I am currently wondering why are energy conservation and efficiency so unpopular. Indeed, these solutions can cut significantly our greenhouse gases emissions and enable us to save huge amounts of money. Most governments are putting money on renewable energies or stuff like “clean coal“. Instead of the latter, why aren’t they instead investing in solutions […]
Why is energy conservation so unpopular ? Read More »
I have been an advocate of energy efficiency for years and believe it is the best solution to solve the energy and climate equation. So when the European Union plans to ban importing energy inefficient goods I can only applaud the initiative. This is done to enable the 27 countries and their 500 million inhabitants
More energy efficiency in the European Union Read More »
CFLs consume up to five time less energy than traditional incandescent and halogen bulbs. This convinced several countries including the European Union and India to increasingly use them. Now LEDs are slowly reaching the markets. Consuming up to half the energy of CFLs they come in all shapes and colors. Even if they are still
Think CFLs are great ? Read on… Read More »
What happens when organizations like the Clinton Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Institute work together ? Answer: they retrofit the Empire State Building. This will cut by the energy consumption by 40 percent. Built during the 1930s to create thousands of jobs and answer the economic crisis, its $20 million retrofit will occur as we
Retrofitting the Empire State Building Read More »
When the IPCC published its various reports in 2007 it concluded that to avoid dramatic climate changes, cutting by as far as 40 percent greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions could be necessary. This contrast heavily with the targets the United States and the European Union set as they are closer to 20 than to 40 percent.
Can we cut by 40% our GHG emissions by 2020 ? Read More »
Light pollution is a major problem for astronomers in most if not all countries (see map) . But for the International Year of Astronomy this may change with the following initiative. Globe at Night allows astronomers to easily assess the phenomenon with a series of charts. By watching the Orion Constellation, it is simple to
Assessing and ending light pollution Read More »
The UNEP and the IEA launched last week an interesting initiative to halve the amount of oil consumed by cars by 2050. Even if this seem interesting as it due to cut by six billion barrels per year the oil consumption, I am wondering. Indeed: even if the demand for cars is due to explode,
Halving transport sector CO2 emissions by 2050 Read More »
To my regret, I don’t write much on how India is willing to mitigate climate change as I lack information. But today’s the occasion to repair this as I came across two different articles on how the world’s largest democracy is working on this issue. The country will indeed replace by 2012 400 millions of
India goes deeper into climate change mitigation Read More »
Climate change is a huge problem and it has to be solved fast if we want to prevent the worst from occurring. Meanwhile, the current economic downturn makes it hard to implement costly and high tech solutions. Three different studies point to the same conclusion: energy conservation is the cheapest solution to decrease our greenhouse
Energy conservation is the cheapest solution Read More »
For my 500th post on this blog, I would like to bring you good news. The decision taken last week within the Grenelle de l’Environnement is a huge leap forward towards sustainability of housing. Indeed, the French government will launch in April an eco loan of up to 30,000 € ($37,600) with no interest rate
A zero-interest rate loan for housing renovation Read More »
