co2 emissions

The Upside of the Downturn

September 2, 2009

Why it matters:
Because voracious consumerism seems to have a negative effect on the environment. Who would have guessed it?
Recap:
According to a recent Reuters report, the economic crisis…has an upside! The European Environment Agency announced Monday that greenhouse gas emissions for [...]

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CO2 Emissions Rose 2% in 2008 – Curbing Industrial Activity Not the Solution: German Institute Says

August 11, 2009

| Sourced From Treehugger.com |
Despite global recession, and for the tenth straight year, CO2 emissions keep rising. Reuters reports that German renewable energy institute global CO2 emissions rose 1.94% in 2008, up to 31.5 billion tonnes. But they have a solution: Stop trying to curb industrial activity and instead tie renewable energy investment to CO2 [...]

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The folly of considering CO2 alone when considering global warming

August 10, 2009

| Sourced From Examiner.com |
The IPCC is charged by the UN to focus on manmade contributions to global warming. This would obviously include our emissions of greenhouse gases, but would also (it seems to me) include impacts from deforestation, changes in land use, depletion of ground water–even the effects of jet contrails. Sadly, it seems [...]

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Brown Clouds – Not CO2 – Melting Himalayan Glaciers

August 10, 2009

Brown cloud near Pune, India

The legendary glaciers of the Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountain ranges have been losing volume at an increasing rate over the past twenty to thirty years. And over this same time period, much data has piled up confirming the role of increased CO2 emissions in global warming trends. Given this, it would be “natural” to assume that CO2-induced warming was also to blame for the glacial melting. But it turns out that much stronger evidence points to the impact of “brown cloud” events.

There have been other extensive brown cloud events elsewhere, such as in Central and Eastern China (which first made headlines back in 2005). They can be several miles wide / long, and extend hundreds of meters or more high. The clouds would be more aptly described as massive, moving blankets of thick haze (similar to smog). They typically last anywhere from a few days to a week before they dissipate. The clouds are indeed lethal to some (asthmatics, elderly, young children, those with bad hearts) and have also been known to suffocate livestock.

Solar Power Way To Save Oil, Slash CO2 Emissions

August 9, 2009

| Sourced From Brudirect.com |
Kuala Belait – Brunei is set to save about 340,400 litres of crude oil and reduce about 940 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually once the Tenaga Suria Brunei solar power project starts generating electricity next year.
The project, which is set to generate some 1.344MWh of electricity per year, has [...]

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CARBON CREDIT and CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM (CDM)

August 9, 2009

| Sourced From Morungexpress.com |
The issues of Climate and Global Warming have today become the greatest challenge to the human strive for its continued and dignified existence. Together, they impact every aspect of life on earth and constitute a threat like never before in human history. Therefore in our humble attempt to create public awareness [...]

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EPRI Confirms “Full Portfolio” of Technologies Key to Curbing CO2, Meeting Demand Growth, Limiting Cost Increases

August 8, 2009

| Sourced From Docuticker.com |
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) today released updated “Prism and Merge” analyses that show a full portfolio of electricity sector technologies could simultaneously address the challenge of growing load demand while meeting carbon constraints and limiting increases in the cost of electricity.
The research shows that the sector could potentially reduce [...]

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Mixed Signals on Sustainable Development in Brazil?

August 7, 2009

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from David Hone, Climate Change Adviser for Shell.

I have been in Sao Paulo this week at Sustentavel 2009, perhaps the premiere Sustainable Development event in Brazil, if not all of South America. At the opening I represented the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and then on the first day of presentations I participated in the main climate change panel session.

What is clear is that there is a passion in Brazil for sustainability – from the huge issues they face in the Amazon region to the road congestion in Sao Paulo. Talking with delegates at Sustentavel, it is also clear that the country faces an interesting future in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Factor 32 – Calculating the Rate of Consumption

August 5, 2009

World Fertility Rate Map

The current world population is approximately 6.5 billion people and growing. By or before 2050, that number will grow by almost 50% to 9 billion. With the availability of birth control and better education rates for women being higher in developed (industrial or post-industrial) nations, most of this increase is projected to come from the developing world–those nations that are just now making significant progress away from exclusively agrarian societies, and towards full industrialization.

And despite the prevalence of fatal diseases, civil wars, and high infant mortality rates (note: the US has the highest infant mortality rate of any developed country), most of these developing countries continue to show population increases–especially as more effective medicines and health education (via government and private sector programs) become available.

Ricardo Launches Consortium to Evaluate Lubricant Challenges of Future Low Carbon Engine Technologie

August 4, 2009

| Sourced From Auto-mobi.info |
Ricardo, Inc., the US subsidiary of Ricardo plc, the leading independent provider of technology, product innovation and engineering solutions to the world’s automotive, defense, transport and new energy industries, has announced that the company is to launch a consortium to evaluate lubricant challenges of future low carbon engine technologies. With the [...]