Simon

CoolEarth Solar have patented a design for inflatable solar collectors that, according to the company, are about 400 times cheaper than the more expensive and ordinary polished aluminium mirrors. If their statistics turns out to be correct this will be a huge economic breakthrough for solar power. Their design is 400x cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors, will withstand 130 mph winds, lasts a year, repairs with tape, takes 15 minutes to change out, costs $2 per balloon, or 18 cents per watt, compared to $5 per watt for conventional installations, and has a minimal effect on the ground underneath the array! Learn more about these inflatable solar panels by watching the video after the jump. ">" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355">

The Danish design agency Saatchi & Saatchi has made this pretty simple and straightforward environment ad: To make people realize that saving the planet starts with them saving paper, we took a standard paper dispenser and made a simple modification with green foil and the silhouette of South America. This allowed us to prove that the survival of the forest is directly connected to what people consume. You can see a larger version of the ad here. You can also check out this clever ad on a bridge in Amsterdam.

Yesterday the Swedish political party Christian Democrats made a public announcement that they were supporting the idea of higher gasoline prices as a way to combat climate change. If you follow Swedish politics (like I am sure most of you here do, right?) you would know that this new decision from the Christian Democrats breaks their old ballot promise to cut (!) gas prices. Anders Wijkman (ChrDem) says this decision is based on the fact that they have become more aware of the climate threat. This means that now all political parties in Sweden that are represented in the Riksdag believe that higher gasoline prices are necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Swedish transportation section is currently one of the biggest CO2 emitters and counts for about 20% of all CO2 emissions yearly in Sweden. There haven’t yet been any decisions or talks on how much the tax should, and needs to be raised. Sweden currently pays about $7 (about $2 per litre) for a US gallon of gas. This is great news that will encourage more people to use the public transportation systems, walk or take the bike more often. But raising the gas prices are, and should not be the only way. Hopefully the politicians will also invest more in public transportation than what they are currently doing. In worst scenario we will have to wait for the next parliament election (due to the fact that the current Swedish right-wing government has fallen in approval ratings since day one in office) until we will see drastic actions from the political parties regarding climate change. Key to Swedish Political Parties: Government (right/centre-right): Moderates (Mod) Centre Party (Cen) Liberal Party (Lib) Christian Democrats (ChrDem) Opposition (left/centre-left): Social Democrats (SocDem) Green Party (Green) Left Party (Left)

Interested in the currently ongoing climate conference in Bali? Sure you are, and luckily you don’t need to travel to Bali to get firsthand information about what is happening at the meeting. Just watch UN’s live webcast over at http://www.un.org/webcast/unfccc Please note that you need RealPlayer to be able to see the webcast. If you don’t have RealPlayer you can download it for free here. Image credit: David Steven. Image licensed under a Creative-Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works license.

That has been the question these past days and here are the results: No (78%) Yes (11%) I don't know really... (11%) The large majority of the voters think their elected officials don’t do enough to combat climate change. Only about 11% thought they did enough, just as many had no idea really. The result of the poll are pretty obvious if you look at what little is being done to slow down the sources and effects of climate change. But one has to wonder what the majority of the “no” voters do to push for more actions from their governments. What especially do you do to make your voice heard on the political level? Please share your thoughts, ideas and experiences with us. The new question is related to the current ongoing UN climate conference on Bali: Do you think the Bali Climate Conference will be a success?

Tomorrow UN's climate meeting starts on Bali in Indonesia. During the eleven days the meeting is held the world's leaders will try to agree on how to properly combat climate change. This is the only chance we got to unite globally against climate change and its doomsday effects, so we (they) better not screw it up. But you shouldn’t have to high hopes on the results as there are many strong and greedy powers that will try to diminish the meeting and the end result. But hopefully reason and science will prevail. Here are five reasons why you should be a little optimistic about the Bali meeting: A greener Australia In probably the first federal election ever that was decided on the climate question the people of Australia kicked out John Howard mainly due to his ignorant view on climate change. The new leader, Kevin Rudd, will sign the Kyoto-protocol only a few weeks before it comes into effect in 2008. This victory is not a big change for the environment, but it’s a very important political symbol. It means that now USA is alone in making a fool of itself and its politics. A tougher Great Britain It’s not just in Australia people are pushing for stronger actions against climate change. In Great Britain, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown has, after massive public pressure, decided on new tougher climate goals. As a result Great Britain has decided on a 60% reduction to year 2050. That’s not enough, but it’s the most radical goal among the European countries. Portugal, currently EU’s President of the European Council, are encouraging EU to follow Great Britain's path. Africa supports Contraction and Convergence The network Climate Network Africa, with representatives from Kenya, Nigeria etc have decided, in a meeting last week, to support Contraction and Convergence, one of the most radical ideas to combat climate change. Human Development Report This years Human Development Report from the UN puts, for the first time ever, climate change in the spotlight. The report emphasizes how climate change is connected to social justice and the fight against poverty. The trade union mobilizes The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), who represents 168 million people in 153 countries and territories and has 305 national affiliates, supports 85% global reductions to year 2050. To emphasize this they will send 85 lobbyists from 25 different countries to the Bali meeting.

Nicholas Stern, a British economist and academic who is most known for the Stern Review, said during a public lecture in Manchester that climate change is the greatest market failure that the world has seen. The problem of climate change involves a fundamental failure of markets: those who damage others by emitting greenhouse gases generally do not pay. Climate change is a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen. The evidence on the seriousness of the risks from inaction or delayed action is now overwhelming. We risk damages on a scale larger than the two world wars of the last century. The problem is global and the response must be a collaboration on a global scale. Via the Guardian

Today the contest winner of the Alliance for Climate Protection and Current TV (Al Gores projects) "60 Seconds to Save the Earth" Ecospot was announced. The winner will be featured on Current TV, MySpace and featured in the Alliance for Climate Protection's upcoming US nationwide campaign. Dave Schlafman won with Sky is Falling, a short (but hopefully effective) video animation of elephants falling from the sky. I made this PSA to make people think about how much crap we pump into the air. I wanted to use a creative, simple metaphor so everyone can understand how much harm we're doing to the atmosphere and environment. You can watch the winning video on Current TV or on YouTube. Don't forget to check out the other videos that made it to the final.

As a person and consumer you have the power to do something about climate change. Never forget or think otherwise. Sure you may wonder how much you’ll actually help by replacing your CFLs, recycling etc but in the end all small things path up to something bigger and more meaningful, especially when many join in. This is part two of a series of posts explaining and giving advice on what you can do to combat climate change from your home, in the store, when you travel and on your spare time. All the things listed are easy to do, some things will take a little longer, but most of them will help save you money (besides all the positive effects on our earth). Going somewhere? Ditch the car Leave your gas-guzzling car home. Instead you should take the bike, walk or use public transport on your way to work. If you choose the bike or the walk option you won’t need to buy an expensive gym card. If you choose public transportation you can spend the time (when someone else is doing the work driving) by doing something useful, like your homework’s, reading a book or just take a quick nap. Sharing is Caring! If you have to use your car use a car pool instead. Don't forget to change driver now and then so no one feels bad. Think about all the new friends you will make and all neighbours you will “finally” get to know better. A car won’t make anything bigger (except your CO2 emissions) If you rarely use a car don’t buy one. Rent a car when you need one instead. If you must have a car buy a “green” car that is smaller and uses less fuel. Eco-Drive it Maybe a course in eco-driving could be something for you? When possible try to lower your speed and try to drive as smoothly as possible. Shut it off and feel all warm inside… Shut off your air conditioner when you don’t need it. You will save fuel and your car will be much faster if it’s turned off. Wash it rarely and properly Is your car really that dirty? An ordinary carwash releases about 400 litres of water polluted with all kinds of bad things. Just say NO Avoid taking the plane, anywhere, especially when you are only going to travel nationally. Instead you should take the train, boat or even the car before you think of taking the plane. Image credit: Jeff Kubina. Image licensed under a Creative-Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.

Here is a green tip for our Swedish readers but I hope people in other countries also have some kind of use of this. Most people in Sweden today uses different internet services to find telephone numbers and street addresses that they need. No one I know uses the old catalogues. In fact I can’t even remember last time I checked in the paper catalogue for a telephone number or address. This year about 5,5 million telephone catalogues will be delivered to households in Sweden. Last year only 3500 people cancelled their catalogue. Hopes are that number will be much higher this year. Eniro, the telephone catalogue company, themselves encourage you as it’s cheaper for them and more environmental friendly to make less telephone catalogues. So head over to Eniro and cancel your telephone directory before they send you one! Eniro in Sweden use around 8500 tons of paper in the making of these catalogues. That is 0,02% of the Swedish yearly logging. The paper that the catalogues are made of contains about 30% recycled papers. The papers are chlorine free and the ink, colour and glue is all approved by SIS Miljömärkning, a Swedish eco-label. About 80% of all old catalogues is recycled. Eniro uses Holmen, a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Programme for the Endorsment of forest Certification scheme) and ISO 14001 certified paper supplier.

Today Greenpeace released its latest version of their Guide to Greener Electronics. In this version they added TV and game console makers. Before we check out the changes from last version lets see how some of the newly added companies rank in the Guide. Nintendo, one of the new companies, has become the first company to score zero points out of max ten, not a good start for a company that mainly has children as their target group. Microsoft does a little better than Nintendo, about 2.7 points better. Another low-scorer is Philips, the TV maker, who only scores two points. So, has anything changed for the companies in the top spot since last update? Well, yes, and some pretty dramatic changes as well. Nokia has lost its first place and has fallen long and hard down to a ninth position and replaces Motorola who drops even lower down to a fourteenth place. Sony Ericsson replaces Nokia with 7.7 points and becomes the new “green†leader. According to Greenpeace Nokia lost its top position after Nokia representatives in the Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Russia and India weren't informed about the takeback and environment programmes, in several cases they provided "misleading information". Iza Kruszewska, toxics campaigner at Greenpeace International, says that "companies shouldn't be under any illusions that we won't check up on their claims of green greatness".

This picture is an old one, but it's more than worth a re-run. The picture, taken by the Press-Office City of Münster in Germany, demonstrates the amount of space required to transport the same number of passengers by car, bus or bicycle. It clearly shows how small adjustments in our daily life could really mean the biggest difference. Also how sick our car fetish is.