Solar Powered PC's

Tom's Hardware have begun publishing an interesting series of articles on solar power and using it to run your PC. In the first of the series, Tom's Hardware looks at real world examples of solar power generation as found in projects based in Germany. This is one series I'll be following very closely.

Metropolis Mag Announces Next Generation Design Award Winners

Metropolis magazine has announced the winners of their fourth annual Next Generation Design Competition. This year's competition was looking for energy considered solutions. which took into account its uses, reduction, consumption, efficiencies, and alternatives. This years winner is the Lunar Resonant Street Lamps projects conceived by San Francisco-based firm Civil Twilight. Anton Willis, Kate Lydon, and Christina Seely were awarded $10,000 for winning the competition. This solutions uses an ultra sensitive photo-cell that reacts to the brightness of the night sky by turning on and dimming street lighting. The May issue of Metropolis will feature the winning team and their project.

Science, Technology and Ethics

Many of the developments we have come to enjoy happened because of the hard work and long hours put in by scientists, engineers and other individuals. Many of the projects have been cross-generational in duration. While many would agree that Science has a lot to offer us, we all need to wonder at the headlong rush into the re-engineering of the genetic make-up of our foods and ourselves.

Many scientists forget that we don't know nearly enough about our universe to be able to play willy-nilly with some of the stuff we do. Geneticists in particular have made great strides in the last few years, but I fear that we are rushing towards some kind of genetic disaster which is being driven by commercial reasons and an ill-formed understanding of what is in essence still largely a mystery.

We've only just recently finished mapping the human genome and are still trying to figure out its make-up. So why are some scientists and businesses trying to change our base code? Idealists and genetic engineers point to how they can help eradicate hereditary illnesses and genetic deformities. They also point out how they've managed to improve our grain stocks and other food stuffs. But at what cost?

There are rumblings amongst traditional farming circles that genetically modified (GM) foods are wreaking havoc with some of the insects which we rely on heavily for pollination and soil health. I'm not sure how true this is, but with what we've seen of US Bee stocks dwindling alarmingly, it’s something to think about. Whether this is due to diet, illness, farming practices, GM foods or a particular type of pesticide remains to be seen.

We've also heard stories of farmers being strongarmed by GM companies into using their GM seed stocks. Business is driven by money rather than by any overtly benign intentions and we all know how ethical business can be when it comes to considering the impact of their technologies and products.

We all need to be a bit more cognizant of the implications of our work. Stop for a moment, breathe in the air (not too deeply mind you) and ponder just how good in the long term are the developments were working on, and how good or bad they're going to be for us as denizens of this blue-green orb.

Apple Fails Greenpeace Environmental

For the second time, Apple has been ranked last in the Greenpeace quarterly ranking of companies and their environmental impact. The Greenpeace ratings take into a count a company's policies on recycling and the use of toxic content in their products and processes.

Apple may disagree on their rating but I can certainly see how some of their products can be considered as being unfriendly. The report states, “For a company that claims to lead on product design, it is perhaps surprising to find Apple languishing at the bottom of the scorecard. While other laggards have moved upwards in the Guide, Apple has made no changes to its policies or practices since the launch of the Guide in August 2006. The company scores badly on almost all criteria.” Unsurprisingly, Apple has denied the report's findings. You can find more here.

Richard Branson Offers $25 Million Eco Challenge

Richard Branson has offered a prize of $25 million to the first person who can demonstrate a system which reduces carbon gases in our atmosphere. The Virgin Earth Challenge prize requires that the solution be able to remove one billion tons of carbon gases a year from the atmosphere for 10 years. No mean feat.

The panel of judges include, Al Gore, the former presidential candidate turned environmental campaigner; James Hansen, a noted climate scientist and the head of the Nasa Institute for Space Studies; the inventor of the Gaia theory, James Lovelock; UK environmentalist, Sir Crispin Tickell; Australian mammalogist and palaeontologist, Tim Flannery; .

Richard Branson also announced the new Virgin Fuels business venture, which is going to invest up to $400 million on green energy projects over the next three years. Sir Richard Branson has already promised to invest $3bn in profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, into research for technologies dealing with renewable energy.

I've always found the activities of this very public man inspiring and very laudable. Here is a man who knows how to spend his money and also how to use his influence in very positive ways. He also knows how to have fun... For more information visit Virgin Earth Challenge.

Eco Sites

If like many out there you've been getting the green bug or are even the slightest bit interested in environmentally centric information and products, I have a couple of sites I regularly visit that might interest you. Treehugger.com and Hugg.com, both of which feature a blog type approach to news and info. I visit both sites on a regular basis and enjoy the ideas and info they impart.