You are here

Home

United States

Simulating the Effects of Different Actions to Minimize Disaster’s Consequences

Mon, 2012-06-04 16:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Linton Wells

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - June 1, 2012

The European CRISMA project prepares for disasters by developing a decision-support tool to help the authorities, responders, communities, and private parties to prioritize the most important measures for saving lives and mitigating the effects of the crisis.

The CRISMA project, coordinated by VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, is developing a planning tool for crises which have immediate, extensive, and often irreversible consequences to the population and society. Crises of this type include natural disasters, toxic emissions, forest fires, and aircraft accidents.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Disaster Risk Reduction
Simulations
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

U.S. Loan for Huge Brazilian Landfill Gas Project Pays Dividends

Sun, 2012-06-03 21:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

waste-management-world.com - May 31,2012

A $48.6 million loan by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) supporting exports of equipment and services for the development of the Novo Gramacho biogas project in Brazil has generated 165 new jobs.

The transaction is Ex-Im Bank's first financing for biogas reclamation and development.

Among the beneficiaries is Newport Beach, California based renewable energy specialist, FirmGreen, which estimated that the project directly generated 165 new jobs at its facilities and at other companies in seven states.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Waste
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Plastic-Eating Fungi Found in Amazon May Solve Landfill Problems

Mon, 2012-05-14 18:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

               

digitaljournal.com - by Anne Sewell - March 10, 2012

Just when you thought that plastic waste was never going to break down in the environment, along comes Mother Nature to solve the problem.

The Amazon contains more species of flora and fauna than virtually anywhere else on earth.

In a report by NZ Herald it was stated that a group of students from Yale University found a species which appears to be happy eating plastic in airless landfills.

Their findings were published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology last year with the conclusion that the microbe is "a promising source of biodiversity from which to screen for metabolic properties useful for bioremediation."

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Biodegradation of Polyester Polyurethane by Endophytic Fungi

http://aem.asm.org/content/77/17/6076.short?rss=1&amp%3bssource=mfr

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Waste
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Grand Challenges Explorations - Winners Announced May 9, 2012

Thu, 2012-05-10 15:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux
From: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation <***@***.***>
Date: May 9, 2012 1:28:04 PM EDT
To: <redacted>
Subject: Grand Challenges Explorations - Winners Announced May 9, 2012
Reply-To: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation <***@***.***>

Dear Colleagues:

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Economics
Health
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Researchers Use GPS Data to Speed Up Tsunami Warnings

Sun, 2012-05-06 23:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

In this Jan. 2, 2005 file photo, a wide area of destruction is shown from an aerial view taken over Meulaboh, 250 kilometers (156 Miles) west of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Researchers in the United States are hoping to use GPS data to speed up current warnings. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

U.S. seismologists currently testing new warning system

by Andrew Pinsent - CBC News - May 5, 2012

Scientists in the United States have been testing an advanced tsunami warning system using GPS data, combined with traditional seismology networks, to attempt to detect the magnitude of an earthquake faster so warnings of potential tsunamis can get out to potentially affected areas sooner.

The prototype is called California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN), and is a collaboration between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, whose focus is on environmental conservation.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Communication
Disaster Risk Reduction
Earthquake
Natural Hazard
Oceans
Technology
Tsunami
Visualization
Vulnerability
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions
Problem

The City as Lab: 21 Metropoles Prepare to Prototype

Sat, 2012-05-05 23:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Living Labs Global co-founder Sascha Haselmayer addresses the crowd in Rio de Janeiro

submitted by Albert Gomez

good.is - by Zak Stone - May 4, 2012

In a megapolis like Mexico City, any planning initiative that moves citizens from cars to busses will pay off in reductions to traffic and air pollution. A major deterrent to using public transportation in the city? Comfort, according to Dr. Julio Mendoza, director of Mexico City's Institute of Science and Technology. Many would rather drive than experience that particular breed of public transportation-pegged anxiety: waiting helplessly on the street corner for a bus that feels like it won't ever arrive.

After participating in the Living Labs Global Award program, a competition designed to help cities solve planning challenges, the Mexican capital may have found a fix. In February, Mexico City and 20 other LLGA participants around the world put out an open call to companies to pitch solutions to important but fixable problems.

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Cities
Communication
Ideas
Technology
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Solutions

Future Trends in Geospatial Information Management: The Five to Ten Year Vision

Sat, 2012-04-28 17:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

United Nations Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management - April 24, 2012

A working group was established to assess the future trends in geospatial information management at the 1st meeting of the UN Committee on GGIM in Seoul, Korea. Chaired by Dr. Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, the working group has received written inputs from 29 persons or institutions. A summary of the future trends shall be presented during this forum in Amsterdam, followed by discussion among all the participants. Meanwhile, the process of soliciting views on future trends continue and the working group welcomes any additional inputs. A consolidated paper on the future trends shall be discussed in the 2nd Session of the Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management.

http://ggim.un.org/

Background paper:
Future trends in geospatial information management: the five to ten year vision (8 page .PDF file)

 

 

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Map
Visualization
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

North Sea Oil Shock Keeps Fire Under Brent Price

Mon, 2012-04-16 15:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

BY BENOIT FAUCON AND SARAH KENT - The Wall Street Journal - April 9, 2012

Just when it looked as if Iran's oil shock was starting to be absorbed by the market, a problem in Europe is keeping alight the fire under crude prices.

On March 25, a gas leak forced Total SA, the French oil company, to halt production of 60,000 barrels of oil per day at the Elgin field, about 200 kilometers from the coast of Scotland. The high-profile incident has led to soul-searching that could rein in output in the Continent's largest oil patch.

(GO TO THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Activists Worry About Oil Spill Due to North Sea Platform Gas Leak

Mon, 2012-04-16 15:47 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

This is an undated handout photo issued by Total E&P UK Ltd of Total's Elgin PUQ (Process/Utilities/Quarters) platform. (AP/TOTAL E&P UK Ltd.)

Associated Press - foxnews.com - March 29, 2012

EDINBURGH, Scotland –  Environmental groups warned Thursday they fear an oil spill could be triggered at a North Sea offshore platform that has been leaking highly pressurized gas since the weekend.

A flame is still burning in the stack above the Elgin platform, which stands about 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, eastern Scotland, after a leak of flammable gas Sunday-- prompting all 238 staff to be evacuated on Monday.

Platform operator Total S.A. insists there is no threat of any explosion under current weather conditions, but said that surveillance flights have detected a sheen around the platform estimated to extend over 1.85 square miles.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)


Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Pollution
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Problem

Exxon's Big Bet on Shale Gas

Mon, 2012-04-16 15:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Drill pipe ready for use on a rig at Exxon's Johnson Ranch site outside Fort Worth

by Brian O'Keefe - CNN - April 16, 2012

America's most profitable company now produces about as much natural gas as it does oil. CEO Rex Tillerson thinks the fracking party has just begun.

FORTUNE -- For Rex Tillerson fracking is more than a revolutionary approach to drilling oil and gas -- it's part of his personal history. Simply mention the word to the CEO of Exxon Mobil (XOM) and he starts reminiscing about his days as a young engineer.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Energy
Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?: 
Other

Pages

Subscribe to United States
howdy folks