greenUPGRADER » Nature & Science

White Roofs Linked to Global Warming?

Becky Striepe — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:00:20 +0000

White roofs were getting a lot of press for their ability to help fight global warming. Heck, we wrote about the virtues of a white roof right here! Last summer, the U.S. Energy secretary had the Department of Energy install a white roof to lead by example. Now, new research is showing that white roofs may not be all they're cracked up to be. In fact, they could be making things worse.

D'oh!

Our pals at CleanTechnica point us to a study by Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University that looked at white roofs' net effects and tells a different story:

Jacobson’s computer modeling concluded that white roofs did indeed cool urban surfaces. However, they caused a net global warming, largely because they reduced cloudiness slightly by increasing the stability of the air, thereby reducing the vertical transport of moisture and energy to clouds. In Jacobson’s modeling, the reduction in cloudiness allowed more sunlight to reach the surface.

The increased sunlight reflected back into the atmosphere by white roofs in turn increased absorption of light by dark pollutants such as black carbon, which further increased heating of the atmosphere.

A Grain of Salt

Before you go painting your white roof black, though, there's an added benefit to a light roof: lower air conditioning bills. As Zach at CleanTechnica points out, this study didn't take into account the reduced emissions from relying less on coal-fired power to cool these structures.

I'd definitely like to see some more research on this topic that does take that difference into account. Heating and cooling make up a huge portion of our energy bills, so including energy use to cool these building might just change everything.

Do any of you guys have a white roof? How did it impact your cooling bills? What about heating in the winter?

Photo credit: NNSANews via flickr

Grow Your Own…Bamboo Bicycle?

Becky Striepe — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:00:58 +0000

This bicycle is made from almost all bamboo and other biodegradable parts.

Alexander Vittouris created the "Ajiro" using bamboo, which he molded into shape. Bamboo is very strong, making this a durable bike as well as a beautiful one. According to our pals at Ecolocalizer:

The bamboo bike was derived from techniques used in arborsculpture, a more complex form of topiary, which utilizes specifically modified and grafted plants to create shaped structures which are very strong. The process is also known as “grown mobility”.

Unlike bamboo clothing, this bamboo bike doesn't rely on heavy processing and chemicals. It uses bamboo's natural properties to make something durable and practical.

How awesome would it be to grow fields of bamboo bicycles? Talk about sustainability!

Understanding The Dangers Of Radiation Exposure (Infographic)

Beth Buczynski — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:32:39 +0000

Recent fluctuating reports that dangerous levels of radiation have been detected in Japanese food and water have many people concerned.

The Fukushima explosion is the worst nuclear disaster in Japan since World War II. This situation comes on the heels of—not one, but two—natural disasters, and the in the midst of this crisis, questions undoubtedly arise about the safety of radiation exposure.

Also check out: Japan Earthquake Relief - Five Ways You Can Donate To Help

The following infographic is the aggregation of numerous sources that are authorities on radiation (see references). It details the threat levels of radiation exposure from events like the Fukushima explosion down to a dental x-ray.

(Click image to expand)

Created by Geary Interactive, a digital marketing agency

Urban Farming: Rice Paddy in a Tokyo Office Building

Becky Striepe — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:03:41 +0000

When office workers at a Tokyo outsourcing firm complete their computer work, they don gloves and boots and get to work in the building's 1,000 square foot indoor rice paddy.

The paddy's first harvest yielded over 100 pounds of rice, which they're using to help stock the building's cafeteria. While a team of professional farmers maintain the rice paddy, office workers help with the harvest.

Using around 100 1000-watt lamps, the rice paddy should be able to produce a harvest 3 times per year, since it's indoors and not susceptible to weather conditions.

Urban Gardening Trend

This is just one example of a growing urban gardening trend, albeit a larger one. From supermarket rooftops to mobile gardens, gardening is catching on as more urbanites want to reconnect with their food.

Want to get an urban garden going in your office? You don't need something as elaborate as a rice paddy. Even bringing in a few edible plants can help brighten things up. There are plenty of simple ways to add some green to small spaces like an office, so get creative!

[h/t: PopSci]

Image Credit: BBC News

Artificial Leaf May Be Biomimicry At Its Finest

Beth Buczynski — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:54:50 +0000

Many people feel that completely revising the way we think about design and innovation is the answer to achieving a truly sustainable society (think Cradle to Cradle). As more scientists, engineers, and designers start to tackle problems of design crucial to using, wasting, and polluting less, it's becoming obvious that the most successful designs are those that mimic processes already taking place in nature.

According to the Biomimicry Institute, "biomimicry is an emerging discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems." Because nature is one of the most efficient, resourceful machines we've ever, uh, lived on, this is a discipline that is both exciting and promising.

(If you've never heard of biomimicry before, check out MNN's "7 amazing examples of biomimicry")

The latest innovation from the world of biomimicry is both simple and mindblowing- a Titanium ‘leaf’ that could unlock the secrets of hydrogen power and create a sustainable, safe and cheap alternative to fossil fuels.

Known as “AIL” the Artificial Inorganic Leaf, this piece of technology was based on the wonderfully simplistic design of the leaf, an organic machine that's able to split water into its components — hydrogen and oxygen — using only sunlight.

AIL was presented to thousands of the world's finest scientists at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco last month by a research team from the Shanghai Jiaotong University in China.

The Shanghai team has been working with leaf structures to better understand the process in order to replicate a man-made version of the leaf that could be adapted to do the inverse — splitting water to make hydrogen fuel — using a typical photocatalyst like titanium dioxide (one of the most abundant minerals on Earth).

By “biotemplating” the titanium dioxide to mimic the light harvesting structures of the leaf (and adding platinum nanoparticles to magnify the effect) the research team was able to get 80x the efficiency of current technologies for producing hydrogen gas (GreenDig.net).

We often think of sustainable technologies as being on the "cutting-edge" of science, making them complicated and mysterious, but it may just be that the re-designs that save us will merely be larger replicas of the humble technology that's been operating all around us for millions of years.

Got a favorite example of biomimicry? Share it in a comment!

Image Credit: Flickr Creative Commons - antaen

greenGIVEAWAY: Disneynature ‘Earth’ and ‘Oceans’ Prize Pack!

Beth Buczynski — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:59:51 +0000

Enter to win a copy of Disneynature’s Earth on DVD as well as an Oceans companion book!

Disneynature, the studio that presented the record-breaking film “Earth,” will once again bring nature to the big screen with it's Earth Day, 2010 debut of Oceans: a documentary that will give you a breathtaking look at the diversity swirling just below the waves.

Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and Oceans boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mankind—exploring the harsh reality and the amazing creatures that live within.

Narrated by Pierce Brosnan and featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, OCEANS offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in a powerful motion picture that unfolds on April 22, 2010.

"These filmmakers have given us the pleasure of looking over their shoulders—of doing what I have dreamed of being able to do—to get in a school of fish, to be a dolphin, to be a whale—and swim along with them," said Dr. Sylvia Earle, Explorer in Residence at the National Geographic Society in a recent press release. "This is the best I've ever seen. It takes me places I've wanted to go. This is beyond art. This captures the spirit, the very essence of the sea."

By seeing Disneynature’s Oceans during opening week (April 22-28, 2010), you can make a meaningful difference for our world’s oceans and the species that depend on them for survival.

In honor of each moviegoer, Disneynature, through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, will help establish new marine protected areas in The Bahamas with The Nature Conservancy, one of the largest conservation organizations in the world. These areas will contain miles of vital coral reefs that provide natural habitat, nurseries and feeding grounds for hundreds of marine species. More information about conservation efforts can be found here.

But the fun doesn't end there! In honor of the Earth Day premiere, Walt Disney Studios has offered to award an exclusive Earth and Oceans prize pack to one lucky greenUPGRADER reader!

How to Enter to Win:

1. Become a fan of greenUPGRADER (or other LiveOAK Media sites including, ecopolitology and Earth & Industry) on Facebook; alternatively, you can subscribe to any of the above via twitter or RSS (but you have to subscribe to something, even if you unsubscribe in a week, which we hope you won’t do, of course;

2. Share this post with your friends and coworkers on Facebook or Twitter (You don’t have to do this but they’re gonna find out anyway so you might as well be the one to tell them. And just think, they’ll be so happy you did).

3. Learn more about how Disneynature is using the proceeds from Oceans ticket sales to protect and resort our coral reefs;

4. Leave a comment for this post telling us which Facebook profile or feed you subscribed to, AND;

5. Tell us one of your favorite things about the ocean or an animal that lives within it (in 50 words or less)

A winner will be chosen by April 30th, 2010. Open to U.S. Residents only, no duplicate entries.

Petroleum-Free Plastic Made from Smart Mud

Becky Striepe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:22:11 +0000

Could this mud volcano be a source for the plastic of the future?

About 4.6% of the petroleum we use in the U.S. goes into plastic production. The thing about plastics is that they're not all used to make food containers and cheap toys. There's plastic in all sorts of things that we rely on every day, from medical supplies to electronics. What if we could still make all of those useful products using just a fraction of petroleum?

According to a team of Japanese researchers, we might be able to do just that by combining clay, water, and a special thickening agent.

By combining small percentages of clay and less than half a percent of "organic compounds" in solution with water, Takuzo Aida and his team created a strong, self-healing plastic! The resulting material is called a hydrogel. According to the study, published in Nature:

This material can be moulded into shape-persistent, free-standing objects owing to its exceptionally great mechanical strength, and rapidly and completely self-heals when damaged.

The key ingredient in this plastic is sodium polyacrylate, a material that's super absorbent. It absorbs something like 300 times its weight in water.

Just because a compound is organic, though, doesn't mean it's safe. A little searching turned up sodium polyacrylate on this list of dangerous chemicals from Nature's Paradise. According to the list, the compound has "multiple additive exposure, endocrine system disruption and contamination concerns if not handled properly."

That said, the new plastic contains only a tiny percentage of the stuff, and I haven't been able to find any other mentions of concerns about this compound's safety.

The mud plastic isn't quite perfected yet. Aida and his team are still working out the proportions of water/sodium polyacrylate/clay, but they're sounding optimistic about where this is going:

With the world’s focus on reducing our dependency on fossil-fuel energy, the scientific community can investigate new plastic materials that are much less dependent on petroleum than are conventional plastics. Given increasing environmental issues, the idea of replacing plastics with water-based gels, so-called hydrogels, seems reasonable.

So what do you guys think? Is this a game-changing product, or do you have concerns?

I don't know about you guys, but all this plastic talk has this scene from The Graduate stuck in my head:

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by brunogirin

[Via Mother Jones]