Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
photo: Woodley Wonderworks via flickr
Still think last year’s heavy snows in parts of the eastern United States were a sign that the world isn’t warming? A new study in Geophysical Research Letters by scientists from Columbia University’s Earth Institute show that it was converging weather patterns dumping all that snow; but the researchers also pointedly comment that a warming world will still… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Photo: GM
Chevrolet Dealers in Launch Markets are Taking Reservations
After years of waiting, we finally know how much the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid will be sold for: The Volt’s MSRP will start at $41,000 ($33,500 net of the full federal tax credit, which ranges from $0-$7,500) including a destination freight charge of $720. GM will also be offering a lease option with monthly payments of about $350 for 36 months, with $2,500 down. Read on for more details…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Photo: Flickr, CC
UPS has just set itself a new fuel-efficiency goal for all of its “package delivery fleet”, aiming for a 20% increase in MPG between the years 2000 and 2020. They are already well underway, with a 10% increase in mileage for their fleet of 60,000 ground vehicles between 2000 and 2009. The number might seem a bit abstract, but in practice it means that despite the fact that UPS drivers logged 77.3 million more miles than in 2009 than in 2000, they burned 3.2 million fewer gallons of fuel. Read on to find out some of the strategie… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Photo via National Marine Sanctuaries
As the ocean absorbs more of the carbon dioxide we’re pumping into the atmosphere, its chemistry changes and it is becoming much more acidic. This ocean acidification is causing problems from bleaching coral reefs to altering the make-up crustacean’s shells. But for the first time, scientists are finding that it is also playing havoc with fishes’ sense of smell. More acidic oceans is making it harder for fish to smell when p… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Image by milena mihaylova
Sewage is a surprising resource when it comes to harvesting energy during its treatment. According to researchers from Oregon State University, investing a little more in sewage could provide substantially bigger yields. They’ve found that adding gold nano-coatings to the anode chamber of a fuel cell could help produce 20 times more electricity from sewage treatment. The findings could mean bid news for combining wastewater with renewable energy generation.
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
photo: Dan Sorensen via flickr
A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examining the effects on immigration of decreased crop yields due to climate change finds that by 2080 millions of Mexican farmers could be forced to migrate north into the United States. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Photo via jesse.millan
Last week, we caught word that a Texas-based company was getting set to ship billions of gallons of water from Alaska to parched areas of Asia and Africa, at what looks to be the start of a growing global trade in fresh water supplies. S2C Global was finalizing plans, with hopes to start shipments by early next year. However, there seems to be a hitch in the plans, and major hurdles including buildin… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
photo: AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel
If you’re sweating through a heatwave right now, take comfort knowing that you don’t have massive peat-fires sending smoke across your town too, like in Moscow: The Russian capital experienced a record high of 99°F, on Monday (the hottest since records began in the late 1800s), with the heatwave setting off peat fires, causing air quality to be 5-8 higher than normal. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Image: GM
HFO-1234yf Will be Used in GM’s 2013 Models
We talk a lot about CO2 because it is the greenhouse gas that humanity produces in the biggest quantity, but there are many others that contribute to warming our planet. The refrigerant in automobile air conditioner units is one of those. It stays in the atmosphere for a long time if it leaks, and it is pretty effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere. That’s why it’s good news that GM, probably followed by other automakers, will start using a new refrigerant (HFO-1234yf, made by Honeywell Fluorine Prod… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Posted By admin on July 28, 2010
Photo: Porsche AG
Porsche is Testing 3 Battery-Powered Electric Boxsters
Almost all automakers are moving in the direction of electrification. This transition takes many forms (hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electric cars), but the goal is the same: To make cars more energy-efficient and make them less dependent on a single source of energy (oil vs. all the ways you can make electricity, including all the clean & renewable ones). Even Porsche, the German sports car maker, has been experimenting with electrons, starting with Read the full story on TreeHugger
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