Indoor Hydroponic gardens usually are big and hungry energy sucking installations, with abnormally high electricity usage. The Omega Hydroponic garden though, is a different variety all together as Vancouver based Omega Garden’s Carousel System aims at more efficient use of energy, with claims of higher food yield as compared to conventional hydroponic gardens.

(more…)

If you're new here and you like our articles, how about subscribing free for our updates via RSS feed.

New York is one of the most glittering places in the United States, not just for its opulence, but for the glowing lights as well. What is hurting though is the large chunk of energy consumed on a daily basis to power those lights. With the judicious use of energy becoming a priority to help cool the earth it is mandatory to think of greener solutions in the Big Apple.

(more…)

China is turning to ethanol-powered buses from Sweden to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An ethanol-powered bus made from up north – Sweden (the bus is the same color as Sweden’s flag) is seen on the streets of Beijing, capital of the middle kingdom.

An ethanol-powered environmentally-friendly bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet Euro-V emission standards. But, the 18 million people in Beijing will need more than just one of these buses, no?

China and India are the world’s biggest polluters these days. But, China is making an attempt…or so I feel from my reading. Yeah, the country could do more. Gosh, I could do more.

We wonder, how many more buses China is planning on buying from Sweden or otherwise?

Images courtesy of [Asianewsphoto]

The US government laboratory in Los Altos is saying they will have nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed that will be able to power 20,000 homes within five years. The mini reactors will

1. be factory-sealed
2. contain no weapons-grade material
3. have no moving parts
4. be nearly impossible to steal
5. be encased in concrete and buried underground.

The technology is licensed to Hyperion, a New Mexico-based company which will start working on the first firm orders within five years. Hyperion says, “Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world for a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $2,500 per home.”

The first 100 firm orders have come from the oil and electricity industries for which they will set up three factories to produce 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023. The first confirmed order is from TES, a Czech infrastructure company specializing in water plants and power plants. ‘

The reactors, only a few meters in diameter, will be delivered by truck and buried underground. They need refueling every 7 to 10 years. The 50-year-old design has proved safe even for students to use. No countries are expected to object to plants on their territory.

“You could never have a Chernobyl-type event – there are no moving parts.” Never! Wrong word.

Meanwhile, Toshiba has been testing 200KW reactors measuring roughly six metres by two meters to fuel smaller numbers of homes for longer or that could power a single building for up to 40 years.

Source: Guardian (Image courtesy of philippe leroyer)

Locals in Nepal are at a loss to explain how some 3,000 trees in a nearby forest in Banke, mid-western Nepal, collapsed in about 10 minutes.

The trees at the Shrikrishna Community Forest, some 360 km west of Kathmandu just started tumbling down. There was no gale, no storm that day. Just falling trees. Not knowing what to think or who to blame/give credit for, the locals are turning to supernatural theories.

“It’s a bad omen.” And, the District Forest Office (DFO) is taking no initiative to see if an UFO or otherwise was involved.

Spooky, eh? What could cause 3,000 trees to start tumbling down? Aslan maybe?

Image courtesy of crashmattb

Soon-to-be Republican U.S. presidential candidate, John McCain wants to add to the 104 nuclear reactors currently operating in the States. He wants to add 45 nuclear power plants by 2030.

Additionally, he wants to pledge $2 billion each year in federal funds “to make clean coal a reality.”

The 104 nuclear reactors produce about 20% of the country’s electricity needs. And America has enough coal to last us forever maybe? Though, forever is a really long time.

America has not seen a new nuclear power plant go online in over 30 years but if McCain had his way, we’d have 45 in 20 years and another 55 after that, providing for nearly half of our energy needs.

In addition to the energy these two projects will deliver…can you say J-O-B-S? No relation to that Apple Inc. guy.

Hear hear! Nuclear power is a viable alternative in my book IF it is managed correctly. Clean coal? Absolutely. What’s the alternative?

source