The Guardian, London, UK — 10 December, 2010 As ministers discuss the technicalities of carbon emissions at the Cancún climate change conference, 1.5 billion people in poorer countries still have no access to electricity. We need to address this injustice While the discussions on strategies to reduce global emissions rage on in Cancún, too many […]
CANCUN: “We must end energy apartheid” Read More »
No, we’re not referring to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. From our friends at WorldStove comes this playful video intended to drive home the point about the perils of cooking on three stone fires, which, as we all know, is the only technology available to almost half the world’s population. Factoid: Glenn Close’s Dad was
VIDEO: A modern take on the “killer in the kitchen.” Read More »
A report by the Kenya Forest Services (KFS) and environmental lobby groups says that most parts of the country are likely to suffer desertification if measures to control indiscriminate cutting of trees are not taken.
“Water volume in at least eight rivers in the North Rift have drastically declined while springs that feed River Kerio and Sosiani River are on the verge of drying up,” said Mr John Chumo of Friends of Nandi Environmentalists, a local lobby group.
KENYA: Demand for food and fuel endangers forests Read More »
Most people in the United States, Europe, or Brazil think of ethanol as a heavily subsidized corn- or sugar-based liquid biofuel that is often mixed with gasoline to power so-called “flex-fuel” vehicles.
But for the 3 billion people who depend on wood, charcoal, or animal dung for their household cooking or heating, ethanol means … … Well, ummm, actually, the word “ethanol” probably doesn’t mean all that much.
One plucky non-profit is hoping to change this by making locally and sustainably produced ethanol an attractive homefuel alternative to solid biomass fuels for the world’s 3 billion energy poor
Relieving Haiti’s homefuel crisis through ethanol Read More »
The rural poor of the world are the custodians of huge quantities of terrestrial carbon. As an example about 60% of Africa’s carbon is found in the drylands of the continent. These are vast, sparsely vegetated areas mainly inhabited by poor farmers and pastoralists.
For poor farmers and pastoralists, conserving carbon is – of course – not a priority.
Cancun’s Lost Kittens Read More »
Ok, Mr. VP, it’s time to put down the powerpoint and the golden Oscar statuette and take one on the chin for Climate Change.
Is Al Gore ready to take a bullet for Climate Change? Read More »
Today marks the opening of the Cancun talks on Climate Change. They are a follow-up to last year’s Copenhagen discussion which, as everyone knows, did not yield the expected global agreement to effectively reduce greenhouse gases. A review of media coverage leading up to the Cancun event downplays expectations for any significant breakthroughs during this
Concern about a land grab in Africa for the production of industrial-scale, ethanol-producing crops may well be justified, which is why bird-dogging the “African agricultural green-rush” is everyone’s responsibility.
Are plants, trees, and forests the new oil fields? Read More »
The world’s biggest corporations are rushing to grab and convert living plant matter – called “biomass” — into fuel, chemicals, and other profitable products. (…) “Plants, trees and forests are the new oil fields. They’re above the ground, and they’re easy to grab”
Agriculture: the new fuel for the global economy? Read More »
Officials stand by as forest burned to charcoal Nov. 2nd, 2010. Planted forests in the south central province of Phu Yen are being ravaged by charcoal and timber sellers. Due to a grave deriliction of duty on the part of the proper authorities, the trees’ planters say they have resorted to begging the wood prospectors
Charcoal & timber producer ravage Vietnamese forest Read More »
The pain of knowing that each year 2 million people — mostly women and children — die as a consequence of the inefficient combustion of household cooking and heating fuels, like wood and animal dung, is with good reason, the engine behind the launch of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves this past September. But
Using cookstoves to protect Mountain Gorillas Read More »
Reported by Jessica Schoonover, Intern Reporter at The Charcoal Project More than half a million tons of charcoal have been produced and shipped over the past 8 years from the once dense but now denuded forests of Meghalaya, a small Indian state located north of Bangladesh. With one-third of the state covered by biologically diverse
INDIA: “Impending catastrophe” resonates within the basins of India’s Meghalaya forests Read More »
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