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The Headlines

MLB goes green
Clean energy fans march on Washington
America’s first offshore wind project approved
Indonesia rides the volcano
Whale poo found to be useful
and…Electric shoes!

The Details

MLB goes green

Major League Baseball is teaming up with the Natural Resources Defense Council to enact a greenhouse gas-reducing program including a multi-year environmental data collection drive for Major League Baseball operations that will include energy use, waste generation and disposal (including recycling), water use, and paper goods.

All 30 teams comprising the American League and the National League are participating in the initiative, any many teams are doing individual things to help. The Red Sox are installing solar panels, the Phillies are offsetting carbon emissions by purchasing renewable energy credits, and the Twins are installing a rainwater harvesting system.

Clean energy fans march on Washington

On April 25, 150,000 people descended on the Mall in Washington DC to urge lawmakers to pursue clean energy legislation. In addition to environmental activists, some notable folks were in attendance, including Sting, The Roots and Passion Pit.

Although their efforts were admirable and the numbers were there, the gathering might not make the waves participants had hoped for. Financial reform is the topic Congress is currently focusing on, with immigration reform threatening to edge its way to first place on their list of other priorities.

If immigration reform is pushed to the forefront, climate change legislation could potentially have to wait until after elections end in November. Some environmentalists fear that if Congress swings to a Republican majority, Democrats urging for the legislation would have their efforts blocked entirely.

America’s first offshore wind project approved

It was an ambitious project nine years in the making: a fleet of wind turbines proposed to be built offshore in the waters of Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts.

And now, it has permission to become a reality. US Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar approved the Cape Wind project on April 27. After some tweaking and revisions, the project will go into production to create 130 turbines about five miles off Cape Cod. The $1 billion project will create 1,000 jobs and will last 21 years.

Native Wampanoag Indian tribes opposed the project because hundreds of years ago the area where the turbines will be built was above water and inhabited by their ancestors, whose remains may still be buried there. In response, Salazar will require Cape Wind to conduct extensive archeological surveys in Nantucket Sound to make sure they aren’t disturbing remains and artifacts before the building begins.

Indonesia rides the volcano

To call Indonesia a hotbed of volcanic activity would be an understatement. The 17,000+ islands of Indonesia are home to hundreds of volcanoes. While this can be inconvenient to downright dangerous, Indonesia’s government is beginning to see volcanoes as an asset.

Having so many volcanoes also means Indonesia contains about 40 percent of the world’s geothermal energy potential. So, the country has set a goal of bringing online 4GW of geothermal capacity by 2014. Think that’s a lofty goal? Well the Indonesian President also wants to cut emissions to 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and add 10GW of clean energy capacity by 2014.

Great ideas, but the geothermal project alone would cost $12 billion! And guess who doesn’t have $12 billion? Indonesia. They’ve gone to the World Bank, Japan and the United States to ask for funding. We’ll let you know if they get it.

Whale poo found to be useful

Wouldn’t be Reusable News if we didn’t find an excuse to talk about poo! But this isn’t just poo news, it’s good news too!

Australian scientists recently discovered that since whales’ diets are made up of iron-rich crustaceans, they make a great fertilizer for marine plants to thrive. It’s just another case of humans being awestruck by the amazing way that the Earth and its diverse ecosystems have evolved to take great care of themselves.

But the good news doesn’t end there. The healthier the marine plants grow, the better able they are to absorb the ocean’s CO2. What these scientists will do with this information remains to be seen. But if even whales and kelp are doing their part to reduce greenhouse gases, it makes us wonder what are humans waiting for?

Electric shoes?

Yes, electric shoes. A researcher from Louisiana Tech named Ville Kaajakari has designed a shoe that creates electricity while you walk! The shoe contains a generator in the sole that when walked on creates a “piezoelectric” charge which can then be converted into electricity which could be used to charge batteries and electrical devices.

The designer hopes the shoe can eventually create clean, renewable electricity to charge portable devices like sensors, GPS units and cell phones. This idea has the potential to be lifesaving to someone hiking or camping in the wilderness.
Kaajakari isn’t the first person to come up with this idea, but he is the first one to use a flexible polymer transducer that replaces the shock absorber in the heel of the shoe, keeping it comfortable for the wearer.