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Showing posts from September, 2011

Biofuel Status 2026

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  Fifteen Years On: Are Biofuels Delivering on the IEA’s 2011 Vision? In April 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published an ambitious roadmap claiming that biofuels could supply 27% of global transport fuel by 2050 , up from around 2% at the time ( EcoWarriorMe: Biofuels (2011) ). The roadmap argued that sustainable biofuels would become essential for reducing emissions from aviation, shipping and heavy transport while improving energy security. Now, fifteen years later, we are almost half way towards the forecast horizon and the transport and energy landscape looks very different. Electric vehicles have advanced far faster than many analysts expected, while biofuels have evolved into a more specialised — but still strategically important — decarbonisation tool. The 2011 Roadmap  The original roadmap envisioned: Biofuels rising from 2% to 27% of global transport fuel by 2050. A major shift from food-crop biofuels to “ advanced biofuels ” made from waste, re...

The Biggest Challenges

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Over the past couple of I weeks I've been asking new followers what they perceive as the biggest challenges we face. There has been a spread of topics reflecting the diverse range of interests in the environment including: Human stupidity/politics/corruption Pollution Water shortages Food shortages Floods & unpredictable weather Global Warming Population Methane Poor urban environments Thanks to all of you who contributed, posts are below in acknowledgement.  If you would like to add your thoughts on the biggest challenges faced by humanity and planet earth, the please either tweet me @EcoWarriorMe or comment below. In my opinion, there have been a couple of omissions so far: energy and poverty.  Are they too obvious, or not really that important? T rinityTrove_HR Global warming, landfill toxins, water shortages, and Congress. designal exable The biggest challenge is human stupidity. Man regularly makes horrible mistakes, from ...

What one thing could you do to save the planet?

Why is it so hard to get people motivated on climate change? When it came to the hole in the ozone layer, people stopped buying deodorant with CFCs, manufacturers changed to less harmful propellants, international agreements were signed and now the chemicals most detrimental to atmospheric ozone have been effectively consigned to the history books.  By stopping CFCs entering the atmosphere, further increases in the size of the ozone hole are prevented, the atmospheric CFCs are relatively short lived and the results can be measured. When out became apparent that the trade in ivory posed a very real threat to the survival of elephants and rhinoceros, campaigns to end the trade led to formation of CITES and a significant international effort to prevent poaching. It is still not a perfect system but out has made a significant difference and there is a much greater awareness of the consequence of buying produce derived from endangered species. By reducing demand through education a...