A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico and helping dispose the oil plumes. The bacteria may have adapted over time due to periodic leaks in the Gulf and it works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water.
Read the full story (Timesofindia)
Scotland is planning to install the largest tidal turbines this summer in the waters off Orkney. The AT-1000 turbine is 22.5 meters tall with 18 meters rotor diameter and a weight of 130 tones. Each turbine is expected to provide constant supply of 1MW were the turbine has low rotation speed which is good for the environment.
Read the full story (EcoGeek)
U.S. cancels 21$ million of Brazil debt in exchange for Amazon forest protection. The U.S. has done the same also for Bangladesh, Belize, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and the Philippines.
Read the full story (TreeHugger)
The Russian government decided to create 9 new nature reserves and 13 national parks covering a total area of over 3.8 million ha in addition to marine buffer zones of over 1 million ha. Polar bears, walruses, sea otters, and other endangered species will all benefit from the new protected areas.
Read the full story (ENN)
This new breakthrough design brings us a car which is driven by a conventional front-wheel drive, and can fit in a regular sized garage and is capable to turn into light aircraft by folding out its wings. The spec of this vehicle is quite impressive both on land and up in the sky with runway distance of 500m, top flight speed of 185Kph flight distance of 740 km were on the ground its fuel consumption is less than 8 liter per 100km which makes it environmental transportation both on the ground and in the air.
Read the full story (Physorg)
Eindhoven University of Technology is starting new research with aims of developing nano-structured solar cells that can attain an efficiency of more than 65 percent. The researchers claim that nanotechnology, in combination with the use of concentrated sunlight through mirror systems, has the potential to lead to the world’s most efficient solar cell system with a cost price lower than 50 cent per Watt peak.
Read the full story (SienceDaily)
Abu Dhabi will build the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant which will offset 170 thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. The new power plant will spread on 2.5 square kilometers and will have a capacity of 100 megawatt, it will be complete within 2.5 years and will cost about 600 million dollars.
Read the full story (Physorg)
ECO2 Forests Inc. plans to grow up to 3 million trees over the next 7 years in the high desert of northern Nevada. The company also announced a similar 2,000 acre project for the island of Vanualu and they are considering the potential of adding plantations to over 1 million acres around the world.
Read the full story (GreenFudge)
In an inhospitable desert on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi a new green city named Masdar being build. The new city will use solely renewable energy and will produce no waste where no cars and no skyscrapers will be present. The city is planned to have a population of 50,000 people, a university and about 1,000 businesses.
Read the full story (Physorg)
For the first time the global deforestation pace is slowing down, according the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). New forests are being created, either through the expansion of forests or more rapidly through the planting of trees.
Read the full story (Independent)
