Type: Image

Photo of the week: “Poo-bus”

The bio-bus will carry passengers between Bath city centre and Bristol airport (photo: Wessex Water/PA)

The bio-bus will carry passengers between Bath city centre and Bristol airport (photo: Wessex Water/PA)

Last Thursday, Great-Britain’s first ‘poo bus’ made its maiden ride. Powered enirely by human feces and food waste, the Bio-bus can travel up to 186miles on one tank of the biomethane gas produced out of the waste by anaerobic bacteria. The bus will transport passengers between Bath city centre and Bristol airport, around 10 000 people a year. The engine is very similar to common Diesel engines, yet carbon dioxide emissions are at least 30% lower. Most important, the fuel is completely renewable and sustainable. It’s an example that with current technology it’s possible to create sustainable public transport which doesn’t compromise on comfort and yet increases the air quality.

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Photo of the week: Brazil’s ongoing drougth

Brazil’s Cantareira reservoir has dried up to nearly 10% of its normal capacity (photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters)

California is not the only place who’s suffering historical droughts. The Canteira system is at its lowest level on record, posing a serious threat to water provisions of South-America’s largest city Sao Paullo. The government was forced months ago to install daily rationing. If the current situation doesn’t change dramaticcaly, Sao Paola can fall dry by February next year. Brazil relies heavily on hydropower and has to start up very polluting coal plants since no water means no hydropower. In the meantime, many speculate about the reasons behind this unseen drought. Antonio Nobre (one of country’s most respected Earth scientists and climatologists) believes the far going deforestation in the Amazon and the almost complete disappearance of the Atlantic forest are the main reason. The forest used to cool down the region and inforced a water cycle which is now broken.

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BBC
The Telegraph

 

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Photo of the week: Massive Snowstorm in US

A historic amount of snow covered large parts of the US (photo: US Department of Defense/Handout/EPA)

This week, an unseen amount of snow covered large parts of the United states. In three days, an equivalent to a year’s supply of snow has fallen, killing at least 10 people. Global warming is intensifying the water cycle of planet earth and sights like this will become the standard. The snow is not the only misery; when it starts melting many states will have to deal with severe flooding.

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Photo of the week: Solar Power bike road

The test bike lane was opened the 12th of November in Krommenie, The Netherlands (photo: SolaRoad)

This week, SolaRoad opened its first solar powered bike road in the Netherlands. The test lane is about 100 meters long and will give useful information about the efficiency of the solar panels build into the concrete lane, covered with a thick glass sheet to protect the panels. An interesting experiment, yet there are many objections to make. Why lay solar panels on the ground, where they will rapidly get covered with mud and dirt? SolaRoad says it solves this problem by tilting the bike lanes slightly. The test project will show if this is sufficient. Another important objection is that the panels aren’t tilted properly to catch as much solar power as possible. According to The Guardian this could mean a decrease of 30% electricity. It is very unlikely solar panel roads will be powering street lightning, let alone electric vehicles passing over it.

 

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Vox

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Photo of the week: Tar Sands

Tar mines alter the Canadian landscape toroughly (photo: Garth Lenz)

Tar sands, also called bituminous sands, is loose sand containing a of mixture of clay and water saturated with a dense and viscous form of petroleum, technically referred to as bitumen. They are found in very large quantities in Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia. The estimated worldwide deposits are far more than estimated deposits for petroleum. The extraction process is expensive, but due to high oil prices tar sands development has seen a big increase the last years. Tar sand mines treathen natural habitats and landscapes as seen on the picture above.

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Photo of the week: Solar power in Spain

The Andasol-1 solar thermal collector is visible from space

In March 2009, the Andasol-1 solar thermal collector opened in Spain, the first of its kind in Europe. Later that year Andasol-2 was opened and in 2011 another Andasol collector became reality. In contrast to the common photovoltaic systems we see on rooftops, the thermal collectors store the sun’s heat in a big heat reservoir of molten salt, by reflecting the sunlight with parabolic mirrors pointed at the reservoir. Via thermal turbines this heat is be transformed into electricity, enough for up to 200 000 people.

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