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1. Commercially Raised Bees Spreading Disease
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2. Los Angeles Bans Plastic Bags!
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3. Riverwired.com: Vehicle to Grid Tech in the Smart Garage
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4. Riverwired.com: Green Freebie: How about a Toyota Prius?
Commercially Raised Bees Spreading Disease
Jason Sahler - agriculture
Design can change the world for the better, but our wide reaching imprint on Mother Nature doesn’t always yield the best results. Case in point: the decline of bees. More specifically that commercially raised bumblebees are affecting the wild bee population. For years, researchers have been linking a decline in bees to everything from pesticides to genetically modified crops, and now the news is pointing to the bees themselves - the ones that humans “create” in greenhouses.
Los Angeles Bans Plastic Bags!
Ali Kriscenski - Materials
Welcome Los Angeles to the growing list of countries and municipalities that are taking a stand against plastic bags. Following in the footsteps of Australia, China, Israel, Melbourne, San Francisco and others, the City of Los Angeles has jumped on the plastic bag ban bandwagon to stop the persistent environmental hazards from entering the LA waste stream by 2010.
Riverwired.com: Vehicle to Grid Tech in the Smart Garage
khallgeisler - Bikes & Cars
The Rocky Mountain Institute has published its first “Solutions” journal, which is available as a PDF. In it, they discuss the research conducted by RMI on vehicle-to-grid technology. Electric cars, with their built-in, onboard electricity storage devices (batteries, to you and me) can smooth out the power flow and provide emergency backup power:
The real benefit of electric vehicles is that they bring a new level of stability and control to the grid—including giving power back when it's needed most (in blackouts or at times of peak demand). By some estimates, a battery-electric vehicle, with about 40 kilowatt-hours of usable energy, could power an entire residential block for over an hour if necessary.
During the 17 years that RMI conducted its V2G research, the grid in the U.S. became robust enough to handle this kind of power exchange. But RMI went further and imagined what they call a “smart grid” that can communicate with homeowners about, say, when electricity is in high demand and therefore more expensive.
There are also serious benefits, both economic and ecological, to getting more solar and wind power onto a smart grid — the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions alone would be significant. To see how all this plays out in the real world, keep an eye on the pilot project in Boulder, Colorado.
Riverwired.com: Green Freebie: How about a Toyota Prius?
RiverWired.com - Eco-Soa
Somebody somewhere is getting something green for free – why not you? Jet Blue Airways is making up for all those carbon emissions by giving you a chance to go green every day – with the Grand Prize of a Toyota Prius hybrid. Next prize-- $3000 gift card to Smith & Hawken, some of the most beautiful plants and gardening stuff around. And if you don't get those biggies, you may still qualify for an Energy Star Sharp LCD TV, or an eco-culinary retreat for four – or a trip for two to an Arizona spa. I'm feeling greener already – how about you?
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