Five sustainable solutions exists for cities running out of water: conserving the resource, fixing leaking pipes, reclaiming water, desalination and biogas generation.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance global investments in clean energy such as wind and solar bounced back in 2014 with an increase of 16 percent over 2013. They reached $310 billion (260 billion euros).
This was kind of a surprise for me when I learned that not only does Japan has a carbon tax, but that is has one since… October 2012. The world’s third largest economy is taxing emissions from power plants and vehicles alike.
Richard Branson is the serial entrepreneur of genius behind Virgin. Having studied him in my management classes at Audencia back to 2006, I have to say that I really wanted to read his latest book, Screw Business As Usual.
Having read it in a couple of days, I have to say that it is highly motivating as Sir Richard explains how so many people around the world are currently changing the world away from Business as Usual to a new, better, greener way to do business.
This has a name : Capitalism 24902, for the 24902 miles – 40,000 kilometers – that make the equatorial circumference of our beautiful Planet.
According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, investements in clean technologies fell by 11 percent in 2012 compared to their 2011 levels. They still amounted to 268.7 billion USD or over 200 billion euros.
These news aren’t all that bad even if this decrease marks the end of a seeminlgy unstoppable increase but i has to be mitigated as the amounts invested in 2012 are still five times higher as in 2004.
Another mitigating factor is the decreasing prices of solar and wind energy as less money can buy more panels and turbines.
According to the latest report by the Club of Rome, the average global temperature could increase by two degrees Celsius if nothing were done beforehand.
Such an increase is seen a dangerous as it would enable positive feedback mechanisms – such as drying up of the Amazon or melting permafrost in Siberia – to be unleashed.
This report is another proof from indisputable sources that our business-as-usual model will collapse if we are not embracing a paradigm shift as soon as possible.
It seems more and more countries around the world are willing to put a price on carbon as the evidence of carbon dioxide fueled climate change is more than overwhelming.
Indeed, extreme weather events are heating all continents, all countries, all regions. France thought about it in 2009 and retracted. The Emission Trading Scheme in Europe works (albeit it isn’t a carbon tax per say)
South Africa and China are thinking about it for 2013 and 2015 respectively. Australia will be implementing one this year.In the USA, Romney says he would implement one.
I have recently noted that cleantech is booming globally, but what does it mean for Africa ? In today’s post I will try to give a few answers to this crucial question as still 600 million Africans have no access to electricity.
To a study titled Mega Trends in Africa: A bright vision for the growing continent ” Investment in renewable power in Africa is set to grow from a total of US$3.6-billion in 2010 to $57-billion by 2020. “
I have found several other articles on cleantech in Africa in the past few weeks. Let’s review the main ones.
