‘LOS ANGELES Reuters – The world’s largest nuclear plant builder, Areva SA, is diversifying into solar power with the aim of becoming an industry leader, as it acquires U.S.-based solar thermal player Ausra, the company said on Monday.’
via Nuclear giant Areva buys solar company Ausra | Reuters.
‘WASHINGTON Reuters – Arctic ice melting could cost global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released on Friday.’
via Arctic melt to cost up to $24 trillion by 2050: report | Reuters.
Climate Interactive has made available this ‘climate scoreboard’ simulation available to compare projected impacts of current emissions reduction proposals with goals to limit climate warming to below two degrees.
‘WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scant ice over the Arctic Sea this winter could mean a “double whammy” of powerful ice-melt next summer, a top U.S. climate scientist said on Thursday.’
via Scant Arctic ice could mean summer double whammy | Reuters.
‘TORONTO (Reuters) – Expectations of a sharp rise in nuclear generating capacity over the next two decades are likely overblown, a Canadian think tank said on Thursday, disputing conventional wisdom that a nuclear renaissance is in full swing.’
via Nuclear renaissance could stall, Canada group says | Reuters.
San Francisco, Feb. 2, 2010
Panelist A.G. Kawamura, California Secretary of Food and Agriculture spoke at Climate One at the Commonwealth Club’s “After Copenhagen, What Happened? What Now?”. There were so many panelists reporting on their experiences at the COP 15 that each was only allotted two minutes for their statement.
Partial excerpts:
“..for us, Copenhagen was a groundbreaking opportunity to really introduce the very realistic and very sobering proposition that if you have unpredictable weather that means unpredictable harvest”
“…when you recognize that in the underdeveloped world that almost half the products that are grown never make it on the plate, when you recognize that in the developed world, that almost thirty to forty percent of the products that are on the plate get thrown away, these are some huge issues that we have to deal with.”
Report by James George
‘The Brazilian government has given the green light to the construction of a controversial hydroelectric dam in the Amazon rainforest that environmentalists and indigenous activists claim will displace indigenous tribes and further damage the Amazon basin.’
‘TIANJIN, China (Reuters) – China needs to overcome its skepticism about carbon capture technologies if it is to bring down the costs of meeting its CO2 targets, experts at a clean coal conference said.’
via China skeptical as foreign firms push carbon capture | Reuters.
‘Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) — U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the climate negotiations that failed to produce a binding treaty to rein in greenhouse gases were flawed, putting pressure on the United Nations to change the way the talks are structured.’
via Brown Says UN Climate Negotiations Were ‘Flawed,’ Need Reform – BusinessWeek.
‘OSLO (Reuters) – Nations accounting for most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions have restated their promises to fight climate change, meeting a Sunday deadline in a low-key endorsement of December’s “Copenhagen Accord.”‘
via Copenhagen climate deal gets low-key endorsement | Reuters.
the essential eco-commentaries
