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POPSThe Denial Industry very interesting article on climate change denial, its deniers, frontgroups, funding & the so called 'debate'. must read
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POPSGoogle solar panel project Awesome to see how much energy google is producing using solar panels. you can even see the energy output just like you would a stock price in google finance. There's been quite a few developments in the past year which should help up the output on future installations like this if they come to market. It'd be great to see google get their net energy use down near 0.
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POPSClimate change: In graphics Graphic depictions of the IPPCs predictions for emissions scenarios for the turn of the century. One way or another it is going to be hotter.
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POPSIndia to develop climate change mitigation policy Global warming is a quantifiable problem — at it's most reduced it is directly related to the amount of previously sequestered GHGs entering the atmosphere minus the amount of carbon that is being sunk — and to tackle it you need a quantifiable solution. That is, you need carbon emissions reductions targets. While it is theoretically a strong argument that it is India's turn to grow their economy so they should not have to tax their cheap fossil fuel energy, it is a short-term view. India is also one of the first-in-line, down-the-line, to pick up the real global warming tab which, in their case, is a not-so-mighty Ganges.
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POPSIndians most worried about global warming While emerging economies like India and China are often accused of resisting the need to tackle climate change, a new survey by Australian environmentalist Jon Dee, published in the latest issue of New Scientist suggested that people of these two countries are more worried about climate change. The survey was conducted by Seattle-based research group Global Market Insite. It polled opinions from 14000 people in 14 countries to gather solid data on how people feel about climate change, Dee said.
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POPSBush seriously considers 50% emissions cuts by 2050 Full marks to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, for turning Bush's forward thrust on climate change into a neat little judo throw, and extracting "serious consideration" for her preferred benchmark of 50% cuts by 2050 - backed by the EU, Canada and Japan. Bush didn't commit to any targets but he didn't expect to find himself lying on his back, being helped up by his good friend, Angela. Ippon.
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POPSSolar breakthrough: now households can power the grid Australia's future energy may be secured by a grid of good, old fashioned, trusty nuclear. Nuclear families, that is, and the roofs over their heads linked into a giant electranet, if the following breakthrough in photovoltaic cells holds true to its market promise.
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POPSGreenbox turns car emissions into bio-oil Carbon dioxide engine emissions are diverted through a Greenbox, where algae fixes the carbon dioxide, i.e. grows. The algae is then collected and processed centrally into biofuel. Great idea, if it works.
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POPS10 tips to attract wildlife to your garden Jackie French, the author of The Secret World of Wombats, gives great advice for maintaining a wildlife-friendly garden in her SMH article. We have an orange tree and a lemon tree, which attracts gangs of cockatoos on their end of the day forage, and possums at night. The cockatoos strew the lawn with half-eaten oranges — they're too good for lemons — discarded after holding the orange in their claw, peeling off the top of the skin with their beaks, and then ripping into the contents like drunks at a cocktail party. After its fill, the cockatoo flies off with a satisfied screech and a squawk... and a new replacement instantly appears in flash of white wings, sparing the tree no relief. At night, the possums race up and down the roof and launch themselves off the roof onto the orange tree. So there is a lot of noise day and night. But I'll take the din of wildlife over the drone of traffic, any day.
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POPSGlobal warming skeptic backs himself by $6000 over 20 years Global warming skeptics ready to put up or shut up, that's what I like to see. You have to give it to David Evans, a few professional denialists have refused to take bets to back their positions (Lord Gilbert Monckton, 2nd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley comes to mind), but he will lose a lot more than $6,000 in 20 years, if he loses. He would have lost the opportunity to mitigate against 20 years of carbon dioxide emissions. Hey, that's our money he is playing with...
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POPSCar makers abandon petrol for electricity This is a big shift in our energy balance. With car manufacturers desperately trying to "counter a backlash" against the fuel guzzlers, by capitalising on the run away success of Toyota's Prius, they are articulating their solution to emissions problems, a flick pass to the electricity providers. Bob Lutz, GM of Product Planning puts it bluntly, "If people want an electric car, we can deliver it. Now go and get your electricity from a clean source." The implications are huge. If we plug 'er in, rather than fill 'er up, then what was once a petrol station will become a local area green electricity generator. All because the market demands it. Oil companies will lose their mainstream passenger vehicle market, but sell their oil to plastics manufacturers, which keeps the carbon sequestered.
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POPSCosta Rica to be carbon neutral by 2030 In the early 1893 New Zealand was the first nation in the world to enfranchise women. Look at the revolution this started. Can you conceive that women shouldn't have the vote? Nobody can take that away from the Kiwis (Even though the Aussies came a close second in 1901). If Costa Rica does achieve their ambition to become the first carbon neutral country, nobody will be able take that from them either. Our future lies in a world where we cannot conceive of not striving to be carbon neutral.
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POPSHappy Friday the 13th The modern reason why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky is said to come from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant Against "the Knights Templar". The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. The Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified. The destruction of the Templar Knights was so complete and terrible that it will always be remembered as an unlucky day. Wikipedia.org It was also unlucky for the pope and the king of France at the time. When Jacques DeMolay was burned at the stake in front of the pope and King Philip the Fair, he cursed them wiz 'ees dying breath. They both died the next year.
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POPSGreening the Big Blue Cleantechblog offer some tantalising speculation about IBMs move into the solar cell business. Greenwash, or clean-up? We will have a better idea in the next eighteen months.
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POPSArctic hippopotamus to survive the polar bear We only have one hundred years till mankind can start living in it's own Jurassic Park, according to Appy Sluijs, an expert in ancient ecology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and a fossil footprints of a pantodont found on an Arctic island. ::: Most adult polar bear males weigh 300-600 kg (660-1320 lbs) and measure 2.4-3.0 m (7.9-10.0 ft) in length, about the size of a pantadont. Both animals have made Svalbard island their home over time. :::
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POPSBan Ki-moon calls for UN action on climate change Moving the climate change debate, which has settled down into a consensus on AWG, out of the scientific body advising the UN — the IPCC — and into the General Assembly seems like a good idea. Even better, Ban seems to expect results coming out of his attempt to bang heads together: He said that the outcomes from this meeting would feed into the UN climate negotiation process. "I have been advised by many experts that if we act now - since we have the resources and heightened awareness - we can reverse it," he said. "Then we can give a much more prosperous planet Earth to our great, great, grandchildren.
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POPSCalifornia and Victoria agree to combat climate change together It has been a long time since I have taken back my unflattering comments about Arnold Schwarzenegger upon becoming the governor of California. Everything he does about global warming confirms my decision. Because he is a Hollywood star - a major one - with a direct line to the electorate, perhaps he does have the cachet needed to short-circuit traditional politics and it's embedded vested interests - like the fossil-fuel industry. He certainly is running counter to the Bush line on global warming and, as we can see by his latest move, he is recruiting like-minded leaders around the world in his campaign to tackle climate change square-on.
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POPSPeak fitness hour National Ride to Work was an unmitigated success, given that the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, pledged $30 million over five years to construct 55 kilometres of separated cycle ways. I am yet to bite the bullet, giving in easily to my partner's argument that the 50km round trip is too far. I will let loyal blog readers know if and when I change my mind. Anyone a cyclist? Is 50km too much to fit into an intense working day?
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