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Scotland to build largest windfarm
A proposal to build Europe's largest onshore wind farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, have been approved.
152 turbines will be constructed in Clyde, and should be capable of powering up to 320,000 homes.
A proposal to build Europe's largest onshore wind farm in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, have been approved. ... more -
Al Gore: A Generational Challenge to Repower America
Two major studies from military intelligence experts have warned our leaders about the dangerous national security implications of the climate crisis, including the possibility of hundreds of millions of climate refugees destabilizing nations around the world.
Just two days ago, 27 senior statesmen and retired military leaders warned of the national security threat from an "energy tsunami" that would be triggered by a loss of our access to foreign oil. Meanwhile, the war in Iraq continues, and now the war in Afghanistan appears to be getting worse. Two major studies from military intelligence experts have warned our leaders about the dangerous national security implications of the... more -
Ulrich Beck: 'Green' Nuclear Energy-How Will We Warn Future Generations?
Are we witnessing the beginning of a real-life satire, at once amusing and terrifying? Its theme is the smothering of the nuclear power risk by catastrophic climate change and the oil crisis. At the G8 meeting in Hokkaido last week the US president, George Bush, reiterated his plea for the construction of new nuclear energy plants. At the start of this week, Gordon Brown, announced the fast-tracking of eight new reactors and called for "a renaissance of nuclear power" in a "post-oil economy". It is as if a world that wishes to save the climate must learn to appreciate the beauty of nuclear energy - or "green energy", as Germany's Christian Democratic Union general secretary Ronald Pofalla has rechristened it. Given this new turn in the politics of language, we should remind ourselves of the following.
A couple of years ago the US Congress established an expert commission to develop a language or symbolism capable of warning against the threats posed by American nuclear waste dumps 10,000 years from now. The problem to be solved was: how must concepts and symbols be designed in order to convey a message to future generations, millennia from now? The commission included physicists, anthropologists, linguists, neuroscientists, psychologists, molecular biologists, classical scholars, artists, and so on. Are we witnessing the beginning of a real-life satire, at once amusing and terrifying? Its theme is the smothering of the nuclear powe... more -
2 MEGAWATT SOLAR PV PROJECT AT FRESNO AIRPORT SHOULD HELP CLEAR THE AIR
9 and a half acres of Solar Panels will go online on Wednesday, providing about 40% of the daily power needs for the airport's power supply and will save the airport approximately $13 Million dollars over the next 20 years. The project covers almost 7 football fields and was built on land surrounding the airport which was considered unusable. Excess power will be sold to Pacific Gas And Electric, which is the electric utility for the area. Solar Power Partners of Mill Valley will oversee and manage the system, which is the largest solar power plant at any airport in the US. Furthermore, the fact that no fossil fuels are being burned to generate power should help reduce air pollution as well. Los Angeles and The Central Valley are the most affected regions in the state of California by air pollution. 9 and a half acres of Solar Panels will go online on Wednesday, providing about 40% of the daily power needs for the airport's power s... more
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United Kingdom Talk Thursday 17th July 2008
Thursday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch or listen to the show here on CURRENT TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats.
In today's show :
Elevators or lift fun !
Knives.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/home
Go green.
Some Americans reply to Toby from Japan's email.
Nearer to next Christmas !
It was shining !
We didn't know we were doing damage.
Jean Hyland.
Oh those serious faces.
A big parcel has arrived !
You cannot judge a whole country by a few people.
Fidgeting.
Not a very happy person.
Hair dye.
What dangerous games did you play as a child ?
For the benefit of many, not just one.
Now we know.
I am J.R.
Someone has to take the lead.
Anyone can be camp !
Good things done by ordinary people.
It's all gone so quickly.
Village People.
Email :
chris@unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk
WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UK Thursday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch or listen to the show here on CURRENT TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats. ... more -
Your City Council Could Save the World
TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos, New Mexico sent this good news from green architect and visionary Santa Fean Ed Mazria on how our city councils can help save the earth.
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Greetings, All -- Pertinent Sage West Consultants' work on the Town of Taos, New Mexico High Performance Building Ordinance is the article below indicating how local building codes "...are fast becoming the Titans in the battle against climate change."
To get an idea of the numbers involved in energy use by buildings and sectors, see http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pzrff2j0rl2yXwUi...
As always, please contact Sage West Consultants principals with your questions.
See http://gristmill.grist.org/print/2008/7/8/15370/78756?s... for additional tabular information and guest comments on the article below.
-- Bill Brown for Sage West Consultants
www.nmglobalwarming.com
Read Ed Mazria's essay at link below.
http://gristmill.grist.org/print/2008/7/8/15370/78756?s...
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where everyday, is, and always has been, Earth Day. TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos, New Mexico sent this good news from green architect and visionary Santa Fean Ed Mazria on how... more -
Energy Grid of the Future
All the talk about energy independence and green energy is wonderful. The reality is that the current energy grid is not designed to handle new sources of energy flowing in--it is designed to push energy from a single source out to customers. In the new energy world, the grid will need to be able to take in energy from multiple sources, deliver energy in new ways, and manage energy resources to meet the demands of a mobile, plug-in society. Dr. Alex Huang, Progress Energy Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State University, directs the Semiconductor Power Electronics Center (SPEC), a research group on Centennial Campus that wants to boost the capacity of existing power grids and integrate them with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. All the talk about energy independence and green energy is wonderful. The reality is that the current energy grid is not designed to ... more
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Expo Milano 2015: un'occasione per contribuire ad un modello di sviluppo sostenibi...
Visita il mio blog e dai il tuo contributo di idee e proposte alla discussione sui temi dell'energia prodotta da fonti rinnovabili e non inquinanti, della produzione alimentare e della fame nel mondo, sull'acqua quale bene il cui uso e consumo è un diritto di tutti. Visita il mio blog e dai il tuo contributo di idee e proposte alla discussione sui temi dell'energia prodotta da fonti rinnovabili e n... more
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Voice of the Hawk Elder Wins Best Books Award
Dedication to book by Seneca Elder Edna Gordon
"This book is dedicated to my People, the Seneca Nation, to our kindred Peoples of the Haudenoshaunee, or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, to all the Indian Nations of Great Turtle Island, and to all other Indigenous Peoples around this Mother Earth. I send it out like an arrow of love from my heart to YOUR hearts!
If other folks want to read it too, why, that’s fine by me. Might be you even learn something! This book is FULL of secrets for those who understand'm! But always remember, the BIGGEST secret is Creation itself!
YES, THIS IS MY VOICE. These are my words. My good friend Harvey has helped me sort and arrange them, like he’s done for lots of good people over the years, even back when he worked at National Geographic. He fixes my spelling and spruces up my grammar here and there, though I tell him, not too much, Harvey! I want folks to know who I am and how I really talk and what I’m really like. Don’t make me some saintly old lady come down from Heaven on a moonbeam spoutin’ high-flown words.
Me, I’m just me, Grandma Edna Gordon, Hawk Clan Elder of the Seneca Nation, Six Nations Iroquois. I just turned 85, and am tryin’ my darndest to be a good person. Sometimes I succeed, but don’t stay around me when I get mad! I’m a raging hawk
I‘m honored Harvey’s chosen me to work with. Or am I the one did the choosing? <smile>. Harvey’s a helper, and that’s a holy thing to be. People’mselves aren’t holy. But what they do can be holy. Living a holy life, that’s what life’s for. Helping others, fighting injustice, standing up for the People—those are holy things to do.
But always be sure to remember, it ain’t you yourself who’s holy. People are just people. If God’d wanted’m to be holy, he’d have given’m wings and set’m up on a cloud somewhere playin’ a big gold harp.
Sounds pretty boring to me. Me, I’d rather just be a human being. I’m thankful that’s all I am or need to be. Being human, that’s a tough enough job for me. Dedication to book by Seneca Elder Edna Gordon ... more -
The Climate Project's Teen Taylor Francis tours China
The Climate Project
06/26/08
TCP presenter Taylor Francis, a high school student, recently spent 10 days touring China and speaking to youth groups about climate change. He checks in with a report on his impressions of the world's largest nation and its citizens' view of the climate issue.
Earlier this month I traveled to Shanghai and Beijing to speak to Chinese audiences about climate change. This effort was born out of a prior trip to China with a school group in 2007. As the community service part of that trip, we conducted classes with fifth-graders in a small town called Jiangyin; my classes were about global warming. And I was stunned by how receptive these fifth-grade students were to what I was discussing.
I had heard from myriad articles and studies how important China was to solving climate change; many believe it has now passed the United States as the world’s largest CO2 emitter. My positive experiences in Jiangyin led me to believe that the youth of China were a source of possibility and hope in working together to combat climate change. So I spent the following year making contacts and connections to set up my speaking tour in the beginning of June.
It was an incredible trip. Over the course of 28 events and five days, I spoke to thousands of students at six high schools and two universities in Shanghai and Beijing. I also met with teachers, student leaders, NGO leaders, businessmen, and government officials. I spoke about how this is a shared problem for our two countries that necessitates cooperation. We emit the most CO2, and we will both suffer the consequences of inaction. I also tried to emphasize that economic growth and protecting the planet are not mutually exclusive. Steps like energy efficiency will save China billions of dollars, and new green technologies and industries can provide millions of new jobs. ...
See more at link above.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com The Climate Project 06/26/08 ... more -
"The Climate Project presenter Bill Brown remains busy in retirement" - Interview
Here's an interview on theclimateproject.org with our friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming.
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06/03/08
Bill Brown, a former earth scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, figured he'd spend his retirement relaxing in New Mexico with his wife, Lisa. Then he became a volunteer presenter for The Climate Project. Brown recently discussed his experience as a presenter with TCP Communications Manager Alex Carey.
To request a presentation by Brown or another of TCP's 1,000 dedicated and knowledgeable presenters, click here.
Alex Carey: What led you to become interested in the issues surrounding climate change and, more generally, in the environment?
Bill Brown: I have worked professionally on environmental impacts of human activities since the 1960s. The focus of our work in the ‘60s and ‘70s was cleaning up this nation’s waters at a time when many of our major rivers were no more than open sewers. By the early ‘90s, I was working in the emerging science of Industrial Ecology – the science of sustainability – and discovering then that carbon management would be the principal issue of the 21st century.
AC: You're now retired. What did you do before you entered retirement?
BB: I was an earth scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey for 36 years. I led projects throughout the U.S. – primarily in the American West – and in seven other countries. In the later part of my career I worked as a research team manager, researcher on global minerals and energy, budget analyst for the Department of the Interior, and researcher on the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
AC: How did you find out about The Climate Project?
BB: I was the science advisor for a high-profile campaign to protect New Mexico’s spectacular Valle Vidal from being turned into a natural gas factory. Our ultimate and stunning success in gaining an Act of Congress to protect our Valle Vidal was a powerful statement on the deficiencies of U.S. energy policy. The Valle Vidal work prompted people in my community to recommend that I apply to represent our region in The Climate Project....
Click link above to read rest of interview with our friend Bill Brown.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Here's an interview on theclimateproject.org with our friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming. _______________ ... more -
The Climate Project
The Climate Project consists of 1,000 dedicated volunteers from throughout the United States, trained to educate the public about climate change. Our hope is that by raising the awareness of our fellow citizens about this crisis and informing them about potential solutions, all of us, together, can preserve the climate balance on which our planet depends.
Read more about Presenters of The Climate Project at link above.
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com The Climate Project consists of 1,000 dedicated volunteers from throughout the United States, trained to educate the public about clim... more -
"Global Limits of Biomass Energy" Reports Science Daily
Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate Change Project.
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Greetings, All -- Below are a couple of briefs containing tightly summarized information and data on biomass power potential and a current vision of solar power potential.
Carnegie Institution of Science researchers make the reasonable case that sustainable biomass energy production on suitable land (primarily abandoned cropland and pastureland) could provide about five percent of human demands for primary energy. However, biomass development in excess of this amount -- particularly using land and water needed to grow food or converting existing ecosystems to biomass production -- could threaten food security and exacerbate climate change.
[Carnegie Institution of Science: http://www.ciw.edu/related_links]
In the second article, Ausra CEO Robert Fishman http://ausra.com/] indicates one potential for solar power (solar thermal power as contrasted with solar photovoltaic power) contingent upon policy decisions on clean energy tax credits and carbon taxes. [This corresponds to what I try to tell people about economics: we can make policy decisions that move us toward the kind of energy economy we want.] Fishman's statement re the "crossover point" could be interpreted to say that clean energy will remain competitive with obsolescent fossil fuel energy, whereas it is more likely that new technology clean energy will grow rapidly while old technology energy from inefficient and polluting sources will continue to decline.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog at www.OneEarthBlog.Blogspot.com
Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate... more -
Californians are climate trendsetters
More current news on sustainable energy science and policy from TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate Change Project.
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Greetings, All -- The article below describes poll results recognizing California's policy innovations and citizen's attitudes about fighting atmospheric pollution and climate change.
The poll "...shows broad public understanding that fixing climate change goes hand in hand with energy stability and economic prosperity."
"Californians understand that clean energy combined with energy efficiency measures, which the state has pioneered for decades, mean their total energy bill will go down..."
Note the reference to California Assembly Bill (AB) 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act.
According to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab-32], "The Bill (AB 32), authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Member Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), was agreed between Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators on August 30, 2006. It requires that by 2020 the state's greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels, a roughly 25% reduction under business as usual estimates. The California Air Resources Board, under the California Environmental Protection Agency, is to prepare plans to achieve the objectives stated in the Act."
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog at www.OneEarthBlog.Blogspot.com More current news on sustainable energy science and policy from TouchArt's friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming a... more -
Home Depot to offer CFL recycling
One of the peskiest problems of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) is where to dispose of them when they break or burn out, due to the small amounts of mercury that they contain.
Well, here's some good news on that front! Home Depot is announcing today that it will begin taking back old CFLs in all 1,973 of its U.S. stores. This will be the most widespread recycling program for the bulbs to date. Home Depot will accept any maker's bulbs and due to its spread across the country, this move will bring CFL recycling within reach of most homes. Home Depot estimates that 75% of the nation's home are within 10 miles of a store.
Kudos to Home Depot for doing this.
by Patricia Mayville-Cox
http://www.greendaily.com/2008/06/24/home-depot-to-offe...
I think this is great! One of the peskiest problems of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) is where to dispose of them when they break or burn out, due to the s... more -
DailyTech - MIT Students Develop Revolutionary Solar Dish That is Hot Enough to Me...
The solar industry is booming. With waves of investment and grants, the solar power industry is for the first time becoming a serious business. New power plants will soon be pumping power out to consumers, while other firms market to sell panels directly to the consumer, providing them with a more direct means of experiencing solar energy.
There are many forms of solar power technology. Today the most dominant is photo-voltaics, which comprise the traditional solar panels that come to mind when one thinks of solar power. However, there are other promising ways of capturing the sun's energy that are merely less developed.
Among these is a parabolic collector. A parabolic collector consists of an array of mirrors focused on a singular point, which they heat to a high temperature. By placing water or another liquid at the collector, energy can be stored in the form of a phase transformation, and later harvested through a turbine generator.
However, parabolic collectors are still a relatively new field of research. Their true potential remains relatively unknown. A glimpse of it was provided by a research team at MIT, which developed a new parabolic collector design, which will blow away current solar power designs in terms of efficiency.
The MIT team believes that their lightweight, inexpensive device holds the promise of revolutionizing the power industry and providing solar power to even remote regions.
The key piece is the 12-foot dish, which the team assembled in several weeks. The design is exceedingly simple and inexpensive. The frame is composed of aluminum tubing and mirrors are attached to it.
The results are staggering -- the completed mirror focuses enough solar energy at its focal point to melt solid steel. The energy of typical sunlight is concentrated by a factor of 1,000. This was showcased during a demonstration, in which a team member held up a board, which instantly and violently combusted, when brought within range of the focal point.
By directing the dish at a more practical target -- water piped through black tubing -- steam can be flash created, offering instant means of producing energy or providing heating.
Spencer Ahrens, who just received his master's in mechanical engineering from MIT, was among the designers of the dish. He and his fellow team members are serious about marketing it, and leveraging its cheap cost and easy production. They have founded a company named RawSolar. They say their design is easily mass producible and that they hope to be pumping out 1,000 of dishes in years to come.
The new dishes would return their costs in a mere couple years, unlike standard photo-voltaic installations which can take 10 years or more to return their costs. This improvement is critical to providing practical economic justification for adoption.
The dish is based partly on components invented and patented by inventor Doug Wood. He was so pleased with the team's work that he signed over rights to the components to the team. He elates, "This is actually the most efficient solar collector in existence, and it was just completed. They really have simplified this and made it user-friendly, so anybody can build it."
Wood says one of the keys to the success of the project is the smaller size. Dishes are affected by the same weight dynamics that effect living organisms. Much as large living organisms would need an inordinate amount of weight support and thus are not favored, larger dish designs fall short in that they require an exponentially greater amount of infrastructure. For example, a dish the size of the RawSolar team's design costs only a third of what a larger dish would cost.
The solar industry is booming. With waves of investment and grants, the solar power industry is for the first time becoming a serious... more -
One Earth Blog by TouchArt
One Earth Blog
Take a break to join Charleen Touchette of Mixed Blood Radio, for a virtual cup of tea or coffee in historic Santa Fe to chat, reflect on the weather, art, raising children, living green, world politics and keeping creativity flowing in a challenging world.
Check One Earth Blog as the mood moves you for new thoughts, pictures, viewpoints, radio interviews, video, art and links several times each week.
TouchArt's One Earth Blog brings you news, voices, and leaders in Indigenous Arts and Politics, Environmental and Green News and Scientists, American Indian Leaders, Artists and Authors, Mixed Blood Activists and Leaders, and voices, art and literature from youth from diverse rural, urban and reservation communities.
Check out One Earth Blog for news on Touchette's work with TouchArt Books, Russell Means and the Oppressionist Art Movement, Martin Luther King III and the Realizing the Dream Poverty in America Initiative and Bill Brown at New Mexico Global Warming.
With each decision, we each can be part of the solution.
We share one earth.
Like a stone dropped into a pool of water, every action has a ripple effect.
ONE EARTH - THINK ABOUT/ACT LIKE IT.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
One Earth Blog ... more -
Intel enters solar panel market
Intel Corp. disclosed that an internal team has been working on technology for use in solar panels, and now is spinning off that effort to form a new company.
The chip maker said the company, SpectraWatt Inc., will make photovoltaic cells, the primary component in solar panels that use sunlight to generate electricity. It will receive $50 million in initial funding from a consortium including Intel's venture capital arm, Goldman Sach's Cogentrix Energy subsidiary, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, and Solon AG, a German solar-panel maker.
Intel's move is the latest in a scramble among Silicon Valley companies to jump on the clean-energy bandwagon. Applied Materials Inc., for example, is branching beyond machines for making chips to sell equipment for use in making photovoltaic cells. Chip maker Cypress Semiconductor Corp., by contrast, spun off a maker of solar cells called SunPower Corp. that now boasts a market capitalization of about $7 billion.
Engineers inside Intel's new business initiatives group in Oregon have been working on the effort for several years, led by Andrew Wilson, who will become SpectraWatt's chief executive. The startup isn't disclosing much about its technology, but Mr. Wilson said its goal is to reduce the cost and improve the power-generating efficiency of solar cells that are made from silicon, the material used to make silicon chips. Intel Corp. disclosed that an internal team has been working on technology for use in solar panels, and now is spinning off that effor... more -
Seaweed Fields Forever
Growing large seaweed fields for energy using nutrients from wastewater could be an economically-sound use for the millions of tonnes of untreated wastewater dumped daily into our seas worldwide, and the seaweed helps clean it up in the process. Check out this Op-Ed piece. Growing large seaweed fields for energy using nutrients from wastewater could be an economically-sound use for the millions of tonnes ... more
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CO2 emissions may rise 130%, oil demand 70%: International Energy Agency
"A leading energy body is calling for a $45 trillion (£23 trillion) green revolution to tackle global warming.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said nations must spend 1% of annual economic output on new technology to halve carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
It warned that without action, CO2 emissions would rise by 130% and oil demand would jump by 70% by the middle of the century.
But the IEA added that meeting the new target would be a formidable challenge." "A leading energy body is calling for a $45 trillion (£23 trillion) green revolution to tackle global warming. ... more
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