“Cluster light”: lighting performance and innovation
Cluster light part of 42 first “clusters” deductions in May 2010Its goal: uniting and developing expertise in lighting in region Rhône-Alpes.
Cluster light lies at the heart of local, national and international energy issues and must meet the major challenges in the lighting sector. With 84 members in 2010, Cluster light brings more than 20% of the actors identified in this sector. Implementing their innovative lighting solutions has a strong potential for energy savings that meets both willingness economic and societal.
Cluster light focuses much of its thoughts on LEDs (light emitting diode) technology particularly promising, offering futures currently much higher than the most efficient systems energy efficiency, extreme flexibility and a very long shelf life.
Categories: Environment Tags: Cluster, innovation, light, lighting, performance
International Year of Forests
The United Nations proclaimed 2011 “international year of forests”, to sensitize the populations of the world on the importance of sustainable management and conservation of forests. Major forest countries, the France will mobilize to celebrate this international event through demonstrations aimed at publicizing its action and commitment.
Forests are a crucial issue for the life of the planet. An integral part of sustainable global development, forests have an impact on the existence of 1.6 billion people worldwide. They are a natural resource, are sources of economic activities, and as ecosystems, they are essential to the balance of the planet: mitigation of climate change, impacts on water quality, biodiversity protection, limitation of erosion or reduced risk in mountain… For all these reasons United Nations decided to 2011 year of forests.
The forest, an asset for the France
In France, the forest area increased by half since 1950. Today the forests cover 30% of the territory, constituting a major asset for the French economy, particularly in rural areas. The French forest-wood chain has 425 000 jobs or twice more than the automotive industry, and generates a turnover of EUR 40 billion.
Facts and figures on the French forest:
13% wooded area de l’Union européenne, 15 3 million hectares in Metropolis (28.3% of the territory), including 10.6 million hectares of private forest and 4.7 million hectares of public forests, 7, 7 million hectares of tropical forests in the 4 overseas departments, including 98% in the only French Guiana (Amazon), 9 122 nature reserves and national parks the France is the third European country to its forest after the Sweden and the Finland surface.
Categories: Environment Tags: forests, international
Plants Combat Pollution
Last year was a “pretty good” one for Phytorestore, according to CEO Thierry Jacquet. This small company is the French market leader in a promising, but still marginal sector, phytoremediation, or more simply, using plants to mitigate pollution.
Timber Frames and Conditions The World
Land is made up of different types of terrain largely by the situation of the soil, boulders and the timber. It could be as woodland, as mountains or mountainous, as desert or rolling flat-lands.
Yet land without trees, like the Nullabor (no timber) plains in Australia, is bare except for salt shrubbery, some local flora and animals. Furthermore, being waterless, these plains are very hot, unproductive and unwanted.
Land with lots of timber is fruitful, cool, humid, appealing and also substantially alive. Whenever we remove the trees from this type of territory what exactly are we all doing to the earth?
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Categories: Environment Tags: Australia, Biology, Deforestation, Environment, Forestry, Geography and ecology of the Everglades, Land use, Mangrove, Natural environment, Nature, Plant, Soil, Tree
Extreme Toilets in France
Living in France, you get used to the idea that toilet facilities are not always what you might expect. As many seasoned motorists will know, a trip down the autoroute will expose you to some of the extremes.
Categories: Environment, Utilities Tags: designer, energy, Environment, France, Human waste, Imperial College, London, Sanitation, Sewerage, Toilet, urban infrastructure, Viginia Gardiner, Virginia, Waste, Waste collection, Waste management, Water
Russian gas supply to France down 70%
Energy group GDF Suez says it recorded a significant dip in delivery of Russian natural gas on Tuesday.
PARIS – Deliveries of Russian gas to France were down 70 percent from their normal level on Tuesday amid a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, energy group GDF Suez said.
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Categories: Environment, News Tags: energy giant, Energy group, Europe, European Union, France, gas, gas accounts, gas supplies, Gaz de France, Gazprom, GDF Suez, Île-de-France, Joakim Aleksander, Kiev, larger gas reserves, natural gas, natural gas passing, natural gas supplies, OAO "Gazprom", Paris, Russia, Ukraine, Utilities
Solar Thermal Plant
By turning a long line of mirrors, the first solar thermal plant in nearly twenty years was launched last week in Bakersfield, California. Unlike solar photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into electricity, this power system will focus sunlight on tubes that contains water. The light heats the water, creating steam that is used to power turbines.
Solar energy
At full capacity, Kimberlina will generate 5 megawatts of power, enough for about 3,500 homes in Central California. Although this is a small amount of energy compared with other utility scale power plants, this plant will serve as a gateway for a much larger solar plant.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Ausra, the manufacturer of the solar panels announced a purchase agreement in November, 2007 for a solar power plant of 177 megawatts. Once completed, the Carrizo Plains solar plant in Central California will generate enough power for 120,000 homes.
Solar technology is especially well suited for the American Southwest where huge amounts of sunshine make this region rich with solar energy potential. Air conditioners are accountable for a large amount of the electric load and the highest electric demand corresponds with solar radiation.
Ausra is well known for their claim that the total US electricity load (day and night) could be generated in an area that is 92 miles by 92 miles. This is made possible by steam storage, consequently allowing solar plants to operate after the sun has set.