November 23rd, 2009

GM: not doing well, but going back to the well anyway

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 11:37 am

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, European Union, cars & traffic, green tech, law & politics, renewable energy

Tags: General Motors, Opel, Volt, plug-in, electric car

General Motors tried to sell Opel. No deal. So now GM is asking for almost $5 billion dollars, less than 4 billion Euros, to restructure Opel and the rest of its European operations. Will the EU put up the cash?

I blogged recently about GM using its Volt tech to put some electric spark into other GM brands, including stodgy Opel. The Volt, a GM plug-in, is due to launch in the U.S. in about one year.

November 17th, 2009

Cap and trade controversial in Australia

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 11:54 am

Categories: Blogroll, European Union, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, environmental health, federal government, green tech, law & politics, renewable energy, research

Tags: Cap-and-Trade, Harry Fuller

It’s not only in the U.S. that cap and trade (CAT) is a controversial approach to try to lower greenhouse gas emissions. A report written in Australia, and critical of CAT, has sparked a battle over censorship. Finally the report’s author and the leading science agency in Australia have reached a compromise that will allow publication there.

Currently there are CAT schemes in place in the European Union and among the northeastern states in the U.S. Here’s the website for RGGI which administers CAT across ten states in the northeastern section of the U.S.

Japan’s current government is looking at introducting CAT in the next two years. Some major metro areas of China have long had carbon trading schmes in place. But there is no national emissions regulation or CAT in China.

November 16th, 2009

New car sales soar in Europe, thinking smaller

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 10:24 am

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, European Union, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, engineering, fossil fuel, mass transit, petroleum

Tags: Car, Sales Strategy, Sales Force Management, Sales, Harry Fuller

Western Europe saw a dramatic new car sales increase in October. Sales were encouraged by heavy subsidies for owners getting rid of older cars, “scrappage” they call it in British. And the smaller cars sold best. Huge increases were seen in sales at companies from Fiat to Renault, Chevy, Skoda, VW. Down in sales year to year: Saab, BMW, Mercedes, Audi. Japanese auto makers have a smaller share of the European car market than they command in North America or Asia.

A majority of the cars sold in Europe have long been new-generation diesel, meaning they run more efficiently and are cheaper to maintain than gasoline-burners. Fuel prices in Europe are double or even higher than that compared to U.S. prices. The fuel, diesel or gasoline, is more heavily taxed. Except Norway, most of Euroope depends on oil imports.

Car sales in eastern Europe continue to decline due to less government intervention there. The former Soviet satellite states are still much in love with the “free market” after years of central planning and Russian domination.

November 4th, 2009

German chancellor chides Congress on global warming

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 10:09 pm

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, European Union, Kyoto Protocol, air pollution, cars & traffic, conservation, energy, environmental health, federal government, fossil fuel, global warming, law & politics, renewable energy

Tags: Andrea Merkel, Germany, European Union, Congress, greenhouse gas, emissions

Speaking to the U.S. Congress, Chancellor Abndres Merkel today called for international agreement to deal with global warming. She said it would mean breaking down the invisible walls of the 21st Century. This week marks the 20th anniversary of the breaking down of the Berlin Wall.

As the largest national economy inside the European Union, Germany has pushed aggressively for alternative energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The chancellor met loud applause when she talked about being tough on Iran or staying the course in Afghanistan. There was much less enthusiasm from American pols for her insistence that there needs to be action on global warming.

With the Copenhagen climate talks starting December 7 there’s agreement in advance there’ll be no legally binding agreement reached there. And U.S. will attend with no new legislaton in place to cope with greenhouse gases.

November 3rd, 2009

Washington: lots of talk about global warming

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 2:35 pm

Categories: Blogroll, China, Europe, European Union, Kyoto Protocol, air pollution, cars & traffic, climate change, conservation, energy, environmental health, federal government, fossil fuel, global warming, green tech, law & politics, nuclear power, petroleum, renewable energy

Tags: EU, Obama, Kerry-Boxer, US Senate, greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, emissions, Copenhagen, Senator Boxer

Lots of talk around the American capital today on the topic of global warming. The CO2 emissions from various political factions and lobbyists alone could raise the global temp another degree or two. And that’s not counting the carbon footprint of all the plane travel involved in moving these special folks around.

On a grand scale there’s a summit meeting between President Obama and leaders of the European Union (EU). The EU’s just pledged itself to a 30% cut in greenhouse emissons compared to the 1990 levels. The U.S. has magnanimously suggested a 4% cut as a target, after eight years of refusing any mandates of any kind. The African nations have suggested cancelling global warming talks until there’s some serious commitment from the world’s wealthiest nations, that would include the U.S. which currently camouflages its great wealth as massive debt. Meanwhile there is much interest in what, if anything, the U.S. is really willing to do.

At their summit today President Obama said the US and the EU agreed to re-double their efforts on climate change. This about five weeks from the international conflab on climate change in Copenhagen. The U.N. has given up any hopes of a global agreement coming out of that conference. There is some indication some nations (like the EU again) will pledge money for efforts to help poorer nations reduce greenhouse gas emissons. Again, that effort is led by the EU whose political leaders generally agree global warming’s a real problem. In Britain there’s even a strong environmentalist running for Parliament as a Conservative. That guy’d last about five seconds in the Republican Party here.

The EU is also pointing the finger at China, co-champion in greenhouse gas emissions along with the U.S. Why doesn’t China do more they ask?

SENATE SHOWDOWN

The showdown started with no-shows. Nothing happened in the Senate committee that is considering the Kerry-Boxer energy and climate change bill. The Republican members boycotted the session. Senate tradition requires at least two members of each party be present as well as a quorum before the “mark-up” process. That process precedes any committee voting. Eventually the committee chairwoman, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), can move ahead in violation of tradition but in keeping with the strict rules of the committee. That is considered by Republican analysts as a “nuclear” option which would rule out forever and forever any possible Republican votes in favor of said Kerry-Boxer bill. Currently the bill already has zero Republican support. Sadly for Kerry, Boxer and their supporters, the bill lacks support from some Dems and that could keep it from ever coming to a vote on the Senate floor. Though it is possible a Dem would vote to close debate allowing a floor vote and then go on record by voting against the bill itself. This political drama will continue to play out. Not likely the Senate will have finished its acting, or action, on Kerry-Boxer before the Copenhagen talks next month.

October 30th, 2009

Digital River e-commerce suite aids with levying environmental fees

Posted by Heather Clancy @ 12:53 pm

Categories: European Union, conservation, federal government, green tech, recycling

Tags: E-business, Digital River, Web Technology, E-business/E-Commerce, Internet, Heather Clancy

As Gartner has recently proclaimed, businesses aren’t just interested in Green IT, they’re interested in IT that helps satisfy green initiatives.

Digital River, which provides a suite of services for enabling e-commerce, has come up with something that definitely falls into the latter category. Specifically, the company has come up with a feature for its e-commerce software that helps electronics companies collect fees related to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE).

Here’s some context: WEEE, which is big across Europe, requires that any company (”producer”) that has brought an electronic or electrical product into the European Commission to assume the obligation related to its responsible disposal. Some companies have begun to charge fees at the point of sale to cover this, which may or may not be made visible to the consumer. The feature that Digital River has developed allows you to levy this fee and show it. The challenge is that the fee might be applied differently from country to country. Some don’t really want consumers to see the fee, while others require that it be exposed. Digital River’s software lets you do either.

This is a feature that is embedded into the core feature set of the Digital River e-commerce suite, so you don’t have to pay more to use it, according to Digital River executives.

So, if your company offers e-commerce of its Web site AND it has e-commerce capabilities in countries like France or Germany, it may want to read up on these issues. If you’re interested in learning more about WEEE or about how other environmental directives might impact your e-commerce activities, you can visit this link on the Digital River Web site.

September 27th, 2009

Mother nature v. human nature

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 10:54 am

Categories: Blogroll, Europe, European Union, conservation, environmental health, federal government, green tech, law & politics, ocean, recycling, renewable energy, water

Tags: Nature, Europeans, Taxes, Free Trade, TVs, Personal Finance, Tv & Home Theater, Financial Planning, Finance, Personal Technology

Those soft-hearted, multi-nationals in the European Union once again tried to do something that was supposed to be good for the planet and future generations. They seem to have this groundless belief in the perfectability of mankind. How can they, of all peoples, belief in human betterment with their own tragic and disastrous political past?
The Europeans are actually trying to stop using the poorer parts of the world as their garbage dumps. So laws were enacted. To keep the old sinks and furniture and TV sets in Europe where they can be recycled and dismantled and not become polluting landfill in some nation without any regard for ground water and soil pollution. So what’s happening? The port of Rotterdam has become a major center of illegal trash smuggling…out of Europe to avoid the tax on waste that is supposed to pay for its proper handling after discard. So while the EU is trying to side with mother nature, human nature continues to find a profit wherever there is a law to be violated and money collected. EU’s got their war on trash, we have our war on drugs. Sound familiar?
Here in America we’re still being clever like a cat with our waste. Dig a hole, bury your s#@* and then cover it up again. Leave the real disposal to future generations. Thus do cats spread their toxoplasmosis and thus do we Yanks spread our toxics.

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September 22nd, 2009

Hot air balloons rise from United Nations

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 4:26 pm

Categories: Africa, Blogroll, Canada, China, Europe, European Union, Latin America, air pollution, cars & traffic, climate change, environmental health, federal government, global warming, green tech, law & politics

Tags: U.S., China, Global Warming, U.N., Harry Fuller

Hot air balloons of the “trial balloon” type in the verrrry political world of climate change diplomacy.
The heads of state from the world’s two biggest air polluters–China and U.S.–made strong statements about global warming. They are clearly not in favor of it. Meanwhile, the head of the U.N. said climate negotiations is moving at glacial speed. A nice pun, huh? Now that glaciers are moving at the speed of running water.
China, a dictatorship let’s remember, says it will plant over 100,00 acres of trees and push for more renewable energy generation there. In the U.S. there may be some push to try to get a bill of some kind at some time through the U.S. Senate. Probably not before U.S. attends the Copenhagen Conference.The Canadian chief climate negotiator says he thinks there will be a climate agreement to present to the Copenhagen’s global warming summit in December. One observers says there are a few key players in global warming: China, Brazil and South Africa, U.S., Japan and the European Union. Can those nations be brought together? So far, not happening. Nothing unified out of today’s flash conference at the U.N. in New York City.
Japan’s new leader did get some kudos for moving his nation into the active category on global warming. He’s pushing for set emissions limits in Japan, a change in policy there.

September 21st, 2009

Global warming: relax, nothing is going to happen

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 2:09 pm

Categories: Blogroll, China, European Union, Kyoto Protocol, air pollution, climate change, environmental health, federal government, global warming, law & politics, weather

Tags: Global Warming, Harry Fuller

That is, nothing is going to happen at the United Nations when world political leaders meet on climate change. Whether you see global warming as man-made, part of a natural cycle or junk “science,” there is little danger that anything will be done on an international scale.

China has its plan. Obama will say something. The European Union will push for stricter emission controls. Everybody who can make the case will beg for money to help their nation cope. Through it all, it’s not clear that even if some political miracle produced a widely accepted global agreement that human activity could reverse what is happening on earth right now. We have no record of concerted human activity working on any other major problem beyond control of some infectious diseases. This is far more complex.

Meanwhile you polar bears, Inuit, Tongans and Bengladeshi, you’re on your own. Hotter oceans be damned, it’s full speed into the future.

Why so little movement on climate? One European official sees near gridlock in the talks. And then there’s Afghanistan, the Middle East, genocide in Africa, bankers’ bonuses. Much to do, so little time to pay attention. Whatever comes out of the U.N. meeting tomorrow will be given verbal support at the G20 meeting later this week in Pittsburgh. Relax, nothing will be done there either. No treaty signed. No numbers set in carbon.

A Chinese news service says clearly the problem is all about the money: who’s got it, who gets it, who pays for what. And we all know there’s no spare change in the bottom of the drawer these days. Relax, nothing will happen now.

September 20th, 2009

U.S. still thumbing its nose at global warming agreements

Posted by Harry Fuller @ 5:49 pm

Categories: Blogroll, China, Europe, European Union, India, Kyoto Protocol, air pollution, cars & traffic, climate change, conservation, energy, environmental health, federal government, fossil fuel, global warming, law & politics

Tags: U.S., Agreement, Global Warming, Harry Fuller

Japan’s new prime minister is leaning toward putting greenhouse gas emission limits on his nation. This week he will tell the U.N. he wants a 25% reduction in emissions by 2020. The out-going Japanese regime had been less interested in taking action.
There’s no such move likely from the U.S. And that inaction almost insures there’ll be no effective pressure on India or China to curtail their emissions either.
European nations are eager to see more direct action on global warming, even pushing for madatory international emission limits. One British leader pointed out the “ambition gap” between Europe and the U.S.
A great stumbling block for American political leaders: there seem little chance there’ll be any action on energy and global warming in the U.S. Senate before the Copenhagen climate summit in December. A conference this week at the U.N. will produce only talk.
STANDARD BOILER PLATE
This verbiage will now be attached to any blog I do about global warming. It’s amazing to me that somebody who can apparently read and then post comments still wonders in public why global warming matters on a technology web site. But I am naive, always assuming everybody’s paying attention.
It’s because of money. If global warming has enough acceptance among corporations, the public and even pols, there will be more money spent on green tech, wisely or unwisely. If oil prices stay low and most people don’t care a fig about global warming, green tech will have a difficult time succeeding, regardless of its merits. Not every good idea succeeds. VCs usually invest where they think there’s best chance for a good return. In greentech as in any tech the winners will often be determined by luck, brilliance, timing, happenstance and even marketing. Behind it all will be the money and behind that: whether the evidence for global warming and curtailing pollution drive action or is written off as claptrap.