The International Energy Agency issued a study – Gadgets and Gigawatts – on the energy consumption of the numerous mobile phones, mp3 players and other electronic devices. By 2030, they are due to consume up to three times more and thus burn up to 700 terawatt-hours of electricity. All this energy would cost up to […]
The energy cost of our electronic devices Read More »
Thanks to the Oil Drum, I read about an interesting fact. Andris Piebalgs, the European Energy Commissioner published this month an interesting post on his blog stating that oil production may have already peaked. This is no big surprise as we have already seen that to the Oil Drum, global production peaked in 2008. Additionally,
European energy official: oil may have peaked Read More »
I never write about renewable energy projects who will bring only a few megawatts to the grids. I prefer to focus on huge plants that will bring at least several hundreds megawatts which are more interesting in a global scope. This is the case of two projects I heard about this week. One will bring
Two massive renewable energies projects Read More »
I wrote recently that global coal reserves may be overestimated. At the time, the data I was quoting noted that coal reserves could be overestimated by 23 %. Now a new study show that coal supply could start decreasing by as early as 2025. With peak oil also due to occur in the very next
Could peak coal occur as soon as 2025 ? Read More »
I came across interesting data last week : Americans consume more than two times more oil per capita than Europeans. As we will see, this can be explained by three factors. Bringing oil consumption per capita to European levels would enable the USA to be independent from foreign oil, save a lot of money, create
Solutions to cut US dependance on foreign oil Read More »
I have been an advocate of energy efficiency for years and believe it is the best solution to solve the energy and climate equation. So when the European Union plans to ban importing energy inefficient goods I can only applaud the initiative. This is done to enable the 27 countries and their 500 million inhabitants
More energy efficiency in the European Union Read More »
What happens when organizations like the Clinton Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Institute work together ? Answer: they retrofit the Empire State Building. This will cut by the energy consumption by 40 percent. Built during the 1930s to create thousands of jobs and answer the economic crisis, its $20 million retrofit will occur as we
Retrofitting the Empire State Building Read More »
An article on TreeHugger caught my attention as it explained that half US employees – and similar figures in other countries – don’t turn off their computers at the end of their work day. The potential savings are impressive. In America: $2.8 billion, in the United Kingdom $420 million and Germany $1.2 billion. That’s right,
Shuting down PCs at night could save billions Read More »
Times they are a-changin’ sung Bob Dylan. This is true as after years of despisal more and more people – even environmentalists previously against such solutions – support nuclear as a way to avoid dramatic climate change. This became apparent as Sweden stated it won’t stop as planned its nuclear plants next year and will
More and more support for nuclear Read More »
For my 500th post on this blog, I would like to bring you good news. The decision taken last week within the Grenelle de l’Environnement is a huge leap forward towards sustainability of housing. Indeed, the French government will launch in April an eco loan of up to 30,000 € ($37,600) with no interest rate
A zero-interest rate loan for housing renovation Read More »
