Catastrophic wildfires, hurricanes and intensive rainfall will increase in frequency as climate change takes hold, warned a respected scientist last night.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld a complaint by Friends of the Earth against Shell over the oil company's claims that it uses its waste CO2 to grow flowers.
Every year, each square metre of the UK receives between 900 and 1200 kWh of solar radiation. Capturing just some of this energy could make a significant contribution to fulfilling our energy requirements.
The UK has been described as the ‘Saudi Arabia’ of wind, with some 50 TWh of onshore and at least 450 TWh of offshore power available every year, well in excess of our current electricity demand.
There is much talk of the possibility of a future ‘hydrogen economy’, which will power all our vehicles and homes. It is important to remember that hydrogen is not an energy source; it is an energy carrier. To obtain hydrogen it must be split from either natural gas or water molecules. The former, most widely used, method not only requires energy but also gives off carbon dioxide (CO2) in the process. Hydrogen produced in this way requires more energy to make than will eventually be returned when it is used. It makes more sense from a climate perspective to burn the natural gas itself than to convert and re-convert it to hydrogen in this way.
Even among green campaigners, nuclear energy is quietly gaining ground as a potential solution to the impending energy crisis. However several issues – particularly those of raw materials, cost and waste – remain unaddressed within the mainstream of opinion.
Each year, UK livestock produce some 60 million tonnes of collectable faeces. If left to run into water-courses or even spread on fields, this waste can lead to the same problems associated with excessive fertiliser use – algal blooms and aquatic life starved of oxygen.
Clean Coal Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the technology of stripping carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases of fossil fuels and then burying it as a liquid underground.
A leaked document revealed by the Guardian over the summer showing how the Government was preparing to dodge its EU commitments on renewable energy has been borne out in a new round of EU talks.
While governments argue over responsibility for global warming, development experts are thinking about the humanitarian consequences for the world’s poor. Mara Hvistendahl reports from the United Nations.
Greenpeace campaigners yesterday shut down Kingsnorth coal power station in Kent to send a message that expansion plans for coal power in the UK are outdated and dangerous.
China has announced a major drive towards the use of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel - just as another report pours more water on the idea that biofuels will end the energy crisis.
One of the most memorable parts of Al Gore’s film 'An Inconvenient Truth' was the cartoon polar bear trying to climb on the last piece of sea-ice in the Arctic, failing, and despondently swimming off into the sunset. With scientists this week reporting that autumn Arctic sea-ice coverage reached a record low this year, Al Gore’s cartoon may not be as far-fetched as it seems.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has brushed off the risks posed by climate change to the continent's farmers, saying that a 'sense of proportion' was needed.
The government's own quango, the Energy Saving Trust, and centre-left think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research have accused the government of succumbing to greenwash and not making it easy for the public to understand how they can reduce CO2 emissions.
A cold current which normally allows the waters of the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas to mix has disappeared as a result of global warming, scientists have revealed.
