GlobalVoices ReFeed

urban agriculture

Rory Williams — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:46:35 +0000

If Americans were able to grow 40% of their fresh produce in household gardens during World War II, then there must be hope for improving food security in present-day cities in developing countries. With a steady process of urbanisation underway,...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 10, 2008, 8:45PM

adaptation to climate change

Rory Williams — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:26:39 +0000

Efforts to help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change just received a shot in the arm. The National Center for Capacity Building in the US was established in 2004 to address the issued of adaptation in developing countries, but somebody...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 9, 2008, 12:13PM

green bloggers unite!

Rory Williams — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:46:36 +0000

If you are a "green blogger" and you're in Cape Town this Saturday, join us with Juliana Rotich, Environment Editor of Global Voices Online (she's paying a special visit to SA). This is an informal gathering, so feel free to...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 6, 2008, 10:41AM

world habitat day

Rory Williams — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:26:06 +0000

The UN concept of World Habitat Day "is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 6, 2008, 1:00AM

you go, girl

Rory Williams — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:26:34 +0000

From solar cars to fast (sort-of-green) cars. I am not a big fan of racing, but I was intrigued by an email from the social networking site Clean Action Network about NASCAR racer Leilani Munter, who runs the site Carbon...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 4, 2008, 10:16AM

earth overshoot day

Rory Williams — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:06:38 +0000

If you use up your monthly salary before the next payday, you borrow money to tide you over. Which might be alright, if you have a good credit rating and you don't do it every month. But if you spend...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 3, 2008, 12:40AM

flying close to the sun

Rory Williams — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:46:59 +0000

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's part of an F16 fighter jet that is now a solar car. I had a peek at the vehicles participating in the South African Solar Challenge, and this is one...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Oct 1, 2008, 10:45PM

SA's own electric car

Rory Williams — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:06:38 +0000

Other South African bloggers have already picked this up here and here and here; but what the heck, when the South African Innovation Fund supports the development of a homegrown electric vehicle that could even make it to commercial production,...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 30, 2008, 9:48PM

ground zero for the climate change battle

Rory Williams — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:46:59 +0000

It's been widely reported that right about now - certainly this decade - cities are overtaking rural areas as home to more than half the world's population. Statistics like this tend to reinforce the emphasis on cities as the source...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 30, 2008, 12:30AM

solar cars on show

Rory Williams — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:06:16 +0000

If you are in Cape Town, you can see the solar-powered cars that are racing in the South African Solar Challenge. They will be at the MTN Sciencentre at Canal Walk on Wednesday 1st October. From the Sciencentre newsletter:The South...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 26, 2008, 1:54PM

outmoding the commode

Rory Williams — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:46:04 +0000

What the modern fridge does for household electricity consumption, the modern toilet does for water. Actually, the toilet - in its most common form - is not modern at all, and it's time for a makeover. But toilets that use...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 26, 2008, 1:27AM

old fridge design brought back to life

Rory Williams — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:26:30 +0000

A few years ago, when I witnessed the effects of Eskom's budget-sapping rollout of the national electricity grid to rural Transkei, I wondered how people who rely on a largely subsistence economy could possibly afford to buy, operate and maintain...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 25, 2008, 1:49AM

crowdsourcing energy solutions

Rory Williams — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:46:17 +0000

If we leave everything to the experts, we might never make progress. A new alternate reality game called World Without Oil has been developed to stimulate ideas on an oil-free future by engaging online gamers.The premise of World Without Oil...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 24, 2008, 1:35AM

how we get to work makes all the difference

Rory Williams — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:26:02 +0000

While we try to improve the energy performance of buildings through design, efficient technologies, water re-use and various strategies that are recognised through auditing tools like BREEAM, LEED and Green Star, we can't lose sight of how people get to...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 23, 2008, 1:04AM

redneck mansion

Rory Williams — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:46:01 +0000

At the great caravan park in the sky.

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 22, 2008, 1:41AM

greening Africa

Rory Williams — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:06:57 +0000

Regular readers will notice that, along with the redesign of this weblog, I have a new link at the top of the page called 'maps'. This is a link to a map I have started of green projects in SubSaharan...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 21, 2008, 3:01AM

fighting for air and water

Rory Williams — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:46:03 +0000

Apparently the Ugandan government is allowing the destruction of parts of the country's natural rainforest to address energy and agricultural needs. According to Ugandan lawyer Moses Sserwanga, they have allocated a swath of the forest for new electricity transmission lines,...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 18, 2008, 10:30AM

powering our way to extinction

Rory Williams — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:07:00 +0000

Most references to biodiversity are in relation to how we are reducing plant diversity by taking over habitats either by expanding the built environment or by extending agricultural areas. What is rarely considered is the role of humans as animals...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 17, 2008, 1:59PM

[Untitled]

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:06:30 +0000

Originally from SA Climate Crisis reBlogged

fossil fuel-free community planned in the US of A

Rory Williams — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:46:43 +0000

Geos in Arvada, Colorado, plans to be the first community in America to be self-sufficient in energy, using solar and geothermal sources. What I like about this plan is that it recognises that the layout of the street grid has...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 12, 2008, 7:40PM

solar-powered water treatment

Rory Williams — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:06:07 +0000

At least one third of the population in developing countries has no access to safe drinking water. The lack of adequate water supply and sanitation facilities causes a serious health hazard and exposes many to the risk of water-borne diseases....

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 10, 2008, 12:56AM

for men only

Rory Williams — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:06:40 +0000

You may have heard of waterless urinals, and at least one manufacturer is making the lowly urinal even greener. Soybean urinals from Waterless Co. are made from approximately 30 percent soybean resin, which is a naturally sustainable resource.

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 9, 2008, 1:05AM

Africa's unfulfilled potential

Rory Williams — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:47:14 +0000

There could be more than three thousand clean energy projects producing a combined 170 gigawatts in Sub-Saharan Africa. That's more than twice the region’s current installed capacity. Instead, the region has a dismal 1.4% share of the 3,700 projects in...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 8, 2008, 7:33PM

the disaster that isn't

Rory Williams — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:46:16 +0000

South Africa is already paying the price of climate change, and it's not just Rooibos farmers who are having to adapt by changing agricultural practices. It's also the government itself, which up to now has been bailing out farmers who...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 5, 2008, 12:32AM

ecocabs popping up everywhere

Rory Williams — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:27:15 +0000

Pedal-powered EcoCabs (and variations on the theme) are operating in a number of cities around the world, but what I find really exciting is that in places like Toronto they are providing free door-to-door transport, paid for entirely by corporate...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 4, 2008, 1:25AM

construction waste needs serious attention

Rory Williams — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:26:43 +0000

Construction waste makes up a much larger proportion of landfill than household rubbish.The [UK] government, it seems, has woken up to the construction waste problem. Last April, the Environment Agency mandated site waste management plans for construction projects in England...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 3, 2008, 1:18AM

commute by bike

Rory Williams — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:06:15 +0000

The annual Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour is now open for entries. Which means... time to get back on the road. The office where I work has just been renovated, with a new shower included, so I have...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Sep 2, 2008, 7:43PM

killing two birds with one stone

Rory Williams — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:06:18 +0000

There are all kinds of mechanisms being investigated to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, but there are only two basic approaches: one is to reduce carbon emissions at source, and the other is to capture and store emissions. Right now,...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 29, 2008, 1:48AM

storing energy as compressed air

Rory Williams — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:07:40 +0000

When my son was younger, he had an Air Hog model airplane that ran on a piston engine that was powered by compressed air. It didn't fly far, but it was pretty cool. I still had a hard time believing...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 28, 2008, 9:54PM

carbon efficiency - SA joins the leaders

Rory Williams — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:47:12 +0000

If Africa has the potential to benefit from the rise of economic powerhouses outside the US, South Africa would do well to put itself on a low-carbon diet that will allow it to capitalise on markets that are sensitive to...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 26, 2008, 3:36AM

hydrogen from biofuels, lithium from underground

Rory Williams — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:46:14 +0000

I wrote in July that hydrogen as an energy storage medium uses more energy than you can get from it - using energy directly is more efficient than converting it to other forms. It took a commenter to remind me...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 25, 2008, 9:40PM

is your car any better than the Airbus A380?

Rory Williams — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:26:06 +0000

One of the challenges in meeting climate change objectives will be making changes without drastic economic cost. There will no doubt be some cost, and the longer we wait the worse it will be; but the Stern Report of October...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 20, 2008, 1:13AM

climate complications

Rory Williams — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:26:25 +0000

Research at The Open University, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council, suggests that acid rain from atmospheric pollution in China could be reducing the production of methane from rice fields by up to 24%. There is a possibility that...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 18, 2008, 1:09AM

green speed bumps and other insanities

Rory Williams — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:26:32 +0000

The debate around traffic calming is a difficult one, and communities get emotionally charged about the pros and cons of speed humps, four-way stops and other mechanisms to reduce traffic speeds and volumes. In many cases, the need to retrofit...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 16, 2008, 12:10PM

survival strategy for existing buildings

Rory Williams — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:26:04 +0000

The Property Council of Australia recently developed a toolkit to assist owners of commercial buildings to improve the sustainability of existing buildings, many of which are heavy carbon emitters. The toolkit includes a six-step plan and a list of 200...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 14, 2008, 10:20PM

having my cake and eating it too

Rory Williams — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:26:21 +0000

We can't all have big private garderns and still expect walkable communities. This should be obvious, but one reason it isn't is demonstrated by the comments on this post from Eschaton [via kottke.org]: People give examples of how they have...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 11, 2008, 1:09AM

the future of LED lighting

Rory Williams — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:06:15 +0000

Here's an article reminding us that the uptake of new technology is not just about the technology itself. Some people see LEDs as the future, with CFLs as an intermediate technology that will soon be replaced. Others suggest that even...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 5, 2008, 10:53AM

green star office rating tool

Rory Williams — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:06:26 +0000

This week the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) launched the Green Star Office pilot rating tool for public comment. [disclosure: I helped with the conversion of the Australian Green Star tool for the GBCSA] If you are curious...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Aug 1, 2008, 12:48AM

carbon tax policy for South Africa

Rory Williams — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:06:32 +0000

South Africa's cabinet has adopted a policy that is planned to include carbon taxes and incentives for business transformation. While cabinet accepts there may be short-term pain, there should be long-term efficiency improvements and opportunities to improve South Africa's competitive...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 31, 2008, 9:31PM

DIY electric cars

Rory Williams — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:07:18 +0000

Ever wondered what it would take to convert your car to an electric-powered vehicle? A Finnish group is launching what it hopes will be the start of a global movement for retrofitting petrol-powered vehicles. eCars - Now is a forum...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 28, 2008, 1:50AM

gobsmacked

Rory Williams — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:46:33 +0000

If we ever manage to reduce reliance on private cars to any appreciable degree, the benefit will extend beyond reduced emissions from driving and from making the car in the first place. There will also be less space dedicated to...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 24, 2008, 12:44AM

Dabbawallas of Mumbai

Rory Williams — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:26:26 +0000

Seth Godin wrote about the Dabbawalla phenomenon in Mumbai back in April 2007. This is a low-tech organisation that delivers food to hundreds of thousands of customers a day. The magic of this operation, and the reason that big western...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 23, 2008, 1:09AM

screw the spotted owl

Rory Williams — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:46:12 +0000

Amateurs are more sincere than professionals. Rehad Desai, co-director of the film You Chuse: the future is free, reminded viewers at this month's Encounters South African International Documentary Festival, that a sex worker might deliver a technically good performance, but...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 22, 2008, 12:28AM

will real communities emerge from the new breed of ecocity?

Rory Williams — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:07:21 +0000

Another sustainable city being planned from scratch is Ecobay on the Paljassaare Peninsula in Estonia, overlooking the Baltic Sea. Inhabitat raises an interesting point regarding these built-from-scratch communities: While they certainly present an organized and efficient vision of modernity, some...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 21, 2008, 6:00AM

dancing against climate change

Rory Williams — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:27:26 +0000

Just too late for my visit to London last month, a night club called Surya (Sanskrit for Sun God) opened recently at King's Cross. I am not one to regularly frequent clubs, but this one would have been interesting for...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 20, 2008, 6:12PM

growth of a monster

Rory Williams — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 03:46:45 +0000

For many environmentalists, Walmart is the epitome of how a retailer can take low-density sprawl, accelerate it, and cause havoc by magnifying the trend towards increasingly car-dependent cities. Just for fun, here's a visual representation of how Walmart took over...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 15, 2008, 3:34AM

if you want to get somewhere - slowly

Rory Williams — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:26:31 +0000

I'm not sure how this would work, but here's a post claiming that you can sail across the ocean on a wave powered boat: not wind power, wave power. Hey, I'm back :-) no thanks to Telkom, the "dis"utility I...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 14, 2008, 8:16PM

hydrogen economy is more hype than substance

Rory Williams — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:46:16 +0000

I have said before that hydrogen's usefulness is more as a storage medium than as a source of energy in its own right. But here's a well-referenced assessment of the science by Alice Friedemann, suggesting it isn't of any value...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jul 1, 2008, 3:29PM

speed wobble

Rory Williams — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:06:08 +0000

Apologies for the lack of activity on Carbon Copy, but I am busy using up my carbon allowance on a one-week study tour of a few cities in the UK and Europe. I should be refreshed on my return, but...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jun 26, 2008, 2:03AM

algal biofuels: the next wave

Rory Williams — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:26:36 +0000

Using a third-generation biofuels technique to create ethanol from algae in seawater, one company claims it "will be the largest consumer of CO2 on the planet". Algenol Biofuels says it will be able to create 100 million gallons of ethanol...

Originally from Carbon Copy by Rory Williams reBlogged on Jun 19, 2008, 12:09AM