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 !
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 ?
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 »
I have been knowing it for years as I read Jean-Marc Jancovici‘s books : current technologies can solve our climate and energy issues. This is corroborated by a joint statement by eleven of the world’s largest engineering organisations.
To Climate Progress : “The technology needed to cut the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2050 already exists”. Such an effort would be needed to get back to 350 ppm, which is considered the safe quantity of CO2 in our atmosphere.
If this isn’t a technological issue, it is a political and a behavioral one. Our representatives around the world are just dragging their feet on the matters and we, the people, aren’t just that motivated either…
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 »
Coal is the environmental enemy #1. It releases huge amounts of CO2 into our atmosphere and pollutes our soil and water. So when Grist writes on how 12 communities around the world stopped the expansion of coal I had to share.
This happens as ” According to 2010 projections by the EIA, coal consumption in the non-OECD world will increase by 23 quadrillion BTUs between 2007 and 2020. That’s roughly the equivalent of (…) a thousand coal-fired generators. “
The 12 examples taken from the article are from Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Australia, Colombia and the Philippines. Continue »
Here is another reason to act quickly and massively on climate : as we have seen previously, permafrost in Russia and other countries from these latitudes are trapping vast quantities of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas.
But as temperatures rise and rise and as the climate gets weirder and weirder, vast quantities of permafrost could melt by mid-century, thus releasing huge amounts of methane.
As the AFP noted last week : ” Russia’s vast permafrost areas may shrink by a third by the middle of the century due to global warming “ 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 »
To TreeHugger : ” Electronics giant Sony announced today that since 2000, it has achieved a 31 percent reduction in global CO2 emissions. The company boasts that means it surpassed its 2006 “Green Management” goal by 24 percent ”
” It did also achieve, though, a 54 percent reduction in waste generation (the goal was 40 percent) and a 41 percent reduction in water use at business sites (the goal was 20 percent).”
” The announcement comes after a third-party analysis of data from Sony’s facilities worldwide confirmed that the company met or exceeded several of the targets laid out in 2006 in its Green Management 2010 plan.”
According to the BBC quoting Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister : “As a nation, we need to put a price on carbon and create a clean energy future… Australians want to do the right thing by the environment.”
As they note : ” The Australian government has unveiled plans to impose a tax on carbon emissions for the worst polluters. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said carbon dioxide emissions would be taxed at A$23 ($25; £15, 17€) per tonne from 2012. “
These are good news as ” Australia is one of the world’s worst emitters of greenhouse gases per head of population. The country relies on coal for 80% of its electricity generation.” Continue »
To the IEA : ” CO2 emissions reach a record high in 2010; 80% of projected 2020 emissions from the power sector are already locked in. Energy-related carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2010 were the highest in history. ”
” After a dip in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis, emissions are estimated to have climbed to a record 30.6 Gigatonnes (Gt), a 5% jump from the previous record year in 2008, when levels reached 29.3 Gt. ”
” In addition, (…) 80% of projected emissions from the power sector in 2020 are already locked in, as they will come from power plants that are currently in place or under construction today. ” Continue »
