SUSTAINABLE & CLEAN ENERGY | ENERGY EFFICIENCY | LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT | CLIMATE CHANGE | ___________ TECHNOLOGY | POLICY | INVESTMENT

Friday, April 29, 2016

Fuel cell demo buses are almost twice more fuel efficient than conventional buses


Recent NREL's report provides a summary of results from evaluations of the fuel cell electric bus (FCEB) demonstration projects in California. The results for these buses account for more than 1,045,000 miles traveled and 83,000 hours of fuel cell power system operation.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Saudi Arabia creates $2 trillion investment fund for post-oil era


Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled ambitious plan "Vision 2030" aimed at ending the kingdom's "addiction" to oil and transforming it into a global investment power. The kingdom would raise the capital of its public investment fund (PIF) to 7 trillion riyals ($2 trillion).

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

30 years on, Ukraine remembers Chernobyl disaster, but still heavily depends on nuclear power


Today Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, world’s worst technological catastrophe. Over 100 times more radiation was released than by Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Thirty-one plant workers and firemen died in the immediate aftermath of the accident, most from acute radiation sickness. According to UN report, published in 2005, “up to 4,000” could eventually be killed by the invisible poison in Ukraine and neighbouring Russia and Belarus. 

Monday, April 25, 2016

Solar Impulse 2: flight from Hawaii to California without a single drop of fuel


The experimental solar-powered aircraft SI2, piloted by Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and working on circumnavigating the planet, landed yesterday in California after 62:29 hours flight across the Pacific.

Friday, April 22, 2016

175 countries have signed Paris climate deal on Earth Day

The Paris Climate Change Agreement, adopted last December, was signed by 175 Parties (174 countries and the European Union) at a ceremony at UN Headquarters. "We are in a race against time.The era of consumption without consequences is over" - U.N. secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

March set another heat record for the globe


For 11th straight month, the earth was record warm - the average temperature was 2.07 °F (1.17 °C ) above the 20th-century average, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Energy efficiency costs are 1.5-3.5 times less than costs of new power generation

While energy efficiency investments reduce energy use and energy bills, the energy efficiency measures do have an up-front cost, which is ultimately covered by energy bill savings. 

Monday, April 18, 2016

Climate change challenges on Canada's Arctic coast


All of Canada’s  coasts, the longest in the world, are being impacted by changing climate, and these impacts will continue to increase in the future. It is an ice that distinguishes Canada's about 176,000 kilometres of North coastline from the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines. Authors of the new report, published by the Government of Canada, have found that both, sea ice and ground ice within the permafrost, are very vulnerable to the global warming.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Has fracking really reduced greenhouse gases in U.S.?


A publication in NEWSMAXFINANCE states that hydraulic fracturing for shale oil and gas drilling (fracking) is the primary reason of  recent reduction in GHG emissions in the U.S. The author argues that fracking produces massive amounts of natural gas, and, as a consequence, natural gas prices have fallen in the past decade from above $8 per million BTUs to about $2 this year, what led America to use more natural gas instead of significantly much more carbon intensive coal. However this statement contradicts with results of an international scientific studies,

Thursday, April 14, 2016

British Columbia’s clean power industry has attracted more than $8.6 billion in investment


This number was presented in the report "BC Clean Energy Projects: Investment, Job Creation and Community Contributions", recently published by the Clean Energy Association of British Columbia (Canada). The money is spent in local economies, including the province’s north and interior regions, what allows to support over 20 000 direct, full-time equivalent person years of construction employment in every region of the province in the works on current and forthcoming projects.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

China led the world in renewable energy investments with share of 36% in 2015


A new report published by the UN Environment Programme, Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016, reveals that all investment in renewables totaled $286 billion in 2015, around 3% higher than the previous record set back in 2011.

Monday, April 11, 2016

WRI: more than 20 countries have reduced annual GHG emissions in 21 century while growing their economies


A study by the World Resources Institute found that since the start of the 21st century, 21 countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, UK, Ukraine, Spain and others, have already fully decoupled their economic growth from carbon emissions. Over the 14-year period, the aggregate annual CO2 reduction for these 21 countries amounted to slightly more than 1 billion metric tons.

Friday, April 8, 2016

U.S. top Energy Star cities in 2015


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  has ranked the 25 U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified commercial buildings in 2015. The cities on this list prove that energy efficiency saves money and improves comfort in the communities.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

The Solutions Project shows exactly how world can reach 100% renewable energy


Team of researchers at Stanford developed interactive maps and plans to show how 139 different countries could practically go 100% renewable.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Should carbon metrics continue to shape climate policy?



Publication by Project Syndicate questions a simplistic approach, when “climate change” has become almost synonymous with “carbon emissions”, and states that such approach alone cannot resolve the highly complex and interconnected ecological crises that world currently faces.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Success of EBRD's Municipal Sustainable Energy Financing Facility in Slovakia


Projects financed under MunSEFF will lead to annual primary energy savings equivalent to the household electricity consumption of a city with population about 70,000 inhabitants and greenhouse gas emission reductions of 15,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The program provides funds to Slovak commercial banks in the form of loans to municipalities and private companies to invest in more efficient use of energy in their municipal infrastructure, including municipal and residential buildings, public transport, district heating and street lighting.