The dude who helped co-draft China’s national energy strategy, Song Yanqin, participated at Asia Clean Energy Forum 2008 and said that “food security comes first in China, more important than fuel”. He went on to explain that China has no plan to sacrifice food for fuel. Biofuels can find another source, dang it. China is hungry. We want to eat first, then think about energy sources and all that.

The debate is indeed far from over as to the effects of using maize, palm oil, sugarcane and jatropha to produce biofuels or what the effect would be on food prices.

One U.S. designer of high-tech alcohol plants said that “food versus fuel is 99-percent noise. Do your homework and get a noise filter. Time magazine is not your key reference document”. Does that mean that main stream media is not the authority on this topic? What about us bloggers?

In any event, China plans to have dinner, then think about it.

What’s your stance on the biofuel vs food price increase issue?

Image by stelzert

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Saudi Arabia is calling for a summit between oil producing countries and consumer states, where the main topic going to be, soaring energy prices. The Saudis promised that along with OPEC they will “guarantee the availability of oil supplies now and in the future”.

Gosh, thanks fellows. You will keep gouging the rest of the world as long as they will pay for it, right? How kind of you.

The kingdom also promised there will be no “unwarranted and unnatural oil price hikes that could affect international economies, especially those of developing countries”. Exactly how not-affected are these developing countries when oil hits record price of $139 per barrel? Do we look stupid, that’s why you’re making fun of us?

One more thing the Saudi minister said “there is no justification for the current rise in prices”, but they still make a killing off the rest of it.

I know how to solve the high oil prices. Stop buying the stuff!!

The reason we get charged so much is because people will pay for it. It’s the market laws that says when the demand is high prices soar so better stop buying it and the price will probably go down. However, the best way would be to use alternative power sources. If OPEC realizes we do NOT need them, they’ll come around.

That’s what GreenPacks is all about - there are other ways.

Original image by anachronist

The world’s speed and nuclear power do not belong in the same sentence, but sure enough China is doing its darnedest to build as many nuclear power plants as it can, using OLD technology. Their target is 4 new generators each year, through 2015.

However, the nuclear plants are going to be just a partial answer for its mounting pollution, energy security problems and the fast growing electricity use, because they will not be able to provide more than 5 percent of its power. Is coal still an option for them? Did they never hear of wind or solar power?

China’s nuclear power companies want to export that ability and technology overseas and the biggest problem would be a huge push to expand the country’s reliance on nuclear power domestically.

Nuclear power is an alternative if it is managed correctly, and when it does go wrong, it goes seriously wrong. But, who manages it correctly?

Yeah, I get the idea about saving the animals, going green, being eco-friendly, going on strike, protesting naked, all those things, after all that’s the idea behind GreenPacks.

Call it a peace treaty, a temporary armistice, a break in the action, down time, chill time … whatever.

India and Pakistan are playing each other in cricket.

There are bats, bowlers, wickets, pitches, strikers and non-strikers, runs, fielders, outs and tea.

The match can go on for three days and nobody will win and still everyone will go home happy … unless, of course, somebody does win.

If India beats Pakistan or Pakistan beats India in this second most popular sport in the world (football/soccer is number one) then the world falls on the brink of nuclear destruction. These countries take their cricket matches seriously. And all the world worries even after the score is published - Who won?

For now -

India won the toss and opted to bat (is it an option to not bat?) against Pakistan in the second match of the triangular (I thought the field was oval shaped) one-day series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

India have included uncapped (as opposed to the guys who wear caps?) batsman Yusuf Pathan in the team for their first match of the tournament. (I thought it was the second match. I’m confused.)

Pakistan has made one change to the squad that beat hosts Bangladesh by 70 runs in the opening match on Sunday, with all-rounder Rao Iftikhar replacing Fawad Alam.

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Barack Obama will be the democratic presidential candidate. Yeah, yeah, the first black American to have a major party’s backing for president.

Black, white…what we really need to know is whether or not Barack Obama is green? And what shade?

It reminds me of an old not so funny story.

A bus driver during the fight for civil rights days was hauling some kids, black and white. The kids started fighting. Suddenly the bus driver got mad, stopped the bus and told them all to get off the bus.

He lectured them - “You all are not black and white. Stop fighting. From now on, all of you should think that you are green. You got it?”

The kids smiled at each other and at the bus driver and nodded their heads.

The bus driver then said, “Now get back on the bus. I want the dark green in the back and the light green in the front.”

I don’t wonder what color green Obama is. I wonder what he will do with that fist when it comes to punching green. We may find out soon enough.

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Not sure what you will think but the pre-historic family we all know, The Flintstones, got arrested in Brussels, Belgium, while driving towards the European Parliament building.

It wasn’t Fred or Wilma to get the penalty, but six Greenpeace activists dressed as cavemen driving the “Flintstone car”, that protested on the influence of the auto industry on proposals to curb carbon dioxide emissions from car. This week the European Parliament will start debating on the legislation that forces down CO2 emissions from cars, with fines on manufacturers that fail to comply.

“Our activists and their zero-emission vehicle are raising the alarm about the influence this dinosaur industry exercises over EU climate policy,” said Greenpeace transport campaigner, Melanie Francis.

Not sure about you but I remember the pedal powered ‘Flintstone car’ driver that got his traffic ticket dismissed, so I hope nothing happens to these six well-intended cavemen.

Bertrand Delanoe, the actual Paris mayor said that if re-elected he will build the “Autolib” which is a self-service electric and/or hybrid-electric car system, that will include 300 free re-charging stations in different parts of the city and 2,000 cars (electric and hybrid). This car-sharing system may be a solution that would reduce car congestion and may solve some of the parking issues in the city, but Parisian taxi drivers don’t see it in pink.

Norwegian company THINK, is considering a bid on the project with their “City” and “Ox” models, the modern urban car that have zero local emissions, that can travel up to 200 kilometers on a fully charged battery and reaches 100 km/h.

Just for that project and Bertrand Delanoe will probably get a lot of votes, but from saying to making it the real thing, there’s a long way.

via Wikio

Update:  new oil price record is $122.73 and things sure doesn’t look pink.

The oil prices blasted to a new record of $122.47 a barrel. Buyers were motivated by Goldman Sachs’ predictions that we may see oil selling for $150-$200 prices in a couple of years and the falling dollar.

A grebe is covered in oil after the Korean oil spill. Taean, South Korea. © TDG

From last year, oil prices doubled from $62 a barrel, so I guess this may be the first sign we have to stop paying more and more money for something that is not good for our health and the environment. There seem to be more and more investors to see light at the end of the tunnel for alternative energy technologies.

First step is to make electricity using the sun light and then we should go along with the trend and build better electric/hybrid cars.

We may be on the right track, but we’re moving very slowly.

If you were wondering who is the new mayor of London, he’s the Conservative candidate, Boris Johnson.

After a fiercely battle, Ken Livingstone the guy that got the Friends of Earth “Greenest Mayor” seal of approval, lost. He was the first mayor to take radical actions which turned out to be innovative decisions: extra fees for those that entered city center in a so called congestion charge and was planning to introduce a £25 gas-guzzler tax.

However, the new mayor of London, Boris Johnson is not going to stop the environment campaign and his environmental manifesto includes :

• will try to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2025
• will stand against the Heathrow airport expansion
• will promote hybrid buses
• will ban plastic bags
• will support “schemes that pay Londoners to recycle”
• will protect gardens and green belts from development
• London will become a genuinely cycle-friendly city

photo by bobcatnorth

Just for the records Boris Johnson was ranked (note: pdf link) by the environmental group Friends of Earth, at 7 out of 10 while the former mayor of London got 9. Let’s hope Johnson will keep his promises.

via Celsias

This year’s G8 Summit will be hosted on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. One of the most interesting gatherings will be the climate change summit on July 9, where 16 leading countries - the Group of Eight plus Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, South Africa and Mexico - are invited to attend.

The countries mentioned above are responsible for more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions. Talks will include carbon dioxide emission targets by 2020,  and rumors say this year’s summit is going to be the largest in history.

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