The Crown Estate of England knows which way the wind blows and has decided to acquire the prototype of the world’s biggest wind turbine, Clipper’s 7.5 megawatt MBE turbine, also known as the Britannia. While the other windmills have been land-based, this giant will be located in deep waters near the UK. This will assist the marine interests of The Crown Estate which includes almost the entire UK territorial seabed out to 12 nautical miles , about 55% of the UK’s coastal foreshore, and rights to lease seabed for the generation of renewable energy on the continental shelf within the Renewable Energy Zone which extends out to approximately 200 nautical miles.
This will drive forward the development of turbine technology designed for the challenges of the offshore environment hence providing a great opportunity to help establish a new industrial base of activity to advance the UK’s leadership in renewable energy.

The 10-megawatt monster machine built by Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, California will have a wingspan larger than two soccer fields and will stand 574 feet tall when completed. The windmill is expected to displace two million barrels of oil as well as 724,000 tons of CO2 over its lifetime. It will also serve as the flagship for Clipper’s Britannia Project, an effort to produce massive new turbines on deep-sea floating platforms. If all goes as planned, the Queen’s windmill will light up thousands of British homes starting in 2012.
This thus, will not only prove benevolent but when yield as a good financial investment for the Crown as well.


Via fashionfunky

Imagine a university being granted 10million$ by the Army for its spectacular job in the field of technology. The University Of Michigan College Of Engineering, known for new inventions for advances in the energy industry, has recently been awarded a $10 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Army to develop a six inch robotic spy plane that bears a striking resemblance to a bat. The grant helped establish the University’s COM-BAT (Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology), thus re-establishing the U.S. Army as a world leader.

The COM-BAT is designed to provide short-term but real-time surveillance and feedback to soldiers in urban combat zones using a collection of sight, sound and smell sensors while running on 1 W of power. The Army is hoping that the spy plane could scavenge power from vibrations, wind and of course the sun, which the University of Michigan has a particular expertise in. The robot they believe is “to be 1,000 times smaller and more energy efficient than systems being used now.” The COM-BAT project will also be used to vastly improve other existing technologies like solar cells and navigation and communication systems, which the team already feels can be dramatically reduced in size.

The University of Michigan will work in a collaborative effort with the University of California at Berkeley and the University of New Mexico for developing a different system on the spy plane.
Though facing certain hurdles in finding a way to give the COM-BAT a usable amount of battery life between charges, the potential applications of this condensed technology are virtually limitless.
Via ecogeek

The fish are dying. It may be shocking but the truth is, 25% of the world’s known fish species, especially tuna and cod, are at the brink of extinction. The oceanic ecological balance has gone berserk and as a last minute preventive measure, governments have banned fishing in certain areas. Apparently, EU pays 61 million dollars to Greenland every year so that Germany can continue fishing in its waters. Incidentally, Germans like their fish frozen thereby giving fisherman a lot of time to fish and ruin the ecological system even in far off areas.
Most developed countries and third world nations are to be blamed for this. The European Union’s strategies have been one of hypocrisy. In the garb of being green and environmental friendly, it has been allowing governments and industries to undertake large-scale fishing in foreign seas as well. This probably could be due to the free trade policies and also due to globalization that fishing companies have brazenly continued to exploit the oceanic populations. They need to be put a check on. Rising sea temperatures themselves have done a lot of damage to oceanic fauna.
Via greendiary

Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival which many Indians look forward to as in today’s workaholic life, it sums up ten days of spirituality, fun, faith and socializing around. But what many people fail to admit (although, they know it very well) that the after festival picture is filthy with vast amounts of pollution on the beach and inside water where the Elephant God rests post Visarjan. Such people happily befool themselves giving excuses like, “God will take care of the fishes and the beaches.” But now, thanks to Goa government, this year at least in Goa the marine life will not have to ask God’s help for its survival for the much needed human awakening is already set into motion.

Goa’s power and environment minister Alexieo Sequeira recently announced a ban on the manufacturing of Ganesha idols from plaster of Paris in Panaji, in a media conference. These gigantic idols no doubt look wonderful but their molding and modeling involves the use of highly polluting agents like plaster of Paris and coloring pigments that contain toxic chemicals like lead and titanium. These pollutants leach in the waters where these idols are immersed and then, through wave currents the pollutants reach far off areas to disturb the marine ecology. These chemicals are known to alter the life cycle of fishes and other marine fauna. Not only this, the water post Visarjan becomes highly polluted .And this happens year after year. By this time the water has become filthy and polluted enough to give skin diseases and allergies to anyone taking a dip near the beach.

The serious environmental concerns regarding Ganesh and Goddess Durga’s Visarjan
During festivals have aroused enough hues and cries but nothing concrete has happened so far because the state governments have been busy protecting the religious sentiments of people (or may I say, the state authorities have been busy sleeping over the issue!) But now, a streak of positivity has emerged with Goa’s government taking a firm stand against the manufacturing and selling of such polluting idols. The ban if followed religiously can lead to a Green Ganesh Chaturthi this year-one which will not damage the coastal ecology (any further). Also, it will curb the cases of food poisoning in the state population as reported when people consume polluted fishes.

I whole heartedly appreciate this initiative taken by Goa and plead other states to join in for Indian coast lines and marine flora and fauna are quite unique and we must come forward to protect them for posterity.

Via: mapsofindia

It’s the same tug-of-war for people of Kenya, which every nation wanting to progress, faces today. The issue being is it development or devastation in the name of development? The recent decision of Kenyan government to approve a biofuel project in the Tana River delta area has created an uproar among people. The biofuel project requires the setting up of a sugar cane plantation in the 80 sq mile river delta. Much of the crop produced at the plantation would be converted into ethanol. This would be done in a nearby purpose-built factory. The factory will provide employment opportunities to the locals. This is the government’s side of story. The other side is provided by the local farmers and fishermen. These people along with the environmentalists detest the approval to the project. The Tana River delta is an area of biodiversity in terms of animal and plant species found there. The land is home to hippos, lions, rare shark species, primates and 345 bird species. It also sustains the local community of thousands of fishermen and farmers. Their protests against this project, it seems have fallen on deaf ears! According to Paul Matiku, executive director of Nature Kenya (a Nairobi- based conservation group), the whole project is an ecological disaster. “It will seriously damage our priceless national assets and will put the livelihoods of the people living in the delta in jeopardy,” Paul said.

For the government, the biofuel project holds a promise to gain valuable euros and dollars. Biofuels are prepared from ethanol which in turn, is in huge demand in the European Union and the U.S. For the locals this project spells devastation than development. The gulf between the two sides deepens as the locals say their protests are being ignored by the powers-that-be. In order to achieve a sustainable development it is important that the government realizes the deep-set ecological concerns rather than blindly approving rampant� projects.

Via Guardian

We take inspiration from the post of Polisblog on the first 100 days of the Berlusconi government to express our environmental proposals. We have read the interesting comments after the disappearance of the Greens by Parliament. We of Ecoblog’m glad that everyone has been able to express their opinions in a civil and exchange views despite the heat of the moment after elections.

We then continue with the political discourse, in this case by looking forward and leaving behind what has been. The problems we know all: between the stagnant economy and the need to work and safety, fit environmental issues. Who takes the environment is often accused of not having serious proposals if not those of “no”. We try then to dispel this commonplace.

If you had the possibility of sending a series of proposals for the new government, what do concrete, feasible immediately, rather immediatissimo? For example, as risolvereste emergency in Campania waste? How ridurreste pollution of the city? How favorireste public transport? To you the floor.

Photos | Flickr