Transparent glass containing solar cells the future of solar-powered houses?

April 12, 2008

John Bell from QUTWill your house be solar-powered by “rose-tinted” windows in the future? At least that’s what professor John Bell from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia hopes.

He has worked with Dyesol, a Canberra-based company, trying to develop affordable transparent solar cells that act as both windows and energy generators in houses or commercial buildings.

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Global warming deniers and racists go hand in hand in Norway

April 11, 2008
Siv Jensen

Norway, a rich country in Scandinavia (in northern Europe) with a population of almost five million people enjoy the second highest GDP per-capita (after Luxembourg) and third highest GDP (PPP) per-capita in the world, and has maintained first place in the world in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) for six consecutive years (2001-2006).

Most of the wealth comes from large fields of natural resources such as oil and gas. Norway is the third largest exporter of oil and gas worldwide. Only Russia and Saudi Arabia export more oil than Norway. In 2006, oil and gas accounted for 58% of all the services and products exported.

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The EEA’s Scientific Committee wants to suspend Europe’s 10% biofuels target

April 11, 2008

The EEA logoThe European Environment Agency’s (EEA) Scientific Committee yesterday called for the suspension of EU’s target to increase the share of biofuels used in transport to 10% by 2020. The committee calls for a new, “comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels” before any targets should be set.

The committees concerns are summarised below:

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Go Live Give, a green volunteer travel show

April 10th, 2008
8 Responses

Hi!

Go Live GiveMy name is Kim Rowe and I am the Co-Creator and Producer of golivegive.com, a green volunteer travel show.

We want to show people how they can vacation green and volunteer while traveling. We shot our first episode in Los Angeles and provided viewers with a green hotel, organic restaurant, eco-friendly fashion and a volunteer option they can do in a day.

We will, from now on, be publishing our episodes right here on Green Blog for you to enjoy. You can check out the first episode below or on golivegive.com.

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World food price crisis and global famine from biofuel perversion, climate change and globalization

April 4th, 2008
5 Responses

The World is facing a global food price crisis and looming mass starvation in the Developing World. The price of rice has doubled in 3 months and the price of wheat has doubled in one year. The huge increases in the price of staples such as wheat and rice is being driven by US, UK and EU diversion of food for biofuel; climate change and decreased agricultural productivity due to both inundation and drought; and globalization which means that 4 billion impoverished and under-fed people compete in the market place for those with the money to buy food to drive their cars or for grain-fed meat.

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A Picture is Worth… Albatross Carcass

April 4th, 2008
10 Responses

Albatross carcass

This image shows the corpse of an albatross that has had his gut filled with different plastic objects. Many birds and animals often mistake plastics with food and then, as you might imagine, starve to death.

I’ve seen this picture being published on a numerous of websites. But I don’t actually know who should be credited for it. It seems it comes from Algalita – the marine research foundation.

Older entries:
- A Picture is Worth… Car, bus or bicycle?

Apple is now greener than Microsoft

April 3rd, 2008
5 Responses

Apple is now “greener” than its rival Microsoft according to the Greener Electronics Guide from Greenpeace. But both companies have still a long way to go until they can beat Samsung and Toshiba who currently leads the “green race”.

Greenpeace recently released its seventh version of their Greener Electronics Guide where it ranks electronic companies based on their actions against e-waste and harmful toxic chemicals.

Apple has gained 0.7 points since the last update. Apple have gained more points because of new models have been introduced, mainly the new MacBook Air, that contains less toxic chemicals. But Greenpeace emphasizes their “takeback programme still needs to be global”.

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How green is your computer?

April 3rd, 2008
3 Responses

How green is your computer?Consider this statement: “The EPA’s Energy Star efficiency criteria only consider the energy a PC uses while it’s in standby mode, which means that almost all current PCs qualify as Energy Star compliant.”

Is that statement true or false?

What about this: “Constantly shutting down and restarting your computer during the day would consume more energy than just leaving it running.”

Is that true or false?

If you are a bit unsure you might want to check out the Sierra Club’s “How Green is My PC” quiz. The quiz will ask and tell you about ten different questions related to your computers energy usage, environmental impacts etc.

Thanks to Tedd Riggs for the link.

Al Gore launches climate change campaign

April 1st, 2008
3 Responses

The We Campaign logo and website

Yesterday Al Gore launched the We Campaign. It’s a $300 million 3-year effort “to mobilize Americans on climate change.”

The campaign will focus on sending out its message using mainly TV and print ads. People will be urged to go to the We Campaign website and sign the petition for a global treaty on climate change, urge the press to ask questions about climate change and learn more about global warming, the solutions and how they can personally minimize their environmental impact.

The ads will show, by featuring people like Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, that both conservatives and liberals can rally around the climate crisis (You can see the very first advertisement that will be aired on TV after the jump).

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The Earth Hour carbon calculator

March 31st, 2008
1 Response

Earth Hour Calculator

Did you participate in Earth Hour this weekend? Yes? Great, cause now its time to take it to the next level. It’s time to actually make a difference.

Earth Hour has teamed up with Zerofootprint, a Canadian not-for-profit organisation, to provide two carbon calculators so that Earth Hour participants (and anyone else for that matter) to measure their carbon footprint and “make ongoing changes to their individual lifestyles in a bid to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

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