Biomass offers an alternative renewable energy source to fossil fuels and can be used to produce energy directly or through the production of liquid biofuels, e.g., ethanol, as a substitute for liquid transport fuels. Biomass also offers a vehicle to sequester carbon dioxide, thereby reducing...

Biomass, a renewable energy source, has been viewed as “carbon neutral”—that is, its use as energy is presumed not to release net carbon dioxide. However, this assumption of carbon neutrality has recently been challenged. In 2010 two letters were sent to the Congress by eminent scientists...

There have been increased attention on how man’s activities affect the environment negatively especially in developed countries. However, there are countless number of activities such as charcoal production and electricity generation from oil in developing countries that have potential carbon...

The International Energy Association has observed that nearly all countries now offer or are planning feed-in tariffs (FiTs) for solar PV but debate has shifted from ‘if or how to implement a FiT’ to ‘how to move to a self-sustaining market post FiT’. The aim of this paper is to explain...

A central pillar of the sustainability movement is the call to include environmental accounting in standard measures of economic performance. This increased transparency would, in principle, mitigate the temptation of economic managers and policy makers to increase growth in material consumption...

Many European municipalities develop energy supply concepts based on renewable energies to reduce energy related greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate regional and rural economies. Improvement of security of supply using regional energy sources is an additional motivation for renewable energy...

This paper aims to identify climate change adaptation issues in the Australian National Electricity Market by assessing the robustness of the institutional arrangements that support effective adaptation. The paper finds that three major factors are hindering or are required for adaptation to...

This paper aims to identify climate change adaptation issues in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM) by assessing the robustness of the institutional arrangements that support effective adaptation from the demand side. This paper finds that three major factors are hindering or are...

An increasing proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas in industrializing and developing countries. Recent research shows that per capita emissions in cities like Bangkok, Cape Town or Shanghai have already reached the level of cities like London, New York or Toronto....

A large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas, particularly in high income countries. Cities are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and particularly so in developing countries. Therefore, local climate policies for mitigation and adaptation have to play...