Daily Archives: January 26, 2009

…What is it?
Now that the subsector of “smart grid” is getting more popular and thus getting talked about more and more, it seems a good time to point out a couple of quick things about the concept:
1.  “Grid automation” would be a better term for the category. Applying IT and communications to the electricity transmission [

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photo by Dave Haygarth

They say that the natural death of a bicycle is for it to be stolen. That means a great percentage of bicycles end up in the hands of criminals. The thieves usually peddle the bikes to used bike shops or sell the metal for scrap. One Toronto bike thief simply hoarded his booty of over two thousand bikes. With so many bikes going through the hand

Image source: UNESCAP

The “IBUKI” satellite, run by the Japanese Aerospace Agency and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, is the first in the world to observe GHG and monitor the effects they cause, reports the UN. Launched on January 23, data will be collected every three days and available to scientists free of charge. The satellite will reportedly be able to monitor the entire surface area of the Earth, including regions that have had limited o

Photo via GO Mobile Media

Eco Cabs are one of the greatest, greenest ideas to roll through downtown city streets anywhere. They’re emission free, provide quick comfortable transportation, publicly promote green transit, and are 100 percent free to ride. What’s not to love?

Photo by Nic Paget-Clarke via La Via Campesina

A coalition of peasant farmer groups are protesting their meaningful exclusion at the High Level Conference on Food Security taking place in Spain on January 26-27. In response to their exclusion 49 groups, including La Via Campesina, GRAIN, and ETC Group have signed a declaration, “Accelerating into disaster – when Banks manage the Food Crises”.

More on the declarati

Technology in the service of sustainable living: A rendering of life in Masdar City (courtesy of CH2M Hill).

Jay Witherspoon works for CH2M Hill, a global project management, consulting and engineering firm that was chosen to manage the development of Masdar City. The project, they hope, will serve as an incubator for the next generation of sustainable technology breakthroughs, transform the supply chain and change the way we look at cities on a global level.

A chemical engineer by trade, Witherspoon’s work focuses on sustainable practices and technologi

US State Department building. Photo: Josh via flickr

The Obama administration is starting to do more than just talk the talk on taking climate change seriously: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce today that she will be appointing a special envoy for climate change. Todd Stern, a White House assistant in President Clinton’s administration (and much more, details after the jump) will be selected:

Green in Canada: Theory vs. Practice
There is often a disconnect between Canadians’ self-image and the reality. We would like to believe we’re leaders on the effort to combat global warming, yet the two main political parties, when in power, haven’t done much in the past 10 years to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We’re also near the top of the list for energy use and trash generate per capita, and speaking of trash, it seems like the province of Manitoba is not even moving in the right direction

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photo: Felix O via flickr

Reuters is reporting that they have seen a draft of a paper written by the European Union, to be published next week, that says wealthy nations of the world could raise $200 billion between 2013-2020 to help poorer nations deal with the effects of climate change. The funds would come through taxes on carbon in wealthy nations. Here’s more on what the report calls for:

Plug-in Hybrid Conversion Might Survive in California
Last week we wrote about CARB’s imminent decision about new regulation that could kill plug-in hybrid conversion companies in California. At the very last minute, CARB decided to delay its ruling and take another look at the implications that its decision would have on plug-in conversion startups.

Read on for more details

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