Where: Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai, China

When: April 19, 2007

Who: General Motors Corporation

What: Unveiling a Version of the Chevrolet Volt Electric Car

At the Shanghai Auto Show this weekend, GM unveiled a new version of the Chevrolet Volt electric car. In order to extend its range with zero emissions, this car uses a hydrogen fuel cell. “The experimental Volt is GM’s leading entry in the auto industry’s race to create a commercially viable electric car that can compete with the range and performance of gasoline-powered models.” The theme of Shanghai’s Auto Show is alternative vehicles. Automakers plan to show off their fuel cell and gasoline-electric hybrid models.

GM’s Chevrolet Volt

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The new volt, in order to extend its range to 300 miles, uses lithium-ion batteries that can be plugged in to charge and a fuel cell to recharge them while on the road. Increasing these fuel cell vehicles gives them a confident chance to complete alongside gasoline vehicles. How to fuel cell vehicles really work? These vehicles “run on the power produced when oxygen in the air combines with hydrogen that’s stored in the fuel tank - producing only harmless water vapor.”

GM has not yet set a day for the start of selling this car. Right now, they have begun production enginerring, a process that alone can take three to four years. GM plans to distribute 100 of its produced cars to members of the public in North America, Europe, and Asia for testing.

According to Lawrence D. Burns, GM’s vice president for research, a key factor for the electric car to be accepted is the availability of hydrogen at filling stations. Right now, companies are developing technology to produce hydrogen from natural gas

Hopefully, GM will to able to satisfy the consumer in order for the Chevrolet Volt to be purchased. It’s a great step in the right direction, because automobile emissions are one of the greatest contributors to global warming. If everything works out and this car gets on the market, trips to the gas station could be potentially eliminated!! So let’s hope everything works out.

Sources

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasedetail.do?domain=3&docid=31656

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12611

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/jan2007/bw20070108_195447.htm

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Auto_News/Green_Car_News/GM_Plugs_Fuel_Cells_into_Volt.S196.A12244.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt

The city of Vancouver, British Columbia is trying to make its city as environmentally friendly for the 2010 Winter Olympics by heating the athletes’ village through sewers. Officials have decided to use the heat from the sewers to heat the buildings. This sewer-heat system is very similar to that of geothermal energy. Somewhat like a geothermal energy system, a sewer-heat system uses exchangers to extract waste heat from the sewage. Don’t worry about the odours, air filters will be installed to remove odour.

Example of a Geothermal Energy Plant in the Philippines

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Currently, there are two other similar sewage-heat systems in operation in Norway and Japan. Vancouver is said to be the first one in North America and is predicted to be completed in 2009. When completed the sewer-heat system will heat the neighboring area which includes athletes village. The construction is said to cost a whopping C$20 million. The conversion to dollars would be:

1.13 Canadian = 1 dollar

20 million Canadian = 17.7 million dollars

I think that it’s a great idea that Vancouver is heating the Winter Olympic games through sewers. It’s a great way to help out the environment, even though on exceptionally cold days natural gas will be used. This idea when completed will not only benefit the athletes village, but also the neighboring area. It’s a great way to save resources and make the most of what already is given to us.

Sources:

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=80f80713-d6ee-48b0-b174-9a546f1a63db

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12605

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy

You might be wondering what exactly I mean by the title “Go Tap!!!” Well the truth is that people should start drinking more tap water in order to help the environment. Huh?!? It was recently said by United States Environmentalists and I quote, “bottled drinking water is contributing to global warming.” In order to decrease the progress of global warming we need to start drinking bottled water and go tap!

Pile of Poland Spring Bottled Water

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Bottled water companies generate an estimated profit of $11 billion in sales. Why?? Because more than 8 billion gallons of bottled water is being consumed annually in the United States.

The production of plastic bottles alone burns more than 1.5 million barrels of oil. All of these barrels could power 100,000 cars for a full year. We, as human beings, need to think about all of the unnecessary energy costs that go into making a bottle of water. A bottle that will most likely end up in the trash.

Tying in with our lesson on the “ecological footprint,” one of the easiest ways to lower our footprint is by drinking tap water instead of buying bottled water. Being a regular bottled water drinker myself, I am going to begin drinking and replacing my bottled water with tap water. Such a small change in someone’s life can fuel 100,000 cars for a year. I hope that everyone, including myself, will try to better our ecological footprint by drinking tap water.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070420-20592100-bc-us-bottledwater.xml

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2007/04/20/environmentalists_blast_bottled_water/

http://media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2007/01/17/News/A.BottledWater.Blast-2651112.shtml

Two years ago, a strong earthquake struck Indonesia’s Sumatra island killing nearly 1,000 people. Not only did this earthquake bring grief amongst the people, but it also caused one of the biggest coral reef die-offs ever recorded. Scientists from the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the government-backed Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies found that the earthquake had raised the island of Simeulue up to 1.2 metres. This rise caused the coral reef to be exposed over approximately 300 km of sea floor.

Coral Reef

Photo Credited to: Wikipedia

Although some sites in Simeulue have recovered, none of the coral that was raised during the earthquake survived. Because the reefs are beginning to look like what they were before the earthquake species are beginning to recolonize, but it may take years for the reefs to fully recover. Scientists and researchers took advantage of this one in a life time opportunity. In order to ensure that the reef remains alive and in great conditions the Australian government banned the use of chemicals to catch fish. I think that it’s great that many scientists and researchers get to be involved in this once in a lifetime opportunity and that its great that parts of the coral reef are recovering, but it also allows the viewers to see what great damage something such as an earthquake can cause.

Sources:

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12567

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSJAK25142920070412?feedType=RSS

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/41364/story.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,265920,00.html

What difference can one person make? As the world continues to stretch its finite resources because of rapid population growth, air, water and soil pollution, problems are continuing to increase. The biggest of all is global warming. Global warming threatens to push our planet overboard unless humans can meet the growing need and create a sustainable environment. So how can one person contribute to this enormous environmental problem? Well, let’s look at some examples.

Photo Courtesy of: Wikipedia

Rachel Carson was just one person who was accredited for starting the environmental movement in the United States just by writing Silent Spring. John Muir was just one person who inspired generation of conservationists by saving the Yosemite Valley and founding the Sierra Club. Wangari Maathai (refer to my November 11, 2006 post about her, entitled “Campaign to Fight Global Warming Launches to Plant 1,000,000 Trees in 2007″) was just one person who started planting trees in Kenya and for her contribution was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for 2004. Al Gore was just one person who made his voice heard and presented it in a slide show by the name of An Inconvenient Truth, which became an Academy Award Winning Film and best-selling book.

It only takes ONE person to have a huge impact on the Earth and its environment. We all have to power to control our actions and do what is more environmentally friendly in our daily lives. We need to use products that will help sustain the Earth rather than erode it. So TAKE ACTION and MAKE CHANGES in your daily life. Use less water, plant a tree, eat locally grown food, and use reusable shopping bags. Do anything that will be beneficiary to the Earth, DO SOMETHING!

Sources:

http://environment.about.com/b/a/256887.htm

http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/tp/globalwarmtips.htm

Because we have been working on the ecological footprint of a human being, I thought that it would be interesting to do some research on what we can do to make our footprint smaller as well as help the environment. It is known to most that a lot of the food that we eat from the grocery store contains pesticides and many are grown in single crop plantings. It is a belief that these pesticides increase the productivity of crops by 40 percent. Because of its ability to grown, pesticides are now being introduced into poor countries with the hopes that it will end world hunger.

Will pesticides alone end world hunger?? Holistically, this is not true because organic farming produces significantly higher yields of crops at a lower cost. It was proven by England’s Essex University that countries such as India, Kenya, Brazil, Guatemala, and Honduras have doubled or even tripled their yields by switching to organic agriculture.

Organic Farming

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Organic-vegetable-cultivation.jpeg

Not only does organic farming produce higher yields of crops but it also “increases soil fertility and prevents loss of topsoil to erosion, while conventional methods have the opposite effect.” Organic farming is also a financial benefit. By not wasting money on pesticides and fertilizer, farmers are putting the extra money in their pocket. According to the Organic Consumers Association, with sales of domestic organic food growing at about 20 percent annually, organic farms are said to have a boost in the years to come.

Organic farming alone can’t stop world hunger, but with the help of environmental leaders and human rights workers this problem can be tackled. The government just needs to focus on “the social and political factors involved in poverty and food distribution” in order to prevent millions of people from starving.

I think that by introducing and allowing organic farming to take over pesticides, the world would have a better chance of solving the issue of world hunger. We need to think about the future. With millions of people hungry everyday we need to focus on the issue as a whole and what we could do to end it entirely. Pesticides not only destroy soil but also cost money. By growing rice, corn, and wheat the organic way we can not only guarantee a brighter future but also a healthier lifestyle.

Sources:

http://environment.about.com/od/healthenvironment/a/organicfarming.htm

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/indexNet.htm

IKEA Building

That big blue building with IKEA written in yellow letters on it is trying to help the environment. It was announced last week the IKEA is going to begin charging a nickel for plastic bags. This is all part of their “bag the plastic bag” initiative. They want to discourage the use of plastic bags and donate all revenue to the nonprofit conservation group American Forests. The store is also going to let shoppers walk away with one of their iconic reusable blue bags for 59 cents. But is this how far IKEA’s contribution to the environment goes?

Thomas Bergmark, IKEA’s head of social and environmental responsibility, will answer and help one find out the details behind this unassuming approach.

• IKEA’s initiative in the U.S. with the plastic bags
  • IKEA’s strategy is to be quiet and low-key. They issue a yearly social and environmental report on the web. The “plastic bag” campaign is their first step to be more aggressive and more transparent in these issues.
• IKEA’s view of their obligation to the environment
  • They have always been about creating a better everyday life for the people. In today’s world caring about the people includes caring about the environment. Ever since their company was founded 60 years ago, they have been turning and twisting materials to use them in the best possible way, saving both on material and costs. This attitude has allowed for them to save on resources, thus saving the environment.
• IKEA trying to make their stores greener
  • In the building process the company looks into the land in order to make sure that they aren’t stepping into a protected area for biodiversity. Recently, they are beginning to consider the environmental issues when building new stores. Compared to other retailers, they do a really good job sorting waste and recycling. On an international level they are beginning to focus on energy. They have set all IKEA buildings with renewable energy, and are trying to be 25 percent more energy efficient.
• How IKEA is going to make their renewable energy goal
  • They want to produce the energy themselves with the use of solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal heating and cooling.
• Deadline to get to completely renewable energy
  • Their first deadline is in 2009. By then they want their buildings to be 60 percent renewable energy and 15 percent more energy efficient.
• IKEA’s plans to be more environmental friendly in the shipping of goods
  • Currently, they are using flat pack. This allows for the company to save volume and hopefully this extra volume allows for less shipments to be sent. They admit that transportation is a tougher challenge. Because their aren’t any groundbreaking solutions, they are hoping that biofuels will be used in the near future.
• How suppliers act when they find out about social and environmental restrictions
  • Suppliers in Europe and the Americas are positive, while Asia is more resistant.
• IKEA is going to ramp up communications and PR around environmental issues
  • They are going to continue with the blue bag campaign, but won’t do any heavy marketing. Don’t expect to see environmental campaigns on billboards from IKEA.

Thomas Bergmark’s answers about the environment seemed only to have begun taking place. Hopefully, IKEA will keep its promises and really try to improve their stores and transportation in order to make them more environmentally friendly. At least, they are taking a small step in the right direction with the “bag the plastic bag” initiative. IKEA has a good idea of what they want to do to help the environment, now let’s hope they do it.

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17385270/

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/social_environmental/uk_environment_and_social_responsibility.html

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070220/nytu069.html?.v=81

Picture Source:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Ikeav%C3%A4ster%C3%A5s.JPG

Jay Austin, a Duluth professor and a researcher with the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Large Lakes Observatory, is surprised to find the waters of Lake Superior to be warming at a such rapid pace. For a man who made a career studying decades of data on the Great Lakes, he knows it’s no mystery that there is a warming climate around Lake Superior but is surprised to see the water of the lake itself warming even more rapidly.

Through his research, Jay Austin found the water temperature rising almost twice as fast as the air temperature. His studies concluded that water temperature was rising more than 4 degrees for the average surface temperature.

The Great Lakes

This rapid increase in water temperature is having dramatic effects. “The date of what we call the spring overturn has been getting earlier in the year,” Austin said. “It’s basically the start of the summer season in the lake. It’s when you start to develop strong positive stratification: warm water sitting on top of cool water.”

In these last two decades, the spring turnover have been constantly arriving earlier. Recently the spring turnover has moved up two weeks from early July to mid-June. The reasoning behind this is due to a loss of ice cover. Since ice is reflective, when it’s not there it makes it easier for the lake to absorb heat.

Ice Cover over Lake Superior

According to Austin, in another 35 to 40 years Lake Superior will only have minimal ice covering the top of the lake. This news isn’t good for plants and animals including the lake’s native whitefish. “If there’s less ice over time, and there appears to be, there’s a chance for greater storminess in the sort of shallow water (bays) that the whitefish spawn in,” said Steve Coleman, who directs the Large Lakes Observatory.

Another potential problem is that warming speeds up the growth of fish and the plants they feed on. If warming continues to increase, it can create big problems. The lake will have a reduction in the flow of nutrients into the system across that temperature gradient. The Duluth scientists’ next project is trying to prove their suspicion that diminishing ice is contributing to falling lake levels. Hopefully, there will be resolution soon found to keep the water temperatures in Lake Superior from rising. There needs to be a resolution found in order to keep the environment living and the plants and living organisms from dying.

Sources:

http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12293

Photo Source:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Great_Lakes_1.PNG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/LakeSuperior_arf.JPG

On the nightfall of March 3rd a rare opportunity presents itself. In the eastern United States, Canada, and South America one will have the opportunity to see a total eclipse of the moon around dusk. This eclipse should be especially easy to see in Africa and western Europe because the event will take place at night when the sky is completely black. Western Asia may get a chance to see the eclipse just as the moon is setting and the sky begins to appear.

The eclipse is said to begin at 5:44 p.m. eastern time and end a little over an hour later.

Lunar Eclipse

Here are some answered questions about lunar eclipses:

• What should I expect?
  • The moon won’t turn black, but instead should turn a reddish-orange color.
• Do I need protective eye-wear?
  • No protective eye-wear is needed.
• How exactly does a total lunar eclipse happen?
  • A total lunar eclipse occurs when a full moon passes entirely through the Earth’s umbra or commonly known as Earth’s dark inner shadow.
• What’s the difference between a partial eclipse and total lunar eclipse?
  • A partial eclipse is when part of the moon is in the Earth’s outer shadow, or penum, which is not as dark.

  

Sources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070302-lunar-eclipse.html

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2007.html#2007Mar03T

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse

Picture Sources:

http://www.raftermranch.com/Lunar%20Eclipse%20second_102704/Lunar_Eclipse_color_cropped_922PM.jpg

http://www.space.com/spacewatch/041022_eclipse_series.html

As spring break arrives just around the corner, thousands of tourists will be boarding cruise ships and heading off to an exotic destination. With the ocean being the Earth’s greatest abundance of biodiversity, how exactly will these cruise lines keep the Earth in mind?

With nearly 3 million passengers each year boarding vessels and heading off to Cozumel, Mexico, the Caribbean tourism industry is starting to recognize the potential damage that they might be causing on the environment. These effects include: the spectacular coasts and marine life that are the region’s main attractions.

Carnival Cruise Ship

Starting this April, change will happen. Representatives from cruise lines, trade associations, international and local nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies will get together and examine the Caribbean’s primary environmental concerns and what can be done to change and improve them.

The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB) is a year-long program designed to help businesses identify and implement sustainable operating practices. These operating practices include voluntarily designating areas to avoid discharging waste-water. The programs also aims in collaborating more effectively with the cruise tourism industry so that it can assist governments in minimizing environmental impacts. Currently, there are plans underway to expand the initiative to ports in Honduras and Belize.

Seleni Matus of CELB’s Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative says that “It will be the first time dialogue of this kind has happened between all key actors on such a large scale in the region.” The cruise industry is working aggressively with partners to educate crew and passengers, develop new business practices, and most importantly to protect habitats that are rich in biological diversity, like the ocean.

BP is moving in the right direction. Last fall in Indonesia, BP announced that due to environmental sensitivites, the corporation will reroute its tankers away from Indones’s fragile Sagewin Strait. This new route adds 550 kilometers to the tankers’ route. BP is willing to pay a little extra and spend a little more time in order to perserve the Sagewin Strait.

It’s nice to see that BP’s decision ensures that tankers do not harm the Sagewin Strait’s unique underwater species, including certain dolphin and whale populations considered threatened by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). It’s a move in the right direction that corporations are starting to see the effects that their companies are having on the environment and what specific routes they need to take in order to improve the Earth we live on. If every company soon realized they need to change, then their would be a big improvement in the environment.

Sources:

http://www.conservation.org/xp/frontlines/2007/02260701.xml

http://www.celb.org/xp/CELB/partners/com/bp.xml

Picture Sources:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Carnival_Victory_St_Thomas.jpg