Green Options

What’s wrong with wind power and solar energy and right with coal?

Well, coal can burn around the clock, as long as you have enough of it. But the wind doesn’t blow all the time and the sun doesn’t shine all the time. Sure, you can store power in batteries, but how much?

How about enough to power an LED streetlight, without wires, that is sure to turn on every night?

There’s a French company called Windela that has crossed a streetlight with a vertical-axis wind turbine and a solar panel. It charges up during the day, when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. At night, it shines.

It also can work as a Wi-Fi relay, similar to a solar streetlight known as Starsight. Imagine it: Wi-Fi, light at night, no coal required.

Earlier this week Spain’s government approved a map of offshore areas to lease for wind energy development. This move will help Spain to further cement its status as an alternative energy giant.

Spain is already the world’s #3 wind power producer (it trails the U.S. and Germany) and is also the world’s #2 producer of solar power (only behind Germany). Until now, Spain has not used its extensive coastline to develop wind power in a significant way.

Although some of the heavy hitters are still major players, 2008 has shown growth in renewable energy markets that had been weak previously. New players however are entering the renewable energy field, according to Clean Energy Trends 2009 report.

France

The vast majority of the electricity generated in France comes from its 59 nuclear reactors. It has not been considered a global leader in renewable energy, but France has taken some bold steps recently to support growth in this industry.

The government plans to have 23% of its electricity generated from renewable energy sources including hydroelectric by 2020. A feed-in tariff of 30 Euro cents for commercial buildings has been introduced to encourage solar energy growth.

France now exceeds Denmark in wind energy capacity after adding 950 MW in 2008. The country currently has 3,400 MW of wind power and plans to increase this to 25,000 MW by 2020.

 Oh-là là Organic

Have you ever rolled around in dew-kissed blades of grass in a haute couture ballgown made out of organic muslin with the prince, or princess, of your most intimate dreams? Well, I haven’t either- but I plan to, and when I do, I will be wearing a perfume by Honoré des Prés. Composed of five different scents, each one more evocative than the next, Honoré des Prés is the first 100% natural, organic French perfume to hit the American market.

Have style, will travel: I ♥ Lumi Yoga Bags 

I used to have a yoga bag that I was pretty proud of. It was shaped like a hot dog, with a drawstring opening and a comfy shoulder strap and it made me look like a hunter with a bouquet of arrows on my back. The problem was, I couldn’t find a darn thing in it. Everything sunk to

[...]

Over half of schools in England have achieved Eco-School status, UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced today.

“Schools have an important part to play in helping young people to build a greener future for us all and it’s young people that will lead the way in creating a healthy environment for future generations,” says Secretary Benn.

Run by Keep Britain Tidy, the Eco-Schools program encourages children and teachers to make their school more environmentally-friendly and sustainable.  They follow a simple seven step process covering themes including waste, healthy living and biodiversity.

Environmentalists are organizing a protest against the arrival of a ship in Hartlepool, England from France next week because the ship is loaded with 700 tons of toxic asbestos.

A Hartlepool company has been contracted to dismantle the ship, but environmental groups worry that they do not have the proper equipment or expertise to properly dismantle the ship. Asbestos can cause severe respiratory problems and has been banned in many countries.

Scientists succeeded for the first time in achieving the holy grail of conservation: bringing to life an extinct animal through cloning. For seven minutes.

Just seven minutes after Spanish and French scientists brought the Pyrenean ibex back from extinction, the young animal died of lung complications also common to other cloned animals. And so an extinct species blinked into life for an instant and then flickered out again.

The success, albeit brief, is spurring scientists and conservationists alike to imagine some wild possibilities. Can extinct species–say, the dodo or even the wooly mammoth–be brought back into their natural habitats through cloning and if so should they?

A secret document is showing that the UK government is trying to sabotage a safeguard protecting farmers who unknowingly grow genetically modified crops. If removed, European farmers could sow billions of GM seeds annually without even realizing it.

According to Physorg.com, a researcher in France has increased the efficiency of micro-sized direct methanol fuel cells to 75-percent. This further paves the way for fuel cells to replace lithium ion batteries in some mobile electronics: I would totally buy a fuel cell powered iPhone!

Fuel cells are seemingly attractive in comparison to lithium ion batteries because of their high energy potential: around sixteen times more energy than lithium ion batteries.

A growing group of environmental activists are taking advantage of emergency power shut-off switches found on the exteriors of businesses throughout France; toting broomsticks, they wander the streets at night to find businesses with neon lights still blazing in the window despite being closed, and simply reach or climb up to switch the power off.

They call themselves Le Clan du Néon and believe they are doing the planet a favor. Thousands of shops across Europe leave their lights on overnight, just as they do in America, unnecessarily eating up tens of gigawatt hours of power every year.