China May Start Its First City-Wide Carbon Market.—reliability high.
"The northeast port city of Tianjin  plans to impose a mandatory limit on energy used to heat buildings in the first half of this year, John Shi, chief executive officer of the carbon credit trader Arreon Carbon U.K. Ltd., said in an interview. Property managers able to reduce energy use to below the limit will earn credits they can then sell, he said. ... Beijing and Shanghai are also working on carbon trading programs and are in a 'horse race' with Tianjin to develop emissions trading systems for the nation, Shi said. ... Citigroup and Russia’s Gazprom bought energy-intensity credits from three heating utilities that had beaten efficiency targets in what Shi called 'strongly brokered' deals. The energy savings were packaged as carbon-emissions allowances that could be sold to other utilities or to buildings in the city that can’t yet meet municipal goals." See Bloomberg story. [Just one city, right? But Tianjin has more people than many countries--more than Denmark in its center and inner suburbs. Twice as many people as Denmark if you count the whole municipality.]

Woot! Bike There Feature Added to Google Maps!.—reliability medium.
"Google Maps has finally added a Bike There feature. They've been plugging away for awhile now on ways to get directions for cyclists that avoids hills, excessive traffic, and points you in the best directions for pedaling to your destination. After a long time of lobbying by grassroots groups (it was all the way back in 2008 that we saw the petition circulating to add the feature), we finally have a thorough set of directions for alternative transportation, rounding out the walk there and public transit features." Video demonstrates. Read treehugger post.

UK's low carbon market defies recession to clear £110bn mark.—reliability high.
"The UK's low carbon market defied the recession throughout 2009, exceeding expectations to grow 4.3 per cent during the year to £112bn, according to new figures to be released later today. The data, which was compiled by consultancy firm Innovas on behalf of UK Trade & Industry (UKTI), also revealed that over 900,000 people are now employed by businesses providing environmental goods and services. In a further indication of the burgeoning strength of the carbon market, the carbon finance sector enjoyed the fastest growth rate of 7.9 per cent, followed closely by the wind energy industry which grew 6.5 per cent, and the solar market which grew six per cent." Story at BusinessGreen.