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"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

According to a study from Clarion University, Pennsylvania, USA each step in the current US process of building and running a nuclear plant, from mining the uranium ores to disposing of the wastes, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, the article states that for nuclear power to be a feasible alternative energy source the entire process would need to be more efficient. This study gives a view on nuclear power which includes long standing ideals. The paper seems to offer an intermediate review on issues around the subject of nuclear, in the wider energy debate.

This study concludes that introducing hydrogen into the energy system would, theoretically, reduce the total EU oil consumption by vehicles on the road by 40%, and by 2050. Also, on releasing the study results, the EU approved funding for a joint technology initiative to develop fuel cell and hydrogen technology. This recognition of hydrogen by the EU raises the possibility that hydrogen could realistically be used in future green solutions.

A new study concluded that vehicles powered by bioelectricity provided 80 percent more miles of transporation per crop acre than vehicles running on ethanol made from corn or switchgrass.

"t is a crucial, if geekish, point: Wind and solar power are NOT intermittent, they are VARIABLE. If someone talks about problems with the intermittencies of wind and solar energies, it is out of ignorance or to intentionally discredit them. Obviously, the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow but those things can be scheduled and forecasted and are no reasons whatsoever not to keep building wind power and solar energy as fast as is humanly possible. The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), says transmission system tools are now available that would allow the Mountain West and Southwestern states to get 35% of their electricity from wind and solar energies by 2017. All it will require, aside from the building of the wind and solar production capacity, is a change in the WestConnect group of grid operators' standard operating procedures."

Sadly, though, it appears that home-based wind turbines are too often not done right. That's the conclusion reached by a recent study financed by the UK government and the British Wind Energy Association.

The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust commissioned a study last year to review electricity output from 21 small wind turbines in the state and the results were surprising: the data showed that the estimated production was about three times higher than the turbines' actual production.

A couple of studies have come out this month that paint motivating pictures for a new, cleaner energy system:

About 63 percent of Indian IT shops have completed a retrofit of existing server rooms to increase energy efficiency, or have a pilot project underway, according to a recent study. It's similar in Brazil, but IT companies there tend to favor building new server rooms before modifying existing ones.

A new study of office buildings in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, BC by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, the Vancouver Valuation Accord and Cushman & Wakefield identifies how high-performance green features and systems can increase the value of commercial buildings.

A Michigan public university plans to test a floating wind turbine platform to demonstrate how wind energy could work on Lake Michigan. Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center received $1.4 million in federal funding to conduct the study. The university plans to have the platform installed by the fall of 2010. Meanwhile, We Energies plans to issue a request for proposals in early November that will be the start of a $3 million study sanctioned by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to determine the feasibility of wind turbines on Lake Michigan. We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said the energy utility is not involved in the Michigan study, but will collaborate with Grand Valley State to share information

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) are possible, but the cost of doing so - both early on and even as the technology matures - is likely to be staggering, according to a study from Harvard University's Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs.