Klaus

Wrecking the economy?

 Sun, 06 Jan 2019 01:47:38 +0100 
:facepalm

#^Can we consume less without wrecking the economy? | DW | 03.09.2018
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Environmentalists say our species' addiction to consumption is responsible for climate change and a host of other environment ills. It's also a driving economic force. Can we reconcile the two?

Welfare, communal sharing, volunteering, open-source innovation — and a shift from fulfillment measured in the accumulation of shiny baubles toward more intrinsic human values — all have a role to play.

According to UN-commissioned report, which is to inform the 2019 UN Global Sustainable Development Report, capitalism, at least in its current form, just isn't up to the job of tackling climate change, pointing out that "dramatic reductions in emissions at current high levels of consumption are very challenging, if not impossible."
Klaus

energy storage technology

 Wed, 21 Nov 2018 23:58:43 +0100 
#^Energy Vault – Ground-breaking energy storage technology enabling a planet powered by renewable resources
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The Problem
At the forefront of technological innovation, there is a limit to the amount of electricity that can be delivered to the grid from intermittent renewable energy sources.
Renewable energy is now widely affordable. However, production unpredictability and intermittency from reliance on factors such as wind and sunlight mean that renewables have not been able to fully replace fossil fuel generation.
Until now that is.

Our Solution
Our breakthrough technology was inspired by pumped hydro plants that rely on gravity and the movement of water to generate power.
The Energy Vault solution utilises the same fundamentals of physics and kinetic energy as pumped hydro but replaces the water with custom made cylindrical blocks utilising an extremely innovative use of low-cost materials.
These low-cost blocks, combined with our patented system design and some very clever control software, has allowed us to deliver all the benefits of a pumped hydro system but at a much lower price, starting size and without the need for hard to find topography.
Klaus

ewwwww

 GermanyTue, 20 Nov 2018 22:40:56 +0100 
#^Plastic-filled sperm whale carcass washes ashore in Indonesia | DW | 20.11.2018
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Indonesian authorities have discovered flip-flops, plastic bottles and cups in a dead sperm whale. Five Asian nations, including Indonesia, are considered the world's worst plastic polluters of the earth's oceans.
Klaus

Umgebungslärmportal

 Bonn, GermanyFri, 16 Nov 2018 01:38:38 +0100 
#^MKULNV Umgebungslärmportal - Umgebungslärm
Lärmbelastungen sichtbar machen
Die Lärmkarten stellen die Lärmsituation vor Ort dar. Sie bilden die Grundlage für die Lärmaktionsplanung der Städte und Gemeinden. Sie sind zudem ein wichtiges Instrument der Lärmvorsorge. Durch die Integration der Lärmkarten in städtischen Bau- und Planungsmaßnahmen können Lärmprobleme im Vorfeld vermieden werden.
Klaus

Lowest recorded Rhine water level

 Bonn, GermanySun, 21 Oct 2018 22:01:30 +0200 
#^Shipping in Bonn and the region - Lowest recorded Rhine water level will soon be reached
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The water level of the Rhine sank even further on Friday. The German weather service has not given the all-clear: the heavy rainfall needed is not due in the next few days. The situation for the inland shipping traffic and ferry services therefore remains difficult.
Klaus

Collecting is not recycling

 Bonn, GermanySun, 14 Oct 2018 21:21:37 +0200 
#^Plastic waste and the recycling myth | DW | 12.10.2018
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Germany is hailed worldwide as a recycling champion. But like many European countries, it actually recycles a lot less plastic packaging waste than commonly understood — with dire consequences for the environment.
Klaus
 Fri, 28 Sep 2018 00:45:47 +0200 
:sigh

#^Is the destruction of Hambach Forest legal? | DW | 25.09.2018
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Judicial advice says RWE's right to clear Hambach Forest depends on conditions that haven't been met. Are German police evicting protestors to make way for illegal activity by the energy company?


#^Opinion: Hambach Forest — just because it's legal doesn't make it right | DW | 17.09.2018
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The protest over a scrap of ancient forest in Germany is about much more than a few scraggly tree huggers. It's about the future of energy — and protection of the climate around the world, says DW's Sonya Diehn.
Klaus
 Sat, 01 Sep 2018 15:36:02 +0200 
#^Palm oil: Too much of a good thing? | DW | 07.08.2018
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Palm oil can be used in everything from cosmetics to fuel, and is cheap and efficient to produce. But this versatile crop has a dark side — its incredible popularity has caused widespread environmental destruction.


Palm oil production is the leading driver of tropical deforestation, which accounts for 18 percent of all global human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Clearing Indonesian forests is a particular problem, because they store more carbon per hectare than the Brazilian Amazon thanks to their "carbon-rich" soils, according to US-based Union of Concerned Scientists.
Land clearing for palm oil was also linked with giant fires in Indonesia in 2015 that became one of the world's biggest climate disasters in terms of greenhouse gas pollution. The fires released more heat-trapping gases than all of Germany's annual emissions from fossil fuels.
Klaus

Mirror for society

 Fri, 31 Aug 2018 22:53:49 +0200 
#^Germany's forests are full of hidden history | DW | 09.08.2018
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Steeped in myth and legend, the forest has long held deep meaning and been a source of fascination. How did the woods become so symbolic for so many, from the romantics and the Nazis to modern environmentalists?
Klaus

A Photographic Investigation

 Mon, 25 Jun 2018 22:46:00 +0200 
#^Monsanto: A Photographic Investigation
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Mathieu Asselin's webpage. Work, workshops, events, news, contact, bio. Asselin's work mainly consists out of long-term investigative documentary projects.

The Work
Monsanto®'s dozens of Superfund sites ( large contaminated sites of high priority for the us Environmental Protection Agency ) across the United States alone are affecting hundreds of communities and their environment with terrifying health and ecological consequences. Monsanto® maintains strong ties with the us government, and especially with the FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration). It is a bedfellow with many other economical and political power houses around the world. The company engages in campaigns of misinformation, the persecution of institutions and individuals, including scientists, farmers and activists that dare to disclose its crimes. Monsanto® is spreading new technologies and products, while scientists, ecological institutions and human rights organizations are putting out alerts about issues like public health, food safety and ecological sustainability issues on which our future on this planet depends. This is all particularly troublesome since Monsanto® is entering a new chapter of disregard for our planet through the creation and commercialization of gmos. Looking at the company’s past and present, this project aims to picture what Monsanto® ’s near future will look like.
Klaus

Kaffeeform

 Sat, 23 Jun 2018 23:25:12 +0200 
This is a really nice idea. These cups looks really nice and unique.

#^Kaffeeform - Coffee cups made from recycled coffee grounds
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What happens to all the coffee grounds after we have enjoyed our Espresso, Cappuccino or Americano? Is there no way to re-use this good and natural resource? And if, what does it take to preserve it and for good? These were the thoughts that kept the product designer Julian Lechner awake at nights during his studies in Italy – these questions and an intense coffee consumption – and he did not let go of the thought of creating something completely new.

After 3 years of experimenting with this fascinating raw material, discussions with experts and scientists and endless attempts it finally paid off: out of recycled coffee grounds and renewable raw materials the new material Kaffeeform was born, a new formula that allows him to create complete new products out of old coffee.
Klaus
 Thu, 14 Jun 2018 23:20:05 +0200 
#^Indonesia combines Islam with environmental activism | DW | 14.06.2018
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The Indonesian government and Greenpeace have partnered with Islamic organizations to promote plastic waste reduction. Can including religion make environmental campaigns more effective?

#PantangPlastik
Klaus

sustainability targets

 Tue, 05 Jun 2018 00:01:11 +0200 
:facepalm

#^Germany's Bayer to drop Monsanto name in takeover | DW | 04.06.2018
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Bayer's takeover of US seed giant Monsanto will be completed on Thursday, the company has said. Although Bayer will acquire all of the weed-killer and seedmaker's products, the Monsanto name will be left behind.
Klaus
 Wed, 23 May 2018 22:38:54 +0200 
#^Major grocery supplier to Germany accused of environmental crimes in Spain, report says | DW | 23.05.2018
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One of Aldi's fruit and vegetable suppliers has been accused of helping ruin an important lagoon, a media report has said. Germany's demand for cheap vegetables has been blamed for encouraging farmers to cut corners.
Klaus

Weiternutzen statt wegwerfen

 Thu, 03 May 2018 21:39:34 +0200 
#^Die Reparatur-Revolution
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Lieber kaufen statt reparieren? Elektrogeräte sind reine Wegwerfartikel geworden. Gegen diesen Trend stemmen sich immer mehr Menschen. Sie fordern das Recht auf Reparatur.
Klaus

Ab jetzt auf Pump

 Tue, 01 May 2018 23:46:42 +0200 
#^Deutschland lebt auf Pump - Ressourcen für 2018 sind aufgebraucht | DW | 01.05.2018
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Jahr für Jahr verbrauchen die Menschen mehr natürliche Ressourcen als der Planet zur Verfügung hat. Auch Deutschland überlastet die Erde. Das Land lebt von Mittwoch an wieder auf "Kredit", die Substanz ist aufgebraucht.
Klaus

13 Milligramm NOx/km auf Basis der bewährten Technik

 Sat, 28 Apr 2018 01:01:25 +0200 
#^Bosch verbessert Diesel-Abgaswerte dramatisch
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Was so logisch wie utopisch klingt, scheint Bosch nun gelungen zu sein: Ein Sprung in den Diesel-Abgaswerten um eine Größenordnung – einzig durch eine bodenständig-vernünftige Weiterentwicklung der bereits bewährten Technik-Komponenten


Da drängt sich eine weitere Perspektive auf: Wird der Gesetzgeber nachziehen und die Emissionsvorschriften den neuen technischen Möglichkeiten anpassen? Oder wird die wie immer laut jammernde Lobby der Autoindustrie in ihrer unstillbar scheinenden Profitgier es erneut schaffen, die Regeln aufzuweichen, Fristen hinauszuschieben?
Klaus

Over evolutionary time

 Sat, 28 Apr 2018 00:32:54 +0200 
#^Nuclear accidents make mutant bugs and birds | DW | 26.04.2018
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Biologist Timothy Mousseau has spent years collecting mutant bugs, birds and mice around Chernobyl and Fukushima. In a DW interview, he shares some surprising insights into the effects of nuclear accidents on wildlife.
Klaus

Heimakku

 Thu, 12 Apr 2018 11:33:05 +0200 
#^Erneuerbare Energien: Der Heimakku als Baustein in der Energiewende - Golem.de
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Solarstrom an Netzbetreiber zu verkaufen, lohnt sich nicht mehr. Ein Heimakku zum Eigenverbrauch ist die bessere Alternative. Diese Speicher könnten helfen, Schwankungen im
Klaus
 Thu, 15 Mar 2018 23:49:12 +0100 
#^Artist against Indonesia deforestation | All media content | DW | 15.03.2018
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In the past few years, the destruction of rainforests in Indonesia has reached an alarming level. The main reason behind this increasing deforestation is the plantation of oil palm trees. Ernest Zacharevic, an artist from Lithuania, has a unique way to raise awareness about it.