Climate Climate & Energy
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An ideological breakthrough on feed-in tariffs in Britain
In a startling reversal, Britain’s Labour government has put on the table a feed-in tariff proposal for “microgeneration.” The proposed feed-in tariffs will pay homeowners, farmers, and community groups for the electricity they generate with renewable energy. The move represents an ideological breakthrough. Long an ardent supporter of Renewable Obligation Certificate trading systems and plain […]
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On economic desertification through water mismanagement
“Unchecked climate change will mean that some parts of the world will simply not have enough water to sustain settlements, both small and large, because agriculture becomes untenable and industries relying on water can no longer compete or function effectively. This will trigger structural changes in economies right through to the displacement of people as […]
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Hansen et al: We must phase-out coal emissions by 2030 and stabilize at or below 350 ppm
In a few days, James Hansen and several other leading climate scientists will release a major new study, "Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim?" in the Open Atmospheric Sciences Journal. You can read a first draft of the study and my commentary on it here: Hansen (et al) ultimatum: Get back to 350 ppm […]
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Indonesian mud volcano caused by well explosion, geologists say
A faulty natural-gas well was the cause of the Lusi mud volcano in Indonesia that began erupting in May 2006 and hasn’t stopped yet, burbling up hundreds of gallons of mud each day and so far burying four towns and 25 factories, a meeting of geologists has concluded.
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Everything you need to know about Berkeley’s innovative rooftop solar program
Many of us could make money by investing in energy efficiency improvements and solar systems for our homes. Yet we stubbornly resist making these improvements. Why? Buying power from your utility is a simple, pay-as-you-go service. Solar and energy efficiency projects, on the other hand, require tens of thousands of dollars up front and a […]
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The first commercial solar-powered radio station goes online
This is kind of cool, in a dorky way: More on KGO’s solar project.
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EDF’s video contest will spur creativity and innovation around cap-and-trade
This is a response to Joseph Romm’s post “Happy thoughts and fairy dust.” —– Nothing like some good, old-fashioned back-and-forth to keep bloggers — and blog readers? — engaged. EDF is organizing a video/graphics competition to ask for help in explaining, “What is a carbon cap and how will it cure our oil addiction?” Joe Romm critiqued […]
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Daylight saving wastes energy
You can’t save daylight by moving around the hands on your clock, of course. So daylight saving time remains as absurdly named as it ever was. As for saving energy, DST doesn’t do that either, according to most studies, as I noted earlier this year. An Australian study concluded "These results suggest that current plans […]
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A few billions more
I’ll go out on a limb and guess that this is not the last such story we will read in coming years: Low-emissions coal-fired power technology, or so-called clean coal, probably needs a further $15 billion of investment and 10 more years of research and development to be ready for commercial use, Credit Suisse Group […]
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Think tank says price on carbon more effective research driver than targeted subsidies
Robert Fri, former deputy administrator of the EPA and the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, former president of progressive think tank Resources for the Future, says the government isn’t very good at doing energy research, and that a price on carbon would do more to stimulate productive energy research than targeted grants for specific […]
