Vegetarian is the New Prius

Interesting read on how going vegetarian is eco-friendly.

Last month, the United Nations published a report on livestock and the environment with a stunning conclusion: "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." It turns out that raising animals for food is a primary cause of land degradation, air pollution, water shortage, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and not least of all, global warming.

Interesting blog post about how Michael Huffington has become a vegan.

My life changed earlier this year when I was told I had prostate cancer. I couldn't understand how I had gotten it at such a relatively young age. My gut feeling was that it must have had something to do with my diet. About the same time a close friend of mine gave me a book called The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. He is the Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. The China Study is the culmination of a twenty-year partnership between Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. It is the best book I have ever read that discusses the relationship between diet and health, especially as it pertains to cancer and heart disease.

Warming will harm crops in Africa, Asia

Reading "Warming will harm crops in Africa, Asia", I should say that Global Warming has not only affected the temperatures that we endure on a daily basis, it has also reached out to potentially affect the food that we are going to raise for consumption.

Relatively inexpensive adaptations like planting earlier or later in the season or changing crops could reduce the harm from climate change, but the biggest benefits probably would stem from more expensive steps like developing new crop varieties and expanding irrigation, the researchers said.

"These adaptations will require substantial investments by farmers, governments, scientists, and development organizations, all of whom face many other demands on their resources," the researchers wrote.

California goes Solar

Reading "A Green Energy Industry Takes Root in California", I have got to say that I am impressed that the Californian state has not only spurred technology and innovation, but also lead the way in Alternative Energy usage and the desire to be GREEN.

Airbus A380 takes off with Green Fuel

This is an amazing news. The Super Jumbo has taken off and finished its test flight with green fuel.

Super Jumbo Takes Off Using 'Green' Fuel

"In our drive for cleaner fuels, GTL technology can help reduce local emissions and encourage sustainable mobility."

Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders said: "Fuel and energy are key challenges aviation is facing and for which technology and international research collaboration open up new horizons.

"Our alternative fuels roadmap requires innovation, diversity of ideas and options that need to be explored."

Sebastien Remy, head of Airbus' alternative fuels programme, said: "The age of easy energy is over."

Mr Remy said GTL was better than traditional kerosene jet fuel because it did not deplete the world's oil supply.

It produces less emissions of local pollutants, like carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, and is virtually free of sulphur.

I think this is great great news, given that Air Travel causes Global Warming.

Going Green to Save you Money : Establishing a Coffee Shop

Excellent Tips to save money as well as go green from Dr.Martin Gibson, Director of Envirowise posted at Going green to save firms' money.

• Eliminate: avoid generating potential waste. For example, ask your suppliers to find ways of reducing the amount of packaging used or look at the possibility of employing re-usable packaging such as plastic crates.



• Reduce: think about the quantity of products you buy e.g. coffee. Buy in bulk where possible, and you will reduce the amount of waste packaging you produce.



• Re-use: there may be opportunities to re-use items normally thrown away after their initial use. Talk to your suppliers about supplying products in reusable containers.



• Recycle: once the amount of packaging has been reduced and re-used as much as possible, consider recycling waste materials. Speak to your Local Authority or waste disposal contractor.



• Dispose: you can even reduce the cost of disposing items that must be thrown away, by squashing boxes as flat as possible or breaking down bulky items.

==========================

Now why would you not recycle your Water Bottle?

Agreed that you found the need to drink bottled water with your lunch at the cafeteria. Now comes the hard part. What do you do with the empty bottle? You see two bins to discard it. The Thrash Bin and the Recycle Bin. Which would you choose?

Well it all depends on the personality. I guess. If you are educated and knowledgeable about global warming, recycling etc. you will choose the recycle bin.

But I have seen people dressed up in suits not flushing the urinals in the men's room. Go figure...... I think these folks have been pampered by auto flushing urinals in expensive bath rooms, that they forget at other places where manual flushing is necessary. ;)

Plastic bottles can be made into rugs, fences and goggles.

Source: Americans recycle more


====================================

Make use of technology to reduce flying

People fly regularly for business. Most of the time it is for meetings to make a presentation or two. In many cases, these trips can be avoided by making use of technology. Technological advances have made it possible to hold virtual meetings with participants dispersed geographical. Nothing beats a room with face to face interaction with attendees. But if you have to fill a meeting room with geographically dispersed people, then imagine the amount of CO2 that is emitted by flyers.

An interesting take on greening flying by an exec of Boeing.

A BBC News reporter at the Paris Air Show has written a nice article on the growing concerns about the environment by the Aircraft manufacturers. This is an extremely positive step.
Planemakers confront green issues

Carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft are a significant and growing contributor to harmful global warming. It is time for the industry to sort it out, says Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing's commercial planes division.

Well, if you are rich and can afford one of the 12 private suites on a A380, then you should know that it is not recommended to have S*x in the air, as per a guideline issued by Singapore Airlines.

Singapore Airlines has taken the unusual step of publicly asking passengers on its new Airbus A380 plane not to engage in any s*xual activities.

Read it all here: >>>

Now why don't you just stay at your home? ;)



==============================

Scientists are looking beyond the planet to save the planet?

It is quite interesting to learn that the Chinese scientists are looking at the moon to power the earth. Well, to get out of the mess that has been created on this planet, any research, any attempt is always a good thing.

Read about this here.
Scientists look to Moon to power Earth

"When obtaining nuclear power from helium-3 becomes a reality, the resources of the Moon can be used to generate electricity for more than 10,000 years for the whole world," Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of China's lunar programme, told state media in August.

What do you think?



========================================

Change in Lifestyle is necessary

There is too much talk on the reliance on oil around the world. Well, there is no doubt that we need to look for alternatives to reduce the reliance on Oil.

Same argument goes to the discussion on Carbon. Eamon O'Hara has written an excellent view point on the BBC Web Site.

Focusing on the need to reduce CO2 emissions has reduced the problem to one of carbon dioxide rather than on the unsustainable ways we live.

Read Here >>>

With the new push towards Biofuels, we see that the prices of Milk has been rising due to the shortage of corn (cattle feed) which goes into the production of bio fuels. The idea is not that price of milk/dairy is rising, it is the choice of corn as feed that needs to be looked at.

Iowa dairy farmer testifies to U.S. House Agriculture Committee on the effect of the biofuel revolution on dairy operation costs

“As many of you are well aware, commodity grain prices, particularly corn, have dramatically increased over the past seven months to price levels not seen since the mid 1990s,” Wonderlich said. “Many economists are attributing this phenomenon to a growing demand from the ethanol industry, which uses corn as its primary feedstock. While this is great for U.S. grain farmers that have experienced several consecutive years of depressed prices, it is tragically affecting the financial viability of dairy farmers.”

An interesting take on the issue of bio fuels by a UN expert.
UN expert seeks 5 yr moratorium on bio-fuels

"It is a crime against humanity to convert agricultural productive soil into soil which produces food stuff that will be burned into bio-fuel," he asserted.

Based on all this, I want to throw out a thought that it is impossible to solve global warming, environmental issues etc without having serious changes to life style, our choices and our intentions.

According to the October 2007 issue of Conscious Choice, New Yorkers can expect to live 9 months longer than the average American, thanks to the fast city walking. :)


Now do your part!!!!



===========================================

Scientists warn for acid oceans - could erode Great Barrier Reef

Scientists warn for acid oceans - could erode Great Barrier Reef

The world’s oceans are becoming more acid, with potentially devastating consequences for corals and the marine organisms that build reefs and provide much of the Earth’s breathable oxygen. The acidity is caused by the gradual buildup of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, dissolving into the oceans. Scientists fear it could be lethal for animals with chalky skeletons which make up more than a third of the planet’s marine life.

Acid oceans will be among the issues explored by Australia’s leading coral scientists at a national public forum at the Shine Dome in Canberra tomorrow.

Read More >>>



======================================

President Putin encourages farmers to produce biofuels

President Putin encourages farmers to produce biofuels

For those of us who thought energy exporters are not interested in biofuels or feel threatened by them, think again. The world's largest oil and gas exporter, Russia, has called on its farmers to join the global transition to biofuels.

During his televised conversation with Russians last Tuesday, Vladimir Putin told farmers they stand to benefit from capturing part of the emerging market for bioenergy. Few countries have as large a biofuels potential as Russia, he said, given its gigantic territory which stretches across 11 time zones.

Read More >>>




=======================================

North Atlantic slows on the uptake of CO2

North Atlantic slows on the uptake of CO2

Further evidence for the decline of the oceans' historical role as an important sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide is supplied by new research by environmental scientists from the University of East Anglia.

Since the industrial revolution, much of the CO2 we have released into the atmosphere has been taken up by the world’s oceans which act as a strong ‘sink’ for the emissions.

This has slowed climate change. Without this uptake, CO2 levels would have risen much faster and the climate would be warming more rapidly.

A paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research by Dr Ute Schuster and Professor Andrew Watson of UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences again raises concerns that the oceans might be slowing their uptake of CO2.

Results of their decade-long study in the North Atlantic show that the uptake in this ocean, which is the most intense sink for atmospheric CO2, slowed down dramatically between the mid-nineties and the early 2000s.

A slowdown in the sink in the Southern Ocean has already been inferred, but the change in the North Atlantic is greater and more sudden, and could be responsible for a substantial proportion of the observed weakening.

The observations were made from merchant ships equipped with automatic instruments for measuring carbon dioxide in the water. Much of the data has come from a container ship carrying bananas from the West Indies to the UK, making a round-trip of the Atlantic every month. The MV Santa Maria, chartered by Geest, has generated more than 90,000 measurements of CO2 in the past few years.

The results show that the uptake by the North Atlantic halved between the mid-90s, when data was first gathered, and 2002-05.

“Such large changes are a tremendous surprise. We expected that the uptake would change only slowly because of the ocean’s great mass,” said Dr Schuster.


Read More >>>



====================================