World wide, 75 percent of human exposure to mercury is from the consumption of marine fish and shell fish. In the U.S., about 40 percent of all human exposure to mercury is from tuna harvested in the Pacific Ocean, according to Elsie Sunderland, a coauthor of the recent US Geologic Survey study.
Data used in this study comes from one of 15 (so far) research cruises that are part of a much larger, international project called CLIVAR; the Climate Variability (CLIVAR) Repeat Hydrography/CO2 research program.
Data analysis of the water samples indicated that total mercury levels in the North Pacific Ocean water have risen about 30 percent over the last 20 years.
By Lucille Chi •
March 16, 2009
I was struck by the trash talk spotlight on Green is Sexy this month with Verus Energy Ltd. Co-Founders Tim Jervis and David Diracles because they truly understand that the global energy generation infrastructure is requiring colossal changes to sustain the planet.
Verus Energy is a new form of development company that focuses on building renewable power plants that use waste as the feedstock: “In the same way that a property developer might develop a new residential or commercial property, Verus develops a power plant. Between the core team at Verus and our strategic partners, we can design, build, construct, and operate power plants that use waste rather than fossil fuels as the source of energy.” Jervis and Diracles explain.
Verus states on their website that they are out to change the way power plants work. Their mission is to help the UK (and soon the US) address waste and energy challenges by developing clean and efficient energy from waste plants. Energy from waste encompasses many processes where trash is converted into electricity, heat, or transport fuel. On top of providing a clean and secure source of energy, the process provides an environmentally friendly alternative to dumping waste in landfill.
Instead of polluting the air with the (traditional power generating) burning of waste for fuel, they are creating much cleaner trash power with anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis…
By William Ellard •
December 29, 2008
Editor’s Note : This is a guest post from William Ellard, an economist specializing in energy and renewable energy markets. He is currently working with national solar energy firms to bring distributed solar power to municipalities in the American Southwest.
During a recent work meeting with the Western Renewable Energy Zones Initiative, it became clear that the recent push for renewable energy in the western US has major wildlife and environmental implications. As an alternative energy economist, my contribution in the meeting was to present some of the new solar energy technologies and explain how distributed solar could be deployed without disturbing wildlife ecosystems.
By Meg Hamill •
October 22, 2008
In a last minute effort to alter the endangered species rules before Bush leaves office, officials are speed-reading 200,000 public comments. If the Administration goes through with their plan, they will implement the biggest changes to the rules since 1986.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has called 15 people to Washington this week to speed read 200,000 comments in 32 hours. The public comments are regarding a proposal by the interior department to exclude greenhouse gases and the advice of federal biologists from decisions about whether dams and power plants could harm species.
Dale Hall, Fish and Wildlife Service Director, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the short time frame for processing the comments was requested by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and, indeed would set a record. Usually the review process takes months.
By Ariel Schwartz •
September 2, 2008
New ideas for reducing CO2 seem to be popping up all the time. The latest scheme for getting rid of the greenhouse gas comes from Stanford Professor Brent Constanz. The Geological and Environmental Sciences Professor has invented a new type of cement that is carbon neutral—a huge innovation for a material whose production process normally spews vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Not only is Constanz’s cement carbon neutral, but it also sequesters CO2 emitted from power plants.
