Clean Technology, Recycling, Renewable Energy

Surprisingly, the two largest components in a landfill are food and paper, both biodegradable substances. In fact, statistics clearly show that nearly 50% of all municipal solid waste is consistent of only food and paper products. The EPA clearly states that food waste is the #1 least recycled material. The problem with landfills pertaining to [...]

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Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a recent convert to eco-friendly products, you’ll love the 21st centuries’ answer to the “old-school” trash compactor. Meet the Ecopod, recently made available this past fall, this innovative appliance provides an efficient way to crush, store and redeem recyclable beverage containers, particularly plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The design [...]

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There’s been a rush by educational institutions of all shapes and sizes to launch new, usually interdisciplinary programs, that aim to capitalize on the fast rising prominence of climate change, energy and natural resources development and management both at the local level and at the highest levels of government and international cooperation. Some have been around longer than others.

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Say hello to the green exchange, spearheaded by a leading cast of energy and environmental brokers -investors- who are launching a new exchange for trading credits that offset the global warming greenhouse gas emissions. This exchange is expected to rapidly broaden the reach of the booming market for trading greenhouse gas as well as renewable [...]

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New innovations in nanotechnology are increasingly being applied, and hold even greater potential, to increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions associated with conventional electrical power generation, transportation and distribution, as well as the development of a new generation of alternative, renewable energy systems, from solar to wind.

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South Africa’s Dept. of Science & Technology is finalizing a national hydrogen and fuel cell development strategy that takes advantages of the emerging market country’s being the world’s leading producer of platinum, a key catalyst in hydrogen fuel cells.

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As a child, did you ever use a magnifying glass to barbeque ants? Sizzle flies? Burn leaves? Don’t worry, we won’t tell. Someone who may fall into this category has found an ingenious way to harness the sun’s power to make jewelry. No, not using the latest thin-film solar innovation. No, they’ve what appears to [...]

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Do you ever wonder, is my garbage can the problem or am I? Say you had to go without your canister of the wasted and undesirables, what would you do without one? It would be fair to say that for most Americans the answer would be panic!! The average Jack and Jill trashes 4.5 pounds [...]

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The mainstream media doesn’t seem to understand the potential magnitude of changes currently underway in the sensitive international monetary balance. On December 8th Iran decided to no longer accept the US dollar in exchange for its oil. Since the mainstream media did not cover it either, you may not remember that this was one of [...]

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Though harvesting wind energy with a kite or a sail is ancient technology, it is enjoying something of high-tech renaissance. Examples include the vision of Makani Power to harvest high altitude wind energy and English architectural firm Chetwood Associates’ design to “dam the wind” in a mountain gorge near Lake Ladoga in Northern Russia. You may recognize the basic shape of a spinnaker sail [...]

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Treasure Island, the man-made lump made up of 20 million cubic yards of sea floor soil sandwiched between 287,000 tons of rock and finally glazed over with 50,000 yards of loam. The island was created for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition and then claimed as a Naval base until it was decommissioned 11 years [...]

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Being in the sustainable business realm, it makes for interesting conversation with the relatives during the holidays. From the father who thinks that global warming is based on loose science and is politically motivated to the mother who asks at the restaurant whether the fish is farmed or wild caught, you’re in for some interesting [...]

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Electrical utilities around the US are increasingly turning to net meters that enable customers to receive credit for unused or surplus electricity they put back into the grid. The two-way meters key parts of efforts to address the increasingly pressing need to build a nationwide smart electrical grid that not only ramps up management efficiency but promotes use of renewable energy resources.

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The US DoE’s National Renewable Energy Lab is playing a central and pivotal role when it comes to carrying out research, development and commercialization of promising alternative energy and clean technologies. As part of its outreach efforts, NREL on Tuesay pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 75% by 2009 as a member of the EPA’s Climate Leaders program.

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It’s a bit like the dieter who buys a box of low-fat cookies and ends up eating the entire box in one sitting. So much for the diet. A report released on Tuesday by CIBC World Markets Chief Economist Jeff Rubin states that despite the overall gains in energy efficiency since the 1970’s – 50% per [...]

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When people think of tornados they think of mayhem and destruction. A man named Louis Michaud would rather create constructive tornados, very big ones. Louis is a Canadian engineer who intends to turn tornadoes into power plants by creating and containing tornados. Imagine descending into an urban environment aboard a commercial aircraft and seeing a [...]

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Big Hoorah for Google as it distinguishes itself for its commitment to forging a cleaner, greener future here and now…There’s much to clean and green in the IT industry, however. Fortunately, new technology, government and international incentives and the increasing focus on using clean and green tech is enabling businesses to create new opportunities as well as cut costs.

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A brilliant new product has hit the market in the form of insulation without the irritating fiberglass found in its predecessors. This material caters to all those do-it-yourself handymen and women out there who have long dreaded installing insulation thanks to the glass dust and itchiness associated with fiberglass. Dow Chemical Company has recently introduced [...]

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Google “renewable energy” today and you’re likely to come up with – Google. (How many companies can claim both a verb and a noun for their name?) As everyone reading this blog (or any blog) knows, it wasn’t that long ago that anyone even uttering such a phrase as “Just google it”, would have probably been met with muffled titters, [...]

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MagLev wind turbines, the next generation of wind turbines is capable of generating power from wind speeds as low as 1.5 m/s and reported to operate in winds reaching 40 m/s. This large wind turbine from maglev industries will also increase generation capacity by 20% at the same time decreasing operational costs by 50% over [...]

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Two men left England last Friday on their way to Timbuktu in a truck powered by chocolate. For the sake of accuracy, the truck is powered with biodiesel fuel made from “waste chocolate” (I never knew there was such a thing as waste chocolate!). Leaving from England on a ferry across the English channel, the team of [...]

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Renewable energy is all the big push these days and yet the sudden demand cannot be met thanks to poor planning and the ebb and flow of trends. Lacking the foresight in many states the demand for renewable energy is outstripping supply in turn racking up prices making the move for cheap alternative energy a [...]

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The line forms on the left as heads of state and other high-ranking government officials announce pledges and ambitious plans aimed at reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions in the build-up to the United Nations Climate Conference to be held in Bali December 3-14.

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It is predicted that by 2025 3.5 billion people will face severe shortages of fresh water. As climate change, desertification, and drought take an increasing toll, sources of clean, fresh water will be a rare commodity for many.   Desalination is not a new idea, but the process is energy intensive, and has generally been no economically viable alternative to [...]

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The times have certainly given way to digital but radio waves are re-defining their value. The Tate Ambient Power Module, patented by Joseph Tate of California, converts radio-wave energy (manmade and natural) into energy that can be used by small appliances such as smoke detectors and clock radios. The device is simple in its design [...]

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The article on Crowd Farms has generating a stirring debate and a lot of interest so I figured I would follow up with a piece that highlights some more applications of this concept of people and motion creating power. The problem with the Crowd Farm plan is it only exists on paper and could be [...]

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What can Brown do for you? It’s not just what United Parcel Service can do for you, but it’s also what they can do to trim operating costs and help the environment – all at the same time. UPS announced this week that the Petaluma branch in Northern California will lease 42 Xebra electric vehicles [...]

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Crowd Farm, developed by two MIT architecture grad students, is a concept that harvests the energy that is transmitted through our feet. It works like this: Beneath highly crowded subway platforms there would be a sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly due to the force of human footsteps above. These blocks rub [...]

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In a slow housing market, many developers are looking to green features to set themselves apart from the competition. With increasing concern about energy costs, climate change, and indoor air quality, the market is ripe for green building. Market forces at work, with environmentally sound options excelling. “There are not enough green builders out there, [...]

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Penn State researchers Bruce Logan and Shaoan Cheng announced yesterday the results of experimental research that produces hydrogen from microbes. Built upon earlier work that led to the production of electricity from microbes, Logan’s team has shown how to take those same hard working microbes and make hydrogen. Could the hydrogen economy be just around the [...]

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