A very cool idea – environmentally-sound rooftop farms in Brooklyn.
http://planetark.org/wen/54018
Check out the video – you’ll be impressed!
Green Farms in Brooklyn?
Association asks pharmaceutical companies to pay for medical disposal
The National Association of Counties has asked pharmaceutical companies to be financial responsible for disposing of unwanted medicines.
The group would like Big Pharma to handle the expense of taking back prescription and over-the-counter drugs without relying on state or local government funding.
The association says leftover drugs – over-the-counter and perscription – may play a roll in drug abuse and accidental poisonings. It’s documented that improperly disposed of medications contribute to ground and surface water contamination.
“Like Europe and Canada, the United States can develop programs to cover the costs of collecting, transporting and disposing of these medicines. It´s imperative we do so,” said Bill Sheehan, executive director of the Product Policy Institute.
Now let’s see [...]
A Man-made Environmental Disaster – Wildlife Cancers
This item is under the heading of “how bad does it have to get before we wake up and face the issue?”
According to a paper published in July’s edition of Nature Reviews Cancer. “Wildlife Cancer: a conservation perspective,” animals in the wild are increasingly affected by a range of cancers rarely seen before.
There’s mounting evidence of man’s tampering with nature’s balance thanks to man-made toxins dumped into wildlife’s natural habitats.
“As the human population continues to grow and utilize resources and damage the environment,” said Denise McAloose, the report’s lead author and chief pathologist for the Wildlife Conservations Society’s (WCS) Global Health Program, ”I do believe we will continue to see the emergence of disease, [...]
Environment “1″, Santa Barbara Oil Project “0″
The California State Assembly atypically has stopped an “end run”, preventing the Tranquillon Oil & Gas Project off the coast of Santa Barbara.
The California State Lands Commission denied the Tranquillon Oil & Gas project in a 2-1 vote in January. Special budget legislation was then proposed that would have allowed the California Director of Finance to effectively override the State Lands Commission’s decision.
The Surfrider Foundation and other environmental organizations joined together to fight this, especially concerned that such tactics would establish a precedent that controversial decisions of the agency could potentially be reversed through legislative tricks.
For more details, go to www.nottheanswer.org.
EPA ranks San Jose-Santa Clara in top 20 for green power
The U.S. EPA has recognized San Jose-Santa Clara among the top 20 partners across the country in their Green Power Partnership for generating the most green electricity onsite.
The San Jose-Santa Clara Pollution Control Plant – one of 8 California organizations to be recognized by the EPA - generates 56 percent green power from biogas.
Green power - from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas, and low-impact hydropower - generates less pollution than conventional power and produces no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with over 1,100 partner organizations - Fortune 500 companies, local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities – to voluntarily purchase green power to reduce the environmental impacts of conventional [...]
Brazilian technology lets cars run on any amount of E85 and gas
Though admittedly I’m not a fan of ethanol, there’s a new development that bears noting.
A technology widely used in Brazil called “1HourFlex” will let any car run on any amount of gasoline or ethanol in less than 1 hour.
This conversion system – offered by a new company called Alkol – has 3 components:
an Electronic Converter that alters fuel injector timing
an Ignition Remapper which alters the spark plug firing time
a Cold Start System which lets the engine start quickly on cold days (ethanol requires higher temperatures than gasoline to run properly).
According to Alkol, installing the conversion system takes less than one hour (hence the name), creating a “flex vehicle” and can be done either by a professional or [...]
British Zoo to to create a green food wall
Britain’s Paignton Zoo known since 1923 for its conservation and botanical efforts - will soon make horticultural history. Partnering with Valcent Products - a company on the cutting edge in their global efforts to find new ways of growing plants in a world of rapidly-diminishing resources – the zoo will install the first of a new generation of vertical farming systems.
“ Installing VertiCrop at Paignton Zoo means we can grow more plants in less room, using less water and less energy,” said Paignton Zoo Curator of Plants and Gardens Kevin Frediani. This amazing green wall will bring down the zoo’s annual bill for animal feed, which is currently exceeds £200,000 a year.
The zoo wil begin their new horticulture venture with [...]
NOAA bans Krill Fishing – an opportunity for a new technology?
A few months ago, I wrote a story on an amazing new technology from a company called TimberFish that produces fish food (and thus cleaner, safer fish to eat!) from wood (http://3.ly/rOL).
I bring this up because the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) fishery services has issued a ban on krill fishing along the coast of Oregon, Washington, and California. Krill are a major food source for many marine life.
William Douros, NOAA’s West Coast regional director of marine sanctuaries, explains, “Krill is a critical prey for a huge number of vertebrate species there.”
NOAA has banned krill fishing within 200 miles of the West Coast. Krill are more freely fished off the [...]
Senate websites lack accurate information on climate and energy issues
Grist- a noted website for environmental and news-related accuracy – reviewed the websites of US Senators, grading them on how well each explained a senator’s positions on climate change and energy policies. They were rated (the sites, not the Senators) on a variety of points:
whether or not he or she agrees with the scientific consensus on climate change
whether a site lists criteria for how the lawmaker will evaluate a climate bill
whether it describes a senator’s positions on various energy policies
What they found was an amazing lack of accurate information – from Democrats and Republicans alike. And, without a grading curve, they scored poorly – 53 senators got [...]
From LED to OLED means greater light efficiency
For energy efficiency, you can’t beat LED lights. Or can you? The the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) just announced a breakthrough in OLED technology that stands to shatter previous efficiency standards.
For those who don’t know (and I had to look it up), OLED stands for organic light emitting diodes. This new technology is supposed to reduce the energy consumption of this very thin light source by 75%.
For a light that already significantly reduces energy use, this is an exciting development. This cool technology will likely first be used for computer monitors and TV’s, easily replacing LCD-based screens. It’s already being applied to cell phones and, due to its flexiblity, GE [...]