grumpy environmentalist
There is plenty to be grumpy about when it comes to waste disposal in the UK. Each year, the UK produces an estimated 335 million tonnes of waste, according to number-crunchers at DEFRA, the UK government department responsible for policy and regulations on the environment. Around half of that ends
solar energy
Once upon a time, climate change felt like a distant threat on the horizon. Now it is happening in front of our very eyes. Across the world, global warming is sparking more intense heat waves, more flooding and more droughts. If climate change continues at its current pace, the social,
photosynthesis
What can frogs teach us about solar power, biofuel production and carbon capture? More than you might think, say researchers at the University of Cincinnati. Carlo Montemagno, dean of the college of engineering and applied science, has authored a study with research assistant professor David Wendell and student Jacob Todd
climate
Never mind political differences, the rich-vs-poor divide or the all-out assault by global warming deniers. Our failure to take meaningful action so far on climate change or fossil fuel addiction might all come down to this: the human tendency to choose the status quo over change. Researchers in the UK
A three-person team led by British explorer Ann Daniels this week began a grueling 500-kilometre trek across the Arctic’s floating sea ice to study how rising carbon dioxide levels are affecting the ocean waters. “Our work is to capture data which scientists would otherwise not be able to get,
peak oil
Who would’ve thunk it? As we ease into the second decade of the 21st century — a period that had promised a new era of technological advances beyond imagination — the issues of oil and climate are becoming less IEEE and more Tom Clancy. First, of course, we have the hacking
carbon capture and storage
European researchers are set to launch a new field laboratory this year to assess the best ways to store and monitor carbon dioxide underground. The trouble is, until the real price of carbon makes CCS (for “carbon capture and storage”) economically viable, what works in the field lab might not
overfishing
We all know that television commercials tend to, shall we say, accentuate the positive. But one recent ad we spotted went above and beyond … in that what was being touted as a remarkable and revolutionary improvement is in fact a disturbing development in disguise. The commercial, which was for a
greenwashing
Say you’re feeling a bit blue and the feeling won’t go away. Would you accept advice to take the drug GLeeMONEX without a second opinion if the suggestion came came from a sales rep from Roritor Pharmeceuticals … which happens to make GLeeMONEX? Wouldn’t seem very wise, would
global warming
Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has two suggestions for the media and world leaders when it comes to addressing climate change: First, investigative journalists need to focus on the real crime regarding the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit … that is, who dunnit? “In my
urban agriculture
In a post-financial meltdown world, is there really any place for the sprawling suburban shopping mall anymore? Social critic James Howard Kunstler doesn’t think so. Always one to view suburbia with a jaundiced eye, his prediction for the mall is one of “decline, dereliction, default and disappearance.” But Vicky
low carbon
London officials today heard from an expert who offered a host of ideas for helping their city to follow in the footsteps of Europe’s greenest city: Copenhagen. Peter Elsman, Copenhagen’s former managing director of the Environment, Water and Energy Department, suggested a number of ways in which London
