PoliticsPolitics
Rainforest protection needed for hydropower production - study
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
14 May 2013
- Published on Tuesday, 14 May 2013 08:57
- Hits (402)
Meeting Brazil’s energy demand doesn’t just require investments in energy projects – specifically in hydropower – but also efforts to conserve the Amazon’s forest cover. Hydropower is currently considered the most reliable and feasible way to generate power for Brazil using non-coal resources. Over 45 new plants are planned in Brazil alone, with one project, the Belo Monte dam expected to...
U.S. tops green tax index
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
26 Apr 2013
- Published on Friday, 26 April 2013 09:35
- Hits (558)
The United States is the leading country in terms of using tax as a tool to promote sustainable corporate activity and achieve green policy goals, according to the first-of-its-kind KPMG Green Tax Index. Green tax - which could be in the form of grants, subsidies and loan - is imposed on goods and services that produce environmental pollutants. This excise tax is intended to offset the negative impacts caused...
Clean energy progress has stalled – I.E.A.
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
18 Apr 2013
- Published on Thursday, 18 April 2013 08:39
- Hits (428)
Global clean energy development is alarmingly slow to prevent the adverse impacts of climate change, warned the International Energy Agency. In the report, Tracking Clean Energy Progress, the agency highlighted that the world is unlikely to meet the interim 2020 targets to keep the temperature below 2 degrees Celsius. Carbon intensity of the global energy supply has barely improved in the past two decades. With...
Desert Peak 2 enhanced geothermal system project delivering power to grid
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
15 Apr 2013
- Published on Monday, 15 April 2013 08:48
- Hits (711)
The Desert Peak 2 geothermal power plant in Nevada has successfully delivered 1.7 megawatts of power to the grid. With this announcement from the United States Department of Energy on April 12, the geothermal project from Ormat Technologies has become the country’s first grid-connected commercial enhanced geothermal system project. Based in Churchill County, Nevada, the Desert Peak 2 uses an enhanced...
Stricter air pollution standards to drive shift from coal to natural gas for power generation
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
08 Apr 2013
- Published on Monday, 08 April 2013 08:24
- Hits (878)
The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency has been cracking down on air polluters, setting air-quality standards to ensure all sectors – especially the power production sector – to bring down their emissions in order to clean the air. According to a study from Duke University, these air-quality standards could have an additional, beneficial effect of spurring the power production sector to shift from its...
Brazil to experience transport fuel shortage
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
08 Apr 2013
- Published on Monday, 08 April 2013 08:08
- Hits (515)
A recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance report has suggested Brazil to either boost investment in biofuels or amend policies in order to prevent impending transport fuel shortage. The Latin American country, which boasts its energy self-sufficiency, will not be able to meet its domestic light vehicle demand for fuel over the next four year, if current trends continue, warned the report. By 2021, demand...
Cutting fossil fuel subsidies to benefit economy and environment – I.M.F.
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
02 Apr 2013
- Published on Tuesday, 02 April 2013 08:52
- Hits (692)
Cutting global energy subsidies, estimated to amount to $1.9 trillion worldwide, would deliver significant gains for the economy and the environment, suggested a new study by the International Monetary Fund. The international organization estimated that subsidies for fossil fuels are equivalent to 2.5 percent of the world gross domestic product, or about eight percent of all government revenues. Globally,...
Melbourne now a carbon neutral city
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
26 Mar 2013
- Published on Tuesday, 26 March 2013 09:35
- Hits (1328)
Melbourne is now a carbon-neutral city, as certified by the Australian government’s independent carbon offsetting authority. In an effort to become one of the world’s sustainable and liveable cities, Victoria’s capital has reduced and offset its carbon emissions, meeting the National Carbon Offset Standard set by Low Carbon Australia. “We’re already one of the world’s most liveable cities, our challenge now is to ensure we are...
China mandates stringent fuel economy standards
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
22 Mar 2013
- Published on Friday, 22 March 2013 09:54
- Hits (2715)
After months of discussion, China has finally imposed fuel economy standards to tackle the issue of pollution caused by the transportation sector. According to a Reuters report, China placed strict fuel economy standards to reduce fuel consumption by 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers by 2015 and a further 5.0 liters by 2020. China’s current passenger car fuel consumption stood at 7.8 liters per 100...
Ocean plankton storing more carbon than originally thought – U.C. - Irvine
- Details
- Category: Politics
-
20 Mar 2013
- Published on Wednesday, 20 March 2013 09:21
- Hits (2643)
The world’s ocean plays an even more vital role as carbon storage centers than previously thought, according to a study by the University of California – Irvine. The researchers found that plankton forum near the surface of warm waters are far more carbon-rich than has long been thought and global marine temperature fluctuations could mean these microorganisms digest double the carbon previously calculated...
