In the words of Bill Gates, “ The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.” They are words that ring true in Europe in the context of approval of a new Energy Efficiency Directive. There is no doubt that Europeans care about climate change and improving energy efficiency. But … Continue reading May Day . . . May Day . . . is complexity killing caring?
Author: Rod Janssen
Reports from the European Environment Agency
The European Environment Agency has come out with a couple of very interesting and important reports recently. * Do we live in a 'green economy'? New report assesses progress in Europe Despite progress in some areas, Europe must do more to create the 'green economy' needed for the continent to become sustainable, according to … Continue reading Reports from the European Environment Agency
Congratulations to EEIP
EiD would like to congratulate our colleagues at Energy Efficiency in Industrial Processes for being shortlisted for the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards 2012 category for communicating: http://www.eusew.eu/awards-competition. EEIP is just over one year old and already has over 10,000 following them on various social networking platforms. EEIP has free membership and unique balance of B2B … Continue reading Congratulations to EEIP
Balancing the promotion of sustainable energy with government revenue
While this article by Gwyn Topham from the Guardian is on the UK, it is an important issue for all countries. Governments are caught between promoting sustainable energy and taxes they gain from “conventional” practices. Green cars will lead to fall in motoring revenue for Treasury, says study The drive to promote greener, more … Continue reading Balancing the promotion of sustainable energy with government revenue
A real gold mine of information
Young volunteers for the environment from the Climate and Development Network (Réseau Climat & Développement) have come up with a document listing more than 200 information sites on economic, social and environmental issues. While the names of the various sites are in French the web address frequently uses the English name so it’s easy to … Continue reading A real gold mine of information
Renewables in India
While discussing India, it is interesting to know that a total installed capacity of over 10,400 MW has been added from various renewable power generation projects during the last three years: 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. This consists of 7,112 MW wind power, 965 MW small hydropower, 1,414 MW bio-power and 940 MW solar power, photovoltaic … Continue reading Renewables in India
Air conditioning in India
An interesting article published by the Times of India says that India has become more active in establishing minimum energy performance standards and appliance labelling. This article states that 12% of products labelled for energy efficiency fail the tests. How that compares to Europe or the US, I cannot say. Interestingly, the article notes that … Continue reading Air conditioning in India
Planning to bike around Paris on your holiday?
Amazing what you learn. Velib’, is the world’s biggest bike sharing programme in the world (according to their website) with over 25,000 bicycles available. Velib’ is great for tourists to manoeuvre around the City of Light. Interestingly, EiD has just learned that there is now an iPhone app that allows you to find where the … Continue reading Planning to bike around Paris on your holiday?
Carbon footprints of hotels
If you want to shrink your carbon footprint when you check into a hotel, you may be better off staying at a mid-range or budget chain hotel. That's the conclusion from a report released by Brighter Planet, the eco-minded tech firm in Vermont that creates digital apps and other technology to measure environmental effects. The … Continue reading Carbon footprints of hotels
New energy efficiency organisation launches in the UK
A new not-for-profit organisation the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings (EEPB) has been launched in the UK. It replaces the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, which traditionally did a lot of work with local authorities, housing associations and charities, particularly in regards to fuel poverty. The EEPB’s objectives include the development of industry-agreed solutions to barriers … Continue reading New energy efficiency organisation launches in the UK
