Forests provide many important goods, such as timber and paper. They also supply essential services—for example, they filter water, control water runoff, protect soil, regulate climate, cycle and store nutrients, and provide habitat for countless animal species and space for recreation. Human demand for their products, though, keeps them in a state of decline globally.
Guardian: The world's biggest offshore windfarm could be built off the northern Scottish coast, after a scheme with enough capacity to power 40% of Scottish households was submitted for planning permission.
The £4.5bn complex would have 339 turbines covering 300 square kilometres off Caithness, making it 50% bigger than the giant London Array scheme off Kent. It is expected to be the first in a series of deep water schemes under "Round 3" licensing.
The renewable industry has hailed it as a watershed...
Yale Environment 360: The incandescent light bulb, in use for more than a century, will be officially banned across the European Union on September 1. Over the past three years, the EU has been phasing out 60-watt and 100-watt incandescent bulbs, and on Saturday retailers will no longer be allowed to sell 40-watt and 25-watt bulbs. Incandescent bulbs will be replaced with compact fluorescent lights, halogen bulbs, and LED, or light-emitting diode, lights. The move is expected to save 39 terawatt-hours of electricity across...
SciDev.Net: Implementation of the Rio+20 outcome must account for changes in the global innovation landscape, says tech policy expert Ahmed Abdel-Latif.
The UN conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) recently reaffirmed the importance of transferring environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) to developing countries, 20 years after the first Earth Summit had put it under the spotlight.
It also requested UN agencies to identify options for a 'facilitation mechanism' that promotes the development,...
Triple Pundit: Weathercasters in the U.S. not only tend to not ever mention climate change, but the majority of them do not even believe it is human-caused, as an article I recently wrote shows. However, that may change. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) released an official position statement on climate change this week which not only said that it is occurring, but it is human-caused. What is so great about the statement by the AMS is that it includes so much information about climate change, including...
, Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its Own: Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its OwnHome About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its OwnHome About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its Own: Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its Own. Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its Own, Home About Contact Tips Subscribe Donate Search this site : All Stories Climate Science Keystone XL Gas Drilling Nuclear Energy Clean Economy Breaking News Today's Climate All Topics August 31, 2012 Curtain Rises on California’s Planned Carbon Market Grist Obama Order Targets Industrial Efficiency , Emissions Reuters Romney Speech Mocks Climate Crisis Business Green see all headlines In Photographs : America's First Tar Sands Mining Site Slideshow Clean Economy News August 2 In New Jersey Solar Decision , Economics Trumped Ideology July 25 Why Was the Government's Top Alternative Energy Conference Canceled July 19 Small U.S . Solar Businesses Suffering from Tariffs on Imported Chinese Panels Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming , NASA's Hansen Says GOP Not Listening to Its Own
New York Times: Labor Day is summer`s last hurrah, and families from across the country will be flocking to the beach this weekend to soak in some final rays.
Beachgoers on the East Coast making their way to Cape Cod or one of six other National Seashores, however, might want to pause and take an extra look around at the wind-tossed dunes and sloping sands. Not just because summer is coming to an end, but because these areas are some of the most susceptible to the effects of climate change and may look very different,...
ScienceDaily: A cost analysis of the technologies needed to transport materials into the stratosphere to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth and therefore reduce the effects of global climate change has shown that they are both feasible and affordable.
Published August 31, 2012, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, the study has shown that the basic technology currently exists and could be assembled and implemented in a number of different forms for less than USD $5 billion a...
Mongabay: In the same week that sea ice in the Arctic Ocean hit another record low due to climate change, the Obama Administration has given final approval to Royal Dutch Shell to prepare for exploratory drilling in the region. Vehemently opposed by environmentalists and indigenous groups, the drilling plans are a part of the Obama Administrations 'all of the above' energy policy. Whether or not Shell will actually drill a well this season, however, is still up in the air as its oil spill containment barge...
How much solar power does the sun provide to us? A nearly limitless amount: this infographic puts it into perspective.SciDev.Net: A rice gene that could significantly raise the rate of phosphorus uptake in rice varieties has been discovered by a team of international researchers, who claim that it could increase rice yields by up to 20 per cent. The gene is called PSTOL1, which stands for Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance. It enhances the root growth of rice plants, enabling them to acquire more phosphorous and other nutrients locked in soils. Sigrid Heuer, a senior scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)...
Hand washing your clothes is a greener option in the developed world; in parts of the developing world, though, it's the only option. The Up-Stream is a cheap, human-powered washing machine that could make laundry more efficient for the world's poorest people.
Spiegel: Two years ago, Tomas Marutz became the head of the Nordseewerke in Emden, Germany. The shipyard is one of the biggest and oldest in the country. But Marutz's most important task now is, he says, "to get shipbuilding out of people's heads." That's no easy task for a man who speaks about ships like a father talking about his children. He is fascinating by the process of shipbuilding, from the lucky penny that is tossed under the first sheet of steel used in construction to the moment when a finished...
Resource: A report released by the Rainforest Foundation yesterday (28 August) has found that using forest carbon markets could actually increase (rather than reduce) the cost of tackling climate change and may not reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to ‘major design loopholes’.
‘Rainforest Roulette? Why creating a forest carbon offset market is a risky bet for REDD’ looks closely at the use of forest carbon markets in offsetting carbon emissions, and finds that rather than reducing emissions, these markets...
Associated Press: A gas explosion at a coal mine in south-west China has killed 19 miners and trapped dozens more, state media has reported.
The Xiaojiawan coal mine in Sichuan province's coal-rich Panzhihua city exploded on Wednesday evening with 152 miners inside, Central China Television (CCTV) said. Rescuers recovered the bodies of 16 miners who died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Three other miners died at a hospital after being pulled to the surface, CCTV said. It did not provide details on the cause...
As the world’s biggest exporter of corn diverts more and more of its crop to make fuel, it’s sending less to the global marketplace.
ScienceDaily: The Antarctic Ice Sheet could be an overlooked but important source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, according to research published August 29 in Nature and conducted by an international team led by Professor Jemma Wadham from the University of Bristol's School of Geographical Sciences.
The new study demonstrates that old organic matter in sedimentary basins located beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet may have been converted to methane by micro-organisms living under oxygen-deprived conditions....
RTCC: Hitting back at criticism from the Republican election campaign, President Obama has told an audience of students that “denying climate change won’t make it stop.”
Speaking to a crowd at Iowa State University, just 10 weeks before voters go to the polls on 6 November; Obama asked students what energy future they would prefer.
He said: “Will this be a country that keeps moving away from foreign oil and towards renewable sources of energy like wind and solar and biofuels. Energy that makes our...
RTCC: Australia was a late comer to the Kyoto Protocol, ratifying the international agreement on greenhouse gas emission reductions in 2005. The fears that this may never translate into an actual period of emission cuts are now disappearing.
A second period of Kyoto (KP2) commitments is on the table at the UN’s climate change negotiations which reconvene in Bangkok this week.
Australians are highly engaged with energy and climate change issues with the carbon tax near the top of the political agenda...
Fellow blogger Beth Terry has largely eliminated plastic from her life. Her new book Plastic Free shows you how you can do this, too, and the many reasons you might want to.
Enjoy the occasional game of beer pong on the weekends? You can eliminate much of the waste associated with the game without sacrificing any of the fun.
It’s generally agreed that the cost of building and commissioning off-shore wind farms is more than onshore wind farms. But the cost of German projects to build a massive wind farm is now going to cost a lot more, due to the danger to thousands of porpoises. The project will cover an area that [...]
What's the value of a tree? Traditional economics will figure that value based on the amount of lumber (or other products) that can be made from that tree... after it's been harvested. But what if that tree is part of a landscape that defines your way of life? 
As Indiana utility ends feed-in tariffs, some question motive | Midwest Energy News. As Indiana utility ends feed-in tariffs, some question motive Posted on 08/23/2012 by Dan Ferber Workers install solar panels on the roof of an Indianapolis home in 2009. Indianapolis Power & Light may soon have more solar power installed in its service [...]
I've never done very well with the whole "Wordless Wednesday" thing - guess I just have too much to say! But it's always good to just shut up and enjoy sometimes...
On August 15, 2012, at 8 a.m., Colorado’s Xcel utility opened up its registration for a new solar gardens/virtual net metering program. It took just 30 minutes to shut the doors on applications. The utility had received 13.5 MW in those 30 minutes, more than triple the 4.5 MW allowed. This excitement is one reason why I believe that community solar
No one would deny that San Diego based Helix Wind’s Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWTs) were captivating to watch in motion. Both their corkscrew motion and their efficiency in terms of space taken compared to conventional wind turbines caught everyone’s attention five years ago. However in may of this year, Helix Wind was forced to auction [...]
At the New England Governors’ Conference (NEGC) on July 30th, 2012, Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts presented and all six governors signed a resolution stating their intent to launch a coordinated regional procurement by the end of 2013. The resolution charges the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE) with the responsibility of developing a [...]
The history of cellulosic ethanol is a lot longer than most people probably realize. The Germans first commercialized cellulosic ethanol production from wood in 1898. The technology was commercialized in the U.S. in 1910, when Standard Alcohol Company built a cellulosic ethanol plant in South Carolina to convert lumber mill waste into ethanol.
The Chinese solar giant is in deep trouble, but even its collapse wouldn't be enough to stabilize a massively oversupplied market.
The fledgling U.S. wind industry would be significantly set back if the credit isn’t renewed.
It's been two years since Kachan & Co. first published its definition of what industries and categories constitute cleantech. A lot happens in two years, so it's time to refresh our taxonomy. A clean technology taxonomy, a list of nested categories, is important. It shows where a clean technology “fits.” It helps vendors understand their competitiv
This article from Renewable Energy World (REW) focuses on another policy concerning net metering that Indiana and other states need to address. It is the issue of aggregate net metering, virtual net metering, group net metering or community net metering. Who wants to join with me to work on this issue in Indiana? Laura Ann [...]
Germany, a leader in renewable energy, recently set a world record when it produced 22 GW of power on May 26th, 2012. At that point in time, half of the country's electricity was generated from solar. Germany's current capacity for solar energy reaches about 28 GW and the country aims to reach 66GW by 2030. By the end of 2011, Germany had about 2
For those of you who may not know, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has developed a Solar Incentive Program (SIP) to support solar energy in Los Angeles. This Solar Incentive Program can help you with the cost of installing a new solar system. The Solar Feed-in Tariff Program, which allows owners of large-scale on-grid solar systems t
Sol Systems CFO George Ashton was appointed as Treasurer of the Maryland Clean Energy Center in July. George previously held a position on the Maryland Clean Energy Center Board of Directors, where he helped oversee the center’s mission of helping consumers, supporting businesses, and advising lawmakers in the clean energy industry. The Center was created [...]
Almost every state in the country has net metering laws on the books. But only a few states allow a lesser-known policy that is critical for the expansion of distributed renewables, particularly community-scale solar — that’s aggregate, virtual, or group net metering. And there are a lot of good reasons to want to see its expansion. The basic prem
It’s that time of year again. For the last three years, I’ve consistently made a summer donation to The Vote Solar Initiative, the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). This year, I’ve also added SolarPAC, the political action committee set up by SEIA. The amount I donate to each is not so much an obl