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| Hydrogen fuel promoter wants bigger test projects |
| 03.31.05 (6:36 pm) |
WASHINGTON, D.C. | Hydrogen researchers need to move past small, isolated test projects and launch larger, more regional efforts if they want to advance the ''future fuel,'' a leading industry executive said at a hydrogen convention Wednesday.
Jeremy Bentham, chief executive officer of Shell Hydrogen, asked the National Hydrogen Association's 16th annual convention to consider what Shell calls ''lighthouse projects.'' Those testing programs would serve up to 100 hydrogen-powered cars with mini-networks of four to six fueling stations. Most tests under way today involve only one station and fewer than 10 cars.
The larger tests would increase public familiarity with the new energy source, while also producing more scientific data.
''Continuing to serve a handful of vehicles from several [fueling] sites doesn't move us forward,'' Bentham said.
Story Source: http://www.mcall.com/business...,0,2123809.story?coll=all-businesslo cal-hed
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| NHA Rejects Renewables? |
| 03.31.05 (5:27 pm) |
By Mike Johnston
C 2005
The National Hydrogen Association had their yearly meeting in Washington DC this week. I noticed in the mailing that they sent out prior to the conference that there was going to be a special seminar held devoted to the topic of why renewables cannot produce enough hydrogen for global needs.
I found that to be an interesting thing to think about. Was it true? Could renewables like solar and wind power really not be able to produce enough hydrogen fuel? The story goes that solar alone could supply all of the energy required by the United States if an area the size of (I believe) Nevada were covered with solar panels.
If that were the case then those panels could use their energy to produce hydrogen from water just as easily as they could light a light bulb. In fact if solar panels alone were utilized in all the areas of the planet where sufficient sunlight exists to make them viable there would be more than enough renewable energy to produce the amount of hydrogen that the world would need from water. No carbon dioxide no messy fossil fuels, just water and sunlight. And it can be done today.
Peru is devoting 19 billion dollars to building a wind power system that will produce H2 fur el from water. But for some reason, in the United States that is deemed impossible. In Iceland they are busy converting to a hydrogen economy. The energy they are using to produce the hydrogen from water there? Renewable geothermal. My friends it is up to the more visionary and conscientious among us to step up to the plate and bring the technologies to market that will benefit consumers and the planet the most. Renewable, clean energy sources are at the forefront of the future.
Here is the exact wording of the notice that I am referring to:
Hydrogen From Renewables: Timing and Economics
"The environment is one of the drivers for implementing a future fueled by hydrogen The best environmental solution for air and water quality is to have hydrogen produced from renewable resources but the general consensus outside the renewables community is renewables face too many technological end economic challenges to be considered viable energy sources for hydrogen production in the near term. The purpose of this forum is to discuss the experiences and views of individuals from the renewables community as they relate to the hydrogen industry."
I remember when the people from the "renewables community" were the ONLY people promoting hydrogen energy! Back then it was just assumed that said hydrogen would be produced from water using renewable energy. But now all that seems to have changed and the big money companies have jumped onto the bandwagon and taken over the hydrogen energy crusade (and seemingly the NHA). They have altered the vision so that the clean hydrogen is produced from dirty fossil fuels or from water by nuclear power plants.
NHA Conference site: http://www.HydrogenConference...
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| NJIT solar campus center |
| 03.31.05 (5:23 pm) |
By Michael Johnston
c 2005
New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has installed a 50-kilowatt solar-powered system on its new campus center. These solar panels generate enough power to save the university $40,000 a year. Additionally, the school received a $215,000 rebate from the N.J. Board of Public Utilities to cover the installation of the system.
"NJIT's solar-unit is the most advanced in the state," said Leon Baptiste, the engineer who installed the system.
In the campus center is a kiosk where a computer screen displays the amount of energy saved by the panels. The monitor shows that since the system was installed in August of 2004 enough energy has been saved to "to power 510 houses in one day," or "enough energy to make 500,000 cups of coffee."
"It's the best solar-electric array I've seen," said Baptiste. "It should be a model for other universities, and businesses, across the state. Solar electricity saves NJIT and taxpayers money while also preserving the environment. It's a win-win for all."
New Jersey Institute of Technology website: http://www.njit.edu/
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| Nature's Crisis |
| 03.31.05 (5:21 pm) |
By Dave Foreman
Dave Foreman a conservationist writes; "I have never beheld such a bleak and depressing situation as I see today."
A conservationist looks at the state of the environment and thries to find hope for the future.
Story Source: http://www.counterpunch.com/f...
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| GM, DCX develop fuel cell vehicles with Energy Department |
| 03.31.05 (5:17 pm) |
WASHINGTON - General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG have signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles over the next five years, the automakers said Wednesday. GM plans to build a fleet of 40 hydrogen fuel vehicles. Under the program, GM will spend $44 million to distribute the vehicles in Washington, New York, California and Michigan. The Energy Department also will provide $44 million in the deal, which is set to expire in September 2009.
Story Source: http://www.freep.com/news/lat...%5f20050330.htm
&newsfeed_id=LUTRDV6TEK
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| Ballard announces fuel cell timetable |
| 03.31.05 (5:12 pm) |
WASHINGTON -- A leading developer of hydrogen fuel cells for automobiles announced a timetable Tuesday for making the technology more feasible by 2010. Canadian-based Ballard Power Systems Inc. said it would demonstrate a commercially viable fuel cell "stack," which uses hydrogen fuel to generate electricity in vehicles, in five years. By 2010, Ballard said its fuel cell stack would be more durable, cost-effective and better able to start in freezing conditions. The company said its "road map" would follow targets set by the U.S. Energy Department and help automakers chart the development of the technology.
Story Source: ttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/aptech%5fsto ry.asp?category=1700%26slug=
Fuel%20Cells&newsfeed_id= LUTRDV6TEK
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| Wood Chip Power |
| 03.31.05 (5:06 pm) |
By Michael Johhnston
c 2005
Some European countries have been doing it for a while now. "In Sweden, they're already bundling up what we're leaving in the forest after a timber harvest and using it as bio-fuel," said Dr. Darwin Foster, Texas Cooperative Extension forestry program leader.
In the United States though this practice has never caught on. Here the tops of the trees and the cut off branches are just left to rot in the forest after the trees are harvested. In some ways this is a good practice because as these leavings decay they return valuable nutrients to the forest.
These types of fuels are called biomass and unlike fossil fuels they are renewable. The waste can be collected and used to generate steam which turns a turbine in an electric plant. Texas A & M University was recently awarded a $ 500,000 grant to develop educational materials on how to exploit this resource which will be used to inform people in he pertinent industries and perhaps even the general public.
Dr. Foster said that utilizing the forest leavings may not adversely affect the nutrient balance available if certain rules are established and precautions taken and in fact he said that there is a possibility that some of the nutrients can be returned to the site as ash. "The whole point of this program is to work to reduce our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels," Foster said.
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| Global Warming's Silver Lining |
| 03.28.05 (9:01 pm) |
Here we have an interesting story by David Cohn for Wired.com David explores for us the possible benefits of our altered world. Will Sibera become a tourist Mecca? Will shipping be easier after the arctic ice cap melts? Sure and trucking would be easier if all the roads always ran downhill.
How much of these optomistic views are sugar coated? Depends on who you ask and David goes to some environmental groups for an answer to that question.
MJ
Story: http://www.wired.com/news/pla...,2782,66981,00.html?tw=wn_story_page_pre v2
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| Save The Planet, Work At Home |
| 03.27.05 (9:18 am) |
Varifrank has a good essay on why working at home is more environmentally sound than buying a hybrid car or retooling the economy to run on hydrogen. To his points I would add this:For people with families, working at home means that you are available at need, and you get to see your kids more. I work at home and unless I am forced by the direst economic necessity, that's not going to change.
Story Source: http://www.legendgames.net/my...
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| Study sees sprouting of green power |
| 03.27.05 (8:48 am) |
NEW YORK - Renewable energy, like wind and solar power and hydrogen fuel cells, could blossom into a $100-billion-a-year global market in less than a decade as technology costs fall, according to a study.
Story Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/h...
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| Local inventor hopes hydrogen process brings success |
| 03.26.05 (9:37 pm) |
By LARRY RINGLER Tribune Chronicle
GARRETTSVILLE - The myth of the American inventor goes something like this: The guy next door gets a flash of insight, then spends months, even years, in a dingy garage trying to perfect it.
Neighbors see him bringing boxes in and out of the garage at all hours. Lights flash in the window, weird noises can be heard.
The next thing they know, newspapers are hailing the guy as the Wizard of Whatnot, and he's driving a Porsche to the bank.
Of course, no one remembers him if he, like the vast majority of Thomas Edison hopefuls, spends his life tilting at creaky windmills that will never make him rich or society better.
Story Source: http://www.tribune-chronicle....
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| We better not run out of gas |
| 03.26.05 (9:18 pm) |
By Yosef Paritzky
"The budget framework will not be busted," the finance minister declares from every platform. "Any further coalition payoffs will require cuts in the budget to counter them," his officials repeat. Indeed, that is a proper and correct approach. But meanwhile, very quietly, an economic catastrophe is approaching in the form of rising oil prices, whose impact on the Israeli economy is far worse than a few million shekels disbursed here and there.
Story Source: http://newstrove.com/cgi-bin/...://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/555571.html&newsfeed_id=LUTRDV6T EK
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| Coal in a nice shade of green |
| 03.26.05 (9:15 pm) |
By Thomas Homer-Dixon and S. Julio Friedmann The New York Times
After petroleum
When it comes to energy, we are trapped between a rock and several hard places. The world's soaring demand for oil is pushing against the limits of production, lifting the price of crude nearly 90 percent in the last 18 months.
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Relief isn't likely to come anytime soon from drilling elsewhere: Oil companies spent $8 billion on exploration in 2003, but discovered only $4 billion of commercially useful oil.
Story Source: http://newstrove.com/cgi-bin/...://www.iht.com/articles/2005/03/25/o pinion/edhomer.html&newsfeed_id=LUTRDV6T EK
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| Wolves alleviate impact of climate change on food supply, finds new UC Berkeley study |
| 03.26.05 (9:01 pm) |
Gray wolves play a critical role in easing the effects of climate change on Yellowstone's ecosystem, according to a new UC Berkeley study. Researchers found that in the absence of wolves, shorter, milder winters lead to lower elk mortality, which is bad news for the scavengers that rely upon the elk for food. When wolves are around, however, they provide a steady supply of carrion, regardless of the climate.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| New research indicates a 'troubled' greenhouse is brewing |
| 03.26.05 (8:54 pm) |
Climates like those of the movie "Monsoon Wedding" may extend more widely into Africa, North America and South America, according to a University of Oregon geologist's analysis of an ancient greenhouse event.
"We know the gathering greenhouse will be warm, but this new information confirms that the contrast between the rainy season and the dry season will increase dramatically," says Greg Retallack, whose study indicating that a troubled greenhouse is brewing is published in the April issue of the journal Geology.
In this case, the word "troubled" refers to the stormy conditions shown to have been in play during a well-known greenhouse event some 55 million years ago during the late Paleocene epoch. Retallack explored the relationship between seasonality and rainfall in soils, then applied the same techniques to buried soils spanning the ancient greenhouse event.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Climate change poorly understood by US public, MIT survey finds |
| 03.26.05 (8:50 pm) |
Climate change and the threat of global warming are poorly understood by the U.S. public, and taking action to reduce their impact is not a high priority, according to a recent MIT survey.
These results suggest that change in U.S. climate policy will not be led by public opinion. Elected officials will have to provide leadership--a task they will find difficult because achieving significant reduction of the greenhouse gases linked to climate change may involve economic costs well above what the average consumer is willing to pay.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| W2 Energy Inc. Announces Development of Rotary Hydrogen Engine |
| 03.26.05 (8:40 pm) |
W2 Energy Inc. (Pink Sheets:WWEN), a developer of Green Energy technologies, is pleased to announce that -- in conjunction with the University of Toronto -- they have begun to develop their Rotary Hydrogen Engine.
The engine is a compact high output engine based on previous patents owned by W2 Energy Inc. The engine will run on various fuels such as hydrocarbons, compressed natural gas and hydrogen.
Story Source: http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/05032...
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| High cost of gasoline may make hydrogen-powered FreedomCAR more practical |
| 03.26.05 (8:36 pm) |
By Robert S. Boyd, Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - The soaring price of gasoline is giving new momentum to President Bush (news - web sites)'s dream of a non-polluting "FreedomCAR" powered by hydrogen, the most common element in the universe.
Twenty years from now, if scientists and engineers can make the dream come true, motorists should be able to drive to a nearby hydrogen service station, fill their tanks and travel as far as 300 miles without a refill.
Story Source: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
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| Fast release nanoscale solid hydrogen storage material discovered |
| 03.26.05 (8:32 pm) |
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the US have found a way to release hydrogen from a solid compound almost 100 times faster than was previously possible.
Story Source: http://www.autoindustry.co.uk...
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| General Motors gives a progress report on hydrogen fuel technology |
| 03.26.05 (8:26 pm) |
LIVERMORE, Calif. Some General Motors officials are in Livermore today, giving a progress report of sorts on their efforts to bring hydrogen fuel cells to the cars of tomorrow.
Story Source: http://www.kesq.com/Global/st...
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| Wind Power Goes Global |
| 03.26.05 (6:31 pm) |
The wind turbines of the world are spinning in sync. The Global Wind Energy Council, launched Wednesday, is the new global forum for the wind energy sector, uniting the wind industry and its representative associations. Members operate in more than 50 countries and represent over 1,500 organizations involved in hardware manufacture, project development, power generation, finance and consultancy, as well as researchers and academics.
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) members represent all the world’s major wind turbine manufacturers and 99 per cent of the world’s 47,317 megawatts (MW) of installed wind power capacity.
Story Source: http://www.ens-newswire.com/e...
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| Bio Diesel = World Peace, in a matter of speaking |
| 03.26.05 (6:26 pm) |
by Johannes Ariens
March 10, 2005
With fuel prices at a four month high, finite natural resources rapidly facing exhaustion and our national debt spiraling out of control, one might wonder why the United States is not more aggressively pursuing alternative fuel sources.
As technology continues to advance, renewable energy sources such as bio-diesel and hydrogen fuel are appearing to be more and more practical every day. Both of these energy sources are not only completely renewable, but can easily be implemented into any vehicle with a simple conversion.
With the purchase of a hydrogen generator for example, a car can easily be converted to run off the hydrogen produced by the electrically charged generator. The wattage required to run a hydrogen generator is fairly minimal, especially with the aid of solar cells or hydro-electric power.
Story Source: http://www.spectator-online.c...
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| 'Wind energy potential in Iran high' |
| 03.26.05 (6:21 pm) |
Following the launching of a wind farm with a capacity of 10 MW, the total energy generation capacity from wind in Iran has been estimated at 6,500 MW, announced Mandana Danesh, a researcher at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Studies on the potentials for using wind energy and determining suitable locations for establishing wind farms were conducted by a team of researchers, under the auspices of Renewable Energy Development Center an Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The project began eight years ago in two phases, according to Iran Daily.
Story Source: http://www.iranmania.com/News...%20%26%20Economy
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| Energy-saving community unveiled in Ontario |
| 03.21.05 (2:55 pm) |
STITTSVILLE, ONTARIO -- A new community in Ontario will be setting the standard for energy efficiency. Today, the Honourable R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), announced that Jackson Trails, a new development in the western section of Ottawa, will be Canada's first community of ENERGY STAR®-qualified homes.
"We need to raise awareness of the importance of using energy-efficient products and practices to help reduce the effect of climate change," said Minister Efford. "This community will showcase the benefits of energy-efficient homes for homebuyers and their communities."
The 300-home community, to be built by Tartan Homes and Tamarack Homes, will not only be energy-efficient, but will also employ best practices in enhancing wildlife habitat and conservation lands. Every home in the new community will be built to ENERGY STAR specifications, making them approximately 40 percent more efficient than homes built to minimum Ontario Building Code standards.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Environmentalism Hasn’t Died -- An ENN Commentary |
| 03.21.05 (2:51 pm) |
When I was 13 years old my father, a clergyman, got involved in the civil rights movement. In 1964 he went south to join in the voter registration drives with a delegation from Ohio. He was called a "dirty northern liberal" among other things. One in his delegation, a Cleveland rabbi, was beaten within an inch of his life by Ku Klux Klan thugs. Later, back in Cleveland, he joined in the campaign to get Carl Stokes elected as the first African-American mayor of a large city. He was arrested in sit-ins and our family routinely received hate mail, hate phone calls and various threats. I was only a teenager but I knew this was big....
Story Source: http://www.enn.com/today.html...
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| Sustainable development = sustained poverty: Keeping developing countries cute, indigenous, electric |
| 03.21.05 (2:40 pm) |
Critics are "lying about environmentalists" and "willfully representing facts" about them and their views, concerns and agendas. So says a recent commentary by the Earth Island Institute and Environmental News Network.
A principle object of their wrath was a recent article by this author, shredding lofty claims about wind turbines, much as these towering "Cuisinarts of the air" eviscerate birds and bats. They particularly objected to this statement:
Story Source: http://www.enterstageright.co...
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| Westborough firm designs solar-powered trash compactor |
| 03.21.05 (2:35 pm) |
The way Jim Poss sees it, most public trash cans' eyes are bigger than their stomachs.
In busy places such as sports stadiums or shopping centers, the cylindrical containers sometimes end up spilling their guts, creating eyesores and pollution.
Poss believes there's a more efficient -- and greener -- way for cleaning companies and city sanitation departments to dispose of the garbage that ends up in all those bins.
"One day I had the idea that you could power a trash compactor with solar energy," he said. "After that hit me, everywhere I looked I saw overflowing trash cans."
Story Source: http://www.metrowestdailynews...
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| Can San Francisco become a zero carbon city? |
| 03.21.05 (2:15 pm) |
The relationship between climate change and local communities is of vital importance to the well being of our world. The aim of the Zero Carbon City discussion is to shift the emphasis away from climate change impacts and inter-governmental negotiations, towards adaptation and practical measures that people can use at a local level.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Africa looks to Indian farmers for green revolution |
| 03.21.05 (2:05 pm) |
BusinessNews, India: New Delhi, March 21 : Impressed by India's transformation from a food-starved country to the world's second largest foodgrain producer, Indian farmers are being wooed to replicate its agricultural revolution by several African nations.
Sudan, Kenya and Uganda among others have not only sought Indian investment and expertise in the farming industry but want Indian agriculturists to farm their lands, invest in poultry, set up dairy farms and establish food processing units.
"Most African countries are looking to India to source technical know-how, agriculture machinery and people for operations," says Raja Mazumdar of the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank).
Story Source: http://www.newkerala.com/news...
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| Maine Governor Baldacci backs far-reaching energy measures |
| 03.21.05 (1:33 pm) |
Growing up in a large family, sensitized to electric bills at his family's restaurant, Gov. John Baldacci learned to turn off the lights when he left a room. So it's not surprising that soon after he was elected governor, Baldacci noticed corridor lights burning on a Sunday night in the State Office Building. He ordered them off.
Story Source: http://business.mainetoday.co...
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| New mercury rules too little, too late |
| 03.21.05 (1:23 pm) |
Fifteen years ago, Congress heeded scientific advice and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to curb mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants, the main industrial source of the toxic heavy metal.
The Clean Air Act plainly requires the EPA to reduce the amount of mercury entering America's air no later than 2009. But the Bush administration issued a disappointing set of rules last week that won't begin to control mercury in the West until 2018.
Story Source: http://www.denverpost.com/Sto...,1413,36~417~2768738,00.html
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| Experts fear day when oil runs low |
| 03.21.05 (1:15 pm) |
WASHINGTON - Within a couple of hours last week, crude oil prices hit a record $56 a barrel, President Bush fretted publicly over world oil shortages and the Senate voted to open an Alaskan wildlife refuge to drilling. The converging events drew attention to what administration officials call a temporary global energy crunch. But bigger worries also are bubbling to the surface - fears of a day of reckoning over world oil reserves.
Story Source: http://newstrove.com/cgi-bin/...://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/stor y/12600826p-13455194c.html&newsfeed_id=LUTRDV6T EK
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| Florida makes hydrogen a legislative priority with the Hydrogen Technologies Act |
| 03.20.05 (5:06 pm) |
To help to establish Florida as a leader in the development of hydrogen energy technology and to encourage corporate investment in the state, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is spearheading the Florida Hydrogen Energy Technologies Act. Unveiled last month by Governor Jeb Bush at the groundbreaking of Florida’s first hydrogen energy station, the legislation advances Florida’s hydrogen economy through demonstration projects and financial incentives.
"Florida is making investments today to deliver environmental and economic benefits to our communities," said DEP Secretary Colleen M. Castille. "Public and private partnerships will expand the commercial availability of hydrogen technology making this safe, clean and sustainable energy a reality rather than a concept."
Story Source: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,5698,00.html
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| Greens call for sustainability criteria to be applied to hydrogen economy |
| 03.20.05 (4:59 pm) |
As a source of energy from which the only waste emission is water, hydrogen is unquestionably a more environmentally friendly option that, say, diesel or natural gas.
The problem, however, is that hydrogen is not a primary energy source, and therefore it must be produced using other forms of energy. If, as is most often the case today, those energy sources are fossil fuel based, then significant amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide will still be released into the atmosphere during hydrogen production.
On the first morning of the European hydrogen and fuel cell technology platform's (HFP) annual general assembly, keynote speeches were given and a roundtable debate held in order to analyse the prospects for the hydrogen economy and hear the views of industry, policy makers and non-governmental organisations.
Story Source: http://www.eubusiness.com/top...
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| Iraq invasion may be remembered as start of the age of oil scarcity |
| 03.20.05 (4:40 pm) |
Instead of inaugurating a new age of cheap oil, the Iraq war may become known as the beginning of an era of scarcity.
Two years ago, it seemed likely that Iraq, with the world's third-largest petroleum reserves, would become a hypercharged gusher once U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein. But chaos and guerrilla sabotage have slowed the flow of oil to a comparative trickle.
The price of crude on global markets hit an all-time record Friday, and oil experts say U.S. consumers are likely to keep feeling the pinch.
Story Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin...
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| Green households to get £600 tax breaks |
| 03.20.05 (4:27 pm) |
Homeowners will get tax cuts of up to £600 for making their houses "green" and energy efficient, under official plans to combat global warming.
People who sell their homes can offer potential buyers a discount of up to 40 per cent off their stamp duty as a reward for making their properties much more energy efficient - so making them easier to sell. If they have no plans to move, homeowners could get a one-off discount on their council tax.
Story Source: http://news.independent.co.uk...
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| Aspen officials worry global warming will destroy ski industry |
| 03.20.05 (4:21 pm) |
Officials of the Aspen Skiing Co. fear global warming could destroy the industry by the year 2050.
"Things look bleak," said Auden Schendler, the company's director of environmental affairs. He said unless greenhouse emissions are controlled, the ski industry could be "Gone in 2050 . . . Maybe -- good case scenario -- gone by 2100," he told the Rocky Mountain News.
Several climate-change studies have predicted declining mountain snowpacks as the West warms, as well as a change in the timing of the heaviest snowfalls.
"Most analyses project a decline, if not total demise, of downhill skiing by the mid or latter part of the 21st century," proclaims the federally funded Rocky Mountain/Great Basin Regional Climate-Change Assessment, a 240-page study produced by more than 125 researchers.
Story Source: http://www.9news.com/acm_news...
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| How To Prepare a Planet for Global Warming |
| 03.20.05 (4:02 pm) |
"While the concept of climate-change commitment isn't new, these fresh results "tell us what's possible and what's realistic" and that for the immediate future, "prevention is not on the table," says Roger Pielke Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder."
Story Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com...
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| Mercury in Fish Linked to Increased Heart Disease |
| 03.20.05 (3:53 pm) |
"A new report by the Research Institute of Public Health in Finland shows a significant increase of heart disease in men with elevated mercury levels. Since seafood in the diet is the main source of human mercury exposure, men eating swordfish, shark, and tuna high in mercury may unknowingly be increasing their risk of an early death."
"The research, published in Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, studied 1871 Finnish men between the age of 42 and 60 and shows an increased risk of more than 1.5 times for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and acute heart incidents in men with elevated mercury levels."
Story Source: http://www.yubanet.com/artman...
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| New machines could turn homes into small factories |
| 03.20.05 (3:42 pm) |
"A revolutionary machine which can make everything from a cup to a clarinet quickly and cheaply could be in all our homes in the next few years.
Research by engineers at the University of Bath could transform the manufacture of almost all everyday household objects by allowing people to produce them in their own homes at the cost of a few pounds.
The new system is based upon rapid prototype machines, which are now used to produce plastic components for industry such as vehicle parts. The method they use, in which plastic is laid down in designs produced in 3D on computers, could be adapted to make many household items. "
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Congresspersons (if they are listening) learn about Peak Oil |
| 03.20.05 (3:31 pm) |
PO may be here, now.I wonder if we should all write our reps immediately and ask what their policy is going to be on how to prevent catastrophe...and when the "Manhattan Project" for alternatives and conservation will begin.There's a lot to learn here...I read it all, slowly, and recommend everyone do the same."OIL PRODUCTION -- (House of Representatives - March 14, 2005)The SPEAKER pro tempore....
Story Source: http://www.livejournal.com/us...
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| Sandia hunts hydrogen fuel alternative |
| 03.20.05 (3:23 pm) |
When Detroit auto giant General Motors Corp. went looking for a partner two years ago to help develop a promising hydrogen fuel alternative to gasoline, the decision quickly became a no-brainer.
"As they say, it's no secret that there's hydrogen in the hydrogen bomb," said Jill Hruby, director of physical and engineering sciences at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore.
The lab officially unveiled its $10 million, four-year joint-research effort with GM this week.
Story Source: http://eastbay.bizjournals.co...
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| High Levels of Silver Pollution in the Pacific |
| 03.20.05 (5:46 am) |
High Levels of Silver Pollution in the Pacific
By Michael Johnston
C 2005
In a press release dated March 14th researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz announced the findings of a survey of the North Pacific that was conducted in 2002. Samples of water were collected in the open ocean and then tested for pollutants. The tests showed levels of silver that were 50 times higher than normal. While even this level is too low to be harmful to marine life the researchers said that such a high level of contamination in otherwise pristine water served to highlight the growing problem of industrial emissions from Asia.
"The most likely source of the silver contamination is atmospheric emissions from coal burning in Asia," said Russell Flegal, professor of environmental toxicology at UCSC. "Silver concentrations in the North Pacific trace the atmospheric depositions of industrial aerosols from Asia, with the highest concentrations in those waters closest to the Asian mainland."
"Unlike mercury, silver is not a human health concern. But silver is second only to mercury in its toxicity to marine invertebrates," Flegal said.
Sam Luoma, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, who has worked with Flegal in the past to study heavy metal contamination in San Francisco Bay said "The open ocean is vastly diluted, so there may be some massive hotspots of silver contamination around the Asian continent. That's where effects on marine organisms would occur".
The threat to the global environment from Asian industrialization is growing at an alarming rate and since the prevailing winds are blowing from west to east the United States is in the path of this pollution. In recent articles we have seen the growing threat to our children from mercury pollution which comes from primarily the same source (coal burning ) as does silver pollution. Effects such as birth defects and autism caused by mercury are nothing to shrug off and that projected 8 billion dollar a year price tag cannot be ignored either. Something must be done, and soon if we are to maintain a liveable planet.
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| Introduction: Planet Under Pressure |
| 03.19.05 (9:38 pm) |
Alex Kirby introduces a six-part series on the some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the human race today.
From the BBC.
Story Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in...
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| Creating Recyclable Hydrogen Storage for Cars |
| 03.19.05 (9:19 pm) |
Researchers and engineers have put a fuel cell in a vehicle and made it run, but the perfect solution to on-board storage of hydrogen is far from certain. Many different options are available today and new approaches are constantly in the works.
RTI International of Research Triangle Park, N.C., was awarded $1.6 million to develop a hydrogen-fuel storage technology that will provide a stable and recyclable hydrogen source for environmentally clean fuel cell powered vehicles.
The project is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and makes use of a material called aminoborane that decomposes when it's heated and releases nearly 20 percent of its weight as pure hydrogen.
Story Source: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,5677,00.html
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| Mercury Pollution, Autism Link Found - U.S. Study |
| 03.19.05 (8:25 pm) |
Mercury released primarily from coal-fired power plants may be contributing to an increase in the number of cases of autism, a Texas researcher said on Wednesday.
A study to be published on Thursday in the journal "Health and Place" found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication and social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as mercury emissions rose, said Claudia Miller, a family and community medicine professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
"The main finding is that for every thousand pounds of environmentally released mercury, we saw a 17 percent increase in autism rates," she said in an interview.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&sto ryID=7926129" title="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&sto ryID=7926129" target="_blank"http://www.reuters.com/newsAr...
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| Marlon Brando's eco hotel dream comes true |
| 03.19.05 (5:57 pm) |
The late Hollywood actor, Marlon Brando's long cherished dream of building a eco-hotel on Tetiaroa...
Story Source: http://www.webindia123.com/ne...
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| US report acknowledges peak-oil threat |
| 03.19.05 (4:21 pm) |
It has long been denied that the US government bases any policy around the idea that global oil production may be in terminal decline.
But a new US government-sponsored report, obtained by Aljazeera.net, does exactly that.
Story Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/...
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| Save Climate, Save Money |
| 03.18.05 (7:28 pm) |
Financial decisions need to be taken to contain climate change, and that in turn will bring financial advantages, siad Gordon Brown, Britian's Finance Minister. "Climate change is an issue for finance and economic ministries as much as for energy and environmental ones," Brown told the gathering. "Across a range of environmental issues - from soil erosion to depletion of marine stocks, from water scarcity to air pollution - it's clear now that these problems in themselves threaten future economic activity and growth."
Story Source: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/...
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| Stark Effects From Global Warming |
| 03.18.05 (7:24 pm) |
The clearest evidence yet that Earth is warming and that CO2 emissions are largely responsible was presented by researchers in February at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in Washington, D.C.
The researchers also presented evidence that increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 may be causing some biosystems, such as coral reefs, to approach the threshold for damage. If global temperatures rise more than 1.5 °C over today’s level, the world’s tropical coral reefs may be irreversibly destroyed, they said.
Story Source: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/...
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| Melting glaciers may dry up electricity |
| 03.18.05 (7:21 pm) |
Thawing glaciers due to global warming are threatening to reduce river flows and undermine China's hydroelectric dams, an expert has warned.
The thawing of glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China will lead to initial flooding, but eventually will decrease the flow of the rivers they now feed, said Shen Yongping, an environmental expert at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.Shen's report on the impact of retreating glaciers was released Monday, the South China Morning Post reported.
Story Source: http://www.expressnewsline.co...
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| Senate OKs oil drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge |
| 03.18.05 (7:18 pm) |
A closely divided Senate voted Wednesday to approve oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, a major victory for President Bush and a stinging defeat for environmentalists who have fought the idea for decades.
By a 51-49 vote, the Senate put a refuge drilling provision in next year's budget, depriving opponents of the chance to use a filibuster to try to block it. Filibusters, which require 60 votes to overcome, have been used to defeat drilling proposals in the past.
Story Source: http://www.herald-mail.com/?m...
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| A Coal Powered Future? |
| 03.18.05 (7:10 pm) |
Coal built China - and fuels its relentless growth today. Eighty per cent of China's electricity comes from coal, and there are plans for 544 new coal-fired power stations - to meet an insatiable demand for energy. Yet coal is a prime source of carbon dioxide - the global warming gas. If the power plants go ahead, it will be all but impossible to avoid dangerous climate change.
Story Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/pr...
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| THE END OF SUBURBIA: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream |
| 03.18.05 (7:09 pm) |
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded in the American consciousness.
Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.
But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary.
Story Source: http://www.energybulletin.net...
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| Unprecedented Number, Variety of Hydrogen Vehicles Heading for Industry's Washington Gathering |
| 03.18.05 (7:02 pm) |
More fuel cell and other hydrogen powered vehicles than ever before - fifteen at current count - will be on display, and for some, put to work at the National Hydrogen Association's Annual Hydrogen Conference in Washington, DC, March 30-April 1, 2005.
"This impressive turnout by auto manufacturers and other vehicle suppliers is like an exclamation point," said NHA President Jeffrey A. Serfass. "It emphasizes the large investments industry is making in hydrogen technologies and products for clean transportation. Available for driving, riding and exhibiting is a wide variety of vehicles, from small passenger cars, to heavy duty buses."
Story Source: http://article.wn.com/link/WN...
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| Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Industry Sets Out its Blueprint |
| 03.17.05 (3:24 pm) |
At its second General Assembly on 17 and 18 March, the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Platform will present its proposals for the medium- and long-term development of hydrogen and fuel cells for carrying and converting energy cleanly.
Story source: http://www.azom.com/news.asp?...
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| International Green Energy Conference at UW |
| 03.17.05 (3:06 pm) |
More than 200 scientists and engineers, researchers and practitioners, policymakers and business people, educators and enthusiasts from across Canada and around the world will gather at the University of Waterloo for the first International Green Energy Conference.
The event, from June 12 to 16, will feature more than 160 contributed presentations, seven invited keynote lectures, an expert panel session on fuel cells, workshops and tours.
Story Source: http://newsrelease.uwaterloo....
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| ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFER CATALYST PROVES MORE ACTIVE IN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION |
| 03.17.05 (2:57 pm) |
Ohio State University engineers have developed a chemical catalyst that increases hydrogen production without using a toxic metal common to other catalysts.
The catalyst uses a combination of iron, aluminum and other metals to harvest hydrogen from carbon monoxide and water, explained Umit Ozkan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State. In tests, the catalyst performed up to 25 percent better than a commercially available alternative.
Story Source: http://researchnews.osu.edu/a...
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| Revolutionary hydrogen bike 'too quiet' |
| 03.17.05 (2:52 pm) |
The world's first purpose-built hydrogen-powered bike could be fitted with an artificial "vroom" because of worries its silence might be dangerous.
A prototype of the motorbike, which could cost more than $8,300 (£4,500), was unveiled in London on Tuesday.
The problem with the "fuel cell" bike, which produces no polluting emissions, is that it is too quiet.
Story Source: http://www.newshub.com/rd.php...
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| First Hydrogen Car for Sale in 2012 |
| 03.17.05 (2:48 pm) |
DaimlerChrysler's first hydrogen-powered car using fuel cell technology will be on sale from 2012, a company executive said on Wednesday.
The firm has sent 60 Mercedes-Benz A-Class cars to Japan, Germany, Singapore and the United States for tests. Many car companies are developing hydrogen-powered cars to help wean the globe off diminishing oil supplies.
Story Source: http://article.wn.com/link/WN...
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| New Study Determines: Climate Change Inevitable in 21st Century |
| 03.17.05 (2:29 pm) |
Rise of sea level to outpace temperature increase
Even if all greenhouse gases had somehow been stabilized back in the year 2000, we would still be committed to a warmer Earth and greater sea level rise in the present century, according to a new study performed by a team of climate modelers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo.
Story Source: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_...
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| U.S. Exports Nitrogen Pollution Elsewhere |
| 03.17.05 (2:23 pm) |
The United States is exporting nitrogen pollution beyond its borders, and some may even be reaching western Europe, according to a recent data analysis by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. and the University of New Hampshire. At the same time, however, most of the nitrogen pollution produced in Western Europe is deposited within its own boundaries.
Nitrogen emission and deposition have accelerated significantly over the past century and a half, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, thanks to a combination of human population growth, fossil-fuel consumption, deforestation and intensified agriculture. The result is higher levels of nitrogen entering the atmosphere in trace gases, notably nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3). These pollutants are best known for their role in the formation of acid rain, which damages lakes and ecosystems, and in the creation of ozone, which harms living tissue and decreases plant production.
Story Source: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_...
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| Government Launches Two New Hydrogen Energy Websites |
| 03.17.05 (12:48 pm) |
This week the government launched two new websites devoted to hydrogen energy. The Department of Energy launched one, which it says will "link the four DOE Offices (EERE, FE,NE, and SC) that participate in the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (HFI) and serves as a one-stop-shop for the latest information on DOE's HFI efforts." Link: http://www.hydrogen.energy.go...
The President's Hydrogen Research and Development task force lauched the other website, which features information about Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and describes itself like this: "Hydrogen.gov is the Federal government's central source of information on R&D activities related to hydrogen and fuel cells. This web site was developed to further the goals of the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and encourage greater collaboration and sharing of information on hydrogen technology development activities among government departments and agencies; commercial entities; state, regional, and international organizations; and the general public."
Link: http://www.hydrogen.energy.go...
Hydrogen fuel enthusiasts should bookmark both of these sites for future reference.
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| Mexico's Gulf Coast in Peril from Global Warming |
| 03.15.05 (3:29 pm) |
ALVARADO, Mexico (Reuters) - In this sweaty Gulf of Mexico fishing village, poor families in dirt-floor homes dream, like millions of people around the world, of owning air-conditioned cars and refrigerators.
Scraping out a living by fishing, and preoccupied by the constant threat of water contamination from factory waste and leaky oil pipelines, fishermen here have never heard of global warming.
Yet their proximity to the sea, with waves lapping just footsteps from their doorways, means they are likely to be among the first victims of climate change in Mexico, their homes underwater by the time their grandchildren are old.
Story Source: http://today.reuters.co.uk/ne...
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| Nobel Prize winner warns severe global climate change |
| 03.15.05 (3:14 pm) |
A visiting Nobel Prize winner has warned people of the increasing severity of global climate change and called on governments to reinforce the efforts to cut fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emission.
Story Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/eng...
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| Turning up the heat |
| 03.15.05 (3:06 pm) |
While many Canadians have accepted the reality of global warming, it is commonly believed that we have yet to see any major consequences. Most of us are aware of some of the more dire predictions-that the ice caps will melt, that polar bears will disappear and that some oceanic islands may be submerged-but we tend to think that while the effects may one day be dramatic, most of us will not live to see them.
Story Source: http://www.thevarsity.ca/news...
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| Evangelical leaders join global warming battle |
| 03.15.05 (2:33 pm) |
In a move that must have thoroughly amazed some at the White House a group of very well known, influential Evangelical Christian leaders have put their support behind accepting Global Warming as real and trying to find ways to minimize its effects.
I guess in the end all they had to do was look at one of those WWJD wrist bands that were so popular a couple of years ago and honestly ask themselves the question that was represented by those initials: "What Would Jesus Do?"
Story Source: http://www.insidebayarea.com/...
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| Seafood mercury blamed for ills |
| 03.15.05 (2:24 pm) |
David Wright suffered mood swings, joint pain and seemingly nonstop headaches before he discovered...
Story Source: http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/...,1413,208~12588~2760460,0 0.html
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| Kilimanjaro's global warning |
| 03.15.05 (2:03 pm) |
Mt.Kilimanjaro is a legendary African landmark. It's snowcapped summit rises above the Serengeti plain and is visable for many miles. Now, for the first time in 11,000 years the snow is gone.
Story Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.co...
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| EU Ministers Want Tough Post-Kyoto Emissions Target (Reuters) |
| 03.15.05 (1:02 pm) |
"Reuters - European Union environment ministers on Thursday proposed that developed nations make sweeping cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in the years following 2012, when the first period covered by the Kyoto Protocol ends."
Story Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailyn...*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
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| EPA Issues Rules Cutting Mercury Pollution |
| 03.15.05 (12:34 pm) |
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday ordered a nearly 50 percent cut in mercury pollution from power plants over the next 15 years, adopting a market-based strategy that would raise electricity prices but help protect fetuses and young children from nerve damage.
Story Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailyn...*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
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| New H2 Vehicle Site |
| 03.15.05 (12:02 pm) |
I found this rather interesting site while editing my category at the DMOZ search engine. It features news on vehicles powered by alternative energy such as H2, electric, etc. It is a well put together site and has an RSS feed available.
In thier own words: "Weekly TV format of 30 minutes exclusively dedicated to the sustainable mobility, clean vehicles in general. Cars, bus, commercial trucks, scooter, bicycles, boats and airplanes powered by clean system traction. Electric traction systems, hydrogen, fuel cells, natural gas and LPG and other type of fuel produced from sustainable and clean sources.Urban systems, infrastructures concerning the development of the ecological mobility, ecological vehicles competition, political news and programmes to develop the ecological transportation."
Site: http://electricmotornews.info...
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| Hydrogen Hurdles? |
| 03.15.05 (11:51 am) |
Recently a group of people met in New York State to discuss hydrogen energy. It seems as though they all agreed that H2 is a nice clean renewable energy source but alas, how to produce it cheaply enough to make it competitive with current energy sources?
Story Source: http://article.wn.com/link/WN...
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| Towards A Hydrogen Economy |
| 03.15.05 (11:28 am) |
The 1st Edition of Towards A Hydrogen Economy is a concise 110-page study of the movement towards using hydrogen as a key energy carrier in the future. The report takes a high-level look at the current state of hydrogen and addresses the infrastructure requirements needed to make the hydrogen economy a reality.
The report offers a detailed look at the move to a hydrogen economy by:
- Identifying the current status of hydrogen production and use
- Discussing the key business drivers of the move towards hydrogen
- Discussing the barriers to implementation that stand in the way of a transition
- Providing a critical look at whether the hydrogen economy can succeed
- Describing the options that exist for a hydrogen infrastructure
- Identifying the key government initiatives making the hydrogen economy a reality
- Providing profiles of key hydrogen infrastructure manufacturers
Companies Mentioned:
- Alchemix
- Giner Electrochemical Systems
- H2Gen Innovations
- Hydrogen Solar
- Membrane Reactor Technologies
- MesoFuel
- Millennium Cell
- Norsk Hydro Electrolysers
- Powerball Technologies
- PowerNova Technologies
- Proton Energy Systems
- QuestAir Technologies
- Solar Hydrogen Energy
- StarTech Environmental
- Stuart Energy Systems
- Teledyne Energy Systems
- Hydrogen Storage and Delivery
- Dynetek Industries
- Fueling Technologies
- FuelMaker
- General Hydrogen
- HERA Hydrogen Storage Systems
- Hydrogen Components
- Japan Steel Works
- Quantum Technologies
- Safe Hydrogen
- Texaco Ovonic Hydrogen Solutions
- Fuel Processing
- Gas Technology Institute
- Harvest Energy Technology
- HydrogenSource
- HyRadix
- InnovaTek
- Osaka Gas
- Shell Hydrogen
- SOFCo-EFS Holdings
- ZTEK
Cost of the report is: $266
Source: http://www.researchandmarkets...
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| Florida Leads in H2 Energy Development |
| 03.15.05 (11:22 am) |
Recently Allan Bedwell,the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary, spoke to the California Hydrogen Business Council and described to them how Florida was accomplishing this leadership in developing this new energy source.
Some of the companies recieving this "seed money" to help with their efforts were: Air Products, Air Liquide America, Apollo Energy Systems, Ballard Power Systems, BP America, Chevron Texaco, Cummins Westport, Disney, DynEco, Ener1, Florida Power & Light, Fuel Cell Energy, Gulf Power, Hydrogenics, Plug Power, Praxair, Progress Energy Florida, Shell Hydrogen, Siemens Westinghouse Power, Stuart Energy Systems, Tampa Electric Co. and Teledyne Energy Systems.
Story Source: http://www.eponline.com/steve...
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| Biodiesel Boosters Plan Co-Ops |
| 03.14.05 (7:07 pm) |
Producers of a diesel alternative made from old vegetable oil want to build a network of stations to sell the fuel to motorists. But many find it tough to convince local regulators to approve their efforts. By Mark Baard.
Story Source: http://www.wired.com/news/aut...,2554,66868,00.html?tw=wn_story_mailer
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| GM touts fuel cell storage advance |
| 03.14.05 (6:56 pm) |
"The automaker and HRL Laboratories said Tuesday a class of chemicals called metal hydrides is... DetNews.com"
Story Source: http://www.detnews.com/2005/a...
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| Group Warns of Shrinking Glaciers' Effect (AP) |
| 03.14.05 (6:50 pm) |
AP - The shrinking of Himalayan glaciers could fuel an upswing in flooding in China, India and Nepal, before creating water shortages for hundreds of millions of people across the region, a leading environmental group warned Monday.
Story Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailyn...*http://news.yahoo.com/news?tm...
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| High levels of mercury found in mountain songbirds |
| 03.12.05 (6:21 pm) |
"The findings were unexpected, but matched evidence VINS and Canadian researchers gathered from... "
Story Source: http://www.timesargus.com/app...
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| Forest decline due to acid rain in eastern Canada |
| 03.12.05 (6:15 pm) |
"Acid rain is causing forest decline in much of Eastern Canada, with losses to the forest industry"
Story Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/Art...
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| Evidence compounds to affirm threat of global 'heating' |
| 03.12.05 (5:57 pm) |
"Unrestrained global heating would doom freshwater marshes of the Everglades. "
Story Source: http://www.news-journalonline...
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| Where has all the snowfall gone..? |
| 03.12.05 (5:34 pm) |
The state of Washington is a little short on snow this year. How short? Seventy to Eighty percent below normal. Is that an effect of Climate Change or just a fluke in the weather patterns in the area? That question might not have a definitive answer today. So let's just file it away under things to remember and keep an eye on.
Story Source: http://www.komotv.com/stories...
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| Argentina Spends $19 Billion to Produce Clean H2 |
| 03.12.05 (3:48 pm) |
The Argentinan company Capex is performing the preliminary feasability studies in preparation for a $19 billion dollar project to produce hydrogen fuel. The energy to produce the hydrogen, from water, would come from wind turbines and the system is anticipated to produce 13.3 million cubic meters of hydrogen per year.
Story Source: http://www.bnamericas.com/sto...
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| Mean Green Hydrogen Machine |
| 03.12.05 (3:28 pm) |
The United States Army is testing it's first hydrogen fueled vehicle. It is called the Quantum AMV and nicknamed The Agressor. At first glance it looks something like a golf cart on steroids and is manufactured by Quantum Technologies(http://www.qtww.com/ ) .
The vehicle is powered by a 10kw fuel cell stack and it's hydrogen fuel is stored in proprietary carbon fiber storage tanks. The vehicles performance is claimed to be superior to a similar vehicle powered by a gasoline or diesel engine.
Story Link: http://www.defensetech.org/ar...
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| The water remembers.... |
| 03.12.05 (2:51 pm) |
Since i advocate producing our hydrogen fuel from water it seems logical to include articles here which point out some of the many amazing and unique properties of water. This story, published this week inthe journal Nature is one such story. It deals with the way water "remembers".
Story Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/h...
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| How efficient your home? |
| 03.12.05 (2:41 pm) |
This story takes a look at the potential savings that can be realized over the long term by building a more energy efficient home. Even though the costs of such a home are greater to begin with the savings over time are very real.
Srtory Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline....
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| India plans biomass resource atlas |
| 03.12.05 (1:13 pm) |
"As India looks to generate power from renewable sources, a resource atlas is being complied mapping the availability of biomass materials in various parts of the country."
Story Source: http://www.moneyplans.net/fro...
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| Depleted Uranium |
| 03.10.05 (6:13 pm) |
This little flash animation is probably not really within the confines of topic that I have set for myself here. However it is something that I think people in America need to be aware of. It is the consequences of the use of Depleted Uranium rounds by our military in various conflicts. I warn you the images in this animation may be very disturbing to some people.
Animation: http://www.ericblumrich.com/p...
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| There's one rule for the rich... |
| 03.09.05 (4:06 pm) |
"THE rich are getting richer while the poor remain poor. If you doubt it, ponder these numbers from the US, a country widely considered meritocratic, where talent and hard work are thought to be enough to propel anyone through the ranks of the rich. In 1979, the top 1 per cent of the US population earned, on average, 33.1 times as much as the lowest 20 per cent. In 2000, this multiplier had grown to 88.5. If inequality is growing in the US, what does this mean for other countries?"
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| The Vikings and Climate Change |
| 03.09.05 (3:42 pm) |
A Canadian researcher believes that, within the plots of ancient Viking legends, lie clues to a changing climate in that era.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Oceans more vulnerable to agricultural runoff than previously thought, study finds |
| 03.09.05 (3:38 pm) |
"Researchers have long suspected that fertilizer runoff from big farms can trigger sudden explosions of marine algae capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing ''dead zones'' in the sea. Now a new study by Stanford University scientists presents the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive algal blooms in the sea.Writing in the journal Nature, the authors conclude that some highly productive regions of the ocean are much more vulnerable to agricultural runoff than was previously assumed. "
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Grizzlies set to invade high Arctic? |
| 03.09.05 (3:32 pm) |
The telltale paw prints with huge 10 centimetre-long nails spoke volumes. But now definitive corroborating DNA evidence seals the case of the most northerly sighting of a grizzly bear. The discovery fuels mounting evidence that Canada's High Arctic is no longer the sole preserve of the polar bear - Nanuk is having to make room for its southern cousin."
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Bush Administration Admits Climate Change is Real |
| 03.09.05 (3:15 pm) |
Bush's science advisor,John Marburger, at a recent appearance admitted that Global Warming is real and is caused by human beings. He said that the Kyoto Treaty is not enough ad that we need to do much more.
Story Source: http://www.dailycamera.com/bd...,1713,BDC_2432_3548705,00 .html
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| Canada's shrinking ice caps |
| 03.09.05 (2:41 pm) |
"Recent research conducted by NASA scientists has revealed that Canada's ice caps and glaciers have important connections to Earth's changing climate, and they have a strong potential for contributing to sea level rise."
Story Source: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/g...
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| Diesel Motorcycle Sets New World Record |
| 03.09.05 (2:34 pm) |
A diesel-powered motorcycle recently overcame inclement weather to claim a new speed record. And it's about to take on a new kind of challenge--battlefield reconnaissance.
Story Source: http://thomasnet.m.xtenit.com...
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| April 22 Science Cafe on Alternative Energy |
| 03.09.05 (2:17 pm) |
"The Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences will celebrate Earth Day with a night of informal discussion on alternative energy. Participants will learn about some of the most promising options on the horizon and have the chance to discuss these developments with an energy expert and others interested in the topic."
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Cold Nights in Manilla |
| 03.07.05 (7:50 pm) |
The temperature in Manilla this past weekend was in the low 20's C. A bit chilly for the start of the summer season. The manilla weather service attributed the unusually cold temperatures to effects of global warming.
Story Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/na...
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| Ocean Level to Raise by Sixteen Feet? |
| 03.07.05 (7:16 pm) |
There has been much debate and many different predictions over the last several years about just how much the world's ocean's would rise if all of the ice in the Arctic or Antarctica would melt as a result of climate change. In a partial answer to this question researchers from the British Antarctic Survey have discovered that a major ice sheet at the southern most continent may be beginning to collapse. If indeed this ice sheet does collapse the researchers believe that the result would be the raising of the world's sea level by about sixteen feet.
What does this mean to me, you ask? I guess that depends on where you live, doesn't it? For example, roughly 2/3 of people on this planet (3.6 billion people) live on a coastline or within 150 killometers of one. To see if your area is going to be threatened by a rise in sea level check out this site for starters: http://www.ilstu.edu/~jrwager/GEO201/maps.htm the maps are kind of crude but will give you a launch point for further searching. Then, if you want to determine the potential threat to the world's large coastal cities you could go to this site: http://www.worldatlas.com/aat...
For more information on the coastal population bomb, go here: http://www.aaas.org/internati...
Story Source: http://www.coastalpost.com/05...
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| Most Important Fuel Cell Breakthrough In Decades? |
| 03.06.05 (5:34 pm) |
Researchers in the UK have announced the creation of a new type of catalyst to be used to speed up the chemical reactions in fuel cells or electrolysis cells. The new catalyst is an Iron/Sulfur compound. The researchers say that this new type of catalyst could replace Platinum as the catalyst of choice for fuel cells. This would obviously reduce the price of fuel, cells to pretty much the level of common lead-acid batteries or even zinc carbon flashlight batteries and enable the Hydrogen Economy to gain a much more rapid foothold. Keep an eye on this story for further developments/
Story Source: http://www.newstarget.com/004...
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| Hydrogen Storage Breakthrough |
| 03.06.05 (5:17 pm) |
An Austrailian company has announced that they have created a new way to store hydrogen. The usual method is to compress gaseous H2 to high pressures. In this new method the researches cast metal alloys that will absorb the hydrogen and in this way hold more hydrogen safely and more economically.
Story Source: http://www.physorg.com/news31...
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| Ford Now Selling Hydrogen Fueled IC Engines |
| 03.06.05 (2:40 pm) |
It was announced earlier this week that Ford Motor Company is now going to be selling hydrogen fueled internal combustion engines to industrial customers. Ford believes that hydrogen energy is coming to the marketplace and they are willing to devote the time and money necessary to bring hydrogen fueled vehicles to the marketplace. Their H2 fueled IC engine, coupled with a 5000 psi H2 storage tank is being used to power a recently debuted shuttle bus (the E-450 )that they plan to market commercially.
Story Source: http://www.theautochannel.com...
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| Middle East going green? |
| 03.06.05 (6:15 am) |
The Middle East Electricity Exhibition (MEE) at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC)opened this week. It may seem strange to think of the area of the world that we always associate with petroleum energy as being involved in alternative energy but this is indeed the direction that is being taken.
The area now has both wind power and solar cell manufacturing plants. There will be a huge need for development in the utility sector thoroughout that regoin in the next few years and officials there believe that alternative and renewable energy can play a significant role.
Story Source: http://www.albawaba.com/en/co...
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| Lucerne FUEL CELL FORUM 2005 |
| 03.06.05 (5:57 am) |
The Lucerne Fuel Cell Forum 2005 is going to be held in Switzerland from July 4 - 8. This year there will be two main conferences; "FUEL CELLS FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD" and "3rd EUROPEAN POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL FORUM".
For complete information please visit this website: http://www.efcf.com/
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| South Korea goes H2 |
| 03.06.05 (5:46 am) |
In a recently released policy plan the government of South Korea outlined their plan for a switch to hydrogen and other renewable forms of energy. They hope to eliminate the country's need for fosil fuels by 2030-40.
Imagine that, within 25 years they believe that they can totally eliminate their need for fossil fuels. Could your country do the same?
Story Source: http://www.moneyplans.net/fro...
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| Nokia drops plans for fuel cell powered phones |
| 03.06.05 (5:40 am) |
Less than a year ago Nokia committed itself to developing fuel cell power sources for cell phones. Now thay have decided not to pursue that avenue further because they believe that the fuel cell market is "not yet mature enough" to warrant their efforts.
Story Source: http://www.physorg.com/weblog...
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| China faces the price of it's own success |
| 03.06.05 (5:24 am) |
China has blazed in the Capitalist world like a meteor in the night sky and now, as in all of the rest of the industrialized world, China has reached the point where they have to come to grips with the environmental damage caused by their economic success.
Pan Yue, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration said: "The (economic) miracle will soon be over because the environment won't be able to bear it much longer," he said. "Acid rain already comes down on a third of China's territory, half of the water in our seven largest rivers is completely unusable and a quarter of the population has no access to clean drinking water."
Sound familliar? The few have gotten fantastically wealthy one more time at the cost of a ruined landscape and the lives of the unfortunate masses who form their labor pool. But we never learn.
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| 500 mpg? |
| 03.06.05 (5:15 am) |
Can hybrid cars make it possible to get the equivalent of 500 mpg of petroleum today? The writer of this article thinks so. He outlines a speech that President Bush could and perhaps should give to the American people. A speech in which he would outline a plan to spedily wean the United States of off petroleum as the single source of our transportation fuel and onto a path where renewables such as alcohol produced from plants combined with electric components bcomes our new primary fuel.
Story Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7...
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| Eco-friendly fuel cells ready for home use |
| 03.05.05 (4:14 pm) |
As higher emission standards set by the Kyoto Protocol have kicked in this month to thwart global... Fuel Cell Works
Story Source: http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
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| Dreams for solar-powered plane take flight |
| 03.05.05 (3:10 pm) |
Icarus crashed and burned when he flew too close to the sun, but now a Swiss adventurer wants to carve out a place in history by harnessing solar energy to fly a state-of-the-art plane around the world.
So far the plane to be used by 47-year-old psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard exists only in the computers of the researchers at the Lausanne polytechnic, where a team of about 50 scientists are working on the 40-million-euro project, funded by four sponsors who so far remain in the shadows.
Story Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstor...
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| Solar power leaders are left in the dark |
| 03.05.05 (3:07 pm) |
Grants for the development of solar power are to end prematurely this year despite Tony Blair's determination to make climate change a key issue in Britain's presidency of the G8 and the EU.
Story Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...
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| California could be solar leader |
| 03.05.05 (3:05 pm) |
Solar energy experts from Germany and Japan, along with some of America’s top economists, have claimed that the state of California has the potential to become a leading region in the global renewable power industry.
Story Source: http://www.greenconsumerguide...
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| Home-spun power |
| 03.05.05 (3:03 pm) |
A wind turbine that can be roof-mounted to provide homes with electricity is poised to enter commercial production after months of fine-tuning by the UK engineering team developing it.
Edinburgh-based Renewable Devices claims its Swift system is the first turbine in the world to be practical for use on roofs thanks to the elimination of noise and vibration, the traditional barriers to attaching wind energy devices directly to buildings.
Story Source: http://www.graduateengineer.c...
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| Global Warming hits a snow bound India killing many! |
| 03.05.05 (2:59 pm) |
In the last few days, India was hit by the changing global climate as Kashmir witnessed a snow wave killing more than 100 people. The snow's fall out affected far flung areas 1500 km away in the city Mumbai,India's commercial hub, recorded the coldest February morning in 40 years.
Story Source: Global Warming hits a snow bound India killing many!
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| This is February? In Oregon? |
| 03.05.05 (2:57 pm) |
Because of some sort of climatological Freaky Friday reality reversal, California now weathers Oregon rain while Oregon basks in SoCal sunshine. For Portland, this is the fourth-driest November through January on record. And even while Oregonians skip work to jump around in sandals and shorts, they can admit the truth:
This is weird.
Oregon winters are supposed to be wet, dreary, lonely and lasting, endured to the mournful sighs of Elliot Smith, not the sunny optimism of the Beach Boys. The patron saint around here is not George Hamilton, but Gert Boyle.
Story Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/new...
Note: Some basic information is required to read this story
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| Band Unveils Environmental Initiative |
| 03.05.05 (2:54 pm) |
At a Tuesday press conference at the National Press Club, Dave Matthews Band members Stefan Lessard, Dave Matthews, Leroi Moore and Boyd Tinsley, along with Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream) unveiled the environmental details behind the new DMB / Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, "One Sweet Whirled." (Named after "One Sweet World," on Remember Two Things.)
Story Source: http://www.nancies.org/news/2...
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| Alaskans sweat through long, hot summer |
| 03.05.05 (2:51 pm) |
For proof of climate change in the Arctic, look no further than Alaska’s long, hot summer, according to one of the country’s top climate scientists.
Last year Alaskans sweated through the warmest May, June, July and August of the century, with average temperatures almost 5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
Story Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com...
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| Norwegian glaciers continue to shrink |
| 03.05.05 (2:48 pm) |
Norwegian glaciers shrank for the fourth consecutive year in 2004 because of warm summers and winters with little snow.
Some receded at the fastest rate since measurements started in 1900, a report issued Tuesday found.
Story Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.co...
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| Global Warning Sparks Plankton Migration |
| 03.05.05 (2:45 pm) |
Global warming is causing microscopic marine life in the seas around the UK to move north – in the biggest shift in the past 100 years – and raising fears that other marine species could follow, according to a Government report published today.
Story Source: http://news.scotsman.com/late...
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| Ghana Threatened By Global Warming |
| 03.05.05 (2:44 pm) |
Stephen Asamoah Boateng, the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City has stated that Ghana as a country would equally not be spared the threat of global warming if stringent measures are not taken by government and all stakeholders to curb the depleting nature of the environment.
Story Source: http://www.ghanaweb.com/Ghana...
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| Is there local green $$ in greenhouse-gas technology? |
| 03.05.05 (2:41 pm) |
California should capitalize on economic opportunities from the world efforts to control "greenhouse gas" emissions as well as adhere to international limits even if the federal government shuns the Kyoto Protocol, according to Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City.
Story Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com...
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| Cooking Linked to Possible Climate Changes |
| 03.05.05 (2:33 pm) |
The major source of potentially climate-changing soot in the air over south Asia is home cooking fires, according to a team of Indian and American researchers.
The burning of wood, agricultural waste and animal manure for cooking is the largest source of black carbon in the air in that region, according to the team led by C. Venkataraman of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| Huge Space Clouds May Have Caused Mass Extinctions |
| 03.05.05 (2:29 pm) |
Giant space clouds of gas may have changed the climate or atmosphere on Earth and fueled mass extinctions millions of years ago, scientists said Thursday.
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| Forests Could Be Key to Curbing Global Warming |
| 03.05.05 (2:24 pm) |
Effective control of forest fires may prove crucial in the fight against global warming since blazes from Alaska to Indonesia spew out vast amounts of heat-trapping gases, Canadian foresters said on Thursday.
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| U.S. Must Address Global Warming, Bush Ally Says |
| 03.05.05 (2:20 pm) |
Former Secretary of State James Baker, a close ally of the Bush family, broke ranks with the Bush administration on Thursday and called for the United States to get serious about global warming.
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| New lab delves into plants for fuels |
| 03.05.05 (2:03 pm) |
Goal is better understanding of how molecules interact
A new integrated facility designed to give scientists unprecedented insights into the chemical and biological reactions which can transform renewable plant and waste materials into useful sources of energy was dedicated yesterday at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Fusion in a jar of water? |
| 03.05.05 (1:19 pm) |
Sonoluminescence is a phenomenon that can be oberved in the wake of large ships. Glowing bubbles are created by the force with which the propellers of the big boats spin the water. This same effect can be created in a labrotory by exposing water to sound waves at frequencies above 18,000cps.
It has been believed for some time that the temperatures inside these glowing bubbles can be very high. Recently a group of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have recently announced that they have been able to measure the temperature of one of these bubbles. The temperature was 20,000 degrees kelvin. That is about four times the temperature of the surface of our sun.
The process that forms these bubbles is called accoustic cavitation. When the bubbles for a plasma is created within them. A plasma composed of charged molecule pieces. When the bubble collapses the plasma is compressed. When the bubbles collapse intense local heating is created. This process of collapse is so intense that many researchers believe that a type of nuclear fusion called, "inertial confinement fusion" can take place.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| The Dangers of Environmental Mercury |
| 03.03.05 (2:49 pm) |
In the past week I have posted links to several news articles that were in some way related to Mercury being released into the environment. Each of those stories focused on one particular aspect of the problem or it's potential solutions. I thought that it might be informative to string these stories together in order that the reader might be able to gain a more comprehensive picture of the actual scope of the problem and the current efforts that are being made to combat the problem.
First off the problem; Mercury is a heavy metal which, when ingested or absorbed into the body can cause various problems such as brain damage. Heavy metal builds up in the body and can not be removed. Much of the Mercury in the environment is put there as a by-product of industry. The easiest industry to point to is the energy industry with coal fired generating stations being the source of Mercury release. It is the coal from which the Mercury is released as the coal burns.
In the first story I posted ( http://www.tblog.com/template... ) it was revealed that Mercury levels in the Great Salt Lake have been found to be very high. This is a sort of barometer for the amount of Mercury being taken into the rest of the landscape too. I also explained that the potential source of this Mercury could lie as far away as China. In recent years we have seen that pollution from China does indeed reach the United States.
In the next story ( http://www.tblog.com/template... ) we saw how the governments of the world were banding together to addrewss this problem. And how the Bush administrations solution was to have the polluters police themselves. I compared that to puting a drunk in a liquor store and letting him police his own consumption.
Finally we come to the issue of the true cost of Mercury pollution both in human and financial terms. In this story ( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7... ) we learn that Mercury damage will cost us all 8.7 BILLION dollars a year. This cost will come in the form of pre-natal damage to babies. What a shame.
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| 2005 Geneva Auto Show |
| 03.03.05 (1:16 pm) |
At the auto show in Geneva car manufacturers were, as always, showing their diesel powered models to a very receptive European audience who's love of economical, reliable, diesel power goes back quite a few years. Car makers were showing the new hybrid lines but don't really expect the European market to shift away from their first choice (diesels) anytime soon.
Story Source: http://www.theautochannel.com...
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| MENSA meets to ponder green energy |
| 03.03.05 (12:59 pm) |
Come join a unique forum, Mensa-style, of stimulating intellectual inquiry and insights into the problems and promise of renewable energy. We will explore the associated societal changes, economic impact and technological challenges. Listen to internationally recognized speakers, then share your thoughts in round table discussions with fellow Mensans.
Story Source: http://www.colloquium.us.mens...
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| Hydrogen News Links |
| 03.03.05 (12:43 pm) |
The Hydrogen News #29
Here is a weeks worth of hydrogen related stories that are interesting but not interesting enough to warrant their own, individual write ups.
(1) Andrija Puharich: Water Decomposition by AC Electrolysis
ZPEnergy - USA
http://www.zpenergy.com/modul...
... the use of water as a fuel an economically feasible source of energy . A Thermodynamic Device has been invented which produces hydrogen as fuel, and oxygen ...
(This story should be interesting to anyone who has read my material on this subject and my descriptions of related experiments.)ED.
(2) New tech at confab includes fuel cell for notebooks
ZDNet - USA
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-95...
... aiming fuel cells at low-energy devices like MP3 players--but it is easier to store. Millennium Cell gets around the hydrogen production and storage problem ...
(now what has to happen is that you need to build a little solar electrolysis unit to produce the H2 you need free, from water, wherever you are. The Millennium cell model depends on H2 stored as a metal hydride and locks you into staying close to a supply.Yes you could produce your H2 free for this unit with available technology.)ED.
(3) SPORTY Mercedes fuel cell car unveiled
MSNBC - USA
... The electric motor powered by the fuel cell puts out more ... miles,
the company added, due to reduced fuel consumption and greater hydrogen
storage capacity. ...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/70649...
(Saving the planet in style...)Ed.
(4) DAIMLERCHRYSLER unveils new fuel cell vehicle at Geneva
Auto Industry - UK
The F-Cell's high-torque electric motor will develop more ... generation,
and thanks to a reduction in fuel consumption and enhanced hydrogen storage
capacity ...
http://www.autoindustry.co.uk...
(5) Germany's Linde gas corporation leads European hydrogen campaign
http://www.bellona.no/en/inte...
Bellona - UK
The German gas giant Linde AG released a report Thursday arguing that the development of a hydrogen filling station infrastructure for vehicles in Europe ...
(6) Homosassa Springs State Park Receives Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell Works - USA
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS-- Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park today moved into the next generation of energy technology with a hydrogen fuel cell system to power ...
(tHIS SYSTEM IS USING SOLAR ENERGY TO PRODUCE THE h2 FUEL FROM WATER....FINALLY!) ED.
(7) Alan Lloyd to Receive Lifetime Membership from the National ...
Fuel Cell Today - UK
http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/Industr yInformation/IndustryInfo rmationExternal/NewsDispl ayArticle/0" title="http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/Industr yInformation/IndustryInfo rmationExternal/NewsDispl ayArticle/0" target="_blank"http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/...,1602,5628,00.html
... Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Alan Lloyd will be given a Lifetime Honorary Membership into the National Hydrogen Association (NHA). ...
(8) Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Investor Begins 6th Year of Publication
http://home.businesswire.com/...
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
The Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Investor ("H2FC"), an independent weekly newsletter covering fuel cell and hydrogen related companies, stocks and ...
(9) Hydrogen, the Clean Alternative?
Pollution Engineering - Troy,MI,USA
http://www.pollutionengineeri...,6653,145543,00.html
But critics of the development of hydrogen, as reported by the Fox News Network (Fox News? hehe, the "fair and balanced" network hehe and you actually QUOTE them? hahahahahahaha ED.), claim the current technology to manufacture hydrogen generates just as much ...
(Why can't these people find "experts" who actuially know what they are talking about? The oil people are attacking H2 fuel with their lie machine again.)ED.
(10) Prince hops on green bus
Daily Telegraph - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
http://dailytelegraph.news.co...
... a modest crowd of wellwishers in near-city Subiaco, the Prince caught the latest in environmentally friendly public transport -- a hydrogen-fuelled bus -- to ...
(11) Germany to host hydrogen fuel conference - 1st March 2005
Platinum today - UK
http://www.platinum.matthey.c...
Industry figures meet in Hanover, Germany next month to discuss the commercial development of hydrogen fuel. Speakers from around ...
(12)
NHA Annual Hydrogen Conference 2005 Conference Highlights
Fuel Cell Works - USA
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
... organization dedicated to supporting the transition to hydrogen. ... of the NHA include energy companies, automotive manufacturers, fuel cell developers ...
(13) Tomorrow's technology for today's targets
GraduateEngineer.com - London,UK
http://www.graduateengineer.c...
... The aircraft industry is watching hydrogen fuel research carefully ... with the potential to cut fuel consumption by ... you need to transmit the energy,' said Pilidis ...
(14) WilderHill Clean Energy Index ETF to Begin Trading on Amex March 3 ...
Yahoo News (press release) - USA
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/0...
...including wind, solar, bio-fuel, geothermal and ... in researching the production of hydrogen as a ... devices and automobiles); (5) Energy Storage (companies creating ...
(15) NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The New Alternatives Fund has a simple goal: Do
well financially while doing good environmentally.
The New York fund invests almost exclusively in companies that help support a clean and sustainable environment, with an emphasis on alternative energy, said fund manager David Schoenwald.
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/05030...
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| China passes renewable energy law |
| 03.03.05 (12:41 pm) |
A GREAT LEAP FORWARD, WITHOUT ALL THE FAMINE
China passes its first renewable-energy law
The Chinese legislature on Monday passed a bill aimed at increasing
the country's use of renewable energy by mandating that power-grid
operators get a portion of their electricity from local renewable
sources and by providing financial inducements such as tax
incentives, discounted loans, and a national development fund. When
it takes effect in 2006, the law -- the first of its kind for China
-- will be a big step toward fulfilling a pledge made at an
international renewables conference last year to increase the
country's renewable-energy production from under 1 percent of the
total to about 10 percent by 2010. Said Beijing Greenpeacer Yu Jie,
"China could and should be a world leader in renewable-energy
development." Couldn't happen too soon. Fast-developing China is
now second only to the U.S. in emissions of carbon dioxide (though,
as the world's most populous country, it ranks far lower on a per
capita basis).
straight to the source: Terra Daily, Agence France-Presse, 01 Mar 2005
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| THAT Ozone Hole! |
| 03.03.05 (12:36 pm) |
Arctic Ozone Loss Concerns Researchers (AP)
in February and March of 2004 a decline of up to 60 percent was measured, according to a team of researchers led by Cora Randall of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"This decline was completely unexpected," Randall said in a statement. "The findings point out a critical need to better understand the processes occurring in the ozone layer."
Winds 20 miles above the Earth's surface became much stronger than usual, the researchers said. Those winds formed a vortex, or circle, allowing nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide gasses that had formed as a mass of energetic particles bombarded the Earth solar storm in the fall of 2003 to descend and react with the ozone layer.
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| What Ozone Hole? |
| 03.03.05 (12:33 pm) |
A Swedish scientist has said that he believes that there is very little risk of an ozone hole appearing over the Arctic this year even though especially low stratospheric temperatures have encouraged the formation of large amounts of chlorine compounds (which destroy ozone).
Story Source: http://story.news.yahoo.com/n...
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| Undergrad researchers head to Antarctica to study melting ice shelves |
| 03.02.05 (5:21 pm) |
Remember "Earthquake", "Meteor" and more recently "The Day After Tomorrow"? All disaster movies made in Hollywood to thrill and chill us and maybe to make some of us think "what if". At least one geology professor from Hamilton College says that the collapse of the Antarctic Ice Shelves may be a greater disaster than anything created by Hollywood.
Eugene Domak is leading a team of researchers to Antarctica to further study the collapse of the Larson B ice shelf. They are hoping to determine whether this collapse is something new and unique or a part of a cycle that may extend over hundreds of thousands of years.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| New system can measure productivity of oceans |
| 03.02.05 (5:20 pm) |
Researchers from a variety of institutions and government agencies recently announced the development of a new method of analyzing the amount of plankton in the oceans. The method involves using space based remote sensing devices to "see" the plankton. This is important because plankton is the basis of the entire food chain in the ocean and monitoring the levels of plankton can predict the health and productivity of the ocean overall.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Polar expedition contributes to ESA's ice mission CryoSat |
| 03.02.05 (5:17 pm) |
A three man team is about to set off on a scientific expedition called Pole Track. This will involve a 1000km trek across the Arctic collecting data for use in the ongoing research of our changing climate. They will also be taking core samples from the Arctic snow/ice in support of the CryoSat mission.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Huge 2004 stratospheric ozone loss |
| 03.02.05 (5:14 pm) |
2004 saw the largest decline in Ozone over the far northern hemisphere that was ever recorded. For many years it was the Ozone hole over the South Polar region which was causing the most concern. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have released a study which blames the formation of the northern ozone hole on two natural processes; Solar Storms and Arctic winds.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Oregon may lead future of wave energy |
| 03.02.05 (5:13 pm) |
Anyone who has ever been to the seashore has experienced the majesty and power of the ocean. Endless and mysterious it seems to stretch out toward the endless horizon. The power that is contained within the restless surges of this body of water that covers 70% of our planet is virtually limitless.
Many attempts have been made in the past to tap into this energy source with varying degrees of success. The main drawback has been the sheer power of the sea. Man made constructions have proved weak and flimsy in comparison to the power that can be unleashed by an unpredictable mother nature. Now though, research and development being conducted in Oregon may pave the way for more durable and reliable ocean power.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Can we really get used to Global Warming? |
| 03.02.05 (5:11 pm) |
A recent study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has found that the state of Washington's Yakima Valley region will lose between $92 million and $163 million dollars a year due to the effects of global warming on that region.
Can they afford it? I suppose they will have to. Now take that figure and multiply it by how many other rich agricultural areas there are in the world who will also suffer because of global warming's effects.
Now factor in the expected increase in population from the current 6 billion to the 9 billion predicted in the near future and the declining state of the oceans and try to understand that we can't keep these two opposing lines going forever. Less food for more people simply doesn't work out to be a good thing.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Global Warming led to largest extinction in history! |
| 03.02.05 (5:09 pm) |
Scientists have decided that the global wave of extinction that occurred at the end of the Permian Period (251 million years ago) in which 95% of all the life forms in the world died out, was caused by global warming. In that instance the warming is thought to have been caused by the eruptions of shield volcanos in Russia. These eruptions may have caused a chain of events which resulted in the largest single extinction event in the Earth's history.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Hydro power's dirty secret |
| 03.02.05 (5:07 pm) |
Imagine fishing on a manmade lake, the water is calm, peaceful. At one end of the lake is a huge concrete dam which controls the flow of the water out of the lake and uses that water to turn huge turbines that spin electrical generators. All of the electrical generating equipment is tucked away out of sight and the place seems to be a perfect example of the triumph of alternative energy in coexisting with the planet in a non harmful way.
Some experts are now asking that the greenhouse gasses produced by hydroelectric facilities be taken into account when figuring the levels of these gasses being produced by various countries. The way that hydroelectric dams produce methane and carbon dioxide is mostly tied into the time when they are built. As the water level behind the newly constructed dam rises it floods the area behind it and submerges many trees and other vegetable matter. Over time this vegetation rots and releases methane and CO2.
Of course any activity that destroys vegetation such as logging or farming also produces these gasses and the methane or CO2 produced by these activities is already in the environment unlike the same substances that are produced by burning fossil fuels.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Practical Action Plan to Combat Poverty Unveiled at UN |
| 03.02.05 (5:05 pm) |
On the 17th of January the United Nations unveiled a strategy to fight global poverty. This strategy was put together by a team of 265 of the world's most respected development experts. It is believed that implementation of the specific proposals put forward in the plan could slash extreme poverty in half and improve the lives of over one billion people by 2015.
One would think that such a plan would make headlines around the world. Imagine that, lifting a billion people, fully one sixth of the world's population out of extreme poverty within the next 10 years. I don't remember seeing anything about though, do you? Let's see, I know what is going on in Iraq (more or less) and what various stars wore to the Oscars but don't remember seeing anything about this...Hmmmmm
Story Source: http://rbec.undp.org/?menu=p_...
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| Climate threshold may alter economic picture of climate change |
| 03.02.05 (5:03 pm) |
Researchers at Penn State have determined that the more or less typical economic analysis models applied to the effects of global warming may be less than accurate because they ignore climate thresholds. These thresholds are the "points of no return" after which changes may become permanent or even accelerate due to having reached that point.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| On the brighter side of climate change |
| 03.02.05 (5:01 pm) |
"According to Jonathan A. Patz, as the world's climate warms, and as people make widespread alterations to the global landscape, human populations will become far more vulnerable to heat-related mortality, air pollution-related illnesses, infectious diseases and malnutrition."
Know what? Maybe there isn't a brighter side to it after all. I suppose that we here in the United States will be the lucky ones in the short term because we have the weapons necessary to commandeer the dwindling resources of the world and use them to maintain our current lifestyle. In the long term though we may all end up in the same place.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| Anti-wind farm report dismissed |
| 03.02.05 (5:00 pm) |
A report from the world's biggest wind power producer denouncing wind farms as too expensive and... BBC News
Story Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk...
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| IITians develop device that uses air to charge mobile phone |
| 03.02.05 (4:57 pm) |
All you need to charge your mobile is - air! Students at the Department of... New Kerala
Story Source: http://news.newkerala.com/ind...
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| Canada's Oceans Dying too? |
| 03.01.05 (12:18 pm) |
In a first ever census of cod fish populations in Canada's Scotian Shelf area researchers have found an amazing 96% decline has taken place since the 1850's. Researchers used shipping records to approximate the amount of fish present in the 1800's and then compared that to known populations today. The researchers said,"just 16 small schooners of the pre-Civil War era could hold all adult cod currently estimated in the once-rich Scotian Shelf."
So you see, when taken in context with the other dead ocean stories which have been coming out of late, a rather grim picture of the future of the worlds oceans as a food source for humanity begins to emerge. It is estimated that at the present level of damage, that the oceans could "heal" themselves over time. But such healing would require the implementation of strict fishing quotas and such quotas, when enacted, have been notoriously innefective in the past.
Story Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub...
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| NHA Annual Hydrogen Conference 2005 Conference Highlights |
| 03.01.05 (11:53 am) |
WASHINGTON, D.C -- The National Hydrogen Association (NHA) announces the highlights for their 16th annual conference, March 29 through April 1 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The event, Partnering for the Global Hydrogen Future will feature both U.S. and international content and an exhibition of technology and products from around the world.
Story Source: http://www.fuelcellsworks.com...
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| UK to abandon H2 research? |
| 03.01.05 (11:43 am) |
The British have aparrently decided that their participation in the development of a hydrogen economy for the world is not necessary. In a report published this past week the UK government asserts that it is confident that the US, Japan and China will be able to develop the technology to make widespread use of H2 fuel a reality.
I find this surprising as the EU and Wales have only just announced renewed research efforts in this area...
Story Source: http://www.sundayherald.com/4...
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| Artifical Photosynthesis |
| 03.01.05 (11:38 am) |
The European Union is funding a new project called the SOLAR-H project, in which four teams of researchers will attempt to find a method to create artificial photosynthesis as a way to produce hydrogen fuel.
"The vision is to develop novel, as yet unproven or even non-existing routes for H2 production from solar energy and water. In a unique effort, this project integrates, for the first time, two frontline topics - artificial photosynthesis in man-made chemical systems, and photo-biological H2 production using living organisms,' explain the project partners. 'Hydrogen production by these methods is still a long way off, but it has a vast potential and is of utmost importance for the energy-dependent European economy."
This is a step in the right direction as this method has been working for living organisms for many, many millennia now. Can hydrogen from water really be the next energy source for our planet? I think so and slowly research seems to be following that path.
Story Source: http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/...:23451
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| Biodiesel For Home Heating? |
| 03.01.05 (11:10 am) |
A new federal tax credit which was enacted to promote the use of alternative fuels is encouraging fuel dealers in the Northeast to sell Biodiesel for home heating. The fuel is a blend of 80% diesel and 20% soybean oil. With the new tax incentive the biodiesel blend can be sold for the same price as regular home heating oil.
Story Source: http://www.journalstar.com/ar...
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| Millennium Cell and the Dow Chemical Company Announce Joint venture |
| 03.01.05 (9:24 am) |
Millennium Cell, has announced plans to develop versions of their hydrogen production systems for military applications. Millennium cell is unique in that their system uses Sodium Borohydride to produce the hydrogen fuel. The hydrogen is stored as a metal hydride and is released when this hydride is exposed to water. This makes it easy to store and transport the hydrogen form but ties the system to needing to have constant access to a source of the hydride and the facilities necessary to produce the hydride.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/in dex.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&n ewsId=20050228005380&news Lang=en" title="http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/in dex.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&n ewsId=20050228005380&news Lang=en" target="_blank"http://home.businesswire.com/...
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| Dead Seas |
| 03.01.05 (9:17 am) |
For those who want to believe that human beings cannot affect the future of our planet in negative ways; I apologize for the facts contained in this story. It seems that the DEFRA Study, sponsored by the government of Britain, has determined that some rather unpleasant things are happening in the ocean around the United Kingdom. Notice that I didn't say "might" be happening or "could happen if we don't change our evil ways". I said ARE happening now.
Some of the things that this study found are that the salinity of the ocean is changing due to the addition of millions of gallons of fresh water from the melting of Arctic ice. Fish species are under so much environmental stress that they are on the brink of collapse and once they collapse they are no longer available as a human food source. Porpoises are being killed wantonly, sea temperatures are rising and the seabed is being destroyed by bottom trawling boats. Plankton, the basis of the ocean food chain are also being affected. They are slowly disappearing and with it will disappear all life in the ocean.
"The longer we delay taking effective action, the more difficult it will be to turn things around. Even a five-year delay could be significant." ... red "warnings" are slapped on seven areas: the collapse of key fish stocks; the unprecedented changes in plankton species; the deaths of dolphins and porpoises from trawler nets; a collapse in some North Sea bird populations due to over fishing of sandeels; the 50 non-native species which have arrived in British waters; the sea life affected by climate change; and the beaches still despoiled by litter."
Story Source: http://solutions.synearth.net...
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| More Mercury Anyone? |
| 03.01.05 (9:14 am) |
Yesterday I posted an article about the levels of Mercury that have been found in the dead sea. These levels are very high and, to a great extent, are caused by burning coal in power plants. The mercury is carried into the environment with the smoke from the burning coal. It then mixes with atmospheric moisture and is "washed" out of the air and brought back to the Earth by rain.
You would think that after such evidence of unsafe levels of mercury in the environment was found the government would be quick to protect the welfare and safety of the people by making the industries responsible for this pollution clean up their acts. This is especially true when you consider that the technology to keep most of this mercury form being released does exist. What doesn't exist is the will among the polluters to clean up their own act.
Fortunately the governments of the world did respond. The United Nations Brokered a deal that would implement mercury reduction plans through a legally binding, enforceable global treaty. Just when you thought there was going to be real action toward cleaning up our world into the situation stepped the Bush Administration. While they agreed that something must be done about this problem they have advanced their own "alternative"solution. What is that solution? It is to have the polluting industries sort of police themselves and voluntarily reduce their Mercury em missions as they see fit.
This is sort of like giving a drunk the keys to a liquor store as a step toward curing him. The logic of course would be that he is now in charge of his own alcohol intake and will no doubt be responsible since he has an unlimited supply at his disposal. Does this make sense? No. No more than it makes sense to give industries with a long history of polluting the environment without any conscience a carte blanche to do as they will in the future without fear of enforcement or penalty. But this is the logic of the Bush Administration; profits above people.
Story Source: http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forw...
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