-
Inhabitat » Virtually Waterless Washing Machine Cuts Water Use by 90%
new washing system (prototype stage) uses nylon beads to tumble wash clothes with 90% less water than conventional washers. The machine also uses significantly less detergent and eliminates the need for tumble drying.
-
Brazil’s development bank to require beef-tracking system to avoid illegal Amazon deforestation
Responding to allegations that major Brazilian cattle producers are responsible for illegal forest clearing in the Amazon, Brazil’s development bank BNDES will soon require processors to trace the origin of beef back to the ranch where it was produced in order to qualify for loans, reports Brazil’s Agencia Estado. The traceability program aims to ensure that cattle products do not come from illegally deforested land.
-
3 News > Politics > Story > Environment commissioner calls for ’smarter’ smart meters
Nearly 1.3 million households in New Zealand are expected to have “smart” electricity meters installed by 2012 – but the nation’s environmental watchdog today warned most of those meters will not be smart enough.
The utilities are rolling out smart meters which benefit the utilities but not the consumer or the environment – how to get it wrong, eh?
-
Intellect Blog » Blog Archive » How not to roll out smart metering
The energy companies in NZ are coming under fire because they have installed meters without the microchip that enables the meters to communicate with other devices, helping to reduce the amount of energy used in the home. However, as the meters do not have this microchip, there are no benefits to householders’ and only ‘benefits to retailers’.
-
Canada and Japan blocking climate-change deal, Sir David King warns – Times Online
Canada and Japan were blocking a possible deal on climate change at the Copenhagen summit, Sir David King, the former Chief Scientific Adviser,
-
No fluke: new survey finds $4 gas is the tipping point
Looks like $4 level is the tipping point for any future changes in driver behavior, according to a new survey put out by Cars.com.
The survey found that if gas were to shoot to over $4 a gallon again, 40 percent of car shoppers would “consider purchasing a new fuel-efficient car right away.”
-
Green walls: the growing success of ‘vegitecture’ – CNN.com
Walk past the southern face of the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, and you will be greeted by a massive wall of brilliant green foliage — an 8,600 square feet plant installation by the designer Patrick Blanc, featuring more than 170 different species.
Architect Ken Yeang is the world’s leading green skyscraper architect and a passionate advocate of what is already being called “vegitecture”.
Yeang’s designs use walls of plants, scallop-shaped sunshades, solar panels, advanced ventilation and the structure and of the building itself to collect water and catch cooling air currents. It enables the construction to function as a self-managing ecosystem with less need for external energy.
-
Rising sea level to submerge Louisiana coastline by 2100, study warns | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Scientists say between 10,000 and 13,500 square kilometres of coastal land around New Orleans will go underwater due to rising sea levels and subsidence
-
China unveils $140bn plan to build seven giant wind farms by 2020 – 30 Jun 2009 – BusinessGreen.com
China unveils $140bn plan to build seven giant wind farms by 2020
Government claims wind farms will contribute eight per cent of country’s total power capacity
-
Two questions for those earning over 70 yuan a day
The CEOs of all companies with creative staff should gather their employees and ask two questions: “How can positive contributions be reported, and can the things we produce meet the needs of 9 billion people?”
-
Does morning rush hour make you crazy? Are you sick of traffic?
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), in partnership with IBM and Spencer Trask Collaborative Innovations, has launched a global challenge to identify innovative ideas for combating transportation congestion.
-
58% of world’s seagrass meadows on the decline
An international team of scientists has warned that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems, with 58 percent of world’s seagrass meadows currently declining.
-
US Campaign for Burma » Shepard Fairey Unveils Icon in Support of Aung San Suu Kyi
American artist Shepard Fairey has released a striking new image today, in support of the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi and the oppressed nation of Burma.
Fairey, who drew international acclaim during the 2008 American presidential election for his stirring red, white, and blue “HOPE” portrait of Barack Obama, has applied his bold style to create an iconic piece in support of Suu Kyi, the rightful leader of Burma, who has been held under house arrest by a military junta for the past 13 years
-
WaterBoxx Grows Forests in the Desert
A new Dutch invention makes it possible to reforest large desert and rocky areas in the coming years, they say. Experiments in the Sahara desert have shown that the WaterBoxx allows trees to grow under harsh conditions and can provide them with sufficient water
-
Peru’s government has given the green light to an Anglo-French company to drill for oil in the Amazon, just thirteen days after more than 30 people died in protests against the exploitation of the rainforest.
-
PNG’s climate change head ’suspended’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The head of Papua New Guinea’s Office of Climate Change has reportedly been suspended amid allegations of improper deals involving carbon credits
-
Ideas to drive UK to sustainability
The Breakthroughs for the 21st Century project by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has selected 19 ideas which it thinks could make the biggest difference in tackling climate change, depletion of resources and inequality in the UK.
-
‘Sat nav’ for disappearing puffins – MSN Environment UK
Puffins living in one of the most remote places in the UK are to be fitted with “sat nav” devices in a bid to help scientists discover why their numbers are falling.
This summer researchers will use GPS technology to track the movements of a colony of puffins living on the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, in a bid to explain a “dramatic” decline in the bird’s population in the past five years.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
