Last week the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released a report stating the United States could get twenty percent of their electricity by offshore wind by 2030. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, China installed 13,8 GW of capacity in 2009 alone, to reach a capacity of 25,8 GW. A report notes …
Last week US President Barack Obama announced he will put back solar panels on the White House next year. The first solar panels were installed by President Carter in the 1970s and removed by Reagan in 1986. This made me wonder when l’Elysée, the residence of French Presidents will install solar panels as well. While …
To the UNEP : ” In 2009, (…) both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear. “ But this is not all as the United Nations give us more details : ” Renewables accounted for 60 % …
Solar photoelectric and concentrating solar thermal are all the rage and little is said about the much simpler solar thermal. However this technology has a huge potential as New York will soon show. Indeed the US State is willing to add the equivalent of no less than two gigawatts of capacity by 2020. Heating water …
Here is a post on a subject not so unrelated to sustainable development. To the International Labour Organization : “ Global youth unemployment has reached its highest level on record, and is expected to increase through 2010 “ The ILO also warns of the “risk of a crisis legacy of a ‘lost generation’ comprised of …
I recently finished reading a most interesting book of what Mankind would leave behind once it has disappeared from the surface of the Earth. This 300-page thought experiment was written by the American journalist Alan Weisman. Even if cities like New York will disappear as buildings crumble and as plants of all sorts grow, Nature …
To the Huffington Post quoting Associated Press : ” President Barack Obama says it’s time to roll back “billions of dollars in tax breaks” for oil companies and use the money for clean energy research and development. “ We have seen it here in numerous occasions : fossil fuel companies are receiving each years billions to …
Can Obama really cut oil companies’ tax breaks ? Read More »
We all know it : coal is by far the most greenhouse gases emitting energy source. It is also a major air pollutant. For these two reasons it is the environmental enemy #1. (cf The Economist’s cover, back to 2002) However, many countries like China, India, Germany or the United States are still relying importantly …
Isn’t life ironic ? A mere weeks after President Obama decided to embrace offshore drilling, the United States are facing one of the biggest – if not the biggest – oil spill in their history. After the explosion of the BP drilling rig in the gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana the equivalent of hundred thousands …
In terms of sustainable transportation, there is nothing better than bikes. Indeed besides being the most energy efficient transport mean it is also good for our environment and health (exercise, reduced air pollution…) Now acknowledging these facts US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is urging states and transportation agencies to treat “walking and bicycling as equals with other …
