EcocentricEcocentric
Just a quick note on a couple of interesting articles that surfaced today about the five-month drought in central China. The AP reports that Chinese businesses and residents are facing the largest energy crisis in years, as hydroelectric capacity is now at a low. Elaine Kurtenbach reports about the worst-affected areas:
The worst will
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EcocentricEnergy
Yesterday the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with an early summary of a new report projecting the future of renewable energy. As with many international studies of the sort, readers were free to use parts of the results towards whichever conclusion they’d already reached on alternative power and climate …
EcocentricPolitics
Last March, President Barack Obama gave a speech on energy security at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington. In it, Obama offered what might be called a “grand compromise” on energy—in exchange for expanded offshore drilling, including in previously untouched areas like north Alaska and the Atlantic, he called for support of …
EcocentricBiofuels
Over on the Time.com mainpage, I have a piece about the connection between biofuels and rising global food prices, which hit a record level in January. The math is pretty simple—with 40% of the country’s corn crop going to ethanol, and palm oil plantations around the world displacing farms for biodiesel production, biofuels do exert an …
EcocentricEnergy
I have a piece on the home page today about the persistent problem of energy poverty in the developing world. We know that the poorest countries of Africa, Asia and South America are held back by diseases like HIV and TB, along with lack of education and infrastructure. But a major part of what keeps the poor poor is simply lack of …
EcocentricEnergy
The story went up on the home page a couple of days ago, but wanted to put it on the blog as well. I wrote about my tour of the first phase of Masdar City, the low-carbon settlement being built on the edge of Abu Dhabi. It’s a long way from being truly sustainable, but the city should prove a valuable testing ground for green …
EcocentricPolitics
Tonight’s State of the Union may be remembered as the moment when the White House stopped working on climate—and started working on energy.
Of course, it’s not quite that simple. Whatever initiatives President Obama chooses to launch with his annual speech, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will likely keep working on …
EcocentricEnergy
While American society has bickered on climate and energy, the White House has dithered and Congress has been deadlocked, the U.S. military has been busy going green. The Pentagon has spent some $300 million in economic stimulus financing and research money to improve the military’s energy efficiency and develop alternative fuels. The …
EcocentricEnergy
Whoever said environmentalism doesn’t pay has never been to Abu Dhabi. The desert emirate, which possesses 8% of global oil reserves, has allocated serious money over the past several years on the Masdar Initiative, a multi-pronged effort to advance the cause of sustainability and clean tech. The best-known example is the low-carbon …
EcocentricResearch
For all the complaints about government gridlock, the 111th Congress proved to be incredibly productive, passing health care legislation, an unprecedented stimulus, major tax cuts, allowing gays in the military and vindicating a landmark arms control treaty. When President Obama addressed the press before Christmas, he celebrated those …
