Top Stories
China, South Korea lead in green tech
funding.—reliability high.
"China may arguably be the world's biggest polluter, but it seems the
country is also the most serious investor in green tech. A third of its
economic recovery package was spent on green-technology investment in
the form of high-speed rail trains and infrastructure, wind energy,
solar energy, and energy-efficient lighting. It equates to about 3
percent of China's GDP (gross domestic product), according to a new
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) book released Wednesday.
... The U.S., despite talk of turning to a green economy, spent the
equivalent of 0.7 percent of its GDP on green tech investment, and the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 only allocated 12
percent to green tech projects. ... For those who believe the European
Union is more green than the U.S., here's a statistic that may shock.
For all its talk of a green economy, the EU as a whole only spent the
equivalent of 0.2 percent of its GDP on green tech investment,
according to UNEP statistics. ... the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
percentage-wise was found to be one of the leading green tech
investors, spending the equivalent of more than 3 percent of its annual
GDP on green tech." Story in CNET News.
More about book here.
Black storm rising.—reliability
high.
Feature article on the Deepwater Horizon blowout and its potential
consequences for the environment, industry, technology and regulation.
See The
Economist.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Your Toaster Costs How Much to Run??
Interactive Graphic Gives Run-Down On Worst-Offender Gadgets.—reliability
medium.
"GE and Pentagram's Lisa Strausfeld have come up with a fantastic way
to visualize how good or bad our appliances and devices are when it
comes to using up our home's energy. The interactive tool tells you how
much energy that appliance or device uses in watts, dollars, or gallons
of gas, as well as what one kilowatt hour yields for that device, and
even better, it will rank each device so that you can see at a glance
which you want to unplug." Story at treehugger.
Access tool here.
[36 pieces of
toast per kWh, equals one hour of air conditioning (room AC) or 3 brews
in the coffee maker or 12 minutes of central AC. Lots of other ways to
play with this interesting tool.]
Venture capital investment in clean
technology bolstered by energy efficiency and electric vehicle deals.—reliability
high.
"US venture capital investment in the sector in the first quarter of
fiscal 2010 hit $733.3m, representing a 68 per cent increase in capital
and 118 per cent increase in deals compared to the first quarter of
2009, according to analysis by Ernst & Young. ... Ernst & Young
said cleantech investment is recovering faster than overall venture
capital investment, which increased 11 per cent from the first quarter
of 2009 to $4.7bn." See NewNet
story. Ernst & Young press release here.
The Smart Grid Acquisition Tally . . . So
Far.—reliability medium.
Table with 17 smartgrid acquisitions over last 3 years. See earth2tech.
Government and
Regulation
India's urban awakening: Building inclusive
cities, sustaining economic growth.—reliability high.
About new report from McKinsey. "India's lack of effective policies to
manage its rapid and large-scale urbanization could jeopardize the
nation's growth trajectory. But if India pursues a new operating model
for its cities, it could add as much as 1 to 1.5 percent to annual GDP
growth, bringing the economy near to the double-digit growth to which
the government aspires." See McKinsey
site.
Mine Safety Sweep Yields Citations, Closures.—reliability
high.
"Federal mine-safety officials said Thursday that they closed six
Kentucky mines and issued more than 1,000 citations for safety
violations as a result of a nationwide sweep last month of 57 coal
mines with a history of repeat safety violations. The five-day
inspection blitz was in response to the April 5 explosion that killed
29 at Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, which
had been cited repeatedly for dangerous conditions. ... From April 19
to April 23, MSHA inspectors issued 1,339 citations and 109 withdrawal
orders. Such orders require miners to leave the mine because it is
deemed too unsafe to operate. The 57 mines were spread across 10 states
and included those run by large publicly held companies and small
operators with a "history of significant and/or repeat violations of
safety standards," the MSHA said." From The
Wall Street Journal. [If this push had
been conducted a month earlier, would 29 lives have been saved?]
What the radiation leak in Delhi means.—reliability
medium.
Improper disposal of a cobalt 60 radiation source, with one death so
far resulting, "highlights the poignancy of the suffering of poor and
innocent scrap-workers on account of utterly irresponsible conduct on
the part of several agencies, including Delhi University, the Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board and the Government of India. The tragedy also
underscores the infuriatingly poor capacity of this society and its
regulatory agencies to cope with mishaps, in particular, damage caused
by ionising radiation, a poison that's especially insidious because
it's invisible, intangible and poorly understood. ... This is of a
piece with the AERB's style of functioning and the extremely sloppy,
inefficient, and unsafe mode of operation of its parent, the Department
of Atomic Energy. The DAE is easily the worst-functioning department of
the Indian government, which has never met a target or completed a
major project without a typical cost overrun of 200 percent-plus."
Column in rediff
news. [There
was a similar incident in
Brazil a few years ago. Sign of very slack regulation.]
India Moves to Cap Nuclear Liability, May
Ease GE-Hitachi Entry.—reliability high.
"India’s government today sent to Parliament legislation to make
nuclear reactor operators solely liable for accidents and to cap
damages, proposals that will help the entry of U.S. companies like
General Electric Co. and are likely to face stiff opposition. The
Congress party-led ruling coalition’s main rival, the Bharatiya Janata
Party, and Communist members walked out of the lower house to protest a
bill that will shield American technology suppliers from compensation
claims. ... 'This bill is crucial for American companies which don’t
have sovereign backing, unlike their Russian and French Counterparts,'
Debashish Mishra, the head of energy practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers
Pvt. Ltd., said by phone from Mumbai. 'Their shareholders will need to
know clearly the downside in case there is a nuclear accident.'" See
Bloomberg Businessweek.
[An energy
technology so risky nobody will build it unless governments accept the
liability for disaster? And if the French government is willing to
accept liability, why should the taxpayers of India do so?]
Science and
Economics
Environmental Causes of Cancer 'Grossly
Underestimated'.—reliability high.
"The President's Cancer Panel on Thursday reported that "the true
burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly
underestimated" and strongly urged action to reduce people's widespread
exposure to carcinogens. ... The panel advised President Obama "to use
the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins
from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care
costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American
lives." ... In its letter, the panel singled out bisphenol A, a
chemical used in polycarbonate plastic and can linings that is
unregulated in the United States, as well as radon, formaldehyde and
benzene." Story in The
Daily Green. PDF of report here.
[Making the case
for stricter regulation.]
Society and
Trends
Back to the City.—reliability
high.
"To put it simply, the suburbs have lost their sheen: Both young
workers and retiring Boomers are actively seeking to live in densely
packed, mixed-use communities that don’t require cars—that is, cities
or revitalized outskirts in which residences, shops, schools, parks,
and other amenities exist close together. 'In the 1950s, suburbs were
the future,' says University of Michigan architecture and
urban-planning professor Robert Fishman, commenting on the striking
cultural shift. 'The city was then seen as a dingy environment. But
today it’s these urban neighborhoods that are exciting and diverse and
exploding with growth.'" More on this reorientation. Article in Harvard Business
Review.
National Poll: One in Five Americans to
Drive Less in Wake of BP Oil Spill.—reliability high.
"The survey, which polled 1,312 consumers across the country, found
20.1 percent of Americans said they will reduce their gas consumption
in response to the oil spill. ... The combined impact of the oil spill
and the recent mine disaster in West Virginia has caused more than two
in every five Americans, or 41.7 percent, to think about the 'human and
environmental costs' associated with their own energy consumption."
Other highlights of poll by Sheldon Group. From Business
Wire.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
