Can Renewable Energy Sources Charge Your Cell Phone?

Do you know that you can charge your cell phone with solar energy?

Yes, there is a way to charge virtually any hand-held electronic device using renewable energy sources.  It’s called a hybrid solar charger.  What makes it hybrid?  This means that even when the sun isn’t shining you can still use the charger.  Because, it also accepts power from a wall socket or even from your computer’s USB port.

So what else is so great about this solar charger?

• It has a high-capacity internal rechargeable battery that stores power for up to one year- charge your devices anytime, day or night when you need it most.  It has solar cells to charge its internal battery.

• You can add another cool word to your vocabulary:  eco-mobility

• You can be part of a carbon neutral process.  The company that made my charger has an arrangement so that for every 6 units manufactured, trees are planted to offset carbons emitted during manufacturing.

• Say you’re stuck in an airport or somewhere else without access to a wall socket.  Pull out your fully charged solar charger from your pocket or purse and charge that iPhone or Blackberry that’s out of juice.

• Don’t worry it’s nice looking too in it’s recyclable shell.  It even comes in recyclable packaging.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering why do I seem kinda passionate about this hand-held solar charger gadget. Read more

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Can Current Economic Climate Help With Sustainable Development?

Are you concerned about the negative impact that the oil industry has on the sustainable development initiatives for our Earth?  The world’s out-of-control dependence on fossil fuels causes the oil industry to rape the environment every day.  It’s nothing new that these fossil fuels add to the carbon releases to our atmosphere.  Thus, we are increasing the problem of global warming and climate change.

Now, let’s put a favorable twist on our current economic climate.  Yes, people have lost jobs and businesses have failed due to our current global crisis.  Sad as it is, there are a few good things that can and will come as a result.  Let’s list a few less obvious ways that our current crisis can have a positive impact on sustainable development:

• Fewer sources of pollution due to industry slow-down of production operations
• That means fewer employees burning fuel on the way to work
• The industry plants themselves will use less energy because their operation is reduced
• These industries will be forced to find more efficient means of production and operation

I attended a meeting with a ranking official of one of the world’s top oilfield services companies yesterday.  In particular, he has charge of the United States and Mexico.  (A little insight: just one small office of this global corporation has been averaging between 4-6 million dollars in revenue each month of the year.  He recently laid-off 41 employees at this small office.)  Below are a few explanations he had for a slow down in his industry.  Bad news for his employees; good news for the environment.

• Drilling rigs accross the U.S. have gone from 2,000+ down to around 1,200.
• Predictions are that the number of drilling rigs will drop to around 700 in a few months.
• The bulk of oilfield production is natural gas, not oil.  And, gas production is slowing.
• As industry operations slow, they use less natural gas.
• Natural gas storage capacity is at about 95%.  So, no one wants to buy more natural gas.

What does all this mean?  As mentioned, storage capacity is almost maxed out.  Industry, the main consumer of natural gas, has slowed down.  Demand for natural gas is low.  So, those storage facilities have no where to send their supplies.  And, it doesn’t make much sense to produce the gas if there is nowhere to store it.

How is this good news for the environment, you ask?  Short answer: the affected industries will be forced to find ways to cut down on energy use.  Example, one of the many things the above-mentioned oilfield services executive suggested was that employees stop the engine of their trucks when just idling.  That act alone will save millions in his large corporation.   And, the oil industry will naturally turn to exploring alternative sources of energy, because they will want to keep their respective companies profitable.

Sounds over-simplified?  Maybe.  I have faith a lesson will be learned here.

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Technorati Tags: Climate Change, economic climate, global warming, natural gas, oil industry, Sustainable Development

Could Twitter Get Any Bigger With $35 million in new VC funding?

You know that Twitter isn’t exactly a direct influence on Green Issues.  But, there are lots of users on Twitter that are involved in the Sustainable Development movement to varying degrees.

But, do you think a turbo-fast growing social haven with fresh infusions of venture capital can be a forum for Earth-conscious users?  The answer is a big, yes.

I use Twitter for letting people know about recent posts to this site.  My followers see the post, they let their followers know about the post, those people tell others, the cycle can go on and on.  So, yes, you can also use your Twitter account to educate others about topics such as: climate change, alternative energy, green power, etc.

Their service is a very useful, warm, inviting environment.  It’s more personal than a lot of the other social sites.  It’s almost like texting on your cell phone to all of your friends and colleagues at once.  Twitter keeps things quick, simple and friendly.  If you aren’t a user already, get started by looking at http://Twitter.com/tommylinsley and see for yourself the warm nature involved.  Next step:  start using the service today.

Twitter keeps getting bigger.  I don’t think I know anyone that’s not on Twitter.  If you’re not a user, you should really consider getting in.  Actually, not only can you find others that share your views, but it’s also a great place to develop a relationship with potential customers for your business.

Basically, it is a great place to develop relationships.  This is the key point to remember about Twitter.

* See the link below to find out more about Twitter’s latest growth opportunity. *

Tweet this: Twitter rakes in $35 million in new VC funding - San Jose Mercury News.

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Unusual Violent Weather

If you live in an area that is known for violent weather,
then you are probably accustomed to severe storms.
But it’s quite another thing to live well outside the
range of hurricanes, say in Sweden, and then wake
up to a tropical storm bearing down on you.

Unfortunately, this is what our global environment
has seen in some recent years.  Preparedness is a key component of
sustainable development, but this is complicated by climate change.
The whole point is that you don’t know what could happen because
“normal” simply doesn’t apply anymore.

Preparedness scenarios become a problematic situation particularly for
folks who didn’t think to have a tornado escape plan for their trailer
park in January.  Springtime used to be the “normal” time of year to
expect tornado activity.   Preparedness may need some revision in Oregon,
USA, as its citizens are becoming acquainted with the sort of fire seasons
that Californians can now only dream about.

Then, ask the folks in sunny Los Angeles who wrecked their cars trying to
navigate a freak blizzard or truckers that got stuck in the mountains
during an early August white out.

Prepare to be amazed as chaotic weather becomes even more violent and
dangerous as our Earth tries to adjust itself in the wake of this fever
that mankind seems to have caused for her.

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Major Players in Sustainable Development

Sustainable development requires the input of all the major stakeholders in
the climate change solution phase.  That means that governments,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other concerned parties cannot
set about on a sustainable course of action until some sort of agreement
is reached with any party that might raise an objection that could put the
project in danger.

Sometimes public input on policy changes can keep the bill that is
politically expedient from becoming a law that appeases everyone and fixes
nothing.  Major stakeholders in the climate debate include just about
everyone, but some special groups that have been very active include
native and indigenous peoples, residents of island nations, commerce and
business groups, environmental activists and human rights campaigners, to
name just a few.

It is very important that these groups have a chance to sit down on a
regular business and state their concerns or compliments about how climate
change mitigation is being handled.

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University Research Role for Combating Climate Change?

So Who’s Advising the Advisors?

The persons who actually make policy rely upon scientific advisors to
help them craft useful and efficient policy that will be acceptable to
voters. As you can imagine, meeting the technological challenges and
analyzing the effects of climate change is a very important job. It is
a small army of graduate students and other university professionals
that actually craft the experiments that result in useful data.

These experiments are most often dependent upon a system of grant
applications and publishing. As a result, industry and government alike
have the ability to direct research into areas they feel require more
study. In the case of industry, this is often carried out to complement
in-house research or to discredit a competing theory that would damage
their market share. Therefore, it is the mission of sustainable
development to encourage governments to invest in and train a generation
of qualified advisors capable of performing unbiased research.

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