Annual investment in renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines and solar panels, is likely to jump by 230 per cent by 2030 as the industry drives down costs and starts widespread deployment of baseload green technologies, such as biofuels. That is the conclusion of a major new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) published yesterday, which forecasts future growth for the burge ... read more >>

This article looks at five case studies on innovative methods in developing sustainable infrastructure that could be models for other cities. It includes Abu Dhabi's Masdar City, a zero-carbon desert city where buildings "will be wrapped in solar panels and angled to capture wind energy;" the implementation of a BRT-Lite rail system in Lagos, Nigeria, designed to improve its public transportation ... read more >>

It is estimated that 138,500 whales and dolphins will soon be injured or killed along the East Coast if exploration companies are allowed to use dangerous blasts of noise to search for offshore oil and gas. ... read more >>

The European Union will soon be urged to develop a comprehensive climate adaptation strategy, in a new paper warning extreme weather activity could lead to declining food production that could in turn create societal unrest and destabilise the bloc. According to Reuters, the European Commission is planning to publish a discussion paper in the coming weeks examining the impact of increased drought ... read more >>

We construct a game of noncooperative common-resource exploitation which delivers analytical solutions for its symmetric Markov-perfect Nash equilibrium. We examine how introducing uncertainty to the natural law of resource reproduction affects strategic exploitation. We show that the commons problem is always present in our example and we identify cases in which increases in risk amplify or miti ... read more >>

Most theorists regard transaction costs as one of the key lenses to understand the water rights market. This paper proposes a theoretical model of water rights trading with transaction costs according to the idea of costs minimization. Applying the model to the Yellow River Basin (YRB), we evaluate the potential of investment savings from introducing the trans-jurisdictional water market to achie ... read more >>

7 reasons why New Mexico water marketing is not everywhere.
1.Privacy. Water rights transactions tend to remain private in nature. Thus, uncovering private deals is easier said than done.

2.Record Keeping. The record keeping and tracking of potential transactions remained a challenge in the specific basin.

3.Political Opposition. New Mexico allows acequias or qualifying ditch companies to ... read more >>

A water battle over water rights has erupted on this land over the rivers running through it. The Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana water dispute has forced policy-makers to propose a bill that would specify who is entitled to the water, and how much they can take from the reservoirs and ditches. ... read more >>

This paper outlines possible components to reform the present systems for securing instream values, allocating water and controlling its uses. It outlines the extent to which each component is likely to give better effect to the principles and outcomes of the Sustainable Development Programme of Action, in comparison to the existing legislative and management systems. The extent to which each com ... read more >>

For the first time in 15 years, education leaders are transforming the way science is taught in the classroom. The proposed Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), unveiled last week, aim to prepare K-12 students to be better decision makers about scientific and technical issues and to apply science to their daily lives.

The standards are designed to delve deeper into fewer concepts, identif ... read more >>