ReGeneration Roundup - 2008-02-14
U.N. Secretary-General Calls for More Cooperation in Fight Against Global Warming
Alluding to the great industrial and technological revolutions that radically changed societies across the globe, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world is “now on the threshold of another (transformation) - the age of green economics.” Speaking to a Chicago business group late last week, the Secretary-General called upon governments to come together to fight global warming because “no nation, alone, can deal with such problems.” With global investment in green energy expected to hit $1.9 trillion by 2020, Ki-moon said that businesses and governments are now in the position to build a framework “to steer economic growth in a low-carbon direction.”
Can Baking Soda Help Solve Our Climate Woes?
The folks at Got2BGreen have tipped us off to a potential solution to climate change that was too intriguing to pass up. A company called Skyonic has developed the Skymine system, a process that uses carbon dioxide emitted from smokestacks to make food-grade baking soda. CEO Joe David Jones admits that the system needs work before it can be used on a large scale, but Luminate, a utility company, has already installed a pilot version at the Big Brown Steam Electric Station in Fairfield, Texas. This is exactly the sort of creative thinking that gets the ReGeneration team giddy. Here’s hoping a concept like this takes off!
Idaho National Laboratory Scientists Create Cheap and Efficient Solar Cells
As reported by triplepundit, scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory have produced nanoantennas, solar arrays that will continue to take in energy after the sun has set. These nanoantennas not only absorb nearly 80 percent of the energy thrown at us by the sun (traditional solar panels typically pick up 20 percent), but perhaps even more remarkably are relatively inexpensive to produce. They can also pick up energy through the infrared spectrum, much of which is released by the Earth only after the sun has set. Although the team has grappled with the complex and unpredictable interactions between multiple antennas, making setting up vast arrays a challenge, this is a significant development and one we should be hearing more about in the coming years.
Kids Say the Greenest Things
USA Today and The Canadian Press published amusing articles this week about what they are calling “Generation Green,” the scores of children today who have been raised by ecologically-aware parents, green classes and Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” In many cases, according to the articles, moms and dads don’t measure up to the green standards they themselves instilled in their kids. Today’s parents are being taken to task by their young activists for driving over 55 mph, using plastic shopping bags, forgetting to recycle and having inefficient dishwashers. The Canadian Press piece includes tips for parents on how to deal with these budding eco-warriors and a list of Web sites for kids who want to make the world a better place.
