German couple wants to buy electrical network of Berlin

"If we are going to make a difference, so our only option is to buy the entire electricity grid of Berlin". It was this conclusion reached a young couple of Germans â€" Arwen Colell and Luise Neumann-Cosel-with a passion for adoption of sustainable energy sources.

All this couple needs are €400 million â€" corresponding to 40% of the capital requirement the estimated value of the network, about $ 1000 million. To this end, the couple created a cooperative â€" Bürger Energie Berlin-, open to all who wish to participate in the project. Every investor has the right to one vote, regardless of the value that invista. Profits are then distributed according to the amount invested in the project. "The aim is to attract as many people as possible who wish to have a say in the way that the power supply is managed," says Colell in the Guardian.

The energy network of Berlin is sold through tender every 15, 20 years and anyone can buy the network and manage it. The Government of Angela Merkel has already spent millions on "Energiewende" (energy transition) and the program is being implemented very slowly. Many argue that the program has been a disaster: energy prices have increased dramatically, energy poverty has increased and subsidies have resulted in one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the poor to the rich-taxpayers with fewer resources financed subsidies for the program after transiting to the shareholders of the power companies and the owners of the land where are installed the solar panels and wind farms. Faced with these management problems, this couple wants to improve the efficiency of the electricity grid of the German capital and implement alternate forms of energy.

The first challenge of the cooperative was being taken seriously. The first year of the project was passed to manage local policies and establish partnerships. "This is putting the knowledge and financial power of many. We need partnerships with energy management firms, a strong network of financial partners and community involvement, "explains Colell.

This first hurdle was crossed successfully. Efficient communication campaigns and simple and the presence established in the debate of energy management makes it difficult for politicians and sector operators ignore them.  Currently, it is possible to see, through their website, the amount of partnerships established by the cooperative. The next step is to present the technical and financial details for the management of the network and be able to find entities that finance the project.

Foto: tsaarni/Creative Commons

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Sochi 2014: British training centre abandoned and covered in trash

In recent years, the British team that participates in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, in Russia, trained at Sheffield Ski Village, a purpose built centre to host Olympic athletes on the outskirts of the former British industrial town.

Now, the Center is abandoned and, curiously, covered in trash-proof that it's not just in Portugal that the sports equipment, designed specifically for an event, have difficulty in being used.

The decline began in April 2012, when a fire destroyed part of the property. Later, the vandalism has transformed the once high-performance Center in an abandoned property.

The Sheffield Ski Village was the largest artificial ski resort in Europe but, according to British media, the owner of the land has started a process to build 70 homes on the site, which has 6.6 hectares.

See some of the pictures from the Center.

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Friendship between Japanese and stray cat octogenarian gives rise to bestseller

In 2003, a hot bitch gave birth to a little white kitten in the barn of Misao Ihara, an elderly woman in Japan. Quickly, the small animal was adopted by Misao and became inseparable friends.

The small animal was called "Fukumaru" in hopes that the god of the lucky (fuku in Japanese) came and everything becomes better (maru). Since the little cat was adopted in 2003, the granddaughter of Misao, the photographer Miyoko Ihara, who lives with her grandmother, began documenting the relationship between the elderly and Fukumaru. The pictures gave rise to a book, which is a bestseller in Japan and was well-received in the United States.

Despite his 88 years, Misao is still quite active and will every day to his small farm in Chiba. Fukumaru is a constant presence, helping with the chores.

"In part, because they are a little deaf, my grandmother and the Fukumaru are always take care of each other. Are very close, "said Miyoko, quoted by the Huffington Post. "The Fukumaru's so happy beside my grandmother. When I take a picture of the two is like you're shooting in small ".

The photographic project entitled "Misao, the great mother and Fukumaro, the cat". Misao believes that the success of the book the granddaughter is due to the tranquility that is retractada in the photographs. "When I see the way my grandma lives life really feel she has a kind of strength that my generation can't match. She rises with the Sun and go to bed when he goes down. Loves the cat and the vegetables that grow on Thursday as if they were children, "says Miyoko.

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Facebook creates application that unites flood victims with local volunteers

Facebook is uniting, automatically, users who live in the areas affected by floods in the United Kingdom with local volunteers who would help. The social network has developed the application during one day and already put into practice, says The Guardian.

The functionality arose from an event organized recently at Google's Office in the United Kingdom, in which joined programmers of Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft, as well as Google's own, with the aim of developing computer applications that could help the public affected by the floods.

The British environmental agency granted their information to programmers and Facebook made use of these data to find out where your users reside. Then, the social network began sending links to the Flood site Volunteers to persons residing in the areas affected by floods.

The service will be implemented gradually over the next few days to ensure that volunteers can manage the increase in requests for help, said responsible of Facebook. The American company says it will not make this a permanent feature functionality on your site.

Access to data from the British environmental agency will be closed in may, Facebook can only run the application for a given time. Still, if these solutions get revenge in the near future, Facebook can lead voluntary processes related to technology all over the world â€" and that's no small feat, considering the challenging period in the history of the world in which we live.

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The world's largest vertical garden opens in 2015 in Sri Lanka

Bosco vertical and from Milan, is not yet fully built and the architecture firm Milroy Perera Associates (MPA) is already working on a project that will build the (new) vertical residential garden the world's tallest. The project will be built in Sri Lanka, referred to Inhabitat.

The architects of the MPA has aligned with Mäga Construction Engineering firm to conceive the Clearpoint Tower that will house 46 apartments 164 floors filled with vegetation.

The Tower will be located 10 kilometres from the Centre of Colombo, the largest city in Sri Lanka. In order to reduce the heat inside the Tower, the architects have designed the glass surfaces in the building in order to not be directly exposed to the Sun's rays.

Already the air conditioner will minimised thanks to a correct orientation of apartments that will allow natural ventilation. In addition, the plants will serve as sound damping and heat and will provide cleaner air.

The vertical garden will be watered by an automatic drip that saves water and works independently of the residents. Some of the building's energy requirements will be met through solar panels installed on the roof, which will be used for public lighting, elevators, recycling systems and other services.

These measures will be in place to reduce energy and water consumption in a building that is intended to be a pioneer in terms of sustainability. Torre wants to keep a balance with nature and the environment, and be completed by the end of 2015.

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Flavors galore: the biological farm that you want to spend to sell directly to the public

The Flavors of Sauces is an organic farm located in Oliveira de Azeméis. The project was born from the hands of Isabel Malheiro Araújo, an agricultural engineer who in 2010 decided to fulfill the dream of making real a draft organic farming not only produces and should market vegetables and fruit, but were an engine of environmental education and sustainability.

Through a contract of lending, Isabel Araújo rented the land where today is located the Flavors of sauces and, from 2011, began planting various vegetables and mixed orchards. In August 2012, the project has gained a new partner, Raul Santos, agricultural engineer.

The challenge for 2014 is to get society to the fifth. In 2013, the mentor of the project won the approval of a project of the PRODER, for recovery of premises in ruins that the land offers. The aim is to deliver this year's grocery store on the farm.

With the birth of this Bodega, Isabel Araújo and Raul Santos intend that the fruits and vegetables grown on the farm can be sold to consumers directly at the premises of fifth and not just once a week, through the Agrobio market hampers of Aveiro.

The goals for this year include the creation of a library and a teaching kitchen, the idea is to promote organic farming and environmental protection, as well as promote the creation of jobs and "make increasingly the difference in rurally de Aveiro".

In addition to the biological products that produces sauces, Flavors still invests in educational environmental actions, being assiduous presence in schools and in different municipal initiatives.

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The beauty of the abandoned bus stops of the United Kingdom

Recently, the News Magazine of the BBC visited one of the abandoned bus stops of rural Cumbria zonal and asked readers if they considered that that was the nearest abandoned the United Kingdom.

This stop serves the village of Milburn, in Eden Valley, the location of the United Kingdom that has the more sparse population and is utilized by about six to seven passengers per week.

Several readers responded to the challenge of the BBC and suggested alternatives even more abandoned than this stop of Cumbria.

1 and 2. stopping the sheep nuts from North York Moors, England

Located in Dale, on the border of the North York Moors National Park, a small concrete shelter serves as a bus stop. The nearest homes are miles away, on the other side of Dale, and who want to catch a bus subject to wait hours and can only do only on Tuesdays. The only route that serves this stop has as destination the town closest to Guisborough. To pass the time, who waits for the bus, you can always admire the scenery or the stop graffiti, including a sheep nuts.

3. removal from Islay, Scotland

This stop is located at Glenegedale Airport, one of the airports of the island of Islay, in Scotland. Although this airport several flights per week to Glasgow, Oban and Colonsay, this stop was claimed for the sheep. Still, there are a few buses that serve this stop, but more often to see if you look at the stop than passengers.

"3300BA0497", England 4.Paragem

The Cricket Ground is located in Clumber Park, in England. Isolated in the middle of the natural park, the site is also known as "3300BA0497" Transport Department of Nottinghamshire, since most of the people who know this stop are the employees of this Department. Several years ago that has no regular bus stop. However, the site still has some utility, since it can serve as a point of rest or park visitors shelter on rainy days.

5 and 6. stopping the 23A, England

Once a year, a bus part of Salisbury Plain to the abandoned village of Imber. The trip, which began to be made five years ago by a group of bus enthusiasts, takes passengers to the site which was evacuated by the British Ministry of defence, in 1943. The old location was evacuated to serve as a training ground for American soldiers during World War II and remains to this day training camp for the British army.

7. removal of Cape Wrath, Scotland

This bus stop is not ticked. It's just a stopover of minibuses that are the rails of Cape Wrath, the Northwestern most point of Britain. Access to the site is done only by ferry and minibuses are the only non-military vehicles that run through these tracks. There is no regular schedule in passing and using these minibuses is only for tourist purposes and made with markup.

And dear reader, do you know any semi-abandonada bus stop in Portugal? Send us this forum and site for info@greensavers.pt.

Foto: geezaweezer/Creative Commons

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