On October 2007, the newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced after weeks of talks an important series of measures to make France a more sustainable country. This was the Grenelle de l’Environnement. But after months, only one conclusion comes to mind: the Grenelle is a disappointment, and this even with the billions of investments […]
Why the Grenelle is a disappointment Read More »
I have been advocating for three years now the thermal insulation of buildings as one of the best ways to decrease our global fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emissions. This week, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States plan to insulate millions of buildings. These operations will be financed by the local governments
Home insulation gets the attention it deserves Read More »
The latest UNEP publication is stressing the importance of water issues in South Asia (from Iran to India and Bangladesh), a region accounting for a fourth of human population but only a twentieth of the planet’s freshwater resources. Among the main threats are over-exploitation, pollution, high population growth and the lack of cooperation between neighboring
Water scarcity in South Asia Read More »
Last week I wrote about a technology that decreases the amount of radioactive waste by hybridizing fission and fusion. Now comes another breakthrough as TerraPower prepares to launch reactors using depleted uranium. Such material would lead to lower risks of nuclear proliferation. Additionally, the amount of uranium on Earth could last centuries or even millennium
The end of nuclear waste ? Part II Read More »
According to Clean Tech, China will close down 31 GW of inefficient coal-fired plants and will replace them by cleaner and more efficient ones. This has to be compared with the 792.5 GW of coal plants at the end of 2008 in the country. Previously applied, such measures enabled the country to decrease the amount
China will burn coal (a little) more efficiently Read More »
For the second part of this series – the first one was on heating – we are having a look at electricity consumption of households and the various ways we can decrease it. This will enable you to have lower energy bills – always a good thing with the hard times we have – to
Towards sustainability: electricity Read More »
I already noted how Google is preoccupied by the environment and how it is investing in renewables. This commitment becomes more concrete with the new Google Earth which enables to learn on oceans’ environmental issues. Among the partners of this project are the Cousteau Society and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
20,000 leagues under the sea with Google Read More »
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, global wind power capacity reached 120 GW in 2008. This represents an increase of 28.8 percent compared to 2007. All these installations totaled $47 billion. This is the occasion for me to present you the various news I came across on this topic in the past few weeks.
World’s latest news on wind power Read More »
By reading Clean Technica I came across a news that might change the way many people consider nuclear energy. Indeed, one of the main issues of nuclear today is the waste produced by fission. But to researches carried out in the University of Texas at Austin a process called Compact Fusion Neutron Source (CFNS), combines
The end of nuclear waste ? Read More »
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company published a report on the various climate change mitigation options. Supported by major institutions like the WWF or the Carbon Trust this a huge source of information. From the various renewables, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage (CCS) to energy conservation and afforestation, all major solutions are studied
Mc Kinsey’s report on climate change mitigation Read More »
