UN NGO Sustainability, Inc.

The integration of the three components of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection/renewable energy. We also seek to build an understanding of how the different parts of the United Nations promote sustainable development. We pay particular attention to renewable energy projects and women's empowerment.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

3 Articles of Interest from the New York Times



"Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers"

Drilling companies recently developed technologies to reach enormous reserves of natural gas. 


Environmentalists claim that natural gas burns cleaner than oil and therefore has less impact on climate change. However, the new drilling method (high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking) also carries great environmental risks. This process produces over a million gallons of waste water that, often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens, and radium.

Documents from the Environmental Protection Agency show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.

Source: Click Here


"How to Make Your Business Greener (And Save Money)"
Companies are discovering that "going green" not only benefits the environment, but also saves them money. Reductions in both greenhouse gas emissions and business costs can be as simple as replacing pickup trucks with hybrids, particularly for employees who do not need a truck. Also, recycling companies tend to haul away materials that can be reused for free so long as one separates his/her trash prior. Because simple procedures can produce large savings, managers are realizing that going green is less daunting.

Source: Click Here.


"Alternative Fuels Don't Benefit the Military, a RAND Report Says" 
The RAND Corp. recently released a report saying: “most alternative-fuel technologies were unproven, too expensive or too far from commercial scale to meet the military’s need over the next decade”. They claimed that the most economical and ready solution meeting both environmental reductions and present military needs is a liquid fuel consisting of combination of coal and biomass. This fuel is a high-energy intensive process that extracts oil from coal. According to the opponents of the report this view is short sighted for it does not put any emphasis on research. While liquid fuel reduces the military’s need for foreign oil, it switches that demand over to coal, which may not be considered a clean enough energy source.

Source: Click Here.

No comments:

Post a Comment