Technology

Green Tech In 2018

January 25, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Clean power gathered unprecedented momentum in 2017. With climate problems on the rise, national and local governments are pushing for more renewable energy and the end of fossil-fueled cars. Corporations around the globe are making major commitments to green technology. Despite the Trump Administration’s open hostility toward clean power and its rejection of climate science, American states, municipalities and private companies are all getting with the program.

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Cryptocurrency And Climate Change

January 23, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros. They are produced by people and businesses using computer software to perform the necessary complex calculations. A bitcoin is essentially a line of computer code that’s signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. Bitcoin is the most prominent example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency.

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Turning Emissions Into Fuel

January 8, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an essential element in mitigating climate change. The best approach is to not produce the stuff in the first place and the ongoing transition away from fossil fuels is trying to do just that. But realistically, fossil fuels will be with us for a long time to come. Given that, additional approaches are necessary.

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Economics Of Solar And Wind Power

January 5, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is well-known that the cost of both solar and wind energy has been dropping dramatically in recent years. That trend is largely responsible for the rapid growth of both power sources. A recent study has revealed just how remarkable the economic progress has been.

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Hopeful Climate Trends

December 27, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In November, Syria joined the Paris Climate Accord. As a result, the United States is now the only country in the world that has rejected the global pact. Despite this embarrassing news, there is reason for optimism in the effort to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. In particular, 7 major trends provide hope that things could move in the right direction.

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Geoengineering And Climate Denial

December 21, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Geoengineering broadly refers to the use of sophisticated scientific techniques to deliberately make changes to the climate, for example to reverse the impacts of climate change or perhaps pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.

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Turning Biofuel Waste Into Valuable Chemicals

December 20, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

When biofuels are made, tough plant material is left over as waste. The material is lignin, which is a main component of plant cell walls that gives plants their structural integrity. Lignin is made up of many valuable compounds, but taking it apart to extract them is very difficult.

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Germany’s Struggle

December 15, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Germany has a reputation as one of the greenest countries on earth. They have comprehensive recycling programs, they treasure their forests, and in recent decades, they have been aggressively working to replace both nuclear and coal-fired power plants with renewable energy sources. They have been an early world leader in solar power. And their national Energiewende or “energy turn” initiative demonstrates a strong commitment to the environment.

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Transparent Solar Panels

December 6, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It is now commonplace to see solar panels on the rooftops of homes and businesses. There are more than a million solar homes in the US alone. But a new generation of see-through solar technology has the potential to also turn the windows of buildings and cars, as well as other glass-coated objects, into electricity generators.

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GM And Fuel Cells

November 30, 2017 By EarthWise 1 Comment

There has been a spate of announcements from major car manufacturers in recent times detailing their plans to electrify their future vehicles. General Motors recently announced its “path to zero emissions” plan which includes the introduction of at least 20 electric vehicles by 2023. They are joining Volvo, Volkswagen, Toyota and others in making such an announcement.

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Saving African Cattle With Perfume

November 27, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Tsetse flies are widespread in Africa. They feed on blood and are the source of the dreaded sleeping sickness, an infection that can be lethal, damages the nervous system and, in its final stage, causes a dozy state, which gave the disease its name. Sleeping sickness is a real danger for people in tropical Africa, but tsetse flies can also transfer the disease to cattle. This leads to huge losses in milk, meat and manpower. The damage caused by the flies in Africa is estimated to be nearly $5 billion a year.

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A Solar-Powered Vertical Farm

November 21, 2017 By EarthWise 1 Comment

Vertical farming is a method for producing crops in vertically stacked layers or surfaces typically in a skyscraper, used warehouse, or shipping container. Modern vertical farming uses indoor farming techniques and controlled-environment agriculture technology.

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Energy From Evaporating Water

November 17, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Researchers at Columbia University have demonstrated a potential new energy harvesting technique based on the natural evaporation of water. Every day, vast amounts of water evaporate from the surfaces of lakes and rivers, a process powered by the heat energy of the sun. The amount of energy involved is enormous but generally speaking is not something we can tap into.

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Corals Like Plastic

November 15, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Microplastics, which are tiny pieces of weathered plastic less than 5 millimeters in diameter, have been accumulating in the oceans for the past 40 years and are now ubiquitous in the marine environment. They are a major threat to many kinds of marine life, including numerous species of birds, turtles, fish, marine mammals and invertebrates who ingest the stuff causing a variety of problems.

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An All-Electric Plane

November 14, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The British discount airline EasyJet recently announced a partnership with American company Wright Electric to develop an all-electric commercial airplane that they said could be flying within 10 years. The goal of the partnership is to develop aircraft with a maximum range of 335 miles, which is long enough for many of the European routes that EasyJet flies from its hub in England.

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An Ancient Way To Store Energy

November 6, 2017 By EarthWise 2 Comments

Firebricks, which are bricks designed to withstand high heat, have been around for more than 3000 years. The Hittites used them to line iron-smelting kilns. They are simply bricks made from clays that can withstand much higher temperatures than ordinary bricks.

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More Power From The Sea

November 1, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology or OIST has been working on ways to generate electricity from the ocean for five years. Their initial project, known as “Sea Horse” uses submerged turbines anchored to the sea floor that convert the kinetic energy of sustained natural currents into useful electricity, which is then delivered by cables to the land. The project has been successful and OIST is now planning the next phase.

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A Ton Of Plastic Per Person

October 27, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

A study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science has produced an estimate of the total amount of plastic manufactured worldwide since the 1950s. The researchers then measured that data against statistics on recycling, incineration and discard rates. The results are sobering.

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Storing Carbon in the Ocean

October 6, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, it may be that clean energy technologies, electric cars, and other methods of reducing emissions may not be enough. Carbon sequestration – sucking carbon out of the atmosphere – is seen by many as a crucial part of the solution.

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The Tiny Country That Feeds The World

October 3, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It lacks almost every resource one associates with large-scale agriculture. Nevertheless, it is the number two exporter of food in the world, second only to the United States, which is almost 300 times bigger. The Dutch lead the world in exporting tomatoes, potatoes and onions and produce many other crops as well.

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