Top Stories
Green Activists Gain Ground with Successive
Victories in India.—reliability medium.
Analysis by Ranjit Devraj says "Green activists in India have chalked
up a series of successes recently and feel heartened that the central
government is heeding their call. A number of mega projects which would
have displaced vulnerable communities or caused damage to the
environment were recently scrapped by the government." Cites examples.
Credits environment minister Jairam Ramesh. "The minister does not shy
away from controversies, readily taking on powerful vested interests --
whether they are cabinet colleagues or mining maharajas." From IPS.
Analysis: China clean energy plan hinges on
coal price.—reliability high.
"China's $736-billion push to harness nuclear, wind, solar and biomass
energy hinges on making the cleaner fuels competitive with cheap and
CO2-intensive coal without derailing surging industrial growth. ...
'Parallel policies are essential,' said Wang Yi, deputy head of
Institute of Policy and management, China Academy of Science. 'The
government must gradually lift fossil fuel prices while granting
incentives to non-fossil fuels to establish a long-term price signal.'
... For international firms involved in the sectors expected to receive
the spending, the plan is a potential gold mine. ... 'Chinese leaders
are dead serious about environment, more serious than the outside world
thinks,' said Yan Kefeng of Cambridge Energy Research Associates." See Reuters
article.
A Newspaper Apologizes to United Nations’
Climate Chief.—reliability medium.
"Last December, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph newspaper published a
2,000-word article accusing Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the
United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of potential
financial conflicts of interest. On Sunday, The Telegraph made an
abrupt about-face, pulling the story from its Web site and apologizing
to Dr. Pachauri. The occasion for the retraction was the release of an
audit of Dr. Pachauri’s finances by the international accounting firm
KPMG, which found that he had, in fact, made little income from his
outside dealings since 2008." See New
York Times Green blog. More from George Monbiot
at The Guardian. [A lot of people
heard the story that Pachauri was getting rich off climate change
("must run into millions of dollars" said The Telegraph) who will never
notice the retraction.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
The Bill Gates Path to an Energy Revolution.—reliability
medium.
Commentary on Technology Review article say "Gates hammered on points
reported here for many years: that without a big, and sustained, boost
in spending on basic research and development on energy
frontiers, the chances of triggering an energy revolution are nil; that
while the private sector and venture capital investors are vital for
transforming breakthroughs into marketable products or services, they
will not invest in the long-haul inquiry that’s required to generate
game-changing breakthroughs; that a 1 or 2 percent tax on
carbon-emitting fuels could generate a large, steady stream of money
for invigorating the innovation pipeline". Highlights and quotes from
interview. See New
York Times Dot Earth blog.
How Businesses Can Plan for the
Unpredictability of Climate Change.—reliability medium.
Article discusses various risk management and planning tools, with
links. "we are still a long way from being able to predict specific
climate events. In lieu of precise predictions, a key to effectively
managing the physical effects of climate change is preparedness, which
can be achieved through developing literacy, identifying plausible
impacts, evaluating priorities, and building resilience." From GreenBiz
blog.
U.K. Office Workers 'Addicted' to Paper.—reliability
high.
"A survey of 1,000 U.K. office workers has found that efforts to make
office paper use more efficient are proceeding sluggishly at best,
wasting huge amounts of resources and stymieing IT managers' attempts
to rein in energy and paper use. The survey, conducted by research firm
Loudhouse on behalf of Kyocera, found that the average employee uses
10,000 sheets of paper per year, and as many as 6,800 of those sheets
are wasted." See Greener
World Media. Access the full survey results at Kyocera
site.
Getting sustainability a seat in the C-suite.—reliability
medium.
"Getting the attention—and respect—of a company’s top leaders doesn’t
always follow suit with the upward trend around all things green." How
to pitch the board, from a consultant. From Sustainable
Industries.
Government and
Regulation
How the Stimulus Is Changing America for the
Greener.—reliability high.
"the Recovery Act is the most ambitious energy legislation in history,
converting the Energy Department into the world's largest
venture-capital fund. It's pouring $90 billion into clean energy,
including unprecedented investments in a smart grid; energy efficiency;
electric cars; renewable power from the sun, wind and earth; cleaner
coal; advanced biofuels; and factories to manufacture green stuff in
the U.S." Article discusses how that $90 billion is being spent. See Time.
Next-Generation Feed-in Tariff for
California?—reliability high.
"On Tuesday the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a
proposed decision to launch a new renewable incentive program designed
to drive mid-sized renewable energy development. This next-generation
feed-in tariff program will require investor-owned California utilities
to purchase electricity from renewable energy systems between 1 and 20
MW in size. From Renewable
Energy World.
Science and
Economics
Spurred by Warming Climate, Beetles Threaten
Coffee Crops.—reliability high.
Researchers studying the coffee berry borer find that its recent
global spread may be tied to increasing temperatures in coffee-growing
regions. "Until recently, the coffee berry borer was confined to just a
few regions in Central Africa. But since the 1980s, the beetle has
gradually spread to every coffee-growing region except Hawaii, Nepal,
and Papua New Guinea. Juliana Jaramillo, a biologist at Kenya’s
International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology, suspects
temperature increases are to blame. She and her collaborators recently
identified the temperature range in which the beetle can survive. They
found that the average minimum temperature the borer requires to
reproduce is about 68 degrees F, and the mountainous regions of
Ethiopia did not reach that temperature until 1984." From Yale
Environment 360. [Expect higher
coffee prices--blame global warming?]
In Case You
Missed It . . .
The latest post at
Doc's Green Blog: U.S. Energy Flows.—reliability
medium.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has come out with its
"Estimated U.S. Energy Use" flow chart covering the year 2009. These
charts are always fascinating. Here are some of the insights it offers.
Doc's
Green Blog.
