Sustainable development

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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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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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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Californian electricity to be 33 % renewables

While the US federal government is still haggling about a climate and energy bill, the richest state is willing to have a third of its electricity coming from solar, wind and the likes by the end of the decade. The local government points to the fact that this will decrease the dependence on foreign fossil

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Family planning in Thailand

I really like TED talks as they always provide great insight and ideas on countless issues. This week, Mr. Mechai Viravaidya explains how his country – Thailand – went from 7 children per family in 1974 to about 1.5 today. Similarly, the programs succeeded in fighting HIV/AIDS as no less than 7.7 million lives were

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Green IT, the other cleantech

To Ashok Kamal in CleanTechies : ” In many academic, policy and business circles, the term “clean tech” is synonymous with renewable energy.” However under this term we can put among others electric cars and green IT. And the latter is very important and promising as GreenTech Enterprise notes that it is the biggest green

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Worth an article – my September 2010 tweets

I have been committed since January 2007 to bring you each month a selection of the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change and the world energy sector. However, I don’t blog as much as I would like to and generally write around 25 posts per month. But many more news are worth

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A solar energy boom in rural Asia

I really like the New York Times and its international edition, the International Herald Tribune. It gives a formidable insight on both today’s and tomorrow’s world. Today’s issue got two interesting articles. Today’s first article that caught my attention was about a solar boom in Asia. Indeed, the demand  for solar photovoltaic is due to

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A bad omen for the Cancun climate talks

You may not remember it, but the Copenhagen climate talks will be followed by a series of conferences in Cancun, Mexico between November 29 and December 10. Contrary to Copenhagen, little is currently said about the preparations. And the media aren’t encouraging. To AP : ” In two days of talks, major economic powers discussed

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Biodiversity loss is harming medical science

To the UNEP : ” For millennia, medical practitioners have harnessed substances from nature for treatments and cures: aspirin from the willow and, more recently, Taxol – the groundbreaking anti-cancer drug – from the bark of the Pacific yew. Some of the biggest breakthroughs may be yet to come. But this can happen only if

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