Thursday, March 3, 2011
Harvest Energy
Harvesting energy is the hottest topic nowadays. There are many ways to harvest it using natural resources and "green" product. One of the interesting innovation was how to harvest the energy from the hump on the road. Every vehicle which passes by the hump will produce certain electricity out of it. This will help us to reduce the electricity used from the power grid as the result of the electricity coming out from the hump.
World's Biggest Solar Power Station
Spain has become the world's leading country in solar thermal power generation, overtaking the US, after opening the biggest solar power station ever built.
The La Florida plant, in Alvarado, uses a 'parabolic trough' to harness the sun's energy. Sunlight is reflected off mirrors on to tubes filled with fluid. This heats up and is used to create steam that runs electricity-generating turbines. To make the most of the direct light available, the mirrors rotate throughout the day to track the movement of the sun.
The solar farm covers 550,000 square metres and produces 50 megawatts. The new facility brings the country's total installed solar thermal power capacity to 432 megawatts, compared to the US output of 422 megawatts, says Spain's solar energy association, Protermosolar.
http://www.positivenews.org.uk/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=66&num=2860
The La Florida plant, in Alvarado, uses a 'parabolic trough' to harness the sun's energy. Sunlight is reflected off mirrors on to tubes filled with fluid. This heats up and is used to create steam that runs electricity-generating turbines. To make the most of the direct light available, the mirrors rotate throughout the day to track the movement of the sun.
The solar farm covers 550,000 square metres and produces 50 megawatts. The new facility brings the country's total installed solar thermal power capacity to 432 megawatts, compared to the US output of 422 megawatts, says Spain's solar energy association, Protermosolar.
http://www.positivenews.org.uk/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=66&num=2860
"Even Wildlife Reserves Singapore will upgrade IT systems..."
SINGAPORE: Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which runs the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, and the upcoming River Safari attraction, will be using a new IT management system starting this July.
The new "SAP Business All In One" (SAP BAIO) system is a million dollar investment meant to enhance the management of F&B, finance, retail and ticketing operations at WRS's parks.
It will also reduce the need for manual data entry, increasing accuaracy and speeding up operations.
"With the SAP system, we will also be able to profile our guests spending patterns and also their experience much better so that we're able to provide a more personalised service to them", said Ms Fanny Lai, Group CEO for WRS.
The River Safari will be ready next year.
- CNA/cc
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1113534/1/.html&h=0aa0b
The new "SAP Business All In One" (SAP BAIO) system is a million dollar investment meant to enhance the management of F&B, finance, retail and ticketing operations at WRS's parks.
It will also reduce the need for manual data entry, increasing accuaracy and speeding up operations.
"With the SAP system, we will also be able to profile our guests spending patterns and also their experience much better so that we're able to provide a more personalised service to them", said Ms Fanny Lai, Group CEO for WRS.
The River Safari will be ready next year.
- CNA/cc
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1113534/1/.html&h=0aa0b
Can Jakarta Live Without Plastic Bags?
Jakarta is racing to join other big cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Paris and Singapore that have already overcome their love affair with what green activists call white pollution — those ubiquitous plastic bags.
But can the nation’s capital — home to about 12 million people during the day — generate enough public and environmental awareness to help its citizens break their long-held plastic-bag habit?
If the answer is “yes” then it comes with a lot of conditions, says Slamet Daryoni, who, as the chief of urban environmental education at the Indonesian Green Institute, is among the cautious optimists.
“I’d say it is extremely possible, but here’s the catch: it won’t be as easy as turning your palm over,” Slamet said. “[The movement] is not solely dependent on what the Jakarta administration does, but also on other government departments and, at the other end of the scale, the contributions of individuals.
“The easiest way is to start from individual awareness by bringing our own bags to the supermarket,” he said.
Slamet said the government needed to work with major retailers, shopping malls and supermarkets to encourage consumers not to rely on plastic bags. They could do this by, for example, announcing that they would no longer provide plastic bags but would instead supply more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Public campaigns to promote the issue and encourage people to give up plastic bags are also important in changing habits, Slamet said, adding that Plastic-Free Days would be one way to accomplish this.
“They could put up big billboards to promote Plastic-Free Days and to remind consumers bring their own bags,” he said. “This approach could gradually change people’s habits.”
Slamet pointed out that there was a time when there were only traditional markets in the country, and people brought their own bags and baskets.
Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Monday that his administration had agreed to a proposal by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) to reduce the use of plastic bags at stores across Jakarta. The governor said the city hoped to be free of plastic bags by 2011.
According to the Web site earthresource.org, each year an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide. That comes out to more than one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
Slamet said he thought the movement could succeed. “It’s a lot easier to educate the public, or consumers, about the danger of plastic bags to the environment because people are already more aware and there are plenty of go-green movements targeting plastic bags,” he said.
“One year, I think, is enough time for the government to hold a massive campaign to push its [plastic-free] goal.”
The question, though, is whether it’s possible to live without plastic bags.
Yani Saloh, a member of Climate Project Indonesia, an initiative established by former US Vice President Al Gore, confessed that she had been trying to change her shopping habits for the last two years but still found it hard to remember to bring her own bag to the market.
“The biggest challenge is just how not to forget [to bring my own bag],” she said.
Major retailers such as Carrefour have offered eco-friendly plastic bags that sell for Rp 2,000 and reusable fabric bags for Rp 10,000, as well as cardboard boxes.
Yani said her lifestyle change was being supported by those retailers. “It helps a lot actually when the cashier asks me if I’d prefer to use one of their [eco-friendly] bags or a plastic bag,” she said, adding that she didn’t think she could ever be completely free from plastic.
Getting together with like-minded people also helps.
Inggita Notosusanto, for instance, considers herself lucky to have environmentally conscious friends.
“ I guess I’m very fortunate to have friends who care about this plastic issue, so we kind of remind each other to bring our own baskets and so on,” Inggita said .
“We should also realize that there are other alternatives and other ways of doing things rather than using plastic. ”
For the really environmentally aware, there is the perplexing question — plastic or paper?
To overcome white pollution, the choice is to use paper bags. But Slamet said that just creates another problem given that these days trees are more important than ever.
“[Using paper bags] creates another issue because just 15 reams of paper means cutting down one tree,” he said. “So we have to continue to look for better and better solutions, and I think there are lots of options.”
Slamet said there was a technology by which cassava starch could be used to make “plastic” bags that would degrade within one or two months. That innovation, however, is not yet commercialized due to business competition, he said.
Source:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/can-jakarta-live-without-plastic-bags/357927
But can the nation’s capital — home to about 12 million people during the day — generate enough public and environmental awareness to help its citizens break their long-held plastic-bag habit?
If the answer is “yes” then it comes with a lot of conditions, says Slamet Daryoni, who, as the chief of urban environmental education at the Indonesian Green Institute, is among the cautious optimists.
“I’d say it is extremely possible, but here’s the catch: it won’t be as easy as turning your palm over,” Slamet said. “[The movement] is not solely dependent on what the Jakarta administration does, but also on other government departments and, at the other end of the scale, the contributions of individuals.
“The easiest way is to start from individual awareness by bringing our own bags to the supermarket,” he said.
Slamet said the government needed to work with major retailers, shopping malls and supermarkets to encourage consumers not to rely on plastic bags. They could do this by, for example, announcing that they would no longer provide plastic bags but would instead supply more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Public campaigns to promote the issue and encourage people to give up plastic bags are also important in changing habits, Slamet said, adding that Plastic-Free Days would be one way to accomplish this.
“They could put up big billboards to promote Plastic-Free Days and to remind consumers bring their own bags,” he said. “This approach could gradually change people’s habits.”
Slamet pointed out that there was a time when there were only traditional markets in the country, and people brought their own bags and baskets.
Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Monday that his administration had agreed to a proposal by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) to reduce the use of plastic bags at stores across Jakarta. The governor said the city hoped to be free of plastic bags by 2011.
According to the Web site earthresource.org, each year an estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide. That comes out to more than one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
Slamet said he thought the movement could succeed. “It’s a lot easier to educate the public, or consumers, about the danger of plastic bags to the environment because people are already more aware and there are plenty of go-green movements targeting plastic bags,” he said.
“One year, I think, is enough time for the government to hold a massive campaign to push its [plastic-free] goal.”
The question, though, is whether it’s possible to live without plastic bags.
Yani Saloh, a member of Climate Project Indonesia, an initiative established by former US Vice President Al Gore, confessed that she had been trying to change her shopping habits for the last two years but still found it hard to remember to bring her own bag to the market.
“The biggest challenge is just how not to forget [to bring my own bag],” she said.
Major retailers such as Carrefour have offered eco-friendly plastic bags that sell for Rp 2,000 and reusable fabric bags for Rp 10,000, as well as cardboard boxes.
Yani said her lifestyle change was being supported by those retailers. “It helps a lot actually when the cashier asks me if I’d prefer to use one of their [eco-friendly] bags or a plastic bag,” she said, adding that she didn’t think she could ever be completely free from plastic.
Getting together with like-minded people also helps.
Inggita Notosusanto, for instance, considers herself lucky to have environmentally conscious friends.
“ I guess I’m very fortunate to have friends who care about this plastic issue, so we kind of remind each other to bring our own baskets and so on,” Inggita said .
“We should also realize that there are other alternatives and other ways of doing things rather than using plastic. ”
For the really environmentally aware, there is the perplexing question — plastic or paper?
To overcome white pollution, the choice is to use paper bags. But Slamet said that just creates another problem given that these days trees are more important than ever.
“[Using paper bags] creates another issue because just 15 reams of paper means cutting down one tree,” he said. “So we have to continue to look for better and better solutions, and I think there are lots of options.”
Slamet said there was a technology by which cassava starch could be used to make “plastic” bags that would degrade within one or two months. That innovation, however, is not yet commercialized due to business competition, he said.
Source:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/can-jakarta-live-without-plastic-bags/357927
Former Businessman Turns to Comic Books to Create Positive Change Through Inspiring Stories
Sensing a mid-life crisis, a successful 35-year-old Japanese businessman quit his job believing it was time to do something positive with his life, instead of just making money. He turned to what he loved most, storytelling -- and especially manga (or anime), the graphic comic book novels popularized by animators in his country. Today, he uses manga, normally the medium for superheroes, to tell tales of real life heroes, such as the Dalai Lama and Ghandi, in a modern quest create positive change within young people and society.
Now 40, Eiji Han Shimizu remembers how anime shaped his values growing up in Japan, instilling determination, compassion, a craving for social justice and an ability for dreaming big. Believing in the power and potential of manga for good, he set out to show how actual heroes like Mother Theresa and Che Guevarra lived their lives, and how these leaders think.
With the backing of Penguin Books, the biographical mangas created by Shimizu's company, Emotional Content, have been released in 20 countries and translated into Chinese, Spanish, Tibetan, Russian, and Hindi.
Most exciting for him in 2010, the Dalai Lama book was distributed as a textbook among the Tibetan refugee children in India and Nepal for the teaching of history and language. On a visit to Dhramsala, the home for His Holiness and the Tibetan government in exile, the ministry of Education told Shimizu that all Tibetan schools (more than 60 schools) adopted its use for their curriculum.
"I am so happy that the Japanese pop culture is benefiting the future of Tibet in this unique way," Shimizu told the Good News Network.
Penguin Books published two manga biographies in English last year that featured the Dalai Lama and Che Guevarra. The huge publishing house is planning two more English adaptations — one about Mahatma Gandhi and another about Mother Teresa. Also in the works are manga based on the lives of Aung San Suu Kyi, Abraham Lincoln, and Anne Frank.
Shimizu earned his MBA at the University of Miami and joined Sun Microsystems, Inc., before returning to Japan to specialize in business development.
When he decided to make the leap to media, he wasn’t sure what kind of inspiring manga to create, whether to interpret the classics such as Shakespeare, Dickens or Dostoyevsky, or focus on great athletes. The answer came during a pilgrimage to Mother Teresa’s home for the dying and destitute in Calcutta.
"(There), I vividly felt Mother Teresa’s presence where hundreds of volunteers from around the world serve with the poorest of the poor. It became clear that, first and foremost, I wanted to make manga about the spiritual and political leaders who changed the world for the better,” says Shimizu in a featured interview with CNN.
Filmmaking is also a keen interest for him. He is working now with animation artists -- and trying to secure funding -- to create an animation series called, North, exploring the hardship and atrocities experienced in North Korea from the point of view of a young man repatriated with his Japanese-Korean family.
He spent five years producing the documentary, "Happy" (see Good News Network story), collecting interviews from experts and citizens around the world about what makes humans happy.
Surely, Eiji knows, the answer for himself is doing what you love.
(READ more of the feature story from CNN International)
Shimizu earned his MBA at the University of Miami and joined Sun Microsystems, Inc., before returning to Japan to specialize in business development.
When he decided to make the leap to media, he wasn’t sure what kind of inspiring manga to create, whether to interpret the classics such as Shakespeare, Dickens or Dostoyevsky, or focus on great athletes. The answer came during a pilgrimage to Mother Teresa’s home for the dying and destitute in Calcutta."(There), I vividly felt Mother Teresa’s presence where hundreds of volunteers from around the world serve with the poorest of the poor. It became clear that, first and foremost, I wanted to make manga about the spiritual and political leaders who changed the world for the better,” says Shimizu in a featured interview with CNN.
Filmmaking is also a keen interest for him. He is working now with animation artists -- and trying to secure funding -- to create an animation series called, North, exploring the hardship and atrocities experienced in North Korea from the point of view of a young man repatriated with his Japanese-Korean family.He spent five years producing the documentary, "Happy" (see Good News Network story), collecting interviews from experts and citizens around the world about what makes humans happy.
Surely, Eiji knows, the answer for himself is doing what you love.
(READ more of the feature story from CNN International)
Source:
How To Stay Positive
How To Stay Positive - "My Top 10 List"
by David Boufford, aka; Mr. Positive!
1. Turn off the negative news!
If something really important happens you'll find out.
2. Learn to always see the glass as half full.
Look for solutions/opportunities where others see problems.
3. Exercise Daily /Eat Better
You must move your body even if it's just a 20 min walk.
4. Bombard your mind with positive books, quotes, music & self talk.
5. Fall In Love
Start with yourself, if that’s hard try a pet, then move to people.
6. Associate with Positive People.
Fire your flaky/negative friends.
7. Keep a feel good/gratitude journal
Write about all the good in your day/week/life.
8. Find and indulge in your passions.
Ask yourself 'What brings me joy?' Then dig in!
9. Serve others
Find a cause you can support and give your time.
10. Find a Spiritual path that resonates with you and practice it.
World's Largest Fresh Flower Bouquet To Raise Funds for Nelson Mandela Children's Fund
The world's largest fresh flower bouquet has been created in Johannesburg to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
It was also made to wish the former president a speedy recovery from his prostate cancer.
Several of his children accepted the bouquet on his behalf.
The bouquet rose 6.5 metres high, spread 3.75 metres, weighed close to four tons and overtook the previous record of 28,801 flowers set by the Missouri Botanical Gardens in 1998.
702 Talk Radio and Telkom organised the Spring Day event, which saw the bouquet built over two days at Sandton City's Fountain Court, reports IOL.
Each flower bought by a member of the public represented a 10 rand donation to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
A number of florists and other firms donated flowers and materials towards the building of the bouquet.
*Heartwarmers story sent by Ananova
This is an amazing act of love towards children. Let's do something similar like this to fund the education in Indonesia.
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