climate

Is Al Gore nuts?

In his speech in Constitution Hall this week, former Vice President and renewable energy investor Al Gore extolled a stretch goal challenging America to achieve 100% renewable power within 10 years.

The quote: "Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years." And my favorite part: "When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in 10 years, many people doubted we could accomplish that goal. But 8 years and … Read more

EPA resists greenhouse gas regulation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that Congress, not the EPA, should regulate greenhouse gases.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson hosted a conference call with reporters on Friday where he said that existing law, the Clean Air Act, is "ill-suited" to addressing greenhouse gas emissions.

Instead, Johnson said that Congress should draft legislation to address climate change.

"It's really at the feet of the Congress to come up with good legislation that cuts through what will likely be decades of litigation and regulation," he said on the call.

A document published by … Read more

India reveals its first climate change plan

In the wake of next week's G8 meeting in Japan, India released its first action plan for climate change (PDF) earlier this week.

The plan outlines eight national "missions" for sustainable development, including:

solar energy; energy efficiency; creating a sustainable habitat; conserving water; preserving the Himalayan ecosystem; creating a green India; creating sustainable agriculture; and establishing a platform of "strategic knowledge for climate change."

The plan lacks a budget and plan of action at this point, but a Council on Climate Change, with stakeholders from the government, industry, and civil society, has been formed to … Read more

U.S. climate bill blocked, while IEA calls for action

Attempts to bring a global warming bill up for debate were blocked in the Senate on Friday, derailing what would have been the first federal U.S. climate change legislation.

According to published reports, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes necessary to end a Republican-led filibuster.

Debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 has focused on the cost of throttling carbon dioxide emissions.

"It's a huge tax increase," said Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, from the coal state of Kentucky, according to an Associated Press story. Trading carbon emissions allowances, McConnell said, would produce &… Read more

Green-tech news harvest: Wind-powered sports car

Here's a sampling of recent green-tech news:

Sony Unveils Ultrasmall Hybrid Fuel Cell -- Tech-On Sony looks to put fuel cells in gadgets, following a prototype that Sharp demonstrated last week that uses methanol as a fuel.

Canon patents fuel cell-powered cameras -- Crave -- CNET AsiaFuel cells are coming to consumer electronics, it seems. Quite a bit of activity on this front in the past week.

Oil Left in the Ground -- Technology ReviewWe have smart grids--why not have "smart oil fields?" Interest in existing oil fields, where as much as 75 percent of … Read more

Geoengineered cooling of planet would have 'perilous effects'

Proposals to cool Earth by injecting the atmosphere with sulfate particles would deplete the ozone layer and have "perilous effects" on the planet, according to a paper to be published Friday.

As concerns grow over climate change and global warming, large-scale efforts to alter the planet's climate through geoengineering are being taken seriously by academics.

But a study performed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) cautioned that more research is needed before so-called geoengineering efforts are pursued.

It specifically raised the alarm over the idea of regularly sending sulfate particles into the stratosphere to reduce … Read more

Report: Climate change will threaten beer production

We all know already that climate change will affect everything from food prices to cute baby polar bears.

But now it's really hitting home, folks. A report from a researcher at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand suggests that rising temperatures may threaten beer.

An Associated Press report details the findings from climate scientist Jim Salinger, who presented his research at the Institute of Brewing and Distilling's annual convention in Wellington, New Zealand. The grim results? Climate change may affect the production of malting barley, an ingredient crucial to the tasty beers we … Read more

'Nature': Energy tech not moving fast enough for climate change

Science journal Nature published a commentary on Wednesday that argues that scientists' climate change models overestimate the impact of low-carbon energy technologies.

A transition to cleaner forms of energy is one of the pillars of any discussion around mitigating global warming, along with policy and changes in lifestyle.

In their article, the Nature authors pick apart the assumptions built into the climate change reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC).

In short, they argue the IPCC studies are "dangerously" optimistic regarding the pace of clean technology and energy efficiency adoption.

An excerpt:

"Here we show … Read more

Nobel winner: Nuke power must be part of the equation

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Add Nobel Prize winner Steven Chu's name to the ranks of scientists who advocate turning to nuclear power as an alternative energy source.

"Nuclear has to be a necessary part of the portfolio," Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, said during the annual economic summit organized by Stanford University.

Chu, who also is professor of physics and molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, said nuclear is the preferred choice to coal, pointing out that coal releases 50 percent more radioactivity than nuclear power plants.

"The fear of radiation shouldn'… Read more