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Manuel said: "This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]

Jay Knecht said: "What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]

gazelle said: "@ Dallas: The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]

Barry said: "Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda. He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]

JJ said: "Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]

Derek said: ""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]

Why a Strong COP15 Agreement Doesn't Matter... For Cleantech Investment

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 11. 5.09
Science & Technology

solar panels photo
photo: David Blaikie via flickr.

With all the disappointing news about the UN climate negotiation talk shifting for reaching a legally binding deal in December to one which is merely politically binding, I thought I'd share this rather encouraging piece on analysis from Cleantech Group, which says the outcome of COP15 really doesn't matter much for cleantech investment:

Article continues: Why a Strong COP15 Agreement Doesn't Matter... For Cleantech Investment

KLM Schedules First Biofuel Test Flight With Passengers

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 11. 5.09
Science & Technology

KLM 747 photo
photo: abdallahh via flickr.

Mark your calendars for November 23rd. That's when the first aviation biofuel test flight with passengers aboard is scheduled to take place, and the first test flight in Europe. Dutch airline KLM has announced that "a select group of passengers" will be ride in a Boeing 747 powered in one engine by a mixture of 50% bio-kerosene and 50% conventional aviation fuel:

Article continues: KLM Schedules First Biofuel Test Flight With Passengers

Negawatts From the Men's Room

by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 11. 5.09
Science & Technology

The-Pee-Bee.jpg
See the bee? Aim the pee. Photo Sfegette via flickr.
Chasing negawatts, the energy that you don't use, is a popular pursuit these days for cash-strapped states, and California is turning out to be excellent at it. Negawatts (a term Amory Lovins came up with) can offer a lot more bang for the buck, so to speak, then building new power. And asSteve Fleischli at HuffingtonPost reports, when faced with choosing a $550 million salination plant that would require lots of water and lots of power but produce fresh water, or a Coastal Restoration $187 million project to swap out 455,000 existing urinals for waterless alternatives and save water and generate negawatts, California's choice would seem to be, well, clear.

Article continues: Negawatts From the Men's Room

Indian Oil Corporation Partners With PetroAlgae - Fifth Oil Major to Back Algae Biofuels

by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 11. 4.09
Science & Technology

petroalgae production photo
photo: PetroAlgae

And then there were five... Indian Oil Corporation has become the fifth major oil company to stake a claim in the world of algae biofuels. IOCL has a signed a memorandum of understanding with Florida-based PetroAlgae to license micro-crop technologies for "future large-scale production of renewable fuels."

Article continues: Indian Oil Corporation Partners With PetroAlgae - Fifth Oil Major to Back Algae Biofuels

7 Airlines That Really Need to Green up Their Act

by Roberta Cruger, Los Angeles on 11. 4.09
Science & Technology

jet contrails photo
Eight jet contrails from exhaust vapor mess with radiation balance. Photo by Jasmic via Flickr

No, we are not saying air travel is green. But some airlines are a lot greener than others. In fact, in this arena, the difference between 'eco savvy' and 'who cares' is much more drastic than in most industries--you're looking at 418 billion pounds of carbon emitted annually by airplanes, enough aluminum cans from beverage services to build an entire new fleet each year, and contrails causing "climate forcing. The good news is some airlines, like Virgin America, are making strides to green the industry. Greenopia ranked U.S. carriers' environmental record, noting big differences with older fuel-inefficient fleets. There are also times planes can be greener than car or train trips. So who's not up to snuff? Here's the offenders, with number seven being the worst of the worst.

Article continues: 7 Airlines That Really Need to Green up Their Act

Selling Gas to Build Wind Turbines: A Green Step Forward?

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 11. 3.09
Science & Technology

Ecotricity natural gas image
Image credit: Ecotricity

UK wind energy developer Ecotricity's stance on green energy supply has long been controversial. Instead of guaranteeing that it purchases all of its energy from green sources, as most of its rivals do, it has instead guaranteed it will invest its profits into building new generating capacity - arguing that this is the most effective way of cutting carbon emissions. Now it looks set to take a further step into the fossil fuel arena - supplying customers with natural gas, and channeling those profits into greener supply too. The question is—will it fly with customers? Is this a logical step toward greener energy, or a muddying of the waters?

Article continues: Selling Gas to Build Wind Turbines: A Green Step Forward?

The 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Argues for Decentralization

by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 11. 2.09
Science & Technology

us energy onshore wind power map image
Image: ILSR

Well, Not Literally 100 Miles...
The Insitute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has released a second version of its study titled Energy Self-Reliant States. In it they look at various ways that U.S. states could generate clean electricity locally (rooftop solar PV, onshore wind, offshore wind, etc). Just from the name of the institute, it's pretty obvious that they aren't in favor of centralized solutions to our energy problems, but at least they aren't all ideology: They back up their claims with a lot of data.

Article continues: The 100-Mile Diet for Electricity? The Institute for Local Self-Reliance Argues for Decentralization

Flapping Wind Turbine Inspired by Bumble Bee Wings

by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 11. 2.09
Science & Technology

xbee wind-turbines imageImages: Jetson Green

Biomimicry is everywhere these days. It seems increasingly clear that design inspired by nature will play a great big role in our energy future. Case in point: Green Wavelength, an up-and-coming California engineering biz, has prototyped a small wind turbine, the xBEE, the elegant flapping motion of which is inspired by the buzz of insect wings (see the video below).

Borrowing design cues from nature is already changing the face of technology, especially in the swirly realm of fluid dynamics. We've seen fan blades inspired by the bumpy fins of whales, solar cells made more efficient by the texture of butterfly wings, turbine blades that mimic the hydrophobic surface of leaves, and maybe even high-MPG car coatings that are rough like shark skin.

Article continues: Flapping Wind Turbine Inspired by Bumble Bee Wings
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TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!

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