Sustainability

Belo Monte controversies continue

The latest installment of the saga has been the expulsion of journalists from the site where they would cover the latest protest by indigenous activists who have brought the building of the dam to a halt.[read more]

overpopulation/shutterstock

We seem to be headed for collapse, because humans’ growth is so far out of line in relationship to that of other species. In addition, there are many other limits, including the cost of oil extraction and availability of fresh water.[read more]

Paris, city of (smart) lights?

Silver Spring Networks, the smart grid networking company that wants to expand its reach to streetlights, traffic signals and other “smart city” devices, will get a chance to try it out in a city famous for its lights, Paris.[read more]

electric car/shutterstock

Even if there is enough lithium to displace the 1 billion internal combustion engine cars that now pollute the earth with electric cars, it is the electronic waste problem that should dominate the question.[read more]

ocean temperatures/shutterstock

The average amount of energy the ocean absorbed each year over the period 1993 to 2008 was enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs for each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet.[read more]

fat for energy?

Oil and fat accumulating under the streets of London is apparently causing a bit of an issue. However, the city is going to burn these fatbergs in order to create electricity — about 130 GWh of electricity per year.[read more]

solar vs nuclear energy costs

Germany’s solar program will generate electricity at quadruple the cost of one of the most expensive nuclear power plants in the world, raising serious questions about a renewable energy strategy widely heralded as a global model.[read more]

courtesy Shutterstock

Carbon dioxide concentrations have hit 400 parts per million for the first time in at least three million years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced yesterday.[read more]

community renewable energy/shutterstock

The most successful way of letting many people participate in energy production is through community energy co-operatives. They allow the broader public to share in the profits of energy production.[read more]

PKOM / Shutterstock.com

Our financial system has been built assuming that economic growth will continue indefinitely. There is significant risk that the recessionary influences of high oil costs will bring down the current economy.[read more]

Clear Edge fuel cell

Verizon has announced it will invest $100 million in a solar and fuel-cell energy project that will help power 19 of its facilities in seven states across the country.[read more]

Spectra Pipeline campaign

From a public relations point of view, nuclear energy has disadvantages that are actually important advantages from the point of view of ensuring real human safety.[read more]

dirty data?

 

Most people think the web is a green medium, but the average website has a carbon footprint similar to a book or a newspaper. A 2011 analysis suggests IT is responsible for two to four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.[read more]

fuel diversity/shutterstock

Alternative fuels have lost some of their luster in the US, lately. With this in mind, I spoke with former Shell Oil Company President John Hofmeister, who recently joined a group dedicated to expanding fuel diversity.[read more]

ExxonMobil oil spill in Arkansas

Despite a massive cleanup effort in the Mayflower, Arkansas, neighborhood, the federal pipeline safety agency reports that ExxonMobil has recovered only 2,000 of the total 5,000 barrels of spilled tar sands crude.[read more]