The Lubin Files

Could algae crops help fight hunger?

An interesting article in Scientific American discusses several uses for algae, one being its use as a food source.  Where others have searched for an algae that can produce large quantities with few inputs, no one has found it yet.  The scientist in this article discusses genetically modifying algae in order to create the algae desired and achieve the necessary outputs.  His hope is to create algae that might provide not only food, but also fuel while also helping to combat Carbon Dioxide content in the atmosphere.  See more on the subject here.

Is solar power worth it?

I live in Rome in an appartment on the top floor. Should I install a solar panel?

You can calculate how effective solar power could be using a cool tool put out by the European Commission Joint Research Centre's Institute for Environment and Sustainability. The Photovoltaic Potential Estimation Database, as it is called, works for any location in Europe. 

World Energy Outlook 2008

On November 12, 2008, the IEA launched the World Energy Outlook 2008.

WEO-2008 focuses on the impact of the following two issues on the world energy sector:

• Prospects for oil and gas production: How much oil and gas exists and how much can be produced? Will investment be adequate?

• Post-2012 climate scenarios: What emissions limits might emerge from current international negotiations on climate change? What role could cap-and-trade and sectoral approaches play in moving to a low-carbon energy future? Two different scenarios are assessed, one in which the atmospheric concentration of emissions is stabilised at 550 parts per million (ppm) in CO2 equivalent terms and the second at the still more ambitious level of 450ppm.

Current issues of the World Energy Outlook are kept in the Statistical Information Resources Center (X 52903)

Nature special issue on China

The latest version of Nature (v. 454 Number 7203 pp367-550) is a special issue entitled China's Challenges.

It contains an article called "Stoking the Fire," that addresses China's coal-fired power plants.  It discusses China's ideas for gasification, carbon capture and storage, and plans for development of the world's first low-emission coal-fueled power plant.

Nature is provided to FAO staff via library subscription.

Oil shock: you ain't seen nothing yet

This is the cover story of the New Scientist of 28 June, 2008.  This article addresses issues such as supply/demand and peak oil.  It also reminds us that when we talk about a future without fossil fuels, we're not just talking about fuel for transportation and energy.  We would also have to learn to live without a wide range of petrochemicals that have so permeated our everyday lives that we don't even notice them. (the above link comes from this document, published by the American Petroleum Institute)

Here is a preview of the New Scientist article.  The full article is available in the library reading room.

Trash is better recycled than turned to energy

Promoters of waste-to-energy incinerators - plants that burn trash to generate electricity - praise the practice as renewable energy with a negative carbon footprint.

But opponents of incineration say that trash has more economic value and a lighter impact on climate change when reused, recycled or composted...

(c) International Herald Tribune.

Renewable energy investment is booming

Global investment in renewable energy is booming, according to the Global trends in sustainable energy investment 2008 report, published by the UNEP.

According to this report, wind energy attracted the most investment, solar energy investment saw the most growth, while investment in biofuels declined.

The Impact of High Oil Prices on African Economies

Economic Research Working Paper No 93 (December 2007)
(published by the African Development Bank)

Abstract: On the one hand the high price of oil is a unique opportunity for African oil producers to use the windfall gains to speed up their development. On the other hand, it is having adverse effects on  net-oil importing countries, in particular those which cannot access international capital markets  to smooth out the shock. We construct a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, which is  tailored to reflect the characteristics of African economies, to quantify the effect of the increase  in the price of oil on the main macro economic aggregates...

Small-scale bio power plants have higher emissions

Small-scale community based bio-power plants produce higher levels of emissions per unit of electrical output than large facilities, according to new research presented at the United Kingdom Energy Research Centre’s Sustainable Energy UK conference in Oxford...

Read more here.

Financing Energy Efficiency

New World Bank publication available to FAO staff members via library subscription to the World Bank E-Library:

Financing Energy Efficiency: Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and Beyond
Abstract:
While energy efficiency projects could partly meet new energy demand more cheaply than new supplies, weak economic institutions in developing and transitional economies impede developing and financing energy efficiency retrofits. This book analyzes these difficulties, suggests a 3-part model for projectizing and financing energy efficiency retrofits, and presents thirteen case studies to illustrate the issues and principles involved.