MIT scientists discovered a radical new way to produce, store and move electricity using carbon nanotubes a billionth of a meter wide to produce thermopowered waves that can transport electrical charges. The result is basically a recreation of the same techiques ocean waves employ to pick up, collect and carry debris along the water’s surface. Preliminary experiments show that thermopower has the potential to create 100 times more energy than a lithium-ion battery if it can be refined.

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Analysts have debated for years how to measure greenhouse gas emissions that occur when items are manufactured in one location, and imported into another. Should the responsibility for environmental impact rest on the shoulders of the exporter or the importer?

Two scientists from the Carnegie Institution For Science, a think tank founded by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s, have attempted to measure the outsourcing of CO2 by producing a database that analyzes environmental impact based on where the product is used. Steven Davis and Ken Caldeira estimate one-third of emissions associated with consumption in developed countries are actually produced outside those countries. The study, presented in December and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tries to provide hard data regarding local carbon dioxide consumption versus how much is included in imported goods.

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You catch the leprechaun and are therefore entitled to his gold. Do you:

A) Insist he widen the road you will carry the gold over;
B) Complain that some of the gold coins were minted in China;
C) Make the leprechaun pay for banks to provide gold when the pot is empty; or
D) Take the gold?

For wind power, any answer but (D) is in fashion.

After decades of “can’t be done,” gigawatt-hours of wind power are right around the corner. But as someone once said, “don’t think that power concedes.” That includes gas and coal power.

Enter the Coalition for Fair Transmission Policy, mainly comprised of Eastern utilities. They say wind power is now too cheap and abundant to compete with. Their solution: make wind developers pay for new transmission lines, inflating wind power’s price.

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The name says it all: Peepoo. A Swedish inventor has patented a biodegradable plastic bag that serves a need in urban slums of third world countries. The bag acts as a low-cost toilet and can even be repurposed to grow produce.

The Peepoo, invented by Anders Wilhelmson of Stockholm, is used for disposal of both urine and feces. Afterward the bag is closed, buried, and broken down into fertilizer by urea crystals in its lining. This kills off the germs in feces which cause disease. “Not only is it sanitary, they can reuse this to grow crops,” Wilhelmson noted.

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Zhang Guobao, Director of China’s National Energy Administration, announced the country will place a higher priority on modifying energy systems this year, using renewable energy and nuclear power. The March 2nd statement emphasized the administration’s top concern – to fulfill the commitments China made at the Copenhagen climate summit.

The ten-year plan aims to provide 15% of total consumption from clean energy sources by 2020. Zhang said significant scientific research and development will be needed. The Chinese government will also invest billions in wind farms, solar power facilities, and nuclear energy plants. Zhang did not specify a date for public release of the plan.

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While sifting through the noise of politics and science, we come across one irrefutable claim that all parties agree on: the amount of atmospheric carbon that is safe. That number, measured in parts per million, is 350. Currently, the level of atmospheric carbon measured is 390.18 ppm . Scientists state that if the level of carbon continues to rise, the global temperature will rise, which will have catastrophic environmental consequences.

A consistent level of atmospheric carbon at or above 350 ppm will eventually cause the earth to summarily unclench its jaws and belch all of its pent up carbon; a kind of reprisal for the irreparable damage it sustained on behalf of humanity. This global roar will raise the temperature worldwide causing glacial melting and consequentially, rising sea levels, all other environmental casualties notwithstanding. The heightened glacial melting on Antarctica’s coast is one blatant example of this increased glacial activity. [Continue reading ...]

In the old folk hit “City of New Orleans,” Arlo Guthrie laments “this train’s got the disappearin’ railroad blues.” The putatively high-speed Acela has just the opposite problem.  For those of you who don’t know, the Acela is Amtrak’s “high speed” train system that never delivered its promise of speeds over 100mph.

All that money for high-speed rail in the stimulus bill bypassed Acela like a freight train speeding past a creaky old hobo that couldn’t jump in time. While anyone who’s driven I-95 in the last 30 years can tell you that Acela’s 71-mph average speed between Washington and Boston is faster than you can realistically drive it these days, it’s hardly competitive with air travel and fails to deliver on the promise of high-speed rail. [Continue reading ...]

European policymakers are beginning to understand what conservationists have been saying for years, that biofuels are hard on the environment. The EU announced that their previous decision to replace 2% of the current petroleum for transport with biofuels by 2020 might need to be revised because of the impact of large scale biofuel production on agriculture, especially in third world countries.

According to a report drafted to advise EU policy makers, “The simulated effects of EU biofuels policies imply a considerable shock to agricultural commodity markets.” The draft report also noted that dependence on bio-fuels “…carries the risk of significant and hardly reversible environmental damages.”

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Audi reports that February auto sales are up from a year ago, in large part due to the availability of two TDI clean diesel models. While Audi’s overall sales are up 33.6% from February 2009, sales of the A3 line are up 126% in February. 56% of those sales were for the 2010 Green Car of the Year award wining A3 TDI clean diesel. Meanwhile, the Q7 TDI SUV made up 40% of all Q7 sales.

Clean diesel is having an impact on overall sales for Audi, leading to an early year surge in sales. With clean diesel, TDI models of the Q7 and A3 leading the way, Audi will likely look for further success with clean diesel technology in coming months. As car and SUV sales rebound, it is becoming apparent that more people are looking for alternative and green fuel options.