Shell oil company which has made a big deal out of its commitment to alternative energy for the past decade, has decided to deemphasise its investment in wind, solar and hydro technologies. Their rationale is economic and we may therefore conclude that the drop in consumption symptomatic of the economic recession is driving this decision. …
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Author:astraea
BT Notes – equinox, Zambia, Virginia Kerr
It is the time of the equinox as the sun rise and sunset is almost the same time – technically it occurs on 20 March. Many festivals fall at this time of year. Mothers’ Day, St Patrick’s and Easter all happen around the vernal equinox and elsewhere interesting holidays include the Persian new year, Nowruz, …
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Economic crisis? The ecological crisis is looming.
Growing world population will cause a “perfect storm” of food, energy and water shortages by 2030, the UK government chief scientist has warned. Global crisis ‘to strike by 2030’
A crisis of protectionism will escalate the economic crisis.
Protectionism has a track record of harming economies. It is harmful to those that implement protectionism and those that are targets of protectionism. It is contrary to the beneficial lessons of the past decades. It is the ideology of failed regimes such as North Korea and former Eastern Block countries. Protectionism exacerbates a downward spiral, …
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A monumental failure of management.
Another piece by a respected analyst describing the cause of the economic crisis – moral hazard. Of course, it is not just America’s failure, but one that has been made globally. America’s monumental failure of management. by Henry Mintzberg in The Globe and Mail “If you always do as you always did, you will always …
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Batteries as good as petrol.
Researchers have come up with a battery design that appears to have the charactistics required for rapid charging, thus allowing fast refuelling at refuelling stations. There may remain issues of weight and recycling but in the balance they are looking like a good energy replacement for petrol in the transport industry. Clean too. (Though humanity …
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Entrepreneurship
A Special Report by The Economist. While it is the big companies and their CEO’s that get the headlines and the red carpet treatment, it is the small and medium sized businesses that make up the bulk of the world’s economy. They are the employers of most people, produce the most goods. They also are …
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Humanism
I came across this term while browsing. I’m not really into isms, but if I was, this might be it. Humanism is about openness, ethics and justice. The logo is cool too. Maybe it would make an attractive political movement compared to what we’ve got in the world today. Humanism on Wikipedia.
The World Wide Web – 20 years old
Twenty years of the world wide web – What’s the score? The Economist
CO2 acidification of oceans threatens mass extinction of sea life
Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are acidifying the oceans and threaten a mass extinction of sea life, warns Dr Carol Turley from Plymouth Marine Laboratory. Though it is impossible to know how marine life will cope, she fears many species will not survive. Since the Industrial Revolution, CO2 emissions have already turned the sea …
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