Tag Archives: sustainable

Free Flowing Hydro Power

TreeHugger has a post up that serves as a good reminder of all the tidal power generators that are being built in North America right now. Including Ontario’s announced tidal wave power feasibility study.

The Cornwall Ontario River Energy Project – 15 Megawatts
The province of Ontario is investing C$2.2 million into a project to demonstrate the feasibility and commercial viability of using free flow turbines to harness some of the St. Lawrence River’s kinetic energy and turn it into electricity.

This project is for 15 megawatts, enough to power 11,000 average-sized homes, but Verdant estimates that “there is enough potential power in the water currents of Canada’s tides, rivers and manmade channels to generate 15,000 MW of electricity using its technology”. That would be about the equivalent of 15 big coal power plants.

But we have to wonder… Did they pick Cornwall just because they could make a really cool acronym? The Cornwall Ontario River Energy (CORE) Project.

Amsterdam Wants to be Known for Sustainable Transportation

Like a town in Sweden, Amsterdam wants to be known for it’s greenness. The city council has decided to show the uniqueness of their beautiful city by being the exemplar of sustainable transportation.

The Netherlands – Amsterdam, the world’s number one cycling city with some 60% of all trips in the city centre made by bicycle, wants to turn into the world’s centre of expertise on sustainable mobility. A program to reach that goal was launched on Tuesday.

Amsterdam City Council and various Amsterdam businesses and organizations have joined together in a platform for sustainable mobility: Amsterdam Cycling to Sustainability. A declaration of intent was signed on Tuesday 1st April by Councillor Tjeerd Herrema and the initiators Jos Louwman of MacBike and Pascal van den Noort from Vélo Mondial. Prominent Amsterdam businesses and organizations such as the RAI association, JCDecaux, the Amsterdam Innovation Motor, the Fietsfabriek and Mister Green, also signed the declaration of intent.

Sustainable mobility will ensure that Amsterdam maintains its accessibility and quality of life. Amsterdam is on the right path. Bicycles are widely used in the city and there are all sorts of positive initiatives in the field of sustainable mobility. There is, however, a lot still to be done which is why the Amsterdam City Council and various Amsterdam businesses and organizations are working together to promote sustainable mobility in Amsterdam.

Open Source Ecology

I just found out about this really neat wiki called Open Source Ecology! The wiki is setup to create sustainable technologies, farming methods, and shelters for creating a “New Village” economy. The wiki is flush with neat information.

This wiki is dedicated to the open, collaborative development of a basic and robust infrastructure for a Global Village economy, as embodied in the list of the 28 of the above products and services. Such a village is by design
one which promotes the highest autonomy and freedom
grounded in self-sufficiency
dedicated to voluntary pursuits, right livelihood, and quality of life
The basic assumption for a New Village economy is that humans are capable of transcending struggle for survival and resource conflicts, where this preoccupation is replaced by higher pursuits of personal and societal evolution.

Green Walls for Eco Decor

I don’t know much (if anything at all) about interior design, however, I do know that I like it when consumer products respect the environment. In what might be the first news like this ever covered on this site I bring you sustainable wallcoverings:

Sustainable is a popular word these days within the green world of the environment. All industries, be they manufacturers of milk cartons, automobiles, office furniture or even this newspaper you’re reading, seem to be using it to describe how their products are made.

It’s no different with wallcoverings, which are carefully monitored by various government agencies to ensure that the products’ manufacture, installment and use are safe for the environment. Wallcoverings no longer use heavy metals (lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium) that could adversely affect the environment, and adhesives used in installation are environmentally sound, with many being water-based.

There is a wide selection of sustainable wallcoverings to choose from including old-fashioned, hand-made wallpapers and embossed wallpapers that can be pai

nted.

UK Gives Big OK to Massive Wind Farms

ure-2.pngThe UK is going to expand their wind farms so that half of their energy will come from wind. Interestingly, they are taking a purely economically-driven take on this. I hope that people like Harper and Bush will soon start to notice that saving the planet creates jobs and helps create an economy that can prosper; after all, the Brits are doing it.

“The UK is now the number one location for investment in offshore wind in the world and next year we will overtake Denmark as the country with the most offshore wind capacity.

“This could be a major contribution towards meeting the EU’s target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.”

Hutton made clear the scale of the plans. The “first round” of offshore wind farms, in 2001, comprised a few small demonstration projects. The “second round” in 2003 limited development to the Thames estuary, the Greater Wash and the northwest.

And the BBC reports on the wind farm:

Business Secretary John Hutton says he wants to open up British seas to allow enough new turbines – up to 7,000 – to power all UK homes by the year 2020.

He acknowledged “it is going to change our coastline”, but said the issue of climate change was “not going away”.