European Union to cut emissions by 40% by 2030

Here is my latest article for Cleantechies, this time focusing on the quite disappointing move from the European Union to cut its emissions by 40 percent by 2030 ( compared to 1990 levels). Here is the introduction : ” The European Union has long been regarded as a leader on climate change. Now it appears to […]

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Water scarcity to hit half Mankind by 2050

According to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ” by 2050 more than half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas and about a billion or more will not have sufficient water resources. “ ” (…) The researchers expect 5 billion of the world’s projected 9.7 billion people to live in water-stressed areas by

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The energy transition already creates jobs

The energy transition from our model based on a huge majority of polluting fossil fuels to a model based on cleantech technologies such as energy efficiency and renewable energy sources will require a lot of money. Indeed, we have seen recently that up to a trillion dollar would be needed every year to do so.

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Emissions in United States rebounded in 2013

This was a major setback for me last week, US greenhouse gases emissions related to energy rose two percent in 2013 compared to 2012. To the US EIA this is due to ” a small increase in coal consumption in the electric power sector. “ ” Coal has regained some market share from natural gas since a

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Cleantech investments decreased again in 2013

I had noted last year that cleantech investments had decreased from their peak of  $317.9 billion in 2011 to reach $286.2 billion in 2012. 2013 was an even worse year as total investments reached only $254 billion. To Bloomberg New Energy Finance : ” The reduced volume of investment in 2013 reflected two influences, a continued sharp

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Google invests $3.2 billion in Nest Labs

This was the big news of the week in the cleantech sphere, Google has bought Nest Labs for a massive $3.2 billion (2.34 billion euros). Nest is famous for its smart thermostat, which I wrote about in November 2011. Google is thus investing massively in the smart connected home market. As Cleantechies remarks, the company

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United Kingdom got 10 % of its electricity from wind

We have seen in the previous years that the United Kingdom has been investing heavily on wind energy. In 2013 the country started the world’s largest offshore wind farms such as the London Array. It seems these efforts are paying off as no less than ten percent of the electricity demand in the country was

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Extreme poverty is decreasing

According to Courrier International, the rate of people living under extreme poverty  – less than $1.25 a day – has been halved in the past two decades. This spectacular progress can be partly explained by the impressive economic growth in Asia. As an example, Bangladesh – which for many years had the title of world’s

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An efficient alternative to fluorescent tubes

Fluorescent tubes are everywhere : in offices and homes and of course, in supermarkets and factories. This ubiquitous lights are used in a staggering amount of 12 billion sockets to Philips. The company has developed an alternative based on LED technology : the InstantFit LED lamp. Up to 40 percent more efficient than traditional T8

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How companies could save money and our climate

According to a brilliant report published in 2013 by the WWF : ” The US corporate sector, excluding utilities, could capture up to US$190 billion in net savings in 2020 alone by reducing energy related emissions by 3.2 percent each year on average. “ ” Between 2010 and 2020, the US corporate sector can unlock

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