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 !
To Cleantechies : ” Renewable energy investments in India increased by more than 52 percent in 2011, the fastest growth among major global economies, according to a new report.”
“More than $10.3 billion was invested in renewable energy projects in India last year, with about $4.6 billion targeting wind energy projects and another $4.2 billion going toward solar projects. “
This could be just the beginning as the New Scientist gives many reasons why renewable energy sources – and especially solar – are due to keep growing and growing. Continue »
I know, I am way late on this one. But here is my selection of most important tweets for December 2011. There are so many great articles there you have enough to read for the next weeks.
This is why I keep on using Twitter. I believe it offers a good complement to this website. So if you are on Twitter and like this selection, don’t hesitate to start following me.
Hopefully I won’t be late for the selection of tweets next month. Nota : the layout is broken. Nonetheless, the tweets are readable. Sorry for the inconvenience. Continue »
What if we could in the same time slow down climate change, increase health and boost agriculture ? Is this too good to be true ? No, as to a NASA scientist we could do just that by focusing on both methane and soot (black carbon).
Out of the 400 ideas that were studied, these 14 were chosen as they have a direct and immediate impact on people’s lives. None of these methods are concerning carbon dioxide, which also have to be tackled in the meantime.
One of the main ways is switching to cleaner burning cookstoves. I have previously tackled this topic here and explained how this could save two million people per year. Continue »
As you sure know, the Durban Climate talks ended Sunday. There are some good news, but they are mostly bad. Good news first : The Kyoto Protocol has been extended until 2017.
Another good news : the Durban agreement was the first ever to bind all countries to act on climate change. Sure, this is merely halfway through business as usual and the needed target.
But this is the further we have ever been on climate negotiation ! Even if it won’t be enough, even if it is far from what should be done at a global level, we are going forward on climate. Continue »
To the WWF : “ It’s possible to reduce deforestation to near zero by 2020, but delaying action to save forests by even a decade means double the area of forests lost by 2030 “
” The report finds that reducing deforestation to near zero would also bring global emissions from forest destruction close to zero, but delaying this reduction until 2030 would mean sacrificing 69 million hectares of forest worldwide. “
Such a delay would bring an additional 24 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In comparison, 33 gigatons of this gas were released in 2010 alone worldwide… Continue »
As TreeHugger reports : ” emissions must peak by 2020 and be reduced “well below” 1990 levels by 2050, if we are to have a “likely” (greater than 66%) chance of keeping temperature rise below 2°C by 2100. “
” If emissions peak at 2030, we may be able to hold temperature rise to 3°C. Should emissions continue on a business-as-usual trajectory, sometime between 2040-2060 we will cross the 2°C threshold. “
I had read once that they needed to peak by 2015. I also noted previously that even a mere 2°C might be too much for all of us as carbon sinks are becoming less efficient. 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 »
If you think the economic downturn is plaguing every sector, think again. To the UNEP : total global investments in clean energy grew by 32 percent in 2010 to $211 billion (146 billion euros). However, there is a catch :
To Grist : ” For the first time ever, developing countries lead yearly investment in clean energy — representing about $72 billion (50 billion euros) in spending in 2010, versus $70 billion in rich countries.
“China, with U.S. $48.9 billion in financial new investment in renewables (up 28%), was the world leader in 2010.” I am just wondering when the European Union as a whole will have some leadership… Continue »
According to Fast Company : ” Many major cities have seen a decline in driving over the past few years. The reasons for this are varied, but if it’s a continuing trend, it’s going to mean drastic changes for the way we shape our cities. “
” (…) There’s just one caveat: The study only looked at car usage patterns in Europe, North America, and Australia. In rapidly developing countries like India and China, car use is likely to grow for the foreseeable future. “
So perhaps peak car will occur in peak oil in Western countries. But it is most unlikely that on a global level it will be the case… Indeed, there might be billions of cars on the roads in 2050, when there are 600 million today.
Climate Progress published an article on how developing countries are more moving on climate change than developed, when the latter are responsible for the largest share of emissions…
This is completely crazy and sad at the same time. As they note : ” The countries that have made the smallest contribution to climate change may be doing the most to address it. “
” That would be Robin Hood in reverse — compounding the fact that we are all reverse Robin Hoods, maintaining our wealthy lifestyles by robbing our children of a livable climate and truly sustainable wealth” Continue »
