Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published July 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Alaskan Dude India is hurting for water. With rapidly growing populations of people and a rising middle class that is mimicking the wasteful water consumption habits well known here in the United States, coupled with poor water management pr... Read the full story on TreeHugger Read the original here: US Company Set to Ship Billions of Gallons of ...
Read more...published July 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Alaskan Dude India is hurting for water. With rapidly growing populations of people and a rising middle class that is mimicking the wasteful water consumption habits well known here in the United States, coupled with poor water management pr... Read the full story on TreeHugger View original post here: US Company Set to Ship Billions of Gallons of ...
Read more...published July 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo by jdnx Drought-stricken Australia needs water. Japan discharges billions of tons of treated sewage water into the ocean. Might cargo ships returning to Australia from Japan haul otherwise-wasted water to the dry continent in their ballasts instead of the usual seawater? It seems like a perfect trade that satisfies several needs, reduces waste, and even reduces the potential ...
Read more...published July 8, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Alex E. Proimos San Jose, California is having a lot of trouble closing its budget deficit. After cutting back on public benefits like library hours and reducing pay for city workers, it is now looking at selling municipal water to a private corporation for a gain of around $50 million. Mayor Chuck Reed told Mercury News, "I'm ...
Read more...published July 8, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via foxypar4 In the face of an increasing water shortage, last November state regulators told Monterey County to curb its withdrawals from the Carmel River, the current main water source, by 70% by 2016. With no where else to turn for water, the county is turning its eyes to the ocean, and launching an enormous desalination project to ...
Read more...published July 7, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch Desalination is the process of purifying salt or brackish water into fresh water. While it has primarily been an energy intensive process that is used as a last resort for generating water in areas like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the technology has continually advanced and we're seeing more energy efficient -- and ...
Read more...published July 6, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via Yanko Design Finding water where there isn't any is inspiration for a whole range of water-gathering concept designs. But it seems one of the best places to start for coming up with a winning concept is to mimic the plants and animals that can survive desert environments, such as, perhaps, the onymacris unguicularis or "fog-basking" beetle. It ...
Read more...published July 2, 2010 and has No Comments
Interior of a desalination plant. Photo via Lance Cheung Just last week we noted that the UAE is dependent on fossil fuel- and natural gas-burning desalination plants to keep up their excessive water use, and that the reliance could spell a water disaster in the very near future as fuel supplies run low. However, there's another source of energy ...
Read more...published July 1, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Chi King A new report by the US Forest Service shows that forests play a vital role in protecting watersheds from the impacts of climate change. After two years of research, Water, Climate Change, and Forests: Watershed Stewardship for a Changing Climate shows that ecosystems that have healthy watersheds can sustain changes and keep ecosystems functioning, especially ...
Read more...published June 30, 2010 and has No Comments
Image via IEEE The water crisis and energy crisis are not necessarily exclusive issues around the globe. The generation of electricity is hugely dependent upon water, which is a quickly disappearing resource. Power plants heavily rely on water to create the power we consume, and the power we also use to create more clean drinking water. So, often the ...
Read more...
A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
How to grow tastier tomatoes and how to make food taste sweeter without sugar: just two amazing discoveries from a study of the chemical interactions underlying tomato flavor preferences Read the rest here: The Secrets of Tasty Tomatoes Discovered - Can ...
