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Home  Preserve the Planet Best Practices & Successes
Best Practices & Successes This section features promising ideas and approaches that have delivered positive results in various scenarios. If you know of any documents that would be appropriate for this section, please send us an email with the link. Thanks.
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No Need to Wait (or Pay) for Climate Technology |
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by David Bollier -- Dec. 4, 2009 -- Global Innovation Commons is a massive interactive archive of energy-saving technologies whose patents have expired, been abandoned, or simply have no protection. The idea is to let entrepreneurs and national governments query the database on a country-by-country basis to identify helpful technologies that are in the public domain. Once identified, these technologies for energy, water, and agriculture are prime candidates for being developed at lower costs than patented technologies. (Full Article) |
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Ecosystem Services of Tropical Forests to be Protected with Precedent-Setting Memorandum |
by Sarah Kuck -- Nov. 20, 2008 -- Earlier this week California, Illinois and Wisconsin joined forces with six states in Brazil and Indonesia to fight climate change in an unprecedented way: the states will develop programs that will protect and restore tropical rainforests to ensure the safety of these essential carbon sinks. (Full Article)
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Renewable Energy Jobs Soar in Germany |
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by Jane Burgermeister -- April 8, 2008 -- Renewable energy jobs in Germany shot up to 249,300 in 2007, almost double the 160,500 green jobs in Germany in 2004. According to revised government figures, as many as 400,000 people could be employed in the renewable energy industry in Germany by 2020. This is 100,000 more jobs than a previous study had predicted due to the boost that the country's economy and exports received as a result of massive investment in the renewable sector. (Full Article) |
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The Beginning of the End for Coal |
by Lester Brown and Jonathan Dorn -- April 2, 2008 -- In early 2007, a U.S. Department of Energy report listed 151 coal-fired power plants in the planning stages in the United States. But during 2007, 59 proposed plants were either refused licenses by state governments or quietly abandoned. In addition, close to 50 coal plants are being contested in the courts. (Full Article)
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Million Acres of Guyanese Rainforest To Be Saved In Groundbreaking Deal |
by Daniel Howden -- March 27, 2008 -- A deal has been agreed that will place a financial value on rainforests - paying, for the first time, for their upkeep as “utilities” that provide vital services such as rainfall generation, carbon storage and climate regulation. The agreement will secure the future of one million acres of pristine rainforest in Guyana, the first move of its kind, and will open the way for financial markets to play a key role in safeguarding the fate of the world’s forests. (Full Article)
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Kansas Governor Vetoes Plan For Coal Power Plants |
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by Tom Doggett -- March 24, 2008 -- In a big win for environmentalists, the Democratic governor of Kansas on Friday vetoed legislation that would have allowed a huge coal-fired power plant to expand in the state and spew 11 million more tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year. The bill, approved by the Republican-dominated Kansas legislature, would have allowed Sunflower Electric Power Corp to add two 700-megawatt units. (Full Article) |
by Ken Zweibel, James Mason and Vasilis Fthena -- Jan. 2008 -- Well-meaning scientists, engineers, economists and politicians have proposed various steps that could slightly reduce fossil-fuel use and emissions. These steps are not enough. The U.S. needs a bold plan to free itself from fossil fuels. Our analysis convinces us that a massive switch to solar power is the logical answer. (Full Article)
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Clean Coal-Fired Power Plant Test Traps 95 Percent of Carbon |
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by Alister Doyle -- Nov. 19, 2007 -- "A competitive coal-fired power plant with carbon dioxide capture could be built today with this technology," said Henrik Fleischer of Sargas technology group. "It could produce energy at competitive costs." The system relies on existing technology adapted from the chemicals industry and would have to be 40 metres tall to work at full scale. (Full Article) |
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50 Things That Will Save the Planet (Must Read) |
Environment Agency -- Nov. 2007 -- We put this question to a range of leading environmentalists – from businesses, NGOs, the media, think tanks and our own organisation. Then we added up the results. They are a revelation. A genuine mix of the political, technological, philosophical, social and domestic. (Full Article)
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11 Solutions to Halting the Environmental Crisis |
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by Yifat Susskind -- Oct. 31,2007 --Our best hope for sustainability -- in agriculture, industry, energy, community design, and government -- may lie in local, small-scale models like some of those presented here. Most big institutions and processes are driven by the very people and ideas that have generated our global crisis. (Full Article) |
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Greens Hail Landmark Victory In Fight To Save Amazon Rainforests |
by Andrew Gumbel -- March 26, 2007 -- One of the world’s largest agribusiness giants was forced to close a soy export terminal in Brazil’s Amazon region this weekend, marking a major victory for environmentalists who have argued for years that the plant was built illegally and became a significant cause of rainforest depletion. (Full Article )
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The Electric Wheel - A Breakthrough in Car Efficiency |
by Rembrandt -- Jan. 28, 2007 -- The future of the car is based on direct power in the wheels. By transferring power without any gearing but by using an electromotor that spins itself inside the wheel, huge energy losses are averted, leading to a super efficient car. Another beauty of the system is braking. By reversing the magnets in the wheel in the opposite direction, the forward motion of the car is converted back into electrical power. (Full Article)
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2006 Top Green Tech Ideas |
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by Kelpie Wilson -- Jan. 5, 2007 -- In 2006 we started seeing more attention to the two paths that can lead us forward: energy efficiency and renewable energy. The news about climate change looks grimmer every day, alerting us to the fact that we have no time to waste and we can't afford to invest precious resources in false technology promises and energy dead-ends. (Full Article) |
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“The best things in life aren't things.” Art Buchwald
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