energy

Reframing the Problem of Climate Change

by Bryan Walker February 7, 2012

There’s no reason why facing up to the challenge of climate change should not result in wide benefits to human society, including economic benefits. That’s the argument of the multiple authors of Reframing the Problem of Climate Change: From Zero Sum Game to Win-Win Solutions. The book is based on papers presented at a 2010 [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

We’ll surpass government forecast says wind energy association

by Bryan Walker February 2, 2012

A mild protest from the NZ Wind Energy Association arrived in my inbox recently. It was in response to the Ministry of Economic Development’s latest Energy Outlook forecast, published last week. The Energy Outlook estimates that wind farm capacity will increase from the current 622MW, to around 1,410MW and produce close to 10% of the [...]

65 comments Read the full article →

To boldly go… to a low carbon future

by Bryan Walker January 8, 2012

I liked the sub-heading to a Guardian article on Friday. “The theory that cutting carbon emissions costs us growth is bunk, in fact, it’s an economic opportunity.” The article itself is a little less exuberant in its expression, understandably given that one of its authors, Vinod Thomas (pictured), is director general for independent evaluation at [...]

21 comments Read the full article →

Climate Change and Global Energy Security

by Bryan Walker September 18, 2011

Academics Marilyn Brown and Benjamin Sovacool, who have impressive credentials in the field of energy policy, are co-authors of the recently published Climate Change and Global Energy Security: Technology and Policy Options, a substantial and detailed study of a very wide range of technologies covering both the promise of those options and the obstacles to [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Energy Strategy in Denial of Climate Change Reality

by Bryan Walker September 1, 2011

From a climate change perspective the New Zealand Energy Strategy 2011-2016 is hopelessly compromised by its determination to exploit all the oil and gas that can be found, including deep sea methane hydrates. Take a look at this extract, the second paragraph in the strategy document: “Globally, there are two energy challenges: energy security and [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Revolution and realism required: UN report

by Bryan Walker July 14, 2011

I’ve been looking at the The World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation which Gareth drew attention to in his recent post.  It’s a long document prepared by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), not intended for casual consumption, and I haven’t read all 250 pages.  But the [...]

10 comments Read the full article →

The gas don’t work

by Bryan Walker June 27, 2011

“L&M Energy Limited is pleased to announce that it has identified five areas of interest in the South Island of New Zealand that hold significant shale gas potential analogous to some of the most productive shale acreage in the USA.” This statement headed a press release from L&M Energy on Friday. I first heard the [...]

22 comments Read the full article →

Alley’s documentary: upbeat and optimistic

by Bryan Walker April 18, 2011

Richard Alley’s book Earth: The Operators’ Manual, which I reviewed recently, was written as a companion to a PBS documentary of the same name. The documentary has recently screened in the US and is now available for viewing here. The broad themes are the same as those of the book. They’re not complicated: taking our [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Engaging the Public with Climate Change

by Bryan Walker April 16, 2011

Climate scientists and those working in associated fields have established a clear picture of human-caused climate change and what it is likely to mean in the future. The basic information is readily understandable. It’s alarming in what it portends and a rational human society would by now be well on its way to the change [...]

17 comments Read the full article →

Telling the whole truth

by Bryan Walker April 9, 2011

Not infrequently when reading and reviewing a book I find myself wishing there was some way of lingering longer on what it has to say before the spotlight moves on. David Orr’s Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse, published in 2009 and reviewed here, was one such book, and it was therefore with pleasure [...]

22 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries