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-- a _kt75 | reprint   Tweet Investment in low carbon technologies fell 11 per cent in 2012, according to a new report by market analysts Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which also shows China has overtaken the US as the world's largest contributor to renewable energy. The report [ 1 ] shows that investment in low carbon technologies is actually holding up pretty well after warnings from the report's authors last January that 2012 would be a "challenging year" for the sector. We took a look at some of the figures to find out how tough economic conditions and investor uncertainty over renewable energy policies in the UK have changed the investment landscape. Overall investment drops The report [ 1 ] shows that overall global investment in low carbon energy dropped by about $30 billion in the space of a year. Comparing investment last year to 2011 may be unfair, as 2011 saw the highest ever rate of investment in the sector. But it is only the second time in almost ...

-- a _kt75 | reprint     Tweet Over the last two decades, Chinese governments have approved the construction of a cascade of large dams on the stretches of the Mekong River that lie within its borders, prompting disquiet amongst downstream riparian states . Those states — Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — are now set to wage their own battle for control of precious water resources, with China looming large through its role as a willing creditor. Despite hydropower plans for the Lower Mekong dating back to the 1950s, the river still flows freely south of the Chinese border. That may not be the case for much longer. The governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have proposed to build eleven dams on the Lower Mekong — nine in Laos and two in Cambodia. Much of the electricity generated would ultimately be consumed in Thailand and Vietnam through contract agreements between the four states. The first of these proposed dams is already under construction;...