With a hat tip to WASHplus/IAP Updates, below are abstracts of selected articles from the Dec 2011 issue of Energy Policy dedicated to Clean Cooking Fuels and Technologies in Developing Economies (Link to all articles in the December 2011 issue) Item 1 – Authors: Min Bikram Malla, Nigel Bruce, Elizabeth Bates, Eva Rehfuess, Applying global cost-benefit analysis methods to indoor air pollution mitigation interventions in Nepal, Kenya and Sudan: Insights and challenges, Energy Policy, Volume 39, Issue 12, December 2011, Pages 7518-7529, ISSN 0301-4215, 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.06.031. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511004873) Abstract: Indoor air pollution from burning solid fuels for cooking is a major environmental Continue reading
November 2011
Is a forest a carbon sink or a source of low-carbon energy?
A number of new scientific studies have been released examining whether and how forests, forest management practices, forest products, and bioenergy from forests either contribute to or help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and emissions.
One report states that “growing more forests and keeping forests as forests are only part of the solution, because focusing solely on the sequestration benefits of the forests misses the important (and substantial) carbon storage and substitution GHG benefits of harvested forest products, as well as other benefits of active forest management.”
Greenpeace Canada: Biomass energy is a real “Biomess”
Greenpeace Canada just released a report that questions the country’s current wood energy industry, its practices, and its impact on the environment and climate change. The report suggests that “burning woody biomass on an industrial scale could severely harm Canada’s public forests and further contribute to the global climate crisis.”
Read the report and tell us what YOU think!
NEWS: Brazil to sell wood pellets to European utilities for power generation
“…Europe is seeking to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2020, and converting Brazilian wood into easily transportable pellets may help the region reach it’s goal,…
“Demand in Europe for biomass is very big. Many old coal-fired thermoelectric plants are making the decision to co-fire with biomass to extend their lives, principally in England.”
So, why can’t African nations do the same?
US Dpt. of Energy Calculates Unprecedented Rise in Global CO2 emissions
Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are rising faster than the worst case scenarios projected only four years ago.