Thursday 9 January 2014

Environmental Biotechnology - The Science Of Environmental Technologies Explained

In a span of just a few decades advances and new environmental applications of science, engineering, and their associated technologies have coalesced into a whole new way to see the world. Science is the explanation of the physical world, while engineering encompasses applications of science to achieve results. Thus, what we have learned about the environment by trial and error has incrementally grown into what is now standard practice of environmental science and engineering. This heuristically attained knowledge has come at a great cost in terms of the loss of lives and diseases associated with mistakes, poor decisions (at least in retrospect), and the lack of appreciation of environmental effects.

The ''environmental movement'' is a relatively young one. The emblematic works of Rachel Carson, Barry Commoner, and others in the 1960s were seen by many as mere straws in the wind. The growing environmental awareness was certainly not limited to the academic and scientific communities. Popular culture was also coming to appreciate the concept of ''spaceship earth,'' i.e. that our planet consisted of a finite life support system and that our air, water, food, soil, and ecosystems were not infinitely elastic in their ability to absorb humanity's willful disregard. The poetry and music of the time expressed these fears and called for a new respect for the environment. The environmental movement was not a unique enterprise, but was interwoven into growing protests about the war in Vietnam, civil rights, and a general discomfort with the ''establishment.'' The petrochemical industry, the military, and capitalism were coming under increased scrutiny and skepticism.

The momentum of the petrochemical revolution following World War II was seemingly unstoppable. However, much of the progress we now take as given was the result of those who agitated against the status quo and refused to accept the paradigms of their time. In fact, we provide evidence of the validity of some of these early environmentalists' causes. A handful of cases were defining moments in the progress in protecting public health and the environment. It seems that every major piece of environmental legislation was preceded by an environmental disaster precipitated from mistakes, mishaps, and misdeeds. Amendments to the Clean Air Act resulted from deadly episodes such as were experienced in Donora, Pennsylvania and London, UK. Hazardous waste legislation came about after public outcries concerning Love Canal in New York state. ''Right-to-Know'' legislation worldwide grew from the disaster at Bhopal, India. Oil spill and waste contingency plans were strengthened following the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. International energy policies changed, with growing anti-nuclear power sentiments, following the near disaster at Three Mile Island in the United States and the actual catastrophe at Chernobyl in Ukraine. Most recently, engineering and public health emergency response planning has been completely revamped in response to the events of September 11, 2001.

Certainly these can all be classified as ''environmental'' problems, but they represent new, societal paradigms as well. That is the tricky part of dealing with emerging technologies, including biotechnologies. Contemporary society has a way of thrusting problems upon us. Ironically, society demands the promotion of new and better things and processes, simultaneously demanding that scientists, engineers, physicians, and others in the scientific community sufficiently control the consequences of the very same technologies that members of society insist we use. For example, society may demand, reasonably or unreasonably, certain food characteristics (higher nutrition, less fat, attractive color). They may be quite happy with a product, until it is found to have actual or perceived negative characteristics. For example, the public may be pleased that the price of strawberries remains low and the texture of a high quality until they find out that the plants have been genetically altered to resist frost damage. However, this engineered characteristic could have been the principal driver for the lower price and better texture. Likewise, cleanup of polluted waters and sediments can benefit from genetically altered bacteria and fungi to break down some very persistent contaminants, but the public may fear potential problems if these microbes somehow escape their intended use and find their way into unplanned components of the food chain. Prominent and infamous environmental problems have emerged as byproducts of some useful, high-demand enterprise.

Read more...

If you want to learn more about the environmental movement and biosystems, visit the website you'll find below.

Oliver McAdams
Please visit http://missingcode.com for more about medicine, science, computer technologies, software and game development.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Oliver_McAdams
http://EzineArticles.com/?Environmental-Biotechnology---The-Science-Of-Environmental-Technologies-Explained&id=6325187

Tuesday 7 January 2014

Invest in Green Clean Renewable Energy Sources!

As an investor, keeping "green" on your stock trading screen may mean something completely different in the future. With all of the nuclear meltdown fear and concern over safety, it's a good time to talk about clean and sustainable energy sources and how we, as investors, can profit along side the planet in this growing trend.

What are the Types of Renewable Clean Energy?

Solar Energy: China is currently a world leader in the renewable energy sector, followed by India Germany, Spain, the United States and India. India, one of the sunniest countries in the world boasts over 300 sunny days per year and is quickly becoming a contender in solar energy development.

Photovoltaics: Photovoltaics (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity by using solar panels containing a photovoltaic material (silicon, telluride, copper indium among others).

Wind Power: According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), wind energy capacity grew 22.5% in 2010 even though coal and natural gas remain cheaper in leading power consuming nations. China has surpassed the United States as the world leader in wind power, including the number of installed and manufactured wind turbines. China benefits from low labor cost, low capital cost, government support, and preferred access to rare earth materials such as neodymium and dysprosium.

Hydoelectricity: China's is also the world leader in hydropower installation with the goal to eventually replace coal with hydroelectricity as the major energy source.

Geothermal Power: Geothermal energy is non-carbon based energy source that is environmentally friendly, and doesn't release harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Geothermal power is derived from energy found along tectonic plate boundaries where earthquakes and volcanoes are concentrated used in three types of energy production including, dry steam plants, flash steam plants and binary cycle power plants that transfer heat between liquids to power turbines.

Wave Power: Wave energy uses the energy density of waves from the oceans to create a renewable zero emission source of power. Over 100 small companies around the world are employed in converting the sea's power to electricity.

Tidal Power: uses the tide cycles to generating electricity. As far back as the Middle Ages, small tidal mills in Scotland and Europe were built. The world's first and major tidal energy power plant was built at La Rance in France in 1996.

How to Invest in Clean Energy Companies

Some of the top companies listed in the United States can be found in "Portfolio 21's Top 10 'Green' Companies for 2011", published on December 30th, 2010. These companies demonstrated the qualities of innovation and leadership, a distinct competitive advantage and the potential for long-term value according to CEO and Chief Investment Officer Leslie Christian.

ABB: provides technologies that enable a wide range of industries, including utilities, to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. They are also the world's largest supplier of the electrical heart of wind turbines. ABB's products are well positioned to respond to the global demand for reliable and efficient electricity delivery.

Cisco provides networking products and services for home and business communications that minimize travel and associated environmental impacts.

Eaton provides electrical systems and components for power distribution that reduce energy use.

Growthpoint is leading the implementation of green building and energy saving practices in South Africa and is an active participant in development of the country's first commercial green building standards.

IBM announced a new combined solution to manage energy efficiency in buildings and has made impressive reductions of its own greenhouse gas emissions and is part of the Green Power Market Development Group and the Chicago Climate Exchange.

Johnson Matthey's create catalysts that enable chemical reactions to be carried out under milder conditions, require less energy, and use fewer toxic chemicals and solvents. They are also expected to help produce clean fuels, convert waste and green raw materials into energy, and improve emissions from combustion engines.

Novozymes is the world leader in biotechnology-based industrial enzymes and microorganisms developed to reduce the use of energy, raw materials, and harsh chemicals, as well as reducing waste.

Ormat is a geothermal and recovered energy company involved in thermal solar and biomass. Ormat has installed approximately 1,300 MW of geothermal and Recovered Energy Generation power plants.

Schneider Electric provides energy automation, monitoring, and control solutions for utilities, buildings, and other infrastructure uses in order to reduce consumption.

Tennant Company offers an eco-friendly portfolio of products, including Green Seal-certified cleaning agents, and its ec-H2O cleaning machine, which requires only water and no added chemicals.

In Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange provides a list of green conscious companies engaged in renewable energy production. Here is the list with ticker symbols:

5N Plus Inc. VNP
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp AQN
Alter NRG Corp. NRG
ARISE Technologies Corporation APV
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. ATA
Azure Dynamics Corporation AZD
Ballard Power Systems Inc. BLD
Bennett Environmental Inc. BEV
BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd BXI
BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc. BQE 55.9 BC Y
BIOX Corporation BX
Boralex Inc. BLX
Boralex Power Income Fund BPT
Brookfield Renewable Power Fund BRC
Brookfield Renewable Power Preferred Equity Inc BRF
Burcon NutraScience Corporation BU
Capital Power Income L.P. CPA
Carmanah Technologies Corporation CMH
Cascades Inc. CAS
China Wind Power International CNW (my pick)
Day4 Energy Inc. DFE
Dynetek Industries Ltd. DNK
Electrovaya Inc. EFL
Genesis Worldwide Inc. GWI
Gerdau AmeriSteel Corporation* GNA
GLV Inc. GLV
Hemisphere GPS Inc. HEM
Hydrogenics Corporation HYG
Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. INE
ISE Limited ISE
Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund MPT
Magma Energy Corp. MXY
Marsulex Inc. MLX
New Flyer Industries Inc. NFI
Newalta Corporation NAL
Northland Power Income Fund NPI
Palko Enviornment Ltd PLK
Plutonic Power Corporation PCC
Primary Energy Recycling Corporation PRI
ProSep Inc. PRP
Ram Power Corp RPG
RuggedCom Inc. RCM
SunOpta Inc. SOY
Tembec Inc. TMB (my pick)
Timminco Limited TIM
Turbo Power Systems Inc. TPS
U.S. Geothermal Inc. GTH
WaterFurnace Renewable Energy Inc. WFI (my pick)
Westport Innovations Inc.* WPT
Xebec Adsorption Inc XBC
Zongshen PEM Power Systems Inc. ZPP

Jacqueline Smith is a freelance writer, author of http://www.theinvestobot.com and a medical professional interested in creating wealth through regular savings and healthy investment choices.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacqueline_A_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Invest-in-Green-Clean-Renewable-Energy-Sources!&id=6082769

Monday 6 January 2014

How to Study Biology to Get an A-Plus

Biology is the study of life in its entirety. The growth of biology as a natural science is interesting from many points of view. One feature of this growth is changing emphasis. Initially it was description of life forms, identification, nomenclature, classification of all recorded life forms. In recent years, Physics and Chemistry have been applied to biology and the new science of Biochemistry and Biotechnology have become the dominant faces of Biology. Medicinal practice, green revolution and the advancement in biotechnology has made the presence of biology felt by the common man.

The key to success in Biology is hard work. It means management of time and energy. Biology is a vast subject which requires a great and clear-cut understanding of each topic. Trying to cram notes will never lead to success unless rigorous effort is made in comprehending them. Being a very vast subject, developing interest in it is very important for success. One must have a passion for nature, to understand how things have developed and marvel at the beauty of nature.

To do well at biology, both the quantity and quality of time spent on it are important. A substantial time commitment is required to understand the subject in its entirety. Many students are discouraged when they get unsatisfactory even after spending hours studying for tests,. This may happen when the studies done by them do not lead to comprehension but only cramming effort. The test requires one to integrate concepts from different lectures, and to apply these principles of biology covered in class to evaluate new situations during the test. High-quality work entails preparing for such questions. Preparing entails organizing the mass of new information in such a way that it helps you understand the way the concepts are related to each other

To be successful, a student must carry out lecture follow-up activity i.e. rewriting their lecture notes. This could be done by re-organizing the information studied during the session in a way that conforms to your mental "landscape." Better than rewriting your notes, it helps you to discern the patterns and relationships between concepts leaving no doubts.

The lecture follow-up activity would involve the following:

1. Make a list of the important concepts from the lecture.

2. Rank the concepts from most general to most specific.

3. Circle the concepts that are linked with a solid line.

4. Label the line with a linking phrase.

5. Work down the page, adding increasingly specific concepts and looking for cross-links, which should be drawn with dashed lines.

6. Do a second version for all the concepts with the goal to add formerly unnoticed cross-links and to organize the map so that it flows as logically and as clearly as possible.

Often students are not able to organize themselves in the correct manner and are not able to do well despite their best efforts. At this time, it is best to get expert help which can help the student put things in order.

To sum up all, the mantra to excel in biology is hard work and practice. The combination of these two can do wonders if done properly. The emphasis should always be on the deep understanding of the concepts. Further practice will enable development of right kind of approach required to answer questions during the exam. Amalgamation of a good understanding with a good approach to answer questions would lead to the path of - "SUCCESS".

Uma Sharma is a Online Educator with over 20 years teaching experience. For expert tutoring and advise on coping with exams, please visit website at Online Chemistry Tutor. A good site where you can get expert biology help is Online Biology Tutor

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Uma_Sharma
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Study-Biology-to-Get-an-A-Plus&id=7299797

How Can Green Organic Solvents Improve My Business?

Organic solvents are becoming increasingly popular among a vast range of industry applications. Understanding the specific chemical and quality standards of environmentally-friendly cleaning suppliers will help organizations determine whether "going green" is the best choice for their business or not. The following information has been provided to explain the basic characteristics, facts, and potential advantages of choosing natural versus unnatural cleaning products. While organizational owners and leaders are certainly free to form their own personal opinions supporting or opposing environmental activism, organic solvents are also examined from a financial viewpoint that universally applies to all businesses.

Chemical Safety Monitoring To Avoid Recklessness

Cleaning with potent and industrial level strength products will most likely involve chemicals to get the job done exactly the way it is intended. Eco-friendly manufacturers openly acknowledge the inevitable need for chemical compounds, while providing alternative options to reduce devastating environmental, health, and safety hazards of toxic products. Often suggesting that businesses analyze the requirements of an application before jumping to toxic conclusions, genuine suppliers will assist customers with natural solutions when they are appropriate, and guide them toward safer chemical products when absolutely necessary.

Overcoming Legislative Chokeholds to Expand Productivity

The United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is a federal agency devoted to protection of human health and the environment. Based on laws passed by the United States Congress, the EPA is responsible for writing and enforcing safety regulations as each chemical or procedure is phased-out due to high hazard risks. Often sporadic as new chemical research developments are made, businesses are commonly interrupted without notice by regulations applying to their daily established practices. It is important for industry leaders to understand the primary objective of the EPA is to enforce national safety, no matter what. Regardless of the amount of time or money a business has invested in stocking chemical products that were viewed as acceptable the day before, the moment the government proves it causes more harm than good, there is no option to dispute it. Suppliers of green organic solvents go above and beyond current mandated chemical precautions not only to create a clean global environment, but to protect organizations from fluctuating regulations guaranteed to put a dent in their overall profitability.

Successfully Replacing Hazardous Chemicals within All Industries

A common misconception of organic solvents is a lack of strength required for major manufacturing and maintenance use. Carefully monitoring levels of toxic chemicals used in industrial products does not mean utter and complete eradication. It is simply a strategy aimed to enhance smarter business decision-making, without compromising the quality or effectiveness of cleaning solutions.

Green organic solvents have proven to be a safe and successful replacement of hazardous chemicals within notoriously demanding industries such as manufacturing, military, pharmaceutical, nuclear power, and aerospace, just to name a few.

Industry leaders questioning the performance ability of organic solvents compared to chemically saturated products are provided answers, as well as information to assist the determination of green organic solvents as a financially practical or unrealistic business investment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Timothy_Byron
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Can-Green-Organic-Solvents-Improve-My-Business?&id=6695174

Sunday 5 January 2014

Making the World Safe With Green Cleaning Products

You are not alone in striving to make the earth environmentally friendly by using green cleaning products. There are countless companies and organizations offering an array of products to help you do just this.

You can order a "three little bears-type" laundry detergent that comes in delicate, heavy duty or average strength. There are also bleach alternatives, wet dryer sheets, and linen sprays that are not harmful to the user or the environment.

You might also need a glass cleaner, a product to degrease, an all-purpose cleaner or biodegradable dishwasher detergent. Yes, you can find these earth friendly products available on various websites!

Such aforementioned products are bio-degradable and do not contain phosphates, enzymes, bleach and other harmful chemicals found in many items your local supermarket offers on a regular basis.

There are also "more traditional" cleaning products which are biodegradable. For example, Bicarbonate of Soda, White Vinegar, and Soda Crystals which will produce satisfactory cleaning results without unfavorable side effects to the user.

There are worthy environmentally conscientious companies who specialize in providing "green" microbial cleaning products to businesses. These products feature the latest techniques in biotechnology and present an effective and safe solution where chemicals and synthetics in other cleaners do not.

Those ecologically conscious providers bring you safe, effective, and natural products for home cleaning. These cleaners do not use any questionable chemicals, surfactants, detergents, synthetic fragrances or dyes. Also make sure your professional carpet cleaner uses earth-friendly cleaning products when servicing your home.

There are numerous environmentally protective options; all you have to do is find them. We are the world!

Green Cleaning Product [http://www.earthfriendlycleaningproducts.net/]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Antonia_Klekoda_Baker
http://EzineArticles.com/?Making-the-World-Safe-With-Green-Cleaning-Products&id=3692769