Welcome ! As a young French Marketing professional with a Master's in International Management I have been selecting since January 2007 the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change, cleantech and the world energy sector. Sounds great ? Don't hesitate to subscribe now !
Sometimes, the simplest things work best. To Grist : ” Bill Clinton urged mayors at the Large Cities Climate Summit to go after a pollutant 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide: methane.”
” By capturing it from landfills, from which it leaches in prodigious amounts, cities could use it to generate power. Wrestling CO2 could take years, but harnessing methane could make a big difference and make it more quickly.”
Reducing greenhouse gases emissions AND generating clean electricity at the same time ? That sure sounds like a good idea. This reminds me we could do the same in farms. (Go to Fuel Fix for more)
While I am a huge supporter of electric cars and mass transportation, I also believe bikes should play a more important role in our lives and cities. And so does Grist with its great Bikenomics series of three articles.
Indeed, cycling allows people to stop buying foreign oil and thus spend their money in local economies instead. This could actually bring millions, I should write, billions, of dollars and euros in local communities.
As a matter of facts, it is already doing so in some regions of the United States. Biking is also a great way to reduce energy consumption and has many advantages for your health.
According to the Canadian magazine Corporate Knights : ” If the concept of a sustainable city sounds like a paradox, that’s because it is, according to physicist Geoffrey West.”
” Ironically, because of their urban “metabolism,” cities require only 85 per cent of the resources necessary to double in size, and they’re more energy efficient than rural communities. “
The article follows the release of another United Nations study dedicated to better cities. Make sure to read both the report and the article if you are interested by the topic.
In the age of scarcity, space can be a very expensive commodity. Hong Kong architect Gary Chang had an awesome idea to solve this : he transformed his 32 square meters appartment into a much bigger one with sliding walls.
This very simple yet ingenious idea allows him to have in a relatively secluded place many different rooms such as a library, a full kitchen, a bathroom with a tub and a spare bedroom. He even has a laundry room !
As you can imagine such a creative idea has travelled all around the world and Mr. Chang’s appartment was featured in the New York Times, the AFP and TreeHugger. Continue »
Urban sprawl poses many problems in terms of infrastructures to maintain, increased energy consumption and last but not least important health and environmental issues.
With the economic downturn and high energy prices, people are sometimes returning to the urban cores. This leaves empty houses and even districts. In some cases these suburbs are litterally bulldozed and returned to Nature.
I personally wonder if this trend is likely to continue and even increase – oil prices will sooner or later go back up $100 – or if this is but a fade. Continue »
In a recent article Franke James was wondering ” Why do we cover up the earth with impermeable materials that stop the rain from going into the ground and require expensive sewers?
According to the Chicago Green Alleys Handbook quoted by Franke, unpaving our streets would bring many advantages such as reducing localized flooding, recharging groundwater and saving taxpayer money.
This brilliant idea reminded me of my post on green roofs as well as the series of pictures showing what would Tokyo look like if it unpaved its streets (above: Akihabara ). Continue »
