9
Apr/10
0

The TerraPass: Carbon offsetting company

Stumbled across these guys via a bumper sticker on a car (who says advertising doesn’t work – probably no one).  I’m sure they’re not the only one out there.  Let me know if you know of others (register and leave a comment).

# 1. We adopt the highest standards

TerraPass portfolio mix

TerraPass uses CAR and VCS as its primary standards. We believe these standards ensure the highest quality for our offset portfolio.

100% of our carbon offsets are verified annually against broadly accepted standards by independent third party verifiers. Our primary standards are the latest version of the Voluntary Carbon Standard (issued in 2008) and the Climate Action Reserve. We believe these standards ensure that you receive the highest quality offsets available.

We publish full details of our supported standards.

# 2. Our carbon offsets are happening now

TerraPass does not sell carbon offsets that depend on events far into the future, such as a forest growing to maturity or a wind farm performing to expectation for many years. Before we include any offsets in our portfolio, they have to be verified by an independent third party. In other words, an outside expert confirms that the emissions reductions have actually occurred. Global warming is an urgent problem, and we want to make a difference now, not far off in the future.

via The TerraPass difference | TerraPass: fight global warming, reduce your carbon footprint.

31
Mar/10
0

Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea – Yahoo! News

I’m sure this is just due to natural warming of the earth, or tides or something, so don’t worry about it.  This probably has nothing to do with US and China alone pumping 13 billion of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year.  Never mind New Zealand and their burping cows.

Maybe we can use this method as a way of eliminating other geopolitical disputes.  Hmmmm.

Excerpt follows:

NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island's gone.

via Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea – Yahoo! News.

29
Mar/10
0

Submarine 1000X more efficient than typical Car

Unlike other underwater drones,
RU27 and its kin are able to travel without
the aid of a propeller. Instead, they
move up and down through the top 100 to
200 meters of seawater by adjusting their
buoyancy while gliding forward using
their swept-back wings. With this strate
W , they can go a remarkably long way on
a remarkably small amount of enerW .

Download PDF Here YellowSubmarine

24
Mar/10
0

Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea – Yahoo! News

Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea

via Disputed isle in Bay of Bengal disappears into sea – Yahoo! News.

1
Mar/10
0

NASA – 2009: Second Warmest Year on Record; End of Warmest Decade

2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record, a new NASA analysis of global surface temperature shows. The analysis, conducted by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies GISS in New York City, also shows that in the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year since modern records began in 1880.

via NASA – 2009: Second Warmest Year on Record; End of Warmest Decade.

19
Feb/10
0

Sugar Cane Based Plastic

None of these obstacles applies to the plastic featured here. In a radical new approach to polyethylene production, ethanol derived from renewable and eco-friendly sugar cane is used to make ethylene, which is then converted into PE using standard processes. One major producer of bio-polyethylene estimates that its carbon footprint equals roughly 15% of that of traditional PE production — even after taking into account the transport of the sugar cane and the use of fertilizers. Incredibly, the only byproducts of bio-polyethylene production are recyclable water and a tiny amount of ethanol. Discarded parts are fully biodegradable and they can be composted with other organic matter.

via Sugar Cane Based Plastic.

19
Feb/10
0

Environment and Sustainability News – 2010 Winter Olympics – CTV Olympics

Coke invests in a cooler solution

… The problem with refrigeration is one of those issues that was supposed to have been solved more than 30 years ago. Since at least the 1930s, fridges used non-toxic, non-flammable chlorofluorocarbons in their cooling systems. Scientists in the 1970s discovered that the CFCs broke up in the stratosphere, releasing chlorine that destroyed the ozone. In a massive global initiative, hydrofluorocarbon, which had minimal impact on the ozone layer, replaced CFC in many of the cooling systems used in refrigeration.

But then scientists discovered HFC was a potent greenhouse gas, heating the planet at a much faster rate than carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. A pound of HFC could do as much damage, in terms of global warming, as 3,830 pounds of carbon dioxide for 20 years after its release.

The world has more than one billion fridges and 400 million mobile air conditioners in cars and trucks. Challenged to do something rather than just protest, Greenpeace in Germany worked with engineers who developed a HFC-free alternative in 1992, a hydrocarbon refrigeration unit they called Greenfreeze. The equipment uses isobutane as the refrigerant and cyclopentane as the blowing agent for the insulation foam. The HFC-free technology was provided to manufacturers for free.

…Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Unilever have been working co-operatively with Greenpeace since 2004 on developing HFC-free technology. PepsiCo Inc.,v, Carlsberg and Ikea joined the group called Refrigerants, Naturally in 2006.
Ms. Payne of Coca-Cola said an evaluation of that company’s climate footprint identified gases escaping from its refrigeration units as the largest component, far exceeding the impact of either manufacturing or emissions from its fleet of trucks. Because Greenfreeze uses flammable chemicals, Coca-Cola decided to invest in developing its own technology and developed a cooling system that relies on compressed carbon dioxide, which is non-flammable.

via Environment and Sustainability News – 2010 Winter Olympics – CTV Olympics.

19
Feb/10
0

CO2 Refrigerant (R744) Based Systems: EcoThermics – Designing Next Generation R744 Based Heating and Cooling Systems

Atmospheric carbon dioxide designated R744 is widely recognized as an ideal natural refrigerant replacement for noxious FC refrigerants, presenting well known and widely accepted advantages that can meet the aforementioned demands on the industry for “next generation” HVACR systems.

EcoThermics Brochure

via EcoThermics Corporation – Designing Next Generation R477 Based Heating and Cooling Systems.

16
Jan/10
0

‘Global warming is a hoax’

This is an article full of sarcasm and humor.  Still, it’s worth reading.

Objection: Global warming is a hoax perpetrated by environmental extremists and liberals who want an excuse for more big government (and/or world government via the U.N.).

Answer: Here is a list of organizations that accept anthropogenic global warming as real and scientifically well-supported:

Every major scientific institution dealing with climate, ocean, and/or atmosphere agrees that the climate is warming rapidly and the primary cause is human CO2 emissions. In addition to that list, see also this joint statement (PDF) that specifically and unequivocally endorses the work and conclusions of the IPCC Third Assessment report. The statement was issued by:

  • Academia Brasiliera de Ciencias (Brazil)
  • Royal Society of Canada
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Academie des Sciences (France)
  • Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany)
  • Indian National Science Academy
  • Accademia dei Lincei (Italy)
  • Science Council of Japan
  • Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Royal Society (United Kingdom)
  • National Academy of Sciences (United States of America)

You can also read this statement [PDF], which includes all the above signatories plus the following:

  • Australian Academy of Sciences
  • Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and the Arts
  • Caribbean Academy of Sciences
  • Indonesian Academy of Sciences
  • Royal Irish Academy
  • Academy of Sciences Malaysia
  • Academy Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand
  • Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

But if scientists are too liberal and politicians too unreliable, perhaps you find the opinion of key industry representatives more convincing:

  • BP, the largest oil company in the UK and one of the largest in the world, has this opinion:

    There is an increasing consensus that climate change is linked to the consumption of carbon based fuels and that action is required now to avoid further increases in carbon emissions as the global demand for energy increases.

  • Shell Oil (yes, as in oil, the fossil fuel) says:

    Shell shares the widespread concern that the emission of greenhouse gases from human activities is leading to changes in the global climate.

  • Eighteen CEOs of Canada’s largest corporations had this to say in an open letter to the Prime Minister of Canada:

    Our organizations accept that a strong response is required to the strengthening evidence in the scientific assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We accept the IPCC consensus that climate change raises the risk of severe consequences for human health and security and the environment. We note that Canada is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Have the environazis seized the reigns of industrial power, in addition to infiltrating the U.N., the science academies of every developed nation, and the top research institutes of North America? That just doesn’t seem very likely.

via ‘Global warming is a hoax’—I wish James Inhofe were just a hoax … | How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic: Responses to the most common skeptical arguments on global warming | Grist.

16
Jan/10
0

Surface Temperature: Animations

This is cool and scary.  It goes along all hunky dory, and then: bam.

GISS Surface Temperature Analysis

Animations

The following video animations derived from the GISTEMP dataset are available:

via Data @ NASA GISS: Surface Temperature: Animations.