Green Options

If you’ve ever visited Mexico City, you know that it isn’t exactly a model of sustainability. It faces serious environmental challenges, including water shortages, smog, waste disposal problems, and traffic congestion.

But Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is at least trying to steer the urban behemoth in a more sustainable direction. In 2007, Ebrard launched an ambitious 15-year eco-action policy called “Plan Verde” (Green Plan) to address many of the city’s woes.  Taking lessons from Bogota, Columbia, Plan Verde is addressing city transit issues, in part, with bikes. The capital’s Bicycle Master Plan aims to increase bicycle trips to 5% of daily trips made in the city by 2012.

To start, the city purchased 2,500 bicycles to give free to residents who complete a bicycle safety course. The bikes are city-friendly with a low frame for men and women, a basket, fenders, a rack, a bell, and reflectors.

Of course with more bike traffic, you need more bike infrastructure.

Water to 5 million of Mexico city’s residents will be cut off for 36 hours over Easter weekend due to record low water reserves.

A US-based company has successfully tested a revolutionary solar panel that is expected to cut the costs of photovoltaic solar power generation by more than 50 per cent, and herald a new era of improved efficiency and lower production costs of solar energy globally.

The panel, known as the Alubond Solar Collector Panel (SCP), was created by American Building Technologies, a subsidiary of the UAE-based multinational group Mulk Holdings. Commenting on the breakthrough, a spokesman for Mulk said, “We hope the success of this project will lead to an upsurge in the development of more solar energy plants, which will not only lessen the strain on existing energy resources, but also severely reduce the pollution levels that are currently witnessed in power generation.”

The proposed 500,000 square feet of green roofs are part of Mayor Marcelo Ebrard’s $5.5 billion Green Plan, which also plans to reduce traffic in the crowded city.