Month: February 2014

The European union already benefits from renewables

Here is another opinion piece I wrote for Cleantechies : ” There is a question that currently puzzles me : why is the European Union so unambitious on climate and energy goals ? “ ” We have seen recently that the European Commission unveiled plans to cut carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and …

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Big Oil is getting smaller

According to PeakOil.com, the seven largest oil companies of the Western world — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Total, ConocoPhillips and Eni —have seen their oil output decline by 12.4 percent between 2009 and 2013. According to the IEA, if total world oil supply has risen from 85.66 million barrels per day in 2009 to 91.53 …

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Five famous buildings with solar

What the common point between famous buildings around the world such as the White House in the United States, the Vatican, the Taj Mahal in India, the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and the Eiffel Tower in France ? You give up ? They are all at least partly powered by solar. This …

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Chinese coal consumption is slowing

This could be world-changing news. According to Xinhua, the Chinese State media agency : ” China’s coal consumption growth slowed in 2013, with the price of coal declining, according to the China National Coal Association “ Several factors are explaining this : old inefficient coal-fired plants are being closed and replaced by more efficient ones, …

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Fossil fuel subsidies are as high as ever

To Desmogblog : ” The exact worth of massive global fossil fuel subsidies is incredibly hard to figure. There’s no real consistency in the definitions of subsidies, or how they should be calculated. “ ” As a result, estimates of global subsidy support for fossil fuels vary widely. According to a new analysis by the Worldwatch …

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Shell to keep from drilling the Arctic one more year

Here are good news, as according to Grist : ” The Arctic will be safe from drilling efforts by accident-prone Shell this year, and the oil company says it is reconsidering its very future in the region.” ” (…) The company announced on Thursday that it won’t pursue exploratory drilling in the Arctic this year, …

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2013 was one of the warmest years since 1880

Both NASA and NOAA – US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – have issued a joint presentation on how climate change made 2013 one of the warmest year ever recorded. It is worth showing to any climate change deniers you may know. According to NASA : ” NASA scientists say 2013 tied with 2009 and 2006 for the seventh warmest …

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India’s guide to the energy transition

We have seen many times over that the world can be powered by renewable energy sources by 2050.  WWF India has released late last year a report showing how the world’s largest democracy could do the same. As RenewEconomy states, this report also stresses the vital importance of energy efficiency, which ” can bring in …

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Wind energy was top energy source in Spain in 2013

Many European nations have seen a boom in their renewable energy sources in the past few years. Among them is Spain. Here is the introduction to an article on that topic I wrote for Cleantechies : ” 2013 was an excellent year for wind energy in Spain as this renewable energy source became the first …

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Saving water and energy with a single invention

We have all experienced it : before having hot water at the faucet, cold water arrives. This could be something of the past thanks to a Spanish invention, AquaReturn, which enables its users to save both water and energy. AquaReturn recirculates the cold water around the pipes until the desired water temperature is reached. To …

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