There is a message that United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is delivering during the Doha Climate Change Conference taking place through December 7, 2012 in Qatar – despite efforts, carbon emissions are up 20 percent and greenhouse emission targets will not be met. The organization says if the world does not scale up and accelerate action on climate change immediately, …
Sweet Biodiesel!
University of California, Berkeley scientists may have found that using a fermentation process once used to covert starch into explosives, developed by the first president of Israel, chemist Chaim Weizmann, can be used to covert starch to biodiesel. The refined process produces a mix of products that contain more energy per gallon than ethanol, and scientists believe it could be …
Obama Wins. Did Renewable Energy Win?
President Barack Obama has been elected to a second term to lead the United States. While not clairvoyant, I suspect the defining turn in support for Obama was the convergence of hurricane Sandy and Mayor Michael Bloomberg throwing his support behind Obama with the statement that he is the climate change President. If he is in fact the president for climate …
Citizen’s Guide to Energy
The presidential election is less than two weeks away and although the candidates have discussed energy, neither has debated over the right strategy for global climate change. Our legislators also typically fail to consider the consequences of actions they endorse. Therefore, according to Public Agenda, if the country hopes to move the needle on important issues, such as energy, voters …
A world you like. With a climate you like.
Climate change is still front and center in the European Union (EU) with the European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard launching a new communication campaign called “A world you like. With a climate you like.” Supported by more than 70 organizations across Europe, the goal of the campaign is to put practical solutions at the center of the climate …
Book Review – Rebuild the Dream
This week I read Rebuild the Dream, by Van Jones, which ironically turned out to be a great book to read with the presidential election just three weeks away. Personally, I believe this country is in an economic mess and I wonder at the so called leaders in Washington who threw up their hands and left early without making several …
New Study on Water-wise Biofuel Crops
A new study has shown that putting the water-use-efficient and turbo-charged photosynthesis from plants such as agave into woody biomass plants can hedge against high temperatures and low moisture. It can also enable growers to plant dedicated energy crops on marginal land. A team of researchers including John Cushman, a biochemistry professor at the University of Nevada, Reno; Xiaohan Yang at …
Book Review – Climategate
For those of you who believe in climate change, you will criticize me for not only reading but reviewing “Climategate,” by Brian Sussman as the last book in my 2012 La Nina Reading List. For those of you who don’t buy in to climate change, you’ll applaud me for bringing you this review. Sussman is best known as a TV …
Book Review – Eaarth
What is happening to the “Eaarth”? A question many are asking, including author Bill McKibben, as the summer brought us the worst drought in decades along with extreme heat. Many people would blame this on global climate change while others would argue that “global warming” and “weather” are actually two separate things. Well it is time we delve back into …
Survey Shows Drought Spurs Need for Alt Energy
According to a recent ORC International survey, 81 percent of Americans are concerned about “increased drought” and other extreme weather conditions. Conducted on behalf of the Civil Society Institute (CSI), the poll results showed that concerns about drought, of which the many states have been severely affected, go hand in hand with worries about water shortages. Three out of four …