News: Archive for January, 2009
Despite the recent dive in China’s electricity generation in the recession, it’s clear the country’s drive to urbanize and industrialize is going to require ever more energy, and coal remains the fuel of first and last resort.
via In China, Growth Still Trumping Green? – Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com.
The extraordinary growth in power generation in China in recent years, which quickly vaulted the emerging industrial powerhouse to the top of the global list of carbon dioxide emitters, has collapsed under the weight of the global economic implosion — at least for now.
via China’s Power Surge Ends (for Now) – Dot Earth Blog – NYTimes.com.
On Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama called for doubling production of alternative energy in the United States over the next three years as part of his “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” In a speech officially rolling out the plan, he also set a goal of retrofitting more than 75 percent of federal buildings and 2 million homes to make them more energy-efficient.
via The first step toward recovery | Gristmill: The environmental news blog | Grist.
Defence Minister Nelson Jobim said the government will increase the number of troops in the Amazon from 17,000 to 30,000 and build 28 new forts on Indian land and conservation areas of the world’s largest rain forest.
via Mercopress.
Pretty basic, but might be entertaining or informative for school children.
“Simply put, raising beef, pigs, sheep, chicken, and eggs is very, very energy intensive. More than half of all the grains grown in America actually go to feed animals, not people, says the World Resources Institute. That means a huge fraction of the petroleum-based herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers applied to grains, plus staggering percentages of all agricultural land and water use, are put in the service of livestock. Stop eating animals and you use dramatically less fossil fuels, as much as 250 gallons less oil per year for vegans, says Cornell University’s David Pimentel, and 160 gallons less for egg-and-cheese-eating vegetarians.”
via Audubon Magazine.
Cement, a vast source of planet-warming carbon dioxide, could be transformed into a means of stripping the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, thanks to an innovation from British engineers.
“This spring, travelers entering San Francisco International Airport will see a new type of kiosk at check-in — one offering carbon offsets for those who wish to counter the greenhouse-gas emissions from their trip. It will be the first time that an airport will be peddling offsets, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.”
via Offsets in the Air in San Francisco – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com.
“The European Union’s new figurehead believes that climate change is a dangerous myth and has compared the union to a Communist state.
The views of President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, 67, have left the government of Mirek Topolanek, his bitter opponent, determined to keep him as far away as possible from the EU presidency, which it took over from France yesterday. ”