Maputo, Mozambique Population: 1.1 million Land: Coastal lowlands bordering the Indian Ocean Climate: Tropical humid with an annual rainfall of 900 millimetres (mm) Major concerns: Cyclones which cause flooding, a rise in sea level and coastal erosion Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Population: 2.1 million Land: Contains the watersheds of four major rivers; some woodland, coastal swamps, coastal shrubs and...
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Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that orbit the sun and approach or cross Earth’s orbit. An asteroid or comet about 10 kilometers in diameter struck the Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago and caused global devastation, probably wiping out large numbers of plant and animal species including the dinosaurs. Objects...
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Measuring the greenhouse gas emissions from a city, state, or country requires comprehensive tabulations of energy use, land-use changes, industrial emissions and many other factors. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has recently explored new methods for managing carbon emissions inventories.  Using NASA’s Terra satellite, the agency surveyed the “greenness” of California’s vegetation and...
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General Motors made the first battery pack for its upcoming extended-range electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt, on January 7. The advanced lithium-ion battery pack rolled off the line at GM’s Brownstown Battery Pack Assembly Plant just five months after GM invested $43 million in the facility to prepare for the manufacturing of the Volt...
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The findings of a two-and-a-half year technical study of future high-penetration wind scenarios were released today by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) .  The study assessed the economic, operational, and technical implications of shifting 20 percent or more of the Eastern Interconnection’s electrical load to wind energy by the...
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The United States Senate is planning to consider legislation raising the United States debt limit tomorrow.  As part of the agreement to bring this issue to a vote, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has promised to propose an amendment that would strip the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority to regulate the emissions of...
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Biofuels present both opportunity and costs. They offer the opportunity to reduce imported oil dependence and improve the environment.  On the other hand, the costs include high food prices, indirect carbon emissions and biodiversity loss. In many tropical developing countries, biofuels represent an opportunity to progress toward industrialization and export-led growth. Policies adopted by...
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After enduring nearly a decade on the political margins, climate-change policy has returned to mainstream politics in the United States rapidly with the election of President Barack Obama.  While advocates of pro-active federal climate-change policy undoubtedly helped galvanize this dramatic reversal, they are unlikely to sustain popular political support without adjusting the strategies they...
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Corporate R&D spending rose globally by 6.9 percent in 2008, according to the “2009 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard.”  The Scorecard, published annually by the European Commission, covers the top 1000 EU companies and 1000 non-EU companies investing in R&D in the last reporting year. With an 8.1 percent increase, the R&D investment growth of...
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A price on carbon could yield substantial government revenues, and careful recycling of these revenues could offset the regressive nature of a national greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions policy, according to a new paper, Who Pays a Price on Carbon?, by Corbett Grainger and Charles Kolstad.  The principal conclusion: the burden as a percent of annual income is...
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