The Last Frost

In Brockton, MA; a town outside of Boston, a 26-unit condo development is going up that will include an array of solar panels to provide roughly half of the developments power needs. In addition, the condos themselves will be Energy-Star qualified which further boosts their energy efficiency. Let's hope this becomes a popular trend among real estate developers.

Solar power to the people » [The Boston Globe]

Still not convinced global warming is real? They describe the data as hocky stick data. Why? Because it's flat for centuries and then quite recently there's a dramatic upward spike.

Earth warmest in 400 years » [MSNBC.com]

"The basic technology has been around for decades, but it has proven difficult to produce it reliably and cheaply. Nanosolar has developed a way to make these cells using a printing technology similar to the kind used to print newspapers, rather than expensive vacuum-based methods." [Technology Review]

Large Scale, Cheap Solar Electricity »  [Technology Review]

"The estimated 568,100 tonnes of methane abated over the 25 years could, on current values for carbon trading, imply an annual return of $5 million across the national beef industry."

Gas-friendly cows »  [SMH.com.au]

The debate over whether global warming is caused by human actions or by natural processes is ridiculous; it's both! Arguing about it is like arguing whether a hermaphrodite is male or female… weird analogy I know.

So global warming had more of an effect than natural climate cycles in increasing the intensity of hurricanes in the 2005 season. The real debate is not about whether human's are changing our climate, it's by how much.

Global Warming Topped Natural Cycles in Fueling 2005 Hurricanes » [usinfo.state.gov]

Here's an interesting article about the problems with running passenger jets off of alternative fuels. Their point is that the biggest barrier is economical. Airlines simply won't consider using alternative fuels as long as there is widely available and much cheaper traditional fuels on the market.

In addition to the idea of running jets off of biodiesel, they mention the idea of a hydrogen powered jetliner, and one of it's problems:

"…the amount of water released by a high-flying, hydrogen-powered jet could turn it into a cloud-making machine"

Perhaps a cloud making machine wouldn't be so bad afterall. As long as it was flown during the day, a cloud making machine would be great for reflecting sunlight away from the Earth's surface; perhaps helping to reduce the effects of global warming.

Will Alternative Jet Fuel Really Fly? » [STLtoday]

HorizonFuelCell.com is selling a toy car powered from Hydrogen that is generated from a solar powered fuel station. $80 bucks will snag you this little toy that is a great educational tool for adults and kids alike. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is the way of the future for sure, with the only generated emissions being 100% water.

World’s most cost-efficient hydrogen fuel cell car on sale today » [Gizmag] 

There's something to be learned every day. Up until recently you couldn't get a tattoo legally in Oklahoma. So people had to resort to getting their tats from underground artists or they had to drive their gas guzzling SUV's across state lines for the service.

So Michael Kimball writes, that if Oklahoma only were to legalize porn, the poor and sex obsessed Oklahomans wouldn't have to burn so much fuel to get their fix.

"the future of our children depends on easy, local access for Oklahomans to porn."

Sounds reasonable to me, and it kills two birds with one stone… or something like that.

Legalizing Porn in State Could Curb Global Warming » [OUDaily]

China is testing three fuel cell buses on a short run around Beijing. These buses are a few out of 33 worldwide. Their hydrogen fuel cells need to be refueled periodically and they will also be testing a hydrogen refueling station in order to gather data on the needs of these buses. The idea is that these emmission free buses can be rolled out to more cities in the future once the kinks are worked out.

Hydrogen-powered Buses Debut in China » [CriEnglish.com]

BP and Dupont have developed a fuel that can be brewed from the sugar of beets, which on an unrelated sidenote all you beer drinkers, is also the sugar that gives Belgian brews that extra kick and flavor. Anyway, this new fuel can be used in it's pure state in engines without modification. It also has 30% more energy than ethanol, meaning it's on par with traditional gasoline. BP and Dupont will be releasing the fuel soon in the UK and are working on making the 'brewing' process cheaper and easier so that it can compete with gas prices… even when the cost of a barrel of oil is around $40 bucks.

Dupont BP Link Biofuels Production » [Yahoo UK]