Commuting could take on a whole new meaning with the Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) research project funded by the European Commission.

The project, based on the concept of linking vehicles together using wireless sensors, is aimed at finding an inexpensive and environmentally friendly way of getting cars to travel together, convoy style.

The way to do this, according to project SARTRE, is to create road trains of up to eight separate vehicles – cars, buses, and trucks – which has the potential not only to reduce fuel consumption, but also improve …

Tags: carbon emissions , carbon emissions reduction , fuel consumption , reduce fuel consumption , road trains , Safe Road Trains for the Environment , SARTRE

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A new study has found that the American health care sector accounts for 8 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The study, conducted by University of Chicago researchers and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, measured how much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases the health care industries (hospitals, scientific research, pharmaceuticals, etc) released. It is the first-of-its-kind calculation of health care’s carbon footprint.

Using the environmental input-output life cycle assessment (EIOLCA) model of environmental impact developed by the Green Design Institute at Carnegie-Mellon …

Tags: carbon emissions , carbon footprints , green hospitals , health care , hospitals , pharmaceuticals

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Coffee makes the world go around. Well, at least my world anyway. Without it, I’m a bit like one of  Snow White’s dwarf’s – sleepy, grumpy and dopey.

But I won’t drink just any coffee. Bad coffee doesn’t get past my lips. It not only has to taste good to me but it also has to be good for the environment. Which makes the Seattle based roaster Grounds for Change my perfect coffee match.

And here’s why. Grounds for Change:

- Deals not only in …

Tags: carbon neutral , fair trade coffee , green america , green business of the year award , green coffee , ground for change coffee , organic coffee , shade grown coffee , sponsored post

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Energy, that is. With few energy resources of its own, Japan is literally reaching for the stars in its attempt to turn unlimited clean energy into reality by 2030.

The nation’s plan, known as the Space Solar Power System (SSPS), involves positioning huge, floating photovoltaic dishes to hover in the geostationary orbit just outside the Earth’s atmosphere.

These photovoltaic dishes would harvest the solar energy that, at this level, is at least five times stronger than on earth and beam it down to earth through lasers and microwaves. …

Tags: alternative energy , clean energy , institute for unmanned space experiment free flyer , lasers , photovoltaic dishes , solar energy , space , space solar power system

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In a nation embracing all things green, it was just a matter of time before outdoor places – ranging from parks, parking lots and transport corridors to family homes and university and corporate campuses -  ended up with a “green” rating system similar to LEED for buildings and  energy star ratings for appliances (and even churches).

Three years of research by teams of landscape architects, ecologists and engineers from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. and the Lady Bird Johnson …

Tags: energy star rating , green rating , green rating system , green spaces , landscapes , LEED , outdoor spaces , sustainable landscapes

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Unsightly, decaying and unused, the “brown” industrial lands found throughout the United States serve only to remind people of changing technologies and economic downturns. The lands used to house factories and warehouses that hummed with activity and production. Now, they stand empty, overgrown, rusting, falling apart.

On the face of it, these lands appear only as environmental eyesores, but look a little closer and you’ll find these urban industrial sites can hold surprising ecological significance.

Scientists and ecologists around the country are working to redevelop many strategically-located “brown” …

Tags: brown land , detroit river international wildlife refugee , industrial sites , recycling industrial sites , restoration projects , revitalization projects

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Anyone who subscribes the KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) philosophy will appreciate the results of this new study recently completed by Thomas Dietz and his colleagues at Michigan State University.

In a first of its kind study, the researchers examined the potential emissions reduction (PER) of 17 well-known energy saving actions that individuals already do or could do without any major lifestyle disruption and minimal to little damage to the wallet.

What they found was that if these 17 simple household actions were universally adopted by Americans, US carbon emissions could …

Tags: carbon emission reduction , carbon emissions , green actions , green living , household actions to reduce carbon emissions , reducing carbon emissions

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It’s a question we may hear asked more and more. Judges in England recently had to decide whether green beliefs have the same rights and protections as religious or philosophical beliefs.

The case in question is between an environmentalist, Tim Nicholson, who claims he was unfairly dismissed because of his “philosophical belief about climate change and the environment,” and his former employer, Grainger plc, who maintains that the dismissal was based “Solely by the operational needs of the company during a period of extraordinary market turbulence.”

Nicholson, who says his green beliefs …

Tags: green beliefs , green living , green living and employment , green rights , sacked for green beliefs

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Watch out Washington, Erin Brockovich is coming your way. And it’s not a social visit. She’s on a mission to shake, rattle and overhaul the nation’s toxic chemical laws, in particular the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The TSCA, which was passed in 1976, is seriously outdated and  offers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no real authority to obtain information needed to evaluate whether a chemical used in home products is or isn’t a health and safety risk.

A reformed TSCA, drafted by Senators …

Tags: erin brockovich , Kids Safe Chemical Act , million baby crawl , seventh generation , toxic chemicals , TSCA , TSCA reform

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