Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Battery made of paper charges up
Battery made of paper charges up
The paper battery can be rolled up tightly with no adverse effects
Friday, November 27, 2009
BBC News - UK and France propose climate fund for poor
UK PM Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have proposed a multi-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations deal with climate change. Mr Brown said the $10bn (£6bn) fund should also be used to help developing nations cut greenhouse gas emissions. Both spoke at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad, the last major world forum before the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen on 7 December. Many Commonwealth members are island states threatened by rising sea levels. Mr Sarkozy, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Danish Prime Minister Prime Lars Loekke Rasmussen, is there to give weight to any climate change statement. The topic is the only issue on the Commonwealth summit's agenda for the first day. | |
Monday, October 5, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | What is the 2030 Perfect Storm idea?
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Low carbon way 'to reshape lives'
Seven thousand new wind turbines may rise from land and sea by 2020
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Street Design
The city has transformed parts of 9th Avenue into a haven for cyclists and pedestrians.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Reinventing Modular Housing as Green - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com
A “New Old Green Modular” house from New World Home is built with features like sustainable lumber, Energy-Star rated roofs, rainwater capture, fiber-cement siding and low-toxicity paints. (Photo: New World Home)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
To Protect an Ancient City, China Moves to Raze It
Outrageous!! that's the only phrase I know to describe this.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
HUD and DOT Partnership: Sustainable Communities
Finally, they are thinking of putting U back in HUD... Housing and infrastructure should go hand-in-hand in planning for sustainable future of cities HUD cannot remain content with only housing issues... it should look at housing as an integral part of city's infrastructure (both, social and physical); and develop larger urban design strategies towards sustainable community building that takes into account people as a resource too.... -Viren
LINK: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Solar Hot Water for Toronto Homeowners - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com
Shutterstock The City of Toronto is hatching a deal with a local utility and a clean-energy marketer to slash residential hot water heating costs.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
EcoFaeBrick Wins Global Social Venture Competition with Cow Dung Bricks
EcoFaeBrick Wins Global Social Venture Competition with Cow Dung Bricks
EcoFaeBrick produces high-quality, low-cost bricks made from abundant cow dung
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Scientists warn sun has dimmed
It is Earth Day! And here is agleam reminder of what is at stake.
The sun is the dimmest and quietest it has been for a century.
The sun is the dimmest and quietest it has been for a century.
The sun is the dimmest and quietest it has been for a century.
The sun is the dimmest and quietest it has been for a century.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Mapping World Water Crisis
BBC News | World | World water crisis:
The world's supply of fresh water is running out. Already one person in five has no access to safe drinking water. Click on the map to read about some of the world's water flashpoints.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Ulrich Franzen's 1969 film (From Urban Omnibus)
http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/02/ulrich-franzens-street/
Saturday, February 21, 2009
After the Fall
No Downtime (or downturn) for Design
The current economic crisis, combined with environmental issues poses threats as well as challenges for designers. . Tied to the question is is the issue of consumption. Faced with new realities and knowledge of the consequences of ignorance call for us to redefine or reinstate the role of design. Design as a response to necessity vs luxury, or both, prompts us to look at use-patterns in a much wider context than what the 20th century consumerism did. There is a paradigm shift..... We as a consumer society have understood how to share our resources and exploit them selfishly. Time has come to also share our risks; design must play a significant and responsible role for the collective good.
On the other hand, recession should not mean regression.... progressive ideas come from the need to be frugal and inventive at the same time; to do more with less, is the challenge 21st century designers must embrace.
-Viren
I.D. - After the Fall
The current economic crisis, combined with environmental issues poses threats as well as challenges for designers. . Tied to the question is is the issue of consumption. Faced with new realities and knowledge of the consequences of ignorance call for us to redefine or reinstate the role of design. Design as a response to necessity vs luxury, or both, prompts us to look at use-patterns in a much wider context than what the 20th century consumerism did. There is a paradigm shift..... We as a consumer society have understood how to share our resources and exploit them selfishly. Time has come to also share our risks; design must play a significant and responsible role for the collective good.
On the other hand, recession should not mean regression.... progressive ideas come from the need to be frugal and inventive at the same time; to do more with less, is the challenge 21st century designers must embrace.
-Viren
I.D. - After the Fall
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Energy Information
Data Sources
Our estimate of the impact of real-time energy feedback on carbon emissions is based on the following sources:
- Home electricity use: The U. S. Energy Information Administration estimated in 2001 that there were 107 million households in the United States using a total of 1140 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year. That gives an average of 10.6 megawatt-hours (MWh) per year per household.
- Carbon emissions from residential electricity: According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Average Emissions Rate for 2005 was 712 g CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
- Electricity saved with real-time feedback: There have been several studies of feedback's effects on energy use. Sarah Darby's review of the literature, The Effectiveness of Feedback on Energy Consumption (pdf) , estimates savings between 5 and 15% from direct feedback.
- Carbon emissions from cars: Again according to the EPA, a typical car is driven 12,000 miles per year, the average fuel economy of a passenger car is 23.9 miles per gallon, and a gallon of gasoline produces 8.8 kg of CO2.
Based on these figures, we get an average of 7.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year per household, and 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted per year per conventional car. So, 10% energy savings for 6 households would reduce carbon emissions by about the same amount as taking one conventional car off the road.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Slumdog Prince....
For once, I seem to agree with the prince. Cities are our hope - for better or worse - from the environmental sustainability point of view and to further our goals to nurture, maintain and sustain local economies and their interdependence with the formal sector. To minimize the impact of urbanization, we must focus on cities to maximize our use of urban land, efficient use of existing or new resources, reduce proliferation and land-banking - to protect what otherwise would be engulfed by the cities of dispersal and urban greed.
-Viren
-Viren
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