Boeing hydrogen plane set to lift off
Boeing is developing a light aircraft powered by fuel cells and electric motors, making it potentially the greenest plane ever to fly. It would emit no carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming, or other pollutants, leaving just a trail of water. It would also be almost completely silent. The hitch? It would fly at only 70mph. The decision to develop the plane comes amid growing concern over high carbon dioxide emissions from passenger jets..It hopes the two-seater aircraft will make its maiden flight in the next 12 months. "What we are designing is a demonstrator aircraft to see if it can be done," said Boeing. (08/27/06) MORE»
EU Tells Carmakers to Do More to Cut Carbon Dioxide Emissions
The European Union warned carmakers Tuesday that it will introduce legislation to enforce cuts in carbon dioxide emissions, if the industry does not work harder to meet voluntary pollution-cutting targets.. The European Commission welcomed figures showing that European, Japanese and Korean producers had reduced CO2 emissions from new cars by an average of 12.4 percent from 1995 to 2004.. But it said faster reductions were needed if the industry was to meet the voluntary targets of a 25 percent cut by 2008 for the Europeans and 2009 for the Asian manufacturers. "The situation is not satisfactory," said EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen. "We expect that the industry sticks to its commitments." (08/29/06) MORE»
Cities in peril as Andean glaciers melt
Ice sheets expected to last centuries could disappear in 25 years, threatening water supplies. Andean glaciers are melting so fast that some are expected to disappear within 15-25 years, denying major cities water supplies and putting populations and food supplies at risk in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina and Bolivia. The rate of glacier retreat has shocked scientists, says a report on the effects of global warming in Latin America by 20 UK-based environment and development groups who have drawn on national scientific assessments. Their study says climate change is accelerating the deglaciation phenomenon. "The speeding up of the process is a catastrophic danger," says Carmen Felipe, president of Peru's water management institute. In the short term, the president says, it could cause overflows of reservoirs and trigger mudslides, and in the longer term cut water supplies. (08/29/06) MORE»
Historic deal on global warming in California
California will become the first state in the country to require industries to lower greenhouse gas emissions under a deal struck Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats that could dramatically reshape the state's economy.. After weeks of intense negotiations between the administration and legislative leaders, and just a few hours after Schwarzenegger threatened to veto the bill, Democrats and the governor announced an agreement on legislation that sends the state on a markedly different environmental path from the federal government.. The legislation will require all businesses, from automakers to cement manufacturers, to reduce emissions beginning as early as 2012 to meet the 2020 cap. The state's 11-member Air Resources Board, which is appointed by the governor, will be charged with developing targets for each industry and for seeing that those targets are met. (08/31/06) MORE»
Portland Goes 100% Renewable
Starting next year, the juice that runs City Hall will be 100 percent renewable. In a complex deal between power broker Sempra Energy Solutions, local landowners, and a regional wind developer, all city operations will run from wind power. Jeff Cogen is a senior aide on energy matters for the Portland City Council. "Municipalities, companies, nonprofits can do this, anyone who's a large enough consumer of electricity that they can get into, frankly, direct negotiations with wind developers." If Portland goes to all renewable green power, it will be the equivalent of taking nearly 12,000 cars off the road every year. Portland's global-warming plan doesn't specify which renewable resource the city has to use. And there are plenty of options. Gagliano, a policy analyst with the Renewable Northwest Project, points out that the price of fuels like natural gas, coal, oil, and uranium has soared in recent years, and utility rates reflect that. (08/30/06) MORE»
Global water crisis looms larger
One-third of the world's population is short of water—a situation we were not predicted to arrive at until 2025—according to a disturbing new report on the state of the world's water supplies. Squeezing more out of every raindrop that falls on poverty-stricken regions of Africa and Asia is key to the survival of the world's poorest and most malnourished people, researchers say. The report by the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was released on Monday in Stockholm at the start of World Water Week. It paints a bleak picture of global access to fresh water and warns that the world cannot carry on complacently using water as if it will never run out. "Business as usual is not an option," says David Molden of the institute, and coordinator of the report, called Insights from the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture... But action has to begin now. If nothing changes, twice as much water will be needed to feed everyone by 2050 (with population increase of about 3 billion more people). (08/21/06) MORE»
Amazon on Brink – Global Impacts
Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down. Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern hemisphere and could massively accelerate global warming with incalculable consequences. Scientists told the meetingconvened on a flotilla of boats by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Greek Orthodox Church, dubbed the "green Pope" for his environmental activism—that global warming and deforestation were pushing the entire enormous area towards a "tipping point", where it would start to die. The wet Amazon Basin would turn to dry savannah at best, desert at worst. This would cause much of the world to become hotter and drier. (07/24/06) MORE»
Water Labels on Food Could Ease Shortages
Labelling foods ranging from spaghetti to meat to show how much water is used in their production could help combat mounting pressure on the world's water supplies, a leading expert said on Tuesday. Typically, a calorie of food demands a litre of water (0.2 Imperial gallons) to produce, according to UN estimates. But a kilo (2.2 lbs) of industrially produced meat needs 10,000 litres while a kilo of grain requires just 500-4,000 litres. Some kind of labelling of food products when it comes to their water requirements could be a first step-then people could see for themselves. In a more extreme scenario, Berntell said arid countries might even face trade barriers if they exported water-intensive crops. Such controls on "virtual water" were unlikely ever to be applied but were worth debating to help promote efficiency. Australia, for instance, exports meat to countries where water is far more plentiful. "Some Australians ask 'how can our arid country export scarce water to other water-rich parts of the world?", he said. (08/23/06) MORE»
Tesla Zero Emissions Car Sells Out in 3 Weeks
TheTesla Roadster, the first high-performance electric car manufactured by Tesla Motors (San Carlos, Calif.), has sold out in three weeks, confirming that the sleek, stylish, zero-emissions Tesla Roadster is a hit. "Our goal in designing the Tesla Roadster was to build a car with zero emissions that people would love to drive," said Tesla Motors Co-founder and CEO Martin Eberhard. "Customers of the Tesla Roadster are doing something really good that goes beyond just buying a sports car, because their purchase helps pay for development of our affordable, mass market electric vehicles," said Musk. "Buying a Tesla Roadster is a vote against global warming and oil addiction." (08/06) MORE»
Wind Power Reaches Milestone
U.S. wind energy installations now exceed 10,000 megawatts (MW) in generating capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced today. A megawatt of wind power generates enough to serve 250 to 300 average homes. Today's 10,000 MW of wind power are keeping 16 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the leading greenhouse gas associated with global warming, out of the air EVERY YEAR. That's equivalent to the amount of CO2 that would be absorbed by over 9,000 square miles of forest, an area about the size of Vermont. (08/14/06) MORE»
Sweden closes reactors on safety fears
Two nuclear reactors were shut down yesterday in the Swedish city of Oskarshamn due to safety fears. The Swedish subsidiary of German power firm E.On said it closed a plant in the south-east of the country on news of possible defective power backup systems. Closure of the plant is costing some 10 million kroner (£740 million) a day, the firm said. A reactor in Forsmark, operated by Vattenfall AB, was shut down last week after a power failure. Citing Lars-Olov Hoglund, a nuclear expert, environmental group Greenpeace International said it was "pure luck" there wasn't a meltdown at the site last week. Two other reactors, in Forsmark and Ringhals, are currently out of operation for routine maintenance, leaving only five of Sweden's ten nuclear power stations running. (08/04/06) MORE»
22 Cities Join Clinton Anti-Warming Effort
Twenty-two of the world's largest cities announced yesterday that they will work together to limit their contributions to global warming in an effort led by former president Bill Clinton. The Clinton Climate Initiative—which will create an international consortium to bargain for cheaper energy-efficient products and share ideas on cutting greenhouse gas pollution—includes Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York as well as Cairo, Delhi, London and Mexico City. While the group is not setting specific targets for reducing emissions, Clinton said he is confident the effort will both cut pollution and create jobs in the cities that contribute most to higher temperatures. The Clinton Foundation will focus on providing technical assistance and bargaining power to the participating cities, all with area populations of 3 million or more, employing the same model it has used to lower the price of AIDS medicine for poorer countries. (08/02/06) MORE» |
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