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blech + environment   74

A Field Guide to AC Units | Urban Omnibus
"Air conditioning is not an aspect of urbanism whose implications we often consider. What follows is Alison Carafa’s fresh and cheerful journey through some of the unintended uses for, hacks to and consequences of this unloved but, for many, indispensable addition to urban windows."
newyork  newyorkcity  architecture  planning  airconditioning  energy  environment  from instapaper
6 weeks ago by blech
six dams and six reservoirs | mammoth
On the Missouri river's engineering. "I’ve said elsewhere that I think the Army Corps is an exceptionally peculiar organization, probably the country’s most radically avant-garde landscape practice, but rarely recognized for that, as it is the scale, agency, and organizational intricacy of the Corps’ work, not its formal properties, which render it so radical."
us  infrastructure  water  missouri  armycorps  river  environment  energy  from instapaper
8 weeks ago by blech
I want to be alone: the rise and rise of solo living | The Guardian
A summary from Eric Klinenberg of his new book: "the number of people living alone globally is skyrocketing, rising from about 153 million in 1996 to 277 million in 2011". It's let down a little by the lazy choices of who to interview at the end, but it's a phenomenon worth watching (and one I'm happily part of).
guardian  culture  urbanism  environment  people  society  friendship 
8 weeks ago by blech
Alexander Garvin Looks at Public Spaces in New York | NYTimes.com
'“The public realm is what we own and control,” he told me the other day when we met to look around Midtown. More than just common property, he added, “the streets, squares, parks, infrastructure and public buildings make up the fundamental element in any community — the framework around which everything else grows.”'
nytimes  newyork  publicspace  architecture  planning  environment  from instapaper
february 2012 by blech
#walkshopping (winter edition) | Matt Edgar
"We made a walkshop! At sunset on Tuesday, undeterred by George Osborne, high winds and torrential rain, 17 of Yorkshire’s finest designers, technologists and geographers gathered to walk and talk, to see Leeds in a new light." Sounds good.
leeds  architecture  environment  cities  design  from instapaper
december 2011 by blech
A Point of View: In praise of wind turbines | BBC News
"The countryside is often a man-made landscape, not a natural idyll, and wind turbines are just part of that tradition, writes Will Self." A good read.
bbc  news  comment  willself  countryside  uk  environment  energy  politics  landscape  from instapaper
november 2011 by blech
A form of augmented reality | Phil Gyford’s website
"That made me realise that many people I see every day are already using AR devices, walking around with them activated, experiencing the world through them, and changing how the world feels: headphones." Oh. Yes. Good post.
augmentedreality  music  sound  headphone  environment  from delicious
june 2011 by blech
The Danger of Cosmic Genius - Magazine - The Atlantic
"“The main point is religious rather than scientific,” [Dyson] writes, yet never acknowledges that this proposition cuts both ways, never seems to recognize the extent to which his own arguments proceed from faith. Environmentalism worships the wisdom of Nature. Dysonism worships the indomitable ingenuity of Man." This is a good read.
science  politics  environment  history  space  physics  climatechange  freemandyson  article  from instapaper
february 2011 by blech
Ed Miliband declares war on climate sceptics | The Observer
"'It's right that there's rigour applied to all the reports about climate change, but I think it would be wrong that when a mistake is made it's somehow used to undermine the overwhelming picture that's there,' [Miliband] said."
observer  politics  uk  environment  climatechange  ipcc 
january 2010 by blech
Contents | Whole Earth Discipline
An annotated, free, online version of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Discipline. I've only really read the nuclear chapter so far but that one alone is good stuff.
book  future  environment  nuclear  energy  science  stewartbrand 
january 2010 by blech
Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand | The Guardian
"If we are serious about curbing climate change, what would actually help? More people in cities, lots of nuclear power stations and lashings of GM crops, urges Stewart Brand. Unless green activists embrace the benefits of all three, they are not part of the solution, but part of the problem." A review of his new book in the Guardian.
book  review  environment  energy  future  stewartbrand 
january 2010 by blech
Population: Technology will save us | New Scientist
Today's dose of anti-collapsitarian techno-utopianism, from Jesse Ausubel. "Technology has liberated humans from the environment... The new question is whether humanity can use technology to liberate the environment itself."
newscientist  technology  innovation  environment  population  jesseausubel 
september 2009 by blech
Reasons to be optimistic for the future | New Scientist
Coming out against collapsitarian thinking and for SCIENCE. "It is in this spirit that we launch a four-week campaign exploring ways to make the world a better place. It will come as no surprise that our starting point is the power of reason. From that springs an ironclad belief that the world can be made better through the application of science and rational thinking."
newscientist  editorial  science  technology  climatechange  environment 
september 2009 by blech
The positive energy of counterfactuals | Magical Nihilism
"I was in a particularly punchy mood as I wrote I think, and the backdrop of a summer thunderstorm tipped me in a direction that… Well, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly surprised when it wasn’t printed – it’s not quite ‘on-brand” for [Howies]"
geoengineering  environment  politics  comment  re:blackbeltjones 
september 2009 by blech
What’s wrong with eco-stunts | The New Yorker
"Living without a fridge, and other experiments in environmentalism. By Elizabeth Kolbert". Well worth reading, a dissection of experiments in lifestyle from Thoreau to this year.
newyorker  environment  books  review  history  politics  culture 
august 2009 by blech
Making pictures in a public space | Critical Terrain
A good piece on photography. "For many nonprofessionals whose interests lie in design and architecture, photography is an essential research tool that helps record and understand our built environment. Beyond this professionally specific group, it is as important as ever for every citizen to feel engaged with their towns and cities."
photography  architecture  design  urbanism  environment  policing  via:@claytoncubitt 
july 2009 by blech
Nokia develops phone that recharges itself | guardian.co.uk
A prototype phone that uses ambient energy in radio waves to power standby mode (nearly). "Instead of harvesting tiny amounts of power (a few microwatts) from dedicated transmitters, Nokia claims it is able to scavenge relatively large amounts of power — around a thousand times as much — from signals coming from miles away"
guardian  environment  technology  energy  research  prototype  electricity 
june 2009 by blech
The dark side of Dubai | The Independent
A terrifying, saddening read. I'm glad to see that this is getting a lot of traction on delicious. I know it's become somewhat fashionable to kick Dubai, but I sense that Johann Hari could have written most of this at any time in the last five years.
dubai  environment  water  oil  economics  urbanism  via:tomtaylor 
april 2009 by blech
The bees are back in town | The Economist
"The economic crisis has contributed to a glut of bees in California. That raises questions about whether a supposed global pollination crisis is real" The Economist on bees, almonds, supply and demand. Possibly too anecdotal? Not really qualified to judge.
environment  economist  science  biology  agriculture  bees  california  us 
march 2009 by blech
Thames Barrier Maintenance closures | Environment Agency
A list of forthcoming maintenance closures of the Thames Barrier. Like you'd expect.
london  river  thames  environment  twitter  spime  todo 
january 2009 by blech
Light Pollution | National Geographic Magazine
It's not as good as the New Yorker article on light pollution from a year or so ago, but it'll probably reach a wider audience, and that's a good thing. Nice photos too.
astronomy  science  photography  article  environment  lightpollution 
january 2009 by blech
Campaigner breached fortress Kingsnorth | The Guardian
[[ Within minutes, says E.On, "he had tampered with some equipment" - believed to be a computer at a control panel - "and tripped unit 2, one of the station's giant 500MW turbines". ]] Unless I deeply misunderstand power stations, didn't this just mean that tonnes of coal were still burnt, still heated steam, but that the steam stopped generating electricty? This is a deeply flawed news report.
politics  uk  news  environment  coal  badscience  science 
december 2008 by blech
A cesspit of climate change gibberish | The Guardian
George Monbiot: "George Marshall argues that people are not persuaded by information. Our views are formed by the views of the people with whom we mix. ... A story that tells us that ... we'll have to make sacrifices ... is less likely to be accepted than the more rewarding idea that climate change is a conspiracy hatched by scheming governments and venal scientists"
environment  climatechange  psychology  monbiot  climate  people  culture  politics 
december 2008 by blech
Electric car sales fall | Telegraph
"Has the G-Wiz had its day? Sales of electric cars are down by a huge 58 per cent and the Nice Car Company, one of two electric car distributors in London, has gone into administration, it was announced this week." "Many motorists have decided to defer eletric-car purchases until the industry decides exactly where it's going."
cars  motoring  environment  transport  news  london  uk 
december 2008 by blech
The Last Note | The Viridian Design Movement
I dug this out of Matt Jones' Twitter, because somehow Bruce Sterling has managed to achieve some sort of negative Google pagerank- all the posts I could find were just quotes of this rather than the original. Anyway, there's some good stuff in here. I think.
design  environment  culture  consumerism  sustainability  brucesterling  via:blackbeltjones 
november 2008 by blech
Resources - Environmental Performance | Apple
PDFs for Apple's current product line, outlining what the environmental impact of their production and use is.
apple  environment  product  pdf  information  via:tomtaylor 
october 2008 by blech
Lost rivers resurface in Boris plan | This Is London
Does the new mayor read Strange Maps? Everyone's been linking to their article about London's "lost" rivers, and now this proposal crops up. Still, some nice walking routes can't be bad.
london  river  geography  history  politics  environment 
june 2008 by blech
Fermi's Paradox and Peak Oil | O'Reilly Radar
Are technological civilisations curtailed by the lack of cheap energy, and is that what's going to happen to our civilisation? It's not a new thought, as I note, but it's good to see it getting coverage.
environment  future  oil  doom  energy  comment  blogcomment  via:blackbeltjones 
may 2008 by blech
10 Things I Learned from Mental Detox Week | iain tait
Good stuff in here. In particular, another aspect of computing I'd ignored- TV makes you tired but not sleepy, and so does computing. Books, on the other hand, let you recognise sleepiness.
technology  turnofftv  whitedot  television  computer  ipod  environment 
may 2008 by blech
Ratcliffe On Soar Power Station | Flickr
It doesn't look like there's a pool of photos on Flickr for Drax, but here's a power station on the outskirts of Nottingham with its own group.
flickr  photos  technology  energy  environment 
april 2008 by blech
Moose return to the Highlands | The Guardian
Møøse! In Scotland! A møøse bit my spool once. (No, seriously, this is good. Wolves next please.)
uk  scotland  environment  guardian  moose  spool 
april 2008 by blech
Conserve Surge Protector | Belkin
"an 8-outlet surge protector that makes it simple to eliminate wasteful standby power to your electronic devices, helping you reduce energy consumption" US only for now, but a good start.
environment  hardware  energy 
january 2008 by blech
The Fossil of Doctor Carbon | Freesteel
"we’re up to approximately 35 tonnes, 80% of which is flying ... we’ve got a little bit of a lifestyle problem here" Cory Doctorow's 2006 flights analysed, with the promise of a repeat for 2007 coming up.
environment  sciencefiction  cory  transport  climatechange 
january 2008 by blech
Food prices | The end of cheap food | The Economist
On subsidies, biofuels and the developing world. "fill up an SUV's fuel tank with ethanol and you have used enough maize to feed a person for a year" "Despite the help, plenty of Western farmers have been beset by poverty."
economics  economist  food  agriculture  politics  environment 
december 2007 by blech
Why bother going green? | New Scientist
"it is possible to cut individual emissions by around 75 per cent without seriously altering our lifestyles." "The simple truth is that frequent fliers have carbon footprints ten times bigger than the rest of us"
newscientist  environment  transport  dopplr 
november 2007 by blech
Labour's plan to abandon renewable energy targets
More Guardian, wondering if Gordon Brown is going to back away from European Union targets on renewable energy generation.
guardian  news  politics  energy  climatechange  environment 
october 2007 by blech
Carbon output rising faster than forecast, says study
More Guardian, this time on the UEA/BAS reporting that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere aren't just increasing, but that the rate of increase is accelerating.
guardian  environment  science  statistics  climatechange 
october 2007 by blech
Steep decline in oil production brings risk of war and unrest
Guardian story on a study by the Energy Watch Group from Germany, arguing that oil production peaked in 2006. Certainly the way the price has behaved makes it look like demand is outpacing supply.
guardian  news  peakoil  politics  energy  environment 
october 2007 by blech
Britons named world's biggest CO2 air travel emitters
Guardian story covering the Global TGI survey that reports Britons per capita emissions are twice those of the US. Overall, though, US travel emissions are double those of the UK. Interesting.
uk  us  environment  travel  transport  road  climatechange  guardian 
october 2007 by blech
I'm a designer. Use me better.
Thoughs on packaging, fuel use, and product longevity.
environment  design  coment  talk  culture  via:blackbeltjones 
october 2007 by blech
russell davies: wattson
"It's a simple, clever thing that tells you how much electricity you're using." ... "The big problem with it at the moment is the unit price, it's a lot, £150. That makes it mostly a bourgeois indulgence." Will smart meters bring these to the masses?
environment  money  electricity  consumption  design  blogcomment  via:blackbeltjones 
october 2007 by blech
hauntedcastle.org » Blog Archive » Dopplr Offsetr
Looks like a nice Dopplr API addon, when it launches. Looks like he's taking note of feature requests too.
dopplr  environment  metric  blogcomment  via:mattb 
october 2007 by blech
Sustainability and cradle to cradle design
Transcript of a Nightwaves show from Radio 3 earlier this year. I haven't read it yet, but I'm linking to it partly because I never run across randomness any more, and nobody else seems to have bookmarked it.
environment  radio  interview  transcript 
september 2007 by blech
The Dark Side | The New Yorker
Subtitled "The war on light pollution", this is a glorious overview of the problems it causes and what we're all missing due to the human-generated glow in our skies. Well worth a read.
astronomy  environment  history  space  newyorker  magazine  article  lightpollution 
september 2007 by blech
USS Oriskany Online - Underwater Pics
Photos of the Oriskany now it's a reef.
us  environment  sea 
july 2007 by blech
USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34)
A US aircraft carrier which served for most of the late 20th century before being sunk off Pensacola as an articifical reef
us  environment  sea  history 
july 2007 by blech
Islington - Bothered by Noise?
How to report, say, your neighbours having live jazz in their garden party over the road after dark. Hypothetically, of course.
islington  environment  noise  council 
july 2007 by blech
Petrol | Hands to the pump | Economist.com
Today's 4th of July link: the US uses more petrol than the next twenty countries combines. As ssp says though, per-capita petrol consumption would be interesting. (I'm guessing Canada and Australia would do really badly.)
environment  oil  consumption  statistics  business  economist  via:ssp 
july 2007 by blech
Ipsos MORI - Climate Change Survey
This was mentioned in the news yesterday, but the full results didn't seem to get posted until today. Interesting contradictions, but overall it leaves me feeling rather gloomy about the prospects of people managing to change before the climate does.
environment  politics  uk  poll  research  opinion 
july 2007 by blech
Wellington Grey - A physics teacher begs for his subject back
I thought my Double Science GCSE was bad, but it sounds like it was an exam of deep rigour and seriousness compared to the current "physics" GCSE.
physics  science  education  comment  environment  teaching  politics  uk 
june 2007 by blech
XTech 2007: The Ubiquitous Web
Interesting roundup from the Guardian blog, which makes me wish I was there. I'm also considering if Jabber can be considered Push Done Right.
guardian  blog  technology  xtech  conference  jabber  environment  ubicomp  presence 
may 2007 by blech
Global rush to biofuels threatens food shortages | Guardian Unlimited Environment
"The global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed" Hardly shocking, but good to see reported.
guardian  news  environment  energy  food  report  biofuels 
may 2007 by blech
The Future is Orange - Asymptotia
Clifford on the solar heating power plant in Spain.
energy  environment  blogcomment 
may 2007 by blech
The snob appeal of tap water - Slate Magazine
"tossing Santa Lucia overboard for filtered municipal water, carbonated on-site" Hopefully this will spread- I've never liked bottled water.
water  environment  energy 
may 2007 by blech
Is Greenpeace Off the Mark on Apple?
Arik Hesseldahl in Business Week, deconstructing Greenpeace's ratings on how green computer companies are. (For some reason, the story has got a second wind.)
apple  technology  environment  politics  comment 
april 2007 by blech
Guardian Unlimited | George Monbiot: If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuels
I'm amazed how few people have put the Mexican tortilla price rise and the hyping of biofuels together.
energy  environment  guardian  comment  monbiot  biofuels 
march 2007 by blech
The shipping news | Waste and pollution | Guardian Unlimited Environment
The stranding of the Napoli has focussed people's minds on container shipping. Overdue, really; most people don't understand the vast infrastructure that supports them.
toread  environment  shipping  shopping  transport  infrastructure  guardian  via:blackbeltjones 
january 2007 by blech
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists - Board Statement
'This deteriorating state of global affairs leads the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [to] move the minute hand of the “Doomsday Clock” from seven to five minutes to midnight
news  science  politics  environment 
january 2007 by blech
Ars Technica - Please standby
Ars on the challenges facing the one-watt standard for consumer (and business) electronic devices on standby. Seems to be achievable; I just hope there's enough pressure (from various directions) to make it happen
energy  environment  hardware 
october 2006 by blech
gamepolitics: Will British Law Hamstring Wii Online Service?
Idiotic parroting of the Times line on devices and standby, when a bit of research (as pointed to) would let them know that there's no law planned. Sigh.
environment  energy  nintendo  blogcomment 
july 2006 by blech
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | The new commuter belt
Thanks, Carrie Frais, for putting your standard of living above concerns like carbon emissions and noise. Nice to see the BBC going a long way to find their example person too (she works for, er, the BBC).
environment  bbc  travel 
july 2006 by blech
Comment is free: Flights of fancy
Leo Hickman on why £75 flights from London to Hong Kong are a really bad idea. Shame about the idiot comments, but then that's what I've come to expect from CiF.
environment  aviation  comment 
july 2006 by blech
Potential Energy » Convincing the public
Instead of educating the public about the possiblities of decentralising electricity generation, are Greenpeace just adding to the power of nightmares with their film about nuclear power stations and terrorism?
politics  energy  environment  physiscs  comment 
june 2006 by blech
Pharyngula: I think I despise anti-environmentalists as much as I do anti-evolutionists
SOCK: 's alright!
science  environment  politics 
june 2006 by blech
Apple - Hot News - Key to "An Inconvenient Truth"
Al Gore uses Keynote, apparently. Odd that so many news sources have referred to it as "a PowerPoint presentation"; is the MS app the Kleenex of presentation software now?
apple  environment  politics  software  advert 
june 2006 by blech
It's Only $300 Billion
"For the United States, the cost of the Iraq war will soon exceed the anticipated cost of the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement designed to control greenhouse gases."
economics  environment  news  politics  us 
may 2006 by blech
London Air Quality Pollution Bulletins
Looks useful.
london  environment  via:andym 
may 2006 by blech
Comment is free: Land of hope and landfills
"Young people think globally but they leave the lights on locally" Michael White on recycling and rubbish
guardian  comment  environment 
may 2006 by blech
Guardian Unlimited | Science | New figures reveal scale of industry's impact on climate
"Five biggest polluters in UK produce more CO2 than all motorists combined" - well, yes, four of them generate electricity, though, so it's hardly surprising. Corus showing up is interesting.
guardian  economics  climatechange  environment  energy 
may 2006 by blech
CO2 Emissions Data
CO2 emissions (in g/km) for various cars. Compare to 225 g/km limit for top rate UK vehicle duty
environment  transport  climatechange 
march 2006 by blech
Random Etc.: Come The Apocalypse: Fortress Iceland?
blogcomment  iceland  energy  environment 
february 2006 by blech
Defra, UK - Environmental Protection - Climate Change - Action internationally
The entire text of the Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change book that's been on the front page of BBC News today.
environment  defra  pdf  large  climatechange 
january 2006 by blech
Independent | Environment in crisis: 'We are past the point of no return'
[James Lovelock's] astonishing conclusion - that climate change is already insoluble, and life on Earth will never be the same again.
independent  climatechange  news  environment  lovelock  gaia  doom 
january 2006 by blech
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | How to indulge in technology and have less impact on the environment
Does what it says on the tin. From the Guardian Weekend (Gadgets Special)
environment  gadgets  guardian 
november 2004 by blech

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