Scientists from the University of Michigan and Oxford University have reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society that they have developed a way of efficiently turning carbon dioxide into cabon monoxide (which can be used as a fuel) using visible light.

The scientists used an enzyme-modified titanium oxide and a photosensitizer to make the conversion to carbon monoxide. The conversion needs to be done in an oxygen-free environment and the carbon monoxide needs to be managed because it is poisonous. But the researchers say that the product can be used not only to produce electricity or hydrogen but also can be converted by known catalysts into liquid fuel.

Other researchers have previously succeeded in producing carbon monoxide from carbon dioxide using concentrated sunlight but the process was not effiicient enough to be of practical use.

But, according to Professor  F.A. Armstrong, from the Oxford Department of Chemistry, this is a new "reaction of great technological importance. Otherwise (at synthetic catalysts) the process is so inefficient and slow that it has made little impact on industry."

If you found this item interesting, please let others know:

The International Energy Agency, which provides energy statistics and projections to 28 industrialised countries, has issued a report warning that every year of inaction in cutting carbon emissions will cost the world an additional $US500 billion.

The IEA estimates that in order to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees, non-fossil fuels will need to provide at least 32 percent of total energy and the share of new cars with internal combustion engines will have to fall to less than 40% by 2030.

The IEA says that to achieve this the world needs to spend a total of $US10,500 billion between 2010 and 2030 on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Each year of delay will increase that figure by $US500 billion.

The IEA estimates that world primary energy demand will rise by an average of 1.5 percent per year over the next two decades and that oil demand, excluding biofuels, will increase by 1 percent per annum to 105 million barrels per day by 2030 from 85 million barels per day in 2008.

While the IEA says that fossil fuel supplies are ample, the Guardian newspaper has quoted two "whistleblowers" who have questioned this claim.

One of the sources was quoted as saying "Many inside the organization believe that maintaining oil supplies at even 90 million to 95 million barrels a day would be impossible but there are fears that panic could spread on the financial markets if the figures were brought down further."

The paper quoted a second senior IEA source as saying that a key rule at the organisation was that it was "imperative not to anger the Americans" but the fact was that there was not as much oil in the world as had been admitted. "We have [already] entered the ‘peak oil’ zone. I think that the situation is really bad," he added.

If you found this item interesting, please let others know:

Babelgum.com has produced and posted online a stunning 30-minute video about Canadian tar sand mining.

They describe it as "The first original production by and for Babelgum, ‘Downstream’ focuses on the controversy surrounding the development of Alberta’s oil sands. This beautifully photographed documentary is an eye-opening investigation into one of the world’s most polluting oil operations. It includes interviews with ecologists, Canadian politicians, local residents and a very dedicated doctor, discussing the environmental, economic and health issues surrounding the oil sands development.."

This follows a 20-page story by National Geographic about what has been called "the most destructive project on Earth".

As National Geographic said. "this may be the clubbing the baby-seal moment" for the tar sands industry. Don’t miss the video. It’s at http://www.babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3015242

If you found this item interesting, please let others know:

Scott Heckbert, an environmental economist at the CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems Division in Townsville, estimates that traditional Aboriginal burning practices in Australia’s savannah country could reduce national greenhouse emissions by nearly five megatonnes a year and trigger a $52 million-a-year industry employing 1,000 people.

Despite the huge economic cost of fires in the more populated areas, such as the recent Victorian bushfires, 90 per cent of Australian wildfires actually occur in the continent’s far north. 

Each year large swathes of savannah are deluged by rain during the wet season This boosts the growth of native grasses. Traditionally, Aboriginal people  have burned off these grasses, using relatively small fires lit in a mosaic pattern, early in the dry season in order to create new growth which attracts kangaroos and birds.

Now, the grasses are left to grow and become fuel for uncontrollable fires late in the dry season.

It is estimated that these fires contribute 14 megatonnes of greenhouse emissions a year - 3 per cent of total national emissions.

Recent scientific research has shown traditional burning practices are kinder to biodiversity and emit less carbon.

Mr Heckbert and his colleagues estimate that the greenhouse offsets derived from Indigenous management of savannahs could amount to 4.8 megatonnes. Assuming a carbon price of $20 a tonne, this would bring $52 million in revenue and could create more than 1,000 jobs for Indigenous people.

"Black Burning" by Tooley via Flickr

If you found this item interesting, please let others know:

On August 11, our meeting discussed how business enterprises will benefit from rethinking their processes in an economy, which must consider finite natural resources and the need to strive for a sustainable future.

Helen Weston gave a talk about how to understand the new government policies, including the new carbon pollution reduction scheme and what these policies mean for small businesses.

Helen has a broad business background and is applying her experience to the development of methods of reducing the cost and optimising the business opportunities of carbon reduction strategies and sustainability practices.

If you found this item interesting, please let others know:

In a speech in Washington yesterday, former US Vice President, Al Gore, challenged America to end the use of fossil fuels for elecricity generation within ten years.

"Our dangerous reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all these problems – economic, environmental, national security," Gore said. "The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels."

Gore criticised the Congress for spending its time debating whether to expand off-shore drilling rather than how to diminish the country’s reliance on oil. "Even those who reap the profits of the carbon age have to recognise the inevitability of its demise," he said.

"We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet," Gore said to wild applause. "Every bit of that has got to change. We should tax what we burn, not what we earn."

Although he was not mentioned in the speech, Presidential canditate, Barack Obama, issued a statement in response to it, saying that "we cannot drill our way to energy independence, but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels. Those are the investments I will make as President," Obama added. "It’s a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and ones that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer."

If you found this item interesting, please let others know: