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Friday Green Numbers round-up for March 25th 2011

Green Numbers

And here is a round-up of this week’s Green numbers…

  1. Infographic of the Day: Do Americans Pay Too Little for Gas?

    Even with prices at the pump hovering around $3.50, that’s a fraction of the prices in other rich countries

    Every year without fail, as the days get longer and warmer, gas prices begin to shoot up. Throw in intense turmoil in the Middle East, and the annual price skyrocket and accompanying fretting began even earlier this year. But while gas prices have risen to more than $3 a gallon in the United States, remember that gas here is still cheaper than many places–especially developed nations–around the world.

    This infographic from Flowing Data shows where–according to gas price tables on Wikipedia–people are paying more… read on

  2. China battery plant poisons more than 100 villagers

    Lead emissions from a battery plant in eastern China have poisoned more than 100 villagers, including 35 children, state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday, the latest in a string of heavy metal pollution cases in the country.

    A total of 139 villagers in a village near Taizhou city in coastal Zhejiang province have been found to have elevated lead levels in their blood, Xinhua cited the provincial health department as saying in a statement.

    Three of the adults had lead in their blood more than… read on

  3. Philips AmbientLED 12.5 Watts LED Lightbulb (Product Review)

    The Philips AmbientLED 12.5-watt A19 LED lightbulb (quite a name!) is probably the favorite LED bulb that I’ve tried so far. It beats the competition when it comes to light output (800 lumens vs. 450-590 lumens for the other LEDs that I’ve tried), the design of the bulb is very innovative, and light quality is excellent.

    Read on for my full review and more technical specs on the Philips AmbientLED…. read on

  4. Obama administration announces massive coal mining expansion

    Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced yesterday an enormous expansion in coal mining that threatens to increase U.S. climate pollution by an amount equivalent to more than half of what the United States currently emits in a year. A statement from Wild Earth Guardians, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife put the announcement in perspective:

    When burned, the coal threatens to release more than 3.9 billion tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, equal to the annual emissions from 300 coal-fired power plants, further cementing the United States as a leading contributor to…. read on

  5. The triumph of coal marketing

    Do you have an opinion about nuclear power? About the relative safety of one form of power over another? How did you come to this opinion?

    For every person killed by nuclear power generation, 4,000 die due to coal, adjusted for the same amount of power produced… read on

  6. King Crabs Invade Antarctica for First Time in 40 Million Years

    King crabs haven’t historically caroused in Antarctic waters — it’s simply been too cold for the famed crustaceans. But warming waters have allowed crusading crabs to march further south than they have in millions of years. Which is bad news for the diverse sea life currently thriving in the underwater habitats around the Antarctic peninsula: Seeing as how they’ve been living in a crab-less environment for 40 million years, scientists now fear that Antarctic animals like brittle sea stars, mussels, and sponges will be sitting ducks for the marauding king crabs… read on

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Friday Green Numbers round-up for Feb 11th 2011

Green Numbers

And here is a round-up of this week’s Green numbers…

  1. Vice President Biden Announces Six Year Plan to Build National High-Speed Rail Network

    Vice President Joe Biden today announced a comprehensive plan that will help the nation reach President Obama?s goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years, as outlined in his State of the Union address. The proposal will place high-speed rail on equal footing with other surface transportation programs and revitalize America?s domestic rail manufacturing industry by dedicating $53 billion over six years to continue construction of a national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network.

    As a part of President Obama?s commitment to winning the future by rebuilding America?s roadways, railways and runways, the plan will lay a new foundation for the nation?s

  2. Energy and Carbon Software Market Poised for 300% Growth; Sector Leaders Named

    The market for enterprise energy and carbon accounting (EECA) software grew 400 percent during 2010 and is forecast to grow another 300 percent this year, according to research by efficiency system provider Groom Energy Solutions.

    The research found that more than 200 large corporations ? including Arch Coal, Bayer, RJ Reynolds, Safeway and Wyndham Hotels ? bought EECA software in 2010.

    The report names ten companies as EECA leaders for 2011. They are

  3. US diplomat convinced by Saudi expert that reserves of world’s biggest oil exporter have been overstated by nearly 40%

    The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show.

    The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels ? nearly 40%.

    The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and

  4. Bridgelux Raises $20M For LEDs

    LED chip and array maker Bridgelux raised close to $50 million just a year ago, but is raising even more money, according to a filing. The nine-year-old venture-backed startup which is looking to do for lighting what Silicon Valley has done for communications and entertainment ? make it digital ? has raised $20.74 million of a planned $21 million round.

    The company opened a factory in California and was making an effort to scale up its production last year, so

  5. British windfarms blow Vestas towards 25% profit rise

    Strong demand from British windfarms helped the world’s biggest turbine manufacturer, Vestas, raise profits by 25% over the past year and have boosted future prospects.

    UK equipment deliveries totalled 530MW ? a leap from 120MW over the previous year ? helped in particular by shipments for the 300MW Thanet windfarm, which is currently the largest offshore windfarm ever built.

    Shares in Vestas soared 5% as the Danish-based group reported

  6. Vodafone [Ireland] embarks on green drive to cut paper bills by 70%

    Ireland?s largest mobile operator Vodafone has asked customers to opt to switch to paperless billing as part of its drive to cut down on paper by 70%. The move, it says, will be equal to saving 5,000 trees and 500 tonnes of CO2.

    The company today launched its paperless billing campaign ?Goodbye Paper Bills, Hello Trees? and calls on Vodafone customers to make the switch to paperless billing.

  7. EMC? Cork plant cuts energy use by 20% after ?radical? retrofit

    EMC?, which employs 1,650 people at its Ovens site, undertook a full retrofit project to implement energy saving technologies at the information technology and data centre site, using free cooling technology systems.

    The ?2.5 million project, which was designed and managed by consulting engineering company Arup, will achieve annual electricity savings of 13 million kilowatt hours and an annual carbon emission reduction of 7,000 tonnes.

  8. Hopes of 30% cut in greenhouse emissions dashed

    The UK government’s plan to push Europe to deeper cuts on greenhouse gas emissions has been dashed by the EU’s energy chief.

    G?nther Oettinger, the EU’s energy commissioner, dealt a heavy blow to the hopes of several member states that have been pressing for a target of slashing emissions by 30% by 2020, against the current 20%.

    He said the tougher target would force industries to ….

  9. China bids to ease drought with $1bn emergency water aid

    China has announced a billion dollars in emergency water aid to ease its most severe drought in 60 years, as the United Nations warned of a threat to the harvest of the world’s biggest wheat producer.

    Beijing has also promised to use its grain reserves to reduce the pressure on global food prices, which have surged in the past year to record highs due to the floods in Australia and a protracted dry spell in Russia.

    The desperate measures were evident at

  10. Obama Admin: 1M Electric Vehicles by 2015 Still On Course

    President Obama?s plan to put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 was reaffirmed on Tuesday.

    A new report issued by the Department of Energy outlines a strategy for achieving that goal, which Obama announced in his State of the Union address last month. David Sandalow, the Energy Department?s Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs, said the goal can be reached if the proper steps are taken.

    ?To succeed in meeting the President?s goal, we?ll need …

  11. Ocean energy could create 70,000 jobs [in Ireland] ? Bord G?is

    Bord G?is have claimed that the ocean energy industry could create up to 70,000 jobs and be worth ?120bn to the Irish economy.

    In a speech to the Ocean Energy Industry Forum 2011 today, Bord G?is CEO John Mullins outlined his concern that ?not enough investment and planning is being put into developing Ireland?s ocean energy resources,? however.

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Friday Morning Green Numbers round-up 01/29/2010

Green numbers

Photo credit Unhindered by Talent

Here is this Friday’s Green Numbers round-up:

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Green Numbers round-up 10/30/2009

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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May 25th GreenMonk Energy and Sustainability show

Above is the video from today’s GreenMonk Energy and Sustainability show and below is the chat-stream from the show:

04:31 Tom Raftery: Can you see/hear me?
04:32 Jason Roe: yea
04:32 abby: both audible and visible, tom!
04:33 TolkienLibrary: back – o started – nice
04:34 Tom Raftery: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/roulette-0519.html
04:36 Tom Raftery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M_XbeXDNnM
04:38 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE54O1I920090525?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
04:38 TolkienLibrary: well if you look who he works for… then i understand his point of view (the bastards)
04:39 Jason Roe: could be getting old too 😛 bit grumpy etc..
04:40 Tom Raftery: http://www.physorg.com/news162454033.html
04:41 mikethebee: This was discussed on RTE Pat Kenny today
04:41 TolkienLibrary: o nasty! guess US and Asia got some cleaning up to do
04:42 Tom Raftery: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/24/steven-chu-environmentalist-anger
04:44 Tom Raftery: http://www.physorg.com/news162457392.html
04:46 Tom Raftery: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009905.html
04:46 TolkienLibrary: US voted for CHANGE now they got OBAMA LIGHT (typical American I guess)
04:48 Tom Raftery: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldWithoutOzone/page1.php
04:50 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE54O16R20090525?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
04:53 Tom Raftery: http://www.mywindpowersystem.com/2009/05/the-most-amazing-wind-turbines-designs/
04:55 TolkienLibrary: yes saw that earlier today. Loved some of those ideas. The balloon idea would be nice // always people complaining about the sight
04:56 TolkienLibrary: sounds great…
04:56 Tom Raftery: http://blogs.zdnet.com/sustainability/?p=410
04:57 mikethebee: Do you know what types C&F in Irleand are intending to produce after recent annoucement?
04:59 Tom Raftery: http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/us/en/halo/index.html
05:00 mikethebee: C&F (If I recall correctly) a wind turbine producer announced a major ramp up of production. Anyone know more?
05:03 TolkienLibrary: what do you think of solar panels in orbit announced by Solaren? http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/solaren-corp-to-launch-solar-panels-into-orbit/
05:06 mikethebee: I hadn’t heard of them til then, I wil research it more thx
05:06 TolkienLibrary: thanks for your opinion… also think it very expensive and ‘un-green’ to shoot solar panels up // they should concentrate on solar panels down here first
05:07 Tom Raftery: Thanks everyone for joining in and your contributions
05:07 TolkienLibrary: thnxs once again Tom… great show!
05:07 mikethebee: Thx Tom, gr8 show and content.
05:08 mikethebee: I always lose the last few seconds of the show for some reason.

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What will it take for America to wake up to the threat of climate change?

Open for Questions

President Obama hosted an interesting experiment yesterday. On his Open For Questions site, he requested people to submit questions to him and vote on submitted questions. Subsequently, in a special online Town Hall, he answered several of the most popular questions – fabulous stuff.

However, despite hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans, one of the US’s best known cities and now Fargo and many parts of North Dakota under threat of 43 foot floods, the top two questions in the Green Jobs and Energy category were related to legalising marijuana, not climate. Wtf?

Unbelievable, to me at least.

92,935 people submitted 104,032 questions:

  • 7,444 were in the Green Jobs and Energy section.
  • 2,136 contained the term “Marijuana” (another 31 contained “Marajuana”, 6 contained “marijana”, 7 contained “marijuna”)
  • 262 contained the term “cannabis” (and another 9 contained “Canabis”)
  • Only 294 contained the term “Warming”
  • And a measly 207 contained the term “Climate”

Incredible!

I used to think Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future and chair of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission, was being a bit extreme when he said:

I have occasionally fantasised about a low mortality-count scenario where a Force Six hurricane takes out Miami, but with plenty of warning so the entire city is evacuated with zero loss of life. The insurance industry in America would collapse because this could be a $50-60 billion climate-related ‘natural’ disaster. The industry wouldn’t be able to cope with that. There would be knock-on pain throughout the global economy, massive, traumatic dislocation. This would act as enough of an injection of physical reality, coupled with financial consequences for leaders to say: ‘Ok, we’ve got it now. This isn’t just about some nasty effects on poor countries: this is devastating for our entire model of progress.’ The response to that would be a negotiated transition towards a very low-carbon global economy that builds increased prosperity for people in more equitable and sustainable ways.

But, unfortunately now, I’m not even sure that’d do it.