Across the world, countless trees, shrubs, and algae perform photosynthesis, where sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water are turned into organic matter by a series of complex chemical reactions. Perhaps you had to memorize some of the steps for a high school biology class. As a process that takes CO2 out of the air and can …
Tag Archives: Sustainability
Sembrando Vida: Mexico’s Agroforestry Incentive Program
Agroforestry is the practice of planting trees or shrubs along with crops in a single field. This practice reduces soil erosion and can provide shade for crops. Furthermore, agroforestry can preserve the fertility of soil by mimicking a natural ecosystem instead of a monocrop field. The need for pesticides and fertilizers is likewise reduced on …
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Researchers Create Self-Digesting Plastic
Single-use plastics infest many areas of our lives, and many plastics either aren’t recycled or are not made to be recyclable. The world produces 350 million tonnes of plastic each year, compared to just 2 million tonnes in 1950. From 1950-2015, only 6% of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic produced was recycled. Much of …
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Solar and Battery and Hydrogen-Powered Trains, Oh My!
German railway company Alstorm has officially tested their battery-powered train this month after the first prototype began to be developed five years ago. The company is partnered with the Technical University of Berlin in this endeavour, and the team also seeks to understand the economic viability of using battery-operated trains on major lines. Alstorm reports …
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Thursday Trains Summer Series: Hydrogen-Powered Trains!
The Thursday Trains series reaches its last station today, and concludes by examining a new railway development that may become much more common in the future. Hydrogen fuel cells are a surprisingly old technology. The first one was created by Welsh physicist and inventor Sir William Robert Grove in 1839. Although this fuel cell used …
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Concrete from Algae: A Greener Foundation
When considering humanity’s effects on our planet, it always seems like there is a serious impact coming from a relatively unexpected sector. One human activity that is an unexpectedly high source of greenhouse gas emissions is the production of concrete. Cement is the main ingredient in concrete, and its manufacturing process produces a substantial amount …
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Green Humanist 