7 Technologies that will Save the Earth in 2008

2007 is done, and with it came huge advances in materials, energy, architecture, transportation and more. But I though, before we take a look back, we'd take a look forward.

EcoGeek is here to keep you informed of the latest technologies that are making our lives better while also ensuring that we don't spoil the Earth at the same time. But just this once, let's look not at what's happening now, but at what's coming in the near future. Here are ten technologies that I can't wait for, and that I think we'll see (to varying degrees) in 2008.

Cellulosic Ethanol
While America maybe got a little bit over-excited by ethanol (to the tune of wasted subsidies and spikes in Mexico's food prices) there is a great future here. And while corn ethanol, it turns out, really isn't a very good idea, cellulosic ethanol is looking at a bright future. With huge bursts of funding both from federal subsidies and billionaire entrepreneurs like Vinod Khosla, we should expect advances on several fronts in 2008. First, techniques for producing the fuel from waste inexpensively will continue to emerge. Second, America's first cellulosic production plants will come online, while the benchmarks required by the recent US energy bill will spur investment in a new round of plants that will come online sometime after 2008.

LEDs
America's love affair with incandescent lights is over. Especially considering that they will be mostly illegal by 2012. So 2008 should be a year where Philips and GE get off their asses, start producing ultra-efficient LED lights in earnest. Already the technology is more efficient, longer-lasting and more user-friendly than CFLs or incandescents. The obstacle, it seems, is the price. But finally, Americans are getting used to the idea that paying more now will save you money in the long run. And as LEDs are a bit more approachable than CFLs, I think we'll see a good adoption rate for LED bulbs. Especially as I predict they'll start showing up on shelves in Wal-Marts and Home Depots in mid 2008.

No One Killed the Electric Car
2008 will be the year the EV came back to life. Tesla will make its first sales, the Chevy Volt production design will be released, while the first GM E-Flex drive trains will be driving around (in Chevy Malibu bodies.) Ford will begin marketing (though not selling) it's plug-in Escape and GM will begin selling the plug-in Saturn Vue. While smaller producers like Aptera and Phoenix will sell their EVs as well.

CDs Will Die
DVDs have a slightly longer lifespan, but physical media are on the way out. Everyone realizes now that there's no good reason to have a CD instead of an MP3. Frankly, it's more expensive and less convenient. And while other media (include books and movies) are going to have a longer road to obsolescence, everyone, including record companies and musicians, will agree that CDs have gone the way of the 8 track.

The Kindle will light a Very Small Fire
Speaking of obsolete physical objects, book readers will continue to advance in 2008, but they'll only just begin their journey to supremacy. That journey will be led by the Kindle which, though uglier, bulkier, and more expensive than the Sony Reader, is more well marketed and convenient than any other ebook reader ever has been.

Solar Really Will be Cheap
We've been hearing for years that "solar is going to be as cheap as coal." And while that prediction won't come true in 2008, solar will become extremely cheap. Nanolsolar and Heliovolt's printable solar cells will sell like hotcakes to large buyers, leaving you and me on a long waiting list for personal panels. So while the large solar plants will start springing up, distributed solar will be a bit further down the road than 2008.

There will be 30 Stories about Cars Running on Water
And each and every one of them will be erroneous.

Small Cars Will Win
While it's great that major car companies are creating cars like the Fit, the Mini and the Aveo, it's my opinion that they are completely underestimating the desire for small vehicles in American driveways. Which is why I think that the Loremo and the Aptera will be widely acclaimed in the US. Honda will continue selling every Fit it can build, but it will take entrants from outside the establishment to show how interested people are in less substantial cars. Additionally, the Aptera and the Loremo both will establish themselves as early favorites for the automotive X-Prize which will begin in early 2008.

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...
written by kent beuchert, December 31, 2007

Solar photovoltaic is an inferior technology regardles of the price, which is still exorbitant and impractical. Solar thermal is the only solar energy source worth bothering with. As for saving the Earth, that would require more than redcuing carbon, which has recently been proven as not the main impetus behind global warming. Sorry, it looks like would-be Earth saviors are actually global warming dupes. New technologies will be required to prevent global warming, if necessary.

...
written by Jose, December 31, 2007

I'm really looking foward to these advancements as well. Especially the one where the kindle conquers books and the mp3 conquers cds. I already have stopped using incandescent lights, so I can see many people making the change in 2008.

Note: I never knew EcoGeek was run by a member of Brotherhood 2.0 :P

No future... for now
written by xavi, December 31, 2007

I won't like to break the optimism of any reader, but my humile oppinion is that... yeah! these technologies and all that are to come will be an inflection point of our technological tendencies, but the humanity has done enough damage to our planet to consider them just little first steps to the great work of saving our planet. In the case of arriving someday when we can talk about achieved objectives, there will be also a lot of things missing forever.

Except for...
written by Keith_Indy, December 31, 2007

Everyone realizes now that there's no good reason to have a CD instead of an MP3.

Except how do you actually OWN a song that's only on an MP3? How do you get another copy when your MP3 dies or it's memory becomes corrupted?

A CD or DVD is a permanent proof of ownership.

...
written by Keith_Indy, December 31, 2007

One other thing is I think the adoption of diesels will increase, as manufacturers are finally ready to adopt the 2009 standards (better emissions.)

Result a 70 MPG diesel car available soon. http://www.popularmechanics.co...?series=19

While it's not the ultimate solution to our problems, it could be an important step in slowing down our dependency on oil, and decreasing our emissions.

cd > mp3
written by Loki, December 31, 2007

Storage keeps increasing for less money. Mp3 is only a decent substitute for cds. HiDef portable audio is the next place to go. 96Khz and bitrates > 320kbps has to come soon for the people that demand detail

why hasn't nanosolar gone public?
written by David, December 31, 2007

i've been following nanosolar recently and have noted each time i read about them that they are held back by capacity. why haven't they gone public? if they want funding to build 5 more plants to produce solar cells at their claimed price (about $1/watt), they could go public now and increase their capacity ten-fold within a few of years...

Automotive X Prize
written by Eric Boyd, December 31, 2007

If you're looking for more information on the Aptera, Loremo, or any other Automotive X Prize team, I've got a new website up: http://xprizecars.com/

MP3s vs CDs?
written by Fox, December 31, 2007

CDs are a clear winner in terms of sound quality... not to nitpick... but optical media for storage's sake makes less sense now that lossless formats like FLAC are becoming more popular on the intartube pirate hangouts.

www.Openeco.org/energycamp & Energy Camp
written by Michelle, December 31, 2007

Great list! For my New Year's resolution, I'm going to Macworld a few days early this year to go to an event called Energy Camp in SF. I'm not going to stop bathing or anything but I figured there is something I can do to make a difference by learning how to reduce carbon emissions and waste. Check out www.openeco.org/energycamp for info. -- Its free by the way!

MRS.
written by Meriam Uze, December 31, 2007

In 1943, I lived in a rented apartment in Florida. Our electricity was obtained by solar lplates on the roof feeding batteries. Our landlord told me that he only needed to use electricityfrom the power company a few days a year.It saved him a great deal of money. Why was the technology not used further over the years? We certainly need it now.

Solar panes
written by Stef, December 31, 2007

Really looking forward to cheap solar panes. That could change something

cell phone as book reader
written by avagee, December 31, 2007

The manufacture of electronics is a dirty, energy intensive business. You can get he eco benefits of eBooks without causing the manufacture of any extra device - your cell phone makes a fine eReader.

They do have small screens, but this lets them be ultra portable - you carry your phone with you everywhere - right?

For a while now I have been reading free books from http://www.booksinmyphone.com they give away classic books, you can install direct to the phone or via a PC. For me, for novels, the phone is a great reading experience.

...
written by kc, December 31, 2007

Solar photovoltaic is an inferior technology regardles of the price, which is still exorbitant and impractical

German company has just started selling solar panels at .90 cents a watt, this broke through the coal production cost for electricity and solar has become cheaper to produce then electricity then coal.

WE NEED BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTIC
written by Dudes, December 31, 2007

All the plastic ever created is still out there...much of it in the ocean...broken down to very small pieces and bing ingested by filter feeders at the bottom of the food chain, thusly either killing them or passing the stuff up the chian to wreak short and ong term damage and potential total world life colapse.

not much point
written by blahblah, December 31, 2007

Human nature is to consume and destroy. Besides the Sun is expanding and will eventually 'eat' this planet so there is no 'saving' this place anyway..

Again with the Warming?
written by Val, December 31, 2007

I still don't understand what people don't get about cycles? Science has proven that the earth will cycle. Call it what it is, "Saving the Humans" not the planet. Aside from actually destroying, by some insane bomb, the earth, it will still be here. We can do whatever that will kill us off, and some other planet or animal lifeform will spring up and continue on. *shakes his head* We should focus more energy and $$ on developing the means over living in space, and let the earth cycle. Remember the tectonic plate theory? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
Oh, I'm sure there weren't any temperature changes during any of that though.

...
written by RhapsodyInGlue, December 31, 2007

Val, to environmentalists "saving the planet" probably is a better term. However "the planet" would refer to the entire ecosystem. In reality, out of the thousands upon thousands of species that are likely to go extinct in the coming 100 years if nothing is done, humans are not one of them.

Granted there will be tremendous suffering within the human race and likely many lives lost... but people are far too mobile and adaptable (those with money) to ever go extinct.

Humanity has a test coming... a test of our collective morality. I suppose looking for an escape pod into space is one answer to that question.

...
written by k, December 31, 2007

Only way to curb emissions is for Americans simply to stop consuming so much. Lets start depending on railways more to get around cities.

here
written by Alex, December 31, 2007

"Except how do you actually OWN a song that's only on an MP3? How do you get another copy when your MP3 dies or it's memory becomes corrupted?"

What do you do when your CD becomes scratched, warped or even breaks? You should have backed it up to MP3, where it can be copied and reproduced in lossless codecs (320kbps is close enough, other formats can be true lossless).

"A CD or DVD is a permanent proof of ownership."
Really the only good thing about owning the actual CD or DVD is that you can look at the illustration. That is it. If you wanted a permanent proof of ownership, you might as well keep the receipt. I'm sure that you don't have all the receipts for all your products that you have at home, do you?

Gave up my lights
written by Bill, January 01, 2008

I changed each and every bulb in my house over to a CFL last weekend - even the harder-to-find ones. I'm eagerly awaiting the electric bill next month - hope it will save a bundle - but the environment's the real reason I did it. Now if we could just get over our dependence on oil/long commutes, etc., we'd be in good shape.

observer
written by Pete, January 01, 2008

Kent Beuchert wrote that carbon was not the main culprit causing global warming. What is it then?

Do you really want to save?
written by John, January 01, 2008

If this country really wants to save and conserve. Force people to use public transportation. Look at the moneys wasted so grandma and grandpa can drive that gas guzzler around town rather than call a cab or take the bus. It makes me just as sick to see this behavior as to watch someone spending food stamps at the grocers on beer and cigarettes!
Just change the laws on entitlement programs so that if you want government assistance, you have to use government funded transportation. Really a no brainer that kills two birds with one stone!
Only people that have jobs to go to need private transportation. Ask any intelligent parent!

...
written by Jack Morrison, January 01, 2008

This was posted a while back by David Lassiter:
David Lassiter says on December 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Kerry Beaauhrt also goes by the name Kent Beuchert and has beem paid extensively by the oil and gas lobbies to reject current electric car technologies. He posts usually in the first or second listing and works at a lobbying firm in Virgina. He has recently changed his name to continue receiving salary targets while trying to throw others off his efforts. Regards - David Lassiter

...
written by antigravity, January 01, 2008

Forgot an important one...

http://www.gravitycontrol.org

capable of fuel-less propulsion, free energy, and more

MP3 instead of CD? Don't think so.
written by Steve, January 01, 2008

I don't think CDs are going anywhere. Retail shelf space may go away, but I think they'll be for sale online for quite a while. You need a substitute, and MP3 isn't it. No compressed audio format is worth purchasing, at least not if you're concerned about sound quality or want to be able to do anything with the songs in the future when new, better formats become available. Transcoding from one lossy format to another results in additional loss of sound quality. No thanks. I always pay for my music now, but I won't pay for MP3s.

...
written by PanPan, January 01, 2008

Solar thermal is certainly more efficient than solar electric (for now), but both are useful, so hooray for cheap solar electric. As for global warming, it's foolish to think that anything is "proven" at this point. You can find articles and studies to support whatever position you want to take. One thing is almost certain: Unless we change our definition of quality of life, the only major problem we need to solve is overpopulation. No realistic amount of technological progress can offset the sustained growth in resource consumption that accompanies sustained growth in population. Or even sustained improvement in quality of life with a constant population level. Keep in mind that much of the world lives in poverty and consumes almost nothing. So few people will even consider the only long term solution -- reduced population.

MP3s sound just as good as CDs -- quit t
written by Fred_M, January 01, 2008

I've got more invested in high-end audio than I care to think about and I'm so tired of the crowd that claims that CDs sound superior to MP3s. They make this claim without regard to bitrate, without citing any reputable double-blind tests, and without any basis. The fact is that a variable bitrate MP3 created with a high quality codec like LAME is audibly indistinguishable from the CD from which it was created. I've run double-blind tests with $350 headphones, $5000 speakers, high-end CD players from Rega and Rotel, amps from Hafler, Adcom, and Creek. The result is always the same, regardless of listener age, experience, music type, and track choice: No better statistically than random guesses.

Now I'm not saying that MP3 should be an archival format -- for that, one should use lossless, but it is fine as an end-user playback medium.

Taxi, Taxi???
written by J.C., January 01, 2008

Lemmie see I call a taxi that drives 21 miles empty from town takes me round trip and then returns empty to town - yeah that makes sense -
No wait I take the bus at 6am then wait til 5pm to come home -
-much better

As for my government assistance - refund my SS and Medicare payments and I'll call it even - won't even charge interest.

Most metro areas Taxi service is a joke (several $ per mile) We used to have good bus service and even street cars - wonder how high taxes and/or fuel will need to be to bring them back?

Can't resell songs
written by Gary Schuetter, January 01, 2008

Now the record companies can not keep selling the same songs over and over as new mediums come out.

MP3s vs. CDs, Electronic books vs. paper
written by Cameron Probert, January 01, 2008

As far as the mp3 versus CD debate, I'd have to say CDs have already lost in a way. The album as we knew it has long since died. Musicians now produce albums that are a collection of singles.

That said, there's one big thing that's keeping CDs alive and that's the transportability of digital media. I've heard a lot of complaints about switching a song file that you own from one device to another device (even if the original file is still working). That's the real problem with CDs versus mp3s. If they make a mp3 that I can have on my player and my computer and my other computer (that I purchased legally) at the same time then it will surpass the CD. Until that point, CDs are here to stay.

As far as books, eh.. it's a niche market as it is. And one of reasons why books haven't run into the same problems with digital transfer that music/movies/television all have, is because book-buyers like having a physical product. Unless the readers can really emulate a book, then I don't forsee books going anywhere. But this is all my completely uninformed opinion.

MP3 - Missing the point
written by JB, January 01, 2008

I don't think the argument is that there is a discernible difference between high bit rate MP3s and compact discs. At some point it is probably difficult to tell the difference, but for me that point is not below 200Kbps. Amazon offers MP3s at 256K, most apparently variable bit rate. Maybe that's fine, and maybe that's the only thing you're interested in. I personally want high quality for situations where it matters, and I want to be able to make the highest possible quality 128Kbps versions for portable use. And not in MP3 format. If you can't hear the degradation of MP3 at 128K, then the only equipment issue is your ears. So, assuming I want to make WMA files at 128K, a 256K (or 320K) MP3 file is a poor place to start. They use different lossy models. Therefore, MP3 files are a poor choice as a reference copy. There's an implied "for me" in any such statement, of course, but that's also true for anyone who says that MP3s are fine. For *you*. Having the original uncompressed version on disc gives anyone (you AND me) the option to make whatever files you want.

...
written by Grey, January 01, 2008

Ebooks offer no real benefit over printed books. They only offer benefit to publishers, which is why they keep getting pushed and why they haven't found widespread acceptance in all the years they've been around.

A printed book is compact, light, easy to use, flexible, and tactile. Ebooks cost more, burn electricity, and make you scurry to find an outlet after their battery runs out halfway through your novel.

It's idiotic to say books are obsolete. It's like saying hammers, doors, sidewalks are outmoded. Hank has let his love of geekery overtake his common sense.

lplates in 1943
written by wesley bruce, January 01, 2008

Meriam Uze said:
In 1943, I lived in a rented apartment in Florida. Our electricity was obtained by solar lplates on the roof feeding batteries. Our landlord told me that he only needed to use electricityfrom the power company a few days a year.It saved him a great deal of money. Why was the technology not used further over the years? We certainly need it now.

Meriam can you get us a name, address and more details on how the cells worked? I knew there were solar thermoelectric (Seebeck effect) systems back then but solar cell are supposed to be 1946 not 1943. Photo-diodes are older but the cell your talking of is three years before the accepted fist unit and ten years before commercialisation. Wow.
If the things are still lying around some where, photos, documents anyting, they would be worth millions on the veteran energy market. In the dotcom boom dead server boards dating from the first experiments in Internet, university trash, sold for millions.

...
written by Mel Carroll, January 02, 2008

I'm all for solar, anything that gets us out of the ethanol as oil delusion, happy to stop flinging plastic data discs around the planet but have to put muy foot down about books. the ebooks fad is a fad. The more information you put on the net, the more an educated citizenry is going to want to go to the library or the bookstore and hold a book in their hands while they read, ponder, take notes, learn.
Electricity is a luxury and silly electronics only make sense in a world with lots of batteries and no room for books.

...
written by Paul, January 02, 2008

The compact disk may be on its way out, but until such time as EVERYBODY has a computer with internet access, CD's will be around for a while. I am a musician, and many musicians sell CDs at their engagements because it makes economic sense to do so - they can be cheaply produced, and the artist can control what is on them. Even mp3 downloads are going to be a thing of the past eventually, as DVD audio is on the way in, and for that a "sample rate" of 192 KHz is the norm. Compact disk will be replaced by DVD audio disks, but technically, that is still a "CD". When absolutely everybody has a computer and access to the internet, then the CD might go "bye-bye", but until then, the CD has its place, and it will for a while. Same thing with books vs. e-books: printed paper books still serve an important function, and they always will, even if the format of the book eventually becomes primarily electronic. You can read a printed book without electricity - an e-book requires it. If I'm studying for an exam the next day and there is a power failure, which do you think I'd want?

Concerned Watcher
written by Ian, January 02, 2008

Who Writes This Stuff ? Really??

The subjects are good, the background research is questionable.
Anything to do with current audio or visual DATA Storage or Transfer is debatable. The end of CD's...No. It may now be old story stuff but it works & above all is a damn sight more reliable.
EV subjects. Have a look back between 1898 & 1930. Many EV's were running around. Thomas Edison was also big on this scene with his Alkaline Battery(not the type battery as we know it). Before prophesising, get your facts right before you look like an idiot, and we take you apart for it...
Now, the solar power stuff..RESEARCH !!! BEFORE opening your mouth and defining just as how much a fool that you are.
Truly a damn foolish entry into the world of Ecogeek.

Passing on hidden costs to society and t
written by Krishnaraj Rao, January 02, 2008

There is an important social principle that is currently being violated by many manufacturing activities: the principle that, while engaged in a profit-making activity, one must not leave a mess behind for the rest of society to clean up.

This principle is understood in a societal context as common decency, but is continually breached in our economy to such an extent that nobody even objects!

The easiest example is that of mineral water and soft-drink manufacturers, who sell a product that results in a consumer who usually discards a non-biodegradable PET bottle into the environment in an unregulated manner.

We should mobilize citizens to demand legislation that every manufacturer must repurchase/collect and recycle as many tonnes of raw material as he uses on a week-by-week basis. For example, if a mineral-water manufacturer uses ten tonnes of plastics per week to manufacture bottles, he MUST buy back ten tonnes of plastic scrap and safely recycle it. The same goes for automobile manufacturers, who must buy back that many tonnes of metals, plastics, glass etc. every week, and find ways to recycle them. The cost may be met by raising the market price of their product... but the responsibility to make the recycling activity happen MUST be fixed on the manufacturer of every product.

The same goes for manufacturers of tyres, batteries, plastic goods, newspapers, clothes, chemicals, auto-lubricant oils, etc. The list is long.

And if this makes some manufacturing and marketing processes unviable, it means that their economic activity was unviable in the first place, and was sustainable only by passing on hidden costs to the environment, to society, to consumers etc !

Many industrial activities are environmentally and socially subsidized to keep them economically profitable. Let us lobby governments to knock off that subsidy and see how many activities remain sustainable!

I propose peaceful demonstrations to remedy this

Small groups of citizens shall collect the branded packaging material of various manufacturers from the environment, and delivering them in large bundles every week to their corporate offices. It belongs to them, right? So let them have it back!

A peaceful demonstration like this, sustained over some weeks, would make a powerful statement. I think this will make a powerful media impact as well... and thereby, an impact on the consciousness of people.

What say? I would appreciate your detailed responses to this idea.

--
Warm Regards
Krish
http://globalwarming.rediffiland.com
http://friendlyghost.rediffiland.com

An apology.
written by Ian, January 02, 2008

In hindsight, I have been too critical. This is a forum for constructive views, not outright critism..Never a constructive viewpoint.
A way forward, a way for debate is the way. I apologise for shooting of the cuff.
Electric Vehicles..As pointed out, there were some advances made earlier last century with batteries. The Edison battery had some remarkable features. One of which was efficiency & robustness.
Solar Power..Anything here would be great. Has anyone looked into steam turbines using fluids heated by concentrated solar energy...Similar techniques used in (relatively simple) Nuclear power stations may be helpful.
Reduce your carbon footprint..Another way of saying, don't waste stuff. Another way to think of carbon footprint is; Reduce your waste and you will save money. Yes, you will. If you don't have to buy something that most of which you will throw out, you will save money..Think about it. Recycling or aiming for zero carbon footprint will actually cost LESS in the long run. Plus you'll still have a great planet to live on.

...
written by Brad, January 02, 2008

Krish,

Great idea! I'm going to do just that. Collect Coke bottles, cans and cardboard into a box and mail it to Coca Cola Bottling Co. It'll cost me some to mail it, but you're right, it makes a point. I'll probably get it back, but then ensues the return-to-sender battle. Perhaps I'll include a short letter as well. Dear Coke, I enjoyed your products. I'm returning to you the parts I couldn't consume. Please recycle them and sell them back to me filled with goodness.

Cellulosic ethanol: Hemp?
written by Hammo, January 02, 2008

Regarding cellulosic ethanol, I have heard that a plant called "switchgrass" is promising. It reportedly grows abundantly with minimal fertilizer. Corn apparently requires lots of fertilizer and other energy to produce it.

I wonder if hemp could also be used as a cellulosic ethanol. In addition to it's other uses as food, for clothing, paper, oils, etc., it would seem a natural for cellulosic ethanol too.

Canada and many other countries grow hemp. Maybe it is time for the U.S. to consider allowing it.

Food for thought in the article: "George Washington’s whiskey distillery rebuilt; first president also grew hemp at Mount Vernon" (AmericanChronicle.com, October 11, 2006) at ...

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=14731

Two words....
written by Virgil, January 02, 2008

Government Regulation!
Seriously, none of this is going to happen while the consumer is left to choose. Only when choices are removed or mandated by legislation (such as banning incandescent light bulbs) will the public do anything. It just requires a president with a pair of ba11s (yes, possibly even Hilary!) to level with the public about what a mess we're in. Changing to a longer than 4-year term of office might do the trick, to allow our leaders to focus on the long-term view instead of just getting into office and making enough money to get back in next time.

to Virgil and other ecoGeeks
written by Dan, January 02, 2008

Which of the US presidential candidates will most likely be the strongest supporter of renewable energy?

This, to me, is the key question.

Thank you.

CD Going Away, Think Not
written by Rob, January 02, 2008

Hey just had to comment about your prediction of CD's going by the wayside. Music is not there only use. I am a proffesional photographer and until they come out with a portable device the size of an IPOD that can hold a terabyte or more, I don't see CD's going anywhere anytime soon.

More on CDs
written by Suburban Cuurmudgeon, January 02, 2008

Another alternative to storing your CDs on a hard drive would be buying licenses for songs/albums that are kept on someone else's servers, much like the "on demand" cable programs. One could amass a large catalog and not have to worry about storage or damage. DVDs would also go the way of the Dodo, (or VHS tapes). The vendor keeps all purchase records and everyone is happy.

check these little cars out
written by j, January 02, 2008

www.zapworld.com ;D

Solar power
written by Terri, January 02, 2008

I happen to have a friend who was trying to get this going way back in 2001, www.powersat.com . don't know why it's taking so long for the rest of the world to catch up....

...
written by JK, January 02, 2008

LED's saving the world? Lol what a joke. First off, LED's as we currently have them used for applications produce light that is nowhere near the spectrum of incandescents. This can produce problems for many individuals who seek the natural warmth of incandescents. Not to mention the fact that many actually have sensitivity to LED lighting which causes them to see the flicker brought on by the Frequency at which these lights operate. Second, you are doing NOTHING so "save the environment" or "be green" as the fad currently is. The supposed energy that you will save by using Leeds is off-put by the fact that they require extra time to produce in their Chinese factories, which in turn requires more factory energy, and more CO2 pumping out of smoke stacks. This current Congress is a completely and utter joke. They can't even take care of the real issues at hand, but they can ban incandescent light bulbs, and Albutetol Asthma Inhalers (yes, they said they pollute the atmosphere too much). Well, when the suicide rate increases from increased fluorescent usage, not to mention the increase in birth defects from mercury poisoning, and asthmatic related deaths increase, at least they can all pass knowing they helped to "save the environment".

...
written by Keith_Indy, January 02, 2008

What do you do when your CD becomes scratched, warped or even breaks? You should have backed it up to MP3, where it can be copied and reproduced in lossless codecs (320kbps is close enough, other formats can be true lossless).

We do have an iPod, so most all our CDs have been transferred onto our computer, which I back up on DVDs. I think I've had 2 scratched music CDs in life. I've had 4 or 5 hard drives which have crapped out in the same time frame. I've lost work because of that, though I've often recovered much of my work from, you guessed it, CDs.

Another alternative to storing your CDs on a hard drive would be buying licenses for songs/albums that are kept on someone else's servers, much like the "on demand" cable programs. One could amass a large catalog and not have to worry about storage or damage. DVDs would also go the way of the Dodo, (or VHS tapes). The vendor keeps all purchase records and everyone is happy.

A possibility, but I think the consumer would loose out in the end (because the almost always do.)

And if you really want to know...
written by Karsten, January 02, 2008

...how to pollute less, use fewer resources, waste less energy right now go to the (completely non-commercial) website below. I sat down and collected and evaluated any possible idea to create less pollution. Not all is making enough of a difference; not all is desirable for all of us. But most likely you can do much more than what you are doing at the moment. Forget the small, easy steps. And forget hoping for technological solutions or government regulations while going on as if nothing is wrong. The only person you can control is you. If you do not care about the "talk" just read the advice. Good enough.

Karsten
--
http://www.polluteless.com
Practical (and independent) Advice to Pollute Less

saving the earth??
written by robert jones, January 02, 2008

the only thing that this world needs saving from is WORTHLESS, IDIOTIC, MINDLESS, BRAINWASHED ,PATHETIC PUPPET SHEOPLE LIKE YOU "ECO-GEEKS"!!!!!!!!!!! >:( >:( >:( >:(

National Public Radio
written by Joey, January 02, 2008

Hi Hank,

I was wondering... do you frequent NPR?

Joey

Follow the trail
written by Tony, January 02, 2008

Regardless of improvement whether biological, ecological... as long as the people in charge of making the decisions are also the ones that benefit monetarily, the good, real solutions will probably stay on the drawing boards. Change the "intention" first then the rest should follow naturally. Too many decisions are put in the hands of companies and polititians that don't care about anything or anyone but their own material gain and ego boosting. This is the problem that leads to all other environmental, social and economical problems. Greed and selfishness. We need to rethink how the power to make decisions is shared. Yet, when we have a president that gained a second term through false means, it says a lot about where we are as citizens and how much we are already used to eating out of the WRONG hands.

CDs will entually be mute...
written by screenz, January 02, 2008

Reason 1:
CDs are primarily storage devices, and as such, has a disadvantage due to their small storage capacity of under 1GIG. You can only fit so much data/music on them.

The reason why this will not last very long, is that portable harddrives, jump drives, mini SD etc, which are ballooning in size by the day, will eventually be the preferred mode of storage for all media types. this may already be the case. Benefits: they are smaller than a CD and have large capacities, they are fully compatible with nearly all file types, and any computer will recognize them. As for MP3s, you can carry these in whatever bit rate you want on this devices, and some will double as MP3 players, etc. Certainly there are other benefits....but i will end it here.

Follow the trail
written by screenz, January 02, 2008

Man, you are sooooooooooooo RIGHT. THANX FOR THE ENLIGHTENED THOUGHT.

recycle
written by randomdude, January 02, 2008

ya all of this is great stuff but dont forget the resources to create our tech will run out eventually if we dont recycle

...
written by bill, January 02, 2008

you can have my V8 engine and cds whe you tear them from my cold dead fingers!!! And I plan to buy hunderds of regular bulbs soon to ensure a supply of soft, yellow light that works on a dimmer switch.

...
written by Robert White, January 03, 2008

Hey! You dumb #%#$%@@% If you want to save energy. You should live in an RV. Everything runs on 12 volts, and propane. I understand why the human race will end, the are too stupid to change!

...
written by VICB3, January 03, 2008

You don't punish people into change. Ban something and they'll want it twice as badly as before. Offer up an alternative, a subsitution, and, if it makes sense, they'll gradually accept it.

Solar, Leds, Electric Cars, Music on drives, etc. all make sense in certain contexts, and are absurd and or not quie there in others. And some are just threshold technologies. And some, unfortunately, are just frauds.

What works? What's the future? Simple: you just let the marketplace decide. Anyone who doesn't understand this simple fact is just a pie-in-the-sky leftist, fearful of his or her cravings, and in over-passioned thrawl to any one of the various "-isms" that are floating about, fashionable one day, forgotten the next.

Anyway, that's what I think

Mycologist / Mycellia
written by Wily Koyto, January 03, 2008

* stimulate the immune system, helping the human body resist and fight viral diseases and cancers
* lower cholesterol levels
* represent a pesticide-free alternative to the traditional white button mushroom
* are instrumental in the recycling of wood and agricultural by-products
* can easily be grown by everyone—outdoors in your garden or yard (mycological landscaping)—or indoors within greenhouses, solaria, or controlled environments.
http://fungi.com/front/intro/index.html

Thanks Hank - Stimulating prognosticatio
written by daqu40, January 03, 2008

These all make sense except the small cars. People only want small cars where big ones are too difficult to use or too expensive.

Try this on for look in to the future. Americans (especially in rural areas and the west) in 2018 are still driving very large vehicles, but they are mostly electric battery powered and get hundreds of miles to a single charge. Who wouldn't want a vehicle that can carry them, their family and stuff and have no emissions to speak of.

See http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=5572 for a peek at how this might be possible.

Solar thermal vs solar electric
written by KentB, January 03, 2008

>>Solar photovoltaic is an inferior technology regardles of the price, which is still exorbitant and impractical. Solar thermal is the only solar energy source worth bothering with.

Well, probably true that thermal energy is more abundant than electricity from panels. But what good is a lot of thermal energy? You can spin some turbines, but solar panels will have a place in technical applications and peak power generation even if they are inadequate to replace fossil fuels, etc. And there is plenty of room for cost reduction in the production of panels.

This web page is telling me that my comment is too short. I would think short comments are a good thing.

My other idea is to set up a hundred nuclear plants in Nevada at 1000 MW each to produce hydrogen on a grand scale for transportation uses. The funny part of the idea is that it would work. I wonder how much enery there is in the known uranium reserves compared to fossil fuels. In the 1950s the AEC claimed that electric power from nuclear reactors would be too cheap to bother metering. Now nuke plants cause huge rate increases. Gee that is weird. What went wrong with the original plan?

CRIME OF THE CENTURY 911
written by 3000 KILLED ON 911, January 03, 2008

TIME TO EXPOSE REAL ENEMY OF 911 DECEPTION

GOOGLE ZIONIST CRIMES....

I hate tech some times
written by Tony M, January 03, 2008

1) I will keep my books.They can keep the E reader.
2) I DO like LED bulbs.Less heat,less power used.
3) I'll keep my CD's,DVD's and MP3.I game so I prefer DVD's

4)I'll keep my 97 Ford ranger 4 banger.Runs well and is ok on gas.If they make an engine that I can put in my truck then I convert.Till then,NO!

5) Wouldn't mind solar for my home! That'll stick it to the MAN!

It may save the earth but no us...
written by joey, January 03, 2008

Science is going to save us?...ha ha ha :D

MP3 - THE music carrier? I certainly hop
written by Lee, January 03, 2008

No reason to own a cd? Apart from the valid comment made above about ownership, what about the sound-quality? More and more people don't seem to care about this, which is a massive shame. People don't realise how much of a recorded performance they are missing out on with compressed mp3. CD sounds bad enough, but mp3 is a lot worse - long live the lp! How bad for the environment is something that's very small and lasts for over 30 years. I feel there are many more important and useful areas with bigger environmental gains to concentrate on than music! I drive a small car with a 1.2 litre engine, I can travel 260 miles on around 30 litres of petrol. And as it's so light, it's also fun to drive (in the uk)!

I call bullshit
written by Borislav Trifonov, January 03, 2008

CD -- not dying, until uncompressed audio of equivalent or better quality is widely available. Though users with good systems and ears may not be the majority, they are still around and catered to by manufacturers (else there wouldn't even exist formats like SACD and DVD-Audio). Though such users are the minority, their spending is significant due to the exponentially larger prices in high end audio over standard consumer equipment.

Cellulosic Ethanol -- it has been demonstrated that special algae in a big vat can produce ethanol at a density a couple of orders of magnitude higher than anything else that grows. This is the ethanol technology that should be getting the most attention.

LED Lights -- they're inefficient compared to fluorescents, let alone HID -- both of which are more common anyway. Their color is also significantly worse. It's easy to forget, listening to all the environmentalist propaganda, that the eye likes the continuous spectrum of sunlight, and only a filtered incandescent light (such as the Solux which is commonly used in museums, and my house) can duplicate that. All other light sources produce spiky spectrum, which affects the color of objects. This is why two lights which have the same color temperature can still produce significantly different appearance of objects. It's also been demonstrated in studies that true sunlight increases the productivity of humans, so it would follow that lights that match the sunlight spectrum are most effective.

I also want to bring to attention an additional point here that affects ALL household equipment: unless you are in a climate, or season where you are cooling your house by opening windows or having the heat on, ALL internal appliances are 100% efficient because inefficiency is energy expressed as "waste" heat, but all of that goes towards heating the house. If you're in a temperate or colder climate, for example, appliance inefficiency only really wastes energy in the summer.

Electric Cars -- where are you going to get enough copper to wind motors to replace all gas engines on the road? Not a chance.

Solar Panels -- by the time it pays for its production, it's not quite that cheap in terms of energy spent on manufacture vs energy produced. More important, you'd have to cover the planet in solar panels and wind mills to produce enough energy for unrestricted progress and the tenfold increase of energy use developing and undeveloped countries create as they become fully industrialized. Nuclear energy is the only practical source that can provide lots of energy in the long term (i.e. when you shut down all fossil fuel plants).

...
written by Borislav Trifonov, January 03, 2008

By the way, I hope the author responds to the serious comments here.

...
written by Steve, January 03, 2008

MP3, not being lossless, will not replace my CD's. I have ripped my collection in a lossless format but, until MP3, MP4 etc becomes lossless, CD's, DVD-audio remain relevant.

master
written by francis hatin, January 04, 2008

Magnet Generators Known Alternative Energies Eagle-Research.com Fuellessengine.com Tell them I sent U www.hempabcdeals.biz Other Links for Earth Manipulators or Manipulated Learn to Educate your Teachers Thank You for SHairing for Benefit of Others

...
written by francis hatin, January 04, 2008

? browser or keyword Condensator 4 6 8 Cylinder Applications Learn then Teach

music media
written by Bradley Olson, January 04, 2008

The record companies have tried SACD and DVD-A but with the exception of the high end audiophile, jazz and classical communities, these formats have died as although you can play a DVD-A disc in a regular DVD player, for the higher resolution 5.1 mix, you need a DVD-A compatible player. For SACD, the hybrid discs if played on a standard CD player only play a standard CD version of the album, and for the higher resolution discs, you need an SACD compatible player and single layer SACDs of course require the compatible player. To set up higher resolution 5.1 machines, you need a receiver with the 6-channel input (requiring 3 stereo RCA cables instead of just one) and for most people, this is too much in cables and the discs were often more expensive than standard CDs. The vinyl LP is making its comeback to the point that a lot of record companies are putting out a lot of their big selling albums on vinyl LP, old and new and there is a huge selection of turntables available from the cheapo junk quality tables you see on Best Buy shelves to high end audiophile turntables that although they can cost up to $20,000 are usually built with higher standards of quality and the DJ standard and well-built Technics SL1200MK2 is still being manufactured and selling to this day and has lead to many similar turntable with a similar high quality construction, parts, etc. such as the Numark TT-500 are also being built and are priced at a midline price level at about $300-600. Many turntables even have a USB cable for mass convenience in recording LPs to your computer, but the quality of these turntables are often mediocre at best. There are even receiver companies putting out decent stereos with a phono input all over again including Sherwood with their RX-4109 receiver sold at Radio Shack and is built extremely well, sounds great with the right speakers, and often sell for less than $100.

in support of incandescents
written by r.j.mehta, January 05, 2008

I detest the pale light of CFL bulbs ! The incandescents give off a lovely white light. Why not pay more attention to making high speed rail travel more acceptable and improve connectivity all over the US, and in every country, rather than those greenhouse gas spewing aircraft taking off every minute !!
The amount of fossil fuel saved per person would be enormous !

Not to add my wood to the fire...
written by Ben, January 05, 2008

Not to add my wood to the fire but I don't think CDs are going away purely on the fact that there is a CD player nearly anywhere. In your car, in your home, all rooms of your home.

ben.

Biodegardable Plastic
written by Judyth, January 05, 2008

There is a company (Cereplast) who is producing bio-plastic - they are building a factory in Idaho, as we speak. www.cereplast.com

CFL's & Solar Power
written by KJ, January 05, 2008

Below is a link on an article on Concentrating Solar Power. It uses mirrors to reflect the sun to heat up water to turn a turbine and make Power.. I guess they have some of this out in Nevada
http://www.motherearthliving.c...33-1.html

CFL. The colours are better then a few years ago, but still have a problem with them blowing out long before the 8,000 hours. I have had bulbs blowing out in 1-3 months. Yes they save me on my monthly electric bill, but replacing them that quickly takes my savings away because of the replacement costs And they are useless as outdoor lights in cold Idaho. LED lights don't work outside in the cold either for like a house light over my door.

Books!
written by Wolf Kazumaru, January 06, 2008

I dunno. I hope books never become obsolete. I, personally, like the feel of a book in my hands.

Permission for using your article on glo
written by Manas Rachh, January 06, 2008

Sir,
I am coordinator of a student festival, Techfest which is the Annual International Science And Technology Festival of IIT Bombay, India. This
year in the festival we have a section dedicated to global warming. We also have a newsletter this year for which we wish to use your article for the
same. These newsletters will be distributed to all the students who come to the festival. Please grant us the permission for the same.

I know how to save the planet.......
written by Travis, January 06, 2008

......a good ole' plague resulting in the reduction of human population by about 80 %. Of course this would only be temporary as we would make the same mistakes all over again.

Forever and ever amen
written by David ben-Avram, January 25, 2008

Terrific points. CFLs, like the Prius, sure seem like a band-aid to me. Something all of these have in common is the difficulty they'll face in implimentation. Red-blooded Americans need to buy in. The greenie-weenies already do, but the Texas soccermoms idling their Escalades might have trouble swallowing some of these pills. As much as I hate using the word, we need to continue making green "sexy."

Aren't technologies for tracking energy
written by John Waiveris, February 20, 2008

I think a technology missing from the list is "gauges" to track electrical, fuel, etc. usage. I've seen this in three areas in my life:

1) Hybrid drivers drive more efficiently - partly because the fuel consumption graph can help them learn what consumes fuel.

2) Household energy monitors (ex: www.TheEnergyDetective.com) show where energy is wasted in places you don't expect.

A study in in England installed thousands of these devices for free and people consumed an average of 20% less. We put one in and dropped our monthly bill from $250 to $45 with almost no lifestyle change. (We already switched to CFL lights and any obvious improvements.)

3) We installed a furnace tracking device and learned that plasticing the windows (10$ fix) dropped our fuel usage from 65%. ($600/mo.!!) It was amazing to see the numbers change day to day as we made changes.

...
written by Joe Oravec, April 09, 2008

8)Yes 2008 will be the start of something good. First the comments and editorials regarding CDs, DVDs and other disposable media are a little negative. You can look at circuit city.com to find the V-mate or look at your nearest Microcenter to find the Neuros. Both do the same job, they convert your analog or digital media to digital for storage and playback. You can convert those old VHS tapes, DVDs, and other Video Media to a USB hard drive, Flash drive, SD card Etc.

So, goodbye DVDs too. Also, camcorder videos can be converted. Software exist to convert audio media such as LPs, cassette tapes, 8-tracks, CDs, and others to digital format to be stored digitally like the video files spoken of above.

With cell phones, Mp3 players, blackberries, and other personal players, we can eliminate the need for disposeable media. As far as saving the planet is concerned. If you hug a tree too hard you may damage the bark. We can only do for the planet what is within our reach. We can not force China, Mexico, or other countries to elimate or reduce harmful waste from filling the air, water or land from those countries.

stop local papers
written by nick, September 08, 2008

Go green and opt out of your free local paper!! http://www.stopmylocalpaper.org

plz stop
written by dannielle, September 09, 2008

hi im danielle and im at high school and it gets me scard that the world would end but y dont you all just leave the world as it is right now you can live with out tv and computers and cars we can all do it but if you all keep this up you will kill us all with kindnes of making up more stuff that is so new >:( wot would you do if your kids kids hate to go throu every day woundindaring if thay will wake up tomorow so just plz think about wat you are inventing
if any one wonts to talk about this plz drop me an email at \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

You all are missing a massive MASSIVE TE
written by Scythen Hade, March 28, 2009

I have already sent this to dept of energy, discovery and a couple intelligence agencies. The way to do it is such: magnetic engine (youtube.com magnetic motorcycle for proof that it works) goes to desalination factory, separate the salt from the water, sell salt to transport water accross globe for free, 5 billion people drink a gallon of water a day, polar caps melting water won't rise if we all share the oceans water, electric will be supplied by energy from magnetic generator, electric bill will be cheaper so instead of paying 100 bucks a day you'll pay 25 and 5 will goto upkeep of generators by company x, and the rest will pay YOUR HEALTHCARE, also massive filters that use algae to clean the air will be used, rebuild houses in the shape of a dome so wind rolls off it in hurricanes instead of getting a grip on your roof and ripping it off, also if you think the water will still rise then we can give millions of americans jobs building pyramid like barriers around the continents to keep the water from getting in because the water will go up then roll back down. TELL PEOPLE SO WE CAN GET THIS DONE!!! P.S. There are companies already past you skeptics, they will begin mass production soon and will have an upper hand on your life.

...
written by wholesale from china, October 13, 2009

As far as saving the planet is concerned. If you hug a tree too hard you may damage the bark.

CFO
written by Dar Tamaddon, November 22, 2009

taxi that drives 21 miles empty from town takes me round trip and then returns empty to town - yeah that makes sense -
No wait I take the bus at 6am then wait til 5pm to come home -
-much better

CFO
written by Dar Tamaddon, November 22, 2009

taxi that drives 21 miles empty from town takes me round trip and then returns empty to town - yeah that makes sense -
No wait I take the bus at 6am then wait til 5pm to come home -
-much better

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