Green Options

Building managers and environmental passers-by always scream when they see office lights on in the middle of the night, illuminating someone’s cubicle for hours when they’re not there. Ledalite’s Ergolight Controls System has been designed to take care of that problem, as well as increase office energy efficiency. It’s such a good solution, that it was recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation as one of their climate change solution case studies. Designed to help building designers and architects achieve LEED certification, depending on the set-up, customers can decrease their energy consumption by up to 80%.

Ontario is planning on updating its 136 year old mining law to reflect current values and conditions. Preventing wildcat staking of personal and aboriginal property is one of its highest priorities.

Masdar City, located within Abu Dhabi, is introducing personal rapid transit “podcars“.
Basically, a cross between the convenience of grabbing a cab and a public bus; the podcars will be a component of Masdar City’s public transportation system.

As part of Masdar City’s car-free design; these podcars will be part of a network of electric taxis without drivers (!). The first of these podcars (also known as personal rapid transit - PRT) are set to debut this year.

US military developing fuel cell propulsion technology for use with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

With a history of geopolitical tensions, last week’s announcement by President Gul that Turkey would double the amount of water released to Iraq from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was cautiously received in Iraq on the first visit by a Turkish head of state in over 30 years.
A key Iraqi concern, Iraq and Turkey have argued over upstream vs. downstream water rights on the Tigris and Euphrates many times in the past. This announcement and state visit may well strengthen ties between these two nations, recently under strain due to on-going tensions because of Turkish military operations in northern Iraq against Kurdish separatist groups.

Researchers at MIT have managed to genetically engineer viruses so that they can build rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the form of a plastic film. These new batteries could then be used in anything from cellphones to iPods to the rechargeable batteries in plug-in electric hybrid cars.

Former President Bush to win Goldman Prize, the environmental nobel prize (april fool’s)

Russia’s Security Council has authorized the creation of an Arctic special forces military to be deployed by the year 2020 to protect their interests in the Far North as new sources of natural resources become more available due to the decrease in ice cover.

Grameen and its managing director (Nobel Peace Prize-winner) Muhammad Yunus, known for the Grameen Bank, recently launched a new partnership with German conglomerate BASF to create a joint social business venture called BASF Grameen Ltd., to be based in Bangladesh. BASF Grameen Ltd. is being modeled as a “social business”, whose purpose will be to improve the health and provide related business opportunities for poor members of Bangladeshi society (reminiscent of the base of the pyramid framework) through the distribution of dietary supplement sachets and impregnated mosquito nets.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a laboratory the size of a microchip that can be used to measure water quality. Using genetically engineered bacteria that light up when in contact with pre-determined pollutants, this water quality lab will detect and communicate “contact” with monitoring systems. It’s a nano sized version of the robot fish that we recently looked at.