Air Pollution Free in Hengelo -Dutch Concrete paving stones

The recent green developments started in the Netherlands when the Dutch’s University of Twente developed a green concrete paving stone that converted the smog, acid rain causing nitrogen oxide into a nitrate, which is not harmful for the environment in small quantities. Unfortunately, we use nitrates all the time in fertilizer, so it could potentially be toxic to humans or animals. The Dutch will be testing it with a grant in Hengelo and scientists will be evaluating it for widespread use.

Air Pollution Reducing Asphalt in Madrid

Engadget reports that Madrid has a similar plan in place with new asphalt that comparable to the Dutch’s concrete paving stones. Madrid’s asphalt, too, can convert nitrogen oxide from exhausts into less harmful oxides which can just be washed away with rainfall. This asphalt is suppose to be able to get rid of 90% of the nitrogen oxides in the air on a sunny day since it relies on sunlight to work at capacity. Ironic that global warming induced radiation is helpful in combating air pollution. But this is a great development and has a lot of potential.

Laying Cool Green Asphalt is Cool

Earlier this year, the Matter Network discusses how laying asphalt while it is cool instead of hot can save 7 times as much energy during the process. With thousands of miles of US roads getting paved each year, that is some serious energy savings. The problem lies in the fact that US engineers, unlike those overseas, are only familiar with heated laying techniques and measures to predict how well a road will perform. With no cool laying guidelines, it’s not realistic for cool laying techniques to be used, yet. So after some control tests headed by University of Wisconsin civil engineering professor Bahia, cool asphalt may become cooler in the civil engineering world thus allowing us to green our roads and environments.

General Electric’s involvement

Well, first off, the massive conglomerate owns NBC, who is making a massive bet on the Olympics by broadcasting it more hours than are actually possible according to modern time standards(they have in on multiple channels at a time, it’s not magic). It’s paid off so far with the highest rating Opening Ceremony and massive online Olympics traffic.

Staying with the media arm, GE has launched a little media blitz with its “EcoMagination” campaign, which showcases 74 of GE’s new eco friendly products for water, transportation, energy, lighting, the home, and finances. These products are all pretty impressive, especially since they cover so many different sectors.

But for actual work greening the Olympics, GE has been working with Olympic officials for years now developing plans for the Olympics this year, only a small handful of which are really green or notable to be really eco friendly. They can all be found on an interactive map of the Beijing Olympics site.

Final Word

Those three are the extent of General Electric’s actual green contributions to the Olympics site in Beijing. For more Green projects going on at the Olympics, Earth2Tech has a great list of 10 Clean tech companies greening the Olympics. While greening Beijing has a nice ring to it, especially considering their recent pollution problems and the fact that they’re working along side the UNEP, it’s hard not to think it’s not all just for show, but I applaud them for going in the right direction.

While the table is kind of interesting, it’s pretty pointless for $2,200. It has a nice design, is very sturdy and durable, and could really impress your fellow high rolling friends, but it’s definitely not worth the all eco fuss. It seems to be too short for it’s only practical usage as an outdoor beer pong table, and considering it’s price is equivalent to 146 cases of cheap beer (3500 beers!) it does not seem economical enough to serve its party, beer pong, tippy cup purpose.

This development came along with T Boone Pickens‘ media bombardment and call for state and federal investment in wind, because the lack of transmission lines is one of, if not the largest, problem facing wind energy which generally operates in remote areas off of the grid.

These new transmission lines will be able to handle 18,500 megawatts of power by their completion in 2013, which will bring the state’s total wind energy production to over 20,000 megawatts of electricity - a figure easily allowing them to maintain the #1 wind producing state ranking, and even placing them close to producing more wind than Germany by themselves, according to the New York Times article (via below).

Wind energy, being a location-constrained resource, will need a big boost in public funding to become a major player in the US because much of the windiest spots in the US wind corridor are not on transmission lines or the grid, making this valuable resource worthless and unable to be harnessed by the masses. Essentially, it’s in the hands of lawmakers and the President, so try sending them a letter. And tack on Texas’ future rank as #2 nation in wind energy production to the list of things that make Texans think they’re bigger and better than everyone else.

Story via New York Times, National Academies

Green Desktops

The key to buying an eco friendly desktop, generally, is its size. Small form desktop computers, which are often created for business environments, have enough memory and capacity to handle the average consumers demands. Their smaller size reduces waste and is much more energy efficient.

	Lenovo ThinkCentre M57p eco - This “eco” business desktop comes in at $1300 and is a solid choice with Lenovo’s credible brand. It’s a solid business desktop that should not disappoint.
	Apple Mac Mini - At a cute, and tiny form, the Apple Mac Mini is very energy efficient and starts at $600. Pair it up with a sexy Energy Star certified display and you’ll have the most stylish eco friendly desktop available.
	Dell Studio Hybrid - Wait, did I already crown Apple as having the most stylish eco friendly desktop? Check that, with Dell’s new offering which starts at $500. This ultra compact system is Dell’s most energy efficient desktop ever coming even in a bamboo case - and wtouted to use 70% less energy than other desktops. It’s hot, functional, and eco friendly which goes along with Dell’s plan to cut energy consumption in desktops by 25%.

There are a wide variety of other small, compact computers offered from every major computer brand as well which are the next best options after these highlighted options.