http://www.plentymag.com/news/2007/06/investment_in_renewable_energy.php
According to the story, an additional $71 billion was invested in renewable energy in 2006, which accounts for 18 percent of all investments in energy. However, only two percent of all energy used around the world comes from renewable energy sources.
Projected capital investment for 2007: $85 billion.
Member Event: Green Brunch
Contemporary Arts Center
Beyond Green Brunch and Tour
CAC, 6th and Walnut Streets, Downtown
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Member Seating · 10:00 AM
General Public · Seating 11:00 AM*
Join us! Jamerasol, Rohs Street Café, Park + Vine, The Green Book and other sustainability-conscious groups partner with ETA and the CAC as we GO GREEN! Inspired by the exhibit, Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art, members and friends are invited as ETA and the CAC go GREEN! Enjoy food by emerging culinary talent Jamerasol, coffee from Rohs Street Café, try out Park + Vine’s green-friendly goods & gear, and relax to the sounds of Russ Childers as he performs on a dulcimer made from recycled items. CAC Education will help you turn a shopping bag from EcoBags into a work of art, and some lucky winners will receive The Green Book. (See www.readthegreenbook.com).
Capacity is limited - reserve early!
$12 per person for brunch, tour, and art activity
RSVP to (513) 621-4700 with credit card
Have questions? E-mail events@etastart.com
Bring as many friends as you like
*This event is part of the Mayor’s Arts Allies Series.
Did you know that in the average home, 40 percent of all electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off? According to an article published yesterday in The New York Times, added up, that equals the annual output of 17 power plants.
The author of the article, Larry Magid, used a $25 energy meter to measure the amount of electricity his electronic devices used overnight, when they were turned off or not in use. The results of his tests are pretty surprising. Check out the article, or visit the homepage of The Times' Energy Challenge.
Good news! Environmentalists can continue contributing to green causes post humously!
There are a string of environmentally friendly methods of burial available primarily in Europe and in certain parts of the United States. In the United Kingdom, there are dedicated woodland burial grounds where, if loved ones are buried in biodegradable coffins such as untreated wood, cardboard etc, no essential pollutants enter the ground (providing that the deceased is a staunch environmentalist and waived their embalming privileges.)
Eco-friendly coffins are also being constructed of cellulose fibres from recycled trees.
In Sweden, ecologist Susanne Wiigh-Masak has devised a method of turned human remains into human compost. The deceased are placed in liquid nitrogen, shattered (a process relatively easy considering the human body is 73.8% water) and placed in bio degradable containers for 6 months. After that time, they can be transferred to traditional compost heaps.
For more, read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
There's an interesting article in today's New York Times Magazine about Thomas Edison's contributions to renewable energy technologies. The article is accompanied by a picture of Edison with his electric car, the Baker, holding a battery proudly.
It discusses Mayor Bloomberg's recent announcement that he wanted to reduce New York City's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in the next 25 years.
What's kind of funny about Edison is that while he was "an unlikely green pioneer whose ideas about renewable power still resonate today," he also built one of the country's first central power stations in New York City and invented the incandescent light bulb (which we all know to be a "notoriously inefficient" source of light).
At any rate, the article ends with a scarily foretelling quote from Edison in 1931: "I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
A timeline put together by The Times' Andrew Revkin and Farhana Hossain showing changes in the administration's view of global warming (click image to enlarge)
Yesterday, Bush spoke at the United States Agency for International Development in Washington. “In recent years, science has deepened our understanding of climate change and opened new possibilities for confronting it,” he said.
The New York Times Radio Editor Jane Bornemeier discussed the talk and its implications with Times reporter Andrew Revkin. "There's been a groundswell of concern about climate that's built over two years," he said, "counting high energy prices, Hurricane Katrina, the Al Gore movie, and then the series of science reports from the UN have really built a case that's hard to undermine."
Revkin explained that Bush has never really said that we needed to cut emissions until now. The timeline above illustrates that fact. After several minutes of discussing this, Bornemeier got down to business: "Is this all talk?" she asked Revkin. "It's all talk until they meet," he replied, referring to the Group of 8 (or G-8) nations that will meet in Germany next week. "This is a long-term process."
“There is no more time for longwinded talks about unenforceable long-term goals,” said David Doniger, climate policy director for the National Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group in Washington, as quoted in the article. “We need to get a serious commitment to cut emissions now and in the G-8.”
The Times article can be found here.
