Environment - David Corking on Diigo

07 Dec 09

.: U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works :: Minority Page :.

Republican campaign for CO2 scepticism

epw.senate.gov/...index.cfm - Preview

Environment

04 Nov 09

Wave developers needed for an open-source project : wave | Nov 2009

This seems exciting - though an incredibly tight rapid-application-development timeline

www.reddit.com/...eded_for_an_opensource_project - Preview

googlewave Environment Culture

The wiki, collaboration elements, translation tools and extensibility are exactly what we need. I went to the London GTUG last week and told Step Hannon, Wave’s product manager, exactly that. She liked the idea and amazingly agreed to give us 1,000 invites for our panel.

30 Oct 09

The African Executive | Africa Can Feed Itself! | October 2009

Talking up a lower cost irrigation technique

www.africanexecutive.com/...articles.php - Preview

Environment Culture development

The human powered pressure irrigation pump for example, is widely distributed, marketed and sold in Kenya and Tanzania and Mali. The two models - one for $100 and another for $35 are guaranteed.

Smallholder farmers themselves make the decision to invest in them. No government or NGO funds are needed. The farmers themselves have gone on to reap the benefits an
- Can smallholder credit unions help farmers invest in these? How useful is the equipment? - on 2009-10-30
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24 Oct 09

Guardian gagged from reporting parliament | Media | The Guardian | Oct 12 2009

www.guardian.co.uk/...gged-from-reporting-parliament - Preview

Culture Politics Law Environment

22 Oct 09

Linux in an Age of Austerity | Sirius Corporation plc

siriusit.co.uk/...linux-age-austerity - Preview

hosting Environment Web applications

Electricity and bandwidth are the two major costs for service providers. Virtualisation technologies have really hit the data farms and are now moving into the business and the public sector. Virtualisation can reduce elctricty consumption of server side services by 60%.

In this area Linux-based virtualisation using KVM has a great story. If you want cool make the VM host a lovely blade and maybe turn off the air con?

Green Shoot?

19 Oct 09

Corsham Community Area's Rethink Rubbish Directory! (In association with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust)

Where and how to recycle in Corsham

www.nestonvillage.org.uk/online_directory.htm - Preview

wiltshire Environment

15 May 09

Driven: Shai Agassi's Audacious Plan to Put Electric Cars on the Road | Wired | 2008

in depth feature

I want to understand how electric miles are so cheap. 8 US cents a mile, and falling - very interesting if it is true.

www.wired.com/...ff_agassi - Preview

energy environment Finance

He had no cars, no test site, and no electrical engineering or auto experience.
what Shai was building was still essentially a software company. He needed a network that allowed cars to tell the grid how much charge they were carrying and how much more they required. The system had to know where the car was so it could tell the driver where to go to "fill up." And it had to electronically negotiate with the local energy utility over when it could and couldn't take power and how much to pay.
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- In 2008, we put the cable in the unit, in 2010 we use an arm, in 2012, there's a smart arm that connects automatically. For the home unit, the users get a pull cable for free, or they pay $500 and they get autoconnect. It'll cost $250 to build, and we'll sell it for $500."
- When I ask Shai if he's worried about a competitor stealing his idea, he stares at me like I'm an idiot. "The mission is to end oil," he says, "not create a company."
- Ofer says. "Even if this ends up destroying—for lack of a better word—my refinery business, that will be small money compared to what this will be.
- cars would also be a cheap, distributed way to store excess wind power.
- raising an additional$160 million for Denmark alone
- "I have so many sins to pay on my climate bill right now that we hope this works really fast," he says.
- you don't sell a car with a card that says 'Here is oil for the life of the car,' you don't sell cars with the batteries for the life of the car, because the battery is crude oil." He explains that his plan alone, once scaled up, could produce a 20 percent drop in the world's CO₂ emissions.
- at the end of 10 years, clean electrons are cheaper than coal-based electrons, and nobody builds another coal plant at that point. That's another 40 percent of CO₂ emissions;
- The auto industry needed to be part of this from the get-go. They needed to be making electric cars. "This is kind of a world-changer," Rolf says.
- "He tells you the story, and it sounds so simple. Why don't we have it today? Why isn't it here already?"

Better Place unveils robot battery swap station: Scientific American Blog

This is a robot with a conscience - saving the world, and the world's economy - from carbon disaster. I love it!

www.scientificamerican.com/...post.cfm - Preview

energy environment Robotics-industrial

Shai Agassi's bold plan for electric cars | Video on TED.com | 2009

Electric car infrastructure going to market in 2010 - from 8 cents per mile down to 2 cents per mile. 18 minute video.

Former project manager at SAP.

Israel / Australia / Hawaii / SF Bay

www.ted.com/...i_agassi_on_electric_cars.html - Preview

energy environment Project Management

11 May 09

Savepencilbay’s Weblog

There are plans to destroy the very environment sailor's come to enjoy. I hope this campaign succeeds in stopping this madness.

savepencilbay.wordpress.com - Preview

scotland largs environment sailing

Almost everyone we spoke to were opposed to the development at Pencil Bay – even sailors told us that they didnt understand why the Scottish Sailing Institute couldnt just extend the existing slipway rather than concrete over the whole beach.

“What use is a slipway that can’t be used when the tide is out”

“Its a disgrace what they are doing – they are destroying the bay”

07 May 09

Automatic Hand Dryers Vs. Paper Towels

This article has interesting tips, but it seems to be written by someone who sells electric hand dryers.

publicrestrooms.lifetips.com/...index.html - Preview

Environment Health

No one needs to check the supply of paper towels each day or replace them as needed.
- But shouldn't someone regularly check the hand dryer is actually working? And have a mechanic on call to fix it? - on 2009-05-07
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To keep customers happy and enjoy some of the benefits of restroom automatic dryers, consider a compromise: Install some of each.
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- Studies have shown that restroom automatic dryers inhibit the growth of bacteria on the skin by drying the skin more effectively than paper towels.
  - Sounds plausible, but what studies? - on 2009-05-07
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How To Go Green: Hand dryers v paper towels - 2005

All the questions - not many answers

www.howtogogreen.com/...and-dryers-v-paper-towels.html - Preview

Environment Health

The hand dryer is using electricity that has probably been created in a coal or oil fired power station. This will have belched out our carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming - the biggest threat to our planet.
The paper had to be recycled in a factory that uses electricity.
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- According to the publish rest rooms website, ‘Studies have shown that restroom automatic dryers inhibit the growth of bacteria on the skin by drying the skin more effectively than paper towels’.
  - "public restrooms website" hardly an authoratative source - on 2009-05-07
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Solving the Paper Towel and Napkin Recycling Problem

Paper towels can be composted - at home or communally.

www.knoxvillebusiness.com/-napkin-recycling-problem.html - Preview

Environment

Instead of making more paper or cardboard, the used paper towels and napkins are made into mulch!

The Ecologist - Behind the label: Recycled Toilet Tissue | 2007

A UK article suggesting ecologically sound loo roll. It drifts into confused discussion about other paper, and uses an uninspiring and apparently misleading source suggesting hazards of halocarbons in the paper. However, the basic point seems valid.

www.theecologist.org/...archive_detail.asp - Preview

Environment Health cooperatives

Halogenated hydrocarbons are chlorinated compounds that are not only dangerous to health, but also can contaminate sewage outlets.
- The author doesn't offer a scientific rationale for these claims, so I suspect he has been misled. - on 2009-05-07
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Is it really viable these days to use endless tissues, when a cotton hankie works just as well?
- According to UK public health officials it is - their slogan : 'Catch it Bin it Kill it' - on 2009-05-07
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- It doesn’t need to be white. The whiter it is, the more it has been bleached. To reduce chemical exposures, don’t choose the whitest product.
  
  Ask for recycled.
- claims for safe bleaching processes, such as ‘chlorine free’
  - Chlorine has caused serious problems in the environment, notably the ozone layer. However that has been resolved by the worldwide CFC ban, and I think continued chlorine hysteria is unwarranted. - on 2009-05-07
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- The Ethical Consumer recommends brands such as Naturelle or Co-op’s recycled toilet tissue range. Other good choices include products from the Natural Collection, Traidraft, Ecotopia, Essential and Suma.
  - Hear, hear! - on 2009-05-07
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23 Apr 09

PG&E makes deal for space solar power - Space- msnbc.com - April 13, 2009

200 megawatts of space generation sold to a major utility

www.msnbc.msn.com/30198977 - Preview

Physical science Culture energy Environment Space

Spirnak said Solaren's system would be "competitive both in terms of performance and cost with other sources of baseload power generation."
Spirnak himself is a former Air Force spacecraft project engineer with experience at Boeing Satellite Systems
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- the agreement called for 800 gigawatt-hours of electricity to be provided during the first year of operation, and 1,700 gigawatt-hours for subsequent years. The

22 Apr 09

Transition Community Corsham

transitioncommunitycorsham.org.uk - Preview

Wiltshire Environment energy

26 Mar 09

Green Bristol Blog

Polemics.

greenbristolblog.blogspot.com - Preview

Cycling Environment Blogs to watch Wiltshire

25 Mar 09

Pascal's Wager and Climate Change - O'Reilly Radar - Tim O'Reilly Jan 2009

Brief case against climate change denial : it is a bet we cannot lose.

radar.oreilly.com/...-wager-and-climate-change.html - Preview

Environment Culture

I have yet to see a convincing case made that the costs of dealing with climate change aren't principally the costs of protecting old industries.
- interesting - on 2009-03-25
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10 Mar 09

Op-Ed Columnist - The Inflection Is Near? - NYTimes.com - March 8, 2009

I discovered yesterday that Maynard-Keynes would have called the topic of this article "the paradox of thrift."

www.nytimes.com/...08friedman.html - Preview

Culture Finance Environment

What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall ...

“Low carbon, green growth.” Who knew?

23 Jan 09

Richter magnitude scale - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How frequent are 7.0 earthquakes? Wikipedia's source doesn't explain the frequency column of this table.

en.wikipedia.org/...Richter_magnitude_scale - Preview

Physical science Environment

6.0-6.9 Strong Can be destructive in areas up to about 160 kilometres (100 mi) across in populated areas. 120 per year
7.0-7.9 Major Can cause serious damage over larger areas. 18 per year

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