Some six weeks ahead of Copenhagen, the Guardian published an article on how the European Union believes it is taking the lead on climate change mitigation. At first I was quite optimistic with the title. However there is nothing new: the EU is still willing to cut by 20 percent its emissions by 2020 and […]
Does the European Union really leads on climate ? Read More »
The International Energy Agency recently released a report on how carbon capture and storage (CCS) could account for 19 percent of the greenhouse gases emissions cuts needed by 2050. The IEA specialists believe Mankind would need to install up to 3,000 plants by 2050. This however might prove to be a problem as CCS is
IEA believes carbon capture and storage is crucial Read More »
During World War II, posters were advocating a series of efforts to civilian populations to conserve energy. Similarly cars industries were producing tanks. What was done in the US in the 1940s now has to be done on a global scale. Avoiding catastrophic climate change now needs war time effort at war time speed. Governments,
We now need war time effort at war time speed Read More »
I am absolutely no fan of biofuels, and am even believing they are more a problem than a solution as still hundreds of millions people are starving. It seems that it could also pose problem in the richest nations. Indeed, Green Inc. noted that the United Kingdom may have to resort to cereals imports in
United Kingdom may need to import cereals Read More »
For my latest post for CleanTechies I propose a reflection further to an interesting op ed Thomas L. Friedman wrote on the New York Times on why America should tax more gasoline. As I noted earlier US drivers pay less than ten euro cents per liter of tax when their German, British, Italian, Turkish or
Could America tax gas more and fund cleantech? Read More »
As Eurobserv’ER published a market barometer for heat pumps I thought it might be the occasion to have a look at this most interesting and promising technology which already accounts for nearly 9 GW th of capacity in Europe. With over 100,000 systems installed every year throughout the European Union, heat pumps can both heat
Why heat pumps are a fantastic idea Read More »
A new report published by many agencies of the United Nations – including the FAO, the UNEP and the UNESCO – shows that maintaining healthy oceans is a vital topic for climate change mitigation. Indeed, more than half of the carbon dioxide captured by Nature is captured by oceans and seas. Coastal ecosystems like mangroves
Healthy oceans matter in climate Read More »
After the United Kingdom which pledged to cut its greenhouse gases emissions by 34 percent by 2020 and Japan by 25 percent, Norway is another country to pledge to drastic emissions cuts. Meanwhile, the European Union still clings to cuts from 20 to 30 percent if other major emitters join them. It would be nice
Norway to cut its emissions by 40 percent Read More »
Concentrating Solar Thermal is a fantastic energy source and some experts estimate that it could answer a quarter of the global electricity needs by 2050 if large plants were installed in sunny deserts. However the New York Times notes that this energy source use significant amounts of water. Since this resource is already scarce in
Concentrating solar needs huge amounts of water Read More »
It is widely known and agreed upon within the scientific community and our elected representatives that Mankind has to limit the increase of temperatures to two degrees Celsius (3.6°F) by 2100 compared to 1850 levels. However, we have recently seen that the least developed nations and many island nations in the Pacific Ocean call for
2°C of temperatures increase might be too much Read More »
