C3 News Digest - Feb 15, 2012

Cool pick of the week: This Boston building-science consultant debunks some myths about home energy-saving tips.

Canada is part of the dramatic growth in global wind power. Such growth could be enhanced with a more coordinated national approach to clean-energy development, this advocate argues. India is becoming a renewable energy force, with solar power leading a 52 per cent increase in investment to $10.3 billion in 2011.

A Hydro Quebec subsidiary is launching a joint venture with a Chinese manufacturer to build electric buses and trucks for the Asian market. Lithium batteries are about 15 per cent more efficient than traditional lead-acid batteries at storing solar photovoltaic power, a new study indicates.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing energy-efficiency standards for microwave ovens that will eliminate much of their standby energy waste. But the DOE is being criticized for not setting stiffer energy-efficiency standards for distribution boxes mounted on utility poles or installed in buildings.

Himalayan glaciers are melting much more slowly than once feared, a new study indicates. African farmers may have started human-induced climate change 3,500 years ago, long before the burning of fossil fuels, scientific evidence suggests. Today's 100-year floods could happen every three to 20 years, thanks to climate change, researchers say. The European Union could suspend parts of its controversial new law requiring airlines to account for their greenhouse gas emissions, a senior official says.