Every day we’re reading articles and blog posts from sources all over the world about conservation and environmentalism. We’re also viewing infographics and videos and listening to podcasts. Here we share the best of what we’ve found:

Today’s photo is of a Ecuadorian Red-lored Amazon. It comes courtesy of Flickr user Pokerbrit

And now for the stories that we’ve been reading:

Saving the planet through its trees

Negotiators at the COP15 conference in Copenhagen didn’t see eye to eye on much last month, but almost everyone agreed on one thing: To protect the planet we need to save its forests.

“Healthy, well-managed forests are essential to the survival of our societies: They are home to millions of species of plants, animals and insects, and protect soils and watersheds from erosion. They act as carbon stores, absorbing greenhouse gases and preventing their release into the atmosphere. Maintaining forest ecosystems can help to increase our resilience to climate change,” explains the U.N.-REDD Programme Secretariat.

A primary attraction of REDD is that it offers developed nations an inexpensive way to offset domestic emissions. For example, if nation X wants to reduce carbon emissions but finds domestic reductions difficult, it could pay nation Y to conserve forests that might otherwise be cut or cleared for agriculture. That way, nation Y would supposedly reduce its deforestation emissions by an amount equal to the needs of nation X.One U.N. estimate suggests that, under a REDD initiative, Indonesia could be compensated as much as $1 billion a year to reduce its deforestation rate.

Engineers find significant environmental impacts with algae-based biofuel

The U.Va. research, just published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, demonstrates that algae production consumes more energy, has higher greenhouse gas emissions and uses more water than other biofuel sources, such as switchgrass, canola and corn.

As an environmentally sustainable alternative to current algae production methods, the researchers propose situating algae production ponds behind wastewater treatment facilities to capture phosphorous and nitrogen — essential nutrients for growing algae that would otherwise need to be produced from petroleum. Those same nutrients are discharged to local waterways, damaging the Chesapeake Bay and other water bodies, and current technology to remove them is prohibitively expensive.

While the researchers found algae production to have a greater environmental impact than other sources, it remains an attractive source for energy. Algae, which are grown in water, don’t compete with food crops grown on land and also tend to have higher energy yields than sources such as corn or switchgrass. Additionally, algae’s high lipid content makes for efficient refinement to liquid fuels that could be used to power vehicles, according to the research.

Risky expedition planned to clean up Everest

A group of top Nepalese climbers is planning a high-risk expedition to clean up Everest, concerned at the toll that decades of mountaineering has taken on the world’s highest peak.The 20 climbers, led by seven-time Everest summiteer Namgyal Sherpa, will brave thin oxygen and temperatures well below freezing to clear more than two tons of rubbish discarded by mountaineers.

Environmental activists say Everest is littered with the detritus of past expeditions, including human waste and mountaineers’ corpses, which do not decompose because of the extreme cold.

“Everest is losing her beauty,” Sherpa, 30, said. “The top of the mountain is now littered with oxygen bottles, old prayer flags, ropes and old tents. At least two dead bodies have been lying there for years now.”

U.S. Green Building Council, Habitat for Humanity plan to help rebuild Haiti

The U.S. Green Building Council plans to work with other private groups, including the Habitat for Humanity, to help rebuild Haiti. They’re starting by raising money and, in Habitat’s case, clearing debris and handing out shelter kits.

You can find more great conservation, environmental and green stories by following our Twitter feed, our Facebook page or our Diigo group.

No related posts.