Steven Pinker’s latest book, Enlightenment Now, misses the mark on climate change and plastic pollution. And this is a problem.
Tag: Nuclear
Wind and solar are now cheaper than fossil fuels
For years, grid parity – the time when solar and wind would be cost-competitive with fossil fuels and nuclear – was the holy grail of renewables energy, a target to reach in a distant future. But the future is now.
China’s holistic approach to combatting climate change
For long, China was seen as a climate villain, fuelling its amazing economic growth by burning more and more coal. But times are changing, and the People’s Republic is emerging as a climate leader.
Canada, the US and Mexico to partner on energy
The agreement signed late last month may be the beginning of a new era of collaboration on climate change as the three North American countries signed an agreement to push cleantech and fight climate change.
Five reasons to oppose nuclear
One of the most read articles on this blog is ” 10 reasons to support nuclear power “, which I wrote in 2009 when the situation was very different. A lot happened since then that has made me reconsider my stance on nuclear, so here is a counter-point.
President Obama unveils ambitious climate plan
Earlier this month President Obama has announced his country’s strongest move to date on climate change. As IFLScience and many other reported : ” The finalized Clean Power Plan aims to cut carbon emissions from power plants by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030. “
Book review : Energy for Future Presidents
Having access to the Seattle Public Library I was able to borrow this book that was strongly recommended to me by Jimmy Jia, one of the many bright faculty of Pinchot University.
Electricity sources and their carbon intensity
Which countries have the electricity with the lowest amount of greenhouse gases per kilowatt-hour ? Which energy source is the greenest ? An article from Cleantechnica answers these important questions.
IEA World Energy Outlook 2014 is out
The most important paper of the year on energy is out as the International Energy Agency published its landmark World Energy Outlook report.
United Kingdom to build two EPR nuclear reactors
Would you buy two examples of a very expensive and complex product that nobody has ever seen functioning ? The most likely answer is ” No “. Yet that’s exactly what the United Kingdom did buy buying Monday two EPR reactors. The European Pressurized Reactor is an evolution of third generation nuclear reactors. It was… Continue reading United Kingdom to build two EPR nuclear reactors
The Fukushima horror story goes on
Safe and clean nuclear energy seems everyday further away as the horror story of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan unfolds. Each passing year seems to bring its flow of bad news. As the New York Times notes : ” Problems at the plant seemed to take a sharp turn for the worse in July… Continue reading The Fukushima horror story goes on
Nuclear saves lives, decreases emissions
While I am not advocating nuclear as much as I was doing a few years ago – the incident in Fukushima have shown how the technology can be dangerous – I am still believing that it is better than coal. (Sidenote : anything IS better than coal…) According to a study quoted by Cleantechies, ”… Continue reading Nuclear saves lives, decreases emissions