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2010 -09- 03 09:30:00

MIT Creates Self-Assembling Solar Cells That Repair Themselves

MIT s Test Cell Patrick Gillooly, MIT Solar cells are intended to mimic the photosynthesis of plants — converting light into energy in the most efficient manner possible. But what other characteristics of plants could be handy for the renewable energy sector to mimic? How about the self-assembly of chloroplast, the component of plants that do all the vital photosynthesis. Leaves repair themselves after sun damage again and again to keep up their ability to convert light into energy. Now, MIT researchers believe they ve discovered how to use this self-assembly to restore solar cells damaged by the sun…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Offshore Oil Platform Explodes in Gulf of Mexico [Updated x5]

Image: Google Maps Thankfully, No Deaths This Time An offshore oil platform exploded and caught fire today in the Gulf of Mexico. It is located about 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site of BP s massive oil spill. All 13 people who were on the rig were evacuated and only one was injured, reports the U.S. Coast Guard…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Universal Cell Phone Charger Coming Soon…At Some Point…In the Maybe-Not-Distant Future…

Photo via kalleboo A common complaint about cell phones is that there is no universal charger — if you don t have the one that works specifically for your phone, well, you re just out of luck when your battery dies. It s not only a hassle for cell phone owners, but it s a huge problem for e-waste as the chargers become useless when the corresponding cell phones are tossed aside for newer models. But progress toward a more environmentally responsible (and plain common sense) solution for a universal charger that works will all phon… Read the full story on TreeHugger

New York City Inks Contract for Up to 475 Compressed Natural Gas Buses

Photo: New Flyer What s the Difference Between CNG and Diesel? The Board of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (the MTA ) has awarded New Flyer of America a contract for up to 475 buses. The contract is for 135 40-foot compressed natural gas ( CNG ) heavy-duty transit buses with options for up to an additional 340 CNG buses. We know that buses are a pretty green way to move lots of people around in urban area, but how much better are CNG buses compared to regular diesel buses? The U.S. Department of Energy has some numbers to allow us to compare…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

California To Extend Carpool-Lane Access To 40,000 Plug-In Hybrids

Photo: Flickr, CC Should Access for Regular Hybrids be Phased Out? In California, vehicles that meet certain fuel economy and tailpipe emission criteria are granted special access to the high occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV, aka the carpool lane). In car-centric places like Los Angeles, it s a huge advantage. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill (SB 535) into law that extends HOV-lane access to 40,000 qualifying plug-in hybrid … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Amazon Deforestation Down 16% Over Past Year, New Data Shows

photo: Leo Freitas via flickr According to preliminary data from Brazilian NGO Imazon, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is down 16% over the past twelve months, with 1,488 square kilometers (574 square miles) of forest cleared. All that tree felling resulted in 95.6 million metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere, Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cotton Cloth Coated in Nanotubes Electrifies Bacteria to Purify Water

Image via Stanford University Fresh, clean, drinkable water is an increasingly rare thing on this planet, especially in places that are suffering through catastrophes like floods or must deal with high levels of pollution without the resources to set up water treatment facilities. But a project from Stanford University researchers could see cheap, simple filtration devices distributed through developing nations. How simple? Well, it s just a piece of cotton cloth coated in nanotubes that filter out nearly all bacteria at a rat… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Notre Dame Begins Test Run of iPads With a Paperless Course

Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch The University of Notre Dame is taking the use of e-readers in classrooms seriously, embarking on a one year study of how the devices integrate into classrooms. The first course to have students use an iPad instead of any text books is Project Management, a class with 40 students that will not only use the iPad as a book, but will also be encouraged to use it for everything else in daily life and report back their impressions (hmmm, could that possibly have been at Apple s request?). Apple is making a big push to turn iPads into the next big thin… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Court Ruling Means Cape Wind Has All Permits Allowing Construction to Begin

photo: Martin Abegglen via flickr All the regulatory paper shuffling required to get the 240 MW Cape Wind project started is finally coming to an end. As Renewable Energy World reports, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the state can give the project a composite certificate superseding local regulatory agencies, some of which do not look favorably on the wind f… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ward off Evil Vampire Power With Crucifix Power Bar

Nothing wards off vampire power better than a crucifix powerstrip. Alexander Pincus of Means of Production delivers with a 12 outlet cruciform surge protector that accommodates oversize adapters and provides comprehensive protection from evil, power surges, and AC contamination. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Does Focusing on Biodiversity Diminish Nature?

photo: ((brian)) via flickr Unless you ve just started following environmental issues you re probably aware that biodiversity is declining so much that the planet is seeing species go extinct at a rate a thousand times historical rates of extinction–and that we re collectively not do a very good job preventing human activity from accelerating that. Is part of the problem is the way we discuss biodiversity? It s a more complex (and more i… Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Chevy Volt Goes to China (In 2011)

Photo: GM Hopefully It ll Have More Commercial Success than BYD EVs China will be one of the initial markets to get the Chevy Volt PHEV, and today GM is announcing that the first drivable Volt has landed in the Middle Kingdom. GM has made a long-term commitment to bringing our industry-leading technology to China, said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. GM delivered two Chevrolet Volts to the Shanghai Expo for use as VIP transportation. The Volt will shuttle special guests to and from Shanghai s 2010 Expo Park and demonstrate what the future of the automobile might look like… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Biofuels Falling Well Short of Green Standards in UK

photo: Pete Birkinshaw via flickr Now that we ve got some distance from the biofuels are going to save us, oh wait they re going to kill everything else hysteria of a couple years back and some sane skepticism has emerged, how well are we doing? As the BBC reports, in the UK at least it s a mix bag: Volume targets are being met, but some fuel suppliers are falling well short of their own green standards…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

Life Cycle Analysis of Electric Car Shows Battery Has Only Minor Impact

Nissan LEAF batteries. Photo: Michael Graham Richard Copper and Aluminium Actually Worse than Lithium Speaking of lithium-ion batteries, a recent life-cycle analysis (a type of study that aims to find the complete environmental impact of something, taking into account manufacturing, usage, and disposal) of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars had some very interesting findings. It turns out that batteries have an even lower impact than most of us thought. Read on for… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Lithium-Ion Battery Oversupply to Drive Prices Down Around 20%

Photo: GM A Significant Drop Predicted It s all about supply and demand: According to Hideo Takeshita, an analyst at the Institute of Information Technology Ltd. in Tokyo, the price of lithium-ion batteries could drop by about 19% in 2010, while another analyst, Shiro Mikoshiba of Nomura Holdings, said that the worsening oversupply may push prices down as much as 25%. While it s always important to take market predictions with a grain of salt, if lithium-ion battery prices drop by anywhere near 1/5th, it s going to have a positive impact on the Read the full story on TreeHugger

Swarms of Floating Marine Turbines Could Harvest Power from the Gulf Stream

Advocates say harnessing the Gulf Stream could create one-third of Florida s energy needs. Image: NASA While most marine power projects rely on turbines or other power-generating devices in relatively shallow water, researchers from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University are attempting a new spin on the concept: Creating swarms of floating turbines, tethered to the sea floor or on movable undersea platforms, and deployed in the Gulf Stream hundreds of feet be… Read the full story on TreeHugger

USGS Confirms Himalayan Glaciers Are Melting & Climate Change is to Blame

Small debris-free plateau glacier with glacier lakes at Gangrinchemzoe Pass at 5,200 m, south of the main Himalayan divide, Bhutan. Photo via USGS In case you were convinced otherwise by the quasi-scandal of Himalayagate earlier in the year: The US Geological Survey has released a new report on the state of glacier retreat in the Himalaya and it makes perfectly clear the situation, Many of Asia s glaciers are retreating as a result of climate change. This retreat impacts water supplies to millions of people, increases the likelihood of outburst floods that threaten life and proper… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Sewage As Hurricane Protection? New Orleans Could Use It To Regrow Wetlands

Image via National Geographic What Hurricane Katrina and many other hurricanes have told us is that wetlands are on the coastlines for a reason — they act as a vital buffer protecting land from storms coming in from offshore. The fact that wetlands in the south have been developed or otherwise ruined has been a contributor to the amount of destruction a hurricane can cause. New Orleans recognizes that it needs to build up that buffer once again, and researchers think partially treated sewage will do the trick. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Millions of Dead Fish Poison Bolivian Drinking Water

Image credit: psyberartist/Flickr In the northern hemisphere, the winter of 2010 was notable for its unpredictability and extreme conditions. From East Coast blizzards to a devastating cold snap in Florida, cities struggled to to keep pace and entire ecosystems hovered on the brink of collapse. Now, as winter wears on in the Southern Hemisphere, Bolivia is reeling from uncharacteristically cold weat… Read the full story on TreeHugger

New Filter Could Make LCDs >400% More Efficient

Photo: Flickr, CC Negawatts Strike Back The immensely popular LCDs screens that are found everywhere in the modern home (television, computer, laptop, cellphones, etc) use less energy than CRTs, the previous technology, but they are still far from being optimally efficient. Only about 8% of the light emitted by a LCD s backlight makes its way out, and the rest is wasted. But that might be about to change thanks to a new filter that could boost that efficiency by more than 400% and allow around 36% of the light to pass through. Read on for more details…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

EPA & DOT Propose Clearer, More Colorful Fuel Economy Labels

Image: EPA Making Guzzlers Stand Out Even More One way to nudge people into making better decisions is to make it easier to compare different products and services. There are still many people out there who have no idea if 16 MPG is a good or bad, but if they saw a big red D on a sticker, they might be tempted to find a vehicle with a better grade. That s the goal behind new fuel economy labels proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). Read on for more details…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

IPCC Did Good Work But Needs Fundamental Reforms, Review Concludes

image: IPCC Though the Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC has done good work in its past assessments of climate change science, an independent review of the way the organization operates says fundamental reforms are needed– among those are shorter terms for the organization s chair and establishing an executive director to oversee operations and act as spokesperson. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Robotic Plants Serve an Altruistic Purpose (Video)

Photo via Designboom Japanese artist Akira Nakayasu s specialty is robotic plants. He creates things like sunflowers that react to human movement, making the flower seem to communicate with the people around it. His latest work is called Plant, an interactive piece that was inspired by grass blowing in the wind. With 169 artificial leaves that react independently to the presence of a human s body, such as a hand waving over it, the unarguably interesting and relatively cool piece begs the question, What s the point? … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Top 15 Augmented Reality iPhone Apps for Greener Living

Image via hollaa01 Augmented reality is here. If you re unsure of what that is, think of the Terminator movies when they showed you what it was like to look at the world through the robot s eyes, and all the data about whatever he was looking at popped up over the image. It s a tool that we really love around here because it can be used for so many green purposes. Already becoming widely useful for navigating p… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Fertilizer Runoff Linked to Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity

Image: eutrophication&hypoxia s photostream, Flickr Natural human optimism leads one to hope that hazardous chemicals wastes discarded by humans are broken down in the natural environment, until they are once again harmless. When scientists concern themselves with this process, it is usually to study the extent to which toxic chemicals harm the environment before they are finally degraded, or to measure the impacts of the degradation process, such as Read the full story on TreeHugger

Better Place is Testing Battery-Swapping in Tokyo

Photo: Better Place 59 Seconds Average Swapping Time Better Place, in collaboration with the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of Japan s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and Nihon Kotsu Co., Tokyo s largest taxi operator, has been doing real-world testing of a battery-swapping station in Tokyo. The trial, which started last April and has just been extended until November, aims to determine the feasibility of battery switch as means for taxis to have instant, zero emission, range extension. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

Tobacco Plants Chemically Summon Insects to Defend Themselves Against Caterpillar Attack

photo: minnemom via flickr I admit there s no direct connection between this next one and sustainability, but from a science perspective it s just too interesting to pass by: New research shows that tobacco plants have evolved a chemical SOS signal that attracts insect predators when caterpillars are eating their leaves. Like TreeHugger said back in 2007, Plants, they re smarter than you think…… Read the full story on TreeHugger

39 More Toxic Coal Ash Sites Found to Contaminate US Water Supply With Arsenic & Heavy Metals

Aerial photo of one of the sites discovered, in Uncasville, Connecticut. A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project, Earthjustice, and the Sierra Club has identified an additional 39 sites in 21 states where toxic coal ash is contaminating drinking and surface water with arsenic and heavy metals. These new sites added to those already identified by… Read the full story on TreeHugger