Global warming

Swedish utility targets carbon-neutral electricity

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Lars Josefsson is the CEO of an electricity utility and a self-described climate activist.

He leads Vattenfall, a Swedish state-owned utility that has set a goal of making its power generation carbon-neutral by 2050. He delivered the opening keynote address at the MIT Energy Conference here on Saturday.

Vattenfall, which means waterfall in Swedish, already gets 22 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, largely hydropower and offshore wind in Sweden, and an additional 31 percent from nuclear energy.

In the utility industry, Vattenfall is well know for being the first to test carbon capture and storage technology … Read more

How to double world gas mileage by 2050

A new campaign to improve automotive fuel efficiency worldwide by 50 percent by the year 2050 was announced at the Geneva Motor Show on Wednesday.

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative and its "50 by 50" campaign has the backing of leaders of four major international organizations: David Ward, director general of the FIA Foundation; Nobuo Tanaka, the executive director of the International Energy Agency; Jack Short, the secretary general of the International Transportation Forum; and Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Car companies, the "50 by 50" report (PDF) says, … Read more

Greenpeace rates electronics makers' green claims

Greenpeace said that electronics manufacturers are making progress on reducing toxic materials and waste, but not making bold enough moves to cut energy usage.

The environmental watchdog on Monday published its 10th Guide to Greener Electronics, which it releases every three months. This edition adds five new criteria for energy, including whether manufacturers report usage, whether they purchase renewable power, and how efficient their products are.

Out of the pack, Nokia is on top, with Nintendo and Microsoft bringing up the rear.

SF Bay Area vies to be country's electric vehicle capital

The San Francisco Bay Area is a region already well known for its fabulous food, innovative technology, and breathtaking beauty. In the coming years, we could add one more thing to the list: electric vehicles.

On Thursday, the mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose held a press conference at San Francisco's city hall to announce their ambitious goal of turning the Bay Area into the electric vehicle capital of the country. Here are details of the nine-point plan that will launch in December, as released by the San Francisco Mayor's office:

Expedited permitting and installation of … Read more

Bob Metcalfe cheers global warming bubble

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Self-described "Internet tycoon" and venture capitalist Bob Metcalfe said that the world can solve global warming by transferring Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurship to the plodding energy field.

Metcalfe on Monday reprised his EnerNet talk where he draws on the history of the Internet to challenge today's thinking on energy. The co-inventor of Ethernet and current clean-tech investor at Polaris Ventures spoke at the Lux Research's Executive Summit here.

Overall, Metcalfe is optimistic that technology can solve the problem of global warming, either through through new technologies or geoengineering.

But he argues that many people are … Read more

How green is Apple now?

Apple touted its new MacBooks unveiled on Tuesday as the "industry's greenest notebooks," and on reduction of toxic chemicals they may be. But environmental groups point to greenhouse gas emissions and recycling as areas where more needs to be done.

The notebooks do seem to lead the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by having a Mercury-free LCD display, arsenic-free display glass, Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-free internal cables and components, and being free of brominated flame retardant (BFR), according to the Apple news release.

"This is greener than what Apple has been putting out," … Read more

Green news harvest: Clean tech eyes Wall Street

Here's a sampling of green-tech news with a quick commentary:

Carbon is building up in atmosphere faster than predicted - Washingtonpost.comData shows that emissions growth is at the high end of IPCC scenarios. Cleantech urged to embrace "policy wonks" - Business GreenUnlike IT, clean tech industry growth will largely be shaped by policy. Vinod Khosla: Venture capital will survive Wall Street woes - Beet.TVBefore his Technology Review EmTech speech, Khosla says the financial crisis may cause a pause in investment but over the long term, he is optimistic. At Clinton powwow, McCain, Obama echo each other on energy - Environmental Capital - WSJ.com… Read more

Green news harvest: Tesla v1.5, the candidates on energy

A sampling of green-tech news with quick commentary.

To win the presidential race, it takes energy--USAToday.comA breakdown of the presidential candidates' positions on energy. Are cars powered by electricity and hydrogen really better for the planet than biofuels?--International Herald TribuneAs Europe looks to scale back biofuels targets, the biofuels industry fights back saying that hydrogen and electricity are flawed, too. What's needed is a holistic view of the options and a lot of data.

Video: Toyota and EDF on the plug-in Prius--SmartPlanet.comToyota says plug-in hybrid can go up to 60 mph on electric … Read more

Cities to count emissions with Carbon Disclosure Project

How can cities reduce the role they may play in global warming? Could fire departments, garbage collection services, residential building codes, and industrial regulations be greener?

Attempting to help address those questions, 21 U.S. cities, including New York, Las Vegas, and New Orleans will describe their major sources of greenhouse gas emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project, one of the world's largest repositories linking such data to climate change.

The nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project comprises 385 institutional investors with assets of $57 trillion, from ABN Amro to the RBS Group. It has been collecting data on corporate greenhouse … Read more