Researchers at Michigan State University are working on technology that could help small farms transform animal waste from pollutant to fuel. Through funding from both public and anonymous, private sources, MSU is planning an Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center. The Center will test methods for efficiently using bacteria to turn animal waste into biogas, which farms can in turn use in place of fossil fuels for things like electricity and heat. The aim is to make this an affordable option for small- to mid-sized farms. This technology simultaneously addresses two issues that farmers face: farm waste management and increased energy prices. Read the rest of this entry »
In a time when stock prices, gas prices and more change dramatically within days, hours and minutes, it’s hard to imagine that anyone five years ago could have had a cogent take on today’s troubles. Until you watch Jared Diamond’s talk on why societies fail, given in February 2003 in Monterey, California.
Diamond, in case you’re not familiar with him, is a professor of geography and physiology at UCLA and author of the eye-opening book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
So how right-on was Diamond’s outlook a full five years ago? Check out this quote:
The Home Depot is holding a contest for videos on home energy conservation. For the first prize video, the Atlanta-based chain is offering $5000 in Home Depot gift certificates towards energy-saving products at Home Depot and up to $2000 for installed insulation or radiant barrier products. You’ve got to hurry if you want to enter! Submissions are due by November 9th. They will be judging entries based on three categories: Read the rest of this entry »
Businesses, organizations, and individuals in Colorado can offset their greenhouse gas emissions and support local clean energy with carbon offset credits from Project C.
“Global warming is our generation’s greatest environmental challenge. The scientific evidence that human activities are the principal cause of a warming planet is clear, and we will see the effects here in Colorado. But the seeds of change are also here in Colorado, in our scientific and business communities, and in each of us individually.” – Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
Project C is the nickname for the Colorado Carbon Fund, a program developed by Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office to develop funding for clean energy projects and provide credible carbon offset credits for individuals and businesses.
The Colorado Carbon Fund will only support new, verifiable, greenhouse gas reduction projects that are developed in Colorado. The GEO is partnering with The Climate Trust, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, to manage this program.
The following video is from our friends at ViroPOP. Head over to their website for more great clips with host Jessica Williamson.
$268 bottle of water, anyone? Going once… going twice….
Just as growth in the US bottled water market is finally dropping off, Greenland has made the bewildering move to bottle and export 1 to 3,000 year old water that it will drill from icebergs. To add insult to environmental injury, Greenland will market its product as “sustainable.” Just how much marketing sense went into the idea to bottle the climate-induced melt from Greenland’s glaciers in plastic and ship it with a heavy carbon footprint stamped firmly into each “sustainable” bottle is anyone’s guess.
Many video aggregation sites and South African TV recently carried the Global White Lion Protection Trust’s announcement of the birth of three white lion cubs in the wild.
The cubs were the offspring of a white lioness, one of four white lions released into the wild in 2006 and a white lion from a different genetic lineage. They are the first white lions to be born in a reintroduction program within their natural endemic range in the Greater Timbavati region.
Looking for something to do? At an awkward party? Did your boyfriend or girlfriend just dump you?
Or do you think you’re sophisticated because you read a bunch of books and pay attention to world news? Then test your knowledge of geography with these quick and fun online games, you nerd! Read the rest of this entry »
“We often hear of environmental catastophes but almost never meet the people who suffer the consequences.”
Those are some of the introductory words of Lou Dematteis, one of the authors and photographers of the new photo book Crude Reflections: Oil, Ruin, and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest. Read the rest of this entry »
If there’s a way out of the current economic crisis, it might just be green. According to a new study by the University of California at Berkeley and Next10, California’s policies will create 403,000 new jobs in the next 12 years, increasing household incomes by $48 billion. The state’s most recent steps towards this prosperity are through its university system.
Earlier this week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continued to show a commitment to renewable energy, announcing that the entire California State University system – the largest system of higher education in the nation – will install solar at 15 campuses, including CSU Los Angeles. And, fortunately for taxpayers, it won’t cost us a dime.
Partnering with SunEdison under a power-purchase agreement allows CSU to buy renewable power at or below retail rates, while avoiding the cost of the system’s installation. SunEdison takes on that burden, along with those of operating and maintaining the panels for 20 years.
Tampa Bay Online reports today that city officials are looking at ways to “reconnect with the natural world” with the help of urban gardening. With so many other cities across the U.S. already rife with public vegetable gardens, there’s no reason Tampa shouldn’t be able to join the club.
Yes, gardening in hot, steamy Florida is — to be charitable — a challenge. My own summertime gardening efforts (I live in northwest Florida) yielded a pretty sad harvest: four or five beans, a dozen tiny strawberries that the snails usually got to first and a reliable supply of chives from a flowerpot. July and August are simply too brutal around here.
Think globally, act locally has been a mantra for the environmental movement for decades. At EcoLocalizer, you can find local news and information about citizens, organizations and businesses that are taking positive green steps forward in their neighborhoods and communities.
