Earth Week Tip #2: Gas Reduction



From Jcarlosn's photostream on Flickr.



Now it doesn't seem to make much sense that thinking of gas would be on a tip list. Remember, this is about ways you can take little steps. Maybe little steps will lead to bigger steps, but for now, leave the tree-hugging to us and enjoy the fuzzy feelings with the easy stuff. Besides, if you get better gas mileage, you use less fuel. Less fuel = less pollution AND a little spare change in your pocketbook.

With gas prices what they are ($4.49 per gallon here is what I paid yesterday), every little bit helps. Besides... lowering our reliance on oil is a good thing, too. We are approaching the anniversary of the BP thing.

I did write an article about the Science Behind Saving Gas for 5 Minutes for Going Green and with the exception of the gas price ratio, all the tips still work:

•        Drive SLOWER
•        Keep tires properly inflated
•        Clean out your car
•        Change your air filter

You can find more helpful tips at FuelEconomy.gov or read the article at the link above!

Keep reading for more tips!

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Oil Spill

I have been watching this story with a lot of interest for a while now and I have not a whole lot to say. I wanted to talk statistics and science and about what this means for wildlife in the Gulf, but I keep going back to politics and echoes of "Drill, baby, drill" run through my head. I can't bring myself to write about this travesty that is occurring because I think too many people, too many organizations, have tried so hard for and against this. So many people have risked their lives working on the rigs and protesting them. Who am I to say anything? I know biologically what this will mean to fisheries, wetlands, and bird nesting; but after I speak of all of those things, then what?

I guess, the only thing I really can say is that my thoughts go out to the people who lost family during the explosion. I will also be thinking of all the people that have livelihoods tied to wetlands and marine life and hope everything works out in the end. Not that my thoughts mean anything, they are just thoughts. Still.

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Gift of Plenty: Aquaculture News

We all know the world's oceans are of great importance, but there were two articles that caught my attention today while carousing the web.

One article from Science Daily was about how marine algae can be used as a new source of biofuel. Since oil seems to be on everyone's minds these days, it is no wonder scientists are looking elsewhere for our fuel needs. The research I am speaking of was conducted at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. This is an enormous undertaking and as was written in Science Daily:

The prospect of squeezing billions of gallons of biofuel oil from marine algae is enticing, but to transform tiny lime-green-colored plant-like organisms into a viable and realistic fuel option, they must be tested and grown on a massive scale. Intermediate-sized, and eventually immense, algae production sites will be required to produce an economically relevant quantity of algae-based oil for biodiesel fuel in cars, trucks, and airplanes.

However, this is still a step in the right direction.

Another article about our worlds oceans was actually about the future of aquaculture and is from Biology News. In it, scientists and experts speculate that aquaculture will be the fastest growing food production system. Experts state that even though there are some potentially harmful effects of aquaculture, when implemented properly, fish farms can greatly lower the impact on over exploited wild caught. One tidbit that I found fascinating:

Finfish, mollusks, and crustaceans dominate aquaculture production; seafood exports generate more money for developing countries than meat, coffee, tea, bananas, and rice combined.

We really should take care of our "breadbaskets." Sure there is the aesthetic quality, but there is so much more at stake than that.

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The Scary Truth About E. Coli... and Why It's Good!

Escherichia coli, or E. coli as most know it, is bacteria that lives in our lower intestines. It exists in MOST warm blooded animals lower intestines, most strains are harmless (like the ones in our gut) but a few strains make us sick causing food poisoning. The ones that exist in our guts actually make vitamin K for us. On another down, E. Coli is responsible for 90% of all UTIs. Eww, I know. However, their metabolic cycle is so simple compared to ours that geneticists love them.

Knowing what we (collectively, because I didn't till a few hours ago) know about DNA synthesis, scientists can create short gene sequences and plug them into preexisting genomes. Some scientists did this with our lovely E. Coli and created a strain the litterally poops oil. One of my favorite scientists (who worked on the Human Genome) project did a talk about this recently.



I'm not too keen on this however, despite being a Craig fan, because I am of the belief that we need to move away from oil as an energy source and move to something cleaner. Also, I get a bit weirded out by creating life synthetically. So what do you all think?


Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

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