oil asked:




Green cleaning is a term that refers to cleaning techniques and products that make use of eco-friendly materials and substances rather than toxic ingredients. Certain products emit volatile organic compounds, which can cause irreparable damage, respiratory problems, and skin infections. Green cleaning techniques are a much safer and healthier way to treat water, purify air, and clean a home or land.

Sunrays are natural disinfectants. Ultraviolet radiation emitted from the sun can be used to disinfect water and air. UV radiation is commonly used in waste water treatment and is increasingly being used in drinking water treatment. In fact, there are several manufactures that offer water purifiers that use UV light. This cleaning technique is more eco-friendly than treating water with chemicals. Almost all the pollutants in the air are carbon-based compounds. These compounds break down when exposed to high-intensity UV light at 240-280 nm.

Hospitals have used UV technology for years to sterilize the air in their facilities. Halo vacuum cleaners also use this green cleaning technology to kill germs, bacteria, mold, dust mite eggs, and flea eggs that fester deep in carpet fibers. Halo vacuum cleaners suck up dirt as well as any other vacuum, but unlike other models, they kill microorganisms like E.coli and Samonella. Rather than use toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment and humans to sterilize surfaces, a Halo vacuum cleaner is a great alternative.

Electrokinetic remediation is a green technology used to clean land, especially to restore contaminated waste sites. The section of soil that has been contaminated is exposed to a low voltage direct-current electric field. When the electrodes are charged, ions and water move toward the electrodes. The ions flow through the outer casing of the electrode, which contains water, where they are then removed for treatment. Bioreactors and bioventing technology are two forms of bioremediation that are used to remediate soil that has been contaminated by fuel.

Oil Gone Easy S-200 also uses bioremediation to help fight oil spill pollution both on land and in water. This eco-friendly product is more readily available than bioreactors or bioventing technology and is ideal for home and boat owners.

Chris Helwig asked:




Current Issues in Environmental Science

Since the nineteenth century industrial pollution has been a growing problem.  Advances in science and technology have created new industries and have transformed the way people live, work, travel, and communicate.  These new industries have improved the quality of people’s lives in many ways.  But one of the costs associated with technological progress has been damage to the environment – to the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.  I now want to direct your attention to three of the most important issues facing the environment today:  Acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, and global warming.

I will now discuss the following slides.  The first slide shows acid rain sources and receptors.  The next slide shows ozone layer chemistry and kinetics.  The next one a CFC molecule.    After that are photos of holes in the ozone layer and an estimate of the size of the hole.  The next one is ozone levels and predicted recovery.  The next slide is global climate temperature data.  The next one is electricity generation and emissions.  Finally, there is a slide on emissions and the output rate.

 

           

That was my last slide.  I hope I was able to give you an overview of some of the main issues facing the environment today.

 

Public awareness regarding environmental issues has risen in recent years.  Concern about the environment lead countries from around the world to ratify three key international environmental agreements, the Rio Agreements, the Montreal protocol, and the Kyoto Protocol.   These agreements put limits on the emissions that cause acid rain, deplete the ozone layer, and produce global warming.  They create a framework by which countries can work together to get these environmental issues under control.

 

The slides for this article are here:  http://members.cox.net/chelwig1/hello.html

 

 

Adolphpaul asked:




The Green Revolution is here! Many are concerned about saving the planet and restoring it to its pristine glory.

Is it a movement just for the elite?

The green movement is currently a lifestyle choice that people can embrace if money is available to buy organic food and hybrid cars. It is important that it should become main-stream if it is to have any real influence on all of us. The green solutions prescribed by pundits are expensive and many are not able to afford them. How many of us can afford to install solar- powered panels on the roofs of our homes? These are expensive consumer choices. However, it goes without saying that environmental concerns are the topmost priority.

What is a sustainable blog?



A sustainable blog brings out ideas from different sections of the society to lessen noxious emissions and suggest ways to use clean and green technology that is simple and accessible. For instance, instead of throwing away plastic bottles, why don’t you give them away to the factory to make polyester? Polyester garments are an eco-friendly option.



Its importance in the virtual world



* Global warming is not something that is going to happen ten or twenty years from now. It is already happening.

* Unfortunately, governments and industries have been slow in waking up to this fact.

* Blogs and online communications are an excellent way to keep the pressure on the state for concrete action and measures to minimize the effects of climate change.

* These are advocacy tools by means of which extensive and broad campaigns can be conducted by environmentalists and the civil society to save the planet from further destruction.

* Everybody has a stake here and a significant role to play.

* Eco-themed blogs from around the world discuss issues on the current eco crisis and the measures to tackle it by sustainable means.

* You would be able to know about clean technology in the UK, climate change concerns in Italy or green farming in Canada.

It is important that an economy has to evolve from green technology and provides a sustainable life to us. A sustainable community would suggest ways to minimize our negative impact upon the planet. There has been a growing awareness among environment and sustainable groups to ensure that the existing resources on the planet do not get wastefully depleted.

The future generations should not suffer for the negligent actions of the past and present communities. Sustainable living is not an option. It is a necessity.

Overpopulation and a fierce battle for resources have wrecked havoc on the fragile eco-system of our planet. It is imperative that you should be conscious of your actions in conserving the planet by eco-friendly methods and limit over-consumption.

James Nash asked:




Wind power, or wind energy, is a renewable resource; it is from the sun. The advantages of wind power are many, including practical, environmental as well as economic. There are also disadvantages to using windpower, such as the natural variability of wind, the competition for other land uses, and bird deaths.

Wind power, or wind energy, is a renewable resource; it is from the sun. The intensity of solar radiation differs across the globe. Some areas receive intense amounts of sunlight, while others receive much less. The result is a temperature gradient; a gradient which is mediated by the flow of air to and from areas of dissimilar temperatures and pressure systems in our atmosphere. Uneven heating of the earth’s atmosphere,

in addition to irregularities on the earth’s surface and the rotation of the earth create wind. Terrain, water bodies, and vegetation then shape flow patterns.

The recent history of wind power in the United States has a similar impetus to that of alternative fuel sources in general – it was an idea borne from the 1970′s Oil Crisis. It does, however, have a more extensive history reaching back into to late 19th century in the colonization of the American West; millions of windmills were erected for irrigation and cattle purposes to facilitate the growing number of farms and ranches. Many soon feel into disrepair as inexpensive energy sources became more widespread and grid power extended its reach into rural areas used small electric wind systems.

Outside of the US, however, wind power has a broader history. In fact, there was evidence that boats were propelled along the Nile as early as 5000BC via wind energy. China used wind for pumping water several millennium ago.

Wind is harnessed to make mechanical power or electricity. The kinetic energy from the wind is converted through various different processes to create mechanical energy that can be used in lieu of fossil fuels. There are two types of modern turbines – horizontal and vertical axis, both of which work similar to one another and as decried above. Between the two types, they come in an array of sizes from small 100 watt units for single homes to much larger or ones (with a blade diameter greater than 50m). These larger turbines can generate 1 MW of electricity.

The most common used today are horizontal axis turbines with three blades (15-30m in diameter) and produce approximately 50-350 kW of electricity. Often wind turbines are grouped together; the arrangement in called a wind farm that provides energy to an electrical grid.

Vertical axis turbines are more efficient in areas with vast amount of lands and moderate wind speeds. Current technology is looking to develop different turbine types for different areas of wind speed given the amount of land available for farms.

The advantages of wind power are many, including practical, environmental as well as economic. Worldwide, the total kinetic energy contained in wind is more than 80 times that of human energy consumption. While only a fraction of this can be used for electricity purposes, the potential-given future technological developments is great.

Environmental advantages include the fact that a renewable source of clean, nonpolluting energy curbs the demand and use of fossil fuels and emit no air pollution of greenhouse gases, In the US, wind plants have offset the emission of than 2.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, and 15 million pounds of other pollutants. Also, wind energy is free: the cost of installation and maintenance has dramatically decreased in recent years and future technology ensures only a continual decrease in the prices. As a result, the lifetime investment is much lower than most fossil-fuel systems.

One of the primary disadvantages to wind power is the natural variability of wind in any given locale. Indeed there are certain areas with extremely high average wind speeds, but in most places, wind exposure is quite variable. Wind energy can only be stored with a battery, otherwise it is not. In the latter case, not all energy demands can be met through the natural timing of winds. For these reasons, it may not be a viable option for some. One other disadvantage is the competition for other – more highly valued and profit generating – land uses.

Economic disadvantages include the fact that the initial investment is often higher than fossil fuel systems. The higher costs is mostly due to the machinery which is involves. Other costs include site preparation and installation. The primary environmental drawbacks to wind power are as follows: Noise pollution via the rotor blades Aesthetic impacts (“visual pollution”), and bird deaths.

It is important to keep in mind that many of these problems have been resolved with increasing technology. Avian mortality, however, is still being studied.

Beth Roberts asked:




It really is not such a novel idea. Our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, has been an advocate for America to become energy independent and to step up our efforts toward increasing our development and use of Green Technology to accomplish this goal. The promise of change our 44th President based his campaign on, will be an uphill battle unless he becomes the supreme example for all Americans to follow.

One of Gandhi’s well known quotes, “become the change you wish to see in the world,” would be the best way to govern our new and improved Nation. This would show America and the world that serious change is on the horizon. It is obvious we should not continue to rely on our energy needs from governments that don’t like us that much. Some may think that in these tumultuous times, there is little hope of resolving our energy issues; especially when the United States is already so far in debt that our grandchildren’s children will still be paying off the debt that has been created.

However, there is more hope in our world that change is coming. Millions of us are standing by waiting for our next President to tell us how we can be “useful.” We are ready to begin implementing the work that will be needed to change our Country’s path toward a better future for our children.

This will not be as daunting of a task as one might think. Change starts, not just in, but also outside the White House. Americans will be able to once again, look upon our Nations capital, and more specifically, our White House as the beacon for change, becomes visible for all to observe.

The White House is full of centuries of a rich history, yet, the past is not progressive, and it is however, the antithesis of America’s new hope for the future. There is one way that future’s history could be made now. One interesting proposal for change by example would be to employ some Americans to participate in our first Green Technology project by erecting Windmills at the Whitehouse.

The enormous energy benefits of Windmills, pales in comparison to the significant example that our 44th President would show to all Americans.

Nay Sayers may say, it would be too expensive, or would use too much of taxpayers money, or that Washington D.C. is not the “windy city of Chicago,” and they may be correct. However, Windmills do not need Chicago’s wind to be effective.

Every day, Green technologies get more advanced, there may even be better and greater Green energy sources available in the not to distant future.  Nonetheless, it is an issue of leading by example, whether it is Windmills, natural gas, or clean coal technology; it is the call for change that should be leading Americans through the 21st century.

There is another great saying that comes to mind, “if you keep doing the same thing, you can’t expect a different result.” The only way we as a collective whole; citizens of these United States, are going to “be the change,” is by following the example of change.



A first step toward the change we need, could very well be, our 44th President of the United States installing Windmills at the White House. This one gesture toward “being the change we Americans need to see,” could be the catalyst of much more change to come. It is only befitting that Windmills be the “power” which jumpstarts our Country’s economy, by providing Green technology jobs for Americans. Maybe, just maybe, our Country will become an example of how to lead a Nation by “being the change” we need; and the change we want to see in the world.

Edward Hunter asked:




Alternative energy is defined as energy that comes from a natural source and is renewable or naturally occurring. Alternative energy typically does not produce pollution and comes from such sources as the sun, wind, and water.

There have been many recent innovations to alternative energy as a result of expanding alternative energy technologies.

Alternative energy technologies have made it possible to do much more research on how to use the alternative energy sources that we have more effectively to generate the most power out of the various sources.

Alternative energy technologies have also been instrumental in discovering new ways to produce heating fuels, such as bio-diesel, methanol, and ethanol from bio-mass for energy consumption.

It is imperative that companies who are dedicated to alternative energy options continue to develop their alternative energy technologies to keep up with the demand to make alternative energy more readily accessible to a larger amount of people as the dwindling supply of fossil fuels and concerns over our dependence on foreign oils drives many more people towards considering alternative energy sources.

In recent years alternative energy technologies have propelled bio-mass and bio-deisel into the fore front of the alternative energy movement. Biotechnology has become an extremely important area of research and development as a result of the record high gas and heating fuel prices.

Biomass is organic material made from plants or animals that originates from agricultural and forestry residue as well as municipal and industrial wastes and terrestrial and aquatic crops. Through the use of alternative energy technologies bio-mass has been able to be transferred into usable fules such as methane, ethanol, dio-deisel, methanol and biocrude.

These products are viable and readily available alternatives to pertroleum and gasoline. Through the use of alternative energy technologies bio-mass has also been found to be a source of biopower. Biopower uses biomass to produce electricity using alternative energy technologies such as direct firing, co-firing, gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion.

The direct firing method biomass is burned to produce steam. The steam drives a turbine that turns a generator to convert power into electricity. Without alternative energy technologies it would be much more difficult to develop new ways to use the resources that are available naturally.

Alternative energy technologies also make it possible to discover new ways to develop alternative energy and make it more user friendly and efficient in usage and installation.

Alternative energy technologies truly are changing the face of the alternative energy movement and creating more innovative ways to use natural resources as well as providing new products that rely on alternative energy as their source of power.

Ron Mertens asked:




OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) are materials that emit light when current is passed through them. OLED are used today to make beautiful and efficient displays in MP3 players, mobile phones and other gadgets, and the world’s first OLED-TV can be bougt from Sony. Because OLEDs emit light, it is also possible use the technology to create white light.

OLEDs are very power efficient and they can be made very thin. An OLED light bulb is actually a thin film of material that emits bright white light. Because OLEDs can be flexible, or even transparent, exciting new OLED lamp designs are possible.

OLEDs are also the most ‘green’ light source. Not only are they super efficient, but OLEDs do not contain any ‘bad’ metals such as mercury, which is present in efficient CFL lamps. So OLEDs are really the future lighting source, when all things are considered.

In April 2008, OSRAM has announced the world’s first OLED lamp. It was designed by lighting designer Ingo Maurer, uses 10 OLED light panels, sized 132 x 33 millimeters. The OLED bulb in this lamp are actually thin square sheets that emit light. This lamp is more of a prototype than a commercial product – only 25 will be made, and the price is more than 25,000euro. But it sure is an important milestone on the path for OLED lighting.

Several companies are working towards white OLED light products. GE is hoping to get products out by 2010, and OSRAM is planning products for 2011-12, even though, like we said, they already introduced their first OLED lamp in 2008.

Philips is already shipping product samples and OLED lighting kits, and is hoping to have commercial products as early as 2009. Other companies involved in white OLED lighting are Konica Minolta (plans to have products by 2011), Universal Display (WOLED technology), and Kodak.The EU is funding several OLED lighting projects, while in Japan a few companies have joined forces to create Lumiotec – a JV to study the possibilities of OLED light bulbs.

We’re yet to see which company (or companies) will win the race for OLED lighting. But we’re seeing more and more evidence that OLEDs will play an important role in our green-light future.

Khaled Mahmud Shams asked:




It’s quite a recent technology, a ‘green technology’, that is flourishing in the last 20 years. Using plants rather than any expensive mechanical or chemical way is becoming more popular among the nature conservationists and small scale site remediation firms.

Plants can fight pollution. Although it’s already doing since the beginning of life on earth. But this time, its use is more planned and object-oriented. Everything is an object, contaminants too. Plants can be used targeting these contaminants to detoxify soil, water and air. As plants need carbon-di-oxide for photosynthesis, a process to produce glucose for plants, it cleans the air spontaneously. Recently more and more scientific investigations are carried out to see the results for soil decontamination.

Soil can be contaminated from various sources: municipal, industrial, agricultural wastes. As a result a natural clean soil gets toxic and the surrounding eco-system suffers the loss of its natural harmony. Not only the human population but vegetation, birds and many other positive microorganisms extinct from the environment with further deteriorating consequences.

Industrial (developed) countries follow the regulations and regular monitoring from different government agencies helps keep the nature clean. But in developing countries like India, China, Bangladesh where huge population means cheap labor, it’s getting worse as these countries are rushing fast to come to a level similar to the developed countries. As technologies are getting easily available, so now you will find same quality products from the developing countries as like the highly industrialized ones.

As a result huge areas both residential, forests and rivers, are being used as disposal sites. Soil gets polluted and further leaching downwards threatens the aquifers deteriorating the water quality and affecting public health.

Many of the developed countries are not able take huge remediation steps towards decontaminating the wastes sites. Bioremediation can be an easy and effective choice for this purpose. Selected plants can be used to remove, degrade or immobilize contaminants in rhizosphere area. Plants that can accumulate more toxic metals in its leaves and stems than the soil are called hyperaccumulators. Chinese brake fern, a hyperaccumulator, can store Arsenic in its leaves as much as 200 times that present in the soil. Sunflower is successfully used in Chernobyl to take radioactive elements Uranium. Indian mustard showed positive response towards lead accumulation.

Bioremediation is a lengthy process that can take years to clean a contaminated land. Not every plant responses positively towards accumulation of toxic metals. Most of the plants will die in the early stages. Many plants which show good results accumulating metals do not grow its natural growth, hence limit metal extraction. Many plants can recognize the harmful substances and store only in their roots, which is a kind of phytostabilization that can again spread in the environment depending on the change of chemistry of the subsurface. Acidity of soil is a big factor in this case. As acidic soils dissolves more metals, so metals get more mobile in the environment.

On the other hand it’s a natural process and for large waste disposal sites bioremediation is the right choice. Seasonal plants can be harvested while new plants can let grow for further extraction.

Bioremediation is still in its infancy state. More and more research is going on in this field and new results are emerging everyday. Some research groups are also working on ‘genetic improvement’ of plants for specific response to specific toxic metals. It can boost the industry very much although genetic changes can be put into question and long-term investigation is needed to see the final results of plants behavior towards pollutants and environment.

Gayle Buske asked:




They don’t seem to go together, do they? That’s what I thought too until I researched the history of Earth Day (April 22nd). It just so happens that Earth Day was born in 1970, which was also the year of Apollo 13, NASA’s infamous successful failure. Where does teleworking or virtual assisting come in and how does it relate to our space program? I’m so glad you asked!

Several weeks ago we watched a Discovery Channel piece on Apollo 13. As we watched, it occurred to me that our very own space program is managed virtually! Our space shuttles lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. And where is Mission Control Center located? At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. If NASA can manage our space missions virtually, why can’t just about any business in the world be managed virtually and employ virtual assistants and teleworkers?

It’s pretty amazing what can be done without the confines of a bricks and mortar office. NASA manages multi-million dollar space shuttles from thousands of miles away, helps the astronauts through difficulties in space, instructs and guides them, all by employing modern technology. Most of that technology is available in one form or another to businesses of all sizes. The shuttle astronauts communicate with Mission Control via a radio system. We communicate with our virtual assistants and teleworkers via the telephone and instant messenger. If the folks at Mission Control can show the folks on Apollo 13, virtually, how to save their lives by putting a square peg in a round hole, can’t you show your virtual assistant how to answer your telephones, virtually? Piece of cake!

Of course, it takes the right kind of people to work your company’s Mission Control, and it takes the right kind of people to work your company’s shuttle mission. But that’s where virtual staffing agencies like Team Double-Click® come in – to find just the right people to work your shuttle mission so you don’t have a successful failure like NASA’s Apollo 13.

Working virtually, teleworking, telecommuting, hiring a virtual assistant, whatever you prefer to call it, is one of the best things we can do for our planet Earth and for the environment. If the Greenies hadn’t warned us enough times over the last decade or two, Al Gore came along to drive home our impacts on the environment with “An Inconvenient Truth”.

Recently, I’ve been working with a wonderful woman, Kate Lister, of www.undress4success.com and interviewed for her upcoming book by the same name. I asked her to run some numbers for me to see what teleworking and virtual assistants do to positively impact our environment. Here’s what she told me:

On average, each Team Double-Click® at-home worker saves:

· 23 days per year by not playing in traffic

· 203 gallons of gasoline, or $710 per year (at $3.50 per gallon)

· 1.785 metric tons of CO2 per year

Earth Day is a great occasion to hire a virtual assistant or teleworkers, but why not do it all year ‘round? Imagine the impact you will make on the environment as a business owner or executive who hires virtually. For every virtual assistant or teleworker you hire, you will save 203 gallons of gasoline and 1.785 metric tons of CO2 per year. This makes an impact on our dependency on foreign oil to boot!

Team Double-Click®’s very existence, by maintaining a 100% virtual status, saves nearly $150,000 a year in annual fuel purchases, reduces our country’s oil usage by 2,071 barrels of crude oil per year, and slashes CO2 (the principal greenhouse gas) output by 357 metric tons per year. And these numbers grow exponentially each and every week.

If you haven’t done so already, join us in using teleworkers and virtual assistants and improving our planet for the next generation. If NASA can manage those space missions virtually, you can surely manage your company using virtual assistants. And we’d be happy to show you how.