Cars in Europe cause serious negative impact on environment

Peter Walker writes in the Guardian of recent research that shows the cost of cars to our environment. Car pollution, noise and accidents 'cost every EU citizen £600 (€750) a year' Researchers challenge view that drivers are overtaxed, saying they are subsidised by other taxpayers The perennial complaint from drivers that they are excessively taxed … Continue reading Cars in Europe cause serious negative impact on environment →

Fracking debate brings out interesting characters

Reuters provides a curious article on how fracking is getting to be big business by a wide range of celebrities in order to try and influence public opinion. There certainly is a growing debate on fracking or not in the US. Stay tuned, it could next happen in Europe. Insight: In Fracking Culture War, Celebs, … Continue reading Fracking debate brings out interesting characters →

Positive impact from home air conditioning

Juliet Eilperin recently wrote in the Washington Post about a new study that has analysed the impact of deploying air conditioning on a wide scale to reduce deaths from excessive heat. While this is interesting indeed, it does not mention that maybe houses should be better built to integrate passive heating and cooling in order … Continue reading Positive impact from home air conditioning →

New article on energy efficiency product standards

Now that the Commission has published the Ecodesign working document for 2012-2014, our minds should be focussing more on how products can become more energy efficient. Noah Sachs recently published an article in Vanderbilt Law Review entitled “Can We Regulate Our Way to Energy Efficiency? Product Standards as Climate Policy.” In the United States, regulation … Continue reading New article on energy efficiency product standards →

New survey on the state of implementation of energy efficiency policies in the EU

Energy Efficiency Watch 2 has recently published an extensive survey on the progress of energy efficiency policies and their implementation of national energy efficiency policies. More than 700 experts from all 27 Member States contributed to the survey between April 2011 and September 2012. More information on the survey is available here. You can download … Continue reading New survey on the state of implementation of energy efficiency policies in the EU →

Quote of the week

Tim Yeo, MP, Chair of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee in the British Parliament, in reacting to the government’s pro-gas stance: "Lumbering the UK economy with a centralized power system largely reliant on gas, would be like running an office using a fax machine in the age of the iPad," he said. Mr. … Continue reading Quote of the week →

Pollution from cars is devastating

John Vidal of the Guardian describes a study that was published by the medical journal, the Lancet, on the deadly effects of pollution from vehicles in China and India. The study says surge in car use in south and east Asia killed 2.1m people prematurely in 2010. Pollution from car emissions killing millions in China … Continue reading Pollution from cars is devastating →

Reviewing environmental taxes

Martin Baxter, Executive Director for policy at the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment wrote this blog for Sustainable Business in the Guardian. While it is about issues in Britain, it has relevance to all countries. Environmental taxes need review to stay relevant When environmental taxes change business behaviour, revenues will fall – something the … Continue reading Reviewing environmental taxes →

Now the insurance industry is starting to take climate change seriously

Kenneth Weiss of the Los Angeles Times writes about a new study undertaken by Evan Mills of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Evan has just written a column on the subject for eceee and this article complements that column well. Climate change taken seriously by insurance industry, study says Paying out billions of dollars here and … Continue reading Now the insurance industry is starting to take climate change seriously →

New eco-label for renewable energy

Green Economy describes a new voluntary label that certifies the share of electricity coming from renewable energy. 'WindMade' Eco-Label Now Covers All Kinds of Renewable Energy To encourage corporations to use renewable energy, last year wind-related organizations launched “WindMade” a label that certifies that 25% of their electricity comes from wind energy. Since businesses tend … Continue reading New eco-label for renewable energy →