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Watch The Future of Shipping In Action: SkySails Video!


I’ve been wanting to see the SkySails system 100% in operation and the deployment and retraction procedures. And finally, it’s here for me to drool over.

Per square foot of sail, it’s 3x more effective than traditional sails. It does not require extensive training to deal with, and there’s no need for maintenance during travel. The sail literally unfolds and folds itself at the touch of a button. While deployment isn’t particularly fast, it is extremely simple and entirely automated. Seeing this thing in action is really fantastic, and I can’t imagine that, within the next five years, these won’t be being installed on thousands of ships of all shapes and sizes. And, of course, this will reduce emissions from the shipping industry as much as 20% per ton shipped.

Fantastic.

71% of Adults in America are EcoGeeks!


That’s right, according the 2007 National Technology Readiness Survey 71% of adults in America are ecogeeks! Or at least, they’re interested in the possibility of becomming ecogeeks.

Out of a random survey of over 1000 people in 11 product categories people were interested in buying technology that would decrease their impact on the environment regardless of whether it provided other benefits. That tremendously underserved market could be worth $100 billion per year. About half of that comes from the automotive sector, but we imagine electronics and housing were also big players.

Honestly, I wish housing had won out over automobiles, since that has a greater benefit to owners and the environment, but people see cars as their big opportunity to go green.

Via Greener Computing

Sexy Photos of a Solar Furnace in Uzbekistan


Yeah…sometimes you just have to share beautiful things. This solar oven is in operation right now, and is used to melt down aluminum. It’s called the "physics-sun" and it’s in Parkent, Uzbekistan. These gorgeous pictures were taken by Flickr user Pluvialis.

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Even higher quality shots can be seen at Pluvialis’ Flickr Page

China’s SUV Culture: Flaunting Fat Wallets While Choking on Dirty Air


As sport utility vehicles (SUVs) become increasingly unpopular in Europe and the United States, the gas-guzzling wagons are capturing the attention of an expanding class of Chinese consumers: the new rich. The rapid increase in SUV sales in China is the result of a strong push by international automakers to capitalize on the huge Chinese market, using captivating ads to stimulate an individualistic SUV culture. This trend, if left unchecked, will likely only compound the already serious air-quality problems in a country beleaguered by mounting urban air pollution.

Early life on Earth – no predators, plenty of sex


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sexual reproduction may be nearly as old as animal life itself, according to researchers who discovered a new species of organism that lived 540 million years ago.

The tube-like creatures called Funisia dorothea anchored themselves in abundant flocks onto the shallow, sandy seabed of what is now the Australian outback.

Nanotechnology makes clean, efficient conductor


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – By crushing a widely used semiconductor into nanoparticles, researchers said on Thursday they have created a compound that could lead to cleaner, more efficient refrigerators, solar power plants and other devices.

The crushed material makes it possible to conduct electricity without conducting so much heat, solving a problem that has baffled engineers for 50 years.

Corn-based ethanol could worsen “dead zone”


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Growing more corn to meet the projected U.S. demand for ethanol could worsen an expanding “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico that is bad for crawfish, shrimp and local fisheries, researchers reported on Monday.

The dead zone is a huge area of water — some 7,700 square miles — that forms above the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico every summer. It contains very low levels of oxygen.

StatoilHydro says ready for new Canadian CO2 rules


“We have known for a long time that something on CO2 would
come from the Canadian authorities and we think we are well
prepared,” spokeswoman Kjersti Morstoel said on Wednesday.

Myanmar’s nutty scheme to solve energy crisis


PYAW GAN, Myanmar (Reuters) – They may look leafless and lifeless, but Kyaw Sinnt is certain his nut-trees are the key to Myanmar’s chronic energy shortage.

Others are less sure, saying the junta’s plan to turn the country into a giant plantation of biofuel-producing “physic nuts” is yet another example of the ill-conceived central planning that has crippled a once-promising economy.

EU leaders to set timetable for energy reform


BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will set a
tight timetable this week for adopting ambitious energy policy
reforms and measures to fight climate change despite some sharp
differences over how to achieve those goals.