Energy

The energy cost of our electronic devices

The International Energy Agency issued a study – Gadgets and Gigawatts – on the energy consumption of the numerous mobile phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices. By 2030, they are due to consume up to three times more and thus burn up to 700 terawatt-hours of electricity. All this energy would cost up to …

The energy cost of our electronic devices Read More »

European energy official: oil may have peaked

Thanks to the Oil Drum, I read about an interesting fact. Andris Piebalgs, the European Energy Commissioner published this month an interesting post on his blog stating that oil production may have already peaked. This is no big surprise as we have already seen that to the Oil Drum, global production peaked in 2008. Additionally, …

European energy official: oil may have peaked Read More »

Solutions to cut US dependance on foreign oil

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 »

More energy efficiency in the European Union

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 »

Retrofitting the Empire State Building

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 »

Shuting down PCs at night could save billions

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 »

More and more support for nuclear

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 »

A zero-interest rate loan for housing renovation

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 »

%d bloggers like this: