New York to Power Buildings Using Renewable Energy

Mayor Bloomberg shows no sign of slowing down his drive to reduce New York City’s carbon emissions, which is of course a good thing. He’s now set to announce that municipal buildings in NYC will switch to solar power and move from dirty regular oil to a less-damaging biodiesel. Other mayors (and North American federal leaders!) should follow NYC’s example of emission cutting.

On Monday, Bloomberg said the city will issue a request for proposals for a pilot program to install solar panels on city-owned buildings in hopes of generating 2 megawatts of solar capacity _ offsetting about 320 tons of emissions per year, equal to taking more than 50 U.S. cars per year off the streets. The city will not pay for the installation but will buy electricity from the provider.

Climate Savers Computing Initiative

earth.jpgComputers are not the most efficient when it comes to energy use. It is great to see that a lot of computer manufactures have teamed up to create the Climate Savers Computing Initiative to improve the energy efficiency of electronics. Even if this is greenwashing, its better than having the companies ignore the environment.

Improving the energy efficiency of computers is a cost-effective way to reduce electricity consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative brings together industry, consumers and conservation organizations to significantly increase the energy efficiency of computers and servers.

Previously:
Greenpeace Influences Apple
Bamboo Ecobook
Sun is the Greenest
Use Linux and be Sustainable

Cuddle or Kudos Stress Away

We all deal with stress in our own way, but new research has come out that suggests that men and women have different ways that they like to get support when dealing with stress. Women like affectionate human contact when they are under stress while men like to hear how good they think they are.

From Wired Berries:

In other words, women need cuddles and men need kudos. We may have instinctively guessed as much, but now we have some scientific proof. You’ll both be set if you have him hold you close while you whisper sweet words of encouragement in his ear.

LifeStraw for Clean Water

lifestraw

Newsweek is running a story with an accompanying video about the the LifeStraw -a $3 gadget that cleans water. Regular readers here will remember that we covered the LifeStraw back in OCtober when LifeStraw was doing preliminary tests.

Most of the LifeStraw’s users will never drink anything fancier than plain water through the device. But its impact on their lives can’t be overstated. More than 1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water, and 6,000 people die each day of waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera and dysentery. In regions like sub-Saharan Africa, half of most people’s water consumption takes place outside the home—either while they’re working, or walking to and from school. Vestergaard Frandsen S.A.—which also produces mosquito nets and plastic sheeting coated with insecticide to fend off malaria—hopes that the $3 LifeStraw will drastically lessen their chances of getting sick.

Reflecting on the Sun

http://environment.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn11993
It’s good to know that already scientists have figured out backup plans for when climate change becomes so destructive that we have a way to turn down the thermostat. The solutions being put forward include blocking or diffusing the sun’s energy out into space – essentially making the Earth a giant mirror. The catch is that this geoengineering could change the way we see the world by altering the rays that hit the planet’s surface. The solutions maybe drastic, but at least we have a plan.

A solar shield that reflects some of the Sun’s radiation back into space would cool the climate within a decade and could be a quick-fix solution to climate change, researchers say.
…
His computer models simulated a gradually deployed shield that would compensate for the greenhouse effect of rising carbon dioxide concentrations. By the time CO2 levels are double those of pre-industrial times – predicted to be at the end of the 21st century – the shield would need to block 8% of the Sun’s radiation.