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512 results for "carbon dioxide"
New wastewater treatment method captures carbon and creates renewable energy
You may not spend much thought on cleaning up municipal and industrial wastewater, but you may have guessed it's dirty. Quite dirty, in fact. Wastewater treatment produces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by powering the whole machinery (and this requires high amounts of energy) and by decomposing Read More...
Electric cars are only as green as their power grid
President Barack Obama has just announced America's "first-ever national standards to limit carbon pollution from power plants." His "Clean Power Plan" calls for a 32 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Why? America's electricity is still mostly coal-fired, with Read More...
Climate change dream scenario: A power plant with negative emissions
The giant coal power station at Drax in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, with its 12 cooling towers, is one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters. It sends some 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide up its stacks each year while supplying up to a tenth of the UK’s power. But that Read More...
Where is the smog? Google will help cities find out by strapping smog-sensors to street view cars
For the past year-and-a-half, Google has been secretly testing a new way to measure the air quality in city streets. They worked together with a startup company called Aclima, to attach special sensors to its street view cars. With this sensor, they measured different chemicals that are Read More...
Welcome to our sandbox
The human race has become the single dominant force of change on the planet. We’re altering the natural world, entering the Anthropocene. That’s a good thing. Knee-deep in the blizzard of 1978, when wind-whipped sails of snow tacked across Lake Cayuga and the streets looked like a toboggan Read More...
100 ways to live to 100
A recipe for a long, healthy life. We’ve compiled what we consider the 100 most important pieces of advice we’ve written over the years into a handy reference guide for how to live a long and healthy life. In many cases, the advice runs counter to what your doctor or the government is telling Read More...
Spain on track to be the first net carbon zero G-20 nation
Spain has been investing heavily in wind farms and, more controversially, nuclear, with stark results: last month it generated 69 percent of its electricity from plants that did not emit carbon dioxide. It has realistic prospects to reach 87 percent next year through planned investments in wind and Read More...
Baking soda balls capture carbon
Current carbon capturing technologies use harsh chemicals to keep carbon dioxide from escaping into the atmosphere, it’s a lesser of two evils scenario. A new carbon capturing technique might change the way we capture carbon and make it a sustainable option for offsetting emissions. Researchers Read More...
Bacteria creates fuel from sunlight
Scientists from Harvard University have created a system, dubbed the ‘bionic leaf’, that splits water molecules into its base hydrogen and oxygen atoms, then uses bacteria to create a liquid fuel, called isopropanol, a versatile fuel that can be used as a propellant. The way it works it after a Read More...
Expanding the EPA’s Clean Power Plan
If you’ve ever noticed smoke billowing from a power plant and been concerned about the effect that is having on the environment, don’t worry—you’re not alone. This past June, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the Clean Power Plan, a proposal that endeavors to Read More...