Innovative News

3July2009

Earth Works Institute in New Mexico

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Environment.

Earth Works Institute EWI in New Mexico is giving a helping hand to anyone who is interested in promoting healthy ecosystems.

In 2008 EWI launched its EcoWise Communities Initiative with the following tasks:

• Coaching and training students and teachers to make schools more eco-conscious
• Teaching communities how to live as part of natural systems without degrading them
• Connecting communities seeking ecologically responsible land use solutions with available funding and information sources
• Strengthening the connection of communities to their natural resources to build support for better stewardship practices
• Designing, developing and demonstrating best land management practices
• Developing and executing service projects to lower carbon footprints

EWI’s mission is to help communities build the capability to restore, protect and live in harmony with their natural environment through an integrated approach.  Interested persons can get involved by joinîng an existing Community Stewardship Team or one of the training workshops.

2July2009

Aquasar - water-cooled supercomputer used for heating

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Energy.

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ETH and IBM announced plans last week to build a first-of-its-kind water-cooled supercomputer that will directly repurpose excess heat for university buildings.

Dr. Poulikakos of ETH Zurich, head of the Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies and lead investigator of this interdisciplinary project explained: “The new target must be high performance and low net power consumption supercomputers and data centers. This means liquid cooling.”

The bulk of the energy a computer uses is for the cooling systems to keep the processors from overheating.  A computer chip creates about 10 times more heat than a cooking plate making it necessary to cool the chip.  Without proper cooling the chip would be destroyed in seconds.  

Conventional computers chips are cooled by air, but since water stores heat 4,000 times better than air ETH and IBM researchers designed a water-cooling system called Aquasar.

The water-cooling system is a micro-channel-cooler placed on the backside of the chip.  It cools the chip while at the same it will be used  for heating buildings.

With its innovative water-cooling system and direct heat reuse Aquasar will be able to save about 40% in heating energy and to reduce the carbon footprint by about 50%.

1July2009

First 100% solar powered airplane unveiled

Posted by Cecilia under: Energy; Transportation.

In January we wrote about Swiss Balloonist Bertrand Piccard who at the time was working on the first 100% solar powered airplane.

Last Friday the time had come:  Bertrand Piccard revealed his “Solar Impulse” for the first time in Zurich, Switzerland.

His new airplane is as big as an Airbus 340, as light as a middle sized car and flies totally without fossil fuel.

In his speech Bertrand Piccard said that the biggest adventure of the 21st century will be to get rid of our dependency of fossil fuel.  The Solar Impulse is one step toward this goal.

In 2011 Bertrand Piccard will attempt to fly around the world with Solar Impulse.  Here is the unveiling of the first 100% solar powered airplane Solar Impulse.

30June2009

Xeros - virtually waterless washing machine

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Environment; Home.

Eco-friendly laundry is challenging because washing machines use a lot of water and energy.  But all this could change in the near future.

Xeros, a spin-off from the University of Leeds in the UK built a washing machine which uses only about one cup of water per load.  In addition to its miserly water consumption it also uses 30% less energy than conventional washers.

The basic concept behind the Xeros lies in the properties of synthetic fibres.  The same thing that makes them a poor choice of fabric for shirts is the secret behind this ”almost water-less” washing machine: synthetic fibres attract and retain dirt.

The Xeros washing machine uses thousands of small nylon beads placed inside the smaller of two concentric drums.   The beads act on the dirty laundry together with a squirt of detergent and one cup water.  The water wets the clothes, the detergent loosens the dirt and the nylon beads mop it up.

When the beads are heated in humid conditions they change from a crystalline to an amorphous structure, drawing the dirt into the core of the bead where it remains.

The clothes are cleaned within 30 minutes.   After each cycle the beads are separated from the clothes and can be reused hundreds of times before being recycled.

A bonus of using such small amounts of water combined with the heated beads is that clothes require less drying.

The first Xeros washing machines will be tested in commercial cleaners and hotels.  We hope that it will soon find its way into homes around the world.

29June2009

Photovoltaic Summit Europe 2009

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Energy.

The Photovoltaic Summit Europe 2009 will take place beginning Tuesday June 30th in Rome, Italy.

It will run until July 2 and will focus on business aspects of photovoltaics and how to capitalize on the latest developments in this field.

The Photovoltaic Summit Europe is a great opportunity to get insight into the European and global photovoltaics markets and to learn more about recent trends and developments.

Photovoltaics Summit Europe 2009 is designed for industry members interested in recent business and technical developments for silicon, thin film, organic, concentrator and DSSC PV (dye sensitized solar cells).

28June2009

Erosion control and repair for green landscaping

Posted by Cecilia under: Environment; Home.

Keeping water close to where it falls and letting it soak in to support natural vegetation will almost always keep erosion from getting started in the first place.

Unprotected soil without plant cover erodes rapidly because water runs off immediately.  When you see little channels called “rills” that form gullies you can be sure that these are signs that your landscaping need attention.

To control and repair erosion on your property, always start at the highest point.  The higher you start, the more effective it will be.  Here are two tips how you can control and repair erosion:

• Swales:  the same simple and effective swales that work for water harvesting prevent also the formation of rills and gullies
• Check dams:  When the gullies run onto your property from somewhere else the main tool you have is the check dam - a low dam that is designed primarily to slow water flow and collect sediment.  Just pile up by hand some nearby stones into the channel, but don’t forget to dig the bottom of the dam well into the bottom of the gully.

When your property just needs time to let the plants establish themselves there are some temporary erosion and runoff control tips:

• Silt fencing:  It’s the cheapest and quickest way to retain sediment on a site.  The bottom of the silt fence must be buried at least 6″ deep.
• Straw bales:  They can enclose a disturbed area or protect a slope.  They too need to be dug into gully banks so that water can’t wash under or around them.
• Fiber rolls:  Also called sediment rolls or wattles they’re made of biodegradable fibers rolled inside open.  When there are longer lengths needed for erosion control these may be the better solution than straw bales.
• Sand and gravel bags:  They too can be useful for controlling water and sediment on site.  Gravel could be the better choice in case the bags break because they don’t wash away.

To be able to achieve both goals, erosion control and water harvesting, it’s most often the best to combine techniques.

27June2009

Erin Brockovich, still environmentally active

Posted by Cecilia under: Environment.

The movie “Erin Brockovich”, starring Julia Roberts, touched many viewers. 

The film chronicled the true story of Erin Brockovich, who helped coordinate a class-action lawsuit against energy giant PG&E.   It was determined through the lawsuit that PG&E knowingly allowed hazardous chemicals to leach into local groundwater causing numerous health problems for residents.

 What many of us didn’t know is that Erin Brockovich is still active in environmental cases.  Currently she’s working on a similar case in Midland TX.

In her blog brockovich.com she details numerous major environmental cases in which she’s acted as a consultant and consumer advocate.

26June2009

College campus in Taos, NM powered by solar energy

Posted by Cecilia under: Economy; Energy.

At the University of New Mexico in Taos the installation of a new solar array is one month from completion.  When it’s turned on the new 500-kilowatt array will provide enough energy for all of the school’s electric needs.

A campus powered by solar energy is a great example for the students and an investment in the future of the University by reducing its long-term operating costs.

This solar array installation is part of a broader project for the town of Taos and Northern New Mexico College’s El Rito campus.  The entire project will cost $2.5 million.

Taking these steps now will payoff in the future for the University, its students and the environment.

25June2009

Green ways to dispose of old cars

Posted by Cecilia under: Environment; Transportation.

There are several important reasons to avoid disposing old cars into landfills. 

Cars left to sit in landfills and junk yards have a negative effect on our environment because they can leech hazardous chemicals and fluids into the earth.  Another obvious negative is the unpleasant sight of cars left to rust in the open landscapes.

Today, about 65% of a car can be recycled.  Among the components that can be recycled are: steel/iron, tires, glass, lead parts, fuel tanks, anti-freeze and other fluids.

How can we dispose of our cars in a green way?

One way is through donation.  There are many organizations which accept car donations.

Another way is through responsible salvage.  Eco-friendly salvage yards will dispose of both the recyclable materials as well as the hazardous chemicals in a safe way.

The best way is to turn in your old car for a more fuel efficient model at a dealership which supports eco-friendly disposal.

24June2009

Water harvesting techniques

Posted by Cecilia under: Environment; Home.

Water harvesting means keeping rainwater on our property so we can use it.  The most important part of water harvesting is catching water from hard surfaces such as roofs or rocky places.

Here are some water harvesting techniques:

• Swales:  A swale is a gentle sloping trench that collects, slows down and diverts runoff water.  They’re dug along slope contours or perpendicular to the way water flows.  Swales can have a mounded ridge of soil on the down-slope side helping to retain water.
• Terraces:  They can be evolved of swales when the slopes get too steep.  They require structural support such as a retaining wall of stones.
• Infiltration Basins:  Basins should be sited to take advantage of naturally occurring level spots or depressions.  They should also have reinforced overflow spillways.
• Storage Tanks and Cisterns:  Water storage offers more control over when and how we can use water.  It requires plumbing and sometimes pumping.  We have to be aware of the amount of possible water (A 1500-square-foot roof yields with 1-inch-rain one thousand gallons of water) when we decide about the size of the tanks.
• Mulch:  Mulch can be plant material like straw or nutshells or not-living material such as gravel.  It’s a covering for the soil surface and holds water in the soil.
• French Drains:  French drains are rock-filled excavations containing water and encouraging infiltration into the soil.  It’s important to keep all mud and sediments out of a French drain to avoid clogging of water.  A method used to help soak excess runoff into the ground.
• Permeable Paving:  Gravel is a suitable permeable paving remaining relatively smooth and allowing water to soak into the soil below.  Another alternative is concrete or brick unit paves.

These water harvesting techniques can be combined and put to use in ways that reinforce their effectiveness and contribute to a healthy and attractive landscape.