Archive for June, 2008
Africa’s rapidly changing environment
Posted by: on June 13, 2008 in Tags: Africa, Climate change, Environment, forests, Sustainable development, water
According to the 390-pages atlas released by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Africa is changing rapidly because of many factors like deforestation and climate change.
The already fragile environments are under pressure due to wars, the increasing population and water scarcity, a major problem as 300 million people suffer from it.
However, all these dramatic consequences could be avoided as some UNEP actions are already fruitful, and this shows that the worst could be avoided Continue reading »
Together.com iniative launched in the USA
Posted by: on June 12, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Europe, USA
You perhaps remember my enthusiastic post on the launch of the WE campaign, by the former US Vice President Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection.
This time, a UK initiative that has the same goal (to enable us to decrease our daily CO2 emissions) is going global as it is being launched in the United States.
So far it enabled Britons to cut their emissions by no less than 530,000 tonnes in a single year. So I am confident huge results will be achieved in other countries. Continue reading »
Switzerland is considering building a new nuclear plant
Posted by: on June 11, 2008 in Tags: Energy, Europe, nuclear
After Russia, the United Kingdom and Italy, Switzerland is the fourth European country in just a few months to seriously think about building new nuclear reactors.
This occurs as current Swiss nuclear reactors are due to close around 2020 and the energy demand is increasing in an important way and this is due to continue.
I was mentioning previously we may face a nuclear golden age in a near future. It seems to be the case already as today’s headlines prove it. Continue reading »
Renewables aren’t perfect solutions
Posted by: on June 10, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Energy, renewables, solar
As I stated previously, no energy solution answer perfectly to all our needs. Renewables are no exception as they also suffer from two main issues : low energy density and intermittance.
According to the French magazine Science & Vie, this poses a serious problem which compromises the dream of a future where we would get all our energy from renewables.
Albeit those weak points, everything should be done to enable these low carbon dioxide energies to have a much bigger share in the world energy mix. Continue reading »
G8 countries to cut oil consumption
Posted by: on June 9, 2008 in Tags: China, Efficiency, Energy, Europe, India, Oil, USA
Yesterday, the eight leading economies met in Japan, alongside with China, India and South Korea. One of the main topics of discussion was the soaring prices of oil and energy.
To counter this, they pledged to invest massively in energy efficiency and low carbon technologies such as renewable energies, nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
This is an important event as the eleven countries present at this meeting account for nearly two thirds of the world energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Continue reading »
World Ocean Day : save our seas
Posted by: on June 8, 2008 in Tags: oceans, pollution, Sustainable development, water
Today is World Ocean Day. It is the occasion for me to write on how oceans and seas are important for Mankind as 60 percent of the world population live in coastal areas.
Covering more than 70 percent of Earth, water bodies are the home of many species but are threatened in many ways, and this in staggering amounts.
This is a major source of concerns as they represent major resources. I propose you in today’s article an overview of the main threats. Continue reading »
IEA urges for a technology revolution
Posted by: on June 6, 2008 in Tags: Business, Climate change, Efficiency, Energy
The International Energy Agency released today an interesting report urging once again its members to work on technologies that might solve the energy-climate equation.
Stating that it is now or never, the experts believe that if nothing was done CO2 emissions would soar by 130 percent by mid century when in the opposite, they need to be halved.
To solve this equation would require to dedicate one percent of global GDP. The issue is complex, but the IEA provides both solutions and data. Continue reading »
June fifth is important as it is the World Environment Day (WED) and my sister’s birthday (Joyeux anniversaire !). But since you don’t care that much about one event let’s talk about the other…
The WED is one of the main opportunities for the United Nations Environment Programme to promote environmentally friendly behaviors and climate change mitigation.
This year it launches a campaign called ” Kick the habit ” which shows that cutting our carbon dioxide emissions is not that hard and can be done in a variety of ways. Continue reading »
Germany, a climate change mitigation example ?
Posted by: on June 4, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Energy, Europe
Germany is often quoted as the definite example in climate change mitigation. However, as with all black and white fallacies, it is not really the case and the situation is not that simple.
Indeed, even if our neighboring country gets far more energy from renewables than we are, it relies much too heavily on coal, which is by far the most polluting energy solution.
As you will be able to read in this article, Germany is an example on some topics while on others it could benefit from other views and practices. Continue reading »
Gisele Bündchen’s environmental blog
Posted by: on June 2, 2008 in Tags: Brazil, Sustainable development
Today, environmental issues are no more the concerns of just a few people, they are tackled by millions of people, from all social origins and countries.
Indeed, the famous Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen (left) has been for some time now concerned by such questions at a worldwide level but also in her home country, Brazil.
To better reflect this, she launched a blog - both in Portuguese and English - where she and other contributors write on environmental issues. Continue reading »
