Category: Environment

Paper from Poo and Xerox

People tend to use a lot of paper, we can do a lot by lessening how much paper we use. Currently we can buy 100% post-consumer paper and print double-sided. But what if we can go one step further?

Recycled paper mixed with a slurry of sheep poo can make more paper! The amount of jokes that can be made here are endless, but see how it’s made.

Xerox has created a kind of paper that will erase itself. Not only can reduce the amount of paper we use, we can reuse it as well!

“This offers the prospect of reusable paper in the sense that the content is automatically erased after a period of time, ready for fresh printing. Inspired by the fact that many print outs have a life-span of a few hours (think of the emails you may print out just to read, or the content you proof read on the train journey back home), the specially prepared paper will preserve its content for up to 16 hours.”

Ozone Hole Stabilizing

ozoneLisa writes to us and says that “the hole in the ozone layer has stabilized, and may close again in 60 years, thanks to successful international environmental agreements.”

This latest report is similar to one we mentioned earlier about the ozone hole, however the new report says it will take a few years longer. I still find it rewarding to see that when politicians notice an environmental problem (the hole in the ozone layer) and work on it internationally things happen.

Proof that if we tried hard enough we can combat climate change.

Germany Crushes Competition in Solar Market

There really isnt much more to this story than what the title title says. Germany has heavily embraced renewable energy, especially solar power, in every appliciable measure.
Lets see how….

Germany generates enough power from the sun’s rays to meet the needs of households in a city of 590 000, according to the Solar Energy Association BSW.

Last week, a solar electric power plant, billed by its operators as the world’s biggest, went into service in the southern German state of Bavaria. More than 1 400 movable solar modules will collect the sun’s rays and harness them into energy for around 3 500 homes.

Germany accounts for 60% of the world market in solar energy, with some 5 000 firms exporting one-quarter of their products in a sector that employs 45 000

Germans last year invested €3.7bn in solar energy, one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy along with wind power and biomass. Solar energy accounts for less than 1% of the country’s energy needs, but the figure is expected to grow to more than 5% by 2020, according to the BSW.