Here’s an informative interview with South African activist and professor Patrick Bond, who spoke with Democracy Now!‘s Mike Burke at the March for Climate and Social Justice in Warsaw. As he discusses here, Dr. Bond believes, as I do, that the concept of carbon trading is unworkable, and will do little if anything to reduce emissions.
Here’s the executive summary of the IEA’s (International Energy Agency) 2013 World Energy Outlook. No surprise: it expresses concern about climate change from our unabating reliance on fossil fuels, which represents about two-thirds of our total greenhouse gas emissions. Although the authors admit uncertainty about the energy policies of mega-consumers of coal (i.e., China now and India soon), their conclusions aren’t rosy:
“In our central scenario, taking into account the impact of measures already announced by governments to improve energy efficiency, support renewables, reduce fossil-fuel subsidies and, in some cases, to put a price on carbon, energy-related CO2 emissions still rise by 20% to 2035. This leaves the world on a trajectory consistent with a long-term average temperature increase of 3.6 °C, far above the internationally agreed 2°C target.”
Saving the environment isn’t just about petitioning your local leaders to implement legislature and expecting others to do the job. Like with anything else, changing the world starts at home. If you want to clean the environment and make the world a greener place, consider putting any of these six methods into practice in your house.
Grow a Garden in Your Backyard (more…)
It’s the birthday (1632) of the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, whose most important ideas, according to the Writer’s Almanac, were that “everything in the universe is made of a single substance, and that everything in the universe is subject to natural laws. He also argued that the soul and the body are not really separate, but two parts of the same thing. He believed that God did not stand outside the universe, but rather that the universe itself was God, and that everything in the universe was perfect and divine.” (more…)
Every day, it seems we read more about hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, most of which appear to be written purely to further confuse people who don’t really understand this in the first place. An excerpt from the article linked above: “Fuel-cell vehicles …. can operate on renewable hydrogen gas.” As the author must know, the concept of “renewable hydrogen gas” has no meaning at all. (more…)
About once a month or so, I like to write a short piece on the proliferation of “stuff” in our affluent Western lifestyles, and effects that this explosion of goodies is having on us. Mainly, I mention that our hyper-consumerism contributes directly to the decline of the natural environment around us, and I point readers to Annie Leonard’s wonderful project, “The Story of Stuff.” (more…)
I’m sending a “2GreenEnergy Alert” (e-newsletter) to our subscribers in a few minutes with the subject line: “Cashing in on the Skyrocketing Electric Bicycle Market.” I’ve just added a company in Seattle with a unique approach and capability to the retail e-bike space to our list of clean energy investment opportunities, and, even though the amount of cash required is tiny compared to some of the larger deals, I think this is an exciting opportunity for the right person.
Here’s an article that discusses the compass direction that solar panels should face, both to maximize total power and to create the optimum alignment of peak generation with peak load. Although I found this interesting, the most intriguing part is this: we’ve had solar panels on our roofs for 40 years and we’re just now figuring out which way to aim them? I guess I too would also assume it best to point them in the direction of the equator, i.e., south if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, but it seems a bit strange to be having an epiphany on this as we go into 2014.
Here are a few words on the climate talks in Warsaw, based on yesterday’s New York Times article – just a few – since I have nothing constructive to report, nor, in my heart of hearts, do I think any level of accord is even remotely possible. As always, the talks bog down between rich and poor nations on the question of who should pay for relief for climate-related disaster. (more…)
How can your home be energy efficient?
For your home to be considered energy efficient, it should use less energy but does not sacrifice its comfortability and healthiness. With all that is available today and the advancement of technology, you can surely find a way to make you home as efficient in saving energy as well as be in sound and astounding design, similar to the world’s best eco-architecture. Plus it can be affordable and dependable too. (more…)
