“Climate change has increased concern over possible large and rapid changes in the physical climate system, which includes the Earth’s atmosphere, land surfaces, and oceans. Some of these changes could occur within a few decades or even years, leaving little time for society and ecosystems to adapt. A new report from the National Research Council extends this… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Energy
EIA – Russia Country Analysis Brief
“Russia is the second-largest producer of dry natural gas and third-largest liquid fuels producer in the world. Despite its significant reserves of coal, it produces only modest amount of coal. Russia’s economy is highly dependent on its hydrocarbons, and oil and gas revenues account for more than 50% of the federal budget revenues. Russia is a… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Hurricane Sandy Relief, Small Business Contracting, Medicare, Minority AIDS Initiative
HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF – Improved Guidance on Designing Internal Control Plans Could Enhance Oversight of Disaster Funding, GAO-14-58, Nov 26, 2013 NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS – Actions Taken by FEMA to Implement Select Provisions of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, GAO-14-99R, Nov 26, 2013 SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING – Updated Guidance and Reporting Needed for Consolidated Contracts, GAO-14-36, Nov 26, 2013… Continue Reading
DOD Arctic Strategy
Department of Defense, Arctic Strategy November 2013 “The Arctic is at a strategic inflection point as its ice cap is diminishing more rapidly than projected and human activity, driven by economic opportunity—ranging from oil, gas, and mineral exploration to fishing, shipping, and tourism—is increasing in response to the growing accessibility. Arctic and non-Arctic nations are establishing their strategies… Continue Reading
IG – EPA Does Not Adequately Follow National Security Information Classification Standards
EPA Does Not Adequately Follow National Security Information Classification Standards, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General, November 15, 2013. “Our review of both originally and derivatively EPA’s national security information could be classified documents generated by three offices improperly classified found that the EPA does not sufficiently follow without improved national security information classification standards. procedures. Of the… Continue Reading
Report – A Scarcity of Rare Metals Is Hindering Green Technologies
Nicola Jones: A shortage of “rare earth” metals, used in everything from electric car batteries to solar panels to wind turbines, is hampering the growth of renewable energy technologies. Researchers are now working to find alternatives to these critical elements or better ways to recycle them. “The move toward new and better technologies — from… Continue Reading
All 250,000 NYC Street Lights Will Be Replaced with Energy-Efficient LEDs by 2017
News release: “Mayor Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan [October 24, 2013] announced all 250,000 standard street light fixtures in New York City will be replaced with energy-efficient, light-emitting diodes (LED) by 2017, reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs. The Administration’s comprehensive, long-term sustainability program –PlaNYC – aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from City government… Continue Reading
Mix of fuels used for electricity generation in the United States is changing
News release includes statistics and charts: “The mix of fuels used to generate the electricity in homes, factories, and businesses across the United States has changed in the past few years as coal, still the largest single fuel used for electricity, has lost some of its share of the generation market to natural gas and… Continue Reading
OECD report measures human cost of crisis
How’s Life? [November 5, 2013] “finds that subjective well-being deteriorated in countries most affected by the crisis. Between 2007 and 2012, reported average life satisfaction declined by more than 20% in Greece, 12% in Spain, and 10% in Italy. However, moderate increases were recorded in Germany, Israel, Russia, Mexico and Sweden. The report also finds that citizens in… Continue Reading
2012 sees slowdown in the increase in global CO2 emissions
Trends in global CO2 emissions: 2013 Report and the Link to the interactive presentation “Actual global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached a new record of 34.5 billion tonnes in 2012. Yet, the increase in global CO2 emissions in that year slowed down to 1.1% , which was less than half the average annual increase of 2.9%… Continue Reading
Towers Watson Report – Extreme Risks 2013
News release: Focus on the extreme risks ‘that can kill you’ Towers Watson warns institutional investors: “Towers Watson’s extreme risks ranking has a new top three: Food/water/energy crisis, Stagnation and Global temperature change – while Sovereign default and Insurance crisis have both fallen five places and Depression loses the top spot for the first time since… Continue Reading
France initiates plan to fight light pollution and save energy
A Fight Against Light Pollution – As evidence mounts that excessive use of light is harming wildlife and adversely affecting human health, new initiatives in France and elsewhere are seeking to turn down the lights that flood an ever-growing part of the planet – by Paul Bogard [snipped] “Last month, France — including the City… Continue Reading
