By 2015, the only countries in the region which will still pass the water scarcity test, at above 1,000 cubic meters per capita, will be Iraq and Sudan – and even that assumes that water supplies from Turkey and Ethiopia will continue to be sustained at their present levels. MORE

Regional case studies will include Amazonia; Australia; Bangladesh; Brazil; Ethiopia; Finland; Mauritius; Siberia; Vietnam; and the monsoon region. Comparison of surface temperature projections from the high-end emissions scenario, without carbon cycle feedbacks. Temperature increases between 1961-1990 and 2090-2099, averaged over all high-end members. Source: Met Office. Click to enlarge. MORE

In addition, plans for new production facilities in Ethiopia and Brazil are well under way. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group set a new export sales record in December with 11,000 cars being exported during the month, which also helped the company increase its export sales over the course of 2012 by 164%. Geely’s current major overseas markets include Ukraine, Russia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. MORE

The Global Fuel Economy Initiative ( GFEI ) ( earlier post ) launched its second three-year effort to improve vehicle fuel economy around the world at the International Transport Forum in Leipzig. It also announced that a new partner—the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)—has joined the effort. MORE

In 2013, new geothermal geologic studies or exploration moved forward in places as diverse as American Samoa, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, St. The global geothermal industry surpassed 12,000 MW of geothermal power operational, with about 600 MW of new geothermal power coming online globally, according to a year-end update by the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). MORE

This was agreed by: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey,the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, as well as Ethiopia, Spain, Senegal, Brunei, Kazakhstan, and Singapore. The US reached separate agreements with the G-20 and with China to address the rapid growth in the use and release of climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). MORE

VayuGrid, a biofuel supply chain company based in Bangalore, India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to create a biofuel cluster around its VayuSap, an elite, high-yield Pongamia (a leguminous, oilseed-bearing tree), in Ethiopia Africa. biofuel investment opportunity and is part of a larger government plan to develop a biofuel park in Ethiopia. Ethiopia was chosen strategically based on the economics and agriculture. MORE

The new population projections indicate that nine countries will make up more than half the projected growth of the global population between now and 2050: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, the United Republic of Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States of America (in descending order of the expected increase). The world’s population is expected to increase by 2 billion persons in the next 30 years, from 7.7 billion currently to 9.7 MORE