A British startup has figured out how to produce gasoline from air and water.
Renewables
Not in my Backyard
The “Not in My Backyard” (NIMBY) problem can put a real lid on wind energy uptake if a sufficient number of backyards are marked as off-limits. And we need those yards. A windmill can’t exactly function to peak capacity when tucked furtively away in one’s garage. But what creates the […]
We Blew It
In the August/September issue of A\J [38:5, In Defence of Science], energy reporter Andrew Nikiforuk wrote a column that rubbed a number of our readers the wrong way. The executive directors of Environmental Defence and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment responded with a joint letter that picked […]
Blown out of Proportion
THE GREAT ECOLOGIST Garrett Hardin once noted that in any endeavor, “We can never do merely one thing.” The great wind power boom ably proves his point.
What’s the Big Idea? Non-Renewable
“My grandfather rode a camel. My father rode in a car. I fly in a jet airplane. My grandson will ride a camel.” (alleged Saudi saying) THE CONCEPT of non-renewable resources is not difficult. The litres of gasoline we burned yesterday are gone. They are not resting and recuperating. They […]
Home Brew
NOT LONG AFTER ARRIVING in North Carolina, I became enamored with that exotic Southern delicacy: deep-fried turkey. Each time I fried a bird, however, I was left with gallons of used cooking oil. The recycler in me found it hard to throw such waste in the woods, so in 2002 […]
Editorial: Biofuelling the Future
WE'RE VERY PLEASED to announce that Alternatives has become the media sponsor for Earth Day Canada’s Hometown Heroes. The annual award goes to an individual or group who has made an outstanding contribution to the environment by working within their community. It’s work that often goes unnoticed, so we are […]
Pedal Power
We are often asked if our pedal-driven biodiesel reactor could be mechanized. “Automation is possible,” we answer, “but when it takes only about three hours of pedalling to produce a month’s supply of biodiesel for the village of Kinchlingi’s 75 inhabitants, it is not necessary.” …
Editorial: Ask Not What the Economy Can Do for the Environment
The Worldwatch Institute’s recently released report, Green Jobs: Working for People and the Environment, outlines impressive growth projections for the environment sector. The author notes that “climate proofing” the global economy will create great employment opportunities worldwide. Could investment in a greener economy propel us toward a more sustainable future […]
The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World
Society has always had a weakness for seers and prophets, those who claim the ability to travel mentally to that murky destination called the future and bring back lessons for today. But the next frontier is, of course, an unknowable place. Regardless of how attractive or compelling a vision of […]
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