too many lights in our cities at night is really bad for our economy as we waste electricity and thus money. It is also a bad idea for nocturnal animals, plants and amateur astronomers who need to go further and further to have a darker sky. Now, to a new American study, too many lights … Read more

Is peak coal already threatening China ?

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To the New York Times green blog : ” China’s ravenous appetite for energy puts the country at risk of reaching a point of  “peak coal,” when demand for coal will outstrip domestic production capacity, a growing number of experts believe.”

” China now consumes approximately 47 percent of coal produced globally but by most estimates has just 14 percent of global coal reserves. Meanwhile, demand has risen by about 10 percent per year for the last decade “

China is already the world’s first energy consumer and greenhouse gases emitter. Reading these figures you wonder where  it will stop.

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Developing nations go massively in wind power

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To CleanTechies developing nations will install more than 22,000 MW of wind power capacity in 2010. Of course, China is behind an important part of this, but countries like India, Mexico are also moving forward on clean energy.

“If policy ambition has stalled in the industrialized world, it has if anything accelerated this year in key emerging markets,“ wrote HSBC Global Research in a recent Cancun policy brief.

To Ceres, developing nations will indeed install more wind power capacity than developed ones, thus showing that cleantech isn’t an industry dedicated to wealthy nations.

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Cancun meeting ends with mixed results

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This weekend ended the 16th conference of parties (COP16) due to prepare the future of the Kyoto Protocol. Albeit it didn’t end as badly as the Copenhagen meeting did, we are still pretty far from solving the climate / energy equation.

In today’s post I propose you a selection of the most interesting articles related to this event that lasted no less than two weeks and brought forward some progress, notably on forests with REDD+. (cf. my previous post on the matter).

This was a critical success but the road to solving the coming triple crisis (peaking fossil fuel resources, massive unemployment and climate change) is still long.

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Thailand to install 4.300 MW of renewables

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According to Renewable Energy World, Thailand is on its way to install more than four gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in the very next years thanks to an innovative feed-in tariffs system dedicated to small local projects. Solar thermal and biomass constitute the majority of projects with 1,400 MW and 2,100 MW respectively. Since the … Read more

Which kind of booze is best for the Planet ?

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This was the question asked recently by the Mother Jones Network. Albeit the article is for US based readers, it brings interesting details for global readers who like to party or simply pour themselves a stiff one. Indeed, regarding greenhouse gases emissions and climate change: ” beer beats tequila” and ” whiskey tops rum”.It is … Read more

China wants 500 GW of renewables by 2020

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You know if you have been reading this blog for some time now : China is determined to become the leader on cleantech. But it’s not only about making money in tomorrow’s leading industry : it is also about the environment.

Indeed, if China is investing $12 million each hour on cleantech, it is also to clean the air and solve its dependence on dirty fossil fuels that pollutes massively the air of its capital and many other cities.

Today, Cleantechnica published an article reporting that the People’s Republic wants 500 GW of renewable energies by 2020.

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Global warming may mean colder winters

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Global warming may mean colder winters for the Northern Hemisphere and this albeit we just witnessed the hottest June ever recorded and if desertification spreads faster and faster. As one of the researchers behind this new report notes : “Recent severe winters like last year’s of the one of 2005-2006 do not conflict with the … Read more

Mario Molina wants to clean Mexico’s air

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I recently subscribed to Courrier International, a French weekly newspaper which translates and publishes articles from over 900 international newspapers. Recently it proposed an article on Mario Molina, the Mexican Nobel prize.

This is how I came to read about today’s story in Nature magazine : ” Molina’s great challenge is to help Mexico City to reach its goal of becoming the greenest megacity in Latin America. It is a tall order.”

The full article is ripe with interesting ideas that could be replicated in cities of the developed and developing nations around the world.

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Amazon deforestation drops to lowest in 22 years

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Last year the deforestation of the Brazilian part of the Amazon rainforest was slowing dramatically. It keeps doing so: ” Brazil’s government says deforestation in the Amazon rain forest has dropped to its slowest pace in 22 years.” ” Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira says satellite imagery of the National Institute for Space Research shows that … Read more

Great astrophotographies – November 2010

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This is time for me to present my selection of the best pictures of the NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). As always, here is my selection of the ten best pictures of last month. Today’s picture :

” On Reunion Island, it is known simply as “The Volcano.” To others, it is known as the Piton de la Fournaise, which is French for the Peak of the Furnace. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. “

I am absolutely still amazed at how many splendors can be seen at night. I just hope we may find a way to make our nights darker so more people can see them.

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