Renewable Energy
The technological advancements we continue to make, especially in sustainable innovation, never cease to amaze me – especially when they’re as strange and weird as the green ideas featured in this post! Could a tornado be the source of your electricity in the future? Will we wash our dead straight down the drain? Read on to learn more strange ideas that could improve the planet…
We recently posted the top 10 eco innovations of the 20th century; now, as we get another year closer to the end of the first decade of a new millennium, we’ll take a look at the most innovative green advancements made so far in the 21st century…
We’ve come a long way with green technology over the past century but not every eco innovation from the past is worth forgetting…
Biomass energy and biomass fuel are becoming more and more viable options for a sustainable future. But Biomass is a lot more fascinating than most people realize, with fuel sources ranging from chicken excrement to human fat and even stranger substances you might never have guessed. The many, many different possibilities for biomass materials makes it one of the most fascinating forms of alternative energy – especially when you consider these unusual methods of biomass production:
We’ve all heard by now that corn-based ethanol has turned out to be a bad idea.
It’s been almost a year since The New York Times editorialized on the subject:
The economics of corn ethanol have never made much sense. Rather than importing cheap Brazilian ethanol made from sugar cane, the United States slaps a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on ethanol from Brazil. Then the government provides a tax break of 51 cents a gallon to American ethanol producers — on top of the generous subsidies that corn growers already receive under the farm program.
And unlike our inefficient corn-based ethanol, that Brazilian product actually yields 370% of the energy put into it.
So, why are we doing this? What possible calculus could convince us to even consider corn ethanol?
Corn is big business – and big agribusiness hires the best lobbyists.
Here, the return on investment is spectacular: plant a few tens of millions of dollars in seed money in the form of campaign contributions to senators and members of Congress, and reap billions of dollars in federal farm subsidies.
And for agribusiness, corn is king.
You may well be wondering – why the heck is Nancy Pelosi pushing through a bill that allows for offshore drilling? Isn’t that against everything we’re supposed to stand for? Is this another example of business-as-usual betraying core Democratic principles?
Alas, sometimes green areas fall in grey areas. Here’s the scoop:
The US Airways Center will be the latest venue to benefit from alternative power, as the Phoenix Suns have announced plans to utilize solar panels, one of only a few professional sports organizations to currently do so.
San Francisco residents vying for the option of public power have had hopes dashed eleven times since the 1920s, but the fight against power entity Pacific Gas and Electricity (PG&E) is entering its twelth round, and this time supporters of the proposition – Proposition H – believe that November 4th will mark a victory for them and the environment.
