Home/Posts Tagged ‘fuel’
Posts Tagged ‘fuel’
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Dec 19th, 2011,
On Sunday a Russian oil platform capsized between Sakhalin Island and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Sea of Okhotsk off far eastern Russia. The oil rig, which was manned by 67 people subcontracted by Russian oil giant Gazprom, was being towed during a storm when heavy winds toppled it into the sea. So far Russian authorities have confirmed 16 deaths and a rescue raft with 15 people has been spotted, but it is not known how many on the raft – if any – are alive. According to regional emergency services, the accident poses no environmental threat, since the drilling…
Tags: death, France, fuel, oil, okhotsk, platform, rig, Russia, ship
Climate Change, Health, Pollution, Sep 24th, 2010,
Indoor air pollution from cooking stoves is the a serious health risk in developing countries. According to UN figures, it causes cardio-pulmonary diseases and low birth weight, killing some 1,9 million people every year – mostly women and children. Rudimentary cooking stoves in poor nations are usually fueled by foraged wood, crop waste, coal and dung. Besides being a major health hazard, the use of such stoves has substantial and manifold effects on the environment. The soot, or black carbon, produced by these stoves has a fast acting, though short-lived impact on global warming. Gathering wood for the stoves has…
Tags: Africa, clean, Clinton, cooking, developing, fuel, Hillary, nations, poor, stoves
Green living, Health, Aug 17th, 2010,
We’ve all got to worry about our environment, even refugees. Actually, especially refugees: they often live in squalid conditions with poor sanitation and lack basic resources. Environmental engineers at the University of Weimar in Germany are working on a solution to sewage problems at refugee camps by converting it into something else they need: fuel. No shit? Yes, shit. I’m thinking of using this biogas for cooking purposes. The energy could also be used for other purposes. Lighting is also a huge problem in refugee camps. Providing light at night would improve safety. –Eckhard Kraft, University of Weimar According to…
Tags: biogas, camps, Deutsche Welle, environmental, fuel, methane, refugees, shit
Videos & Documentaries, Aug 9th, 2010,
Astana is the second largest city in the central Asian country of Kazakhstan. It is a planned capital, located smack dab in the middle of the inhospitable Kazakh steppes, where temperatures range from -40C to 40C (-40F to 14F). Its population in 1999 was 281,000 but is expected to top 1 million by 2030. Like other planned capitals, including Brasilia and Canberra, Astana is a ‘capital from zero’. But Astana’s purpose – at least according to its now deceased architect, Japan’s Kisho Kurokawa – was to meet and profit from the coming protein crisis spurred on by China’s rocketing economic…
Tags: Astana, China, Chinese, cities, fossil, fuel, Kangbashi, Kazakhstan, modern, Ordos, population, steppes
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Aug 3rd, 2010,
The area around the Strait of Gibraltar, particularly at the Spanish port of Algeciras on the Bay of Gibraltar, is highly industrialized and home to many polluting factories. The Strait itself is a busy thoroughfare as well as a fueling location for ships and oil and fuel tankers. This puts the Strait at a high risk for collisions and resulting spills. In fact there have been seven ‘mini spills’ during the last three years. Spanish authorities have denied allegations from environmentalists about toxic condition and local industries deny any wrongdoing or illegal activity. However, ecologists from Gibraltar commissioned an American…
Tags: environmentalists, fuel, Gibraltar, industrial, Pollution, port, Spanish, spills, Strait
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Jul 20th, 2010,
Pipe dreams of a future of eco-friendly travel go up in smoke when you look at the projected numbers for air travel. In short, total emissions from flying are set to skyrocket. The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is being touted as 20% more fuel efficient than its rivals, lighter and more durable due to it’s carbon fiber composite construction, with better air quality, more leg room, larger windows and a quieter, more comfortable ride. But according to a report by the Associated Press, Boeing says it will be in the air for another 50 years. That’s a long time, even…
Tags: A380, air, Airbus, airliner, Boeing, carbon, Dreamliner, emissions, flying, fuel, future, Green, greener, IATA, travel
Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 4th, 2010,
Over 230 people have been killed and 110 injured in Sange, a village in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, when an oil tanker exploded, setting the village on fire. The blast occurred late Friday evening after the tanker – en route from Tanzania –overturned and began leaking oil. The tanker had been trying to pass a bus on a dirt road in Sange. Villagers gathered around to collect some of the leaking fuel, which is a valuable commodity in the Congo. The fuel had already leaked and spread over a large portion of the village…
Tags: children, Congo, Democratic, fire, fuel, killed, Kivu, oil, Province, Republic, Sange, South, tanker, village
Green living, Science & Technology, Jul 2nd, 2010,
The air travel industry wants more efficient – and thereby greener – airplanes in order to boost profits and improve its image in an increasingly environmentally conscious world. According to a piece in the Economist on new, more efficient designs for jet engines, jets are now roughly twice as fuel efficient as they were in the 1960s and 80% quieter. The new designs discussed in the piece – made by small Israeli firm R-Jet – have not yet been picked up by any major player in the airline industry, though R-Jet claims their engines could cut fuel use by a…
Tags: air travel, airplanes, battery, Economist, efficient, electric, fuel, Green, jet, planes, R-Jet
Green living, Science & Technology, Weird Stuff, May 21st, 2010,
Scientists have come up with an alternative fuel source that vegan environmentalists wouldn’t like to use: whey. Whey is the watery part of milk that remains after it is separated from curds during the process of cheese making. Although already used as an ingredient in several types of cheese and as a popular high protein nutritional supplement, most whey produced in cheese making is thrown away. And since most of the mass of milk – some 70% – used to make cheese consists of whey, a lot of waste is produced, which in turn must be treated before disposal. Researchers…
Tags: cell, cheese, energy, fuel, Greece, microbial, power, waste, whey
Climate Change, Green living, Dec 23rd, 2009,
Can a new generation of biofuels ensure we don’t increase greenhouse gas emissions and take food from the poor to fuel our cars? –Guardian The issues surrounding biofuels are complicated and confusing. While all biodiesel or ethanol burns cleaner than fossil fuels, some biofuel production creates as many or more greenhouse gas emissions than regular gasoline or petrol. Biodiesel from palm oil, for example, turned out to be environmentally hazardous due to the utilization of slash and burn agriculture and clearing of rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia. In some cases, crops which are traditionally food sources are used to make…
Tags: biodiesel, biofuel, emissions, ethic, food, fuel, greenhouse, Guardian, Indonesia, oil, palm
Climate Change, Politics, Sep 28th, 2009,
Thomas Friedman is a respected American journalist known for his articles for the New York Times. He has written extensively on topics relating globalization, the Middle East and environmental issues. His 2008 book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, stresses the importance of the United States embracing clean energy and Green technologies. In an op-ed piece for the Times last Saturday (September 19th, 2009) Friedman argues that American bravado and tough guy talk needn’t be backed up by military force in order to be effective. In fact, in this time of confusion and questions as to why coalition forces are actually in…
Tags: fuel, oil, tax, Thomas Friedman
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 21st, 2009,
Jatropha curcas, a perennial and poisonous shrub grown mostly in Africa and Asia, may prove to be the dark horse among the promising new stars of the growing biofuel industry. The fuel is Jatropha oil, which is extracted by crushing the seeds of the plant’s fruit. The remaining husk can also be used as a biomass fertilizer or to power electricity plants. Since Jatropha has not been properly domesticated and is a new player on the international biofuel scene, not much is known about the shrub. But research and development are changing that. Certain characteristics such as a touted “grow-anywhere”…
Tags: biofuel, diesel, fuel, Green, Jatropha, renewable energy
Green Cars, Green living, Recycling, Sep 17th, 2009,
The demand for renewable fuel and energy may soon be satisfied, and all it took was reclaiming the energy of a product we’ve been using for years: plastic. Yesterday, Envion revealed its new plastic-to-oil conversion technology, known as the Envion Oil Generator (EOG). The first of its kind, this generator will convert any form of plastic into high quality, synthetic light to medium oil for less than $10 per barrel. Each unit can process up to 10 thousand tons of plastic waste every year, which will produce 3 to 5 barrels per ton. In other words, one EOG can produce…
Tags: fuel, plastic waste, Recycling
