By Govind Singh •
September 9, 2009
Last week, the Internet celebrated its 40th birthday! Forty glorious years that saw not just the transition from ARPANet to the now popular Internet but also Web 2.0 and what not! The Internet has been a revolution–in the making! The Internet that we know of today has been around for a little over a decade. That is also the time period when awareness and action on the “global” climate crisis has been phenomenal. And the link, evident!
According to the Internet Governance Forum, Internet consumes up to one trillion kilowatt hours of electricity per year, amounting to around 5% of the world’s total electricity consumption. The ‘tools’ of the IT sector are also manufactured using metals of various kinds. So the question remains, can Internet really help solve the climate crisis? The answer, on behalf of a generation grown up with the Internet, a firm Yes!
Here are five ways how Internet is helping fight climate change:
By Sean Daily •
August 25, 2009
Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas‘ Editor-In-Chief, talks Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and EEStor’s promising new battery technologies with Ian Clifford, CEO of ZENN Motor Company.
[
Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]
Click Play [...]
David de Rothschild’s Plastiki is a seaworthy boat made from reclaimed plastic bottles. Michael Reynolds’ Earthships (the subject of the documentary Garbage Warrior) are homes built from reclaimed materials, and designed to provide basic needs for the homeowner: energy, food, water, and waste disposal. Put the two together, and you get the Landlord Independent, a work-in-progress by Providence, Rhode Island-based artists and activists Dan Gladstone and Zachary Weindel.
By Moiz Kapadia •
August 21, 2009
Tested on the California/Nevada border, the Ecotricity Greenbird broke the land speed record for wind-powered vehicles. The Greenbird clocked in at a top speed of 126.4 mph and maintained a speed of 126.2 mph for three seconds. The previous record was 116mph.
The Greenbird is a collaboration between Ecotricity and engineer Richard Jenkins. Ecotricity is an independent green electricity company based in the UK founded and owned by entrepreneur Dale
Vince. Jenkins is the founder of the Windjet project and has a wide range of skills in engineering, design, piloting, and construction experience. Both sides are innovative, experienced, and have a passion for wind energy as a solution for transportation and utilities.
If you’ve kept an eye on the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program (which will end on Monday), you know that it’s been a huge success on a number of fronts: hundreds of thousands of people have traded in older, less fuel-efficient vehicles for new models with better gas mileage, and some auto manufacturers are even rehiring. Of course, the program’s had its downsides, also: dealers have complained about slow reimbursements, and some environmentalists have worried that the fuel economy requirements weren’t quite stringent enough.
Portland, Oregon-based businessman Joe Doebele has another complaint about the program: there’s nothing in it to get commuters to shift from four wheels to two. Rather than just throw stones, though, Doeble decided to do something about this shortcoming: he’s started his own “cash for clunkers” program at his cargo bike shop Joe Bike.
By Ruedigar Matthes •
August 5, 2009
You’re waiting at a red light, your engine idling lightly. You check the crosswalk signal: 20 seconds, you have some time. You turn your classical music up a notch to the perfect volume and you close your eyes, relaxing on your way home from work. But your moment of relaxation is interrupted by the thump thump of bass coming from the car next to you. You look over at the car, the tinted windows keep you from seeing the driver. [...]
