Global warming

Google launches underwater endeavor with Seaview

Imagine if Google Earth could take users under the ocean. People on laptops sitting hundreds of miles away from any body of water could dive down and spot colorful reef fish, coral forests, sea snakes, and rare turtles. A program just like this was officially announced today.

In a partnership with Google, the global insurance company Catlin Group Limited and nonprofit Underwater Earth launched the Catlin Seaview Survey. The goal is to let people explore the ocean from afar and also carry out the first detailed study about the composition and health of coral reefs. The mapping expedition is expected … Read more

Lovins: How to break the fossil fuel deadlock

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--To those who say the world needs dramatic technology breakthroughs to get off of fossil fuels, energy guru Amory Lovins has a succinct answer: integrated design.

Lovins has been working in the trenches of energy and efficiency for more than 30 years, gaining a reputation as a radical thinker able to imagine possibilities others can't. He was here at MIT yesterday giving a presentation on his latest book, "Reinventing Fire" and speaking to entrepreneurs and investors at an event organized by Xconomy.

The book, written by Lovins and colleagues at his "think and do … Read more

NASA mission calculates global ice melt and rising sea levels

From 2003 to 2010, NASA satellites systematically measured all of Earth's melting glacial ice--the results added up to 4.3 trillion tons of water and a global sea level rise of half an inch.

Put in perspective, that's enough ice to bury the entire U.S. 1.5-feet deep.

These calculations are detailed in a new study released today by a team of scientists at the University of Colorado. The scientists used satellite measurements from the NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), which launched in 2002 and focused on how melting ice from glaciers and ice caps … Read more

California EPA to appeal ruling that blocks low-carbon rules

The California agency responsible for protecting air quality says it will appeal a decision by a court that blocks enforcement of rules designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage alternative fuel technologies.

The Air Resources Board, part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, adopted the landmark Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCSF) last year. The regulation gives producers and refiners until 2020 to reduce the carbon footprint of their fuel by 10 percent.

Ethanol producers complained that the rules favor in-state producers and refiners because they take into consideration the carbon footprint impact of the transportation of, as well as … Read more

Global industry CO2 output rises even in weak economy

Global carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about 3 percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released today showed, adding fresh urgency to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South Africa.

The study by the Global Carbon Project, an annual report card on mankind's CO2 pollution, says a slowdown in emissions during the 2008-09 global financial crisis was a mere speed bump, and the gain in 2011 followed a 6 percent surge in 2010.

"The global financial crisis was an opportunity to move the global economy away from a high-emissions … Read more

Study suggests pricing carbon from ground to consumer

To measure a country's greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels, it makes sense to consider the whole carbon supply chain, from oil well or coal mine to a consumer's shelf, scientists reported today.

Currently, putting a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide generated by oil, coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels typically takes place where the fuel is burned.

However, this may not be the most effective way to calculate carbon emissions' cost, the researchers wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Carbon dioxide generated by human activities such as coal-fired power plants and factories … Read more

Bringing sustainability home to Main Street

AUSTIN, Texas--Imagine a community--urban, suburban, or rural, your pick--that has more choices for housing.

More options to get where you need to go. Closer to jobs. Closer to stores. Closer to schools.

Insulated from the whims of oil prices in the Middle East. Clean water to drink. Crisp air to breathe.

Seventy-nine percent of Americans say they're on board with this vision. (Just 5 percent oppose.)

But call it "sustainability," "livability," or "smart growth"? Wave goodbye to your support.

A panel of experts gathered here today at the inaugural SXSW Eco conference to debate the methods of achieving concepts most Americans support without allowing them to be mired in politics.

Their conclusion? Get the messaging right from day one.

"Part of our problem is too much focus on cities at the expense of our friends in suburban and rural areas," said Robin Rather, chief executive of market research firm Collective Strength.

"We are right now facing a hellacious attack organized by [conservatives] on the notion of sustainability. Part of it is because we focus on cities, celebrate cities, and are not reaching out to suburban folks." … Read more

U.S. unlikely to hit advanced biofuel goal, study says

The United States will likely fail to reach its long-term mandate for making advanced ethanol from trees, grasses, and crop waste unless producers innovate significantly, a scientific advisory group said yesterday.

The National Research Council's comments are the latest sign that backers of alternative fuels must wait longer for "next-generation" ethanol. Touted as the motor fuel of the future, it has struggled with high production costs and other setbacks.

"Absent major technological innovation or policy changes, the...mandated consumption of 16 billion gallons of ethanol-equivalent cellulosic biofuels is unlikely to be met in 2022," a … Read more

In 'supercritical hydrolysis,' a new process for biofuels

PHILADELPHIA--Here in a warehouse comprised of little else besides plywood, steel beams, and concrete, bioindustrial startup Renmatix announced a new process that it says allows it to produce cellulosic sugars--from which some types of biofuel are derived--more cheaply than ever.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers investor John Doerr, and others were in attendance here at Renmatix's unfinished headquarters in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia as the company revealed its new process, developed at its facility in Kennesaw, Ga.

Renmatix says its industrial-scale process breaks down cellulose through something called "supercritical hydrolysis," … Read more