Talk about your poetic justice, karma or just plain old payback: dandelions, that bane of suburban life, may some day work their way into that staple of suburban life, the family car. In partnership with researchers at Ohio State University, Ford is developing a dandelion-based rubber substitute that could be used to make
I’ve written about high-speed rail quite a lot on here. Clearly, I think it’s one of the best transportation options we can invest in. Although, while I’ve tried to explain why numerous times, I don’t think I ever did so as well as actors Vincent Kartheiser and Rich Sommer of “Mad Men” do in the clip below. Kartheiser and Sommer teamed up with the U.S. PIRG and Funny Or Die to create this video in order to bring support for high-speed rail into the mainstream (for obvious reasons).
That’s not a headline you’ll see. No journalist hounded scientists in the cancer research fields to give a yes or no answer to the question: “Did Mr Smith’s death from lung cancer come from his smoking habit?” to which the correct scientific answer is: “No one smoker’s cancer death is … [continued]
As Russia reels under broiling temperatures completely outside the range of its experience, a widely quoted Russian political scientist is voicing the suspicion that the regional climate change is the deliberate work of the US, according to Radio Free Europe. His idea is that the US is secretly trying to … [continued]
If you’ve ever blown up a balloon and let it go flying across the room, you’ve got the basic idea behind a new technology for storing energy from wind power: use compressed air. ARPA-E, the federal agency charged with providing seed money for transformative energy technology, is so impressed with … [continued]
Two of the world’s solar energy leaders have just announced major plans to bring new solar energy technology and green jobs to San Diego. The Sanyo Electric group has embarked on a three year, $3 million partnership with the University of California, San Diego on next-generation solar energy systems and … [continued]
A pyramid-scale solar power plant is well under way in Kuraymat, Egypt, and the 150 megawatt giant could prove to be a key indicator for the success of a much larger project such as the pharaohs could only dream of. That would be the international DESERTEC solar power network, which … [continued]
China’s offshore oil and gas company CNOOC agreed in early April to buy 3.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year until 2030. The Australian LNG energy project is operated by BG Group. Though the precise value for the deal is confidential, Australian officials confirmed estimates its worth … [continued]
Copenhagen moved the process forward. Like the Kyoto Accord when it was first agreed to in 1997, it is not yet a legally binding treaty.
The Kyoto accord only became legally binding in 2005, and only then because that was when Russia signed the agreement. The protocol had to be ratified by enough nations to account for at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions in order to become a valid, binding treaty, and once Russia signed, that threshold was reached. And really it took from 1992, when the Rio agreement focused attention on the problem; till 2005 for it to become legal and binding. These things take time.
One of the hardest parts of checking foreign news sources – to find out what others think of the emissions reductions targets their countries are bringing to Copenhagen – is deciphering the meaning of all those political parties’ names. Who knows which side each of these is on, when it comes to climate change.
