Whenever plants are subjected to extreme stress, such as very high or low temperatures, they do not flower and grow because they divert their food to their embryo. “Their instinct is to protect the next generation,” said Wigge.
Plants are better adapted to survive, than people are, in that respect. But then they have had a million or so more years to learn that clever trick. They might outlive us.
A North Dakota rural electric cooperative made history on New Year’s Eve, in completing the nation’s largest wind project to be entirely owned by a consumer cooperative.
The $240 million, 115.5 MW wind farm was begun in August and completed a mere four months later; three and a half hours before midnight on the last night of 2009.
Today, a European company put the finishing touches on a wind project in North Dakota which Americans have known for decades is “the Saudi Arabia of Wind.”
Spain’s Iberdrola Renovables, the parent company of Iberdrola Renewables Inc that built the project became a giant global wind company in the wake of the Kyoto Accord. The European renewable energy sector grew from the resulting renewable energy legislation in Europe.
The result is that it is European wind companies such as Vestas and Iberdrola, that are now building the wind energy that we need.
Solar arrays can provide energy to pump water to watering troughs for cows, improving water quality on remote pastures and saving money too. Farmers can more sustainably manage their pastures if cows are not all clustered around small creeks, eroding the banks.
In a post-Copenhagen move; the US Dairy industry announced today that it is partnering with the US Department of Agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020 by greatly ramping-up the use of anaerobic digesters. [social_buttons] While cows have been with us since at least 2020 BC, now that … [continued]
Taiwan’s Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world from 2004-2007. Now, it is looking to become the world’s tallest GREEN building. [social_buttons] The building’s owner, Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFC), is putting in $1.9 million to give this 101-story building a green makeover.
There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years about biofuels and whether or not they are actually green, especially when produced on a large, global level. [social_buttons] A new study led by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) senior scientist Jerry Melillo says no, they aren’t green (when … [continued]
Turkey farmers growing greenhouse tomatoes have been using this technology since 2005. California is going to get it before the end of this year. LA-based ClimateMinder now completely owns the Turkish company Kodalfa and it is eager to bring some of its technology to the US. This company’s “new” climate-monitoring … [continued]
[social_buttons] We live in an era where compute capability is ubiquitous, whether it be on a smart phone or mobile computer, and where “the cloud” can be accessed from anywhere. In parallel, the ever-improving energy and carbon-efficiency of computers creates new opportunities to trade off atoms for bits, also known … [continued]
Hundreds of thousands of tons of watermelons are tossed every year because they aren’t good enough for market. A new study finds that the juice from these watermelons could easily be used to create the biofuel ethanol and other helpful products.
