Fuel cell train in Japan

East Japan Railway Company, also known as JR East, is set to test the world's first fuel cell-powered train. According to Fuji Sankei, the one-carriage prototype, powered by two 65-kilowatt fuel cells, will be able to reach speeds of 100km/hr. Read more at JCN

Tornado Technology

Veridium is a green technology company that is marketing an interesting method for processing biomass and other wastes in a high-speed vortex. Their website has some videos showing it in action. A more in depth article about the technology can be found here.

From the press release:
"Veridium's Tornado Generator(TM) accelerates compressed air to supersonic speeds in a closed cyclonic chamber where the air is powerful enough to almost instantly grind, flash desiccate and atomize solid and liquid wastes and other materials into micron sized powders. The Tornado Generator(TM) is a completely contained system with no internal moving parts that is powered by compressed air. It can safely and cost-effectively and rapidly process a very broad array of wastes including agricultural wastes, municipal wastes, industrial wastes, and construction and demolition wastes."

[via Greenshift Corporation]

Happy Earth Day!

As much as we talk about what the US isn't doing environmentally, today they are celebrating the 36th annual Earth Day. I haven't heard of anything similar in Europe... Is this true? If so, then why not? ...the tulips are definitely having a party.

Field Guide to IE?

So maybe the chapters on LCA and cleaner production are missing, but Infrastructure provides an interesting artistic & explanatory view of the industrial landscapes around us.

From the book's Amazon.com site:
"Replete with the author's striking photographs, Infrastructure is a unique and spectacular guide, exploring all the major "ecosystems" of our modern industrial world, revealing what the structures are and why they're there, and uncovering beauty in unexpected places. Covering agriculture, resources, the water supply, energy, communication, transportation, and waste, this is the "Book of Everything" for the industrial landscape."

Bye Bye Coral :(

Here is very disturbing news article on the so-called 'biggest loss of ancient and delicate coral in Caribbean waters'. The main causes of this loss are Global Warming and a very dangerous disease called the white plague.
The coral is not only very important for the wild life that inhabits these reefs, but it is also important for people living in the Carribean, as it has reduced harmfull effects of hurricanes and Tsunamis in the past.

Someone's view on IE

Someone made the effort to send me this cartoon all the way to Norway, and I wanted to share it with you, just in case you haven't seen it yet :)


For the non-dutchies, it says: "New master programme of Industrial Ecology not completely convincing..."
I think it's quite genious, I just love the idea of the flower factory ;)