Go green, energy experts say
An international panel of scientists urges nations to foster the development of clean energy in developing countries.
Finding sustainable energy sources is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today, a panel of experts convened by the world's scientific academies said in a report released in October. The report calls for at least a doubling of clean-energy research budgets and a cap-and-trade system that sets a price on carbon emissions.
The report, Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future, was commissioned by China and Brazil and published by the InterAcademy Council, a network of national academies of science. Rapid building of coal-fired power plants in China and other developing nations may pose the greatest threat to efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the report warns. Financial support could help countries "leapfrog" from dirty development to sustainability, said study co-chair Steven Chu of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
