There has been an important new technology breakthrough at Stanford University in developing a manganese-hydrogen battery. Tom Abate explains on the Stanford News website. New water-based battery offers large-scale energy storage Stanford scientists have developed a manganese-hydrogen battery that could fill a missing piece in the nation’s energy puzzle by storing wind and solar … Continue reading New developments in energy storage
Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached levels for first time in our history
We have to be increasingly concerned about the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels being reached. Eric Holthaus calls this on the National Observer website “the biggest problem humanity has ever faced.” So why were UN talks officially suspended this week in Bonn as countries failed to resolve differences about implementing the Paris climate agreement. What … Continue reading Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached levels for first time in our history
Understanding public reaction to wind farms
It has been an on-going debate for many years. Many in the public do not like the visual effects of on-shore wind farms. Jeremy Firestone, Professor, and Director of the Center for Carbon-free Power Integration (CCPI) at the University of Delaware together with Ben Hoen and Joseph Rand of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, write … Continue reading Understanding public reaction to wind farms
Important breakthrough in producing carbon-free aluminium
We are all interested in seeing innovations that support the low-carbon energy transition. The aluminium industry is one of the most energy intensive and it is encouraging to see new developments that will significantly reduce carbon emissions. A news item on the Fastmarkets website explains the latest developments. Alcoa, Rio Tinto in Apple-backed JV … Continue reading Important breakthrough in producing carbon-free aluminium
The challenge of sustainable development together with free trade
Alf Hornborg, Professor of Human Ecology at Sweden’s Lund University discusses a modern dilemma in an article on The Conversation website: free trade promoted by most economists and politicians continues to drive a substantial part of the greenhouse gas emissions that they want to reduce, and yet the sustainable technologies they propose to cut emissions … Continue reading The challenge of sustainable development together with free trade
Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Sounding out electric vehicles
We definitely don’t need a bell ringer walking in front of every electric vehicle, but we do need to hear them coming (well, for us who are not wearing noise-cancelling headphones as we walk). James Doward writes in The Guardian that from next summer, all new electric vehicles will be required to have sound emitters … Continue reading Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! Sounding out electric vehicles
New Delhi named most polluted megacity
Annie Gowen writes in The Washington Post about the level of pollution in the world’s megacities. The worst one is New Delhi. The importance of this article is not to name and shame the most polluting but to show that there are approaches, as we are now seeing in China, that can make significant improvements. … Continue reading New Delhi named most polluted megacity
Stunning improvements in urban air quality in American cities starting to slow and in danger of reversing
Oliver Milman provides an important article in The Guardian about the current situation in the United States relating to climate change, urban air quality and the low-carbon energy transition. Readers will be amazed to know the gains that have been made in the US in recent decades. They will also be concerned that those gains … Continue reading Stunning improvements in urban air quality in American cities starting to slow and in danger of reversing
How 885 cities in Europe are addressing climate change
In the most comprehensive survey to date, over 30 researchers investigated the local climate plans of 885 cities in Europe. Oliver Heidrich, Senior Researcher in Urban Resource Modelling at Newcastle University and Diana Reckien, Associate Professor for Climate Change and Urban Inequalities at University of Twente provide a summary of the results in an article … Continue reading How 885 cities in Europe are addressing climate change
Understanding the benefits in switching to renewable energy
Ben Smee discusses in The Guardian about a new report in Australia that explains what the benefits will be by a shift to renewable energy. Hopefully the energy transition also included significant improvements in energy efficiency. It would be good to know. Shift to renewables would save Australians $20bn a year – report A … Continue reading Understanding the benefits in switching to renewable energy
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 