This Week in Environmental News: August 28th
Wildlife Refuge
Canada’s Environment Minister John Baird announced last week that the government fund the opening up a wildlife sanctuary on and around Baffin Island. The wildlife refuge will be established to protect the habitat of the native species in the area. Some of animals they attempting to protect are bowhead whales, polar bears, seals and walruses. The government plans on spending a total of 8.3 million Canadian dollars on a seven year deal that will establish a total of 12 wildlife and bird sanctuaries in the Nunavut territory. There have been concerns for many years for the population of the bowhead whales as populations have been as low as 5000 just a few years ago.
Google’s Geothermal Plan
Google has recently announced that it’s charitable wing, Google.org, will put nearly $11 million towards the development of the less known alternative energy, geothermal. In particular, Google.org will be funding a technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems or EGS that will allow us to harness the earth’s energy. Other countries including Australia and several European and Asian countries have already started to invest heavily in this renewable source of energy. The biggest obstacle with accessing geothermal energy is be able to drill deep enough into the earth to have access to it. The only way that geothermal energy will become a viable option is for the technologies for drilling to become more efficient. It will be some time before America and other countries can really utilize geothermal energy as a financially viable option, but it does look like an extremely promising energy source for the future.
Comments
Baffin Island is a beautiful area. I went there as a kid and my experiences there instigated a life long love of the outdoors and huge expanses of open country in General. Fortunately, I met and married someone who enjoys experiencing and protecting wild places as much as I do. This year we spent a week in Shenandoah National Park. Next year will be Isle Royale and the following year we are going to kayak the Boundary Waters.
Thanks for the post and keep up the good fight.
Alter the Eco, Adam
http://www.twilightearth.com
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Go Google! I had no idea they were eco conscious. Kudos to them.
OrganicallyTvs last blog post..A humorous and eye opening short film about plastic bags
I just get the fear that shooting water into the earth and robbing it of it’s heat may turn out bad after a century or two of dependency. What we need is a better photovoltaic cell.