2010

India will invest 2.3 trillion in low carbon tech

A while ago TreeHugger wrote a compelling article on how India is committed to low carbon growth and energy sources. The local environment Minister, Mr. Jairam Ramesh stated in an interview given to Reuters : “We will unilaterally, voluntarily, move on a low-carbon growth path. We can’t have 8-9% GDP growth and high-carbon growth. It […]

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Another awesome reflection on sustainability

Triple Pundit published a great reflection on why we – as a global society – need to become more sustainable. Particularly targeted at average people who haven’t environmental issues in mind, it does an awesome job. Enunciating compelling arguments on population, education, natural capital, energy dependence and economy, I believe this is the kind of

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For many, the sky isn’t dark anymore

I already wrote a few articles on dark skies and light pollution. It seems the phenomenon is even worse as one can see with the image on left (courtesy of Stellarium, a great astronomy freeware) This also has an important impact on greenhouse gases emissions. In Australia alone, public lightning is responsible for 1.15 million

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Prepare for a wind energy century

Last week the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released a report stating the United States could get twenty percent of their electricity by offshore wind by 2030. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, China installed 13,8 GW of capacity in 2009 alone, to reach a capacity of 25,8 GW. A report notes

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South Korea to invest $35 billions in energy

” The South Korean government has announced that it intends to invest $35.4 billion in the renewable energy sector over the next five years as it aims at reducing its dependence on fossil fuels and build a green economy for the future.” “The South Korean government announced the ‘Green Korea’ plan in September 2008 which

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Obama to put solar panels on the White House

Last week US President Barack Obama announced he will put back solar panels on the White House next year. The first solar panels were installed by President Carter in the 1970s and removed by Reagan in 1986. This made me wonder when l’Elysée, the residence of French Presidents will install solar panels as well. While

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The tremendous cost of vanishing forests

I know it since I read Collapse, Jared Diamond’s fantastic book about how various societies disappeared : trees matter ! Between soil erosion prevention and climate change mitigation, there are many reasons for keeping forests alive. Now comes a British study noting that the annual cost of deforestation is five trillion dollar. This research is

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A single solution for three problems

Yesterday took place around the world 7,700 gatherings in over 180 countries to urge governments to embrace 350 : lowering the amount of carbon dioxide to 350 ppm (today’s levels are at 388). I already stated that we are facing a triple crisis with massive unemployment, climate change and decreasing energy supplies (peak oil and

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Urban mining, or why mining landfills is good

I knew it all along ! As rare earths are more and more expensive and critically needed for our technological thirst, it is becoming economically viable to mine landfills and to recycle old appliances. As the New York Times indeed noted : ” This town’s hopes for a mining comeback lie not underground, but in

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Armies thinking about a post-oil world

While browsing CleanTechnica I found an interesting article on peak oil. According to a leaked military report from the German Bundeswehr, peak oil will occur this year and the consequences will be dramatic. Among them are market failures and tremendous risks for democracy itself. As Cleantechnica notes “ it is unlikely that any nation would

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