Christopher Flavin
Christopher Flavin
Christopher Flavin is the former president of the Worldwatch Institute, an independent research organization focused on natural resource and environmental issues, based in Washington, DC. He is also a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, the Climate Institute, and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. His research and writing focus is international energy and climate policy...
billion chinese demand effects food indians materials raw ripple rising
Rising demand for energy, food and raw materials by 2.5 billion Chinese and Indians is already having ripple effects worldwide.
advantage bet china economy effect energy five key massive number projects renewable sponsored state support within
My bet is that China is indisputably number one in renewable energy within five years. They now have key state sponsored support and one advantage of a centralized economy is that these massive projects can be put into effect very quickly.
business energy executives oil question whether
The question for oil executives is whether you're in the oil business or the energy business.
real lying long
The real potential of electricity lies not in providing social amenities but in stimulating long-term economic development
future effort creative
Building a world where we meet our own needs without denying future generations a healthy society is not impossible, as some would assert. The question is where societies choose to put their creative efforts
humanity vision pillars
Urgency and vision are the twin pillars on which humanity's hope now hangs.
years wind land
The sunlight ... that strikes Earth’s land surface in two hours is equivalent to total human energy use in a year. While much of that sunlight becomes heat, solar energy is also responsible for the energy embodied in wind, hydro, wave, and biomass, each with the potential to be harnessed for human use. Only a small portion of that enormous daily, renewable flux of energy will ever be needed by humanity.
technology climate alternatives
Improved energy productivity and renewable energy are both available in abundance—and new policies and technologies are rapidly making them more economically competitive with fossil fuels. In combination, these energy options represent the most robust alternative to the current energy system, capable of providing the diverse array of energy services that a modern economy requires. Given the urgency of the climate problem, that is indeed convenient.
oil impact united-states
Renewable biofuels are meanwhile making inroads in the transportation fuels market and are beginning to have a measurable impact on demand for petroleum fuels, contributing to a decline in oil consumption in the United States in particular starting in 2006... The 93 billion liters of biofuels produced worldwide in 2009 displaced the equivalent of an estimated 68 billion liters of gasoline, equal to about 5 percent of world gasoline production.
three nuclear burning
The 1,230 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power generating capacity in place at the end of 2009 now constitutes just over 25 percent of total generating capacity worldwide. This is over three times nuclear generating capacity and roughly 38 percent of the capacity of fossil fuel-burning power plants worldwide.
kyoto challenges structure
The challenge now is to renovate the baroque structure that the Kyoto Plan has become—or else scrap it and get ready to start all over.
oil energy alternatives
The bottom of the oil barrel is now visible.
home water use
Already, China's world-leading solar industry provides water heating for 35 million buildings, and India's pioneering use of rainwater harvesting brings clean water to tens of thousands of homes.
men hard-times wife
Sometimes electricity provides unexpected benefits. In a remote village in China's Fujian province in which young men have traditionally had a hard time finding wives, the arrival of electricity has attracted more brides