European Solar Engineering School (ESES)

Malmo aims to be 100% carbon neutral and rely 100% on renewable energy. Interestingly, the city is looking at three aspects, ecological, social, and economic sustainability. Will the city be able to achieve its goals? If you study at the European Solar Engineering School in Sweden, you can make a trip down to Malmo to see how they are progressing.

Read more about Malmo here via CheapFlights.

Ashoka and the Canopus Foundation, initiators of the Solar for All initiative, are launching the “Solar for All” contest for innovative low-cost photovoltaic systems and customer financing schemes. The competition is open to actors including manufacturers, PV system integrators, and social entrepreneurs providing sustainable and reliable energy to low income end-users without access to the electricity grid.

Read more..

A short animated film about the feedback loops likely to lead to catastrophic climate change, by Leo Murray.

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

The Washington Post wrote an interesting article on the economic effects of Germany going green. Although titled as the high price of going green, the article also covers the job creation that has occurred in Germany. As it states, 260,000 people in Germany now work in the solar sector, about a quarter of the people employed in the automotive sector. It is an interesting read that can be found here

From the article

"In this nation that embraced one of the world's most aggressive campaigns against global warming, the Pokropp family can almost hear the cha-ching when switching off their lights.

A kilowatt of electricity costs three times as much here as it does in the United States, supercharged with high taxes to discourage use and to help fund renewable energy development. Meanwhile, a 50 percent "eco-tax" has sent the price of gasoline soaring to $8 a gallon. To manage costs, the family of three unplugs all their appliances but the refrigerator at night, avoids driving and limits steam baths -- a favorite German custom."

Climate was the most important issue during Tuesday's summit between the European Union and the United States. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the EU Presidency, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, met with U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House.

Read more about it here.