5 Green Careers for the Job Seeker
Environmental engineers help create physical solutions to environmental issues.
Image: bls.govMore…
Earth’s carbon dioxide levels to hit 400 ppm
This much carbon dioxide hasn’t filled the planet’s atmosphere since the Pliocene Epoch 3 million years ago — long before the rise of modern humans.
(Source: thelittlebohemian)
(Source: marta-barros)
Solar Eruption For May Day
A giant solar eruption occurred on May 1st, 2013
Image: NASAOn Wednesday, May 1st—perhaps best…
(via singaporesoul)
Stairway to (Sustainable) Heaven
How cool is this??
When students walk down the halls at an elementary school in England, special tiles designed by a company called Pavegen capture their footsteps and turn the movement into energy that powers lights in the halls.
I’m still waiting for gyms everywhere to start running on energy converted from the machines people are working out with. It is happening, slowly, in various places around the world, but I’d like to see the trend growing more quickly!
Who said wind turbines aren’t beautiful?
Energy4All won an Ashden Award in 2012 for enabling communities to take ownership of sustainable energy. Find out more and watch a film about its work here.
You can find more Energy4All photos on Flickr.
First Algae-Powered Building Goes Up in Hamburg
A 15-unit apartment building has been constructed in the German city of Hamburg that has 129 algae filled louvered tanks hanging over the exterior of the south-east and south-west sides of the building—making it the first in the world to be powered exclusively by algae. Designed by Arup, SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Splitterwerk Architects, and named the Bio Intelligent Quotient (BIQ) House, the building demonstrates the ability to use algae as a way to heat and cool large buildings. (x)
You guys this is so cool: this building has the potential to be completely energy-independent, with the algae growing during the day and serving as power source, shade & cooling, UV protection, and a sound buffer. The outside of the building will also look really cool as the algae grow, and the panels change color and shift toward sunlight throughout the day.
The algae will essentially serve as a bioreactor, generating biomass which is processed into ‘biofuel’ which will then power the building’s activities (heating, electricity, etc.) throughout the day:
The building is set to open later this month, and many researchers and engineers are eager to see if this idea can be practically applied to other buildings around the world.The algae flourish and multiply in a regular cycle until they can be harvested. They are then separated from the rest of the algae and transferred as a thick pulp to the technical room of the BIQ. The little plants are then fermented in an external biogas plant, so that they can be used again to generate biogas. Algae are particularly well suited for this, as they produce up to five times as much biomass per hectare as terrestrial plants and contain many oils that can be used for energy. (x)
Potentially, the concept could power whole buildings at very low running-costs and act as a CO2 sink.(photo credit: x)
Meatless Monday is coming up at one New York City public school. And it will be followed by Meatless Tuesday, Meatless Wednesday, and Meatless Everyday.
