First zero-carbon city to rise out of the desert

One of the world's largest oil producers has begun construction on the first zero-carbon city, powered entirely by renewable energy.

Officials from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, touted plans for a $22 billion development known as the Masdar Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge, US, in on 5 May.

"This is going to create huge business and research opportunities to get beyond where we are today," says Khaled Awad, of the government-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company."

First zero-carbon city to rise out of the desert - earth - 06 May 2008 - New Scientist Environment

Microreactor converteert brandstof naar waterstof

Het Amerikaanse bedrijf Innovatek heeft een microreactor ontwikkeld die in staat is om vrijwel iedere vloeibare brandstof om te zetten in waterstof. Recent heeft het bedrijf subsidie gekregen voor onderzoek naar commerciële toepassing.

De microreactors die door Innovatek zijn ontwikkeld kunnen aan elkaar gekoppeld worden, waardoor de hoeveelheid waterstof die per minuut geproduceerd wordt kan variëren van enkele liters tot meer dan zeshonderd liter per minuut. De microreactor weegt ongeveer een halve kilo en bevat een groot aantal microkanaaltjes die zijn voorzien van een katalyserend materiaal. Elke microtube produceert een constante hoeveelheid waterstof op basis van onder meer benzine, diesel, plantaardige olie, biodiesel, propaan, aardgas en glycerol.

Microreactor converteert brandstof naar waterstof | Tweakers.net Nieuws

Solar cell speeds hydrogen production - tech - 18 February 2008 - New Scientist Tech

A solar cell that mimics photosynthesis has been used to make hydrogen directly from water. The prototype is inefficient, but the researchers who built it believe they can boost its efficiency, perhaps leading to a viable source of hydrogen to fuel cars and other vehicles.

Solar cell speeds hydrogen production - tech - 18 February 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Join Al Gore in Bali, Sign the petition

Al Gore Says:

"In seven days I'm going to Bali, Indonesia to address the UN Climate Change Conference. In front of representatives from the world's countries, I will speak about the need for a visionary treaty to be completed, ratified and brought into effect everywhere in the world by 2010. I need you, your friends and family to sign this petition calling for a new, positive leadership role by our elected leaders. I will bring your signatures on stage with me as a clear demonstration of our resolve. This petition shows our commitment to solutions to the climate crisis. Please add your voice today and urge your friends to add theirs. The time for action is now. Only together can we make the change."


Sign Here:
Sign the petition

"How Carbon Tax Works"

"Carbon tax is a form of pollution tax. It levies a fee on the production, distribution or use of fossil fuels based on how much carbon their combustion emits. The government sets a price per ton on carbon, then translates it into a tax on electricity, natural gas or oil. Because the tax makes using dirty fuels more expensive, it encourages utilities, businesses and individuals to reduce consumption and increase energy efficiency. Carbon tax also makes alternative energy more cost-competitive with cheaper, polluting fuels like coal, natural gas and oil.

Carbon tax is based on the economic principle of negative externalities. Externalities are costs or benefits generated by the production of goods and services. Negative externalities are costs that are not paid for. When utilities, businesses or homeowners consume fossil fuels, they create pollution that has a societal cost; everyone suffers from the effects of pollution. Proponents of a carbon tax believe that the price of fossil fuels should account for these societal costs. More simply put -- if you're polluting to everyone else's detriment, you should have to pay for it."

Source: Howstuffworks "How Carbon Tax Works"

Interactive Carbon Emission Map

"At its core, Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a massive database containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. Power generation accounts for 40% of all carbon emissions in the United States and about one-quarter of global emissions. CARMA is the first global inventory of a major, emissions-producing sector of the economy.

CARMA is produced and financed by the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent and non-partisan think tank located in Washington, DC.

The objective of CARMA.org is to equip individuals with the information they need to forge a cleaner, low-carbon future. By providing complete information for both clean and dirty power producers, CARMA hopes to influence the opinions and decisions of consumers, investors, shareholders, managers, workers, activists, and policymakers. CARMA builds on experience with public information disclosure techniques that have proven successful in reducing traditional pollutants."

Link: CARMA - Carbon Monitoring for Action

Other interactive maps can be found here:

Link: www.nytimes.com

UN climate report: already out of date?

"some experts are worried, fearing that the IPCC's ponderous machinery, which gives birth to a new review only every five or six years, is falling dangerously behind with what's happening to Earth's climate systems.

The new report notably fails to take into account a batch of dramatic recent evidence, including the shrinkage of the Arctic ice cap, glacier loss in Greenland, a surge in levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and an apparent slowing of Earth's ability to absorb greenhouse gases, they say.

Taken together, say the sources, these phenomena suggest climate change is be occurring faster than expected -- and may even unleash "tipping points" that could uncontrolably accelerate the damage.

"Over the past several years we have realized ... that the speed at which changes can occur -- such as ice sheet disintegration and resulting sea level rise -- is much faster than IPCC has estimated," leading climatologist James Hansen, who heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, told AFP.

"We are now in a situation where the luxury of super-caution and reticence poses a danger for the planet and all its creatures," he said."

Bron:www.wbcsd.org

New Zealand Aims to be World’s First Carbon Neutral Nation

Some say it is government propaganda, but at least this government is speaking out loud their intention.

"New Zealand has declared its aim to be carbon neutral in electrical energy by 2025, in stationary manufacturing energy in 2030 and in transport energy by 2040.

The New Zealand government has a history of leadership in sustainable energy planning already signaled its intention to be a leader in carbon neutrality when it announced its Emissions Trading Scheme in September. The October launch of the New Zealand Energy Strategy to 2050, titled Powering our Future: Towards a sustainable low emissions energy system, has provided further detail of the steps."

Bron: New Zealand Aims to be World’s First Carbon Neutral Nation

What Al Gore doesn't understand about climate change.

"Gore has depicted the fundamental trade-off as one between environmental responsibility and personal greed. Of course, as everyone over the age of 12 is perfectly aware, the real trade-off is between the quality of our own lives and the quality of our descendants'.

In other words, climate policy is almost entirely about you and me making sacrifices for the benefit of future generations. To contribute usefully to the debate, you've got to think hard about the appropriate level of sacrifice. That in turn requires you to think hard about roughly half a dozen underlying issues

1. How much does human activity affect the climate?
2. How much harm (or good!) is likely to come from that climate change?
3. How much do we—or should we—care about future generations?
4. How likely are those future generations to be around, anyway?
5. Just how rich are those future generations likely to be?
6. How risk-averse are we?"

Read the article for further explanation.

Bron: What Al Gore doesn't understand about climate change. - By Steven E. Landsburg - Slate Magazine

Nuclear and CO2 storage 'key' to future EU energy mix

"Renewable energies alone will not be sufficient to deliver the ambitious CO2 reduction targets agreed by EU leaders for 2020, warned a top Commission official speaking to EurActiv. Nuclear power and 'clean' fossil fuels using carbon sequestration and storage will be needed if Europe is to make up for the shortfall, said Matthias Ruete, Director General of the Commission's Transport and Energy directorate."

Bron: http://www.wbcsd.org