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Horses as Farm Equipment

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By ANNE RAVER - May. 16 (Special Report) - Horses as Farm Equipment

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Oil firm raids raise fuel price fear

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - May. 15 (News Report) - MPs and motoring groups call on UK regulators to investigate claims that oil giants may have been linked to price-fixing for more than a decade.

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Four colossal Sun flares in 48 hours

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Paul Rincon - May. 15 (News Report) - The Sun has unleashed the most powerful eruption - a solar flare - of 2013 so far.

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PM's concern over oil price 'fixing'

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - May. 15 (News Report) - David Cameron is "deeply" concerned by claims of price fixing by major oil firms, as energy minister Ed Davey prepares to make an emergency statement.

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European energy chief puts forward case for funding coal

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Terry Macalister - May. 13 (News) - EBRD chief Riccardo Puliti warns Europe not to be hasty in adopting 'ideological' policy on carbon intensity funding One of Europe's most influential government-owned investors in the energy industry has hinted it may expand funding of high-carbon coal projects despite mounting pressure from climate change campaigners to rule out such investments. Riccardo Puliti, energy chief at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), warned against an "ideological" policy on carbon intensity in funding decisions without giving weight to other considerations. The EBRD, which is based in London and owned by more than 60 countries, including the UK, is reviewing its energy policy. It has a €37.5bn (£32bn) loan book, with 41% of its investments last year channelled into the energy and infrastructure sectors. Puliti's comments came as scientists declared the highest day-long concentration of C0 2 in human history and a line of global institutions such as the International Energy ...

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Climate change: swift political action can avert a carbon dioxide crisis

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - May. 12 (Editorial) - Carbon dioxide levels have reached an all-time high. But there is some hope if governments take the figures seriously The news that concentrations of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere reached a level of 400 parts per million last week might not appear to have immediate significance. The level is only a couple of units higher than last year, after all. Yet the development has undoubted importance. With the realisation that carbon dioxide levels have achieved that symbolic 400ppm figure, it is now clear that two decades of warnings from scientists have fallen on deaf ears and that our leaders have failed completely to curtail rising outputs of greenhouse gases across the world. Indeed, they have allowed them to accelerate. In the 1960s, levels rose at 0.7ppm a year. Today, they rise at 2.1ppm, as more and more nations become industrialised and increase outputs from their factories and power plants. As a result, the most conservative of scientific calculations suggest Earth now faces a 50-50 ...

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'Climate change sceptics are turning Earth into dying patient'

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Fiona Harvey - May. 10 (News Report) - Heir to throne intervenes on issue dividing coalition, making outspoken criticism of attempts to tackle global warming Prince Charles has attacked corporate lobbyists and climate change sceptics for turning the Earth into a "dying patient", making his most outspoken criticism yet of the world's failure to tackle global warming just when the heir to the throne is assuming a growing number of the duties of what is supposed to be an apolitical monarchy. Hosting a two-day conference for forest scientists at St James's Palace in London, the Prince of Wales satirised those who stand in the way of climate action, characterising them as "the confirmed sceptics" and "the international association of corporate lobbyists". Faced with these forces of opposition, "science finds itself up the proverbial double blind gum tree", he added. At the debate on environmental issues, hours after the prince attended the Queen's speech, Charles attacked businesses which failed to care for the environment and ...

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New hydro scheme on 70th anniversary

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - May. 08 (News Report) - A hydro power scheme in Ross-shire is being given planning approval on the 70th anniversary of Scotland's hydro industry beginning.

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Japan’s Shift From Nuclear Energy

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By NASSRINE AZIMI - May. 07 (Opinion) - Op-Ed Contributor: Japan’s Shift From Nuclear Energy

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Brittany villages blazing a trail in energy self-sufficiency

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Hervé Kempf - May. 05 (News) - Residents of Côtes D'Armor in northern France hope a series of green schemes can also reinvigorate the local economy Jacky Aignel, the leader of Saint Gouéno council in Brittany, looks at the cranes hoisting blades to the top of a wind-mast: "We've been waiting so long for this," he sighs.

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Future highways may glow in the dark

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Leo Kelion, Colin Grant - May. 01 (News Report) - While carmakers have raced to add the latest technologies to their vehicles, the roads they drive on have arguably failed to evolve at the same pace. Now, an odd couple based in the Netherlands hope to change that with visions of self-illuminating weather warning signs painted on to the tarmac, and a dedicated lane capable of recharging electric cars on the go.

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Carbon bubble makes Australia's coal industry ripe 'for financial implosion'

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Damian Carrington - Apr. 29 (News Analysis) - Much of the nation's coal reserves will be worthless if world's governments fulfil pledge to cap emissions, warns report Australia's huge coal industry is a speculative bubble ripe for financial implosion if the world's governments fulfil their agreement to act on climate change, according to a new report . The warning that much of the nation's coal reserves will become worthless as the world hits carbon emission limits comes after banking giant Citi also warned Australian investors that fossil fuel companies could do little to avoid the future loss of value. Australia is already the globe's biggest coal exporter and "mega-mine" plans in Queensland for more extraction are identified as the world's second biggest " carbon bomb " threatening runaway global warming. "Investments in Australian coal rest on a speculative bubble of climate denial, indifference or dreaming," said John Connor, one of the new report's authors and CEO of The Climate Institute , an independent research organisation ...

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Burn our planet or face financial meltdown. Not much of a choice

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Will Hutton - Apr. 21 (Opinion) - Last week's collapse of a European carbon emissions scheme makes an agreed approach to climate change all the more urgent The world is going to fry – unless there is change soon. There is weakening political will to make national and international targets for carbon reduction stick, no strong business and financial coalition prepared to lead and a weakening groundswell of public opinion prepared to foot the bill. Instead, the international consensus of 25 years ago – that the world must act to challenge climate change – is dissolving. Individual countries are trying to steal a march on each other in a race to the bottom, dropping whatever scant penalties there have been for burning fossil fuels. This new political geography has been obvious ever since the Copenhagen talks collapsed in 2009 , but last week the speed with which ground is being lost became sickeningly obvious. The European parliament refused to back a stop-gap measure to save the European carbon emissions trading scheme. ...

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'Most Earth-like' worlds detected

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Apr. 19 (News Report) - Scientists say Nasa's Kepler space telescope has found distant planets that may be the most Earth-like it has yet discovered.

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Carbon bubble will plunge the world into another financial crisis

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Damian Carrington - Apr. 19 (Opinion) - Trillions of dollars at risk as stock markets inflate value of fossil fuels that may have to remain buried forever, experts warn The world could be heading for a major economic crisis as stock markets inflate an investment bubble in fossil fuels to the tune of trillions of dollars, according to leading economists. "The financial crisis has shown what happens when risks accumulate unnoticed," said Lord (Nicholas) Stern, a professor at the London School of Economics. He said the risk was "very big indeed" and that almost all investors and regulators were failing to address it. The so-called " carbon bubble " is the result of an over-valuation of oil, coal and gas reserves held by fossil fuel companies. According to a report published on Friday, at least two-thirds of these reserves will have to remain underground if the world is to meet existing internationally agreed targets to avoid the threshold for "dangerous" climate change. If the agreements hold , these reserves will be in effect ...

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Obama’s Numbers (Quarterly Update)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

FactCheck - By Brooks Jackson - Apr. 17 (Fact Check) - Reviewing some key statistical measures of Barack Obama's presidency so far, we find: The economy has added more jobs since Obama took office than it did in his predecessor's entire eight years in office. Despite the improved economy, the number of people receiving food-stamp assistance has continued to grow, and now more people have been added to the food-stamp rolls ... More >>

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Clean energy progress too slow to limit global warming, warns IEA

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - Apr. 17 (News Analysis) - With governments failing to promote green energy, top scientists say the drive to keep temperature rise below 2C has stalled The development of low-carbon energy is progressing too slowly to limit global warming, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday . With power generation still dominated by coal and governments failing to increase investment in clean energy, top climate scientists have said that the target of keeping the global temperature rise to less than 2C this century is slipping out of reach . "The drive to clean up the world's energy system has stalled," said Maria van der Hoeven, the IEA's executive director, at the launch of the agency's report on clean energy progress . "Despite much talk by world leaders, and a boom in renewable energy over the past decade, the average unit of energy produced today is basically as dirty as it was 20 years ago." Global clean energy investment in the first quarter fell to its lowest level in four years, driven by cuts in ...

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Applicants wanted: One way ticket to Mars

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Apr. 17 (Comment) - Would you apply for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet

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Somaliland gets wind in its sails for revamping power sector

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Nicholas Parkinson, Matthew Newsome - Apr. 15 (Comment) - The region's antiquated, piecemeal power grid is constraining growth – but a new energy bill may change that In 2009, Hassan Ahmed Hussein brought an industrial bread-making machine from abroad to install in his hotel in downtown Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. Hassan's idea was part business, part self-interest. Wholewheat bread is not available in Somaliland, and he envisioned selling it to small-scale vendors. He baked bread for four months before coming to the unfortunate conclusion that the machine wasn't cost effective. Electricity in Somaliland is too expensive. While the rest of the world pays an average $0.15-0.30 per kilowatt hour, Hargeisa's residents pay $1 per kWh. He abandoned the bakery and, in 2009, bought a diesel generator, poles, wires and transformers to start his own power company, Iftin, which rapidly gained nearly 2,000 customers in a catchment area of 10,000 residents. He has since merged his power stations with the city's largest provider, KAAH, and now ...

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Grappling with Iraq's electricity problems

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - Apr. 12 (News Analysis) - Is Iraq on its way to solving its electricity problems?

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How 'green' are electric cars?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Andrew Bomford - Apr. 11 (Special Report) - Nissan has begun production of the first UK-built electric car - but are these vehicles really environment-friendly?

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New Solar Process Gets More Out of Natural Gas

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By MATTHEW L. WALD - Apr. 11 (News Report) - New Solar Process Gets More Out of Natural Gas

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The long, slow death of the UK coal industry

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Mark Seddon - Apr. 11 (News Report) - Earlier this month Maltby colliery in South Yorkshire closed down for good. At the end of a winter that saw 40% of our energy needs met by coal – most of it imported – we witnessed the poignant closing ceremony Nothing better symbolised the passing of a great industry, referred to reverentially as "King Coal", than the lowering of one of the last chunks to have been cut at Maltby colliery next to the grave of the "unknown miner" in the town's cemetery last weekend. His had been the only body to be recovered when a gas explosion ripped through the underground galleries 90 years ago, killing 27 men. Those present wiped away tears, as last rites on an industry that had sustained this community for more than a century were read by the local priest. Wreaths were laid and the colliery brass band played the miners' hymn, Gresford, itself an anthem to another disaster. The short service had been billed as a "thanksgiving and prayer for the future", although the many newly redundant must have wondered ...

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Lancaster, Calif., Focuses on Becoming Solar Capital of ‘Universe’

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By FELICITY BARRINGER - Apr. 09 (News Report) - There are at least two things to know about this high desert city. One, the sun just keeps on shining. Two, the city’s mayor, a class-action lawyer named R. Rex Parris, just keeps on competing. Two years ago, the mayor, a Republican, decided to leverage the incessant Antelope Valley sun so that Lancaster could become the solar capital “of the world,” he said. Then he reconsidered. “Of the universe,” he said, the brio in his tone indicating that it would be parsimonious to confine his ambition to any one planet.

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Could Wind Turbines Be Toxic To The Ear?

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

All Things Considered - Apr. 03 (Comment) - Critics argue that wind turbine syndrome is a fictional malady perpetuated by people angered by the wind turbines in their communities. Now ear, nose and throat experts are finally weighing in on whether it could be real.

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