Control Climate Change

BEIJING, Dec. 26, 2007 -- Coal company Peabody Energy plans to help build China's first coal-fired power plant that will use carbon capture and storage to avoid nearly all emissions.

BEIJING, Dec. 26, 2007 -- Coal company Peabody Energy plans to help build China's first coal-fired power plant that will use carbon capture and storage to avoid nearly all emissions.

CHICAGO, Dec. 27, 2007 -- The energy company's CARE program provided discounted compact fluorescent light bulbs this fall.

CHICAGO, Dec. 27, 2007 -- The energy company's CARE program provided discounted compact fluorescent light bulbs this fall.

JACKSON, Miss., Dec. 28, 2007 -- Toyota designated a Mississippi manufacturing facility a model of environmentally-friendly practices, such as using renewable energy and planting trees.

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 31, 2007 -- The promoters behind the upcoming Greener Gadgets Conference kicked off a design competition last week seeking innovations in greener electronics.

The year 2007 is on pace to become one of the 10 warmest years for the contiguous U.S., since national records began in 1895, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The year was marked by exceptional drought in the U.S. Southeast and the West, which helped fuel another extremely active wildfire season. The year also brought outbreaks of cold air, and killer heat waves and floods. Meanwhile, the global surface temperature for 2007 is expected to be fifth warmest since records began in 1880. Preliminary data will be updated in early January to reflect the final three weeks of December and is not considered final until a full analysis is complete next spring.

Tropical cyclone Melanie was estimated to be 410 kilometers north of Port Hedland, a key terminal for the shipment of iron ore, and 465 kilometers northeast of oil producing region Karratha, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said. The cyclone was moving south at about 11 kilometers per hour.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The first cyclone of the West Australia storm season formed offshore on Friday, the government weather service said, serving a reminder to oil firms and miners of the potential for disruptions over the next four months. Tropical cyclone Melanie developed in the ocean about 600 km (370 miles) north-west of the seaside community of Broome, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

DHAKA (Reuters) - Farmers who lost their homes and crops when a devastating cyclone battered Bangladesh's low-lying coasts about six weeks ago face a new problem from migratory birds that swarm into the country by the thousands every winter. "They are welcome guests and we do usually enjoy their presence," said Mohammad Shahabuddin, a local council chairman in the Bhola district on the coast.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The average temperature in the Netherlands in 2007 matched 2006, the warmest year in 300 years, and the Dutch meteorological institute said it was a sign of global warming. The average temperature in 2007 was 11.2 degrees Celsius (52.16F) which, along with 2006, is highest average since Dutch temperatures were first measured in 1706, the KNMI institute said on Friday. The normal annual average is 9.8 degrees.

LAGOS, NIGERIA - Nigeria has launched a solar power scheme that will eventually light up as many as ten rural communities with no access to the national electrical grid. A Lagos state government official, who wished to remain anonymous, said construction work had commenced on the respective projects and contractors were expected to start delivering them around mid to late January 2008.

MOGOL, Indonesia (Reuters) - Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rain have left more than 120 people dead or missing on Indonesia's Java island, as rescuers struggled on Thursday to pull out bodies buried under thick mud. Officials said thousands of people have been left homeless after their houses were submerged by floods or buried by landslides in villages near the Bengawan Solo river, which lies about 500 km from the capital, Jakarta.

Unlike public opinion polls, the survey focuses on the views of professionals in a position to make or influence large decisions in their organizations and society. This focus, together with the survey’s large global sample, spread across all regions of the world and from governments at all levels, scientific institutions, business, and civil society, makes the survey unique.

HOUSTON - According to a recent survey, 49 percent of all Americans will make a green New Year's resolution for 2008. Direct Energy, a large North American provider of energy and energy-related services is offering tips to help homeowners keep their green resolutions. "Making a green resolution is easy since it can yield tremendous benefits, such as reducing energy consumption, saving money and helping the environment," said Dave Walton, director of home ideas for Direct Energy. "However, like any New Year's resolution, keeping that commitment to energy efficiency can be a little harder, so we wanted to offer these quick and easy tips to help homeowners."

BERKELEY — In the middle of the South Pacific, about 12 miles west of Tahiti, is a tropical island that soon will emerge as a model ecosystem, thanks to the efforts of a U.S.-French research team led by University of California, Berkeley, biologists.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will charge further into emerging car markets to achieve another year of record sales in 2008, likely cementing its title as the world's biggest automaker ahead of General Motors Corp. With a product line-up including the Camry and Prius hybrid cars, Toyota has attracted more customers in emerging and mature markets alike, all the while increasing profits through cost cuts and economies of scale.

Analogous to the Earth's current situation, greenhouse warming 55 million years ago was caused by a relatively rapid increase of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. This phase, known as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), was studied using sediments that accumulated 55 million years ago on the ocean floor in what is now New Jersey. The new study shows that a large proportion of the greenhouse gases was released as a result of a chain-reaction of events. Probably due to intense volcanic activity, CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere became higher and the ensuing greenhouse effect warmed the Earth.

Protecting peatland areas can be a cost-effective way to reduce as much as 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report launched December 11 in Bali, Indonesia. “Just like a global phaseout of old, energy-guzzling light bulbs or a switch to hybrid cars, protecting and restoring peatlands is perhaps another key ”˜low hanging fruit’...for climate change mitigation,” said Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and the executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

The data are in. Divorce is bad for the environment. A novel study that links divorce with the environment shows that a global trend of soaring divorce rates has created more households with fewer people, that, in turn, take up more space and gobble up more energy and water. The research of Jianguo "Jack" Liu and Eunice Yu at Michigan State University, which was partially funded by the National Science Foundation, appears in this week's online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

ENERGY FLASHES January/February 1979 Issue # 55 - January/February 1979 "POWER" IN YOUR POCKET! Folding bicycles were banned from the U.S. marketplace two years ago, —when the Consumer Product Safety Commission ruled that the clamps used to secure the hinges on these "breakdown" bikes were hazardous. Now, howev

A 40% improvement in fuel efficiency can be accomplished by converting an 8 cylinder engine to a 4 cylinder model.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said it is not a threat to world energy security and energy issues should not be politicized, urging that conflicts in producing nations be resolved through dialogue and not military force. China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, also is too reliant on international crude markets for last minute oil supplies and needs to arrange more long-term deals, Beijing said in a policy paper released on Wednesday. "China did not, does not and will not pose any threat to the world's energy security," according to the paper, titled China's Energy Conditions and Policies. "China will, step by step, change the current situation of relying too heavily on spot trading of crude oil, encourage the signing of long-term supply contracts with foreign companies and promote the diversification of trading channels," the paper added.

WASHINGTON — An expansion of nuclear power capacity in the United States could help reduce global warming pollution, but could also increase threats to public safety and national security, according to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Juneau, Alaska — After eating an evening meal of fish and chips, tourists in Juneau who retire for the night at the Westmark Baranof Hotel may find themselves warming their toes in a room partially heated by the oil used to cook their food. The Baranof collects the town’s used vegetable oil to help heat the hotel.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Sending a clear message to state officials and presidential candidates, nearly four out of five Iowans (79 percent) -- including 69 percent of Republicans, 86 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of Independents -- think that "Iowa should focus on increased (energy) conservation steps and more fuel efficiency to reduce demand for electricity before it constructs new coal-fired power plants," according to a major new Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) survey commissioned by Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, Iowa Farmers Union and Plains Justice.

David Arthurs developed a hybrid-electric vehicle from an Opel GT. Using an onboard efficient electric generator, this vehicle can also run on battery power for short distances.

David Arthurs developed a hybrid-electric vehicle from an Opel GT. Using an onboard efficient electric generator, this vehicle can also run on battery power for short distances.

Converting a truck carburetor to run on alcohol. The Zeithamer family in Alexandria, Minnesota converted to alcohol fuel on their dairy farm.

Converting a truck carburetor to run on alcohol. The Zeithamer family in Alexandria, Minnesota converted to alcohol fuel on their dairy farm.