The Inquisitr » environment

This isn’t what they mean by biofuels

Steven Hodson — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:57:35 +0000

Seriously. Dude. This really isn’t what they mean when they say to use biofuels in your vehicles.

Chalk this one up in the FAIL column.

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1,700 miles of floating garbage – our garbage

Steven Hodson — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:30:00 +0000

We live in a throw-away society. Don’t want it anymore throw it away – anywhere. Finished that bottle of water just toss the bottle to the curb after all no-one gives a shit anyway. The problem is that all that thrown away plastic is collecting in places we don’t see everyday and causing an ecological disaster.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of those collections of garbage but because it is somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean no-one cares. Even the word patch is a misnomer given that this one section of floating garbage covers some 1,700 miles.

Researchers from Project Kaisei and the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) recently journeyed through the entire area collecting samples as they went. The expedition included researchers, sailors, journalists and government officials and lasted four weeks. As for the size of the patch – the 1,700 miles is only the distance that the expedition travelled before having to return, members of the research teams say it is much larger than that they just didn’t have enough time to map it all.

Mary Crowley, Project Kaisei co-founder, said: "More than 30 years ago, on my first trip to the North Pacific Gyre I found a few glass ball fishing floats, one net and there were, in four days, perhaps two pieces of floating plastic.

"Returning now with Project Kaisei .. the marine debris situation shows a startling change in this same area. In 30 minutes one easily can count up to 400 pieces of plastic on the sea’s surface."

The team found a variety of invertebrates living in the debris, including crabs, sea anemones, barnacles, sponges and algae, sparking fears that the plastic may aid the spread of invasive species.

Source: BBC – Voyage confirms plastic pollution

images via Wikipedia and Inhabitat

Please don’t smoke the walls

Steven Hodson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:02:50 +0000

It is absolutely amazing the diversity of materials we are using these days as building materials for our homes and business. As we move further into a world looking for sustainability and ways not to damage the environment around us the ideas are coming hot and heavy about even newer materials. Considering that in the US buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions the demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint building the demand for building materials to meet these needs will only increase.

One new (to the United States) material that is getting a lot of attention is from a UK-based business, Lhoist Group, and their Tradical® Hemcrete® concrete substitute. This a product made from mixing hemp, lime and water and is 7x as strong as normal concrete as well as being carbon negative.

Good looking, environmentally friendly and 100% recyclable, Hemcrete® is as versatile as it is sustainable. It can be used in a mind-boggling array of applications from roof insulation to wall construction to flooring. It is seven times stronger than concrete, weighs half as much, and is less prone to cracking. Hemcrete® is also waterproof, fireproof, insulates well, does not rot and is completely recyclable. In fact, the manufacturers say that demolished Hemcrete® walls can actually be used as fertilizer!

Source: Inhabitat :: Carbon Negative Hemp Walls are 7x Stronger than Concrete

The problem is that the species of hemp used in making Hemcrete is illegal to grow in the US which means the product has to be imported making an expensive alternative for now.

image courtesy of Inhabitat

The art of being green and recyclable

Steven Hodson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:05:06 +0000

Everyone is all hot to trot these days about repurposing, recycling, re-using just about anything that won’t biodegrade in your hands while you look at it. While a lot of the stuff we see is more arts and crafty style there are those rare times when something really cool comes along the way.

Such is the case with the work by Joel Hester through his Huston based company Weld House. Take the hood of the car in the picture above. One would figure that once a car reaches this point there’s not much left to do with it. Well, it’s a good thing that Joel doesn’t feel that way or we wouldn’t have the please of having a really cool set of side tables like these ones

Through Weld House, Joel has taken the idea of repurposing the broken down and decaying vehicles at a junk yard and giving them a new life as usable objects. Much like taking the hood of this clunker of a pickup and making a coffee table anyone would be willing to brag about.

Some might consider a starting price of around the $700 mark to be a little high but for that you are helping the environment and getting some cool bragging rights at the same time. You can see the full range of his work through his Flickr stream or drop by the Weld House site to see about getting something of your own.

hat tip to Treehugger

Need to fill up your hydrogen powered car? Pull up to the port-o-johnny

Steven Hodson — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:32:16 +0000

As we look for different way to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to power out automobiles hydrogen has been suggested as an excellent source of vehicle power. The big problem with that though is the inherent high price of converting water into hydrogen and oxygen. This means that all the hydrogen in production today comes via the use of fossil fuels.

However US researcher Gerardine Botte from Ohio University may have just found a way to utilize urine through an electrolytic process to produce hydrogen. This would result in the power source being created at a fraction of the cost it currently takes.

Botte says the idea came to her several years ago at a conference on fuel cells, where they were discussing how to turn clean water into clean power. ‘I wondered how we could do this better,’ she adds – so started looking at waste streams as a better source of molecules from which to produce hydrogen.

Urine’s major constituent is urea, which incorporates four hydrogen atoms per molecule – importantly, less tightly bonded than the hydrogen atoms in water molecules. Botte used electrolysis to break the molecule apart, developing an inexpensive new nickel-based electrode to selectively and efficiently oxidise the urea. To break the molecule down, a voltage of 0.37V needs to be applied across the cell – much less than the 1.23V needed to split water.

‘During the electrochemical process the urea gets adsorbed on to the nickel electrode surface, which passes the electrons needed to break up the molecule,’ Botte told Chemistry World. Pure hydrogen is evolved at the cathode, while nitrogen plus a trace of oxygen and hydrogen were collected at the anode. While carbon dioxide is generated during the reaction, none is found in the collected gasses as it reacts with the potassium hydroxide in the solution to form potassium carbonate

Source: RSC :: Chemistry World – Urine turned into hydrogen fuel

Granted we aren’t likely to be pulling up to port-o-johns instead of gas pumps any time soon but you gotta admire people who are willing to brave experimenting with our bodily function left-over’s on the off chance we can use them in a good way.

hat tip to EcoGeek.org

Excuse me, but is that a daisy growing out of your camera lens?

Steven Hodson — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:45:00 +0000

I’m not much of a camera buff but I know a lot of folks in the tech world are. In some cases it seem to go hand in hand, just as poker does. This means that there are a lot of tech type folks around with camera equipment some of which after years of us might not be in working order, but what to do with those broken lends and camera bodies?

How about turning them into planters?

Yes, planters.

The folks over at Photojojo have an excellent post up today on how you can turn those broken lens and unusable camera bodies into some cool DIY flower planters. So rather than being an environmental bad boy check the post out and do your bit for the environment and be cool doing it – but don’t forget to take some pics.

image courtesy of Photojojo

New report shows Mississippi Delta to lose 4,000 square miles

Steven Hodson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:20:03 +0000

One of the biggest debate going on between global climate change believers and detractors is the rise of sea levels around the world. When it comes to the US a new study in the Nature Geoscience (subscription required) journal is suggesting that the changes in the Mississippi Delta area could be far worse that previously thought.

It is suggested that the area could see between 3,800-5,200 square miles of coastal land will be submerged.

The researchers say that retaining existing delta surface area would require 18-24 billion tons of sediment deposition, something made critically more difficult because the sediment load of the Mississippi has been reduced by 50% due to dam construction in the Mississippi River basin.

They conclude that "significant drowning is inevitable" and that land areas now below 1 meter in elevation will become open water or marsh.

Source: Treehugger :: 4,000 Square Miles of Mississippi Delta Inevitably Drowned Due to Sea Level Rise: New Estimate Shows

Why do I get the feeling that we will be arguing about this stuff right up to the point when we’re all wearing hip-waders just to go down to the corner store.

image courtesy of NASA

Let’s see … iPhone or less harm to the environment – which would you pick?

Steven Hodson — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Technology is a driving force in our world, however if that world is facing environmental problems which do you think the majority of people would choose?

The Shelton Group wondered the same thing which lead to a recent study using a sampling group of 1,006 and asked them the the following question – "If these things were harming the environment, which of the following would you be willing to give up?," The percentages of those who would be willing to do without some gadget or modern convenience broke down like this:

iPod – 38 percent
Dishwasher – 35 percent
Microwave – 25 percent
Cellular phone – 21 percent
Air conditioning – 14 percent
TV – 13 percent
Computer – 7 percent
Car – 6 percent
None of the above – 21 percent
All of the above – 6 percent

In other words says market researcher Suzanne Shelton, “Consumers don’t want to give up the modern conveniences of life. We’re all basically saying, ‘I’ll be green as long it doesn’t make me uncomfortable or inconvenienced.’”

This doesn’t surprise me one little bit.

hat tip to EcoGeek.org

We know the National Debt clock but how about one for greenhouse gases?

Steven Hodson — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0000

Pretty well every American knows about the National Debt Clock located on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. It’s a stark reminded for anyone that passes it by just how far in debt the country is. Well now thanks to a team of researchers at MIT and Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division the National Debt clock will be joined by the Greenhouse Gases in Our Atmosphere digital billboard just outside of Madison Square Gardens and Penn Station.

The billboard is 70-feet-tall and is being used to display how many tonnes of long-lived greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere. As well the data will be made available online and through a downloadable widget that you can add to your desktop or website.

At the unveiling the billboard showed that there are currently 3.64 trillion tons of these long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere with 800 metric tonnes being added every second.

Speaking following the launch of the counter, Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division, said the aim of the new counter was to provide a tangible reminder of the impact of climate change.

"We cannot see greenhouse gases, so it is easy to forget that they are accumulating rapidly," he said. "It will be a huge task to bring global emissions under control and my hope is that putting this data in public view will spur both governments and markets to move us more quickly to a low-carbon economy."

MIT’s John Reilly said the counter would lag slightly behind real time as the rate of increase in emissions would be based on data collected on a monthly basis. He also confirmed that the effect of seasonal variations had been stripped out from the data to give a better picture of the underlying rate of interest.

But he insisted that with the counter drawing on measurements from dozens of atmospheric stations around the world, it presented the most up-to-date information on greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: Business Green

Is it just me or does that sound like a lot of greenhouse gases being added?

Photo via RedGreenandBlue

An interesting way to get solar panels up and running

Steven Hodson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:35:05 +0000

As we continue down the road to more green types of energy solar panels are touted as being the one way that individuals can do their part. The big problem with that though is the cost outlay to buy and install those solar panels. While many people might like the idea of being able to give the power companies the big index finger the vast majority just don’t have those type of funds.

Well it would seem that the city of San Diego has realized this and have come up with possible solution that just might encourage more people to go solar. Starting in July the city will being launching a new initiative that will see the city finance the cost of the solar panels and allow homeowners to pay back the loan with their property tax bills over 20 years.

The loans will be at a fixed rate and will be transferrable if you sell your home during the life of the loan.

It is nice to see that San Diego can realize the benefits of solar power – especially in the hands of individuals – and is willing to make this kind of investment. Not too mention as well that this would also see additional funds being added to the city coffers through the interest being charged on the loans. One would think that this is one of those win-win situations for everyone involved.

[hat tip to EcoGeek]

The business of greenwashing equals more profits

Steven Hodson — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:32:37 +0000

With the growing concern, right or wrongly, about climate change and the need to consider more environmentally friendly products when buy both everyday products and our tech toys has become a major factor. As more and more people start looking for these alternatives companies are rushing forward with claims about how green their products are and how they are going to improve in the future. The problem is that a large percentage of these claims are pure bullshit.

For those of you not familiar with the term greenwashing it means, according to Wikipedia

Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term used to describe the practice of companies disingenuously spinning their products and policies as environmentally friendly, such as by presenting cost cuts as reductions in use of resources. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing. The term green sheen has similarly been used to describe organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment.

It turns out according to a new study by Canadian TerraChoice, who run the Canadian government’s eco-labeling program, that only 2% of products labeling themselves as green are completely legit. The remaining 98% of products range from questionable to borderline lying.

In the United States and Canada, a total of 2,219 products making 4,996 green claims were recorded. These claims were tested against best practices, notably against guidelines provided by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Competition Bureau of Canada, Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, and the ISO 14021 standard for environmental labeling.

Of the 2,219 North American products surveyed, over 98% committed at least one of the previously identified Six Sins of Greenwashing and a new Seventh Sin emerged.

Source: The Seven Sins of Greenwashing – TerraChoice [hi-rez PDF] [low-rez PDF]

Gee who would have thought – companies spewing out cool buzzwords that are nothing more than lies in order to make even more money for the same old products.

As far as our tech toys are concerned the TerraChoice study didn’t have much to say as they concentrated mostly on household and children’s goods. If you accept that Greenpeace has an agenda with anything they do you will find that they do have a good report on computer companies and their green efforts, which they put out yearly.

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Saving some green is more important than being green

Steven Hodson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:22:43 +0000

Going green – meaning doing whatever we can in our lives to become more ecologically minded in the things we buy or use is a major part of our news these days. Equally so is the effects of the recession that we are all living through which makes it interesting to see which of the two actually have more of an effect on our decisions to go green and save money while we’re at it.

Well it turns out that the recession is having more of an effect on the things we buy and use rather than wanting to do better for the environment. This is according to a new survey from The Shelton Group who found that 71% of people considered buying energy efficient products in order to save money versus the 51% who said they do it to protect the environment.

Consumers were looking at taking (or had already taken) a bunch of energy-related decisions that would likely save them some green.

44 percent responded they are likely to buy a programmable thermostat; 32 percent already have.

43 percent responded they are likely to install insulation in their homes; 26 percent already have.

42 percent responded that they are to install a higher-efficiency water heater; 26 percent already have.

On the other hand, decisions that might help only the environment, and not their wallet were much less desireable.

Installed natural / indigenous / low water landscaping – 13 percent.

Participate in utility’s green power program – 9 percent.

Buy carbon offsets for plane trips or for home – 6 percent.

Source: EcoGeek.org

I gotta admit that these kind of results don’t surprise me in the least. Until something hurts an individual’s pocketbook the lifestyle of the rich and famous will always trump treating our world properly.

[picture courtesy of EcoGeek]

What to do with old circuit boards? How about girl geekness?

Steven Hodson — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:22:43 +0000

There’s a lot of electronic equipment out there sitting in junk piles, hidden away in stacks of old computer equipment in closets and one has to wonder just what can we do with all this crap. Well the folks at Upcycled Jewellery have a great idea – make jewellery out of it. As you can see from the photos some of it really kind of cool.

I realize that Valentine’s day has come and gone for another year but come on guy’s how about doing your bit for the environment and getting your favorite girl some real geek cred with one of these pieces.

View Full Album

hat tip to Treehugger

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120 MPG by 2010 for $30G’s

Steven Hodson — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:46:51 +0000

Better mileage is the holy grail for every car manufacturer these days whether it be using electric power, gas or even some form of natural gas. The big problem that has been facing any move to green vehicles has always centered around cost to the consumer with green versions of vehicles costing anywhere from $5,000 and up when compared to their gas guzzling counterparts.

Enter Loremo.

Since 2000 the company has been working hard on a car by the same name. Even though Loremo has yet to produce a production electric vehicle it says that all three of its powertrains should be finished this year. The different powertrains will power 3 different designs of the car. the first version – the base vehicle – will get 120 MPG on a 700 ccm diesel engine that will feature turbo charging, inter-cooling and exhaust gas recycling.

The second model is the GT version with a sportier performance with a 850 ccm engine. As well the car will be able to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) or pressurized natural gas (PNG).

The final version; and the one closest to production, is Loremo’s take on an ultra-efficient electric motor. Public tests of the Loremo EV are slated to start in March of this year. The price range for all three versions of the vehicle are supposed to range from $22,500 up to $30,000 for the GT model.

If you are so inclined you can keep up with Loremo developments over on the company blog.

[hat tip to EcoGeek]

Enough with the friggin green already

Steven Hodson — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:39:35 +0000

Look don’t get me wrong – I’m all for ecology and saving our environment but really do we need to colour everything some sickening shade of green to get the point across. On top of this obvious greenwashing by all different types of companies the fact is that the green movement has to be one of the most wishy washy I have seen come along.

It seems that people on a large scale only really give a shit when it is their wallets that are being affected. During the last ridiculous spike in oil and gas prices everyone was all ballyhoo over hybrid cars and getting rid of plastic bags. Now hybrid sales are tanking – down some 42% in December and the hottest selling vehicle is the Ford F150 – where’s the green in that?

In many ways green is a fad of the moment .. the moment when a person’s pocketbook is getting squeezed but the second the pressure is eased off people will go back to what they were doing before. Unfortunately having lived through the whole die off of the hippie and back to the land movement this doesn’t surprise me one bit. Companies will market themselves as green for as long as it enhances their bottom line and the moment it doesn’t, green will be thrown out into the non-recyclable garbage bin.

After all do we really need more things like green cement or green coloured cell phones? Tell you what get back to me when you’re serious about the whole thing and then maybe we can talk about it.

Is that my fat you’re using in your car?

Steven Hodson — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:01:01 +0000

Seriously you can’t make this shit up but apparently some plastic surgeon in California has been using the leftovers from patient liposuctions to power his Ford Explorer and his girlfriend’s Lincoln Navigator. Granted Craig Bittner has since shut down his practice and moved to South America but the good doctor has stated on his lipodiesel.com site; which has been taken down, that his patients were all for him doing what he did.

But here’s the even stranger part … well okay this is California we’re talking about so maybe it’s not so strange but the law that Dr. Bittner broke was the fact that you can’t use human medical waste to fuel cars in that state. Yup they actually have a law on the books against using human fat gotten by way of a medical procedure to power vehicles.

I wonder if that would apply to do-it-yourself liposuction kits?

[hat tip to Wired]

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I’ll take a wash, hot wax and a spray of weed killer

Steven Hodson — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:44:52 +0000

A lot of this green talk may be nothing more than the latest marketing spin or perhaps to use the really new buzzword – a lot of greenwashing but turning everything possible green is the big trend for 2009. The past year saw everyone talking about hybrid car this and biofuel that as if it was really going to happen on a large scale; but as we have seen in the news today much of those electric cars may be on hold. That hasn’t stopped the marketing spin though.

Leading the charge for the further greening of the automobile is Toyota with word that they will be debuting the next model of the Prius with its Ecological Plastic interior. Yup you heard that right – ecological plastic. Now before you start shaking your head to hard and giving yourself a headache the term applies to plastic that is made from non-edible plant material.

The material will make up to 60% of the interior of the cars. These parts will include things like the door trim, trunk liner, headliner, sun visor, pillar covers and seat cushions. Now you understand why you see the dandelions cozying up to your new Prius next year.

[hat tip to EcoGeek]

Saving whales can get you labelled a terrorist

Steven Hodson — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:57:06 +0000

If there is one label that get thrown out in just about every part of our social interactions it has to be the terrorist one. You sneeze the wrong way you can be a terrorist. You belch the wrong way and you can be a terrorist. Decided to do whatever you can to save whales from being slaughtered by Japanese research ships in the Antarctic and you will find yourself being called a terrorist.

At least that is the case with the Sea Shepherd and the people behind the organization. It is this organizations goal to stop any whaling operations in any of the worlds oceans – especially the Antarctic as this is where the Japanese whaling fleet has been operating lately. The Sea Shepherd organization has been so successful over the last year that the Japanese press has labelled them a terrorist organization.

Japanese research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean has been sabotaged by the radical US conservation group Sea Shepherd.
Japanese fishery officials say activists hindered the whaling ship Kaiko Maru by throwing bottles of strong-smelling liquid into it and banging a boat into it over about 3 hours on Friday. They say the ship was only slightly damaged and that no one on board was hurt.

Source: NHK World

You can also watch the exploits of the Sea Shepherd ships in the new reality television show The Whale Wars on the Animal Planet cable station. As well you can see back shows on the AnimalPlanetTV channel on YouTube

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[hat to Treehugger]

A muddy and toxic Christmas in Tennessee

Steven Hodson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:59:50 +0000

So you thought the Valdez oil spill was bad as far as damage to the environment was concerned eh. well it has nothing with the disaster that struck Tennessee on Monday night as 2.6 million cubic yards (equivalent to 525.2 million gallons) of toxic coal sludge broke through a dike of a 40-acre holding pond. The spill at TVA’s Kingston coal-fired power plant covered some 400 acres up to a depth of six feet. In the process it damaged 12 homes and wrecked a train.

According to the EPA the clean could take a minimum of several weeks or could last as long as several years. While there is concern about the immediate damage their is also the issue of what toxic substances are a part of the sludge. It is said to possibly contain any; or all of the following: Mercury, lead, beryllium and cadmium to name a few.

Although officials said they couldn’t determine the amounts of these toxins in the sludge the effects on humans could range on the low end to skin irritation or trigger allergies right through to longer term effects of cancer or neurological problems. The big concern is what the effect to the Emory River this sludge will have. The Emory is a tributary of the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers both of which provide the primary water supply to much of Tennessee.

You can read more about it here at: The Tennessean or Greenpeace – or you can watch the video below.

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[hat tip to Treehugger]
[top picture courtesy of The Tennessean]

Sometimes kids are smarter than adults

Steven Hodson — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:08:08 +0000

As we slowly move to more green methods of powering our vehicle there are a lot of discussions going on about the best alternative to gasoline we should be using. High on the list is the use of ethanol and the money being made in growing corn for power instead of food. As much as we might like to push it as the best solution we seem to be forgetting how much corn is relied on as a food staple around the world; or what the cost of producing ethanol really is.

That is except for Madeline Stewart who wrote this letter to the editor of the Monitor newspaper

We have been polluting our world too much. Naturally, we have tried to do something about it. What we use to create energy is the big problem, so people have tried to come up with a new, renewable energy source that is easily obtained. We have already figured out several non-polluting techniques: wind, water and solar power. But another attempt is not working out so well: ethanol. The problems start at the very beginning.

Most ethanol is made from corn. However, that corn must be supplied in enormous quantities, and corn is used in much food for humans and animals. If we use corn for fuel, more will need to be grown, on huge farms receiving government subsidies. We are paying extra so that our food can be used for fuel.

The corn is grown using chemical fertilizer, which is awful for the environment. Most pesticides are made from petroleum, exactly what ethanol is supposed to be preventing the use of. Also, the machinery on big farms needs massive quantities of gas.

The next step is even worse. The corn, grown with petrochemicals, must be distilled in factories to become ethanol. These factories need to get their energy from somewhere, and that somewhere is fossil fuels. It takes about nine-tenths of a gallon of fossil fuel to make a gallon of ethanol. Ethanol pollutes the environment about the same amount as if we just used fossil fuel.

To add insult to injury, ethanol is not as efficient as fossil fuel. In short, ethanol is stupid. It just doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do – namely, reduce our carbon footprint. Our government needs to start focusing its attention elsewhere. Wind, water and solar energy could use some boosting.

Not bad for a 13 year old eh?