Archive for » December, 2008 «

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008 | Author:

Man is assaulting the oceans. They will smite him if he does not take care

Photoshot

Photoshot

Not much is known about the sea, it is said; the surface of Mars is better mapped. But 2,000 holes have now been drilled in the bottom, 100,000 photographs have been taken, satellites monitor the five oceans and everywhere floats fitted with instruments rise and fall like perpetual yo-yos. Quite a lot is known, and very little is reassuring.

more...

Category: Articles  | Tags: , ,  | Leave a Comment
Saturday, December 20th, 2008 | Author:

Below are notes from one of CO2 traders to members of its staff. The message is clear, even with little energy but with the right attitude - a small company can have a huge impact.


Dear colleagues,

As a company we are promoting energy efficiency as a way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. In last year’s Christmas present we also gave our best customer tips and tricks how to reduce energy consumption at home (see below). However, I notice that we don’t observe these tips and tricks at our offices. As it is customary to have always good intentions in a new year, here are our ‘voluntary’ energy efficiency measures:

more...

Saturday, December 13th, 2008 | Author:

The UN climate summit has ended with delegates taking very different views on how much it has achieved.

Western delegates said progress here had been encouraging, but environment groups said rich countries had not shown enough ambition.

Developing nations were angry that more money was not put forward to protect against climate impacts.

The meeting is the halfway point on a two-year process aimed at reaching a deal in Copenhagen by the end of 2009.

After Poznan, eyes are turning to Copenhagen

As envisaged at last year's conference in Bali, that agreement is supposed to have two major elements - an expanded Kyoto Protocol-style deal committing industrialised countries to deeper emission cuts in the mid-term, perhaps by 2020, and a longer-term agreement encompassing all countries.

more...

Category: Articles, Politics  | Tags:  | Leave a Comment
Saturday, December 06th, 2008 | Author:

A new The Economist's Technology Quarterly is out now with many interesting articles on various modern energy initiatives:

  • Monitor : Fresher cookers : Technology and development: The humble cooking stove is being overhauled around the world with the help of “user focused” design
  • Monitor : Green iron : Environment: Treating industrial wastewater with scrap iron can be a cheap and effective way to reduce pollution from factories
  • Rational consumer : Small is beautiful : Computing: Netbooks are small computers that are cheaper and lighter than full-scale laptops. They have their merits—but do not ask too much of them
  • Case history : Wind of change : Energy: Wind power has established itself as an important source of renewable energy in the past three decades. The basic idea is ancient, but its modern incarnation adds many new high-tech twists
  • Clean technology : Masdar plan : Energy: Wind power has established itself as an important source of renewable energy in the past three decades. The basic idea is ancient, but its modern incarnation adds many new high-tech twists

more...