The Canadian Press

British Columbia and Manitoba score highest in a report card released Tuesday grading federal, provincial and territorial governments on energy efficiency.

The Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, an industry group that compiles the ratings, says the two western provinces received an A-plus grades because they have the most stringent policies on energy efficiency.

The Guardian

Jorgen Tranberg looks a farmer to his roots: grubby blue overalls, crumpled T-shirt and crinkled, weather-beaten features. His laconic manner, blond hair and black clogs also reveal his Scandinavian origins. Jorgen farms at Norreskifte on Samso, a Danish island famed for its rich, sweet strawberries and delicately flavoured early potatoes. This place is steeped in history – the Vikings built ships and constructed canals here – while modern residents of Copenhagen own dozens of the island’s finer houses.

The Telegraph

Last year, China spent £6 billion on renewable energy projects, just slightly short of Germany, the world leader. This year, the Communist Party has vowed to redouble its efforts.

Li Junfeng, an energy expert at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said that in terms of the “overall scale of renewable energy development”, China already leads the way.

TreeHugger

Over at the Oil Drum, Alan Drake lays out what should be done to develop a coherent program to reduce oil consumption, cut greenhouse gas emissions, fix the electrical grid and improve the speed and reliability of transport without using oil:

• Electrify 36,000 miles of mainline railroads

The Guardian

Everything now hinges on stopping coal. Whether we prevent runaway climate change largely depends on whether we keep using the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel. Unless we either leave it – or the carbon dioxide it produces – in the ground, human development will start spiralling backwards. The more coal is burnt, the smaller are our chances of future comfort and prosperity. The industrial revolution has gone into reverse.

The New York Times

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

The New York Times

European officials proposed scaling back drastically on their goal of increasing Europe’s use of biofuels, a major about-face on a central environmental and energy issue.

AFP

Governments must take “urgent action” to promote the renewable energy sources that are badly needed for mankind to reduce its carbon footprint, the International Energy Agency said Monday.

“Several countries have made important progress in recent years in fostering renewables,” the IEA’s head Nobuo Tanaka said as the organisation published a report on renewable energy in Berlin.

New York Times

COAL, the “dark fuel,” may be the most visible villain of global warming, but its use is up and projected to go higher.

“In the short run, demand for coal is going to increase,” said Joel Darmstadter, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit foundation in Washington. “Demand for electricity is increasing, and there are really no alternatives.”