Fermented foods are all the rage right now, but could fermented fashion be the next step in better living through bacteria? A team from Iowa State University have created a leather-alternative made using a SCOBY.
Headline News:
A burned out house after a natural gas explosion in Salem Township, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Every single day, we use over 65 billion sheets of paper – that’s enough paper to build 6 exact replicas of the Empire State Building and to cut down nearly every tree in Central Park. That’s 4 billion dollars worth of paper every day. This infographic will give you all the reasons you need to convince the paper wasters in your life that it’s time to ditch the paper.
Read the rest of INFOGRAPHIC: Why it’s time to ditch paper
Read the rest of 3D-printing robots spin creepy webs and cocoons
Read the rest of Sculptural dome house in South Africa rotates 348 degrees to escape wind and sun
It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: the National Bike Challenge starts this Sunday.
Sign up today and start tracking your rides. (It’s free, fun and easy.)
Compete with your friends, co-workers and neighbors for a chance to win new prizes each month.
Get more out of your miles. Join the Challenge today!
BOSTON – Clean diesel grants aimed at cleaning up old diesel engines have greatly improved public health by cutting harmful pollution that causes premature deaths, asthma attacks, and missed school and workdays, according to a new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since its start in 2008, the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) program has significantly improved air quality for communities across the country by retrofitting and replacing older diesel engines.
Diesel exhaust significantly contributes to the formation of dangerous soot and smog and is likely to increase the risk of cancer. Nationally, DERA program funding has helped clean up approximately 335,200 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 14,700 tons of particulate matter (PM), which are linked to a range of respiratory ailments and premature death. The program has also saved 450 million gallons of fuel and prevented 4.8 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions – equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from more than 900,000 cars. EPA estimates that clean diesel funding generates up to $13 of public health benefit for every $1 spent on diesel projects.
In New England, EPA estimates that since the beginning of the DERA program in 2008, DERA-funded projects across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine have resulted in cumulative lifetime emissions reductions of approximately 20,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and 750 tons of particulate matter.
“Our work to clean up diesel emissions through our investments in cleaner school buses, trucks, trains, and other heavy equipment is making a visible difference by providing cleaner, healthier air in communities that need it most,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “Clean air and good health go hand-in-hand. EPA is very proud that DERA projects provide New Englanders with cleaner air while also cutting the pollution that fuels climate change.”
Operating throughout our transportation infrastructure today, over 10 million older diesel engines — the nation’s “legacy fleet” — built before 2008, need to be replaced or repowered to reduce air pollutants. While some of these will be retired over time, many will remain in use, polluting America’s air for the next 20 years. DERA grants and rebates are gradually replacing legacy engines with cleaner diesel engines. Priority is given to fleets in regions with disproportionate amounts of diesel pollution, such as those near ports and rail yards.
One recent recipient of DERA funding was the Massachusetts Port Authority, awarded $333,185 in 2015 to fund the repower of 5 rubber-tired gantry cranes used to load drayage trucks at the Conley Container Terminal in Boston. The grant will allow Massport to replace five older, Tier III diesel engines with current EPA Tier-4F certified diesel engines. Once completed, the project is expected to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO2) by an estimated 7.62 tons, 0.06 tons and 155.4 tons, respectively. The grant will cover up to 25 percent of the labor and equipment costs of each of the new crane engines.
Additionally, the DERA program awarded $925,000 to school systems and school bus service providers across the New England states. These funds were used to encourage the early replacement of 46 older school buses by offering $15,000 to $25,000 towards the purchase of with newer, less polluting, buses.
This third report to Congress presents the final results from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and covers fiscal years 2009-2011. It also estimates the impacts from grants funded in fiscal years 2011-2013.
Additional report highlights include:
Environmental Benefits
Public Health Benefits
Program Accomplishments
More information:
– Search DERA projects by state https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/clean-diesel-national-grants#dera2
– National Clean Diesel program http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel.
– Read the “Report to Congress: Highlights from the Diesel Emission Reduction Program Report” http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-03/documents/420r16004.pdf
Read the rest of Mid-century Eichler home gets a bold remodel into the 21st century
Read the rest of Kengo Kuma unveils groundbreaking design for a curved mixed-use tower in Vancouver
May 4-15, 2016: A global wave of mass actions will target the world’s most dangerous fossil fuel projects, in order to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground and accelerate the just transition to 100% renewable energy. Visit https://breakfree2016.org/
Read the rest of Try out tiny house living in Oregon’s new micro-home resort in Mt. Hood
Headline News:
A small power producer in Germany. Photo by Molgreen. CC BY-SA 4.0 international. Wikimedia Commons.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of 6 fab mobile offices let you ditch the cubicle for the open road
Read the rest of This energy efficent school campus replaces an old farm in France
Graphic courtesy of SaveOnEnergy.com.
The US aviation industry has grown to be the most robust in the world, shuttling millions of passengers from one point to another every year. According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, more than 8.5 million flights departed from US airports in 2014 alone. In addition, the number of airports increased from 15,161 in 1980 to 19,453 in 2013. Along with this rapid expansion, and under the aviation industry’s veneer of transport efficiency, lies a deadly secret very few people are willing to discuss in air travel: deadly toxins emitted through the day-to-day operations of the industry. To learn more deadly airport toxins, checkout the infographic below created by the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Masters in Civil Engineering Online degree program.
Read the rest of INFOGRAPHIC: The toxic dangers of living near an airport
 Photo © General Motors
The spring season means automakers are revealing several new electric car models. Learn more about new models due to arrive in 2016 and beyond; like the Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3.
|
|
Charging station installations are on the rise Vermont more than doubled the number of public electric vehicle charging stations over the past year, with more than 60 stations added and more on the way.
|
Read the rest of Living Moss Clock brings alpine tundra greenery into the home
Read the rest of Alaska’s Dr. Seuss House is a whimsical tower made of stacked cabins
Read the rest of LA prop builder designs tiny tree-houses for houseplants
Read the rest of Folded weathering steel Bird Blind pavilions mimic flight
Read the rest of Beautiful light-filled Maggie’s Cancer Center opens up to nature in Manchester
Headline News:
Two windmills stand above a farm in Sheldon, VT. VBM photo.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
GET staff report.
Wind turbine in Hull, Massachusetts. Photo by Fish Cop, placed in the public domain by the author. Wikimedia Commons.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its monthly Energy Infrastructure Update yesterday, April 27. Among other things, it shows electric generating capacity additions the for the first three months of 2016. Ordered by capacity, the largest to smallest that have had capacity additions, they are as follows:
54.0% windpower, 707 MW
39.9% solar, 522 MW
2.5% biomass, 33 MW
2.2% hydro, 29 MW
1.4% natural gas, 19 MW
No other additions are recorded.
In the first quarter of this year, 98.4% of all new electric capacity additions in the US have been renewable. But please note: this does not include small solar power additions, such as rooftop solar or solar community gardens, which could only increase that percentage.
Whoopie!
Read the rest of UK’s longest treetop walkway opens at Westonbirt Arboretum
Read the rest of A black metal box hovers over a heritage brick building in Melbourne
Peacock is a test tube-filled flower vase designed to host dynamic floral arrangements. Consisting of twenty one individual stems which organically interconnect with each other, the vase mimics a radially spread peacock display forming a widely open screen with unique patterns and a central focal point. The sculptural form, along with diverse floral arrangement schemes, lets you change the style to suit any space. Peacock was showcased at HD Expo in 2015 and has recently received Special Mentions in product accessories category at Architizer A+ Awards 2016.
Read the rest of Splyt light kits let you build your own glowing works of art
Melissa Morrison of Dragonfly Botanicals next month to lead the Herbal Pathfinder Series:
Laconia, NH: Foray into the wild and tame world of herbs at Prescott Farm with Master Herbalist, Melissa Morrison starting Saturday, May 14 from 10:00am – 12:30pm. The Herbal Pathfinder Series: Exploring the Natural World of Herbs will be a series of six classes (once a month, May through October) in which students will learn how to identify herb medicine plants of the fields & forest, how to harvest and then use the herbs in preparations for pleasure and medicine. Come to learn, come to enjoy the seasons and play with the herbs! You may register for one class or the entire series. All classes will take place at Prescott Farm located on 928 White Oaks Road.
May’s class will focus on beginnings! The herbs are poking up through the earth for discovery, giving us their wisdom for healing and food. Students will learn how to identify herb and woodland plants then move into the classroom to make teas, tissanes, and decoctions for healing and health. For more information on the rest of the Herbal Pathfinder Series programs offered June-October please go to www.prescottfarm.org.
About Melissa: Melissa Morrison M.H. is the practicing clinical herbalist & educator of Dragonfly Botanicals Wisdom Center, Belmont NH. From childhood on, Melissa has had training in the Medicine ways of the First Peoples, NH Folk Healer Tradition, & the Vitalist Herbal Tradition. Melissa offers herb/alternative health classes, apprenticeship, & private clinical herb health consultations. Melissa has taught alternative/herbal healing modalities around the NorthEast and Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center in VT.
Prescott Farm is a non-profit organization that offers environmental education for all ages throughout the year including WildQuest camps, public programs, field trips, long-term partnerships with local elementary schools and NOW Fledglings Nature-Based Preschool. The 160 acre historic family farm features woodland and field trails, a “green” building with geothermal and solar energy systems, historic barns, an old-fashioned maple sugaring operation (during the month of March), heritage gardens, and forested pond. Prescott Farm is open year round, seven days a week from 9:00 – 4:00PM. It is free to come and go for a hike, explore the “green” building and play in the Natural Playscape (Grand Opening is May 14).
Registration is required for these classes and can be made online at www.prescottfarm.org or by calling 603-366-5695. Students have the option of signing up for individual herb classes or the full herb series. The cost is $35 ($33 for Members of Prescott Farm) per class or $180 for the six-class series.
Read the rest of Dyson’s new supersonic hair dryer knows what hair really wants
Read the rest of San Jose’s new Whole Foods is one of America’s greenest supermarkets
Read the rest of The Rotterdam menagerie living in a giant greenhouse
Read the rest of 6 ways to purify water without expensive technology
Read the rest of Amazing farm-to-table, eco-friendly subdivision in California is a locavore’s paradise
Headline News:
Electricity Minister Luis Motta looks at the massive Guri Dam. The reservoir is virtually dry because of the drought. Reuters photo.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of Green City Hall proposal in Vietnam doubles as a verdant vertical park
Read the rest of Anders Berensson Architects inserted a wooden skyscraper into an existing car park in Stockholm
Also, outdoor free play isn’t just fun—it is vital to children’s health & well-being! Kids that spend more time outside tend to have less stress, less anxiety and depression, lower rates of obesity, fewer symptoms of ADHD, and better immune system functioning, as well as better social behaviors, increased ability to learn and concentrate, a better sense of self and independence, more creativity, better self-discipline, better problem solving skills, more capacity for emotional and intellectual development, and a tendency to grow into more ecologically-minded adults.
WILLISTON, Vt. . . . April 26, 2016 . . . AllEarth Renewables, the award winning Vermont-based solar tracker manufacturer, has announced the company will donate a portion of every tracker sale in North Carolina to the repeal effort of HB 2, the state’s new discriminatory law.
HB 2 overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across North Carolina.
Until the discriminatory law is repealed, AllEarth will donate 1 percent of every sale in NC to Equality NC, an organization leading the HB 2 repeal effort.
North Carolina has one of the fastest growing solar markets in the country and ranked second nationwide for solar installations in 2015.
AllEarth has five solar installers supplying the innovative solar tracking technology to homes, businesses, and non-profits throughout North Carolina.
“Equality NC is grateful for the overwhelming and generous support of so many companies from around the country in this effort to overturn HB 2. This commitment by AllEarth Renewables will not only help us achieve equality for all, but also expand energy opportunities for all North Carolinians, including the LGBTQ residents here. Without this broad support we wouldn’t be able to do all the hard work we’re doing to end discrimination and achieve a more fair and just North Carolina,” said Matt Hirschy, Director of Advancement with Equality NC in Raleigh, NC.
Last month Vermont’s governor banned all state government travel to North Carolina.
“Our hope is to do a little good out of something so bad. HB 2 violates the basic principles we have as a company and while we considered suspending our business in North Carolina, we recognized it would be more consistent with our company’s renewable energy mission and my personal values to see solar adoption also help with the repeal effort,” said David Blittersdorf, president and CEO of AllEarth Renewables.
More than 4,000 of the AllEarth’s trackers are operational throughout the United States in residential and commercial scale installations. The dual-axis solar tracker uses innovative GPS and wireless technology to follow the sun throughout the day, producing up to 45 percent more energy than rooftop solar.
AllEarth Renewables is a past Inc. 500 company for fastest growing private companies nationwide and is a five-time “Best Places to Work” in Vermont award winner.
Advances in technology are quickly paving the way for smart cities. A smart city is an urban center that harnesses technologies, such as IT, to improve the quality of life of residents, manage available resources such as roads and water in economically sustainable manner, and reduce environmental pollution. According to figures published by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), smart city technologies will grow to an industry worth $27.5 billion by 2023. In addition, the world will be home to about 88 smart cities by 2025. To learn more about smart cities of the future and how big data will play a role in improving the efficiency and sustainability of urban living, checkout the infographic below created by the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Online Masters in Computer Science program.
Read the rest of INFOGRAPHIC: How smart cities are creating a greener future
Read the rest of This amazing Twicycle bike is powered by your arms and legs
Read the rest of Beautiful UK addition reveals the genius of Invisible Studio’s low-impact design
Read the rest of LEGO’s anticipated and highly detailed Porsche 911 is coming soon
Read the rest of See why the Tree Sparrow House is Airbnb’s most desired UK property
Read the rest of 6 amphibious houses that float to escape flooding
Read the rest of Gorgeous green geodesic sphere design celebrates Montreal’s 375th anniversary
Headline News:
Candles were lit at a ceremony in Slavutych, a town built to re-house workers who lived near the nuclear plant.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of Magnificent timber skyscraper will sequester carbon and add greenery to Bordeaux
The devastating earthquake in Ecuador killed more more than 650 people and injured thousands. It is the worst disaster the country has faced and recovery will take years. Eastern Kentucky University’s Masters in Safety, Security and Emergency Management program is working to help make recovery efforts easier, safer and faster. They’ve created this infographic, which highlights the various ways that technology may aid at natural disaster sites, like the way that drones and robots can be used to locate survivors and transmit information to emergency teams and to drop humanitarian aid. It also reveals how future technologies will be able to help and the importance of being well prepared for disasters in the future.
Read the rest of INFOGRAPHIC: How technology can help when disaster strikes
Read the rest of Off-grid UFO home is completely powered by wind, water and sun
Read the rest of Stand 47 farmhouse in Johannesburg marries high-end engineering with vernacular design
Read the rest of Vietnam’s Tranquil Zen House looks and feels like a Buddhist monastery
Read the rest of Spectacular Deventer City Hall is covered in the magnified fingerprints of local residents
Headline News:
Solarize NYC will allow communities to join together into single purchasing groups to access cheaper solar power.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of Ukrainian weightlifter packs a fully functional home into 18-sqm of micro space
Read the rest of Enchanting fairytale-inspired museum will pay homage to Hans Christian Andersen
Read the rest of Breathtaking fairytale home is worthy of a Hogwarts wizard
Cold weather calls for hearty pasta. We’ve put together a delicious recipe for creamy Thai peanut pasta that’s not only healthy, but is also very easy to make. Made in just one pot in just 10 minutes, this gluten-free pasta combines a medley of flavors, from the spiciness of red pepper flakes to the sweetness of coconut sugar. Keep reading for the full recipe.
Too many children’s toys get chucked in the bin once they’ve been outgrown, but that’s fortunately not the fate of these colorful Hoberman spheres. Artist Nils Volker upcycled over a hundred of those spherical toys into Bits and Pieces, a hanging art installation equipped with tiny motors and programmed to expand and contract in waves. The mesmerizing artwork is currently on show at Berlin’s NOME Gallery, but you can also see Bits and Pieces in action by following the link below.
Headline News:
Solar Impulse 2 flew holding patterns for some hours above San Francisco before landing.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
California-based Nomadix believes that we can all do better with less. They have created a t-shirt that reflects that message, because it does more good for the environment than harm. The “Clean Tee” is made from fabric scraps and recycled plastic bottles with no dyes or chemicals.
Headline News:
Lawrence Orsini, founder LO3, the company installing the Brooklyn Microgrid project. Credit: Image courtesy of Sasha Santiago
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of A Victorian pub in London to be renovated as a unique postmodern residence
Read the rest of Vintage electric bikes from Italy out-hip even the coolest ride
Read the rest of Celebrate Earth Day at this amazing treehouse hotel in Sweden
Read the rest of Solar-powered civic center in Australia repurposes over 80% of the original building materials
Headline News:
Malaysian landscape deforested for tea cultivation. Photo by Myloismylife – Loke Seng Hon. CC BY-SA 3.o unported. Wikimedia Commons.
For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.
Read the rest of 9 gorgeous green designs by Taiwanese creatives
Read the rest of Coastal cabin in Norway creates a perfect indoor retreat for outdoor lovers
Climate change, pollution-related illnesses, and energy costs have prompted engineers and architects to develop green solutions. As a result, new residential and commercial buildings and renovations are designed to be more environmentally friendly to help reduce emissions, illnesses, and energy consumption. To learn more about sustainable engineering, and how it is changing our lives, check out this infographic created by Norwich University’s Online Master of Civil Engineering Program.
Read the rest of INFOGRAPHIC: The benefits of sustainable engineering
Read the rest of Iceland’s geothermal Blue Lagoon is expanding
Read the rest of Innovative Swedish cyclist designed an all-weather bike that looks like a car
Read the rest of Renovated green-roofed house boasts a hidden awning that regulates sunlight
