[caption id="attachment_5607" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ocean waves near Freeport, Texas (Photo: National Weather Service)"][/caption]
Ocean waves off the coast of Texas may soon provide the first commercial wave power in the US to generate electricity and desalinate water.
Renew Blue Inc. said today that the Texas General Land Office has granted it the first-ever state off-shore wave energy lease. The company said it will use ocean water and waves to produce desalinated water; the first 100 percent fossil-fuel-free bottled water.
HOUSTON (KTRK) — Development has created more opportunities for Houston, but it also costs land that wildlife used to call home. But, in southwest Houston, near South Post Oak, it’s coming back. As it turns out, all it needed was a little space courtesy of a flood control project. >> Read the full story
Somewhere in between the sleep-away camps, beach excursions and baseball games of summer, kids and parents alike generally see the appeal of the sand-free floors and refrigerated air of a good museum. Institutions across the country know this is a great time to squeeze some education into kid-friendly, entertaining exhibitions; here’s a list of some of the best nature-oriented attractions for vacationers who’ve felt a bit too much heat this month.
The friendly skies are getting cleaner thanks to efforts made by Continental Airlines in partnership with Boeing, GE Aviation/CFM International, and Honeywell’s UOP. In early January of this year, Continental Airlines conducted the first biofuel demonstration flight by a commercial carrier in North American. Wednesday, Continental Airlines announced their analysis of this flight in a statement.
The 90-minute test flight, taking off from, and then returning to, Houston, successfully completed many necessary flight operations. Engine 1 operated on 100% jet fuel, while Engine 2 of the Boeing 737-800 operated on a blend of 50% jet fuel and 50% biofuel. The biofuel was made from a combination of algae and jatropha plants, which do not impact food harvests, water resources or contribute to deforestation.
You know your car is a gas hound. But what about the water it requires?
Keeping a car clean, whether you rinse it off in your driveway or get it scrubbed at a professional wash, uses buckets of agua, more than you might realize.
If you’re careful, washing your car at home might use 10 gallons of water, but probably more like 25 or 50. A car wash can use much more, in the range of 75 to 100 gallons.
Count the city of Houston among the growing number of municipalities and groups gathering up old stuff — to keep it out of the landfill and recycle it for new uses.
In this case, Houston is now accepting donations of construction and home materials, which will be made available to any nonprofit organization at no charge.
Let there be light. Places of worship throughout the world are taking this phrase to heart.
The US Green Building Council counts 43 religious projects registered with them, pending LEED certification. The projects include five Jewish temples, 36 Christian churches, one monastery and one seminary.
Not to be outdone is the epicenter of Catholicism, Vatican City, which has worked since 2006 to become the first carbon neutral state. A rooftop garden of solar panels above the Pope’s audience hall was turned on in November 2008. The panels on the 5,000-square-foot roof produce 300 kilowatt hours of energy, creating enough electricity to heat, cool and light the entire building year-round. The Vatican also is in the process of growing a 37-acre forest in Hungary to offset its annual carbon dioxide emissions.
Here is a look at some of the major projects around the nation:
Every little girl dreams about the perfect wedding growing up. Missing from that dream is the large amount of waste caused by that wedding. When it came time for Tara Brown-Selders to walk down the aisle, she could not imagine having an event that produced so much waste. “When I learned how much waste is produced by a single event, I knew I could not have the traditional wedding,” she said.
Her then-boyfriend, Michael Selders, proposed with her great grandmother’s diamond that had also been used by her mother. By reusing the diamond, the couple had a green start to their wedding. GreenKarat also has earth friendly options for engagement rings and wedding rings using recycled metals and fair trade gems.
Foodies love to talk about “pairings” – usually they’re discussing the best wine to compliment an entree and there are those wine/chocolate pairings everyone seems to be buzzed about.
Houston gourmands have begun exploring a more fundamental pairing: They’re bringing top chefs together with local farms, within 150 miles of the city, as part of a celebration of local food.
Learning not to waste – whether it’s food, electricity or water – is not only good in these economic times, but even more important, it’s beneficial for the environment.
The Nalgene Least Wasteful City Study, released this week, ranks the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas on wasteful behavior. San Francisco led the group with the least wasteful habits, while Atlanta ranked at the bottom.
With the Environmental Protection Agency back in full action again after years of humming in neutral, things are happening, and some important beneficiaries could be America’s school children.
USA TODAY reports today that the EPA is expected to run tests of the air quality outside some 62 schools in 22 states to see whether the sites are polluted beyond healthy thresholds. (See the list of schools.)
The top 10 are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Washington, D.C., Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Seattle.
Los Angeles ranked first with 262 buildings earning the Energy Star rating, which can be applied to rehabbed and new properties. San Francisco had 194 buildings; Houston, 145; Washington D.C., 136 and Dallas, 126.
Energy Star, the EPA’s label for high efficiency, sets standards for everthing from light bulbs and appliances to buildings.
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