Although technology change (usually involving an improvement in energy efficiency) is not inherently a geographic process, it does not occur uniformly over geographic space. Consequently, mathematical modeling and behavioral and innovation diffusion studies by geographers have improved our understanding of the pervasive phenomenon of technology energy efficiency change in energy markets. Similarly, creative government policies in Germany since 1990 have led to a faster rate of adoption of renewable energy sources, compared to the United States. (more…)

From prehistory until the Industrial Revolution, most energy sources used by humans were localized (i.e., available within 5–10 miles of end users). Energy sources included draft animals, human slaves, and renewable sources such as biomass (wood and wastes), water mills, and wind power. Following the onset of the Industrial Revolution, with advancements in transportation technology and increased rates of deforestation in many regions, societies increasingly relied on long-distance shipments of coal, wood, and eventually oil, natural gas, and electric power. (more…)

It is a rare company prospectus that begins with a quotation from Goethe: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” But Lovins is not a normal entrepreneur, as anyone who has met this eccentric and disheveled but unmistakably visionary thinker knows. The founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading green think tank based in Old Snowmass, Colorado, thinks the car industry’s incremental approach to cutting emissions and improving fuel efficiency will never amount to much. He wants a complete redesign of the automobile, from the bottom up, and intends to show the big boys how it should be done. (more…)

Biofuels are made from living matter, plant or animal, and are strongly favored by agricultural interests because of the large boost they bring to domestic farms. Most U.S. biofuels is made from corn (ethanol) or soybeans (biodiesel), although several unusual fuel sources are emerging, including algae and oil waste from deep-frying of foods. The biofuels industry experienced meteoric growth in 2005, 2006 and early 2007, but then it began to slow because of high feedstock prices. Private investment in biofuels finished off 2007 at $2.1 billion, according to ‘Global Trends in Sustainable Energy’, a report by New Energy Finance and United Nations Environmental program. (more…)

We had expressed our disagreement with Biofuels and tell them also that the European Union also wants to distance themselves from them. Now the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture) has been enacted against biofuels in its annual report. The main problem with biofuels is that the growing of them, occupy spaces before for food, and to create more spaces and woodlands are only by cutting down forests. (more…)

Energy scarcity is making people adopt the concept of solar power homes all over the globe. When the oil prices skyrocketed during 2008, it reminded people that dependency on fossil fuels is not a wise strategy. Since then many initiatives have been launched all over the world to find out alternate energy resources. Large companies are spending huge amount of money on research for development of alternate fuels like bio diesel, ethanol blended fuels etc. (more…)

Statistics on national production levels and indicators of environmental pressure have been collected during the past few decades (and reconstructed for the more distant past) to document the link between world economic growth and the environment. The theory of world economic growth and economic theories of world natural resources provide explanations and interpretations of the trends as well as methods to assess future developments. The basic approach in most statistical and theoretical analyses is the decomposition of aggregate production function of a nation into, on the one hand, the current state of technology and, on the other hand, the inputs into the national production process. The main inputs are labor (hours worked), capital (produced means of production that can be used over a certain time period), and world natural resources. (more…)