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Posts tagged environment
Bird deodorant to keep predators away
Sep 28th
In New Zealand, some birds, such as the kiwi, have a foul smell that lures predators to track them down for a meal. This smell comes from the pruning wax on the feathers, and the continental counterparts to these New Zealand birds don’t have this smell. So one biologist has developed a deodorant to mask this smell and to help save endangered species.
Jim Briskie, an associate professor from Canterbury University, suspects that the native birds’ unpleasant scent is contributing to their dramatic decline in numbers. He believes that birds, like the kiwi, never learned to dampen-down the scent, putting them at quite the disadvantage now that the island is full of unwelcome bird-hungry guests. He says that kiwis have a smell that’s similar to mushrooms or ammonia, making them easy to find for predators. Another bird, the kakapo parrot, is said to smell “like musty violin cases”. According to the Dominion Post, Briskie was recently awarded a grant of $440,000 to further his theory and help him develop a sweet-smelling solution to the problem.
It’s not just finding renewable energy sources, it’s actually using them
Sep 25th
Ecotricity is a British electric company dedicated to changing the way electricity is produced. They take the money customers spend on electricity and invest it in clean forms of power like wind energy. Ecotricity is the only green electricity company actually building these new renewable energy sources. In 2007 alone they invested £25 million in wind energy. For every pound a customer spends on electricity, Ecotricity spends another pound on renewable energy.
The company has 33 wind parks either in operation (15), in construction (6), or in the planning process (12). This amounts to 108 wind turbines and 276,000 tonnes of CO2 saved every year. Over 40,000 homes and businesses are powered through Ecotricity, serving folks all over the United Kingdom.
The company has 33 wind parks either in operation (15), in construction (6), or in the planning process (12). This amounts to 108 wind turbines and 276,000 tonnes of CO2 saved every year. Over 40,000 homes and businesses are powered through Ecotricity, serving folks all over the United Kingdom.
Though Ecotricity specializes in wind energy, the company is also moving toward investing in green gas (biofuels essentially) and solar energy. They also have a program called Microtricity, where homes will get paid, you heard correctly, to create electricity out of their own homes. One kilowatt of solar panels for one home creates 850kWh of electricity, paying you £364/$571 a year tax-free. This saves about £64/$100 per year on the electric bill, combining to an annual benefit of £428/$671. With results like that, who wouldn’t want Ecotricity?
It Doesn’t Always Have to be about Subsistence Farming and Growing Locally
Sep 22nd
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will open its second GreenChill certified store at Oceanside Blvd. & College Blvd. in Oceanside, California on Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Fresh & Easy opened its first GreenChill store in Rosemead, California, which was also the first grocery store in Southern California to utilize a CO2 refrigeration unit.
EPA’s GreenChill Partnership works with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change. Under the agreement with the EPA, Fresh & Easy works to achieve to the following:
- Transition to refrigerants that have a lower environmental impact;
- Lower refrigerant charge sizes and eliminate leaks; and
- Adopt green refrigeration technologies, strategies, and practices.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, GreenChill’s food retail partners have refrigerant emissions rates 50% lower than the EPA-estimated industry average. If every supermarket in the nation reduced refrigerant emissions down to GreenChill’s average, they could prevent the equivalent of 22,000,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year. That is equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 4.2 million passenger vehicles. In addition, these stores would save over $100 million every year, which would help customers save money too.
Fresh & Easy worked closely with partners Kysor/Warren and Southwest Refrigeration on the Oceanside store, which earned its silver certification award from the EPA GreenChill Partnership by meeting tough benchmarks for cutting emissions that harm the earth’s protective ozone layer and contribute to global warming. Fewer than 40 of the nation’s 35,000 grocery stores have received GreenChill Store Certification awards.
On average, Fresh & Easy stores use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket – helping save customers money while helping the environment. Fresh & Easy uses LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, offers customer recycling in every store, and uses advanced refrigeration and freezer units to cut back on energy usage.
Steve Hagen, Fresh & Easy’s Director of Procurement presenting at the FMI Energy & Store Development Conference said today, “In addition to our efforts to reduce refrigerant emissions, we also are working on innovative ways to save energy, such as utilizing skylights, LED lighting and technological advancements like EnviroTower, which saves a significant amount of water in our stores.
It’s Flying, with Style
Sep 15th
Efforts are underway to harness the wind in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which could contain as much as 870 terawatts of power — that’s 870 trillion watts! Being able to harness this energy has one significant advantage: it would take less raw material per watt of power, translating to a lower cost per watt.
One design, from Joby Energy, hopes to launch a 500-kilowatt winged turbine next year,. The company claims to be able to use just 20 tons of material per megawatt, compared to the conventional wind power industry average of 96 tons. In order to keep such a turbine from floating off into space, Joby plans to attach tether propellers with a cord. Makani Power’s idea is an airborne wind turbine, which launches when wind speeds reach 3.5 m/s. The turbine does not have any fuel or batteries and fliest crosswind in a circular pattern in order to generate power.
One design, from Joby Energy, hopes to launch a 500-kilowatt winged turbine next year,. The company claims to be able to use just 20 tons of material per megawatt, compared to the conventional wind power industry average of 96 tons. In order to keep such a turbine from floating off into space, Joby plans to attach tether propellers with a cord. Makani Power’s idea is an airborne wind turbine, which launches when wind speeds reach 3.5 m/s. The turbine does not have any fuel or batteries and fliest crosswind in a circular pattern in order to generate power.
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Sep 13th
But it could be easier if everyone is green together. Website Ecofirms.org does just that: connecting environmentally friendly companies and organizations from around the world into an online database. This will help these companies establish new partnerships as well as help eco-friendly consumers find service with the green attitude they are looking for. Companies can register to be listed with no cost at all and even publish environmental essay, reports and research. To register as a an ecofirm, companies must meet at least one of four criteria: the main activity is focused on preserving the environment, the promotion or selling of eco friendly products / services / lifestyle, the holding or pending of supporting eco certifications or eco memberships, and/or are registerration as GO, NGO, Non Profit, or Charity. The website also features video and news covering eco-friendly issues.
Yes, no carbons were emitted upon placing this call
Sep 6th
Looking to get a new phone? Try one of these eco-friendly models, which are not only comparable in price to other models but are made from post-consumer content. Sony Ericsson’s Elm and Naite come with e-manuals instead of a printed one. The Elm has low power consumption to help save energy. The Motorola W233 Renew is the first phone made from recycled water bottles, and comes with a postage-paid recycling envelope for that old phone. The Samsung Blue Earth is the most expensive of the bunch, but comes with its own solar panel, so no more losing that charger or leaving it at the hotel 500 miles away. The Blue Earth is also made from recycled plastic bottles and contains no hazardous materials. Research from 2008 shows that the average person makes 10 call per day. So why not help the earth at the same time?
That’s one way to get the message out
Sep 5th
British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy has created an anti-BP statement where you’d least expect one, both ordinarily and for Banksy. A coin-operated Dolphin kiddie ride adorned with a fishing net jumps over a leaking BP oil barrel in Brighton, England. Two girls seen in a video riding the dolphin don’t pay any attention to the subliminal messaging, even as someone who seems to be their mother snaps a photo of them and the dolphin on her cell phone. Perhaps that’s the point, to make people take a second look when there seems to be something weird with the dolphin. Banksy (who’s true identity is still unknown) has been known for environmental commentary through his art, but this veers from his traditional style of urban graffiti. Images and video after the break
It’s Liquid Wood
Sep 3rd
Another plastic replacement that’s 100 percent organic, Arboform is a German invention that has the mobility and durability of plastic with naturalness of wood. It is produced after combining lignin, a discarded element of regular wood with natural resins, flax and fiber and decomposes into water and carbon dioxide. Images after the break
Old Red Goes Green
Sep 1st
With the environmental movement, why not improve the old building materials instead of making entire new ones? Introducing the save water brick from designer Jin-young Yoon that has built-in grooves meant to funnel water for gardening or long-term underground storage. Made from recycled plastic and decomposed leaves, the save water brick has the grooves on one side and looks like a normal brick on the other. So those self-conscious environmentalists can still blend in while sticking to eco-friendly principles. Images after the break.
Airplanes can change the weather
Aug 28th
A new study has found that airplanes create something called hole-punch clouds, which could change the weather on a local level. These clouds are created when airplanes fly through other clouds, creating cloud tunnels. When these tunnels are made, aircraft can release precipitation, causing it to rain or snow. This discovery could lead to a better understanding of cloud formation and the possibility of deliberately “making it rain.”
