Hear what Bill Gates has to say about Innovating to Zero

In this intriguing TED presentation, Bill Gates talks about the challenges of making power sustainable.

TED, which stands for technology, entertainment and design, is focused on promoting "ideas worth spreading", and hosts talks by big thinkers in a range of spheres.

In this talk, technology guru Gates explains the challenges humanity faces in achieving carbon neutrality in the area of power generation. He discusses what he believes are five key approaches to large-scale power-related emissions reduction, then goes into a little detail on terrapower, a revision to nuclear power that, he says, is one of "hundreds of ideas" that we need to focus funding, research and investigation on if we are to reduce global carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

Check it out, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Find out what HP is doing to reduce global e-waste

Australians are e-waste hoarders according to a study released recently, which defines the potential benefits of our recycling the approximately 16 million old mobile phones.

Says Rose Read, manager recycling, of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA), those benefits could include the production of "3.2 million aluminium cans, 160,000 plastic fence posts, and [it would] save enough greenhouse gases to take 5180 cars permanently off the road".

On the other side of the consumerism fence, Fastcompany reports that electronics giant Hewlett Packard has banned the exporting of electronic waste from developed OECD and EU countries to "developing (non-OECD/E.U.) countries".

Electronic product waste, which contains heavy metals and other harmful contaminants, has long been shipped to developing countries for "processing", which, due to the lack of infrastructure, regulation or safety standards, can leave the local people and the environment sick.

HP, in an official statement, explains that it has updated its e-waste policy, which now reads as follows:

• "No prison or child labor will be used;
• Every reasonable effort will be made to control all electronic waste and prevent it from entering landfills or incinerators; and
• All exports and imports of electronic waste handled by HP and its authorized vendors will comply with existing international waste trade agreements and legal requirements.
• HP does not permit electronic waste to be exported from developed (member) countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU) to developing (non-OECD/EU) countries, either directly or through intermediaries."

How do you dispose of your electronics when they reach the ends of their useful lives?

Understand the concepts of carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, is a process we can use to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 10 gigatonnes -- 10 billion metric tonnes -- per year by 2050.

Rather than let carbon escape into the atmosphere in the form of Carbon Dioxide (or CO₂) when fuels like coal and gas are burned, CCS allows us to capture the CO₂ and store it for the long term.

CCS isn’t an answer to global warming. But CCS is important because:

• It’s a cost-effective approach to helping meet our emissions reduction targets.
• It’s versatile. CCS can be used not just at power generation sites, but also at high-emissions industrial facilities.
• The technology already exists, so we may use CCS processes globally to reduce emissions in the near future.

How CCS works

Carbon capture and storage is a three-stage process:

1. Carbon capture
2. Carbon transport
3. Carbon storage

1. Carbon capture

Three processes are used to capture the CO₂ emitted when fuels are burned.

Pre-combustion capture
Before the fuel is burned, it's turned into a gas. The CO₂ is separated from that gas, which is then burned to generate energy.

Oxy-fuel capture
CO₂ gas can be captured during the burning process, in the combustion chamber itself, if the fuels are burned in air enriched with oxygen.

Post-combustion capture
CO₂ can be captured after the fuel is burned, using chemicals to "scrub" the gases produced by burning the fuel.

2. Carbon transport

Carbon transport involves moving the CO₂ from the point at which it's captured to the place where it'll be stored.

To date, carbon has been transported using high-pressure pipelines, ships, trucks and trains.

3. Carbon storage

Carbon storage involves placing the CO₂ into the earth for the long term. We currently have three geological storage options:

1. Saline formations
2. Oil and gas reservoirs
3. Deep coal seams

CO₂ storage in other geological formations, such as basalt, may also prove effective where these options aren’t available.

Studies have shown that CO₂ injected into saline geological formations and oil and gas reservoirs remained safely stored without leakage, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

What CCS Isn’t

There’s been a lot of talk -- and confusion -- about what CCS means for our emissions reduction efforts.

CCS isn’t:

• an excuse for ignoring climate change
• an answer to global warming
• synonymous with "clean coal"
• a way to keep people in unsustainable jobs.

What CCS Offers

CCS can help us smoothly and cost-effectively transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

Affordable emissions reduction

The International Energy Agency estimates that a total of 145 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide can be captured and stored in the next 40 years.

It's calculated that without CCS, the cost to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 would increase by 70%.

Yet the cost of proposed CCS project development between 2010 and 2050 represents just 6% of the total investment needed to halve emissions in that time, according to the IEA’s CCS Roadmap (pdf).

At-emission-point reduction

Fossil fuel, biomass and gas energy generation facilities have obvious potential for CCS technology, but there are many others.

Industries like pulp and paper, cement, chemicals and metals production and fuel transformation also offer possibilities for CCS.

A viable addition to the emissions reduction package

The technology already exists, and five commercial CCS projects are already operating in Norway, Algeria and North America.

With additional research, we may use CCS processes on a larger scale in the near future.

What questions do you have about CCS?

Choose greener detergent

When it comes to washing clothes and dishes most of us buy washing and laundry detergents that are made for the purpose.

If you're in this boat, why not consider products that are "greener"? Not only are they usually less likely to irritate allergies, these products are biodegradable and phosphate-free (which reduces phosphate pollution in water and soil), and many of them can be safely used in greywater systems.

If you've never tried a more environmentally friendly detergent, grab one next time you're stocking up and see what you think. If you have, you might like to go one step further and try washing dishes with pure soap and rinsing in hot water to which you've added a little vinegar. Pure soap laundry products are also available.

Check out the latest new-found species

That's right: a recent expedition to Ecuador has turned up a raft of previously unknown species.

As New Scientist reports, the scientists, who hail from Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International, have found 30 new species of frog, including one that's transparent, four species of stick insect, and three species of lungless salamander. Among others!

Check out the picture gallery, and find out more about the organisation behind these discoveries.