News Archives - Page 7 of 31 - Green Businesses

Don’t Believe in Organic? Watch This!

Is Organic food just a Fad or a buzzword? This family doesn't eat organic food because it costs more than conventional food and it just isn't convenient. The Experiment. For the next two weeks this family decided to eat only organic and measure the effect. Before they begin, the family takes urine samples and discover they have a number of insecticides, fungicides and plant growth regulators inside their bodies. The following chemicals were found: Chloremequat chloride Mepiquat 3-PBA TCP This family was not too happy when they discovered they've not only been eating pesticides, but that these chemicals have taken up residence inside their bodies. So, they clear the cupboards and switch to organic for this fascinating 2-week experiment. At the end of the two weeks, they tested their urine again and discovered that nearly all traces of the pesticides had completely vanished. The study was conducted by the Swedish Environmental Research Institute IVL, and th…

Eagle Cam: Take the Ride of your Life on the Back of an Eagle

New Video Today: The military-grade video camera weighs only 300 grams, but on this Imperial Eagle--soaring from the top of the world's tallest building in Dubai--it's a whopping 10 percent of his body weight. Equivalent to carrying two iPhone 6s--plus a charger. Today's spectacular event shows the well-trained eagle, named Darshan, soaring and diving on cue as he watches--and listens to--his handler thousands of feet down clapping commands. All the while, we ride along glimpsing stunning views of the world beneath his wings. Darshan broke a world record by flying from the top of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The event was coordinated by conservation group Freedom Conservation, in order to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered bird of prey and share the importance of sustainable businesses and how we can build an environment that is safe for humans and animals alike. Eagle-cam footage courtesy of Freedom Conservation.

#flyburjkhali…

The Future Is Clean – Solar Impulse 2 Plane Campaign

On March 9th 2015 the revolutionary airplane named “Solar Impulse 2” launched its first leg of its 35,000 mile trip around the world to help raise awareness of the Future is Clean Campaign. Starting off in Abu Dhabi the plane is set to stop in various global locations and is being tracked for audiences online. The Solar Impulse 2 (aka Si2)is a lot larger than its predecessor the Solar Impulse 1, which was the prototype that set several solar powered flight world records in 2013. This version of the aircraft is wider than a 747 Jumbo Jet with a wingspan of 72 metres (236.22 feet) and yet is still a light 2.3 tonnes. It’s light weight is key to the success of the plane that has 17000 solar panels built into its wings. Solar energy is estimated to become the dominant energy source of the future, as predicted by the International Energy Agency. (IEA)

The World’s First Beehive-On-Tap System

Two beekeepers in Australia, Cedar Anderson and Stuart Anderson, have invented a new sort of hive that could revolutionize Beekeeping traditional methods. They have invented the FLOWHive, a special hive that can put your honey "on tap" directly from your hive box. It's main benefit being that it can pour honey out of the combs without upsetting the bees. The FLOWhive contains special inserts that will fit into normal hives or, if you get the whole FLOWhive system, you will have their special wooden outer box complete with windows and access points that will ensure you know exactly when to harvest the honey and have a full supply as soon as it is ready to go. There are a lot of skeptics in their beekeeping community who say it is unlikely to work without a lot of mess and cleanup needed. Some comment in the beekeeping forums that they would rather wait and see before jumping to buy this sort of invention. The key to the system is a special imitation of the traditional…

The Greenest and Meanest Cars for 2015 – No “Mr. Fusion” DeLorean on the List Yet!

Modern cars have come a long way from their gas guzzling roots and with our consumer priorities becoming ever greener each year– ratings and rankings are more important to car manufacturers than ever. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its 18th annual environmental ratings for vehicles on its newly launched website greenercars.org, which provides an online database containing vehicle environmental scores for models from the year 2000 to present. Ranked number one in the list of top twelve green cars is the third generation of the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive. The only conventional gas fueled car to make the list is the Mitsubishi Mirage (renamed Space Star) landing in tenth place. The rest were either plug-in electric vehicles or hybrids. Aptly named by ACEEE as the Greenest and Meanest lists, here are rankings: Greenest List: 1 Mercedez-Benz Smart Fortwo Elec. Drive Convertible / Coupe 2 Chevrolet Spark EV …

New Study: Bioenergy May Be Bad News for Forests, Climate

Resource: Global Forest Reporting Network BioFuels like Ethanol have more than just an image problem (Growing food vs growing fuel). Now a new report from the World Resources Institute finds that dedicating land to the production of biofuels may undermine efforts to achieve a sustainable food future, combat climate change, and protect forests. The problem, of course, is that if you dedicate land to growing crops like sugarcane, corn, soybeans, or wood solely for the production of biofuels, you can’t use that land to grow food--or as a carbon sink. We already use a whopping three-fourths of the world’s vegetated land for crops, livestock grazing, and wood harvests, according to the WRI paper. And the remaining land really should be left as is, since it protects clean water, supports biodiversity, and stores carbon. Watch this video about new biofuels made from cellulose with the help of a bacteria under the development of AE Biofuels, which acquired Zemetis in 2011.