Top 10 Recycling and Environmental Stories of the Week (Dec.7-13)

December 21st, 2009 · No Comments

Recycled Bottle Chandelier
Recycled water bottle chandelier by Organelle Design.

Here are some of the most interesting and relevant stories on recycling and the environment bookmarked at Green Options on the 2nd week of December:

U.S. Marines Go GREENS with Portable Solar-in-a-Suitcase

While some in the civilian world are still pitching the “drill baby drill” approach to future energy, the U.S. Marines are betting on portable, sustainable energy-harvesting systems like a new 300-watt photovoltaic and battery arrangement called the Ground Renewable Expeditionary ENergy System, or GREENS.

via: Clean Technica

At Stanford, nanotubes + ink + paper = instant battery

Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper. Simply coating a sheet of paper with ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires makes a highly conductive storage device, said Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering.

via: Stanford News

Breakthrough: Dust Be Gone With Self Cleaning Solar

Researchers at Tel Aviv University set out to find a cure to Alzheimer’s and ended up with a nanotech breakthrough that could mean better solar and battery power. The nanocoating they discovered can repel dust and water, a progress that can have a huge potential impact in protecting desert solar arrays, and reducing maintenance and water use.

via: Discovery News

Cow manure for electricity? Kansas is giving it a try

Gene Pflughoft, economic development director for Grant County in southwest Kansas, said equipment at a cattle feedlot will begin turning manure into fuel that could make electricity for 30 homes. If the demonstration project is successful, larger units could be placed at feedlots to take advantage of the state’s abundant supplies.

via: McClatchy

EPA declares greenhouse gases a threat, paves way for regulation

WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday declared carbon blamed for global warming a public health threat, paving the way to regulate the emissions for the first time. Administrator Lisa Jackson said that the agency was “now authorized and obligated to make reasonable efforts” to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

via: Grist

Bottle Chandelier gives new life to used plastic bottles

With billions of plastic water bottles finding their way to the landfills each year, environmentalists are trying hard to persuade people to change their opinion about tap water. However, the alarming rate at which plastic water bottles are being trashed has tempted some designers to bring trash back into your house in some functional form.

via: Eco Friend

Earthship: The Mother of All Green Homes

An Earthship is a kind of passive solar home — or community of homes — typically made of natural and recycled materials such as old tires and recycled cans. Such homes make use of non-polluting renewable energy sources and smart design to meet most if not all heating, cooling and power needs.

via: The Daily Green

Sea Level Rise of Up to 1.9 Meters (6′3?) This Century?

Sea level may actually rise much faster than previously expected, a new scientific study shows. The study shows that by 2100, sea level could rise between 75 and 190 centimeters (about 2′6? to 6′3?). The study uses very up-to-date data collected from satellites and builds on previous work by one of the authors. It is now published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

via: Eco Worldly

Lessons From Kyoto

Almost every country in the world signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 accord aimed at providing a starting point for reducing global carbon emissions. It required wealthy nations to reduce emissions about 5 percent by 2012. (Because it required nothing from developing nations like China and India, whose emissions are growing rapidly, the United States chose not to ratify Kyoto.)

via: Green Inc.

Kyoto: Congress’ disgrace, not ‘Al Gore’s mistake’

A specter hangs over the U.S. negotiators at the Copenhagen climate summit: the Kyoto Syndrome. Conventional wisdom holds that the Clinton Administration, and Al Gore in particular, blew it by agreeing to the Kyoto Accords without building the foundation for the Senate to ratify it, which it never did.

via: Grist

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