Inequalities
The video clip below graphically describes the shocking disparity in wealth between the richest and poorest groups of Americans. The video points out that the wealth disparity is very different from what most Americans think is the case and what they would want it to be and includes a chart illustrating this. A similar Australian study was conducted by Empirica Research. In the graph below, the Australian results are overlaid on the American chart. The chart shows that Australians are far more equal in wealth than Americans, but not nearly as equal as they think they are, and far less … Continue Reading
African Renewable Energies, a small London–based firm, aims to help poor communities in developing countries earn money and generate electricity from the innumerable rubbish tips around African cities. The idea is to cover landfill sites with thinfilm solar phovololtaic cells printed on to the flexible membranes used to cap landfills. Landfills in Africa are often open dumps without leachate or gas recovery systems. Many are located in ecologically or hydrologically sensitive areas and are operated with below-standard sanitary practices. The solar landfill covers are based upon the use of a single membrane as an integrated and cost-effective solution designed to … Continue Reading
In this video clip from the BBC’s "Joy of Stats", Professor Hans Rosling traces the progress of 200 countries over 200 years (in just 4 minutes) and projects it into the future.
It is estimated that around 2.6 billion people have no proper sanitation. A group of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a low cost, modular sanitation solution which they call "Sanergy". The project, which would be operated and maintained by locals and the waste transported to nearby processing plants, through a network of "micro-franchises". Biogas produced from the waste will be used to create electricity and what’s left of the human waste turned into fertilizer. The group has set up a pilot project in the slums of Kenya where more than 10 million live without proper sanitation.
In the past 20 years, income per capita in the rich countries has increased by 30%. In the poorest countries, it has been steadily dropping. In 1980, the wealth of the richest 5% of the world’s population was six times that of the poorest 5%; today, the wealth of the richest 5% is 200 times that of the poorest 5%. The three richest individuals in the world have more wealth than the poorest 650,000,000 combined. 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity. 2.4 billion people rely on wood fires for cooking. Yet the population of the developed countries wastes … Continue Reading
Videos
Renewables News- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted WaterScientists from Deakin University, together with French colleagues, say that they have manufactured a lightweight and reusable material that can absorb up to 33 times its weight in a wide range of spilt oils, chemical solvents and dyes, while repelling … Continue Reading → […]
- Aussie Researchers Make Efficient Solar Cells from Low-grade SiliconResearchers at the University of New South Wales have found a way to make very high efficiency solar cells out of cheap, low-grade silicon. It has been known for several decades that hydrogen atoms can be introduced into the atomic … Continue Reading → […]
- First Aussie “Hot Rocks” Power Plant Begins ProducingThe first power plant in Australia to produce electricity using an enhanced geothermal ("hot rocks") system has begun producing electricity in the far north-east of South Australia. The one-megawatt Habanero pilot plant near outback Innamincka is operated by Geodynamics. Geodynamics … Continue Reading → […]
- New Aussie Technology to Clean Polluted Water
