After an around-the-world trip, through more than 40 countries, a school teacher named Louis Palmer just pulled up to the hall holding this year's UN Climate Conference.
Scientists at the University of Delaware have come up with a new hydrogen storage solution: chicken feathers. Well, carbonized chicken feather fibers to be exact. What's more, their discovery meets the ambitious hydrogen storage targets set by the DOE for 2010 and 2015, which call for great storage capacity at a low cost.
Chicken feather fibers are made of keratin, a protein that forms strong, hollow tubes. The scientists heated the chicken feathers until hollow carbon microtubes formed with nanoporous walls and the fibers' surface area increased. The resulting carbonized chicken feather fibers allow the storage of as much, or more, hydrogen than carbon nanotubes or metal hydrides, other materials that have been found to store hydrogen well.
The big success here is that making carbonized chicken feather storage tanks is far less costly than producing storage tanks made of the other materials. A 20-gallon carbon nanotube tank would cost $5.5 million to produce, while the same size tank made with metal hydrides would cost $30,000. Comparitively, a carbonized chicken feather tank would run about $200.
The scientists estimate that a car would require a 75-gallon tank using this material in order to have a range of 300 miles. They are working now to increase that range.
Ahead of the Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen (a.k.a. COP15), Google Earth is launching a series of layers that allow users to look at possible future climate scenarios depending on our actions now. One new layer is a guided tour of potential climate change effects narrated by none other than Al Gore.
The other layers show climate projections, including temperature and precipation changes, in a low emissions scenario and a high emissions scenario. In the next few weeks, Google plans on adding layers that show solutions for dealing with these changes.
In addition to these new layers, Google has also launched their own YouTube channel for COP15. Users can submit questions and opinions, and the highest rated of those will be broadcast at the conference and during the COP15 CNN/YouTube debate in December.
An alternative to tropical hardwoods, which are often unsustainably harvested and increasingly endangered, comes from Kebony, a Norwegian company who have developed a process for treating woods such as pine, ash, and maple to make them suitable for exterior uses in a more sustainable manner.
The process of kebonization is similar to pressure treating wood (which is another way to make soft woods usable for exterior use). But, instead of soaking the wood in toxic chemicals like chromated copper asrsenate (CCA, which is now banned for most uses in the US and the EU) or alkaline copper quaternary compounds (ACQ, the most widely used replacement for CCA after the ban), it is instead soaked in furfuryl alcohol, a waste byproduct from sugar cane which is also sometimes used as a food additive. There are no special handling requirements or precautions needed to deal with waste from this wood, and it can be disposed of just like any other untreated wood.
During the kebonization process, the alcohol becomes a resin that reinforces the cells of the wood. The result is a wood with excellent outdoor exposure tolerance like teak or mahogany, but with a harder surface than many of the tropical woods that it replaces. The wood also naturally fades to a silvery-grey color much like those tropical woods, as well.
The wood that is used in this process can be any of a number of non-tropical species that are already being produced in more sustainable manner. (Whether FSC certified or merely conventionally farmed, the wood does not need to be harvested out of rainforests.)
Kebony wood can also be used for building siding, and it is so water and weather resistant that it has even been used for building roofs and for boat decking. The process also makes the wood less prone to swelling due to moisture. There is no necessity to paint Kebony wood, and it can withstand decades of exposure to the weather before any maintenance is necessary.
For the past week, 20 teams took over the National Mall with their best attempts at a net-zero, solar-powered home, all with hopes to win this year's Solar Decathlon. Today, after competing in ten different contests, the winners were crowned, and for the second time, Germany took first place.
The cube-shaped surPLUShome, covered on all sides by dark metallic solar panels, produces more than twice the energy it uses. The roof is covered with single-crystal silicon panels and the sides with thin-film copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) panels. The entire system has a capacity of 11.1 kW.
Just as impressive was the efficiency of the home. The team got a perfect score in the Net Metering contest. Features like one large multi-purpose room with different "zones" instead of separated rooms, vacuum insulation structural panels, a boiler/heat pump system for hot water and heat and louver-covered windows created an energy-sipping home.
Two U.S. teams also placed in the competition: Team Illinois took second and Team California took third. All of the entries showcased innovative and beautiful designs. Check out virtual tours of all the entries here and let the inspiration begin.
We've got to keep 6 billion people happy without destroying our planet. It's the biggest challenge we've ever faced....but we're taking it on. Are you with us?
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An alternative to tropical hardwoods, which are often unsustainably harvested and increasingly endangered, comes from 
DEC 05
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