Gates Foundation Donates $100,000 to New Toilet Technology

Only a UK paper would actually run this with a news article. Linked to source: Daily Mail

Several months ago I posted about how the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had announced that it will be investing more than $42 million in the development of new toilets that are designed to turn waste into energy. Call it productive poop, alternative energy, waste not want not, or really giving back to the Earth, but scientists researching alternative energy believe there is great potential in the reuse of human waste. However, little has been done in the way of developing a system that could convert bodily functions into usable energy.
Improved toilet technology is a very big deal. It sounds gross to the uneducated, but really it has pretty amazing potential. And now the Gates Foundation has funded $100,000 to scientists at Imperial College London and Durham University, and Dr. Sarah Haigh of Manchester University. Haigh is an expert in nanotechnology.
The research and new technology is not going to produce Evian quality bottled water, and that isn't the aim either. But it could create cleaner water. No, this isn't a device headed for your suburban home powder room, that will recycle your pee, and come out your faucet later. But it could very well end up in less developed countries where clean water is scarce.
The UK project beat out 2,000 other proposals to win the funding.
Read the whole story here!

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13 yr old boy improves solar power

Aiden Dwyer Source: American Museum of Natural History

Aiden Dwyer, a 13-year-old boy from Long Island, New York, was a presenter at the recent PopTech conference, discussing his method for improving the efficiency of solar panels. Based on the mathematics of tree branches, his design is 20 to 50% more efficient than traditional solar arrays, especially in low-light conditions, such as cloudy days in the winter or in places where there are lots of trees and tall buildings.
"My design is like a tree," he said, "but instead of having leaves it has solar panels at the ends (of the branches)."
Dwyer created a prototype of this tree-like solar panel array for a science fair with the help of his grandfather. He ordered the solar panels online and the pair built the rest of it together. For his efforts, he won the Young Naturalist award this year from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Read the rest of the story on CNN: Meet a 13 year old solar power developer

Do It Yourself Composting Toilet

I'm not sure if I'd ever actually try this myself, but it is interesting to see that there are people out there making it happen. Its not hard to do, and serves a great purpose. 

Can hemp help the environment?

Hemp grown for industrial use

First, what is the difference between hemp and marijuana? Both are derivatives of the cannabis plant. The major difference between to two varieties is the percentage of the psychotropic ingredient: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC"), the active psychotropic ingredient found in the leaves and flowers of the female plant, but not in her seeds or stems. While marijuana has a potency range of 3% to 20% by dry weight of THC, industrial hemp is generally defined as having less than 1.0% THC, and the normal range is under 0.5%.  These THC levels are so low that no one could get high from smoking it.