Eco,Green,Environmental Blog

Global Warming-Loving Beetle Threatens World’s Coffee Supply

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:50:00 +0000

Photo via Plinkk This year’s coffee prices area already at a 12-year high due to low crop yields in South America, but it looks like prices could tighten again in the future if a particular beetle continues to bask in warming weather. Arabica coffee, a climate-sensitive plant, is grown in Ethiopia and Latin America. However, Ethiopia and other regions have seen a slow but steady rise in average temperatures, more variable rain fall, and what could be most devastating, the spread of the coffee berry borer beetle which enjoys just such a temperature rise to be able to move into new locations. Non-existent in the late 1960s, the beetle is now widespread, and could become a major problem in future coffee crops. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Global Warming-Loving Beetle Threatens World’s Coffee Supply

New Eco-friendly Home With a Feasible $100K Price Tag

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:03:48 +0000

The East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa. has something to be proud about, and this time it’s not the historical appeal of the Liberty Bell. Postgreen , a real estate development company focusing on modern and eco-friendly development in Philadelphia’s urban neighborhoods, recently completed an undertaking called the “ 100K Project ,” two houses that prove that green construction can be affordable if properly designed and executed. The project’s name came from Postgreen’s target construction cost, consisting of labor and materials only, for the smaller of the two loft townhomes. The larger was actually allotted a $120K target. According to the project website, the concept behind the 100K house is to offer an affordable home that prioritizes quality, design, energy efficiency, health and sustainability all rolled into one, where cost-effective design translates into the greatest value at the lowest price. “[The 100K Project] was our very first new construction project and we were trying to do something pretty ambitious, so there was an exceptional amount of pre-construction research and design,” says Nic Darling, Postgreen marketing and public relations. Instead of focusing on flashy “green” materials, the company spent its money and effort on energy efficiency: insulation, air sealing, windows and thermal bridging reduction. Recycled-content materials and local production were secondary due to their often-prohibitive costs. Regardless, the final result is certainly an accomplishment, as both homes use half the energy of a new construction code-built home and about a third of the energy of an existing Philly row home. “[They] took almost 8 months to build total, which felt like quite a long time to us. We have since built homes in half the time,” Darling says. The 100K blog chronicled the houses’ construction, which evolved into a larger conversation about the way we build and live. The three main contributors are Darling, Postgreen President Chad Ludeman and Postgreen Chief Financial Officer Courtney Ludeman. During the intensive research and design process, the team was stunned by the U.S.’ limited accessibility of materials and techniques. “Many of the homes we admire were built in Europe and their performance is greatly aided by available products that we couldn’t get affordably,” Darling remarks. “However, we were also surprised how much we could accomplish with fairly standard, cost-competitive measures after doing the legwork.” Both finished two-level houses – which are sold, though more are promised – are LEED-certified Platinum and Energy Star-certified. They also feature solar thermal hot water, radiant in-floor heating, rainwater collection, low-flow water appliances and low or no VOC finishes. Currently, Postgreen is working hard to establish the brand in Philadelphia while actively seeking investment partners to reach a national level of affordable home development. Darling says that, due to countrywide inquiries, the company would love to find a way to deliver the homes to a wider audience and is open to reader ideas on this topic. Postgreen also has two more projects in the works, called the Passive Project and the Skinny Project . Related articles DIY vs. Splurge: Home Décor Where Your Home Is Losing Money The Hottest Trend in Eco Housing

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New Eco-friendly Home With a Feasible $100K Price Tag

GAO to Congress: Stronger Electronics Management Needed

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:02:20 +0000

August has been a big month in the realm of electronic waste and recycling, as the subject was both the focus of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study and a named an international priority by the EPA. The GAO study was prepared for the House of Representative Committee on Science and Technology and released to the public August 11. Titled “ Electronic Waste: Considerations for Promoting Environmentally Sound Reuse and Recycling ,” the report examines the EPA’s efforts to facilitate sound used electronics management, takes a look at the state-by-state approach to regulation and makes recommendations to further reduce the potential impacts of the discarded products. The EPA estimates that 15-20 percent of used electronics, by weight, are collected for reuse and recycling, while the remainder of collected materials are primarily sent to U.S. landfills. Still, a substantial amount of used electronics are exported to countries lacking the capacity for safe recycling and disposal, according to an earlier report by the GAO. One of the largest issues with the domestic recycling and disposal of e-waste is limited infrastructure as major markets for recycled commodities and reusable equipment located overseas. Adding to the list of issues with the domestic handling of used electronics is the lack of a comprehensive national approach to their reuse and recycling. Though an effort to develop a national financing system to facilitate the reuse and recycling of used electronics was attempted under the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative, years later the effort exists on a state-by-state level, with 23 states having passed laws as of the publishing of the report. According to the report, a broad agreement does exist among stakeholders that reusing and recycling electronics in an environmentally sound manner is advantageous over landfill disposal or exportation. The report also highlights beneficial actions taken by the federal government that could complement future policies, if integrated properly, including the EPA’s Plug-In To eCycling, R2 practices, EPEAT and the Federal Electronics Challenge programs. Concluding recommendations are made to the Administrator of the EPA to undertake an examination of the agency’s programs regarding used electronics management and to work in collaboration with other federal agencies to ratify components of the Basel Convention dealing with the exportation of used electronics. One week after the release of the GAO report, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the EPA’s key international priorities, which included “Cleaning Up E-Waste.” According to the EPA release , “The electronics that provide us with convenience often end up discarded in developing countries where improper disposal can threaten local people and the environment. EPA recognizes this urgent concern and will work with international partners to address the issues of E-waste.” Related articles Dell Sets Packaging Bar High For Electronics Industry Ask the Experts: Electronics E-waste Service on a Silver Platter

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GAO to Congress: Stronger Electronics Management Needed

Zero emission fuel-cell tractor coming to U.S.

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:40:27 +0000

The world’s farms may get a little greener with the introduction of hydrogen-fueled tractors that emit only heat, vapor, and water. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

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Zero emission fuel-cell tractor coming to U.S.

Scientists work to harness lightning for electricity

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:23:16 +0000

Chemists say breakthrough could one day lead to device for collecting electricity from the atmosphere for energy use, prevention of lightning.

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Scientists work to harness lightning for electricity

Microbes Take Bite Out of Gulf Oil Spill

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:44:08 +0000

Debate has been raging over government claims that only a quarter of the oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico by BP remains, but some scientists say naturally occurring bacteria have been eating away at the oil at such a rapid pace that much of it is already gone. The Times-Picayune reports that a microbial ecologist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has had a team of researchers out in the gulf since May 25 collecting water samples. The team found a significant drop-off in the amount of oil ever since the flow was stemmed in mid-July, and now they can’t find any oil in the ocean (of course much of it has washed ashore, as well.) Conditions have been “absolutely optimal” for the degradation of oil, said Terry Hazen, head of the Ecology Department and Center for Environmental Biotechnology at the Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division, in an article published yesterday in Science Express . The type of light crude coming out of the well has a large volatile component that degrades easily, the oil particles are small, the concentrations of oil are low and the water where the plume was located is cold. Hazen adds that ”the bugs in this area have become adapted to using oil as a carbon source” because of regular natural oil spills leaks into the water over the years. Early on in their research, Hazen’s team found higher concentrations of oil-eating bacteria than expected and even uncovered a whole new petroleum-eating microbe at the head of the pack. Hazen’s study also discovered that as the microbes do their work, they don’t appear to use much oxygen. On Aug. 4, a collection of government agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report saying that just 26 percent of the roughly 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the gulf remained either on shore or in the ocean. And while Hazen’s research is certainly welcome news, it’s important to note that he conducted his recent research under an existing grant from BP. The Energy Biosciences Institute is a partnership led by University of California-Berkeley that is funded by a $500 million, 10-year grant from BP. The Times-Picayune consulted Ed Overton, an oil spill expert at Louisiana State University , about the validity of Hazen’s claims, and he said bacteria have great potential to eat oil and that the results of the Berkeley study sounded reasonable. “This oil is very degradable,” he said. “That’s good news because it means it’s going to go away quicker.” Still, bioremediation, as the process is called, is not a panacea. Ronald Atlas of the University of Louisville , who has been studying oil-spill bioremediation since the late ’60s, told Newsweek in May that microbes can eliminate only a portion of the compounds present in oil and it can take years. “This is not like a physical cleanup where I pick it up and it’s gone — this takes some time,” he said. Story by Darragh Worland, originally published on Aug. 25, 2010 on Tonic Related articles EPA Monitoring BP’s Handling of Oily Waste, Tar Balls $1.4 Million Prize For Solving Oil Spill Report Predicts Oil Spill Will Lead to $100 Billion Spike In Green Building

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Microbes Take Bite Out of Gulf Oil Spill

Canada’s Lost Salmon Return in Droves

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:03:01 +0000

Image credit: Hemera/Thinkstock Every year, sockeye salmon return to the rivers of western Canada to make their arduous upstream journey to calmer spawning grounds. It is a seasonal touchstone that signifies the approaching end of summer, one that has been observed for centuries. The only problem is that some years, like in 2009, the salmon don’t return…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Canada’s Lost Salmon Return in Droves

California approves giant thermal solar plant

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:34:22 +0000

Beacon Solar Energy is the first of perhaps many such plants to be approved before federal incentives expire at end of 2010.

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California approves giant thermal solar plant

Honda trumpets its Jazz hybrid

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:46:39 +0000

The hybrid supermini, to debut at the Paris Motor Show, will borrow most of its propulsion technology from its Honda Insight big brother. Originally posted at Crave

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Honda trumpets its Jazz hybrid

Honda to Debut Fit Hybrid Next Month in Paris

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:57:17 +0000

Photo: Honda Patience is a Virtue Mentions of a hybrid version of the Honda Fit (known as the Jazz in most of the world) can be found as far back as 2006 . Back then everybody thought that it was going to come out soon, but things turned out differently… But finally, for real this time, Honda is going to be debuting the Fit hybrid at the Paris Motor Show in September. Read on for more details…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Honda to Debut Fit Hybrid Next Month in Paris