News @NEON – New Observatory Director, new airborne data, and more

Jay OwenEarth Systems Science

  Fall 2014  In this issue Observatory Director New airborne data available New higher education video on LiDAR data Construction updates Fall into Phenology 2014 NEON summer intern blogs Call for papers: Understanding uncertainty in remotely sensed vegetation data products New jobs in NEON science NEON hires new Observatory Director …

Energy Self-Reliant States: Why Aren’t Rural Electric Cooperatives Champions of Local Clean Power?

Jay OwenCommunity Development Solutions, Resource Efficiency

I spoke yesterday at the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair in Oregon, IL, and the presentation will be posted shortly on ILSR.org. Being out in rural Illinois made me wonder, Why Aren’t Rural Electric Cooperatives Champions of Local Clean Power?  A few thoughts shared on the blog… Keep your energy local! …

Biome Research Confirms Next-Generation Bioplastics Could Be Derived from Trees

Jay OwenNature/Biomimicry

A research project led by Biome Bioplastics, one of the UK’s leading developers of natural plastics, has demonstrated the feasibility of extracting organic chemicals from lignin — a complex hydrocarbon that helps to provide structural support in plants and trees — for the manufacture of bioplastics. The results stem from …

Saline Agriculture to Feed and Fuel the World

Ethical Markets - RAdvisors' Forum, Desert Greening

Saline Agriculture to Feed and Fuel the World Shortage of fresh water poses a much bigger threat to world food supply than the shortage of fossil fuels; cultivating salt-tolerant crops could solve both problems Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins Fresh water in short supply and salinization widespread People …

FUTURIST UPDATE: Air Pollution Is Deadlier Than We Thought

Jay OwenTrendspotting

April 2014 • Volume 15, No. 4 In this issue: Air Pollution Is Deadlier Than We Thought Planet-Hunting Astronomers Get Help from a Robot A “Green” Solution to High Drug Prices WorldFuture 2014 Speakers Bookshelf What’s Hot in The Futurist magazine Air Pollution Is Deadlier Than We Thought Air pollution …

Blue Is The New Green: Oceans Could Power The Future

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, SRI/ESG News

flickr/lyndsayesson Blue Is The New Green: How Oceans Could Power The Future By Ari Phillips on ThinkProgress.org/climate    March 26, 2014 at 11:42 am In February, a natural gas power plant along the Central California coast closed after operating for more than 50 years, thus ending an era that saw the surrounding …

Geothermal Potential in California Still Largely Untapped, Industry Group Tells CARB

Jay OwenGreentech

geothermal industry group has issued a status report on the state’s energy option to meet California’s climate goals,” gea reports.   In brief, the status report shows that: ·        geothermal power generated 4.4% of total system power in California in 2012, but could have generated substantially more; ·        geothermal power produces some of …