Jurdy: Catching forty (green) winks
Jurdy finds fighting green fatigue is, well, tiring …
Latest
green architecture
10 eco-building innovations: plug-in floors, giant bunnies and flying hostels
Green building is in, and it’s astounding how many innovative and eco-friendly designers are out there. Here are my top 10 favorites, culled from recent design headlines: 1. The Greentainer Project. Fashioned from used shipping containers, these Greentainers are not only versatile but — if you have access to a
climate
Cheers and jeers for UK transport plans
As environmental groups decry today’s OK for a third runway at Heathrow airport, others are cheering accompanying decisions — including £250 million to encourage a shift to more ultra low-carbon vehicles — by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon. “The extra £250 million of funding announced to develop low-carbon vehicles will spur the
china
Study: emerging economies more eager to act on global warming
We’ve all heard plenty about how people in developing countries are eager to catch up to the developed-nation lifestyle: fast food, cars, mobile phones, big-screen TVs, etc. But a new study by the consulting giant Accenture finds an intriguing difference between the populations: citizens of developing economies are apparently
energy consumption
Online gaming could cut world energy consumption
Now here’s a novel energy-saving idea that just might work brilliantly: making efficiency improvements the object of a massive multi-player online game. The more energy you conserve, the more points you earn for your online gaming team. That’s the concept put forward by Byron Reeves, a professor of
environmental toxins
Paper: solar industry not as clean as it needs to be
Hmm, it seems as though kicking this fossil fuel habit through renewables isn’t so straightforward after all: right on the heels of a report that home-based wind energy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be comes a new study exploring the dangers of toxic chemicals used in
bioplastics
Try the CD cases, hold the soy sauce
As if the food-versus-fuel debate weren’t enough already, along comes some new fodder for a potential food-versus-plastics debate: Victor Creative Media’s new rice-based CD/DVD cases. In all fairness, Tech-On! reports that the new plastic cases are made with nonfood rice … though I’m not sure what that
energy efficiency
Home wind energy claims often just hot air, study finds
Done right, home-based wind turbines can be an effective way to produce energy and reduce your carbon footprint. Sadly, though, it appears that home-based wind turbines are too often not done right. That’s the conclusion reached by a recent study financed by the UK government and the British Wind
carbon dioxide
You may all now Google without guilt
More head-spinning updates on the “Google searches are melting the planet” brouhaha: the research that reportedly found two Google searches produce as much carbon dioxide as heating up a pot of tea is being refuted not only by Google but by … the researcher himself. The Guardian reports today that Harvard
biofuels
New biofuel plants tap corn cobs, old power poles
Hmmm, let’s see … we’ve tapped corn, algae and sugarcane for biofuels. What’s next? How about corn cobs and old power poles? Both those unconventional biofuel feedstocks are in the news today, with headlines from Montreal-based Enerkem and South Dakota-headquartered POET. Let’s start with POET. A long-time
electric cars
Toyota says the "P" word (as in "peak oil")
Plug-in and hybrid vehicles are taking center stage at this week’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and one auto company has actually dared to say why: peak oil. In announcing the debut of its FT-EV concept car, Toyota Motor Sales USA said it’s looking beyond the
climate
Stanford starts new, $100 million energy institute
Stanford University announced this week that it’s establishing a new institute to focus solely on energy issues. The Precourt Institute for Energy gets kicked off with $100 million (US) in new funding. That money comes on top of the $30 million Stanford’s already spending on energy research. The