This Week at ENN: Hydrogen cars could produce their own fuel, National parks contaminated, Biofuel labeling inaccurate, How to save the rainforests, "Doomsday" seed vault opens, New technology will greatly improve solar power and much more.
The Georgia Institute of Technology wants to make a hydrogen-fueled vehicle that separates and stores carbon dioxide until it can be sequestered The Georgia Institute of Technology has thrown one more idea into the mix: a zero-emission, hydrogen-powered car that would separate carbon dioxide from liquid fuel and gather it for sequestration underground or in the ocean. Further down the line, the scientists envision transforming that captured CO2 into more fuel, creating a sort of cycle.
Study: Contaminant Levels High in Parks
BILLINGS, Mont. -- Pesticides, heavy metals and other airborne contaminants are raining down on national parks across the West and Alaska, turning up at sometimes dangerously high levels in lakes, plants and fish. A sweeping, six-year federal study released Tuesday found evidence of 70 contaminants in 20 national parks and monuments - from Denali in Alaska and Glacier in Montana, to Big Bend in Texas and Yosemite in California.
Bad blends: biofuel labeling often inaccurate
While sampling blended biodiesel fuels purchased from small-scale retailers, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that many of the blends do not contain the advertised amount of biofuel. Marine chemist Chris Reddy and colleagues sampled pure biodiesel and blends from more than a dozen distributors across the United States. When testing fuels listed as 20 percent biodiesel (commonly known as B20), they found that the actual percentage of biofuel ranged from as little as 10 percent to as much as 74 percent. Only 10 percent of samples met the specifications for biofuel blends required for vehicles of the U.S. Department of Defense, one of the leading consumers of the products.
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Climate change and urban sprawl alter Iditarod race
WASILLA, Alaska (Reuters) - Urban sprawl and dwindling snow have forced organizers of the world's most famous sled-dog race to bypass Wasilla, a fast-growing Alaskan city that calls itself "Home of the Iditarod." The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has formally moved the start of the race's timed competition to Willow, a hamlet 40 miles north of Wasilla.
How to Save the Rainforests
While we have fixated on our little local worries over the past week, the biggest news story of the year passed unnoticed in the night. The Brazilian government was forced to admit that the destruction of the Amazon rainforest has returned to ecocidal levels. An area the size of Belgium, taking thousands of years to evolve, was destroyed in the past year alone. Some 20 per cent of the forest has now been trashed, with a further 40 per cent set to be slashed in my lifetime. This is steadily happening to all the rainforests on earth.
Indonesia deforestation threatens elephants: WWF
OSLO (Reuters) - Deforestation in a single Indonesian province is releasing more greenhouse gases than the Netherlands, and the loss of habitats is threatening rare tigers and elephants, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday. It said that Riau province, covering one fifth of Indonesia's Sumatra island, had lost 65 percent of its forests in the past 25 years as companies used the land for pulpwood and palm oil plantations. Big peat swamps had also been cleared.
None of the candidates are talking about environmental health
Who would do a better job protecting the environment as president? Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John McCain? A glance at the records the three senators have racked up over the last three years makes it pretty clear that either of the Democrats would be a greater advocate for the planet than the Republican.
Arctic seed vault opens doors for 100 million seeds
LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (26 FEBRUARY 2008) — The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.
Shopping List: Milk, cereal, bread, carbon offsets
A Norway shopping mall is offering customers carbon offsets for purchase on its shelves. John Acher from Reuters reports that the Stroemmen Storsenter shopping centre outside Oslo began selling the certificates on Saturday, at 165 Norwegian crowns (US$30.58) per tonne for shoppers to pick up with their weekly groceries. In one weekend, more than 300 Carbon Emissions Reductions (CERs) had been sold, and store managers were considering stocking up with more.
New solar technology greatly improves performance
A new coating for solar panels could lead to more efficient solar collection. The energy from sunlight falling on only 9 percent of California’s Mojave Desert could power all of the United States’ electricity needs if the energy could be efficiently harvested, according to some estimates. Unfortunately, current-generation solar cell technologies are too expensive and inefficient for wide-scale commercial applications.
