Jurdy: Tying up loose ends
Jurdy’s energy strategy needs tidying up …
Latest
carbon capture and storage
Shell, National Grid join carbon capture group
Shell UK Limited and National Grid are joining ScottishPower’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) consortium, with ScottishPower planning to deliver Britain’s first commercial-size CCS system operating from a coal-fired power station by 2014. The consortium is now in the process of submitting a bid for the UK Government’
population
World population to hit 7 billion in 2011
The world is on track to reach a global population of 7 billion in 2011, just 12 years after it hit the 6-billion mark, according to the newest data from the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). Virtually all of the expected growth is in developing countries, with the poorest of those
biodiversity
Iraq OKs biodiversity pact, US and Somalia still out
While Iraq’s conflict and political developments have dominated the headlines since it was invaded in 2003, the nation has quietly been making progress on a host of environmental issues … and today was announced as the 192nd Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. First adopted in 1992, the biodiversity
Amazing designs built with living trees
Here’s an idea for environmentally friendly, carbon-absorbing architecture and design: structures and sculptures built with living trees. A concept known as tree shaping, the idea is based on bending and sometimes grafting together young trees to form useful shapes and structures such as stools, tables, benches and even houses.
solar energy
5 solar-powered devices you can't buy ... yet
The uses to which solar power can be put are limited only by the imagination, as these designs (most of them conceptual only) by some highly imaginative people clearly demonstrate: The solar-powered lounge Designed by Architecture and Vision, the MercuryHouseOne is “a mobile lounge designed for a modern experience of
hybrid cars
London cab firm offers free rides in latest Prius
Eco-friendly private hire service greentomatocars is taking delivery of the very first third-generation Toyota Prius in London, and will give a nod to an old cabbie tradition by not charging passengers who ride in the new vehicle this Friday. The only catch is that customers can’t request the new
global warming
Psych! Climate change messes with our heads
The old Mark Twain-ism, “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one can do anything about it,” also explains a lot about why people view the threat of climate change in so many different ways. “(T)he public’s apparent apathy regarding climate change is actually paralysis at the size
global warming
Climate expedition traces Atlantic's future coastline
A team of three Cambridge graduates are embarking on a 31-country expedition — dubbed “Atlantic Rising” — that aims to follow the contours of where the coastline will be after 100 years of rising sea levels driven by climate change. Aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of global warming, the 35,
Firm uses yeast to develop first-ever 'eco-surfactant'
Ecological cleaning firm Ecover says it’s developed the “world’s first ‘eco-surfactant’ ” using a process powered by yeast. Today, most surfactants — wetting agents that reduce the surface tension of water and help boost cleaning power — are petrochemical-based and require high temperatures and pressure (hence, energy) to manufacture. Ecover says
Jurdy: A piquing peek at peak
Jurdy makes a piquing discovery …
biofuels
Global biofuel land grab conjures up 'C' word
As in “colonialism.” It’s a word being used more and more as developed nations, large corporations and large consortiums increasingly eye — and buy — lands in developing countries to grow food or biofuels, or to tap the sun’s energy for their own needs. Just last month, a group of