Our pick of the day’s green news and discussion:
Climate model FAQ. RealClimate has written a great FAQ on climate modelling and is answering readers’ questions in the comment section (warning: they already have over 350 of them).
‘Dead zones’ zones to expand by 50%. Tropical ocean ’dead zones’ — areas with low-to-no oxygen — could expand by up to 50 per cent due to climate change, TreeHugger reports, affecting local eco-systems and fisheries. “Entire regions of the ocean may eventually be devoid of life” is the grim prediction.
Plasma power. Florida is set to create the US’s first plasma gasification plant, using “10,000 degree fahrenheit plasma to effectively vaporize 1,500 tons of trash each day, which in turn spins turbines to generate 60MW of electricity – enough to power 50,000 homes” writes Inhabitat. The plants — which already operate in the UK, Canada and Japan – generate fewer emissions than normal incineration plants, while cutting down on methane-producing landfill.
Dell goes carbon neutral. The guys who put together pretty much every single PC these days, Dell, have gone carbon neutral, says a company press release. No news on the thousands of Dell computers that no doubt end up in landfill after their technology has expired (ie after a few years), but it’s a pretty good start.
