2011 September 23

How Biomimicry Drives Sustainability: From Fish-Inspired Wind Turbines to the Future of 3-D Printing (Video)

All photos from AskNature (be sure to check out the site if you have a minute), unless otherwise noted. Interview with Janine Benyus, President of the Biomimicry Institute Biomimicry has already influenced our lives in more ways than you'd likely begin to imagine: Anti-virus software? Airport scanners? That's biomimicry. If you're a regular Treehugger reader, you already know that. And you probably already know that biomimicry is currently helping to drive some of the most intriguing trends in sustainable design. Th...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Trading Charcoal for Sustainably Farmed Biofuel in Africa (Video)

Photo: Novozymes In developing nations around the world, millions of families use charcoal for cooking every day. And they often cook in poorly ventilated homes, exposing everyone inside to dangerous indoor air pollution. Furthermore, farmers often engage in slash-and-burn operations to obtain said charcoal. This too, is a problem. So here's the Danish biotech firm Novozymes's pitch: Help those families sustainably farm for biomass -- and for food -- instead. Get them more efficient stoves. And then, set up a network so that the farmers can trade their surplus crop for a profit on the m...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Good May Be Practical But Is It Good Enough? James Hansen Pitches Fee-and-Dividend Carbon Pricing

photo: Mrs. Gemstone/CC BY SA With Climate Week NYC drawing to a close (there's still the global Moving Planet action, organized by 350.org, on Saturday though...) I headed over to the New School to hear Dr James Hansen from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies make his case for a Read the full story on TreeHugger

Solar Decathlon 2011: Team Florida

Photos by Michelle Kaufmann This 2011 Solar Decathlon is currently on display at the National Mall's West Potomac Park, featuring solar-powered innovations from over 4,000 students. Eco-architect Michelle Kaufmann is one of this year's judges and here are some of the photos she has captured from the event. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

How Can This Island Nation Go 100% Carbon Neutral by 2020? (Video)

Photo: nattu via Flickr/CC BY Interview with Dr. Waheed, Vice President of the Maldives Yesterday, the island nation of Maldives announced that it had mandated that 60% of its energy be produced by solar power as part of its bid to go carbon neutral by 2020. If successful, the Maldives would be the first country to do so. Dr. Mohammed Waheed, the Vice President of Maldives, was in New York to discuss...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Solar Decathlon 2011: Team New Jersey

Photos by Michelle Kaufmann Over 4,000 students from around the world have their solar-powered homes on display for this year's Solar Decathlon. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the event takes place on the National Mall's West Potomac Park featuring high energy efficient homes. Eco-architect extraordinaire Michelle Kaufmann is one of this year's judges and here are some of the photos she has captured from the event. Team New Jersey uses concrete panels...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Lativan Festival Boasts Zany Recycled Milk Carton Boat Race (Video)

Photo: Apollo TV Old milk cartons are often re-used for crafts, bird-feeders and other useful things, but a nutty festival in Lativa is taking it to a whole other level, where boats are made entirely of recycled milk cartons, and pitched against one another in a feverish race. The rules are simple: vessels can be made only of empty milk cartons, be powered by elbow grease alone, and must make it across the finish line intact. But it's not...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Coffee and Cream Risotto

Photos by Jaymi Heimbuch It wasn't until I developed this French onion soup recipe made with coffee that I realized just how much fun it is to cook with the seed. Sure, I have used it before, I add a dash of it to my black bean brownies which are simply divine. But now we're really cooking! Enjoy this dessert risotto with a white Por...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Who Will Protect Our Communities From Hazardous Waste?

The Metamora Landfill Superfund site in Michigan. Photo credit: Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Anyone feel like allowing 1.5 million tons of hazardous waste into their community? I'm guessing no, but unfortunately there is a loophole allowing just that sort of dangerous practice to happen. On their way out, the Bush administration passed an eleventh-hour rule letting loose these million tons of hazardous waste on our communities. Why is this relevant right now? The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently rec...Read the full story on TreeHugger

20,000 People Allegedly Displaced in Uganda for UK Forestry Company’s Carbon-Offset Program

Nzabakulisiza Sirasi, 32, is one of over 20,000 people to have been evicted from their homes in Mubende District, Uganda, since the government licensed land to the New Forests Company. Photo: Simon Rawles / Oxfam GB. With the spotlight turning this week to climate refugees, including the 30 million people in Asia reportedly displaced last year by environmental...Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Week in Pictures: A House without Walls, Gorgeous Rail Car Garden, and More (Slideshow)

On the Caribbean Sea, Colombian firm Plan B Architects has produced a new kind of Passivhaus -- a bioclimatic building with a roof, but no walls. We also have an old railway car transformed into a beautiful garden, artists' responses to global warming, an ode to cheese, a fancy new electric bike, and more in our roundup of the best images on TreeHugger this week. Read the full story on TreeHugger

What If The World Population Doesn’t Stabilize At 10bn?

When I posted about a study forecasting that electric cars may not be cost competitive until 2030, fellow TreeHugger Mike reminded me that prediction is always a dangerous game. Yet when experts tell us that the future will look like this, or like that, we tend to listen. Yale360 has a fascinating piece on one of the most commonly touted predictions for the coming century—that the Global population will stabilize around 10bn. But, asks Carl Haub, Read the full story on TreeHugger

Fertilizer-Producing Island Cannot Grow Vegetables. It’s a Lesson for Us All. (Video)

Image credit: NewsOnABC There has been a lot of talk about the difference between resilience and sustainability of late—with the notion of resilience becoming increasingly important as we realize just how fragile our cultural and economic systems may be. But in a world where peak oil looks ever more likely, and where Read the full story on TreeHugger

Could USA Collapse Like the USSR? Dmitry Orlov on Economic Unsustainability (Video)

Image credit: Peak Moment TV I'm an optimist. And with all the positive attributes of plenitude economics and local investing, I don't often feel the need to focus on potential calamity as a reason to create alternatives. Nevertheless, no political model or civilization lasts forever, so contemplating what happens next is only smart. In fact, says one...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Trick, Or Treat? Here Comes Our 7th Billion Human