Wood fuel, one of the oldest energy sources on the planet, could become the newest commodity market if it can overcome supply limits and green concerns as demand grows for renewable energy.
Supply constraints are starting to put wood fuel into competition with the paper industry, experts say, in an uneasy reminder of existing tension between the food industry and companies making biofuels from
Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3 percent over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday.
Government support for renewable energy must end gradually and in tandem with cuts in fossil fuel subsidies, say investors and lobbyists who complain bitterly about unpredictable chopping of incentives.
Most green energy sources still struggle to compete with fossil fuels except in favorable areas, for example for onshore wind in coastal areas of western Europe or in Texas.
Modern diesel cars may not be as clean as previously thought, say some experts as regulators try to roll out industry standards to satisfy "green" consumers.
Filter technologies have cleaned up diesel cars traditionally viewed as far more polluting than gasoline rivals, but their soot emissions are now underestimated, say some analysts.
Autos standards often focus on carbon emissions and fue
Rapid recent solar and wind price falls are likely to bring new markets and mass adoption a step closer over the next decade and raise the prospects of mergers.
The financial crisis coupled with a ramp-up in China, which now leads the world wind and solar manufacturing, have led to over-capacity and pressured prices in the past three years.
Natural gas is the main fossil fuel rival and still
Fossil fuel investments will continue to outstrip low-carbon alternatives this year, darkening a sector struggling to shake off the financial crisis and sagging political momentum on climate change.
Soaring fossil fuel prices, where the European oil benchmark is pushing $100 a barrel, favor oil and coal producers, while falling gas prices have undermined wind power generation especially in the
Investors in "green" assets hope that upcoming U.N. climate talks in Mexico will salvage a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2011, and in the meantime widen and simplify existing carbon markets.
U.N. climate talks will struggle to agree new greenhouse gas targets next month unless they can solve a complex loophole where developed countries currently ignore emissions from logging plantation forests.
Environment ministers from almost 200 countries will gather in Cancun, Mexico, from November 29 to December 10 to try to toughen the world's response to climate change.
A United Nations panel has delayed key decisions on a scheme meant to reward projects that cut carbon emissions in developing countries, including whether to approve a modern coal plant for such incentives.
The U.N.'s clean development mechanism (CDM) allows rich countries to meet caps on carbon emissions by paying for carbon cuts in the developing world, under the Kyoto Protocol.
A technology to bury underground the greenhouse gas emissions produced from burning coal must be ready for global deployment by 2017-2019, U.S. energy secretary Steven Chu said on Monday.
Coal is the world's single biggest source of carbon emissions, at 40 percent. Other sources included burning oil and natural gas, and deforestation and the production of cement.
