Eco20/20

Product review on the Black & Decker 18 inch Electric Mulching Cordless Lawn Mower

The Federal Government will provide $50 million to the geothermal industry to help it begin making the technology viable for baseload energy production. Speaking to Alexandra Kirk on ABC Radio's AM program, the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said there was huge potential for geothermal energy in Australia.

Vermont's four largest electric utilities believe the state needs new generating plants to replace at least some of the power they buy from outside sources. As VPR's Ross Sneyd reports, the companies say the plants should be powered by renewable energy, such as wood or wind.

Australia is the dryest nation on earth, always was always will be, the trouble is Global warming is making the situation worse and rainfall is reducing in a disturbing pattern. For two centuries since European settlement the States have fought over 'Water-Right's' and the use of water to the detriment of the environment and ultimately to the sustainability of everyone residing here. The Murray-Darling Basin is 3,370km long, drains one-seventh of the Australian land mass, and is currently by far the most significant agricultural area in Australia. The name of the basin is derived from its two major rivers, the Murray River and the Darling River.

You can't always get what you want, the Rolling Stones counseled. But if you try sometimes, you get what you need. Factor billions of dollars, questionable loyalties and a privatization rap sheet invested more in profit than people into the equation, and you usually can get both what you want and what you need. In the case of hyper-loaded oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, that means having your cake on climate crisis, fossil fuel addiction, eminent domain, water privatization and corporate earnings -- and eating it too.

New greenhouse gases emitted in making flat-screen televisions or some refrigerants might be capped under a planned U.N. treaty to combat global warming, delegates at U.N. talks in Ghana said on Friday. Emissions of the recently developed industrial gases, including nitrogen trifluoride and fluorinated ethers, are estimated at just 0.3 percent of emissions of conventional greenhouse gases by rich nations. But the emissions are surging.

(NaturalNews) Scientists have increasingly warned that a hasty switch from fossil fuels to biofuels may actually accelerate global warming rather than helping to avert it, leading U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown to declare his opposition to new European Union biofuel standards that will soon be going into effect.

The search for sustainable energy will dominate the twenty-first century. This unit provides an introductory overview of the present energy systems and takes a brief look at where the world may find energy in the future - cleaner use of fossil fuels or renewable energy sources?

The presidential candidates are stumping hard. And while energy and environmental issues are getting frequent mentions, both the Republican and Democratic leaders are neglecting one area: geothermal energy. It now makes up just a sliver of the electricity generation pie. But experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that the technology could have far wider applications and be especially useful in times of high energy prices and carbon constraints. Not only is it much cleaner than fossil fuels but it also provides a continuous flow of energy -- all at a competitive prices.

Using the sun combined with nature's way of turning solar power into life-sustaining energy can be captured, artificially induced and could provide enough power in less than an hour to run the house, the car and bring on an era of true energy independence. The power of solar is not on the grand scale of collectors spread over square acres in the west desert, says Daniel Nocera, a widely cited chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is scheduled to speak at Utah State University this week.

The Lovin's Power Point presentations on energy Great resource that is available for use.

If you live in Europe, go get it!

Cogeneration of electricity and heat is one of the most promising means of using existing technologies for sustainable ends, but it is also one of the most neglected and least understood. Cogeneration can dramatically increase energy efficiency, slash carbon emissions, and save money.

Product review on the Winter Evaporative Air Cooler

Behind the headlines, scientists warn that climate change is already hitting New Mexico Signs of ancient life are scattered across the mesas above the Chama River as it winds along highway 84 in northern New Mexico. The ground here is strewn with pieces of black and white pottery, and bumps and divots in the soil reveal the lines of stone rooms and walls.

New satellite measurements show that crucial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its second-lowest level on record. Arctic ice always melts in summer and refreezes in winter. But more and more ice is being lost and not recovered. The National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, announced Wednesday that the extent of sea ice in the Arctic is down to 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles set last September. With about three weeks left in the melt season, the record may fall, scientists say.

Following last summer's record minimum ice cover in the Arctic, current observations from ESA's Envisat satellite suggest that the extent of polar sea-ice may again shrink to a level very close to that of last year. Envisat observations from mid-August depict that a new record of low sea-ice coverage could be reached in a matter of weeks. The animation above is a series of mosaics of the Arctic Ocean created from images acquired between early June and mid-August 2008 from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument aboard Envisat. The dark grey colour represents ice-free areas while blue represents areas covered with sea ice.

Efforts to develop a massive environmentally friendly power plant combining photovoltaic generators and windmills that will float on the sea are progressing well, according to a team of scientists at Kyushu University. The planned plant will measure two kilometers by 800 meters and will be equipped with light-emitting diodes that shine light into the sea to promote seaweed growth, which in turn will absorb carbon dioxide and attract fish.

In an interview released today by Newsmax, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) - Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) newly minted running mate - was asked for her "take on global warming and how is it affecting our country." "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location," Palin said, adding, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made." DeSmogBlog notes that NASA and the National Academy of Sciences disagree:

Concerns over the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest resurfaced at the weekend after it emerged that deforestation jumped by 64% over the last 12 months, according to official government data. Brazil's National Institute for Space Research this week said that around 3,145 square miles - an area half the size of Wales - were razed between August 2007 and August 2008.