This New York Times article, based on the IEA (International Energy Agency) latest World Energy Outlook, suggests humanity is on the downward slope of the oil availability curve. We’ve often wandered what analogies, if any, existed between the concepts of “peak oil” and “peak biomass.” After all, both the fossil fuel industry and the biomass fuel community speak of “energy efficiency,” “carbon and particulate emissions,” “transport costs,” “public health,” and “environmental, Climate Change, and social impact” of these fuels. So, can we speak of “peak biomass?” And are we there yet? I think the answer is yes and no. Yes, Continue reading
Energy Poverty
VIDEO: India tackles energy poverty with solar panels
This BBC video report focuses on India’s public-private partnership to invest 55 million accelerate the deployment of solar panels for the country’s 450 million people who don’t have access to electricity. Continue reading
The Charcoal Project & the creation of a global market for renewable energy & efficiency solutions
Dispatches from: Emerging Solutions for the Energy Poor. Technological, Entrepreneurial & Institutional Challenges NOVEMBER 5 and 6, 2010 Wittemyer Courtroom University of Colorado Law School Wolf Law Building 401 UCB, 2450 Kittredge Loop Boulder, CO 80309 USA The 2010 Conference is designed to be a sequel to the 2009 World Energy Justice Conference (WEJC 2009) which began examining ways of mainstreaming safe, clean, and efficient energy for the world’s Energy Poor (EP). The EP number two and a half billion people who live on less than $1-2 a day and have no access to modern energy services. The 2010 conference Continue reading
Rwandan widows and orphans launch breakthrough waste-to-energy program
Briquette programs that deliver high quality sustainable, alternative solid biofuels exist in major cities in sub-Saharan Africa, but not nearly at the scale necessary to significantly alleviate pressure on the environment from wood and charcoal production. There is clearly lots of room for growth of these types of programs that can create jobs, empower women, and delivering environmental benefits to the larger community. Triple bottom line, anyone?
Putting a Price on Biodiversity Loss
What exactly is the cost to society when one million hectares (8,861 sq. miles, an area roughly the size of Costa Rica) of Brazilian rainforest disappears? The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) just released Mainstreaming the Economics of Nature, a report that aims to precisely answer that question. The report highlights government and business development policies that consistently fails to value the true cost of natural resources depletion. The report makes an excellent case for biodiversity loss valuation in all governmental decision-making processes. The report also highlights the strong link that exists between ecological conservation and a society’s ability to Continue reading