You would probably be surprised by the amount of companies that have promised, and succeeded, in going 100% green (at least in terms of electricity)! As of July 9 this year, the amount of 100% green power that companies were purchasing for their US operations stood at more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partnership.

The most recent company soon to join their ranks will be the U.S. global financial services company ING. Announced on the first of the month, ING is agreeing to purchase clean, emission-free wind energy credits for its United States operations amounting to a total of 100% of its electricity usage in the US.

"ING is committed to conducting its business responsibly around the globe and Environmental protection is a fundamental part of this commitment," said Tom McInerney, ING Executive Board member, chairman and chief executive officer, ING Insurance Americas. "We make decisions about sustainability every day at ING, which is why we are part of a worldwide dialogue that addresses climate change and why we focus on developing strategies to mitigate ING’s impact on the environment."

This is in line with ING’s desire to become 100% carbon-neutral by the end of 2007, which they announced at the beginning of 2007. Marcus Peacock, EPA’s deputy administrator, had this to say in response to ING’s most recent announcement:

America is shifting to a ‘green culture,’ with more and more businesses understanding that environmental responsibility is everyone’s responsibility. EPA commends ING for making a long-term commitment to protecting the environment by purchasing green power.

ING has already made massive strides to offset their carbon usage, by either minimizing the amount that they use or purchasing credits. In addition, they offset all global business travel by investing in the planting and rehabilitation of 300 hectares of degraded tropical rainforest in Malaysia.

But if you’re looking for a more visible demonstration of their green efforts, you need look no further than their 500,000-square-foot office building under construction in Windsor, Connecticut.

The ING design team worked hard in consort with local energy distributor Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P) to ensure that the building was as carbon friendly as possible. The building incorporates sensors that turn off the lights when a room is empty, light dimmers on the building’s exterior, and an Earth-friendly rooftop air-conditioning system with extra efficient controls and air-handling units.

And, if you’re after figures rather than flashy shows of support, then you’ll be pleased to hear that CL&P have announced that the measures being undertaken by ING in their new building will amount to energy savings amounting to 1.87 million gallons of oil, or enough to provide 3,376 homes with electricity each year.

As for their most recent announcement of wind power to supply their current installations, ING will buy 70 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean wind energy from leading wind energy marketer and developer Community Energy, Inc. for an initial two-year purchase. The purchase will power some 10,000 U.S.-based employees in Atlanta, Denver, California, Hartford, New York, Arizona, and West Chester, Pennsylvania, along with several other major offices and nearly 100 smaller regional offices throughout the United States.

The environmental benefit estimated for their recent purchases amount to a whopping offset of more than 43,270 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This impact is the equivalent of planting more than 38,981 acres of trees or removing over 9,057 cars from the road each year.

Brent Alderfer, president of Pennsylvania-based wind energy marketer and developer Community Energy, said,

ING, an industry leader in securing the financial future of its customers, now extends that leadership to a secure environmental future for everyone. We commend ING on its commitment to environmental integrity with its clean energy purchase and for setting the standard for corporate leadership on the environment.

ING’s online component will follow suit by purchasing renewable energy in January of next year.

ENN - ING to Power All U.S. Operations with Wind Power

EPA - Green Power Partnership

ING - ING and Climate Change

Photo courtesy of ING - ING House – Headquarters of ING Group, Amsterdam

There is, at least in my humble and possibly pessimistic opinion, very little to be excited about in this day and age when it comes to reversing global warming. Lakes are dying, ice sheets are melting, and a number of leaders in the developed world are like the kids seven steps behind the rest of their friends.

But then we get little nuggets of gold like this one, featuring the Ecuadorans who are now top on my list of "World’s Greatest People."

Ecuador has pledged not to extract or explore the nearly one billion barrels of oil hidden underneath its Yasuni National Park. Despite the fact that oil exports make up one third of the country’s budget, Ecuador will become the first country to deliberately leave oil reserves untouched.

However, Ecuador may not take quite the financial hit expected, because they could receive financial incentives in reward for this action. The fact that they are essentially removing the equivalent of 436 million tons of carbon dioxide from the planet is definitely worthy of such reward.

Yasuni is home to two indigenous tribes that live in voluntary isolation in what is described as one of the world’s most biodiverse locations on the planet.

The YasunÌ-ITT Initiative is only one part of a grander plan that the Ecuadoran government is working on. Its National Development Plan includes prioritizing the use of renewable energy sources, building efficient transport systems, promotion of eco-tourism and sustainable development for Ecuador’s Amazonian region.

Once again, compare all of this to the doings of the US, and you can see just how far behind we industrialized nations really are.

Organized by George Bush earlier this year at the G8 summit, his two-day meeting of the 17 biggest emitters of climate-warming gases only served to show how isolated Bush and his government really are.

Bush — who at least got credit for realizing the seriousness of what is happening — only managed to further his single minded resolve to do absolutely nothing, the resolve that saw him — along with my beloved John Howard — decline to sign the Kyoto Protocol in 2001.

He stressed a need to create new environmental technologies, and to implement voluntary measures to tackle global warming. But this last point has received much criticism, most notably from John Ashton, Britain’s climate envoy.

"It is striking that the administration at the moment in the international conversation seems to be pretty isolated," he said. "I think that the argument that we can do this through voluntary approaches is now pretty much discredited internationally."

It’s ironic that at the same time that we see George Bush and his United States all but standing still on a conveyor belt, we see a small country like Ecuador sacrificing a possible third of its annual budget to help not only themselves, but the rest of the world as well.

All I can say is this; ¡Buen Trabajo Sangriento Ecuador! (Bloody Good Job Ecuador!)

ENN - Gutsy Ecuador proposes to put a lid on oil.

ENN - Bush draws fire at climate talks

Photo courtesy ASU

The recent Clinton Global Initiative meeting held in New York has sparked a lot of news across the world, with new commitments being made that — fingers crossed — will continue to help people across our planet. And despite my inability to stop hearing Kodos from the Simpsons pronouncing his name "Clin Ton!" every time I hear the foundation mentioned, there is no doubt that it is doing some good.

The Rainforest Alliance recently also pledged their support to the CGI, and agreed to work with two major players in the paper industry and one in the musical instrument industry.

This support will take the shape of increasing the companies use of wood from responsibly managed forestlands certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The three companies include Domtar, a North American pulp and paper company; Time Inc, one of the largest publishing companies in the world; and Gibson Musical Instruments, Inc., the leaders in musical instruments in the United States.

"As these three major players in the paper and musical instrument industries are demonstrating, large companies are taking sustainability seriously and considering the long-term environmental, social and economic implications of their purchases," said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance, in attendance at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting.

"Buying wood products from FSC-certified forestlands supports responsible forest management, conserves biodiversity and curbs deforestation."

Deforestation

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, deforestation — the conversion of forested areas to non-forest land use such as arable land, pasture, urban use, logged area, or wasteland — causes 20% of global greenhouse emissions per year.

The FSC works through providing economic incentives to those biodiverse communities that would and could otherwise turn their lands in to grazing for cattle. In turn for these incentives, those areas are left — and encouraged — to grow in to stronger forests.

By using products that have been certified by the FSC, businesses can begin to shape how the rest of the world sees the importance of sustainability, and subsequently provides consumers with the ability to support such initiatives. Businesses will always have to be the front line of change, simply because governments often refuse to be.

Thankfully, ecological sustainability also happens to be good for business, and provides an incentive — sometimes the only one — for companies to get behind such projects as the FSC and CGI.

So while some members of society may often look at Bill Clinton with a sour expression — best summed up by watching the Simpsons — there is without a doubt a lot of good that he is doing. Let us hope that that good continues well in to the future, and continues to reap results such as these.

Rainforest Alliance - Rainforest Alliance, Gibson, Domtar and Time Inc. Commit… via ENN - Rainforest Alliance, Gibson, Domtar and Time Inc. Commit…

Environment News Service - Billions Committed for Environment at Clinton Global Initiative

Rainforest Alliance

Clinton Global Initiative

Photo - Deforestation for agriculture in Benambra, Australia

For the past half a decade, the Toyota Prius has been the poster child for the world-elite, being both green and cool. A hybrid-electric vehicle, developed and manufactured by Toyota, has won car of the year in several countries over its short lifetime, and appeared in more movies than Jack Bauer’s 4×4.

But according to a study recently released and conducted between Cardiff University and Clifford Thames an automotive consultancy, the Prius has been relegated to 12th spot in terms of “greenest car”.

It comes as a blow to the Prius, despite continuing sales with a recent increase of 76% in the past year, and making up more than 50% of the total hybrid cars sold in the US.

The study looked not just at emissions, for which the Prius is obviously low on, but on its environmental footprint. This included raw materials used in the construction of the car, and what impact its disposal will make.

In addition, while the Prius is the cleanest car for its size, weight is a factor as well. The Prius is heavier than its petrol reliant cousins, and natrually its footprint is heavier.

The researchers involved in the study believe that the steps being taken to create “ultra-low emissions” cars are going to soon create cars that overtake the Prius in terms of total emissions.

David Riemenschneider, Clifford Thames’ chief executive said that “Conventional technology will overtake the Prius over the next 12 to 18 months, and consumers won’t have to pay a premium for it.”

In my opinion, the Prius was not only an act of green awareness, but a status symbol for being able to afford such a car. They haven’t been cheap!

Recent changes to regulations across the planet, most notably in America, have forced car manufacturers to clamp down on the emissions allowed from one of their cars, and this has – as with many great steps forward in history – forced them to change.

Needless to say, the Prius will still wear the “Green Halo” for years to come.

ENN - Prius A No, No - Peugeot, Citroen And Ford Are All Greener, Says New Study

The Globe and Mail - Rethinking green

GreenOptions Founder Blog - Uses another car company–GM–to analyze the tension between business and environmentalists

I’ve found once or twice over the past several years that ideas are popping up that will one day go down in history as groundbreaking, and possibly world-saving. They are the important discoveries, steps forward and goals that you pin up with those such as JFK’s manned moon mission and the advent of the internet.

And while this idea may be just short of the computer in terms of overall impact, it very well could be one of those ideas that are so extravagant, it might just work.

Two of Britain’s premiere scientists — James Lovelock and Chris Rapley — may just have come up with a way to save the world. And while some of you may shake your head at my doomsday-ing, the fact remains, global warming is doing damage to our planet.

In a "Letter to the Editor" in the latest edition of Britain’s journal Nature, the pair wrote that the installation of millions of pipes across the earth’s oceans could help in repairing the damage that we have done to the planet.

"We need a fundamental cure for the pathology of global heating," wrote Lovelock and Rapley. "Emergency treatment could come from stimulating the Earth’s capacity to cure itself."

Their proposed plan involves vertical pipes that are 100 to 200 meters deep, and 10 meters in diameter, that would pump the healthier nutrient-rich waters from well below the surface, up to mix with the barren water at the surface.

The fundamental problem is that what were normally the earth’s ways to manage the sun are now furthering the damage done. The prime example is that of the polar ice-caps, which should be reflecting sunlight back in to space but, due to the waters absorbing more warmth, are diminishing and thus exposing more water to warmth.

The method that Lovelock and Rapley are hoping to manipulate to their ends is that of using the ocean as a carbon sink, like I touched on a few weeks ago. The problem is that the top layer of the ocean, which should be full of algae and nutrients, is devoid of it. These nutrients are what help in the process of drawing carbon down to the bottom of the ocean — the carbon sink. So their disappearance is once again causing an increase in atmospheric carbon.

"We wondered if we could restore algal growth with its capacity to draw down carbon dioxide and to emit dimethyl sulphide, the precursor of clouds."

Clouds have a very similar to the function to that of the polar ice-caps, as they too reflect the sun’s rays back in to space. The lack of dimethyl sulphide in the oceans has diminished the amount of clouds that are regularly created.

"We wanted to use this approach to illustrate the value of action to halt climate change that was based on the recognition of the Earth as a self regulating system at present in a state of failure," Lovelock said.

Their plan to give the planet a helping hand in its processes has both merit and scientific backing.

They want to start off small, too, hoping to run a small-scale test with a tropical island and a coral reef. From there, if the plan worked, they could then possibly extend their field of impact to, say, the Gulf of Mexico. Of course, such an expansion would require an additional 10,000 to 100,000 pipes at least a hundred meters long.

"With average wave height, one metre, each pipe moves about five tons of water per second — this might be enough to change the surface sufficiently for algal growth in a few years," Lovelock explained.

This sort of plan would no doubt be a welcome relief for the smaller countries, especially those who are classified as an island. At Monday’s United Nations high-level event on climate change, leaders from attendant developing and small island nations were given five minutes each to make statements to the council.

"It is an irony that the least-developed countries and small island states, which are the least responsible for the climate change, are the worst affected," said Sahana Pradhan, Nepal’s minister of foreign affairs. "Industrialized nations have a special obligation to mitigation," she added.

The small island countries that aren’t New Zealand and Australia, and the developing countries across the world, have very little ability to deal with such problems like global warming, and any attempt often comes at the expense of their populations safety and/or health. Such a plan may very well have the political backing of both industrialized and developing nations, and the scientific ability to work.

Whether my theorizing comes to fruition or not is not really for any of us to say, but maybe only to hope. But it is clear that global warming — its effects and precursors — are becoming more and more the center of popular focus.

A recent BBC poll has found that 79% of people believe that human activity causes global warming. Some 22,182 people in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United States were interviewed.

9 out of 10 people believe action is necessary, with 65% choosing the strongest position, "It is necessary to take major steps starting very soon." One of the questions asked — which received a 73% favorability in all but two countries — if developing nations would cut their emissions in exchange for financial assistance and technology from developed countries.

Now whether the poll managed to capture just those who recognize the scientific consensus on global climate change, and bypassed those who disagree with global warming, one can never tell. But the sample of people seems to indicate that the results are in, and people want change!

We can only say, it’s about bloody time!

Nature - Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming

Physorg - Giant ocean-based pipes could curb global warming: scientists

TreeHugger - Small Island Nations "Can Only Do So Much" To Impede Climate Change

Physorg - BBC survey: Humans cause global warming

More from GO

India to Test South Atlantic Carbon Sink in 2009

Image Courtesy of JPL / NASA

The Northwest passage disappeared, sea ice was at its lowest in recorded history, and the ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica are melting quicker than previously expected. Yet some still ask if taking action against global climate change is really the right step forward?

This question has me absolutely stumped, and quite honestly, a little baffled.

"Is taking action better than not taking action?"

Apparently, to suggest taking action against not taking action is a statement worthy of "making waves." Peter Tsigaris, a statistician at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, Canada, has been making some of those waves in his native country with this suggestion.

Now granted, his claims are directly related to the economy, and not so much the health of his planet around him, but let’s not dismiss it due to our failure in high school math. As much as we don’t want to admit it, economics is what will ultimately shape the change for the better.

Tsigaris points to a report delivered in 2006 by England’s Government Economic Service, which says that if people do not act to curb global warming, the impacts of climate change will drain at least 5 percent — and up to 20 percent — of the global gross domestic product each year. That is compared to an approximate one percent of the annual global GDP to act on it.

Yet still, some believe there is not enough information to act, and that there is still not enough evidence to prove that humans are behind the rise.

The important part of this to take away, though, is that it doesn’t matter who or what is behind global warming: the facts are that our planet is disappearing underneath rising waters.

Two further studies have recently been released that only add to the damning evidence that the world is in the midst of an unnatural global warming period.

Julienne Stroeve of the NSIDC has used ice tracking satellite data from the past 30 years to determine the age of the ice.

By way of explanation, the age of an ice sheet is terribly important to its own survival. Back when I was a kid (1980s), the ice sheets could be expected to be around 5 years old, at an estimated 2 or 3 meters thick. The obvious benefit of thicker ice is that it is harder to melt away.

What Stroeve has found is that at the moment, the maximum age for ice seems to be sitting at around 2 or 3 years old, which is only just above a meter in thickness. "The ice is getting a lot younger in the Arctic," said Stroeve. "Much more of the Arctic is about 1 meter thick."

Compared to the 1980s, where age could even make it to 9 or 10 years old, the signs are not good.

Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University has also been conducting research, using satellite measurements from the past 26 years focusing on the Barents Sea (located north of Scandinavia). The ice edge in the area has been retreating over that time, and not just during the summer months.

The warming waters caused by global warming — also responsible the drop in ice age — is dropping the ice sheet like Muhammad Ali would an opponent.

Francis’ research, which is featured in a recent issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, showed that the rising temperature in the Barents Sea — 3 degrees Celsius over the last 27 years — is what is behind the lack of ice cover during winter.

But despite the continuing signs of impending doom and gloom, there are those out there that are intent on ensuring that we don’t fall into the line of thought that there is now nothing we can do to stem the tide (sorry).

Climate scientist Michael Mann of Penn State University is one such expert. "Sometimes we fear that we are delivering too morose a message and not conveying enough that there is reason for optimism," Mann said.

The most catastrophic of consequences are able to be avoided, according to these experts, as long as we do something now.

NASA’s James Hansen, who forecasts some of the bleakest outlooks on global warming, said in an e-mail: "I am always surprised when people get depressed rather than energized to do something. It’s not too late to stabilize climate."

Many other renowned thinkers are on this bandwagon as well, from Al Gore who says " …we can’t afford to [not act], it’s a genuine planetary emergency," to psychologist David Myers of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, who believes that humans are resilient enough to step up to the plate on this matter. "To do what climate researchers are doing," he stresses, "takes enough optimism to sustain their hope and enough realism to create their concern."

So we stand here, at the precipice, and look out at a world with a bright future, or a world with a bleak one. Everything else aside — the science, the fear, the politics and the slander — there is a choice to be made. While each individual has to make his or her own choice, s/he has to make it soon — there’s little time left to wait.

Global Warming Inaction More Costly Than Solutions?

Two more signals from Arctic sea ice

Scientists Hopeful Despite Climate Signs

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Global Warming Stinks Up Canadian Navy

Photograph by Greg Baker/AP

Editor’s note: As commenter pointed out, there was an error in the post originally — the land space presented in Mills’ presentation is 92 miles square, not 92 square miles. We apologize for the mistake, and have corrected it.

Throughout the past decade or so, whenever anyone has proposed the idea of implementing a solar power generation system, they have been mocked and scorned, especially within the United States where it was believed that the landmass needed to power the entire country was simply unfeasible.

A scene from The West Wing depicted the solar power proponent placing a small square over the entirety of Nevada, suggesting that was all that would be needed.

Speaking at the International Solar Energy Society conference, chairman and chief scientific officer of solar company Ausra David Mills presented a paper (PDF) that proposed solving the United States energy problems by switching entirely to solar. He even promised solving night-time energy problems with solar power.

His company has been perfecting the solution presented, but it would not be a small change by any stretch of the imagination.

Using a Fresnel configuration — essentially based upon the lens design of the same name, which allows for thinner and lighter lenses to capture light in, say, lighthouses — the mirrors would collect heat to warm tubes of liquid, rather than solar cells. The liquid turned to steam by the solar energy would thus power nearby turbines, and create electricity.

It’s not a new technology, and Mills accepts this, but he believes it to be the best technology, because he believes that the tubes will hold heat and still produce steam at night.

The paper that Mills presented also calculated the total land space needed to fulfill all of America’s power requirements: a total of 92 miles square.

The problem arises in what would be the next step of the process: integration with the current electric infrastructure. In fact, the entire system would have to be revamped. The current AC grid would have to be converted to High Voltage DC, so that the 50% loss of power across transfer lines would be reduced to 3%.

Mills believes that this is a necessary, yet huge, undertaking, but would move the country from "capital-intensive fossil fuel plants that need to run 24/7" to "electricity created by people’s and the economy’s daily rhythm." Renewable sources such as solar and wind both follow this latter description closely.

The company knows that their proposal is more of a thought experiment rather than a plan near implementation, but they are doing their part to move us forward. In fact, in addition to their "thought experiment," Ausra is developing a 175-megawatt solar power plant which will utilize their solar liquid tubes, hopefully hitting the market by mid-2009.

Their business is based around solar power generation and solar power storage. It is the future, they believe, and a future that will grant humans a safe environment to live in. The US Southwest is all but calling out for such an experiment to be implemented, with its constant sunshine. And though California’s Mojave Desert power stations are nothing more than power generation for peak times, one day, maybe, we could see the integration of solar as the main power source, rather than a back-up.

"We’re hoping to make announcements at the end of the month for multiple projects," Mills says.

Here’s hoping!

Green Wombat - Solar Nation: Can the Sun Power the U.S.? via EcoGeek - 92 Miles Sq. of Solar Could Power the USA

Ausra’s ISES Paper (PDF)

International Solar Energy Society

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Costco, Safeway Get on Board with Solar

Each of us who are hoping for a greener future often take a particular interest in our own career path’s move towards a greener future. Automotive engineers push for greener workplaces and cleaner cars (both inside and out), politicians for… oh, bad example, and nerds like myself hope for our industry giants to take further steps towards that green, clean future.

Thankfully, I’ve picked the right team, as two of the giants of the technology world that are making great green steps in to the future.

First off is my personal favorite, Google, who seems to have a backroom that is just chock-full of hundred dollar bills. They’re dishing them our left, right and center to pay for lawsuits, acquisitions, and, as this latest story explains, green initiatives.

The nonprofit arm of the internet giant, Google.org, announced on Wednesday a $10 million request for proposal (RFP) from companies involved in commercial plug-in hybrid electric cars, as well as other sustainable forms of transportation (can you imagine how many bikes that would buy?).

The RFP process, which will take place entirely on the internet, hopes to accelerate the development of cleaner forms of transportation on a very large scale. According to Google.org, it is all in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by investing anywhere between $500,000 and $2 million in such companies.

Google.org is seeking companies with technologies, products and services that will accelerate widespread commercialization in the following fields:

• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)
• Electric vehicles (EVs)
• Vehicle-to-grid solutions (V2G)

"While $10 million is a fraction of the total investment needed to transform our transportation sector, we hope this RFP will help catalyze a broader response. We need the automakers to bring these cars to market, but plug-in vehicles also need an entire ecosystem of companies (to) flourish," Google said in a statement.

This isn’t Google’s only step in to the world of green technology. In fact, Google has been one of the corporate pioneers of taking those responsible first steps towards a greener future. In June, Google initiated RechargeIT, a program to convert company cars to plug-in hybrids. This technology not only recharges the car, but also allows the car to feed power back in to the grid at times of high demand.

Google has also installed their own 1.6-megawatt solar array, pledged $1 million to nonprofit groups working to address global warming, and given bikes to employees in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Google isn’t the only company taking green steps, though. Microsoft has added a new element to their portfolio: a regional bus system. Complete with built-in Wi-Fi, the shuttle service is built primarily for Microsoft employees, many of whom are situated in Redmond, Washington. The 14-bus Microsoft "Connector" system, to debut later this month, was announced as Microsoft expanding offices in Seattle’s South Lake Union and Pioneer Square neighborhoods.

Though the bus system will be able to handle no more than 1,000 of its 35,000 employees, it raises the issue, and adds new fuel to the fire, of comprehensive regional transportation reform. "This is something that the county bus system should be doing and they’re not," said Stephen Gerritson, executive director for Commuter Challenge, a Seattle non-profit. "To some extent, Metro is dropping the ball here."

This is a big move for Microsoft, and the right move at that. While undoubtedly expensive (Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith refused to name the price attached to this program) this investment will definitely improve Microsoft’s image worldwide.

Microsoft is not the only big name in the tech industry to offer bus rides to its employees, though: Google (again) offers about 150 bus runs daily across the San Francisco Bay Area, to and from its Mountain View, CA, campus, spokeswoman Sunny Gettinger said. "Part of the reason that we do it is because we really want people to have the opportunity to be able to work at Google in Mountain View and not feel like they’re contributing to environmental issues by commuting," she said.

Many companies, especially the big companies with employees numbering well in to the thousands, should be watching these moves by Google and Microsoft. As big as Microsoft and Google are, their influence does not range as widely as companies such as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and General Motors. While all of these companies have taken green steps, let’s hope that the tech giant’s announcements raise the bar for all large corporations.

News.com - Google offers $10 million to ’sustainable transportation’ firms

Google’s RFP

Google.org

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - Microsoft giving workers free ride — with its own bus service

Mongabay - Business has to lead the Clean Up of the Enviroment

Image Courtesy of HugPug.com

Mankind has had its share of great accidents, among them x-rays, penicillin and the internet. They pop up because of scientific endeavor being allowed to flourish. It comes as no surprise, that what could be heralded as the answer to our future energy concerns could be solved due to an inherent accident.

John Kanzius, from Erie, Pennsylvania, has come across a way to burn sea-water. Obviously, scientists have not seen this as a viable research goal, (seeing as water is all wet and everything.) According Kanzius, the man who was originally trying to find a cure for cancer, given the right circumstances, sea-water may be able to provide us with a very renewable energy source.

First thought of as a hoax, this discovery was later backed up by Rustum Roy, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, who recreated the experiment in his own controlled lab. Roy describes this discovery as "the most remarkable in water science in 100 years.”

His colleagues at Penn State warned him “not to be fooled”, explaining the phenomenon away by saying that Kanzius had just put electrodes in the water. However, Roy proved the theory true in the Materials Research Laboratory in State College.

Radio frequency directed at the water breaks down the bonds that hold together the elements that make up salt water – sodium chloride, hydrogen and oxygen – which then makes hydrogen. When ignited, hydrogen will burn continuously as long as it is exposed to the RF energy field produced by Kanzius’ generator, originally made to desalinate water and help in the treatment of cancer. An independent source – outside of Penn State and Kanzius’ reach – measured the flame’s temperature, and noted that it exceeded 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dr. Roy – who has taken up the research of this discovery – will have already met with U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense officials in Washington by the time you are reading this, to discuss the discovery and to hopefully gain funding for further research.

"We will get our ideas together and check this out and see where it leads," Dr. Roy said. "The potential is huge. In the life sciences, the role of water is infinite, and this guy is doing something new in using the most important and most abundant material on the face of the earth."

Mr. Kanzius isn’t just your average scientist, who stumbled upon this discovery. His novel treatment to cancer – targeting cancer cells with metallic nanoparticles then destroying them with radio-frequency – is already proceeding at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and at the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Apparently while he was demonstrating the generators ability to heat nanoparticles, someone noted that there was condensation on the inside of the test tube, and suggested that Kanzius use his equipment to desalinate water. When he attempted this unexpected suggestion, a spark was emitted, and in time he and his laboratory partners struck a match and ignited the water, which continued to burn as long as the test tube remained within the radio field. "This is the most abundant element in the world. It is everywhere," Dr. Roy said of salt water. "Seeing it burn gives me chills."

One can only hope then, that maybe, just maybe, we’ve found one of our answers.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Salt water as fuel? Erie man hopes so

via Treehugger - "Fuel" from Salt Water?

YouTube Video Demonstration

John Howard, Prime Minster of Australia, and lap-dog to George Bush, has been granted the power to help shape the Asia-Pacific regions future goals and targets to combat global warming and increased carbon emissions by leading this year’s APEC Forum.

I have but few words to say to that: “God Help us All!”

For too long Howard has managed to stumble blindly along in Bush’s wake, acting almost as if he was Bush’s man in the Australian Government, and ignored the responsibilities that he was given, if not as leader of Australia, but as a sane (we assume) human being.

I’m allowed to be this callous too. You see, I’m an Australian, and I’ve had to suffer through the past decade or so with Howard at the helm, and watch as he decided it would be funny to steer us right at those rocks over there that say "Global Warming!" and other such issues.

Together with Bush, Howard decided to forego signing the Kyoto Accord, as it would apparently not sit well economically if countries like Australia, America, etc, were forced to meet carbon emission cuts and countries like China and India were not. What’s been weird is that, despite this apparent desire to see their respective countries continue to pollute the world to extinction, both leaders spearheaded local and international calls for global emissions cuts!

Pardon me if I’ve missed something, but wasn’t that was the Kyoto accord was all about? Granted, it left out some rather major polluters, but you have to start somewhere.

This rant comes in response to the fact that Howard is this year leading the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum in Sydney, and has apparently put atop the agenda the desire for the 21 member-countries to formulate a plan to combat global warming.

It was only a month or so ago that Howard used a report delivered by "experts" to publically suggest that the warming we are experiencing is simply a natural occurrance, and that the "crisis" that is all but eating his breakfast is non-existent.

The facts are, though, that we are indeed in the grip of a natural global warming, but that due to the increase in carbon emissions – unheard of when my dad and the dinosaurs were around – the warming cycle has been escalated to a point where it is essentially on the verge of being out of our control.

It is this escalation that scientists, researchers, laymen and my cat see as a crisis, and that must receive direct attention immediately.

Thankfully, it seems, Howard, Bush, and other world leaders are beginning to realize that we weren’t all spouting rubbish to scare everybody in to not voting for them, and that there is actually a problem at hand.

This is exemplified by the agreement that has – according to inside sources from the APEC forum – been reached by the 21-member countries meeting in Sydney. Indonesia’s envoy – Salman Al-Faris, who was involved in formulating the agreement - has said that a major concession by the poorer countries involved has lead to setting an "energy intensity" reduction target.

The agreement was for all 21 APEC members to work towards a 25% cut in energy intensity by 2030, according to a Southeast Asian official who only commented on condition of anonymity. This agreed target comes despite the poorer countries saying they would not agree to a fixed target. The reduction forced developed nations to recognize - in compromise - that the U.N. believes poorer nations to have fewer responsibilities when it comes to cutting carbon emissions.

"Everybody cannot get everything, but everybody did not lose too much," Al-Farisi said of the compromise. "It is up to members’ discretion to follow, in accordance to their national programs," he added to the fact that any APEC agreement is non-binding.

This all came after George Bush had made his speech to business leaders, saying that "The United States is committed to seizing this opportunity and we need partners in this region to help lead the effort." He also pressed the member-nations of APEC to reach a conclusion on Global Warming, the topic that Howard has put at the top of the agenda.

Putting aside the fact that, if we were to look at the world’s leaders in the fight against global warming, the US would come somewhere in the last third, I think it is time to say that, we’re glad America has finally decided to come to the party, even if they’re the smug guy over in the corner acting as if he had planned the party.

On a lighter note, approximately 200 world religious leaders met Friday on a cruise ship amid icebergs near Illulisat on the west coast of Greenland. Their aim: to pray for … well, something!

Apparently, so as not to follow in the steps of the 11th-century English King Canute who prayed to stop the rising tide, the participants – a mixture of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Christians – prayed to express a common concern about climate change and global warming, rather than ask a higher power to halt or reverse the current ice-thaw occurring at the north and south poles.

"In our small world we all need to struggle together," said Sofie Petersen, the bishop of Greenland.

Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, lead the assembled in a two minute prayer, where those attending noted that the overwhelming sound was that of water lapping against the icebergs in the fjord; a fitting soundtrack to a needed step forward by a powerful group of humans.

In reality, I do not think I could have ended an article primarily focusing on the exploits of George W. Bush and John Howard better than by mentioning a prayer vigil. Maybe we should all begin praying for another miracle at the APEC forum.

APEC 2007

ENN

APEC draft climate statement seen a compromise

Bush presses Asia-Pacific on trade and climate

Religious Leaders Unite In Prayer On Climate Change

Image courtesy of APEC 2007 Taskforce