Friday, July 01, 2005

[Alternative energy] Solar Pond and Garden Accents Save Energy and Money Enjoy a free-flowing fountain in a bird bath, soft ambient lighting along a walkway, or the enchanting glow of a garden statue – all without running a single electrical cord. Solar products reduce energy bills, are safe for the environment and installation is simple. [Source: Company press release] 11:22:48 AM Google It!    [Environmental research] Purdue Announces New Center For The Environment The 200 Purdue researchers involved in environmental research have created the center to show that environmentalists and people interested in business development not only can work together, but also can be powerful partners. This is the first of four Discovery Park centers Purdue is creating, thanks to initial funding of $10 million from the Lilly Endowment. [Source: Inside INdiana Business] 11:20:55 AM Google It!    [Great Lakes] Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center The Great Lakes Environmental Finance Center (GLEFC) is a technical assistance, training, and research resource for state and local government, private sector, and non-profit organizations. GLEFC helps solve financial problems related to environmental facilities and resources. Financial and Economic Analysis and Strategies: Conducts financial and economic analyses and market studies to support environmental project planning, development, and implementation. Policy Analysis and Planning: Assists state and local governments to evaluate public policy alternatives related to environmental finance, and helps these groups plan new financial programs to meet environmental needs. Brownfields Community Site Visit Advisory Services: Provides professional training to state and local government officials, business executives, and others on environmental finance issues, strategies, and resources, helping clients make more effective use of existing public and private sector financial resources. Research and Information Services: The GLEFC has published numerous papers and research documents on topics covering brownfields redevelopment, local government finance, and local planning in the Great Lakes states and beyond. 11:18:49 AM Google It!    [Recycling] Before you recycle that plastic bottle, reuse it Article offers suggestions for reusing recyclable materials. [Source: Everett (WA) Daily Herald] 11:14:51 AM Google It!    [Climate change] Energy: China's burning ambition The economic miracle that is transforming the world's most populous nation is threatened by energy shortages and rising pollution. It also risks plunging the planet's climate into chaos. Peter Aldhous reports. [Source: Nature] 10:03:08 AM Google It!    [Great Lakes] Rust Belt to Blue Belt By Andy Guy Great Lakes Bulletin News Service Via the Michigan Land Use Institute An excerpt: Fourteen months after President George W. Bush recognized the Great Lakes as an “economic engine and recreational haven,” a special task force of federal, state, and local officials from across the region is about to introduce a draft plan to fund an historic environmental restoration of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem. The ambitious plan, which will be officially released for public comment on July 7, 2005 in Duluth, Minn., introduces a decades-long strategy to reclaim heavily polluted waterways, rehabilitate degraded natural habitats, and promote a more sustainable pattern of economic growth in the Great Lakes region. 10:00:37 AM Google It!    [Smart growth] Two State Senators, Two Swipes at Sprawl By Jeremy Babener Great Lakes Bulletin News Service Via the Michigan Land Use Institute An excerpt: Prompted by concerns that the state’s declining urban areas are further depressing Michigan’s struggling economy, two state senators are attempting to attack the problem with bills they introduced separately in the state Legislature. One of the bills, introduced by a Democrat, has had trouble gaining traction in the Republican-led state Senate. The other, introduced by a Republican, has been slowed by ongoing debate over what kinds of communities it should target. Both proposals, which were introduced in the last six months, draw to some extent on the findings of the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council, the bipartisan, blue ribbon commission named by Governor Jennifer Granholm almost two and a-half years ago. Council members, appointed by the Democratic governor and the Legislature’s two top Republican leaders, issued 160 recommendations for boosting the state’s economy by curbing sprawl and protecting the state’s natural resources. Many recommendations concentrated on revitalizing Michigan's cities, almost all of which are steadily losing population and business activity. 9:59:07 AM Google It!    [Environmental health] PCB exposure may raise lymphoma risk NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Results of a study hint that exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) increases the risk of the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a blood cancer involving the lymph nodes. [Reuters: Health] 9:55:24 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Driving a 'Green' Vehicle Mike Pelly, owner of Olympia Green Fuels, uses bio-diesel fuel to power his two cars. He makes the mixture from used vegetable oil discarded by Chinese restaurants and fast-food joints. Pelly tells Steve Inskeep how it works. [NPR Topics: Environment] 9:51:00 AM Google It!    [Groundwater] Groundwater Contamination: DOD Uses and Develops a Range of Remediation Technologies to Clean Up Military Sites New GAO Reports, Testimonies and Correspondences (PDFs) Source: General Accountability Office Groundwater Contamination: DOD Uses and Develops a Range of Remediation Technologies to Clean Up Military Sites Highlights ||| Full Report [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 9:50:09 AM Google It!    [Green stocks] Merrill Lynch, World Resources Institute Make Stock Picks Based on Climate Change A new report, the result of a collaboration between a mainstream U.S. investment bank and a environmentalist nonprofit, has broken new ground by issuing stock recommendations. [ENN Business Headlines] 9:26:13 AM Google It!    [Hybrid cars] New York Tries to Make Yellow Cabs Greener NEW YORK (AP) -- The quality of the air in New York City could come down to 10 inches of legroom. That is approximately the difference in backseat space between a standard New York taxi and the new hybrid SUVs that environmentalists would like to see added to the city's fleet of 12,760 yellow cabs. [AP Top Science News At 9 a.m. EDT] 9:25:29 AM Google It!    [Power plants] 'Carbon free' power station planned in Scotland LONDON (Reuters) - Energy major BP and three partners are planning to build a plant in Scotland which would be the first in the world to generate "carbon free" electricity from hydrogen, the companies said on Thursday. [Reuters: Science] 9:13:38 AM Google It!    [Climate change] How Hot Will the Greenhouse World Be? How hot the planet gets in coming decades and centuries will depend on just how sensitively the climate system responds to the greenhouse gases we're pumping into the atmosphere. Researchers are finally beginning to tighten up the range of possible sensitivities, at least at one end. Author: Richard A. Kerr [Science: This Week's News] 9:10:17 AM Google It!    [Climate change] Senate Resolution Backs Mandatory Emission Limits. Seven years after rejecting the Kyoto climate treaty by a vote of 95-0, the U.S. Senate has affirmed the science of global warming and for the first time called for "mandatory market-based limits" on greenhouse gas emissions. Author: Eli Kintisch [Science: This Week's News] 9:08:41 AM Google It!    [Climate change] From Gil Friend Oh, this can't be good. [New Scientist]: Global warming looks set to be much worse than previously forecast, according to new research. Ironically, the crucial evidence is how little warming there has been so far. It turns out, according to these researchers that reducing pollution reduces 'sun-blocking smoke, dust and other polluting particles put into the air by human activity.' Less pollution > less sun blocking > more sunn > more warming. The researchers (leading authors from the UN[base ']s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) now project warming by at least 6°C by 2100 - 'substantially above the current predictions of 1.5 to 4.5°C' How seriously 'not good' is that? It is so far outside the range covered by our experience and scientific understanding that we cannot with any confidence predict the consequences for the Earth. Pretty serious. The cooling effect of aerosols has been known for some time. But, says Andreae, past assessments have underestimated its influence. Because of this, they have also underestimated the sensitivity of the atmosphere to the warming effect of greenhouse gases.... [T]he cooling aerosols only stay in the air for a few days, whereas the warming gases stick around for decades or centuries. So while the cooling effect is unlikely to grow much, the gases will accumulate and have an ever-bigger effect on global temperature. The world, says one of the authors, is 'driving the climate with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. When the brake comes off, it makes a hell of a difference.' Hmm. What about taking that foot off the gas too? [Gil Friend] 9:07:24 AM Google It!    [Solar energy] Solar Power May Trim Cost of Cleaning Brackish Water Salt, sewer waste and other impurities can be removed from water by forcing it through a very fine filter or membrane -- a process called reverse osmosis. The process requires intense pressure, which is usually created using electricity. [ENN Business Headlines] 9:04:56 AM Google It!    [Fuel cells] Honda Leases First Fuel Cell Vehicle to a Family A Los Angeles family became the first in the United States to lease a hydrogen-powered car from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. as the company introduces consumers to the zero-emission technology. [ENN Business Headlines] 9:04:20 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:11:10 PM.