Whatever concerns energy and the ways to produce it goes here
Last month the French magazine Science et Vie [Fr] dedicated a series of articles to the earthquake risks induced by dams, mines, oil drilling and geothermal power. You might think that these activities are without seismic risk. But to their findings, around 200 earthquakes have been triggered by human activities so far. This can be […]
Are we making earthquakes worse ? Read More »
I came across interesting data last week : Americans consume more than two times more oil per capita than Europeans. As we will see, this can be explained by three factors. Bringing oil consumption per capita to European levels would enable the USA to be independent from foreign oil, save a lot of money, create
Solutions to cut US dependance on foreign oil 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 »
One of the main causes of climate change is fuelwood collection for cooking as the New York Times noted that “soot from tens of thousands of villages in developing countries is responsible for 18 percent of the planet’s warming“. Furthermore, deforestation aggravates poverty in many ways as soils deprived from their forests loose their nutrients
Why solar cookers really matter 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 »
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 »
