On September 27th, 2010, the MS TÛRANOR* PlanetSolar have passed its starting line close to Monaco port, with a distance of approximately 50,000 kilometers across the oceans ahead. On a round-the-globe expedition, the TÛRANOR* PlanetSolar is a pioneer for sustainable energy technology on water. It is different from anything that has happened in the field of mobility so far. This solar catamaran employs the leading-edge technology available on the market. The intention is to demonstrate that by innovative use of existing materials and technology, high-performance solar mobility can be realised today.
The German entrepreneur Immo Ströher, the owner of the boat said : "We want to help drive forward the development of sustainable energy technologies on the water and in other mobile applications. The aim... See entire news item
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has an amazing ability to visualize the scale of the changes caused by human activity. Mountains of worn tires, oil fields and bright orange rivers flowing out of the nickel mine - these are just part of modern landscapes, both... See entire blog item
An excellent article written by Jamais Cascio at Worldchanging.com makes a parallel between the Y2K problem and the peak oil issue. Do you still remember the problem year 2000, with all the fatalistic predictions? With the tension maintained by the media and the relief when everything finished in such a painless manner. Now, at the start of 2010 it seems like it was a ridiculous drama.
But let's be fair – the happy end of Y2K came not despite but due... See entire story
Scientists identify 'tipping points' at which sudden shifts to new conditions occur
What do abrupt changes in ocean circulation and Earth's climate, shifts in wildlife populations and ecosystems, the global finance market and its system-wide crashes, and asthma attacks and epileptic seizures have in common?
According to a paper published this week in the journal Nature, all share generic early-warning signals that indicate a critical threshold of change dead ahead.
In the paper, Martin... See entire news item
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who is running for a second term at the EU executive's helm, likened EU policies to address climate change and improve energy security to the coal and steel community, which paved the way for European reconciliation after the Second World War.
Speaking to a small... See entire news item
London's Mayor Boris Johnson has established an ambitious program: "Leading to a greener London". It aims to transform the city into the most clean and green city in the world, to enhance the quality of life of Londoners, to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and to prepare the city to meet adequately the effects of irreversible climate change.
Specific steps to be followed include: increasing of energy efficiency, increasing the efficiency of material use, increasing the share of renewable energy, converting of waste into energy, significantly reducing the impact of transport, and the very large scale planting of trees.
London is already... See entire story
Fossil Fuel
