Monday's green stew
Ten ways to make this a better world, said ABCnews.com. Well, they managed a couple politc bows to green tech amidst all the toys that most people don't really need. They applaude the spread of solar power technology and its improved efficiency. And there's a namecheck for Lifestraw. Haven't heard of them? Bet you don't worry about e coli in the cesspool where you get your drinking water.
Lifestraw is a sophisticatwed but low cost filtering system that is used on real water in the real world by an individual drinker of said water. Without batteries, electricity, chemicals or installation costs. The filters in the strawm remove many killer micro-organisms. The filter does NOT remove parasite cysts, nor any of the heavy metals. So that leaves arsenic which is such a popular drinking water mineral in some quarters. You got foot probs? Check the pic on this blog and be thankful.
For those living off the grid, which is about helf the world's humanity, there's some hope for chillin' just the same. CNET blogs the solar-powered frig. The ice-maker doesn't remove the arsenic either, but chilling the water may cut the taste a little.
Back here in what we euphemistically refer to as the "developed nations," green tech is spawning what comes with every boom industry. Today the M&A of two energy software companies.
On some interview show on the radio today I heard a travel book author, of all things, talking about European travel being much more environmentally conscious than Amerrican. Carbon nuetral, etc. But then he had to admit that it all begins with Europeans actually getting vacations, up to eight weeks in some countries for non-teaching jobs. And so it was a European paper that published a lengthy spiel on wave energy. I live in a coastal city and I don't think there's any hope of wave energy getting on the state ballot here in California this decade. Our neighbors up in Oregon do have a test project in the water.
And while there may be lots of green talk, the oil industry is heavily into the black. Both underground on the open market. Oil futures today temporarily touched a level above $80 per barrel that had never been reached before. I guess the oil lobhyists can take a breath now, their paychecks won't bounce.