emissions

light truck cleantech?

 

An innovative retrofit for medium-duty trucks (such as delivery trucks and garbage trucks) could improve fuel efficiency and reduce smog and particle emissions by 90 percent.[read more]

EPA regulations/shutterstock

The EPA’s new Tier 3 standards will significantly reduce gasoline sulfur content and associated vehicle tailpipe emissions. But has the EPA developed their Tier 3 standards in the most efficient and cost-effective manner?[read more]

In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I answer more questions about gas prices, and discuss the Keystone XL pipeline and future development of Canada’s oil sands. Some of the topics discussed are: The EROEI for producing oil sands The emissions profile of shipping the oil sands to China versus refining it in the U.S. Why I...[read more]

Less Summer Arctic Sea Ice Cover May Mean Some Colder, Snowier Winters in Central Europe [For Now] [T]he probability of cold winters with much snow in Central Europe rises when the Arctic is covered by less sea ice in summer. Scientists of the Research Unit Potsdam of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in...[read more]

  Significantly limiting humanity’s impact on the global climate is quite simply an enormous task. Unfortunately, thanks to budget austerity and federal gridlock, any hope of implementing sweeping U.S. climate/energy policy has been optimistically pushed back to 2013 or beyond (though some incremental improvement is possible). And...[read more]

Here’s my take on the EU aviation carbon tax that is causing a stink with major world airline carriers: ———————————————— Tyler Hamilton My family flew to North Carolina during the holiday to visit relatives and, being aware of new baggage fees, we made every effort to pack lightly. Of two adults and two children we had only one item to...[read more]

Yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency released its tabulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from large facilities in the US. In perusing the data I couldn't help thinking of the quote attributed to Willie Sutton concerning why he robbed banks. Even if he never actually said, "Because that's where the money is," the simple logic of...[read more]

 In the first episode of R-Squared Energy TV for 2012, I give a short presentation on global warming. I believe there are a number of misconceptions around the U.S. contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and I provide some graphics that may surprise some viewers.  Some of the topics discussed are: What do I think about...[read more]

Also by Alex Trembath. Two new federal air pollution regulations are expected to spur the closure of up to 67 aging, inefficient, coal-fired power plants, reducing both harmful air pollutants and emissions of the climate destabilizing greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), according to an AP survey of US power plant operators and a...[read more]

I touched on this McKinsey report earlier, but my most recent Clean Break column delves a  bit deeper into the consultancy’s analysis of commodity trends past and future, and how this will impact the way corporations operate. —————————————————— Has the global economy entered a long period of persistently high, volatile commodity...[read more]

Happy New Year! And good riddance to 2011, a year during which we made little or no progress on some of the issues that I care most about: climate change, the long-term federal debt, social mobility (aka the American dream), and our dysfunctional Congress. Yet I remain an optimist. Texas drought 2011 I could write many words about our...[read more]

What future for agriculture on a hotter planet? Guest Post by Geoff Russell. Geoff is a mathematician and computer programmer and is a member of Animal Liberation SA. His recently published book is CSIRO Perfidy. His previous article on BNC was: Feeding the billions on a hotter planet (Part II) —————— Welcome to...[read more]

Was the Durban climate conference a success or failure? As always, the answer depends on one’s frame of reference.[read more]

As society grapples with the issue of climate change, the merit of various technologies and emission reduction approaches arises. Some advocate for a rapid switch to renewable energy, others favour nuclear and most argue that unless the efficiency of energy use is robustly tackled then there cannot be a solution. But a closer look at the current state of the global energy system reveals a very different reality.[read more]

Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and most other long-lived greenhouse gases (i.e., barring short-lived water vapour), are considered ‘trace gases’ because their concentration in the atmosphere is so low. For instance, at a current level of 389 parts per million, CO2 represents just 0.0389% of the air, by volume. Tiny isn’t it? How...[read more]