The Green Wrap-up 22.December, 2012

After what had felt like months of chatter about the looming Mayan apocalypse which was to wreak havoc on our cozy planetary home, that ominous date has now passed without incident.
This week we’re also happy to share with you one of Patagonia Books’ brand new eBook offerings, and we’re even more excited to have a giveaway of one digital copy of the book we’re reviewing today! See details below.
  • (Ally)GreenJoyment: You have until Dec. 29 to enter into the giveaway contest to recieve a free digital copy of Sutherland’s book! If you’re interested in kayaking, adventuring or cooking, it sounds like a good book to check out!
Despite continued opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline, energy firm Enbridge has committed an additional $150 million to that project in a show of commitment to its goal to carry oil from Alberta’s oil sands into northwestern British Columbia, allowing it to be easily shipped to Asia.
It’s not often that you can talk about two solar breakthroughs back to back. But, researchers at both universities, Stanford and Princeton, have turned the light on with new solar technology.
On December 13, Audi celebrated its synthetic methane (e-gas) vehicle fuel plant, which is under construction in Werlte, Germany. Audi says that it is the world’s first industrial plant for generating e-gas from CO2 and renewable electricity.
“There is no amount of regulation that can overcome human error,” said Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) spokesman Darin Barter. ERCB released an investigation report that cites inadequate management of risks as one of the main causes of a September 2011 accident that contaminated groundwater with toxic hydraulic fracturing chemicals, including the cancer causing agent known as BTEX (benzene, toulene, ethylbenzene, and xylene).
Climate change may not be forever, but it’ll be for a long, long time. Who — or what — will be around thousands or millions of years hence, when the consequences of our casually massive carbon emissions are still playing out? And do we owe them anything?

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