Home/Posts Tagged ‘Green’
Posts Tagged ‘Green’
Climate Change, Pollution, Videos & Documentaries, Mar 20th, 2012,
China may still be overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels for power (especially coal) but the country’s rapid economic boom and consequent insatiable hunger for energy is causing it to explore and exploit all avenues, including massive wind and solar projects. While the US is going natural gas crazy and despite plenty of solar possibilities, Australia is still in the thrall of cheap coal, China is embracing greener energy sources. Bear in mind China is still the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and has a less-than-stellar record when it comes to toxic pollution. But the market is driving this still centrally…
Tags: australia, China, desert, energy, Gansu, Green, Solar, wind
Green living, Weird Stuff, Dec 21st, 2011,
When I go shopping for groceries in Portugal I have the choice between two major supermarkets plus several bakeries and fruit and veg places. When I hit the big supermarkets I can either buy flimsy biodegradable bags at one or stand in the exclusive eco queue at the other. Since I’m a dedicated eco-fascist I like the eco queue, which doesn’t provide any cheap plastic bags and only sells large reusable ones. As it is the lines are always short and using it makes me feel smug. Maybe people will start to catch on and it will have a longer…
Tags: cubist, estoril sol, Green, Portugal
Green living, Science & Technology, Nov 14th, 2011,
This is not an ad for a sleek new hand dryer. Probably no one reading this website is in the market for the newest, most eco-friendly public restroom hand drying technology on the market. But according to a new report from MIT on the environmental impact of different methods of hand drying, the Dyson Airblade (you know you love it, anyway) comes tops in all categories; global warming potential, human health, ecosystem quality, cumulative energy demand, water consumption and land occupation. *To be clear – the plastic model comes first across the board, with the aluminum trailing a bit in…
Tags: airblade, dyson, Green, hand dryer, vacuum
Green living, Oct 21st, 2011,
The London 2012 Olympics is being touted as the “greenest games ever” – though I imagine a more accurate label would be the “greenest Olympics of the last few, relatively speaking”, which is just not as catchy. The London Olympic project is on the cutting edge of green innovation, however. Carbon emissions have been cut by 100,000 tons, wetlands restored and construction of largest urban park built in Europe for the last 150 years is underway. One green (or green-ish) project of London 2012 is an entire new neighborhood, called Strand East, being built by Swedish furniture empire IKEA. It…
Tags: 2012, consumerism, environmental, ethical, Green, IKEA, london, olympics
Climate Change, Politics, Oct 11th, 2011,
(And why it’s just plain right.) The protesters at Occupy Wall Street have been criticized for being a scruffy bunch of hippies with no clear central message. Indeed, if interviewed they usually preface their answers by explaining how their movement is a broad tent: grass roots, without leaders and based on a variety of premises and complaints. In short, there is no one key demand that functions in the way that anti-Vietnam War sentiments galvanized the protest movements of the 1960s. So what. The US is entrenched in two wars, neither, of which have a definitive end in sight. There…
Tags: Climate change, corporations, environment, Green, Left, occupy wall street, political, protest, Right
Climate Change, Politics, Nov 2nd, 2010,
It’s been in the news for weeks, polls flying around our ears, so much even that I started wondering if Democrats would vote Republican after such a heavy media brainwash fest. But today I will know. We will all know if President Obama has lost the House of Representatives to the Republicans. In a way I kind of like mid-term elections. To us Europeans it’s a very strange concept, switching gears in the middle of a 4-year term. But as strange as is sounds; it looks pretty democratic to me, at least at first glance. But when I look again,…
Tags: democrats, elections, Green, green agenda, President Obama, republicans, U.S. midterms
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Oct 2nd, 2010,
Germany’s cabinet has voted to extend nuclear power use in the country by an average of 12 years. According to legislation passed in 2002 by the Social Democratic-Green Party coalition, all nuclear power stations in Germany were to be decommissioned by 2022. Not any more. German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Party, which rules as part of a center right coalition, sees the extension as a way to generate tax income, while meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and transitioning to renewable energy sources. But nuclear energy is not popular in Germany and the decision to extend the…
Tags: atomic, energy, extension, German, Germany, Green, Greenpeace, Merkel, nuclear, power, protest
Green living, Oct 1st, 2010,
Since the human species has more or less successfully extricated itself from the food chain, death just isn’t eco-friendly anymore. The old ‘food for worms’ adage is no longer apt, since worms apparently don’t really fancy formaldehyde. Humans don’t like it in their drinking water either, oddly enough. It seems that these days dying green can be even harder than living green. The modern funeral involves deforestation (in the form of expensive hardwood coffins), chemical pollution of groundwater and both toxic and greenhouse gas emissions from cremation. According to an article in The Economist, an Australian study found that cremation…
Tags: biodegradable, body, burial, co2, coffin, funeral, Green
Green living, Politics, Sep 30th, 2010,
Stuttgart, Germany is a prosperous European industrial city, home to Daimler-Benz and Porsche, among others. It is also the center of a political conflict over the partial demolition of the city’s old railway system in favor of an underground rails and the construction of ‘carbon neutral’ neighborhoods. Sounds like something the Green Party would support, right? It isn’t, though Germany’s other principle political parties do back the project, as well as business groups. A large majority of Stuttgart’s population, however, does not. The project, dubbed Stuttgart 21, is not as environmentally friendly as it might sound. According to campaigners opposing…
Tags: German, Germany, Green, party, political, rail, Stuttgart, Stuttgart 21
Green living, Politics, Sep 20th, 2010,
Back in August I wrote about ‘Portugal’s green energy revolution’ as detailed by a New York Times article on the sunny, windy and relatively unspoiled coastal European nation. Portugal’s evolving energy policies continue to garner international attention from investors, industry, politicians and the media. Industrial market research firm SBI Energy has much to say about Portugal’s ‘sweeping clean energy initiatives’, including this: The country is quickly emerging as a “green” trendsetter due to its determination to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels by channeling its wind, solar, and hydropower resources and by improving smart grid capabilities and exploring the…
Tags: energy, feed-in-tariffs, FIT, Green, Portugal, power, renewable, Solar, UK, wind
Green living, Politics, Sep 15th, 2010,
The top cities in England for green transport include Nottingham, London, Brighton, Hove and Manchester. Nottingham came out top in a study of UK cities that gauged the East Midlands town to be the least dependent on cars and have the best public transport. The CBT, a green lobby group, judged the cities on accessibility and planning; quality and availability of public transport; and how pedestrian and cyclist friendly they are. From a report by the Press Association: The findings showed that in many cities people have little choice but to drive cars. Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) used a…
Tags: Brighton, car, city, Green, london, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, public, tram, transport
Green living, Recycling, Uncategorized, ,
The City of Cleveland is spending $2.5M to equip recycling bins with microchips in an attempt to become more green. The municipality is going to give each household two different garbage cans: one for rubbish, one for recyclables. Each will have a micro-chip inside. This is all part of a new automated trash collection system. Micro-chips will be placed in both your recycling bin and your waste bin. Each chip generates a report that tells the city how efficient their waste collection services are. But it will also tell them if you’re using your recycling bin. Click here to read more about…
Tags: bins, Cleveland, environment, Green, Recycling
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Sep 11th, 2010,
There has been a lot of controversy about a much-publicized anti-Islam protest by a certain nutty preacher in the US, which was scheduled to take place today, on the anniversary of 9/11. But has anyone stopped to think about the CO2 that would be released if Terry Jones were to burn the Koran? What? It’s no dumber than everything else surrounding the planned burning of the Muslim holy book. And since everyone else has already said their piece, isn’t it time for a Green perspective? Sorry, it’s no laughing matter. Someone has actually already died in counter protests leading up…
Tags: Climate change, ecological, ecology, environmental, environmentalism, Green, Islam, Muslim, religion
Videos & Documentaries, Weird Stuff, Sep 5th, 2010,
From the sublime to the ridiculous, but mostly somewhere in between, France24 reports on ‘extreme greens’, i.e. those who go that extra mile for the environment. Sometimes its silly, like throwing seed bombs so that illegal vegetation grows in Europe’s concrete-covered cities, at other times it’s couples making a serious lifetime commitment to not have children – but it’s all for the sake of the planet. Check out the following video report from France24: Extreme Green
Tags: extreme, France24, Green, guerilla gardening, london
Climate Change, Nature, Aug 17th, 2010,
A new study explores the relationship between tropical storms and the color of the ocean. Areas of ocean with more chlorophyll-rich phytoplankton have a green tint. Chlorophyll prevents sunlight from penetrating deep into the ocean meaning surface temperatures remain higher. Warmer surface temperatures mean more tropical storms, such as cyclones or hurricanes. From an AFP report: Cold water in turn causes changes in air circulation patterns, forcing strong winds aloft, “which tend to prevent thunderstorms from developing the necessary superstructure that allows them to grow into hurricanes,” the researchers said. Massive spiraling ocean currents called gyres are areas with less…
Tags: chlorophyll, color, Green, Gyre, hurricanes, ocean, phytoplankton, storms, surface, temperatures, tropical
Climate Change, Politics, Aug 11th, 2010,
During a trip last month from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon to its second largest city Porto, in the north of the country, I noticed a lot of wind turbines dotting the landscape. I’m not the only one either. The New York Times published a piece yesterday on Portugal’s green makeover. Wind, hydro, solar and wave power are fueling the small Iberian republic’s move from fossil fuels to renewable energy – and they’ve got the resources to do it. Few countries in Europe have these key ingredients: lots of wind and sun, suitable rivers and a coastline complete with powerful…
Tags: electricity, energy, Green, New York Times, power, renewable, resource, Solar, source, wind
Climate Change, Green living, Politics, Aug 10th, 2010,
Britain’s energy secretary Chris Huhne has lifted the ban on local authorities selling back surplus electricity into the national power grid. The plan is to encourage local councils to generate their own renewable energy by installing solar panels and wind turbines on council owned property, including both homes and public buildings. Any extra electricity can be sold back to the grid and provide much needed income to local authorities. From an article in the Guardian: At present only 0.01% of electricity in England is generated by local authority-owned renewables. In Germany the equivalent figure is 100 times higher. The hope…
Tags: authorities, Britain, British, buildings, carbon, council, developers, energy, government, Green, grid, homes, local, plant, power, renewable, Solar, UK, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Aug 4th, 2010,
You might think you can do a better job than the UK government at cutting CO2, becoming more energy efficient and deciding how Britain should move towards a low carbon economy. Well the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change let’s you try it out – in a computer simulation, of course. The Independent’s environment editor loves it, as he explains in a recent article: Doing it yourself gives an unusual and vivid insight into the difficulties faced by real policymakers in grappling with our energy future. The software tool that makes it possible is called the 2050 Pathways Calculator…
Tags: Britain, carbon, Climate change, cuts, DECC, Department, emissions, energy, environmental, government, Green, Guardian, Independent, McCarthy, policy, power, schemes, UK, wind
Climate Change, Politics, Aug 3rd, 2010,
Former UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband thinks the new coalition government’s energy policies are a ‘huge disappointment’ to industry and to the country. Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he? He’s in the shadow cabinet and that’s sort of their job. Yet it seems Miliband is indeed more pro-active in terms of helping green industry than his replacement, current Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne. From BBC News: On a range of issues such as wind power, renewable heat and the green investment bank the government was going “backwards not forwards” compared to the Labour administration,…
Tags: Cameron, change, Chris, climate, coalition, David, energy, environment, Geoffrey, government, Green, greenest, Huhne, Lean, Lib Dem, Miliband, secretary, Tory, UK
Green living, Health, Jul 26th, 2010,
By now many of you have probably heard of ‘greenwashing’, the practice by which businesses or organizations present an environmentally friendly image without backing it up with concrete green credentials. BP’s green flower logo and ‘Beyond Petroleum’ slogan are blatant examples of greenwashing. Perhaps even more bewildering and maddening is the fact that the production of certain types of so-called biofuels can result in more greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction than that of fossil fuels. But what about actual green washing – as in cleaning our homes, clothes and bodies in environmentally friendly ways? According to a piece in…
Tags: cleaner, cleaning, ecological, Ecover, environmental, friendly, Green, greenwashing, home, products, vinegar
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