Planetary Ruin

In a conversation with Scott Sagan last week, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed a wide range of international conflicts facing the next president, as well as her experience as a high-powered woman in politics.

As Sagan, a professor of political science, and Albright rhetorically toured the globe, pausing at hot spots to probe serious policy issues, Albright delivered her advice with a dose of humor.

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Adopting a climate-friendly lifestyle needn’t require drastic changes or major sacrifices.

People in the developed world, as well as some rapidly developing countries and cities – from Manchester and Manhattan to Moscow and Mumbai – can start right away to “Kick the C02 Habit”, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says.

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The European Union is currently debating waste management targets that could significantly increase recycling rates throughout Europe.

Legislators on the European Parliament’s Environment Committee overwhelmingly supported reforms earlier this year that would halt the steady rise in the region’s garbage. By 2012, waste production would have to stabilize at 2009 levels, the committee recommended.

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Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it has developed an advanced fuel-cell vehicle that can run for 830 km (516 miles) on a single tank of hydrogen and in temperatures as low as 30 degrees Celsius below freezing (-22 F).

The zero-emission FCHV-adv will be leased to government agencies, among other possible users, in Japan starting later this year, a spokeswoman said.

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Chronic pollution in Mexico City, which stains the sky yellow and can trigger government warnings to stay indoors, could be killing off residents’ sense of smell, scientists say.

Tests showed people in Mexico City — a sprawling metropolis crammed with around 20 million people and 4 million cars — struggled to sniff out everyday odors like coffee and orange juice compared to residents of a nearby town.

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Dovetailing nicely into my post last week about the work GreenFuel is doing with algae and their emissions-to-fuel process, air carrier KLM reported last week their intention to begin testing airplanes that run on an algae-based fuel.

In a pilot program with AlgaeLink, a Netherlands-based global manufacturer of algae growing equipment and “earth-to-engine” technology, KLM expects to conduct test flights this fall. AlgaeLink will also open two plants this year in the Netherlands and Spain.

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The United Nations urged the world on Thursday to kick an all-consuming addiction to carbon dioxide and said everyone must take steps to fight climate change.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said global warming was becoming the defining issue of the era and will hurt rich and poor alike.

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The Dept. of Energy joined forces with six major wind turbine makers this week in a bid to grow wind energy production high enough to account for a fifth of total generation by 2030.

The DOE and GE, Vestas, Siemens Power Generation, Clipper Turbine Works, Suzlon Energy and Gamesa Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding to advance wind energy manufacturing and address issues such as turbine reliability and standards, site strategies and workforce development.

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ERDOS, China (Reuters) – With oil prices at historic highs, China is moving full steam ahead with a controversial process to turn its vast coal reserves into barrels of oil.

Known as coal-to-liquid (CTL), the process is reviled by environmentalists who say it causes excessive greenhouse gases.

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A House of Commons committee suggested last week that the U.K. Parliament create a personal carbon-trading scheme for all citizens of the United Kingdom. It was the strongest statement yet by any government in favor of an individual cap-and-trade system for buying and selling greenhouse gas emissions.

Personal carbon trading would provide a set “carbon emissions allowance” to each citizen and establish a national carbon budget.

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