Today an official working on a special project in Edmonton, Alberta has told the media about their plans to make ethanol fuel with garbage. They have plans to turn 100,000 tons of plastic, cardboard and paper into the fuel starting in 2010.
The $69.3-million plant will produce 36 million liters of ethanol per year, making it the world's first industrial scale ethanol plant using waste as a feedstock, said Don Pierce of Greenfield Ethanol.
Having waste be the world's next source for ethanol production is an awesome prospect. Not only would we be more apt to recycle but we would also be alleviating the enormous demand for gasoline and/or typical feed crops.
It is ashame it has taken three decades for them to get to this point, but what do we say, better late than never, eh?
Suzi Istvan recently wrote about how you can "green your grill" this summer. The entry went up on Posh Mama Magazine and then also on the Green Mommy Guide. Clearly she rocks!
One of the tips I found most helpful was "Replace traditional charcoal with natural hardwood lump charcoal which burns at a lower temperature and does not contain the worrisome chemicals of the former." I have known people to do this and it definitely "flaunts" their green and gourmet efforts of fabulousness. Can't beat that!
I have also heard it is important to avoid lighter fuel and self-lighting briquettes, which give off petrochemical volatile organic compounds. Eeek sounds scary doesn't it!?
Electric grills are very, emitting 99 percent less carbon monoxide than charcoal grills. But with the cost of electric I understand why these are not used often.
Gas grilling is one of the most energy-efficient methods and, if you use natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, you'll release fewer harmful pollutants.
So it's up to you friends. Do your part in helping our environment while you have fun out in the sun for a summer BBQ.
April 2008 saw another sharp drop in vehicle miles traveled according to the Federal Highway Administration's monthly report on "Traffic Volume Trends." This follows "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history" in March.
This is not surprising at all I am sure. As far as I am concerned it is only a matter of time before businesses begin adopting more telecommuting opportunities just to be able to retain and hire new employees.
Congratulations to those reporters who clearly received their journalism degrees from the University of the Obvious!
Anyway, the specific stats are as follows: "U.S. driving went down 4.5 billion miles in April."
And in other far more interesting news we have the new nightclub in the UK which is powered by dance floor energy!
Mr Charalambous, the head of a new climate change organisation called Club4Climate, said he hoped to use clubbing to inspire young people to tackle global warming.
"This is a new way to draw in the young generation," he said.
"It's a sexy and fresh approach as opposed to the way young people feel they are preached to by other more 'grown-up' charities.
"Our aim in opening the country's first ecological club is to get as many people as possible involved in saving their world.
"There is no greater platform than clubbing to reach out to young people. Having an energy-generating dance floor is a very exciting and interesting-idea that we have been talking to people in Rotterdam about. Such a dance floor could generate about 60 per cent of the building's energy."
There are batteries in the dance floor and they are constantly recharged by the movement from people dancing. Personally, I think, this is the most awesome contribution to storing energy ever!
Vinyl shower curtains can release as many as 100 chemicals. A new study was released by the US-based Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ) and the Environmental Defence and the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) titled "Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain’s Chemical Smell."
The study claims "PVC shower curtains contain many harmful chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), phthalates and organotins. Toxic chemical off-gassing from PVC shower curtains may contribute to respiratory irritation, damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidney, nausea, headaches and loss of coordination."
I know phthalates have been big in the news lately. They are in pretty much everything you can imagine, even in toys and make-up. They are harmful and yet many daily used items still contain the chemical.
Of course when Environmental Defense issues a study I tend to take it seriously, though I am aware statistics are often skewed. However, in this instance we're not talking about human error in study groups picked by other humans. We're talking about recording chemical releases over a 28 day time period. How can you foul that up?
Air New Zealand is planning to fill one of the four engines of a 747 with weed and the remaining three engines with normal jet fuel to test the potential of using jatropha as a biofuel. JATROPHA is the weed we're talking about folks, so quit getting all antsy. lol.
I know, biofuel is not the right answer. It puts out tons of carbon emissions to make biofuel and you become dependent on a crop of some sort. It is great this isn't so much a crop, it is a weed. But this weed can only be found in India and Africa and so it is limited.
According to the article at flightglobal.com, "Jatropha refers to several plant families that are native of Central America and are renowned for producing seeds with high oil content.
The more hardy varieties, which tend to produce more oil, are now commonly found in India and Africa because they can cope with poor soil and withstand drought.
ANZ's spokesman says the jatropha trial is in response to the rising cost of jet fuel which now accounts for 30-35% of the airline's total expenses."
This is just so cool, I love it, I must own one and display for all to enjoy.
The Solar Insect Theatre attracts bugs by means of a sun-powered light which comes on automatically at dusk. Light-loving creatures will fly in, and though they can leave at any time, many should remain in the morning for your child to study.
There is an access door in the base, where branches or plant material can be added or insects removed to study.
The theatre is designed to be similar to a natural habitat, attractive to insects, though there are holes for them to exit as and when they please.
This beats those mesh bug collectors I had as a kid. My son would absolutely love it!
They also sell other really cool scientific toys for your tots. =o) There is even a child's starter kit for gardening which my little boy would have loved but we had to buy each piece separately when he expressed an interest in helping us out in the garden.
The aisle was filled with bug sprays and traps and liquid bomb things. I opted into buying a spray which claimed to be safe inside and outside. I now know why it claimed to be safe. I'm convinced it is just water with a drop of something to give it a different smell. It does nothing. In fact, I think the ants like it, they are telling all their friends about the fancy water at 950. I should start demanding a cover charge.
Brian says we need to be extra careful about crumbs and such while we're in the family room because the ants seem to be coming in through the sliding door.
I've been doing some reading.
We need to move everything near the outside of the door away from it. Yes, and anything which holds water must remain away from the door. Ants love grease, sweets and water.
The Ant Institute, developed by the experts at BASF, is the Web's premier destination for learning about these common household pests. (I kid not, there is indeed an Ant Institute.) "Effective ant control begins by understanding the behavior of ants and working with a professional to apply effective solutions," says Bob Hickman, chief entomologist with the Ant Institute.
I think I'm just going to have to send Brian out to the pest aisle so he can pick something which will do a better job than the spray I bought. Because I can tell you right now I do not intend to check out ant web cams to learn about their behavior.
The aisle was filled with bug sprays and traps and liquid bomb things. I opted into buying a spray which claimed to be safe inside and outside. I now know why it claimed to be safe. I'm convinced it is just water with a drop of something to give it a different smell. It does nothing. In fact, I think the ants like it, they are telling all their friends about the fancy water at 950. I should start demanding a cover charge.