environment – Page 2

Land, Sea and Air – Hydrogen, Human and Wind Power: Three Ecological Transporation Innovations

Let’s face it, trying to solve a big problem in one quick step rarely works out, particularly when the problem is global and touches on virtually all kinds of transporation. Too many alternative energy concept vehicles try too hard to rely on a single source of energy. Electric cars need frequent recharges and solar-powered vehicles of course need the sun. These three vehicles are a worthy stop-gap measure as the world slowly learns to rely less and less on conventional fuel sources and turns more and more to renewable energy.

Space Junk – The Strangest Trash (Not) on the Planet

With all our problems down here on Earth most people don’t think about space junk very often, but there is more of it to think about than most people realize. An estimate 50,000 pieces exist that are large enough to do significant damage on collision with an operational space craft or satellite. Over 90% of the stuff we currently have in space is useless trash – with less than 10% being operational/useful.

Gasoline That Grows on Trees – Literally

Well, not gasoline per say but something strangely close. With minimal filtering and no refining these amazing trees produce fuel for up to 70 years and and at a rate of 1 barrel per 4 trees per year. After extraction, the fuel must be used within a few months but can be put almost directly to work in a diesel engine. However, even if the fuel is left for too long it changes into another form of oil that fetches a fairly high market price as a medicinal substance.

Brilliant Green Architectural Design Concept? Skyscraper Retrofits for Power and Food

Retrofitting Skyscrapers

Clearly we can’t very well tear down all of the world’s old skyscrapers for not being environmentally friendly – that kind of approach would itself be (ironic and) wasteful. At the same time, many of these buildings are projected to last for decades (or centuries) more. So what is the solution for making them green now? One rather clever proposal involves adding an auxiliary environmental layer to the existing structures that could house gardening and natural wind power production spaces.

Is Extinction a Major Present-Day Problem?

Extinction is nothing new … mass extinctions are part of the life cycle of the planet. Still, if we are indeed in the 6th great mass extinction then perhaps we should be worried that at least one such mass extinction took the planet 30 million years to recover from! Some …

Is Global Warming Fact or Fiction?

Is global warming a myth or a fact? Or is the entire term misleading and should climate change by the phrase of choice instead? The site 42Explore provides a great introduction to the issue of global warming, both an ‘easy’ and a ‘hard’ version, as well as numerous reputable resources …

7 Clever-but-Questionable Eco-Power Innovations

It is all too easy to get excited about the next big sustainable technology for saving energy or producing non-polluting power – and forget the flaws in many of these ideas. Some of the best projects show smart out-of-the-box thinking but lack feasibility or, in some cases, might do more harm than good. While these ideas may not work at least scientists, politicians and other innovators are beginning to explore alternatives.

How About a Paperless Home?

Except perhaps in the bathroom, do you really need any kind of paper? These days it seems like paper is just an intermediate step or default conclusion – a copy that will eventually be scanned in or a digitally written paper printed out at the end. Still, is paperless the solution to environmental problems or simply wasteful in another way?

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