First it was paper cranes, now it’s bridges. Architect Shigeru Ban is moving us along the twenty-first century by using very old technology: paper! Ban has created an cardboard bridge in France.
Weighing 7.5 tonnes, the bridge is made from 281 cardboard tubes, each 11.5 centimetres (four inches) across and 11.9 millimetres thick. The steps are recycled paper and plastic and the foundations wooden boxes packed with sand.
It’s environmentally friendly, can be rebuilt and totally cool.
The Economist reports that a continent-wide DC power network to transmit wind power could be built in Europe. Power could even be stored hydrodynamically by pumping water into reservoirs during times of low power use.
I broke my wrist and it’s possible to type, but it’s not fun. Expect fewer updates until I come to terms with my revised mobility.
Unfortunately there’s too much water in the UK right now and it has caused lot’s of flooding. Instead of standing (or wading) around the Brits have decided to take upon themselves to champion the fight against climate change. The World Development Movement has called on the government to act on fighting greenhouse gases more than ever after the floods are dealt with. “After the clean up operation has finished, we need leadership from the government to avert a global climate change crisis by a commitment to massively cutting CO2 emissions.â€
Meanwhile, the National Trust, 3.5 million member strong, is apparently ready to takle climate change head-on.
It controls 900-square miles of land and 710 miles of coastline and has far moremembers than the armed services, the teaching profession, the prison population, environmental groups and political parties combined.
Now the National Trust is hoping to become a new green army. To mark membership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reaching 3.5 million – equivalent to the population of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Sheffield (Britain’s four largest cities after London) – the trust yesterday declared that it wants to become “the largest green movement in the world”.
The United States’ Department of Energy has concluded that hybrids save a LOT of gas:
The lab crunched all the statistics — number of hybrids on the road, new and old EPA mileage ratings, user-reported mileage figures, and the same mileage numbers for vehicles that most closely matched hybrids in terms of size, weight, and performance — and produced the following figure: To date, hybrids have saved 230 million gallons, or 5.5 million barrels, of fuel.
In Japan, Toyota has received approval to test their plugin hybrid:
While the car is still in testing phase, with eight plug-in OEM vehicles being manufactured and released for testing in Japan, hopes are high that Toyota will soon release this car to the general public.