Category: Environment

Simpler Three R’s

A growing movement thats building in the waste management world is recognizing the Three R’s of waste disposal. The main difference is these Three R’s (Reuse, Recycle and Refuse, listed by priority) relates to importance of providing waste disposal services in coordination with the motto of the Three R’s.

The real rub is that when people talk about recycling they still speak as if they are going to the garbage. That’s because garbage is synonomous with waste disposal and recyclable material is still seen as a waste, not a valueable resource. People just tend to throw “garbage” away into the first available container. Those in the waste management industry see this as a failure to provide the services in line with the motto. The government mandates recycling but sponsors increasing the number of garbage containers. It’s kind of like putting a fast food resteraunt in the middle of a farmers field. Your offering quick and convient food, but your so far out of the way the trip isnt worth the service.

With prevalence and distribution of garbage containers vastly outnumbering those of a recyclable nature, its no wonder garbage is jam packed with recyclables. Reversing the situation and placing recycling containers everywhere and hiding garbage containers in dark and out of the way areas would be a great boom to the recycling industry. As much as it pains me to admit it, people just want rid of their garbage and will throw things away at the first available opportunity. Lets make the first spot they find be a recycling bin.

Oil Pipeline Route Changed

Sure, the exploration, extraction, exploitation, transportation, and many other blank-tion realated to oil have done a lot of damage to the world, so it is nice to see that a little less damge will be done.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered that an oil pipeline be re-routed around an environemtnally sensitive area. The pipeline is still underconstruction.

“Greenpeace Russia, which has led demonstrations against Transneft’s proposed route, has welcomed Mr Putin’s decision.

Spokesman Andrey Petrov said: “It is victory for the whole of civil society in Russia, not just the ecological movement.”

He said environmental considerations would still have to be taken into account when the new route was planned, but moving it from the shore of Lake Baikal had been a key issue.”

Auto Catch-Up

Two good vehicular announcements:

A 3-wheeled machine has been demonstrated in Bath, England. “The prototype Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) car is one metre wide and less polluting than normal vehicles.” It tilts into the turns and has a top speed of 100 km/h , a novel invention indeed.

And at the Geneva Auto Show a company debuted a very efficient automobile, the Loremo. “The combination of light weight and tunnel tested aerodynamics allow this car to travel 157 miles per gallon of gasoline or 1.5 l per 100km!”

Concentrating Power

A cheaper way to use solar power energy has been created that concentrates the sun intense rays on a very small focal point. The key is using the sun as heat, opposed to turning the light directly into electricity.

“It uses an old principle—that concentrated light is a great heat source—to achieve a level of efficiency on par with conventional power sources and far higher than traditional solar cells. Instead of converting sunlight directly into electricity, as those familiar rooftop solar panels do, it uses a concave array of mirrors to focus light on a central point, where the resulting heat causes compressed hydrogen to expand, driving a four-cylinder engine that turns a 25-kilowatt generator. “