Could reviving the ancient technique of charcoal making really solve the global food crisis, halt deforestation and lock up carbon dioxide for good? Chris Goodall sifts fact from myth on biochar.

This article introduces a multiagent simulation framework for investigating the emergence of niche markets for environmentally innovative products. It clarifies how consumer preferences, business strategy, and government policy interact during market development. The framework allows investigation of the effects of uncertainty and agents' corresponding coping strategies.

In an ironic twist, the decidedly authoritarian government of China has received much praise of late from Western environmentalists, who tend to cast themselves as anti-authoritarian types. China has indeed made laudable efforts in many fields, ranging from wind energy to vehicle-emission standards and pollution control. It has even outlawed free plastic bags.

The concept of Soleckshaw owes its genesis to the realization that the dignity of human labour needs to be upheld and that all mechanical devices must be designed to decrease human labour and emission of pollutants. But human energy is the best non-pollutant as evident by the use of millions of bicycles in China and India.