UK can do it

Following IPCC report, here is some good news. Renewable energy should be able to make a major contribution to the decarbonisation of the UK economy over coming years, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has said.

The influential Committee’s Renewable Energy Review, which was commissioned by the Coalition Government last year, concludes that renewables could generate around 30% of the UK’s energy – or up to 45% if costs fall – by 2030.

The review highlights wind and marine energy as among the most promising renewable technologies, as well as air and ground source heat pumps and the use of bioenergy for heat generation. But committee chair Lord Turner adds that the UK Government should be committing support to less mature technologies now and putting in place incentives to drive increased investment in renewable heat and power generation over the next decade.

Well, we better start hurrying up! Rising global temperatures have reduced yields of wheat and corn in some countries, a decline that probably has contributed to the rise in agricultural commodity prices in recent years, according to a study in the journal Science. Researchers from Stanford and Columbia universities said that from 1980 to 2008, temperature increases of several degrees Fahrenheit in key growing regions — including Russia, India, China, and France — had cut into yields of corn and wheat compared to expected yields had growing season temperatures not risen.