Friends of mine own some property.  They have about five acres of heavily wooded land with a stream running through.  The stream is cold and provides tasty water that is guaranteed to quench your thirst.

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An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 has struck southeastern Peru near Bolivias’s capital of La Paz.

Map of Peru

You can see all the seismic details from the US Geological Survey here. And, click here for a map of the area.

Reuters is reporting that the quake was not felt by witnesses in the area, and there are no reports of damages or casualties.

According to NPR, the depth of this particular earthquake could help explain why it wasn’t felt more on the surface.

On Tuesday, there was an earthquake off the coast of American Samoa in the South Pacific. And earlier today there was one near the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Are all three of these quakes related?

Researchers are looking into that possibility.

Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday announced it has gone into solar-power contracts with Oakland’s BrightSource Energy to produce a total of 1,310 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power 530,000 California homes during peak hours— 12 noon – 7pm.

Solar farm by BrightSource Energy

Go California! Wait! Let me check my PG&E bill. Somebody has to pay for this.

The new agreement includes seven power plants. This is in addition to a deal the two companies struck in April 2008. In that deal 900 megawatts would come from solar thermal power.

BrightSource now has 2,610 megawatts under contract. The new PG&E contract is the largest. BrightSource folk say their output represents more than 40 percent of all large-scale solar thermal contracts in the United States.

“The solar thermal projects announced today exemplify PG&E’s commitment to increasing the amount of renewable energy we provide to our customers throughout Northern and central California,” senior vice president of energy supply for PG&E, said in a statement. “Through these agreements with BrightSource, we can harness the sun’s energy to meet our customers’ power requirements when they need it most — during hot summer days.”

CEO of BrightSource Energy, said the additional contracts came about after BrightSource showed off its technology in Israel with results that were “at or above all the specifications.”

“It proved to them that our technology works. They saw us executing and delivering” efficient solar energy production.

Gov. Schwarzenegger terminated in “more evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay and sunshine will eventually power hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across our golden state.”

Construction costs for BrightSource will be at least $3 billion and the facilities will be located in the southwestern deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona. The first plant, a 110-megawatt facility at Ivanpah in eastern San Bernardino County will begin operation by 2012.

What I want to know is who is going to pay for this? More specifically, how much will my PG&E bill be going up each month to fund this new venture?

Electronic Gadgets a Rising Threat to the Environment

The world is doomed for sure and as per the International Energy Agency, even your iPod is contributing.

The stark reality is that we people are aware of the ill effects of greenhouses gases but, we still do not want to make a difference.

For those curious as to how we can contribute in saving our planet from this evil, even the judicious usage of electricity consumed by our doodads could help.

if we continue to ignore our role by 2030 the energy consumption coming from our beloved gadgets could triple, hitting a whopping 1,700 terawatt hours. And if that doesn’t scare you …

The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030, when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the IEA said.

Needless to say that the increased need for energy would take the greenhouse gases level to … the next level.

Consumers alone cannot make a difference as the manufacturers also have to contribute by developing gadgets that could run on minimalistic specified standards. We are constantly being made aware of the ill-effects of gas guzzlers, the addition of consumer electronics is another surprise.

Imagine a world without commuters and gadgets! Even the thought is distressing. Don’t you think it’s better to play rational and be the good stewards Earth needs?

[via Timesonline] (Image courtesy of ibrotons)

Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network and Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy have come up with a list of the World’s Cleanest Countries.

Clean Streets in Geneve, Switzerland

Europe claimed 14 of the top 20 environmental performers largely because the Old Continent has “the infrastructure to provide clean drinking water and treat waste water, lowering the likelihood that Europeans will suffer from waterborne disease.”

Scandinavia performed well in ecosystem vitality – health of fisheries, the amount of greenhouse gases a country pumps into the air and how well it preserves the diversity of its plants and animals. This’ll happen when you have so few people in such wide open spaces.

The United States scored a 63.5 in ecosystem vitality. The average is 74.2. And George W. gets the blame. That poor man will be blamed for everything that is wrong with the world. The U.S. was 39th overall and it was Bush’s fault that we weren’t ranked higher.

Switzerland was ranked number one and Costa Rica was one of a few developing nations to crack the top 10. Columbia also made it. And it’s Bush and his dad’s fault that Columbia and Costa Rica are not part of the United States thus helping us have a higher ranking overall.

So should we move to Europe?

Image by cmicblog

A study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical medicine, has concluded that overweight people are bad for the environment.

Fat Women, Harming the Environment!

Fatty fatty two by fours eat more than thin people. Consequently, they are more likely to travel by car. And, don’t you know that cars have to work harder to carry bigger people, too!

“When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a heavy body is like driving around in a gas guzzler,” researchers wrote in their study. The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

It is estimated that each fat person is responsible for about one ton of carbon dioxide emissions a year more than the average than a thin person. The calculators have determined that the average European accounts for 11 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year.

Save the world! Go on a diet!

Image by Malingering

We are all about shining the spotlight on environmental issues and making them an absolute priority. But the creators of Lightpot seem to have taken it a bit too literally. Here’s their really cute and compact LED-lit table lamp that offers you a lot more than just the normal radiance.

Resembling a lamp with two shades placed one opposite to the other, the Lightpot is both your own personal bed/table lamp and also that tiny pot which allows you to grow some green inside. Ergonomically designed by Studio Shubal, it’s been built to debut at the 2009 IMM Cologne and will soon be available in stores in various shades and colors to please your senses.

For us, the beauty of this ambient lighting device is that the LED light on the inside grows in intensity as your plant grows and thrives. A good dose of symbolism, if the “life” inside perishes then you are forced into complete darkness. And you wouldn’t want this to happen, right? [via EcoFriend]

Technology is an irony in itself as it seems. It delivers the solutions for our problems and then creates more problems for these solutions. It is a constant search for finding the right balance.

But here’s Gota, the water conserving dishwasher – a device that offers another cool technological answer to the question of how one can save precious fresh water resources. This ultra-cool and futuristic looking hub is akin to a space trooper that explores the universe, but in reality is a dishwasher designed by Ibsen Caldas and his team.

The unique design of Gota allows it to save on the amount of water used for doing the dishes. By simply steaming everything in the pre-wash stage and by collecting these same cooled vapors for washing the dishes in the final stage, Gota ends up cutting water consumption in half. The technology seems pretty simple in concept and does away with an excessive use of water. While it is not yet clear on how many plates or cutlery it can take, it seems large enough to serve the conventional family.

Simple, ergonomic and perfect for any modern home,we hope to see a production version of Gota very soon. Mixes “business” with pleasure.

[YankoDesign via EcoFriend]

We love it when companies invest time and money to coming up with concepts that shape a better future. But what’s more interesting, is that some of these concepts actually come to life.

Swiss tuning designer and car manufacturer, Rinspeed, just announced that they’ve been working to build a solar powered vehicle dubbed iChange. The concept is actually a lightweight electric vehicle (features solar panels on the roof and sides) that is capable to change shape according to the number of passengers on board.

With no doors and a teardrop-like silhouette, the new iChange brings in three powerful li-ion batteries that take three hours to fully charge and offer a 90km range. As for how powerful it is, the engine outputs 150 kW that helps it go naught to 100km/h in just 4.2 seconds and achieve a max speed of 220 km/h.

Expected to hit the floors next month at the 2009 Auto Show in Geneva, we’re pretty sure a bunch of “green eyes” will be on Rinspeed.

[Cnet & Green Car Congress]

Solar energy is still running well despite the bad economic environment and while people are searching for green alternatives, designers are trying hard to come up with stylish and innovative options, that blend creativity with utility. Designed by Jongoh Lee, the beautiful, ergonomic and natural looking streetlights merge seamlessly into the natural canopy around to harness solar power effectively. The cute and leaf-like streetlights capture sun’s energy throughout the day and use it to power what looks like their LED lights during night.

Dubbed the ‘Invisible Streetlights’ they have a flexible body that allows to be part of any natural tree that lines up the streets of the big cities. However, the problem with the model is obvious: it needs a clear top above the light to tap into the sun’s rays and clear space beneath, to emit light at night.

Of course, it works great as even interior lighting option if you could modify it to suit your needs!

[via Ecofriend]