water
Britain’s water industry has seen many improvements in the 20-plus years since it was privatised, but it’s now at a critical moment … because continuing with business as usual has become unsustainable. While drinking water standards and services have improved, the industry’s debt has ballooned from £0 to
electric cars
The future of transport might lie with electric cars, but will we be able to build the market and infrastructure before carbon and oil constraints create insurmountable hurdles? The answer isn’t clear just yet. While hybrid cars, which use both battery and petrol power, are appearing more frequently on
Hi Folks I’m working on a fascinating research project for CleanAnalysis, comparing the environmental footprint of coffee shops to the public’s perception of environmental brand. It’s great to see the results coming in – and even more interesting to see why one particular coffee shop is miles ahead
hydrogen
A French technology company says it plans to manufacture and test two prototypes for solid-state hydrogen storage that, if they prove workable at an industrial scale, could eliminate the problem of not being able to tap solar or wind energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’
Jurdy tries to encourage the long-term view …
concentrated solar
More than a billion people in the world today lack access to clean drinking water and there are more people in the world’s hospitals today suffering from water-borne diseases than any other ailment. As glaciers shrink, droughts increase and salt-water intrusion spreads, the world’s current fresh water shortage
Scientists working at a remote ice base in the Arctic have begun experiments to see how microscopic crustaceans, vital to the marine food chain, might respond in a future ocean environment that’s absorbed increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The studies are being carried out as part of the
climate
Late last month, a group of national security strategists, top researchers and analysts gathered at the Kossiakoff Centre of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to discuss two big worries that many in the mainstream media might have you believe aren’t causes for concern at all:
Smart Grid
The Smart Grid Energy Training Coalition has been awarded a grant of $2.5 million from the Department of Energy for the purpose of developing a smart grid workforce training program. The coalition, led by the University of Houston includes CenterPoint Energy, San Jacinto College, the Power Technology Institute, SkillsNET
wind energy
A Spanish energy company has set its sights on making Romania home to the world’s “most ambitious” network of wind farms yet, now that it has received the go-ahead from the nation’s electrical grid operator. Iberdrola Renewables, a division of the energy firm Iberdrola, says the OK from
geoengineering
The Iceland volcano that’s putting a halt to so much European air travel might not have as much of an impact on carbon dioxide emissions and climate … for now. As this fascinating graphic from Information is Beautiful indicates, the amount of carbon being spewed out by Eyjafjallajökull is minuscule
phosphorus
Next week, a US university will unveil a new initiative aimed at addressing the “biggest problem you’ve never heard of”: peak phosphorus. James Elser, an Arizona State University (ASU) ecologist who’s one of the researchers helping to launch the Sustainable Phosphorus Initiative on Earth Day (April 22), warns
