Socioecology Research Today

Although 2012 investment levels worldwide declined 11 percent, to $269 billion, the clean energy sector weathered the withdrawal of priority incentives and initiatives offered by governments in numerous key markets, demonstrating its resilience. Reliable clean energy investment data have been collected for nine years now. Looking at the data in three-year increments, average clean energy [...]

Common production technologies for fuels or fuels precursors are sugar fermentation, synthesis gas (syngas) fermentation, gas-phase thermochemical conversion (such as Fischer-Tropsch or syngas to methanol/ethanol chemical catalysis), direct to liquid thermochemical conversion, transesterification of oils, and solar to fuel precursors such as algae. In my opinion solar fuels like algae, Fischer-Tropsch, syngas to methanol/ethanol chemical [...]

Our analysis also confirms that the marketplace for Clean Development Mechanism-derived offsets is robust and competitive. Moreover, bagasse projects appear to provide a positive example in a “new wave” of clean energy investment that has replaced the earlier industrial gas projects. At the same time, we also identify two aspects of the CDM that demand [...]

Our analysis also confirms that the marketplace for Clean Development Mechanism-derived offsets is robust and competitive. Moreover, bagasse projects appear to provide a positive example in a “new wave” of clean energy investment that has replaced the earlier industrial gas projects. At the same time, we also identify two aspects of the CDM that demand [...]

Daniel Hillel and Cynthia Rosenzweig have written a very good summary of carbon sequestration in soil: “Soil and Carbon Climate Change: Carbon Exchange in the Terrestrial Domain of Agriculture”, CSA News, Vol. 54 No. 6, June 2009.  If you somehow missed the soil classes in your geology courses, this article illustrates the big picture. Why [...]

This study compares equity funds that are managed according to sustainability goals with conventionally managed funds with respect to their environmental impacts. Overlap in the portfolios of sustainable equity funds and conventional equity funds can be very large. Further, the sector allocation of both types of funds is generally very similar, because portfolio managers follow [...]

A Stanford team of researchers finds many credit-for-cleanup projects in developing countries under the Kyoto agreement would have happened without the credits, and that means no net improvement for the Earth’s atmosphere. Living on Earth: Questionable Credits

I attended the presentation entitled Powering the Planet on Saturday.  Of noteworthy interest were presentations on splitting water for hydrogen, cultivating algae for fuel, and a bird’s eye view of the non-carbon energy challenge ahead (wattzon.org).  According to this latter presentation, by the year 2033 the CO2 conscious world will need 15TW of energy consisting [...]

Biotech Research developed two formulas that are available for different agricultural crops. One formula, Agri-2000, has been shown to increase wheat production by 15% and also increase wheat’s nutritional value. The other formula, Agri-3000, will be tested on canola crops this year to increase yields for biodiesel production. The Agri-3000 canola formula has been shown [...]

For years, scientists have had a straightforward idea for taming global warming. They want to take the carbon dioxide that spews from coal-burning power plants and pump it back into the ground… But it has become clear in recent months that the nation’s effort to develop the technique is lagging badly. In January, the government [...]