Tuesday, 15 Aug 2006

The legendary battle we profile today is like the Rumble in the Jungle, only instead of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman squaring off, the contenders are two white geeks in the, uh -- well, nowhere near the jungle, really. William McDonough is known in green circles for "cradle to cradle" manufacturing, and Derrick Jensen for his radical notion that civilization cannot be salvaged. What's behind their stances, and whose vision will ultimately prevail? Charles Shaw muses on their roles and our fate.

How's That Mars Exploration Going?

News flash: as world warms, weather gets worse

As the globe warms, the risk of more frequent and severe forest fires, droughts, and floods rises. So says, well, the entire scientific community, forever. But a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is being billed as the most comprehensive look yet at the effects of climate change. With data from 52 climate simulations, British researchers looked at a range of scenarios. A global average temperature rise of up to 3.6 degrees is inevitable, they say, and could cause Europe, Asia, Canada, central America, and the Amazon to lose up to 30 percent of forest cover. A rise of 5.4 degrees or more would, um, really suck: it brings the deforestation probability up to 60 percent, and could also cause the world's vegetation to switch from a net absorber of carbon dioxide to a net producer. Probability of ignorance in certain areas remains high under all scenarios. Sigh.


These days, companies from DuPont to the Dave Matthews machine are working to reduce their emissions and environmental impact. But how does an outfit calculate all that stuff in the first place? Green-biz guru Joel Makower talks to those who've been through the process to find out -- and to glean tips for the rest of ye.

Spill 'er Up!

Oil spills from Japanese and Philippine tankers

It's been an oil-spillarific few days. A Japanese tanker, en route from Jordan, collided yesterday with a distressed cargo ship and spilled about 1.4 million gallons of crude into the eastern Indian Ocean. The ship's owner claims the spill has been contained and there's no need to clean it up, as the oil will naturally disperse into the sea. Um? A Philippine tanker sunk Friday, and the over half-million gallons of oil it was carrying have already created an oil slick over 17 miles long, the worst spill in Philippine history. The crud has reached the coastline of the island of Guimaras, which declared a "state of calamity"; a marine sanctuary on another island was tainted by crude oil four inches thick. Meanwhile, Lebanon will today begin mopping up the biggest spill in its history, which leaked into the Mediterranean Sea from a power plant bombed in mid-July and has tainted 87 miles of coastline. Oil. Love it!

Engineers Gone Wild

Automakers combine forces to develop new hybrid transmission

Tired of getting their rear ends handed to them by the Prius, GM, BMW, and DaimlerChrysler plan to invest over $1 billion in R&D toward a new hybrid transmission that, boosters say, will leave Toyota's market-leading hybrid in the dust. "Dual-mode" hybrid technology includes an onboard fuel-optimization computer that will calculate whether the vehicle should be using its electric motor or its gasoline combustion engine, and determine how the onboard battery will be recharged. The system can be adjusted to emphasize either improved value or high performance. GM plans to introduce the technology in Tahoe and Yukon SUVs by the end of 2007, and the other two automakers will also introduce versions within five years. "Working together we were able to pick the highest bar," says GM's Larry Nitz. DaimlerChrysler's Andreas Truckenbrodt agrees, marveling at the "amazing" results of bringing "wild, dedicated engineers together." Wild engineers and the highest bar? We're into it.