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:

Read the full story »

Africa is probably the best place in the world to harness energy from the elements and there is probably no place on the planet where Mother Nature offers you so much as she does in the heart of Africa. If you respect Africa, it has a way of offering you back everything that you need to survive and a lot more too. Ethiopia seems to have got it all perfectly right by investing € 200 million in� wind farm project that will power 15% of Ethiopia’s energy needs when it is completed.

Read the full story »

If you were wondering how one could stay warm and cozy right on top of an ice-capped mountain, you must seek the advice of the Department of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Technical University. They have constructed the autonomous alpine shelter at a height of 2,810 meters above sea level. Many students and researchers have already started to use the facility and have spoken of its convenience and safety. They surely were awed, too, by its majestic perch on a snowy peak.

Situated right at the tip of a glacier, it is as remote and far away from any energy source as it could get. However, an innovative mind can take one a long way on the journey towards energy self-sufficiency. The building could be used by mountaineers as a base camp before making an ascent on the Alps.

Read the full story »

Man learns the best possible stuff in the lap of nature and it is there that he finds true peace with himself and the world around him. For centuries now nature has inspired man to achieve, to imagine, to explore and to fall in love with its effervescent splendor. Its million shades never seem to repeat themselves with each sunset bringing a new hue and its beautiful tunes inspire emotions that seem long lost in modern mayhem. Nature has a way of heeling, touching and inspiring which has been felt from men like Newton to romantics like Wordsworth. In simple terms, it has something for everyone and you only need to look with the right eye.

Built around 1100AD, the Devil’s Bridge is also known as the Ponte della Maddalena, named after a statue of Mary Magdalene that once stood at the foot of the bridge; the figurine is now housed in the local parish. (Mary Magdalene is another story altogether though). The bridge is located in a serene and tranquil location and its beauty is awe-inspiring indeed. Ne could just sit on it for hours and not know the time. But the tale behind the bridge is not very encouraging if you want to take a walk in the night on it.

A Tuscan legend has it that during the construction of the Ponte del Diavolo, near Borgo a Mozzano, the sole stonemason building it was having a terrible time. The builder made a deal with the Devil (apparently) that he would give the soul of the first person who crossed the bridge if he helped him in completing it. But the wise builder sent a pig across the bridge first to make sure no one lost their soul to the devil. The cheated devil apparently lies beneath this bridge till today!

Apart from being a great story for a movie and having a wonderful twist of how the Devil was cheated for a change, the bridge is an absolute beauty with surely many stories around it and we have not even got to Mary Magdalene yet! That is for a different day though…

Via EnvironmentalGraffiti

It is ironic that 90% of the ‘natural’ disasters that we see today are actually a culmination of man’s callous exploitation of the planet. Yet, every time there is a disaster that strikes the civilized world, our heart goes out in support of the needy. It is not easy to face the fury of the elements and as kind as the planet can be, it can also unleash moments of madness that can and often do leave millions homeless. Matthew Malone’s innovative new green disaster shelter is a wonderful option which provides shelter to the homeless.

Designed for disaster relief, the Recover Shelter can house a family of four for a month. It can be set up by one person in minutes, collapsed into either of two configurations for transportation and is made of 100% polypropylene. The polypropylene makes the Recover Shelter 100% recyclable, the ridges can collect drinking water, and the structure can be covered in local materials for better insulation. The shelter has unique green features and is cheap to both produce and use.

Since there is no harmful gas produced during both the making and using of this green recovery Shelter, it makes it a lot better than the many that are in use today. The fact that it can be shipped with ease and convenience and can be set up by a single person in minutes only saves precious time in situations of emergency. Matthew Malone’s technology could probably be improved and developed further to provide permanent shelter for the millions who are homeless world wide.

Via Yankodesign

We have been covering products and practices depicting ways to capture the solar energy, thereby utilizing it in the best way possible. And honoring the latest pro-active nature of the drive aimed at powering the city with solar freeways is another eco-friendly solution coming from the house of “Going Solar.” I would invite your argument on possibilities to power cities, which currently is facing the problem of massive terra firma necessary to access the traditional inventions. They say photovoltaic panels are horizontal and extensive, posing a serious loss of wide space. Now Australian renewable energy vendor “Going Solar” has envisaged a clever policy that instills built-up shipment systems with energy producing potential, erecting solar panels on highway as sound blockades!

Positioned in Australia, Calder Interchange is witnessed as the first solar sound-barrier highway installation by Going Solar. The solar sound fence consists of 500 meters of photovoltaic panels that features project’s power output after being attached to a public display. Respecting its location near suburban region, each colossal solar panel offers much desired soundproofing to the residence nearby. The unique feature of the project can be counted as the fact that energy doesn’t have to travel far-off to reach its target as it is already engulfed with domiciles.

Anticipated to produce 18.7 megawatts per year, the intelligent minds behind it are hopeful to generate the cost-spent within 15 years. If you still have doubts regarding the functionality or efficiency of the project then here I have a confirmation that is suffice to erase all: The project has enabled Going Solar gab the ATRAA’s award for best grid-connected system.

Via ResourceSmart

A well renowned Electronic wares and goods manufacturing firm named Haier has recently gained an overt approbation and regard by World’s leading green organization called Greenpeace as of the remarkable green feats conducted by it in the current year Beijing Olympics. This hyper eco active consumer electronics firm has embodied around 30 diverse green artifacts like refrigerators, air conditioners and added white goods etc. in this year Olympic Games. And in today’s point the most up-to-date contraption grasping mega green factor is the lately introduced solar powered air-conditioners which would employ only natural coolants like water to chill the surrounding areas.

What’s more these exceptionally designed air conditioners would be enclosing only minimal quantity of hydro fluorocarbon content making the settings unreservedly unsoiled. Hence in view of Haier’s green and ecofriendly endeavors to make ambiance sparkling and spotless I undergo that its shots are profoundly be worthy of global admiration.

Via GoodCleanTech

China is on top of the medal tally at the Beijing Olympics and it seems that it intends to stay there by the time the flame starts its journey to London. Irrespective of who finish on top of the tally with the highest number of golds, China has bagged a golden honor with the way it has built and maintained its Olympic Village. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson presented Chinese officials with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold award for the 2008 Olympic village. That is one ‘Olympic Gold’ that China can only claim to have!

This is indeed being dubbed as the ‘Green Olympics’ and ironically so as Beijing is one of the world’s most polluted cities before the games started and there was a frantic effort to clean things up. While the Olympic Village is a segment of the celebrated athletic event’s environmentally-friendly planning, a major goal for the Olympic Village was that its practices and techniques would also serve as a model for future development in China.

Currently housing 16,000 Olympic athletes, the 160-acre site contains 42 residential buildings ranging between six- and nine- stories, seven community centers, three commercial and retail buildings, a health center, library, gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts, and a kindergarten. Using high levels of insulation, energy efficient windows, and a system that collects and re-uses rainwater for heating and cooling, these buildings are 50 percent more energy efficient than most other buildings in Beijing.

The apartments are also partially powered by solar energy and use greywater to flush toilets. Vegetated green roofs make up more than 60 percent of the impervious surface on rooftops, and 95 percent of parking was constructed underground, freeing up area for open green space as well as a network of pedestrian and bicycle pathways. What is nice to know is that the village is being used as a model for future villages in China and for that reason alone the LEED accolade is well deserved.

Via: Inhabitat

A marvelous example of ingenuity and figment of our wide imagination has been portrayed by Denis Oudendijk and Jan Körbes. Lately, they have erected a Garden home by utilizing the discarded car tyres, wadding glasses, stainless steel plates and salvage wood. This autonomous entity erected mainly on wooden structure roofed with manifold thin plates is practically a four-season serviceable house. Above and beyond it is proved to be both water and winter resistant as it is sheltered by stone wool seclusion and a pant able plastic membrane. The idea of this innovatively designed edifice came to its creators due to the obligations presented by the inhabitants of the house.

Actually the designers got to meet a couple who were expecting their second child and out of necessity were keen on raising a larger and purposeful structure enclosing spacious office area and storerooms within it. Accordingly the architects planned for smashing down the on hand structure and rebuild the house by reprocessing materials and substances. In fact, this is an ecofriendly choice of building green homes employing natural stuff without being harsh on environment and surroundings.

It’s surely an eco intellectual, kind and humane way out to utilize recycled bits and pieces for making our environment green and granting safe asylums as well to several destitute beings that are on streets living a rough life.

Read

An international association named the Global Cassava Partnership jointly with UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is looking at the potential of world’s fourth imperative crop called cassava along with the production of Biofuels. Since the dilemma of going up fuel and oil prices in low-income tropical countries calls for exploring economical food and fuel supplies, Research and development is being carried out to enhance cassava yields as it one of the low priced starch source. Besides gratifying the global food need cassava also emerges as a greener substitute to fuel production. Fermentation of this starch generates ethanol which is employed in Biofuels formation.

Bearing in mind future prospects of cassava and its industrialized utilization efforts must be made to perk up production inputs and improvise farmer’s scientific and technical knowledge. To deal with energy crisis we ought to set cassava starch products viable on a worldwide scale.

Via GreenCarCongress