Port Talbot Biomass Power Station gets its permit

I have always thought that biomass power stations, like that one that is proposed in Port Talbot, are a mistake; they start from the premise that biomass is renewable and sustainable and that biomass power stations will ensure that the trees used are replaced with new planting. I do not think that it is as [...]

A stitch in time saves nine; the cost of climate change adaptation

Imagine eating in an expensive restaurant. The food and wine is very good and you and your party have eaten and drunk far more than you need, and in some cases far more than you enjoyed. You are sipping your final drinks but the waiter is about to present the bill. You were not careful [...]

Ten things that will make no difference to climate change

Ten things that will make no difference to climate change
 1. Carbon offsetting
Keep your money in your pocket.
2. Carbon Trading
You cannot use the principles of the casino to help the climate unless the house wins every time
3. The Clean Development Mechanism
No more than a good opportunity for free money for large corporations
4. Biomass burning
Keep the trees in [...]

Using clean renewables, dirty renewables or partly renewable technologies for renewable heat

The future role of solar thermal in providing renewable heat

Carbon emissions from the cement industry

It seems that whatever you do you make carbon dioxide. When you breathe out, you exhale carbon dioxide. When you travel the combustion of fuel makes carbon dioxide. When you heat your home or shower (unless you have solar panels) or search the internet, you make carbon dioxide. Now making carbon dioxide is not always [...]

How much fuel is left in the world?

In London when I was much younger there were two fellows who walked around with sandwich boards, not because of their occupations, but as a result of their preoccupations. One chap’s board had a message that warned against the eating of beans and pulses, which according to this chap were at the root of all [...]

Classifying energy fuels and clean and dirty renewables

Many people use the words “renewable” and “sustainable” in relation to energy fuel and the environment without being specific about what they mean by these words. I could write a long piece about definitions, but in the case of energy I think that it is better to classify the various types of energy fuel so that [...]

We will face a bad encounter with the two degrees of climate change

The risks of burning coal and biomass are simply too great; we must stop the burning.

Sequestration of carbon by the oceans and its consequences

consequences of more carbon dioxide in the oceans

How forests may be affected by rising temperatures

What will happen to forests when temperatures rise and what will happen to the planet afterwards