Solar power point
Reflective dishes may be the answer to make solar energy competitive with conventional sources of power, Israeli scientists say.
Demand for solar energy has sucked up supply of the silicon raw material, prompting a search for alternatives.
A team at Ben Gurion University believe they have found just that, in a far less known material that is more expensive than silicon but also more efficient when used with a reflective dish.
The team has designed a reflector made of mirrors that collects and intensifies the light a thousand times over. This concentrated light, strong enough to burn organic material, is directed at the solar panel.
"The dish could be put in a sunny backyard and generate most of the home's utility needs," said David Faiman, a professor of physics at the university.
Britain off target
Britain has been accused of trying to wreck planned EU legislation to enforce a binding target of using renewable power to produce 20 per cent of Europe's energy by 2020.
The ambitious target, agreed by the then British prime minister Tony Blair last northern spring, is particularly challenging for Britain since it produces only 2 per cent of its power from non-fossil fuel sources such as wind and solar.
British officials attending a meeting in Brussels backed a system of mandatory trading permits between countries so member states that did not meet the renewables target would be able to buy permits from other countries that had surpassed it.
While there is much debate about the best way forward on renewables, groups such as Friends of the Earth and WWF suspect that Britain, endowed with huge wind and wave resources, is merely trying to wriggle out of its European commitments.
Change for the better
Most consumers in the US and Britain claim to have made at least some changes in their lives as a result fo climate change, according to research from the international pressure group The Climate Group, .
Turning off lights and turning down heating are the two most popular actions, while activities that involve spending money, such as buying carbon offsets, are popular with only a small percentage of those questioned.
"Activities that require more effort or that involve spending are much less tried, though interest is significant," the report says.
However, the research also found that most consumers, while interested in companies that wanted to do the right thing, were unable to name a single brand that was taking a lead role in tackling climate change.
A South China tiger that had been feared extinct has been caught on camera, in the first confirmed sighting for 30 years.
Zhou Zhenglong took more than 70 snaps of the young tiger lying in the grass near a cliff in a mountainous part of central China. Experts confirmed the images.
Villagers from his home area had reported several sightings of the tigers, paw prints and droppings, but none had been confirmed for decades, the official news agency said.
"There has been no record of the survival of wild South China tigers in more than 30 years, and it was only an estimate that China still had 20 to 30 such wild tigers," said Lu Xirong, head of a South China tiger research team.