Basel Convention and Khian Sea

The Basel Convention is a United Nations treaty that was signed in 1989 to control the transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. The treaty helped define hazardous wastes, outlined how hazardous wastes are disposed and set guidelines such as approved facilities by city governments.

 

It’s been said that one event that prompted the Basel Convention was the Khian Sea waste disposal incident from 1986-2000. The Khian Sea cargo ship (which was registered in Liberia) was loaded with 14,355 tons of non-toxic ash from waste incinerations from the US. The story goes that a US company that handled the waste subcontracted a shipment to dump the ash in the Bahamas, however, the Bahamian government turned down the ash and so, for over one year the Khian Sea searched for a place to dump the ash. Many regions of the world refused to accept the ash and since the ash was even refused from the original area in the US from where it was received, in 1988 the crew dumped about 4,000 tons of the waste in Haiti as “topsoil fertilizer” and fled before they could pick up the ash as the Haitian commerce minister ordered. The Khian Sea then moved on to regions such as Morocco, Sri Lanka and Singapore where the captain testified to dumping about 10,000 tons of ash into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

 

Here is an image of the home port of the Khian Sea in Philadelphia:

 

 

(Source: http://www.basel.int/Home/tabid/2202/Default.aspx and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khian_Sea_waste_disposal_incident )

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About Gas Engines and GE’s Jenbacher

GE makes gas engines that feed on bio gas produced from a variety of foods and food by-products; and now these GE machines can also process synthetic gas, or syngas from wood. Many gas engines can run on natural gas, landfills gas, sewage gas, biogas, mine gas, coal gas, and syngas (such as the popular- Jenbacher).

In remote towns and villages, these gas engines supply power and they help cities integrate renewable energy into the power grid. The gas engines can also be configured with generators and other GE products to form power plants to supply power. This energy method is commonly used in areas such as Europe. GE has distributed power solutions including: generator sets, cogeneration systems and containers. Distributed Power is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and you can learn more about it here: https://www.ge-distributedpower.com/

A visualization of a Jenbacher can be viewed here:

(Source: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140407/infographic-field-guide-us-environmental-movement

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Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) should begin testing this year

Yesterday morning, a NASA “mega-rocket” and a spacecraft video was posted on the web and it explained that NASA plans to test this new rocket later this year. This would be the “largest and most powerful rocket in history” so Orion will fly farther than any other spacecraft has in 40 years. Experts say that Orion has a somewhat old-fashioned design which is reliable as well as cost effective. Orion can also stay in space for over 6 months.

Orion is designed to deliver up to four astronauts even further into the solar system than ever before. Orion might go to the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars. For those familiar with the Space Launch System (SLS) seen here:

 

This is an artist rendering of an SLS that is planned to launch the MPCV. Another great Green article from Green Halo Track your recycling at www.greenhalosystems.com Follow Green Halo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/greenhalousa

Ever wonder who’s leading the U.S. environmental movement?

Insideclimatenews.org published an insightful infographic about how much different organizations that are headquartered in the United States have for an annual budget (according to “the organizations and consultation with experts”).

The organization with the largest budget for the environmental movement according to this infographic is the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) with an impressive budget of $120.5 million. In case you’re wondering what the EDF does, the EDF “work[s] to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends, focusing on the most critical environmental problems”. The EDF is working to protect the precious environmental systems by focusing on pressing environmental issues. The climate, energy oceanic, ecosystem and health system work can be explored on their website: http://www.edf.org/. The second largest budget in the U.S. environmental movement is the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC).

The NRDC is known for being one of the nation’s most powerful environmental groups, hence the NRDC claims to be “The Earth’s Best Defense” and the “nation’s most effective environmental action group”. The best defense and most powerful environmental group in this case revolves around the fact that the NRDC combines grassroots power with “courtroom clout”. The staff works with various groups to address:

• Curbing Global Warming and Creating the Clean Energy Future
• Reviving the World’s Oceans
• Defending Endangered Wildlife and Wild Places
• Protecting Our Health by Preventing Pollution
• Ensuring Safe and Sufficient Water
• Fostering Sustainable Communities

All of these pressing environmental issues and more can be read about by clicking on the links here: http://www.nrdc.org/about/. Both the EDF and the NRDC are known as political activists and interestingly enough the five largest budgeted organizations are all political advocates according to insideclimatenews.org. The second largest budgeted organizations are in the direction action category and the smallest budgeted organizations fall under the grassroots category.

In summary, the top 10 organizations driving the “modern green wave” show how the environmental movement is swayed. These budgets “advance environmental agendas at the local, national and international levels” and so this info graphic is a good, quick way to see who the biggest players are:

(Source: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140407/infographic-field-guide-us-environmental-movement

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Fastest Motorcycle in the World and It’s Electric!

With a 200 horsepower electric motor and a top speed of 216 mph, the Lightning LS-218 SuperBike is not just the world’s fastest production electric motorcycle – it also holds the world land speed record as the fastest production motorcycle period. The LS-218 has a driving range up to 180 miles per charge, and it can be recharged in just 30 minutes with a quick charger.

The numbers:

-200 horsepower
-168 lb-ft. of torque
-weighs 495 pounds
-tops out at 216mph

“Consumers no longer are required to pay more for less performance to support green technology”, said the CEO of Lightning Motorcycle. It’s been tested and proven to win against the best gasoline race bikes.

For a mere $38,000 the insanely fast Lightning LS-218 can be yours starting this summer!

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Cultivate Festival

San Franciscans mark your calendars for June 7^th. Chipotle brings free “FOOD, IDEAS & MUSIC FESTIVAL[S]” to various locations which can be seen here: http://chipotlecultivate.com/

A line up of all of the awesome bands and chefs are shown as well as maps to give you all the information that you’ll need to get there…the rest is up to you!

While the Cultivate festival is free, you can also choose to volunteer! Just email sustainability@chipotle.com to learn more and you can receive free t-shirts, lunch tickets and a card for a dinner for 10 at any Chipotle-worth $100!

Cheers!

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NASA’s Sustainable Mission to Mars

“NASA scientists have been conducting research focused on harnessing the power of biology to create useful things out of what seems to be nothing”. Rob Verger of Newsweek sums it up perfectly and his article “Recycling on Mars” covers everything from reliable space trips, to human waste not going to waste, and mainly- the technology that is being carried into space.

In “Recycling on Mars”, Verger quotes Michael Flynn, an engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center who spoke about how important it is that the space stations have regular maintenance so that they won’t inevitably fail. Flynn’s point about maintaining the spaceships segue into an analogy to the human body which he explains as a more dynamic system that includes “the ability to repair itself”. The stunning abilities of the human body and biology is why, the Ames center is trying to “integrate the lessons learned from biological systems into mechanical systems”.

This is why a 3-D printer is being sent to the ISS of the SpaceX4 mission and why scientists on the mission will also bring yeast cells that could produce pigments. Making pigments is a test, and if it succeeds all sorts of materials such as cotton, bone and adhesives could be utilized so that a Mars mission is sustainable.

(Source: http://www.newsweek.com/2014/05/30/recycling-mars-251740.html)

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NASA’s Global Selfie Results Just In

NASA asked people from around the globe to upload a selfie on Earth Day on social media so that a mosaic of the images with the globe could be created and posted on GigaPan at: http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/155294

This spectacular image was built using 36,422 photos that were tagged #globalsefie in five humongous social media platforms around April 22, 2014. Here, people from more than 100 countries are all organized in a high quality rendering that people can zoom in and out of to see the selfies large or small.

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Microorganisms Are Put to Work to Make Eco-Friendly Bricks

A new type of brick called bioMASON has arrived, and it is actually GROWN not built…by putting microorganisms to work! One of the most energy intensive materials to manufacture is concrete and the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere in this process is also something that could be lessened if bricks could be made in a bio-friendly manner.

bioMASON is a “unique biotechnology start-up manufacturing company with a natural process that will revolutionize the building and construction industry. bioMASON employs natural microorganisms and chemical processes to manufacture biological cement-based masonry building materials”. In addition to the fascinating science behind this is bioMASON’s award for the: Next Generation “the Big Fix” by Metropolis magazine.

The founder, Ginger Krieg Dosier had the idea to grow bricks since she studied coral structure and the process has been refined by bioMASON. A video of Dosier and the product can be viewed here:

 

(Source: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/05/20/sponsored-ad-biomason-green-challenge)

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Nothing but GreenSky

British Airways is partnering with Solena Fuels to build the world’s first landfill waste to jet fuel conversion facility. The project will be based out of Thames Enterprise Park, which is located on a part of the former Coryton oil refinery in Thurrock, Essex.

Through an innovative and revolutionary process, Solena Fuels will convert approximately 575,000 tons of post-recycled waste to 120,000 tons of clean burning liquid fuels thus diverting over half a million tons of waste from landfills or incineration facilities. British Airways has made a long term commitment to purchase all 50,000 per annum of the jet fuel produced at market competitive rates, representing 2% of their overall fuel consumption with hopes of obtaining 10% of its fuel from the waste-to-energy process. Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ parent company IAG said:

“We are always striving to reduce our impact on climate change and this first-of-its-kind project marks a significant step for the aviation industry.  The construction of the GreenSky London fuel facility at Thames Enterprise Park will lay the foundations for British Airways to reduce its carbon emissions significantly.  The sustainable jet fuel produced each year will be enough to power our flights from London City Airport twice over with carbon savings the equivalent of taking 150,000 cars off the road. Solena has been developing the project and will be using its patented high temperature plasma gasification technology to convert the waste efficiently into synthetic gas.  The gas will then be converted into liquid hydrocarbons using third party technologies which will include cleaning and conditioning of the gas, a Velocys Fischer-Tropsch conversion process, hydrocracking and electric power production.   With the initial engineering design completed, Solena and its partners are now starting the next phase of engineering of the GreenSky London facility.”

Even though flights will not be taking off any time soon, consumers should feel relieved that leading companies are taking the initiative and looking for alternative, sustainable fuel options.

(Source: https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/bamediacentre/newsarticles?articleID=20140416080250#.U2qJe_ldV1i)

To learn more about Solena’s Fuel Solution, including Velocys Fischer-Tropsch conversions and hydrocracking, please visit http://www.solenafuels.com/index.php/our-solution

For a video of Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG (parent company of British Airways) discussing the new project visit British Airways’ YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF5YzmQzL3Y

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