Green Options

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Wisconsin’s Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming has recommended that the state achieve 2005 levels by 2014; reduce emissions by 22% from 2005 levels by 2022 (someone one day will have to explain to me the fascination with number alliteration); and finally, it calls for 75% reductions from 2005 levels by 2050.

The task force has also recommended a two-pronged approach, adopting state level support for either a federal or state-level cap and trade program, as well as a series of policy recommendations for several important state industry sectors:

1. Energy Sector
2. Transportation Sector
3. Agriculture and Forestry Sectors
4. Industry Sector
5. Waste Sector

100 Million Trees Are Cut Each Year to Generate Junk Mail
A report by ForestEthics, the nonprofit environmental organization whose mission is to protect endangered forests, has made a very startling revelation: that there are 100 million green reasons why junk mail are an annoying intrusion.

Not that the 100 billion pieces of junk mail Americans receive each year are irksome enough or that the emissions of junk mail are equal to those of over nine million cars or 51 million tons of greenhouse gases.

The group estimates that every year, more than 100 million trees are cut down to make junk mail - the equivalent of clear-cutting all of Rocky Mountain National Park every 4 months!

When it comes to the production of crude oil, America does takes the bronze. But it’s a slighted accomplishment, considering that the top oil producers - both Russia and Saudi Arabia - out produce the U.S. by a factor of 2 to 1. In reality, the U.S. only contributes to about 10-percent of the world’s oil supply.

This week at ZapRoot: The Strandbeest behemoth (which we featured here on CleanTechnica) is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Ice in both poles is melting. Totally Useless Crap is back!

The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA) is a non-profit organization created to promote cradle-to-grave biodiesel practices for verifying that all points in the production and distribution chain are sustainable.

And now they want your input on what those sustainable practices and standards should be — they’ve released the first draft of their “Principles and Baseline Practices for Sustainability” (PDF) to the public under a 45-day comment and review period.

So, if you’ve ever questioned the wisdom of growing our own fuel, or you’ve wondered how biofuels can be considered sustainable at all given other seemingly cleaner options like solar, wind and geothermal, now’s your time to speak up.

Move over evolution:  Now you can add climate change to the list of controversial science topics taught in public schools.  That’s right, the governor that sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t want to mandate California’s children are educated on climate change.  Why the apparent contradiction?

SB 908:  Global Warming Education in Schools, sponsored by Senator Simitian (D-Palo Alto), would have revised the existing state framework to include climate change as part of children’s environmental education, but unfortunately it was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Not only did the bill include climate change in public school science curriculum, but also added to the science framework, and thus science textbooks, seven other topics:

1. Integrated waste management
2. Energy conservation
3. Water conservation and pollution prevention
4. Air resources
5. Integrated pest management
6. Toxic materials
7. Wildlife conservation and forestry

Farms are places of food and commodity production almost by definition. But that definition is changing with carbon farming. This new style of farming, which produces soils that store carbon dioxide, is currently being explored by scientists at the US Geological Survey and UC Davis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The scientists aim to rebuild lost wetlands in the area. These wetlands will include rich peat soils that store CO2.

And the research teams aren’t working on guesswork alone— a test study on an island called Twitchell in the western Delta showed that the experimental process could bury up to 25 metric tons of CO2 each year and eliminate CO2 emissions from current farming practices.

When we think about a problem as daunting as glacier melt, it’s tempting to throw up our hands and say that there’s nothing to be done. But researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany disagree. 27 students from the school recently set up a large structure in the Swiss Alps in an attempt to trap cold air over the Rhone glacier.

The giant windshield measures 49 feet by 10 feet (15 metres long and 10 meters high). The university says the shield has already been successfully tested in a laboratory.

Henry the Tuatara, has suddenly regained his sexual vigor, and scientists in a New Zealand zoo are excited that he is becoming a dad, after nearly 40 boring years living a life of an eunuch. Science world is also excited with Henry’s newly acquired fame, largely because his family is ‘ancient’, even pre-dating evolution of the dinosaurs.

A large part of the excitement, however, is not that Henry seems to be racing against time but he is enjoying the company of three mates in his sunset years. He has lived long, though, with his species having a lifespan of about 70 years in the wild.

Hyperion Power Generation issued a press release on August 12, 2008 announcing that their first customer had signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase 6 Hyperion Power Modules^TM (HPM), which the company describes as “a small, compact, transportable, nuclear power reactor”.

Each HPM will be priced at approximately $25 million. The company did not disclose an expected shipping date for the first HPM, but the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission currently lists their scheduled manufacturing license review as starting in 2012 with an projected completion sometime in 2015. (Ref - Periodic Briefing on New Reactor Issues dated February 20, 2008 - PDF.)

I am glad to see that authors are writing books for children on climate change. Rising Above Global Warming, written by B. J. DeFrancesco and illustrated by Shari Lynn Myers, is the story of a father and son.  The father, named Dee Nile, does not believe in global warming and owns polluting factories.  The son tries to talk to his father about the effects of climate change they are observing, and his father’s standard reply is “poppycock”.

Rising Above Global Warming is the first children’s book I have read that deals with the denial many adults have about climate change.  I imagine many children try to have conversations with their ignorant parents on the subject, similar to the characters in this book.  Eventually, as the ocean rises, snow melts in the mountains, and the beloved birds leave the town of Terra, Dee Nile realizes climate change is real and happening. The characters then make positive changes, such as planting trees and powering the factory with wind power. Their efforts pay off, and the effects of climate change are reversed.  DeFrancesco explains:

My story is positive.  It empowers children to get involved and not be afraid to act. I want them to know they can make a difference.  The bottom line, it is not too late to do something about global warming. It starts with one person making a difference, then it escalates.