Posts Tagged ‘France’

$4 Million Goes to MIT from French Oil Company for Solar Energy Battery Project


Total, a French oil company, recently agreed to give the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $4 million for a 5-year research project to develop stationary batteries that can more efficiently store solar energy.

More efficient energy storage has been a difficult issue for scientists to crack. It is a major issue preventing more widespread use of renewable energy, and solar energy in particular.

Is this project, one funded by a true oil giant, the one that will make it happen?

#5 Paris, France: Great Bicycle City Photo Tour

From bicycle lovers to lovers on bikes, bike art to art on bikes, the largest bicycle sharing program in the world to some of the smallest bikers, enjoy this bicycle city photo tour of Paris, France!

Paris doesn’t have a long history as one of the best bicycle cities, but with the introduction of the largest bicycle sharing program in the world, bicycling in Paris has boomed and the city is becoming commonly associated with the bicycle now. Its whole culture is changing due to the bicycle’s increasing relevance in the city’s daily life.

Spanish Solar Company SOLARIG Building 8 PV Parks in Italy


SOLARIG, a company based in Spain that incorporated about four years ago, just began construction of eight photovoltaic parks in Italy this month. The parks will provide 8 MW of energy in total. Over the next few months, it plans to construct photovoltaic projects producing 30 MW throughout different regions of Italy.

But this is just the beginning. SOLARIG has a more global vision.

Pininfarina CEO Says Electric Car Still on Track for 2011 Debut

Legendary Italian carmaker, Pininfarina, may yet have some surprises up its sleeves. Even with recent financial difficulties, Pininfarina’s CEO, Silvio Pietro Angori, told Italian newspaper, Il Sole 24, that the company’s Bluecar electric car venture with french investor Vincent Bollore is not simply a concept car and still on track for a 2011 market debut.

700 Naked People in France for Climate Change Action

700 people stripped naked in French vineyards this week. Why? To try to influence world leaders to do more regarding climate change.

Report: France Wants 2 Million Electric Cars On Its Roads By 2020

French energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo will announce a plan on Thursday for the country to invest 1 billion Euros ($1.46 billion US) in the infrastructure needed to encourage the adoption of electric cars. That investment will buy 4.4 million charging stations, upgrade the power grid, purchase a government fleet of electric cars, and provide subsidies to EV buyers and auto manufacturers.

France hopes that this amount of investment will be enough to get 2 million electric cars on its roads within 10 years.

Sarkozy Proposes Carbon Tax on Personal Consumption

Cap-and-trade calamity? Au contraire. While the US flounders on regulating carbon, France’s Nicholas Sarkozy is pushing forward with new carbon tax legislation that will only add to France’s edge in the emerging green economy.

Fishing Salmon in the Seine - Paris Cleans the River and Species Return

Fishing The SieneWith the numerous distressing stories on the plight of so many species, its heartening to hear of a positive development in one of the largest cities in Europe.

A century ago the Seine, which flows from the north of France, through Paris to the English Channel, hosted a large flourishing population of Atlantic salmon. The salmon migrated from the sea to their freshwater birth place to reproduce from December to June every year.

Seaweed Kills Horse In France


Killer seaweed? Yes. It’s not like a giant venus flytrap, but it is creating a killer gas that some scientists believe may have wiped out the dinosaurs.

The EU and MTV Team Up: Copenhagen Prelude


The European Union (EU) and MTV are working together to get young people involved in the climate debate. The major entities started their “Play to Stop – Europe for Climate” campaign this month. Working with international music artists and other international celebrities, this is a major campaign to mobilize the youth around the topic of climate change, and especially for the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December.

The campaign targets 11 EU countries — Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The campaign will involve celebrities from the various participating countries.

Coke Extends Commitment to Reduce Carbon Footprint

In 2002 the Coca-Cola Company used 3.12 liters of water to produce every liter of poduct. The company, which has captured the taste buds of drinkers worldwide used .57 megajoules of energy and averaged 12.54 grams of waste per liter of product. It’s no wonder that the Coke Kingdom has been less than popular among environmental groups.

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