The new world order
Olive Heffernan … Read more
Biofuel woes
Cross posted by Katharine Sanderson on The Great Beyond Two papers in Science yesterday have poured cold water on the promise of second generation biofuels. Biofuels derived from the cellulosic, woody parts of plants are not having their greenhouse gas emissions properly accounted for, says Jerry Melillo from the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole. Melillo’s study suggests that changes in the way land is used, as a consequence of growing crops for biofuels, is not taken into account, and if it were then those biofuels would be shown to actually cause more greenhouse gases to be released than fossil … Read more
IMarEST launches position statement on climate change
The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology – an international body that traditionally has represented marine industry and more recently, scientists too – today released its position statement on climate change. Read more
Wonder weed plans fail to flourish
This week in Nature you can read the first (subscription) of four articles unpicking the business of biofuels. First up is jatropha – the shrub that promised to give drought-ridden countries boundless oil supplies. The reality has turned out to be somewhat different. After a period of hype and over enthusiasm, investments have dried up, somewhat like the promise of oil from arid land. Read more
Time to unleash seabed methane?
A new reservoir of fossil fuel could be ready to tap much sooner than previously thought. R&Ders have been talking up natural gas extraction from methane hydrates – a solid form of the greenhouse gas, found tucked away beneath the sea floor where low temperature and high pressure keep it stable. Read more
Lindau09: A new kind of chemistry
It’s Tuesday in Lindau and a morning session on renewable energy has just finished. The panel, which featured some serious heavyweights, looked at the role of chemistry in developing renewable energies. Read more
Europe looks to draw power from the Sahara
Cross-posted from The Great Beyond A gargantuan plan of supplying European consumers with electricity generated in the Saharan desert could see the light of day earlier than even the most optimistic solar energy aficionados had expected. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, a group of 20 large German companies, led by the reinsurance giant Munich Re, and also including Siemens, Deutsche Bank and RWE, is determined to go ahead with an €400 billion project known as Desertec. If fully realized, the envisaged network of huge solar thermal power plants across North Africa could provide up to 15 % of Europe’s overall … Read more
AAAS: Climate issue getting “more complicated”
Cross-posted from In the Field … Read more
IEA responds to attacks
Whose opening lines are these: “The world’s energy system is at a crossroads. Current global trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable … but that can – and must – be altered.” … Read more
AGU 2008: And the winner is … Wind!
Cross-posted from In the Field … Read more
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