Pay toilets?Per-breath charge for emergency oxygen?
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BAUAAAE (Business As Usual And Above All Else) prevails in U.S. energy policy. This blog criticizes such policy, sometimes acerbically. Sometimes it is easy to do, e.g., when the Obama administration perpetuates the clean coal lie, e.g., in his first WEFW SOTU (State Of The [...]
With the Illinois-based White House putting Chicago-area barge traffic above the overall health of the Great Lakes, we can safely predict "Carp Invasion1" headlines later this year.We're proud to announce that starting on Monday February 22nd, HuffPost Green and HuffPost Eyes&Ears will be doing The' [...]
Spaceflight, Bookshops & Chinese Farms – here are a selection of headlines from around the world.
World
Chinese farms cause more pollution than factories, says official survey Greece plans to ban early retirement The new eurobillions lotteryTech
Average American spent [...]
What's in a name? Plenty, according to Dr. Seuss Enterprises; especially if the beloved children's author, known for his creative use of the English language, coined the name.
Campaigns to end industrial primary rainforest logging in Papua New Guinea and Madagascar based upon ecological science, and meant to end corruption and ecological harm
By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
[...]
Do you have frisky felines taking over your home? Then you need to set some ground rules for your cats and balance your pet life with these eco-friendly tips.
How about this: the new wind turbines installed in just 2009 alone will generate as much electricity as 12 large nuclear reactors:
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), âthe worldâs wind power capacity grew by 31% in 2009 adding [...]
Today's big stories from the nuclear industry:
Germany's Nuclear Power Extension Splits Merkel's Government
âFeb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- German plans to extend the running time of nuclear-power plants split Chancellor Angela Merkel's government after her environment minister suggested a 40-year limit on their operating [...]
It's reinventing-the-wheel time. The Obama administration has announced intentions to create a big, fat, shiny, new federal office called the "Climate Service" to track global warming, complete with six regional offices and lots of good intentions.
"It" [...]
Abstract: Miguel Quiroga, Martin Persson and Thomas Sterner study whether lax environmental regulations induce comparative advantages, causing the least-regulated countries to specialize in polluting industries. They seek to improve three areas in the empirical literature based on the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek’s factor content of trade, more specifically in Tobey’s (1990) approach: [...]
Let's see if you can get the song out of your head the rest of the day.
[...]Navistar, Inc. has signed a concept development agreement with UK-based Clean Air Power Ltd. to develop Navistar’s MaxxForce 13 big bore engine to run on natural gas and diesel fuel for the North American market.
The program will utilize Clean Air Power’s Dual-Fuel combustion technology (earlier post) to deliver [...]
A reluctant Toyota Motor Corp. announced Tuesday a global recall of its flagship Prius and other gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, even as executives suggested they weren't required to do so.
via online.wsj.com
Yes or no? Submit your answers in the comments section.
[...]As part of what has become a global recall of the third-generation Prius, Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA Inc, will conduct a voluntary safety recall on approximately 133,000 2010 Model Year Prius vehicles and 14,500 Lexus Division 2010 HS 250h vehicles to update software in the vehicle’s anti-lock brake [...]
FEV, Inc., a developer of advanced powertrain and vehicle technologies, has coupled an FEV-developed Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) with a 3-cylinder engine for use as a range extender in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. The APU is designed as a flexible, compact unit using proven technology, combined to bring 40kW of [...]
There has been a great increase in the use of wind power in recent years, while solar has suffered slightly due to the economic downturn. However, a recent acquisition by a major company is looking to ensure the prominence of solar energy.
Areva SA, [...]
You have heard much talk about various schemes devised by members of Congress to ensure that the energy tax masquerading as a rationing scheme -- the cap-and-trade wonder that President Obama insists will cause your electricity prices to "necessarily skyrocket" and "bankrupt" key industries -- won't cost you anything. And' [...]
Seventeen partners from research, academia and industry are participating in the project Harz.ErneuerbareEnergien-mobility (Harz.EE-mobility), which will deploy a network of charging stations for plug-ins covering the entire Harz region in Germany. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg are determining the optimal locations [...]
US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced the intent to create a NOAA Climate Service line office dedicated to bringing together the agency’s climate science and service delivery capabilities.
Working closely with federal, regional, academic and other state and local government and private sector partners, the new NOAA Climate Service [...]
In state after state, CCS signs on as "technical experts" -- dispassionate "facilitators" assisting a "stakeholder process." In fact, it winds up' [...]
-- The A-pillar trim pieces on 2010 Acura MDXs can fly off when the side airbag deploys in a crash, "increasing the risk of injury to the driver and/or front seat passenger."
-- The 2010 Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger and Nitro, Jeep Liberty and Commander, as well as 2009 and 2010 [...]
Caterpillar Inc. intends to join the FutureGen Alliance, a public-private partnership established to build a first-of-its-kind coal-fired, near-zero emissions power plant in Mattoon, Illinois.
The FutureGen facility is designed to be the cleanest coal burning plant in the world and will integrate advanced technologies for coal gasification, electricity production, emissions control, carbon dioxide [...]
This is part of a trial series
The "Tokyo Two" were featured in ABC News (Australia) saying the UN's judgment is a blow to Japan's judicial system. The UN report says the activists' detention contravenes international covenants on human rights. Read the interview with Junichi Sato' [...]
Ford Motor Company is unveiling the all-electric version of the Ford Transit Connect at the Chicago Auto Show; the small electric van will be in fleet operators’ hands later this year, according to the company. The 2011 Transit Connect Electric [...]
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced a recall related to the software program that controls the antilock braking system (ABS) in current-model Prius, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, Sai and HS250h sold in Japan. (Earlier post.) The recall, for which TMC submitted notifications on Tuesday to Japan’s Ministry of Land, [...]
Protoscar, a Swiss company which has been developing CleanCar projects for 23 years, will introduce the LAMPO2 electric sports car prototype at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March. LAMPO2 is a more energy-efficient successor to the LAMPO demonstration vehicle presented in [...]
The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. will suspend domestic production of its Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids, which are to be recalled for faulty brakes, at the end of the week.
Japan’s top automaker intends to submit plans for a recall of the Prius hybrid to the Transport Ministry [...]
Abstract: The implementation of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires nationally generalizable estimates of the benefits of protecting inland and coastal waters. As an alternative to benefit transfers and meta-analyses, J. Vesterinen, E. Pouta, A. Huhtala and M. Neuvonen utilize national recreation inventory data combined with water [...]
Coulomb Technologies has introduced a new, open Flex Billing system; beginning in July, users of ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations will no longer need a subscription to the ChargePoint Network. Owners of the charging stations (Hosts), including utilities, retailers, municipalities and corporations can determine the price that drivers pay to [...]
GM’ new lineup of heavy-duty diesel pickups will have B20 biodiesel capability.
To make the Duramax 6.6L and its fuel system compatible with B20, GM upgraded some seals and gasket materials to withstand the ester content of biodiesel and included an upgraded fuel filter that includes a coalescing element. It [...]
Researchers at the Department of [...]
Executive Summary
Over the last two decades, utility ratepayer funding for energy efficiency programs has seen both booms and busts. Currently, roughly 35 states implement some set of ratepayer-funded electric and/or natural gas energy efficiency programs, with a total U.S. budget of $3.1 billion in 2008 (CEE 2008).1 The [...]
Eco City Vehicles PLC (ECV), a developer and supplier of eco-friendly commercial vehicles and the London licensed taxi, launched an all-electric prototype of the London-licensed Mercedes Vito taxi, developed by a consortium of companies including ECV’s manufacturing partner Penso, Mercedes Benz UK and Zytek Automotive.
The eVito Taxi is [...]
Abstract: Recently, the sport of ice climbing has seen a dramatic increase in popularity. This paper uses the travel cost method to estimate the demand for ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon, Montana, one of the premier ice climbing venues in North America. Access to Hyalite and other ice climbing [...]
Abstract:
Hedonic techniques are commonly used to recover implicit prices for the attributes of differentiated products – particularly housing. However, if unobservable house or neighborhood attributes are correlated with the attributes of interest, OLS estimates of their implicit prices will be biased. A variety of quasi-experimental approaches have been [...]
Abstract: In this paper Joshua Graff Zivin and Matthew J. Neidell estimate the impacts of climate change on the allocation of time using econometric models that exploit plausibly exogenous variation in daily temperature over time within counties. The authors find large reductions in U.S. labor supply in industries with [...]
... The Crown Estate, owner of the UK’s coastal seabeds, granted rights to energy companies to develop the biggest expansion of wind energy ever seen in the world.
The announcement has the potential to see an additional 32GW of clean electricity feeding into the UK grid, on top of 8GW [...]
The Pencil Printer is a concept device by designer Hoyoung Lee that models a method for printing using pencil lead instead of ink. The device makes functional reuse of pencils worn down to their stubs, and the concept calls for reuse [...]
Alliance Federated Energy (AFE) last week announced the development of “Project Apollo,” a $225-million, 25MW energy project located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Project Apollo plans to utilize Westinghouse Plasma Corp.’s (WPC) plasma gasification technology to process municipal and industrial wastes into syngas for use in power generation. There are [...]
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has introduced a new video, titled The Power of Scale, that outlines a few simple steps—such as rightsizing vehicles, reducing idling, planning an efficient route, and removing excess cargo—to guide companies with vehicle fleets in cutting costs and CO2 emissions.
The video visually depicts how small [...]
SciDev.net. The Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), formed in October 2009, will now contribute formally to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This marks the first institutional level involvement of Indian scientists with the IPCC; up to now, Indian scientists have made individual contributions.
INCCA will [...]
Embrapa, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Cooperation, and BASF’s jointly developed herbicide-tolerant soybeans were green-lighted on 10 December 10 by CTNBio,the Brazilian Biosafety Technical Commission. Cultivance is the first genetically modified crop developed in Brazil, from laboratory to commercialization. The approval is the result of more than 10 years of [...]
by Jack Rosebro
Recent brake feel and application issues in Ford and Toyota hybrids (earlier post) have drawn [...]
The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. will begin recalling its Sai and Lexus HS250h hybrids, which use the same braking system as the company’s Prius hybrid, by the end of this month.
The company is believed to have decided to recall the latest model of its Prius due to [...]
Better Place announced the grand opening of the company’s first electric vehicle (EV) battery switch demonstration center in Israel. (Earlier post.)
The company marked the occasion by announcing the signing of 92 corporate fleet owners to date as well as a partnership with Dor Alon, one of Israel’s leading gas [...]
Proton Power Systems recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Smith Electric Vehicles, the commercial electric vehicle division of The Tanfield Group Plc. Under the MoU both parties will collaborate to build and market a battery-powered commercial vehicle, equipped with a Proton Power PM200 fuel cell system as [...]
Pratt & Whitney will offer an Advantage Performance Upgrade package for the PW4000 94-inch family of aircraft engines that will deliver a 1% fuel burn reduction and improve engine durability. Other benefits of the package include lower greenhouse gas emissions, lower gas exhaust temperature and increased time on wing. [...]
LA Times. The Southern California Assn. of Governments rejected $11 million in federal stimulus money targeted to build 55 ethanol fueling stations across Southern California, saying it had policy concerns about ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.
Corn-based ethanol causes more harm than good for the environment because it [...]
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd (PBMR Pty) of the Republic of South Africa to study the area of collaboration in the development of the helium-cooled, High Temperature Reactor (HTR) Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR).
[...]
Writing for Think Progress, Brad Johnson reports that Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) announced at a recent gathering of coal-powered executives that “he, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), and Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) were introducing yet another piece of legislation [...]
Local landowner initiated court case has shut down logging for two months. The PNG Forest Authority's review of the granting of the right to log to notorious Rimbunan Hijau [search] of Malaysia in Ramu River valley [...]
Nissan is entering into an agreement with the City of Houston to advance zero-emission mobility in the city by promoting the development of an electric-vehicle charging network and policies to support widespread adoptions of electric cars.
The announcement, made at the Houston stop of the Nissan LEAF Zero Emissions [...]
Rapid melting of the Arctic region could carry a minimum global cost of US$2.4 trillion by 2050, according to a new report, “An Initial Estimate of the Cost of Lost Climate Services Due to Changes in the Arctic Cryosphere”, released by the Pew Environment Group.
We estimate that on an [...]
The Volvo Group has chosenPennsylvania State University to be the first North American member of Volvo’s Academic Partner Program, which was launched globally in 2009 for research cooperation with selected universities.
Cooperation in Volvo’s Academic Partner Program encompasses research in areas such as production technology, engine development, and automotive safety. [...]
Writing for Greenwire, Darren Samuelsohn reports on action by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D). The exemplary coal state senator “pushed back at the Obama budget request, saying it fell well short of what was necessary.” Necessity in the Coal State [...]
I was with Jim “the Devil” Al-Khalili up to the point in The Secret Life of Chaos when he introduced the idea of evolution. Al-Khalili tells the viewer that this process is the basis for life and intelligence. But, then, it became more difficult to appreciate how [...]
Subtitle: But for now, LED Back Lit LCDs Prevail
Back in the summer San Francisco Treehugger Jaymi Heimbuch claimed OLED technology is cool, since it reduces energy consumption by 75%.
According to OLED Info, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology KAIST has figured [...]
The first milestone of the Copenhagen Accord came and went, without any sign of hope that we could avoid catastrophic climate change.
Instead, observes Greenpeace News, the pledges of the main polluters seem to be toward devastation of the existing [...]
Subtitle: The Flexible Control of Fear
“One of the duties of the modern nation-state is persuasion,” writes Jeff Strabone. “Each state aims to keep its citizens convinced of the legitimacy of its rule.”
The state may be run chiefly for the enrichment of a few at the cost of the [...]
Subtitle: Kentucky worst in nation for growth in GHG
Getting to 350 parts per million of CO2 is a goal and the state of Kentucky is not helping. According to the Center for Climate Strategies, greenhouse gas emissions — mainly carbon dioxide — in the state are increasing [...]
We just had the hottest decade on record and NOAA tells us, it could have been worse. Decreased water vapor in the atmospheric layer ten miles above the Earth may account for less surface warming.
image: NOAA
“Water [...]
Pillow talk* included a SOTU (State Of The Union) review (to include appreciation of the Speaker’s pearl necklace and the color of the First Lady’s attire).
* Editor’s note: No dictionaries were harmed in the making of this post, Emily.
Hard to know whether to laugh or cry,” [...]
