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DOE Rolls Out $47M for Smart Grid Demos, Unveils First Smart Grid Status Report
Eight smart grid demonstration projects in seven states have just hit pay dirt. The Department of Energy today announced awards of more than $47 million in stimulus funds for the projects, adding to the $17 million that the agency invested in them last year after a competitive application process. Among the companies cashing in today are Massachusetts-based American Superconductor, Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) of New York, California’s Zenergy Power and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Thank You Vancouver! The City Gave a Lane of the Burrard Bridge to Cyclists : TreeHugger
A week ago, the city of Vancouver converted 1 of the 5 lanes of Burrard Bridge into a bike lane for a 3-month trial. This was a controversial move, many motorists predicted the apocalypse and the media, smelling blood, were on the scene to interview angry drivers. But as Gordon Price documented on his blog (choice cuts below), carmaggedon was averted and cyclists, pedestrians and joggers turned out en masse.
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The biggest single producer of carbon emissions in the European Union has been named – and it is about to get even bigger. The appropriately titled Elektrownia Belchatow – a massive coal-fired power station – belched out 30,862,792 tonnes of CO2 last year and by 2010 the whole generating facility will have grown by 20%.
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London Needs to Set Walking and Cycling Targets for 2012 Olympics : TreeHugger
What London needs is more bike lanes (especially physically separated ones) and maybe even some pedestrian-only streets.
The city will live with the legacy of the 2012 Olympics for a long time. Come on, seize the moment and make London a more bike and pedestrian-friendly city.
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Worldchanging: Bright Green: Mountaintop Mining Legacy: Destroying Appalachian Streams
The environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia has been well documented. But scientists are now beginning to understand that the mining operations’ most lasting damage may be caused by the massive amounts of debris dumped into valley streams.
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A way cool invention, the Lifesaver bottle uses an ultra filtration system, originally developed for industrial applications.
Lifesaver bottle will remove bacteria, viruses, cysts, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens. It does all this without the aid of any foul tasting chemicals like iodine or chlorine.
As I pointed out to a friend one day “using chemicals to kill bacteria is not always effective and anyway all you are doing is drinking a chemical cocktail with some dead pathogens in it.â€
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the best place to find energy saving electricals that save you money and help the environment – in-use and standby power ratings of most electrical items
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Two female protesters who challenged police officers for not displaying their badge numbers at Kingsnorth power station, Kent, were bundled to the ground, arrested and held in prison for four days last August, according to an official complaint lodged last month. Val Swain, 43, and Emily Apple, 33, both mothers with young children, said they were targeted because they campaign for Fit Watch which opposes police surveillance at demonstrations.
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First ‘climate friendly’ labels appear on foods – environment – 16 July 2009 – New Scientist
SWEDEN is to become the first country to slap “climate-friendly” labels on food products. The hope is that the labels will prompt consumers to buy greener products, but there are worries that some companies may use the scheme to “greenwash”.
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Major Breakthrough With Water Desalination System
researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science are working hard to help alleviate the state’s water deficit with their new mini-mobile-modular (M3) “smart” water desalination and filtration system.
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Eco Tech: Trashed LCD Screens Have Medicinal Value, Study – Ecofriend
Apart from containing several toxins that always make trashed LCD screens an ever increasing threat to the ecosystem, researchers believe that LCD screens carry compounds that can be recycled for their medicinal value. These researchers opine that the solution is not just for hospital patients but also for e-waste.
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LEDs and efficient TVs point the way towards my dream green home | Environment | guardian.co.uk
It’s the final push to bring our 1920s house into a modern, low-carbon age – this week, we focus on the last few touches – appliances and rare light bulbs
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The low-carbon wine baa | Environment | guardian.co.uk
A New Zealand winemaker believes he has struck upon the solution to reducing the carbon footprint of wine – and the answer, which may come as no great surprise, lies in sheep. Miniature sheep, that is.
There are only 300 of them in the world and they were originally bred as cute miniature pets, but Peter Yealands believes that babydoll sheep could help him to reduce the environmental footprint of his wine.
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350: The Number That Will Save the Planet : Planet Green
You have likely seen the number 350 pop up when talking about carbon emissions. The number is key to survival of the planet – it represents the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is safe to have if we expect life to continue to thrive.
As author and activist Bill McKibben noted during Earth Month, top scientist James Hansen and his NASA team have stated that anything above 350 parts per million “is not compatible with the planet ‘on which civilization developed and to which life is adapted.’” In other words, we need to be under that number, or else. Right now, we’re well above it at 387 parts per million, and that’s a problem.
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Calculate Your Water Footprint : Planet Green
We have carbon footprint calculators galore. But thankfully, we’re all becoming increasingly aware of how our water consumption habits impact future supplies. We’re quickly learning that our water footprint is a very important thing to know so that we can actively work to reduce it.
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Every once in a while you get a story so strange and horrible that it takes a while to sink in. I’m talking about the suicide of a Foxconn employee who was caught doing something with an “iPhone prototype†and jumped out of the window.
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Trade tariffs in a House-passed bill to limit heat-trapping pollution could undermine US efforts to persuade developing countries to enter into a new global warming treaty, says IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri.
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Finland: Study finds tap water purer than bottled water | Inside the Bottle
Tap water in Finland has been found to be significantly purer than bottled drinking water.
A fresh study by the National Public Health Institute indicates that bottled water contains up to 100 times more microbes than the average for tap water. Water in spring water machines contained up to 1,000 times more microbes than tap water. The study found that being kept for a long time in plastic containers significantly weakens the quality of bottled water. -
Fair Trade Chocolate Hits the Mainstream | GreenBiz.com
An announcement from a major chocolatier is giving social justice advocates something to smile about. Cadbury proclaimed its popular Dairy Milk chocolate bar sold in the U.K. will now contain 100 percent Fair Trade certified cocoa, harvested sustainably from farms in Ghana.
Sweet! <- intentional pun ;-)
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Giant Flowers Give You Free Wifi and Electricity – The Next Web
As part of Toyota’s national marketing campaign for the third generation Prius hybrid car to launch in 2010, the company is planting giant solar-powered flowers in urban areas. The flowers generate electricity and provide free Wi-Fi and electricity for anyone passing by.
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Over the next two to three years the Chinese government will pay up to 50 percent of the price of solar power systems of more than 500 megawatts. In remote areas it will pay up to 70 percent of the cost.
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Oil companies, electric utilities and the coal industry have poured more than $250,000 this year into the coffers of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the party’s House fundraising arm that has played a lead role in attacking Democrats who supported climate legislation.
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Shipping Eco-Friendly Products in Mulfunctional Packages | Dornob
This is a beautifully simple example of brilliant green packaging design. It solves three common product design problems at once by (1) providing sturdier packaging for shipping shirts, (2) making it easy to recycle and (the best part) (3) having it transform into something sustainable, reusable and useful that works with the object in the package.
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30 Workers Now Occupy Ill-Fated UK Wind Turbine Plant : Planetsave
The planned closure of a wind turbine manufacturing facility on England’s Isle of Wight moved several workers to seize control of the plant on Monday night.
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Aviation now contributes 4.9% of climate change | News & Events | Manchester Metropolitan University
A group of experts reporting to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has increased dramatically the figure it believes aviation contributes to climate change.
In a report published last month, the eight international scientists put aviation’s total contribution -’radiative forcing’ – in 2005 at 4.9%.
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Indian Farmers Use Mobile Phones to Control Irrigation – Business Center – PC World
Mobile Operator Tata Teleservices is testing technology that allows farmers to use their mobile phones to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pump sets in far flung locations.
Service looks expensive for india, we’ll see how it pans out…
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FT.com / Technology – Samsung to spend $4bn on eco-tech
Asia’s biggest producer of chips, flat-panel screens and mobile phones, announced plans to invest Won5,400bn ($4.3bn) by 2012 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Mercedes-Benz Confirms 526 HP Fully Electric Gullwing : Gas 2.0
It’s official. Last week, German automaker Mercedes-Benz confirmed its intentions to build a fully electric version of the SLS AMG Supercar.
The AWD car will have separate transmissions for both axles and electric motors at each wheel. With a combined power output of 392 Kw–which packs 649 lb-ft of torque–the car will get a jaw-dropping 526 horsepower.
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Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has published a blockbuster study, “Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture.†The paper concludes that First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) carbon capture and storage plants are going to be much more expensive than most people realize:
1. The costs of carbon abatement on a 2008 basis for FOAK IGCC plants are expected to be approximately $150/tCO2 avoided (with a range $120-180/tCO2 avoided), excluding transport and storage costs….
This yields “levelised cost of electricity on a 2008 basis is approximately 10¢/kWh higher with capture than for conventional plants.“ So pick your favorite price for new coal plants — Moody’s said last year that is about 11¢/kWh — and add 10¢ and you get 20+¢/kWh.
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Ian Thorpe: Australia’s dirty little secret – Crikey
In a speech given at the “Beyond Sport Summit†in London on Thursday July 9, 2009, Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe dove head first into Australia’s failure to address the problems in its indigenous communities.
A shocking indictment of the neglect of Australia’s Aborigines -
HP wins Walmart’s design challenge
HP developed a sturdy and stylish messenger bag and put the HP Pavilion dv6929wm Entertainment Notebook PC inside.
The unique HP Protect Messenger Bag guards the notebook during shipping and is put directly on a Walmart shelf. Customers leave Walmart with just their new notebook, accessories and a convenient, reusable messenger bag— and avoid the hassle and waste of boxes and excess packaging. -
TEDGlobal: The genius of the natural world | Media | guardian.co.uk
From bacteria-free surfaces based on shark skin to carbon-sequestering cement, Janine Benyus says humanity should look to nature for technological inspiration
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Police make more arrests at wind turbine factory protest | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Two men detained outside Vestas plant on Isle of Wight as owners erect fence around site in response to demonstration against its closure
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Editorial Ass: Is It True?! Are 40% of Books Printed Pulped?!
A little while ago, we were talking about low publishing salaries, and the causal low publishing profit margins. Carol asked the question–is it true that 40% of books printed are destroyed? That we publishers overprint and don’t sell and then destroy bunches of books?
Before I get into answering this question, I want to warn you that the whole system is so stupid you’re going to want to hit your head against a wall. So try not to sit near any walls.
Um. Yes. The answer is yes.
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Nikebiz:Media: Press Releases:2009:Amazon Leather Policy
NIKE today reinforced its commitment to the environment by releasing new leather sourcing guidelines aimed at helping slow the rate of Amazon deforestation due to cattle grazing within the basin.
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GreenSmith Consulting: I Hate to Break it to You About Neoprene, But….
It’s easy to say you haven’t got something in your product. Encouraged even. Petroleum free is a popular one. And yet, what are the consequences of what’s used in its place? GreenSmart faced this quandry, and came up with an interesting, evolving solution.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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