Energy

Photo: Map of the Northwest Passage. Photo Credit: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal

earth-policy.org - December 19th, 2013 - Janet Larsen and Emily E. Adams

On October 7, 2013, the Nordic Orion bulk carrier ship completed its journey from Vancouver, Canada, to Pori, Finland, having traveled northward around Alaska and through the Northwest Passage.

It was the first large commercial freighter ever to make the voyage through these typically ice-covered Arctic waters.

Avoiding the longer journey, through the Panama Canal, reportedly saved $80,000 in fuel costs and five days in travel time.

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Credit: Shutterstock

thinkgrogress.org - by Emily Atkin - November 7, 2013

Producers of oil, gas and coal received more than $500 billion in government subsidies around the world in 2011, with the richest nations collectively spending more than $70 billion every year to support fossil fuels.

Those are the findings of a recent report by the Overseas Development Institute, a think tank based in the United Kingdom.

“If their aim is to avoid dangerous climate change, governments are shooting themselves in both feet,” the report, headed by ODI research fellow Shelagh Whitley, said. “They are subsidizing the very activities that are pushing the world towards dangerous climate change, and creating barriers to investment in low-carbon development and subsidy incentives that encourage investment in carbon-intensive energy.”

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Image: World Annual Installed Offstore Wind Power Capacity, 1991-2013

earth-policy.org - October 30th, 2013 - J. Matthew Roney

Offshore wind power installations are on track to hit a seventh consecutive annual record in 2013. Developers added 1,080 megawatts of generating capacity in the first half of the year, expanding the world total by 20 percent in just six months. Fifteen countries host some 6,500 megawatts of offshore wind capacity.

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