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Inspired by nature.
What if we could solve big environmental problems simply by shifting our approach - from relying on human cleverness to mimicking nature? That is the idea behind biomimicry. High Country News. 14 March 2010.
Japan aims its home fuel cells at Europe.
Following the success of a half-price subsidy for CO2-busting fuel-cell heat and energy generators for homes, Japan is now poised to shift its attention to supplying the UK and Germany with this hi-tech, next-generation energy source. BBC. 14 March 2010.
Runaway transport threatens targets on emissions.
Greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic, air travel, ships and railways have risen to account for more than a quarter of Scotland's total. Edinburgh Scotsman, United Kingdom. 14 March 2010.
Clean Water Act deal opens path to acidification abatement.
U.S. EPA settled a lawsuit yesterday by agreeing to use the Clean Water Act to address ocean acidification – a move that some see as opening a side door to federal curbs on greenhouse gases that scientists link to problems in the marine environment. Greenwire. 13 March 2010.
Putin in deal to build nuclear reactors for India.
India and Russia today signed a nuclear co-operation agreement, which paves the way for the building of about a dozen nuclear reactors in India, with Russian help, over the next few decades. London Guardian, United Kingdom. 13 March 2010.
Leno engineers a rerun.
"Tonight Show" host Jay Leno is reviving the turbine-powered EcoJet: "In 1963, Chrysler Corporation produced a batch of turbine cars and took them on test drives around the world. In countries where people were still riding bicycles and donkeys, Americans were driving jets." New York Times. 13 March 2010.
How will the world really end?
Predictions about the end of the world have been around since...well, the beginning of the world. What are the most plausible scenarios for humanity's demise? And how soon? A paleontologist, an astrophysicist, a nuclear terrorism expert, and others offer a menu of doomsday scenarios. Big Think. 12 March 2010.
A second wind for German industry?
Green tech is a broad and slippery concept. Just about anything can be done more cleanly - and it would be surprising if Germans were not the first to do it in industries they lead. Economist. 12 March 2010.
Energy: A foot on the gas.
Policymakers have faced a trilemma: how to make energy supplies secure, affordable and clean. Now an abundance of gas appears to provide the answer to all three problems at once. However, there are two problems that could prevent gas from being the “long-term energy solution.” London Financial Times, United Kingdom. 12 March 2010.
Out of step.
Recent changes in the seasonal timing of biological events such as flowering and migration have been linked to warmer temperatures. Now a study shows that such seasonal shifts are becoming increasingly common in the UK and could wreak havoc across ecosystems as they disturb the delicate balance of nature. Nature. 11 March 2010.
Review of U.N. climate panel won't re-examine errors.
An outside review of a U.N. climate panel after flaws were uncovered in its most recent report on climate change will not recheck that report's conclusions and will instead focus on improving procedures for the future, officials said Wednesday. Washington Post. 11 March 2010.
Introducing the newest scientific measurement: A "Rosenfeld" for energy savings.
It may not roll off the tongue like the ohm, watt or volt, but it would follow in their tradition. Many call Arthur Rosenfeld, a recently retired member of the California Energy Commission, the "godfather of energy efficiency." ClimateWire. 11 March 2010.
How fundraising helped shape Obama's green agenda.
Once again, there are questions about whether a new President's approach to energy is a product of Washington's unchanged, pay-to-play culture in which political supporters are offered special access to the policymaking process. Time Magazine. 10 March 2010.
'Famine marriages' just one byproduct of climate change.
The negative fallout from climate change is having a devastatingly lopsided impact on women compared to men, from higher death rates during natural disasters to heavier household and care burdens. Inter Press Service. 10 March 2010.
Health and life insurers grapple with climate effects.
Biting bugs are buzzing northward and asthma has spread like a dust cloud, but there are deep divisions about how concerned health and life insurers should be about disease and death caused by climate change. ClimateWire. 10 March 2010.
When goods get traded, who pays for the CO2?
Popularly, China is a villain in climate change. But while China may be leading the world in carbon emissions, that output is in large part due to the fact that it is using energy to make clothes, cars and toys for the rest of us, a new study finds. Time Magazine. 9 March 2010.
World’s pall of black carbon can be eased with new stoves.
With a single, concerted initiative, the world could save millions of people in poor nations from respiratory ailments and early death, while dealing a big blow to global warming - and all at a surprisingly small cost. Yale Environment 360. 9 March 2010.
Solar industry learns lessons in Spanish sun.
Two years ago, this gritty mining city hosted a brief 21st-century gold rush. Long famous for coal, Puertollano discovered another energy source it had overlooked: the relentless, scorching sun. New York Times. 9 March 2010.
EU's 'carbon fat cats' get rich off trading scheme: study.
Europe's system for industrial carbon quotas has enriched the continent's biggest polluters, with ten firms together reaping permits for 2008 alone worth 500 million euros, a new report revealed. Agence France-Presse. 8 March 2010.
Verifying emission cuts.
Under the Copenhagen Accord, countries have pledged to control their greenhouse gas emissions. But the Accord leaves to future negotiations the job of specifying how countries’ declarations will be truth-checked. Some allude to verification via third parties. But there is another way: direct observation. Chemical & Engineering News. 8 March 2010.
Group vows to fight greenhouse gas burial.
Randolph County is home to a landfill, an ethanol plant, a sudden increase in hog farms and two potential wind farms. But if the state tries to deploy carbon dioxide sequestration in Randolph County to combat global warming, it will be met with strong resistance. Muncie Star Press, Indiana. 8 March 2010.
Climate confusion.
"Climategate" has damaged the credentials of the IPCC and decades of science on global warming. But as scientists push back against efforts to dismiss the threat of global warming, some media watchers say journalists aren't balancing their coverage of climate change with the other side of the story. Living On Earth. 6 March 2010.
Rolling out the changes.
Manufacturers are using a variety of chemical additives and new materials to reduce the environmental impact of tyres. These tyres will also increase fuel efficiency by 8% compared to standard tyres - thus reducing a vehicle’s carbon-dioxide emissions by almost a tonne over the tyre’s lifetime. Economist. 6 March 2010.
State farmers losing money from climate change uncertainty.
While Congress is fighting attempts by the U.S. EPA to regulate greenhouse emissions and lawmakers' inability to pass comprehensive energy legislation to address climate change, farmers are losing money because of that uncertainty. Grand Island Independent, Nebraska. 6 March 2010.
EU drafts reveal biofuel's environmental damage.
Biodiesel and other "green" fuels that Europeans put in their cars can have unintended consequences for tropical forests and wetlands, European Union reports show -- the first evidence of EU misgivings. Reuters. 5 March 2010.
The newest hybrid model.
One of the nation’s biggest utilities is running an experiment in whether conventional power generation can be married with renewable power in a way that lowers costs and spares the environment. New York Times. 5 March 2010.
Review backs man-made global warming.
The case for man-made global warming is even stronger than the IPCC maintained in its official assessments, according to the first scientific review published since December’s Copenhagen conference and subsequent attacks on the IPCC’s credibility. London Financial Times, United Kingdom. 5 March 2010.
Climate scientists plot to fight back at skeptics.
Top climate researchers are plotting to respond to scandals over the science underpinning climate change with what one scientist involved said needs to be "an outlandishly aggressively partisan approach" to gut the credibility of skeptics, according to private e-mails obtained by the Washington Times. Washington Times, District of Columbia. 5 March 2010.
Darwin foes add warming to target list.
Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation’s classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools. New York Times. 4 March 2010.
EPA raises initial threshold for greenhouse-gas regulation.
The EPA will set an emissions threshold of at least 75,000 tons a year - and possibly more than 100,000 tons a year - for power plants and other industrial projects for the initial stage of stationary-source greenhouse-gas regulations between 2011 to 2012. Wall Street Journal. 4 March 2010.
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