There have been many disasters in recent years: Tsunamis, forest fires, floods, hurricanes, but the I was surpried at how much the earthquake in Haiti has generated a flurry of fund raising activities.

I came across a blog post which talks about various technologies that can be used in the relief efforts as well as the reconstruction of Haiti.

The post also talks about Social Media and how it contributes tothe effort.

http://carbonoutreach.blogspot.com/2010/01/five-ways-haiti-can-use-solar-power-for.html

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• How much is your house worth ? Foreclosures, mortgage industry collapse, bank collapse. With all those bad housing industry news, one wonders who sets the prices on a house. The old real estate adage is well known: To succeed in real estate, there are three things you have to know: Location, location, location. A house in Beverly......
• Global warming, Copenhagen, and risk management The Copenhagen Summit is happening right now. In view of the controversy over whether or not human activity is responsible for global warming, or if they're is in fact a global warming, both controversies having been raised by scare tactics orchestrated the conservatives, I thought it would be a good......
• Buildings and energy consumption. An interesting article on the architecture 2030 website about energy consumption as it relates to buildings. The article shows three pie charts with the first two showing U.S. energy consumption and the third one showing worldwide energy consumption. Surprisingly, it shows that transportation only accounts for 1% of energy consumption......

• Bags of candy & piles of links So, how many bags of candy did you hand out to trick-or-treaters last night? It can get expensive. Will you be picking up more today now that they're likely on sale? We should just call this candy week. We bought three little bags and that was it, but our area......
• internet job boards - wasted effort? I have tried, over the years, to post my resume to job boards for both traditional jobs and contract positions. I've also tried to get hourly consulting work through various boards, too.  I have landed jobs through the (now) unlikely source of monster.com, for example.  In 2000 I got......
• Permalink Structure without Dates The structure behind WordPress is generous enough to allow for built in SEO advantages which come with building pages that static web page building and other blogging software cannot afford you. By using WordPress, you already have an advantage over bloggers, but only as long as you are willing to......

A mutual funds company, Global mutual fund, has a “green” portfolio which it calls: “Portfolio 21″.

The corporation newly announced its top 10 companies. I was somewhat surprised to see companies listed which I never thought of as “green”.

For instance, the Autodesk corporation.  On the other hand, since 3D CAD cuts down the use of paper, that would make it a candidate. But Autodesk goes further, it has recently partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council with a goal of integrating its technology with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

Railways are inherently efficient land-based transportation, and East Japan Railway continuously operates to decrease its power consumption. It has introduced reduced-weight railcars, and is installing solar and wind systems at some of its “eco stations”. The company is also working to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of the entire transport system by promoting inter-modal transportation by combining rail with additional modes of travel.

The Henkel company, out of Germany, creates an array of bio-based detergents and adhesives, minimizing the company’s reliance on fossil fuels. More than two-thirds of its products’ formulations are usually based on renewable raw resources.All new products must help with sustainable development.

Itron manufactures advanced metering national infrastructure system that allows two-way communication between utilities and consumers. This assists customers to participate in demand response and energy conservation programs.

Natura Cosmeticos, of Brazil, is more than just a cosmetics organization. It promotes the development and discovery of new and renewable raw materials, and supports sustainable agriculture and agroforest systems.

Potlatch is promising as being a leader within the domestic sustainable forestry industry. The company recently achieved Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for all its forestlands and also finds other business opportunities for its forestland by way of recreation leases and conservation easements.

Red Electrica is Spain’s leading power transmission company. It is responsible for the management of its country’s electricity distribution system. Spain has become the second-largest European wind-power producer and expects to have wind farms producing 13,000 megawatts by 2011.

Sharp, a well recognized name in consumer electronics products, is the world’s largest producer of solar cells and is one of just a few industry leaders to support a solution to e-waste in the United States.

Umicore is based in Belgium, and is the world’s leading recycler of precious metals. Examples include materials for rechargeable batteries, fuel cells, and auto catalysts.

Vestas, a Danish company, develops, manufactures, and markets wind energy products. This company has a clear sustainability strategy based on manufacturing equipment and operating facilities for the renewable energy sector.

Sometimes, even companies which you never thought of as “green” do contribute to a better environment.

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• Pleasantville The other day, I watched the movie "Pleasantville" (1998, starring Tobey McGuire). Briefly, the story revolves around two 1990's teenagers being "magically" transposed in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world. To me, this film shows two things very well: 1) The implications of......
• Buildings and energy consumption. An interesting article on the architecture 2030 website about energy consumption as it relates to buildings. The article shows three pie charts with the first two showing U.S. energy consumption and the third one showing worldwide energy consumption. Surprisingly, it shows that transportation only accounts for 1% of energy consumption......
• GM files for bankrupcy--the end of the car era ? I wrote a little essay on the future of the automobile,"The end of the car era ?"in it, I talk about how the snootiness and myopic visions of American auto manufacturers led to this current situation. I also talk about whether it is a good thing to keep pushing the......

• Weakon 115: Financial Industry One of the primary philosophies of Weakonomics is the status of the financial industry. No I'm not talking about Bear Stearns, Countrywide, and the credit crunch. They play a part and we'll get to them shortly. How Banks Make Money covered the basics but they aren't the only institutions......
• Top 10 Scientific Achievements We Are Waiting For [/caption] Science has grown exponentially over the past few centuries, making things possible that were once absolutely considered completely impossible. Science has done a lot to cure many of our worldly troubles, but one thing about science is that it isn’t perfect, and never will be. The reason for this......
• Small Turbine Wind Energy: Free Power For The People Small turbine wind energy is the fastest developing of any renewable energy source and technology.  Similar to how a moving car turns its alternator to charge the car battery, with wind energy the moving air spins wind turbines to generate electricity.  As the speed of the wind increases the......

Clean coal, Carbon Sequestration, these are expressions we hear quite often when dealing with the production of electricity using fossil fuel other than oil. About twice a week, a new coal plant opens in China.

I came across a blog post on the topic of patents and innovations and the possible competition between China and the US regarding advances in the field of clean coal. The cold war between the former Soviet Union and the US helped advance our exploration of space and the resulting technology that has now become part of our lives. It is thought that perhaps a similar rivalry could stimulate the advancement of cleaner technologies.

There are two things to consider when it comes to energy: 1) Is it clean? 2) Is it renewable?

No matter how clean you make your coal burn, it is not a renewable resources and its mining can also be a source of environmental degradation.

Technological prowess  should be aimed at developing means to better harness clean and renewable energy sources.  The harnessing of  the wind has been done for centuries, certainly we could use that head start to our advantage.

Sometimes I feel like a lot of brain resources are wasted on too many dead ends when it comes to finding solutions to our energy needs.

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• The Evil Liberal Agenda According to the Conservatives, the Liberals have an agenda:  They want to rule the world.  Here are the facts:  Al Gore owns 100% of 100% of all the green companies in the world, on top of donating money to all those non-profit organizations who own large pieces of land that......
• Pleasantville The other day, I watched the movie "Pleasantville" (1998, starring Tobey McGuire). Briefly, the story revolves around two 1990's teenagers being "magically" transposed in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world. To me, this film shows two things very well: 1) The implications of......
• Copenhagen and low-carbon investments A little quote from the BusinessGreen website "The potential impact on low-carbon investments of failing to deliver a meaningful deal at the forthcoming Copenhagen Summit was underlined last week with the news that analyst firm Point Carbon is downgrading its long-term price forecasts, primarily as a result of growing uncertainty......

• Ten Tips Toward a More Eco Friendly Home Tip 1 - Turn the lights off any time that they are not needed, even if you are just moving from room to room in the course of your day. According to Energy Star, as much as 20 percent of a home's overall energy use comes from its lighting. Using......
• Green Building Materials Green Construction is the practice of building in a way that increases efficiency of the use of materials like energy, water and other materials and resources while reducing the impact on human health and the environment during the process of building through more efficient design, site selection, construction, operation, maintenance......
• Linear Actuators Mechanical energy is an area of science that is making strides every day. The study of how actuators produce mechanical motion by converting various forms of energy into mechanical energy is a source of great exploration. Science finds new ways to make use of actuators every day including for......

With the inauguration of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, I think I should push on with the publication of my book. Getting all the facts right and all the details in before final review.

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• How clean is clean coal ? Clean coal, Carbon Sequestration, these are expressions we hear quite often when dealing with the production of electricity using fossil fuel other than oil. About twice a week, a new coal plant opens in China.I came across a blog post on the topic of patents and innovations and the possible......
• The Evil Liberal Agenda According to the Conservatives, the Liberals have an agenda:  They want to rule the world.  Here are the facts:  Al Gore owns 100% of 100% of all the green companies in the world, on top of donating money to all those non-profit organizations who own large pieces of land that......
• Pleasantville The other day, I watched the movie "Pleasantville" (1998, starring Tobey McGuire). Briefly, the story revolves around two 1990's teenagers being "magically" transposed in a 1950's sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world. To me, this film shows two things very well: 1) The implications of......

• Faucet Water Filters are Economical and Effective Perhaps you're looking for ways to provide safe drinking water for your family in a way that is cost effective. Why not take a look at some kitchen faucet water filters? These handy gadgets remove many potentially dangerous particles from the water, and best of all they are reasonably priced.......
• Useful Golf Book: 2nd Edition By Chris Kretz For those of us that enjoy the lighter side of golf, this is a definite must read and chances are you'll be rolling on the floor in no time at all. Too often, golfing books are so serious that it is difficult to wade through them. The industry seems to......
• 3rd Edition of Romancing the Novel Carnival Welcome to the third edition of romancing the novel. Lots and lots of great links to read and maybe even reread if you're so inclined. I hope you find many new articles to peruse and enjoy! Book Reviews Kat presents Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris posted at Book......