Tuesday, 21 June 2011

The latest development on the green vehicle technology scene comes from two Americans more famous for creating what they claimed was the “world’s fastest street-legal supercar” – the Maxximus G-Force.

Maximus

(Source: Inhabitat)

Hot on its heels, the makers have now announced their work on the world’s fastest green car, called the Maxximus LNG 2000. This 1,600 horsepower V8-supercar runs on both compressed natural gas and liquid natural gas and is being built by designer Marlon Kirby and car builder David B McMahan.

 
Posted at 12:32 No Comments

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

CNN recently announced the world’s 15 most bike-friendly cities – and the Mother City was the only African city on the list.

Other cities mentioned in the same article were well-known cycling cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen, as well as Barcelona, San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, Paris and Perth.

capet

While the article noted that African cities weren’t exactly famous for bike friendliness, it stated that Cape Town was doing its best to change that and was committed to creating cycling lanes, dedicated bike parking and public commuter showers.

Evidence of this was the recent opening of the MyCiTi segregated bike ways along the newly-operational MyCiTi bus system along the R27 highway from Table View to the city centre.

In February this year, hundreds of cyclists joined the launch of the bike lanes by bringing their bicycles and cycling in to town. They were full of praise for the new cycle lanes, saying they were a joy to ride and that they would definitely use them again.

 
Posted at 12:25 1 Comment

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

With the focus on forests during this year’s World Environment Day, it seems like there could not have been a better time to announce the results of a recent survey on the conditions of rain forests by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), which accounts for 90% of the global timber trade.

The BBC reported that the study found the world’s tropical forests were better managed now than five years ago, with areas under sustainable management having grown by 50%.

 
Posted at 12:17 No Comments

Friday, 17 June 2011

Conservationists are celebrating the return of an antelope species, which was believed to have gone extinct in the wild.

The Arabian Oryx, thought to be the inspiration behind the unicorn legend, was hunted into extinction in 1972.

But a successful captive breeding programme and reintroduction into the wild has seen the antelope again wander wild in its original home in the Arabian Peninsula. Its current population stands at about 1 000.
Oryx

The Guardian reports that the species is no longer classified as “endangered” but is now listed as “vulnerable” – on the latest red list of threatened species.

 
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Wednesday, 15 June 2011

How far would you go to pursue an environmentally-friendly, meat-free diet? All the way to buy a burger with patties made from faeces? Though this sounds like a joke – in rather bad taste – one Japanese scientist is extremely serious about his meat alternative made from human excrement.

Apparently it tastes a bit like beef….. Scientist Mitsyuki Ikeda admits that there is a psychological barrier to the concept, but he hopes it can be overcome and that people will see the benefits. As he explains in the video, his patties made from “sewage mud” are full of protein, contain little fat, and will eventually cost as much as normal meat.

Need more convincing? Watch the video…

(Source: YouTube)

 
Posted at 10:29 No Comments