Whatever concerns energy and the ways to produce it goes here
Even if I am an advocate of an increased use of renewable energy sources I am fully aware of their drawbacks. To me, they don’t constitute the panacea most people claim they are. After my posts on why renewables aren’t perfect solutions and the climate change mitigation paradox I would like to share with you […]
Why renewable energies aren’t that sustainable 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 »
With peak oil approaching, alternatives are being sought to power our cars. From hybrids to biofuels and from electricity to algae, the possibilities are numerous. Terra Eco, a French magazine, published recently an article on this very topic and the least we can say is that the findings are interesting. Cars in 10 or 20
A look at the main future automotive technologies Read More »
Earth Hour was a tremendous success as many people participated. Cities turned down the lights of their monuments and the pictures of the event are amazing and totally illustrate how much energy and money we could save. The Boston Globe proposed a series of 17 great pictures illustrating the phenomenon. Instead of turning down all
Pictures of Earth Hour: how we waste energy Read More »
Tonight at 8.30 pm local time it will be Earth Hour. This event launched by the WWF is promoting awareness on global warming. Many cities and companies all around the world will participate. Last year no less than 50 million people switched their lights off for the occasion. This year, the NGO is targeting one
Tonight is Earth Hour Read More »
An article on TreeHugger caught my attention as it explained that half US employees – and similar figures in other countries – don’t turn off their computers at the end of their work day. The potential savings are impressive. In America: $2.8 billion, in the United Kingdom $420 million and Germany $1.2 billion. That’s right,
Shuting down PCs at night could save billions Read More »
Times they are a-changin’ sung Bob Dylan. This is true as after years of despisal more and more people – even environmentalists previously against such solutions – support nuclear as a way to avoid dramatic climate change. This became apparent as Sweden stated it won’t stop as planned its nuclear plants next year and will
More and more support for nuclear 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 French magazine Science et Vie published this month a most interesting article on why Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) won’t be able to deliver all its promises of mitigating climate change. Indeed to many international scientific experts putting carbon to the ground is too risky, too expansive, too little and… too late ! This
Why CCS won’t solve the climate change problem 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 »
