Technology – Page 2 – Nullius in Verba

Leaving on a jet plane

According to PR Newswire there is an “initiative to promote aviation biofuel development in the Pacific Northwest” that “will include an analysis of potential biomass sources that are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, including algae, agriculturally based oilseeds such as camelina [wildflax], wood byproducts and others.” Because biomass sources absorb carbon dioxide while growing andContinue reading “Leaving on a jet plane”

Just call him “Alan Greenspam”

From Grist.com come’s a sign of the times we live in: a virtual arguer. Nigel Leck got tired of arguing with people who were skeptical about global warming science. Noticing that most of them used the same debunked arguments over and over again, he decided to make a Twitter chatbot to answer them automatically. TheContinue reading “Just call him “Alan Greenspam””

iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books? Come again?

Brian Palmer (aka Slate’s Green Lantern) writes that “iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books.” If the Lantern has taught you anything, it’s that most consumer products make their biggest scar on the Earth during manufacture and transport, before they ever get into your greedy little hands. He then papers glosses overContinue reading “iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books? Come again?”

Let’s not gush about our clean energy options

Estimates regarding the rate of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil blowout get spewier with each succeeding news cycle. The mess being made requires that we Americans consider what we are willing to pay—economically and environmentally— for energy. I didn’t see President Obama’s live televised remarks to the nation on the BP oil spill but watched itContinue reading “Let’s not gush about our clean energy options”

What’s wrong with this picture?

From the Sierra Club: Download the Sierra Club Eco Heroes application and be entered in our drawing to win five nights at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows with roundtrip airfare for two and a full-day tour of Volcanoes National Park with Hawaii Forest and Trail. Tell me, do you find this as ironicContinue reading “What’s wrong with this picture?”

What's wrong with this picture?

The Top 13 Environmental Stories of the Aughts

Here is my olio list of profound and profane environmental news of the past decade–the aughts. Hurricane Katrina From the toxic sludge left behind on the land to removal of the vegetative buffers by encroaching civilization, hurricane Katrina exposed so many of our environmental shortcomings, all in one storm. Al Gore’s Inconvenient Nobel Peace PrizeIContinue reading “The Top 13 Environmental Stories of the Aughts”

A Tempest in a Toilet Bowl – Environmentalists Say ‘Plush Toilet Paper Wipes Out Forests’

Environmentalists Say Plush Toilet Paper Wipes Out Forests Does buying soft toilet paper really threaten the environment? The blogosphere overflows with hyperbole saying it does. “Americans Wipe Their Butts with Non-Renewable Trees,”1 one site trumpeted. Another gushed, “Use recycled toilet paper and paper towels and reduce the demand of destroying virgin forests!”2 I’m sure sheContinue reading “A Tempest in a Toilet Bowl – Environmentalists Say ‘Plush Toilet Paper Wipes Out Forests’”

A Tempest in a Toilet Bowl – Environmentalists Say 'Plush Toilet Paper Wipes Out Forests'

Perhaps that Sahara Plantation Could Power Itself

University of Washington researchers have produced electricity from a tree. Perhaps once they plant the Sahara with those eucalypts to alleviate global warming, the trees could deliver the power to provide their water. Or maybe not. According to their online article,”The custom circuit is able to store up enough voltage from trees to run a low-power sensor.”