When I was writing in October my article on the clean alternatives to coal, I was planning to add at the bottom a page summing up the pros and cons of each solution. I never did so but still found this document interesting as it sums up quite well the situation at hand. Each and …
According to several sources, including the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune, the British government approved the building of new nuclear plants. This occurs as nuclear energy is becoming more and more interesting as it is the second lowest greenhouse gases energy solution behind hydro. This might be for this country the beginning of …
UK government approved the building of nuclear plants Read More »
2008 will see many new records for oil prices as already yesterday the price did hit $100 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). This represents both a record price and a psychological barrier as never before did the prices hit these levels. During the two oil shocks, the record was of $90.46. …
In my article on the clean alternatives to coal I was mentioning that the first thing to implement before any other was behavioral changes and energy efficiency. Indeed, I believe we need both as they are complementary and very different. Indeed one has a sociological approach when the other refers to pure economics. Energy efficiency …
Difference between behavioral change and efficiency Read More »
I have never been a great fan of traditional biofuels (nor the World Bank and the OECD) as their yield is quite small and as they require a lot of by-products (pesticides…). However, some alguae like Ulva lactuca (sea lettuce, pictured left) have a much superior yield than cereals and aren’t as much eaten as …
The IHT proposed on December 9th an interesting article on the future of the oil market which brings even more gloomy prospects. The article strongly reinforces my opinion that we (France, Europe, the entire world…) should work fast on energy efficiency in order to consume less energy. To the journalist, oil-rich countries like Mexico or …
Oil producing countries to export less fossil fuels Read More »
Both the Financial Times and the Worldwatch Institute provided me monday with interesting data and news on the Chinese energy market. Good news : the country is willing to get 30% of its electricity via renewables by 2050. Bad news : the growth of energy consumption last year was of 16.2 percent. This wouldn’t be …
According to the IHT, one of the major electricity producers in Asia – The CLP Group – committed itself to decreasing its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 75 percent by 2050. The company will use each and every necessary means to do so : renewable energies, carbon capture and storage, clean coal technologies and …
A major Asian utility to decrease its CO2 emissions Read More »
According to the French daily Le Figaro in its Monday edition, the construction of the first EPR reactor in France has begun and is going on well. The EPR technology provides several improvements to the current nuclear plants, including increased yield and security, decreased waste and radiations. This reactor will be operational in 2012 and …
Since the writing of my Master’s thesis, I am aware that huge savings of CO2 emissions could be achieved by insulating our homes and shifting toward energy-efficient appliances. This feeling is strongly reinforced by the views of the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) which is part of the renowned Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In …
