MIT researchers have come to the conclusion that geothermal energy is a good thing! They figure that a “significant” amount of energy that the USA uses can be produced using the earth has power.
“The goal of the study was to assess the feasibility, potential environmental impacts and economic viability of using enhanced geothermal system (EGS) technology to greatly increase the fraction of the U.S. geothermal resource that could be recovered commercially.”
Five Limes has an online googlemaps mashup that takes your city and overlays information on where you can purchase green goods and services!
They have a ranking of the greenest cities and currently Victoria BC is in the lead! Go ahead and add cities and stores that you know are green.
Here’s an example using Toronto (ranked 7th):
The BBC has a neat game where you get to be the president of Europe (!) and guide Europe to environmental success.
“A game where you are president of the European Nations. You must tackle climate change and stay popular enough with the voters to remain in office.”
It’s fun to play!
Next month, in a joint Canadian / American project, five satellites will be launched to help figure out the mystery behind aurora borealis, or the Northern Lights. This project, called THEMIS, includes recording interaction between charged particles expelled by the sun and the Earth’s magnetic field.Â
When these particles interact with the magnetic field, they sometimes release energy near the polar regions, resulting in aurora substorms. The electron release interacts with molecules in the atmosphere and appears as the northern lights.
The scientists involved are from Canada and the United States, including NASA. In addition to the satellites, twenty observatories will take digital images and monitor magnetic signatures from substorms. Most of the observatories will be located in northern Canada, including Whitehorse, Inuvik, and Gillam, Man.
The World Wildlife Fund started a great new campaign in 2006 called ‘Powerswitch’. The initiative has been working to eventually help the world’s power sector become completely CO2-free. The goals achieved thus far include more than 600,000 actions taken by individual PowerSwitch! supporters. They’ve even stopped the construction of new coal power plants and have pushed legislation that puts tough caps on CO2 emissions and boosts clean and efficient renewable energies.
How do I switch to clean energy from where I live?? It’s actually not as hard as you might think! In many countries, including Canada, you can choose to buy energy from green resources at a very comparable cost. There are many other ways you can work to decrease your global footprint as well.
In only one year the WWF’s campaign has effectively established networks and initiatives on different continents, which are longlasting and are continuing to grow even further. The more people learn about how they can help, the more alternatives to dirty, non-renewable energy sources will become popular and readily available. It all starts with us!