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By Ray Massey, MailOnline.Com, 30th December 2008 The Queen is to set to ‘go green’ by having her two gas-guzzling state Bentleys converted to run on biofuels. This is part of a move by the British luxury car-maker to become more environmentally friendly – and a new biofuel-burning high-performance car is expected in the New Year. Green machine: The Queen stands alongside one of her two Bentley state limousines which are to be converted to run on biofuel The Volkswagen-owned, Crewe-based co

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Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV, 12/30/2008 MANILA, Philippines – A government body that is specifically tasked to address climate change may soon be created with two House panels’ approval of a bill seeking to establish a Climate Change Commission. An article posted on the House of Representatives website on Tuesday said the House committees on Government Reorganization and Appropriations have jointly approved a substitute bill consolidating House Bills No. 400, 1775, 3291, 4051, and 4853

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By Ewa Spohn, Krakow Post, December 29, 2008 Next stop: Copenhagen / photo Nick Cobbing/Greenpeace For the first two weeks of December, the Polish city of Poznan hosted the UN Climate Change Conference, a precursor to the all-important meeting planned for Copenhagen next year, where a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol will be negotiated. As you might expect from an event that involved over 10,000 delegates from 190 countries, meeting in an industrial city in a nation where over 90 percent

More here: Climate on the Agenda

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Forest owners could see green if emissions capped By Clay Carey, The Tennessean, December 30, 2008 Bellevue resident Ed Polk hangs onto 350 acres of forestland, not to market its timber but because he loves wildlife and wants to preserve a sense of Tennessee wilderness for future generations. But soon, he and fellow owners of wooded land may be able to earn money from their trees anyway, simply because they’re there — soaking up carbon that otherwise would escape into the atmosphere and potenti

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By By Shahid Husain (Karachi), The News, Tuesday, December 30, 2008 Global warming and the ongoing thinning of Tibetan glaciers will result in as many as 15 million ‘environmental refugees’ in South Asia in the near future, said Chairperson Hisaar Foundation and member of Stockholm-based Global Water Partnership Technical Committee, Simi Kamal. She made the observation at a selected gathering of experts under the auspices of Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD) at Karachi Water and

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By Mario de Queiroz, InterPress Service, Dec 30 AMARELEJA, Portugal, – The most ambitious and innovative solar power project in the world kicked off Monday in this white-walled village in the southern Portuguese municipality of Moura, one of the most impoverished areas in the European Union. The Acciona Energy S.A. company has put into service the Amareleja photovoltaic power plant, located 150 km south of Lisbon, which is capable of producing enough energy to supply 30,000 households in the so

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It’s been awhile since I did this, but I will be making some predictions for 2009. Note whenever I do this, my “hit rate” is slightly better than throwing darts blind at a dartboard, so take these predictions with a grain of salt – if I manage to get a few correct it is because of blind luck, rather than any sort of prognostication skills. But first, we will get into my 2008 failed predictions: 1. Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination (oops). 2. Sarah Palin was a good VP choice

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World’s second commercial jet flight on biofuel relies on African weed By David Biello, Scientific American, December 30, 2008 Biofuel for jets: Air New Zealand became the second airline to fly partially on biofuel–and the first to use jet biofuel refined from a non-food crop. Courtesy of Air New Zealand Fuel from the weed jatropha powered an Air New Zealand jet on a two-hour flight today—the world’s second flight of a commercial jet on biofuel. One out of the four Rolls Royce engines on an

More here: Biofuel for Jumbo Jets: Kiwis Take to the Sky on Jatropha

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By Jeremy Jacquot, Popular Mechanics, December 30, 2008 Biochar was first created and used thousands of years ago to help plants grow. Researchers have found that this charcoal-like substance traps carbon and is a renewable source of fuel. Nine countries are pouring research dollars into the charcoal-like substance to see if it can sequester carbon, improve the soil and produce biofuels all at once—on an economically competitive scale. Could this ancient fertilizer really put a dent on global wa

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By Richard Nemec, Daily News, 12/30/2008 The flap over the city’s March 3 solar energy ballot measure, Measure B, while unfortunate and avoidable, should not obscure the merits of the proposal. After all, solar energy should not be a partisan issue since harnessing the sun’s power is in everyone’s best interest. What is needed is more of a realistic view of this energy source that has bedeviled mankind for centuries. First, it isn’t “free.” Second, it will always cost a little more, but it carr

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