New EBRD financing to help Turkey establish a low carbon market economy

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is taking an active role in Turkey. The EBRD is continuing to help Turkey become an energy-efficient and low carbon market economy with a new financing package of €50 million provided to Finansbank for on-lending to private companies investing in renewable energy, industrial energy efficiency and waste-to-energy projects. … Continue reading New EBRD financing to help Turkey establish a low carbon market economy →

No time to delay

Richard Chirgwin writes in The Register about a new study by IIASA in Austria about the significant cost increase if there are delays in mitigating GHG emissions. Delay climate mitigation, escalate the costs: study Costs would escalate five-fold in next seven years Which would hurt less: a global carbon price of $US20 now, or … Continue reading No time to delay →

2012 – the year in graphs

The Washington Post asked many experts for the graph that they felt best explained 2012. Two of the graphs relate to sustainable energy. First, the nominee related to climate change was Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. The second graph is by Michael Greenstone, professor of economics at MIT and Director of the Hamilton Project. It … Continue reading 2012 – the year in graphs →

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 →

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 →

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 →

bigEE launched

bigEE has now been launched. bigEE is an international initiative of research institutes for technical and policy advice and public agencies in the field of energy and climate, co-ordinated by the Wuppertal Institute (Germany). Its aim is to develop the international web-based knowledge platform bigee.net for energy efficiency in buildings, building-related technologies, and appliances in … Continue reading bigEE launched →

New study on progress to lower carbon emissions in passenger cars in Europe

John Reed, Motor Industry Correspondent of the Financial Times reports on a study by a leading environmental pressure group on the progress being made to lower CO2 emissions in passenger vehicles. Carmakers ‘on track with EU carbon goals’ Carmakers are close to complying with the 2015 carbon dioxide targets set by the European Union, and … Continue reading New study on progress to lower carbon emissions in passenger cars in Europe →

Quote of the week

IEA’s Executive Director, Maria van der Hoeven, at Doha Climate Conference: “In the short term, the IEA strongly encourages all governments to enact policies that promote the rapid deployment of energy-efficiency technologies; this would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and buy time to secure a much-needed global climate agreement.”