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Emma Redfoot

Gates and Hewlett Foundations Focus on Online Learning - NYTimes.com - 1 views

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    Using technology as a teaching tool increases productivity in higher learning.  Bill Gates is throwing money at increasing technology especially at community colleges.  He refers to technology as "your only hope." 
Taylor Grandchamp

Greening Through IT: Information Technology for Environmental Sustainability - 0 views

Tomlinson, Bill. 2010. Greening Through IT: Information Technology for Environmental Sustainability. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Tomlinson's argument lies in the undisputed fact that human and envir...

sustainability technology ecological modernization

started by Taylor Grandchamp on 02 May 12 no follow-up yet
Jim Proctor

Germany Agrees to Extend Life of Nuclear Plants - NYTimes.com - 0 views

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    All throughout Europe, nuclear power is on the rebound, with a number of plants formerly slated for decommissioning now receiving (mixed) political support.  As the chancellor of Germany states, "Nuclear energy is a bridge technology." There is debate in the enviro movement over the use of nuclear as a bridge technology while renewable forms are being developed; what do you think?
Julia Huggins

Solar cells thinner than wavelengths of light hold huge power potential, Stanford resea... - 1 views

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    Promising research on the science side of environmentalism. Solar panels that are thinner than the wavelength of light allow for longer "captivity" of the proton, and thus "absorb more than 10 times the energy predicted by conventional theory." This relates to our ENVS 160 unit regarding the limits to growth. More technology = changing limits, once again. The article ends with a slightly unsettling note however: Fan, one of the researchers is quoted, "Where this will have a larger impact is in some of the emerging technologies; for example, in organic cells." Oh technology, are you a friend or foe?
Lucy Roberts

How can we spread awareness of energy consumption? - 1 views

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    This article suggests that once people are aware of the amount of energy they actually consume, they are more likely to reduce their usage by up to 30%. It goes on to suggest an energy tracker as an app on a smart phone or something of the like. It's a cool idea trying to use technology to promote awareness. I'm not sure if this is promoting Sony technology or if this is a genuine proposal. hmm
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    I think that this guy is on the right track, but are we overthinking? I personally would hate to have something tracking everywhere I go in the way he describes, because I'm uncomfortable with the amount of information about me that can be recorded and found as it is. People are starting to get antsy over the lack of privacy on facebook - this is a whole new level. Would a feasible step towards this idea be simply taking the energy meter on every house, and putting it in a place like the kitchen? Perhaps change the units from kilowatt hours or whatever it is to dollars and cents? Cool post - and a cool website, thanks Lucy. Richard Betegga from facilities mentioned during a meeting we had that he was interested in getting dorm energy use up on screens at the main entrances of every dorm for just this purpose. I'd be really curious to see if that could have an impact.
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    yeah! i like that idea.
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    Screens would be really amazing! I feel like it would have an impact on energy use.
isabel Kuniholm

Whole Earth Discipline: Why Dense Cities, Nuclear Power, Transgenic Crops, Restored Wet... - 0 views

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    This is a book by ecologist and environmentalist Stewart Brand who is previously known for helping create and write the Whole Earth Catalogue. In this book Brand discusses the current state of our environment and specifically focuses on climate change. He then spends the rest of the book discussing radical modern approaches that he believes will help combat climate change. Some of these methods include using nuclear power as our main source of energy and genetically modifying all of our crops to be more resilient to climate change. He also argues that densely populated cities are more efficient and that new technology must be used to help fix the environmental problems that have been caused by previous technologies. This book is well written and offers a perspective on environmental issues that most other current environmental books do not agree with. I would recommend this book to all environmental studies majors.
Claire Dilworth

On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules - NYTimes.com - 0 views

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    At face value it appears China is trying to improve its clean energy reputation. By becoming the World's leader in wind turbine and solar panel exporters, it looks as though the country is paying attention to the environmental crisis at last. Though it may appear like this industry is doing good for the world, however, it is wrecking havoc in the political and economic spheres. Therefore this article, juxtaposed to Maniates' "Individualization" raises interesting questions regarding the limitations of "good intentions" in helping the environment. Sometimes doing good in one sense can be detrimental in another. "China Takes Lead" also illuminates the complexities regarding clean energy technologies due to their economic ramifications and political biases. 
Carley Matsumoto

"To Go Where Compact Fluorescents Cannot" - 1 views

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    This entry in the "Green" blog section of the New York Times talks about the progression of lighting products and their efficiency. For the most part it focuses on the movement from fluorescent lights to LED lights which are slightly more efficient. This movement relates to the idea of modernization and technological development as being a positive feature in addressing environmental issues.
Darya Watnick

U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels - 1 views

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    The military essentially suddenly decided to use renewable energy out in the field, mostly in Afghanistan because transporting fuel is dangerous there. They used mostly civilian technology but the mass use should bring the cost down and with more scientists updating it the technology will also get better.
Micah Leinbach

A realist look at alternative energy - 1 views

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    I would consider this a must-read for those into the alternative energy side of things. While the energies it highlights aren't all new and exciting, the numbers game it plays is pretty key. This is no optimistic one-technology-solves-it-all piece, and it issues a key reminded that no alternative energy we have reaches the input/output energy found in oil. By my reading, key to getting into the next energy phase we should expect is energy reduction, and energy efficiency. Our efficiency numbers, both from a physics and an economics perspective, are awful. The guys behind the Rocky Mountain Institute wrote a book called Natural Capitalism, which offers some great insights into energy efficiency as it stands and as it could be, if anyone is interested in that side of things. One of my favorite aspects of increasing energy efficiency is how its good for economies and good for the environment - still, there is the worry that if it makes things too cheap, people will use too much (the book cites fuel efficiency standards that were so good the cost of driving dropped significanly, and so many more people drove than more energy ended up being used). There are tools to avoid that though. I digress, but still, an excellent view of where alternative energy stands as of now.
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    One such technology that leads to energy efficiency: http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Energy/2009/1231/No-more-power-lines
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    oh man oh man oh man. huge, invisible, underground networks that transmit electricity? sounds familiar... "I have long proposed that mycelia are the earth's "natural Internet." I've gotten some flak for this, but recently scientists in Great Britain have published papers about the "architecture" of a mycelium - how it's organized. They focused on the nodes of crossing, which are the branchings that allow the mycelium, when there is a breakage or an infection, to choose an alternate route and regrow. There's no one specific point on the network that can shut the whole operation down. These nodes of crossing, those scientists found, conform to the same mathematical optimization curves that computer scientists have developed to optimize the Internet. Or, rather, I should say that the Internet conforms to the same optimization curves as the mycelium, since the mycelium came first." -- Paul Stamets more: http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/07/natures-internet-vast-intelligent.html
Jim Proctor

A Sustainable Life - The New York Times - 0 views

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    Interesting list of topics the NYT includes in their theme series: marriage, money, food (twice), and technology, all with iconic images depicting some sort of cycle.  What's fresh and what's missing in this overall picture?
Peter Vidito

Techno-Sponge "ShamWows" Oil Spills (Popular Mechanics) - 0 views

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    "At the National Science Foundation, Paul Edmiston is handed a refreshment-a bright orange bottle of motor oil. Undaunted, the chemical engineer from the College of Wooster proceeds to make himself a drink. Here's how Edmiston cheats death-and what it could mean for oil-spill cleanup technology."
Jim Proctor

Cap and Trade Is Dead. Now What? - 0 views

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    Here's a recommended read from Michael Shellenberger.  I'm thinking of all the Focus the Nation climate activism on campus a few years ago, for which one of the concrete policy goals was federal cap and trade legislation.  I wonder if Bryan Walsh's recommendation that we "invest in breakthrough innovation" would garner the same fervor on college campuses, given it's as much an economic and technological solution as a political solution?
McKenzie Southworth

Future of Technology - 'Artificial leaf' makes real fuel - 1 views

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    A silicon solar cell was recently developed at MIT. This "artificial leaf" breaks down water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen gas, which can be used as a fuel source. I just thought it was really cool. And here's a video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEEhxk-CiOQ&feature=player_embedded
Marko Demkiv

The Future is Here: Sherbourne Common « The Dirt - 1 views

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    The article talks about the new technologies used in planning of a Sherbourne Common in Toronto. The main improvement of this park is its water treatment infrastructure. It also raises topics of urban planning and how nature is integrated into cirties ("New nature is what we culticate in our cities"). 
Julian Cross

Michael Pawlyn TED Talk on Biomimicry Technologies for a Sustainable Future - 4 views

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    Michael Pawlyn, arguably the foremost contemporary expert on biomimicry, gives a TED talk on how the principles of this field can be applied to energy, food and agricultural systems to close the loop and build a sustainable future. Biomimicry, for those that don't know, is the a field of engineering and development that bases designs off structures and systems found in nature. This talk covers a lot of what we learned about systems and loops from 160 and I am sure a lot of information from our other classes. I am personally very compelled by biomimicry and I have always thought that it is the obvious way to innovate sustainable technologies. Enjoy.
Kelsey White-Davis

Biofuel Startup KiOR Seeks to Raise up to $100M in IPO - 0 views

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    This article talks about KiOR's plans to use "non-food biomass" and convert it into gasoline and diesel through biocrude technology. KiOR plans to use both wood chips and crude oil to create gasoline. This procedure, KiOR claims, will reduce "direct lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by over 80% compared to the petroleum-based fuels they displace."
Thomas Wilson

The Breakthrough: from the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility - 2 views

Shellenberger and Nordhaus' first big essay The Death of Environmentalism stated that in order for us to take more productive action on the ecological issues of today and tomorrow we must move past...

climate change ecological modernization energy technology pollution

started by Thomas Wilson on 10 Feb 12 no follow-up yet
Micah Leinbach

Maps, values, information sharing (and Wisconsin) - 3 views

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    Wisconsin is one of two states to have a "State Cartographer," and man does he have some interesting stuff to say. The interview here speaks to GIS software and technology, but also the broader perspectives on exactly what it is a map does, and how it does it. Particularly interesting when he speaks about values - every map has them, he says, they are not neutral parties. Is this true for other tools we have for conveying information?
Thomas Wilson

Amazon.com: Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possib... - 0 views

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    Shellenberger and Nordhaus' first big essay The Death of Environmentalism stated that in order for us to take more productive action on the ecological issues of today and tomorrow we must move past environmentalism to post-environmentalism. In their book The Breakthrough: from the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility they argue that the environmentalism that got us this far, is now failing to address the major ecological issues of our time including climate change, and that we must move past this "politics of limits" (what they claim traditional environmentalism is) and move forward to the what they call the "politics of possibility." This is the idea of harnessing all of our human innovation, technology, creative ideas, and passion and pushing for a new modernization, one in which there is more prosperity for all. This they claim will allow us to properly address and take action on the major ecological issues of our time, like climate change. It's a compelling argument but one that seems to have some holes in it. If we are to push for a new modernization, and increase everyone's prosperity, how exactly do we go about doing that? Modernization had terrible effects on the people who didn't have the resources to fight it, would this be round two of that history? How do we make that transition in a more manageable and civil way? Regardless, this book is a must read for environmental studies/science/policy students and teachers, as well as people who consider themselves environmentalists and those who do not. Shellenberger and Nordhaus are clearly trying to reach across the divide, meeting the political left, center and right, and have already influenced some politicians and big names in our society. Could this be the direction we head in? The Politics of possibility?
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