It is that time of the month again : here is my selection of the most interesting and note-worthy news of September in the climate, energy and sustainability spheres. Each of them could have been the subject of an article. Given this selection I believe it is safe to say we are reaching tipping points …
I really appreciate reading Thomas L Friedman’s articles in the New York Times. His latest piece – Too Big to Breathe? – just nails it on how putting economic growth before anything else is endangering us all. There the acclaimed author of Hot, Flat and Crowded writes about how Harbin – a 10-million inhabitants city in China …
If you like me you are wondering sometimes what it would cost China to clean its air, here is the answer, and it is quite astounding. To a Chinese official, it would cost a mere 5 trillion yuan, or around $820 billion ( around 600 billion euros). For the capital city of Beijing alone, it …
The People’s Republic of China is in the middle of a very serious situation as it is struggling with horrendous air pollution which in the Northern provinces cut life expectancy by over five years. To avoid this from worsening even more, the local government has been investing heavily in the past and will invest more …
I originally wanted to write a post only on how the People’s Republic of China is willing to quadruple its solar PV capacity by 2015. But given other news from there got my attention, I thought it would be better to present them all. First thing first : the Chinese government is not messing around …
As I noted last week, the prestigious International Energy Agency reported that despite some emission reductions from the United States and Europe, the world keeps on spewing more and more gigatonnes of greenhouse gases. Luckily, the IEA proposes in its latest report four energy policies that would cut by eight percent the 2020 emissions compared …
IEA presents four energy policies to keep Earth cool Read More »
While I am not advocating nuclear as much as I was doing a few years ago – the incident in Fukushima have shown how the technology can be dangerous – I am still believing that it is better than coal. (Sidenote : anything IS better than coal…) According to a study quoted by Cleantechies, ” …
Here is another article I wrote for Cleantechies. It is on air pollution, a widespread phenomenon that is stricking both developed and developing nations all around the world. As one can see, it is also a most killing one : ” The combustion of fossil fuels are a huge health hazard as to a recent …
Air pollution kills more than HIV and Malaria combined Read More »
Over the past few days and weeks, so many horrifying news have been making the headlines on China that I thought a recap would be needed. As an introduction you might read my post on the airpocalypse in Beijing. All the news I will develop today clearly allow us to understand why the country is …
Is China reaching a tipping point on pollution ? Read More »
According to the most comprehensive research on the subject, soot – also known as black carbon – may have a significantly higher role in climate change than previously estimated. According to a BBC article quoting the study : ” (soot) dark particles are having a warming effect approximately two thirds that of carbon dioxide, and …
