Home/Posts Tagged ‘carbon’
Posts Tagged ‘carbon’
Climate Change, Oct 27th, 2011,
Here are a few climate change stories making headlines of late. Thee great State of California has instituted a policy designed to limit its carbon emissions, otherwise known as a cap and trade bill. Cap and trade treats carbon emissions – or rather, lack thereof – as a sort of commodity to be traded and even profited on. There are plenty of criticisms of cap and trade or carbon trading systems, including among environmentalists. I’m not such a big fan myself, but I guess it’s better than nothing. From the New York Times: In a cap-and-trade system, the government sets a…
Tags: California, cap and trade, carbon, Climate change, geoengineering, skeptic
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 5th, 2011,
In 1991 American industrialist Warren Buffet stated that in over 100 years of human flight, investors had never made any money from the airline industry. So if flying is a net loss industry, which has historically relied on government subsidies, why is it at the same times taxed so heavily? Conversely, if flying is such a money-loser as well as a huge climate change driver, why is it so heavily subsidized? I’m guessing it has something to due with lobbying by other groups within the tourism industry, including the governments of popular destinations and of course the airlines themselves. Such…
Tags: airlines, carbon, co2, emissions, EU, flying, tax, trading scheme
Climate Change, Wildlife & Flora, Jun 13th, 2011,
I have seen the future and it stings. Climate change, overfishing and agricultural runoff are all possible factors in the rise of jellyfish populations in seas around the globe. Jellyfish invasions such as those experienced by Spain last summer are actually population booms and/or mass migrations attributed to warmer waters, a reduction of predators and an increase of oceanic pollution from organic fertilizers. Besides wreaking havoc on Spain’s beaches, jellyfish have been blamed for wiping out salmon stocks in Northern Ireland and disrupting the running of coastal power and desalination plants in Africa, the Middle East and Japan. New research,…
Tags: acidic, carbon, carbon dioxide, Climate change, jellyfish, laser, oceans, Pollution, population
Climate Change, Green living, Feb 14th, 2011,
Finland’s Environment Ministry has come up with an innovative project, which pairs businesses and local govenments in order to cut greenhouse gases. It’s called Finnish Carbon Neutral Municipalities or CANEMU. CANEMU is a carbon reduction experiment on the local level, with the municipalities implementing 70 measures for increased energy efficiency and investment in the environment. The project, which began in 2008, is already being hailed as a success, with a further additional 60 measures planned for the future. Five municipalities committed themselves to becoming living laboratories, to find ways to cut emissions beyond European Union mandated levels ahead of schedule…
Tags: carbon, cutting, Finland, measures CANEMU, Uusikaupunki
Climate Change, Nature, Science & Technology, Sep 14th, 2010,
Carbon and methane stored in Siberia’s permafrost are being released as Russia’s Arctic experiences warmer temperatures, which cause the permafrost to recede. So far there is insufficient data to gauge just what percentage of methane in the atmosphere is a result of particular natural sources such as swamps and melting permafrost. Manmade sources of methane include power generation, rice farming, livestock agriculture and landfills. From a report by Russia’s BCM News: The fact is that the permafrost covers millions of kilometers of swamps. While melting, swamps send to the atmosphere tons of methane, which, in turn, leads to more significant…
Tags: arctic, carbon, Climate change, French, German, Lidar, melting, methane, Nevada, permafrost, Russia, satellite, Siberia
Climate Change, Politics, Sep 4th, 2010,
The UK’s chief environmental scientist has stated that Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions have actually increased in the last 20 years due to ‘hidden’ emissions in imported goods. Since last year, China has been labeled the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, though it is the West that fuels much of China’s emissions by importing so much from the rapidly developing Asian super power. From a report in the Guardian: Speaking in a documentary to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 next week, Professor Bob Watson said there was a need to be more open about the rises in emissions generated…
Tags: biofuels, carbon, China, emissions, gasses, greenhouse, shipping, UK
Green living, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 19th, 2010,
In a UN-sponsored event designed to popularize electric vehicles, the Zero Race solar car rally began on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland. Participating in the race are teams from South Korea, Australia, Switzerland and Germany. They will attempt to travel around the world in 80 days, through 16 countries. Zero Race organizer Louis Palmer has already driven around the world in his ‘Solar Taxi’, through 38 countries during 18 months. From a CNET News article: With this race we want to show that seven billion people on this planet need renewable energy and clean mobility. –Louis Palmer For more on the…
Tags: around, carbon, cars, electric, Louis, Palmer, race, Solar, Switzerland, World, zero
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Aug 10th, 2010,
Britain’s energy secretary Chris Huhne has lifted the ban on local authorities selling back surplus electricity into the national power grid. The plan is to encourage local councils to generate their own renewable energy by installing solar panels and wind turbines on council owned property, including both homes and public buildings. Any extra electricity can be sold back to the grid and provide much needed income to local authorities. From an article in the Guardian: At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher. The hope…
Tags: authorities, Britain, British, buildings, carbon, council, developers, energy, government, Green, grid, homes, local, plant, power, renewable, Solar, UK, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Aug 4th, 2010,
You might think you can do a better job than the UK government at cutting CO2, becoming more energy efficient and deciding how Britain should move towards a low carbon economy. Well the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change let’s you try it out – in a computer simulation, of course. The Independent’s environment editor loves it, as he explains in a recent article: Doing it yourself gives an unusual and vivid insight into the difficulties faced by real policymakers in grappling with our energy future. The software tool that makes it possible is called the 2050 Pathways Calculator…
Tags: Britain, carbon, Climate change, cuts, DECC, Department, emissions, energy, environmental, government, Green, Guardian, Independent, McCarthy, policy, power, schemes, UK, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 28th, 2010,
Cap and trade or emissions trading schemes can be confusing. They have been touted as the chief market-based solution for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, preserving valuable natural resources like forests, while making money for rich and poor countries alike. The far right and climate change skeptics hate them for obvious – and sometimes less obvious – reasons: they hate government meddling in the free market and regulating business and industry to the point that they believe in a vast ‘socialist’ conspiracy involving all prominent climate scientists. Or is it just a simple question of which class and which industries will…
Tags: activist, cap and trade, carbon, change, China, climate, copenhagen, Decodcidio, emissions, environmentalist, European, exchange, hacked, justice, market, scheme, social, trading
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 21st, 2010,
The UK’s independent advisory body established under the Climate Change Act has stated that Britain needs to invest more in low carbon technologies in order to meet its goal of cutting 1990 emissions levels by 80% by the year 2050. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) was established with the purpose of reporting to the UK’s parliament regarding the country’s progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The fear is that Britain will be left behind if it does not fund technological development in green industries such as solar and wind. The CCC’s report comes after the UK’s new coalition government…
Tags: Britain, carbon, CCC, change, climate, committee, emissions, energy, government, Green, invest, low, Solar, tech, technologies, UK, wind
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Jul 20th, 2010,
Pipe dreams of a future of eco-friendly travel go up in smoke when you look at the projected numbers for air travel. In short, total emissions from flying are set to skyrocket. The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being touted as 20% more fuel efficient than its rivals, lighter and more durable due to it’s carbon fiber composite construction, with better air quality, more leg room, larger windows and a quieter, more comfortable ride. But according to a report by the Associated Press, Boeing says it will be in the air for another 50 years. That’s a long time, even…
Tags: A380, air, Airbus, airliner, Boeing, carbon, Dreamliner, emissions, flying, fuel, future, Green, greener, IATA, travel
Climate Change, Politics, ,
Six nations pledged to either go carbon neutral or low carbon at a meeting this past weekend in the Maldives. All are developing countries and most are low-lying island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels resulting from climate change. Though these countries contribute almost nothing to climate change, their commitments to cutting greenhouse gases are a strong political statement in the lead-up to the UN climate change meetings in November and December in Mexico. The government of the Maldives issued this statement, as quoted in an AFP report: Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, the Maldives, the…
Tags: carbon, change, climate, Costa Rica, countries, developing, emissions, Ethiopia, greenhouse, island, Maldives, nations, neutral, sea levels, vulnerable
Green living, Health, Jul 16th, 2010,
A recent piece for The Ecologist, entitled ‘Biomass Britain: do fields of energy crops spell an end to grazing livestock’, explores the possibility of a revolution in the UK’s land use. 70-80% of land in the UK is used by the British livestock industry. The possibility of a near-complete shift from livestock farming to the growing of food crops and biomass for energy production may sound revolutionary to some and catastrophic to others. It would mean the de-industrialization of Britain’s meat industry and a 60-70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, according to The Ecologist article. It’s a revolutionary vision that…
Tags: biomass, British, carbon, change, diet, emissions, energy, farming, forestry, industry, livestock, meat, Peel, plant, Scotland, Scottish, UK, wood
Climate Change, Pollution, Jul 13th, 2010,
Iraq’s Mesopotamian marshes, drained under the regime of Saddam Hussein during the early 1990s to punish a local uprising, are recovering nicely due to the efforts of Iraqi conservationists and local inhabitants. This former Garden of Eden is believed by some scholars to be the actual Garden of Eden mentioned in the Bible. You know, where Adam and Eve frolicked and had that nasty run-in with the snake. What was nothing but a wasteland nearly a mere 20 years ago is now once again a thriving ecosystem: The story of this once almost impossible restoration is told in an exhibition…
Tags: carbon, Garden of Eden, Gulf War, Iraq, marshes, Mesopotamian, Middle East, Strategic Foresight Group, war
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Jul 6th, 2010,
The UK-based 10:10 global campaign was founded in September of 2009 by the director of the environmental documentary film The Age of Stupid, Franny Armstrong. The idea of 10:10 is simple – to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 10% in 2010. This means everyone, on both individual and organizational levels – businesses, schools, religious organizations, sports clubs, hospitals and people – wasting less and saving more. Even the UK’s new coalition government, along with 9 other governments, has signed on. To those who say this is insignificant, remember this: the UK’s public sector has a bigger carbon footprint than the…
Tags: 10:10, campaign, carbon, Climate change, environment, gas, global, greenhouse, money, UK
Climate Change, Green living, Jul 5th, 2010,
Since I eat a banana almost every day I admit I’ve dreaded cutting down or giving them up based on the fact that they are not a local food and therefore not environmentally right-on. I naturally assumed they were not energy efficient due to their having to be shipped from Costa Rica or some such far-off tropical place, but at the same time I didn’t really know. A new book by Mike Berners-Lee entitled ‘How Bad are Bananas?’ attempts to measure the carbon footprint of, yes, bananas, but pretty much everything else too. Both the Guardian and The Ecologist have…
Tags: bananas, Berners-Lee, book, carbon, co2, ecologist, footprint, Guardian, Mike
Climate Change, Politics, Jul 1st, 2010,
An independent report commissioned by the UK’s Conservative Party – when they were in opposition – has found that Britain needs a green investment bank in order to meet its emissions goals for 2020. The report, entitled ‘Unlocking investment to deliver Britain’s low carbon future’ discusses low carbon investment, issuing ‘green bonds’, tax incentives to help clean energy industries and levies on consumer fuel bills. From a Reuters Africa report: The scale of the investment required to meet UK climate change and renewable energy targets is unprecedented. –Green Investment Bank Commission report The report also states that the bank should…
Tags: bank, Britain, carbon, Climate change, Conservative, energy, Green, investment, UK
Climate Change, Jun 30th, 2010,
In light of a recent survey naming UK companies as the worst among 300 of Europe’s largest corporations when it comes to their contribution to global warming, another survey has been released, this time focusing only on British firms. The new list, called the FTSE carbon strategy index, compares Britain’s 350 biggest companies in terms of their response to climate change. The idea is that those companies with the best carbon strategies will also be the most efficient and well run. From an article in the Guardian: The new FTSE carbon strategy index weighs up the “carbon risk and performance”…
Tags: 350, carbon, Climate change, companies, corporations, emissions, firms, FTSE, Greenpeace, index, list, palm oil, strategy, survey, UK, Unilever
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Jun 29th, 2010,
A new campaign by the Japanese government encourages people to go to bed one hour earlier in order to save energy and cut down on CO2 emissions. Not watching TV and having lights on late at night could cut household energy consumption by up to 20% The campaign, launched by Japan’s Environment Ministry, is called ‘Morning Challenge’ is designed to change morning sunlight for nighttime energy use in the home. From an article in the Independent: A study by the Japanese ministry of environment has found that 20 percent of Japan’s electricity is consumed within the final hour before bed….
Tags: campaign, carbon, co2, emissions, energy, environment, government, japan, Japanese, ministry, night, TV, UK, watching
