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Here's a nice example of the vital distinction between consumption and efficiency. If I told you that a company was about to introduce a new car model that was expected to average 56 miles per gallon, and that it was going to be so cheap that nearly anyone could afford one, that would sound like great news, wouldn't it? Perhaps it depends on the context in which that car is introduced, and our assumptions about what it will displace. The car in question is Tata Motors' eagerly-awaited "1-Lakh" car--referring to its 100,000 Rupees price equating to $2546 at yesterday's exchange rate--and the target market is millions of Indians who haven't been able to afford a car yet. Even at an expected efficiency of 56 mpg, though, the Nano, to give its proper name, will create incremental consumption of petroleum products and new greenhouse gases emissions.

the new international forum links up the EU Commission and seven member states (France, Germany, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland and Portugal) with eleven US and Canadian regional states (the likes of New York, Maine, California and British Columbia) to exchange information and best practices about their efforts to create carbon markets through a cap-and-trade system. The bad news: where are the other 20 EU member states? And what about other federal governments such as the US, Russia, China or India?

Western countries and industrialized Asian nations like Japan and the Republic of Korea have moved many of their factories to developing countries such as China and India, where cheap labor allows them to manufacture at lower costs than at home. This globalization of production has resulted in the discharge of much more waste in poor nations that otherwise would have been released in developed countries. As a matter of fact, not all of the greenhouse gases released "in China" or "from China" are really "China's".

The leading Norwegian manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and panels expects PV power generation costs to decline to only 8 cents/kWh as of 2010, provided installations benefit from at least 1800 hours/year of sunshine. That is the case in the countries around the Mediterranean, the southern parts of the USA, India, China, Australia and many other parts of the planet.

The soleckshaw is basically motor-assisted bicycle that features a motor driven by a 36-volt battery recharged - or swapped - at a solar charging station. The soleckshaw can carry three passengers and can go about 12.5 miles per hour. Drivers can drive under their own power on flat roads, then switch on the motor to go up hills or give themselves a break when the load gets too heavy.

Japan, the United States and the European Union will jointly propose at this year's Group of Eight summit meeting that an international organization be established to study and evaluate the energy-saving measures of countries, including China and India, The Yomiuri Shimbun learned Saturday.

Nearly nine in 10 of them do not rate it as a priority, says the study, which canvassed more than 500 big businesses in Britain, the US, Germany, Japan, India and China. Nearly twice as many see climate change as imposing costs on their business as those who believe it presents an opportunity to make money. And the report's publishers believe that big business will concentrate even less on climate change as the world economy deteriorates. . . . more