Using bamboo charcoal rather than forest wood in Africa has the potential to provide an excellent source of heat, economic opportunities, all while saving African forests. Charcoal is used for both heat and cooking in large areas of Africa and is seen as a major factor in the decimation of forests and the desertification of parts of the continent.
Technology for a greener future
Archive for the ‘environmental disaster’ Category
The solar powered mPowerPad charges your gadgets and lights your way
But wait it does so much more! This device almost belongs in an infomercial. It might actually take an infomercial to explain how it works and everything it does.
Elastec/American Marine wins Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge
After the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Wendy Schmidt, wife of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, decided to create a new X Prize challenge specifically for improving the cleanup of oil spills. Earlier this month the winners of the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge were announce and Elastec/American Marine won first place.
Let’s talk about ecological deficit spending
The United States Congress has decided that we must stop our practice of deficit spending, creating debts so huge that we in essence bankrupt ourselves. Meanwhile we fall further and further into ecological debt.
Japan plans renewable energy resurgence
Every cloud has a silver lining, every disaster an opportunity. The devastation in parts of Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami six months ago is now ushering in a new age of renewable energy.
If your drinking water isn’t safe the EPA can’t help you
When you think of agencies that were created to protect our water sources from pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has to top that list. While states are supposed to be responsible for making sure that the water we drink is safe, the EPA is the agency that used to oversee the states and oversaw the waterways used as a source for the water we drink, bath in, wash our dogs and children in, and use to cook our food. Well, the House GOP has taken those responsibilities away from the EPA.
Is it hot on this planet or is it just me
Parts of the United States are suffering through a terrible heat wave. Other parts of the United States are also suffering from a severe drought. Last year was one of the hottest summers on record, but this summer isn’t over. It is just a continuation of severe weather that has encompassed record numbers of tornados and floods, and now heat and drought.
Radioactive water and spent fuel cells pose a problem for Fukushima cleanup
The job of rebuilding the neighborhoods and towns demolished by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami has begun but one area of cleanup will continue to be a problem for a long, long time. TEPCO’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has been a nightmare since the earthquake and tsunami knocked the units off line. New information obtained with the installation of air purifiers that have allowed workers to reenter Unit One.
Algae may help clean up nuclear waste
Algae may prove to be a simple way to clean up strontium 90, a dangerous waste component of nuclear energy. Effective means of disposing of nuclear waste have been a long standing problem for the nuclear energy industry. Using simple pond algae may take care of at least one element of the problem and it will allow for the separation of high level waste and low level waste.
With nuclear energy what risks are we willing to take
Nuclear energy is currently on the ropes after the ongoing destruction of several reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Both the United States and Japanese governments are reevaluating the safety of nuclear power plants. The European Union is calling for nuclear plant stress tests. So the question really becomes, what risks are we willing to take when it comes to nuclear power?