Global climate revenues fell 5 percent in 2011 to $539 billion from an all-time high the previous year, mainly dragged down by the weak performance of low-carbon energy companies hit by the global economic slowdown, a report by HSBC said. Climate revenues were unlikely to exceed 2010’s all-time high of $567 billion over the next…
Mitt Romney’s remarks on NBC’s Meet the Press in early September rankled environmental activists hoping for a bipartisan approach to climate change. “I’m not in this race to slow the rise of the oceans or to heal the planet,” the Republican presidential nominee told David Gregory. “I’m in this race to help the American people.”…
There is enough energy available in winds to meet all of the world’s demand. Atmospheric turbines that convert steadier and faster high-altitude winds into energy could generate even more power than ground- and ocean-based units. New research from Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira examines the limits of the amount of power that could be harvested from winds,…
Almost 50 percent of global investors in a survey said government efforts to combat climate change will have little effect on corporate profits, while most say global warming is a danger to the planet. Actions to limit pollution will have “not much impact” on profitability, according to 49 percent of respondents in the Bloomberg Global…
With the race to the White House heating up, it raises the question: where do the presidential candidates stand on global warming? In short, Obama is a global warming “believer” but has provided little substance to back his conviction and seldom talks about it. Romney, on the other hand, presents a wavering, sometimes mocking assessment…
Spinach power has just gotten a big boost. An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a way to combine the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon, the material used in solar cells, in a fashion that produces substantially more electrical current than has been reported by…
With the successful landing and deployment of the Mars Curiosity Rover, humanity has been treated to a sneak peek at the Red Planet for the first time. The possibility of establishing space colonies has been a scientists’ dream for decades, but working out a way to keep humans alive on the outside Earth’s protective shell…
Ugh. That’s about the only audible response that I could muster after reading through Mitt Romney’s energy plan, which he finally released after getting winks, nods of approval, and campaign donations in the millions from fossil fuel company CEOs. I know that it’s hard to believe, but Romney’s positions on energy are even worse than…
The Arctic Ocean’s ice cover is shrinking at a record pace this year after higher-than-average temperatures hastened the annual break-up of the sea ice. The area of ocean covered by ice shrank to 1.9 million square miles on average for a 5-day period, according to the latest data from the U.S. National Snow and Ice…
How vulnerable are species — including humans — to radiation? This is a crucial question facing people around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, who have to live with low-level radiation the government says is insignificant but whose long-term health consequences are still unknown. At least one species – the pale grass blue butterfly –…