Britian Banshes Bad Air

Great news from merry ol’ England. They have introduced legislation that will set legally binding limits on CO2 emissions by 2020 and then lower limits by 2050.

Under the Climate Change Bill, carbon dioxide emissions must be cut by at least 60 percent by 2050. It also sets a legally-binding interim target for carbon cuts of 26 to 32 percent by 2020. Failure to meet targets could land the government in court says environment minister David Milliband who is behind the draft.

Tinman smiles….ethics for robots

You’ve seen/read I, Robot …well everyone talks about doing it, but now someone’s actually doing something about it. Our robots, in the future, are going to have ethics! There’s something very “Star Trek” about this story – very “Data”. Or in this case Alex Hubo.

” South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to stop humans misusing robots — or vice versa.”

Roundabouts Save Fuel

Some research in the USA that examined intersections that switched from stoplights to a roundabout proves that roundabouts are greener.

Intersections with roundabouts generated between 55% and 61% less carbon dioxide, depending on the time of day. Emissions of hydrocarbons, also greenhouse gases, dropped by between 62% and 68%. His paper, which is admittedly a bit of tough read, is here.

Bio-Cars from Bio-Schools

The University of Guelph, known for its agriculture and science, had teamed up with three other Ontario Universities to develop an eco -friendly car.  With recent support from the Ontario Government, this project is well on its way to creating great strides for a healthier Canada.

” The concept is a step closer to reality today with the announcement that the provincial government is investing nearly $6 million in the BioCar Initiative, a multi-university project led by the University of Guelph.

“The BioCar initiative aligns some of the most distinctive innovation capacity in Ontario,” said Alan Wildeman, vice-president (research). “It involves a consortium of universities working with two of the largest industries in Ontario, the automotive industry and the agricultural industry. This combination provides an unprecedented opportunity for the province to be seen as a major contributor to the global biobased industrial revolution that is occurring.”

Support for the project will come from the Ontario Research Fund and was announced today in Toronto by Premier Dalton McGuinty, minister of research and innovation.

“It’s a whole new way of looking at agriculture and a whole new relationship between the sector and Ontario’s economy,” said plant agriculture professor Larry Erickson, one of the lead researchers. “It opens the door for a lot more approaches and utilization of crops. Now, agriculture is more than meat and potatoes; it’s car parts, building materials, fuel and more.”