Image: Eurostat The latest EuroStat report about energy production and usage in Europe in 2009 contains some good news (unless you are rooting for coal). While overall renewable energy production increased by 8.3% between 2008 and 2009, for a total share of 18.4% of energy production in the EU, coal consumption went the other way and dropped 16.3%. Part of that is of course due to the recession, but economic troubles don’t explain the whole drop. Read on for more details…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Renewable Energy Production Increased 8.3% Last Year in Europe, Coal Consumption Dropped 16.3%

Image credit: Subharnab /Flickr When Chernobyl’s reactor number four ignited in 1986, it sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the air that eventually spread across Europe. One place it settled was Germany. Now, nearly a quarter century later, that fallout is reappearing in wild boars with alarming frequency…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Contaminated Truffles Irradiating Wild Boars

Photos courtesy of Arad Technologies LTD They say that wars will some day be fought over water. In the meantime, a military-inspired flying “3G Drone” is helping pinpoint water loss in Israel. The “advanced meter intel collection” system was developed by Master Meter, an arm of Arad Technologies LTD , located in Israel. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Military-style ’3G Drone’ Hunts Down Water Loss

NYC’s bike-share is likely to be similar to other existing programs. The one pictured here is in Taipei. Photo: Flickr , CC Starting with 10,500 Bikes, Then Increasing to 49,000 Biking in New York City has been growing at a good clip in recent years ( check out this graph ), something that the local authorities have been encouraging with new infrastructure and policies. But something in missing from NYC’s bike culture: a bike-sharing program. That… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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NYC Mayor Wants Massive Bike-Sharing Program

Long Studio. All images by Saunders Architecture We have been watching the career of Todd Saunders with interest; two years ago we called the Canadian expat living in Norway the Best of Green Young Architect . He has just completed this stunning artist’s studio on Fogo Islan… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The Arts Take Root in a Fishing Village With Studios by Todd Saunders

Cave Troll from Lord of the Rings via Wikipedia Dan Blankenhorn of Smart Planet was thinking of his commenters when he suggested that “trolls die young”, based on a study researchers of the US National Institute on Aging . They looked at 5,614 Sardinians from four villages, and found that “those who scored high for antagonistic traits on a standard personality test had greater thickening of the neck… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Trolls Die Young: Nasty People Have Higher Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

The team at Meyer Wells. Image Credit: Meyer Wells If you’ve ever been upset to learn that a tree you loved either fell or had to be chopped down, you’ll be glad to hear about Meyer Wells , the furniture company based out of Seattle . Operating under the motto “furniture with modern roots,” Seth Meyer and John Wells take felled trees and turn them into custom wooden tables. So now you can see your beloved tree live on as a personal, uni… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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From Felled Tree to Dining Room Table: Furniture That’s Sustainable and Unique

Image via Vintage Collection and Technology Review Generating power via the motion of our bodies has captivated researchers for some time now. Scientists are working on developing everything from fabrics that can be sewn into energy-ha… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Powering Medical Devices with Your Organs

Photo via NOAA Could restoring damaged reefs be as easy as super gluing corals to new shelves and ledges? Perhaps so, according to research done by Dr. Graham Forrester from the University of Rhode Island, and a team of scientists, students and locals who worked to restore a dead reef in White Bay in the British Virgin Islands. After focusing on a specific variety of elkhorn coral often damaged during storms, they found that after transplanted, corals reattached themselves after three months and after 4 years had become large adult corals. Dr. Forrester thinks that perh… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Transplanting Coral As a Cheap, Easy Way to Restore Reefs?

photo: Chany Crystal via flickr Though support, both political and financial, for the UN REDD forest protection scheme has been growing, there’s also a growing opposition voice expressing the concern that, though keeping forests standing is a good thing, the REDD program could well run roughshod over the rights of indigenous people as international financiers, corporations and timber companies get involved. Mongabay points out that an alte… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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REDD Forest Protection Program Could Threaten Rights of 350 Million People