Speaking at a conference in Santa Barbara, CA, Shell CEO Peter Voser said that by 2050 he fully expects 40% of all vehicles in the world to be some kind of electric car. Shell has calculated that by 2050 there will be 2 billion cars in the world, up from today’s 1 billion.

Voser, contrary to what you might think (but clearly calculated to represent a marketably more caring Shell) was quoted in a Reuters article as remarking that over the next 40 years the world will also need to develop more low-carbon fuels, more efficient engines, and more hybrid vehicles to account for the remaining 1.2 billion vehicles that are not electric in 2050.

No doubt the current Olympics has and continue to dazzle people with the drama (some outside of the venues) but somehow lost amongst the sports accomplishments remains the face that Vancouver touted this Olympics as the Greenest ever. It seems that China also made that claim a couple years ago. Instead of getting into a comparison of this green aspect versus that sustainable item, we took a look at the Vancouver Convention Center West, which marks the World’s First Convention Center to Achieve LEED Platinum Rating.

In the burgeoning world of carbon capture technology, all sorts of interesting things are popping up.  Here’s one from UCLA graduate student Hexian Deng and biochemistry professor Omar M. Yaghi, who have developed synthetic crystals that can be used to trap carbon dioxide.

The science of climate change is not really the question at hand anymore. Of course, there is always more to learn, but that highly accelerated climate change is real and that humans are the main cause of that are no longer questionable facts to the large majority of the scientific community. What is questionable is whether or not we will address the issue, or to what degree we will address it, and how much our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, etc. will have to pay the price for our late and limited action.

It’s become so common in our culture to assume we need things – a lot of things. Over-consumption is not only a strain on our bank accounts and environment, it can also be harmful to our health. Whether there’s a warning label or not (usually not), many of the things we buy have associated health risks.

I met several lovely chickens yesterday when I was in Oakland, and I am now quite smitten. They are truly engrossing creatures to observe; the animal’s social behavior is very complex, their vocalizations are both soothing and fascinating, to say nothing of the delicious fresh eggs they provide. More and more urban chickens are being raised in cities, as increasing numbers of people are growing their own food and trying to create a more locally-based, sustainable and self-sufficient food supply.

I was at a turf industry trade show yesterday talking to a salesperson from a company that markets Organic fertilizer to golf courses (they describe it as the “natural amino acids found in feather, blood, meat and fish meals”).  There are actually a lot of better, controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer options for turf, but I decided just to be polite and ask if they were also selling into agricultural markets.  He said that they had very good sales for “Organic Tobacco.”  Apparently this is a growing export market to the EU with some domestic sales.

Did your newborn undergo genetic testing?  The answer is yes, even without your consent, if your child was born in a hospital or birthing center.  Even babies born at home often go in for basic testing, like PKU, at two days old (mine did).

What parents don’t know, beyond the results of such genetic testing, is that many states keep your child’s DNA on file indefinitely without your consent.

Saving $0.12 on one item in the checkout-line doesn’t really ease the strain on your wallet. But saving a little bit on everything adds up to a lot over time. Here are 10 ways to jump-start your savings for 2010!

1. Prioritize Your Organics

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus found commonly in ordinary garden soil. When the spores of the fungus are inhaled, It can also cause disease–sometimes fatally in those with already compromised immune systems and respiratory disease such as COPD. Doctors who treat the illness have long-recognized that in some patients, the fungus is resistant to standard treatment with chemicals called azoles. The problem becomes potentially worse as azoles are also heavily used as farm fungicides. A team of Dutch researchers (Verweij and Kema), reporting in last December’s edition of the medical journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases suggest that over-use of the farm fungicide may be contributing to the growing resistance of this fungus to the disease-fighting chemicals.

A group of scientists from both the public and private arenas has announced that they’ve successfully engineered a microbe that contains all the bits required to turn raw plant matter directly into diesel without any refinement or intermediary steps required.

The microbe is a modified strain of E. coli (that’s right, the same type of bugger that’s responsible for some nasty gut infections) that has been enhanced to produce tailor-made diesel molecules, alcohols and waxes directly from hemicellulose—one of the main components of plants. Not only can the microbial products be used for fuel, but the team is also setting their sights on directly producing environmentally-friendly—and industrially-necessary—surfactants, solvents and lubricants.

Yeah, that’s what I said — What?!

Apparently, Bell Labs has launched a global effort to overhaul the internet and other communication networks to make them 1,000 times greener by the year 2015!

Bell Labs is the research arm of telecom giant Alcatel-Lucent. In this effort they are coordinating with 15 other initial members from industry, academia, science labs, and NGOs, including AT&T, China Mobile, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, and MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics. “Green Touch” is the name being given to the consortium.