This column highlights the top economic stories of the week.

Having children is the surest way to send your carbon footprint soaring, according to a new study from statisticians at Oregon State University.

The study found that having a child has an impact that far outweighs that of other energy-saving behaviors. More on this story here.

A quarter-century ago, in the wake of America’s first energy crisis, a young scientist named Amory Lovins came to the Rocky Mountains and built himself a radical house based on a radical idea. The country could save both energy and money, he believed, by combining common sense and unconventional technology. More on this story here.

According to this week’s Economist, Britain will soon start to run out of electricity. How long will it be until its lights go out?  More on this story here.

A week ago a leading Indian daily published findings from a government report which assessed the feasibility of providing $17 billion in solar subsidies over the next 30 years. 

The report notes that India will be able to afford the complete expenses of the program which will make India one of the largest producers of solar energy, if not the largest. More on this story here.

The front pages in the UK this week are a-spread with the news of record profits at Barclays Bank, with accompanying bonuses for top bankers. This echoes last week’s story at Goldman Sachs. Given the recent bailouts and government support, the Economist is right to note that ‘such largesse looks cheeky at best’!

Although the two crises have little in common, this obstinate reminder of how little has changed in the financial sector prompts me to deeper pessimism in the environmental crisis. More on this story here.

A week ago a leading Indian daily published findings from a government report which assessed the feasibility of providing $17 billion in solar subsidies over the next 30 years.

The report notes that the Indian government has complete financial resources to fund the highly ambitious goal of increasing solar energy production to 200,000 MW, from current 2 MW, by 2050. But many independent experts have found flaws in the report and people within the government are concerned about a specific finding of the report.

The report notes that India will be able to afford the complete expenses of the program which will make India one of the largest producers of solar energy, if not the largest.

(T)he solar mission document suggests that India would be able to fund the entire project on its own. Government officials have pointed out that it would be hard to demand additional funds from the industrialized countries if India claims it can afford to sponsor such a large subsidy off its own resources.

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India’s Union Budget for financial year 2009-10 did not contain any provision for expenditure in promoting clean energy and mitigating adverse effects of climate change. The Indian Finance minister failed to provide any concrete figures that his government would spend in increasing clean energy systems and moving to efficient and cleaner industrial processes including power generation.

Last year the Indian Prime Minister unveiled a National Action Plan on Climate Change just before the crucial G8 Summit in Japan which outlined eight priorities of the Indian government to increase the use of renewable energy. The action plan did not, however, include how the government intends to achieve the goals it had set up. Green groups had been waiting for the government to announce strategy to achieve these goals but the finance minister did not allocate any funds for these goals.

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On September 30, 2008, City Solar Tour stopped in San Francisco, and Mayor Gavin Newsom used the opportunity to announce a program to subsidize conversion to solar power for commercial users in San Francisco.

Although commercial users throughout the City can apply, the City of San Francisco is reaching out to commercial users whose location makes solar power particularly financially viable. They used the sfsolarmap.org to identify 1600 companies in downtown San Francisco where it is sunny much of the year and sent letters letting them know about the availability of up to ten thousand dollars for solar subsidies and the availability of a free audit to evaluate the viability of solar power for their commercial building.

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