greenswitch – climate change and cleantech solutions

Gas Guzzling Continues

The EPA’s annual report of fuel economy shows how American drivers continue to care less about burning fossil fuels. According to the report, the 2003 model year cars average 23.6 mpg, a slight decline from 2002’s 23.9 mpg The SUV class of vehicles is also down to 17.6 mpg from 17.9 mpg for 2002.

Perhaps some day there will be a pollution tax in the U.S. similar to the cigarette tax…

People, everywhere

check out the map

The Human Footprint Analysis of the human footprint map indicates that 83% of the land’s surface is influenced by one or more of the following factors: human population density greater than 1 person per square kilometer, within 15 km of a road or major river, occupied by urban or agricultural land uses, within 2 km of a settlement or a railway, and/or producing enough light to be visible regularly to a satellite at night. 98% of the areas where it is possible to grow rice, wheat or maize (according to FAO estimates) are similarly influenced.

NRDC: Fueling the Future: A Plan to Reduce California’s Oil Dependence California’s demand for gasoline is expected to grow by 30 percent by 2020, a pace the state’s refineries will not be able to keep up with. This September 2002 report says that motorists will face higher prices and volatility at the gas pump unless the state reduces petroleum demand through a combination of fuel efficiency, advanced vehicle technologies, public education and smart growth.

Briefing: New Trends in developing Biodiesel worldwide [pdf] (by Austrian Biofuels Institute)

World Energy Outlook 2002 Sees Abundant Energy Till 2030, The Reference Scenario projects continuing rapid growth in energy demand from now till 2030, at a rate of 1.7% annually. By 2030, the world will be consuming two-thirds more energy than today. And developing countries will replace the industrialised world as the largest group of energy consumers.

Fossil fuels will remain the dominant sources of energy, filling more than 90% of the coming increase in demand. Oil demand will increase even faster than in the past thirty years. Natural gas will be the fastest-growing fuel, doubling in volume in the 30-year projection period. Coal will grow more slowly, and its share in world energy supply will decline. Under present policies, nuclear power will decline as old plants are retired and few new ones are built. Renewable energy will increasingly contribute to power generation. Use of wind power and biomass will expand very quickly, but from an extremely small base. The two energy sectors that will grow most over the next thirty years are electricity and transport, especially in the developing world, where rising incomes will swell the demand for electricity services and mobility.

Energy trade is set to expand very rapidly, as the major oil and gas consuming nations increase their imports. Production of oil and gas will be increasingly concentrated in a few states – OPEC members, especially in the Middle East, and Russia

New Economy of Water

follow the link to read this report on the New Economy of Water — in future we’ll probably have wars on water and not on oil anymore..Read the speech Mikhail Gorbachev gave in Johannesburg. Gorbachev is now the president of Green Cross…check out their site. Good links and interesting stuff up there. Also, check out this word document by the European Union water initiative.

Executive Overview of “The New Economy of Water” We do not think the trend toward globalization and privatization of fresh water can be stopped, nor do we think it has to be. In some places and in some circumstances, letting private companies take responsibility for some aspects of water provision or management may help millions of poor people receive access to basic water services.

However, there is little doubt that the headlong rush toward private markets has failed to address some of the most important issues and concerns about water. In particular, water has vital social, cultural, and ecological roles to play that cannot be protected by purely market forces. In addition, certain management goals and social values require direct and strong government support and protection. Some of the consequences of privatization may be irreversible; hence they deserve special scrutiny and control.

As a result, we conclude that any efforts to privatize or commodify water must be evaluated far more carefully than they have been. Privatization efforts should be accompanied by guarantees to respect certain principles and support specific social objectives. Among these are the need to provide for the basic water needs of people and ecosystems, permit equitable access to water for poor populations, include affected parties in decision making, and improve water-use efficiency and productivity.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nature ‘pays biggest dividends’ The cash return from conserving wild places is far higher than the gains made from developing them, researchers say. They estimate humanity loses about $250bn through the loss of the habitat destroyed in a single year.

That loss occurs in the year the destruction happens, and in every subsequent year, they say. They put the benefit-cost ratio at more than 100 to 1 in favour of conservation.

Here comes the CO2 farmer

New revenue sources for famers: “Farming carbon” could provide extra income for farmers and provide significant environmental benefits.The secret to it is “no till” farming, which keeps carbon in the soil instead of releasing it as CO2 to the atmosphere.

On Farms, a No-Till Tactic on Global Warming (washingtonpost.com) Widespread carbon “sequestration” by farmers could reduce the expected increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent per year, according to leaders of the project, called CASMGS (Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases).

And many agricultural experts expect that a private market will develop in “carbon credits,” meaning farmers who sequester carbon could sell their credits to industrial companies that emit high levels of the gas. This could be done now on a voluntary basis to help companies “green” their image. If Congress or state legislatures pass carbon caps, the credits could be sold to corporations that are above the legal limit. A similar market in sulfur dioxide credits already exists.

Icy hydrogen traps

Hydrogen storage in an environmentally friendly way is still a big issue. This article points to the possibility that hydrogen might exist in icy bodies that we thought were incapable of retaining it.

ScienceDaily Magazine — Scientists Trap Hydrogen Gas In Ice “Cages” — Implications For Fuel Cells And Space Science Until recently, scientists thought that molecular hydrogen (H2) was too small to be contained in clathrate hydrates – crystalline solids where a framework of water molecules enclose molecules of gas. Now, researchers at the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Geophysical Laboratory, University of Chicago, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have been able to trap the gas inside water-ice structures forming hydrogen hydrate.

Crank it up: Faster cycling

Gimme that new crank and Lance is going to cry on his nifty titanium bike..

More power to pedal pushers? A peculiar pedal-crank from Italy, the spiritual home of cycle racing, may make future bikes faster. A cyclist could go a kilometre further in an hour with the new pedal, researchers estimate

Canada+Kyoto: Loss of jillion jobs would put every single Canadian out of work

Read that column in the Toronto Star. Do I have to mention it’s a satirical piece? Duh!

Jillions of jobs at stake in Kyoto accord

By Linwood Barclay

SOME STARTLING new developments this week into what disasters await Canada if it ratifies the Kyoto Protocol, as Prime Minister Jean Chrétien has promised.

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein released a new, hard-hitting report this week that suggests the number of jobs lost through implementing the Kyoto accord may be higher than originally thought.

Said Klein: “At first we thought it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 jobs, then 250,000 jobs, then a million, but now our studies indicate that the number is somewhere in the area of a jillion and a half.”

Klein said his government had to come up with a new numerical term because there were no existing numbers that seemed sufficiently alarming. Researchers settled on “jillion” because “gazillion” is already being used by the Bush administration to describe the number of weapons of mass destruction that have been acquired by Saddam Hussein.

Klein said losing just a jillion jobs would put every single Canadian out of work. “But I think we’re looking at 1.5 jillion jobs, easy,” Klein said. This means some Canadians who have been deceased for up to several decades will lose their jobs retroactively. A new study by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has determined that if the Liberals move full steam ahead with the Kyoto accord, it will send the nation’s birthrate into a downward spiral.

“We will be hastening our own extinction,” the association said in a news release. “Higher fuel prices, in conjunction with a move away from SUVs toward smaller cars, means it will cost couples in love more money to drive to secluded parking spots, and then, if they can even afford to get there, making out in small, fuel-efficient cars is an absolute nightmare.”

..

read on

EU initiative pushes hydrogen

Is the new European Union Hydrogen Initiative more than a talking shop, producing hot air (or for that matter: hot water?)

more info on the new EU hydrogen policy:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/energy/nn/nn_rt_hy3_en.htm

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport/index_fr.html

CORDIS: News service Total European public funding for fuel cell research is estimated at between 50 and 60 million euro per year, a figure that is only one third of that in the USA, and one quarter of that in Japan. ‘In the United States and Japan we see clear developments towards programmes and strategic alliances around hydrogen and fuel cells. These movements are seeking to bring hydrogen to the market, pushing it towards commercialisation.

Anyone read the new book by Jeremy Rifkin (title: Hydrogen Economy)?. Only Hydrogen Snake Oil? Business Week coined a new buzzword, inspired by Rifkin’s work: Hydrogen Balm.

CTV.ca – Canadian Television’s Web Destination “We’re going to begin to see this in the next few years in the auto industry,” Rifkin says. “You’re going to see the first cars in the showrooms within six or seven years.”

Weak democrats endorse Bush’s stampede

Dept. “You’re with us or against us”: Democratic opposition is giving in and endorsed Bush’s Iraq plans. Apparently, Bush’s team is already working out a post Saddam plan: According to this article, White House is considering to place a US general into a defeated Iraq for a while, till Iraw is democratized; following the example of Germany and Japan after the Second World War — this would mean the ultimate opening of a can of worms in Mid-East.

ABCNEWS.com : Congress Grants Bush War Powers Against Iraq “For me, the deciding factor is my belief that a united Congress will help the president unite the world. And by uniting the world, we can increase the world’s chances of succeeding in this effort, and reduce both the risks and the costs that America may have to bear,” Daschle said.

Ford, Germany: Fuel cell cars not viable before 2015

Spiegel Online interview with Rudolf Kunze, Chief Technical Officer, Ford Research Center in Aachen. According to Mr Kunze, Ford Germany is going to build 60 Ford Focus fuel cell powered cars; right now, each car costs 2 million Euros — a little too pricey.

Obviously, if this ‘hydrogen economy’ is really supposed to take off soon, the hydrogen industry will need some disruptive developments, for example some big deals with China (they don’t have oil resources; either they stick to coal mining or they’ll get hooked on hydrogen. Right now, I am afraid they will keep on digging their coal..) or some disruption of oil from the Mid-East and for the sake of homeland security.

Interview mit Ford-Forschungschef: “Brennstoffzellenautos nicht vor 2015 bezahlbar” – Auto – SPIEGEL ONLINE SPIEGEL ONLINE: Wie sieht denn die zeitliche Planung aus?

Kunze: Ich denke, dass ein Brennstoffzellen-Fahrzeug wie der Focus FCEV nicht vor dem Jahr 2015 zu einem normalen Pkw-Preis angeboten werden kann.

• English translation of source using FreeTranslation.com

America: over?!

Here’s a Canadian opinion on the decline of the American power — only a fringe theory? Is the possible Iraq war an end game? Is the US really turning into ‘another country’ like Portugal, Holland, Spain, France and England — formerly dominant countries, some centuries ago? Well, this is wishful thinking. America is the only super power, period. But in the long run I also think that this century is going to swing back to Europeans or Asians (China!). And I wonder: What’s going to happen to Canada, ‘another country’ already? Read on.

From The Globe and Mail — Canada’s Most Trusted News Source

All we seem to do these days is argue about the United States. And the arguments are awfully sparse, aren’t they? Either our neighbour is the most powerful nation on Earth, a menacing imperialist intruder that we must resist, or it’s the most powerful nation on Earth, a beneficial force of democracy and peace that we must join and support.

Let me offer you a new way of thinking about America: Over.

Under this school of thought, the United States stopped being the world’s dominant nation years ago, and has quietly collapsed into being Just Another Country. We haven’t really noticed this, the theory goes, because most other countries still act as if the United States has its old military and financial power, an assumption that could be stripped of its invisible clothes in the event of a protracted Iraq war.

Ananova – Expert warns air travel is worsening global warming The warning was made by the Sustainable Development Commission’s Professor Tim O’Riordan, in a lecture to the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen.

He said the air shuttle from Aberdeen to London emits as much carbon dioxide and harmful gases as if every passenger had travelled individually by car.

Kyoto: O Canada!

When it comes to Canada’s endorsement of the Kyoto accord, Alberta’s the trouble maker. Follow this link and read on this interesting editorial. I still don’t get it: More than 65 per cent of Canadians — even in Alberta — are pro Kyoto but the oil lobby seems to be quite strong and influential. Ask Canadians about the second stanza of their national anthem and all you get are some shrugs with their shoulders. But hey, here’s a reminder. Better listen, eh!?

O Canada!

Where pines and maples grow,

Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow,

How dear to us thy broad domain,

From East to Western sea!

Thou land of hope for all who toil!

Thou True North strong and free!

God keep our land glorious and free!

|: O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Osprey Media Group Inc. – Owen Sound Sun Times The until-now unbeatable Alberta Premier Ralph Klein seems on the way to becoming his own worst enemy with his rantings about the Kyoto Protocol.

Last week Klein even threatened that Alberta might choose separation from the rest of the Canada. Of course he did so in the best junior high school fashion by saying, “I don’t think Albertans are ready to leave Canada . . . if you ask Albertans now if they want to leave, they would say no, but don’t push us too hard.”

Rolling Sunlight: Solar bus on the road

Independent Florida Alligator – NEWS As part of the Clean Energy Now! campaign, Greenpeace members are driving a truck, known as the Rolling Sunlight, across the United States, Mexico and Canada. This is the truck’s first trip to Florida.

The campaign’s aim is to lobby politicians and utilities to use to clean energy, reducing the effects of global warming.

Oil/Iraq/Germany vs. US: Russian connection

Here’s an interesting angle on Germany’s confrontational “say no to Iraq war” approach. It shows main differences and interests in energy politics between the US and Germany: According to this article, Germany imports most of its oil from Russia and not directly from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Iran, Iraq or other OPEC states.

Moreover, it is questionable if Russia is going be happy about such a situation. There are some more interesting points in this article. Check the link to the machine translation below.

indymedia germany | Weshalb attackiert die deutsche Elite die US-Regierungspolitik | 06.10.2002 12:41 Gegenwärtig bezieht die BRD die Hauptmasse ihres Öls aus Rußland und die deutsch-russische Conection betreibt eine andere Irakpolitik als die US-Administration. Kürzlich schloß die irakische und die russische Regierung ein wirtschaftliches Optionsabkommen bezogen auf die nächsten 10 Jahre in der Größenordnung von 40 Mrd. Dollar. Für die Machbarkeit der Ausbeutung der irakischen Ölfelder ist die Aufhebung des UN-Embargos gegen den Irak zwingend erforderlich.

• English translation of source using FreeTranslation.com