This overview sets the scene for the various modules in the Renewables 2024 Global Status Report Collection. It provides high-level trends on the status of renewables in the wider fossil fuel-dominated energy system in the context of global challenges such as climate change, development goals and the geopolitical landscape. Urgent …
THE great compressed natural gas (CNG)-diesel debate has touched new, abysmal levels of absurdity! Consider the choice before us. On the one hand we have the noisy, foul-smelling, poison-belching diesel engines that choke our cities and their citizenry in noxious fumes and clouds of suspended particulate matter. On the other, …
there is fresh evidence that the ozone layer over the uk and northern Europe is thinning. Scientists are worried by the depletion which was previously thought to be a problem largely confined to the southern hemisphere. Meteorological readings taken in the stratosphere over the Arctic show that in six of …
Global warming is caused by the use of fossil fuels, common examples being burning coal in power stations, running automobiles, etc. What would you then call an instrument that ends up subsidising this same energy economy, making it cheaper, and therefore, even more attractive. And what if the instrument, like …
growing air pollution is posing a serious threat to human, plant and animal life. Suspended particulate matter emitted from mobile and stationary combustion sources, mining and a whole lot of other activities have biological and health effects. There is no doubt that some particles are indeed hazardous. However, the degree …
the concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide ( co 2 ), methane and nitrogen in the atmosphere have been steadily rising over the last few decades. This is likely to go up unabated. These gases are increasing at the rate of 1.5 parts per million per year and, …
the German capital of Berlin is today showing what the future of energy may look like. When the German government moved from Bonn to Berlin in 1991, it was proposed that solar power should be featured in the form of photovolataic ( pv ) facades in the governmental quarter. One …
South Korea, the world's 11th largest emitter of carbon dioxide ( co 2 ), is coming under increasing pressure from other countries in the world, especially the us , to reduce its carbon emissions. With international negotiations on climate change, under the mantle of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, gaining momentum, …
the Earth has already witnessed the warmest era some 14.5-17 million years ago during the Miocene period. Referred to as the "Miocene Climate Optimum", it is regarded as the warmest era in the last 35 million years. Fossil evidence suggests that the mid-latitude temperatures were as much as 6 degree …
the existing belief that planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) is an alternative to reducing fossil fuel emissions is slowly losing ground. Now, scientists are predicting that carbon sinks
Today , those who claim that climate change does not exist are fooling themselves. Especially after 1998 went on record as the warmest year of the century and natural disasters claimed 50,000 human lives, resulting in losses exceeding us $90 billion. So, by that logic, at least five of the …
A research team looking into the economic value of resources in the Mae Yom National Park in Phrae concluded that the Kaeng Sua Ten dam, that was planned for the area, is not worth building. Khunying Suthawan, who led the research, said the estimate took into consideration the "use' and …
environmental experts in industrialised nations feel that it will be impossible to achieve an international target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to levels recorded in the early 1990s by 2008-12, according to a worldwide survey released in Tokyo recently. A total of 597 people in 82 countries working for their …
imprints of a bygone era left on rocks indicate that life on Earth was disturbed five times. They also suggest that all was well and then, suddenly, half or more of the species that were around simply vanished. However, after a million years or two, new creatures evolved to fill …
According to a paper jointly prepared by the credit rating firm Crisil and Hagler Bailly Services, clean development mechanism (cdm) projects could bring investments worth US $39.15 billion into India. Under the cdm programme, companies in the developed countries can invest in developing countries to achieve carbon reduction objectives at …
according to a report by Ilex, the Oxford-based energy consultant, the uk is better placed than most leading European rivals to exceed carbon emissions goals established following the Kyoto climate change summit two years ago. If the uk sells surplus reductions to other countries it could earn up to us …
for the first time in five years, global carbon emissions from combustion of fossil fuels declined in 1998, according to new estimates released by the us -based Worldwatch Institute. The emission rate fell by 0.5 per cent, which in real terms means around 6.32 billion tonnes. Interestingly, this decline took …
european union ( eu ) environment ministers have warned Japanese automobile manufacturers that they would impose binding restrictions on them if they did not agree to cut down on carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) emissions voluntarily by September this year. The ministers asked the eu 's executive commission to …
the southeast of Great Britain is sinking. Thanks to enhanced global warming, England's wildlife may be forced to seek refuge in Scotland, the island's resurgent north. Like England, Scotland can roughly be divided between the wetter, higher and warmer west and the lower, dryer and fertile east. Unlike England, Scotland …
the us has criticised the European Union ( eu ) government's decision to seek limits on carbon emissions trading under the Kyoto global climate treaty. The us accused eu saying it was rewriting prior agreements. According to eu officials, they have decided on a common approach for international talks in …
