1 out of 11: The IEA’s New Report Card on Climate Change and Clean Energy

From The IEA:

While progress is being made on renewable energy, most clean energy technologies are not being deployed quickly enough, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today in an annual progress report presented to ministers and representatives of nations that together account for four-fifths of global energy demand.

The report, Tracking Clean Energy Progress, highlighted the rapid progress made in some renewable technologies, notably the solar panels easily installed by households and businesses (solar PV) and in onshore wind technologies. In fact, onshore wind has seen 27% average annual growth over the past decade, and solar PV has grown at 42%, albeit from a small base. Even more impressive is the 75% reduction in system costs for solar PV in as little as three years in some countries. This serves as evidence that rapid technology change is possible. Unfortunately, however, the report concludes that most clean energy technologies are not on track to make their required contribution to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and thereby provide a more secure energy system.

“We have a responsibility and a golden opportunity to act,” said IEA Deputy Executive Director Ambassador Richard H Jones. “Energy-related CO2 emissions are at historic highs; under current policies, we estimate that energy use and CO2 emissions would increase by a third by 2020, and almost double by 2050. This would likely send global temperatures at least 6°C higher. Such an outcome would confront future generations with significant economic, environmental and energy security hardships – a legacy that I know none of us wishes to leave behind.”

…

The report offers three over-arching policy recommendations for changing this status quo and moving clean-energy technologies to the mainstream market:

• First, level the playing field for clean energy technologies. This means ensuring that energy prices reflect the “true cost” of energy – accounting for the positive and negative impacts of energy production and consumption;
• Second, unlock the potential of energy efficiency, the “hidden fuel” of the future. Making sure that energy is not wasted and that it is used in the best possible way is the most cost-effective action and must be the first step of any policy aimed at building a sustainable energy mix’
• Finally, accelerate energy innovation and public support for research, development and demonstration. This will help lay the groundwork for private sector innovation, and speed technologies to market.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Related: 

• ‘We can have safe, sustainable energy’

Infographic source: IEA via The Guardian

Infographic | Transportation in Cities: ‘The United Bike Lanes of America’

(Source: GOOD Magazine)

Thinking Globally: ‘Living Planet Report 2012’

From WWF:

The Living Planet Report is the world’s leading, science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. Its key finding? Humanity’s demands exceed our planet’s capacity to sustain us. That is, we ask for more than what we have.

A prophetic ad from 1962: “Each Day Humble Supplies Enough Energy to Melt 7 Million Tons of Glacier!”  

The ad, which appeared in Life Magazine, reads:

“This giant glacier has remained unmelted for centuries. Yet, the petroleum energy Humble supplies — if converted into heat — could melt it at the rate of 80 tons each second! To meet the nation’s growing needs for energy, Humble has supplied science to nature’s resources to become America’s Leading Energy Company. Working wonders with oil through research, Humble provides energy in many forms — to help heat our homes, power our transportation, and to furnish industry with a great variety of versatile chemicals. Stop at a Humble station for new Enco Extra gasoline, and see why the “Happy Motoring” Sign is the World’s First Choice!”

Source: Huffington Post

A quote from the GOOD Magazine article, ‘Debunking ‘Green Living’: Combatting Climate Change Requires Lifestyle Changes, Not Organic Products’.

Related:

- ‘Cooler Smarter book provides practical steps for low carbon living’ (Sustainable Guernsey) 

- ‘Going Green But Getting Nowhere’ (New York Times) 

(Photo source: GOOD)

A quote from the Forbes article, ‘Pedaling to Prosperity: Biking Saves U.S. Riders Billions A Year’.

Related:

~ Bicycling Magazine’s new ranking of ‘America’s Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities’.

(Photo credit: Bicycling Magazine)

Animating Biodiversity, Ecosystems & Sustainability: ‘Not Another Nature Film’

From Green TV: 

A specially-commissioned animation featuring the voice of Stephen Merchant explaining, in simple terms, the state of our natural world, and our impacts on it.

Adaptation: ‘Facing the Elements: Building Business Resilience in a Changing Climate’ (Report)

From Adaptation to Climate Change Team:

The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRT) has just released a three-report series titled Facing the Elements: Building Business Resilience in a Changing Climate. This is the fifth report in the Climate Prosperity series by the NRT that emphasizes the critical, yet largely unexplored role of Canadian business in defining our ability to prosper in a changing climate.

Since 1988, the NRT has been Canada’s leader in fostering a stronger relationship between the environment and the economy. Its recent works are in areas as diverse as Climate Change Prosperity, Water Sustainability, Life-Cycle approaches to Sustainable Development, and Biodiversity.

Despite the pro-active work of the NRT since 1988, the federal government recently announced in its Budget that the NRT will be eliminated as of March 31, 2013. Notwithstanding this news, the NRT continues to release groundbreaking reports that outline the importance of better addressing climate change in Canada, among other topics.

Here is a snippet of its recent report Facing the Elements: Building Business Resilience in a Changing Climate:

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“Climate change means business. And businesses are already on the frontline of climate change. The effects of more volatile weather and gradual changes in climate conditions will touch all facets of Canadian business in the decades to come. Despite growing awareness of the risks and opportunities that changing climate presents, few firms are adjusting business strategies and practices to adapt to this inevitable reality. Canada’s future economic prosperity relies on the continued resilience of Canadian business in a changing climate. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRT) has spent more than a year considering how we can act and adapt – business and government together – to prosper through climate change”

Check out the rest of the article here and the report here.

Related:

- ‘Not thinking green will hurt Canadian businesses internationally: NRTEE panel’ (Postmedia News)

- ‘Canada axes green advisory body’ (The Guardian)

(Graphic source: NRTEE via ACT)

The “false economy” of delaying action on climate change 

Details here, here, and here.

Panel: Confronting the Climate Disinformation Campaign

from Sustainability Now Radio:

Here is the video for the free presentation given on April 30, 2012 on Penn State’s University Park Campus. Penn State professors Michael Mann, Donald Brown, Janet Swim and Rick Schuhmann, and graduate student Peter Buckland spoke Monday evening at “Changing the Moral Climate on Climate Change,” a talk that focused on climate change denial. Mann is director of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center and part of the 2007 Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Susannah Barsom, with the university’s Center for Sustainability, moderated the event, which included a question and answer session.