Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
A new study by the NASA is bringing more credence to the fact we need to go back to carbon dioxide concentration of 350 parts per million. This will hopefully be a huge boost to the 350.org campaign. As Climate Progress reported :
” According to calculations conducted by Hansen and his colleagues, the 0.58 Watts per square meter imbalance implies that carbon dioxide levels need to be reduced to about 350 ppm to restore the energy budget to equilibrium.”
“The most recent measurements show that carbon dioxide levels are currently 392 parts per million and scientists expect that concentration to continue to rise in the future.” Continue »
If climate change, rising sea levels and the threats to global peace and food production weren’t enough to you, here is another reason to fight carbon dioxide : ocean acidification. To Mongabay :
” Emissions of carbon over the last two centuries have raised the acidity of the oceans to the highest levels in 21,000 years and likely beyond, according to a new study in Nature Climate Change. “
This could have serious implications for marine biodiversity, notably corrals and mollusks. So, what are we waiting for to act ?
I blogged two years ago that CCS won’t solve the climate change problem as it is too risky, too expansive, too little and… too late. Joe Romm, the main contributor behind Climate Progress recently noted :
” There are simply too many unanswered questions for anyone to say today that we could rely on large-scale deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage in the 2030s as a major climate solution. “
Since we need to slash our emissions NOW – and certainly not by 2030 – we can see how useless CCS is. We should work on real solutions instead : energy efficiency, sobriety, renewables and nuclear.
While reading Climate Progress I came across a must-see speech from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, from Rhode Island. As the description on Youtube notes :
” There are some laws that Congress can change. The laws of nature aren’t among them. While lobbyists continue to call for more and more “second” opinions, Sheldon points out to his colleagues that the scientific community is solidly behind the fact that climate change is a real threat. “
This speech clearly contrasts with the environmental bashing of most Republicans and most Democrats keeping quiet on those very issues. Please watch this video, please share it ! Continue »
To TreeHugger : ” Last year, the Amazon rainforest experienced the worst drought on record, reducing normally flowing rivers to sun-baked stretches of dried mud and pushing the fragile ecosystem to the brink. “
” (…) As a result of 2010′s Amazon drought, experts say, some 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere — more than is produced by India’s entire population in a year. “
The more we put greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, the more our Planet answers back and carbon reserves like the Russian permafrost or the Amazon Rainforest start emitting even more… Continue »
As the Wall Street Journal notes : ” Australia’s controversial plan to introduce a tax on carbon emissions cleared a major political hurdle Wednesday, securing the expected approval of the country’s lower legislative house.”
” The package to introduce a price on carbon pollution and encourage investment in clean and renewable energy narrowly passed at 74-72. The law is now assured easy passage through the Australian parliament.“
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard will thus hold her promises to tax greenhouse gases emissions in 2012 as she was stating in July. Continue »
CleanTechies gives us some data on something absolutely terrible for a global future : ” Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) increased by 45 % between 1990 and 2010, and reached an all-time high of 33 billion tons in 2010. “
” Increased energy efficiency, nuclear energy and the growing contribution of renewable energy are not compensating for the globally increasing demand for power and transport, which is strongest in developing countries.”
(…) After a 1% decline in 2009, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions increased by more than 5% in 2010, which is unprecedented in the last two decades (…) “ Continue »
This is the conclusion of a new study carried out by the US NCAR. In their conclusion, they note : ” substitution of gas for coal as an energy source results in increased rather than decreased global warming for many decades “
Climate Progress notes: ” The fact that natural gas is a bridge fuel to nowhere was first shown by the IEA in its big June report on gas. That study made clear that if we want to avoid catastrophic warming, we need to start getting off of all fossil fuels. “
I guess this should warn governments and companies worldwide that we have to seriously work on efficiency and renewables. And the faster, the better. Continue »
According to the NRDC : ” ten northeastern and mid-Atlantic states are working together to shift their energy dollars to cleaner, local, job-creating resources “ through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
” RGGI is a “cap-and-invest” program whereby the states set a regional limit on carbon pollution, sell pollution permits, and invest most of the proceeds in energy efficiency and other clean-energy technologies. “
Given the most encouraging results in only two years (the program generated $789 million, or 555 million euros, so far), I hope this great idea will be spread to the entire United States. Continue »
Since carbon capture and storage (CCS) doesn’t make much sense and is nowhere near being ready (we have seen it here and there), why not capture carbon and simply use it ? To CleanTechnica :
” Rather than treating carbon dioxide as a waste, technology, energy, industrial and power industry participants, would be better served investing in researching and developing Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU) systems.”
I think that applying the 3R to something as huge as CO2 is great idea. Indeed, using something previously seen as waste is typically sustainable. Let’s hope these applications will reach daylight soon. Continue »
