Concrete can serve a multitude of uses in decorating the home, from artful flooring to sturdy countertops. It is also remarkably eco-friendly. It uses byproducts from other industries in its creation and is largely recyclable when you're done with it.
"Eat locally, grow locally" has become a mantra of today's move to a more sustainable lifestyle. But growing fruits and vegetables in your own neighborhood often depends on some helping hands -- or legs and wings -- from an army of insect pollinators, notably bees.
The Robert J. Dole Veterans Administration Medical Center in Wichita, Kan., has agreed to pay a $17,979 civil penalty to the United States to settle a series of hazardous waste violations on its campus.
Sprint's headquarters irrigates its campus via a a rainwater collection system, which has proven to be a boon for both the company's bank account and the environment.
- By Laura Williams
- July 27, 2011
If researchers can coax yeast into processing more of the sugars found in biofuel feedstocks, they can improve the efficiency of producing renewable fuels from biomass crops like corn stover or switchgrass.
DTE Energy, a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide, recently announced that it will install four Plug-in Electric Vehicle charging stations at Detroit Metro Airport – part of a program to deploy 16 such public charging stations throughout Southeastern Michigan.
As the nation grapples with a record year for storms, drought and weather-related devastation, a new report claims climate change is leaving American cities open to a range of water-related vulnerabilities –- from drought to sea level rise and increased rainfall –- regardless of region or size. The report looks at how communities facing these new extremes are trying to protect their water supplies and waterways.
An increase in wildfires due to climate change could rapidly and profoundly alter the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to a new study authored by environmental engineering and geography Professor Anthony Westerling of the University of California, Merced.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers from CSIRO, University of Queensland and United States Geological Survey present a pragmatic decision framework for determining when, if ever, to move species in the face of climate change.
An old theory in ecology is that in any ecosystem, a small-sized animal species will be more populous than a large species. All you need is a summer picnic to prove the point: your barbecue might end up attracting thousands of tiny ants — but only a few rotund squirrels.
A new study by top global fisheries experts presents an alarming assessment of several economically important fish populations. The analysis of 61 species of "scombrids," which include tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels, and billfishes, which include swordfish and marlins, classified seven as threatened with extinction and four as "near threatened" for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
MIT researchers have found a way to improve the energy density of a type of battery known as lithium-air (or lithium-oxygen) batteries, producing a device that could potentially pack several times more energy per pound than the lithium-ion batteries that now dominate the market for rechargeable devices in everything from cellphones to cars.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been reduced by an accumulated 5.7 million metric tonnes (mt) in Mexico City since it began implementing its Green Plan in 2008, the Mexico City government recently announced.
A recent increase in the abundance of particles high in the atmosphere has offset about a third of the current climate warming influence of carbon dioxide (CO2) change during the past decade, according to a new study led by NOAA and published today in the online edition of Science.
A Dow Plastics pilot program recovered 96 percent of potential energy from waste plastics burned to fuel an incinerator.
- By Laura Williams
- July 25, 2011