Month: May 2014

India to provide electricity to 400 million people

As we have seen before on this blog, around 1.2 or 1.5 billion people lack access to electricity around the world today. Among these populations, 400 millions are located in India. This is a huge impediment to human development and economic growth but the situation could change quickly thanks to solar according to the new …

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Turning greenhouse gases into plastic

Cradle to Cradle packaging is becoming a reality as according to Cleantechies : “ It sounds like something straight out of a science fiction novel. Capturing carbon from the air and turning it back into plastic. But thankfully it’s already a reality. ” Coined AirCarbon, the biodegradable PHA-based plastic material is made from air and greenhouse gases …

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Australian emissions decreased in 2013

According to Enerdata, Australian greenhouse gases emissions decreased by 0.8% last year. While this seems tiny and not really reason to rejoice, there is some data worth mentioning as emissions from the power sector fell by 5%. Last year alone, there was a 4.1% decrease in power generation from black coal, -6.9% from brown coal …

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New Caledonia and France create huge Marine Protected Area

More good news people ! New Caledonia – and France – are creating a marine protected area (MPA) of huge size : 1.3 million square kilometers : the parc naturel de la mer de Corail. This park will be amongst the largest MPAs in the world. Thanks to that, 16 percent of the waters under French jurisdiction are now …

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European Union needs to get moving on energy efficiency

For my May article for Cleantechies, I wanted to write about a topic that is crucial to the future of European energy and climate policies, yet is little covered : energy efficiency. Here is the introduction : ” If the European Union is on its way to reach or go over its renewables or emissions …

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Lockeed Martin to develop marine energies

What if companies which were making until now weapons decided to dedicate themselves to cleantech ? An example of this came from my friend Olivier Jacquemet and his great blog, Echo Sierra : ” (…) Lockheed Martin is developing its portfolio. Indeed, the defence firm signed with the Australian company Victorian Wave Partners in February to engineer …

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Chile is preparing a carbon tax

It seems taxing carbon is becoming a really popular idea as Chile is the latest to consider it as Reuters reported recently. The country would be the first to do so in South America and the second in Latin America after Mexico. As Climate Progress reports, this tax would concern only utilities and thermal plants …

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Germany sets new record on renewables

According to Think Progress : ” On Sunday, Germany’s impressive streak of renewable energy milestones continued, with renewable energy generation surging to a record portion — nearly 75 percent — of the country’s overall energy demand.” ” With wind and solar in particular filling such a huge portion of the country’s power demand, electricity prices actually …

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Solar is breaking records after records

According to Cleantechnica : ” Solarbuzz recently reported that world solar PV power capacity grew by a record 9,000 megawatts (MW) in the 1st quarter of 2014. However, that record isn’t likely to last long. “ ” The solar market research company forecasts that every quarter this year will be higher than the one before it. ” Yes, …

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Conservation goes forward in Indonesia

According to the Guardian a million hectares – 10,000 square kilometers – of rainforests in Indonesia should be conserved thanks to plans by Asian Pulp and Paper, one of the world’s biggest paper companies. While this sounds nice, green groups such as Greenpeace said it won’t stop loggers from deforesting the area. An explanation of this is that the company didn’t …

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