Clearly, wind energy is favored to its fossil fuel counterparts in terms of its environmental footprint. Zero greenhouse gas emissions. Zero global warming potential. Zero heat islands. Simply, wind energy seems to be a perfect part of the solution to a climate change problem.

At least, this is what we thought. (more…)

Twenty years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro promised an era of aggressive action on biodiversity loss and global warming, the United Nations Rio+20 sustainability summit ended Friday with recriminations and a growing sense that international institutions will play an increasingly diminished role in solving environmental problems. (more…)

Carbon dioxide emissions have risen by even more than previously thought, according to new data analyzed by the Guardian, casting doubt on whether the world can avoid dangerous climate change.

The data has emerged as governments met in Rio de Janeiro to finalize the outcome of the Rio+20 conference, (more…)

The outcome of the Rio+20, the sustainability conference held in Rio de Janeiro this week and which folds today, will be a document that lacks focus and does not tackle the urgency of the problems the world faces, according to Celso Lafer, president of FAPESP, an organization that supports research in São Paulo. (more…)

On June 20th the health and use of the world’s oceans takes center stage at Rio +20, the sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro. The garden of the city’s modern art museum (MAM) is where the Blue Pavilion has been erected in order to house a line-up of events that will unfold during the day. The program will kick off with a press conference about the film Planet (more…)

OrganoWorld, a company based in Montreal, Canada, has developed a wind turbine able to harness energy at low wind speeds.

Concerned about the effects of global climate change, chemical engineer Frederick Churchill began to explore the use of wind energy. He carried (more…)

What if the European Union solved the triple crisis – economy, energy, environment – by solving the financial one? Alice Stollmeyer sent me last week a link of project to do just that.

Some European nations – Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal – are owing more and more money to the European Central Bank and other debtors. What if (more…)

Once upon a time 10 miles per gallon for a car was fairly normal. The 2013 Honda Fit EV (Electric vehicle), has received a combined adjusted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mile-per-gallon-equivalency rating of 118 MPG(equivalent), and an unprecedented low consumption rating of just 29 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100 miles. With an EPA rated annual fuel cost (more…)

Cities worldwide are increasingly aware of the need to prepare for the effects of climate change — including increased variability in temperatures and extreme weather events — but are often hampered by limited financial resources and political commitment, according to a new survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (more…)

Rising water temperatures and a reduction in river flows have caused declining production at some thermoelectric power plants in the U.S. and Europe, a trend that will likely continue for decades to come as the planet warms, according to a new study.

Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, (more…)