Category Archives: Awareness and Hype
A green and clean neighborhood is always favored and appreciated. One of the greenest and most beautiful cities in Netherlands, Eindhoven has taken a step forward in taking its residents closer to nature. Suspended foliage in public spaces in an effort to turn the city greener and more eco-friendly is indeed an applauded idea put to use in the form of Green spotlights. These lamps suspended above the streets of the city are surrounded with foliage on the outside. On growing, this foliage will create a spectacular natural shade to the lamp in the center. These lamps when lit up create a natural green aura around them and on the street below. So, the next time you walk the streets of Eindhoven make sure you look above you and lose yourself in the natural magnificence of these lamps.
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It may sound surprising and ironical but according to estimates by the United Nations, this years climate change talks in Copenhagen will result in the production of carbon dioxide that equals that produced by an African country! The 12 day summit will cost an enormous sum of £130million with 15,000 delegates and 45,000 green visiting Copenhagen. 5,000 journalists will be covering the event at which 100 world leaders will be present. The flights, trains, buses and other forms of transport, and the food and energy used at the summit will generate 41000 tons of carbon dioxide. £6.3million will be spent on flights and £20million on hotels and £3.3million on food. Discussions regarding funding the under developed with £100billion every year by the western countries to help protect themselves from natural disasters and protection of rain forests from destruction will be carried out at this meet. However, many scientists are skeptical and argue that the summit will pollute the environment more by releasing green house gases instead of saving it!
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The most important event of the year, Copenhagen Climate Change Summit has already begun and there are many earthlings who still are in dark about the entire climate change debate, Kyoto Protocol, role of their nation, green technology and all other green basics and jargons. WWF (World Wild Life Fund) has decided to keep the world abreast of all that is happening inside the close door meetings and all agendas that are emerging or getting sabotaged on its very interesting site Inside COP15 blog. Apart from updating their blog with all latest news, WWF will be actively answering queries online on Guardian’s “You ask, they answer” page.
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Much of fragile planet Earth’s future is hinged on outcome of International Climate Change Summit at Copenhagen. Some world leaders are already pledging more emission cut downs and some are mulling to go back on their words. It’s a conflict between climate change believers and skeptics where once again economics will cast a shadow on real facts. Artists Alfio Bonanno and Christophe Cornubert have created a huge 27 foot cubic installation at the venue, the cube represents one ton CO2, the amount that is emitted by an individual in a developed industrial country in fifteen days (in case of US) to one month. Hope Barrack Obama, who is expected to attend end of the summit and other leaders will catch glimpse of this huge carbon foot print!
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Florida State University has decided to contribute about $1 million towards the total $3 million magnet that is to be constructed at the National Magnetic Field Laboratory. This new high tech one is made to generate a field about 45% more powerful than the strongest superconducting magnet that exists today. Until now, superconducting magnets have required a low temperature to operate, which in turn requires expensive coolants such as liquid helium. The new magnet has been developed in collaboration with industry partner SuperPower Inc., a global specialist in superconductors. It will use about 5 miles of cable made of a superconducting material called yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO). YBCO does not require a low operating temperature, and once brought up to speed it requires little or no electricity. Researchers claim that it could mark the beginning of a new generation of super powerful magnets that help lower both the cost and the carbon footprint of scientific research.
[Cleantechnica]
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With the drastic and extreme climatic changes happening, it is definitely not a good sign for the inhabitants of the earth. In order to create awareness, the UN will launch the ‘CO2 Cube’ along with a presentation from visionary digital media art designer Travis Threlkel, Founder and Creative Director of Obscura Digital. The main agenda behind this move is addressing the importance of utilizing art to encourage audiences to act on climate change solutions. Measured and stored at standard atmospheric pressure, CO2 occupies a cube the size of a three-story building 8.2m x 8.2m x 8.2m (27ft x 27ft x 27ft). This is the amount of CO2 the average person in an industrialized country emits each month, and in the United States, every two weeks.
[ArtDaily]
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St Louis Zoo will showcase electronic bears for their upcoming holiday special Wild Lights exhibition. Polar bears have been most prominently featured animals in the global warming and climate change campaigns. They are facing most threat due rising temperature and melting polar caps. St Louis Robotic Bears will be a sad reminder of the grim future that awaits all of us and it throws up very uncomfortable questions. Will electronic proxies be all that will be left for the future generation to know about these majestic white bears? Can climate change effects be reversed?
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Britain’s Environment Agency Head Lord Smith is going to suggest a ‘Green New Deal’ at the agency’s annual conference tomorrow. And what is this ‘Green deal’ which may be introduced over next 20 years? He advocates fixed carbon allowances for every individual to cut down carbon emission. Each citizen will have a ‘Carbon Account’ with cards that will keep track of their usage of fuels, electricity etc in short it will track their carbon footprint and once they exceed allowed limits they will be asked to pay more for getting more credit. According to Climate Change Act Britain is under tremendous pressure to cut down greenhouse gas emission level by 80 percent before 2050.
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We have heard a lot about the electric cars of the future. Even though there still do exist many electric cars, yet they haven’t yet been as popular in use. But the future seems very bright for these electric cars that use zero fuels. But what if the battery of your car gets over mid-way? Instead of pulling to a recharging station and spending hours there, Fraunhofer Institute in Germany ahs devised a new technology by which the battery can be refilled with an electrolytic liquid. By using a redox flow battery that uses a process to generate electricity, they refill the battery to make it as efficient as a lithium ion battery. All this will take only a few minutes. So now, instead of relying on the transportation of tankers of gasoline, the recharge stations can now merely recharge the fluid there and then using solar cells or wind turbine.
[Cnet]
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In today’s day and age, many countries and their corresponding cities are promoting the use of public transport, bicycles and car pooling to reduce the level of pollution that can be caused by the over congestion of so many vehicles on the roads. One such station is the Norreport Train Station, which is the busiest train station in the Danish capital with over 25,000 people bustling through it every single day. Also bicycles are a preferred means of transportation in Copenhagen, hence the new look of the Copenhagen’s Norreport train station has been designed specially to be bike-friendly. COBE Architects blasted away its competitors with their interesting and environment friendly design that composed of a series of rounded, floating roofs set upon striking glass pavilions with ample bike parking space and many other green features.
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