ebishirl

Ensuring sustainable energy and resources in the future is all about how you find the economic models to support these activities. The Tories have done what Labour has failed to do -- communicate a plan on how to make cleantech and clean energy an attractive business opportunity for everyone. If the public understands the plan, then we would for the first time have some green leadership.

In our endless quest to find answers to today's most pressing questions, it's tempting to believe we will one day hit upon the ultimate, perfect solution, the flawless technology that will lead us to utopia.

In medieval times, it was the pursuit of alchemy, a way to transform base metals into gold. Later, we turned our sights to perpetual motion machines. Today, we seek more science-based, yet equally evasive, innovations: the cheap, easy and endlessly scalable clean-energy source; the pain-free and 100-per-cent-guaranteed geoengineering fix for climate change; the built-in-a-lab, custom-programmable bacterium that can solve any and all of our problems.

While energy experts elsewhere are looking for answers to one question -- How do you keep electricity flowing through a renewable energy grid when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow? -- researchers in California are approaching the challenge from the opposite direction.

The question they're asking: How can you let grid operators know in advance when it's likely the sun won't be shining or the wind won't be blowing?

Imagine you and your office mates are trying to plan a really special party for a longtime co-worker who's about to retire. The group of you has met after work, oh, say, a half-dozen times, but you still can't all agree on the best type of shindig.

Barbecue or formal dinner? Theme party or boat cruise? Each one has its vocal defender, and nobody seems willing to give up his or her personal favourite.

Finally, you throw up your hands and suggest, "Why don't we just buy So-and-So a really nice gift instead?"

Really? Do you really believe that decision will be any easier for the lot of you?

Who, besides maybe the oil and coal companies and their stockholders, wouldn't want to move away from fossil fuels and build a future based on clean, renewable energy sources?

After all, consider all the potential benefits (as this brilliant cartoon makes clear): less reliance on dangerous or unstable oil-producing countries, cleaner air and water, better health, improved sustainability, etc. Clearly, green and renewable energy is the way to go.

Ah, but as always, the devil is in the details.

There is plenty to be grumpy about when it comes to waste disposal in the UK.

Each year, the UK produces an estimated 335 million tonnes of waste, according to number-crunchers at DEFRA, the UK government department responsible for policy and regulations on the environment. Around half of that ends up in a hole in the ground, commonly known as landfill. Waste capacity in some regions of the UK is down to less than five years at current rates of consumption.

Once upon a time, climate change felt like a distant threat on the horizon. Now it is happening in front of our very eyes. Across the world, global warming is sparking more intense heat waves, more flooding and more droughts. If climate change continues at its current pace, the social, environmental and economic costs don't bear thinking about.

What can frogs teach us about solar power, biofuel production and carbon capture? More than you might think, say researchers at the University of Cincinnati.