siliconskater's story links

Francie Rehwald, daughter to a family owning multiple Mercedes Benz dealerships across California, just started construction on her new house made completely out of fragments of a scrapped Boeing 747. For forty thousand dollars, Rehwald purchased the pieces from an airplane junk yard in the Mojave Desert and after waiting over a year to get 17 permits pushed through the bureaucracy, finally just started taking delivery of wing segments.

When computers become obsolete it is important that they are recycled in the proper manner. If computers and related accessories are simply thrown in the trash, they will have a negative impact on the world and the environment for years to come.

Small cars like these have scored big among buyers looking for a way to control rising gas prices; over the last year, the average cost of a gallon has risen more than 60 cents.

So making green choices when remodeling has, at the very least, the potential to save the homeowner money in energy and other costs. And going green doesn't have to mean making large wholesale changes.

West Michigan residents concerned about sinking Great Lakes water levels will get a chance to share their views this week when U.S. and Canadian officials studying the issue visit Muskegon.

Over the past 1,300 years, the Nankai Trough, the 500-mile-long boundary between two tectonic plates off the southwestern coast of Japan, has been one of the world’s most active tsunami hotspots. Now an international team of scientists has embarked on a multiyear project to drill four miles down into the heart of this subterranean wave machine.

A collection of links to websites dedicated to helping you go Green

The consequences of climate change in coastal regions include stranded polar bears in the Arctic, a sinking island in the South Pacific and frequent tropical storms that batter the Caribbean.

Think ecotourism means traveling deep into the Amazon jungle or the African savannah? Not necessarily. More and more cities are upping their sustainability factor, making them great destinations for the green-minded traveler.

The potential that global warming has to dry up water resources in the American West and the food supplies of 1 billion people in the poorest regions of Africa and Asia are the focus of two studies released today.

David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year's supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of ethanol. One gallon of ethanol has an energy value of only 77,000 BTUS. Thus, 70 percent more energy is required to produce ethanol than the energy that actually is in it.

The ability of forests to soak up man-made carbon dioxide is weakening, according to an analysis of two decades of data from more than 30 sites in the frozen north. The finding published today is crucial, because it means that more of the CO2 we release will end up affecting the climate in the atmosphere rather than being safely locked away in trees or soil.

A deal appears likely on the final day of UN climate talks in Bali, following bitter arguments about emissions cuts.Delegates from Europe and the US, and senior UN officials, were optimistic that a compromise could be worked out.

Rising temperatures caused ice to melt in Greenland at a record rate this year, climate scientists reported Monday.

This year's ski season isn't as focused on the white stuff, as it seems everyone on the slopes is now thinking green. The New York Times reports that "snow guns are using oil-free air compressors, mountaintop restaurants are being powered by solar panels, and carbon offsets can be purchased as part of your lift ticket." In their roundup of some mountains that are starting eco-initiatives, here are a few that we thought stood out: