Ted.com

The environmental debate has traditionally been characterized as a conflict between economic progress and preservation of the planet. Most TED speakers, however, insist that we can have both — provided we’re smart about it.

Al Gore, the world’s leading voice on the climate crisis, argues that the simple steps we might take to avert disaster would also fuel the economy. Architect William McDonough shows how the power of great design — working on entire systems rather than local components — can foster an abundant, sustainable future. And Majora Carter discusses her work to bring green spaces to the blighted Bronx.

Edward Burtynsky‘s eerily pretty photographs of environmental damage and economic development document humanity’s ever-expanding footprint. And biologist E.O. Wilson shares his grandest wish — that the human community band together to save life on Earth.

http://www.ted.com/themes/view/id/15

Hydrogen: Systems

“We will need economical fuel cells. And consumers will need the technology and the education to safely use it “

A proton exchange membrane (PEM) ( animation)is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while being impermeable to gases such as oxygen or hydrogen. This is their essential function when incorporated into a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: separation of reactants and transport of protons. PEMs can be made from either pure polymer membranes or from composite membranes where other materials are embedded in a polymer matrix. One of the most common and commercially available PEM materials is Nafion which is made by DuPont. While nafion is an ionomer with a perfluorinated backbone like Teflon, there are many other structural motifs used to make ionomers for proton exchange membranes. Many use polyaromatic polymers while others use partially fluorinated polymers.

Proton exchange membranes are primarily characterized by proton conductivity (s), methanol permeability (P), and thermal stability.

Auto-thermal reforming

In the auto-thermal reforming process, natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons, steam and oxygen are reacted in a single vessel with a combustion zone and a reforming zone. The heat from the exothermic partial oxidation reaction balances that for the endothermic steam reforming reaction. The process gas then goes to the standard shift reaction and hydrogen purification steps.

To produce power in large amounts, many of these cells are combined into a fuel cell stack. The image at right shows a fuel cell stack composed of 36 cells.

Hidrogeno producción

Storyofstuff.com (free.movie)

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Emerging Opportunities on Uncharted Grounds

Some Central American countries seem to have the political will and the resources to develop a biodiesel industry. Biodiesel Magazine takes a closer look at one of the more promising countries, Costa Rica, and a couple of business developments that are poised to capitalize on the country’s resources.

Leader of the Pack
Of all the Central American countries, Costa Rica seems to be the most politically amenable to the establishment of a biodiesel industry. The country has had no standing army since 1949, it is a democratic republic (considered more democratic than the United States), more than 90 percent of its transportation fuel is diesel based and it’s capable of producing oil feedstocks such as jatropha and palm. Most importantly, Costa Rica intends to be carbon neutral by 2021 and to displace 25 percent of the oil it imports with renewable sources by 2010.

via: Biodiesel Magazine >>

Hidrogeno

El hidrógeno es el elemento más abundante del Universo. Representa, en peso, el 92% de la materia conocida; del resto, un 7% es de He y solamente queda un 1% para los demás elementos.

El hidrógeno es el sistema de almacenamiento de energía por excelencia en el universo.

Electrólisis en celdas especiales de Salmuera.

Haciendo pasar una corriente eléctrica por una solución de cloruro de sodio el cloro se desprende en el ánodo; y el ión cloruro, Cl-, pierde un electrón, oxidándose en consecuencia a cloro gaseoso. Si el electrodo es de carbón que no reacciona, éste se disuelve en el agua hasta formar una solución saturada y luego escapa en estado gaseoso. En el cátodo queda libre el hidrógeno y se forma la soda cáustica.

Metals – aluminium and steel recycling

Steel and aluminium are common metals in the UK and are produced and exist in large quantities. Their uses and usefulness were discovered thousands of years ago. Longevity, malleability, strength and conductivity -their properties have been used over the ages to provide us with the many goods we see today. They may be found in items as varied as cars, computers, buildings and packaging. Although UK per capita consumption of steel has dropped since the 1970s, aluminium use is still growing. Metals may remain for many years as viable products and so the environmental effects of their production will be lessened relative to using less durable materials.

World primary production of aluminium is around 24 million tonnes on average a year. The largest producer of aluminium is Australia, although other producer countries include Jamaica, Brazil, Guinea, China and parts of Europe.

World crude steel production stood at 1.05 billion tonnes in 2004. This represented a worldwide increase in production of 8.8% compared to 2003. Excluding China, world production rose by 4.5% in 2004.

 Steel Facts and Figures
• Each household uses approximately 600 steel cans per year
• There are over 300million cans used per week over the xmas period
• The thinnest part of the can wall measures only 0.07mm thick – that’s thinner than a human hair
• It would take 1087 steel drinks cans stacked end to end to reach the top of the London Eye or 2818 to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower
• The value of used steel cans in the waste stream is £28 milllion per annum which is available to collectors.
• Don’t forget that 1.8 billion drinks cans are made of steel
• Millions of steel cans are collected every day by using huge magnets to pull them out of dustbin waste
• The recycling rate of all steel packaging is 46%; aluminum has a 23.4% packaging recycle rate .
• Steel cans are becoming lighter with the average weight of a soft drinks can in 2004 expected to be only 21.4g .In 1980 it was 31.2g
• There are over 2.5 billion cans recycled in the UK each year – [That’s a saving of 125,000tonnes of solid waste every year] that’s equivalent to the weight of 18,000 double decker buses!!
• All steel cans are 100% recyclable
• All steel cans contain up to 25% recycled steel
• Its not just food and drink cans made from steel! – most of your deodorants, hairsprays, polishes, paint cans and other household and DIY products are made out of steel too!
• Recycling one tone of steels cans saves 1.5 tonnes of iron ore ,0.5 tonnes of coal & 40% water usage
• Two-thirds of all cans on supermarkets shelves are made from steel
• Recycling 1 tonne of steel scrap saves 80% of the CO2 emissions produced when making steel from iron ore
• Recycling seven steel cans saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/metals.htm

e2 energy – Growing Energy Podcast

http://www.greenenergytv.com/Browse/Fuels.aspx#1278834018

http://earth2tech.com/2007/08/29/an-a-to-z-of-the-biofuel-economy/

Sagarpa: hay con qué hacer frente al TLCAN agropecuario

El Titular de la Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (Sagarpa), Alberto Cárdenas, dijo que 2008 será un año lleno de oportunidades para el campo mexicano porque los productores tendrán abiertas las fronteras de Estados Unidos y Canadá para penetrar los mercados “sofisticados, importantes” de esas naciones.
Sostuvo que este año se ha destinado mayor presupuesto, mejores programas y mejores reglas de operación al campo y “tenemos instrumentos para dar un paso adelante”.

En declaraciones para Hoy por Hoy, el titular de la Sagarpa aseveró que “hay política pública para el campo, clara, definida, de fondo (y) de forma”.

Ofreció puertas abiertas de la dependencia al diálogo con todas las organizaciones campesinas y “corregir en el camino lo que tengamos que corregir”.

Admitió que existen rezagos históricos y desventajas importantes en el campo, “pero tenemos mucho con qué competir”, por lo que pidió a los productores apuntalar las fortalezas de ese sector en nuestro país.

Alemania Red de Energía Electrica: 100% Renovable

Germany is doing it: reliable distributed power based on 100% renewables

Scientists from the University of Kassel prove that Germany can power itself entirely by clean renewables in a secure way. In an ongoing experiment called the KombiKraftwerk (‘Combined Power Plant’), they link 36 decentralised biogas plants, wind, solar and hydropower installations in a robust network to demonstrate that distributed power can replace both fossil fuels and nuclear power. The network is just as reliable and powerful as a conventional large-scale power station.