News Archives - Page 11 of 31

Welcome to the Future: Solar Freakin’ Bike Paths!

Solar Freakin' Roadways We still may be waiting on those hoverboards, but at least the future of solar has finally arrived with the launch of the first solar-powered bikepath in the Netherlands on Nov. 12. In May a viral video captured people's imaginations with a picture of what the future could look like - not quite flying cars but maybe even better! Demonstrating the spectacular potential to transform existing asphalt surfaces such as roads and lots into solar panels cells, the video has received more than 18 million views on YouTube, with a cool factor and "wow, why didn't we think of this sooner?" feel. The idea came from two engineers in Idaho who experimented with a smart-grid road made entirely of solar cells that, according to the article about them on Grist.org have t he following characteristics: "Solar Roadways’ panels have heating elements to melt snow and ice, five-color LED lighting to create road lines, and corridors for moving and storing stormwater. …

Audiences Appalled to Discover the Deceitful Marketing Behind Factory Farms

A picture can speak a thousand words, but words can also paint a pretty picture. When it comes to factory farming and the insanely inhumane suffering that animals endure, this video shows that consumers are easy targets for marketers who choose to obscure the reality of this horror with the words they use to choose to describe their products. The audience is appalled when this "marketing expert" (actually an actress) reveals to them the distorted picture we all have been buying when it comes to food. They can't even applaud after her talk because they are too creeped out at themselves for believing the lies marketers spread about food and where it comes from. Original video by Catsnake Film. Full disclosure: The speaker in this video is actually an actress named Kate Miles, but the facts about produce and its marketing are 100% real. The audience is also real, and thus the looks of disgust are totally real too.

Fun Fall Festivities for the Greenie at Heart

Fall is a great time of the year to get outside and enjoy all our planet has to offer. With the weather beginning to cool down, leaves starting to change colors, and the holidays coming soon, this is a wonderful season to bond with the family and enjoy some fun fall festivities. Green Businesses has a few favorites we love to do every year. Maybe you do too? Apple Picking Apple picking may be available all year round, but autumn just so happens to be the most festive time of the year to indulge in such a fun activity. You may have to drive a distance to get to your destination, but it is well worth the drive. The human soul seems to regenerate as you get out of that car and find yourself surrounded by trees and mountains and nature. It is so satisfying to walk through the fields of trees, picking and choosing which apple you would like to enjoy, twisting the select few until they snap off the branch, and later enjoying a crisp and delectable snack. Not to mention, these a…

USDA to Sow $52 Million in Local, Organic Farming

In the past six years, farmers markets have boomed, increasing by 76 percent to 8,268 across the country. That has made a weekly trip to the farmers market a much more common experience for Americans, but with organic food sales set to hit $35 billion in 2014, what was once the agricultural fringe has become big business. The 2014 farm bill treats local and organic food like the proverbial grown-up it has become, providing $125 million in research funding and $50 million in conservation programs over the next five years. Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the first programs to be funded by the new federal cash: USDA is putting $52 million toward improving local and regional food distribution and retail networks—farmers markets, food hubs, and the like. Watch the video below from TakePart and read TakePart Food editor, Willy Blackmore's article here.

Amazing Solar Innovation is Steamed About Panel-Free Energy

(Video below) In the global race to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, the three biggest challenges the Alternative Energy industry faces have always seemed insurmountable...until now. Israeli company, Brenmiller Energy has seen such success with their new Solar technology that they are already expanding to Africa to provide rural communities with cost effective power without the cost and inefficiency of hundreds of miles of transmission lines. CEO and President, Avi Brenmiller actually developed and tested the technology in California while serving as CEO of Solel/Siemens CSP in the late 90's. Now with a fully functional test facility in Israel, they have proven the effectiveness and bankability of this breakthrough operation. See their profile on GreenBusinesses.com. How Does it Work? While most equate Solar Energy with the collection and distribution of energy via solar panels, Brenmiller's Solar plant utilizes parabolic mirrors to focus the sun's rays to gen…

Breaking News: Rockefellers to Kick the Oil Habit

(See video below) By the time the Ball drops in Times Square on December 31st, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund–a private charitable foundation established in 1940–committed to reducing their exposure to coal and tar sands investments to less than one percent of their total portfolio. Could be a great way to end the new year, or "the end of the hydro carbon age" as Deborah Burke of the Fund's Sustainable Development team quoted Bill McKibben from yesterday's People's Climate March. Would father, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the philanthropist who founded the fund, approve? Perhaps. According to the fund's Sustainable Development Guidelines, the fund already supports global stewardship that is ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate, and consistent with intergenerational equity. The Fund encourages government, business, and civil society to work collaboratively on climate change, to acknowledge the moral and ethical consequences of in…