The world without us

I recently finished reading a most interesting book of what Mankind would leave behind once it has disappeared from the surface of the Earth. This 300-page thought experiment was written by the American journalist Alan Weisman. Even if cities like New York will disappear as buildings crumble and as plants of all sorts grow, Nature […]

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The Story of Cosmetics

Annie Leonard comes back ! After the Story of Stuff – about the true environmental cost of our consumerist frenzy – and the Story of Bottled Water – which is the apex of unsustainability – she comes back with the Story of Cosmetics. Exposing the horrendous toxic products found in our personal care products Annie

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A creative idea for the plastic in our oceans

I don’t know if this the most interesting or the craziest idea I came across this year : WHIM Architecture outlined a plan to create Recycled Island which would collect plastic in our oceans and use it to build an Hawaii-sized island. On top of cleaning our oceans from all this mess this project could

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China becomes the world’s first energy consumer

According to the International Energy Agency, China became in 2009 the world’s biggest energy consumer in front of the USA. Indeed it consumed 2.25 billion tons of oil equivalent (TOE) while the latter consumed 2.17 billions. To the Wall Street Journal : ” China’s total energy consumption was just half that of the U.S. 10

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Is the BP oil spill finally over ? (A wake up call)

After nearly three months (cf. A huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ) it seems it is finally (almost) over. To the Guardian : ” BP held out hope today that it had finally brought America’s worst oil spill under control “. But we shouldn’t rejoice too fast as ” executives and officials

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The hottest June ever recorded

To the US NOAA ” Last month’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods “ The Guardian notes that the data released suggest that ” 2010 is now on course to be the warmest year since

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Europe must cut its CO2 emissions by 30 percent

This is the message published today in three leading European newspapers by the Environment Ministers of the United Kingdom, Germany and France, respectively Mr. Chris Huhne, Dr Norbert Röttgen and Mr. Jean-Louis Borloo. This bold call for action changes from the traditional European Union’s message which clings to cutting emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

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A glimpse at the farms of the future

I am fortunate to have half of my family living in the countryside with family members working as farmers. I believe this enabled me to discover the marvels of Nature at a young age. While working one sunny afternoon in April  I was reflecting with one of my uncles that the cow manure collected daily

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Why it’s time to increase electricity prices

One of the main facts of the latest World Energy Outlook is that energy efficiency “is the largest contributor in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases , accounting for over half of total abatement by 2030.” This means that it has more impact than renewable energies, nuclear power and clean coal combined. But energy is

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Solar Impulse flies for 26 hours non-stop

The solar powered plane Solar Impulse flew for over 26 hours without interruption and landed on July 8th. This plane has a wingspan of 63 meters – the same as a Boeing 777 – weights 1,600 kg and goes as fast as a scooter, 70 km-h. The plane gathered enough energy from the sun during

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