February 21, 2007
The Virgin Earth Challenge
Image source: theage.com
The RealClimate blog reports this week on Richard Branson's latest scheme -- this time it's saving the planet. If you take up the Virgin Earth Challenge, and develop “a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases so as to contribute materially to the stability of Earth’s climate”, you stand to pocket a cool USD25 million. My first reaction was that this does require someone to come up with a way of countering the second law of thermodynamics which is a bit of brain-teaser to say the least. My second reaction was that this sounds like a classic case of greenwash, given Branson's airlines are among the biggest contributors of GHG emissions. But maybe I shouldn't be so cynical. Tim Flannery is on the panel of judges and he generally tows the ecologically-sound line. So is James Lovelock, but he has gone over to the 'dark side' of late since talking up the nuclear option.
February 19, 2007
More gloom from the IPCC
Image source: zorglubb's photostream
The Guardian reports today that another study by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- due out soon -- concludes that a critical meltdown of ice sheets and severe sea level rises could be inevitable because of global warming. Well known for its conservatism, even this body now believes that widespread ice sheet loss "may no longer be avoided". According to the UN scientists this would cause "major changes in coastline and inundation of low-lying areas" and require "costly and challenging" efforts to move millions of people and infrastructure from vulnerable areas. The previous official line, issued in 2001, was that the chance of such an event was "not well known, but probably very low".
February 08, 2007
A solution to the water problem?
Image source: spacemart.com
A week or so ago, Phillip Adams wrote a piece on The Australian entitled Water from wind which piqued my interest. In brief, an Aussie bloke named Max Whisson has come up with a device that Adams refers to as the 'Whisson Windmill'. It effectively harvests moisture from air offering a solution to the looming problem of water shortages in Australia (and elsewhere, of course). Then, listening to a Late Night Live podcast while out running tonight I heard from the inventor himself (listen here or right-click to download). A very humble-sounding, unassuming sort of guy, he seemed to talk a lot of sense and -- while I'm no scientist -- the basis of the technology was pretty easy to understand. I'm now amazed that no-one has thought to commercialise such an idea before. What I like best about it is that it conforms to one of the key principles of natural capitalism; namely, biomimicry. Many of the ecological challenges we face today can be solved by adopting natural solutions; that is, processes and procedures that replicate what happens in the natural world. Whisson's inspiration is the Stenocara beetle, an insect which lives in the Namib Desert in Africa, that tilts itself forward into the wind early in the morning to capture water droplets on its back. These droplets roll into the beetle's mouth to provide a morning drink.
According to Whisson, the windmills should hit the market in 4-5 months. Watch this space.