Most of today`s solar cells are based on silicon with extremely high purity, which is one of the major reasons why solar power is expensive. IBM has successfully created a new prototype of a solar cell that uses natural and abundant materials – copper, zinc and tin – to convert photons into electricity.
Category: Science
Heat and Drought Ravage US Crops; Global Stocks Suffer
This Summer’s heat and drought are showing their impact on US crops: September estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) show 2012 U.S. corn yields at 123 bushels per acre, down by a fourth from the 2009 high of 165 bushels per acre.
This Is Your Global Food Supply On Climate Change
OK, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I think that this year’s climate extremes are linked to human-caused climate change. We might not really have the definitive answer on whether that is true for 20 years, but I would like nothing better than to be proven wrong about the linkage I’m making today. From a global food supply perspective, the effects of weather on 2012 food production is problematic no matter what its cause. As bad as it seems, it might just be a “shot over the bow” relative to what me might expect in the future.
Rising Temperature Raising Food Prices
Over the last two months, the price of corn has been climbing. On July 19th, it exceeded $8 per bushel for the first time, taking the world into a new food price terrain. With heat and drought still smothering the Corn Belt, we may well see more all-time highs in coming weeks as the extent of crop damage becomes clearer.
Lunar Solar Power: Pipe Dream or Salvation in a Beam?
Physicist David Criswell, director of the Institute for Space Systems Operations at the University of Houston, has spent the last four decades evangelizing for a novel energy solution: solar power from the moon.
Limited Encouragement In The Latest Update Of The FAO Food Price Index
Yesterday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations released it’s monthly update on global food trade pricing. The overall “Food Price Index” that combines all categories did decline slightly, but less than the previous month. The index is still substantially higher than it was at a comparable period during the last cycle.
Fish Pedicures: Experts Warn of Potential Health Risks
Fish pedicures grew in popularity in the United States in 2008, but new findings about possible health and environmental effects are giving state and local governments reasons to take another look at the unusual spa treatment.
Using Grasslands for Carbon Sequestration: a Viable Weapon against Global Warming?
A project in West Marin, California (where else, right?) is studying the possibility of speeding up carbon sequestration in rangelands, grasslands, and other available spaces by adding a little compost.
Texas' Dying Dolphins
From November 2011 to this past March, 123 bottlenose dolphins were found stranded along the Texas coastline. Researchers are trying to determine the cause of this “unusual mortality event.”
How Austin Residents Learned to Coexist with the Barton Springs Salamander
The discovery of an endangered species doesn’t have to mean the end of human activity in its habitat. The story of the Barton Springs Salamander shows that people and threatened animals and plants can coexist… with a little planning.
2011: A Year of Weather Extremes, with More to Come
2011 was one of the hottest, wettest, and most dangerous years on record in terms of weather… and may serve as a sign of the “new normal” we’re facing as the climate changes.
Aflatoxin: A Toxic Potential of Climate Change
One of the most toxic and carcinogenic threats in the human food supply is a natural chemical called “aflatoxin”; the chance that it will contaminate a crop is enhanced by drought and/or insect damage – both conditions expected to be more common with the onset of climate change.
Floating, Desalinating "Solar Cucumbers" Could Be the Future of Water Purification
Phil Pauley, a designer from the UK, has come up with a concept that might just revolutionize desalinating technology: “solar cucumbers.”