Environmental News Network

The Growth of Efficient Buildings
The area of building efficiency affords tremendous opportunities for both economic growth and reduced environmental impacts. Buildings are the single largest emitters of greenhouse gases. According to a UNEP study titled "Towards a Green Economy," homes and businesses are responsible for 40 percent of the climate change causing carbon pollution. There is significant room for improvement in new construction and retrofits in homes, businesses, schools and other organization. >> Read the Full Article
America's Electric Vehicle Workplace Charging Challenge
Sales of plug-in Electric Vehicles (EV) in the U.S. more than tripled in 2012 and continue to grow. The Obama administration has invested $7.5 billion, and billions more have been invested by car manufacturers, including companies like Ford, Nissan and BMW, who are putting out eight more new models of plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads this year. Nissan has invested $5 billion in electric cars while General Motors has invested a $1 billion. This continued support for the mass adoption of the EV is crucial, particularly as environmentalists believe it will help to control greenhouse gas emissions. All this means getting American drivers to think about what they are driving. >> Read the Full Article
Tracing Individual Particulate Pollutants
Air borne particulates come from both natural and man made sources. Their effects are similar from a health and esthetic point of view. Particle size is even more important. Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have, for the first time, developed a system that can determine which types of air particles that pollute the atmosphere are the most prevalent and most toxic. Previous research has shown that air pollution containing fine and ultrafine particles is associated with asthma, heart disease and premature death. This new study, released today by the California Air Resources Board and the Electric Power Research Institute, marks the first time that researchers have conducted source-oriented sampling of these particles in the atmosphere. >> Read the Full Article
Air Pollution and Heart Attacks
There are many forms of air pollution. There is no doubt that air pollution is not healthy. The uncertainty is at what level is it an acceptable risk. The one of concern in this study is the finest of particulate matter. The largest study yet to investigate the links between fine air-borne particulate matter (PM) and patient survival after hospital admission for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) found death rates increased with increased exposure to PM2.5 â€“ tiny particles that measure 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less, approximately 30 times smaller than a human hair. The amount of PM in the air is measured as micrograms per cubic meter of air. The main sources of PM2.5 are emissions from road traffic and industry, including power generation. >> Read the Full Article
Climate Change Adaptation for Agriculture, Forests
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on February 5 released "two comprehensive reports that synthesize the scientific literature on climate change effects and adaptation strategies for U.S. agriculture and forests." The effects of climate change will be profound and far-reaching, according to the two reports, which drew on more than 1,000 peer-reviewed studies carried out by scientists in federal service, universities, non-governmental organizations, industry, tribal lands and the private sector. >> Read the Full Article
Clean Coal Finally a Reality?
A team of researchers at Ohio State University (OSU) spent the past 2 years developing a clean way of harnessing the power of coal and have recently found great success in their research scale combustion system. The team is now able to harness clean coal energy chemically without combustion with air, while capturing 99% of the carbon dioxide produced from the reaction. With the next stage in testing on the horizon, could this possibly be the future of coal? >> Read the Full Article
Over 35,000 march on Washington demanding climate action and rejection of Canada's 'carbon bomb'
Yesterday over 35,000 people rallied in Washington D.C. for urgent action on climate change, which, according to organizers, was the largest climate march in U.S. history. Activists called on the Obama Administration to do much more to tackle climate change, including rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would bring carbon-heavy tar sands oil from Canada through the U.S. to a world market. >> Read the Full Article
Lead Pollution better, but still an issue
Efforts to reduce lead pollution have paid off in many ways, yet the problem persists and will probably continue to affect the health of people and animals well into the future, according to experts speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston. "Things have substantially improved with the virtual elimination of leaded gasoline, restrictions on lead paint, and other efforts to limit releases of industrial lead into the environment. But the historic legacy of lead pollution persists, and new inputs of industrial lead are adding to it," said A. Russell Flegal, professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. >> Read the Full Article
Marine pollution incidents kill thousands of seabirds - and it could be legal!
Between 29 January and 6 February 2013, more than 500 seabirds, mainly guillemots, were killed or rendered helpless by a mystery substance from a pollution event off the south coast of England. Shockingly, these deaths and injuries may have resulted from legal shipping activity. The substance was subsequently identified as a man-made synthetic polymer known as polyisobutene, or PIB. This same substance has also caused the deaths of thousands of other seabirds in recent years in the Irish and North Seas. >> Read the Full Article
NASA Develops Aircraft Design that Uses 50 Percent Less Fuel
It seems like new, innovative technologies to reduce our carbon footprint are always 10 years away. It's hard to imagine there won't be another amazing technology just around the corner. In this case, NASA has developed a manufacturing method for wing-shaped aircraft. When combined with an uber-efficient jet engine called an "ultra-high bypass ratio engine", this new design promises to cut fuel consumptions by half. >> Read the Full Article