Los Angeles is known around the world for glamour, glitz and charm. However, like their propensity to hide their cemeteries (people don’t die in L.A., they just go on forever vacations), they are also hiding another dirty little secret (literally). Los Angeles holds the record as being the home of the Puente Hills landfill, the largest landfill in the United States.

The Los Angeles landfill consists of around 150 meters of garbage. Appearing as some kind of skyscraper, it has such renowned residents as cockroaches and rats. Years ago, the area was a dairy farm and over time it has become a geological trash heap, with each citizen contributing about seven pounds of trash per day. Besides being a visual monstrosity, the toxins that exist in the garbage of this Los Angeles landfill are contaminating soil and groundwater and are releasing tons of methane that is contributing to a massive greenhouse effect.

In an attempt to attack this problem and turn trash into treasure (so to speak), the waste management department of Los Angeles has begun an intense recycling and re-managing process. They have established a network of pipes that collect the methane and use it to burn and change into electricity. This is currently equating to around 50 mw of power (enough to power around 70,000 homes). The recycling process may not be apparent when viewing this overpowering giant of the Los Angeles landfill, but it is slowly taking on a complete change through detailed separation of the various types of recyclable products. The layers of waste are also now being separated by a series of plastic membranes that have been designed to collect and contain the various noxious chemicals that might leak into the groundwater. Referred to as ‘leachates’, they are then filtered and cleaned, to make them safe.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/26/us/la-trash-puente-landfill/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Roof tiles come in a variety of colors and shapes, many of which are designed to not only protect the roof from damaging weather conditions, but as decorative additions for our homes. In an effort to add an additional and productive use for these tiles, the people at Boral Roofing in the U.S. have created a roof tile for the purpose of pollution reduction.

Located in the Los Angeles area, Boral Roofing is more than aware of the destructive properties of smog and has come full circle with their new ‘smog-eating tiles’. They have added a titanium dioxide coating to each tile, which has the ability to act as a photo-catalyst by oxidizing the typically harmful pollutants that are emitted by fossil fuel burning. The process occurs when the tiles are exposed to sunlight allowing the titanium dioxide to break down nitrogen oxides in the air and then turns them into harmless calcium nitrate. This washes off the roof with regular precipitation and acts as a garden fertilizer. The price is actually quite appealing, as it only adds around $600 to $1,000 to the cost of regular tile roofing. The tiles on a 2,000 sq ft home can oxidize enough nitrogen oxides to equal driving 10,000 miles in a standard car.

The technology was actually introduced in Japan and has been in use in Europe for a number of years. The success of the technology has been of such high excellence in pollution reduction that many companies around the world have adopted it of a number of industries, including eco-friendly architectural panels, paints and cement products. The effects of smog in some cities around the world have already been linked to higher death risks of stroke and heart disease and even the smallest pollution reduction can equate to saving not only lives, but the overall effect of planetary pollution.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/04/tech/smog-eating-tiles-california/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

With a growing global population, many of which (925 million) are hungry, there is an astounding percentage of food that is going to waste. There are many variables as to the reasons for such an imbalance, but an astounding after effect is that this waste is actually contributing to excess carbon emissions in the world.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture report of 2011 indicated that around one third of the world’s food products are uneaten, totaling 1.3 billion tons of discarded edible food per year. The Greenpeace report has indicated that the food industry is responsible for around thirty percent of the total world‘s carbon emissions. In addition to the gases produced by rotting food, the food industry production has a base in using fossil fuels. Between the fertilizers, transportation, production and packaging, food is causing a higher level of global warming than most people realize. In the trash heap and landfills, the food waste produces methane gas and CO2. As a greenhouse gas, methane is twenty three times more potent than the CO2.

Armed with this information, one may wonder why so much of the food waste occurs. This problem may be attributed to a cultural situation. The Western world is in a circumstance of requiring perfectly formed and colored foods, packaged just right and with the same appearance as we see on the overabundance of cookery shows. When you combine that with the mentality of the discount bulk buying in a falsely represented economy, you have a situation where people are buying more than they actually need. This equates to a rather disturbing fact that in American and Europe, consumer’s food waste tallies up around 95 to 115 kg of food each year. This is compared to South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa that total around 6-11 kg of food waste per person, per year.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/27/world/europe/food-waste-emissions-pichler/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

In a world that is experiencing the intensities of climate change, some say these are normal and cyclical global processes that the earth goes through every so many millennia. While some of this theory may be true, the contribution of pollutants from fossil fuels and other sources have sped things up, so that the earth cannot keep a balance. We are tipping the scales in our need for power, ramped waste and lack of concern for the effects on the earth, life and ourselves.. Some weather patterns in certain cities are more apparent than others, and for these, they are in a battle for climate survival.

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, hosted by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has been established to help member cities experiencing extreme weather conditions and global warming changes, contribute to the study and measurement of the implications of climate change and the impact on the local sustainable activities. From Toronto to Tokyo and Warsaw to Addis Ababa, these partner cities are assisting in developing the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project). The online reporting platform includes detailed information on the mitigation, risks and adaptation of the many variables of effect that climate change has on the partner cities. The interactive report is being used by scientists and other cities around the world to evaluate the overall effect, both in cost and life, that climate change is having on the member cities.

Some of the more obvious effects of climate change can be seen in cities such as Tokyo, where billions of dollars are being invested and yet they cannot keep up with the increased rain and storm effects that have occurred over the last decade, causing one of the world’s richest cities to be overcome by flooding and disasters. Australia, and specifically Melbourne, has experienced devastating heat, with 2009 as the record breaking 115 degrees Fahrenheit, with drought and bush fires in uncontrolled manners, burning the state of Victoria. The 2003 heat wave in Paris is estimated to have reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit, with a probability of nearing 5,700 human deaths. In 2010, Rio de Janeiro had one of the worst storms in over fifty years; bringing almost a foot of rain in a twenty four hour period and causing 175 deaths and leaving over 15,000 people stranded and homeless. Lagos experienced a 2011 torrential downpour of rain and flooding situations that changed roads into rivers, destroyed sewers and homes and left twenty people dead, with a crippling effect on the economy.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/14/world/map-climate-change-c40/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

Over the history of humanity, we have used our global oceans as literal dumping grounds. From human waste to toxic pollution, humanity has disrespected the oceans and seas, assuming that the size and natural order of things would take care of the problem. What many may not be aware of is that in some areas of the world, the dumping was so intense that it created what scientists call ‘dead-zones’. These are areas that have such high toxic levels that there is little oxygen and very little, if any life. Recent technological advancements have given rise to some rather interesting ideas as to how to bring these dead-zones back.

Humanity has not taken heed to the dumping of sewage, fertilizers and industrial pollutants in the seas and rivers of the world. In some coastal marine areas, the percentage of nutrient waste such as phosphorus and nitrogen has caused an extensive growth of algae and plants that eat up the oxygen in the water and literally kill off the other marine life. Various areas around the globe have experienced an increase in ‘red tide’ occurrences as well as the size of the red tide itself. These are explosions in growth of algae that consume the oxygen and release a toxic ‘bloom’ that causes marine life to die in unparalleled numbers. Beaches are covered in dead fish, as they die and are washed ashore. Some areas of the U.S. have established new laws regarding the addition of fertilizers, the type and time allowed to use; but this will not be enough to turn around the effects. According to the WRI (World Resources Institute), there are now over 530 aquatic dead zones around the world, totaling over 95,000 square miles and scientific data is indicating that climate change may be actually making the situation worse.

Swedish scientists are currently testing an idea to pump oxygen back into the Baltic Sea, as an attempt to rejuvenate life in that area. The Baltic Sea separates the mainland of Europe from Scandinavia and is considered the largest man-made dead zone in the world. Not only has the Baltic region suffered in the last sixty years due to the increased flow of industrial and human waste, but the problem has been accelerated because of the positioning of the Baltic Sea. It is largely enclosed so that harmful toxins and pollutants take a longer period of time to wash out into open waters. While there have been many attempts to reduce and stop the waste that is dumped into the Baltic Sea, they have not stopped the actual growth of the dead zone, which is around 1 ½ times the size of the country of Denmark.

This lack of progress has created a situation where a number of Baltic countries are partnering to consider geoengineering ideas. These technological interventions are on a large scale and mainly focus on pumping oxygen into the water as well as adding chemicals that will bind the pollutants in sediments. The feasibility research is being funded by the Swedish government with the concept of potentially using wind-turbine driven oxygen in an effort to save the Baltic.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/17/world/europe/dead-zone-baltic-oxygen/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

One would think, that with all of the attention being placed on ecology, green efforts and the reduction of carbon emissions, that we would be seeing some results of the supposed efforts in greenhouse gases. Sadly, according to a U.N. report, emissions of greenhouse gases hit an all time high in 2011.

A study by WMO (World Meteorological Organization) has resulted in the report that the levels of carbon dioxide in the U.S. in 2011 rose to 339.9 ppm (parts per million) which is up two ppm’s from the 2010 levels. The shocking part about this is that it is known that carbon dioxide is the single most important contributor to greenhouse gasses. The world has watched since the 1990’s as the rise of carbon dioxide output as increased at an average rate of 1.5 ppm. The 2011 level has kept in line with the average increase per year, but, considering the focus on reduction, we should be experiencing a downtrend in pollution. The 2011 level now brings the overall increase level to thirty percent, since 1990.

The WMO indicated that humans began contributing higher carbon emissions with the beginning of the industrial revolution in 1750. Half of the contributing effects were being absorbed by carbon sinks, but the natural process of carbon storage facilities such as forests and oceans cannot continue in our future. In essence, there is a maximum amount that can be processed naturally, and then it goes into overdrive. The oceans are already increasing in the acidic levels and this is affecting the underwater coral reefs and food chains.

The Swiss-based U.N. agency, that uses the input data from over fifty countries, has compiled a report with details stating that there is a rise of other greenhouse gasses including nitrous oxide and methane. According to WMO, approximately 60% of the methane that is released into the atmosphere is derived from human activities such as fossil fuel exploitation, rice agriculture, farming, biomass burning and landfills. The 2011 data is showing that these concentrations achieved a new high point of 1813 ppb (parts per billion), which is 259% higher than our pre-industrial levels. Nitrous oxide emissions are contributed by human activity at 40%, 324.2 ppb, which is up one ppb from the 2010 numbers and 120% higher than our pre-industrial timeline.

The message of the report is loud and clear: we aren’t doing enough to reduce carbon emissions and the implications of this affect on the planet’s well-being is a serious threat. The sad part to the story is, even if we completely halted carbon emissions right now, the planet would be in a continued state of warming due to the fact that it takes time to return to a balanced equilibrium. If we don’t take action now, we are destined for continued warming and the devastation effects that this has on weather, crops and the survival of both humans and other creatures. It is the responsibility of nations around the world to step up the reduction of gas emmissions, otherwise we will pay a heavy price.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/greenhouse-gases-record-high/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

With a global focus on renewable and sustainable energy, the concept of turning the typical gym workout into usable energy sources is kind of a no-brainer. The American population became familiar with the energy bicycle in the popular television show ‘Living With Ed’; where environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr. required everyone to contribute to the energy needs of his house through bicycle riding (even neighbor Bill Nye, the Science Guy). A community in the United Kingdom has taken the idea into the local gym and it’s no surprise that they are helping to power their town through their workouts.

In the Northeast part of England, in the Hull area, sits a rather unassuming fitness center. The center accommodates around 5,000 people who participate in a variety of gym workouts. But the participants in the daily exercise routines are not just toning for health, but are actually contributing to the local energy needs. The Great Outdoor Gym Company has fitted the gym with energy converters, allowing the fitness workouts to convert the human energy into renewable energy; and surprisingly (or not) they are currently generating around 5,000 kw, which is supporting the power needs of the gym (and then some)

The company has installed around 350 of these human-to-energy converters in gyms around the U.K. These are paid for by the local councils and offered free of charge to the residents. The goal is to encourage local residents to change their couch potato habits and participate in more exercise. The thought is that there might be more people to participate if they know that they are making a green-contribution. The ultimate goal for each of the gyms is to have enough people involved in gym workouts that the renewable energy will feed into the power grid and eventually reduce the cost of electricity. This is a brilliant concept as it addresses the need to exercise while appealing to the average budget.

The concept has caught the attention of local community leaders from around the world, including developing countries, where renewable energy technologies such as hydroelectric power stations, solar power cells and solar heating can accommodate the renewable energy gym environments. The current initial cost of the Hull prototype is nearly $100,000 (including installation), but there are new plans for a lesser cost $32,000 model which would offer the ability to charge mobile phones. The largest of the prototypes cost around $130,000, but these are powerful enough to feed energy back into the grid.

The use of renewable and sustainable energy in such a novel way not only creates a situation where the people become healthier but want to participate as a contribution to their community and brings the topic of sustainable energy to the forefront. The Hull prototypes, as well as the sustainable energy gym concept may soon be an integral part of the green effort planning in towns on a global scale. As the popularity of the technologies expands, the cost will inevitably be reduced, allowing more lower income communities to participate.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/27/world/europe/gym-workout-watts-electricity/index.html

It is hard to believe that it was back in 1997 when forward thinking countries around the world gathered to agree to admit to the topic of climate change and many opted in to do something about it. The title of the program was called Kyoto Protocol and was established under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change. At that time, 191 countries bought into the program, however, the United States (along with a few other countries) refused to ratify the agreement. While there seemed to be some excellent movement ahead, even without the U.S., the program itself may be fizzling out unless the new Kyoto 2.0 can be implemented.

The meeting in Qatar in 2013 brings two hundred delegates to the table once again, to discuss the climate change topic on an international scale, with goals set for the year 2020. In the past year, the European Union has continued to support the efforts, but Canada, Japan and the United States indicated they will not offer support. On top of this already daunting challenge is the fact that there are underlying disagreements between the underdeveloped and developed countries as to who will carry what percentage of the financial burden. The original Kyoto agreement involved part of a vision that brought binding emission cuts by those countries in the industrialized work, but not in the fast industrialized countries such as India and China. At this time, these two are the third-largest and largest carbon emissions generators, respectively. According to reports by the International Energy Agency, developing countries account for over half of the world’s carbon emissions. In essence, something has to change in the direction of the vision, because it is vastly lop-sided.

The developed world has slowed down and curbed carbon emissions, but as of 2009, the United States and China combined, have been responsible for over 40% of the emissions. The U.S. carbon emissions have actually shown a 10.5% rise since 1990 and China remains reliant on coal, the highest carbon-intensive fossil fuel, to power its fast economic growth.

In a fifteen year span since the original Kyoto meeting, the health of the environment has deteriorated at rapid levels. The changing weather patterns are bringing Northern Hemisphere crop failures, there are record ice melts in the Arctic Ocean as well as acidification of the oceans around the globe. Ships and tankers are now scheduling trips through the Arctic using pathways that were never before available, all due to the thinned ice cover.

The list of environmental changes and devastations that they cause gets longer with each year. While the European Union has reduced its carbon emissions by one-fifth, with a 30% goal by the year 2020, they seem to be standing alone as the leader to the challenge. The goal of the Qatar meeting is to attempt to bring everyone together again to focus on the use of technologies for climate change action. However, any decisions that are to come to fruition will require 194 delegation votes, and that may be a challenge that equals the topic of climate change itself.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/26/world/global-climate-talks/index.html

We seem to be surrounded with an incredible array of devices and technology selections that show we are serious about focusing on reusable and renewable energy. However, that subject falls to the wayside around holiday time when you realize that very little advancement has been made in the world of batteries. Every absolute must-have device that we simply can’t live without, is powered by these bulky, energy wasting sources. But that annual requirement to stock up on packages and packages of batteries may be taking a major turn due to the development of small, fuel efficient generators.

Our world encompasses a number of technologies that simply eat energy: phones, toys and tablets are just a few of these. The historical use of batteries is limited to the amount of energy they can produce per pound and the fact that they are not renewable or sustainable. Scientists around the world have been focusing on this topic and may have come up with microchip style batteries based on thermophotovoltaics. This involves the same process as the current thermophotovoltaics, which is converting light into electricity, but in this case they are accessing the heat from infrared rays (or any other warm source). This concept has been on the drawing board for a long time, but the challenge has been the size. The new thermophotovoltaic generator has been called the ‘power plant in a button-size’. The generator is a one square centimeter area microchip and may be as important of a game-changer as electricity itself.

The goal of the thermophotovoltaic process for production as fuel efficient batteries is the conversion of chemical energies into electricity through the lack of any moving parts, noise and vibration; on millimeter scale technologies. In essence, we will be able to run our energy-hungry devices for a period of weeks, on a single fuel cartridge. The experimental prototype is made of silicon and burns pure oxygen and propane. The principle design is the ability to use a range of fuels from butane, propane, and even liquid biofuels. The thermophotovoltaic cells themselves are made of indium, gallium, antimony and arsenic; with an additional component that converts a raw electric output into useful levels of voltage and current.

The researchers addressed a weakness potential of the thermophotovoltaic generators when they realized the limitation of the conversion on limited band wavelengths of light to electricity, thereby losing the rest of the thermal energy. They took a truly Buck Rogers approach by adding photonic crystals in between the reactor and the thermophotovoltaics. The resulting trials have shown an efficiency rate of 2.7% in the heat-to-electricity conversion, with expected goals soon to reach 2.5%.

The researchers are still in the preliminary stages of this technology and it is a continual work in progress. However, the success shown so far leads many of us to look forward to having microchip sized, fuel efficient generators in every device that we currently rely on. This is a true jump in technology, but that also means we won’t have to stock up on packages of large batteries during the holidays to power our kids toys.

Sources: http://txchnologist.com/post/44059516382/tiny-efficient-fuel-burning-generators-could-replace

The budget cuts by NASA in the last number of years have covered a gamut that is destined to change the U.S. position in space exploration. From the retirement of the space shuttle to the removable of the funded educational outreach programs, NASA has become little more than a scientific base with a wonderful history in space. However, glass-half-full people can rejoice in the fact that this shift in policy and attitude has actually opened the doors to private business. For the first time, the geniuses of our time are establishing companies with a focus on the future in space through reusable rockets.

One of the rising stars in the private sector for the future in space is SpaceX. The visionary ideas of the SpaceX CEO, Alan Musk (founder of the company, PayPal® and CEO of Tesla Motors®), has included the design and implementation of an experimental rocket called Grasshopper. This rocket is ten stories high and has docking at the International Space Station. The main focus of SpaceX is to provide Grasshopper as a method to propel space craft from the atmosphere of the earth, turn around and land on the launch pad.

Musk has indicated that the current model of single-use booster rockets for space travel will not survive. In our society, almost everything is reusable, with a big exception of space rockets. The future in space for commercial ventures relies on reusable rockets, which creates lower costs, making a space launch one hundred times cheaper. This correlates to reducing the price to around 1% of existing price to launch a rocket.

The testing process for the SpaceX Dragon mission has involved working with a number of agencies including NASA, to launch from the Florida based Cape Canaveral and California’s Vandenberg Air Force base. Since all are government institutions, it’s required some rather fancy negotiations with the U.S. government. As with all of the other space agencies around the world, the initial tests created nail-biting moments with emergency programmers sending new code to make adjustments when three out of four thruster pads experienced a malfunction. Those that have worked within the NASA realm know all too well what Musk and his team are going through. The first test allowed the take off, hovering and then turn around and landing at the same take off spot. The attending crowds cheered as they listened to the Johnny Cash soundtrack of “Ring of Fire”.

The optimistic plans for commercial space flight doesn’t stop with just working with U.S. government space organizations. Musk is meeting with State of Texas lawmakers to coordinate the potential construction of a site for commercial launches in that state. We are in the beginning stages of commercial space flight and this can be compared to the first companies that started the industrial revolution all the way to those that saw the business benefits of the internet. Every technological era brings its challenges, which usually falls on expertise, talent and incredible dollar investments. As with any business venture, this requires a risk taker at the helm and Musk has proven his credibility and commitment to his ventures with a history of success.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/09/tech/innovation/elon-musk-sxsw/index.html