China recently announced that it would reduce CO2 emissions per unit GDP (carbon intensity of the economy) by 40-45% by 2020. This is quite ambitious. Given continued economic growth of about 8%/yr (not a given, but based on recent history), this chart illustrates how this compares with recent changes in carbon intensity:




The gap is due to missing recent data. Nevertheless, the conclusion is clear: this ambitious goal is quite different from business as usual! See more here.

CCS update

See this recent news item in Nature about two coal-burning power plants up/running (soon) with CCS.

Batteries and beef

Two nice pieces in nature last week.

Beef: discussion of what can be done to reduce impacts

Batteries: prognosis for improvements in energy density, re-charging, and cost.

Meat and water

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/meat-makes-the-planet-thirsty.html

Energy, development, climate policy

Recent piece by Pielke and Sarewitz in the Financial Times.

Residence time links

http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/016.htm
http://co2now.org/Know-GHGs/Emissions/ipcc-faq-emissions-reductions-and-atmospheric-reductions.html
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-residence-time.htm
http://climaterealists.com/?id=4068
http://www.nature.com/climate/2008/0812/full/climate.2008.122.html

Friday linkage

Removing links to  form my inbox...



Opposition to coal development in Bangladesh in the New York Times. What's the alternative, though?

Food waste story/stats/graphics from the World Bank.

A self-destructing bridge: sunsetting natural gas plant in MA.

Focus on efficiency: trucks,

Food, soil, from TIME

We need GMO wheat.

Reducing gas flaring in ND.

Industry and climate change - ecosystem services link.

Obstacles to carbon capture.

Acting now or else! Divest!

Geoengineering - our last hope. Canadian C capture company

Fire and climate change

Methane hydrates. More on methane hydrates.

Fading promise of bioethanol. The promise of bioethanol. Biofuels drive hunger 1 and 2.

Life after oil and gas - "the biggest obstacles are social and political".

90 by 50 in NYC

Coal is coming around.

Energy consumption in the developing world - 65% by 2040!