Articles in the Environment Category
Posted in Energy, Environment on 3 November 2008
In a quest to find alternative sources of energy, researchers have continued their efforts in and out of laboratories and nothing concrete has come out yet. Though there are many alternate sources of energy, they are expensive, unmanageable, or simply not friendly enough for lay users to use, to charge small gadgets. Now, a researcher and professor from Taiwan have claimed to create the world’s first chlorophyll organic battery. Though it’s not clear how the battery works, Chungpin Hovering Liao claims that it can practically use any liquid to generate charge and that within just 10 seconds. Even urine could be used, says he. Apparently, the storage capacity is a lot more than traditional water-powered fuel cells and consumes very little power.
It would also cost only 3 to 6 cents to manufacture one biodegradable unit. The fact that the battery is biodegradable makes it more environmentally friendly. It would be interesting to see if his claims can be substantiated with batteries that can truly use any liquid and help people charge their gadgets. If so, I must say this is a brilliant invention.
Via Gizmodo
Posted in Architecture, Companies, Eco-Friendly, Environment, Global warming, Go green, Green, Infrastructure, Land, Ocean, Plants, Pollution, Products, Recycling, Renewable, Solar, Wind, water on 20 October 2008
In this economic crisis, one always wonders if one is in the right job. Well, being eco-friendly can be very benefitting even monetarily do. Forbes recently came up with a list of environmental jobs with salaries easily over $100,000.
The top 10 job include:
Posted in Architecture, Environment on 17 October 2008
It seems that South-East Asia is catching up fast with the marvels of eco-architecture that till now has been showcased in the dusty panorama of the Middle East. Singapore is leading the green trend in the region by adding more greenery to its delightful city structure. More designers and construction firms are being encouraged to design and develop sustainable and zero-energy buildings. Designed by TR Hamzah & Yeang and sponsored by the National University of Singapore, the “Ecological Design In The Tropics” (EDITT) is a building that has a brilliant cover of glittering green.
Posted in Eco-Friendly, Electricity, Environment on 15 October 2008
Technology has always tried to make use of the forces of nature for the betterment of humankind and nature in its own way has enthused man with its perfection and aptitude. Inspired by these forces Solar Botanic has planned to generate power through artificial trees. Just like the trees outside utilize air and sunlight to produce energy for their growth, these man-made trees will now convert the wind and solar energy into electricity.
Posted in Architecture, Environment on 14 October 2008
EnterArchitecture of Sydney presently designs housing prototypes whose main consideration is alleviating extreme temperatures. The main principle behind the innovative design layout isfor air to flow freely – longitudinally and laterally. The user can customize the manyopenings in the panels. There are even ways to configure the façade for full sun protection. The “air layer” model, found on external surfaces, can expel the sun’s direct heat off the surfaces. The user, then, enjoys thermal comfort.
This cluster housing will use curved metal profiles and formed plywood panels, all lightweight materials that are easy to transport and assemble. The user has ease and convenience of use and application, with the benefit of a strong architectural design whose model can very well be a practical solution for many other places in the world.
Posted in Earth, Environment on 12 October 2008
Darwin’s Laws of Evolution that state the fact that evolution is an infinite process have been proved yet again. 2.8kms under the surface of the Earth, in an aerobic environment, at an unusually high temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit, a lonely bacteria Desulforudis audaxviator was discovered in 2006 in a gold mine in South Africa. This discovery was made under the project run by Virtual Institute for Microbial Stress and Survival (VIMSS) along with many other renowned institutions and laboratories like Princeton, Berkley Lab, MIT, etc.
Posted in Automobiles, Car, Designer, Environment, Fuel, concept on 12 October 2008
Plug-in electric vehicles are in the first phase of their road tests and are about to hit the roads by 2010. In this scenario, debates were on at the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Smart Garage Workshop on its first day on the subject whether it would be wiser to use the much advantageous and eco-friendly V2G PHEVs to power the grid. A wide range of opinions have been expressed on this. While the participants of the workshop support the suggestion, it sure looks like a possibility that is a decade away.
Mujeeb Ijaz, Director of Automotive Applications engineering at A123 Systems says that the V2G plug-in hybrids will attract customers because of their ability to store and discharge power and help them reduce their electricity bills, and the batteries wouldn’t reduce the performance on being used daily. Further, he agrees that the battery’s chemistry wouldn’t support it for fast charging and hence makes them unavailable for long distance travel.
Posted in Earth, Eco-Friendly, Efficiency, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Fuel, Global warming, Go green, Green, Pollution, Power, Tourism, World on 11 October 2008
Antarctica has been man’s last unchartered territory but only till sometime ago. Now the cold continent is seeing unprecedented growth in tourism and up to 40,000 people visited Antarctica in 2007. However, the tourists have a negative effect on the ecology of Antarctica and environmentalists have started to worry. Maastricht University in Holland seeks to solve this problem by dramatically controlling the number of tourists to the continent.
The problem lies in the fact that Antarctica has no government of its own and hence, no regulatory body. The university has proposed to auction off parts of the continent and limit tourists and their numbers in the auctioned parts. This could have a positive impact on the way the continent sustains itself and protect the unique fauna of Antarctica. Perhaps tour organizers and travel agencies must get in touch with the regulatory bodies in their own countries and inform prospective tourists about how their visit to Antarctica can affect the continent.
Posted in Earth, Environment, Green on 11 October 2008
Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), one of Asia’s largest international film festivals is all set to rock on 18 October commemorating its 21st anniversary. With plans to promote environmental preservation, TIFF sings the motto: “Action! For Earth!” and takes pride in flagging its official green earth poster. Much to my non-surprise, the festival will feature green carpet (red seems to be out for them) designed using recycled plastic.
The event would witness the bestowing of the special trophy named ‘The Earth Grand Prix’ to the best film supporing environmental science and protection. Spreading a message about ecology and environmental concerns, proceedings is on to organize conferences and movies may also serve as a potential medium.
Posted in Companies, Earth, Eco-Friendly, Eco-friendly products, Environment, Land, Pollution, Recycling, concept on 5 October 2008
Biodegradable plastic would be a welcome change that will surely take us to our world of green. A young NY based company Perf Go Green has come up with a range of products from commercial trash bags to plastic drop cloths that will help reduce plastic waste.
Looking at the hug mass of plastic that hits the garbage dump, the introduction of biodegradable alternative would be a big step towards a greener earth.
Good news is that Perf Go Green products incorporate recycled plastics, combining them with Oxo-Biodegradable proprietary method. This method makes their bags easily decomposable into simple products when exposed to microorganisms, moisture and oxygen; contrary to regular plastic that takes hundreds of years to breakdown.
If true, this would be a breakthrough!
Via treehugger