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 Kyoto Protocol, forged in December 1997, appears only to advocate planting and conserving forests (afforestation and reforestation) in order to create carbon sinks in trees and also in soils. Little is said about using trees and other forms of biomass as an energy source to substitute the use of …
As Parties to the Climate Convention EU Member States have opted for a joint fulfilment of post-2000 greenhouse gas emission reduction obligations. No agreement could be reached on a joint EU target before the distribution of the burden of emission reductions among Member States had been agreed upon. This paper …
Yields from the rice-wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plain are declining despite the increasing use of chemical fertilizers. Crop residues are important components of soil fertility management, but are burnt in some areas such as Punjab state. Not only does this mean a loss of nutrients but also causes …
THE issue of land use change and forestry (LUCF), and its treatment as "sinks", has always loomed large in climate change negotiations in the past. It was among the hotly-debated subjects in the lead-up to the Kyoto meeting in December, 1997, and was subsequently addressed in Articles 3.3 and 3.4 …
IN DECEMBER 1997, the Kyoto Protocol on the Climate Change Convention was adopted merely five years after the adoption of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). The rapidity with which these treaties have been negotiated and adopted and the number of countries involved (more than 173 countries have ratified …
THE Kyoto Protocol is only a first step - that too a timid one - to stabilise the atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a non-dangerous level. The protocol stipulates GHG reduction of 5.2 per cent in the industrialised world. As relevant reductions have already been achieved through the economic …
The Kyoto Protocol to the Climate Change Convention is the first step towards defining the emissions reduction targets of industralised countries. However, as a first step it falls short of expectations." Under the protocol, between the years 2008 and 2012, industralised countries are expected to cut their overall carbon emissions …
Changes in the ocean's carbon cycle as a result of the greenhouse effect are already under way, says a climatologist. As carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) dissolves in water, the oceans could dampen global warming by absorbing some of the excess co2 that human activity produces. But a climate model …
Although Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) and various other related chemicals are being phased out as they damage the ozone layer, it has been more than difficult to find a suitable and commercially feasible replacement for them in car air conditioning. Daimler-Benz, Germany's automobile giant, is now testing an air conditioner that uses …
increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere could result in some fundamental changes in the growth pattern of plants, say scientists at the University of Michigan Biological Station, usa. While studying the impact of atmospheric conditions in near future, these scientists have discovered that trembling aspen trees grow …
efforts to cut global carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) emissions have not yielded much success. Recent findings indicate that the emission from burning of fossil fuels has continued to increase. The highest levels of co 2 were recorded in the Asia Pacific, which include India, China and the Middle …
norway's hottest environmental issue at the moment is the planning of two gas-fuelled power plants, which will lead to the emission of 2,000,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide ( co 2 ) annually. Permission for setting up the plants was granted by the Norwegian parliament before industrialised countries agreed, in …
recycling paper is not the best option to protect the environment. Say this to the archetypal "green' activist and you will be labelled "pro-industry' and insensitive to the environment. You are bound to be reminded that the forests
each year, thermal features such as hot springs at the Yellowstone national park in the us emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide (co2), the most important greenhouse gas, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University (psu), usa. This is more than the emissions from a typical industrial power plant, …
concerns that burning of fossil fuels could increase levels of co 2 in the atmosphere leading to climate change has caused wrangling among the world's politicians, scientists and environmentalists for years. But it has seldom been regarded as a business opportunity. Now, three enterprises in the uk are promoting "carbon …
THE COMPLETE PICTURE: Televisions all over the world display only 88 per cent of the image broadcast by TV stations. Now, Korean-based electronics company, Samsung is developing televisions that will display the missing 12 per cent. Called HiTron TV sets, these televisions are 2.5 centimetres wider than usual. Conventional TV …
deficiency of iron in the microscopic plant-like organisms that populate the seas - called phytoplankton - may have interfered in the carbon dioxide cycle and contributed to global warming. Scientists are now investigating reversal of this process. Confirmation of this fact will provide answers that may help combat global warming. …
Researchers at Colorado State University, USA, believe that they have found an environmentally friendly method of dealing with rootworms that ravage cornfields. The experiment were based on the discovery that rootworm larvae search for the roots of the plant by detecting the carbon dioxide (CO2) that roots emit. Louis B …
chemists in the us have developed carbon dioxide ( co2 ) soluble detergents that could be used for dry-cleaning purposes. The liquid co2 would be used in dry cleaning machines as a solvent. With the use of the detergents, dry-cleaners would lose their characteristic smell. The detergent would also reduce …
