Good, bad and ugly

Here is some good and bad news. Germany is that the country got 20% of its electricity from renewable energy sources in 2011, and that it’s energy consumption dropped 4.8%. On the contrary, we have a Canada which not only refuses to do its bit to mitigate climate change but is bullish about going on the fossil fuel rampage!

Canada formally notified the world that they were withdrawing from the global warming pollution targets they had taken on under the Kyoto Protocol. Canada has unleashed on the world the dirtiest oil on the planet in the form of tar sands. Back in 2002, Canada formally ratified the Kyoto Protocol and committed internationally to reduce its emissions to six percent below 1990 levels for the period 2008-2012.

Oil from tar sands emits three times as much global warming pollution as conventional oil. Since 1990, Canada’s global warming pollution has increased by over 23 percent and is projected to continue to skyrocket driven by the expansion of tar sands.

More bad news comes from Shell in Nigeria where an oil spill that is likely to be the worst in the area for a decade, saw up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil spilt while it was transferred from a floating oil platform to a tanker 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta. Satellite pictures obtained by independent monitors Skytruth suggested that the spill was 70km-long and was spread over 923 square kilometers (356 sq miles).

And solar woes for firms continues as BP bowed out of the solar market saying it “simply can’t make any money from solar.” One of the reasons for these global solar struggles is thanks to Chinese solar manufacturers, which flooded the market with low-priced solar cells and created an oversupply. Global solar makers are having to sell solar below cost to just survive. But of course, for buyers this is the best time!

Go ahead and pick your good, bad and ugly.