Hamburg wants to become a city without cars within 20 years

The city of Hamburg, Germany, is working on a plan that could eliminate the movement of cars in the city centre within the next 15 to 20 years, becoming a city greener, healthy and pleasant to live and walk. The "Grünes Netz", or Green Network, provides for the creation of pedestrian routes and cycle paths which will connect to the existing car.

These new routes will connect the main parks, playgrounds, gardens and cemeteries of Hamburg. The resulting network will cover about 40% of the second largest city in Germany and should allow the passers-by, cyclists and tourists largely circular of the city on foot or by bike.

However, the objectives of the Green Network are much more comprehensive. The city recognizes the need for changes in the face of global warming: in the last 60 years the average temperature of the city increased nine degrees Celsius and the water level of the sea has risen 20 centimetres â€" and is expected to increase another 30 cm until 2100. The circulation of fewer cars will lead to lower carbon dioxide emissions and the green spaces that will be expanded, along with the Green paths, will alleviate the danger of floods associated with strong rainfall and storms.

Additionally, such a network will contribute to the health of the city and its inhabitants. The Green Network will still offer opportunities for climbing, swimming, water sports and nature observation, referred to Inhabitat.

The Green Network of Hamburg is part of a growing trend in Europe to make the greenest and sustainable cities, through the creation of more green areas and pedestrian routes and cycle paths, which not only cross the cities as the link with the suburbs. The most ambitious project in this area will be maybe Copenhagen, with the creation of 26 super highways for bikes, which is integrated in the aim of becoming a carbon neutral city until 2050. Recently, Brussels also revealed plans to eliminate the circulation of cars the main routes from the city centre.

Foto: Wikimedia Commons

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Hungary: town flooded by toxic sludge becomes a model green city

The 4 October 2010, the Hungarian town of Devecser woke up flooded by a red toxic sludge leaked from a central reservoir of aluminum oxide, which exploded (pictured). The flood of mud killed 10 people and severely feriou other 150. However, three years after the accident, the city was rebuilt and is now a model green city.

Thanks to the Mayor's vision, Toldi Tamás, Devecser is now a locale that uses local and renewable sources of energy and farming their own food. The new sustainable development plan was designed by Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz, free of charge, and includes a park in the area most affected by the toxic sludge.

In the immediate vicinity of the park there is a 30-acre Mall that provides wood to warm the 87 dwellings that were built eight months after the disaster. Every summer, a team of loggers cut the poplar trees and plant new trees. Geothermal energy is also part of the energy plan of Devecser and provides power to a very busy bus terminal, reports the Guardian.

In addition to renewable energy sources, agriculture is not neglected by municipal authorities. "I want to bring back healthy farming techniques with low emission levels of carbon dioxide that we had before. Secondly, we must ensure that all our public institutions use local production. Are healthier than the stuff you buy in Tesco, "says Tamás. This city of Hungary, in the region of Veszprém, intends to install later this year a dehydration of vegetables fed solar energy, in order to promote demand for local products.

Foto:  Adam Bognar / Creative Commons

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Madrid: transportation tickets are already sponsored

All cities and countries have a big problem when it comes to mobility: how to ensure the financial viability of a sector, by nature, a deficit, but that, after all, is the service not only of the people who use it but of the entire economy, environment and society?

In Madrid, the new form found by raising more revenue is in marketing. Second minus one Car, the Consorcio Regional de Transportes (CRTM), entity that manages public transportation in local autonomous community, has established a partnership with the El Corte Inglés to convert the passes in an attractive way to promote a product or disseminate a campaign.

Thus, since January 1 the contactless electronic tickets of public transport of the Spanish capital incorporating the logo of El Corte Inglés and a QR Code that refers to the company's online shopping site.

According to the sustainable mobility aggregator, about 50 thousand new passes will incorporate the logo of El Corte Inglés, which becomes the new sponsor of the Madrid public transport.

The idea is a way to generate new revenue for the regional body of mobility â€" the Consortium also hopes to draw the attention of other advertisers and open "a new path of possibilities" for the Madrid public transport network.

In parallel, the CRTM presented this year a new source of revenue, which consists of personalization of social passes â€" with images â€" which has a cost of € 3 ($ 9.6). So far, about 1,000 users have customized their tickets.

Agree on a similar initiative for your city?

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USA: two Tigers kept as pets in suburban backyards

Those responsible for the wildlife agency of Arizona captured and recovered two tigers who were being kept as pets in backyards of the Phoenix area.

According to the Associated Press, the Arizona Game and Fish Department received several calls from citizens after a man have placed, in social networks, photos alongside his two pet Tigers.

According to Randy Babb, Wildlife Department, the first Tiger was found hanging by a rope, in a common yard, on new year's Eve. The second was located three days later, in a dog kennel for a suburban townhouse.

According to the Huffington Post, the two Tigers are brothers, have eight months and weigh 90 pounds. Both are in good health and were taken to a wildlife reserve in Prescott.

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Rio de Janeiro: heat activated sprinkler system of the Mall

We arrived in 2014 and the previous year's scenario repeats itself: half the planet desperate with the cold and record minimum temperatures, storms and rain; the other half with hot flashes that, year after year, are beating, also they, maximum levels earlier.

The Brazil is one of the countries where the summer is becoming more extreme. This year, the high temperatures that have registered in the country already provided a situation ludicrous, to say the least: the sprinkler system of a shopping mall in Rio de Janeiro called automatically due to heat.

According to the Brazilian press, the system sprays were well received by the customers of the Mall-they sought shelter from the Sun in the Shopping Leblon, precisely â€" but it is an alert for extreme weather conditions.

According to the commercial centre, would be about 40 degrees C in the Shopping Leblon when the sprinkler system if auto-accionou. "The lower basket activated automatically due to the temperature that you feel in the city," explained the Mall on Twitter.

In recent days, the temperature in Rio de Janeiro came to 50ºc.

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Leftover food will warm up thousands of apartments in New York

New York City will begin to reclaim the mountain of leftovers sent daily to the trash, mix it with waste water and produce biogas. The project will warm up 5,200 homes and apartments New Yorkers in the short and medium term.

According to the Daily News, the pilot program is part of the strategy to reduce CO2 emissions from American city in 30% until 2017 â€" the PlanNYC â€" and has as its starting point the collection of organic food and its shipment to the pre-processed treatment center of Newton Creek, in Brooklyn.

Here, she is mixed with sewage sludge of wastewater to create biogas, a natural by-product of the process of treatment of Newton Creek.

Later, and through a partnership with the National Grid, the methane-rich biogas is converted to natural gas quality, followed by regular shape to people's homes in the five boroughs of the city.

The project was announced in December and, in addition to give a logical destination to the amount of wasted food, will help reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 19 thousand cars from the streets per year.

The leftovers will be collected from 200 public schools, especially in Brooklyn. If the program is successful, the city will collect food waste from other 200 schools in the metropolis and more than 100 thousand homes.

"So far, limitávamo us to bury the food. When investing in composting and food waste management, we can help better the environment for our grandchildren, "explained to the Daily News the New York sanitation Commissioner, John Doherty.

Foto:  Nick Saltmarsh / Creative Commons

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United Kingdom hit record for wind power generation in December

December was a great month for wind energy in the United Kingdom, according to the Renewable UK, which coordinates the statistics of wind energy and offshore wind energy in the country.

Taking advantage of a trend that is also recurrent in many of the countries that have strengthened investment in renewables, the United Kingdom raised a total of 2.841 .090 megawatts/hour (MWh) of wind energy, about 10% of the energy needs of the country.

This energy would be enough to electrify 5.7 million homes, according to the Renewable UK.

The December 21, a Saturday, the wind farm generated 132.81 2 MWh and provided 13% of the total electricity demand that day â€" which was a daily record.

Until then, the best month ever had been October 2013, with 1.956 .437 MWh, representing about 8% of the UK's energy needs of that month.

Foto:  Sam Beebe, Ecotrust / Creative Commons

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