GE to launch world's largest CCS project

World’s biggest carbon capture and sequestration project to be developed by GE.

General Electric Oil and Gas has struck a $400 million deal with the developers of Gorgon natural gas project, where the company will help capture and sequester 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide into wells 2.5km below the surface.

Science for a Hungry World

Algae Life

How Green Is Your Computer?

We're so dependent on our computers these days that most of us would be lost without them. They make communication, work and entertainment much easier — yet their negative effects on the environment are often overlooked.

The energy used in producing and operating personal and workplace computers is huge. Corporate IT equipment alone uses more than 22 billion kilowatt-hours per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a branch of the Department of Energy.

But it's not only computers' energy consumption that's noteworthy; the manufacturing process and the materials involved are also important factors.

About 4.6 million tons of computers and consumer-electronics waste are dumped in landfills each year in the U.S., according to Greenpeace, and fewer than 12 percent of discarded computers are recycled.

Aware of this problem, PC manufacturers are trying to go "green" by minimizing the use of toxic components such as lead and mercury and making the machines more energy-efficient.

But how can you know how green your computer really is?

Green Computers, or 'Greenwashed' Ones?

If you're looking for a new computer and are unsure about which models are eco-friendly, a good place to start is the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), devised by the Green Electronics Council based in Portland, Ore.

Devised for both companies and individual users, EPEAT's online database evaluates desktop computers, monitors and laptops based on their environmental features. Its criteria include:

— Reduction of use of hazardous substances such as cadmium, lead, mercury and flame retardants;

— Elimination of non-recyclable paints and coatings;

— Minimum of 65 percent recyclable or reusable parts;

Prefab home gets ground-up restoration

Modular housing may seem like a new trend, but a 1950s house under renovation shows just how long L.A. has dreamed of its potential.

Atlanta rooftops

Green Aviation

The airline industry is seen by many as one of the main culprits when it comes to carbon and greenhouse gas emissions -- and therefore climate change.

It has been heavily criticised by environmentalists for perceived inaction over its high CO2 output -- estimated at between two and 10 percent, depending on whose figures you want to trust.

However, with oil prices doubling worldwide in the last year the incentive for the aviation industry to reduce its fuel output is now as much driven by hard economic realities as environmental factors.

Although there have been efforts to mitigate the impact of air travel through initiatives like carbon offsetting, many see this as a short-term solution and as such of limited value.

The search is on to find ways of reducing planes reliance on fossil fuels and according to the CEO of Lufthansa, Wolfgang Mayrhuber there is only one area that will provide the answer in the long run: "technology, technology and again technology."

The biofuel option

Within the airline industry itself many are putting their faith in biofuel as a viable alternative to petroleum fuels. So-called first generation biofuel is made from organic materials -- often food crops -- that are broken down to produce oil or alcohol fuel like ethanol.

Its chief champion so far is the owner of Virgin Atlantic, the tycoon Richard Branson, who has pledged to invest profits from his transport empire in to biofuel production.

The use of biofuel remains contentious, however, with claims that harvesting of the crops needed to make the fuel robs locals in the developing world of valuable farmland thereby pushing up food prices. Environmentalists also argue that it often leads to deforestation, making any CO2 savings largely redundant.

Mindful of these criticisms, Branson used a mix of coconut oil harvested from existing plantations and oil from palms that grow wild to fuel a flight from London to Amsterdam earlier this year. The Virgin Atlantic 747 that left Heathrow in February was the first commercial aircraft to be powered partly by biofuel.

ven so the plane still relied on 80 percent conventional jet fuel, and many are skeptical whether first generation biofuel has enough energy density to work on its own. The harmful impact on food prices and the sheer volume of crops needed in their production has led many airlines to set their sights on second and even third generation biofuels that come from non-food crops.

Air New Zealand, for example, has begun testing Jatropha, a bush native to Central America that can grow in very arid environments, requires little water and has a much higher yield than crops like corn.

Rob Fyfe, CEO of the New Zealand national carrier said they decided on the crop "because we wanted a fuel that had no connotations in terms of competing with the crops from indigenous forests." Air New Zealand has committed to running its fleet on 10 percent non-food biofuels by 2013.

Going green with algae

Other airlines are looking away from the land for the solution. Boeing has joined energy giants such as Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell in supporting research in to the use of algae.

Researchers have already managed to extract vegetable oil from algae harvested on ponds. It is still only at its early stages but scientists believe algae could potentially produce much higher yields than other biofuel with the added advantage that it would not take up valuable farmland.

Two members of staff from Boeing sit on the board of directors of the Algal Biomass Organization, a U.S. trade body set up to accelerate research and funding into its use as an aviation fuel.

Inspired by birds

Creating efficiencies is not just about improving fuel, of course. Airlines are also looking at aircraft design and the way the skies are managed in the hunt for savings.

Mayrhuber told CNN he would like to see the rules governing the flight paths planes are allowed to travel along relaxed to allow aircraft to choose the most energy efficient routes.

"From Europe we have three entry points into China," he says. "If you asked the birds that migrate, they take a different route every day. Why? It isn't so they don't pay the fuel at the station. It is energy. They take the best route every day and we believe that there are airways that are outdated."

According to Mayrhuber, if planes were allowed to travel unrestricted across Europe it would reduce carbon emissions from aviation on the continent by 12 percent overnight.

It is not only the migratory routes of birds that aviation experts are looking at. They are hoping that examining the design of nature's ultimate flying machines might turn up some unexpected solutions. USA Today, for instance reported that scientists are investigating how it is that birds can fly without the large vertical tail fin required on planes. If they could solve this conundrum, getting rid of the fin would very likely lead to fuel savings.

Many of these technological changes are unlikely to happen in the near future (if they happen at all) while environmentalists insist climate change is of pressing concern right now. The jury is still out on just how seriously the aviation industry is taking the threat of global warming, but with oil prices still on the up it may be forced to act sooner rather than later.

World’s mightiest glaciers

Denying the evident and embracing the obscure never makes sense. This is what the climate skeptics had been doing for a long time in rebuffing the sure signs. They just can’t see constant flooding, infrequent monsoons, wet and dry extremes, inundating islands, heat waves and the melting of glacial caps. Even the recent study conducted by the University of Leeds deducing the faster melting rate of Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is sure to be ignored. However, in fact, world’s mightiest glaciers are giving in to evermore mightier universal mercurial upsurge.



Since 1980, global warming has forced some glaciers to disappear while some others are on the verge of extinction. If the outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctica kept on melting, the coastal regions worldwide will face the brunt for sure. If it happens elsewhere, notably the Andes of South America, the Himalayas in Asia, western North America, the Alps, Africa or subtropical South America, the aftermath will be equally appalling.

Glacier Peak Wilderness in the North Cascades of Washington has shown ample signs of recession during 33 long years.

sustainable living

energy saving tips

Save your Children

Sustainable Living

Too much emphasis on green living and environment friendliness through Internet & media has created enough awareness among masses all over the world, that administrations are taking environment friendly decisions and we also see legislation being formed on national and international levels to protect environment.
But in this all going green phobia, a lot of confusion and misunderstanding is also developing, many of us now correlate use of green electricity to sustainability, in fact using energy efficiently is sustainability. Most of us think that using canvas bags instead of plastic is an eco friendly gesture, but caring a cloth bag every time we got to shop is being green.
It’s great that world wide huge cooperates are investing in renewable sources of energy, and production of eco friendly products. But sustainability can only be achieved if humans reduce there consumption level, and a line between needs and luxury will be drawn, when need for waste dumps and land fills wont be an issue. Sustainability is harvesting some amount of our food from our backyards, gardens and balconies, which was not irrigated with community water supply but the rain water we harvested. Sustainability is leaving our car at home and walking to the market, making sure suburbs are not turning into city centers and marine life is not contaminated just for a little luxury of no significance.
Giant steps taken by governments and Ngo’s can’t make much of a difference unless Little green steps are taken on individual level.

Salads that Help You Live Longer

1. Classic Beet Salad
Steam beets and slice into a salad of mixed greens, sliced avocado, and a handful of pine nuts and walnuts. If you want to bulk up the salad, add crumbled soft tofu or shredded chicken.

What is this salad doing for you?
This is an all-in-one anti-aging salad. Beets contain powerful nutrients that help protect against heart disease, birth defects and cancer, especially colon cancer. The avocado and pine nuts are healthy fats and walnuts have omega-3 fatty acids, which bring heart health benefits.

2. Cooling Cucumber Salad
Thinly slice cucumbers, removing the peel if you prefer, and toss with red onions. Let this sit for 30 minutes, then top with apple cider vinegar mixed with Dijon mustard.

What is this salad doing for you?
Cucumbers are a cooling food and also a natural diuretic, helping to hydrate you and lower the pressure in your arteries. The vinegar has antiseptic and antibiotic properties and may also help to reverse hardening of the arteries, as well as dissolve gall stones and kidney stones.

3. Tomato Basil Salad
Cook whole cherry or grape tomatoes in olive oil over medium-high heat until they are lightly browned. Cool, and then toss with fresh basil. For dressing, combine olive oil, vinegar, and a pinch of fresh oregano.

What is this salad doing for you?
Cooking partially breaks down your food, making the nutrients accessible to your body's systems; for example, lycopene, an essential carotenoid antioxidant that has been found to reduce the risks of heart disease, macular degeneration, as well as prostate and other cancers, is more available in cooked tomatoes than uncooked. Basil is filled with luteolin, a bioflavonoid that studies have shown to be the best protection of cell DNA from radiation.

4. Fennel and Dried Plum Salad
Combine sliced fennel, sautéed or raw, and dried plums on a plate. Drizzle with a ginger vinaigrette. (Olive oil, vinegar and minced ginger, if you are making yourself.)

What is this salad doing for you?
This salad soothes digestion and supports weight loss. Fennel helps digestion in two ways: It stimulates the production of gastric juices and also calms the nervous system, regulating the action of the muscles that line the intestine. Packed with vitamin C and essential minerals like potassium and magnesium, dried plums contain a perfectly balanced proportion of soluble and insoluble fibers, ensuring bowel regularity and preventing insulin resistance—making them a great ingredient for weight management.

If weight loss is one of your goals, you may benefit from the herbal formulation B-Slim, a nutrient-rich dietary supplement designed to be part of a sensible overall weight management program.

5. Asian Carrot Salad
Combine shredded carrots, green onion, and sprouts (alfalfa, red clover, daikon radish, and bean sprouts will all work). Dress with sesame oil and rice vinegar. Then sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. For extra kick, add a small amount of grated ginger or chili pepper.

What is this salad doing for you?
Carrots are antioxidant-rich foods filled with beta-carotene, beneficial to eye health. Sprouts are packed with many nutrients with a bounty of health benefits. And sesame oil, the oil most commonly consumed oil by Chinese centenarians, is rich in phytic acid, the antioxidant that may prevent cancer. Studies have also indicated that one variety of sesame oil, called lignan sesamin, radically reduced cholesterol levels in the bloodstream and liver of rats.

6. Watercress with Tofu Dressing
To make the tofu dressing, combine 1/2 pound of plain tofu with a 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of rice or apple vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of tamari soy sauce (or a pinch of salt), and 1 tablespoon of tahini. Simply blend until creamy and drizzle over a bed of salad greens.

What is this salad doing for you?
Watercress contains a rich supply of vitamins A and E as well as the minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, phosphorous, iodine, and zinc. It is also a natural diuretic that cools you down, and helps alleviate excess water retention and the bloated sensation that comes with it.

I hope you enjoy these six summer salads! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

Energy saving tip of the day

SOUL OF INNATE EXISTENCE

Foot steps like gentle coils,

Traces of rabbit toe,

Adobes of cane heaps,

Grounds of scattered wild,

Nectar from haven hue,

Such should be our existence,

Thirsty for innate exaltation.

SOLAR ENERGY

Solar energy today means clean and green mean of energy, but solar energy is being harnessed by humans both intentionally and UN intentionally since the very solar day they came into existence. Simply sitting in sun means absorbing solar energy to aid our bodies with vitamin D, preserving food with the drying process using solar energy is another primitive but very effective mean of harvesting the solar energy.
Solar energy moved along with the development of human societies, Babylonians, Arab, Moorish, Mughal’s, and almost all Indian civilizations used solar energy as a natural lighting system, using reflective mirrors embedded into beautiful patterns in there buildings, along with the water and mercury pounds to reflect sunlight into desired directions. Solar energy took an absolute new meaning with the development of photovoltaic solar cells and very quickly became a popular idea of an alternative source of energy that could counter fossil fuel. But it was not until the last decade of the 20th century when solar energy became the ultimate symbol of self sufficiency triggered by general séance of chaos because of the war on terror.
Means of solar energy are evolving on daily bases, energy efficient and low cost means of solar energy are being explored to make solar energy a more viable source of power generation. Solar reflectors are being used to concentrate solar energy on one focal point in order to harvest the heat of the sun that is then used for running sterling engines and other types of turbines. Micro solar panels are being made for cost and energy efficient utilization of solar energy. Solar paints and ivy’s along with charges that use solar energy to power out gadgets and cell phones are becoming popular very quickly. Solar energy is free and you don’t need to kill innocent people to secure it for one nation only, every one in the world gets there fair and consistent share of solar energy every morning. It wont be wrong to state that solar energy will fuel our future beyond the boundaries of fossil fuel saga.

Mysterious Maglev wind turbine

Maglev wind turbine has been a big splash on Worldwatch's blog, Treehugger and inhabitat. The original article about Maglev wind turbine
was in Chinese Xinhua News paper, and as per this article about Maglev wind turbine some of the claims from the English and web media are misleading.

First of all Maglev wind turbine won't be levitating off the ground, and won't be frictionless as well, but these may be significantly more efficient than existing windmills. The magnetic levitation that Maglev wind turbine would use is between the rotating shaft and the fixed base of the machine, basically taking the place of ball bearings. Such magnetic bearings have been used for decades in smaller turbines and pumps by Ebara, Leybold, Seiko-Seiki, and others. However, they generally can't handle being bumped around much because the magnetic force isn't that strong enough. Making magnetic bearings strong enough to handle the loads put on them by Maglev wind turbine would be hard, and would use prohibitive amounts of power just keeping the electromagnets running strongly enough. However, the Worldwatch article says the new Chinese device uses "full-permanent" magnets, meaning there are no electromagnets, only cleverly placed permanent ones, so it should use no power. It sounds like they will be used on small turbines (perfect for home use), which would be similar in scale to the pumps and industrial turbines currently using magnetic bearings. But who knows, in a few years it might be possible to scale them up for Maglev wind turbine.
Unfortunately there's not a shred of additional technical information in the article about Maglev wind turbine’s structure. so we can only speculate what their solution was for the mysterious Maglev wind turbine. Some are speculating that they're probably using Halbach arrays in a system like the Inductrack invented at Lawrence Livermore Labs several years ago. Any permanent magnet system would doubtless need lots of Neodymium ("rare earth") magnets, which may have questionable sustainability when mined in large amounts, but as it happens China is rich in that element--in fact, energy.buzz points out that China owns 90% of the world's market of rare earth magnets. Since July 2006 Maglev wind turbine remains a mystery with very little details and even lesser news.

Sustainable living tip of the day

Sustainable living tip of the day is turn off your cars engine while waiting for the traffic signal to go green.

Utah Containers

Utah Container by Group 41 is a new dimension to Prefab Housing, in fact it wont be wrong to say that Utah Containers in the next generation of Prefab Housing. Shipping Containers are being used allover the world to create eco friendly Prefab Housing, but Utah Containers is innovative because it’s a housing scheme devised out of 1000 Shipping Containers. Group 41 has developed two schemes for the Salt Lake City suburb complex and is waiting for planning approval. The Two schemes of Utah Containers differ in style and layout, but not in facilities, both have large underground parking garages and a courtyard. Utah Containers will be located near a future commuter rail line and shopping center.
Projects like Utah Containers offer the right type of Sustainable Recycling on massive scale, Container and Prefab Homes are a sustainable type of recycling as they require less energy in construction compared to melting down Shipping Containers. Utah Containers is an Eco friendly solution to the ever increasing demand of sustainable green housing.

With Kinetic Flexible Cell Phone Kyocera is changing the future of cell phones. Kyocera unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone that is capable of folding up like a wallet. Kinetic Flexible Cell Phone has been designed by industrial designer Susan McKinney, and the phone consists of a soft, semi-rigid polymer skin surrounding a flexible low-energy OLED display.

Sustainable living tip of the day

Sustianable living tip of the day is you're not really recycling unless you're buying recycled. The most important part of recycling is buying products that contain as much "post-consumer recycled content" as possible. Look for it and ask for it when you go shopping