Environmental SurvivalGuide

Joseph Gallo Dairy & Cheese Plant’s methane capture provides 80% of the electricity for the plant from 5,000 cows. The farm uses waste water from the cheese plant to flush the manure from the cattle stalls. The solid manure is removed and the remaining liquid containing bacteria from the cow manure is pumped into a covered digester (pond). This bacteria releases methane that is then used as fuel for electric generators.

A similar anaerobic digester is being used by the UC Davis Biogas Energy Project to divert food waste and yard clippings from landfills. Instead the organic biomass is being used to create alternative renewable energy. View the fullsize video.

Learn about the effects diesel plays in the transporting of goods and polluting of the environment. Quest covers the problems diesel causes at the Port of Oakland. A port where over 10,000 freight ships and an endless amount of semi trucks and trains are pumping diesel soot into the air of Oakland. Diesel pollution is the number 1 health threat in California, causing 2,400 pre-mature deaths statewide. It’s particularily bad in West Oakland where residents are exposed at rates 5 times higher than other parts of the Bay area. Find out how this all relates to the inexpensive goods we buy. View the fullsize video.

Green building is spreading and there’s a good reason. This episode of Quest notes that buildings consume 70% of US electricity, 15 trillion gallons of water, and 3 billion tons of raw materials (steel, wood, etc). They are also responsible for 30% of all green house emissions in the US. So what do we do?

Find out what it takes to build green and get a glimpse into the new California Academy of Sciences. View the fullsize video.

Plug-in Hybrids can extend the mileage of a typical electric/gas hybrid by harnessing more use from the electric motor. The minds at CalCars propose we electrify the world and look at ways we can then clean the grid. The report notes that electric cars produce only half the amount of green house gases as a typical gasoline vehicle. The Prius modifications they perform adds 20 lead batteries in place of the single factory nickel battery. This addition allows them to modify the car so that it runs on the electric motor for the first 10 miles. This saving allows their modified hybrids to push the 100MPG threshold.  View the fullsize video.

We recently finished the Website for QUEST, a new multimedia series that utilizes all of the KQED Public Broadcasting’s platforms. The site features high quality video, radio segments, and exploration guides that get you out into the real world (if your in the Bay Area). You can learn more about our role in this project by visiting the Ideum portfolio. This Website is a great resource for learning more about environmental issues. I will begin to post television segments as they are released. Here’s a video introducing QUEST.