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 16, 2010 and has No Comments
Image of data center via neospire Recently Energy Star announced that it would be certifying not just data center equipment but data centers themselves , further encouraging IT companies to be strategic about the architecture, hardware and software of their centers. The first company to get certification was just announced -- NetApp, which scored a 99 out of 100 ...
Read more...published July 15, 2010 and has No Comments
Image from jp fire Ontario, Canada's largest province by population, has introduced a new eco fee. The Ontario government has imposed this environmental fee on manufacturers and importers of goods that produce hazardous waste. The list of items includes cleaning products, asthma inhalers, laundry detergent, paints, antifreeze, fluorescent bulbs, sun screen, potting soil, windshield washers and fire extinguishers. The ...
Read more...published July 14, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Mr. Kris /Flickr A dangerous geopolitics of food scarcity is emerging in which individual countries, acting in their narrowly defined self-interest, reinforce the trends causing global food security to deteriorate. This began in late 2007 when wheat-exporting countries, like Russia and Argentina, attempted to counter domestic food price rises by limiting or banning exports. Viet Nam banned ...
Read more...published July 14, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Good When the temperature climbs, demand on the power grid goes up with the mercury. The culprits are a million air conditioners cranked to full blast and the result, when things get really hot, is sometimes a power outage. To combat this surge in demand, utilities have tried to generate more power but recently they have also ...
Read more...published July 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Flickr , CC First U.S. Retailer to Phase Out the Bulb Starting August 1st, 2010, IKEA will start phasing out incandescent bulbs (which are a lot more effective at producing heat than light) from its U.S. stores, with the goal of having completely eliminated the bulb by January 1st, 2011. But IKEA isn't only doing this out of ...
Read more...published July 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Image Source: kylemac Dear Pablo: I work for an international organization for development cooperation. In our projects, we frequently receive requests to provide small generators to be used as back up during power outages, which are quite frequent. The problem is that these small generators are very polluting, very noisy and provide a low quality electric current. I am ...
Read more...published July 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Kazmok Re-use briefcase, "Principal" style. Image courtesy of Kasmok. We've seen recycled bags made from fire hoses , wetsuits , and even floppy disks . But conveyor belts, this one is new. From industrial product designer Dinand Stufkens comes Kazmok Re-use , a collection of durable goods, comprised of laptop sleeves, belts and briefcases... Read the full story on ...
Read more...published July 9, 2010 and has No Comments
When it comes to green living, Planet Green is the go-to for how-to, and has been beating to death the subject of beating the heat. We round up a few cool thoughts: Should We Declare Heat Days Like We Declare Snow Days? People have lived without air conditioning in hot places for thousands of years by adapting themselves to ...
Read more...published July 6, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Sydney City, via Energy Efficiency Council "The International Energy Agency estimates that energy efficiency will deliver 65 per cent of worldwide carbon cuts in the energy sector by 2020, and 54 per cent by 2030. This means that in 2020 energy efficiency could have almost twice the impact of renewable energy, nuclear power and clean coal combined." Such ...
Read more...published July 6, 2010 and has No Comments
Logo: Bike For All Photo: Sgillies on Flickr Almost a year ago we asked the question, When Should Tykes Be On Bikes? . Now in the UK the question is being asked, When Should Kids be Allowed to Ride to School -- Alone? For one London couple, Oliver and Gillian Schönrock, they decided it was OK for their eight ...
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Save the sea creatures! Handcraft your own natural specimens using these these simple patterns, some yarn and a crochet hook. View post: 8 Enchanting Sea Creatures You Can Crochet
A Finnish designer has made a working surfboard from broken skateboards. Read the original here: Hollow Surfboard Is Made from Broken Skateboards
