global warming
The right investments in climate science could yield better long-term forecasts and thus help reduce the costs of adapting to global warming, according to new research from the UK’s National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS). The study, published in the Bulletin for the American Meteorological Society, finds that investments
energy harvesting
A young Turkish research has won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize for her work demonstrating how rainwater can be harnessed to produce electricity. The prize, sponsored globally by ITT Corporation, was announced at the World Water Week in Stockholm. The prize-winner — 18-year-old Ceren Burçak Dag, of Nisantasi, Turkey — showed how
energy savings
The Government should encourage households to switch to new, more energy-efficient appliances by entirely removing VAT from such devices and instituting a scrappage scheme similar to that adopted for the car industry, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Such strategies could help citizens both cut their fuel bills and
energy monitoring
Facebook can provide more than a way to catch up with people you were never close enough to to keep up with in the first place … it now offers an application that can help monitor your home energy use. Developed by Derek Foster, a computer science student at the University
global warming
While evolution tends to make creatures larger over time — because bigger animals have the edge when it comes to survival and reproduction — climate change is messing with that trend in some cases. Around the globe, scientists are finding that some species are growing smaller thanks to a warming climate, while
When it comes to efficient car design, Jurdy goes the distance …
biofuels
Coming on the heels of ExxonMobil’s announcement that it’s pursuing a genetically-modified algal biofuel, BP has now also launched a joint venture to develop microbial oils for biofuels. BP and Martek Biosciences Corporation will work together with the goal of developing a step-change technology for the conversion of
green energy
The Scottish European Green Energy Centre (SEGEC) has opened at the University of Aberdeen. The centre is funded by a £1.6 million investment from the European Regional Development Fund, as well as more than £1 million from the Scottish Government over the next three years. At the official opening
leds
The city of London is set to receive a £2.4 million traffic light upgrade that will replace 3,500 existing lamps at some 300 junctions with energy-efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared to standard lights, LEDs consume 60 per cent less electricity and thus generate far less carbon dioxide emissions.
global warming
A researcher at the University of Southampton plans to study the effects of climate change on soil ecosystems in Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 is a 3.15-acre, 12,700-square-metre structure originally built by Space Biosphere Ventures as a man-made, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona. The largest closed system ever
green travel
Three UK transport and retail companies — First Group, Halfords and Countrywide Car and Van Rental — have joined forces with business consulting services provider Green CO2 Plc to launch what they say is a comprehensive and tax-efficient green travel initiative. The scheme is the first in the country to offer an
global warming
Don’t say we weren’t warned. Scientists have long cautioned about the potential danger of feedback loops in the planet’s delicately balanced climate system, and are now finding evidence that just such effects are occurring as the world warms. Researchers at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton — working in
