From the New York Times: The United States consumes 9% less energy for each $1 of GDP than it did five years ago. Total energy use has fallen about 5% in the last five years. From the Guardian: 29,000 people die prematurely from it every year in Britain from air pollution, twice as many as … Continue reading Numbers of the week
Impact of air pollution in the UK
John Vidal writes in the Guardian about air quality in UK cities, although primarily London, and what it is doing to health. One monitoring station in London shows the fourth highest levels of NO2 of over 2,000 monitoring stations in Europe. Cities are missing targets set under EU laws, but questions arise as to who … Continue reading Impact of air pollution in the UK
The benefits of better information on energy efficiency
Meg Handley writes in USNews.com about a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy on the savings that consumers could achieve if there was better information available. Consumers Could Save $1 Trillion With Better Energy Efficiency Information "The report is spot on—existing technologies and anticipated technologies could be realized without significant … Continue reading The benefits of better information on energy efficiency
Thought for the week
We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy -- sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and … Continue reading Thought for the week
Take the time to watch . . .
Benoit Lebot, well known to many EiD readers, works for the United Nations Development Programme in Dakar, Senegal but he recently was able to attend the Australian Alliance to Save Energy (A2SE) Summer Study on Energy Efficiency and Decentralised Energy in Sydney, Australia. A2SE is now on YouTube and presented Benoit as the charismatic and … Continue reading Take the time to watch . . .
Focus on buildings
There are some very interesting books that have come out recently on the energy performance of buildings. Here are some of them: 1 Simply Green This book presents an overview of all main global and some national environmental and energy assessment systems. It discusses six environmental and three purely energy-based certification systems along with fourth … Continue reading Focus on buildings
Even China is having problems financing energy savings
Charlie Zhu of Reuters news service provides an excellent review of the situation in China today and the effect of the financial credit crunch. There is a big impact on energy service companies that are used for both energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Credit crunch stifles Chinese energy savings sector A credit crunch … Continue reading Even China is having problems financing energy savings
Finally – three cheers for efficient boilers!
Coolproducts, a coalition of NGOs from all across Europe working to ensure ecodesign policy works for Europeans and the environment, finally had something to celebrate this week. One would not think it would be that difficult to approve minimum energy performance standards for boilers, but it has been a very difficult road, indeed. In fact, … Continue reading Finally – three cheers for efficient boilers!
New study on health effects from windfarms
Alison Rourke writes in the Guardian about a new study in Australia that shows that more people have been getting sick in areas where environmentalists are most active. So, is there a psychological effect? Windfarm sickness spreads by word of mouth, Australian study finds Health complaints from people living around turbines shown to be … Continue reading New study on health effects from windfarms
Public consultation launched on linking Australian, EU Emission Trading Systems
Australia's Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) have launched an online public consultation on registry options for linking the Australian and European Union emission trading systems. The DCCEE and DG CLIMA jointly authored a consultation paper on “Registry Options to Facilitate Linking of … Continue reading Public consultation launched on linking Australian, EU Emission Trading Systems
