Energy

The World’s Our “Oyster”

Belfast University has launched the world’s largest wave generation device, which has been named the Oyster.  According to its sponsors, the marine energy industry could provide as many as 12,500 jobs, contributing £2.5 billion to the UK economy by 2020. Marine energy such as that produced by Oyster has the potential to meet up to …

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Greening the Web

I always feel virtuous when I send something by email rather than using hard copy, saving trees, transportation fuels, etc.  It’s probably true that a single email, even with a large attachment, uses very little energy.  Cumulatively, however, Internet servers eat up a lot of power.  A new project at Syracuse is one of many …

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Renewable energy white paper released by Berkeley/UCLA Law & California Attorney General’s Office

As part of an ongoing series of white papers on business and climate change, UC Berkeley and UCLA Schools of Law, together with the California Attorney General’s Office, is pleased to release our second white paper, on the topic of increasing renewable energy production from large public and commercial buildings, highway land, aqueducts, and other …

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Low-Cost Solar Power Should Be Close At Hand

I am beginning to wonder.  If the answer for making solar energy cheaper than coal were to pass our way, would we see it coming?  Would we recognize it, and rally to help it to succeed? The fact is, I think I may have seen it, already.  It is tough to discover how hard it …

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Welcoming Stanford to the Eco-Blogosphere

Stanford Law School has a new blog, “Environment and Energy Insight,”  which may be of interest to our readers: At Environment & Energy Insights, you will find a new post on our blog at least every two weeks that will address a topic of immediate relevance to environmental lawyers and policymakers. The authors include Meg …

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In Terms of Ethanol, Corny Is Not Funny

Today’s NY Times has an excellent op ed on corn ethanol.  In terms of the environmental impact, the author (Russell Harding) says: . . . .  if ethanol use was really helping the environment, it might be worth putting up with higher costs. But many environmental groups dropped their support for corn-based ethanol after two …

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Business Gets Ready for Emission Cuts

Today’s NY Times reports: Much of corporate America has already been thinking about how to comply. Many businesses concluded years ago that such limits were inevitable, and they have been calling on Congress to define the exact rules they will need to follow. Already, many companies are recording their emissions and analyzing the results. Some …

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War Tax=Carbon Tax

Congressman David Obey yesterday called for a war tax to pay for troops in Afghanistan. While the idea of a war tax makes all the sense in the world (if health care can’t add to the deficit, why should our wars?), Obey’s proposed tax on upper-income earners is aimed at the wrong source. Instead of …

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China’s Problems, Our Problems

President Obama’s trip to China (noted here yesterday by Dan Farber) refocused world attention on China’s mushrooming contributions to global warming. Many have declared that China has eclipsed the United States as the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, and it is evident that its emissions grow by the day. Perhaps the most devastating examples …

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Everything You Always Wanted to Know About China But Were Afraid to Ask

As President Obama heads to China, the World Resource Institute has launched a very interesting new website devoted to China, energy, and climate change.  The chart above is an example of the kind of information on the website.  Notice for example the important role of manufacturing emissions on the Chinese side versus transportation emissions on …

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