Concern about a land grab in Africa for the production of industrial-scale, ethanol-producing crops may well be justified, which is why bird-dogging the “African agricultural green-rush” is everyone’s responsibility.
International Development
Peak Oil vs Peak Biomass: Are we there yet?
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
A Insider’s Perspective on the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Kirk Smith, Ph.D., is probably the world’s leading authority on the public health impact of indoor air pollution caused by the incomplete combustion of biomass fuels for cooking and heating. His recent remarks help cast some light on what stakeholders can expect from the recent launch of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. We’ve borrowed the following excerpt from the good people at Indoor Air Pollution Updates and we urge you to click on the link to read the extended article. Smith KR, What’s Cooking? A Brief Update, Energy for Sustainable Development (2010), doi:10.1016/j. esd.2010.10.002 Full-text: http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/krsmith/publications/2010/ESD_whats_cooking.pdf (pdf, 89KB) Extensive world press 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
Video: A powerful look at the impact of CC on E. Africa’s pastoral communities
A simple yet poignant story about what lies ahead for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. At The Charcoal Project we don’t normally go for content that strays too far from our editorial mission. However, we decided that Evan Abramson’s short documentary film on the impact of Climate Change on the nomadic tribes that inhabit the border of Kenya and Ethiopia was just too powerful not to share. The impact of water scarcity on some of Africa’s poorest but proud people is a reminder of the challenges that lie ahead for Africa and those least responsible for Climate Change. Continue reading