Eco-Innovation Articles From Around the World
This Futuristic Building Is Helping Tackle Air Pollution – Thanks to 23,000 Plants
Source: weforum.org Published: August 7, 2017 The Tao Zhu Yin Yuan Tower in Taiwan has been uniquely designed to absorb 130 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Image: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Leanna Garfield Reporter, Tech Insider A twisting, smog-eating tower is...
Researchers Turn Recycled Aluminum Foil into Cheaper, Eco-Friendlier Biofuels
Source: inhabitat.com Published: August 1, 2017 By Jasmin Malik Chua Don’t toss your bagel wrapper in the trash just yet; scientists at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland say they have discovered a way to turn used aluminum foil into a catalyst to create...
Patagonia Launches New Workwear Line Made With Innovative Hemp Fabric
Source: treehugger.com Published: August 2, 2017 Updated October 11, 2018 Finally, there is now an ethical and practical alternative work wear option to Carhartt and Dickies. Screen capture Patagonia By Derek Markham Patagonia is one of those companies that really...
IKEA Is Now Selling Solar Systems, No Allen Key Required
Source: treehugger.com Published: August 3, 2017 Updated October 11, 2018 © IKEA battery pack By Lloyd Alter So far the panels and batteries are only offered in the UK but it might spread to sunnier North American climes. Watch out, Elon Musk! Tesla’s subsidiary...
This Man Has Been Quietly Collecting Invaluable Climate Data for More Than 40 Years
Source: ecowatch.com Published: August 2, 2017 By Sophie Gallagher Billy Barr of Gothic, Colorado wears a lot of hats—literally and figuratively. Sure, the reclusive mountain man (who prefers his name spelled in lowercase) has an impressive hat collection, but he’s...
These Methane-Eating Microbes Are Drastically Helping to Reduce Global Warming
Source: huffingtonpost.co.uk Published: August 1, 2017 By Sophie Gallagher They might be small, but they are proving to be mighty, as scientists have discovered a breed of microbes living in Antarctic glaciers are protecting the planet from worsening global warming....
LEGO Tests Bricks Made from Wheat in Effort to Ditch Plastic
Source: ecowatch.com Published: July 31, 2017 Lorraine Chow Fresh after meeting its 100 percent renewable energy milestone, LEGO is making progress towards its 2030 goal of replacing 20 types of its traditional, petroleum-based bricks with sustainable alternatives....
Fascinating Biking Statistics and Facts
Source: bikingexpert.com Published: July 29, 2017 By Roxana Besides being a wonderful sport, biking is an activity that boasts countless advantages. Not only cycling improves our overall health, it also has a huge positive impact on our social life and on the...
Ultrathin Device Harvests Electricity from Human Motion
Source: news.vanderbilt.edu Published: July 21, 2017 By David Salisbury Click here to watch “Ultrathin device harvests electricity from human motion”: https://youtu.be/4j4w_36X0nU Imagine slipping into a jacket, shirt or skirt that powers your cell phone, fitness...
Paul Hawken on One Hundred Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Source: e360.yale.edu Published: July 25, 2017 Environmentalist Paul Hawken believes that to motivate action on climate change, the focus needs to be on solutions rather the problem. And, he says, those solutions – from changing the type of refrigerants used to...
New Initiative Launched to Tackle Growing Challenge of Delivering Cooling Solutions for All
Source: sustainablebrands.com Published: July 20, 2017 As global temperatures reach record highs and heat waves become the norm across the globe, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), a global initiative led by former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to...
8 Natural & Homemade Insecticides to Save Your Garden Without Killing the Earth
Source: treehugger.com Published: July 7, 2016 CC BY 2.0 Barbara Eckstein By Derek Markham These natural and DIY pesticides are effective at helping to rid your crops of harmful critters, but safe enough to keep from poisoning you and your family. There’s nothing like...
5 Steps Toward Going ‘Zero Waste’ in the Bathroom
Source: treehugger.com Published: March 19, 2014 By Katherine Martinko CC BY 2.0 Helmuts Guigo The bathroom is one of the easiest rooms in the house to cut back on waste, although you might be surprised to hear that. With a few adjustments to your shopping habits, you...
Tidal Energy — All Renewables Are Not Created Equal
Source: forbes.com Published: July 27, 2017 James Conca Most everyone has heard of hydroelectric energy or hydropower, that uses a dam to store water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through turbines, spinning them to generate electricity. ...
This Robotic “Eel” Hunts Down the Source of Water Pollution
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 27, 2017 by Jasmin Malik Chua Lake Geneva’s latest resident—all four feet of it—is neither man nor beast. Dubbed the Envirobot, the critter is a biomimetic robot designed by Swiss researchers to pinpoint the source of pollution in...
This Low-Tech Terrarium Purifies Water Like A Mini-Amazon Rainforest
Source: treehugger.com Published: July 25, 2017 © Kikando By Kimberley Mok The lack of clean water has become a serious problem worldwide, thanks to industrial contamination, agricultural and urban pollution, and even from seemingly innocuous acts such as washing...
Harvard’s HouseZero Project Will Turn Old Homes into The Eco-Friendly Digs of The Future
Source: curiosity.com Published: July 15, 2017 As charming as an ornate Victorian or funky mid-century home can be, their aging windows and old-fashioned insulation can wreak havoc on your energy bills. The problem is that there are a lot of decades-old houses out...
These 7 Easy Energy-Saving Hacks Can Save Consumers Hundreds of Dollars Every Year
Source: alternet.org Published: July 10, 2017 Written by Reynard Loki / AlterNet According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average American’s monthly residential electric bill is $114.03. That’s almost $1,400 a year. Consumers could easily reduce...
Key to Speeding Up Carbon Sequestration Discovered
Source: m.phys.org Published: July 17, 2017 Scanning electron microscopy image of calcite. Credit: Adam Subhas/Caltech by California Institute of Technology Scientists at Caltech and USC have discovered a way to speed up the slow part of the chemical reaction that...
China Plans 100 Panda-Shaped Solar Plants on New Silk Road
Source: reuters.com Published: July 24, 2017 Reporting by Muyu Xu and Ryan Woo in Beijing and Pak Yiu in Hong Kong; Editing by Joseph Radford BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - In a country where you can find everything from chopsticks to slippers designed to look like...
World’s First Floating Offshore Wind Farm Could Revolutionise Renewable Energy Industry
Source: ibtimes.co.uk Published: July 24, 2017 The towers, which stand taller than Big Ben, are floated into place. Statoil By James Billington Wind power technology is growing at a rapid pace with larger turbines and more efficient design putting puff into the sails...
Peatlands Are 2nd Only to Oceans in The Amount of Carbon They Store
Source: drawdown.org Published: July 25, 2017 Peatlands: Although they cover just 3% of earth’s land area, they are 2nd only to oceans in the amount of carbon they store. Peatlands, also known as bogs or mires, are neither solid ground nor water but something in...
How to Get Started with Composting
Source: Unknown Published: July 25, 2017 Learn the basics to composting — it’s easier than you think! Composting helps shrink our landfills, and the results are great for your garden and the planet. The trick is to know your “greens” from your “browns” and how...
Vertical Farming Startup Raises $200M
Source: bbc.com Published: July 19, 2017 Plenty's first farms will grow lettuce and other greens. Getty Images Plenty, a San Francisco vertical farming start-up, has raised $200m (£154m) from big-name investors that include Japanese media giant SoftBank, Alphabet's...
These African Farmers Carved an Important Message to The World – Into the Soil
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 20, 2017 by Amanda Froelich Most people in Western countries reflect on Africa as a continent in which poverty is rife and economic opportunities are lacking. While this may be true in some cases, it’s a fixable problem. This is...
Refrigerants with Low Global Warming Potential
Source: facilityexecutive.com Published: February 10, 2017 By Brian Fricke, Ken Schultz, and Xudong Wang With the ratification of the Montreal protocol in 1987, chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants, such as R11, R12, R22, and R123,...
Oceanlinx – Oscillating Water Column Device
Source: Unknown Published: July 22, 2017 Oceanlinx have developed an advanced Oscillating Water Column Device. Thanks to a solid international support, this Australian project is absolutely in the forefront of wave energy technology. The source for this article is...
Montreal Supermarket Is Canada’s First to Grow Produce on Its Own Rooftop Garden
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 21, 2017 by Jasmin Malik Chua When the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent began pushing for green roofs, a supermarket wondered if it could do regulations one better. Fast-forward a few years and IGA Extra Famille Duchemin now...
Grocery Stores Slash Emissions with Honeywell’s Low Global Warming Refrigerant
Source: environmentalleader.com Published: August 18, 2016 Festival Foods, one of the largest independent grocery store chains in the US Midwest, is the first supermarket chain to build a new store with refrigeration equipment designed to run Honeywell’s...
Chile Launches Demonstration of Alternative Refrigeration Technology
Source: ccacoalition.org Published: January 18, 2017 Jumbo supermarket in Valdivia, Chile installs transcritical carbon dioxide refrigeration by CCAC secretariat A supermarket in Chile has become the first in the country to adopt new refrigeration technology in an...
How to Improve Indoor Air Quality with Plants
Source: foobot.io Published: July 21, 2017 plant on desk - office productivity By Adrien Lafond **Updated November 2019. The decades-old claims about the power of plants to improve indoor air quality might be totally wrong, according to a recent study by the...
Restoring U.S. Forests Can Help Solve Our Water Infrastructure Crisis
Source: huffingtonpost.com Published: July 20, 2017 fotoVoyager via Getty Images Bill Richardson While Washington waits for the details of the Trump administration’s promised trillion-dollar plan to fix American infrastructure, there’s a critical need...
Sandpoint Town Square Home to First Public Solar Roadways Panel Installation
Source: newatlas.com Published: October 3, 2016 Solar Roadways has programmed a few random LED patterns, but the City of Sandpoint plans to allow the public to interact with and change the displays By Paul Ridden Over 2 years after the laying a bunch of solar...
MIT Robot Swims Through Water and Gas Pipes to Detect Leaks
Source: treehugger.com Published: July 19, 2017 © MIT By Megan Treacy Beneath the cities around the world runs a complex web of pipes, carrying water and gas to buildings, homes and businesses. These miles of pipes are necessary to everyday life, but they are...
Flexible Solar Panels Recycle Indoor Light
Source: treehugger.com Published: November 8, 2016 © Virginia Tech Integrating solar panels into windows and walls seems to be the obvious next step for the technology, but what about all of the light indoors? What if there could be a way to harness, or recycle, that...
Caltech Scientists Speed Up Carbon Sequestration Process by 500 times
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 19, 2017 by Lacy Cooke Carbon sequestration, or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it long-term, could help us fight climate change. It’s a complex chemical reaction, but a team of six scientists led by...
Wave-Sensor Buoy Deployed in Cape Cod Bay
Source: mass.gov Published: July 19, 2017 A new high-tech wave-monitoring buoy, supported by state and federal agencies, was recently deployed in Cape Cod Bay approximately 6 nautical miles north of Sandy Neck in Sandwich. The buoy will provide sea-state information...
Wave Power Is Not Just for Surfers Any More Dude!
Source: solarthermalmagazine.com Published: July 19, 2017 The power of wave energy will soon be for more than just surfers Huge waves crashing into a beach. Imagine the power, the sheer force of the water as it spends itself on the sandy shore. Now imagine this...
Third-Generation Solar PV Cells Under Development in Australia
Source: abc.net.au Published: December 3, 2016 Prototype third-generation solar cells being developed by Australian company Dyesol. (Supplied: Dyesol) By Babs McHugh A collaboration between the CSIRO, the Australian National University (ANU) and a local technology...
Solid-State Technology Juicing Next Wave of Lithium-Ion Batteries
Source: japantimes.co.jp Published: May 8, 2016 This Hitachi Zosen solid-state battery (center) powers a laser displacement meter (right) while another meter (left) measures its output. courtesy of hitachi zosen Corp. | COURTESY OF HITACHI ZOSEN CORP By Shusuke Murai...
Purge the Plastic: How to Free Your Kitchen of Plastic
Source: quill.com Published: April 21, 2017 Eugene Feygin Since its inception, plastic has found its way into our homes and work lives more than most of us recognize. But when it comes to buying, cooking, and storing food, plastic is pervasive. Hundreds of studies...
Nanotechnology Third-Generation Flexible Solar Cells
Source: Unknown Published: July 19, 2017 Outing picnic, patting photos, video, mobile phones will have no electricity, how do? Then backpack on the solar powered portable generator cell to play a role, with the data cable to connect the battery and mobile phone, you...
75 Most Bike Friendly Cities in The World
Source: bikingexpert.com Published: December 16, 2016 If you have a passion for cycling, here are the 75 most bike friendly cities in the world where you can enjoy a safe ride. by Roxana Cycling is my passion. I love to ride my bike on my way to work, when going...
New Type of Cement Could Offer Environmental Protection, Lower Cost
Source: phys.org Published: April 29, 2016 By Oregon State University If widely adopted, a new approach to making cement could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, help address global warming, produce a more durable concrete, and save...
Looking to Light Highways with Light-Emitting Cement
Source: phys.org Published: May 6, 2016 Light-emitting cement by Investigación y Desarrollo In order to light roads, highways or bicycle lanes without electricity, Ph.D. José Carlos Rubio, from Michoacan’s University of San Nicolas Hidalgo, UMSNH in Spanish, created a...
AquaHarmonics Wins Wave Energy Prize
Source: energyharvestingjournal.com Published: November 30, 2016 Top image: AquaHarmonics Source: US Department of Energy The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced AquaHarmonics as the winner of the Wave Energy...
Smart Highways
Source: activesustainability.com Published: July 18, 2017 Guest post written by José María Castrillón Montes from ACCIONA Construction The concept of smart mobility is nothing new. People were talking about the subject back in the 1980s. Since then, though, the focus...
Mammoth Steppe Ecosystem Restoration to Prevent Permafrost Carbon Emissions
Source: climatecolab.org Published: June 13, 2015 Melting Arctic Permafrost represents fundamental threat to global climate. Restoring “Mammoth Steppe” could help. by Team Wooly Mammoth Summary Arctic permafrost contains ~1600 gigatons of carbon, approximately twice...
Four Areas of Agriculture That Can Help Solve Many Environmental Problems and Improve Human Health
Source: articles.mercola.com Published: September 10, 2016 NOTE: Article Requires a Mercola subscription to view Agriculture has a significant impact on life on Earth. It provides food, sure, but it’s also an integral part of the ecosystem as a whole. Done correctly,...
20 Native North American Foods with Stories to Tell
Source: foodtank.com Published: July 14, 2016 Niyati Shah Indigenous and traditional crops are an important source of food and fiber for people around the globe. Often these crops are resilient to pests and disease or can tolerate high temperatures, drought, or...
This Plant-Based Water Filter Works Like A Tiny Amazon Rainforest
Source: inhabitat.com Published: July 12, 2017 by Lacy Cooke We take water for granted far too often. Whole civilizations have fallen as a result of over-exploiting water sources, according to Royal College of Art (RCA) graduate student Pratik Ghosh, so it’s...
The Impact of Climate Change on the Structure of Pleistocene Food Webs Across the Mammoth Steppe
Source: rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org Published: July 7, 2013 Justin D. Yeakel , Paulo R. Guimarães , Hervé Bocherens and Paul L. Koch Abstract Species interactions form food webs, impacting community structure and, potentially, ecological dynamics. It is likely...
The Farm That Grows Climate Solutions
Source: greenbiz.com Published: March 26, 2016 Shutterstock By Eric Toensmeier The following originally appeared on Ensia, and is adapted from "The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change...
If You Fix This, You Fix a Big Piece of the Climate Puzzle
Source: nytimes.com Published: July 13, 2017 By LISA FRIEDMAN Curbing 87 percent of the climate change pollutants found in air-conditioners by 2050 could eliminate 89.7 gigatons of emissions. Source: “Drawdown,” edited by Paul Hawken Fixing air-conditioning is, let’s...
Four Ways Mexico’s Indigenous Farmers Are Practicing the Agriculture of the Future
Source: alternet.org Published: August 17, 2015 Written by Leah Penniman Affectionately called “Professor” by his neighbors, Josefino Martinez is a well-respected indigenous farmer and community organizer from the remote town of Chicahuaxtla, in the Mexican state of...
7 Plants That Could Save The World
Source: inhabitat.com Published: August 7, 2016 Plants feed us, clothe us, shelter us, heal us, and unendingly inspire us with their everyday miracles. But, in many ways, despite the technological advances of society, we are still at the tip of the iceberg in...
6 States Tapping into the Benefits of Carbon Farming
Source: ecowatch.com Published: July 12, 2017 Cally McDougall, Studio Hill Center for Food Safety's Soil Solutions By Diana Donlon A handful of states around the country have begun to recognize the importance of carbon farming as an expedient tool to fight climate...
With Materials Scarce, Cuban Designers Master Recycling Chic
Source: reuters.com Published: July 12, 2017 Sarah Marsh Olaff Alejo’s salt lamps are eerily beautiful and designed to purify the air. Yet the Cuban designer must rummage through trash bins and scour the sidewalks of Havana for scraps of wood and obsolete electrical...
Veteran Scientist Shares Wisdom, Experiences, Crop Management Tactics in New Book
Source: eurekalert.org Published: June 22, 2017 IMAGE: Untold Stories: Forty Years of Field Research on Root Diseases of Wheat now available from APS PRESS. Dr. R. James (Jim) Cook, a retired research plant pathologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural...
The Tide Rises for Open Ocean Farming
Source: insideunmannedsystems.com Published: February 26, 2016 With population growth driving global demand for fish and an increasingly limited number of new coastal aquaculture sites available, the emerging industry of open ocean aquaculture, or mariculture, is...
The Next Agriculture Revolution Is Under Our Feet
Source: huffingtonpost.com Published: September 1, 2016 Soil sampling a wetland in First State National Park. Photo © The Nature Conservancy (Devan King) By Justin Adams, Global Managing Director of Lands at The Nature Conservancy, and Bianca Moebius-Clune, Ph.D.,...
Project: Kelp Forest Array
Source: centerforoceansolutions.org Published: July 12, 2017 Goals The Kelp Forest Array (KFA) is a state-of-the-art cabled platform for observational and experimental science aimed at monitoring and understanding local impacts of global climate change. Increasing...
New Seawall Design Generates Power from The Sea
Source: springwise.com Published: July 3, 2017 An innovative design by Dutch company Waterstudio could revolutionize how we generate electricity from the sea. Waterstudio, a Dutch company that focuses on water-based urban planning and research, has developed an...
How Satellites Are Helping Pastoralists Find Greener Pastures in Ethiopia
Source: humanosphere.org Published: April 28, 2016 (©EU/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie) By Tom Murphy El Niño combined with climate change has caused major problems for millions of people. Residents of eastern and southern Africa have been particularly hit hard. As many as 36...
Fabric Made from Water Could Be the Ultimate Sustainable Material
Source: treehugger.com Published: July 11, 2017 CC BY-SA 2.0 followtheseinstructions By Christine Lepisto A team of architects and chemists put their minds together on how to mimic spider silk. They came up with a double win. They developed a fiber “spun” from a...
Today’s Most Innovative Farmers Are Getting Down To Earth, Says Soil Scientist
Source: dailyyonder.com Published: May 15, 2017 Healthy soil needs to be relatively undisturbed and covered by crops that are planted in rotation. Photo by Photo by Rob Mattson/Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation by Bryce Oates A global study of land and agricultural...
The World’s First Power Plant to Combine Hydro and Solar Opens in Portugal
Source: huffingtonpost.com Published: July 7, 2017 The first-of-its-kind project could be a model for states like Washington and Oregon, and countries like Brazil, that depend heavily on hydroelectricity. By Alexander C. Kaufman The debate around energy in the United...
How to Make a Solar Bottle Light Bulb
Source: pinoybisnes.com Published: April 27, 2011 A solar bottle light bulb, an innovation introduced in the Philippines by Illac Diaz of MyShelter Foundation, as a cheap alternative to other light sources. It was an ingenious invention by an engineer in Brazil. It is...
Gravity is Illuminating Sub-Saharan Africa
Source: theguardian.com Published: June 21, 2016 The weight of light: how gravity is illuminating sub-Saharan Africa Banyak and Michael Tait Off-grid communities such as those in sub-Saharan Africa can pay thousands of times as much as the rest of us for their energy....
China Just Built A 250-Acre Solar Farm Shaped Like A Giant Panda
Source: businessinsider.com Published: July 6, 2017 The Panda Power Plant in Datong, China. China Merchants New Energy/Panda Green Energy Leanna Garfield Most solar farms align their solar arrays in rows and columns to form a grid. A new solar power plant in Datong,...
Paul Hawken—Do the Math to Reverse Climate Change
Source: eyeonsunvalley.com Published: July 11, 2016 STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK Paul Hawken invoked Matt Damon—astronaut Matt Damon from “The Martian”–as he began the conversation on climate change. “It’s space. It doesn’t cooperate,” he quoted The Martian. “I...
World’s First ‘Offshore’ Aquaculture Development Project Receives Green Light from Norwegian Government
Source: km.kongsberg.com Published: April 5, 2016 The Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Fisheries has approved Norway's first development concession enabling Ocean Farming AS, supported by Kongsberg Maritime AS, to build the world's first automated 'exposed' aquaculture...
This “Ocean Farmer” Could Make You Hopeful About the Future of the Sea
Source: grist.org Published: February 26, 2016 Bren Smith. Ron Gautreau By Bren Smith I’m a fisherman who dropped out of high school in 1986 at the age of 14. Over my lifetime, I’ve spent many nights in jail. I’m an epileptic. I’m asthmatic. I don’t even know how to...
Could Underwater Farming Feed the World?
Source: popsci.com Published: December 5, 2016 By Jeremy Deaton Ocean-bound entrepreneur envisions ecological restoration and economic revival. Click here to watch “What is 3D Farming?”: https://youtu.be/NtBaX5oiUSA Worldwide, farmland consumes an area roughly...
Beyond Sustainability: GreenWave’s Regenerative Ocean Farm
Source: impactalpha.com Published: January 13, 2016 NOTE: Requires an Impact Alpha membership to view Marina Leytes R. Buckminster Fuller was a founding father of systems thinking. You can look it up. And you can look up an index of ideas that honor such thinking in...
Ancient Romans Made World’s ‘Most Durable’ Concrete. We Might Use It to Stop Rising Seas
Source: washingtonpost.com Published: July 4, 2017 Drilling at a marine structure in Portus Cosanus, Tuscany, in 2003. (J.P. Oleson) By Ben Guarino Two thousand years ago, Roman builders constructed vast sea walls and harbor piers. The concrete they used outlasted the...
New Discovery May Benefit Farmers Worldwide
Source: sciencedaily.com Published: September 26, 2016 Finger millet field. Source: University of Guelph Summary: Plant scientists have shown for the first time how an ancient crop teams up with a beneficial microbe to protect against a devastating fungal infection, a...
How a Cambridge Tech Startup Is Trying to Change Farming
Source: boston.com Published: July 29, 2016 Making food more sustainable and helping farmers turn a profit are two of Indigo's main goals. –Reuters Indigo is using microbes to make super healthy, hardy crops. By Justine Hofherr, Staff Writer Tyler McClendon, founder...
Ancient Romans Were Way Better at Making Concrete
Source: popsci.com Published: July 5, 2017 The ocean didn't break it down— it only made it stronger. A microscopic image of concrete. C-A-S-H stands for the calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate material that forms when volcanic ash, lime, and seawater mix. The platy...
This Boat Will Travel the Globe with Solar, Wind, and Self-Generated Hydrogen
Source: treehugger.com Published: September 12, 2016 © Energy Observer The Energy Observer has been dubbed “The Solar Impulse of the seas” and could usher in a new era of ocean travel. When the futuristic catamaran Energy Observer sets sail for its round-the-world...
One of World’s First Kite-Driven Power Stations Set to Open in Scotland
Source: independent.co.uk Published: October 6, 2016 The kite is flown in a figure-of-eight pattern with the tether driving a turbine as it rises Kite Power Solutions Ltd 2015 Ian Johnston One of the world’s first commercial-scale, kite-driven powerstations is set to...
Makani Energy Kite Is A Smarter Wind Turbine
Source: cio.coms Published: May 31, 2016 Makani's energy kite is an airborne wind turbine that aims to generate more energy, using less materials, at a lower cost. By Magdalena Petrova Kites aren’t just toys anymore. Just ask Makani Power, which is developing a smart...
Good Riddance Chemicals: Microbes Are Farming’s Hot New Pesticides
Source: wired.com Published: March 21, 2016 Getty Images Sarah Zhang Organics are in. Chemicals are out. With today’s food politics, the chemical fertilizers and pesticides that fantastically increased agricultural yields in the 20th century are looking...not so hot....
French Team Builds Revolutionary 100% Renewable Energy-Powered Showcase Vessel
Source: hazardexonthenet.net Published: September 20, 2016 A 30-metre catamaran, powered by solar, wind and self-generated hydrogen, will be launched next February to sail around the world as a floating exhibition and clean energy laboratory. The Energy Observer is...
Cross Tidal Kites
Source: modelon.com Published: May 11, 2016 Jonas Malmqvist I have the privilege to tell the story of this project from two perspectives. Minesto’s and Modelon’s. One and a half years ago I first started to work on tidal kite systems simulation. At that time, I was a...
The Unbelievable Reality of the Impossible Hyperloop
Source: technologyreview.com Published: May 10, 2016 By Ryan Bradley Startup Hyperloop Technologies has started shooting magnetically levitated capsules along a track in Las Vegas to show off a radical idea for the future of freight and mass transit. The tube is out...
The Bristol Refill-Reuse Bottle Campaign That Is Spreading Across Europe
Source: theguardian.com Published: June 29, 2017 Natalie Fee left a job in television to focus on reducing plastic pollution. Her latest project, Refill, aims to make reusing a plastic bottle simpler than buying a new one and it’s catching on in cities from Bath to...
Spanish Company Graphenano Claims Graphene Polymer Batteries with Triple the Energy Density of Lithium Ion
Source: nextbigfuture.com Published: March 7, 2016 Brian Wang Graphenano is a Spanish company based in Yecla (Murcia) and they have presented their graphene polymer battery that can largely solve obstacles to the development of the electric car. They have a...
Revolutionary Graphene Polymer Batteries for Electric Cars
Source: cbw.ge Published: December 29, 2015 According to a report from a Chinese website, The Spanish Graphenano, along with the University of Cordoba and Grabat Energy, developed a polymeric graphene battery, especially suited for electric cars, that will be cheaper...
Kite Power on Ships Out Performs Sails Five Times Over
Source: treehugger.com Published: August 18, 2008 SkySails kite powered ships save fuel photo The idea of reinventing wind-power for ocean going transport is certainly a seductive one. But usually when TreeHugger reports on the idea of kite powered boats, whether...
Exotic Property of Salty Solutions Discovered
Source: phys.org Published: November 10, 2016 Diamond-anvil cell. Credit: GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences By Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres Water and aqueous solutions can behave strangely under pressure. Experiments carried out at the GFZ...
Ecological Intensification of Agriculture: Ideas That Begin to Take Root
Source: jappliedecologyblog.wordpress.com Published: November 9, 2016 In this post Nahuel Policelli discusses a recent paper by Timothy M. Bowles and colleagues ‘Ecological intensification and arbuscular mycorrhizas: a meta-analysis of tillage and cover crop effects‘...
Agroecology and In Situ Conservation of Native Crop Diversity in the Third World
Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Published: June 29, 1988 MIGUEL A. ALTIERI Associate Professor, Division of Biological Control, University of California, Berkeley LAURA C. MERRICK Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis,...
Fast-Charging Everlasting Battery Power from Graphene
Source: phys.org Published: July 19, 2016 by Han Lin, Fresh Science Swinburne University researchers have invented a new, flexible energy-storage technology that could soon replace the batteries in our cars, phones and more. Han Lin’s new super battery (actually, a...
A State in India Has Turned 1,600 Tons of Plastic Trash into 620 Miles of Road
Source: onegreenplanet.org Published: June 23, 2017 Image source: gouravgola89/Pixabay By Aleksandra Pajda In light of the current plastic waste crisis, recycling and reusing this omnipresent, but threatening, material is one of the biggest tactics we can use to lower...
Swiss Company Aims to Build Commercial Scale Direct Air Carbon Capture Plant
Source: powermag.com Published: October 22, 2015 By Aaron Larson The ETH spin-off company Climeworks AG has announced plans to construct and operate an industrial scale CO2 capture plant to be operational by mid-2016. The Oct. 21 announcement said the plant in Hinwil...
How a Food-Tech Company Is Helping Restaurants Become Zero Waste Kitchens
Source: civileats.com Published: June 28, 2017 West Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen joined food-tech company BlueCart in a project to reduce food waste, although diner behavior remains the biggest culprit. By Sara Harrison In the homey dining room at West Oakland’s...
Go Inside an Industrial Plant That Sucks Carbon Dioxide Straight Out of the Air
Source: technologyreview.com Published: June 6, 2016 by Peter Fairley Carbon dioxide emissions must decrease to nearly zero by 2040 if global warming by the end of this century is to be held to 2 °C. But we may well miss that target. A pilot plant started up last fall...
Tour the World’s Largest Indoor Vertical Farm
Source: ecowatch.com Published: June 26, 2017 Stefanie Spear Check out this great 360° virtual reality video by NowThis on the world’s largest indoor vertical farm, AeroFarms. Located in Newark, New Jersey, AeroFarms grows more than 2 million pounds of greens a year...
These Amazing Zero-Waste Buildings Were Grown from Mushrooms
Source: inhabitat.com Published: June 27, 2017 Written by Lidija Grozdanic Could the buildings of the future be grown instead of built? Brunel University student Aleksi Vesaluoma has found a way to grow living structures using mushroom mycelium. Vesaluoma worked with...