Bees Colonies Decline from Air, Chemical Pollution
This article is concerning as the humble bee is vital to agriculture.
The rise in the use of chemicals in agriculture, including ‘systemic insecticides’ and those used to coat seeds, is being found to be damaging or toxic to bees. Some can, in combination, be even more potent to pollinators, a phenomenon known as the ‘cocktail effect’
These are among the findings of a new report published today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which has brought together and analyzed the latest science on collapsing bee colonies.
The study, entitled Global Bee Colony Disorders and other Threats to Insect Pollinators, underlines that multiple factors are at work linked with the way humans are rapidly changing the conditions and the ground rules that support life on Earth. It shows humans’ large dependency on ecosystem services even for such vital sectors as food production.
It indicates that bees are early warning indicators of wider impacts on animal and plant life and that measures to boost pollinators could not only improve food security but the fate of many other economically and environmentally-important plants and animals.
To read full article go to : http://africasciencenews.org/asns/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2724&Itemid=2
Close the refrigerator door & save 7% energy!
Posted by Victor M in energy saving ideas on March 18th, 2011
Don’t keep the refrigerator door open any longer than you need to and avoid the cold air from flowing out the door.
The next time you find yourself craving a mid-afternoon snack, make some time to think about what your stomach is asking for before you open the fridge door and stare mindlessly at its contents. The food inside isn’t going anywhere and I doubt that anything new will appear in the time it takes you to mentally fix a snack. However, every time you open the refrigerator door, the cold air that keeps your food fresh is running out the door and the warm air from the room is taking its place. This is a problem because now your refrigerator’s compressor is going to work hard to drive all that warm air out and bring the temperature back to normal, elevating not only your monthly energy bills, but also your environmental footprint.
According to Home Energy Magazine, door openings account for 7% of your fridge energy use while the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida says that poor open/close habits (like leaving the fridge door open while you soak your bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats with milk) waste 50 to 120kWh a year. In the long run, 50kWh of energy saved could run your dishwasher 20 times and 100kWh could run your washing machine 50 times, that’s almost a free load of laundry every week for an entire year.
So close the fridge door every time you’re not directly taking something out of it instead of daydreaming with the door open. Remember, it’s not a TV, even if you’re into super foods these days, your vegetables are not ready to entertain you with an improvised musical skit.
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Posted by Victor M in Alternative energy, Eco news on March 17th, 2011
Just imagine if computer batteries were more efficient. Read this article and see what you think….
What if your laptop no longer needed a converter brick? What if the DC power from your solar panels was converted to AC electricity with virtually no power loss from the conversion? What if the regenerative brakes in electric drive vehicles could put power into the batteries with almost no loss from power conversion? New technology could reduce power conversion losses by an estimated 90 percent.
A company called Transphorm, whose investors include Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins and which was recipient of a significant ARPA-E grant to develop this technology, is poised to introduce their initial product offerings which can significantly improve power conversion. The technology is based on using gallium nitride instead of traditional components to greatly reduce the energy losses in power conversion.
The technology for these new devices is based on developments for the use of gallium nitride for LEDs. In addition to the significant improvement in efficiency, components made in this fashion would also be lighter than conventional converters.
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Posted by Victor M in Alternative energy on March 16th, 2011
Reduce, reuse, recycle. The three Rs have been the mantra of ecological thinking almost as long as our concept of sustainability has existed. According to BIOFerm Energy Systems, it’s time to add a fourth R – resource.
The international BIOFerm provides clean renewable energy solutions by designing and constructing biogas plants to recover energy from organic waste and biomass. Originally conceived as a way for farmers to recoup losses from excess crops, a BIOFerm biogas plant can serve anyone that creates 6,000 tons of organic waste in a year. Not just farms. According to Caroline Chappell of BIOFerm USA, a biogas plant “could be based at a university, a composting facility, a food processor – any producer of organic waste who is looking for alternatives to the landfill.”
To read more go to: http://www.worldgreen.org/home/wg-feature-articles/5821-rethinking-resources.html
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Posted by Victor M in Alternative energy, Eco news on March 15th, 2011
With the threat of rising fuel costs perhaps these scooters are the way of the future.
The Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter, created in collaboration with Intelligent Energy, a UK-based fuel cell company, has become the world’s first fuel cell vehicle that is about to be approved for mass commercialization. The company also said that the scooter and its components will be produced and sold in Europe.
“Suzuki Motor is pleased to announce that the Suzuki Burgman Fuel Cell Scooter has become the world’s first fuel cell vehicle to earn Whole Vehicle Type Approval in the EU,” said Osamu Suzuki, chairman and CEO of Suzuki Motor.
The Suzuki Burgman scooter has been unveiled in Europe at a London City Hall event last month. It is equipped with the latest version of Intelligent Energy’s air-cooled hydrogen fuel cell system.
“Our aim is to make eco-friendly fuel cell scooters increasingly common in Europe, in line with the establishment of hydrogen filling stations and other necessary infrastructure,” he added.
A fuel cell-powered scooter looks promising, but how about the hydrogen infrastructure, indispensable for normal operation? Well, in countries like Italy or Germany you’ll be able, also soon, to charge your EV or hydrogen vehicle from roadside points, where the energy will come from solar panels.
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