August 20, 2008

Google Puts $10 Million into New Geothermal Technology (Reuters)
Google said Tuesday that it would invest more than US$10 million in an emerging geothermal energy technology as part of its effort to lower the cost of electricity from renewable sources.

Birds Not Following Changing Climate Fast Enough (Telegraph)
Over the past two decades, a Universite Montpellier study finds, bird communities have shifted 50 mile northward. However the temperature change zone within the same as two decades has shifted by 170 miles, signifying a 120 mile lag by bird communities.

E.ON Looks at £300 Million Investment to Build Britain's Largest Biomass Plant (Guardian)
E.ON, the energy company whose plans for Britain's first new coal-fired power station for more than two decades have sparked fierce protests, said yesterday it was considering a £300m investment in building one of the country's biggest biomass power plants.

McCain Appears on Oil Rig to Strengthen Call for Offshore Drilling (Guardian)
John McCain appeared today on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico to call for more drilling along the US coastline, restaging a rally that was scuttled weeks ago by a hurricane – and a major oil spill.

Rich Urged to Set Deep Climate Cuts, Without US (Reuters)
Rich nations should not wait for the election of a new US president before making progress on agreeing ambitious 2020 greenhouse gas cuts, the chair of a UN committee said on Monday ahead of climate talks in Ghana.

Warming Climate Threatens Alaska's Vast Forests (Reuters)
Here in a 13,700-year-old peat bog, ecologist Ed Berg reaches into the moss and pulls out more evidence of the drastic changes afoot due to the Earth's warming climate. Altogether more than 3 million acres of spruce have been killed in south-central Alaska since 1992, the biggest recorded outbreak in North American history.

Geothermal Energy May Supply 5% of Australian Power, Group Says (Bloomberg.com)
Geothermal energy could supply as much as 5 percent of Australia's electricity requirements by 2020 with an investment of about AUS$12 billion ($10.4 billion), helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an industry group said.

Sending Waste to China Saves Carbon (Guardian)
Sending old newspapers and plastic bottles 10,000 miles for recycling in China produces more carbon savings than landfilling it in Britain and making new goods, reveals a study from the government body charged with reducing UK waste.

Australian Expert Says Sea Levels to Rise Four Meters (Radio Australia)
An Australian climate change expert says the world's sea levels could rise by up to four meters this century. "The evidence over the past 12 to 18 months suggests that we have underestimated how fast this aspect of the earth's system can change," he said.

Trial Drilling for Frozen Gas to Start in 2012 (Japan Times)
The government plans to start trial drilling in 2012 to extract frozen methane hydrate buried under the seabed to test if the natural gas is a viable next-generation fuel.