In the quest for sustainable alternative energy and fuel sources |

Through photosynthesis, plants convert sunlight, water, and CO2 into sugars, multicarbon molecules that fuel cellular processes. CO2 is thus both the precursor

to the fossil fuels that are central to modern life as well as the by-product of burning those fuels. The ability to generate synthetic liquid fuels from stable, oxygenated carbon precursors such as CO2 and carbon monoxide (CO) is reminiscent of photosynthesis in nature and is a transformation that is desirable in artificial systems. In the quest for sustainable alternative energy and fuel sources, one viable solution may be the conversion of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid fuels.

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Scientists measure the smallest indivisible amount of matter which retains identity .. during reactions |

For the first time, scientists have accomplished a feat long thought impossible — they have measured the energy of incredibly short-lived arrangements of atoms that occur as chemical reactions are happening. The chemical reactions responsible for life, death and everything in between involve molecules transforming from one kind to another —

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Fourteen Passionate Young Leaders Inspiring a Just and Thriving Planet |

Project Green Challenge engages youth by uniting them in a commitment to cultivate a healthy, just and thriving planet. PGC is comprised of 30 sustainability-themed challenges, focused on topics relevant to our daily lives including food, zero waste, fair trade, body and non-genetically-modified organisms (GMOs).

Here are some profound words from an incredible group of young and mobilized leaders:

"My peers, seeing me make changes in my own lifestyle, want to join me in being sustainable. We care about preserving the Earth.” —Kendra, Jericho High School, Jericho, NY Read More --->

A Perfect Storm | Climate Change & National Security

Paris (AFP) - Violence has cast a long shadow over a climate summit opening in Paris on Monday, two weeks after 130 people were killed in a coordinated jihadist onslaught on the French capital. As more than 150 world leaders prepared to meet under heightened security, analysts warned of an increasingly war-torn future facing humanity if they fail to limit global warming. Read More Climate change root cause of Syrian war: Prince Charles

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Charles has pointed to the world's failure to tackle climate change as a root cause of the civil war in Syria, terrorism and the consequent refugee crisis engulfing Europe | Continue Reading

Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have created analog and digital electronics circuits inside living plants |

The article featured in the journal Science Advances demonstrates wires, digital logic, and even displays elements - fabricated inside the plants - that could develop new applications for organic electronics and new tools in plant science. Early efforts to introduce electronics in plants were attempted by Assistant Professor Daniel Simon, leader of the LOE's bioelectronics team, and Professor Xavier Crispin, leader of the LOE's solid-state device team, but a lack of funding from skeptical investors halted these projects. Thanks to independent research money from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation in 2012, Professor Berggren was able to assemble a team of researchers to reboot the project.

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Photosynthetic Power Cells May Be the Green Energy Source for the Next Generation |

A team of researchers from the Optical Bio Microsystem lab at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, have invented and developed micro-photosynthetic cell technology that can harness electrical power from the photosynthesis and respiration of blue-green algae. This novel, scalable technology enables economical ways of generating clean energy, and may be the superlative, carbon-free power source of the future .. 

                                    Can scientists hack photosynthesis?

Oct 7, 2015 | Forests and oceans naturally take carbon out of the air, but CNN's Rachel Crane finds engineers are trying to copy Mother Nature's work.

Accelerated Photosynthesis

Price of solar energy in the U.S. has fallen to 5¢/kWh |

Solar energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report released by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Driven by lower installed costs, improved project performance, and a race to build projects ahead of a reduction in a key federal incentive, utility-scale solar project developers have been negotiating power sales agreements with utilities at prices averaging just 5¢/kWh.                              Read More: 

These prices reflect receipt of the 30% federal investment tax credit, which is scheduled to decline to 10% after 2016, and would be higher if not for that incentive. By comparison, average wholesale electricity prices across the United States ranged from 3 to 6 cents/kWh in 2014, depending on the region.

A new NASA study shows that trees and plant-life are essential to keeping our cities cool |

As our cities grow, and green spaces are replaced with more impervious surfaces, their temperatures rise too.  The answer is pretty straightforward: more trees and plants means cooler cities. And more trees also mean a more pleasant city environment for those living there.
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Solving mysteries of the interstellar medium |

Date:   August  2015
This artist's conception symbolically represents complex organic molecules, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, seen in the early universe. These large molecules, comprised of carbon and hydrogen, are among the building blocks of life. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is the first telescope to see polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycles so early ... 10 billion years further back in time than seen previously.  

Despite intense research efforts over the last few decades, an assignment of the DIBs has remained elusive, although indications exist that they may arise from the presence of large hydrocarbon molecules in interstellar space. Recent experiments lend novel credibility to this hypothesis.

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Price of wind energy in the United States is at an all-time low, averaging under 2. 5¢/kwh

Date:

August  2015

Source:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Summary:

Wind energy pricing is at an all-time low, according to a new report. The prices offered by wind projects to utility purchasers averaged under 2.5¢/kWh for projects negotiating contracts in 2014, spurring demand for wind energy.

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In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, consumers pay as much as 20-50 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The global average is close to 10 cents.

Redesigning photosynthesis to sustainably meet global food and bioenergy demand |

Can scientists hack photosynthesis?   

The world’s crop productivity is stagnating whereas population growth, rising affluence, and mandates for biofuels put increasing demands on agriculture. Meanwhile, demand for increasing cropland competes with equally crucial global sustainability and environmental protection needs. Addressing this looming agricultural crisis will be one of our greatest scientific challenges in the coming decades ... Abstract
Full Text

Pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere [artificial air capture] might not be prudent.

Effects of Changing the Carbon Cycle | The Earth Observatory:    

Terrestrial Uptake from the Atmosphere | University Corporation for Atmospheric Research: 

                                                    Photosynthesis Accelerated 

Researchers observe and control light wakes for the first time |

For the first time, Harvard researchers have created similar wakes of light-like waves moving on a metallic surface, called surface plasmons, and demonstrated that they can be controlled and steered. The discovery, published today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, was made in the lab of Federico Capasso, the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Read More :

Sunlight Striking Earth’s Surface in One Hour Delivers Enough Energy to Power World Economy for the Entire Year

In April 1954, top scientists gathered in Washington, D.C., to hear something new: voice and music broadcast by a solar-powered radio transmitter. Scientists at Bell Labs in New Jersey were demonstrating their invention, the first practical solar cell, which was made of silicon. This breakthrough paved the way for the solar revolution taking place today on rooftops and in massive ground-mounted solar farms around the world. Read More |

As solar power installations spread, it is worth remembering a point often made in the energy literature to convey the sheer scale of the solar resource: The sunlight striking the Earth’s surface in just one hour delivers enough energy to power the world economy for one year.

Washington, DC claims crown of greenest U.S. city |

With its installation of 1.2 million square feet of green roofs in 2014, Washington, DC can quite literally claim the crown of greenest U.S. city.

This is according to a new report from the nonprofit Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC), which has ranked the top ten North American metropolitan regions that have installed the most square footage of green roofs last year. Green roofs aren’t just good for the environment. A new study from the University of Melbourne found that observing nature for 40 seconds or more can prominently increase attention and productivity levels.
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Closing in on the secrets of plant photosynthesis |

The new technique essentially has brought the picture into sharper focus. What the technicians see is a system in which "antenna" proteins capture light and feed them into a kind of molecular reactor. One difficulty with fully understanding the process is that, unlike the parts of a solar panel, which are rigid and designed to last, the crucial proteins in the photosystem of a plant are dynamic, and don't last very long before they fall apart. The plant then regenerates these structures. "Even though nature has had millions of years to develop and optimize photosynthesis, there are still outstanding and unknown questions about how photosynthesis operates. It's truly a scientific challenge."

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4 Reasons Climate Change Affects National Security |

In a new White House report, President Obama makes a powerful case that 

climate change has far-reaching national security implications.

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SolaRoad cycle path electricity yield exceeds expectations |

Looking to the future, TNO project manager Wim ven der Poel said, "Using this energy to charge electric cars while they are driving over the road is a beautiful dream, which might become reality. SolaRoad acts as a step towards a closed ecosystem. From mobility through energy back to mobility – which makes the circle complete." Read More |

Vatican Climate Change Summit to Frame Action as Moral Imperative

Pope Francis urges action on climate change | 

Rare meeting between scientists and representatives from all major religions will highlight moral duty to combat climate change |

Pope Francis has already said that he believes global warming is mostly man-made and that a Christian who does not protect God’s creation “is a Christian who does not care about the work of God”. He has also linked environmental exploitation to social and economic inequality, saying: “An economic system centred on the god of money needs to plunder nature to sustain the frenetic rhythm of consumption that is inherent to it.” The summit – which will include speakers and representatives from all major religions – has brought about a rare meeting of minds between scientists and religious officials on climate change, even if they frame their arguments in different ways.
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Pope Francis thanks US nuns after 'radical' claim | 
Islamic leaders join growing religious outcry over climate change |
Eastern Orthodox, Anglican Spiritual Leaders Join Pope Francis Climate Change Appeal In New York Times Op-Ed
The New Yorker | Pope Francis declares the climate to be “a common good, belonging to all and meant for all” |
The Pope’s Five Most Important Environmental Arguments ---->
Pope Francis: ‘If We Destroy Creation, Creation Will Destroy Us’ |

Climate Denial Is Immoral, Says Head of U.S. Episcopal Church | The highest ranking woman in the Anglican communion Katharine Jefferts Schori has said climate denial is a “blind” and immoral position which rejects God’s gift of knowledge.

Photosynthesis has unique isotopic signature |

Photosynthesis leaves behind a unique calling card, a chemical signature that is spelled out with stable oxygen isotopes, according to a new study in Science. The findings suggest that similar isotopic signatures could exist for many biological processes, including some that are difficult to observe with current tools.

"We've found a new type of biosignature," said co-lead author Laurence Yeung, an assistant professor of Earth science at Rice University. "We show that plants and plankton impart this type of biosignature on the oxygen they produce during photosynthesis. "Yeung, who joined Rice in January, conducted the study with colleagues at the University of California, Los Angeles. Isotopes are versions of an element that differ in their atomic weights. For example, most oxygen atoms contain eight protons and eight neutrons and are represented by the symbol O-16. More than 99.9 percent of Earth's oxygen is O-16, but two heavier oxygen isotopes exist in trace amounts: O-17, which contains one extra neutron, and O-18, which has two extra.

"Looking at oxygen through the lens of clumped isotopes will give us a lot of new information about how oxygen is made and consumed by plants," said study co-lead author Jeanine Ash, a graduate student at UCLA. "I'm very excited about what this approach holds for the future." Read More | Isotopes of oxygen | There are three stable isotopes of oxygen that lead to oxygen (O)
having a standard atomic mass of 15.9994(3) u. Also 10 unstable isotopes have been characterized.
Using stable isotopic analysis, Laurence Yeung, Jeanine Ash, and Edward Young discovered that plants and plankton impart a unique biosignature on the oxygen they produce during photosynthesis. Credit: Doug Rumble Continue reading |

Sustainable Business and Educating Girls |

What is Girl Rising? 14 million girls under 18 will be married this year. That’s 38 thousand girls today. With just 8 years of education a girl is 4 times less likely to be married as a child.
Which means … she will be allowed to wait to have children until she herself is an adult.
Which means … an educated female is 50% more likely to send her children to school.
Which means … her daughters will be educated.
Read more at: Girl Rising

Educated girls and women not only provide a business with a wider future customer base, but also add to the depth and quality of the workforce. {The Guardian/Partner Zone Unicef}

Educating girls is key to sustainable economic development | Sustainability, therefore, can no longer remain a complementary adjunct to our discourse on development. It must replace it.

'The Burden' film demonstrates how seriously the military takes climate change |

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Second Hand Smoke And Mirrors |

APR 9, 2015 | "Merchants of Doubt" trying to derail action on climate change |
No person today would grant equal time to the Surgeon General and a Tobacco Lobbyist in a debate about the dangers of smoking. For 50 years, Big Tobacco — one of Berman’s first clients — was allowed to play point/counterpoint with mainstream scientists. [Breathing other people's smoke is known as passive smoking or second-hand smoking] As a society, we’ve accepted the injurious effects of smoking and moved on. Today, with Climate Change and Air Pollution, the same can’t be said. We’re still allowing the same old debate to continue on cable news, in newspapers, in Op-ed pages. And our news outlets still cover the issue in terms one opinion versus another, not as fact vs. fiction. Read More |

Does Calif. capture enough water to justify new dams |

|If taxpayers do front some money, what are they really buying? Are they propping up a project with shaky economics, or buying something with real public value? |Should California build dams, reservoirs to help with future droughts?|Sacramento Bee 6/6/14 READ MORE Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Monday blamed environmentalists for what she called a "man-made" drought in California. “With different policies over the last 20 years, all of this could be avoided,” Fiorina, a likely 2016 Republican presidential contender, said in an interview with radio host Glenn Beck. “Despite the fact that California has suffered from droughts for millennia, liberal environmentalists have prevented the building of a single new reservoir or a single new water conveyance system over decades during a period in which California’s population has doubled.”

NextGen Climate, the climate-focused political group run by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, on Monday evening called Fiorina's comments "irrational."
"For a science denier to opine that Democrats caused the drought in California is about as irrational as believing someone who failed at running a business in California and then failed as a candidate for office in California has any cause to be running for the highest office in the land," Bobby Whithorne, the group's spokesman, said in a statement.The Sierra Club, a national environmental group, disputed Fiorina's assertion that more dams and reservoirs would have lessened the impact of the drought.
"For more than 100 years, environmentalists have failed to stop the damming of nearly every significant river in California. And yet all of the hundreds of dams out there have done nothing to produce rain or snow pack over the last four years. That's because you can't store what's not there," said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club's California chapter. "We simply don't have rain or snow pack and are suffering the worst California drought since water agencies and weather trackers started keeping records."
"What we are seeing is exactly what climate scientists have predicted would happen in California with the onset of human-caused climate disruption: Weather and precipitation would become less predictable and droughts would become more frequent and more severe," Phillips added. Huffingtonpost 4/06/2015 Read More |

Massive Energy-Independent ‘Tree of Life’ Pavilion Unveiled for the World Expo 2015 in Milan |

The Italian team’s “Tree of Life” proposal is an energy-independent four-block community hub that features an expansive open courtyard space. The project includes a 12,000 square meter main pavilion and smaller exhibition and institutional spaces positioned along the 325-meter-long Cardo. The building will be divided into four blocks connected by bridges for easy circulation. The team plans to make the structure as energy-independent as possible.

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This Redesigned Pedestrian Overpass In Barcelona Is Like A Mini High Line

A pedestrian bridge in Barcelona is being redesigned as a place where people might actually want to spend time. Surrounded by plant-covered walls, the new design includes shaded spaces to sit and look at views of the city. Smog-eating concrete helps clear the surrounding air, and glow-in-the-dark pavement lights the path at night. The photocatalytic concrete used in the new bridge absorbs pollution from the cars below. It's an experimental product that the architects wanted to test. "Using this in reality will give the possibility to measure how much and how well it works," says Casamor. "We don’t have much to lose, and if it works it would be a good choice for using in other more extensive parts of the city." READ MORE |

Wind may supply a third of the USA's electricity by Twenty Fifty | *Report

Since President Obama took office, wind electricity has increased threefold, and from 2009 to 2013 wind represented 30 percent of new electricity generation in the United States, according to a White House summary of the report. The U.S. ranks first in the world in wind power generation with 4.5 percent of total electricity—enough energy to power 16 million homes. Utility-scale wind energy plants are located in 39 states, supporting more than 50,000 jobs.

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City of Science in Rome is turning a former military district into a self-sufficient urban ecosystem |

Città della Scienza - the City of Science - in Italy aims to turn a former military district into a self-sufficient urban ecosystem. The project by Vincent Callebaut Architecture is part of a plan to regenerate the urban area in the north of Rome by focusing on visual appeal in addition to sustainable, natural design. The design consists of green public spaces, and a mix of residential and business spaces spread throughout several new buildings.                         Read More |

Hawaii may become the first state to declare a 100-percent renewable energy goal |

Hawaii is one of the more stunning corners of the world and receives millions of visitors annually: over 8 million arrivals alone in 2014. And those guests, along with the 1.4 million residents of the nation’s 50th state, use a lot of energy. Powering all those homes, businesses and, of course, resorts is pricey. The state is heavily reliant on energy imports ...   Read More

First round-the-world solar flight takes off from UAE |

The plane is only as heavy as a family car (2,300 kg, 5,100 pounds) but has a wingspan as wide as the largest passenger airliner. Its journey will span approximately 25 flight days broken up into 12 legs at speeds between 50 and 100 km (30 to 60 miles) per hour.
Read more | As it circles the world, aiming to arrive back in Abu Dhabi in July, its progress can be monitored via live video streaming at www.solarimpulse.com.

Astronomers find dust, PANHs in early Universe |

March 2, 2015
Source: University of Copenhagen - Niels Bohr Institute
Summary: Dust plays an extremely important role in the universe -- both in the formation of planets and new stars. But dust was not there from the beginning and the earliest galaxies had no dust, only gas. Now an international team of astronomers, led by researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute, has discovered a dust-filled galaxy from the very early universe. The discovery demonstrates that galaxies were very quickly enriched with dust particles containing elements such as carbon and oxygen, which could form planets. The results are published in the scientific journal, Nature.                                    
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Galactic 'rain' explains why some galaxies are better at creating stars |

      
Some of the galaxies in our universe are veritable star nurseries. For example, our own Milky Way produces, on average, at least one new star every year. Others went barren years ago, now producing few if any new stars.
Why that happens is a question that has dogged astronomers for years. But now, more than 20 years of research by a team led by Michigan State University has culminated in what might be the answer to that elusive question.
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[ PAHs ] polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocycles | Life's Building Blocks 'Abundant in Space' 

New flow battery to keep big cities lit, green and safe |

February 25, 2015 |  RICHLAND, Wash. –  Ensuring the power grid keeps the lights on in large cities could be easier with a new battery design that packs far more energy than any other battery of its kind and size. The new zinc-polyiodide redox flow battery, described in Nature Communications, uses an electrolyte that has more than two times the energy density of the next-best flow battery used to store renewable energy and support the power grid. And its energy density is approaching that of a type of lithium-ion battery used to power portable electronic devices and some small electric vehicles. "With improved energy density and inherent fire safety, flow batteries could provide long-duration energy storage for the tight confines of urban settings, where space is at a premium," said Imre Gyuk, energy storage program manager at the Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, which funded this research. "This would enhance the resiliency and flexibility of the local electrical grid."
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Wind-powered freighters |

February 27, 2015 Source: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Summary: International shipping is transporting 90 percent of all goods on the planet. To make ships more eco-efficient, engineers have been working with alternative fuels. A Norwegian engineer is currently pursuing a new approach: With VindskipTM, he has designed a cargo ship that is powered by wind and gas. Software will ensure an optimum use of the available wind energy at any time. Read more |

Walking beats sitting for university students

Walking classrooms are better for not only for students' physical health, but classroom engagement, a study shows. What began in a response to a physical activity challenge for the computer science faculty at one university has become a study in how education and fitness can be combined to improve both physical well-being, and classroom discussions. Read More:

Mindfulness-based program in schools making a positive impact, study shows |

"Our findings suggest that children who are taught mindfulness -- to pay attention to the present intentionally and without judgment -- are better positioned to succeed both in school and in life," said lead author Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl, an education professor and interim director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, a collaborative interdisciplinary research network who helped conduct the study.
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Plant-e Generates Energy from Living Plants |

Living plants generate electricity; more specifically, energy can come in the form of a byproduct of photosynthesis in plants. All that is needed is light, carbon dioxide and water. Plant-e is a company that builds on that potential source of energy, aiming to do business with products that can generate electricity from plants. Read More |

Bike-to-work events offer chance to explore barriers to cycling |

"While single-day promotional events might not be a big influence on people deciding to bike again the next day, bike-to-work day does seem to have the ability to capture a wide range of bicyclists and provide insights into the barriers to increasing their bicycling," said Wesley Marshall, assistant professor of engineering at the CU Denver College of Engineering and Applied Science, who co-authored the study. The survey questions also asked participants about their perceived barriers to bicycling. The results included concerns about safety and infrastructure; convenience and weather conditions; and cost and bicycle storage.
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The life cycles of many plants and animals affect our day-to-day lives |

Understanding these cycles is important for our survival. To successfully produce food or hunt, we need to understand animal behaviour and plant growth – and how these are linked to the environment. Read more at:

NASA finds good news on forests and carbon dioxide |

Forests and other land vegetation currently remove up to 30 percent of human carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. If the rate of absorption were to slow down, the rate of global warming would speed up in return. The new study is the first to devise a way to make apples-to-apples comparisons of carbon dioxide estimates from many sources at different scales: computer models of ecosystem processes, atmospheric models run backward in time to deduce the sources of today's concentrations (called inverse models), satellite images, data from experimental forest plots and more. Continue reading