Blogs & Ecology

Photo via Barmala

Data Centers are greening up right and left thanks to the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses mentality of the IT industry.

Google Earth is an excellent tool for environmental activism. And of course it was only a matter of time before they developed an app for the iPhone – putting the tool right in your pocket (if you have an iPhone, of course).

So, if you have this amazing tool on your iPhone, wouldn’t it be great to use it to defeat the forces of evil, or at least have some fun? We’ve gathered up a few ways you can use the Google Earth iPhone app to save the planet. ...

Once upon a time, in the far, far away land of Techgeeks lived two university pals named Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They spent long hours dreaming of a company that one day would be the biggest search engine in the world, offering mere mortals the opportunity to traverse the great plains of the planet without moving their lazy asses.

Information would be available at the touch of a square key and people could search for the most bizarre, beautiful, weird and wonderful images relayed by satellites dotted around the globe. This would make for a very happy life.

This is Google Earth.

:: Embrace being an eco-geek and maximize your iGoogle application.

:: Enjoy the salty goodness of Emeril's easy-to-make Healthy Baked Fries.

:: Ace job interviews by flaunting your mean, green skills....

Eric Schmidt with GE's CEO Jeff Immelt at Google's Zeitgeist conference. Photo: Google

Expanding and improving the United States’ electrical transmission grid would be a major building block in creating an electrical supply that is reliable, efficient and clean. The move to make that happen got a new ally today: Google. The internet giant has announced that it will be partnering with GE to work on both the technological side of the problem as well as the policy angle. This is the plan:
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Geothermal energy is probably the greatest potential renewable energy source with the least amount of public awareness. It certainly spends much less time in the public gaze than wind, solar or biofuels. Recently the US Department of Ene...

The investment will go toward so-called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. Whereas conventional geothermal technology relies on finding naturally occurring pockets of steam and hot water in the ground, EGS works by injecting regular unheated water into “hot basement rock” deep below the planet’s surface. This heated water is the forced through and rises to the surface where it can be mined for all its hot water glory (remember: heat is an untapped source of stored energy!)

The US Department of Energy likes the potential of EGS:

Image from dannysullivan

As it turns out, Google's search engine is good for more than just looking up your nearest library or favorite local grocery store -- try helping ecosystems run. According to Stefano Allesina of UCSB's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Google's PageRank algorithm can be used by ecologists to figure out which species are most crucial for an ecosystem to function, reports Nature's Emma Marris.

Google's RechargeIT Invests $2.75 Million

So much good green news in this vision of a perfect Google News"- "

Faster Way Seen to Reduce Atmospheric Carbon: Science Magazine reports a method to reduce existing levels of atmospheric carbon, jointly developed by researchers in the United States and Sweden. Climate researchers are heralding the method as a "phenomenal quick fix" for global warming and related climate ills. "It seems hard to believe, but we can expect ...

Many of you took issue (not without reason) with a post I wrote a few months ago in which I cited an article written by author Ginger Strand, entitled "Keyword: Evil" (a dig at Google's mantra, "Don't be evil"), to criticize Google's love of cheap electricity.

Well, don't take my word for it: For a more critical take on the issue of hydroelectric power -- and, more specifically, the impact of industrial development on Niagara Falls -- see

Ecoogler, the ecological search engine, has created quite a bit of confusion online about whether it is real and whether Google is behind it or not. With Ecoogler, you can basically google the same as with Google or any other search engine, but in addition your clicks help reforesting the rainforest and safeguarding water resources in the Amazon, which nowadays represents one fourth of our planet’s fresh water reserves. How is this done?...

If you hadn't cottoned on to the idea that the planet might be in trouble, you now can see for yourself on Google Earth. If you click on the link, you'll land on a project by Google and the British government aimed at showing you and millions of internet users what the planet will look like if future predictions about melting ice caps come true.