Revolving Doors

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

The Cube
2008-03-21 00:09:00
More and more car companies are joining the electric trend. Nissan's new concept car Denki Cube looks pretty cool.clipped from blog.wired.comThe standard car's 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine is gone, replaced by an electric motor and a pack of laminated lithium-ion batteries under the floor and seats, charged through a port behind the Nissan emblem in the grille. Nissan claims the batteries' laminated structure allows them to produce more power with greater stability, and offer significantly better packaging flexibility than conventional cylindrical li-ion batteries.To make room for the battery pack, the wheelbase is stretched a significant 9.4 inches, giving four occupants plenty of legroom to go along with all that headroom. Will the Denki Cube hum into Nissan showrooms? We can only hope.

Spotting things that you're not looking for
2008-03-20 21:55:00
When I cycle in crowded city streets I try to have something highly visible on myself or on my bike that catches the attention of the polluting drivers.This is why:
More About: Things

BMW considers to build electric car
2008-03-19 21:31:00
clipped from www.eetimes.comAt the company's annual balance press conference yesterday (March 18), BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer announced the company will decide during the current year if it will produce a battery-powered car. "The electro motor is an option for us," Reithofer said. "By now, the technology allows to combine electric drives with fun in driving. Against this background, we are considering to produce battery-powered electric cars."Maybe they are inspired by the success of Tesla Motors who are now beginning regular production of their sports car Tesla Roadster.If people absolutely insist to drive cars, electric seems to be the sexiest alternative, especially if the batteries are charged with renewable energy.
More About: Electric , Build , Electric Car

Air travel madness
2008-03-19 20:46:00
clipped from africa.reuters.com GENEVA, March 19 (Reuters) - Air travelers on domestic and international flights totaled 4.5 billion in 2007, up 6.4 percent on 2006 and marking a "banner year" for the industry, the global airports body ACI said on Wednesday. The world's top airports were the two leading U.S. hubs of Atlanta, which processed nearly 90 million travelers, and Chicago O'Hare, which handled over 76 million, and London's Heathrow which saw 68 million pass through.This madness can't continue much longer. Soaring oil prices and climate policies will hopefully curb the current destructive trend.
More About: Travel , Air Travel , Madness

Criminal institutions
2008-03-18 22:06:00
Corporations are powerful and influential institutions. A lot of their power and wealth is based on the plundering of natural and human resources. This plundering will hopefully be considered criminal and unlawful in the future. Some CEOs have woken up to the fact that they are drivers of unforgivable destruction. Ray Anderson is a such and he has done a lot to change the way his company interacts with the planet.
More About: Criminal , Institutions

Shell goes tar
2008-03-18 07:00:00
clipped from www.guardian.co.ukShell is gearing up for a huge expansion of its carbon-intensive tar sands operation in Canada at a time when it has been struggling to replace conventional reserves.The Anglo-Dutch oil group is producing 155,000 barrels a day from tar sands, had plans to raise this to 500,000 barrels and has just formally applied for a licence to enable it to raise that figure to 770,000.  

Energy positive building
2008-03-16 23:23:00
clipped from www.inhabitat.comNot settling for mere zero-energy, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill?s Masdar Headquarters are setting new design standards for green building, with their scheme that generates more energy than it consumes. The Masdar Headquarters building outside of Abu Dhabi is also the first building in history to generate power for its own assembly, using a solar roof pier that will be built first to power the rest of the construction. 
More About: Building , Energy , Positive

State of the world 2057
2008-03-16 21:45:00
Theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku guides us to the future.2057 The World (Part 1)2057 The World (Part 2)
More About: State

Toy cars run on batteries, why don't real ones too?
2008-03-15 23:38:00
Project Better Place is building a battery change infrastructure to make it possible to switch to battery powered cars. Here is a talk by the founder of Project Better Place, Shai Agassi.
More About: Cars , Batteries , Real

Breaking the deadlock
2008-03-14 23:45:00
Tony Blair announces that his current mission is to work for the establishment of a global climate framework. The world had less than two years to secure a deal, or accept that global warming is irreversible, he says.Related articles:GuardianAFP
More About: Breaking , Deadlock

Things I hear at work
2008-03-14 21:36:00
Yesterday one of the nurses at work uttered the familiar "Oh it would sure be nice with some sun and heat." I knew what would follow and before she could continue I cut off with a " The number of foreign flights from Sweden increased by 13% last year, is that sane?". Another nurse said that her husband had secretly booked a trip to Turkey and she didn't even like the country because the Turks were all over their teenage daughter the last time they had gone there.How about this one: "It's March, shouldn't it be about time that we got some warmth". (In Sweden we've had a record mild winter this year and spring arrived way too early)Here is one I heard today: "When it's time for me to retire I want to have enough money so I can travel and see the world."
More About: Work , Hear , Things

Canadian oil
2008-03-13 22:05:00
As the price of crude oil is going sky high, the dirty processing of oil sands in Canada is becoming increasingly profitable. The processes involved causes disastrous harm to the climate and the local environment. Thousands of acres of trees are being cut down to make way for pits more than 60 metres deep. The damage done can be seen from the moon. To separate the oil from the sand, great quantities of water are needed. Lakes and rivers are being polluted. The process also requires about one barrel of natural gas for every two barrels of oil retrieved. Canada is now almost 35% above the Kyoto target.
More About: Canadian

Don't burn food: biofuels standards now!
2008-03-12 23:45:00
Increased demand for biofuels is driving up food prices and accelerating climate change, as rainforests are destroyed to grow fuel. But with strong global sustainability standards, we can ensure that biofuels help, rather than hurt.This weekend, the twenty biggest economies, responsible for more than 75% of the world's carbon emissions, will meet in Chiba, Japan to begin the climate change discussions leading up to the G8 summit this summer. Before the summit, let's send our leaders messages urging the adoption of global standards for biofuels.Go to Avaaz and send a message to the head of your country.News piece on the harms of biofuels.
More About: Standards , Food , Biofuels , Burn

Meat Royale
2008-03-12 22:07:00
Meat is a sensitive and quite overlooked issue in the climate debate. Have you ever heard a politician mention meat when talking about climate change? The main focus has been on cutting emissions from the energy and transport sectors, but according to a UN-report, published two years ago, the raising of livestock is one of the greatest contributors to climate change. The livestock sector releases more green house gas than the entire transport sector. Reducing the impacts of the livestock industry should therefore be major concern for the policy makers. So why don't we hear of any incentives or taxes that will make us eat less meat? Is our meaty lifestyle non-negotiable?
More About: Meat , Royale

Going up
2008-03-11 17:40:00
clipped from afp.google.comLONDON (AFP) ? Oil prices struck a record high of 109.72 dollars per barrel on Tuesday after the dollar hit a fresh all-time low against the euro and amid persistent energy supply concerns, traders said.

Peak air?
2008-03-10 20:57:00
What is going on here?! International passengers departing from Swedish airports has gone up 13% in one year! Considering the massive media attention climate change has had the last year this increase in flights is highly depressing.As if our own traveling wasn't enough in our skies. The number of overflights over Sweden, mainly flights between Asia and Europe, has been record high the last year. During 2007 the number of airspace movements over Sweden exceeded, for the first time, 700,000. I hope this is a peak and that the figures will start going down from now on.Related article in The Independent: Travellers ignore pleas to curb air travel amid growing stampede for long-haul mini-breaks
More About: Peak

We know we shouldn't but we do anyway
2008-03-09 22:41:00
I know that staying up late and not getting enough sleep is bad for my health, and still I stay up every night. Why? Because nobody is telling me or making me go to bed in time. I don't have the self-discipline.Most of us know by now that flying and driving is bad for the climate and the planet, and still we engage more and more in these kind of activities. Why? Because there are no regulations or policies that would make us drive or fly less. So far the individual has been expected to make the changes on his own. But that doesn't seem to work.There is a book called Hot Air which lays out some inconvenient but effective and necessary solutions for cutting carbon on national levels. Below are a couple of interviews with two of the authors of the book.Mark JaccardJeffrey SimpsonHere is a speech by Mark Jaccard recorded by Ecoshock.

I got to go to bed but...
2008-03-02 00:49:00
I was about to turn off the computer and go to bed but I decided to have a quick look at the local paper's web edition. I was pleased to see that they had a new climate section, a bit late but well needed. When I clicked it I was delighted to be met by this picture.It was Tor Kihlberg and his daughter Cornelia being featured in an article about living climate friendly. Tor and I have discussed climate change a lot lately and he has inspired me a great deal.Another article further down on the site presents Uppsala as a rather regressive city when it comes to taking action on climate change. The municipal climate commissioner, Leif Sanner, supports two projects that are rather controversial in a climate perspective: 1) the opening of a new airport for low cost aviation in Uppsala, 2) the opening of a giant shopping area 20 km north of Uppsala near the E4. The article inspired me to send Sanner an email.
More About: In the News

Malign growth
2008-03-01 08:28:00
The aviation industry is expanding and spreading like cancer creating malign effects for the climate. Read more in this article from The Independent. If this trend continues I guess we will be pushed into applying chemotherapy to the atmosphere. The world has gone crazy.
More About: Aviation , Growth

1973 sci-fi film about overpopulation and greenhouse effect
2008-03-01 00:33:00
Set in the year 2022, Soylent Green depicts a dystopian future in which the population has grown to forty million in New York City alone. The water and soil have been poisoned, and pollution has produced a year-round heatwave due to a greenhouse effect. Most housing is dilapidated and overcrowded, and food as it is known today is a rare and expensive commodity.
More About: Film , Greenhouse , Effect , Overpopulation , Greenhouse Effect

Flying into trouble
2008-02-29 06:53:00
Here are some clips from a fine article by George Monbiot on aviation.It would be a great reply to some of the letters to the editor in our local newspaper that favor the opening of a new airport in Uppsala. Read the entire article here. clipped from globalwarmingarchive.blogspot.comCarbon dioxide emissions per passenger mile from a standard airliner are very similar to those from cars. But you can cover nearly 15,000 miles in one day by plane. The CO2 produced by planes is augmented by the other greenhouse gases they release, magnifying its effect by 270 percent. This means that flying is one of the most destructive things we can do.It seems to me that the only way the number of flights by passenger jet can be significantly and permanently reduced is through a reduction in the capacity of airports. Unfortunately, all over the world, airports are expanding. In Britain, for example, Tony Blair's government has instructed airports to double their capacity to accommodate a projected r...
More About: Flying , Aviation

Drawing lines
2008-02-28 22:57:00
Where or how do you draw the line when it comes to restricting different carbon dense activities? Are your lines sharp and definite or do they tend to become blurry and vague? For many cases you may not have drawn any lines yet.
More About: Drawing , Lines

Eating green
2008-02-28 21:16:00
Shifting to a less or non meat diet can be like a paradigm shift for meat eaters. For many the habit to eat meat has become a deeply rooted habit and it may take a lot of effort and commitment to start excluding meat from the diet.I haven't gone all the way yet but I have done some experimenting. Occasionally I make chickpea burgers and the result varies because I am quite flexible with what I put in the batter. This evening I blended the following ingredients: chickpeas, soy cream, soy powder, flour, an onion, a stick of celery and spices. I made a bit too thick and I didn't fry them long enough so they came out sort of doughy. Next time I think I'll add some baking powder to make them fluffier.When I look for new recipes I quite often consult del.icio.us. The other week I bought a vegetable that I had never seen before, a butternut squash, so when it was time to cook it for dinner I searched "butternut squash" at del.icio.us. (The del.icio.us site is not a cooking site, it is a...
More About: Green , Eating

Changes
2008-02-27 22:50:00
If we manage to decarbonize the economy and stabilize the climate in time, what will our society be like?If we don't manage to decarbonize the economy and stabilize the climate in time, what will our society be like?No matter which path, major changes will most likely occur in short periods of time.Below is a documentary from 1972 based on the book Future Shock by futurist Alvin Toffler.

The action continues!
2008-02-27 21:56:00
As a sequel to Greenpeace's great plane stunt the other day, climate action group Plane Stupid climbed the roof of UK Parliament House of Commons. They hung two big banners reading "No third runway!" and "BAA headquarters".These guys should really have had some visibility vests on.
More About: Action

High visibility vests are cool for school
2008-02-26 22:40:00
The city of Uppsala is distributing high visibility vests to the school kids as an encouragement to walk or cycle more to school. My oldest son got his today and he was really proud to wear it.
More About: Cool , School , High , Visibility

Impressive greenpeace stunt at Heathrow
2008-02-26 21:30:00
Sensible citizens taking brave action against the insane airport expansion of Heathrow airport.I like their high visibility vests.
More About: Aviation , Stunt , Greenpeace , Impressive

Code Red
2008-02-25 23:26:00
We hear a lot about the vague war on terror on which enormous sums of dollars has been spent. The real and the most critical war should be the war on climate change. But as Calvin Jones at Climate Change action asks, "where are the troops?" Here is a wartime-like report called Climate Code Red.

Web crawling mania
2008-02-25 22:15:00
Searching and digesting information daily about climate change and the decaying environment is not a very healthy thing to do. I have spent hundreds of hours doing just that, crawling the web in a obsessive pursuit for juicy eco-bugs to put up on this blog. In a way this has perhaps made me end up less connected to nature and life than before I started this blog. I am spending my time in front of a cold screen instead of enjoying trees and golden sun sets. My oh my, maybe I need to get an appointment with my ecotherapist. In this peak moment clip ecotherapist Linda Buzzell-Saltzman explains how she helps people reconnect with nature. Her husband Larry talks about permaculture.
More About: Crawling , Mania

The story of stuff
2008-02-24 23:09:00
Annie Leonard gives a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our world economy. She exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues.Annie Leonard is an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, with more than 20 years of experience investigating factories and dumps around the world.
More About: Story , Stuff , The Story