Green from the roots up, Sustainable from the top down
Rechargeable Battery Power Upgraded by 50%
South Korean researchers have developed a nano-structure that could spike the power of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are increasingly used in electronic devices and cars
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Penguins in peril as food search turns into marathon – Times Online
Penguins from the largest colony on mainland South America are being forced to swim the equivalent of two marathons farther to find food because of the effects of climate change.
Reducing Carbon Dioxide Through Technology And Smart Growth
“smart growth” combined with the use of hybrid vehicle technology could reduce cities’ carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – the principal driver of global warming – significantly by 2050.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
One of the people I met at the IBM Pulse 09 event was Rich Lechner. Rich is IBM’s VP Energy & Environment. Rich gave a tremendous presentation on Sustainability and the role of IT – I posted many quotes from the presentation on Twitter and they received a lot of attention.
I asked Rich if he’d be willing to do a video with us about Energy, Sustainability and IBM’s Smart Planet vision and he very graciously agreed to.
I hope you enjoy it.
Climate on THE ENVIRONMENTALIST: Tell President Obama About Coal River Mountain
Coal River Mountain and the Heathrow Airport runway remind me how important it is to keep our eye on the ball.
Coal River Mountain is the site of an absurdity. I learned about Coal River Mountain from students at Virginia Tech last fall. They were concerned about Coal River Mountain, but at that time most of them were working to support Barack Obama. They assumed Barack Obama would not allow such outrages to continue.
Technology Review: Cheaper Fuel Cells
Researchers have shown that arrays of vertically grown carbon nanotubes could be used as the catalyst in fuel cells. The carbon nanotubes, which are doped with nitrogen, would be much cheaper and longer lasting than the expensive platinum catalysts used now.
A possible solution to global warming may be further away than ever, according to a new report published in the journal Nature. Scientists measuring how much of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is locked away in the deep ocean by plankton when it dies found that it was significantly less than previous estimates.
Smart Grid & Smart Cars | AlwaysOn
Last month one of the leaders in providing enabling technology for the smart grid, GridPoint, Inc., conducted a public demonstration of their “smart charging” software. This took place at an EV conference sponsored by the Electric Drive Transportation Association.
America overtakes Germany as the world’s biggest wind-power market | Air force one | The Economist
IN ONE policy area, at least, there is good news for President Barack Obama: his pledge to find alternative energy sources to wean America off its dependence on foreign oil is already being put into action. Last year America ramped up wind-power capacity to 25 gigawatts (GW), overtaking the previous leader, Germany, according to new data from the Global Wind Energy Council
Bush-era oil leases in Utah canceled – Environment- msnbc.com
In its first action to overturn Bush administration policies on energy, the Obama administration on Wednesday said it will cancel oil drilling leases on more than 130,000 acres near two national parks and other protected areas in Utah.
Masdar City’s driverless podcars are more shuttle than Johnny Cab – Engadget
The future of urban transportation, a driverless taxi that will get you where you’re going without any unpleasant human interaction or labor disputes. This is the PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) podcar from Zagato, a fully electric and fully automated taxi system set to shuttle people around Masdar City, that pledges to have no carbon footprint and no real roads, leaving these to buzz along underground at a leisurely 15 mph.
Study suggests link between agricultural chemicals and frog decline
Around the world, amphibian populations are in decline, and scientists have not been able to figure out why. Now a study of leopard frogs in Pennsylvania has identified a possible culprit, and the ramifications are troubling, according to a Penn State ecologist.
Research conducted primarily at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs in the summer of 2007 — described in a recently published article in the journal Nature — suggests that chemical pollution can increase often-deadly trematode (parasitic flatworm) infections in a declining amphibian species.
Sea level rise could be worse than anticipated
f global warming some day causes the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to collapse, as many experts believe it could, the resulting sea level rise in much of the United States and other parts of the world would be significantly higher than is currently projected, a new study concludes.
The catastrophic increase in sea level, already projected to average between 16 and 17 feet around the world, would be almost 21 feet in such places as Washington, D.C., scientists say, putting it largely underwater. Many coastal areas would be devastated. Much of Southern Florida would disappear.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism – NYTimes.com
n the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world’s lithium, the mineral needed to power the vehicles, is found here in Bolivia — a country that may not be willing to surrender it so easily.
75 Countries Launch Clean Energy Agency – Yahoo! News
Seventy-five nations including Germany, India, Kenya, and the United Arab Emirates launched last week the world’s first multinational organization dedicated solely to promoting renewable energy worldwide.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Flush hour: Oslo to run buses powered by biomethane from human sewage | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Free, friendly and non-fossil – biomethane from human waste will soon power public transport in the capital city
NASA Mission to Help Unravel Key Carbon, Climate Mysteries
NASA’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide is in final preparations for a Feb. 23 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate.
Report: Some climate damage already irreversible
Many damaging effects of climate change are already basically irreversible, researchers declared Monday, warning that even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.
Heating from carbon dioxide will increase five-fold over next millennia
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that heating from carbon dioxide will increase five-fold over the next millennia
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Analysis shows exposure to ash from TVA spill could have ‘severe health implications’
A report by Duke University scientists who analyzed water and ash samples from last month’s coal sludge spill in eastern Tennessee concludes that “exposure to radium- and arsenic-containing particulates in the ash could have severe health implications” in the affected areas.
Calif. weighs tough TV energy standards
The California Energy Commission is expected to adopt rules this summer requiring retailers by 2011 to sell only TVs that meet guidelines of the federal Energy Star program, which is generally voluntary. The proposal includes labeling that tells California buyers how much of their utility bill goes to powering their flat-screen.
How Meat Contributes to Global Warming: Scientific American
beef production generates greenhouse gases that contribute more than 13 times as much to global warming as do the gases emitted from producing chicken. For potatoes, the multiplier is 57.
Glaciers around the globe continue to melt at high rates. Tentative figures for the year 2007, of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, indicate a further loss of average ice thickness of roughly 0.67 meter water equivalent (m w.e.). Some glaciers in the European Alps lost up to 2.5 m w.e.
Climate change forces moths to higher ground | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Four decades ago researchers visited Borneo to examine moth populations. Today, they have found the animals now live 67m higher as temperatures have risen
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Co-op bans eight pesticides after worldwide beehive collapse | Environment | guardian.co.uk
First UK supermarket chain – and Britain’s biggest farmer – to prohibit chemicals implicated in the death of over one-third of British bees
Better Place Denmark closed approximately €103 million Euro (770 million Danish Kroner) in equity and convertible debt for the initial deployment of their electric car charging network in Denmark
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Global warming is ‘irreversible’
A team of environmental researchers in the US has warned many effects of climate change are irreversible.
The scientists concluded global temperatures could remain high for 1,000 years, even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted
President Obama has called for the installation of 40 million smart meters and 3,000 miles of transmission lines. That means 2009 could be the year that we finally start seeing real attention being paid to “Power Grid 2.0” — basically turning the electrical grid of the 60s and 70s into a modern network that uses microprocessors and software to work efficiently and to connect to renewable energy generation.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
More firms pay attention to social responsibility — china.org.cn
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is fast becoming a buzzword in China’s business circles, and yesterday, research financed by Oxfam, Hong Kong published a review of China’s CSR practice entitled A Journey to Discover Values: Study of Sustainability Reporting in China.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Palm oil may be single most immediate threat to the greatest number of species
Efforts to slow the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations at the expense of natural forests across Southeast Asia are being hindered by industry-sponsored disinformation campaigns, argue scientists writing in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The authors, Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove, say that palm oil may constitute the “single most immediate threat to the greatest number of species” by driving the conversion of biologically rich ecosystems — including lowland rainforests and peatlands.
Obama begins reversing Bush climate policies | Reuters
President Barack Obama began reversing the climate policies of the Bush administration on Monday, clearing the way for new rules to force auto makers to produce more fuel-efficient and less polluting cars.
Shelby announces world’s fastest electric car | The Car Tech blog – CNET Reviews
Shelby SuperCars announced details of an electric version of its supercar, due to be launched in the second half of this year.
According to Shelby, the powertrain developed for the Ultimate Aero EV uses a lithium ion battery pack, which can be fully charged from a 110 volt AC outlet in 10 minutes. This powertrain can be scaled from 200 up to 500 horsepower, with a special, dual-motor configuration that could produce 1,200 horsepower.
On top of that, Shelby claims a 200 mile range. If this powertrain can truly meet these specifications, Shelby will revolutionalize electric cars. Fortunately, we only have to wait about 10 months to see if it happens.
One last chance to save mankind – environment – 23 January 2009 – New Scientist
With his 90th birthday in July, a trip into space scheduled for later in the year and a new book out next month, 2009 promises to be an exciting time for James Lovelock. But the originator of the Gaia theory, which describes Earth as a self-regulating planet, has a stark view of the future of humanity. He tells Gaia Vince we have one last chance to save ourselves – and it has nothing to do with nuclear power
Scientists to tap river currents to create clean energy
VIVACE, a device to harness energy in slow-moving water currents across the globe and turn it into electricity will trial next year in the Detroit river.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.