Recently in Climate Category
The Energy Information Administration has released the International Energy Outlook 2008. The Outlook projects 50 percent growth in energy use between 2003 and 2030. It also projects a 50 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions during the same period with current policy regulations. The EIA attributes this growth to "robust economic growth and expanding populations in the world's developing countries." While the report does project a 2 percent increase in hydroelectricity and renewable energy use, coal and natural gas consumption also increase by 2 and 1.7 percent. To learn more, read the press release and the full report.
The Pew Center on Global Climate Change offers users interactive maps describing energy and climate change policies in each of the U.S. states. Map topics include:
- Climate Action
- Energy Sector
- Transportation Sector
- Building Sector
In May 2008, the Brookings Institute released their report Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America. The report quantifies transportation and residential carbon emissions in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in 2000 and 2005. According to the report, "Residential density and the availability of public transit are important to understanding carbon footprints, as were the carbon intensity of electricity generation, electricity prices, and weather." Metro areas east of the Mississippi were relatively worse in GHG emissions. And the South particularly, had the largest carbon footprints of any region in both 2000 and 2005. In addition to system-wide changes, such as pricing carbon, establishing and RFS, and increasing R&D, the report also offered more particular suggestions for reducing GHG emissions in metro areas. These policy options included:
- Promoting more transportation choices;
- Introducing more energy-efficient freight operations;
- Requiring home energy cost disclosure when selling and "on-bill" financing;
- Using federal housing policy to create incentives for energy and location efficient decisions; and
- Issuing a metropolitan challange to induce innovative solutions.
Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems, now runs Khosla Ventures with a priority on green technology, and specifically cellulosic ethanol. Below are a list of white papers looking at current ethanol issues:
Pragmentalists v. Environmentalists - Are hybrids reducing carbon emissions as much as we think they are? A comparison of the carbon reductions provided by current (and future) hybrid vehicles, vehicles run on cellulosic ethanol, and current gasoline powered vehicles.
Food vs Food - A response to the Foreign Affairs magazine article entitled "How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor."
More white papers can be found at the Khosla Ventures website.
Pragmentalists v. Environmentalists - Are hybrids reducing carbon emissions as much as we think they are? A comparison of the carbon reductions provided by current (and future) hybrid vehicles, vehicles run on cellulosic ethanol, and current gasoline powered vehicles.
Food vs Food - A response to the Foreign Affairs magazine article entitled "How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor."
More white papers can be found at the Khosla Ventures website.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) recently released the report Cornerstones: Building a Secure Foundation for North Carolina's Energy Future. The report recommends North Carolina take specific policy steps to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent in 2030. The recommendations fall under the four categories of energy efficiency, clean energy, pollution capture, and long-range planning. The full report can be found here.
At Southern Company's annual meeting this week, CEO David Radcliffe told shareholders that the company is looking toward biomass, nuclear, and natural gas options to meet the increasing power demands in the region. The company expects to invest around $14 billion on new poles, wires, and power plants, which may include the conversion of two plants coal-fired plants to biomass. Radcliffe said, "We think the most promising technology for us is biomass because it is something that we can grow and harvest." With climate change legislation filtering through Congress, the company is seeking new ways to meet future carbon emission standards. To read more visit the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The National Academy
of Science has released its 2008 Understanding & Responding to Climate
Change brochure. The easy to read brochure presents the findings of up to
date climate change research by the NAS and puts them into a larger
narrative. The brochure describes what is climate change; what research is
indicating about current and future climate change; the science of green house
gases; potential effects on humans; areas needed for future research; and how
climate change science informs policy decisions. To read or obtain copies of the
brochure visit the NAS climate change website.
A video series by the New York Times takes a step in
realizing the food crisis is due to multiple factors that go way beyond the
demand for biofuels. Two videos in particular bring to light bigger issues in
the food crisis: fertilizer prices and Australia's 10 year drought. First,
fertilizer prices have tripled since last year from $393 a ton to $1,102. With
the major input of nitrogen fertilizer being natural gas, as natural gas prices
increase, so do fertilizer prices. Second, Australia is in the midst of a 10
year drought, which has cut their production of rice by 98 percent. Rice prices
have doubled over the past year. To view the videos and related articles visit
Australia and Fertilizer.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Association of Manufacturers have signed a memorandum of understanding challenging manufacturers to reduce their energy consumption by 10 percent. The industrial sector comprises of one-third of U.S. energy consumption and one-third of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. To cut energy use by 10 percent would save manufacturers over $10 billion and enough power to service over 10 million American homes. Under the MOU, EPA will "support NAM members in developing and
refining company-wide energy management programs, share best energy
management practices, provide training, and recognize the energy
efficiency achievements of NAM members." The full press release can be found here.
The Center for American
Progress, a Washington DC-based think tank, recently summarized the
Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. The Act would create a cap and trade
system that captures the cost of emitting carbon dioxide. According to the
Center the bill would
"require carbon dioxide emitters to have 'allowances' for every ton of pollution they emit. Firms that reduce their emissions would need fewer allowances and those that don't would need to purchase more allowances."The article outlines the details of the granting and auctioning of allowances and the potential economic and environmental impacts. The article can be found here.
