Adorable Eco Gear for Pets from Etsy.com
June 30, 2009
Oh, the amazing things you can find on Etsy.com. This online market is a treasure trove of handmade goods, and you won’t believe the adorable stuff we found for dogs and cats, from hoodies to vegetarian treats. Check it out, then head to Etsy.com and search for ‘eco pets’ to find even more!
Reversible Dog Coat by Annie’s Sweatshop
How ridiculously cute is this little coat (above) by Etsy seller Annie’s Sweatshop? It’s a hoodie made from Malden Mills Polartec Polarfleece fabric, which is comprised of recycled post-consumer PET containers an post-industrial polyester waste. It’ll be custom-made to fit your dog perfectly, in your choice of two colors with velcro closures and a little pompom.
Recycled sweatshirt fabric is stuffed with catnip and turned into two wacky cat toys that your feline friends will go crazy for. Everything is stitched on without the use of glues, and they’re big enough not to disappear under your couch. These cute eco cat toys are handmade in Vermont in small batches so the catnip will still be fresh and tasty when you get them.
Hemp & Recycled Fabric Dog Collar by WhinnyAndWoof
Etsy seller WhinnyAndWoof makes these fun and colorful dog collars from renewable and pesticide-free hemp webbing, stain-resistant recycled polyester, reusable hardware and water-based inks. They come in a variety of sizes, or you can request a custom size.
Earh-Friendly Cat Scratch Post by RootDog
Give cats something to scratch other than your furniture. This cat scratch post is made from recycled wood, hemp and carpet remnants with a vertical design that will satisfy your cat’s urge to arch her back and sharpen her claws.
Organic Vegetarian Carob Treats for Dogs by Shorty’s Gourmet
Your dogs will never know that these treats are vegetarian and chocolate-free. They’re organic, vegetarian and free of sugar, corn, salt, artificial colors, artificial flavors, byproducts and preservatives. You’ll get a vacuum-sealed pouch containing about 25 treats made to order by a gourmet chef.
Book Review: Gaia’s Garden, Second Edition
June 30, 2009
Gaia’s Garden is practically considered a gardening bible by many gardening enthusiasts who seek to worth with Nature rather than against it, and the second edition will prove to be even more valuable.
Gaia’s Garden focuses on permaculture gardening, an approach to small-scale agriculture that mimics the relationships found in nature. The idea is that plants, animals and organisms work in harmony to create a self-sufficient environment in which the need for human ‘input’ is fairly low. That means no artificial fertilizers, pesticides, or tilling. No endless trips to the garden center for supplies. Whereas most backyards contain ‘fragments’ – a vegetable garden here, a flower bed there, a pile of wood in a back area for critters – permaculture gardening brings all of these elements together as a cohesive whole.
For those who think gardening involves, by default, a lot of back-breaking work and expensive equipment, this concept may sound unlikely to prove successful. But it works by balancing the needs and benefits of each element in the garden, much in the way a natural ecosystem balances itself.
For example, much of the information in the book revolves around ‘guilds’, groups of plants that provide food or other useful products for humans, create cover and food for wildlife, repel pests, conserve water and nourish the soil. One such example is ‘the three sisters’ – corn,beans and squash – which work together so that each plant, and the garden as a whole, is able to thrive.
In addition to the practical advice about plants with many uses, encouraging beneficial microorganisms, attracting helpful insects and animals and bringing the soil to life, the second edition of Gaia’s Garden features a new chapter on urban permaculture designed especially for people who have limited growing space – a huge help for gardening enthusiasts who live in suburban or urban areas. Other new features include new color photographs and illustrations, as well as new plant lists.
Gaia’s Garden is not the kind of book you’ll be passing around to others – you’ll want to keep it all to yourself, because you’ll be using it as a reference again and again.
Link [Gaia’s Garden]
That’s not a UFO, it’s a Lenticular Cloud!
June 29, 2009
What’s that round, dense-looking object hovering in the sky? It wouldn’t be too hard for UFO believers to assume, particularly at twilight when they’re backlit, that these strange formations are actually alien aircraft. But, what you’re looking at is a natural phenomenon. Lenticular clouds form at high altitudes, aligned to the wind direction, and often seem to stay in the same place while other clouds move around them.
Lenticular clouds are particularly common over mountains, where strong wind flow pushes moist air upward, causing it to condense. They often look like discs, stacks of pancakes, funnels, or mushrooms. Sometimes, the air is forced in a pattern that resembles waves in the sea.
While they appear stationary, that’s actually not the case. The flow of moist air continually resupplies the cloud even as water evaporates, keeping the same shape until the wind or weather changes.
While power pilots try to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence of the rotor systems, sailplane pilots actively seek them out because they enable gliders to soar extremely high and far.
Check out this time lapse video of lenticular clouds forming over Mount Rainier:
Image via icestories.exploratorium.edu
So next time you see what you think might be a UFO, look a little closer. It might just be a mundane – yet spectacular – lenticular cloud formation.
Link [Wikipedia]
New Yamaha Electric Bike Goes Twice as Far Per Charge
June 29, 2009
Yamaha Motors is making a good thing even better by debuting an extended range version of the PAS Brace, an electric bike equipped with an assistance system that controls how much electrical power to send to the motor depending on what gear the bike is in. Once a top speed of about 24 km/h is reached, the electric system shuts down. An eight-speed rear hub allows shifting at any time, even from a dead stop.
In Japan, electric bikes are a common sight – you’ll see them whizzing past you in every major city, and most of the smaller cities as well. They’re also enjoying a major surge of popularity in China. They’re definitely an efficient way to get around, taking the convenience and earth-friendliness of a bicycle and giving it a big boost of extra power.
The Yamaha PAS Brace-L is expected to hit stores on July 1st at the very affordable price of roughly $1,500.
Link [EcoFriend]
Smart Green Design: Indoor Vertical Gardening for Apartment Dwellers
June 28, 2009
Sometimes, windows just aren’t enough to grow anything but shade-loving plants. Depending on what side of the building your apartment is on – or whether it’s looking out into an alley or courtyard – you might not get anywhere near enough sun to keep plants alive. So, what’s a wannabe gardening urbanite to do?
If a new concept by Ingela Viks + Liina-Kai Raivet takes off, you’ll have a way to grow all kinds of stuff inside your apartment, even if you’re short on space. The ‘Green Indoors’ is a vertical planting system that provides both light and water to growing plants with space for up to 24 plant pots.
From Inhabitat:
We’ve seen other indoor growing lightpots, but they tend to take up precious counter space. The Green Indoors plant stand consists of a flat metal base fitted with a light filled tube with a matte cover to minimize glare. The stand not only provides necessary light, but also automatically waters each plant individually according to its needs. When there is enough natural light, the plant stand shuts off its light, and it also turns off automatically at night.
Since it provides light, it has a double function as a lamp with that daylight tinge that people in rainy regions can really appreciate. This concept was created as part of the Designboom/BÜSSEL design competition – we really hope it goes into production! Cool green design that brings fresh homegrown food to anyone regardless of where they live = awesome.
Link [Inhabitat]
Useless: Are We Consumers or People?
June 28, 2009
Are you sick of being labeled a ‘consumer’, with all that it implies? We still have to buy stuff, but perhaps if we thought of ourselves as people instead of consumers, we’d start behaving like conscious individuals instead of a mindless mob.
A company called USELESS – that is, use less – is dedicated to reducing the impacts of irresponsible consumerism and helping those in the developing world who lack the basic necessities to lead healthy lives. Wait a minute – a for-profit company that sells products, telling people to use less? Does that even make sense?
Max Gladwell got some details in an interview with USELESS co-founder Mark Simmons:
Two years ago I was working with Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection trying to work out what to say about climate change that would get people from all walks of life involved to help solve the crisis. I saw that, while many people thought of climate change as a left wing conspiracy, they all felt, regardless of their political views, that we Americans use too much stuff. The thought of “use less” lodged in my mind and a year later when I was trying to develop a brand around reducing use of disposable water bottles and bags it struck me that “useless” would be a perfect name because on the face of it, while it is quite negative, if you scratch just below the surface you see it’s not negative at all, it’s a positive way to message about the desire to use less. And if on the one hand we in the developed world are using too much stuff and that’s contributing to climate change, on the other hand there are people in the developing world who are going without the very basics of life such as clean water and sanitation. In fact, 2.6 billion lack proper sanitation and resulting diseases is the biggest killer of children under five. So there is a natural counter-point to use less, which is to give more. The pieces then all fit into place for me. The brand would be called USELESS and its mission would be to help people USE LESS and GIVE MORE in a cool, thought-provoking way.
The point is, we can buy things that were made responsibly and will last a long time, thus reducing our own waste output and helping to improve the lives of other people around the world. USELESS sells t-shirts, hoodies, hats, messenger bags, reusable water bottles and other items that are made to last in the USA from organic, recycled or recyclable materials. 10% of the profits from USELESS sales go to water and sanitation projects.
Learn more about USELESS at Max Gladwell and check out the selection at USELESS.org.
Link [Max Gladwell] + [USELESS]
Seven Fun and Creative Eco-Friendly Business Cards
June 27, 2009
Why stop at printing on recycled card stock when you could make your business card super eco-friendly, creative and memorable all at once? After all, business cards are a dime a dozen – most of them go into your wallet and aren’t taken out again until you’re cleaning it out and ready to throw them away. These seven green business card ideas are definitely outside the box, making an impression that will last much longer than most.
Blooms When Dipped in Water
Seed packets or cards with seeds embedded in them are a popular eco option, but two ultra-creative takes on this idea caught our eye. The first is a growing business card by designer Jamie Wieck that acts as a mini-houseplant, blooming when the packet is dipped in water.
Next up is a card design that isn’t just green and eye-catching, but perfectly sums up what the business is all about. Landscape architecture firm Tur & Partner created this seeded business card that sprouts up a miniature garden when exposed to light and water.
Making it Your Own
What do you do when you make an important contact but are caught without your business cards? Reach for one of the ones you’ve already got in your wallet, scribble out the info and fill in your own. Just try not to hand your ‘recycled’ business card back to the person who gave it to you in the first place.
A Card with Many Uses
This concept, by designer Ji-Young Chun, was intended for use as a credit card, but it could definitely apply to business cards as well. If something has more than one use, people are going to be less likely to throw it away.
Of course, multi-use business cards are greener when they’re made using items that have a smaller ecological footprint in the first place, like secondhand household objects that somebody will actually find handy and keep. Clothespins, like the one seen above, are a great example.
Just Eat It
Okay, so this one is kind of counterproductive. As soon as someone eats it, your contact info is gone. But the concept is definitely an attention-getter, and they’re biodegradable, so that’s worth something, right?
Stamp on Scraps
Perhaps the greenest idea of all, this business card by Fischer Portugal can be created anytime, anywhere on just about any kind of material. A hand-held rubber stamp imprints your important details on scraps of cardboard, flyers, envelopes, receipts or whatever you might have on hand.
Green College Tech: Water-Cooled Supercomputer Doubles as Dorm Space Heater
June 27, 2009
Massive supercomputers use a lot of energy, but a new innovation by IBM could at least recycle some of the waste heat to help heat the universities where they are housed. The company also plans to use water to keep the supercomputers cool, which could lead to a reduction of overall energy consumption by at least 40 percent compared to similar air-cooled supercomputers.
“Energy is arguably the number one challenge humanity will be facing in the 21st century,” says Dimos Poulikakos, lead investigator of the project. “We cannot afford anymore to design computer systems based on the criterion of computational speed and performance alone.”
Supercomputers are used in energy research labs such as Argonne National Laboratory, in space research by NASA and at universities for scientific research, all applications which have a nearly insatiable demand for processing power. The new supercomputer, called Aquasar, will be housed at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and will have a top speed of 10 teraflops. (A teraflop is a trillion floating point operations per second, a measure of computing capacity.) While that’s a lot of computing power — a Core 2 Duo processor is capable of about 20 gigaflops, or 1/500 the speed of Aquasar — it’s a fraction of what some of the fastest supercomputers today. For instance, IBM’s Blue Gene/L supercomputer, which ranks fourth on the top 100 list, has a peak speed of 596 teraflops. Meanwhile, IBM has moved on to create its first supercomputer in Europe capable of one petaflop, or one thousand trillion operations per second.
Keeping these machines cool is a challenge: many of the chips used in supercomputer systems put out ten times as much heat as a typical kitchen hot plate. They have to be kept below 185 degrees Fahrenheit for optimal performance. It takes a whole lot of energy to do that the conventional way, so using water could potentially be a huge energy saver.
And to use the excess heat to keep students warm in the winter? Sheer brilliance!
Link [Wired] via [ENN]
Photo credit: CNET
Who’s Who in Green: Christopher Swain
June 26, 2009
Some of Christopher Swain’s earliest memories are of the Atlantic Ocean. He has long loved to swim, wade, snorkel, bodyboard and run in the waves. But as an adult, he’s swimming for a cause as often as he swims for pleasure. Swain swims the entire length of dirty waterways like the Hudson, the Charles and the Columbia Rivers to raise awareness about water issues on our planet.
And these are not pleasant, leisurely swims. He’s dodged injury and death many times in the process, surviving collisions with boats, 12-foot waves, lightning storms, class IV+ rapids, giant storage dams, industrial chemicals, nuclear waste, oil slicks, raw sewage, toxic blue-green algae, and repeated Sea Lamprey Eel attacks.
In 2003, Swain became the first person to swim the entire 1,243 mile length of the Columbia River. The purpose of the swim was to raise awareness about dislocated peoples and disrupted ecosystems of the Columbia River basin. His swim is the subject of the critically-acclaimed documentary SOURCE TO SEA: the Columbia River Swim, which received the Environmental Activism and Social Justice Award at the EarthVision Film Festival, and the Most Inspiring Adventure Film Award at the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival.
In April 2009, Swain began a 1000+ mile swim down the Atlantic Coast from Marblehead, Massachusetts to Washington, DC, helping students in over 2,000 classrooms launch projects designed to improve the health of our ocean planet. Swain is taking the swim one segment at a time, and you can follow his progress at Changents.com/ChristopherSwain.
Swain told The Sierra Club,
“If you’re in the business of conservation, you’ve got a responsibility to get outside. You’re not doing your job if you don’t. It’s not about e-mail blasts. It’s about what you can go out there and experience and come back and testify to. If you look at the people who’ve really done anything–John Muir, David Brower, Rachel Carson–you can feel it in their writing. Your credibility is going to come from your experience.”
Want to help Christopher on his journey? Adopt a mile of his swim.
Christopher Swain’s Green Score: 40,254
Great Green Job of the Week: Environmental Education Specialist, Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge
June 26, 2009
The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in Nampa, Idaho is seeking a full-time Environmental Education Specialist for an internship/volunteer position.
The Environmental Education Specialist will work with refuge staff and volunteers to develop and expand environmental education (EE) and interpretation opportunities that foster appreciation of, understanding of, and responsibility for Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and other local ecosystems.
Responsibilities:
The member will:
1. Increase awareness of refuge EE and interpretive programs through outreach to schools, community groups, and families,
2. Conduct on- and off-site EE programs for pre-K-12 students and community groups,
3. Coordinate on-site interpretive programs for community groups and the general public, including the Wild About Life lecture series and special events like BioBlitz, and
4. Develop partnership(s) with local schools and/or community organizations to encourage area youth to connect with nature through on- and off-site outdoor activities.
Eleven-month position from September 2009-July 2010.
Contact Information:
Susan Kain
208-467-9278 (phone)
208-467-1019 (fax)
susan_kain@fws.gov
http://www.fws.gov/deerflat
Link [Green Dream Jobs] + [Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge]
Photo credit: WesternViews.us
This is Why We Love Daryl Hannah
June 25, 2009
Vogue recently named Cameron Diaz “Queen of Green”, and while we’ve got nothing against the lovely Cameron, we respectfully disagree. If there’s any celebrity that deserves that title, it’s Daryl Hannah without a doubt.
Hannah is a real green warrior, living an authentically green life and putting her neck on the line for causes she feels passionate about. This isn’t your typical “look at me, I drive a Prius” wannabe green celebrity. Daryl Hannah cares, and she’s out there doing what she can to save the world.
Hannah was arrested on Monday afternoon along with about 30 other people including NASA scientist James Hansen and former Rep. Ken Hechler for blocking State Route 3 near a Massey Energy subsidiary’s coal plant in Raleigh County, West Virginia.
From Ecorazzi:
The peaceful protest on mountaintop removal coal mining, organized by local residents and the Rainforest Action Network, was met with strong opposition by a surprising crowd of Massey Energy workers and coal supporters. According to police, tensions ran high and one Massey supporter was arrested and charged with battery during a brief confrontation with protesters.
Of course, there are still tons of people out there that just don’t get it. Take this ridiculous comment, seen by Ecorazzi at the Charlotte Gazette:
“What is the value of the mountain other than what is in it? Actually it is a thing of beauty when foliated, but not all that pretty when leaves are gone. They make some people sick to drive in and always impede transportation. They present danger during snow and ice. How many people, who live in the areas affected, really give a hang about the mountains keeping their original contour?”
“Just thought I would ask an obvious question that I have not seen posed heretofore. Would the people living in the area prefer a peak on a mountain or have it flattened out for alternate use. Make a place for housing, industry, schools, recreation, etc. Actually, what is preferred if the coal profit were removed? It seems that it is OK to create jobs, but the fact that some entrepreneur makes a profit gives rise to a problem for some.”
Congratulations to Hannah and the rest of the protesters for getting this important message out into view of the public. Screw Jon and Kate, Perez Hilton’s crybaby drama and the Real Housewives of Skankville, this is the celebrity stuff that matters.
Link [Ecorazzi]
Photo credit: Rainforest Action Network
This Year’s Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone Might be Bigger than Ever
June 25, 2009
Every summer, a vast, oxygen-deprived ‘dead zone’ appears in the Gulf of Mexico, courtesy of runoff from Midwestern farms that travels down the Mississippi River. But this year, scientists say, that dead zone could be bigger than ever.
Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock waste flood the Gulf with nitrogen and phosphorous, which fuel explosive algae growth. When that algae dies and sinks to the sea floor, bacteria consume vast amounts of oxygen while eating the decomposing organic matter. That creates a ‘hypoxic’ zone where very few sea creatures can survive.
From Science Daily:
University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year’s Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar fishery.
The scientists’ latest forecast, released June 18, calls for a Gulf dead zone of between 7,450 and 8,456 square miles—an area about the size of New Jersey.
“The growth of these dead zones is an ecological time bomb,” said Scavia, a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment and director of the U-M Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.
“Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control them, we are putting major fisheries at risk,” said Scavia, who also produces annual dead-zone forecasts for the Chesapeake Bay.
It’s possible that this year’s dead zone will be roughly the same size as last year’s, but that will still mean that the five largest dead zones on record have occurred since 2001, a clear sign that the problem is getting much worse. The dead zone’s official size will be announced following an NOAA-supported monitoring survey on July 18th – 26th.
Link [Science Daily]
Photo credit: NASA
Climate Bill Will Cost Consumers Way Less than Republicans Claim
June 24, 2009
Republicans have spent the last couple months circulating false claims about how much the House climate change bill would cost consumers, with estimates skyrocketing into the ridiculous. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann recently claimed that the cost of climate action would be between $3,128 and $4,000 per household, and called for “armed and dangerous” opposition against climate action.
The Congressional Budget Office has put an end to all of the partisan speculation, confirming that climate change legislation would cost the average household a mere $175 a year by 2020, with the poorest 20% of households actually netting $40 annually.
From The Washington Post:
The costs would result from higher prices for carbon-based fuels, offset by a complex series of tax breaks and free allowances, new technologies and behavioral changes, and impacts on corporations and their profits.
The CBO, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, said it did not take into account any indirect benefits of slowing climate change, which are substantial but difficult to quantify.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said the CBO report shows that his bill is “effective and affordable.” Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the bill’s lead co-sponsor, said it showed that the cost would be about the same as a postage stamp a day for the average household.
But Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), said that the CBO analysts “got an unrealistically low number for cost per family because they didn’t factor in the millions of American jobs that will move overseas if the United States imposes this tax and our foreign competitors, like China and India, do not. I don’t know what color the sky is in a world where that won’t happen, but I’m sure you can ask the unicorns.”
Boehner’s office is hardly known for responsible and accurate number crunching. It was Boehner who initially claimed the $3,128 – $4,000 figure, citing some math done using a study by an MIT professor on a two-year-old cap and trade bill. But John Reilly, who conducted the study, says Boehner inflated the cost 10-fold by ignoring the offsetting benefits.
Eh, you know how it is. You can smell the desperation of Republican lawmakers from a mile away. They’ll do anything to con Americans into siding with them.
Link [The Washington Post]
Photo credit: [Jezebel] + [Esquire]
Bye-bye, Rudolph: Reindeer in Decline
June 24, 2009
Reindeer populations in Arctic regions around the world are in sharp decline, threatened by land development, logging and climate change. Arctic people in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and other areas depend upon these animals as both a food source and an important part of their spirituality.
Reindeer, known as caribou in North America, have decreased by an average of 60 percent overall, but in some cases the dips in numbers have been far more extreme.
From MSNBC:
“I want to emphasize the negative effects this will have on Arctic people who rely on caribou for sustenance,” said Liv Vors, a population ecologist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “If the situation continues at the rate it’s going, it will have profoundly negative economic, social and spiritual consequences.”
The researchers looked through government archives, previously published studies, wildlife management boards, and other sources to consolidate everything that was known about the animals and their population sizes over the last several decades. They ended up gathering data on about 58 major herds.
Of those 58, they reported in the journal Global Change Biology, 34 were in decline, eight were gradually increasing, and 16 were lacking enough data to tell for sure.
Among the herds that were suffering, the average dip was 57 percent since the most recent peak. Some populations were much harder hit. A herd in Labrador, north of Quebec, for example, had dropped from 750 animals to fewer than 100. In the Canadian High Arctic, a herd that was 50,000 animals strong 50 or 60 years ago now numbers fewer than 1,000.
Caribou are one of the last remaining species on earth that have retained their ancient migration routes, but that is threatened now as land is developed further north. Not all subspecies of caribou migrate, but even the ones that don’t need plenty of space and logging has seriously decreased the amount of forest they have to call home. Global warming has also caused an explosion in mosquito populations, and has brought whitetail deer bearing a parasitic disease into caribou territory.
How sad to think that one day way too soon, reindeer in children’s storybooks may seem just as mythological as Santa Claus.
Link [MSNBC]
Photo credit: LA Times Blog
Human Hair Used to Clean Up Oil Spills
June 23, 2009
It’s strong and absorbent, naturally grabbing onto oil and water like sponges. So, as gross as it sounds, mats of human hair actually make the ideal material for cleaning up oil spills. Ecological charity ‘Matter of Trust’ has thousands of pounds of it delivered by the tractor trailer load, so they can create the mats. That much hair might be a disgusting sight, but it’s making a huge difference at oil spill locations around the world. They’re hoping to find a way to mechanize the process so there can be on-site hair mat production facilities at any harbor that might need one. Check out a video over at MNN.com.
Volunteers have been using this method since 2007 for cleaning up oil spills in the San Francisco Bay, soaking up oil on the beaches with masses of matted hair the size of doormats donated by salons. Once the mats are soaked with oil, oyster mushrooms are placed on them to absorb the oil, converting it to compost in about 12 weeks. Mushrooms have been used in the bioremediation of many types of toxic substances for years.
Hey, it’s an organic, natural, renewable material that exists in plentiful quantities. It’s usually considered a waste material and thrown in the trash. It’s perfect!
Link [MNN] + [Inhabitat]
Photo credit: Chronicle/Michael Macor
Military Blocks Massive Solar Power Project in Nevada
June 23, 2009
A vacant piece of land in the Nevada desert gets year-round sunlight and has existing transmission lines left over from a mining operation – plus, there are no issues with wildlife. It seems like the perfect place to build a solar power operation.
But a solar project by Los Angeles company Solar Reserve that would have featured a vast field of mirrors, a molten-salt storage facility and a 600-foot ‘power tower’ has hit a major roadblock: opposition from the United States military.
Why would the military want to block the $700 million project, especially with an administration that is so keen to advance renewable energy? It turns out that piece of vacant land is too close for comfort to Nellis Air Force Base, and officials say it would compromise classified aspects of the Air Force’s training range.
From The Washington Post:
The Nevada plant was supposed to be a showcase for SolarReserve: one of the largest solar plants in the world, using heat-transfer technology developed for space rockets by United Technologies. A field of mirrors would focus sunlight on a receiver on a tall tower, where it would heat the molten salt to 1,050 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than other solar plants using similar technology. The molten salt would then flow to a storage tank, where its heat would generate steam and power conventional steam turbines similar to those in coal plants.
“We’re trying to build a facility that runs 24 hours a day,” said Kevin B. Smith, SolarReserve’s chief executive.
But Belote said the solar plant would compromise classified aspects of the Air Force’s training range and would interfere with radar. He said the Air Force would tell the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, which owns most of the land in the state, to reject the proposal. (The bureau controls more than 20 million acres of land with wind energy potential and more than 30 million acres with solar potential.)
SolarReserve officials “did a lot of [research] with publicly available tools,” Belote said. “But when they came back for an official look the answer was, ‘Man, that’s still too close.’ And because of the sensitivity [of information], I can’t tell them why. . . . Unfortunately for them and us, there’s stuff on the Nevada testing range we don’t tell anyone about.” Belote suggested they try another site, either 100 miles to the southeast or about 80 miles to the northeast, near the town of Mesquite.
SolarReserve is understandably upset, considering that they were pointed to this site by the air Force after an initial site was rejected as too close to the training base. They’ve spent 18 months in negotiations.
Of course, this just makes people intensely curious about what goes on at that Air Force training base, doesn’t it? The gears are turning in the minds of UFO believers.
Link [The Washington Post]
Solar Energy from Africa Could Power Europe
June 23, 2009
Europe could soon be partially powered by solar energy harvested in North Africa, if a new project called Desertec become reality. The project aims to capture solar energy with a method called concentrating solar power (CSP), transferring it from the desert to Europe through high-voltage transmission lines.
Last week, a group of German businesses announced plans to pursue financing for the project, which is expected to have a price tag around €400 billion, or $555 billion.
From The New York Times:
Munich Re, the large German insurance company, is leading the charge to bring the concept to fruition, and a meeting is scheduled for mid-July to formalize the coalition, which includes companies like Siemens, Deutsche Bank and the energy giant E.On.
“The time now is perfect to start this initiative,” Alexander Mohanty, a Munich Re spokesman, said in an e-mail message Friday, “as climate protection has become an urgent issue and our economies need new impulses.”
Large-scale C.S.P. projects — essentially expansive fields of solar collectors, or mirrors, that concentrate rays from the intense desert sun to heat water, generate steam, drive turbines and produce electricity — are not revolutionary. Such projects have been undertaken in the U.S. Southwest, Spain and elsewhere.
Once completed, Desertec would take the crown as the largest centralized solar power production project on earth. But, not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. Critics question why Europeans should rely on African territory for solar power, when they could harvest it in their own backyards. Frank Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld, Germany’s largest solar power company, believes that building solar plants in politically unstable countries would entail the same dependency problems as oil.
It also remains to be seen whether Africans would even benefit from this project. Do we really need to rip yet another resource out of their hands?
Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Flickr user Shayan
End of the Line: We’ll be Out of Fish by 2050
June 22, 2009
Imagine a world without fish. Such a scenario wouldn’t just affect what ends up on your dinner plate – it would have global consequences, from dramatic changes in ocean ecosystems to worldwide famine.
The End of the Line, a documentary revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation.
From the End of the Line website:
Scientists predict that if we continue fishing as we are now, we will see the end of most seafood by 2048.
The End of the Line chronicles how demand for cod off the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1990s led to the decimation of the most abundant cod population in the world, how hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how farmed fish as a solution is a myth.
The film lays the responsibility squarely on consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, politicians who ignore the advice and pleas of scientists, fishermen who break quotas and fish illegally, and the global fishing industry that is slow to react to an impending disaster.
The End of the Line points to solutions that are simple and doable, but political will and activism are crucial to solve this international problem.
In six exclusive episodes at Babelgum.com, director Rupert Murray takes us behind the scenes and deeper into the issues raised by the film. You can also check out video extras, get info about screenings in your area and learn more about what you can do to help.
Link [End of the Line]
Turning Rotten Bananas into Bricks of Fuel
June 22, 2009
In some African countries, like Rwanda, bananas are plentiful – and so are their discarded peels. But one thing that’s not plentiful is affordable fuel for cooking, lighting and heating. Researchers at Nottingham University have found a way to use the resources that are available by turning rotten banana peels into briquettes that would not only provide fuel but also help reduce deforestation by limiting reliance on firewood.
From BBC News:
According to scientists, for every one tonne of bananas, there are an estimated 10 tonnes of waste, made up of skins, leaves and stems.
It was on a visit to Rwanda that Joel Chaney, a PhD student from the University of Nottingham came up with the idea of developing a low-tech approach to turn this banana waste into an efficient fuel source.
Back in the laboratory at the University’s faculty of engineering, Joel showed me how to make bananas burn.
He first mashes a pile of rotting skins and leaves. This pulp is then mixed with saw dust, compressed and dried to create briquettes that ignite readily and throw out a steady heat, ideal for cooking.
“The banana skins bind other materials together really well, they act like glue,” says Mr Chaney.
“We can then either form the material into a ball by hand, or use a press to squeeze the materials together and squeeze the liquid out.
“Once we’ve pressed them we can lay the briquettes outside in the sun, and within about two weeks we have some dried fuel.”
This fuel source is ideal for third world conditions because the briquettes can be made by hand, without any mechanical equipment. Using banana briquettes as fuel would help countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi keep forests intact. These countries currently rely on firewood for 80% of their fuel needs.
We are really blown away by the creativity and innovation that is happening right now in the alternative fuel industry. Add rotten bananas to the list of amazingly unexpected fuel sources that might collectively help us exit the age of reliance on fossil fuels.
Link [BBC News]
