Science Quick Picks » Environment

Just to Remember: Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

Jorge Goncalves — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:15:41 +0000

Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry:

Prevention
Atom Economy
Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses
Designing Safer Chemicals
Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries
Design for Energy Efficiency
Use of Renewable Feedstocks
Reduce Derivatives
Catalysis
Design for Degradation
Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention
Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention

A more complete version can be found at EPA’s site: Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry.

Just to Remember: Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

ESA Reports on Biofuels and Sustainability

Jorge Goncalves — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:10:32 +0000

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) published four Biofuels and Sustainability Reports.

Biofuels, generally defined as liquid fuels derived from biological materials, can be made from plants, vegetable oils, forest products, or waste materials. The raw materials can be grown specifically for fuel purposes, or can be the residues or wastes of existing supply and consumption chains, such as agricultural residues or municipal garbage. In this series of reports, sponsored by the Energy Foundation, ESA explores the production and use of biofuels from an ecological perspective.

Here’s the list of the Biofuels and Sustainability Reports:

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists founded in 1915 to promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists, raise the public’s level of awareness of the importance of ecological science, increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science and ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.

ESA Reports on Biofuels and Sustainability is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

PlanIT Valley: The First Sustainable City in the World

Jorge Goncalves — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:16:03 +0000

PlanIT Valley promises to be the first sustainable city from an economic, social, technological and environmental point of view. The story begins as many others, on a local level: Miguel Rodrigues, a Portuguese entrepreneur, simply wanted to build an electric car factory in Paredes, near Porto (Portugal). But the idea quickly jumped borders, transformed itself onto a global stage which became the project to build an intelligent city in Paredes and became a Harvard case study. “It is amazing the confluence of paths of Miguel Rodrigues. He met Celso Ferreira, President of Paredes, and introduced him Peter Van Manen, from McLaren Electronics, and Manuel Simas, from Microsoft Automotive, who knew Steve Lewis, from Living PlanIT.”

Living PlanIT, the company that will operate PlanIT Valley, predicts that the new city will occupy an area of 1700 hectares, host 12 thousand companies and create tens of thousands of jobs. Investment might exceed 10 billion euro, involving partners such as Cisco, McLaren and Buro Happold and could be considered a Project of National Interest (PIN).

Companies like IBM, Bosch, Intel and Microsoft have also been reported as potential partners. Planned to be an urban scale living laboratory where new techniques will be used to reduce the impact of infrastructure on the environment, this new city plans to host companies and researchers, retail, hotels, housing, offices, industry and entertainment venues, combining intelligent buildings and advanced mobility, transport and communication solutions.

At the core of Living PlanIT’s approach is an integrated platform for managing city operations. The high-level convergence of information and control systems with the fabric of buildings, infrastructure, places and mobility is critical to being able to respond holistically to the challenges posed by urbanization and associated issues of environmental sustainability. The convergence of manufacturing processes and enabling technologies is delivered through Living PlanIT and Cisco’s ecosystem of partners.

Cisco’s technologies provide the infrastructure for Living PlanIT’s Xtreme Construction (XTC) and Urban Operating System (UOS) platforms. XTC provides the method by which technologies are embedded in the fabrication of buildings and places while the UOS provides the orchestration, sensing and operational framework for urban environments. This process separates and supports city hardware such as renewable energy, water and waste systems from resident and user focused applications

PlanIT Valley – Next Generation Intelligent City: Innovation in a Living Laboratory
In order to demonstrate technological innovation at urban scale Living PlanIT will soon break ground at a 1,700 hectare (4,000 acre) Greenfield site in the municipality of Paredes outside Porto, Portugal. This is the initial phase in the construction of the first of a new generation of intelligent cities – PlanIT Valley.

PlanIT Valley will be the R&D platform for Living PlanIT and its Partners. The assimilation of technologies in PlanIT Valley means that innovations can be deployed at city scale.

PlanIT Valley: The First Sustainable City in the World is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

Is the Climate Warming or Cooling?

Jorge Goncalves — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:13:02 +0000

Climate Experts Warn that Short-Term Snapshots of Temperature Data Can Be Misleading: Focus Instead on the Bigger Picture. In the hotly debated arena of global climate change, using short-term trends that show little temperature change or even slight cooling to refute global warming is misleading, write two climate experts in a paper recently published by the American Geophysical Union — especially as the long-term pattern clearly shows human activities are causing the earth’s climate to heat up.

In their paper Is the climate warming or cooling? David R. Easterling of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center and Michael Wehner of the Computational Research Division at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory note that a number of publications, websites and blogs often cite decade-long climate trends, such as that from 1998-2008, in which the earth’s average temperature actually dropped slightly, as evidence that the global climate is actually cooling.

However, Easterling and Wehner write, the reality of the climate system is that, due to natural climate variability, it is entirely possible, even likely, to have a period as long as a decade or two of “cooling” superimposed on the longer-term warming trend. The problem with citing such short-term cooling trends is that it can mislead decision-makers into thinking that climate change does not warrant immediate action. The article was published April 25 in Geophysical Research Letters.

Is the Climate Warming or Cooling? is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

April 22: Earth Day

Jorge Goncalves — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:06:42 +0000

This classic photograph was taken on December 7, 1972 by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. Credits: Photograph AS17-148-22727: NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth

Earth Day 2009: The Green Generation. Earth Day 2009, April 22, will mark the beginning of The Green Generation CampaignTM which will also be the focus of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. With negotiations for a new global climate agreement coming up in December, Earth Day 2009 must be a day of action and civic participation, to defend The Green GenerationTM’s core principle.

Earth Day Network: Earth Day Network was founded on the premise that all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment. Our mission is to broaden and diversify the environmental movement worldwide, and to mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable environment. We pursue our mission through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns. Our campaign and programs are predicated on the belief that an educated, energized population will take action to secure a healthy future for itself and its children. Earth Day Network has a global reach with a network of more than 17,000 partners and organizations in 174 countries. More than 1 billion people participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest secular civic event in the world.

Chemists Celebrate Earth Day: Earth Day was first officially recognized on April 22, 1970 as a way to demonstrate support for a healthy environment, raise awareness about environmental issues, and remind people that we all need to contribute to a sustainable planet.
For years, chemists have been promoting a better world through recyclable plastics, cleaner-burning fuels, phosphate-free detergents, environmental monitoring, and green chemistry initiatives. The American Chemical Society joined the Earth Day celebration on April 22, 2003. There have been annual Chemists Celebrate Earth Day (CCED) events ever since.
Each year, ACS highlights one of four general topics (water, air, plants/soil or recycling) and chooses a specific “theme name” under the topic to focus the CCED celebration.

April 22: Earth Day is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

Sulfate Aerosols: Global Cooling

Jorge Goncalves — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:56:04 +0000

Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming. ‘Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since 1976 may be due to changes in tiny airborne particles called aerosols.

Emitted by natural and human sources, aerosols can directly influence climate by reflecting or absorbing the sun’s radiation. The small particles also affect climate indirectly by seeding clouds and changing cloud properties, such as reflectivity.

A new study, led by climate scientist Drew Shindell of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, used a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to investigate how sensitive different regional climates are to changes in levels of carbon dioxide, ozone, and aerosols.

The researchers found that the mid and high latitudes are especially responsive to changes in the level of aerosols. Indeed, the model suggests aerosols likely account for 45 percent or more of the warming that has occurred in the Arctic during the last three decades. The results were published in the April issue of Nature Geoscience.

Though there are several varieties of aerosols, previous research has shown that two types — sulfates and black carbon – play an especially critical role in regulating climate change. Both are products of human activity.

Sulfates, which come primarily from the burning of coal and oil, scatter incoming solar radiation and have a net cooling effect on climate. Over the past three decades, the United States and European countries have passed a series of laws that have reduced sulfate emissions by 50 percent. While improving air quality and aiding public health, the result has been less atmospheric cooling from sulfates.

At the same time, black carbon emissions have steadily risen, largely because of increasing emissions from Asia. Black carbon – small, soot-like particles produced by industrial processes and the combustion of diesel and biofuels – absorb incoming solar radiation and have a strong warming influence on the atmosphere.’

Nasa Earth Observatory Fact Sheet: What are Aerosols?. ‘Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air. Some occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and the alteration of natural surface cover, also generate aerosols. Averaged over the globe, aerosols made by human activities currently account for about 10 percent of the total amount of aerosols in our atmosphere. Most of that 10 percent is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, especially downwind of industrial sites, slash-and-burn agricultural regions, and overgrazed grasslands.’

Wikipedia: Stratospheric Sulfur Aerosols.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Visualizations: Sulfate Aerosol Evolution and Greenhouse Gases and Sulfate Aerosols.

Sulfate Aerosols: Global Cooling is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

NIEHS: Environmental Health Science Education

Jorge Goncalves — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:59:03 +0000

The Environmental Health Science Education website provides educators, students and scientists with easy access to reliable tools, resources and classroom materials. It seeks to invest in the future of environmental health science by increasing awareness of the link between the environment and human health.

Resources for Teachers, Students and Scientists.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The NIEHS is one of 27 research institutes and centers that comprise the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The mission of the NIEHS is to reduce the burden of human illness and disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease.

NIEHS: Environmental Health Science Education is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

United Nations University Our World 2.0 Beta

Jorge Goncalves — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:07:30 +0000

Our World 2.0 is brought to you by the United Nations University and asks the question: What can we do when faced with complex, inter-connected and pressing problems like climate change, oil depletion and food security?

In responding to these challenges, innovation will be the key. This webzine and series of video briefs will report on and analyze these innovations in order to inspire people to learn.

And while understanding is a precursor to motivation, innovation and technology alone will not solve these problems. These are just examples of how to bring about change. A global priority shift is perhaps first necessary, so we must consider the question: Why change? And you are best placed to answer this.

Our World 2.0 speaks to you, the general public and shares stories on how and why we can re-make this world into a newer, better version.

For Our World 2.0, the central tenet is that we can use our collective knowledge, technology and design to facilitate creativity, innovation, and, most notably, collaboration amongst people.

United Nations University (UNU). UNU is dedicated to the generation and transfer of knowledge, and the strengthening of individual and institutional capacities in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The mission of UNU is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are a concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.

United Nations University Our World 2.0 Beta is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

International Year of Planet Earth

Jorge Goncalves — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:58:25 +0000

International Year of Planet Earth. ‘The International Year of Planet Earth aims to ensure greater and more effective use by society of the knowledge accumulated by the world’s 400,000 Earth scientists. The Year’s ultimate goal of helping to build safer, healthier and wealthier societies around the globe is expressed in the Year’s subtitle ‘Earth science for Society’.

The International Year runs from January 2007 to December 2009, the central year of the triennium (2008) having been proclaimed by the UN General Assembly as the UN Year. The UN sees the Year as a contribution to their sustainable development targets as it promotes wise (sustainable) use of Earth materials and encourages better planning and management to reduce risks for the world’s inhabitants.’

[Please note: No further Expressions of Interest in the International Year’s Science Programme will be accepted after the last day of January 2008]

International Year of Planet Earth is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA): A Global Carbon Emissions Database

Jorge Goncalves — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:18:50 +0000

Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA). ‘At its core, Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) is a massive database containing information on the carbon emissions of over 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies worldwide. Power generation accounts for 40% of all carbon emissions in the United States and about one-quarter of global emissions. CARMA is the first global inventory of a major, emissions-producing sector of the economy.

CARMA is produced and financed by the Confronting Climate Change Initiative at the Center for Global Development, an independent and non-partisan think tank located in Washington, DC.

The objective of CARMA.org is to equip individuals with the information they need to forge a cleaner, low-carbon future. By providing complete information for both clean and dirty power producers, CARMA hopes to influence the opinions and decisions of consumers, investors, shareholders, managers, workers, activists, and policymakers. CARMA builds on experience with public information disclosure techniques that have proven successful in reducing traditional pollutants.’

Center for Global Development (CGD): Confronting Climate Change. ‘CGD is an independent, not-for-profit think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community. The Confronting Climate Change initiative has three major themes: Combating climate change, assessing the stakes for developing countries, and integrating climate change into development assistance.’

Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA): A Global Carbon Emissions Database is a post from Science Quick Picks, a blog dedicated to the world of Science.

Science Quick Picks » Environment

Just to Remember: Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

Related posts

ESA Reports on Biofuels and Sustainability

Related posts

PlanIT Valley: The First Sustainable City in the World

Related posts

Is the Climate Warming or Cooling?

Related posts

April 22: Earth Day

Related posts

Sulfate Aerosols: Global Cooling

Related posts

NIEHS: Environmental Health Science Education

Related posts

United Nations University Our World 2.0 Beta

Related posts

International Year of Planet Earth

Related posts

Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA): A Global Carbon Emissions Database

Related posts