Green of the Week

What do ice cream powered factories, cows with pink backpacks and toothpaste experiments have in common? For starters, they all provoke a "what?" reaction (probably combined with a slight frown). We learned about all of them just this last week. And they are all - I admit, slightly weird - attempts to counter climate change.

We'll take a closer look at them in this week's Green of the Week.

Ice-cream, one of the world's guilty pleasures, might just turn a little bit less guilty in the future. Unilever and Paques have started the construction of a bio-digester at the Ben&Jerry's Ice Cream Factory (I think we are entitled to use Capitals here) in the Netherlands.

Ben & Jerry's BIOPAQ AFR from Paques
3D artist impression

The installation of a bio-digester (an Anaerobic Flotation Reactor, to be precise), is part of Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan. A bio-digester basically converts bio-degradable (ice-cream) waste into (green) energy. "In [the Ben&Jerry's bio-digester], wastewater is purified by converting waste products from ice cream production such as milk, cream, proteins, syrups and pieces of fruit into biogas" (Paques). It should be finished by mid-2011 and will cover 40% of the plants green energy requirements.

Thank you to Trendhunter for bringing our attention to this delectable info and to Unilever & Paques for making it possible.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

My favourite argument in favour of a vegetarian lifestyle has always been the enormous amount of methane emitted by cattle worldwide. "Globally, ruminant livestock produce about 80 million metric tons of methane annually, accounting for about 28% of global methane emissions from human-related activities" (US Environmental Protection Agency).

However, if we can count on Argentina’s National Institute for Agricultural Technology, this argument will soon become moot. They have developed Bovine Methane Backpacks as part of a a study to determine the atmospheric impact of methane released by cows. Ten cows were harnessed with methane-collecting tanks that captured their emissions. Follow-up studies are looking into new diets that would reduce these emissions.

Thank you to Inhabitat for bringing our attention to this new research info and to Argentina's National Institute for keeping such an open mind and choosing such bright colours.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

One of the main issues with Solar Panels is the Production Cost.

This may soon belong to the past, however, as an Oxford research team may have stumbled upon a life/planet-saving solution in the form of ... toothpaste. To be more specific, the team led by Dr Henry Snaith of the University of Oxford has discovered to combine a metal oxide (commonly found in toothpaste) with a thin dye printed on glass to create a new type of solar panels.

The best part of it all, is that this new type would not only be cheaper, it could also be produced in a range of transparent colours for use in windows or to clad buildings. "It opens up a lot of versatility and a lot of possibilities for building design," said Dr Snaith to the BBC, estimating it will "only [be] a short while till our performance will be competitive".

Thank you to Gearlog for bringing our attention to this new research info and to the Oxford University for reading the small print on tooth paste tubes.