Chad’s News

As CFLs have been replacing standard incandescent light bulbs, so will LED bulbs displace the CFLs. They last longer, use less electricity, and don’t contain hazardous materials. Right now, however, they’re way too expensive ($40 to $80 for the ones described here). One of the LED bulbs in the linked article even has a remote that allows you to change its brightness and color, which is a bit over the top for my tastes. But CFLs were super-expensive when they first came out, so I expect the LED bulbs will drop to a reasonable price as well.

Link: http://sharp-world.com/…
(via Engadget)

The linked article describes how paper is recycled. The system breaks down the wood fibers slightly, and they can’t be reused after about 6-8 times through the process. Also, there are nasty chemicals involved.

Link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/…

“It seemed like a good idea at the time: Remove all the feral cats from a famous Australian island to save the native seabirds.”

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/…
(via digg)

First colony collapse disorder and now this.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
(via Slashdot)

I’ve heard some of the US Presidential candidates talking about “clean coal,” which could cause one to infer that there is some special type of coal that, when burned, does not produce pollution. As far as I know, this is not the case, and the linked article has an example of what “clean coal” really means.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…

For those concerned about the environmental impact of throwing away compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), Home Depot will recycle them for you.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/…

Chad’s News has previously discussed compact fluorescent lightbulbs, but this 5-minute speech by US Representative Ted Poe provides an interesting counterpoint (as well as a political statement on government regulatory authority). Personally, I think my CFLs will hold out until LED lightbulbs are ready—I’ve lived at my current address for 2½ years and have had only one CFL burn out.

Link: http://youtube.com/…
(via Presurfer)

In an update to this Chad’s News article, the researchers at LS9 have made some significant advances with their genetically-engineered bacteria that create gasoline, especially in terms of what can be used as raw materials. From the article: “The company is not interested in using corn as feedstock … instead, different types of agricultural waste will be used according to whatever makes sense for the local climate and economy: wheat straw in California, for example, or woodchips in the South.”

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/…
(via Engadget)

In an update to this Chad’s News post, it turns out there can be serious problems with cars that run on grease, vegetable oil, and other biofuels. The problems are not mechanical or technical; rather, they have to do with legal and regulatory issues (at least in California).

Link: http://www.latimes.com/…
(via Neatorama)

A startup company named Coskata claims it can make ethanol for $1 per gallon. The great thing about this, however, is that they can produce the ethanol from pretty much anything organic, so they won’t be cutting in to food production. Coskata is backed by General Motors, and we can expect to see production plants in the next few years.

Link: http://www.wired.com/…
(via Slashdot)

Although it would be really nice if we could get rid of nuclear waste just by incinerating it, I think someone’s been watching a bit too much Lord of the Rings. Wonder what would’ve happened if the One Ring was made of Plutonium? Alternatively, sending the waste into the Sun would actually be an effective (but hideously expensive) solution.

Link: http://www.slate.com/…
(via digg)

Come 2012, US retailers will no longer be able to sell “normal” incandescent light bulbs. This means that either most people will have to switch to compact fluorescents (CFLs), or manufacturers will have to design incandescents that are more efficient. LED-based light bulbs are also a possibility. For me, first thing I did when I moved in was replace all my light bulbs with CFLs.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/…
(via Engadget)