Thursday, May 24, 2012

Pakistan’s renewable energy awaits tapping - SciDev.Net

Pakistan’s renewable energy awaits tapping - SciDev.Net The report on solar energy said although the source was abundant, with the country receiving 200-250 watts per square metre daily with an estimated potential of 2.9 million megawatts of solar power per annum, the country generates less than seven megawatts.  
Solar energy was hampered by poor integration of techno-economic and socio-political aspects and inconsistent government policies, although it was ideal for the remote areas of Balochistan, Cholistan and the Thar desert where grid connectivity was difficult.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Friday, May 11, 2012

Game Over for the Climate - NYTimes.com

Game Over for the Climate - NYTimes.com: Canada’s tar sands, deposits of sand saturated with bitumen, contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history. If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies, concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere eventually would reach levels higher than in the Pliocene era, more than 2.5 million years ago, when sea level was at least 50 feet higher than it is now. That level of heat-trapping gases would assure that the disintegration of the ice sheets would accelerate out of control. Sea levels would rise and destroy coastal cities. Global temperatures would become intolerable. Twenty to 50 percent of the planet’s species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk.