Clipmarks | Socratoad's 'environment' clips

Skyhook Wireless Launches In Europe

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:14:30 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Skyhook Wireless Launches In Europe

Skyhook Wireless and XPS 2.0 have announced its formal launch in Europe. The launch includes a massive coverage expansion throughout the UK and Europe and the establishment of sales and operational offices in the region. Skyhook's launch will be showcased at tonight's Mobile Monday London event, "Enabling location based applications

Skyhook has already mapped over 16 million Wi-Fi access points in Europe, and now provides coverage to over 130 million people in Europe.

"Skyhook's European expansion is an important step towards our goal of delivering consumer-ready location across any environment, indoors or outside, in rural areas or downtown, in Berlin or Boston," said Ted Morgan, CEO of Skyhook Wireless.

By working with Skyhook's positioning system, these cutting-edge mobile social networking and search applications are responding to the consumer demand for fast, accurate, and reliable location determination in all environments.

SKorean fusion reactor takes step forward:

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:57:54 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.energy-daily.com

SKorean fusion reactor takes step forward: scientists

Scientists at a South Korean experimental fusion reactor said Tuesday they had made a significant step forward in global efforts to produce clean and unlimited energy

The KSTAR reactor generated a sustained super-hot plasma field during a demonstration in the central city of Daejeon, the ministry of education, science and technology said.

The ministry said KSTAR is one of the world's first research reactors to create plasma, which has been studied by scientists for the commercial use of fusion energy.

The reactor is a pilot device for the planned International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, which is intended to be the world's first reactor emulating the sun's nuclear fusion principle to gain unlimited energy.

Fusion power is a technology involving the creation of an environment in which a super-hot plasma field can be maintained for long periods.

Environmental Groups Want Biofuels Mandate Suspended

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:42:41 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.ewg.org

Environmental Groups Want Biofuels Mandate Suspended

Environmentalists agree that fossil fuels must be replaced by cleaner alternatives, but some do not believe biofuels--espcially ethanol derived from corn--is the answer.

Environmental groups sent a letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday urging it to suspend the federal biofuels mandate, arguing that the mandate is a major driver of unsustainable biofuels production in the United States and abroad.

"Policies that mandate the use of corn ethanol and other biofuels at the expense of the environment are a train wreck in the making," said Jonathan Lewis, an attorney with the Clean Air Task Force. "Fortunately, the petition to waive the mandate provides EPA with a much-needed off-ramp. EPA must take this opportunity to slow down and examine the ways in which biofuels threaten climate, water quality and biodiversity."

China's Gas Hike Pushes Drivers to Public Transit

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:18:52 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Don't drink the water, and don't breath the air

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

China's Gas Hike Pushes Drivers to Public Transit

Beijing is "trying it's best to improve the environment" for the Olympics, largely by shutting down factories. But to really improve the environment in Beijing in the long term the government will need to focus on a much smaller but more prevalent carbon and particulate emitter: the car.

In the past, the city hasn't shown much interest in lowering the subsidy on gasoline or limiting cars, which, in a typically Chinese conflict of interest, are largely produced by state-owned companies. But last month, in a reflection of global pressure on gas prices, Beijing instituted a 16-18 percent rise in gas prices. Like elsewhere, the effect has been to increase public transit ridership. According to today's China Daily, a survey by news portal Sina.com found that

Energy Official Frowns On Cutting Back Ethanol

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:07:16 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.ewg.org

Energy Official Frowns On Cutting Back Ethanol

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department frowned on relaxing federal requirements to boost the use of ethanol in gasoline.

Any reduction in the renewable fuel standard would sap investment in biofuel technology and undermine efforts to wean the nation off oil and reduce greenhouse gases, Deputy Assistant Energy Secretary Steven Chalk said Thursday.

"Keeping that in place is very important to us," Chalk told the Senate Environment clean air subcommittee.

Chalk made the comments as the Bush administration is considering a request by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to halve the ethanol requirement this year, from nine billion gallons to 4.5 billion gallons, because of high corn prices.

The renewable fuel standard was expanded in last year's energy bill to require 36 billion gallons of biofuels to be blended into gasoline by 2022.

White House in Climate Change "Cover Up" - Sen Boxer

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:50:36 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.planetark.com

White House in Climate Change "Cover Up" - Sen Boxer

WASHINGTON - A leading US Senate Democrat accused the Bush administration on Tuesday of a "cover-up" aimed at stopping the Environmental Protection Agency from tackling greenhouse emissions.

"This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the office of the vice president," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

At issue is a preliminary finding by the EPA last December that "greenhouse gases may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public welfare," according to Jason Burnett, the agency's former associate deputy administrator who appeared at a news conference with Boxer.

Such a finding would be an early step toward government regulation aimed at protecting public health.

Virtual Energy Forum

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:52:59 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Virtual Energy Forum Offers Presentations Archive Online

Did you know that the rate of CO2 emissions for average PC use is equal to the CO2 exhaled by 1.5 humans? If not, you probably missed the Virtual Energy Forum 10-11 June 2008. But all is not lost. The presentations are available to registered users at the Virtual Energy Forum website. The live conference took place in a virtual conference environment, saving over 12 million pounds of CO2 emissions, which would have been incurred by air travel, hotel stays and commuting to/from airports to attend a real conference.

We have been watching the movement towards virtual conferences since we reported on Trend Day in Second Life. Virtual conferences offer advantages and benefits which live attendance cannot equal. And the breadth and impact of the speakers and topics at the Virtual Energy Forum leave no doubt: this is a serious medium for sharing and learning.

The Rich Have Bigger Carbon Footprints Than the Poor

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:34:57 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Hardly a surprise, but still.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Shocking News: The Rich Have Bigger Carbon Footprints Than the Poor

larger scale drawing from Globe and Mail here

"The rich are different than you and me; they have more money." That is how Hemingway made fun of the first line of the Great Gatsby, stating the perfectly obvious. One could say the same about the study that just came out from a Canadian think tank, that found that "the wealthiest 10 per cent of the population have about 2.5 times the negative impact on the environment as those in the bottom 10 per cent."

Bacteria Anticipate Coming Changes In Their Environment

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:01:09 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.terradaily.com

Bacteria Anticipate Coming Changes In Their Environment

Princeton NJ (SPX) Jun 25, 2008
Microbes may be smarter than we think. A new study by Princeton University researchers shows for the first time that bacteria don't just react to changes in their surroundings -- they anticipate and prepare for them.

The findings, reported in Science, challenge the prevailing notion that only organisms with complex nervous systems have this ability.

Couples, Divorcees Could be Forced To Plant Trees

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:10:21 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

In Brazil, Marrying Couples, Divorcees Could be Forced To Plant Trees

A project by Brazilian Deputy Carlos Humberto Mannato could establish that all people who want to get married, get divorced, buy a new car, or build a house would have to plant a certain amount of trees to offset their activity.

The deputy thinks this will help reduce the effects of global warming in the long term without affecting people's pockets. With this law, "The person who buys a 100 thousand reals apartment would pay about 50 reals for the environment. That's a ridiculous amount that might be symbolic to people but that could mean a lot for the environment," Mannato said to O Globo newspaper. "We have to start somewhere, and that could be this federal law."

Why divorce? "When people separate, families are divided and that results in an increase of the number of residences, which leads to a higher space occupation and consume of energy and water," explained Mannato to O Globo.

Bridging The Iran-West Divide to Save Cheetahs

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:47:09 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.planetark.com

Bridging The Iran-West Divide to Save Cheetahs

KUH-E BAFGH PROTECTED AREA, Iran - Iranian and Western wildlife experts are working together to save rare cheetahs from extinction in this arid, mountainous region, despite a nuclear row between their governments.

US- and British-based conservation groups are backing a campaign spearheaded by Iran's Department of Environment (DoE) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to prevent the endangered Asiatic cheetah from dying out.

Iran is believed to host the only 60 - 100 Asiatic cheetahs left in the wild. Some eke out a living in a forbidding terrain of jagged peaks, deep gorges and bone-dry plains in the Kuh-e Bafgh protected area in Yazd province in central Iran.

The sleek and spotted cats once roamed between the Arabian peninsula and India, but their number in Iran is estimated to have fallen by roughly half in the last three decades.

Moss Covered Solar Powered Vending Machine

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:46:34 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Moss Covered Solar Powered Vending Machine

The do love their vending machines in Japan; PingMag tells us that there are 5,405,300 of them, not including the one Mike showed earlier that dispenses Smart Cars. There is a big vending machine show going on right now, and the green award goes to Fuji Electric's solar powered vending machine, where the panels supply sufficient energy to heat and cool the beverages, while the moss covering "helps improve insulation. The green décor would also give our grey city streets a more natural look and help vending machines in scenic locales blend into the environment!"

Energy-efficient homes not just for the rich

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:06:05 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.smartplanet.com

Energy-efficient homes not just for the rich

We know saving energy saves us money as well as the environment. But new research, carried out by O2 Energy Saver Fund, suggests that paradoxically one in three Brits lives beneath a 'green line', which means they can't afford to take the necessary measures to make their homes energy efficient.

In his book, How to go Carbon Neutral, Mark Brassington explains how little things like radiator reflectors only cost between £5-15 but can save up to 40 per cent of the heat from a radiator on an outside wall. He also point points out how DIY draught excluders -- from old socks to fitted rubber seals -- can keep quite a bit of heat in.

So, there are ways to go about making your house more energy efficient even if you don't have an unlimited amount of money at your disposal. It might just require a bit more research and a few weekends dedicated to DIY work.

Cost of Wind PowerTurbines is Skyrocketing

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:36:47 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: Charging whatever the traffic will bear certainly is a piss poor path to a greener environment

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Cost Of Wind Power Turbines Is SkyRocketing

Increase of 74% for Land-Based, and 48% for Offshore Wind Turbines
For years we've heard about how a shortage of silicon kept solar panel prices higher than they would otherwise be. Just as we're expecting supply to improve in that field, we learn that wind turbines are getting more expensive. Not just a little, but a lot:

"The price of offshore turbines rose 48 percent to 2.23 million euros ($3.45 million) per megawatt in the past three years, according to BTM Consult APS, a Danish wind power consultant. By comparison, land-based rotors cost 1.38 million euros per megawatt after rising 74 percent in the same period."

Animated Map Brings Global Climate Crisis To Life

Thu, 22 May 2008 23:26:23 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.planetark.com

Animated Map Brings Global Climate Crisis To Life

LONDON - A new animated map of the earth from space illustrates the potential impact of climate change over the next century and can be viewed on your computer.

The project, Climate Change in Our World, is the result of cooperation between web search engine Google, Britain's environment ministry and the country's Met Office.

Based on Google Earth which uses NASA satellite images, viewers can run a time lapse series to watch the earth warm under medium case scenarios up to 2100 either from a planetary perspective or zeroing in on countries and even cities.

"This project shows people the reality of climate change using estimates of both the change in the average temperature where they live, and the impact it will have on people's lives all over the world," said environment secretary Hilary Benn.