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The Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) found that global annual emissions of greenhouse gases totalled 41 billion tonnes in 2005, up from 24 billion tonnes in 1970 and 33 billion tonnes in 1990. Between 1990 and 2005, total greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 560 billion tonnes. The EDGAR dataset shows that greenhouse gas emissions have been higher in developing countries than in industrialised countries since 2004, though developing countries emit significantly lower levels of emissions per capita than developed countries (4 tonnes, versus approximately 15 tonnes).

"The objective of this study is to:  compile the available recent literature on ILUC emissions;  compare these emissions with the assumed gains of biofuels;  assess how ILUC changes the carbon balance of using biofuels;  formulate policies to avoid these extra emissions associated with ILUC. Trends in land use, with and without biofuels All the studies on global agricultural markets reviewed predict that new arable land will be required to meet future global demand for food and feed. Although there will be increased productivity on current arable land (intensification), food and feed demand will probably grow faster, which means that mobilization of new land is likely to occur. Biofuels produced from crops (the current mainstream practice) will add extra demand for crops like wheat, rice, maize, rapeseed and palm oil. This will increase prices for these crops (as well as for land) and lead to two impacts: intensification of agricultural production and conversion of forests and grasslands to arable land. In this report we consider the issue of indirect land use change initiated by EU biofuels policy and seek to answer the following questions:  What is the probability of biofuels policies initiating land use changes?  What greenhouse gas emissions may result from indirect land use change, expressed as a factor in the mathematical relation given above?  What technical measures can be applied and what policy measures adopted to limit or entirely mitigate indirect land use change and the associated greenhouse gas emissions? We first (Chapter 2) broadly discuss the mechanism of indirect land use change. We next discuss why there is a perception among stakeholders that there is a serious risk that EU biofuels policy will initiate indirect land use change (Chapter 3) and consider the figures cited by other studies as an indication of the magnitude the associated greenhouse gas emissions  (Chapter 4). We then broadly consid

CONVERTING a greenhouse gas into a clean-burning fuel offers two benefits for the price of one. That's the thinking behind a novel process for converting carbon dioxide into methanol at room temperature, developed by a team at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, DOI: 10.1002/anie.200806058).

Is it ironic? Or is it a case of preferring real action over grand declarations?

The electricity sector accounts for almost 35 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, and 40 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Over 80 percent of GHG emissions associated with electricity generation are from the combustion of coal, with nearly all the rest due to natural gas and petroleum combustion. U.S. electricity sales are split among the residential (37 percent), commercial (36 percent), and industrial (27 percent) sectors, where primary uses vary by sector. Over the past 30 years the U.S. electricity sector has become less carbon intensive, and the U.S. economy has grown less electricity-intensive.

The molecules, known as fluorocarbons, are found in plastics, clothing and refrigerants. At their heart is a union of carbon and fluorine -- a union that, thanks to their atomic configurations, is one of the strongest molecular unions known in nature. Under standard conditions, fluorocarbons are impervious to acids and bases. They don't give or receive electrons, the very currency of molecular reconfiguration. Breaking them down is possible only at temperatures approaching 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. In some situations, that stability is a blessing: Teflon is made from fluorocarbons. But so are the hydrofluorocarbon coolants in refrigerators and air conditioners -- and when released, those become greenhouse gases that can circulate for thousands of years.

Iowa's outstanding growth in wind production calls into question the common argument that the near-term costs of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change are too high to justify action.

In the absence of specific policies to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the world's energy use is expected to increase by 44% between 2006 and 2030, causing a 39% increase in global carbon dioxide emissions, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA).

According to researchers from the Carnegie Institution, the University of California, Merced and Stanford University, converting biomass to electricity delivers 80% more miles per acre of crops and doubles the potential for greenhouse gas offsets.

Wind power is the most mature of mainstream renewable energy technologies and, if the world's electricity generation is to be made cleaner, it must play a large part. The International Energy Agency estimates that, if global greenhouse gas emissions are to be halved by 2050, as scientists say is necessary, then wind must represent about 17 per cent of worldwide power generation by that date.

Review post commenting while - technologically - these targets are major engineering challenge, they still appear socially unacceptable.

Interesting, but a bit thin on specifics, and still a long way to market.