China may look like a carbon-guzzling monster, but there's a clean-tech superpower struggling to get out, says Changhua Wu.

BEIJING: China's drive to improve energy efficiency lost pace in the i first half of2008, data showed.

The country used 2.88 percent less energy to generate each dollar of national income in the six months to June than the same period the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Last year it cut its energy intensity by 3.66 percent.

China set a target of improving energy intensity by 4 percent a year from 2006, but ultimately managed only a 1.79 percent improvement that year. (Reuters)

The Spanish government plans to cut speed limits in and around cities as part of a drive to reduce the country's fuel bill and do its bit for the environment.

Miguel Sebasti

T. Ramakrishnan

For 2008-2009, the government proposes to give eight lakh connections

CHENNAI: The State government is yet to receive the Centre's sanction for eight lakh LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) connections, proposed to be given in the current financial year, under its free LPG connection scheme.

For 2008-2009, the State government proposes to give eight lakh connections with two-burner gas stoves.

India, the largest economy of South Asia, has recently announced its National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). This is of special significance given the mounting pressure on fast growing economies like India, China and Brazil from the developed countries for a commitment with legally binding obligations.

Climate change and an ageing population bring together two key policy challenges which need to be addressed to ensure a safe, secure, equitable and sustainable future. Growing old in the twenty-first century will bring with it the unique challenge of

Greater energy efficiency is key for shifting country development paths toward lower-carbon economic growth. Especially in developing countries and transition economies, vast potential for energy savings opportunities remain unrealized even though current financial returns are strong. "Financing Energy Efficiency: Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and Beyond" examines the nature of this dilemma and how it may be overcome in practical and operational terms.

With the effects of global warming already being felt worldwide, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has jumped on the bandwagon to save the environment and to earn a few carbon credits while they are at it.

The civic body now plans to replace the bulbs on street lamps to light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. These new bulbs not only help conserve power but are also eco-friendly.
In a letter to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), BMC explained the benefits of the LED bulbs as compared to the sodium vapour ones being used now.

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

What would happen if you cross-bred J. R. Ewing of "Dallas' and Carl Pope, the head of the Sierra Club? You'd get T. Boone Pickens. What would happen if you cross-bred Henry Ford and Yitzhak Rabin? You'd get Shai Agassi. And what would happen if you put together T. Boone Pickens, the green billionaire Texas oilman now obsessed with wind power, and Shai Agassi, the Jewish Henry Ford now obsessed with making Israel the world's leader in electric cars?

India unveils strategy to counter climate change INDIA released its much-anticipated action plan to mitigate and adapt to climate change on June 30, almost a year after it was announced. Coming a week ahead of the G-8 summit, the plan was welcomed by both industry and environment groups, though not without some reservations. The action plan

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