If you read Inhabitat, you probably know that we’re big fans of green transportation, but we do think it’s important to see the bigger picture when it comes to electric cars. A new finding from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville shows that electric cars in China have a higher impact on pollution than gasoline vehicles due to the fact that they draw power from the grid (which in China is powered 90% by coal). We should point out that this study only examined EVs in one part of the world – China – but there is a bigger picture to look at which is the fact that in order for electric cars to eventually become truly sustainable, we need to move towards ultimately powering them with renewable resources.

Read the rest of New Study Finds That Electric Cars in China Using Fossil Fuels Have a Higher Carbon Footprint Than Gasoline Gars

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Post tags: air pollution, alternative energy, alternative transportation, carbon emissions, electric car, electric vehicle, ev, fossil fuels, green transportation, greenhouse gas emissions coal, Pollution, renewable energy

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Post tags: carbon emissions, Design for Health, eco design, Eco-cooking bags, green design, insulated bags, recyclable materials, Recycled Materials, Sarah Collings, save fuel, sustainable design, Unilever, water issues, Wonderbag, Wonderbags

Investors, environmental groups, and academics sent a letter to the Bank of England (which is responsible for keeping England’s economic stability) this week, urging it to assess the risk that carbon intensive investments in the United Kingdom have on citizens and investors alike. Five of the 10 largest companies in the U.K.’s benchmark stock index (the FTSE 100) are high-carbon companies, and the group addressing the letter believes that puts the U.K. at risk financially. The authors of the letter argue that depending on finite, unsustainable resources for investing while the world moves into renewable technology is untenable and poses a threat to everyone affected by investments in those companies.

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Post tags: bank of england, carbon emissions, carbon heavy, carbon intensive, english investments, green investments, investing in green, sustainable investing, sustainable investments, united kingdom

The UN Climate talks in Durban ended early Sunday morning in overtime as nations around the world struggled to agree on how to prevent catastrophic climate change and ensure the future of the human race on planet Earth. In the end, they all decided to sign a two page piece of paper that commits them to limiting global emissions according to an as-of-yet unwritten global treaty that will include an undecided “legal instrument”. While governments around the world (mainly in the US, the EU, China, and India) are patting themselves on the back for being able to stop bickering and agree to do something — although they don’t have to do anything at all for nine years — environmental groups and people in communities most affected by climate change say the decision to put off limiting emissions until the future makes the conference a failure.

Read the rest of COP17: Talks in Durban End With Failure to Cut Current Global Emissions

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Post tags: carbon emissions, Climate Change, climate change legislation, cop 17, durban, durban talks, emissions reductions, global carbon emissions, global warming, legally binding treaty, reducing emissions, un climate talks, United Nations, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, world's largest emitter

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Post tags: 18 kowloon east, aedas, Aedas Architecture, bushy carpark, carbon emissions, china, eco design, Green Building, green design, greenery, Kowloon, Kowloon bay, manufacturing, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of Russia’s First Active House is 7 Times More Efficient Than the Average Home

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Post tags: active house, alternative energy, BIPV, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, Crown Prince of Denmark, eco design, green design, Moscow, passive design, Polygon, polygon lab, Russian, skylights, solar panels, sustainable design, velux

The city of Murcia, Spain is going to great lengths to help reduce the city’s traffic congestion and to promote the use of the greener method – public transportation. The bold move involves offering citizens a lifetime pass to their brand-spanking-new tram system — in exchange for their cars! The drastic initiative certainly surpasses other cities’ attempts to promote bike and electric care shares as far as gutsy moves go.

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Post tags: car reduction, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, Murcia, public transportation, Spain, traffic reduction, tram exchange program

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Post tags: carbon emissions, eco design, electric vehicles, ev, green design, green transportation, rav4, Scion iQ, sustainable design, sustainable transportation, Toyota

Holy environmentalism Batman! Considering the Dark Knight has a personal fortune of $7 billion, you would think that Bruce Wayne would have made a greener version of the Batmobile a long time ago. However, this task has fallen to designer Gordon Murray, who took it upon himself to create a much sleeker, more environmentally-friendly vehicle for Mr. Wayne.

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Post tags: batman, batman forever, batman live, BatmanForever, BatmanLive, batmobile, carbon emissions, carbon fiber, carbon footprint, CarbonEmissions, CarbonFiber, CarbonFootprint, gordon murray, gordon murray batmobile, GordonMurray, GordonMurrayBatmobile, hfc, hfcs, hydrogen fuel cells, HydrogenFuelCells, McLaren, Video, virtual wheels, VirtualWheels

Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, are an unlikely team to take on global climate change — but Mr. Clinton has the connections and Mr. Bloomberg has the cash. The two are forming a new, reinvigorated leadership of C40, or the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, which will meet later this week in Sao Paolo to get down to business.

Read the rest of Can the Dynamic Duo of Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg Tackle Climate Change?

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Post tags: bill clinton, c40, carbon emissions, large cities climate leadership group, Michael Bloomberg, sao paolo

Energy Star-certified buildings are on the rise in the United States! In 2010 alone, the number of Energy Star buildings in big cities has doubled in size compared to the past ten years combined. A qualified building must use on average 35 percent less energy and emit 35 percent less carbon emissions to be certified by the government as an Energy Star building. We’re thrilled to see greener buildings gaining momentum across the states – read on to see which cities made the biggest gains!

Read the rest of The Top 10 US Cities With the Most Energy Star Buildings

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Post tags: "energy star", "sustainable architecture", carbon emissions, energy efficient architecture, epa, Green Building, green design, most energy star buildings, Smart Planet, sustainable design, top energy star cities, top ten cities

Attention, telecommuters: think twice the next time you brag about your reduced environmental impact. That’s the conclusion of a report from the U.K’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), which claims that working from home and online shopping actually increase CO2 emissions.

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Post tags: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, CO2, online shopping, telecommute, telecommuting

It’s generally agreed the world over that transportation is the largest contributor to global warming. As such, governments have begun heavily investing in high-speed rail projects and other transport schemes in order to keep emissions down. In the UK a new study out of the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York has reported “a significant breakthrough in climate change policy by showing how to make drastic cuts in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport.” The study revealed that a low-carbon transport future would create a less stressful, quieter, healthier, more resilient and confident society. While you may be thinking this is a blatantly obvious statement, the really interesting part is actually how society would go about reducing those emissions. From the technological to the financial to behavioral changes, those in the UK feel that a clear and phased program could potentially enable a 76 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.

Read the rest of Can the UK Really Cut Transport Emissions 76% by 2050?

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Post tags: carbon emissions, Climate Change, CO2, CO2 emissions, emissions, Global Weirding, greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gases, Stockholm Environment Institute, timon singh, transport, transport emissions, transportation emissions, Transportation Tech, UK, uk transportation emission reduction, united kingdom

When it comes to solving our climate-change pickle, it might be time for deus ex machina-type proposals to take a back seat to something a little more homegrown: biochar. While the charcoal-like substance has often been pooh-poohed as a crackpot hippy idea — burning organic matter to capture carbon dioxide, really? — a new study in the August issue of Nature Communications concludes that the black stuff could sustainably offset as much as 1.8 billion metric tons of carbon emissions annually, or up to 12 percent of global greenhouse-gas production.

Read the rest of Biochar Could Offset Up to 12% of Greenhouse Gases, Says Study

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Post tags: alternative fuels, biochar, biomass, carbon emissions, carbon sequestration, charcoal, global warming, green design, renewable energy, sustainable design

Read the rest of Rem Koolhaas Redraws Europe To Reduce Carbon Emissions by 80%

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", carbon emissions, Climate Change, climate crisis, eco design, energy policy, EU, Europe, fossil fuels, green design, oma, Policy, power grid, renewable energy, roadmap 2050, transmission

In a move to make Los Angeles coal-free by 2020, Mayor Antonio Villariagosa just announced a proposal for a monthly carbon surcharge on water and power bills. The funds will be used to transition the city towards renewable energy sources, and although no set amount was announced, it is expected that the smallest increase seen by 55% of the LA Department of Water and Power (DWP) consumers will be an additional $2.00 a month.

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Post tags: carbon emissions, Carbon Surcharge, Carbon Tarrif, Carbon Tax, City of LA Carbon, DWP, Inhabitat LA, LADWP, Los Angeles

If there were one good thing to come out of the economic recession, you would think it would be a decrease in carbon emissions from industrial slowdowns. Unfortunately, new research shows that’s not the case. Data measured by Norway’s Zeppelin station on the Arctic Svalbard showed that carbon dioxide levels were actually higher this year than during the same period in 2009. The research indicates that despite the recession, carbon emissions continue to rise.

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Post tags: carbon emissions, carbon emissions rise, carbon emissions rise despite recession, COP 16, economic recession, global limits on carbon emissions, International Energy Agency, John Stroem, mexico city, Norwegian Polar Institute, Reuters, Stockholm University, UN climate change convention

China recently announced that it is planning to reduce its carbon intensity by 40-45% (from 2005 levels) and generate 15% of its electricity from renewables by 2020. According to Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, the country will be launching a multi-billion dollar program investing in wind, solar and nuclear power some time in the near future.

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Post tags: "wind power", Beijing, carbon emissions, china, china dialy, clean power, copenhagen green power, green technology, multi billion dollar renewable energy program, national energy administration, nuclear energy, Solar Power, wen jiabao, wind energy, zhang guobao

Today is opening day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which is being touted as the greenest Olympics ever. But the warm weather and rain of late at one of the venues has forced the organizers to haul in snow via truck and helicopter (because the Winter Olympics don’t really work without snow). Since trucks and helicopters emit a lot of carbon, critics and protesters are calling out the Vancouver Olympics for their somewhat hypocritical measures to save the 17 day event from total meltdown. So we have to ask – are the Olympics still green if they have to artificially boost the snow pack?

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Post tags: 2010 olympics, carbon emissions, emissions, olympics, snow, Sustainability, vancouver, Vancouver Olympics

In a freshly released report on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stated that 2000-2009 was the warmest decade ever on record. While the WMO has warned the world about this dire situation before, this new analysis further confirms the urgency and need for us to take action. The agency’s findings arrived in time to counteract the scrutiny of global warming deniers who have been increasingly more vocal as the COP15 conference to fight the effects of climate change commenced in Copenhagen.

Read the rest of WMO Confirms that There is No Slowdown in Global Warming

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Post tags: carbon emissions, Climate Change, cop15, copenhagen, global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, michel jarraud, wmo, world meteorological organization