Report - Top 10 Energy Management Predictions for 2014

Do you want to know what will be the major energy management trends that will impact corporates and utilities in 2014? Look no further than this complimentary report. Verdantix has compiled years of research into energy technologies, energy services and power utilities, as well as conducing extensive interviews with 500 energy managers in 2012 and 2013.

In 2014 Verdantix predicts:

Predictions for US Energy Efficiency in 2014: Growth and Obstacles

What can we expect from energy efficiency in the US in 2014? Insight into some of the major trends in energy efficiency for the year to come and beyond (this article is a followup to US Energy Efficiency in 2013: Success Stories and Barriers).

Efficiency will have an even greater impact on both residential and industrial energy consumption this year compared to 2013. This is driven by policy at the federal, state and municipal levels. Net-positive energy buildings is another trend expected to grow in 2014. Other specific initiatives that will define energy efficiency in 2014 relate to financing, data usage, operational savings, and equipment integration.

Green Bonds May be the Climate Success Story of 2014

The cleantech story of 2014 may very well be the growth of green bonds, (aka climate bonds). A growing number of financial institutions and state governments are issuing green bonds to generate funding for sustainable development and clean energy technology. This rapidly emerging financial instrument is capable of significantly advancing global efforts to combat climate change.

Green bonds may very well be able to meet the Herculean funding challenge we have ahead of us. It is widely understood that there are technological solutions that will reduce our emissions and keep the temperature from climbing beyond the widely agreed upon 2 degree Celsius upper threshold limit. However to get there we will require massive capital investments of 36 trillion by 2050 or an average of 1 trillion per year.

New Senate Climate Initiative in 2014: Climate Action Task Force

On Thursday January 9, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and other Democratic senators, announced a new effort to get Congress to act on climate change in 2014. To help with this with this effort they are planning to enlist the support of civic groups, private industry, religious organizations and others. The new initiative entitled “Climate Action Task Force,” has a wide variety of goals, including the holy grail of environmental action, putting a price on carbon. To achieve this they will need to secure 60 votes in the chamber, however, this is no easy task as they can expect considerable opposition from Republicans as well as Democrats in coal states.

You Can Make a Difference in 2014: Ethiconomics on Change in the New Year

Well, what are you waiting for?

“How much of human life is lost in waiting.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another year passes and the wheel of time turns. Inexorably, inevitably and impersonally. For many of us it is a time when we reflect on the past year and gird our loins for the next. There is no natural reason for this reference to a spurious calendar embedded into our western consciousness and organisation by some medieval monk. For centuries we organised our years by the cycles of nature; by equinox and solstice, by season, growth and harvest. Still, it allows us the structure that we need in our ‘modern’ world for planning and organisation. Our frontal lobe is satisfied by this and our software applications are pure and blank, waiting to be filled with exciting and stimulating appointments and activities.

Andrew Winston's Sustainable Business Questions for 2014 and Beyond

Andrew Winston has been providing a top ten list of sustainable business stories for the last four years. He is the co-author of the best-seller Green to Gold and the author of Green Recovery. His forthcoming book, The Big Pivot, will be released in April. He advises some of the world’s biggest companies on environmental strategy. Here are eight questions for sustainable business in 2014 and beyond.

1. Will the divestment movement continue to gather steam and put significant pressure, either financial (unlikely) or moral (much more intriguing), on fossil fuel companies?

2. Will all the talk about building a circular economy gain mainstream acceptance?

3. Will we get better at valuing natural capital (and will companies and markets care)? It certainly garnered lots of attention this year, with new estimates of the damage the global economy does to natural assets (trillions), new tools to measure natural capital, and an important new book from former Goldman partner and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, Mark Tercek.

Growth in World Population Threatens Environment

The world population has grown tremendously over the past two thousand years. In 1999, the world population passed the six billion mark. This growth is due to the agricultural and industrial revolutions that decreased childhood mortality rates and increased life expectancies.

Current projections show a steady decline in the population growth rate, with the population expected to peak at around 9 billion between the year 2040 and 2050. The growth rate peaked at 2.2% in 1963 and annual births peaked at 163 million in the late 1990s.

Current estimates by the United States Census Bureau put the global population at 6,854,901,988. The CIA Factbook estimates that as of 2009, 220,980 people where being born every day.

The rapid increase in human population over the course of the 20th century has raised concerns about overpopulation. The scientific consensus is that the current population expansion and accompanying increase in usage of resources are linked to threats to the ecosystem, including rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, global warming, and pollution.

Asia accounts for over 60% of the world population with almost 3.8 billion people. China and India together have about 40 percent of the world's population. Africa follows with 840 million people, 12% of the world's population. Europe's 710 million people make up 11% of the world's population. North America is home to 514 million (8%), South America to 371 million (5.3%), and Australia to 21 million (0.3%).

The list below shows past world population data back to the year one and future world population projections through the year 2050.

World Population Growth

Year 1: Population 200 million
Year 1000: Population 275 million
Year 1500: Population 450 million
Year 1650: Population 500 million
Year 1750: Population 700 million
Year 1804: Population 1 billion
Year 1850: Population 1.2 billion
Year 1900: Population 1.6 billion
Year 1927: Population 2 billion
Year 1950: Population 2.55 billion
Year 1955: Population 2.8 billion
Year 1960: Population 3 billion
Year 1965: Population 3.3 billion
Year 1970: Population Year 3.7 billion
Year 1975: Population 4 billion
Year 1980: Population 4.5 billion
Year 1985: Population 4.85 billion
Year 1990: Population 5.3 billion
Year 1995: Population 5.7 billion
Year 1999: Population 6 billion
Year 2006: Population 6.5 billion
Year 2009: Population 6.8 billion
Year 2011: Population 7 billion
Year 2025: Population 8 billion
Year 2050: Population 9.4 billion
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