Word: carbonization
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...April 7, the Massachusetts General Court passed a resolution demanding a drastic reconfiguration of the nation’s current energy policy. The plan calls for replacing traditional electrical generation—which produces environmentally harmful byproducts such as carbon dioxide emissions—with a system that would rely only on 100 percent clean electricity. In light of the dangers that our planet faces in the immediate and distant future, the Mass. General Court’s decision is a wise choice that signifies a keen awareness of the importance of energy policy...
...burping, belching and excreting copious amounts of methane - a greenhouse gas that traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide - India's livestock of roughly 485 million (including sheep and goats) contributes more to global warming than the vehicles the animals obstruct. With new research suggesting that methane emission by Indian livestock is higher than previously estimated, scientists are furiously working at designing diets to help bovines and other ruminants eat better, stay more energetic and secrete smaller amounts of the offensive gas. (See pictures of India's largest ruminant: the Asian elephant...
Most dietary interventions work by checking methogens - microbes that thrive in oxygen-free environments like cows' guts, where they convert the available hydrogen and carbon (by-products of digestion) into methane, a colorless, odorless gas. "We encourage well-to-do farmers to use oilseed cakes, which provide unsaturated fatty acids that get rid of the hydrogen," Singhal says. Another solution is herbal additives. Some commonly used Indian herbs such as shikakai and reetha, which go into making soap, and many kinds of oilseeds contain saponins and tannins, substances that make for lathery, bitter meals but block hydrogen availability for methogens...
...whole, delegates left Bonn stuck in the same standoff that has all but paralyzed global climate talks over the past several years. Poor nations want rich nations to accept deep, mandatory carbon cuts, and pay tens of billions of dollars in aid to help developing countries combat global warming. Rich nations are squeamish about committing to extreme measures without help from major developing nations like China and India, which will be responsible for the lion's share of new carbon emissions in the decade ahead. And all leaders are feeling the squeeze of the economic downturn, which has shunted public...
...ready to lead." But hopeful talk doesn't necessarily translate to numbers or action. One of the biggest topics of debate at Bonn was the draft climate-change bill released in late March by Democratic Congressmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, which aims to cut U.S. carbon emissions 20% below 2005 levels by 2020. That goal is significantly less ambitious than what the E.U. has pledged, but getting that bill - or anything close to it - through Congress, especially by the Copenhagen summit, will be a legislative headache...