Carbon, Climate & Corporations: Energy-Saving News’ 100th Post Round-Up

Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Ross in Best Climate News

This is the 100th post on Energy-Saving News, and to celebrate we thought that we’d look back at some of the most important and popular stories from the last six months since the site started its mission to bring you the best, most critical and most interesting climate change and energy news stories on the web.

5 Most Important Stories - as selected by Energy-Saving News

EPA Ruling Signals Beginning Of The End For Corporate Carbon.

In a move that said to Congress ‘You regulate carbon emissions or we’ll do it for you’, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared that carbon dioxide was an air pollutant, enabling the EPA to regulate it under the already-passed Clean Air Act. It sent a clear signal to the rest of the world that America was ready to take climate change seriously, and put massive pressure on legislators to formulate a cap-and-trade bill to retain control themselves.
UK Cap and Trade Leaves Consumers With Nothing.

With the world keeping half an eye on the US cap-and-trade bill, and with some Americans being won over by the way that the monies raised would be redistributed to low-income households and energy-efficiency projects, we took a look at the UK’s equivalent legislation. Not only do UK taxpayers receive nothing from the scheme, half the participating companies are likely to actually profit from their inclusion.
Future Demand For Water Will Cause Rising Energy Prices.

Droughts, once viewed as the bane of developing countries, are now plaguing more developing countries as water resources become increasingly stretched by growth in industrial and domestic demand. Water is intrinsically linked to our ability to provide electricity too, and we examined the relationship which will continue to garner attention as climate change alters weather patterns and regional rainfall.
Artificial Photosynthesis: Limitless Resources Now A Step Closer.

Our pick of the science stories with the most potential to fundamentally alter our world: a team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory demonstrated the fast, efficient solar-powered splitting of water. A key step in the process of photosynthesis, this process when effectively harnessed has the potential to sequester carbon dioxide, create new fuels and break our continuing dependence upon oil feedstocks for plastics, pharmaceuticals and other industries.
Balkan States Squandering Hydroelectric Energy Potential.

Whilst governments all over the world are desperately trying to increase the proportion of renewable energy being pumped around their national grids, we reported on how Balkan nations such as Bosnia failing to properly exploit already-existing hydroelectric dams. With friction between Ukraine and Russia continuing to threaten eastern Europe’s gas supplies, there is added impetus for the region to concoct a more effective and cohesive energy policy.

5 Most Popular Stories - as read by you

Smart Meter Bills Will Only Make Sense To Smart People.

With governments and utility companies across the western world all driving for massive roll-outs of smart meters in a bid to reduce energy consumption and making billing consumers easier, we took a look at the implications for the average household. Used to being able to challenge their current energy bills, would consumers have the tools or the know-how to stand up to the utility companies or act on their energy usage data using software like Google Powermeter?
What Is The Carbon Footprint Of A Google Search?

From one Google product to another, the world’s most popular search engine decided to disclose the carbon emissions involved in a single search query after other sources had speculated at far higher values. Of course, the 462 million searches every day which Google processes still adds up to a pretty massive absolute carbon footprint!
Don’t Drive - Flying By Plane Is Greener Way To Travel.

Only published this week, this story definitely caught the attention of our readers. Constantly held up as the poster-child of environmental excess, airlines received a sizeable PR boost with an academic study which showed that flying is less polluting than driving, and is on a par with train travel when not just the full life-cycle costs are taken into account but associated infrastructure too. Hopefully a wave of carbon-neutral road- and bridge-building technologies is on the horizon…
Green Driving: Fuel Efficiency Through Vehicle Maintenance.

For those journeys which can’t be done by plane - the morning commute, the school run, getting the groceries, etc - we’re left with our good old petrol-burning automobiles (until we finally start driving electric fuel-cell hybrid eco-cars)! As well as the basic tips for more fuel-efficient driving, we focused on a few simple maintenance tips which will keep your car running cheaper and longer.
What is the Carbon Footprint of Spam?

The carbon footprint of computing, once considered negligible to the joy of PR departments across the length and breadth of California, has come firmly under the spotlight over the last few months as firms target the energy used by PCs as a priority efficiency measure. However, the self-importance of Symantec’s claims of protecting the world from climate change by protecting our inboxes from spam proved to be a little shaky under closer scrutiny…

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