Design 21: Social Design Network

100% Recyclable Plastic is made from Old Tires

Used tires, despite being quite notorious as a waste material, are actually not that hard to collect and recycle. You can for example, simply reuse it as raw material for road construction. Other concepts for recycling tires may even be more efficient, such as this old concept that might provide a more “flexible” tire recycling solution.

It was the year 1995, when Swedish company EcoRub first developed a new method of recycling tires. The method primarily involves mincing up used tires. It is first cut into small bits, separating the tire from its steel and fabric components. The small bits are then ground further until it turns into a powder material. Finally, the powder material is mixed with plastic along with a special chemical bonding compound to produce a new type of rubbery industrial material. This new tire-derived material, which can be easily recycled as long as it is collected properly, can now be used for a variety of different purposes such as floor covering. Today, EcoRub’s tire recycling process it’s currently patented in Europe and in the United States. According to the report, there are at least four companies in the U.S. granted with licenses to use their system, with each company producing 15,000 to 20,000 tons of the rubbery material every year. Despite the process being more advanced and quite economical compared to other recycling methods currently available, its prevalent or widespread adoption is sti...

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It's Earth Day, an annual event that encourages us to remember the environment and our place in it. Good news: By cutting back on your energy and water use, you don't just help conserve resources, you put money back in your pocket — where it belongs. Save Energy Mary Morris was wary when she had to pay for an energy audit of her single-family home in the North Park Hill to qualify for an Xcel rebate. Twelve months later, she's a convert. Since contractor Casey Staley from REenergizeCO completed an energy audit on her home, which was built in 1948, and performed subsequent improvements last spring, Morris has saved $438 on her energy bill. That's in addition to Staley finding $1,100 in rebates for a $3,800 project. "For $2,700, we got the audit, our duct work in the attic sealed with flexible mastic, and I could sense an improvement in the air quality within 24 hours," she says. With that money Morris also insulated the attic as well as a 1,700-square-foot main floor that included a large sun room, and weatherized a nearly 1,500-square-foot "bomb bunker" basement, where Staley added a threshold to her energy-sucking boiler room. The money also went toward purchasing an energy-efficient dishwasher. Staley, who's a vetted contractor through Xcel and Denver Energy Challenge, works to make sure his clients receive all rebates possible. He says residents are often unaware of how much money they can save on up-front costs. He added that residents who per...

http://blog.crowncapitalmngt.com/ Why should you use biomass for your business? a biomass boiler can produce enough energy to provide central heating and hot water for your business, in place of a gas or other boiler, and with the RHI in place the more you burn the more you earn, so no need to cut back on your heating and hot water anymore. On top of that, it’s an excellent alternative to costly fossil fuels. Coupled with low energy costs and excellent financial returns from the commercial RHI, Biomass is a leading renewable source of heat. Biomass can be applied from small offices to large factories.

Biomass benefits for Business -Installing biomass gives A saving of £3,240 against annual fuel bill -An earning of £11,926 per annum, index linked for 20 years -£15,166 or 23.6% return on a typical investments -£100 spent on oil becomes £68 spent on wood pellets £100 spent on LPG becomes -£55 spent on wood pellets -£100 spent on electricity becomes £21 spent on wood pellets -Funding available from EST at low interest rate over a five to eight year period and repayment will be covered by return on RHI -RHI payment is returning 8.3p per kilowatt but is being reviewed every 3 month, so the more time you waste the money you lose -EST funding can be interest-free and repayable over up to 8 years

NEW ORLEANS — Residents along the Mississippi River’s east bank are being advised to boil drinking water after a power failure at a New Orleans, La. treatment plant, according to WAFB News.

A failure in the boiler room at the plant supplying electricity to the treatment plant is the alleged cause of the problem, noted the article.

The ower loss led to a decrease in water pressure, which can lead to contaminants entering the drinking water.

The incident occurred on the morning of March 3 and officials are asking residents to boil drinking water while samples from across the city are tested, stated the article.

It took less than hour for tap water to start flowing regularly again, but there is still a chance the water was contaminated during that down time.

http://thecrownmanagement.multiply.com/

Market Intelligence What are the leading causes of today's energy shortages? What role does energy security play? Are new developments in energy efficiency and energy storage the answer? This report reviews these issues and discusses some of the emerging smart technologies that will address generation capacity shortfalls. Energy security can be defined as the role of affordable, reliable sources of energy in the overall national security of a given country. As demand rises and reserves become costlier, governments will increasingly find energy security to be a challenging goal. Political factors (both domestic and foreign), and environmental concerns provide further complications. Trends to date indicate that if solutions to these problems are found they will likely be a networked basket of diverse, non-centralized "smart tech" approaches. This report frames the state of energy generation today and discusses some of the likely candidate technologies that will form the solution. These include new developments in energy storage and energy efficiency.

Primary Focus This report provides essential insight into the reasons for power generation shortfalls and detailed intelligence on the technologies that may address them. Major topics covered include: • Energy Security A briefing on the factors that effect a state's capacity to ensure energy security • Power Generation Capacity o Including an analysis of current global capacity an...

We all know that regardless of where you live, the weather is often unpredictable. A comfy 60 degree winter day in the Midwest; chilly and breezy on a late spring day in the pacific coast. To some of us, the prevalence of unusual weather is simply the work of Mother Nature. Others are more convinced that our reckless treatment of the earth has made global warming that much more of a reality. The natural level of discomfort that results from the thought of global warming is reinforced by numerous reports claiming inevitable environmental doom. A recent article in the Nature Magazine went as far as predicting that over the next fifty years, well over one million species will cease to exist due to global warming.Impact of the Information TechnologyCoupled with the fear prompted by environmental experts and know-it-alls is a plethora of scams. Some attempt to persuade our beliefs, while others operate with the intentions of fraud. Far from being verified is one claim that global warming is a man-made predicament. Instead of drawing these conclusions from observable facts, these assumptions are based on methods of computer modeling that generate artificial, manipulable graphic-based visions of the earth. A computer can only process the information fed to it, which in this case is usually fraudulent data intended to stir up controversy.

http://www.topix.com/forum/topstories/TEKJJPN19N8D9MVFT

The Commission by environmental campaigners forecast 3 trillion euros would generate by 2050 on their green revolution campaign- to make EU energy almost totally carbon free.

The energy shift would already create around half a million extra jobs by 2020, Crown researchers from German aerospace center DLR, which also specializes in energy and transport, found. It has legislated to ensure that 20 percent of the energy mix is green by the said year, as part of a set of three main environmental goals. But it has yet to achieve agreement on binding targets beyond 2020, even though non-binding roadmaps have laid out the need for a virtually carbon-free electricity mix by 2050.

Commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), the 2012 Energy evolution report lays out risk avoidance towards almost carbon-free energy. They include curbing energy demand through greater efficiency, increasing investment in wind and solar power and phasing out subsidies for carbon-intensive energy, such as coal.

To bring about the energy transformation, it sees a need to invest about 99 billion euros between now and 2050 or else this will be added on the list of renewable energy scam, but it says the financial gains are much greater. Renewable energy has no fuel costs; the fuel cost savings in the energy evolution scenario reach a total of 3, 010 billion euros up to 2050, or 75 billion per year. Another benefit is j...

As we all know earthquake is a catastrophic natural disaster. Most earthquake-related deaths are caused by the collapse of structures and the construction practices play a tremendous role in the death toll of an earthquake. In southern Italy in 1909 more than 100,000 people perished in an earthquake that struck the region. Almost half of the people living in the region of Messina were killed due to the easily collapsible structures that dominated the villages of the region. Though there are some ways to prevent this from happening, it can never be considered as risk avoidance.

A larger earthquake that struck San Francisco three years earlier had killed fewer people (about 700) because building construction practices were different type (predominantly wood). Survival rates in the San Francisco earthquake was about 98%, that in the Messina earthquake was between 33% and 45%) (Zebrowski, 1997). Even a moderate rupture beneath a city with structures unprepared for shaking can produce tens of thousands of casualties. Due to this fact, Crown Eco Management determined that safety measures for this could not be compared to fraud prevention.

Although probably the most important that we should know, direct shaking effects are not the only hazard associated with earthquakes, other effects such as landslides, liquefaction, and tsunamis have also played important part in destruction produced by earthquakes.

According to the Crown researchers, some earthquakes are not natural. Human bei...

The Commission by environmental campaigners forecast 3 trillion euros would generate by 2050 on their green revolution campaign- to make EU energy almost totally carbon free.

The energy shift would already create around half a million extra jobs by 2020, Crown researchers from German aerospace center DLR, which also specializes in energy and transport, found. It has legislated to ensure that 20 percent of the energy mix is green by the said year, as part of a set of three main environmental goals. But it has yet to achieve agreement on binding targets beyond 2020, even though non-binding roadmaps have laid out the need for a virtually carbon-free electricity mix by 2050.

Commissioned by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC), the 2012 Energy evolution report lays out risk avoidance towards almost carbon-free energy. They include curbing energy demand through greater efficiency, increasing investment in wind and solar power and phasing out subsidies for carbon-intensive energy, such as coal.

To bring about the energy transformation, it sees a need to invest about 99 billion euros between now and 2050 or else this will be added on the list of renewable energy scam, but it says the financial gains are much greater. Renewable energy has no fuel costs; the fuel cost savings in the energy evolution scenario reach a total of 3, 010 billion euros up to 2050, or 75 billion per year. Another benefit is job-creation, one of their strides in fraud prevention. The ...

The Company Crown Capital Eco Management works with government bodies, international entities, private sectors and other non-governmental organizations in providing extensive information to the public, media and policymakers that are involved in addressing environmental issues and sustainable initiatives in a worldwide scale.

Guiding Principles Although Crown Capital Management cooperates with various organizations, we maintain our being an independent body, free from control of any particular government, state or institution and unimpaired by their own respective interests.

Related Legislation Featuring an authoritative source of legislation across the world that deals with environment preservation through promulgating policies on sanctions, regulations, authorizations and restrictions on natural resources.

Green Energy With emerging renewable energy alternatives today, it is highly important that they be given enough attention even early on their developmental stages. Such technologies might not be ready for commercial uses yet but their potential should be amply tested and funded. Society's modern lifestyle is in serious need of energy that can be generated and consumed and yet, not compromise the future state for generations to come; to have no anxiety that it would cause damage to the environment.