MetaFilter posts tagged with energy

Coal.

brownpau — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:51:56 -0800

Coal. Cheap, Abundant, Clean.

Pickens Plan

Laugh_track — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:59:02 -0800

Pickens Plan -- oilman T. Boone Pickens has a plan to reduce America's oil dependency problem: exploit the country's massive windpower potential for domestic energy, replacing natural gas, and then use natural gas to power cars instead of foreign oil. Some problems with the plan.

"Ecology is not just an urgency of the economy and protection of our world but also creativity and elegance"

Artw — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:22:45 -0800

A Philippe Starck designed Wind Turbine?

Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0

stbalbach — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:43:58 -0800

In Lester R. Brown's new book Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2008, full-text)) - an update to Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (2006, full-text) - he calls for a war-time mobilization (ch.13) to save global civilization (already showing Early Signs of Decline (ch.6)) from Deteriorating Oil and Food Security (ch.2), Rising Temperatures and Rising Seas (ch.3), Emerging Water Shortages (ch.4), and Natural Systems Under Stress (ch.5)

Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green

nthdegx — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:09:06 -0800

Inconvenient Truths: Get Ready to Rethink What It Means to Be Green. Last month, Wired published what it called "10 green heresies" which makes the case for urban living, intensive forest management and, er, air conditioning, among other things.

Smoke and mirrors

MrMerlot — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:03:47 -0800

Meet Joules the climate change-sceptic robot. Joules is employed to teach 8-14 year-old school children in the UK about energy use. Joules says: "oil and gas could be in short supply in about 50 years time. The earth is believed to be getting warmer and sea levels apper to be rising. Energy Chest is funded in part by the world's biggest oil company: ExxonMobil. Energy Chest follows a report by the Union of Concerned Scientists, entitled “Smoke, Mirrors & Hot Air” [PDF] which demonstrated how the "oil giant has adopted the tobacco industry’s disinformation tactics", (as well as some of their personnel), to "cloud the scientific understanding of climate change and delay action on the issue". While in the UK, the Royal Society has complained about ExxonMobil campaign to fund groups that attempt to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change. Not that the kids are being told all that when they stumble across Joules or - worse - are being shown him by their teacher.

The Arrival of Energy Positive Buildings

rongorongo — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:06:26 -0800

A positive energy building is one that produces more power than it consumes (yes they have been around for a while). The Masdar Headquarters in Abu Dhabi – due for completion in 2010 claims that it will be the first to do this on a substantial scale (mainly thanks to use of solar energy). David Fisher's spectacular “Dynamic Architecture” building in Dubai will aim to achieve the same goal using wind. Scaling up on the ambition stakes France has pledged all of its new housing will fit into this category by 2020.

More than just a sore taint?

Toekneesan — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:38:37 -0800

Does riding a bike really help the environment? Mr. Green at the Sierra Club says don't over think it, but a couple of folks trying to measure the energy cycling uses aren't quite sure. There are plenty of excuses for not to riding your bike, but is there a rationale? If you want a go at calculating this yourself, here's a handy guide to the variables. "Mankind has invested more than four million years of evolution in the attempt to avoid physical exertion. Now a group of backward-thinking atavists mounted on foot-powered pairs of Hula-Hoops would have us pumping our legs, gritting our teeth, and searing our lungs as though we were being chased across the Pleistocene savanna by saber-toothed tigers. Think of the hopes, the dreams, the effort, the brilliance, the pure force of will that, over the eons, has gone into the creation of the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Bicycle riders would have us throw all this on the ash heap of history." —P.J. O'Rourke "After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow....When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." —H.G. Wells

Zed's zero carbon, baby: hydrogen-cell motorbikes

nthdegx — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:58:29 -0800

If hydrogen-cell cars are no good, how about hydrogen-cell motorbikes!

It's Easy Being Green

netbros — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:33:32 -0800

Simple, with icons. 50 Ways to Help the Planet. See also: Global Warming Facts ThinkQuest Ways to Help the Environment 21 Practical Ways to Help the Environment BTW, the Practical Environmentalist is a blog that tries to keep you updated with news and tips about the practical aspect of being green. Included is a rich list of environmental resources.