Coolest Bike I Have Seen All Week
I so want one of these, imagine going down a big hill and doing like three barrel rolls in this thing, so much fun!
(via)
God this would be so much fun to play with.
My Stupendous Steamer
A simple device that saves energy and cuts the risk of cancer. It must be the highest tech piece of high-tech known to humanity, and surely something we don’t have yet, mustn’t it?
Nah! It’s a steamer. Something that my mum had, and her mum before her, and that we seem to have forgotten how to use in the face of Stalinist saucepan rule. Well, not quite, but it does seem like the humble steamer has gone out of favour because it just seems too complicated to set up and use. Actually, it’s a piece of cake.
Here’s what you do. Say you are boiling some potatoes, rice or pasta - basically anything that has to be immersed in water to cook properly. Put boiling water in the bottom section of the steamer, then put the lid on. When the water starts bubbling, and it is time, put the next section on containing the vegetables that take longest to cook, and put the lid on this bit. If you have more vegetables that take less time to cook, wait until they are due to go on and place them in the next section. Take the lid off, place this section on and put the lid on the top of the whole thing. Voila! You are cooking three lots of food with only one burner.
Because the steam is constantly recirculating then the water level in the bottom stays the same as it would if you only had a saucepan. Better still, steamed vegetables actually take less time to cook than boiled vegetables - something to do with dry heat being more intense - and they also taste better. So with you using about a third (or a half, depending on the number of layers) of the energy than you would use with saucepans, and extra-tasty food you would think that would be enough. But it’s not.
Steamed vegetables can prevent cancer. Yes, it’s true. The phytochemicals present in brassicas, such as cabbage, cauliflower, brocolli and Brussels sprouts are not lost during steaming as they are when the same foods are boiled. In fact, all foods that are boiled lose vital nutrients - nutrients that protect against bowel and other forms of cancer, as well as being important for maintaining a healthy immune system and general wellbeing. Steaming preserves these nutrients.
So, readers, get yourself a steamer, and use it. Not only will you cut your energy consumption, you will also make your food tastier and healthier - now that’s low-tech magic!
Keith Farnish
www.theearthblog.org
www.greenseniors.org
Cape Wind Opponents Losing The Battle
Not only have recent polls shown that the majority of people in both the State and the Cape want Cape Wind to be built, but now the opponents of Cape Wind the so called Alliance To Protect (the view from our mansions of) Nantucket Sound seems to be running low on the cash flow.
Their contributions dropped sharply last year, according to recently filed tax documents. Last year they raised 2 million, a lot of money, but when you consider that in 2004-5 they raised more than 4 million each year you can see that the very few mega rich that have been fighting this battle must know the fight is almost over. I suspect that when the file for 2007 we will see another large drop in funding.
It really is amazing how much money the Alliance has raised considering what they are fighting for. They are not trying to stop a wind farm, they are fighting FOR nuclear waste, smoke belching coal plants, and potentially explosive LNG terminals. They are big supports of global warming, oil spills, and wars in Iraq. They might not be doing these things consciously, but if you don’t get your energy from renewable sources, you are forced to use fossil or nuclear which bring all the problems we know so well (global warming, war, high gas prices,etc etc).
The Alliance is fighting a losing battle because they are fighting for the same old dirty technology that has failed to provide the answer so far. I can’t wait to see all 130 beautiful turbines spinning of the coast of Cape Cod providing 75% of the Capes power from clean renewable energy.
Changing The Way We Think About Energy
Keith has once again written a fascinating article. I am consistently impressed with his well thought out, well researched and compelling arguments for change. This time he tackles energy, how we produce it, how we use it, and how we need to change a lot of those things if we are to make it as a species.
The more significant change has been in the fuel type used in this period. Solid fuels burned at home, like coal and wood, decreased in usage from just over 18 to less than 1 million tonnes of oil equivalent. At the same time natural gas increased from 9 to 34 mtoe, while electricity from the national grid increased from just under 7 to nearly 10 mtoe. Overall, people in the UK have increased their domestic energy consumption by nearly 32%; and this in a land without air conditioning. It is to the USA that we have to go to see some really fascinating figures.
According to the US Department of Energy there has been a massive shift in the way energy used in the home is produced. In 1970 United States homes used 206 million tonnes of oil equivalent in “primary consumption”, meaning that the fuel – such as coal, wood or butane – was burnt in or around the home. In the same year 135 mtoe was drawn from the national grid in the form of electricity. By 2004, the figure for primary consumption had gone down by 16%, reflecting the move away from solid fuels. By 2004, the consumption of electricity had gone up by 160% or, if you like, the USA consumed 2.3 times as much electricity in 2004 as it did only 34 years earlier. The USA consumes a lot of electricity!
Ok, so what has that to do with a washing machine running during the night? For the answer to that, we need to look at the way electricity is produced.
Read the rest of this though provoking article here.
A Year Ago Today On The Sietch
We were enjoying pictures of the beach, and wondering why the Bush administration has such a hard time with science.
(via)
Today the supreme court tackles the issue of global warming, specifically if the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide. 12 states, three cities, 13 environmental groups and a ski resort want the EPA to cap the gas in an effort to help slow global warming. However the Bush administrations EPA says they don’t have the authority to regulate the co2 and even if they did the science isn’t “good enough” to know what to do about it.
(via)
Climate Change And Cape Cod: Coastal Impacts And Adaptation Strategies
Hey! Wana check something out that is bound to be awesome? Read below.
December 4, 2007, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Cape & Islands Association of Realtors Conference Center, 22 Mid-Tech Drive, West Yarmouth
This workshop features expert speakers addressing the science of climate change; the current and anticipated impacts on shoreline erosion, coastal and floodplain structures, wetlands and other habitats, and water supplies; and adaptation strategies applicable to local communities. Information and resources to support adaptation planning will be provided. The workshop is aimed at municipal decision-makers, including staff and elected/appointed officials involved in town administration, planning, conservation, water resource management, public health, engineering, energy, etc. It was developed based in part on needs identified by municipal officials, staff, and volunteers from many of the towns on the Cape during a series of energy/climate meetings conducted through the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative.
Free; includes lunch. Registration requested: Conference Program & Registration Form
Sponsored by Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Massachusetts CZM and DCR, WHOI Sea Grant
Registration: Laurie Tompkins, 508.457.0495 x 108, Laurie.Tompkins@state.ma.us
Information: Tonna-Marie Surgeon-Rogers, 508.457.0495 x 110, Tonna-Marie.Surgeon-Rogers@state.ma.us
Visit www.cigogreen.org for information on other upcoming energy-related events.
Climate Change And Cape Cod Coastal Impacts And Adaptation Strategies
| December 4, 2007 |
December 4, 2007, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Cape & Islands Association of Realtors Conference Center, 22 Mid-Tech Drive, West Yarmouth
This workshop features expert speakers addressing the science of climate change; the current and anticipated impacts on shoreline erosion, coastal and floodplain structures, wetlands and other habitats, and water supplies; and adaptation strategies applicable to local communities. Information and resources to support adaptation planning will be provided. The workshop is aimed at municipal decision-makers, including staff and elected/appointed officials involved in town administration, planning, conservation, water resource management, public health, engineering, energy, etc. It was developed based in part on needs identified by municipal officials, staff, and volunteers from many of the towns on the Cape during a series of energy/climate meetings conducted through the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative.
Free; includes lunch. Registration requested: Conference Program & Registration Form
Sponsored by Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Massachusetts CZM and DCR, WHOI Sea Grant
Registration: Laurie Tompkins, 508.457.0495 x 108, Laurie.Tompkins@state.ma.us
Information: Tonna-Marie Surgeon-Rogers, 508.457.0495 x 110, Tonna-Marie.Surgeon-Rogers@state.ma.us
Visit www.cigogreen.org for information on other upcoming energy-related events.
Just For Fun Lewis Black On Global Warming
(Via)
Why Stopping Coal Power Is Important
In 2006, China burned more than twice as much coal as any other country, according to a Vital Signs Update released today by the Worldwatch Institute. China’s coal use amounted to 39 percent of the global total, followed by the United States with 18 percent. The European Union and India came in third and fourth place, accounting for 10 percent and 8 percent of total coal use, respectively.
Coal accounted for a quarter of the world’s primary energy supply in 2006 and supplied nearly a third (32 percent) of all fossil fuel-based energy. Due to its high carbon content, however, coal was responsible for approximately 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels.
The demand for coal is growing rapidly in China, which accounted for more than 70 percent of the global growth in coal use in 2006 and for more than 60 percent of the rise in coal use over the past decade. India, responsible for just over 10 percent of the growth in world coal use in the last 10 years, ranks a distant second.
Growing acknowledgment of the health, climate, and other environmental impacts of coal use has led to mounting political opposition to new coal-fired power plants in the United States and Europe. But the uncertainty about coal’s future in industrial countries is overshadowed by its dominance in the energy mix of large developing economies. In both China and India, coal maintains a preeminent role in plans to meet the projected rapid growth in energy demand.
A true reconciliation of coal with the climate risk it presents must soon confront coal-fired power not only in the United States and other industrialized countries, but also on its new home turf in rapidly industrializing developing countries.
IBM Wants To Make The World Better
IBM has been doing some interesting things as of late. Recently they started taking flawed computer chips and turning them into solar panels (isn’t that nice).
Through this new reclamation process IBM is now able to more efficiently remove the intellectual property from the wafer surface, making these wafers available either for reuse in internal manufacturing calibration as “monitor wafers” or for sale to the solar cell industry, which must meet a growing demand for the same silicon material to produce photovoltaic cells for solar panels. IBM intends to provide details of the new process to the broader semiconductor manufacturing industry. It is currently in use the Burlington, VT facility and in the process of being implemented at IBM’s East Fishkill, NY, semiconductor fabrication plant.
“One of the challenges facing the solar industry is a severe shortage of silicon, which threatens to stall its rapid growth,” said Charles Bai, chief financial officer of ReneSola, one of China’s fastest growing solar energy companies. “This is why we have turned to reclaimed silicon materials sourced primarily from the semiconductor industry to supply the raw material our company needs to manufacture solar panels.”
IBM and others in the industry use silicon wafers both as the starting material for manufacturing microelectronic products — from cell phones to computers to consumer electronics — and to monitor and control the myriad of steps in the manufacturing process. According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, worldwide 250,000 wafers are started per day across the industry. IBM estimates that up to 3.3% of these started wafers are scrapped. In the course of the year, this amounts to approximately three million discarded wafers.
3 million wafers:
* Stretch for 375 miles if placed end-to-end
* Cover 22.5 acres of area
* Weigh 187.5 tons
* Generate 13.5 megawatts of solar energy
* Produce 57 million kilowatt hours in solar panels (12-hour day x 365 days)
* Power 6,000 houses (9,500 kWh per year per house)
Pretty interesting to think of trash not in terms of weight, or cost, but in terms of how much clean renewable energy it could make.
Now they have five innovations they claim will transform how people around the world will work and live in the next five years.
From helping to create a more green environment to improving cell phones, the IBM “Next 5 in 5″ list is based on market and societal trends as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s labs around the world. The five areas in which IBM expects to see technological improvements include: energy, cell phone functionality, traffic congestion, food intake and medical tools for doctors.
Interesting stuff. Click here (pdf) for more info about the 5 in 5 plan.
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