Green Options

In a fortuitous discovery, chemists have stumbled on a catalyst that strips carbon dioxide from the air and converts it into a useful compound.
Published in the most recent issue of the journal Science (sub. req’d.), researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands have discovered a copper-based catalyst that can literally pull carbon dioxide out of thin air.

Researchers say the copper-based compound is not ready for primetime–removing carbon dioxide on a large scale–but they hope that the catalyst could one day remove the ubiquitous greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, turning it into organic chemicals.

Joint New Zealand-U.S. project begins harvesting steady Antarctic winds on Ross Island.

Besides the heavy snow, unrelenting wind, and bone-chilling temperatures, what’s the most difficult part of building a wind farm in Antarctica? The lack of daylight in the winter means construction can only take place in the summer months. And with only one supply ship a year, you better not forget any parts.

On Saturday, the $7.4-million Ross Island Wind Farm in Antarctica began feeding electricity at full power for the very first time. The new wind farm can generate up to one megawatt of electricity and will cut diesel use at New Zealand’s Scott Base and the U.S.’ McMurdo Station by 120,000 gallons and reduce carbon dioxide output by 1,370 tons annually, according to New Zealand’s state-owned Meridian Energy, the project’s developers.

American Farm Bureau votes on a resolution opposing cap-and-trade and any legislation that would empower EPA to regulate carbon emissions.

All six crew on board the Ady Gil, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s high-speed intercepting vessel, are safe, but the fate of the boat is in doubt after a collision with a Japanese harpoon vessel left it disabled off the coast of Antarctica.

Anti-whaling activists, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, made famous in the Animal Planet television program, Whale Wars, have requested the Australian Navy send a vessel to their location in the Southern Ocean after the Japanese whaling vessel Shonan Maru 2 reportedly struck and sunk the radical conservation group’s new $2 million speed boat, the Ady Gil.

Fourteen of the world’s largest cities agreed to take steps over the coming year to make their cities more electric vehicle-friendly. The announcement was made at the ‘Climate Summit for Mayors’, which is being held alongside the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Half the world’s population lives in cities that account for more than two-thirds of carbon emissions. And as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made the case in Copenhagen on Tuesday at the Climate Summit for Mayors during the UN COP15 climate summit cities and other sub-national units of government will play a critical role in implementing the kind of innovative solutions necessary to clean up our transportation infrastructure in a carbon-constrained world. In that vein, a group of fourteen of the world’s largest cities took a step in that direction in Copenhagen on Wednesday.

A new Zogby poll shows that those who are least able to afford rising energy pricesare the most likely to support climate and energy policies that would have that effect.

President Obama outlines his administration’s economic accomplishments, hurdles it faces, and plans to overcome these hurdles.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced that Nissan would be bringing its all-electric LEAF, to the Bay Area market in 2010. Speaking on behalf of the Bay Area Electric Vehicle (EV) Corridor program, Newsom said Nissan will work with San Francisco and the Bay Area to promote and build-out an EV charging infrastructure, including development of a streamlined process for customer installation of charging equipment in their homes.

“Nissan is committed to the San Francisco market and is looking forward to working with the city and others in the partnership to make zero emissions a reality throughout the Bay Area,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales and marketing for Nissan North America. Piquing the interest of anyone in the Bay Area who is a little EV-curious, Carolin added: “In one year, Nissan LEAF zero-emission vehicles will be driving on the streets of San Francisco.”

Only 2% of companies are covered by the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, but that 2% represents 70% of US emissions, says Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), the bill’s co-sponsor.

Speaking at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today, U.S. President Barack Obama threw strong support behind clean energy and technology, touting America’s history of innovation and not shying away from problems.