Germany

European Countries Donate Millions to Halt Deforestation

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Three European countries have pledged a combined $180 million to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), an institution created by the World Bank to compensate developing countries for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions achieved by preserving their forests. The contributions from Finland, Germany, and Norway bring FCPF’s capitalization to around $650 million, guaranteeing that developing …

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Tea Party This! European Activists Push For Mass Bank Run

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You’ve heard there are some, shall we say, negative feelings among the working/middle classes in European countries these days, yes? Something about austerity measures, mismanaged economies, something about being angry at banks and bankers and powerful people? It all dribbles out, and we don’t see much of it in the press here in the US. …

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Solar Power Heats Up Even As The Economy Stays Cool

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Applied SunFab Solar Module Production Line Well it certainly looks like the sun is paving the way for our new energy economy. According to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., global solar photovoltaic (PV) power installations jumped from 9,000 megawatts in 2007 to nearly 15,000 MW in 2008, an increase …

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2008….Cause For Inspiration? The Economic Year In Review

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2008 – what a year! As we get ready to draw the curtains on one of the most unsettling economic years in history, we the writers of the Inspired Economist are still wondering… was this year one that has left our battered economy begging for inspiration? Or have the sustainable events of 2008 spearheaded the initiation of what we believe is truly an Inspired Economy?

2008 was about the $700 billion bailout. Foreclosures. The plummeting stock market. As the year came to a close, the nation’s economic turmoil battled with the presidential election. But it was also a time when new businesses were born into what appears to be an unprecedented sustainability boom. When energy, economy and environment have taken on a new and inter-dependent definition.

Germany Opens Clean Coal Demonstration Plant

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Germany’s Secretary of the Chancellery, Thomas de Maizière, and Prime Minister of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck, together with Swedish Minister for Higher Education and Research Lars Leijonborg opened on Tuesday the world’s first “clean coal” plant, one that is ready to capture and store its carbon dioxide emissions. The 30-megawatt, $100 million Schwarze Pumpe pilot plant will burn …

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