The vast expanse of the Sahara desert has since long been seen as an available source of solar energy that can be tapped. However, there isn’t much progress to show on the issue. Now the idea seems closer to reality with a German-led consortium of 12 companies that intends to harness the desert sun to power Europe.

The Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) includes heavyweights like Siemens, E.ON, ABB, and Deutsche Bank. These, and the other organizations were brought together by an initiative of Munich Re. The plan is to supply 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2050. Energy tapped from the sun in the desert will be transported to Europe through power lines laid across the Sahara and the Mediterranean sea.

It is a huge project, with nearly 400 billion dollars investment, and the DII hopes to put the plan into action quickly, with the possibility of beginning supply by 2015. These solar plants will use Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) to generate energy. CSP has been in use for a long time, but it is the scope of this project that makes it newsworthy. DII says the North African governments have displayed a positive response for the initiative.

Source: Guardian

Going green and appearing clean is sort of the big mantra in the corporate world these days. Consumers have displayed a clear preference for companies with green inclinations, and the corporate world is moving fast to cutback on emissions, and appearing green for the consumers.

The largest US conglomerate GE has picked up stakes in two startups, both of whom are working on different energy efficient and green systems. One of these startups is the Israel based SolarEdge. This company produces photovoltaic panels with up to 25 percent more efficiency when compared to the traditional panels.

The second company is the US based Tendril. This one works on the “smart grid”, creating equipment that helps utilities communicate with household appliances. Not only do such systems offer greater efficiency, they will be a great help in the coming age of electric vehicles. Such systems are likely to make charging of these vehicles more efficient, economical from users, while saving utilities from the load of charging vehicles during peak consumption times.

GE hasn’t disclosed the amount of investment put into both companies, but looks like it has found winners on the economic as well as the green side.

Source: Reuters

Mariah Power, a small wind turbine manufacturing company, has created a wind speed measuring app for the iPhone. The basic idea of course, is to let interested users measure wind speed, and see if it would suit their need for a small wind turbine.

The app uses the phones microphone to capture the sound of the wind, and then uses an algorithm to cancel out ambient noise and find out the wind decibel speed. While the speed calculated may not be entirely accurate, potential customers can get a fair idea of the usability of a wind turbine.

The Reno, Nev. based company builds slim 30-foot-tall vertical-axis turbines that can turn wind into electricity. These turbines cost $4000 plus another $1000 for installation and offer 1.2kW of power, or 2000 kWh of power annually and a claimed cost of ownership of 12.4 cents per kilowatt-hour over 20 years. The company says its turbine moves slower, thus generating less noise.

In any case, the app is a great way for people to check feasibility of installing a wind turbine, giving those interested, an efficient and easy to use tool.

Source: earth2tech

Aeronautics and Fashion may be world’s apart, but they come together seamlessly in the work of former aeronautic engineer and present fashion designer Renee Corrick. She gave up aeronautic engineering and after taking some classes in Australia and at Seattle’s New York Fashion Academy, Renee became a full-fledged apparel designer.

Weird, futuristic-looking clothes is what would generally come to mind with a combination of aeronautic engineering and fashion design for environmentally friendly apparel. That however, is not the case with Renee’s designs.

Her line, “6 Degrees” looks fashionable and cool, and not at all weird. It was the desire for a healthy and happy planet, and the belief that “fashion can be responsible without sacrificing personal style” which helped Renee realize this collection.

Displayed at the EcoLavish fashion show in Seattle, the clothes are made from organic and fair-trade materials. The designer’s favorite material is luxurious hemp/silk charmeuse, though she plans to use organic wool in the future.

Source: ecouterre

Everyone loves pizza.

But, don’t you just hate having to store leftovers in those big, awkward boxes? Even when all of the pizza is finished, you still have to throw all that cardboard away.

Shouldn’t there be a more eco-friendly alternative to packaging one of the world’s favorite foods?

Now there is.

This Monday, October 19, ECO Inc., a Manhattan-based manufacturer of sustainable packaging, will launch its first product, the Green Box. The Green Box is a pizza box made from 100% recycled material that ingeniously breaks down into serving plates and a storage container.

On its website, ECO Inc. lists several benefits of the Green Box, including:

Manufactured at no additional cost.

Removable top breaks down into serving plates.

Bottom converts into storage container.

Storage container fits easily into the refrigerator.

Storage container and serving plates fit easily into standard trash bin.

Manufactured from recycled material.

The company even provides a video to illustrate how this new “pizza box of the 21st century” works.

‘Green Box’ Product Promo (Pizza Box) from Green Box on Vimeo.

Source: ECO Incorporated

A greener apple ...

Gadget makers have often been accused of being wasteful and excessive, leading to giant carbon footprints. Organizations like Greenpeace have been very vocal of these practices and now even consumers are beginning to take notice.

Apple, like other companies, has moved to reduce its carbon footprint, and has vowed to reduce it dramatically over the next few years. Apple, though currently ranked above competitors like HP and Dell, is still placed below the fold by Greenpeace.

It may seem rather strange at first, but despite its lower revenue than HP and Dell, Apple puts its annual carbon footprint above both giants at 10.2 million tons a year. As a comparison, HP puts its figures at 8.4 million tons and Dell has its footprint at 471,000 tons.

The discrepancy makes itself more obvious when considering that the way these companies measure their carbon footprint is decidedly different.

HP and Dell do not include the carbon footprint from the use of their products by consumers, Apple however, takes that into account and it actually forms nearly half of the annual emission figures the company has put forward. Going by the same logic, the emission figures from HP and Dell will have to be nearly doubled to put them on the same scale as Apple.

The Cupertino based company also has a product lineup free from BFR, PVC, Mercury, Lead and Arsenic, primarily due to its use of glass and aluminum.

[via PCWorld] Image courtesy of imagemd

Going green also makes business sense as a number of consumers and clients choose to go with the service offering a lower carbon footprint.

To that end, both are vehemently trying to reduce their carbon footprint, and setting new goals like the 20% reduction of carbon both of them have promised to achieve by 2020.

UPS claims to have a broader and more accurate measurement of its carbon footprint. It includes its buildings, trucks, trains, planes, electricity usage and even the fuel burnt by its contractors. FedEx on the other hand, leaves out the emissions from its contractors as they aren’t necessarily a part of the company. Both try to route packages through the most efficient transport, and are working on cleaner technologies for their road going vehicles. While FedEx favors hybrids, UPS has tested a number of vehicles including hybrids, CNG, Liquid Natural Gas, propane and hybrid-hydraulic.

UPS appears to have an edge in its planes which are younger, more efficient and make less noise. And they continue to retire those that have gone old. FedEx on its part, is following the same route, and it also developed retrofit hushkit program that reduces noise and emissions. As of now, UPS appears to have the edge with a Number 85 spot on Newsweek’s green ranking, while FedEx is at 93.

[via ClimateBiz]

Upcycling is better than recycling or “reusing” in many ways. The idea is to start from discarded products or waste and create something sustainable, and usable as a daily item. Austrian shop Gabarage is busy showing the world the potential of garbage; the custom products that can be made from trash, and the money such products can bring in.

This Vienna based design shop lets its consumers/clients look at garbage, and select the “piece” they like the most. The selected piece is then upcycled into a custom gaba bag for the consumer.

Gabarage also runs programs that allow companies to pass on their residuals or industrial waste to the shop, which then turns these into sustainable design pieces which may be used by the companies, or can be put in the shop for sale.

Not only does the idea add an environmental perspective to items that would otherwise be consigned to the landfill, it also offers a great option to consumers to get custom made bespoke products. [via Reuters]

It was Nike first that issued an order to its suppliers that it will not use the leather coming from the cattle raised in Amazon Biome. Nike ordered its suppliers to create a leather tracking system by July1,2010. Following in the footsteps of Nike, it is Timberland that has vowed to clean up its leather supply chain ensuring that it will not contribute to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in any manner.

Timberland is working closely with its suppliers in Brazil and in Bertin to ensure they have a readied plan that addresses their commitment to an immediate adjournment on deforestation in the Amazon Biome.

This moratorium also includes deferment from sourcing products from indigenous or protected lands or entities that bring get work done from slave labor.

Timberland wants all suppliers to commit by August 15 that they would end cattle expansion in the Amazon. Also ties would be severed with suppliers whose farms have contributed to the phenomenon after 2006-once a leather tracing and monitoring system is in place.

[via Greenbiz]

In a letter to US Senate leaders, the National Foreign Trade Council, the United States Chamber of Commerce and two other groups urged the Senate to desist from including provisions that could “negatively impact US relations with key trading partners and disrupt the global trading systems.”  Climate change, the letter adds, is a global problem which requires international cooperation and not “unilateral ultimatums.”

In June 2009, the United States House of Representatives passed a Bill aimed at cutting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gases by 17% by 2020 and by 83% by 2050.  The US Bill contains a “border adjustment” program. This program, starting in 2020, will impose additional tariffs on carbon-intensive goods like steel, cement, glass and paper from those countries that the US believes are not doing their best to reduce the emissions.

It may be noted that developing countries like India and China have strongly opposed the “border adjustment” program on the grounds that the United States and other developed countries are responsible for most of the greenhouse-gases that are already there in the air.

At the same time, China recently overtook the United States as the top emitter of carbon dioxide in the world.

[via Reuters]

Image courtesy of littledragon