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Disappearing Ground Water

The world's aquifers are being used faster than they can be replenished and, in some cases, at rates that have more than doubled since the 1960s. It is mostly agricultural irrigation that is driving the increase, because it accounts for 70 to 80 percent of global groundwater usage. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, silt, or clay) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology. Some examples of major aquifers follow: ...
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Wednesday,27 October, 2010 | Hits: 109

America's Food Waste Equates to Wasted Energy

America is certainly the land of plenty. This country has been blessed with an overabundance of natural resources and some of the world's most fertile agricultural land. However, every year millions of tons of food is wasted. According to a new study published in the journal, Environmental Science & Technology, the amount of food wasted in the US each year is equivalent to wasting approximately 350 million barrels of oil. ...
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Wednesday,27 October, 2010 | Hits: 116

A plea for the protection of Blackbucks of KGF

Salman Khan’s face was the first thing that popped up in my head when Prashant talked about Blackbuck. Then I came back to my senses and asked him in bewilderment – “Blackbucks next to main road? That too in Kolar Gold fields?” This was news to me.Murli who had informed us about Blackbuck sightings in KGF had dispensed all doubts by attaching to the mail, the pictures of these graceful animals leaping high into the air. He also informed that a few days back there were reports of dogs attacking a few of these fast beauties. We decided to check out the scene ourselves. ...
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Wednesday,27 October, 2010 | Hits: 157

Bioneers 2010: James Hansen and the Million Letter March

Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch It's a strange feeling to be simultaneously excited to hear a speaker, and terrified at what they're about to say. James Hansen has the uncanny ability pull these kind of conflicting feelings from entire audiences, inspiring a better understanding of our planet's systems alongside an urgency for us to change how we're functioning within it, and fast. He does so with a quiet, modest air of "I'm just telling the story that the research reveals," which makes the information all the more worrying. At this year's Bioneers conference, James Hansen... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 28

Drought Could Overtake Much of World by 2030, Rise to Unprecedented Levels by 2100

photo: Bert K./Creative Commons Plenty of studies have shown that climate change is going to affect precipitation and water supplies, but a new one from the National Center for Atmospheric Research starkly lays out how droughts, some so extreme that they are nearly without precedent, may spread throughout many of the world's most densely populated places by the end of the 21st centur... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 29

The Range of the 2011 Brammo Enertia Electric Motorcycle Has Been DOUBLED!

Photo: Brammo Electric Commuting Has Never Been This Fun The Enertia electric motorcycle by Brammo is getting a substantial upgrade for 2011. The company is announcing today a new model called the Brammo Enertia+, and while it will cost $1000 more (from $7,995 to $8,995) than the non-plus version, it will have double the range, going from 40 miles to 80 miles. The most impressive thing about it is that they accomplished this without increasing the bike's weight. Who said battery technology isn't progressing? Check out the video be... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 28

Poll Shows 2/3 of US and UK Citizens Won't Pay More for Electric Cars

Photo: Michael Graham Richard But People Always Say That... Ask people if they want to pay more for something - especially something they are not entirely familiar with - and chances are that the default answer will be "no". That's quite expected. So when Nielsen asked citizens of the U.S. and of the U.K. if they would consider buying an electric car (yes!) and how much extra they were ready to pay (nothing!), the results weren't very surprising.... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 0

The RaceAbout Electric Car in Action (Made in Finland by Students!)

Image: Youtube capture from Automotive X-Prize video A few months ago, I wrote about the RaceAbout electric car and the team of students that made it to compete in the Automotive X-Prize (follow the link for more details about the competition and the winners). But while there were many photos and tech specs, what was missing was a good video. That problem has been solved by the X-Prize foundation which released a short video about the RaceAbout. It has interviews an... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 46

Please Don't Plant These Solar Trees on my Street

Photo: bdonline Cambridge University in England, home to some of the most exquisite and ancient buildings in the world...and now this. These "solar trees" have just been installed to help power the Cambridge University Library's archive storage and will provide 10% of its energy needs. Surely the architects could have come up with something better?... Read the full story on TreeHugger read full article ...
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Monday,25 October, 2010 | Hits: 14