Onzo and SEE reveal plan for smart heat meters

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: Smart meters capable of measuring and managing a building’s electricity use in real time are becoming increasingly common, but to date there has been little progress in the development of smart devices for managing the use of heat. That looks set to change after smart meter developer Onzo and energy giant Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) yesterday revealed they are working on a project to apply smart meter functionality to domestic hot water and heating systems. The …

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Hurricane threatens US holiday islands

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Reuters: Visitors and some residents were evacuated from low-lying holiday islands off the North Carolina coast yesterday as Hurricane Earl bore down on the US eastern seaboard, churning up dangerous swells. Earl, still a major (Category 3) hurricane, weakened slightly overnight as it swept across the Atlantic east of the Bahamas. It was on track to approach North Carolina’s coast early tomorrow, the US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said. The second major hurricane of the season was …

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‘Climate migrants’ projected to flood US

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Washington Times: Climate change in Latin America – and the accompanying drought, flooding and desertification – is likely to drive increased illegal migration across the Mexico-U.S. border in coming years, according to a report. Worsening economic conditions, spiraling social tensions and growing political instability will drive greater numbers to make the dangerous journey to the United States in the long term, according to the American Security Project, a bipartisan nonprofit research group focused …

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Cairn says Greenland ops resume after protest

By | Published: September 2, 2010

AFP: Scottish oil exploration group Cairn Energy said Thursday it had resumed operations on a rig off the coast of Greenland after Greenpeace ended a protest. "Cairn can confirm that operations have started again on the Stena Don (oil rig), where safety remains Cairn’s priority in this drilling exploration activity," the group said in a statement. "The actions taken by Greenpeace remain a matter for the Greenlandic authorities." Four Greenpeace activists had climbed on to the …

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Centrosolar joins UK feed-in tariff gold rush

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: The gold rush sparked by the launch of the UK’s renewable energy feed-in tariff stepped up a notch this week after German solar specialist Centrosolar launched a UK subsidiary and obtained product UK certification for its solar panels. The Hamburg-based Centrosolar is looking to tap into increased demand across both the commercial and private sectors for photovoltaic systems in the UK following the introduction of attractive feed-in tariffs in April. The company has recruited …

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Soaring water risks spell opportunity for investors

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: Ahead of the launch of World Water Week on Monday, new research suggests rising water risks around the world are presenting huge commercial opportunities for water infrastructure firms and investors. The latest results from Standard & Poor’s Global Water Index, released yesterday, reveal that utilities and other water-related firms are outperforming the wider stock market as demand for water infrastructure continues to rise. Over the past five years, the total return from …

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UN: Climate funds shouldn’t divert poverty aid

By | Published: September 2, 2010

AP: The U.N.’s climate chief says poor countries are right to expect that any funding they receive to combat global warming be kept separate from development aid or poverty relief. Christiana Figueres says developing countries taking part in two days of talks on climate change financing this week expect the $30 billion "fast-track" package they have been promised by rich nations to be "new and additional." The head of the U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change says that is …

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Greenpeace activists arrested after abandoning occupation of Arctic oil rig

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Guardian: Four Greenpeace activists who halted drilling by a British-owned oil exploration rig off Greenland have been arrested after they abandoned their occupation because of severe weather. Greenlandic police arrested the four after high winds buffeted the Stena Don drilling rig overnight, forcing them to abandon mountaineering-style platforms they had suspended by ropes underneath the platform less than 48 hours earlier. Morten Nielsen, deputy head of Greenland police, said the four …

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Facebook faces campaign to switch to renewable energy

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: Social networking website Facebook is coming under unprecedented pressure from its users to switch to renewable energy. In one of the web’s fastest-growing environmental campaigns, Greenpeace International says at least 500,000 people have now protested at the organisation’s intention to run its giant new data centre mainly on electricity produced by burning coal power. Facebook will not say how much electricity it uses to stream video, store information and connect its 500m users but …

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Green groups urge next Australian government to deliver carbon price

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: A group of trade unions, environmental and religious groups have today released a joint statement calling for Australia to put a price on carbon. The group, which includes the Australian Council of Trade Unions, The Climate Institute, the Mining and Energy Union, The Uniting Church, Greenpeace and WWF, said introducing carbon pricing represents the "most cost-effective way to reduce our greenhouse pollution and its impacts on our climate, health, environment and …

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Nigeria: ‘Nation Not Prepared to Tackle Climate Change’

By | Published: September 2, 2010

AllAfrica: Nigeria is not prepared in any way to tackle environmental health challenges despite the grave danger it poses to the nation’s human resources and economy, says Professor Celestine Onwuliri. Onwuliri made this statement at an annual public lecture on ‘the Role of Environmental Health in the Management of Climate Change in Nigeria’, an award ceremony organized by the Society for Environmental Health of Nigeria (SEHON), where he was the guest lecturer. He said Nigeria should be …

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Nigeria: Minister Warns On Climate Change-Induced Disasters

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Daily Trust: Nigeria is susceptible to climate change-induced disasters, Minister of Environment, Mr. John Odey has warned. Odey said yesterday in Minna that climate induced disasters may soon affect the country as he maintained that research had revealed that Nigeria would succumb to the adverse effects of climate change. The minister’s representative, Mrs. Olabisi Jaji, who was speaking at the commencement of the visit of Task Force members of the West African Science Service Centre on Climate …

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Green roofs offer antidote to urban heat island effect, say researchers

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Guardian: Green roofs, like the one pictured above, benefit more than just their owners, according to Stuart Gaffin, a researcher at Columbia University. "They are a win-win on so many fronts," he said. Perhaps the greatest overall benefit of green roofs comes in tackling the "urban heat island" effect, which Gaffin suggests is responsible for two-thirds of New York’s localized warming over the last century. The conventional black rooftops that he calls "tar beaches" are major contributors to …

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Report: Over 3 million electric vehicles to be sold by 2015

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: By 2015 the auto industry will have put 3.2 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the world’s roads, according to research released this week. The study from analyst Pike Research, entitled Plug-in electric vehicles, predicts a 106 per cent compound annual growth rate for the vehicles over the next five years, initially driven by demand in the small consumer vehicle category. Dave Hurst, senior analyst at the organisation, predicted that small electric cars will act …

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Legal challenge to drilling ban scores court victory

By | Published: September 2, 2010

Business Green: The US ban on deep water oil and gas drilling could be overturned for a second time after a federal judge yesterday rejected the Obama administration’s request to dismiss an oil industry lawsuit challenging the six-month moratorium. US district judge Martin Feldman, who controversially overturned the administration’s first ban, yesterday ruled that a second ban imposed by the Interior Department in July "arguably fashions no substantial changes from the first moratorium" and as such …

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