Hasta La Gadget!

According to a new study, an increase in biofuels could likely also lead to an increase in greehouse gas emissions. And as Europe continues its attempt to reduce those emissions by the year 2020, the use of biofuel may actually be a bad thing.

The reason is this: in order to produce the necessary amount of biofuels, farmers will need to cultivate more land, which means clearing out new areas. This, in turn, creates more carbon emissions. And since part of the 2020 plan is to replace 10 percent of all vehicle fuel with biofuel, this clearly creates a conflict. According to the study, somewhere between 4.1 and 6.9 million hectares will need to be used in order to meet Europe’s demand.

Via New Scientist

Don’t you hate it when you go camping and you have to lug a heavy tent around with you? Well no more! Thanks to a new invention that combines the style of a poncho with the handiness of a tent.

And that’s about all we know. As you can see from the image above, the contraption starts out as a rather over sized poncho, complete with goofy hood, but it can then be spread out to make a tiny shelter. It may not be all that fashionable but it certainly looks handy.

Via Treehugger

A group of scientists from Taiwan has discovered a way to potentially add more trees to the urban landscape while reducing the number of street lights. And the secret is gold. By injecting gold nanoparticles into the leaves of plants, the scientists were able to affect the chlorophyll inside the plant’s leaves, which resulted in a blue-violet fluorescence.

The discovery was stumbled upon while doing research into an alternative light source to LEDs, which are both expensive and can feature toxic chemicals. Not only would luminescent trees eliminate both of those factors, they would also require no electricity and have the added benefit of increasing the number of trees and plant life around us. It’d be like bringing a touch of Avatar to the city.

“In the future, bio-LED could be used to make roadside trees luminescent at night. This will save energy and absorb CO2 as the bio-LED luminescence will cause the chloroplast to conduct photosynthesis,” said Dr. Yen-Hsun Su in the interview with Chemistry World.

Via Inhabitat

The city of Toronto is experimenting with a new type of garbage truck, one that is powered by compressed natural gas and could potentially be powered by biofuel created from household waste in the future.

“Pending results from a pilot program, the City hopes to convert biogas produced from digesting Green Bin organic material into compressed natural gas for distribution across Enbridge’s system,” said Geoff Rathbone, General Manager of Solid Waste Management Services. “In essence, Toronto will be making its own natural gas. Our two Green Bin processing facilities have the potential to produce enough natural gas to take our entire fleet of 300 waste trucks off diesel. Creating natural gas from kitchen waste will be the first operation of its kind in North America.”

The new truck features a Cummins Westport ISL G engine that meets emission standards without any modifications. And if successful, the pilot program could lead to a more long-term and widespread commitment for similar green vehicles.

Via Inhabitat

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, is well known for promoting public transportation, famously taking the subway to work every day. And now he’s using his position as head of the C40, a collection of 40 major cities across the globe, to help promote the idea of electric taxi cabs.

“Think of that–a million-plus autos, the most iconic vehicles in our downtowns, that we can start to work together to make more efficient and less polluting,” Bloomberg said at a recent C40 conference in Hong Kong. “We’ve seen, I think again and again, how national governments have struggled, both at home and at the international stage, to take climate change actions…Together, we have to fill the vacuum of leadership ourselves.”

Via USA Today