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Energy in the developing world

Some 1.6 billion people, about one quarter of the world's population, have no access to electricity today. Eighty percent of these people live in rural areas of the developing world, mainly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

An in-depth exploration of this situation will be presented soon.

In the meantime, please consult the following study:

InterAcademy Council, Lighting the Way: Toward a Sustainable Energy Future , October 2007.

Latest science news

The July issue of Geotimes , a publication of the American Geological Institute, will focus on the biochar revolution. A short, introductory video can be watched here .

Joint UNESCO-IUGS International Geoscience Programme publishes brochure titled "Soil - Earth’s living skin" , in which it outlines the enormous importance of and threats to this key natural resource. The text is part of the International Year of the Earth. See Professor Roel Merckx's Year of the Earth lecture on "Living off the land in Africa: myths and realities" in which he sketches the crude fact that development in Africa will only happen when the continent's nutrient-poor soils are replenished and made fertile.

(June 3, 2008) Best Energies' Adrianna Downie discusses her company's integrated pyrolysis-gasification technology and biochar trials. Find more under the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 27, 2008) NASA's Dr James Hansen includes biochar as one of the key carbon-negative energy technologies needed to achieve a reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels to 350ppm. Read the paper in the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 23, 2008) U.S. Farm Bill Includes Biochar Research. Read the press release .

(April 10, 2008) At the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists report that biochar has an unprecedented ability to improve the fertility of soil — one that surpasses compost, animal manure, and other well-known soil conditioners. Biochar shows promise as a carbon-negative strategy to rein in world hunger as well as greenhouse gases, they found. Read more .

(March 31, 2008) A new report on the environmental implications of biochar as a soil amendment, written by postgraduate researcher at Swansea University, Dominic Woolf, is now online. Read the paper here or find the reference under Biochar Research .

(March 26, 2008) Dr Lucas Van Zwieten, senior research scientist of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), discusses biochar trials. In a latest trial he found a doubling of biomass and grain yields for sweet corn and 'very significant' differences in corn production. Likewise, some biochars have shown "very, very significant reductions in nitrous oxide emissions from the soil; between five- and ten-fold reductions in nitrous oxide emissions." Listen to the podcast or read more .

The July issue of Geotimes , a publication of the American Geological Institute, will focus on the biochar revolution. A short, introductory video can be watched here .

(June 3, 2008) Best Energies' Adrianna Downie discusses her company's integrated pyrolysis-gasification technology and biochar trials. Find more under the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 27, 2008) NASA's Dr James Hansen includes biochar as one of the key carbon-negative energy technologies needed to achieve a reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels to 350ppm. Read the paper in the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 23, 2008) U.S. Farm Bill Includes Biochar Research. Read the press release .

(March 31, 2008) A new report on the environmental implications of biochar as a soil amendment, written by postgraduate researcher at Swansea University, Dominic Woolf, is now online. Read the paper here or find the reference under Biochar Research .

More news in the Science News Archive .