Air quality is a major challenge globally and is the single greatest environmental risk to human health. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas that exceed the World Health Organization guideline for healthy air. In North America, Canada and the United States of America have …
Global climate talks in South Africa next month will not produce a "big bang" capable of producing a new and binding pact to slash greenhouse gases, but steady progress could be made, a senior European climate official said on Tuesday. Jos Delbeke, director general for climate action at the European …
Rounding the northernmost tip of Russia in his oceangoing tugboat this summer, Capt. Vladimir V. Bozanov saw plenty of walruses, some pods of beluga whales and in the distance a few icebergs. With an icebreaker leading the way, the Vladimir Tikhonov, carrying gas condensate, passed Cape Dezhnev in late August. …
To measure a country's greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels, it makes sense to consider the whole carbon supply chain, from oil well or coal mine to a consumer's shelf, scientists reported on Monday. Currently, putting a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide generated by oil, coal, natural gas and other fossil …
Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had hearing impairment. So did the rock guitarist Pete Townsend. But musicians enjoy better hearing, a Canadian study suggests. The study, published in Psychology and Aging, carried out hearing tests on 74 adult musicians, and 89 non-musicians. It found a 70-year-old musician’s speech …
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has ended India’s import dependence on the West for ejection systems needed to launch nano-satellites into space. For the first time in its history of nano-satellite launching, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) yesterday used the indigenously built separation mechanism (ejection system) designed …
Europe's biotechnology industry has warned the European Commission that agricultural imports vital to EU food security are increasingly being put at risk, due to the slow pace of the bloc's approval system for genetically modified (GM) crops. In a report to be presented to EU policymakers on Tuesday, biotech association …
Grangemouth oil refinery emits vapours near the Firth of Forth on November 17, 2009 in Longannet ,Scotland. As world leaders prepare to gather for the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December, the resolve of the industrial nations seems to be weakening with President Obama stating that it would be impossible to …
Betting big on power business, Essar Power has earmarked an investment of $8 billion in the next three years for setting up thermal power projects in the country. “For an increase of 8,000 MW power capacity, the company plans to invest $8 billion by 2014,” Essar Power said in an …
Nova Scotia is a small, picturesque province on Canada's Atlantic Coast but its appetite for green energy is big and aggressive as it moves to wean itself away from coal, and wins plaudits for its efforts. Last month, the province, Canada's second-smallest, unveiled the highest tariff in North America for …
Canada is spending billions of dollars on poorly planned climate change programs and could miss its modest 2020 target for greenhouse gas emission cuts, Parliament's environmental watchdog said on Tuesday. Scott Vaughan's critical report is the latest attack on the record of the Conservative government, which critics say cares little …
The European Union's executive body will propose that oil extracted from sands should be treated as dirtier than conventional oil, a move that will inflame a spat with Canada, a major producer of oil from sands, an EU official familiar with the matter said Tuesday. The European Commission, which has …
Climate change will cause damage in Canada equivalent to around 1 percent of GDP in 2050 as rising temperatures kill off forests, flood low-lying areas and cause more illnesses, an official panel said on Thursday. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy said Canada's Conservative government - …
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the use of Canadian crops such as canola and corn in U.S. biofuels on Thursday, a move that lifted Canadian canola prices and may help the U.S. meet its ambitious targets for biofuels. The EPA's designation of Canadian crops as a renewable biomass will …
FEW laws have been embraced as wholeheartedly by industry as BRAI or the Biotech Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2011. Yet to be introduced in Lok Sabha, following a last-minute hitch, the proposed law has received the full support of the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) and other leading …
Winning State Department approval for the Keystone XL oil pipeline is not likely to be the last hurdle TransCanada Corp faces in its efforts to build the controversial project. Even if it gets the State Department's green light, legal and regulatory snags lurk at federal and state levels and each …
The final days of rancorous public debate over a $7 billion oil pipeline that would snake from Canada through the midsection of the United States have taken on an unexpected urgency this week, as the economic and environmental stakes of the massive project snap into focus at a time of …
New Delhi Solar electricity has finally joined the national power grid in India. What’s more significant, it has entered the grid at a cost far less than expected, reducing the need for heavy government subsidies to make the sector viable. The ministry of new and renewable energy recently opened bids …
GENEVA: Cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and the capital of Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while those in the US and Canada are among the best, according to the first global survey released on Monday by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The southwest Iranian …
The U.N. nuclear agency endorsed an action plan on Thursday to help strengthen global nuclear safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima accident six months ago, despite criticism from some countries that it does not go far enough. The International Atomic Energy Agency's 151 member states, at their annual general …
Canada and the European Union are embroiled in a dispute over a key piece of EU climate legislation which Ottawa claims discriminates against one of its key exports—crude from the oil sands of Alberta. At issue is the EU Fuel Quality Directive, which aims to encourage the use of low-carbon …
